DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the pending claims, 1-20, received 04 May 2026. Accordingly, the detailed action of claims 1-20 is as follows:
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Examiner’s Note
Claim 12 recites “transmitting a…reachability request to determine whether the inactive mode or idle mode XR UEs are reachable via paging” which the examiner understands to indicate “transmitting new signaling….includes a list of UEs associated with the multi-modal ID… reachability request ensures the UEs are reachable to be paged” as supported by [0082] of applicant’s PG-Pub Specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection presented in the previous office action has been withdrawn in view of applicant’s amendments (Remarks pg 6)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2, 5-6, 8, 10, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 18, 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong (US 20230262752 A1, hereafter referred to as Hong) in view of Salah et al (WO 2025096617 A1, hereafter referred to as Salah) in view of Kong et al (WO 2025159337 A1, hereafter referred to as Kong).
Regarding claim 1, Hong teaches a method of wireless communication at an user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving an multi-modal group page (Hong [0038] teaches a paging signal, sent by a base station, to one or more terminals of a multi-modal service. Additionally, [0092] teaches monitoring paging signaling and determining that the paging signaling is the paging signaling for paging one or more terminals of the multi-modal service [0115]) associated with a group multi-modal paging identifier (ID) (Hong [0115, 0053] teaches the paging signaling carrying the ID of the multi-modal service, wherein the ID is associated with a group of terminals of the multi-modal service [0061]) for a group of UEs including the UE (Hong [0061] discloses the ID, associated with the group page [0053], is associated with a plurality of terminals associated with the multi-modal service), the group of UEs having a same multi-modal service ID (Hong [0053] teaches the paging signaling carries a same ID for the one or more terminals, wherein multiple terminals of a same multi-modal service are associated with the ID of the multi-modal service [0055]); and
transmitting an uplink message for radio resource control (RRC) setup of a deactivated multi-modal session, in response to receiving the multi-modal group page (Hong [0052, 0072] teaches setting up the RRC connection with the base station upon receiving the paging signaling, wherein the terminals are idle [0044, 0047] and perform the RRC connection to resume a service session [0078, 0080]), the deactivated multi-modal session comprising a plurality of distinct data flows for a same multi-modal service (Hong [0042-0043] teaches a plurality or inputs and outputs in multiple modalities associated with a plurality of terminals of the multi-modal service, wherein data of the multi-modal service is transmitted simultaneously [0052]).
However, Hong does not explicitly each the service as a XR such that Hong does not teach the UE as an extended reality (XR) user equipment, the multi-modal group page as XR multimodal group page and the group as a group of XR UEs, a first subset of the plurality of distinct data flows being dedicated to the XR UE and not received by other XR UEs in the group of XR UEs, the first subset being different from a second subset of data intended for a second XR UE and not received by any other XR UE in the group of XR UE.
Salah, in an analogous art, teaches the UE as an extended reality (XR) user equipment (Salah [0050] teaches a plurality of devices executing extended reality applications), a group of XR UEs having a same multi-modal service ID (Salah [0051] a multi-modal service ID indicating a plurality of PDU sets associated with the same multi-modal application, wherein the plurality of UEs receive data of respective data flows associated with the same multi-modal application [0050]) a first subset of the plurality of distinct data flows being dedicated to the XR UE and not received by other XR UEs in the group of XR UEs, the first subset being different from a second subset of data intended for a second XR UE and not received by any other XR UE in the group of XR UE (Salah [0050] the multi-modal traffic flows are terminated at different endpoints such that the audio and video data stream are processed by the VR glasses while the haptic stream is processed by the gloves).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hong in view Salah in order to configure the service, as taught by Hong, to include an extended reality service wherein a first subset of the plurality of distinct data flows being dedicated to the XR UE and not received by other XR UEs in the group of XR UEs, the first subset being different from a second subset of data intended for a second XR UE and not received by any other XR UE in the group of XR UE, as taught by Salah.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated in order to synchronize arrival of multiple single-modal flows to create and support a pleasant, immersive and engaging experience for the user (Salah [0007, 0050]).
However, Hong-Salah does not explicitly teach the multi-modal group page as XR multi-modal group page.
Kong, in an analogous art, teaches the multi-modal group page as XR multimodal group page (Kong [23; 148-149] teaches paging associated UEs, wherein the UEs have associated multi-modal data flows [0142] wherein the UEs engage in a XR service transmitted through the multi-modal flows to the XR users [Pg 17;94 and 23;142]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hong-Salah in view Kong in order to configure the page, as taught by Hong-Salah, as a XR group page, as taught by Kong.
KSR rationale B, simple substitution of one known element (the UE as taught by Hong) for another known element (the XR UE as taught by Hong) in order to yield predictable results (paging and RRC connection establishment of an idle UE to perform transmission of multi-modal service) supports the conclusion of obviousness.
Regarding claim 2, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
Additionally, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the method further comprising receiving an indication of the group multi-modal paging ID during a packet data unit (PDU) session establishment or a PDU session modification (Kong [P 23; 150] teaches informing the base station of the multi-modal service ID in a message, wherein the message is a PDU session setup request [0154]).
Regarding claim 5, the claim recites the features of claim 1, from the perspective of the sender, rather than the recipient as recited in claim 1. The claim does not recite any additional features, nor teach or further limit over the limitations presented above with respect to claim 1.
Therefore, claim 5 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 6, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the limitations of claim 5, as rejected above.
Additionally, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the method further comprising informing the group of XR UEs of the multi-modal paging ID during setup of deactivated (Hong [0055] teaches the plurality of terminals in the group store an ID of the multi-modal service prior the paging monitoring moment).
Regarding claim 8, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the limitations of claim 5, as rejected above.
Additionally, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the method further comprising receiving a multi-modal session ID from a user plane function (UPF) in response to the UPF receiving multi-modal downlink data for a multi-modal extended reality (XR) session (Kong [Pg 23; 148] teaches the CN informing the base station of a list of UEs and a multi-modal service ID [150], responsive to identifying UEs that need synchronous data transmission [0148], wherein the CN includes a UPF entity [93]).
Regarding claim 10, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the limitations of claim 5, as rejected above.
Additionally, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the method further comprising initiating the group page via a multi-modal group paging message including the multi-modal paging ID (Hong [0038] teaches a paging signaling is sent to a plurality of terminals of the multi-modal service, wherein the signaling includes the ID [0053]).
Regarding claim 12, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the limitations of claim 5, as rejected above.
Additionally, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the method further comprising transmitting a multi-modal group reachability request to determine whether the inactive mode or idle mode XR UEs are reachable via paging (Kong [147] teaches transmitting a list of UEs associated with the multi-modal ID).
Regarding claim 13, it does not teach or further limit over the limitations presented above with respect to claim 5.
Therefore, claim 13 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above regarding claim 5.
Regarding claim 14, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the limitations of claim 5, as rejected above.
Additionally, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the apparatus in which the at least one processor is further configured to inform the group of XR UEs of the multi-modal paging ID during setup of a deactivated session (Hong [0066] teaches the ID may be allocated for the multi-modal service when the terminal sets up the RRC connection).
Regarding claim 15, it does not teach or further limit over the limitations presented above with respect to claim 7.
Therefore, claim 15 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above regarding claim 7.
Regarding claims 16, 18 and 20, they do not teach or further limit over the limitations presented above with respect to claims 8, 10 and 12.
Therefore, claims 16, 18 and 20 are rejected for the same reasons set forth above regarding claims 8, 10 and 12.
Claim 9, 17 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong (US 20230262752 A1, hereafter referred to as Hong) in view of Salah et al (WO 2025096617 A1, hereafter referred to as Salah) in view of Kong et al (WO 2025159337 A1, hereafter referred to as Kong) as applied above regarding claim 5, further in view of Potharaju et al (US 20230100696 A1, hereafter referred to as Potharaju).
Regarding claim 9, Hong-Salah-Kong, teaches the limitations of claim 5, as rejected above.
Additionally, Hong-Salah-Kong teaches the method further comprising initiating the group page via a group paging request including the multi-modal paging ID (Hong [0038] teaches a paging signaling is sent to a plurality of terminals of the multi-modal service, wherein the signaling includes the ID [0053]).
However, Hong-Salah-Kong does not explicitly teach the group page via a multicast group paging request.
Potharaju, in an analogous art, teaches the group page via a multicast group paging request (Potharaju [0122, 0123, 0174] teaches multicasting the paging request).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hong-Salah-Kong in view of Potharaju in order to configure the group page including the multi-modal paging ID, as taught by Hong-Salah-Kong, be multicast group paging request, as taught by Potharaju.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated in order to reduce unnecessary paging updates going back and forth between the cloud and local network and reduce the time taken for the UE to transition from idle or inactive to a connected state (Potharaju [0122]).
Regarding claim 17, it does not teach or further limit over the limitations presented above with respect to claim 9.
Therefore, claim 17 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above regarding claim 9.
Claim 11, 19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong (US 20230262752 A1, hereafter referred to as Hong) in view of Salah et al (WO 2025096617 A1, hereafter referred to as Salah) in view of Kong et al (WO 2025159337 A1, hereafter referred to as Kong) as applied above regarding claim 5, further in view of Li (US 20240349240 A1, hereafter referred to as Li).
Regarding claim 11, Hong-Salah-Kong, teaches the limitations of claim 5, as rejected above.
However, Hong-Salah-Kong does not explicitly teach the method further initiating the group page with a multi-modal XR specific radio network temporary ID (RNTI).
Li, in an analogous art, teaches the method further initiating the group page with a service specific radio network temporary ID (RNTI) (Li [0074] teaches group paging identifiers carried in the paging messages for different UE groups, corresponding to a particular service [0062-0063], are different, whereby a RNTI bound to a UE group is configured as the paging identifier and a received message is detected based on the corresponding RNTI [0080]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Hong-Salah-Kong in view of Li in order to configure the group page including the multi-modal service ID, as taught by Hong-Salah-Kong, be initiated with a specific RNTI, as taught by Li.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated in order to reduce the complexity of receiving paging messages caused by overlapping monitoring occasions of different paging messages (Li [0103]), reduce the situation UEs receive incorrect paging messages for another group due to same paging configurations (Li [0073]).
Regarding claim 19, it does not teach or further limit over the limitations presented above with respect to claim 11.
Therefore, claim 19 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above regarding claim 11.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3-4, 7 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEAN TOKUTA whose telephone number is (571)272-5145. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 630-430.
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SHEAN TOKUTA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2446
/SHEAN TOKUTA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2446
Prosecution Insights