DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Applicant’s preliminary claim amendments filed 4/3/2024 are acknowledged.
Applicant’s response to restriction filed 3/18/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1-20 were amended on 4/3/2024.
Claims 6-10,16, and 17 are withdrawn.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II claims 1-5,11-15, and 18-20 in the reply filed on 3/18/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 6-10,16, and 17 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 3/18/2026.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 9/11/2021. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 202111064955 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: In line 7, “the first bearer” should be “a first bearer”. In line 8, “two protocol stacks separately” should be “two protocol stacks are separately”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3,5, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Vargas (US 20200323019).
Re claim 1:
Vargas discloses a communication method applied to a first node, the method comprising: determining a target transmission requirement of the first node (Fig.5 ref. 520 is a first node and Fig.5 ref. 506 New data flow that needs certain QoS and Para.[0105] At 506, the initiator device 520 determines that it has a new data flow for target device 530 that needs a new sidelink radio bearer (SLRB) because, for example, the new data flow requires a certain QoS (e.g., a certain data rate, throughput, latency, etc.));
determining, based on the target transmission requirement, whether to establish a first transmission channel used to communicate with a second node (Fig.5 ref. 506 New data flow that needs certain QoS and Para.[0105] In an aspect, the configuration or QoS-to-SLRB mapping may indicate that for a data flow having a QoS requirement in terms of latency or throughput above some threshold, the initiator device 520 will attempt to establish an additional sidelink in FR2);
sending a first request message to the second node, wherein the first request message is used to request establishment of the first transmission channel (Fig. 5 ref. 508 RRC reconfiguration and Para.[0106] At 508, having determined to establish an SLRB sidelink in FR2 with target device 530, the initiator device 520 sends an RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., an RRCDirectConnectionReconfiguration message) to the target device 530 over the previously established SRB); and
receiving a first response message from the second node, wherein the first response message is used to confirm establishment of the first transmission channel (Fig.5 ref. 512 RRC reconfiguration complete is sent from ref. 530 (“second node”) to ref. 520 (“first node”) and Para.[0107] At 510, the devices 520 and 530 perform PHY/MAC procedures in FR2 for the new mmW sidelink. The devices 520 and 530 perform PHY/MAC procedures in FR2 to determine the serving BPL and synchronization and to initiate a mmW QoS-based V2V unicast link as requested in stage 508).
Re claim 2:
Vargas discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the target transmission requirement comprises one or more: a quality of service (QoS} parameter, a transmission channel parameter, user class information, control plane load information, user plane load information, control offloading information, a service type of a first service, and/or service feature information of the first service (Para.[0105] In an aspect, the configuration or QoS-to-SLRB mapping may indicate that for a data flow having a QoS requirement in terms of latency or throughput above some threshold, the initiator device 520 will attempt to establish an additional sidelink in FR2).
Re claim 3:
Vargas discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first request message includes configuration information and the first request message comprises at least one of: address information of the first transmission channel, a source channel identifier of the first transmission channel, a source channel identifier of a first bearer associated with the first transmission channel, and/or an identifier of a quality of service (QoS) parameter (Para.[0106] At 508, having determined to establish an SLRB sidelink in FR2 with target device 530, the initiator device 520 sends an RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., an RRCDirectConnectionReconfiguration message) to the target device 530 over the previously established SRB. In addition to normal PDCP/RLC/MAC layer configuration, the radio bearer configuration process includes mmW physical layer configurations for beam direction(s) and resource, timing, location, and/or sequence ID parameters for L1/L2 layer procedures).
Re claim 5:
Vargas discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first node includes a communication protocol architecture having an application layer, a service layer, and an access layer (Para.[0103] At 502, a D2D discovery procedure can be performed at an application layer and Para.[0098] Radio bearers are logical communication channels offered by Layer 2 (which includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, and a MAC layer) to higher layers (e.g., the RRC and AS layers) for the transfer of either user data (on DRBs) for a communication session…The SRB is then used to send all subsequent control signaling (e.g., physical layer, MAC layer, and other access layer control information) and Para.[0085] Additionally, IP layer parameters (e.g., link-local IPv4 or IPv6 addresses) may also be negotiated. In some cases, the IP layer parameters may be negotiated by an upper layer control protocol running after RRC signaling is established – Examiner Note: Applicant’s specification also defines IPv4 as a service layer protocol).
Re claim 18: Claim 18 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1 from the perspective of the second node.
Re claim 19: Claim 19 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 2.
Re claim 20: Claim 20 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 3.
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.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vargas (US 20200323019) in view of Lu (US 20220338295).
Re claim 4:
As discussed above, Vargas meets all the limitations of the parent claims.
Vargas further discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first response message includes confirmation information and (Fig.5 ref. 512 RRC reconfiguration complete).
Vargas does not explicitly disclose the first response message comprises at least one of: the address information of the first transmission channel, a target channel identifier of the first transmission channel, and/or a target channel identifier of a first bearer associated with the first transmission channel.
Lu discloses the first response message comprises at least one of: the address information of the first transmission channel, a target channel identifier of the first transmission channel, and/or a target channel identifier of a first bearer associated with the first transmission channel (Para.[0175] Optionally, the bearer information of bearer A includes at least one of the RLC mode B, the QoS parameter B, the bearer identifier of the bearer B, and the channel identifier B. The bearer information of bearer A is carried by at least one of the following signaling: RRC reconfiguration complete message (rrcreconfigurationcomplete), failure message (failureinformation), sidelink terminal message (sidelinkueinformation), and RRC restoration request (rrcreestablishmentrequest)).
Vargas and Lu are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vargas to include address/identifier information in a response message as taught by Lu in order to manage a bearer (Lu Para.[0006]).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vargas (US 20200323019) in view of Seed (US 20170041231).
Re claim 11:
As discussed above, Vargas meets all the limitations of the parent claim.
Vargas further discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein the second node includes a communication protocol architecture having a service layer, sending the first request message to the second node comprises: (Para.[0085] Additionally, IP layer parameters (e.g., link-local IPv4 or IPv6 addresses) may also be negotiated. In some cases, the IP layer parameters may be negotiated by an upper layer control protocol running after RRC signaling is established – Examiner Note: IPv4 is a service layer protocol).
Vargas does not explicitly disclose sending, by the service layer of the first node, the first request message to the service layer of the second node; and receiving the first response message from the second node comprises: receiving, by the service layer of the first node, the first response message from the second node.
Seed discloses sending, by the service layer of the first node, the first request message to the service layer of the second node; and receiving the first response message from the second node comprises: receiving, by the service layer of the first node, the first response message from the second node (Fig.2 ref. IoT Service Layer Sessions and Para.[0180] A method, system, computer readable storage medium, or apparatus has means for determining end-to-end quality of service requirements for an application; forwarding a request for an end-to-end service layer session to be established, the request including the determined end-to-end quality of service requirements for the application; receiving a message confirming establishment of the end-to-end service layer session with a remote apparatus; and responsive to receiving a message confirming establishment of an end-to-end service layer session with the remote apparatus, communicating using the end-to-end service layer session and Fig. 12).
Vargas and Seed are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vargas to include sending and receiving by the service layer as taught by Seed in order to offload applications from the burden of establishing and maintaining their own sessions (Seed Para.[0009]).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vargas (US 20200323019) in view of Wang (WO 2023030197 – citing from the translation).
Re claim 12:
As discussed above, Vargas meets all the limitations of the parent claim.
Vargas does not explicitly disclose the method according to claim 5, further comprising: establishing, by the service layer of the first node, at least one of: a mapping relationship between the first transmission channel and a service type, a mapping relationship between the first transmission channel and a quality of service (QoS) parameter, a mapping relationship between the first transmission channel and an associated first bearer, and a mapping relationship between the first transmission channel and a node type.
Wang discloses the method according to claim 5, further comprising: establishing, by the service layer of the first node, at least one of: a mapping relationship between the first transmission channel and a service type, a mapping relationship between the first transmission channel and a quality of service (QoS) parameter, a mapping relationship between the first transmission channel and an associated first bearer, and a mapping relationship between the first transmission channel and a node type (Page 17 The basic service layer of the sending terminal performs two mappings between the data transmission channels, including the mapping between the port and the QoS data flow and the mapping between the QoS data flow and the transmission control channel identifier TCID, and the sending terminal's).
Vargas and Wang are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vargas to include a service layer establishing a mapping as taught by Wang in order to support efficient data transmission (Wang Page 4).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vargas (US 20200323019) in view of Luo (WO 2019219034 – citing from US 20210068176 as a translation).
Re claim 14:
As discussed above, Vargas meets all the limitations of the parent claim.
Vargas does not explicitly disclose the method according to claim 5, wherein the service layer of the first node supports at least two protocol stacks, and the first transmission channel is reused by data packets based on the at least two protocol stacks, wherein the data packets of the at least two protocol stacks include indication information indicating an association relationship between a data packet and a protocol stack; or the first bearer is associated with a second transmission channel, configured by default, and data packets based on the at least two protocol stacks separately transmitted to the second node through the first transmission channel and the second transmission channel.
Luo discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein the service layer of the first node supports at least two protocol stacks, and the first transmission channel is reused by data packets based on the at least two protocol stacks, wherein the data packets of the at least two protocol stacks include indication information indicating an association relationship between a data packet and a protocol stack; or the first bearer is associated with a second transmission channel, configured by default, and data packets based on the at least two protocol stacks separately transmitted to the second node through the first transmission channel and the second transmission channel (Para.[0017] In the foregoing design, two protocol stack architectures are provided, and a protocol layer at which the first terminal device aggregates data is described and Fig.12 shows two protocol stacks and two channels (first and second path) and Para.[0029] In a possible design, if the PDCP layer of the first data packet includes a first aggregation identifier, the first aggregation identifier is used to indicate a data bearer to which the first data packet belongs, the PDCP layer of the second data packet includes a second aggregation identifier, and the second aggregation identifier is used to indicate a data bearer to which the second data packet belongs, the first terminal device determines, in the following manner, that the first path has the mapping relationship with the second path: The first terminal device determines that the first aggregation identifier is the same as the second aggregation identifier and Para.[0173] To send the data packets transmitted separately through the two paths borne on the two wireless interfaces to the same aggregation protocol layer entity to perform data aggregation, in this embodiment of this application, an existing protocol stack is improved to provide a plurality of different protocol stacks).
Vargas and Luo are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vargas to include two protocol stacks and data packets corresponding to the protocol stacks as taught by Luo in order to improve the user experience and performance (Luo Para.[0003]).
Re claim 15:
As discussed above, Vargas meets all the limitations of the parent claim.
Vargas does not explicitly disclose the method according to claim 14, wherein the indication information is added to the data packets based on the at least two protocol stacks by using a data transmission and adaptation layer of the first node, and the data transmission and adaptation layer is located at a lower layer of the at least two protocol stacks at the service layer of the first node; or the indication information is added to the data packets based on the at least two protocol stacks by using a first logical entity in the first node, and the first logical entity is located at a lower layer of the at least two protocol stacks and an upper layer of the data transmission and adaptation layer at the service layer of the first node.
Luo discloses the method according to claim 14, wherein the indication information is added to the data packets based on the at least two protocol stacks by using a data transmission and adaptation layer of the first node, and the data transmission and adaptation layer is located at a lower layer of the at least two protocol stacks at the service layer of the first node; or the indication information is added to the data packets based on the at least two protocol stacks by using a first logical entity in the first node, and the first logical entity is located at a lower layer of the at least two protocol stacks and an upper layer of the data transmission and adaptation layer at the service layer of the first node (Para.[0017] In the foregoing design, two protocol stack architectures are provided, and a protocol layer at which the first terminal device aggregates data is described and Fig.12 shows two protocol stacks and two channels (first and second path) and Para.[0029] In a possible design, if the PDCP layer of the first data packet includes a first aggregation identifier, the first aggregation identifier is used to indicate a data bearer to which the first data packet belongs, the PDCP layer of the second data packet includes a second aggregation identifier, and the second aggregation identifier is used to indicate a data bearer to which the second data packet belongs, the first terminal device determines, in the following manner, that the first path has the mapping relationship with the second path: The first terminal device determines that the first aggregation identifier is the same as the second aggregation identifier and Para.[0173] To send the data packets transmitted separately through the two paths borne on the two wireless interfaces to the same aggregation protocol layer entity to perform data aggregation, in this embodiment of this application, an existing protocol stack is improved to provide a plurality of different protocol stacks).
Vargas and Luo are analogous because they both pertain to data communications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vargas to include two protocol stacks and data packets corresponding to the protocol stacks as taught by Luo in order to improve the user experience and performance (Luo Para.[0003]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13 is 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang (US 20200204637) shows a service layer sending a request to another service layer and shows an application layer, access layer, and service layer.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD SAJID ADHAMI whose telephone number is (571)272-8615. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy Kundu can be reached at (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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