DETAILED ACTION
Claims status
In response to the application filed on 07/02/2026, claims 1-21 are currently pending for the examination. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (CN 201711128511.1 with the priority date 11/15/2017. The US publication “US 2020/0323016” is being used as a translated version in English in this Office Action) in view of Lim et al (US 2020/0196374 A1), and further in view of Wang et al. (US 2019/0394826 A1 claimed FP of Jun 21, 2018).
Regarding claim 1; Zhang discloses a radio link control (RLC) failure processing method (See Fig 4: The logical channel reconstruction operation performed by the DU includes, but is not limited to, a reconstruction operation of related RLC entities, ¶ [0059]), performed by a central unit (CU) in a CU-distributed unit (DU) architecture, the method comprising:
sending a first message to the DU, wherein the first message comprising one logical channel identifier (LCID) of a logical on which a RRC reconstruction occurrence (See Figs. 3 and 4: Step 301: sending channel reconstruction indication information (i.e., the first message) to the DU. The channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer (i.e., the ID of the radio bearer/link) on which the logical channel identification (i.e., layer 2) needs to be reconstructed/changed and instruct the DU to perform the logical channel reconstruction operation on the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reconstructed. ¶. [0058-0059] and ¶ [0064]); and
receiving a second message from the DU, wherein the second message comprises a cell group configuration of the L2 handling (See Fig. 3: step 302: Step 302: receiving the new logical channel identification information (i.e., second message for handling L2) sent by the DU. The new logical channel identification information may be carried in a response message sent by the DU to the CU, for subsequent use by the UE. When receiving the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU, the CU may receive the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU in the RRC container mode, that is, the DU may send the new logical channel identification information in the RRC container mode. ¶. [0161-0162]); and sending a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to a terminal device (See Fig. 4: Step 47: sending, by the MN, the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. ¶ [0088], wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the CellConfig (See Fig. 4: the RRC reconfiguration indication information to the DU by indicating that a handover target cell is a current serving cell in the UE movement instruction message. ¶ [0154].
Even though Zhang discloses sending the channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer on which the logical channel identification (i.e., layer 2) needs to be reconstructed/changed and instruct the DU to perform the logical channel reconstruction operation on the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reconstructed, Zhang doesn’t explicitly provide wherein the Cell Group Config comprises an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig).
However, LIM discloses the method wherein the message comprises a cell group configuration (LIM: See Fig. 4 and 5: generate an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message to include an information element (IE) to configure a user equipment (UE) to receive data from a Long-Term Evolution node and from a New Radio node in a unified split bearer configuration and encode data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group bearer, a secondary cell group bearer, or a unified split bearer. See Abstract. ¶. [0137], and see also ¶ [0272] for encoding the data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group (MCG) bearer, a secondary cell group (SCG) bearer, or a unified split bearer, and a memory to store the configuration message.) further comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config) (Lim: Upon RLC reset/reestablishment, all the state variables will be reset, and the RLC SN will be initialized. ¶ [0149] and ¶ [0158]), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig) (Lim- See Fig. 4: an SCG MAC reset may be performed for SN change due to UE 122 mobility. A bearer type change uses an SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. ¶ [0119]), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) (Lim-See Fig. 4: MAC Handling During Bearer Type Change, In LTE, an SCG MAC reset is performed for a sequence number (SN) change due to UE mobility. Bearer type change uses SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. Other than SCG MAC reset for SN change, SCG MAC reset also may be performed for bearer type change between MCG split bearer and SCG split bearer where the PDCP location is changed. The reason for the reset is to clear off MAC PDU using old security key configuration. ¶ [0151-0152]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that the cell group configuration comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) as taught by LIM to have incorporated in the system of Zhang’s RRC Cell Reconfiguration procedure message, so that it would provide that a logical channel also may be suspended for any reason, such as cell is not Active, or a cell is released, while communication can continue over the other logical channels. The suspended logical channel configuration 518 may be later “revived” or cleared or transferred to another cell group. LIM: ¶. [0138].
Neither Zhang nor Lim explicitly states transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence.
However, Wang further teaches transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence (WANG: See Fig. 3: The method for processing a Radio Link Control (RLC) failure includes: receiving, by a first network device, RLC failure related information of a user equipment (UE); processing the RLC failure correspondingly by interacting with a second network device, based on the received RLC failure related information. See Abstract and ¶. [0136]-[0138]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide a identity of a logical channel (LCID) with the RLC failure as taught by WANG to have incorporated in the system of Zhang, so that it would provide to enable the first network device to interact with the second network device directly, so as to directly determine RLC failure processing according to the received RLC failure related information and the interaction information reported by the UE, thereby simplifying RLC processing, improving processing efficiency, facilitating to resolve the RLC failure correctly and rapidly, and improving user experience. WANG: Abstract.
Regarding claim 2; Zhang in view of Lim the method wherein comprising: sending a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to a terminal device, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the CellGroupConfig (Lim: Logical Channel 512 (RLC and below) for Cell Group 1, Logical Channel 514 (RLC and below) for Cell Group 2, Logical Channel 516 (RLC and below) for Cell Group 3, and so on, as shown in FIG. 5. ¶. [0137]).
Regarding claim 3; Zhang teaches the method wherein the L2 handling comprises at least one of: RLC re-establishment (Zhang: The response message may also carry a downlink transmission address (such as a tunnel identifier) that the DU is newly allocated to the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reestablished. ¶ [0109]).
[Office’s Note: Because of the alternative claim language such as “at least one of…or”, only one of the alternative limitations has been analyzed by the examiner].
Regarding claim 4; Zhang teaches the method wherein the first message is a user equipment (UE) context modification request message, and the second message is a response message of the UE context modification request message (Zhang: sending the layer 2 reset indication information or the synchronization reconfiguration indication information to the DU through one indication bit in a UE context modification message. See Zhang’s claim 3).
Regarding claim 5; Zhang discloses a radio link control (RLC) failure processing method (See Fig 4: The logical channel reconstruction operation performed by the DU includes, but is not limited to, a reconstruction operation of related RLC entities, ¶ [0059]), performed by a distributed unit (DU) in a CU-DU architecture, the method comprising:
receiving a first message from the CU, wherein the first message one logical channel identifier (LCID) of a logical on which a RRC reconstruction occurrance (See Figs. 3 and 4: Step 301: sending channel reconstruction indication information (i.e., the first message) to the DU. The channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer (i.e., the ID of the radio bearer/link) on which the logical channel identification (i.e., layer 2) needs to be reconstructed/changed and instruct the DU to perform the logical channel reconstruction operation on the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reconstructed. ¶. [0058-0059] and ¶ [0064]);
performing layer 2 (L2( handling based on the LCID (See Fig. 3: step 302: Step 302: receiving the new logical channel identification information (i.e., second message for handling L2) sent by the DU. The new logical channel identification information may be carried in a response message sent by the DU to the CU, for subsequent use by the UE. When receiving the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU, the CU may receive the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU in the RRC container mode, that is, the DU may send the new logical channel identification information in the RRC container mode. ¶. [0161-0162]); and
sending a second message from the DU, wherein the second message comprises a cell group configuration of the L2 handling (See Fig. 3: step 302: Step 302: receiving the new logical channel identification information (i.e., second message for handling L2) sent by the DU. The new logical channel identification information may be carried in a response message sent by the DU to the CU, for subsequent use by the UE. When receiving the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU, the CU may receive the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU in the RRC container mode, that is, the DU may send the new logical channel identification information in the RRC container mode. ¶. [0161-0162]).
Even though Zhang discloses sending the channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer, Zhang doesn’t explicitly provide wherein the Cell Group Config comprises an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig).
However, LIM discloses the method wherein the message comprises a cell group configuration (LIM: See Fig. 4 and 5: generate an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message to include an information element (IE) to configure a user equipment (UE) to receive data from a Long-Term Evolution node and from a New Radio node in a unified split bearer configuration and encode data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group bearer, a secondary cell group bearer, or a unified split bearer. See Abstract. ¶. [0137], and see also ¶ [0272] for encoding the data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group (MCG) bearer, a secondary cell group (SCG) bearer, or a unified split bearer, and a memory to store the configuration message.) further comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config) (Lim: Upon RLC reset/reestablishment, all the state variables will be reset, and the RLC SN will be initialized. ¶ [0158]), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig) (Lim- See Fig. 4: an SCG MAC reset may be performed for SN change due to UE 122 mobility. A bearer type change uses an SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. ¶ [0119]), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) (Lim-See Fig. 4: MAC Handling During Bearer Type Change, In LTE, an SCG MAC reset is performed for a sequence number (SN) change due to UE mobility. Bearer type change uses SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. Other than SCG MAC reset for SN change, SCG MAC reset also may be performed for bearer type change between MCG split bearer and SCG split bearer where the PDCP location is changed. The reason for the reset is to clear off MAC PDU using old security key configuration. ¶ [0151-0152]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that the cell group configuration comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) as taught by LIM to have incorporated in the system of Zhang’s sending a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to a terminal device (See Fig. 4: Step 47: sending, by the MN, the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. ¶ [0088], wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the CellConfig (See Fig. 4: the RRC reconfiguration indication information to the DU by indicating that a handover target cell is a current serving cell in the UE movement instruction message. ¶ [0154].
Neither Zhang nor Lim explicitly states transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence.
However, Wang further teaches transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence (WANG: See Fig. 3: The method for processing a Radio Link Control (RLC) failure includes: receiving, by a first network device, RLC failure related information of a user equipment (UE); processing the RLC failure correspondingly by interacting with a second network device, based on the received RLC failure related information. See Abstract and ¶. [0136]-[0138]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide a identity of a logical channel (LCID) with the RLC failure as taught by WANG to have incorporated in the system of Zhang, so that it would provide to enable the first network device to interact with the second network device directly, so as to directly determine RLC failure processing according to the received RLC failure related information and the interaction information reported by the UE, thereby simplifying RLC processing, improving processing efficiency, facilitating to resolve the RLC failure correctly and rapidly, and improving user experience. WANG: Abstract.
Regarding claim 6; Zhang teaches the method wherein the L2 handling comprises at least one of: RLC re-establishment (Zhang: The response message may also carry a downlink transmission address (such as a tunnel identifier) that the DU is newly allocated to the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reestablished. ¶ [0109]).
[Office’s Note: Because of the alternative claim language such as “at least one of…or”, only one of the alternative limitations has been analyzed by the examiner].
Regarding claim 7; Zhang teaches the method wherein the first message is a user equipment (UE) context modification request message, and the second message is a response message of the UE context modification request message (Zhang: sending the layer 2 reset indication information or the synchronization reconfiguration indication information to the DU through one indication bit in a UE context modification message. See Zhang’s claim 3).
Regarding claim 8; Zhang teaches a communications apparatus for a central unit (CU) in a CU-distributed unit (DU), architecture, comprising: at least one processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations including:
generating a first message wherein the first message comprising one logical channel identifier (LCID) of a logical on which a RRC reconstruction occurrence (See Figs. 3 and 4: Step 301: sending channel reconstruction indication information (i.e., the first message) to the DU. The channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer (i.e., the ID of the radio bearer/link) on which the logical channel identification (i.e., layer 2) needs to be reconstructed/changed and instruct the DU to perform the logical channel reconstruction operation on the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reconstructed. ¶. [0058-0059] and ¶ [0064]); and
receiving a second message from the DU, wherein the second message comprises a cell group configuration of the L2 handling (See Fig. 3: step 302: Step 302: receiving the new logical channel identification information (i.e., second message for handling L2) sent by the DU. The new logical channel identification information may be carried in a response message sent by the DU to the CU, for subsequent use by the UE. When receiving the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU, the CU may receive the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU in the RRC container mode, that is, the DU may send the new logical channel identification information in the RRC container mode. ¶. [0161-0162]).
sending a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to a terminal device (See Fig. 4: Step 47: sending, by the MN, the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. ¶ [0088], wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the CellConfig (See Fig. 4: the RRC reconfiguration indication information to the DU by indicating that a handover target cell is a current serving cell in the UE movement instruction message. ¶ [0154].
Even though Zhang discloses sending the channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer, Zhang doesn’t explicitly provide wherein the Cell Group Config comprises an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig).
However, LIM discloses the method wherein the message comprises a cell group configuration (LIM: See Fig. 4 and 5: generate an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message to include an information element (IE) to configure a user equipment (UE) to receive data from a Long-Term Evolution node and from a New Radio node in a unified split bearer configuration and encode data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group bearer, a secondary cell group bearer, or a unified split bearer. See Abstract. ¶. [0137], and see also ¶ [0272] for encoding the data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group (MCG) bearer, a secondary cell group (SCG) bearer, or a unified split bearer, and a memory to store the configuration message.) further comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config) (Lim: Upon RLC reset/reestablishment, all the state variables will be reset, and the RLC SN will be initialized. ¶ [0158]), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig) (Lim- See Fig. 4: an SCG MAC reset may be performed for SN change due to UE 122 mobility. A bearer type change uses an SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. ¶ [0119]), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) (Lim-See Fig. 4: MAC Handling During Bearer Type Change, In LTE, an SCG MAC reset is performed for a sequence number (SN) change due to UE mobility. Bearer type change uses SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. Other than SCG MAC reset for SN change, SCG MAC reset also may be performed for bearer type change between MCG split bearer and SCG split bearer where the PDCP location is changed. The reason for the reset is to clear off MAC PDU using old security key configuration. ¶ [0151-0152]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that the cell group configuration comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) as taught by LIM to have incorporated in the system of Zhang, so that it would provide that a logical channel also may be suspended for any reason, such as cell is not Active, or a cell is released, while communication can continue over the other logical channels. The suspended logical channel configuration 518 may be later “revived” or cleared or transferred to another cell group. LIM: ¶. [0138].
Neither Zhang nor Lim explicitly states transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence.
However, Wang further teaches transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence (WANG: See Fig. 3: The method for processing a Radio Link Control (RLC) failure includes: receiving, by a first network device, RLC failure related information of a user equipment (UE); processing the RLC failure correspondingly by interacting with a second network device, based on the received RLC failure related information. See Abstract and ¶. [0136]-[0138]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide a identity of a logical channel (LCID) with the RLC failure as taught by WANG to have incorporated in the system of Zhang, so that it would provide to enable the first network device to interact with the second network device directly, so as to directly determine RLC failure processing according to the received RLC failure related information and the interaction information reported by the UE, thereby simplifying RLC processing, improving processing efficiency, facilitating to resolve the RLC failure correctly and rapidly, and improving user experience. WANG: Abstract.
Regarding claim 9; Zhang in view of Lim the communications apparatus wherein comprising: sending a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to a terminal device, wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the CellGroupConfig (Lim: Logical Channel 512 (RLC and below) for Cell Group 1, Logical Channel 514 (RLC and below) for Cell Group 2, Logical Channel 516 (RLC and below) for Cell Group 3, and so on, as shown in FIG. 5. ¶. [0137]).
Regarding claim 10; Zhang teaches the communications apparatus wherein the L2 handling comprises at least one of: RLC re-establishment (Zhang: The response message may also carry a downlink transmission address (such as a tunnel identifier) that the DU is newly allocated to the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reestablished. ¶ [0109]).
[Office’s Note: Because of the alternative claim language such as “at least one of…or”, only one of the alternative limitations has been analyzed by the examiner].
Regarding claim 11; Zhang teaches the communications apparatus wherein the first message is a user equipment (UE) context modification request message, and the second message is a response message of the UE context modification request message (Zhang: sending the layer 2 reset indication information or the synchronization reconfiguration indication information to the DU through one indication bit in a UE context modification message. See Zhang’s claim 3).
Regarding claim 12; Zhang teaches a communications apparatus (130) for a distributed unit (DU) in a central unit (CU)-DU, architecture, comprising: at least one processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations including:
receiving a first message from the CU, wherein the first message one logical channel identifier (LCID) of a logical on which a RRC reconstruction occurrance (See Figs. 3 and 4: Step 301: sending channel reconstruction indication information (i.e., the first message) to the DU. The channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer (i.e., the ID of the radio bearer/link) on which the logical channel identification (i.e., layer 2) needs to be reconstructed/changed and instruct the DU to perform the logical channel reconstruction operation on the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reconstructed. ¶. [0058-0059] and ¶ [0064]);
performing layer 2 (L2( handling based on the LCID (See Fig. 3: step 302: Step 302: receiving the new logical channel identification information (i.e., second message for handling L2) sent by the DU. The new logical channel identification information may be carried in a response message sent by the DU to the CU, for subsequent use by the UE. When receiving the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU, the CU may receive the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU in the RRC container mode, that is, the DU may send the new logical channel identification information in the RRC container mode. ¶. [0161-0162]); and
sending a second message from the DU, wherein the second message comprises a cell group configuration of the L2 handling (See Fig. 3: step 302: Step 302: receiving the new logical channel identification information (i.e., second message for handling L2) sent by the DU. The new logical channel identification information may be carried in a response message sent by the DU to the CU, for subsequent use by the UE. When receiving the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU, the CU may receive the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU in the RRC container mode, that is, the DU may send the new logical channel identification information in the RRC container mode. ¶. [0161-0162]).
Even though Zhang discloses sending the channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer, Zhang doesn’t explicitly provide wherein the Cell Group Config comprises an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig).
However, LIM discloses the method wherein the message comprises a cell group configuration (LIM: See Fig. 4 and 5: generate an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message to include an information element (IE) to configure a user equipment (UE) to receive data from a Long-Term Evolution node and from a New Radio node in a unified split bearer configuration and encode data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group bearer, a secondary cell group bearer, or a unified split bearer. See Abstract. ¶. [0137], and see also ¶ [0272] for encoding the data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group (MCG) bearer, a secondary cell group (SCG) bearer, or a unified split bearer, and a memory to store the configuration message.) further comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config) (Lim: Upon RLC reset/reestablishment, all the state variables will be reset, and the RLC SN will be initialized. ¶ [0158]), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig) (Lim- See Fig. 4: an SCG MAC reset may be performed for SN change due to UE 122 mobility. A bearer type change uses an SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. ¶ [0119]), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) (Lim-See Fig. 4: MAC Handling During Bearer Type Change, In LTE, an SCG MAC reset is performed for a sequence number (SN) change due to UE mobility. Bearer type change uses SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. Other than SCG MAC reset for SN change, SCG MAC reset also may be performed for bearer type change between MCG split bearer and SCG split bearer where the PDCP location is changed. The reason for the reset is to clear off MAC PDU using old security key configuration. ¶ [0151-0152]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that the cell group configuration comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) as taught by LIM to have incorporated in the system of Zhang’s sending a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to a terminal device (See Fig. 4: Step 47: sending, by the MN, the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. ¶ [0088], wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the CellConfig (See Fig. 4: the RRC reconfiguration indication information to the DU by indicating that a handover target cell is a current serving cell in the UE movement instruction message. ¶ [0154].
Neither Zhang nor Lim explicitly states transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence.
However, Wang further teaches transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence (WANG: See Fig. 3: The method for processing a Radio Link Control (RLC) failure includes: receiving, by a first network device, RLC failure related information of a user equipment (UE); processing the RLC failure correspondingly by interacting with a second network device, based on the received RLC failure related information. See Abstract and ¶. [0136]-[0138]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide a identity of a logical channel (LCID) with the RLC failure as taught by WANG to have incorporated in the system of Zhang, so that it would provide to enable the first network device to interact with the second network device directly, so as to directly determine RLC failure processing according to the received RLC failure related information and the interaction information reported by the UE, thereby simplifying RLC processing, improving processing efficiency, facilitating to resolve the RLC failure correctly and rapidly, and improving user experience. WANG: Abstract.
Regarding claim 13; Zhang teaches the communications apparatus wherein the L2 handling comprises at least one of: RLC re-establishment (Zhang: The response message may also carry a downlink transmission address (such as a tunnel identifier) that the DU is newly allocated to the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reestablished. ¶ [0109]).
[Office’s Note: Because of the alternative claim language such as “at least one of…or”, only one of the alternative limitations has been analyzed by the examiner].
Regarding claim 14; Zhang teaches the communications apparatus wherein the first message is a user equipment (UE) context modification request message, and the second message is a response message of the UE context modification request message (Zhang: sending the layer 2 reset indication information or the synchronization reconfiguration indication information to the DU through one indication bit in a UE context modification message. See Zhang’s claim 3).
Regarding claim 15; Zhang teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
generating a first message wherein the first message comprising one logical channel identifier (LCID) of a logical on which a RRC reconstruction occurrence (See Figs. 3 and 4: Step 301: sending channel reconstruction indication information (i.e., the first message) to the DU. The channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer (i.e., the ID of the radio bearer/link) on which the logical channel identification (i.e., layer 2) needs to be reconstructed/changed and instruct the DU to perform the logical channel reconstruction operation on the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reconstructed. ¶. [0058-0059] and ¶ [0064]); and
receiving a second message from the DU, wherein the second message comprises a cell group configuration of the L2 handling (See Fig. 3: step 302: Step 302: receiving the new logical channel identification information (i.e., second message for handling L2) sent by the DU. The new logical channel identification information may be carried in a response message sent by the DU to the CU, for subsequent use by the UE. When receiving the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU, the CU may receive the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU in the RRC container mode, that is, the DU may send the new logical channel identification information in the RRC container mode. ¶. [0161-0162]).
sending a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to a terminal device (See Fig. 4: Step 47: sending, by the MN, the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. ¶ [0088], wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the CellConfig (See Fig. 4: the RRC reconfiguration indication information to the DU by indicating that a handover target cell is a current serving cell in the UE movement instruction message. ¶ [0154].
Even though Zhang discloses sending the channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer, Zhang doesn’t explicitly provide wherein the Cell Group Config comprises an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig).
However, LIM discloses the method wherein the message comprises a cell group configuration (LIM: See Fig. 4 and 5: generate an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message to include an information element (IE) to configure a user equipment (UE) to receive data from a Long-Term Evolution node and from a New Radio node in a unified split bearer configuration and encode data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group bearer, a secondary cell group bearer, or a unified split bearer. See Abstract. ¶. [0137], and see also ¶ [0272] for encoding the data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group (MCG) bearer, a secondary cell group (SCG) bearer, or a unified split bearer, and a memory to store the configuration message.) further comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config) (Lim: Upon RLC reset/reestablishment, all the state variables will be reset, and the RLC SN will be initialized. ¶ [0158]), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig) (Lim- See Fig. 4: an SCG MAC reset may be performed for SN change due to UE 122 mobility. A bearer type change uses an SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. ¶ [0119]), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) (Lim-See Fig. 4: MAC Handling During Bearer Type Change, In LTE, an SCG MAC reset is performed for a sequence number (SN) change due to UE mobility. Bearer type change uses SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. Other than SCG MAC reset for SN change, SCG MAC reset also may be performed for bearer type change between MCG split bearer and SCG split bearer where the PDCP location is changed. The reason for the reset is to clear off MAC PDU using old security key configuration. ¶ [0151-0152]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that the cell group configuration comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) as taught by LIM to have incorporated in the system of Zhang, so that it would provide that a logical channel also may be suspended for any reason, such as cell is not Active, or a cell is released, while communication can continue over the other logical channels. The suspended logical channel configuration 518 may be later “revived” or cleared or transferred to another cell group. LIM: ¶. [0138].
Neither Zhang nor Lim explicitly states transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence.
However, Wang further teaches transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence (WANG: See Fig. 3: The method for processing a Radio Link Control (RLC) failure includes: receiving, by a first network device, RLC failure related information of a user equipment (UE); processing the RLC failure correspondingly by interacting with a second network device, based on the received RLC failure related information. See Abstract and ¶. [0136]-[0138]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide a identity of a logical channel (LCID) with the RLC failure as taught by WANG to have incorporated in the system of Zhang, so that it would provide to enable the first network device to interact with the second network device directly, so as to directly determine RLC failure processing according to the received RLC failure related information and the interaction information reported by the UE, thereby simplifying RLC processing, improving processing efficiency, facilitating to resolve the RLC failure correctly and rapidly, and improving user experience. WANG: Abstract.
Regarding claim 17; Zhang teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations wherein the L2 handling comprises at least one of: RLC re-establishment (Zhang: The response message may also carry a downlink transmission address (such as a tunnel identifier) that the DU is newly allocated to the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reestablished. ¶ [0109]).
[Office’s Note: Because of the alternative claim language such as “at least one of…or”, only one of the alternative limitations has been analyzed by the examiner].
Regarding claim 18; Zhang discloses the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations wherein the first message is a user equipment (UE) context modification request message, the second message is a UE context modification response message. (Zhang:See Fig. 4: see steps S42-S44 and ¶. [0077]-¶. [0084]).
Regarding claim 19; Zhang teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving a first message from the CU, wherein the first message one logical channel identifier (LCID) of a logical on which a RRC reconstruction occurrance (See Figs. 3 and 4: Step 301: sending channel reconstruction indication information (i.e., the first message) to the DU. The channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer (i.e., the ID of the radio bearer/link) on which the logical channel identification (i.e., layer 2) needs to be reconstructed/changed and instruct the DU to perform the logical channel reconstruction operation on the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reconstructed. ¶. [0058-0059] and ¶ [0064]);
performing layer 2 (L2( handling based on the LCID (See Fig. 3: step 302: Step 302: receiving the new logical channel identification information (i.e., second message for handling L2) sent by the DU. The new logical channel identification information may be carried in a response message sent by the DU to the CU, for subsequent use by the UE. When receiving the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU, the CU may receive the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU in the RRC container mode, that is, the DU may send the new logical channel identification information in the RRC container mode. ¶. [0161-0162]); and
sending a second message from the DU, wherein the second message comprises a cell group configuration of the L2 handling (See Fig. 3: step 302: Step 302: receiving the new logical channel identification information (i.e., second message for handling L2) sent by the DU. The new logical channel identification information may be carried in a response message sent by the DU to the CU, for subsequent use by the UE. When receiving the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU, the CU may receive the new logical channel identification information sent by the DU in the RRC container mode, that is, the DU may send the new logical channel identification information in the RRC container mode. ¶. [0161-0162]).
Even though Zhang discloses sending the channel reconstruction indication information is used to indicate the bearer, Zhang doesn’t explicitly provide wherein the Cell Group Config comprises an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig).
However, LIM discloses the method wherein the message comprises a cell group configuration (LIM: See Fig. 4 and 5: generate an RRCConnectionReconfiguration message to include an information element (IE) to configure a user equipment (UE) to receive data from a Long-Term Evolution node and from a New Radio node in a unified split bearer configuration and encode data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group bearer, a secondary cell group bearer, or a unified split bearer. See Abstract. ¶. [0137], and see also ¶ [0272] for encoding the data to be transmitted to the UE via a master cell group (MCG) bearer, a secondary cell group (SCG) bearer, or a unified split bearer, and a memory to store the configuration message.) further comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config) (Lim: Upon RLC reset/reestablishment, all the state variables will be reset, and the RLC SN will be initialized. ¶ [0158]), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig) (Lim- See Fig. 4: an SCG MAC reset may be performed for SN change due to UE 122 mobility. A bearer type change uses an SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. ¶ [0119]), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) (Lim-See Fig. 4: MAC Handling During Bearer Type Change, In LTE, an SCG MAC reset is performed for a sequence number (SN) change due to UE mobility. Bearer type change uses SN change procedure to simplify the procedure of performing PDCP and RLC reestablishment. Other than SCG MAC reset for SN change, SCG MAC reset also may be performed for bearer type change between MCG split bearer and SCG split bearer where the PDCP location is changed. The reason for the reset is to clear off MAC PDU using old security key configuration. ¶ [0151-0152]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that the cell group configuration comprising an RLC configuration (RLC-config), an RLC bearer configuration (RLC-BearerConfig), a medium access control (MAC) layer cell group configuration (MAC-CellGroupConfig) as taught by LIM to have incorporated in the system of Zhang’s sending a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message to a terminal device (See Fig. 4: Step 47: sending, by the MN, the RRC reconfiguration message to the UE. ¶ [0088], wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises the CellConfig (See Fig. 4: the RRC reconfiguration indication information to the DU by indicating that a handover target cell is a current serving cell in the UE movement instruction message. ¶ [0154].
Neither Zhang nor Lim explicitly states transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence.
However, Wang further teaches transmitting the message of RLC failure occurrence (WANG: See Fig. 3: The method for processing a Radio Link Control (RLC) failure includes: receiving, by a first network device, RLC failure related information of a user equipment (UE); processing the RLC failure correspondingly by interacting with a second network device, based on the received RLC failure related information. See Abstract and ¶. [0136]-[0138]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide a identity of a logical channel (LCID) with the RLC failure as taught by WANG to have incorporated in the system of Zhang, so that it would provide to enable the first network device to interact with the second network device directly, so as to directly determine RLC failure processing according to the received RLC failure related information and the interaction information reported by the UE, thereby simplifying RLC processing, improving processing efficiency, facilitating to resolve the RLC failure correctly and rapidly, and improving user experience. WANG: Abstract.
Regarding claim 20; Zhang teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising wherein the L2 handling comprises at least one of: RLC re-establishment (Zhang: The response message may also carry a downlink transmission address (such as a tunnel identifier) that the DU is newly allocated to the bearer on which the logical channel needs to be reestablished. ¶ [0109]).
[Office’s Note: Because of the alternative claim language such as “at least one of…or”, only one of the alternative limitations has been analyzed by the examiner].
Regarding claim 21; Zhang teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising wherein the first message is a user equipment (UE) context modification request message, and the second message is a response message of the UE context modification request message (Zhang: sending the layer 2 reset indication information or the synchronization reconfiguration indication information to the DU through one indication bit in a UE context modification message. See Zhang’s claim 3).
Response to Arguments
In response to the amendment as filed on 07/02/2026, Applicant has amended all the independent claims. Thus, Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-21 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
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/SAI AUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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