DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
This action is in response to preliminary amendments filed on 4/1/2026.
Claims 2, 11, & 19 are cancelled. Claims 1, 3-10, 12-18, & 20 remain pending. Claims 1, 3-10, 12-18, & 20 have been examined and are rejected.
Priority
This application is a continuation of PCT/CN2022/076887 filed 2/18/2022.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed in the communications above have been fully considered but are not persuasive. In the communications filed, applicant argues in substance that:
Argument (a) Chen does not cure the deficiencies of Hong and Chang. Chen discloses that "the first service providing mode may be the unicast mode, the second service providing mode may be the multicast mode, and the first terminal device 520 operates in the RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE mode, the second message received in 710 may be a RRC release message ... that at least includes multicast scheduling information" in ¶ [0123] and FIG. 7. Chen further explains that once a unicast connection is established successfully, a terminal device may transmit a "third message indicating that the switching to the second service providing mode has been completed," in ¶ [0125]. First, these passages of Chen are limited to network-device-side switching control and post-switch configuration handling, instead of unicast link release between relay and remote terminals. Indeed, Chen lacks any mention of releasing unicast links between a relay wireless communication terminal and remote wireless communication terminals, much less discuss any confirmation of such a release.
Further regarding feature (i), Chen discloses receiving from a network device "a radio resource control reconfiguration message to remove unicast configuration information about services served in the unicast mode," in ¶ [0125]. Chen merely teaches a message indicating removal of unicast configuration information. Chen fails to teach or suggest that a disconnect request is used to release a unicast link, much less a disconnect request for releasing unicast links between a relay wireless communication terminal and remote wireless communication terminals.
In response to Argument (a), examiner respectfully disagrees.
Chen teaches the network device transmits a second message (i.e. an RRC release message) to the first terminal to indicate switching information for the first terminal to switch from a unicast mode to a multicast mode, wherein after successfully receiving services in the multicast mode the first terminal may then receive, from the network device, a further radio resource control reconfiguration message to remove unicast configuration information about services served in the unicast mode [Chen: 0123-125; Figs. 6-7]. In short, Chen teaches a network device (i.e. base station) transmits an RRC release message to a terminal device to switch from unicast mode to multicast mode. Examiner notes that an RRC (Radio Resource Control) Release message is a message sent from the network (gNB) to a terminal/UE to end an active radio connection (e.g. by switching the active connection to an idle or inactive state). In Chen, the active connection that is released is the unicast connection after the terminal switches to a multicast connection. Moreover, Hong teaches the base station may be a relay node [Hong: 0035]. Thus the combination of Hong-Chang-Chen teaches a relay node sends an RRC release message (i.e. the claimed disconnect request) to the UE terminal to end the active unicast connection and consequently release the resources associated with the unicast connection between the UE terminal and the relay node.
With respect to applicant’s remaining arguments, the arguments have been fully considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the combination of references being used in the current rejection, e.g. Fujishiro et al. (US 2024/0314741 A1).
For at least these reasons, applicant’s arguments are considered not persuasive.
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 of this title, 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.
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, 3-10, 12-18, & 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. (US 2022/0338291 A1) in view of Chang et al. (US 2020/0100325 A1) in view of Chen et al. (US 2024/0015618 A1) in view of Fujishiro et al. (US 2024/0314741 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Hong teaches:
A wireless communication method comprising:
determining, by a relay wireless communication node, whether to change a communication mode with remote wireless communication terminals in response to that a number of the remote wireless communication terminals receiving a same broadcast or multicast traffic from a network is increased; (a base station may dynamically switch a transmission method to a UE according to a related condition change such as the number of UEs interested in or receiving the corresponding service in the corresponding cell being determined as large [Hong: 0149; 0153], wherein the base station may be a relay node [Hong: 0035]);
and transmitting, by the relay wireless communication node to the remote wireless communication terminals, an indication that communications between the relay wireless communication terminal and the remote wireless communication terminals for transferring the broadcast or multicast traffic to the remote wireless communication terminals is changed from unicast communications to a broadcast or multicast communication in response to the relay wireless communication terminal determining to change the communication mode; (the base station may determine whether it is necessary to change the transmission type, and in response may transmit switching instruction information to the UE to change from the unicast transmission scheme to the multicast transmission scheme [Hong: 0149; 0156-57]);
release unicast links between the relay wireless communication terminal and the remote wireless communication terminals; (once the UE receives data through the switched MBS Radio Bearer (MRB), the UE may release the unicast radio bearer (DRB) for the corresponding service [Hong: 0226-28]).
However, Hong does not explicitly teach that the relay wireless communication node is a relay wireless communication terminal.
In a similar field of endeavor involving utilizing a relay device to provide unicast and multicast communications to user equipment devices, Chang discloses:
determining, by a relay wireless communication terminal, whether to change a communication mode with remote wireless communication terminals; (the relay user equipment (UE) device 106 determines whether one or more Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) services that are of interest to the remote UE device 110 should be provided to the remote UE device 110 via broadcast/multicast delivery (SC-PTM) or Unicast delivery [Chang: 0056; 0065; 0016]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hong in view of Chang in order to utilize a relay user equipment (UE) device in the system of Hong.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Hong with Chang as doing so would extend network coverage in ad hoc situations without the need for specialized relay equipment by using existing UE/terminal devices.
However, Hong-Chang does not explicitly teach that the relay terminal sends a disconnect request to the remote terminal. In other words, Hong-Chang does not teach (where underlining indicates the portion of each limitation not taught):
transmitting, by the relay wireless communication terminal to the remote wireless communication terminals, a disconnect request to release unicast links between the relay wireless communication terminal and the remote wireless communication terminals.
In a similar field of endeavor involving switching a terminal device from a unicast delivery mode to a multicast delivery mode, Chen discloses:
transmitting, by the relay wireless communication terminal to the remote wireless communication terminals, a disconnect request to release unicast links between the relay wireless communication terminal and the remote wireless communication terminals; (the network device transmits a second message (i.e. an RRC release message) to the first terminal to indicate switching information for the first terminal to switch from a unicast mode to a multicast mode, wherein after successfully receiving services in the multicast mode the first terminal may then receive, from the network device, a further radio resource control reconfiguration message to remove unicast configuration information about services served in the unicast mode [Chen: 0123-125; Figs. 6-7]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hong-Chang in view of Chen in order to provide a network device sending a disconnect request to the remote terminal in the system of Hong-Chang.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Hong-Chang with Chen as doing so would allow the network relay device to recover resources by determining when to release redundant connections.
However, Hong-Chang-Chen does not teach:
wherein, in response to the disconnect request, a disconnect confirmation is transmitted from a corresponding remote wireless communication terminal to the relay wireless communication terminal to confirm release of a unicast link between the relay wireless communication terminal and the corresponding remote wireless communication terminal.
In a similar field of endeavor involving transmitting a radio resource control (RRC) Release message to cause a UI transition, Fujishiro discloses:
wherein, in response to the disconnect request, a disconnect confirmation is transmitted from a corresponding remote wireless communication terminal to the relay wireless communication terminal to confirm release of a unicast link between the relay wireless communication terminal and the corresponding remote wireless communication terminal; (a UE receives an RRC connection release message from a serving cell, and transmits an RRC connection release complete message to the serving cell as a response message in response to the fact that the transition instruction is included in the RRC connection release message [Fujishiro: 0173; Fig. 14]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hong-Chang-Chen in view of Fujishiro in order to a transmit a disconnect confirmation in the system of Hong-Chang-Chen.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Hong-Chang-Chen with Fujishiro as doing so would allow the eNB to more reliably confirm that the UE has transitioned the indicated state [Fujishiro: 0173; Fig. 14].
With regard to Claim 3, Hong-Chang-Chen-Fujishiro teaches:
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the relay wireless communication terminal determines a source address identification and a destination address identification for the broadcast according to broadcast service information; (the base station may receive a session start request message for a specific multicast/broadcast service (MBS) session that may include one or more of identification information such as one or more pieces of information of multicast IP address (destination IP), MBMS GW internet protocol (IP) address (source IP) or user plane function (UPF) endpoint information (IP address, general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol tunnel endpoint ID (GTP-TEID)) for the MBMS service session [Hong: 0199]).
With regard to Claim 4, Hong-Chang-Chen-Fujishiro teaches:
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the relay wireless communication terminal determines a source address identification and a destination address identification for the multicast communication according to group information of a multicast service; (the base station may receive a session start request message for a specific multicast/broadcast service (MBS) session that may include one or more of identification information such as one or more pieces of information of multicast IP address (destination IP), MBMS GW internet protocol (IP) address (source IP) or user plane function (UPF) endpoint information (IP address, general packet radio service (GPRS) tunneling protocol tunnel endpoint ID (GTP-TEID)) for the MBMS service session [Hong: 0199]).
With regard to Claim 5, Hong-Chang-Chen-Fujishiro teaches:
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the relay wireless communication terminal transfers the broadcast or multicast traffic to the remote wireless communication terminals according to a source address identification and a destination address identification for a broadcast or multicast service corresponding to the broadcast or multicast traffic; (the base station may transmit data for the corresponding service session by selecting the unicast transmission or multicast (broadcast) transmission in the associated cell of the corresponding base station [Hong: 0199-200]).
With regard to Claim 6, Hong-Chang-Chen-Fujishiro teaches:
The wireless communication method of claim 1, wherein the relay wireless communication terminal establishes a unicast communication with one of the remote wireless communication terminals; (the UE may transmit information on a multicast/broadcast service (MBS) of interest to the base station which the base station may use to determine a transmission type of either unicast transmission or multicast/broadcast transmission [Hong: 0176-78]. Chang teaches the remote UE device 110 transmits this MBMS Interest Indication message to the relay UE device 106, and the relay UE device 106 transmits the MBMS traffic to the remote UE device 110 with either broadcast or unicast delivery based on the delivery preference requested by the remote UE device 110 [Chang: 0045; 0048]).
With regard to Claim 7, Hong-Chang-Chen-Fujishiro teaches:
The wireless communication method of claim 6, wherein the relay wireless communication terminal receives a request for a broadcast or multicast service from one of the remote wireless communication terminals; (the UE may transmit information on a multicast/broadcast service (MBS) of interest to the base station which the base station may use to determine a transmission type of either unicast transmission or multicast/broadcast transmission [Hong: 0176-78]. Chang teaches the remote UE device 110 transmits this MBMS Interest Indication message to the relay UE device 106, and the relay UE device 106 transmits the MBMS traffic to the remote UE device 110 with either broadcast or unicast delivery based on the delivery preference requested by the remote UE device 110 [Chang: 0045; 0048]).
With regard to Claim 8, Hong-Chang-Chen-Fujishiro teaches:
The wireless communication method of claim 7, wherein the relay wireless communication terminal requests a broadcast or multicast service from the network in response to a serving cell of the relay wireless communication terminal advertising the broadcast or multicast service; (the relay UE device 106 transmits an MBMS Interest Indication message to the base station 102 and obtains the SC-PTM (i.e. broadcast/multicast) control information [Chang: 0055; 0062]).
With regard to Claim 9, Hong-Chang-Chen-Fujishiro teaches:
The wireless communication method of claim 8, wherein the relay wireless communication terminal transfers the broadcast or multicast traffic for the broadcast or multicast service from the network to the one of the remote wireless communication terminals via the unicast communication between the one of the remote wireless communication terminals and the relay wireless communication terminal; (relay UE device 106 receives the MBMS service of interest from base station 102 and transmits the MBMS traffic to the remote UE device 110 with either broadcast delivery or unicast delivery [Chang: 0059; 0066]).
With regard to Claims 10, 12-18, & 20, they appear substantially similar to the limitations recited by claims 1 & 3-9 and consequently do not appear to teach or further define over the citations provided for said claims. Accordingly, claims 10, 12-18, & 20 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 1 & 3-9.
Conclusion
Applicant’s amendment necessitated any new grounds 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 extension fee 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Wang et al. (US 2013/0294321 A1) which teaches techniques for smooth transition between broadcast/multicast transmission and unicast transmission based on whether an aggregate demand for a content provided via dedicated unicast transmissions exceeds a threshold.
Qi et al. (US 2023/0254666 A1) which teaches a CU transmits a modified MBS context information to a DU to effectuate modification or release of the resource allocations of the various delivery instances, and/or to effectuate a delivery mode switching of one or more UEs, wherein in response the DU sends back a MBS Context Modification or release response that may contain updated MRBs configuration for the MRBs successfully modified, and a MRB list for MRBs failed to be modified [0105-106].
In the case of amendments, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and support, for ascertaining the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AUSTIN J MOREAU whose telephone number is (571) 272-5179. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 - 6:00 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Gillis can be reached on 571-272-7952. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AUSTIN J MOREAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2446
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