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 .
Response to Arguments
1. Applicant’s arguments filed on 06/15/2026 regarding claims 1-3, 8-11, 16-18 and 20 in the remarks are fully considered but moot in view of new ground(s) of rejection.
Response to Amendments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
3. Claim(s) 1-3, 9-11, 17, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu (US PG Pub. No. 2023/0371094) in view of Xing (US PG Pub. No. 2023/0078317) and further in view of Lee (US PG Pub. No. 2022/0338000).
As per claim 1:
Xu teaches a communication method (see abstract), comprising:
receiving, by a first terminal device, first information from a second terminal device (see Figure 3, step 301, relay device (construed as said first terminal device) receiving first data packet (construed as said first information) from the first terminal (construed as said second terminal device)), the first information comprising an application layer identification and/or a link layer identification of a third terminal device (paragraph [0136], disclose the first data packet from the first terminal may include an identifier of the second terminal (construed as said third terminal device). The identifier of the second terminal may be a layer 2 identifier of the second terminal, please see paragraph [0136]);
and
determining, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, a communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device (see paragraph [0141], step 302, the relay device sends a second data packet to the second terminal through a second PC5 link based on the identifier of the second terminal), the communication link being used to provide a communication relay between the second terminal device and the third terminal device (as explained earlier in paragraph [0141], the relay device sends the second data packet to the second terminal over the second PC5 link. Paragraph [0142] also discloses said second data packet may include the data sent to the second terminal. In other words, said data is data (i.e., in the first data packet) received from the first terminal by the relay device via the first PC5 link, please see paragraphs [0135], [0136]. Therefore, the relay device facilitates the forwarding of data between the first terminal and the second terminal).
Xu does not teach wherein determining, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, the communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, second information to the third terminal device in a unicast manner, the second information being used to request to establish the communication link;
wherein the second information comprises at least one of: an identification of the first terminal device, the application layer identification of the third terminal device, service
information or a relay service code.
Xing teaches wherein determining, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, the communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, second information to the third terminal device in a unicast manner, the second information being used to request to establish the communication link (see paragraph [0119], step s302, in response to receiving the unicast request from the first terminal device, the relay apparatus forwards the unicast establishment request to the second terminal device. Note: From figure 1F, step s302 shows the relay apparatus directly forwarding the unicast establishment request to the second terminal device. Examiner is also reading the forwarded “unicast establishment request” as said second message);
wherein the second information comprises at least one of: an identification of the first terminal device (see paragraph [0120], the unicast establishment request may include identifier of the relay apparatus), the application layer identification of the third terminal device (see paragraph [0122], identifier of the target application. Paragraph [0016], disclose identifier of the target application correspond to the target user), service information (see paragraph [0119], relay service indication) or a relay service code (see paragraph [0210], the first message may include a relay service code).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the forwarding of the unicast establishment request to the second/target terminal by the relay apparatus (as disclosed in Xing) into Xu as a way of enabling the target terminal to determine whether or not to establish a connection with the first terminal via the relay apparatus (please see paragraph [0126] of Xing). Therefore, implementing relay apparatus with proximity-based service communication helps to improve wireless spectrum utilization (please see paragraph [0003] of Xing).
The combination of Xu and Xing do not teach wherein sending, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, the second information to the third terminal device in the unicast manner comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, the second information in the unicast manner by using the link layer identification of the third terminal device as a target link layer identification.
Lee teaches wherein sending, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, the second information to the third terminal device in the unicast manner comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, the second information in the unicast manner by using the link layer identification of the third terminal device as a target link layer identification (see paragraph [0193], the discovery request message may include and deliver the layer 2 identifier of the remote UE 901, the application layer identifier and additional information about which service information is requested such as relay service code. Upon receiving the discovery request message, the UE-to-network relay 902 may deliver information on the service provided by the UE-to-network relay 902 to the remote UE 901 as a discovery response message in response to the request. The response message may include information such as a relay service code, a layer 2 identifier of the UE-to-network relay 901, and an application layer identifier that provides a relay service).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the discovery procedure for the provided relay service (as disclosed in Lee) into both Xu and Xing as a way of controlling the permission of the remote UE for the PDU session of the UE-to-network relay (please see paragraph [0192] of Lee).
As per claim 2:
Xu in view of Xing and further in view of Lee teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the link layer identification is a layer 2 identification used for proximity-based services (ProSe) communication (Xu, see paragraph [0041], a proximity-based service ProSe ayer of the first terminal provides the identifier of the second terminal and the identifier of the QoS flow for the AS layer of the first terminal);
wherein the first terminal device has a ProSe capability (Xu, see paragraph [0022], disclose ProSe layer of the relay device provides the identifier of the second terminal and the identification information of the second transmission link for the AS layer of the relay device).
As per claim 3:
Xu in view of Xing and further in view of Lee teaches the method of claim 1, wherein receiving, by the first terminal device, the first information from the second terminal device comprises:
receiving, by the first terminal device, the first information from the second terminal device through a first direct communication request message (Xu, see paragraph [0189], the first terminal sends a direct communication request (DCR) message to the first relay device and the second relay device);
wherein the first direct communication request message comprises at least one of: an application layer identification of the second terminal device, an identification of the first terminal device, service information or a relay service code (Xu, see paragraph [0191], the direction communication request message may include an application layer of the first terminal, and an application layer of the second terminal).
As per claim 9:
Xu teaches a communication apparatus (see Figure 11, communication apparatus 1100), comprising:
a transceiver (see Figure 11, paragraph [0484], interface circuit 1120), configured to receive first information from a second terminal device (see Figure 3, step 301, relay device (construed as said first terminal device) receiving first data packet (construed as said first information) from the first terminal (construed as said second terminal device)), the first information comprising an application layer identification and/or a link layer identification of a third terminal device (paragraph [0136], disclose the first data packet from the first terminal may include an identifier of the second terminal (construed as said third terminal device). The identifier of the second terminal may be a layer 2 identifier of the second terminal, please see paragraph [0136]);
and a processor, configured to determine, based on the first information, a communication link between the apparatus and the third terminal device (see paragraph [0141], step 302, the relay device sends a second data packet to the second terminal through a second PC5 link based on the identifier of the second terminal), the communication link being used to provide a communication relay between the second terminal device and the third terminal device (as explained earlier in paragraph [0141], the relay device sends the second data packet to the second terminal over the second PC5 link. Paragraph [0142] also discloses said second data packet may include the data sent to the second terminal. In other words, said data is data (i.e., in the first data packet) received from the first terminal by the relay device via the first PC5 link, please see paragraphs [0135], [0136]. Therefore, the relay device facilitates the forwarding of data between the first terminal and the second terminal).
Xu does not teach wherein determining, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, the communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, second information to the third terminal device in a unicast manner, the second information being used to request to establish the communication link;
wherein the second information comprises at least one of: an identification of the first terminal device, the application layer identification of the third terminal device, service
information or a relay service code.
Xing teaches wherein determining, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, the communication link between the first terminal device and the third terminal device comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, second information to the third terminal device in a unicast manner, the second information being used to request to establish the communication link (see paragraph [0119], step s302, in response to receiving the unicast request from the first terminal device, the relay apparatus forwards the unicast establishment request to the second terminal device. Note: From figure 1F, step s302 shows the relay apparatus directly forwarding the unicast establishment request to the second terminal device. Examiner is also reading the forwarded “unicast establishment request” as said second message);
wherein the second information comprises at least one of: an identification of the first terminal device (see paragraph [0120], the unicast establishment request may include identifier of the relay apparatus), the application layer identification of the third terminal device (see paragraph [0122], identifier of the target application. Paragraph [0016], disclose identifier of the target application corresponds to the target user), service information (see paragraph [0119], relay service indication) or a relay service code (see paragraph [0210], the first message may include a relay service code).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the forwarding of the unicast establishment request to the second/target terminal by the relay apparatus (as disclosed in Xing) into Xu as a way of enabling the target terminal to determine whether or not to establish a connection with the first terminal via the relay apparatus (please see paragraph [0126] of Xing). Therefore, implementing relay apparatus with proximity-based service communication helps to improve wireless spectrum utilization (please see paragraph [0003] of Xing).
The combination of Xu and Xing do not teach wherein sending, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, the second information to the third terminal device in the unicast manner comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, the second information in the unicast manner by using the link layer identification of the third terminal device as a target link layer identification.
Lee teaches wherein sending, by the first terminal device, based on the first information, the second information to the third terminal device in the unicast manner comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, the second information in the unicast manner by using the link layer identification of the third terminal device as a target link layer identification (see paragraph [0193], the discovery request message may include and deliver the layer 2 identifier of the remote UE 901, the application layer identifier and additional information about which service information is requested such as relay service code. Upon receiving the discovery request message, the UE-to-network relay 902 may deliver information on the service provided by the UE-to-network relay 902 to the remote UE 901 as a discovery response message in response to the request. The response message may include information such as a relay service code, a layer 2 identifier of the UE-to-network relay 901, and an application layer identifier that provides a relay service).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the discovery procedure for the provided relay service (as disclosed in Lee) into both Xu and Xing as a way of controlling the permission of the remote UE for the PDU session of the UE-to-network relay (please see paragraph [0192] of Lee).
As per claim 10:
Xu in view of Xing and further in view of Lee teaches the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the link layer identification is a layer 2 identification used for proximity-based services (ProSe) communication (Xu, see paragraph [0041], a proximity-based service ProSe ayer of the first terminal provides the identifier of the second terminal and the identifier of the QoS flow for the AS layer of the first terminal);
wherein the apparatus has a ProSe capability (Xu, see paragraph [0022], disclose ProSe layer of the relay device provides the identifier of the second terminal and the identification information of the second transmission link for the AS layer of the relay device).
As per claim 11:
Xu in view of Xing and further in view of Lee teaches the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the transceiver is specifically configured to receive the first information from the second terminal device through a first direct communication request message (Xu, see paragraph [0189], the first terminal sends a direct communication request (DCR) message to the first relay device and the second relay device);
wherein the first direct communication request message comprises at least one of: an application layer identification of the second terminal device, an identification of the apparatus, service information or a relay service code (Xu, see paragraph [0191], the direction communication request message may include an application layer of the first terminal, and an application layer of the second terminal).
As per claim 17:
Xu teaches a communication apparatus (see Figure 11, communication apparatus 1100), comprising:
a transceiver (see Figure 11, paragraph [0484], interface circuit 1120), configured to send first information to a first terminal device, the first information comprising an application layer identification and/or a link layer identification of a third terminal device (paragraph [0136], disclose the first data packet from the first terminal may include an identifier of the second terminal (construed as said third terminal device). The identifier of the second terminal may be a layer 2 identifier of the second terminal, please see paragraph [0136]).
Xu does not teach receive unicast signaling from a first terminal device, the unicast signaling being used to determine a communication link between the first terminal device and the apparatus;
wherein the transceiver is configured to receive second information sent by the first terminal device in a unicast manner, the second information being used to request to establish the communication link between the first terminal device and the apparatus; wherein the second information comprises at least one of: an identification of the first terminal device, the application layer identification of the third terminal device, service information or a relay service code.
Xing teaches receive unicast signaling from a first terminal device, the unicast signaling being used to determine a communication link between the first terminal device and the apparatus;
wherein the transceiver is configured to receive second information sent by the first terminal device in a unicast manner, the second information being used to request to establish the communication link between the first terminal device and the apparatus(see paragraph [0119], step s302, in response to receiving the unicast request from the first terminal device, the relay apparatus forwards the unicast establishment request to the second terminal device. Note: From figure 1F, step s302 shows the relay apparatus directly forwarding the unicast establishment request to the second terminal device. Examiner is also reading the forwarded “unicast establishment request” as said second message);
wherein the second information comprises at least one of: an identification of the first terminal device (see paragraph [0120], the unicast establishment request may include identifier of the relay apparatus), the application layer identification of the third terminal device (see paragraph [0122], identifier of the target application. Paragraph [0016], disclose identifier of the target application corresponds to the target user), service information (see paragraph [0119], relay service indication) or a relay service code (see paragraph [0210], the first message may include a relay service code)
The combination of Xu and Xing do not teach wherein, in receiving the second information sent by the first terminal device in the unicast manner, the transceiver is specifically configured to receive the second information sent by the first terminal device in the unicast manner through a second direct communication request message by using a link layer identification of the apparatus as a target link layer identification.
Lee teaches wherein, in receiving the second information sent by the first terminal device in the unicast manner, the transceiver is specifically configured to receive the second information sent by the first terminal device in the unicast manner through a second direct communication request message by using a link layer identification of the apparatus as a target link layer identification (see paragraph [0193], the discovery request message may include and deliver the layer 2 identifier of the remote UE 901, the application layer identifier and additional information about which service information is requested such as relay service code. Upon receiving the discovery request message, the UE-to-network relay 902 may deliver information on the service provided by the UE-to-network relay 902 to the remote UE 901 as a discovery response message in response to the request. The response message may include information such as a relay service code, a layer 2 identifier of the UE-to-network relay 901, and an application layer identifier that provides a relay service).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the discovery procedure for the provided relay service (as disclosed in Lee) into both Xu and Xing as a way of controlling the permission of the remote UE for the PDU session of the UE-to-network relay (please see paragraph [0192] of Lee).
As per claim 18:
Xu in view of Xing and further in view of Lee teaches the apparatus of claim 17, wherein the link layer identification is a layer 2 identification used for proximity-based services (ProSe) communication (see paragraph [0041], a proximity-based service ProSe ayer of the first terminal provides the identifier of the second terminal and the identifier of the QoS flow for the AS layer of the first terminal);
wherein the apparatus has a Prose capability (see paragraph [0022], disclose ProSe layer of the relay device provides the identifier of the second terminal and the identification information of the second transmission link for the AS layer of the relay device).
4. Claims 8, 16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu in Xing and further in view of Lee and Perras (US PG Pub. No. 2024/0171972), hereinafter referred to as Perras’972.
As per claim 8:
Xu in view of Xing and further in view of Lee teaches the method of claim 1 with the exception of:
further comprising:
after receiving, by the first terminal device, the first information from the second terminal device, sending, by the first terminal device, fourth information to the second
terminal device, the fourth information comprising an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the third terminal device;
wherein sending, by the first terminal device, the fourth information to the second terminal device comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, the fourth information to the second terminal device through a direct communication response message.
Perras’972 teaches further comprising:
after receiving, by the first terminal device, the first information from the second terminal device, sending, by the first terminal device, fourth information to the second
terminal device, the fourth information comprising an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the third terminal device (see Figure 2 and paragraph [0076], in response to the DNS query comprising a request for a target WTRU, the WTRU relay 202 may send information indicating the IP address/prefix for the target WTRU user information or for the ProSe Service or combination thereof (ref. 212) back to WTRU 204);
wherein sending, by the first terminal device, the fourth information to the second terminal device comprises:
sending, by the first terminal device, the fourth information to the second terminal device through a direct communication response message (paragraph [0075], disclose unicast L2 link may be established between relay WTRU 202 and WTRU 204 as well as between relay WTRU 202 and WTRU 206. Therefore, the information indicating IP address/suffix of the target WTRU (a disclosed in paragraph [0076]) is sent via a unicast link).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to implement the establishment of unicast connections between relay and WTRUs (as disclosed in Perras’972) into Xu, Xing and Lee as a way of ensuring secure delivery of IP traffic via the relay device (please see paragraph [0077] of Perras’972).
Claims 16 and 20 are rejected in the same scope as claim 8.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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PRINCE AKWASI. MENSAH
Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/PRINCE A MENSAH/Examiner, Art Unit 2474
/Michael Thier/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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