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 . This action is in response to the communication filed on 4/5/2024. Claims 1-30 are pending.
Examiner Note
The examiner is here to serve, to assist, and to help applicant to the very best of his ability. The Primary Patent Examiner position is a position of serving and it is an honor to externally serve the applicant and attorney and to internally serve junior examiners and supervisors. The goal of the examiner is to work with and assist applicant to move cases along as efficiently as possible.
Applicant is encouraged to call examiner to schedule an interview if applicant has any questions about this action, wants to discuss any possible paths forward, has proposed amendments to the claims to run by the examiner, or for any other issues that applicant would like to discuss.
Examiner can normally be reached at (571) 270-3863 or michael.keller@uspto.gov, Monday-Friday, from about 6 AM - 10 PM EST and if your call is missed examiner will try to return call quickly, thank you.
Priority
This application is effectively filed 4/5/2024. The assignee of record is QUALCOMM Incorporated. The listed inventor(s) is/are: KRISHNAN, Shankar; HAMPEL, Karl Georg; AKL, Naeem; KADIRI, Prasada Veera Reddy; HORN, Gavin Bernard.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 8/8/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-14 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims provided that all other rejections under 35 USC 101/112 (if any) are obviated upon upcoming amendments/arguments without raising new issues that necessitate further consideration/search.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-10 & 15-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP094 (3GPP TSG-RAN WG3 Meeting #121-bis, R3-235094, Xiamen, P. R. China, October 9th – 13th 2023, file included in the record; hereinafter 3GPP094) in view of Park et al. (US 20180368205 A1, published 12/20/2018; hereinafter Par).
For Claim 1, 3GPP094 teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at an enhanced distributed unit (eDU), comprising: provide a cell configuration including one or more cells having an established association with the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2 The gNB-DU initiates the procedure by sending a F1 SETUP REQUEST message including the appropriate data to the gNB-CU. The gNB-CU responds with a F1 SETUP RESPONSE message including the appropriate data.
The exchanged data shall be stored in respective node and used as long as there is an operational TNL association. When this procedure is finished, the F1 interface is operational and other F1 messages may be exchanged.
If the F1 SETUP REQUEST message contains the gNB-DU Name IE, the gNB-CU may use this IE as a human readable name of the gNB-DU. If the F1 SETUP REQUEST message contains the Extended gNB-DU Name IE, the gNB-CU may use this IE as a human readable name of the gNB-DU and shall ignore the gNB-DU Name IE if included.
If the F1 SETUP RESPONSE message contains the gNB-CU Name IE, the gNB-DU may use this IE as a human readable name of the gNB-CU. If the F1 SETUP RESPONSE message contains the Extended gNB-CU Name IE, the gNB-DU may use this IE as a human readable name of the gNB-CU and shall ignore the gNB-CU Name IE if included.
Please see screenshot of 8.2.3.2-1 below, thank you:
PNG
media_image1.png
240
580
media_image1.png
Greyscale
);
obtain a request to alter a status of at least one cell of the one or more cells having the established association with the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2 The gNB-CU may include the Cells to be Activated List IE in the F1 SETUP RESPONSE message. The Cells to be Activated List IE includes a list of cells that the gNB-CU requests the gNB-DU to activate. The gNB-DU shall activate the cells included in the Cells to be Activated List IE and reconfigure the physical cell identity for cells for which the NR PCI IE is included.
If Cells to be Activated List Item IE is included in the F1 SETUP RESPONSE message, and the information for the cell indicated by the NR CGI IE includes the IAB Info IAB-donor-CU IE, the gNB-DU shall, if supported, apply the IAB STC Info IE therein to the indicated cell.
Please see Applicant Specification ¶ 0111-0113 and Fig. 14 which describes receiving a list of cells for activation may be considered equivalent to state alteration. Examiner notes that claim amendments to further define “alter” may be one way to overcome the current rejection, thank you); and
provide an updated cell configuration in response to an alteration of the status of the at least one cell (3GPP094 FI SETUP RESPONSE message includes list of cells and relevant information, e.g. please see below section of 3GPP094 8.2.3.2:
If Cells to be Activated List Item IE is included in the F1 SETUP RESPONSE message, and the information for the cell indicated by the NR CGI IE includes the IAB Info IAB-donor-CU IE, the gNB-DU shall, if supported, apply the IAB STC Info IE therein to the indicated cell.
For NG-RAN, the gNB-CU shall include the gNB-CU System Information IE in the F1 SETUP RESPONSE message.
For NG-RAN, the gNB-DU may include the RAN Area Code IE in the F1 SETUP REQUEST message. The gNB-CU may use it according to TS 38.300 [6].
For NG-RAN, the gNB-DU may include Supported MBS FSA ID List IE in the Served Cell Information IE in the F1 SETUP REQUEST message. The gNB-CU may use it according to TS 38.300 [6].
For NG-RAN, the gNB-CU may include Available PLMN List IE, and optionally also Extended Available PLMN List IE in the F1 SETUP RESPONSE message, if the available PLMN(s) are different from what gNB-DU has provided in F1 SETUP REQUEST message, gNB-DU shall take this into account and only broadcast the PLMN(s) included in the received Available PLMN list(s).
For NG-RAN, the gNB-CU may include Available SNPN ID List IE in the F1 SETUP RESPONSE message. If the available SNPN(s) are different from what gNB-DU has provided in F1 SETUP REQUEST message, gNB-DU shall take this into account and only broadcast the SNPN(s) included in the received Available SNPN ID list.
The Latest RRC Version Enhanced IE shall be included in the F1 SETUP REQUEST message and in the F1 SETUP RESPONSE message.).
3GPP094 does not explicitly teach at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the apparatus to.
However, Par teaches at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the apparatus to (Par ¶ 0229-0231 describing F1 procedure. Please see screenshot of Fig. 4 below showing base station and wireless device with processor, memory and interface- thank you:
PNG
media_image2.png
488
718
media_image2.png
Greyscale
).
Par and 3GPP094 are analogous art because they are both related to F1 setup procedure.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the F1 techniques of Par with the system of 3GPP094 because this procedure may re-initialize the F1AP UE-related contexts and may erase related signaling connections in the two nodes like a Reset procedure would do (Par ¶ 0231).
For Claim 2, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor, the transceiver being configured to: provide the cell configuration including the one or more cells having the established association with the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2, please also see Par ¶ 0231 the purpose of the F1 Setup procedure may be to exchange application level data needed for the gNB-DU and the gNB-CU to correctly interoperate on the F1 interface (i.e. CU-DU interface));
obtain the request to alter the status of the at least one cell of the one or more cells having the established association with the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0229-0231); and
provide the updated cell configuration in response to the alteration of the status of the at least one cell (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0229-0231).
For Claim 3, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cell configuration comprises at least one of a serving cell information, reference signal (RS) configurations, physical random access channel (PRACH) configurations, or configurations related to time, frequency, spatial, or power of the one or more cells (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0236, 0238-0240).
For Claim 4, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the eDU has an association with a first network entity, wherein the request to alter the status of the at least one cell is obtained from the first network entity (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par Fig. 23 and related description).
For Claim 5, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: establish a first network entity from a plurality of network entities as a primary network entity (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0262-0263); and establish at least a second network entity from the plurality of network entities as a secondary network entity (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0262-0263).
For Claim 6, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 5, wherein establishment of the primary network entity and the secondary network entity is based at least on capabilities of the first network entity or based on access rules of the eDU (Par ¶ 0316, 0322).
For Claim 7, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first network entity is indicated as being established as the primary network entity, wherein each secondary network entity is indicated as being established as the secondary network entity (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0262-0263).
For Claim 8, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 7, wherein each secondary network entity is informed that the first network entity is the primary network entity (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0262-0263).
For Claim 9, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the request to alter the status of the at least one cell is obtained from the primary network entity (3GPP094 8.2.3.2.).
For Claim 10, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: establish an association with one or more network entities from a plurality of network entities, wherein the cell configuration is provided to each of the one or more network entities having the association with the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2.).
For Claim 15, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein a service based interface (SBI) or a point-to-point interface is utilized for signaling between the eDU and one or more network entities (3GPP094 8.2.3.2.).
For Claim(s) 16, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 1 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
For Claim(s) 17, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 5 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
For Claim(s) 18, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 11 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
For Claim 19, 3GPP094 teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a first network entity, comprising: obtain a cell configuration including one or more cells having an established association with an enhanced distributed unit (eDU) (3GPP094 8.2.3.2); provide a request to alter a status of at least one cell of the one or more cells having the established association with the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2); and obtain an updated cell configuration in response to an alteration of the status of the at least one cell (3GPP094 8.2.3.2).
3GPP094 does not explicitly teach at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the apparatus to.
However, Par teaches at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the apparatus to (Par ¶ 0229-0231, Fig. 4).
Par and 3GPP094 are analogous art because they are both related to F1 setup procedure.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the F1 techniques of Par with the system of 3GPP094 because this procedure may re-initialize the F1AP UE-related contexts and may erase related signaling connections in the two nodes like a Reset procedure would do (Par ¶ 0231).
For Claim 20, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor, the transceiver being configured to: obtain the cell configuration including the one or more cells having the established association with the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0229-0231); provide the request to alter the status of the at least one cell of the one or more cells having the established association with the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0229-0231); and obtain the updated cell configuration in response to the alteration of the status of the at least one cell (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0229-0231).
For Claim 21, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 19, wherein the cell configuration comprises at least one of a serving cell information, reference signal (RS) configurations, physical random access channel (PRACH) configurations, or configurations related to time, frequency, spatial, or power of the one or more cells (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0236, 0238-0240).
For Claim 22, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first network entity has an association with the eDU, wherein the request to alter the status of the at least one cell is provided to the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0229-0231).
For Claim 23, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: obtain a first indication that the first network entity is established as a primary network entity from a plurality of network entities (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0262-0263).
For Claim 24, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: obtain a second indication that at least a second network entity is established as a secondary network entity from the plurality of network entities (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0262-0263).
For Claim 25, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 23, wherein establishment of the first network entity as the primary network entity is based at least on capabilities of the first network entity (Par ¶ 0316, 0322).
For Claim 26, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 23, wherein the request to alter the status of the at least one cell is provided to the eDU from the primary network entity (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0262-0263).
For Claim 27, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: obtain the request to alter the status of at least one cell of the one or more cells from a secondary network entity, wherein the request is provided to the eDU (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0262-0263).
For Claim 28, 3GPP094-Par teaches the apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: determine to alter the status of the at least one cell in response to the request from a secondary network entity (3GPP094 8.2.3.2. Please also see Par ¶ 0262-0263).
For Claim(s) 29, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 19 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
For Claim(s) 30, the claim(s) is/are substantially similar to claim 24 and therefore is/are rejected for the same reasoning set forth above.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is listed below, thank you:
i. WO 2023220147 A1, 6G CONTROL PLANE NETWORK FUNCTIONS IN SERVICE-BASED ARCHITECTURE
Please see PTO-892 for additional listing of relevant prior art made of record but not relied upon, thank you.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Keller at (571)270-3863 or michael.keller@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Gillis can be reached on 571-272-7952.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MICHAEL A KELLER/
Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2446