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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis
for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu et al, application no. 2026/0025724, hereinafter known as Liu.
As to claim 17, Liu discloses a user equipment, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (Liu, figure 2, User Equipment (UE) with processor and memory), cause the user equipment to perform: determine a clock quality acceptance criteria; and transmit the clock quality acceptance criteria (Liu, figure 4, [0041],[0042], table 1, use of UE Clock quality acceptance criteria for TSS reporting).
As to claim 18, Liu discloses wherein the clock quality acceptance criteria is transmitted to a core network node or through a non-access stratum message (Liu, [0035], UE communicating to core network with non-access stratum NAS messaging).
As to claim 19, Liu discloses wherein the non-access stratum message comprises at least one of: a non-access stratum registration request or an uplink non access stratum transport (Liu, [0035], UE communicating to core network with NAS messaging, where the message from UE to core network is invariably in the uplink).
As to claim 20, Liu discloses wherein the clock quality acceptance criteria is transmitted to a network node or transmitted over radio resource control ((Liu, [0035], UE communicating to core network with RRC).
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 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 1-3, 8 and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu2 et al, application no. 2024/0422707, hereinafter known as Liu2 in view of Chen, Li, application no. 2024/0137883, hereinafter known as Chen.
As to claim 1, Liu2 discloses a network node, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (Liu2, Figure 1, [0014]-[0016], [0024], [0025], Network node and second nodes in the art including central units (CU) and distributed units (DU) ) cause the network node to perform: determine at least one radio access network timing synchronization status trigger level associated with at least one radio access network timing synchronization status attribute (Liu2, Figure 5, [0045], DU determines TSS reporting based on trigger condition attribute, triggering happening at a certain level); and transmit, to a second network node, the radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range (Liu2, figure 5, s210, sending TSS report attribute to second node (another CU or a DU) ). Liu2 does not disclose timing synchronization status in terms of a range of acceptable value however Chen dicloses network timing synchronization status report range (Chen, [0022], error range value for time synchronization metric).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 to include the limitations of network timing synchronization status report range as taught by Chen. Use of ranges provides stepped response criteria as opposed to responding due to smaller changes in attributes.
As to claim 2, Liu2 discloses receive, from the second network node, a radio access network timing synchronization status report when a timing synchronization status threshold and the radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range are satisfied (Liu2, figure 4, step s120, figure 6, step s360, second node responding to Time Synchronization).
As to claim 3, Liu2 discloses wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range is determined based on the timing synchronization status threshold (Liu2, Figure 5, [0045], DU determines TSS reporting based on trigger condition attributes, triggering a certain level (threshold) ).
As to claim 8, Liu2 and Chen disclose the network node of claim 1. Liu2 does not disclose Chen discloses wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range is received from a core network node (Chen, [0037]-[0038], TSS scenario information provided by core network; [0010]-[0022], time synchronization scenario allowable range).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 to include the limitations of wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range is received from a core network node as taught by Chen. Core network is known in the art to provide communication metrics in the art.
As to claim 12, Liu2 discloses wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range comprises a plurality of radio access network timing synchronization status reporting ranges associated with a plurality of radio access network timing synchronization status attributes (Liu2, Figure 5, [0045], DU determines TSS reporting based on trigger condition attribute, triggering happening at a certain level; [0049]-[0052], TSS report with plural attribute being reporting).
As to claim 13, Liu2 discloses a core network node, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (Liu2, Figure 1, [0014]-[0016], [0024], [0025], Network node and second nodes in the art including central units (CU) (core network) and distributed units (DU)), cause the core network node to perform: determine at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting associated with at least one radio access network timing synchronization status attribute (Liu2, Figure 5, [0045], DU determines TSS reporting based on trigger condition attribute, triggering happening at a certain level). Liu2 does not disclose timing synchronization status in terms of a range of acceptable value however Chen dicloses network timing synchronization status report range (Chen, [0022], error range value for time synchronization metric).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 to include the limitations of network timing synchronization status report range as taught by Chen. Use of ranges provides stepped response criteria as opposed to responding due to smaller changes in attributes.
As to claim 14, Liu2 and Chen disclose the network node of claim 13. Liu2 does not disclose Chen discloses transmit the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range to a network node (Chen, [0037]-[0038], TSS scenario information provided by core network to network node; [0010]-[0022], time synchronization scenario allowable range).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 to include the limitations of transmit the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range to a network node as taught by Chen. Core network is known in the art to provide communication metrics in the art.
Claims 4, 6, 7, 9, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu2 in view of Chen further in view of Liu.
As to claim 4, Liu2 and Chen disclose the network node of claim 1. Liu2 and Chen do not disclose Liu discloses wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range is determined based on at least one user equipment clock quality acceptance criteria (Liu, figure 4, [0041],[0042], table 1, use of UE Clock quality acceptance criteria for TSS reporting range).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 and Chen to include the limitations of wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range is determined based on at least one user equipment clock quality acceptance criteria as taught by Liu. Clock quality acceptance criteria takes in accounts clock requirements from various user equipments.
As to claim 6, Liu2, Chen and Liu disclose the network node of claim 4. Liu2 and Chen do not disclose Liu discloses wherein the at least one user equipment clock quality acceptance criteria is received through at least one of: from a user equipment; over radio resource control; or from a core network node (Liu, Figure 7, step 704, core network forwarding time delivery configuration information, such as the one in table 1 on page 5 that include clock quality acceptance criteria).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 and Chen to include the limitations of wherein the at least one user equipment clock quality acceptance criteria is received through at least one of: from a user equipment; over radio resource control; or from a core network node as taught by Liu. Core network is known the art to provide communications metrics for device in the network to use to communicate with.
As to claim 7, Liu2 and Chen disclose the network node of claim 1. Liu2 and Chen do not disclose Liu discloses wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization reporting range is determined based on a plurality of user equipment clock quality acceptance criteria (Liu, figure 4, [0041],[0042], table 1, use of UE clock quality acceptance criteria for TSS reporting range; [0005], plurality of clock quality acceptance criteria described).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 and Chen to include the limitations of wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization reporting range is determined based on a plurality of user equipment clock quality acceptance criteria as taught by Liu. Clock quality acceptance criteria can be in terms plural clock or frequency metrics as known in the art.
As to claim 9, Liu2 and Chen disclose the network node of claim 8. Liu2 and Chen do not disclose Liu discloses wherein the core network node comprises at least one or both of: an access and mobility management function (AMF) and a time sensitive communication and time synchronization function (TSCTSF) (Liu, Figure 3, [0035], core network as an AMF).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 and Chen to include the limitations of wherein the core network node comprises at least one or both of: an access and mobility management function (AMF) and a time sensitive communication and time synchronization function (TSCTSF) as taught by Liu. Core network comprising AMF are well known in the art.
As to claim 15, Liu2 and Chen disclose the network node of claim 13. Liu2 and Chen do not disclose Liu discloses wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range is determined based on at least one user equipment clock quality acceptance criteria (Liu, figure 4, [0041],[0042], table 1, use of UE Clock quality acceptance criteria for TSS reporting range), wherein the at least one clock quality acceptance criteria comprises a plurality of clock quality acceptance criteria, or is received from at least one user equipment (Liu, figure 4, [0041],[0042], table 1, use of UE Clock quality acceptance criteria for TSS reporting range; [0005], plurality of clock quality acceptance criteria described).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 and Chen to include the limitations of wherein the at least one radio access network timing synchronization status reporting range is determined based on at least one user equipment clock quality acceptance criteria wherein the at least one clock quality acceptance criteria comprises a plurality of clock quality acceptance criteria, or is received from at least one user equipment as taught by Liu. Clock quality acceptance criteria takes in accounts clock requirements from various user equipments. Clock quality acceptance criteria can be in terms plural clock or frequency metrics as known in the art.
As to claim 16, Liu2 and Chen disclose the network node of claim 15, Liu2 and Chen do not disclose Liu discloses the at least one clock quality acceptance criteria is received through a non-access stratum message, and the non-access stratum message comprises at least one of: a non-access stratum registration request; and an uplink non access stratum transport (Liu, [0035], UE communicating to core network with NAS, where the message from UE to core network is invariably in the uplink).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Liu2 and Chen to include the limitations of the at least one clock quality acceptance criteria is received through a non-access stratum message, and the non-access stratum message comprises at least one of: a non-access stratum registration request; and an uplink non-access stratum transport as taught by Liu. Use of NAS and uplink message from UE To the network and devices in the network are well known in the art.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 10 and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/GAUTAM SHARMA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/HASSAN A PHILLIPS/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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