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 Remarks
This Office action is considered fully responsive to the amendments filed 05/26/2026.
The objection to the specification is maintained in light of Applicant’s response to not amend.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 05/26/2026, with respect to Claims 1-3, 6, 8, 10-20, 23, 25, 27, 29 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The U.S.C. 102 and U.S.C. 103 rejections of Claims 1-3, 6, 8, 10-20, 23, 25, 27, 29 has been withdrawn.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: PACKET TRANSMISSION MODE BASED UPON WHETHER OR NOT RECEIVED VIA TUNNEL
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-3, 6, 8, 10-20, 23, 25, 27, 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 has been amended to recite transmitting, by the DU the packet to at least some of the one or more UEs via [[a]]the first logical channel provided by the MAC sublayer to the RLC sublayer and by using a broadcast or multicast transmission; and when the DU did not receive the packet from the network node via the common DL tunnel, transmitting, by the DU, the packet to a particular UE of the one or more UEs via a second logical channel provided by the MAC sublaver to the RLC sublaver and by usinq a unicast transmission.
However, the protocol stack as commonly understood in the art, and as is shown in fig. 2B of the instant specification does not transmit on downlink (i.e. from DU to UE) from MAC to RLC. Rather, it is from RLC to MAC (ultimately to PHY). Para. 0100 of the instant specification describes this: “the DU 174 retrieves the PDCP PDU from the CU-to-DU message and transmits 620 the PDCP PDU to the UE 102 via the RLC layer 206B, MAC layer 204B and PHY layer 202B. The UE 102 receives 620 the PDCP PDU from the DU 174 via the PHY layer 202B, MAC layer 204B and RLC layer 206B.”
Similar arguments apply to the correspondingly amended independent claim 16. Claim 16 slightly differs from claim 1 in that “DU” has been amended to “node,” however the node transmits to a UE as in claim 1 and the same protocol stack arrangement applies.
The dependent claims do not correct the deficiencies of the independent claims and are rejected by virtue of their dependencies.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20220312157 A1 discloses at para. 0114: In the embodiments of the disclosure, after receiving the GTP packet through the GTP tunnel, the DU obtains the first indication information and the PDCP data PDU from the GTP packet, and processes the PDCP data PDU by the RLC layer, the MAC layer and the PHY layer to obtain the MBMS service data. The DU sends the MBMS service data at the location of the radio resource indicated by the first indication information.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR J GHOWRWAL whose telephone number is (571)270-5691. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-6:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ASAD NAWAZ can be reached at 571-272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OMAR J GHOWRWAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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