DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present U.S. non-provisional application is being examined under the first-inventor-to-file provisions of the AIA . The present U.S. non-provisional application, filed on April 15, 2024, is the U.S. national stage of an international PCT application, filed on October 21, 2022, and claims benefit to a U.S. provisional application, filed on October 21, 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on April 15, 2024 was filed before the mailing of a first Office action in the present U.S. non-provisional application, in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
This Office action is responsive to the amendment and election on May 18, 2026. The election of invention group I without traverse is acknowledged. Claims 3-5, 13-20 and 33-40 are withdrawn from consideration. Claims 1, 2, 11, 12, 21, 31 and 32 are pending for consideration in the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 102 that forms the basis for all anticipation rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by ERICSSON et al. (WO 2020/194268 A1).
1. A method performed by a first network node operating in shared spectrum, the method (ERICSSON, FIG. 5) comprising:
obtaining radio resource status information from one or more wireless devices, wherein the radio resource status information comprises channel occupancy information (ERICSSON, para. [0074], “…The configuration further causes the UE to report the results of the CO measurements back to the network via the first network node. Accordingly, in step 504 (which may be optional), the UE provides CO data to the first network node…” emphasis added.); and
transmitting the radio resource status information to a second network node (ERICSSON, para. [0074], “…In step 508 (which may be optional), the first network node provides the CO data to a second network node. In step 510 (which may be optional), the second network node determines one or more network parameters to adjust based on the CO data…” emphasis added.)
11. A first network node capable of operating in shared spectrum, the first network node comprising processing circuitry (ERICSSON, FIG. 6) operable to:
obtain radio resource status information from one or more wireless devices, wherein the radio resource status information comprises channel occupancy information (ERICSSON, para. [0074], Id.); and
transmit the radio resource status information to a second network node (ERICSSON, para. [0074], Id. cf. Claim 1).
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.
Claims 2, 12, 21, 31 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ERICSSON et al. (WO 2020/194268 A1) in view of Wu et al. (US 2023/0354421 A1).
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the radio resource status information comprises one or more of: an indication of a number of successful listen-before-talk (LBT) procedures; and an indication of a number of failed LBT procedures (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], “In embodiments of this disclosure, when reporting the resource status information to the first network device, the second network device may indicate an LBT-related resource, so that the first network device determines, based on the resource status information reported by the second network device, a resource that may be occupied by the second network device, and the like. In this way, the first network device may perform conversion on the resource usage status of the second network device, to obtain an accurate resource usage status, and in particular, have more accurate estimation on an estimated future resource usage status. When the first network device performs mobility load balance based on information such as a resource that is to be released by the second network device and a resource that may be occupied, accuracy of load balance may be improved. […] LBT failure information includes: a quantity of times that an LBT failure occurs under the second network device. In the foregoing implementation, the first network device may determine a conversion coefficient based on the LBT failure information, to perform conversion on the resource of the second network device, and have a more accurate evaluation on the future resource usage status of the second network device.”) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Wu et al. are for reasons of improving load balancing accuracy (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of improving load balancing accuracy.
12. The first network node of claim 11, wherein the radio resource status information comprises one or more of: an indication of a number of successful listen-before-talk (LBT) procedures; and an indication of a number of failed LBT procedures (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], Id. cf. Claim 2).
21. A method performed by a second network node operating in shared spectrum, the method (ERICSSON, FIG. 5, Id.) comprising:
receiving radio resource status information from a first network node, wherein the radio resource status information comprises channel occupancy information for one or more wireless devices associated with the first network node (ERICSSON, para. [0074], Id.); and
performing a mobility load balancing (MLB) operation based on the radio resource status information (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], Id.)
ERICSSON et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Wu et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as performing a mobility load balancing (MLB) operation based on the radio resource status information (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Wu et al. are for reasons of improving load balancing accuracy (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of improving load balancing accuracy.
31. A second network node capable of operating in shared spectrum, the network node comprising processing circuitry (ERICSSON, FIG. 6, Id.) operable to:
receive radio resource status information from a first network node, wherein the radio resource status information comprises channel occupancy information for one or more wireless devices associated with the first network node (ERICSSON, para. [0074], Id.); and
perform a mobility load balancing (MLB) operation based on the radio resource status information (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], Id. cf. Claim 21).
ERICSSON et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Wu et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as perform a mobility load balancing (MLB) operation based on the radio resource status information (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Wu et al. are for reasons of improving load balancing accuracy (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of improving load balancing accuracy.
32. The second network node of claim 31, wherein the radio resource status information comprises one or more of: an indication of a number of successful listen-before-talk (LBT) procedures; and an indication of a number of failed LBT procedures (Wu, paras. [0008], [0011], Id.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record (PTO-1449, PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the subject matter of the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Ma et al. (US 2024/0196233 A1) provides prior art disclosure considered as relevant to the subject matter of the claimed invention (Ma, Abstract, “…There is disclosed a method performed by a first node in a wireless communication network, comprising: receiving, by the first node, a first message related to information on an unlicensed spectrum from a second node; performing, by the first node, self-optimization according to the information on the unlicensed spectrum.”)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Timothy J. Weidner whose telephone number is (571) 270-1825. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz R. Sheikh can be reached on (571) 272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY J WEIDNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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