DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
In response to amendment filed on 7/23/2026, claims 1- 46 were cancelled and claims 47- 68 are pending for examinations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed in the remarks on 7/23/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 6, applicant argues regarding previously given new matter related rejection. Examiner disagrees and respectfully submits that applicant had provided explanation “In the parent PCT application PCT/US2022/048575, a WTRU may send information associated with an application supported in WTRU to the network, such as for supporting an application awareness feature in the network. For example, information regarding the application may be sent to the network as assistance information. Examples of such assistance information include, inter alia, "data flows associated with the application" and "characteristics and/or parameters of data and/or traffic associated with the data flows per- application" (See [0132]- [0133]). For example, the "characteristics and/or parameters" may include, inter alia, "information
on a number of PDUs expected (e.g., per ADU) in one or more flows per-application." The information on number of PDUs (e.g., per ADU) may include statistical information (See [0130]). The WTRU may use timestamp information and/or sequence numbers (e.g., in packet headers) for determining timing information associated with the PDUs (e.g., time of arrival)" (See [0142] and [0149]). As stated in [0166], the WTRU may provide the statistical information in assistance information. Further, [0167] describes that the WTRU may monitor, inter alia, a jitter value (e.g., a difference between an expected time slot or other TTI when data is expected to be received and an actual time slot or other TTI when the data is actually received).
Further, [0134] describes that the WTRU may send information associated with the data flows (e.g., assistance information) when "detecting [a] change in measurements" and/or when detecting a change in time, such as "when a time period (e.g., a timer) associated with the sending of assistance information is set and/or elapses (e.g., expires)."”.
But none of the above used paragraphs states about “measuring, for each respective flow of the set of flows, information including a jitter amount or range of at least one set of protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the respective flow; sending, to a network entity, assistance information based on a timer associated with the timer amount expiring for at least one flow of the set of flows, wherein the assistance information includes UL traffic information for the at least one flow indicating, an identifier of the respective flow and the measured jitter amount or range associated with the respective flow ”. For example, applicant stated, “such assistance information include, inter alia, "data flows associated with the application" and "characteristics and/or parameters of data and/or traffic associated with the data flows per- application"”; further stated , “Further, [0134] describes that the WTRU may send information associated with the data flows (e.g., assistance information) (here data flow itself is not assistance information, but data flows associated with the application" and "characteristics and/or parameters of data and/or traffic associated with the data flows per- application combined as an assistance information) when "detecting [a] change in measurements" and/or when detecting a change in time, such as "when a time period (e.g., a timer) associated with the sending of assistance information is set and/or elapses (e.g., expires)."”.”. Further its not clear from above provided paragraphs that information and assistance information is same or different as per the context described in above provided paragraphs. Hence examiner does not want to withdrawn 35 USC 112 first paragraph rejection.
On page 8 of the remarks, applicant argues, “Sina Prov., does not disclose "send[ing], to a network entity, assistance information based on a timer associated with the timer amount expiring for at least one flow of the set of flows, wherein the assistance information includes UL traffic information for the at least one flow indicating an identifier of the respective flow and the measured jitter amount or range associated with the respective flow" as in claims 47 and 58 (emphasis added).”.
Examiner disagrees and respectfully submits that as per the claim recitations, “sending, to a network entity, assistance information based on a timer associated with the timer amount expiring for at least one flow of the set of flows, wherein the assistance information includes UL traffic information for the at least one flow indicating an identifier of the respective flow and the measured jitter amount or range associated with the respective flow.”; examiner states that claim limitations do not require an explicitly-named "timer" as a distinct hardware or software construct separate from a bounded measurement interval. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification, a "timer amount" reads on any defined duration having a start and an end. Sina Prov.'s disclosure that jitter (among other traffic metrics) is reported as an average, minimum, or maximum value "collected during a measured time duration" necessarily means that the duration must conclude before the corresponding statistic can be finalized and reported — an average value cannot be computed, and therefore cannot be transmitted, until the window over which it is averaged has closed. The transmission of the resulting UE assisting information is thus the necessary and inevitable consequence of the measured duration's completion (i.e., its "expiring"), satisfying the limitation at least inherently. See MPEP § 2112 (inherency does not require recognition by a person of ordinary skill at the time of the reference, only that the limitation is the necessary result of the disclosed process). Applicant has not identified any alternative mechanism, disclosed or suggested by Sina Prov., by which the UE would compute and report a duration-bounded average, minimum, or maximum jitter value independent of the duration's completion. Applicant's characterization of Sina Prov. — that the reported value is itself defined by reference to "a measured time duration" — supports rather than undermines the Office's position.
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 47, 50 and 58, 61 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. Regarding claims 47 and 58 limitations, “measuring, for each respective flow of the set of flows, information including a jitter amount or range of at least one set of protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the respective flow; sending, to a network entity, assistance information based on a timer associated with the timer amount expiring for at least one flow of the set of flows, wherein the assistance information includes UL traffic information for the at least one flow indicating, an identifier of the respective flow and the measured jitter amount or range associated with the respective flow ”; see claim 47; are not disclosed in the disclosure; further same above limitations in claim 58 are not disclosed as well. Hence it is a new matter scenario. Claim 50, limitations, “..sent based on the timer associated with the timer amount expiring for the at least one flow and a change in the measured jitter amount or range associated with the at least one flow…”; are not disclosed in the disclosure; further same above limitations in claim 61 are not disclosed as well. Hence it is a new matter scenario. Dependent claims of above discussed claims can also be rejected based on same above rationale.
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.
Claim(s) 47, 51- 52, 55- 57 and 62- 63, 66- 68 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Maleki et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0381484 A1), hereafter Sina.
Regarding claim 47, Sina teaches a method implemented by a wireless transmit/receiver unit (WTRU) (see Fig. 1 #12 as a UE), the method comprising:
receiving configuration information associated with uplink (UL) traffic, the configuration information including information indicating a set of flows and a timer amount ( [0018] receiving, from the wireless communication network, configuration signaling that configures the wireless communication device to provide said assistance information; see [0019].. receiving, from the wireless communication network, configuration signaling that configures, for at least one retransmission parameter of the one or more retransmission parameters, a set of values from which the wireless communication device is allowed to provide a preferred value for the at least one retransmission parameter. In one or more of these embodiments, the set of values is a proper subset of a set of allowed values. In one or more of these embodiments, the proper subset includes one or more values that are smaller than a value currently configured for the at least one retransmission parameter; further refer to [0036]… transmitting, to the wireless communication device, configuration signaling that configures a value of a prohibit timer of the wireless communication device…In this case, configuring one or more retransmission parameters (i.e. see in context with [0004].. The network may for instance exploit the assistance information to configure one or more timers that govern or impact for how long the wireless communication device will monitor a downlink control channel for a message requesting an uplink retransmission (i.e. uplink traffic) ….) that control retransmission in C-DRX operation comprises, for each of the one or more QoS flows or DRBs, configuring a respective set of one or more retransmission parameters that is specific to that QoS flow or DRB, and the method further comprises transmitting signaling that indicates which set of one or more retransmission parameters is active….In one or more of these embodiments, the assistance information comprises assistance information specific for each of multiple quality of service, QoS, flows or data radio bearers, DRBs. In this case, the method further comprises configuring the wireless communication device with multiple sets of one or more transmission parameters that control retransmission in C-DRX operation and that are specific to respective ones of the multiple QoS flows or DRBs.
measuring, for each respective flow of the set of flows, information including a jitter amount or range of at least one set of protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the respective flow (see [0144].. the NW may then configure the UE with multiple sets of said timers/retransmission counters and activate one of them at a time explicitly (e.g., via Downlink Control Information, DCI) per transmission or implicitly (e.g., if only one flow out of earlier two is still active). Such indication may be either via DCI associated with the assignment/grant pointing out which of the retransmission parameters that are applicable for current (re)transmission or semi-statically activated by for example MAC Control Element (MAC-CE) (i.e. MAC-CE is a specialized, high-priority control command embedded within a MAC PDU) or DCI, meaning that the parameters pointed out by the semi-static indication remain applicable for ongoing/upcoming (re)transmissions until further notice, e.g., until another configuration is activated, or unless a specific transmission's DCI says otherwise; further see [0064].. For example, in some embodiments, the assistance information 24 comprises assistance information specific for each of one or more quality of service (QoS) flows or data radio bearers (DRBs), e.g., such the assistance information 24 includes respective sets of assistance information for different QoS flows or DRBs (i.e. One PDU session can contain multiple QoS flows, and multiple QoS flows can be mapped onto one or more DRBs.) …now refer to [0149]…. UE can report traffic specific information to a gNB together possibly with more information not included in side-link traffic information. Examples of reported information to a gNB directly include delay budget, traffic arrival periodicity, jitter, a packet size, QoS flow ID, or buffer size. Those values can be defined as the maximum, the minimum, or average value from a statistics collected during a measured time duration; further see Fig. 1 #24 .); and
sending, to a network entity, assistance information based on a timer associated with the timer amount expiring for at least one flow of the set of flows ([0149]…. UE can report traffic specific information (i.e. in assistance information i.e. UAI see 6. And [0148]) to a gNB together possibly with more information not included in side-link traffic information. Examples of reported information to a gNB directly include delay budget, traffic arrival periodicity, jitter, a packet size, QoS flow ID, or buffer size. Those values can be defined as the maximum, the minimum, or average value from a statistics collected during a measured time duration (i.e. a time associated with the timer amount); further see Fig. 1 #24; further as discussed above in [0036] regarding transmitting, to the wireless communication device, configuration signaling that configures a value of a prohibit timer of the wireless communication device; now refer to [0020].. upon transmitting the assistance information, starting a prohibit timer that, while the prohibit timer is running, prohibits the transmission of assistance information which provides a preference of the wireless communication device on any of the one or more retransmission parameters or assistance information which provides a preference of the wireless communication device on a subset of the one or more retransmission parameters.), wherein the assistance information includes UL traffic information for the at least one flow indicating an identifier of the respective flow (see Fig. 1 #24 and [0063] ..one or more traffic metrics indicates: a delay budget for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; a traffic arrival periodicity for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; a jitter for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; a packet size for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; a quality of service flow identifier for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; or a buffer size for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation…; further see [0162] .. one or more traffic metrics (i.e. assistance information reported to network) indicates…a jitter for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation, a packet size for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation, a quality of service flow identifier for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation… ) and the measured jitter amount or range associated with the respective flow ( in context with [0162] see [0163].. the assistance information comprises assistance information specific for each of one or more quality of service flows or data radio bearers (i.e. hence as per [0162] jitter for uplink/downlink data traffic as well as QoS flow Id for Uplink/downlink data traffic are being sent specific to each of one or more quality of service flows).
Regarding claim 51, Sina teaches as per claim 47, further comprising: measuring, for each respective flow of the set of flows, information including any of an arrival time of the at least one set of PDUs associated with the a respective flow, and/or a periodicity associated with the at least one set of PDUs associated with the respective flow see [0015].. a traffic arrival periodicity for uplink or downlink data traffic..; further see [0162- 0163].
Regarding claim 52, Sina teaches as per claim 47, wherein the assistance information includes UL traffic information for the at least one flow indicating the arrival time associated with the respective flow and/or the periodicity associated with the respective flow; see [0015].. a traffic arrival periodicity for uplink or downlink data traffic..; further see [0162- 0163].
Regarding claim 55, Sina teaches as per claim 47, wherein the configuration information associated with the UL traffic is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling; see [0054].. the wireless communication device 12 is configurable to establish a connection 16 with the wireless communication network 14. The connection 16 may for instance be at a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, in which case the connection 16 is an RRC connection…; further see [0085].. To assist the NW in configuring the above parameters, some embodiments exploit a UE-based support mechanism, i.e., through UE assistance information (UAI). In this mechanism, the UE may send its preference for one or more RRC parameters…
Regarding claim 56, Sina teaches as per claim 47, wherein the assistance information associated with the application is sent via radio resource control (RRC) signaling; see [0054].. the wireless communication device 12 is configurable to establish a connection 16 with the wireless communication network 14. The connection 16 may for instance be at a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, in which case the connection 16 is an RRC connection…; further see [0085].. To assist the NW in configuring the above parameters, some embodiments exploit a UE-based support mechanism, i.e., through UE assistance information (UAI). In this mechanism, the UE may send its preference for one or more RRC parameters…
Regarding claim 57, Sina teaches as per claim 47, further comprising: receiving, after sending the assistance information, resource configuration information associated with the set of flows; see [0036].. In some embodiments, the method further comprises based on the received assistance information, configuring or controlling retransmission in C-DRX operation. In one or more of these embodiments, configuring or controlling comprises configuring one or more retransmission parameters that control retransmission in C-DRX operation. In one or more of these embodiments, configuring one or more retransmission parameters comprises configuring one or more of a downlink retransmission timer that controls a maximum duration until a downlink retransmission is received, an uplink retransmission timer that controls a maximum duration until a grant for an uplink retransmission is received, a downlink hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, round-trip time timer that controls a minimum duration before a downlink assignment for HARQ retransmission is expected by a medium access control, MAC, entity, and an uplink HARQ round-trip time timer that controls a minimum duration before an uplink HARQ retransmission grant is expected by a MAC entity…
Regarding claim 47, Sina teaches a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising: a processor, memory and a transceiver which are configured to (see Fig. 1 #12 as a UE):
receive configuration information associated with uplink (UL) traffic, the configuration information including information indicating a set of flows and a timer amount ( [0018] receiving, from the wireless communication network, configuration signaling that configures the wireless communication device to provide said assistance information; see [0019].. receiving, from the wireless communication network, configuration signaling that configures, for at least one retransmission parameter of the one or more retransmission parameters, a set of values from which the wireless communication device is allowed to provide a preferred value for the at least one retransmission parameter. In one or more of these embodiments, the set of values is a proper subset of a set of allowed values. In one or more of these embodiments, the proper subset includes one or more values that are smaller than a value currently configured for the at least one retransmission parameter; further refer to [0036]… transmitting, to the wireless communication device, configuration signaling that configures a value of a prohibit timer of the wireless communication device…In this case, configuring one or more retransmission parameters (i.e. see in context with [0004].. The network may for instance exploit the assistance information to configure one or more timers that govern or impact for how long the wireless communication device will monitor a downlink control channel for a message requesting an uplink retransmission (i.e. uplink traffic) ….) that control retransmission in C-DRX operation comprises, for each of the one or more QoS flows or DRBs, configuring a respective set of one or more retransmission parameters that is specific to that QoS flow or DRB, and the method further comprises transmitting signaling that indicates which set of one or more retransmission parameters is active….In one or more of these embodiments, the assistance information comprises assistance information specific for each of multiple quality of service, QoS, flows or data radio bearers, DRBs. In this case, the method further comprises configuring the wireless communication device with multiple sets of one or more transmission parameters that control retransmission in C-DRX operation and that are specific to respective ones of the multiple QoS flows or DRBs.
measure, for each respective flow of the set of flows, information including a jitter amount or range of at least one set of protocol data units (PDUs) associated with the respective flow (see [0144].. the NW may then configure the UE with multiple sets of said timers/retransmission counters and activate one of them at a time explicitly (e.g., via Downlink Control Information, DCI) per transmission or implicitly (e.g., if only one flow out of earlier two is still active). Such indication may be either via DCI associated with the assignment/grant pointing out which of the retransmission parameters that are applicable for current (re)transmission or semi-statically activated by for example MAC Control Element (MAC-CE) (i.e. MAC-CE is a specialized, high-priority control command embedded within a MAC PDU) or DCI, meaning that the parameters pointed out by the semi-static indication remain applicable for ongoing/upcoming (re)transmissions until further notice, e.g., until another configuration is activated, or unless a specific transmission's DCI says otherwise; further see [0064].. For example, in some embodiments, the assistance information 24 comprises assistance information specific for each of one or more quality of service (QoS) flows or data radio bearers (DRBs), e.g., such the assistance information 24 includes respective sets of assistance information for different QoS flows or DRBs (i.e. One PDU session can contain multiple QoS flows, and multiple QoS flows can be mapped onto one or more DRBs.) …now refer to [0149]…. UE can report traffic specific information to a gNB together possibly with more information not included in side-link traffic information. Examples of reported information to a gNB directly include delay budget, traffic arrival periodicity, jitter, a packet size, QoS flow ID, or buffer size. Those values can be defined as the maximum, the minimum, or average value from a statistics collected during a measured time duration; further see Fig. 1 #24 .); and
send, to a network entity, assistance information based on a timer associated with the timer amount expiring for at least one flow of the set of flows ([0149]…. UE can report traffic specific information (i.e. in assistance information i.e. UAI see 6. And [0148]) to a gNB together possibly with more information not included in side-link traffic information. Examples of reported information to a gNB directly include delay budget, traffic arrival periodicity, jitter, a packet size, QoS flow ID, or buffer size. Those values can be defined as the maximum, the minimum, or average value from a statistics collected during a measured time duration (i.e. a time associated with the timer amount); further see Fig. 1 #24; further as discussed above in [0036] regarding transmitting, to the wireless communication device, configuration signaling that configures a value of a prohibit timer of the wireless communication device; now refer to [0020].. upon transmitting the assistance information, starting a prohibit timer that, while the prohibit timer is running, prohibits the transmission of assistance information which provides a preference of the wireless communication device on any of the one or more retransmission parameters or assistance information which provides a preference of the wireless communication device on a subset of the one or more retransmission parameters.), wherein the assistance information includes UL traffic information for the at least one flow indicating an identifier of the respective flow (see Fig. 1 #24 and [0063] ..one or more traffic metrics indicates: a delay budget for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; a traffic arrival periodicity for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; a jitter for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; a packet size for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; a quality of service flow identifier for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation; or a buffer size for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation…; further see [0162] .. one or more traffic metrics (i.e. assistance information reported to network) indicates…a jitter for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation, a packet size for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation, a quality of service flow identifier for uplink or downlink data traffic in C-DRX operation… ) and the measured jitter amount or range associated with the respective flow ( in context with [0162] see [0163].. the assistance information comprises assistance information specific for each of one or more quality of service flows or data radio bearers (i.e. hence as per [0162] jitter for uplink/downlink data traffic as well as QoS flow Id for Uplink/downlink data traffic are being sent specific to each of one or more quality of service flows).
Regarding claim 62, Sina teaches as per claim 58, wherein the processor, memory and the transceiver are configured to: measure, for each respective flow of the set of flows, information including any of an arrival time of the at least one set of PDUs associated with the a respective flow, and/or a periodicity associated with the at least one set of PDUs associated with the respective flow see [0015].. a traffic arrival periodicity for uplink or downlink data traffic..; further see [0162- 0163].
Regarding claim 63, Sina teaches as per claim 58, wherein the assistance information includes UL traffic information for the at least one flow indicating the arrival time associated with the respective flow and/or the periodicity associated with the respective flow; see [0015].. a traffic arrival periodicity for uplink or downlink data traffic..; further see [0162- 0163].
Regarding claim 66, Sina teaches as per claim 58, wherein the configuration information associated with the UL traffic is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling; see [0054].. the wireless communication device 12 is configurable to establish a connection 16 with the wireless communication network 14. The connection 16 may for instance be at a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, in which case the connection 16 is an RRC connection…; further see [0085].. To assist the NW in configuring the above parameters, some embodiments exploit a UE-based support mechanism, i.e., through UE assistance information (UAI). In this mechanism, the UE may send its preference for one or more RRC parameters…
Regarding claim 67, Sina teaches as per claim 58, wherein the assistance information associated with the application is sent via radio resource control (RRC) signaling; see [0054].. the wireless communication device 12 is configurable to establish a connection 16 with the wireless communication network 14. The connection 16 may for instance be at a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer, in which case the connection 16 is an RRC connection…; further see [0085].. To assist the NW in configuring the above parameters, some embodiments exploit a UE-based support mechanism, i.e., through UE assistance information (UAI). In this mechanism, the UE may send its preference for one or more RRC parameters…
Regarding claim 68, Sina teaches as per claim 58, further comprising: receiving, after sending the assistance information, resource configuration information associated with the set of flows; see [0036].. In some embodiments, the method further comprises based on the received assistance information, configuring or controlling retransmission in C-DRX operation. In one or more of these embodiments, configuring or controlling comprises configuring one or more retransmission parameters that control retransmission in C-DRX operation. In one or more of these embodiments, configuring one or more retransmission parameters comprises configuring one or more of a downlink retransmission timer that controls a maximum duration until a downlink retransmission is received, an uplink retransmission timer that controls a maximum duration until a grant for an uplink retransmission is received, a downlink hybrid automatic repeat request, HARQ, round-trip time timer that controls a minimum duration before a downlink assignment for HARQ retransmission is expected by a medium access control, MAC, entity, and an uplink HARQ round-trip time timer that controls a minimum duration before an uplink HARQ retransmission grant is expected by a MAC entity…
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 48- 49, 53- 54, 59- 60 and 64- 65 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0381484 A1), hereafter Sina in view of Fu et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0267335 A1).
Regarding claim 48, Sina teaches as per claim 47, but fails to state about receiving a plurality of PDUs, of the at least one set of PDUs, from an application executed by the WTRU; however Fu teaches in [0062] before the terminal device transmits the first indication information to the network device, an application layer of the terminal device may indicate ADU associations to an access layer (or, Access Stratum (AS)) of the terminal device. For example, the application layer indicates to the access layer which ADUs are associated with each other. When associated ADUs exist, the terminal device causes the associated ADUs to reach the access layer together….;now refer to [0083].. the terminal device may determine which PDUs or SDUs correspond to ADU that are associated or determine which PDUs or SDUs are associated, according to inter-layer interactions or upper packet header (e.g., SDAP packet header, PDCP packet header). It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Fu with the teachings of Sina to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein receiving a plurality of PDUs, of the at least one set of PDUs, from an application executed by the WTRU; greater way more standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 49, Sina in view of Fu teaches as per claim 48, sending the plurality of received PDUs as UL traffic, wherein at least one PDU of the plurality of PDUs includes the identifier of the respective flow; Fu as in context with [0031] (..at the user-plane, data at the user-plane reaches the SDAP layer through QoS flow, and the SDAP layer maps the data of different QoS flows to different DRBs, adds an identification of QoS flow to the data according to a network configuration, and generates a SDAP Packet Data Unit (PDU) and submits it to the PDCP layer. The PDCP layer processes the SDAP PDU to generate a PDCP PDU and submits it to the RLC layer….) teaches in [0062] before the terminal device transmits the first indication information to the network device, an application layer of the terminal device may indicate ADU associations to an access layer (or, Access Stratum (AS)) of the terminal device. For example, the application layer indicates to the access layer which ADUs are associated with each other. When associated ADUs exist, the terminal device causes the associated ADUs to reach the access layer together….;now refer to [0083].. the terminal device may determine which PDUs or SDUs correspond to ADU that are associated or determine which PDUs or SDUs are associated, according to inter-layer interactions or upper packet header (e.g., SDAP packet header, PDCP packet header)….now refer to [0066].. The ADU association information is configured to report the ADU association indication to the network device. The ADU association information may include at least one of an indication of ADU association, the size of data amount of ADU association, an indication of token bucket overflow, an association identifier and/or an association number.
Regarding claim 53, Sina teaches as per claim 47, but fails to state about wherein the at least one set sets of PDUs comprises one or more application data units (ADUs), and the one or more ADUs are associated with the set of flows; however Fu teaches in [0031] regarding.. SDAP layer maps the data of different QoS flows to different DRBs, adds an identification of QoS flow to the data according to a network configuration, and generates a SDAP Packet Data Unit (PDU) and submits it to the PDCP layer…; now refer to [0062].. , the terminal device may determine which PDUs or SDUs correspond to ADUs that are associated or determine which PDUs or SDUs are associated, according to interlayer interactions or upper packet headers (e.g., SDAP packet header, PDCP packet header)…; further see [0091].. for example, the terminal device generates a PDU according to the ADU association information, e.g., generating PDUs corresponding to the packets. In some embodiments, the generated PDUs include the ADU association information, and the ADU association information is configured to indicate the associated ADUs. The ADU association information may be specifically included in packet headers of the PDUs, or, the ADU association information may be included in the packet headers of the PDCP PDU packets. .. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Fu with the teachings of Sina to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein the at least one set sets of PDUs comprises one or more application data units (ADUs), and the one or more ADUs are associated with the set of flows; greater way more standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 54, Sina teaches as per claim 47, but fails to state about determining the at least one set of PDUs is associated with a respective flow based on a header of a PDU of the at least one set of PDUs; however Fu teaches in [0031] regarding.. SDAP layer maps the data of different QoS flows to different DRBs, adds an identification of QoS flow to the data according to a network configuration, and generates a SDAP Packet Data Unit (PDU) and submits it to the PDCP layer…; now refer to [0062].. , the terminal device may determine which PDUs or SDUs correspond to ADUs that are associated or determine which PDUs or SDUs are associated, according to interlayer interactions or upper packet headers (e.g., SDAP packet header, PDCP packet header).. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Fu with the teachings of Sina to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism determining the at least one set of PDUs is associated with a respective flow based on a header of a PDU of the at least one set of PDUs; greater way more standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 59, Sina teaches as per claim 58, but fails to state about receive a plurality of PDUs, of the at least one set of PDUs, from an application executed by the WTRU; however Fu teaches in [0062] before the terminal device transmits the first indication information to the network device, an application layer of the terminal device may indicate ADU associations to an access layer (or, Access Stratum (AS)) of the terminal device. For example, the application layer indicates to the access layer which ADUs are associated with each other. When associated ADUs exist, the terminal device causes the associated ADUs to reach the access layer together….;now refer to [0083].. the terminal device may determine which PDUs or SDUs correspond to ADU that are associated or determine which PDUs or SDUs are associated, according to inter-layer interactions or upper packet header (e.g., SDAP packet header, PDCP packet header). It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Fu with the teachings of Sina to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein receiving a plurality of PDUs, of the at least one set of PDUs, from an application executed by the WTRU; greater way more standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 60, Sina in view of Fu teaches as per claim 59, send the plurality of received PDUs as UL traffic, wherein at least one PDU of the plurality of PDUs includes the identifier of the respective flow; Fu as in context with [0031] (..at the user-plane, data at the user-plane reaches the SDAP layer through QoS flow, and the SDAP layer maps the data of different QoS flows to different DRBs, adds an identification of QoS flow to the data according to a network configuration, and generates a SDAP Packet Data Unit (PDU) and submits it to the PDCP layer. The PDCP layer processes the SDAP PDU to generate a PDCP PDU and submits it to the RLC layer….) teaches in [0062] before the terminal device transmits the first indication information to the network device, an application layer of the terminal device may indicate ADU associations to an access layer (or, Access Stratum (AS)) of the terminal device. For example, the application layer indicates to the access layer which ADUs are associated with each other. When associated ADUs exist, the terminal device causes the associated ADUs to reach the access layer together….;now refer to [0083].. the terminal device may determine which PDUs or SDUs correspond to ADU that are associated or determine which PDUs or SDUs are associated, according to inter-layer interactions or upper packet header (e.g., SDAP packet header, PDCP packet header)….now refer to [0066].. The ADU association information is configured to report the ADU association indication to the network device. The ADU association information may include at least one of an indication of ADU association, the size of data amount of ADU association, an indication of token bucket overflow, an association identifier and/or an association number.
Regarding claim 64, Sina teaches as per claim 58, but fails to state about wherein the at least one set sets of PDUs comprises one or more application data units (ADUs), and the one or more ADUs are associated with the set of flows; however Fu teaches in [0031] regarding.. SDAP layer maps the data of different QoS flows to different DRBs, adds an identification of QoS flow to the data according to a network configuration, and generates a SDAP Packet Data Unit (PDU) and submits it to the PDCP layer…; now refer to [0062].. , the terminal device may determine which PDUs or SDUs correspond to ADUs that are associated or determine which PDUs or SDUs are associated, according to interlayer interactions or upper packet headers (e.g., SDAP packet header, PDCP packet header)…; further see [0091].. for example, the terminal device generates a PDU according to the ADU association information, e.g., generating PDUs corresponding to the packets. In some embodiments, the generated PDUs include the ADU association information, and the ADU association information is configured to indicate the associated ADUs. The ADU association information may be specifically included in packet headers of the PDUs, or, the ADU association information may be included in the packet headers of the PDCP PDU packets. .. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Fu with the teachings of Sina to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein the at least one set sets of PDUs comprises one or more application data units (ADUs), and the one or more ADUs are associated with the set of flows; greater way more standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 65, Sina teaches as per claim 58, but fails to state about determine the at least one set of PDUs is associated with a respective flow based on a header of a PDU of the at least one set of PDUs; however Fu teaches in [0031] regarding.. SDAP layer maps the data of different QoS flows to different DRBs, adds an identification of QoS flow to the data according to a network configuration, and generates a SDAP Packet Data Unit (PDU) and submits it to the PDCP layer…; now refer to [0062].. , the terminal device may determine which PDUs or SDUs correspond to ADUs that are associated or determine which PDUs or SDUs are associated, according to interlayer interactions or upper packet headers (e.g., SDAP packet header, PDCP packet header).. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Fu with the teachings of Sina to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism determining the at least one set of PDUs is associated with a respective flow based on a header of a PDU of the at least one set of PDUs; greater way more standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Claim(s) 50 and 61 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Maleki et al. (US Pub. No. 2024/0381484 A1), hereafter Sina in view of Srivastava et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0119693 A1), hereafter Vimal
Regarding claim 50, Sina teaches as per claim 47, wherein the assistance information is sent based on the timer associated with the timer amount expiring for the at least one flow (see [0138].. the UE may be additionally configured with a prohibition timer such that the UE is not allowed to indicate its preference for one or more flows/DRBs before the prohibition timer is expired.) but Sina is silent about a change in the measured jitter amount or range associated with the at least one flow; however Vimal teaches in [0048] regarding…In particular, bad radio channel conditions, as used herein, include conditions associated with a radio channel that change or otherwise degrade a QoS associated with a flow for accessing network services through the radio channel. Multiple QoS attributes can be used to measure/quantify bad radio channel condition e.g. packet loss/error rate (PER), latency, packet delay budget or even jitter. For example, comparison of Packet Loss Count for a given QoS Flow(s), at gNodeB, with respect to a threshold. For example, a comparison of packet loss count for a given QoS flow may exceed a configured threshold. Then, it can be determined that bad channel conditions exist. The RAN-EMS receiving statistics from gNodeB may determine packet loss has exceeded threshold and may notify the gNodeB/DNAC ….. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Vimal with the teachings of Sina to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein sending assistance information based on a change in the measured jitter amount or range associated with the at least one flow; more reliable communication can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 61, Sina teaches as per claim 58, wherein the assistance information is sent based on the timer associated with the timer amount expiring for the at least one flow (see [0138].. the UE may be additionally configured with a prohibition timer such that the UE is not allowed to indicate its preference for one or more flows/DRBs before the prohibition timer is expired.) but Sina is silent about a change in the measured jitter amount or range associated with the at least one flow; however Vimal teaches in [0048] regarding…In particular, bad radio channel conditions, as used herein, include conditions associated with a radio channel that change or otherwise degrade a QoS associated with a flow for accessing network services through the radio channel. Multiple QoS attributes can be used to measure/quantify bad radio channel condition e.g. packet loss/error rate (PER), latency, packet delay budget or even jitter. For example, comparison of Packet Loss Count for a given QoS Flow(s), at gNodeB, with respect to a threshold. For example, a comparison of packet loss count for a given QoS flow may exceed a configured threshold. Then, it can be determined that bad channel conditions exist. The RAN-EMS receiving statistics from gNodeB may determine packet loss has exceeded threshold and may notify the gNodeB/DNAC ….. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Vimal with the teachings of Sina to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein sending assistance information based on a change in the measured jitter amount or range associated with the at least one flow; more reliable communication can be carried out in the communication system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see PTO-892 form for considered prior arts for record.
Reference Youn (US Pub. No. 2022/0322152 A1) teaches regarding receiving a QoS (Quality of Service) rule from a SMF (Session Management Function); performing measurement of performance of a target QoS flow for the SDF, with a UPF (User Plane Function), wherein based on a reflective QoS being not used for the SDF, the QoS rule includes downlink QoS information on the target QoS flow, wherein the target QoS flow is a QoS flow used by the UE to receive a downlink packet for the SDF; see abstract..
Reference Claeson et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0086684 A1) teaches regarding the QoS monitoring configuration may indicate a latency timer. The latency timer may also be denoted a latency time window. The value of the latency timer may be dependent on one or more characteristics of QoS flows or IP packet flows associated with the application, wherein the one or more characteristics are at least one of a 5G QoS identifier, a QoS flow identifier, a resource type, a packet error rate, a packet delay budget, a survival time and a jitter. The resource type indicates whether a QoS flow is of the type guaranteed bit rate (GBR), delay-critical GBR, or non-GBR flow. The definition of packet error rate and packet delay budget are different for GBR and delay-critical GBR resource types. Furthermore, the survival time can be the time period that an application consuming a communication service may continue without an anticipated message; see [0087].
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PARTH PATEL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2479
/PARTH PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2479
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