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 .
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 12, 13, 15, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Li et al. (US Publication 2024/0357691) in view of Wang et al. (US Publication 2024/0397357) disclosed in PCT/CN21/133651.
Regarding claim 12, Li teaches a remote user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:
a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to: (i.e. fig. 12 shows a network terminal comprising a processor, memory and transceiver for executing programmed instructions; see paragraphs 165 - 168)
generate a measurement report for discovery that includes a serving relay UE source Layer 2 (L2) identifier (ID), of a serving relay UE that serves the remote UE, and a candidate relay UE source L2 ID, for each candidate relay UE of a set of candidate relay UEs; and transmit the measurement report. (i.e. fig. 6 of Li shows a remote UE may generate and transmit a measurement report to a gNB (see 1b), the remote UE reports IDs of one or more candidate relay UEs; see paragraph 101: the report may at least report a relay UE ID; see paragraph 102) (See Also; the measurement report may include L2 Identifiers of the candidate UEs; see paragraph 81)
Li does not explicitly teach the measurement report includes a serving relay UE source Layer 2 (L2) identifier (ID).
However, Wang teaches generate a measurement report for discovery that includes a serving relay UE source Layer 2 (L2) identifier (ID), of a serving relay UE that serves the remote UE, and a candidate relay UE source L2 ID, for each candidate relay UE of a set of candidate relay UEs; and transmit the measurement report. (i.e. fig. 6 of Wang shows a remote UE, via a Relay (Serving) UE, may generate and transmit a measurement report to a gNB, the measurement report may include at least the serving relay UE U2N ID (L2 ID); see paragraph 164) (i.e. See Also; the remote UE can also be configured to report candidate relay information to the gNB including L2ID of candidate relays; see paragraphs 170 - 174)
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the time the invention was filed to include the relay UE L2 ID in the measurement report of Wang into the measurement report of Li. Both Li and Wang disclose a remote User Equipment (UE) with that generates and transmits sidelink (SL) measurement reports. Li explicitly teaches generating a measurement report that includes L2 IDs of one or more candidate and a relay UE ID and Wang discloses including a "U2N Relay UE ID" and candidate cell information in the SL measurement report. A POSITA (Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art) would understand that a "U2N Relay UE ID" in a serving context encompasses the serving relay UE's L2 ID.
A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to Li as including both the serving relay ID and the candidate relay IDs in a single report—is a predictable design choice. It allows the network or the UE to compare the current serving relay against candidate options using standard reporting techniques. It yields no unpredictable results.
Regarding claim 13, Li teaches the remote UE of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are configured to switch from an indirect path that includes the serving relay UE to a direct path after receiving a reconfiguration message. (fig. 6 shows the gNB may transmit a RRC reconfiguration based upon the measurement report from the remote UE, wherein the gNB decides the reconfiguration being direct (remote UE to gNB directly) or indirect (remote UE to gNB via a target UE relay (candidate or existing)); see paragraphs 103, 104)
Regarding claim 15, Li teaches a network entity for wireless communication, comprising:
a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to: (i.e. fig. 12 shows a network terminal comprising a processor, memory and transceiver for executing programmed instructions; see paragraphs 165 - 168)
receive a measurement report for discovery that includes a serving relay user equipment (UE) source Layer 2 (L2) identifier (ID), of a serving relay UE that serves a remote UE, and a candidate relay UE source L2 ID, for each candidate relay UE for the remote UE; (i.e. fig. 6 of Li shows a remote UE may generate and transmit a measurement report to a gNB (see 1b), the remote UE reports IDs of one or more candidate relay UEs; see paragraph 101: the report may at least report a relay UE ID; see paragraph 102) (See Also; the measurement report may include L2 Identifiers of the candidate UEs; see paragraph 81)
and
transmit a reconfiguration message to switch the remote UE from an indirect path to a direct path based at least in part on the serving relay UE source L2 ID in consideration of the candidate relay source L2 ID for each candidate relay UE. (fig. 6 shows the gNB may transmit a RRC reconfiguration based upon the measurement report from the remote UE, wherein the gNB decides the reconfiguration being direct (remote UE to gNB directly) or indirect (remote UE to gNB via a target UE relay (candidate or existing)); see paragraphs 103, 104)
Li does not explicitly teach the measurement report includes a serving relay UE source Layer 2 (L2) identifier (ID).
However, Wang teaches generate a measurement report for discovery that includes a serving relay UE source Layer 2 (L2) identifier (ID), of a serving relay UE that serves the remote UE, and a candidate relay UE source L2 ID, for each candidate relay UE of a set of candidate relay UEs; and transmit the measurement report. (i.e. fig. 6 of Wang shows a remote UE, via a Relay (Serving) UE, may generate and transmit a measurement report to a gNB, the measurement report may include at least the serving relay UE U2N ID (L2 ID); see paragraph 164) (i.e. See Also; the remote UE can also be configured to report candidate relay information to the gNB including L2ID of candidate relays; see paragraphs 170 - 174)
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the time the invention was filed to include the relay UE L2 ID in the measurement report of Wang into the measurement report of Li. Both Li and Wang disclose a remote User Equipment (UE) with that generates and transmits sidelink (SL) measurement reports. Li explicitly teaches generating a measurement report that includes L2 IDs of one or more candidate and a relay UE ID and Wang discloses including a "U2N Relay UE ID" and candidate cell information in the SL measurement report. A POSITA (Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art) would understand that a "U2N Relay UE ID" in a serving context encompasses the serving relay UE's L2 ID.
A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to Li as including both the serving relay ID and the candidate relay IDs in a single report—is a predictable design choice. It allows the network or the UE to compare the current serving relay against candidate options using standard reporting techniques. It yields no unpredictable results.
Regarding claim 16, Li teaches the network entity of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive, via a sidelink UE information message, a relay UE source L2 ID for discovery from a relay UE that is in a connected state. (i.e. fig. 6 shows that a relay UE may indicate the L2ID when it is connected state (element 9); see paragraphs 110, 111)
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) 17, 18, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al. (US Publication 2025/0071846) disclosed CN (202210019042.4) (machine translation).
Regarding claim 17, Li teaches a remote user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:
a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to: (i.e. fig. 9 shows a UE comprising a processor, memory and transceiver for executing programmed instructions; see paragraphs 156, 157)
generate a message that includes a remote UE source Layer 2 (L2) identifier (ID) if the remote UE is in a connected state; and transmit the message. (i.e. fig. 6 shows a UE may generate and send a message to the network the message including an L2-ID of a remote UE when the remote UE is connected to the UE; see paragraph 133)
Regarding claim 18, Li teaches the remote UE of claim 17, wherein the message is a sidelink UE information message to a network entity. (i.e. the message is a SidelinkUEInformationNR to a network entity; see paragraphs 133)
Regarding claim 20, Li teaches the remote UE of claim 17, wherein the one or more processors are configured to switch, after receiving a reconfiguration message, from a direct path to a network entity to an indirect path to the network entity that includes a relay UE. (i.e. fig. 3 shows the purpose of transmitting information to the network in this context is to decide whether a UE relay or whether direct communication is permitted based upon network information and RRC reconfiguration message sending the configuration based upon network information; see paragraphs 89, 90)
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 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Li et al. (US Publication 2025/0071846) in view of Pan et al. (US Patent 11,601,997).
Regarding claim 19, Li discloses all the recited limitations of claim 17 as described previously from which claim 19 depends. Li does not teach wherein the message is a PC5 message to a relay UE.
However, Pan teaches wherein the message is a PC5 message to a relay
UE. (i.e. Pan discloses a remote UE may transmit its layer 2 ID to a relay UE via a PC5 signaling message; see column 31, lines 24 - 35)
It would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the art before the time the invention was filed to transmit L2ID information to the relay UE of Kang into Li. Both Kang and Li teach UE relay configuration messages.
A person with ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make the modification to Li to improve network performance by direct Layer 2 ID information transfer.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 21 and 22 allowed.
Claim 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.
Conclusion
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ROBERT J. LOPATA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/ROBERT J LOPATA/
August 25, 2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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