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 .
Status of the Application
This Office action is in response to the amendment and remarks filed 08/03/2026. Claims 1-15 have been amended; no claims have been added or cancelled. Claims 1-15 are pending and are examined herein. Applicant’s amendment of independent claims 1, 5, 9 and 13 to recite second information indicating whether to maintain the conditional handover configuration information after performing a handover and a handover execution condition determined based on a height and a flight speed, together with the amendment of dependent claims 2-4, 6-8, 10-12, 14 and 15, necessitated the new ground of rejection presented in this Office action. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant contends that “Yiu is silent regarding whether the conditional handover configuration information is maintained or deleted after completion of the handover, as recited in Claim 1.” (Remarks, page 13, paragraph 2), that “Claim 1 as amended requires that the first information on the handover execution condition be determined based on a height and a flight speed, conjunctively, and paragraph [0032] of Yiu does not disclose this element.” (Remarks, page 13, paragraph 3), that “Nor does Kalathil supply any reason to configure Yiu’s execution condition on a height and a flight speed.” (Remarks, page 16, paragraph 2), and, as to claims 5 and 13, that “Neither passage describes a base station that determines an execution condition from a height and a flight speed, and neither describes a base station that signals to the UE whether the conditional handover configuration is to be retained after the handover completes.” (Remarks, page 17, paragraph 2).
Applicant further contends that “The references do not share that problem.” (Remarks, page 16, paragraph 1) in challenging the prior Office action’s reason for combining Yiu with Kalathil. The Examiner has considered these arguments. The new ground of rejection below does not rely on Kalathil at all. It relies on Yiu only for teachings Applicant does not dispute: the UE receives a conditional handover configuration by RRC signaling and evaluates its execution condition before initiating the handover (Yiu, para [0122] “receiving location information to indicate a region for triggering a conditional handover to a target cell”; Yiu, para [0124] “initiating a handover to the target cell based on the determination”), the gNB determines that configuration and encodes it for the UE (Yiu, para [0126] “encoding, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the conditional handover configuration to instruct the UE to initiate a handover to the target cell”), and, for claims 4, 8, 12 and 15, the location-based measurement report configuration. The two teachings Applicant challenges come from Wang and Ishii, as explained below, so Applicant’s arguments about what Yiu alone does not teach do not reach the rejection.
Ishii supplies the second information. Ishii teaches that the message configuring the conditional handover carries an indicator of whether the configuration is kept or released after the handover (Ishii, para [0243], “a signalling message to configure the conditional handover may comprise an indicator to indicate whether the conditional handover configuration provided in the message may be kept or needs to be released after executing a handover”), that the terminal uses that information element to decide whether to keep or release the configuration (Ishii, para [0260], “the wireless terminal may use the information element as a criterion to decide whether to keep or release the conditional handover configuration(s) upon/after a handover execution”), and that the gNodeB generates and transmits the message with the indication (Ishii, para [0257], “Act 58-2 comprises generating the reconfiguration message as comprising one or more conditional handover configurations and, for one or more of the conditional handover configurations, the indication whether or not the reconfiguration message is provided as a full format configuration. Act 58-3 comprises transmitting the reconfiguration message including the indication to the wireless terminal.”). The message is an RRCReconfiguration message (Ishii, para [0245], “Typically messages with information elements for configuring handovers are included in a RRCReconfiguration message”). This is what Applicant says Yiu lacks, on both the UE side and the base station side.
Wang supplies the height and the flight speed. Wang generates the conditional handover configuration of an aerial vehicle terminal from the terminal’s flight-related parameters, and names the flight height and the flight speed as those parameters (Wang, para [0089], “includes at least one of the following: a flight height parameter, a flight speed, a flight periodicity, a flight path, and the like”). The conditional handover configuration is the condition for the handover (Wang, para [0089], “The conditional handover configuration indicates a condition corresponding to handover of the terminal from the first cell to each candidate cell”). Each value or range of a parameter has its own configuration, and the measurement event and threshold differ by height (Wang, para [0097], “a measurement event and a measurement threshold in the candidate conditional handover configuration may be different based on heights”). Wang’s worked examples use height. Applicant’s point that the claim requires height and flight speed together does not distinguish the combination, because Wang names both as inputs for the same purpose and generates the configuration from more than one flight-related parameter at once (Wang, para [0120], “when the flight path information includes both the flight height parameter and the flight point information, candidate conditional handover configuration groups corresponding to different height parameters of all flight points in the preset flight path are generated in advance”). Using both of two parameters that Wang lists for that purpose is a choice among a few known options with predictable results. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, “determined based on a height and a flight speed” requires only that both be inputs to the determination. The Examiner relies on Wang, not Kalathil, for this teaching, so Applicant’s arguments about Kalathil’s beam-scanning parameter set are directed to a reference no longer applied.
As to claims 5 and 13, Wang’s access network device generates the conditional handover configuration group from the flight-related parameters and sends it to the terminal by RRC signaling (Wang, para [0087], “An access network device generates a candidate conditional handover configuration group, where the candidate conditional handover configuration group includes one or more candidate conditional handover configurations, and the one or more candidate conditional handover configurations correspond to at least one flight-related parameter of a terminal”; Wang, para [0121], “the access network device of the first cell may send the candidate conditional handover configuration group to the terminal by using radio resource control (RRC) dedicated signaling”), and Ishii’s gNodeB generates and transmits the message carrying the keep-or-release indication, as quoted above. The base station limitations of claims 5 and 13 are met by the combination.
The reason for combining Yiu with Kalathil is no longer relied on, because Kalathil is no longer applied. The reasons for combining Yiu with Wang and with Ishii are stated in the rejection below. Yiu’s conditional handover is not limited to a non-terrestrial network; the non-terrestrial gNB is only an example (Yiu, para [0125] “the process 900 may be performed by a gNB or a portion thereof, such as a gNB of a non-terrestrial network”). Yiu’s execution condition may include the A3 and A5 measurement events (Yiu, para [0032] “the execution condition may include one or both of A3 and A5 events and the location”), and Wang teaches that an aerial terminal’s handover trigger conditions should differ with its height because the cell topology it sees changes with height (Wang, para [0093], “Therefore, trigger conditions of handover should be different.”).
Applicant’s remaining arguments for the dependent claims rest on their dependency from claims 1, 5, 9 and 13 and are answered above.
Because the amended claims recite limitations that were not present in the claims examined in the prior Office action, the rejection of claims 1-15 over Yiu in view of Kalathil is withdrawn, and a new ground of rejection over Yiu in view of Wang and further in view of Ishii, necessitated by Applicant’s amendment, is set forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yiu (US 2021/0227442 A1) in view of Wang (US 2022/0338090 A1) and further in view of Ishii (WO 2021/090626 A1).
Regarding claim 1, (Currently Amended) Yiu discloses: receiving, from a base station, a first radio resource control (RRC) message including conditional handover configuration information, wherein the conditional handover configuration information includes first information on a handover execution condition, because Yiu teaches a UE receiving, by RRC signaling from the gNB, a conditional handover configuration whose location information is the condition for triggering the conditional handover: (Yiu, para [0122] “receiving location information to indicate a region for triggering a conditional handover to a target cell”; Yiu, para [0161] “the location information is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling”; Yiu, para [0126] “encoding, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the conditional handover configuration to instruct the UE to initiate a handover to the target cell”; Yiu, para [0032] “the execution condition may include one or both of A3 and A5 events and the location”).
Moreover, Yiu discloses: identifying whether a target cell satisfies the handover execution condition, based on the first information, because Yiu teaches the UE determining from the location information that it is within the configured distance of the target cell, which satisfies the execution condition for that cell: (Yiu, para [0123] “the UE may determine that it is within the distance of the location by determining a distance between the coordinates of the UE and the coordinates of the location indicated in the conditional handover configuration”; Yiu, para [0032] “When the UE measures its location and the coordinate of the target cell, if distance is less than configured distance, the UE triggers handover”).
Furthermore, Yiu discloses: in case that the target cell satisfies the handover execution condition, performing the handover to the target cell, because Yiu teaches initiating the handover to the target cell on that determination, by random access on the target cell: (Yiu, para [0124] “initiating a handover to the target cell based on the determination”; Yiu, para [0124] “initiating the handover may include performing a random access channel (RACH) procedure on the target cell”).
Although Yiu teaches the conditional handover configured by RRC signaling and executed by the UE once the execution condition is satisfied: (Yiu, para [0032], para [0122], para [0124]), Yiu does not explicitly disclose that the method is performed by an aerial UE, or that the first information on the handover execution condition is determined based on a height and a flight speed.
However, Yiu in view of Wang discloses A method performed by an aerial user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: because Wang teaches a communication method performed by a terminal in flight, an uncrewed aerial vehicle terminal, that receives its conditional handover configurations from the access network device of its serving cell (Wang, para [0006], “Embodiments of this application provide a communication method and an apparatus, so that a terminal in flight completes cell handover more quickly and accurately based on a flight-related parameter”; Wang, para [0092], “an uncrewed aerial vehicle terminal UAV is used as an example of the terminal in flight”; Wang, para [0124], “The terminal receives the candidate conditional handover configuration group from the access network device of the first cell”).
Moreover, Wang discloses wherein the first information on the handover execution condition is determined based on a height and a flight speed because Wang teaches that the conditional handover configuration, which is the condition for handing the terminal over to a candidate cell, is generated from the terminal’s flight-related parameters; that those parameters include the flight height and the flight speed; that each value or range of a parameter has its own configuration, with the measurement event and threshold differing by height; and that the configuration is generated from more than one flight-related parameter at once (Wang, para [0089], “includes at least one of the following: a flight height parameter, a flight speed, a flight periodicity, a flight path, and the like”; Wang, para [0089], “The conditional handover configuration indicates a condition corresponding to handover of the terminal from the first cell to each candidate cell”; Wang, para [0089], “each different value, range, or category may correspond to a different conditional handover configuration”; Wang, para [0097], “a measurement event and a measurement threshold in the candidate conditional handover configuration may be different based on heights”; Wang, para [0120], “when the flight path information includes both the flight height parameter and the flight point information, candidate conditional handover configuration groups corresponding to different height parameters of all flight points in the preset flight path are generated in advance”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Yiu’s RRC-configured conditional handover to Wang’s aerial UE and to determine Yiu’s execution condition from the aerial UE’s flight height and flight speed as Wang teaches, because Wang explains that the cell topology an aerial terminal sees changes with height, so its handover trigger conditions should differ, and that generating the conditional handover configuration from the terminal’s flight-related parameters lets it complete cell handover more quickly and accurately. Yiu’s execution condition may already include the A3 and A5 measurement events, which are what Wang varies with height. Choosing the flight height and the flight speed together from Wang’s short list of flight-related parameters is a choice among a few known options, and both references configure the execution condition by signaling from the network, so the result would have been predictable.
Even though Yiu in view of Wang teaches the first RRC message carrying the conditional handover configuration information including the first information on the handover execution condition: (Yiu, para [0122], para [0161], Wang, para [0121]), Yiu in view of Wang does not explicitly disclose that the first RRC message further includes second information indicating whether to maintain the conditional handover configuration information after performing a handover.
Nevertheless, Yiu in view of Wang and further in view of Ishii discloses wherein the first RRC message further includes second information indicating whether to maintain the conditional handover configuration information after performing a handover because Ishii teaches that the message configuring the conditional handover carries an indicator of whether the configuration in that message may be kept or must be released after a handover (Ishii, para [0243], “a signalling message to configure the conditional handover may comprise an indicator to indicate whether the conditional handover configuration provided in the message may be kept or needs to be released after executing a handover”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include Ishii’s indicator of whether the conditional handover configuration may be kept or must be released after a handover in the conditional handover RRC message of Yiu in view of Wang, because Ishii explains that a stored conditional handover configuration not used by the executed handover can then stay valid for a later conditional handover instead of being reconfigured, which suits Wang’s aerial UE that keeps selecting a next target cell from its configuration group after each handover, while a configuration that cannot be kept is released. Ishii carries the indicator in the same RRCReconfiguration message that carries the conditional handover configurations, so adding the flag to the RRC message of Yiu in view of Wang would have been predictable.
Regarding claim 2, which depends on claim 1, (Currently Amended) Yiu in view of Wang discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the handover execution condition is determined based on a signal quality for each height range and flight speed range, as Wang further discloses height ranges each with its own conditional handover configuration, a configuration whose condition is a base station signal strength against a threshold, per-range configurations that may be partially the same, and the flight speed as a flight-related parameter of the same kind, each of whose values or ranges has its own configuration (Wang, para [0097], “Three height ranges are generated based on the two thresholds, and each height range corresponds to one candidate conditional handover configuration”; Wang, para [0097], “the measurement event is a base station signal strength, and the measurement threshold is Q”; Wang, para [0097], “The candidate conditional handover configuration corresponding to each height range may be completely different, or may be partially the same”; Wang, para [0089], “includes at least one of the following: a flight height parameter, a flight speed, a flight periodicity, a flight path, and the like”; Wang, para [0089], “each different value, range, or category may correspond to a different conditional handover configuration”).
Regarding claim 3, which depends on claim 1, (Currently Amended) Yiu in view of Wang discloses The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the base station, a UE information request message; and as a response to the UE information request message, transmitting, to the base station, a UE information response message including flight path information of the aerial UE, as Wang further discloses a defined flight path request and report exchange: the network requests the flight path from the UAV, which is the UE information request message, and the UAV reports it by uploading its flight path information to the access network device, which is the UE information response message (Wang, para [0004], “flight path requesting and reporting are defined, to assist a network in determining the best serving cell/base station”; Wang, para [0103], “the UAV may report a flight path based on a request of a network”; Wang, para [0104], “the UAV uploads flight path information (mainly including flight point information) of the UAV”).
Regarding claim 4, which depends on claim 1, (Currently Amended) Yiu discloses The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the base station, a second RRC message including measurement event configuration information for triggering the aerial UE to report a measurement result; and based on the measurement event configuration information, transmitting, to the base station, a report of the measurement result, wherein the measurement event configuration information is determined based on at least one of a location of the aerial UE, a distance between the aerial UE and the base station, or a region, as Yiu further discloses the network configuring the UE with a measurement report configuration, separate from the conditional handover configuration, that defines a geographic area, i.e., a region, and instructs the UE to send a measurement report when it enters or leaves that area; the UE sends the report when it is within the configured distance of the location; and Yiu’s measurement events are those of 3GPP TS 38.331, the RRC protocol specification (Yiu, para [0031] “the network configures measurement configuration to the UE”; Yiu, para [0120] “encoding, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), a measurement report configuration to indicate a geographic area to instruct the UE to send a measurement report when the UE enters the area or leaves the area”; Yiu, para [0128] “receiving a measurement report configuration to indicate a location and an associated distance; determining that the UE is within the distance of the location; and sending a measurement report based on the determination”; Yiu, para [0033] “The A3 and A5 event conditions from 3GPP TS 38.331, V15.8.0, Sections 5.5.4.4 and 5.5.4.6, are provided below”).
Regarding claim 5, (Currently Amended) Yiu discloses: A method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:, because Yiu teaches a process performed by the gNB of the network: (Yiu, para [0125] “the process 900 may be performed by a gNB or a portion thereof”).
Moreover, Yiu discloses: wherein the conditional handover configuration information includes first information on a handover execution condition, because Yiu teaches the gNB determining a conditional handover configuration whose location and distance are the condition for triggering the conditional handover: (Yiu, para [0125] “determining a conditional handover configuration including a location and an associated distance for triggering a conditional handover to a target cell”; Yiu, para [0032] “the execution condition may include one or both of A3 and A5 events and the location”).
Furthermore, Yiu discloses: wherein the handover is performed based on the first information, because Yiu teaches that the configuration instructs the UE to initiate the handover on the basis of the determination that the UE is within the configured distance of the location: (Yiu, para [0126] “the conditional handover configuration to instruct the UE to initiate a handover to the target cell based on a determination that the UE is within the distance of the location”).
Although Yiu teaches the gNB determining the conditional handover configuration and encoding it for transmission to the UE: (Yiu, para [0125], para [0126]), Yiu does not explicitly disclose transmitting the first RRC message to an aerial UE, or that the first information on the handover execution condition is determined based on a height and a flight speed.
Nevertheless, Yiu in view of Wang discloses transmitting, to an aerial user equipment (UE), a first radio resource control (RRC) message including conditional handover configuration information because Wang teaches the access network device sending the conditional handover configuration group to the terminal in flight, exemplified by an uncrewed aerial vehicle terminal, by RRC dedicated signaling (Wang, para [0121], “the access network device of the first cell may send the candidate conditional handover configuration group to the terminal by using radio resource control (RRC) dedicated signaling”; Wang, para [0092], “an uncrewed aerial vehicle terminal UAV is used as an example of the terminal in flight”).
In addition, Wang discloses wherein the first information on the handover execution condition is determined based on a height and a flight speed because Wang teaches that the conditional handover configuration, which is the condition for handing the terminal over to a candidate cell, is generated from the terminal’s flight-related parameters; that those parameters include the flight height and the flight speed; that each value or range of a parameter has its own configuration, with the measurement event and threshold differing by height; and that the configuration is generated from more than one flight-related parameter at once (Wang, para [0089], “includes at least one of the following: a flight height parameter, a flight speed, a flight periodicity, a flight path, and the like”; Wang, para [0089], “The conditional handover configuration indicates a condition corresponding to handover of the terminal from the first cell to each candidate cell”; Wang, para [0089], “each different value, range, or category may correspond to a different conditional handover configuration”; Wang, para [0097], “a measurement event and a measurement threshold in the candidate conditional handover configuration may be different based on heights”; Wang, para [0120], “when the flight path information includes both the flight height parameter and the flight point information, candidate conditional handover configuration groups corresponding to different height parameters of all flight points in the preset flight path are generated in advance”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have Yiu’s gNB transmit its RRC conditional handover configuration to Wang’s aerial UE and to determine the execution condition in that configuration from the aerial UE’s flight height and flight speed as Wang teaches, because Wang explains that the cell topology an aerial terminal sees changes with height, so its handover trigger conditions should differ, and that generating the conditional handover configuration from the terminal’s flight-related parameters lets it complete cell handover more quickly and accurately. Yiu’s execution condition may already include the A3 and A5 measurement events, which are what Wang varies with height. Choosing the flight height and the flight speed together from Wang’s short list of flight-related parameters is a choice among a few known options, and both references configure the execution condition by signaling from the network, so the result would have been predictable.
Even though Yiu in view of Wang teaches the base station transmitting the first RRC message carrying the conditional handover configuration information: (Yiu, para [0126], Wang, para [0121]), Yiu in view of Wang does not explicitly disclose that the first RRC message further includes second information indicating whether to maintain the conditional handover configuration information after performing a handover.
Nonetheless, Yiu in view of Wang and further in view of Ishii discloses wherein the first RRC message further includes second information indicating whether to maintain the conditional handover configuration information after performing a handover because Ishii teaches that the message configuring the conditional handover carries an indicator of whether the configuration in that message may be kept or must be released after a handover (Ishii, para [0243], “a signalling message to configure the conditional handover may comprise an indicator to indicate whether the conditional handover configuration provided in the message may be kept or needs to be released after executing a handover”).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include Ishii’s indicator of whether the conditional handover configuration may be kept or must be released after a handover in the conditional handover RRC message transmitted by the base station of Yiu in view of Wang, because Ishii explains that a stored conditional handover configuration not used by the executed handover can then stay valid for a later conditional handover instead of being reconfigured, which suits Wang’s aerial UE that keeps selecting a next target cell from its configuration group after each handover, while a configuration that cannot be kept is released. Ishii’s gNodeB carries the indicator in the same RRCReconfiguration message that carries the conditional handover configurations, so adding the flag to the RRC message of Yiu in view of Wang would have been predictable.
Regarding claim 6, which depends on claim 5, (Currently Amended) Yiu in view of Wang discloses The method of claim 5, wherein the handover execution condition is determined based on a signal quality for each height range and flight speed range, as Wang further discloses height ranges each with its own conditional handover configuration, a configuration whose condition is a base station signal strength against a threshold, per-range configurations that may be partially the same, and the flight speed as a flight-related parameter of the same kind, each of whose values or ranges has its own configuration (Wang, para [0097], “Three height ranges are generated based on the two thresholds, and each height range corresponds to one candidate conditional handover configuration”; Wang, para [0097], “the measurement event is a base station signal strength, and the measurement threshold is Q”; Wang, para [0097], “The candidate conditional handover configuration corresponding to each height range may be completely different, or may be partially the same”; Wang, para [0089], “includes at least one of the following: a flight height parameter, a flight speed, a flight periodicity, a flight path, and the like”; Wang, para [0089], “each different value, range, or category may correspond to a different conditional handover configuration”).
Regarding claim 7, which depends on claim 5, (Currently Amended) Yiu in view of Wang discloses The method of claim 5, further comprising: transmitting, to the aerial UE, a UE information request message; and as a response to the UE information request message, receiving, from the aerial UE, a UE information response message including flight path information of the aerial UE, as Wang further discloses a defined flight path request and report exchange: the network requests the flight path from the UAV, which is the UE information request message, and receives the UAV’s report, the UAV uploading its flight path information to the access network device, which is the UE information response message (Wang, para [0004], “flight path requesting and reporting are defined, to assist a network in determining the best serving cell/base station”; Wang, para [0103], “the UAV may report a flight path based on a request of a network”; Wang, para [0104], “the UAV uploads flight path information (mainly including flight point information) of the UAV”).
Regarding claim 8, which depends on claim 5, (Currently Amended) Yiu discloses The method of claim 5, further comprising: transmitting, to the aerial UE, a second RRC message including measurement event configuration information for triggering the aerial UE to report a measurement result; and based on the measurement event configuration information, receiving, from the aerial UE, a report of the measurement result, wherein the measurement event configuration information is determined based on at least one of a location of the aerial UE, a distance between the aerial UE and the base station, or a region, as Yiu further discloses the gNB configuring the UE with a measurement report configuration, separate from the conditional handover configuration, that defines a geographic area, i.e., a region, and instructs the UE to send a measurement report when it enters or leaves that area; the gNB then receives the report sent under that configuration; and Yiu’s measurement events are those of 3GPP TS 38.331, the RRC protocol specification (Yiu, para [0120] “encoding, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), a measurement report configuration to indicate a geographic area to instruct the UE to send a measurement report when the UE enters the area or leaves the area”; Yiu, para [0121] “receiving the measurement report from the UE based on the measurement report configuration”; Yiu, para [0146] “the measurement report configuration indicates a location and an associated distance to define the geographic area”; Yiu, para [0033] “The A3 and A5 event conditions from 3GPP TS 38.331, V15.8.0, Sections 5.5.4.4 and 5.5.4.6, are provided below”).
Regarding claim 9, (Currently Amended) the claim recites: An aerial user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the aerial UE comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals; and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to: receive, from a base station, a first radio resource control (RRC) message including conditional handover configuration information, wherein the conditional handover configuration information includes first information on a handover execution condition, and wherein the first RRC message further includes second information indicating whether to maintain the conditional handover configuration information after performing a handover, identify whether a target cell satisfies the handover execution condition, based on the first information, and in case that the target cell satisfies the handover execution condition, perform the handover to the target cell, wherein the first information on the handover execution condition is determined based on a height and a flight speed. Claim 9 is analogous to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons.
As to the transceiver and the controller recited in claim 9, Yiu’s UE has transmit circuitry, receive circuitry and antenna panels, which transmit and receive signals, and protocol processing circuitry with control circuitry that controls those components and runs the UE’s RRC operations (Yiu, para [0106] “The modem platform 310 may further include transmit circuitry 318, receive circuitry 320, RF circuitry 322, and RF front end (RFFE) 324, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 326”; Yiu, para [0107] “the protocol processing circuitry 314 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components”; Yiu, para [0104] “The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 314 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations”).
Regarding claim 10, which depends on claim 9, (Currently Amended) the claim recites: The aerial UE of claim 9, wherein the handover execution condition is determined based on a signal quality for each height range and flight speed range. Claim 10 is analogous to claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 11, which depends on claim 9, (Currently Amended) the claim recites: The aerial UE of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to: receive, from the base station, a UE information request message, and as a response to the UE information request message, transmit, to the base station, a UE information response message including flight path information of the aerial UE. Claim 11 is analogous to claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 12, which depends on claim 9, (Currently Amended) the claim recites: The aerial UE of claim 9, wherein the controller is configured to: receive, from the base station, a second RRC message including measurement event configuration information for triggering the aerial UE to report a measurement result, and based on the measurement event configuration information, transmit, to the base station, a report of the measurement result, wherein the measurement event configuration information is determined based on at least one of a location of the aerial UE, a distance between the aerial UE and the base station, or a region. Claim 12 is analogous to claim 4 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 13, (Currently Amended) the claim recites: A base station in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising: a transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals; and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to: transmit, to an aerial user equipment (UE), a first radio resource control (RRC) message including conditional handover configuration information, wherein the conditional handover configuration information includes first information on a handover execution condition, wherein the first RRC message further includes second information indicating whether to maintain the conditional handover configuration information after performing a handover, wherein the handover is performed based on the first information, and wherein the first information on the handover execution condition is determined based on a height and a flight speed. Claim 13 is analogous to claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons.
As to the transceiver and the controller recited in claim 13, Yiu’s access node has transmit circuitry, receive circuitry and antenna panels, which transmit and receive signals, and application processing circuitry coupled with protocol processing circuitry; its components are interchangeable with the like-named UE components, whose protocol processing circuitry includes control circuitry for the transmit and receive components (Yiu, para [0110] “The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 336, transmit circuitry 338, receive circuitry 340, RF circuitry 342, RFFE circuitry 344, and antenna panels 346”; Yiu, para [0110] “The host platform 328 may include application processing circuitry 332 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 334 of the modem platform 330”; Yiu, para [0110] “The components of the AN 304 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components of the UE 302”; Yiu, para [0107] “the protocol processing circuitry 314 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components”).
Regarding claim 14, which depends on claim 13, (Currently Amended) Yiu in view of Wang discloses The base station of claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to: transmit, to the aerial UE, a UE information request message, and as a response to the UE information request message, receive, from the aerial UE, a UE information response message including flight path information of the aerial UE, as Wang further discloses a defined flight path request and report exchange: the network requests the flight path from the UAV, which is the UE information request message, and receives the UAV’s report, the UAV uploading its flight path information to the access network device, which is the UE information response message (Wang, para [0004], “flight path requesting and reporting are defined, to assist a network in determining the best serving cell/base station”; Wang, para [0103], “the UAV may report a flight path based on a request of a network”; Wang, para [0104], “the UAV uploads flight path information (mainly including flight point information) of the UAV”).
In addition, Yiu in view of Wang discloses wherein the handover execution condition is determined based on a signal quality for each height range and flight speed range, as Wang further discloses height ranges each with its own conditional handover configuration, a configuration whose condition is a base station signal strength against a threshold, per-range configurations that may be partially the same, and the flight speed as a flight-related parameter of the same kind, each of whose values or ranges has its own configuration (Wang, para [0097], “Three height ranges are generated based on the two thresholds, and each height range corresponds to one candidate conditional handover configuration”; Wang, para [0097], “the measurement event is a base station signal strength, and the measurement threshold is Q”; Wang, para [0097], “The candidate conditional handover configuration corresponding to each height range may be completely different, or may be partially the same”; Wang, para [0089], “includes at least one of the following: a flight height parameter, a flight speed, a flight periodicity, a flight path, and the like”; Wang, para [0089], “each different value, range, or category may correspond to a different conditional handover configuration”).
Regarding claim 15, which depends on claim 14, (Currently Amended) Yiu discloses The base station of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to: transmit, to the aerial UE, a second RRC message including measurement event configuration information for triggering the aerial UE to report a measurement result, and based on the measurement event configuration information, receive, from the aerial UE, a report of the measurement result, wherein the measurement event configuration information is determined based on at least one of a location of the aerial UE, a distance between the aerial UE and the base station, or a region, as Yiu further discloses the gNB configuring the UE with a measurement report configuration, separate from the conditional handover configuration, that defines a geographic area, i.e., a region, and instructs the UE to send a measurement report when it enters or leaves that area; the gNB then receives the report sent under that configuration; and Yiu’s measurement events are those of 3GPP TS 38.331, the RRC protocol specification (Yiu, para [0120] “encoding, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), a measurement report configuration to indicate a geographic area to instruct the UE to send a measurement report when the UE enters the area or leaves the area”; Yiu, para [0121] “receiving the measurement report from the UE based on the measurement report configuration”; Yiu, para [0146] “the measurement report configuration indicates a location and an associated distance to define the geographic area”; Yiu, para [0033] “The A3 and A5 event conditions from 3GPP TS 38.331, V15.8.0, Sections 5.5.4.4 and 5.5.4.6, are provided below”).
Conclusion
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.
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/CHONGSUH PARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
