CTNF 18/728,728 CTNF 80551 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 07-15 AIA Claim (s) 1-5, 7, 10-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Cai et al. (US Publication 2020/0205169 A1) . In regards to claims 1 and 10, Cai et al. (US Publication 2020/0205169 A1) teaches, a method performed by a network node (see figure 16 and paragraph 87 for the flow chart illustrating a method 1600 of scheduling radio resources and paragraph 56 and figure 7 for network element; Access network element 700 comprises any node or collection of nodes of an access network (e.g., RAN 122 or WLAN 126), such as a base station 123) , to handle radio resources for an upcoming first technology transmission between the network node and a first technology device in a wireless communications network (see paragraph 43; Communication network 100 is illustrated as providing communication services to devices 110-111 (along with other devices not shown) located within the same cell. Device 110 is enabled for M2M/MTC services, and is referred to as MTC device 110) , which radio resources are shared between first technology transmissions and second technology transmissions (see paragraph 55; effective sharing of radio resources in a cell between Cat-M1 traffic and legacy LTE traffic is a concern for network operators. Embodiments described herein provide for an enhanced scheduling mechanism for sharing radio resources between MTC (e.g., Cat-M1 transmissions) and non-MTC (i.e., legacy LTE transmissions) over the air interface, such as an LTE air interface) , wherein the first technology transmissions relate to transmissions that are bandwidth limited (see paragraph 55; MTC (e.g., Cat-M1 transmissions); paragraph 41; Cat-M1 (also referred to as LTE Cat 1.4 MHz)) , and wherein the second technology transmissions relate to any one or more out of: Long Term Evolution, LTE, and New Radio, NR, transmissions (see paragraph 55; non-MTC (legacy LTE) and see paragraph 40; Third Generation (3G), Fourth Generation (4G), or later generation network, such as a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network) , the method comprising: estimating first technology resources used for first technology transmissions in a shared radio resource (see paragraph 99; The requested MTC-On interval is a time period (i.e., number of TTIs) requested by scheduling mechanism 710. The MTC-On interval dynamically changes depending on MTC traffic load and observed MTC narrowband unitization. Scheduling mechanism 710 (i.e., MTC scheduler 712) estimates the MTC load with x TTIs before the next scheduling mechanism 710 window) , and determining whether or not one or more criteria related to the estimated first technology resources are fulfilled (see paragraph 99; the determining of the MTC load) , and when the one or more criteria are fulfilled, adjusting a priority order for the upcoming first technology transmission to be lower than a given priority order in the radio resource to be shared, which adjusted priority order is in favor for the second technology transmissions (see paragraph 99; If the current MTC load is not greater than the low threshold (such as 60%), then the requested MTC-On interval equals the current MTC-On interval minus the factor S) , and when the one or more criteria are not fulfilled, keeping the given specific priority order for the upcoming first technology transmission in the radio resource to be shared (see paragraph 99; If the current MTC load is greater than a low threshold (such as 60%), then the requested MTC-On interval equals the current MTC-On interval) . In regards to claims 2 and 11, Cai teaches, estimating second technology resources used for second technology transmissions in the shared radio resource, and wherein the estimating of the first technology resources used in first technology transmissions in the shared radio resource, comprises to further take the estimated second technology resources into consideration (see paragraphs 89-93; the legacy load determination; There are three MTC sharing modes defined herein: (1) low legacy load, where the legacy load is less than a low legacy load threshold; (2) mid-legacy load, where the legacy load is between the low legacy load threshold and a high legacy load threshold; and (3) high legacy load, where the legacy load is greater than the high legacy load threshold) . In regards to claim 3 and 12, Cai teaches, scheduling the upcoming first technology transmission according to the priority order given by the outcome of the determining of whether or not the one or more criteria related to the estimated first technology resources, was fulfilled (see figures 7 and 16 and paragraph 88; Scheduling mechanism 710 selects an MTC reservation pattern from pattern database 722 based on the input (step 1604). Scheduling mechanism 710 schedules MTC transmissions on the air interface based on the MTC reservation pattern, and schedules non-MTC transmissions on the air interface based on the MTC reservation pattern (step 1606). The scheduling may be based both on the MTC reservation pattern and a sharing pattern as described above. The MTC reservation pattern describes one or more MTC-On intervals and one or more MTC-Off intervals. Scheduling mechanism 710 may select a sharing pattern to use during an MTC-On interval of the MTC reservation pattern) . In regards to claims 4 and 13, Cai teaches, wherein the first technology transmissions relating to transmissions that are bandwidth limited, uses repeated transmissions (see figures 9-11 for the sharing patterns and paragraph 67; the MPDCCH is repeated over a plurality of sub-frames to allow a UE to determine the control information carried by the MPDCCH even in a poor coverage area) . In regards to claims 5 and 14, Cai teaches, wherein the one or more criteria related to the estimated first technology resources relate to any of:- a DL resource share (see paragraph 90; The MTC-On/MTC-Off intervals may apply to the DL narrowband used by the MPDCCH and PDSCH) , - a Signaling Radio Bearer zero, SRBO, share, - an UL resource share (see paragraph 90; The MTC-On/MTC-Off intervals may apply to the UL narrowband used by the PUSCH) . In regards to claims 7 and 16, Cai teaches, associating a first technology transmission type of the upcoming first technology transmission between the network node and the first technology device, with the radio resource to be shared (see paragraph 90; The MTC-On/MTC-Off intervals may apply to the DL narrowband used by the MPDCCH and PDSCH; The MTC-On/MTC-Off intervals may apply to the UL narrowband used by the PUSCH) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cai as applied to further in view of Harris (US Publication 2022/0287139 A1) . In regards to claims 6 and 15, Cai teaches all the limitations of the parent claims as stated above. Cai however fails to teach, wherein the one or more criteria are represented by three threshold parameters, comprising a threshold value for shared radio resources in any of:- Signaling Radio Bearer, SRB, 1 SRB2, and Data Radio Bearer, DRB, first technology resource Downlink, DL, - SRB1, SRB2 and DRB first technology resource Uplink, UL, - SRBO first technology resource DL, and DL DRBs. Harris however teaches, wherein the one or more criteria are represented by three threshold parameters, comprising a threshold value for shared radio resources in any of:- Signaling Radio Bearer, SRB, 1 SRB2, and Data Radio Bearer, DRB, first technology resource Downlink, DL, - SRB1, SRB2 and DRB first technology resource Uplink, UL (see paragraph 58; When the estimated load is above a threshold, the UE 110 delays a procedure for exiting non-connected mode. Thus, the UE 110 postpones sending of signaling messages on the control plane 414, which would be required for the UE 110 to exit non-connected mode, to avoid exacerbating a possible overload condition on the control plane 414; see paragraph 60; UL data 1032 may comprise MTC data; see paragraph 53 for the use of SRB1, SRB2 and DRB) , - SRBO first technology resource DL, and DL DRBs. Cai and Harris both relate to cellular/wireless communications. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the control plane monitoring as taught by Harris into the teachings of Cai. The motivation to do so would be to improve quality of service when a large number of MTC and non-MTC UEs are located within a cell. Relevant Prior Art Prior art Freda et al. (US Publication 2023/0180313 A1) teaches device to device relay connection establishment. Prior art Yang et al. (US Publication 2018/0205808 A1) teaches, the use of SRBs. For example: SRB0 that may be for RRC messages using the CCCH logical channel; SRB1 that may be for RRC messages (which may include a piggybacked NAS message) as well as for NAS messages prior to the establishment of SRB2, all using DCCH logical channel; and SRB2 that may be for RRC messages which include logged measurement information as well as for NAS messages, all using DCCH logical channel. SRB2 may have a lower-priority than SRB1 and may be configured by E-UTRAN after security activation. SRB2 may not be applicable for NB-IoT (see paragraph 373). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAY P PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-3086. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at 571-272-7969 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /JAY P PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466 Application/Control Number: 18/728,728 Page 2 Art Unit: 2466 Application/Control Number: 18/728,728 Page 3 Art Unit: 2466 Application/Control Number: 18/728,728 Page 4 Art Unit: 2466 Application/Control Number: 18/728,728 Page 5 Art Unit: 2466 Application/Control Number: 18/728,728 Page 6 Art Unit: 2466 Application/Control Number: 18/728,728 Page 7 Art Unit: 2466 Application/Control Number: 18/728,728 Page 8 Art Unit: 2466
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