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
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 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanamarlapudi et al. (Pub No.: 2021/0185747) in view of Ohlsson et al. (Pub No.: 2023/0108496) and further in view of Ahluwalia (Pub No.: 2010/0003981).
Regarding claim 8, Kanamarlapudi et al. discloses an apparatus (read as the UE 400 in fig. 4), comprising:
a processing system (read as UE including processor 402, memory 404, packet communication module 408, handover module 409, transceiver 410 and/or antennas 416 in fig. 4) including a processor (see processor 402 in fig. 4); and
a memory (see memory 404 in fig. 4) that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
transmitting first payload data associated with a communication service to a first communication device (read as serving BS in para. 0052 or 0153) via a first link (Kanamarlapudi et al. see fig. 11, step 1110; para. 0052, 0153, 0165; the wireless communication device transmits a first portion of a plurality of data packets (e.g., the PDCP data packets 304) via a first wireless communication link (e.g., the wireless communication link 204) using a first RAT (e.g., LTE).). The UE transmits first portion of a plurality of data packets to a network or the serving base station via a first communication link;
subsequent to the transmitting the first payload data, obtaining a first indication (read as the upcoming handover in para. 0167) that a handover of the communication service is being negotiated between the first communication device and a second communication device (read as the target base station in 0170) (Kanamarlapudi et al. see para. 0167, 0170; the wireless communication device may detect the upcoming handover based on a channel measurement associated with at least one of the first wireless communication link or the second wireless communication link being below a threshold measurement.). Subsequent to the transmitting the first payload data, the UE detects/obtains upcoming handover between the source base station and the target base station;
based on the obtaining of the first indication, storing second payload data (read as at least some of the plurality of data packets in para. 0168) associated with the communication service in a buffer (Kanamarlapudi et al. see para. 0168-0170; At block 1140, the wireless communication device stores at least some of the plurality of data packets in a memory (e.g., buffer memory) pending an ACK indication associated with a first data packet of the plurality of data packets in response to the detecting.). Based on the upcoming handover indication, the UE stores at least some of the plurality of data packets in a memory.
However, Kanamarlapudi et al. does not explicitly disclose the features: based on the obtaining of the first indication, placing, at the processing system, the first link in an inactive state; and responsive to obtaining a second indication that the second communication device has accepted the handover of the communication service: activating, at the processing system, a second link between the processing system and the second communication device, obtaining the second payload data from the buffer, and transmitting, based on the activating of the second link, the second payload data obtained from the buffer to the second communication device via the second link.
Ohlsson et al. from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature: based on the obtaining of the first indication, placing, at the processing system, the first link in an inactive state (Ohlsson et al. see para. 0229-0231; releasing the UE’s connection to the source cell, responsive to the connection reconfiguration message command; wherein the connection reconfiguration message is a handover command specifying a handover to a second target cell or a message ordering the UE to move from a connected state to an idle or inactive state). The UE moves from a connected state to an idle state (e.g., inactive source link) based on a connection reconfiguration message.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the disclosure of Kanamarlapudi et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Ohlsson et al. to place, based on the connection reconfiguration message, the UE from connected state to an idle state which in turns deactivates the source link. The motivation would be to reduce power consumption.
Ohlsson et al. does not explicitly disclose the feature: responsive to obtaining a second indication that the second communication device has accepted the handover of the communication service: activating, at the processing system, a second link between the processing system and the second communication device, obtaining the second payload data from the buffer, and transmitting, based on the activating of the second link, the second payload data obtained from the buffer to the second communication device via the second link.
Ahluwalia from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature: responsive to obtaining a second indication (read as the HO command in para. 0034) that the second communication device has accepted the handover of the communication service (Ahluwalia see fig. 4a, steps 3-4; para. 0033-0034; The Target eNodeB prepares for HO with L1/L2 and responds to the source eNodeB by providing a new Cell-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI), …The UE receives the HANDOVER (HO) COMMAND with necessary parameters e.g. the new C-RNTI, possible starting time, target eNodeB, SIBs etc.). The UE receives the HO command (e.g., including new C-RNTI) which indicates that the target eNodeB/cell has accepted the HO:
activating, at the processing system, a second link between the processing system and the second communication device (Ahluwalia see fig. 4b, step 5; para. 0040; detaches from the old cell and attempts synchronisation to the target cell in Step 5.). Thus, based on receiving HO command indicating the target cell’s acceptance of a handover, the UE synchronizes/activating communication link with the target cell;
obtaining the second payload data from the buffer (Ahluwalia see para. 0040; starts buffering the uplink packets,). The UE buffers and obtains the uplink packets; and
transmitting, based on the activating of the second link, the second payload data obtained from the buffer to the second communication device via the second link (Ahluwalia see para. 0044, 0045; the handover procedure described above is modified slightly such that when the UE sends the HANDOVER COMPLETE message, it appends to that message the latest uplink buffer status report. The target eNodeB can then use this information to allocate accurately the required uplink resources that are needed by the UE.). Thus, the target cell can accurately allocate the required uplink resources that are needed by the UE, such that the UE uses the allocated uplink resources for transmitting the buffered uplink packets to the target cell via a communication link.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the disclosure of Kanamarlapudi et al. in view of Ohlsson et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Ahluwalia that in response to receiving a handover command, activate a second link between the UE and the target cell, obtains the buffered data packets and to transmit the buffered data packets to the target cell via the activated second link.
The motivation would be to improve transmission efficiency.
Claims 1 and 15 are rejected similarly to claim 8.
Regarding claims 3, 10, 17, Ohlsson et al. discloses the feature wherein the communication service is provided to a user equipment in communication with the first communication device (Ohlsson et al. see fig. 2, User data communication; para. 0016; The UE and source gNB have an established connection and are exchanging user data.).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the disclosure of Kanamarlapudi et al. in view of Ahluwalia and to implement with the feature as taught by Ohlsson et al. to provide the communication service to the UE from the first communication device or the source gNB.
The motivation would be to provide transmission reliability.
Regarding claims 4, 11, 18, Kanamarlapudi et al. discloses the feature wherein the first indication that the handover of the communication service is being negotiated comprises an indication that the user equipment is being handed over from the first communication device to the second communication device (Kanamarlapudi et al. see para. 0146; In some aspects, the wireless communication device may determine whether there is an upcoming handover based on a channel measurement of a serving cell. A wireless communication device may determine that a potential handover may be upcoming when the channel measurement of the serving cell is below a threshold channel measurement.). Thus, the UE may determine the handover is upcoming when the channel measurement is below a threshold, which indicating that the UE will be handed over from the source to the target base station.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5-7, 9, 12-14, 16, 19, 20 are 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.
Examiner's Note
The Applicant is welcome to request a telephonic interview if the Applicant has any questions or requires any additional information that would further or expedite the prosecution of the application.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Faus Gregori et al. (Pub No.: 2020/0221352) discloses a user entity (UE) such as a smartphone is configured to connect to both WiFi and a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network for voice and data services. For voice, the UE supports both Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi). When the UE is connected to VoWiFi and roaming from a first WiFi access point to a second WiFi access point, the UE and Mobility Management Entity in the cellular network carry out a preparatory handover to VoLTE to prevent service loss in the event of an unsuccessful VoWiFi connection from the second WiFi access point.
Yang et al. (Pub No.: 2020/0008117) discloses a handover method, a network device, and a terminal device are provided. The method includes: a first network device acquires measurement results of links, wherein the links include a link between the first network device and a first terminal device and a link between the first network device and a second terminal device; and the first network device determines at least one of a first handover scheme of the first terminal device, or a second handover scheme of the second terminal device according to the measurement results.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAN YUEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1413. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:30am-7pm.
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/KAN YUEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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