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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/17/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FGI, “New buffer status report table design”, 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 Meeting #123, R2-2307913, Toulouse, France, August 21-25, 2023 (“FGI”) in view of Ericsson, “Discussion on BRS enhancements for XR”, 3GPP TSG RAN WG2 Meeting #123, R2-2308587, Toulouse, France, August 21-25, 2023 (“Ericsson”).
Regarding claim 1, FGI teaches a method by a terminal, the method comprising:
receiving by the terminal a radio resource control (RRC) message, wherein the RRC message comprises a bitmap related to a third buffer size table [FGI p. 1, sec. 1-2a: RRC configured BSR table, wherein the BRS table has 8-bit buffer size field (i.e. bitmap)],
wherein the terminal determines the buffer size field based on: the third buffer size table in case that the third buffer size table is allowed, and a first buffer size table in case that the third buffer size table is not allowed [FGI p. 2, sec. 2.2: if UE is allowed to use only one BSR table, UE will roll back to only one fixed BSR table, e.g., the legacy table (here, if UE determines the third BSR table is not allowed, a first buffer size table is used)].
However, FGI does not explicitly disclose triggering by the terminal a buffer status report (BSR); and transmitting by the terminal the BSR that comprises a buffer size field, wherein the terminal determines the buffer size field based on: the third buffer size table in case that an amount of data available for transmission is within a range of the third buffer size table; and a second buffer size table in case that the amount of data available for transmission is not within the range of the third buffer size table.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Ericsson teaches triggering by the terminal a buffer status report (BSR); and transmitting by the terminal the BSR that comprises a buffer size field [Ericsson p. 4, sec. 2.1.4: BSR is triggered and the UE calculates the total buffer size for the LCG and utilizes the BSR table to which the buffer size may be indexed (while transmission of the buffer size is not explicitly disclosed, this is an implicit step in a buffer status report as would be understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art)],
wherein the terminal determines the buffer size field based on: the third buffer size table in case that an amount of data available for transmission is within a range of the third buffer size table; and a second buffer size table in case that the amount of data available for transmission is not within the range of the third buffer size table [Ericsson p. 3, sec. 2.1.1: UE may be configured with multiple static BSR tables, wherein UE would choose the best table for each service, e.g., in the case of non-overlapping tables, UE would select the one that encompasses the current buffer size (here, the UE selecting BSR table having a range that includes the amount of data/buffered data, e.g., a third buffer size table or second buffer size table)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed inventio to combine the method of determining a buffer size table to use for a triggered buffer status report by considering whether an RRC configured buffer size table is allowed by the wireless device as taught by FGI, with the method of utilizing multiple static buffer size tables to perform buffer status reporting, wherein a table that has a range containing the amount of buffered data is selected for buffer status reporting as taught by Ericsson. The motivation to combine these references would be to reduce quantization error [Ericsson p. 2, sec. 2.1.1].
Regarding claim 12, FGI teaches a terminal comprising:
a transceiver, a memory, and a controller coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the controller is configured to cause the terminal to [FGI p. 2, sec. 2.1-2.2: UE runs XR applications to generate traffic flows and select between legacy and new BSR tables (here, a UE running applications to generate traffic flows would inherently require transceiver and controller functionality, furthermore, the UE is described as selecting between legacy and new tables which would inherently require said tables to be accessible in memory)]:
receive a radio resource control (RRC) message, wherein the RRC message comprises a bitmap related to a third buffer size table [FGI p. 1, sec. 1-2a: RRC configured BSR table, wherein the BRS table has 8-bit buffer size field (i.e. bitmap)];
trigger a buffer status report (BSR); and transmit the BSR that comprises a buffer size field [Ericsson p. 4, sec. 2.1.4: BSR is triggered and the UE calculates the total buffer size for the LCG and utilizes the BSR table to which the buffer size may be indexed (while transmission of the buffer size is not explicitly disclosed, this is an implicit step in a buffer status report as would be understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art)],
wherein the terminal determines the buffer size field based on: the third buffer size table in case that the third buffer size table is allowed, and a first buffer size table in case that the third buffer size table is not allowed [FGI p. 2, sec. 2.2: if UE is allowed to use only one BSR table, UE will roll back to only one fixed BSR table, e.g., the legacy table (here, if UE determines the third BSR table is not allowed, a first buffer size table is used)].
However, FGI does not explicitly disclose wherein the terminal determines the buffer size field based on: the third buffer size table in case that an amount of data available for transmission is within a range of the third buffer size table; and a second buffer size table in case that the amount of data available for transmission is not within the range of the third buffer size table.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Ericsson teaches wherein the terminal determines the buffer size field based on: the third buffer size table in case that an amount of data available for transmission is within a range of the third buffer size table; and a second buffer size table in case that the amount of data available for transmission is not within the range of the third buffer size table [Ericsson p. 3, sec. 2.1.1: UE may be configured with multiple static BSR tables, wherein UE would choose the best table for each service, e.g., in the case of non-overlapping tables, UE would select the one that encompasses the current buffer size (here, the UE selecting BSR table having a range that includes the amount of data/buffered data, e.g., a third buffer size table or second buffer size table)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed inventio to combine the method of determining a buffer size table to use for a triggered buffer status report by considering whether an RRC configured buffer size table is allowed by the wireless device as taught by FGI, with the method of utilizing multiple static buffer size tables to perform buffer status reporting, wherein a table that has a range containing the amount of buffered data is selected for buffer status reporting as taught by Ericsson. The motivation to combine these references would be to reduce quantization error [Ericsson p. 2, sec. 2.1.1].
Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FGI in view of Ericsson in view of Qualcomm, “Summary of [AT121bis-e][212][XR] BSR solutions”, 3GPP TSG RAN2 Meeting #121bis-e, R2-2204394, eMeeting, April 17-26, 2023 (“Qualcomm”).
Regarding claim 2, FGI in view of Ericsson teaches the method of claim 1, however, does not explicitly disclose wherein the terminal determines, based on the bitmap related to the third buffer size table, whether the third buffer size table is allowed or not.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Qualcomm teaches wherein the terminal determines, based on the bitmap related to the third buffer size table, whether the third buffer size table is allowed or not [Qualcomm p. 27, 1st para.: network can configure on a per LCG basis which BSR table(s) UE should use, e.g. LCG #1 may use the legacy BSR table but LCG #2 may use one of the new BSR tables (here, the configuration indicated whether, e.g., a new and/or legacy BSR table is allowed)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed inventio to combine the method of determining a buffer size table to use for a triggered buffer status report by considering whether an RRC configured buffer size table is allowed by the wireless device as taught by FGI, with the method of indicating whether a new or legacy BSR table is allowed per LCG as taught by Qualcomm. The motivation to combine these references would be to support different traffic types and data rates [Qualcomm p. 30, Summary].
Regarding claim 3, FGI in view of Ericsson in view of Qualcomm teaches the method of claim 2, however, FGI does not explicitly disclose wherein each bit of the bitmap related to the third buffer size table is associated with a specific logical channel group (LCG).
However, Qualcomm teaches wherein each bit of the bitmap related to the third buffer size table is associated with a specific logical channel group (LCG) [Qualcomm p. 27, 1st para.: network can configure on a per LCG basis which BSR table(s) UE should use, e.g. LCG #1 may use the legacy BSR table but LCG #2 may use one of the new BSR tables; p. 21, Samsung’s comments: BSR table may indicate (at least) 8-bit BS field per LCG].
The motivation to combine these references is illustrated in the rejection of claim 2 above.
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FGI in view of Ericsson in view of Agarwal et al. (US 2023/0362713 A1; “Agarwal”).
Regarding claim 4, FGI in view of Ericsson teaches the method of claim 1, the method further comprising:
determining by the terminal: the buffer size field for the data available for transmission, wherein, in case that the third buffer size table is allowed: the buffer size field for the data available for transmission is determined based on the second buffer size table; and wherein, in case that the third buffer size table is not allowed: the buffer size field for the data available for transmission determined based on the second buffer size table [FGI p. 2, sec. 2.2: if UE is allowed to use only one BSR table, UE will roll back to only one fixed BSR table, e.g., the legacy table (here, if UE determines the third BSR table is not allowed, a first buffer size table is used)].
However, FGI does not explicitly disclose the data available for transmission includes a first LCG and a second LCG; wherein, in case that the third buffer size table is allowed: the buffer size field for the first LCG is determined based on the second buffer size table; and the buffer size field for the second LCG is determined based on the third buffer size table, and wherein, in case that the third buffer size table is not allowed: the buffer size field for the first LCG is determined based on the second buffer size table; and the buffer size field for the second LCG is determined based on the second buffer size table.
However, Ericsson teaches However, FGI does not explicitly disclose the data available for transmission includes a first LCG and a second LCG; wherein, in case that the third buffer size table is allowed: the buffer size field for the first LCG is determined based on the second buffer size table; and the buffer size field for the second LCG is determined based on the third buffer size table, and wherein, in case that the third buffer size table is not allowed: the buffer size field for the first LCG is determined based on the second buffer size table; and the buffer size field for the second LCG is determined based on the second buffer size table [Ericsson p. 3, sec. 2.1.1: UE may be configured with multiple static BSR tables, wherein UE would choose the best table for each service, e.g., in the case of non-overlapping tables, UE would select the one that encompasses the current buffer size (here, the UE selecting BSR table having a range that includes the amount of data/buffered data, e.g., a third buffer size table or second buffer size table); see also p. 3, sec. 2.1.3, Fig. 2: BSR report indicates buffer size per LCG].
The motivation to combine these references is illustrated in the rejection of claim 1 above.
However, FGI in view of Ericsson does not explicitly disclose determining by the terminal: the buffer size field for a first LCG; and the buffer size field for a second LCG; and transmitting by the terminal the periodic BSR; and starting by the terminal a timer related to BSR; triggering by the terminal a periodic BSR upon expiry of the timer.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Agarwal teaches determining by the terminal: the buffer size field for a first LCG; and the buffer size field for a second LCG; and transmitting by the terminal the periodic BSR [Agarwal ¶ 0082: if more than one LCG has data available for transmission when the MAC PDU containing the BSR is to be built, then at 518, the UE 502 may report a long BSR for all LCGs that have data available for transmission (i.e. a first LCG buffer size and a second LCG buffer size may be reported together)]; and
starting by the terminal a timer related to BSR; triggering by the terminal a periodic BSR upon expiry of the timer [Agarwal ¶ 0079: the UE may detect the BSR trigger 506 based on expiration of a periodic BSR timer 510 with data to be transmitted remaining in a buffer associated with the given LCG, e.g., UE 502 may start the periodic BSR timer 510 when the UE 502 transmits a previous BSR. A next BSR may be triggered in response to the expiration of the periodic BSR timer 510 and an accumulation of data in a respective buffer].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed inventio to combine the method of determining a buffer size table to use for a triggered buffer status report by considering whether an RRC configured buffer size table is allowed by the wireless device as taught by FGI, with the method of triggering periodic BSR reporting for multiple LCG as taught by Agarwal. The motivation to combine these references would be to support enhanced procedure for buffer status report reporting to optimize network uplink component carrier activation and improve network performance [Agarwal ¶ 0001].
Regarding claim 5, FGI in view of Ericsson in view of Agarwal teaches the method of claim 4, however, FGI does not explicitly disclose wherein: an amount of data available for transmission in the first LCG is not within the range of the third buffer size table; and an amount of data available for transmission in the second LCG is within the range of the third buffer size table.
However, Ericsson teaches wherein: an amount of data available for transmission in the first LCG is not within the range of the third buffer size table; and an amount of data available for transmission in the second LCG is within the range of the third buffer size table [Ericsson p. 3, sec. 2.1.1: UE may be configured with multiple static BSR tables, wherein UE would choose the best table for each service, e.g., in the case of non-overlapping tables, UE would select the one that encompasses the current buffer size; see also p. 3, sec. 2.1.3, Fig. 2: BSR report indicates buffer size per LCG (here, the UE will use the BSR table that encompasses the LCG range, e.g., a first LCG may not be within range of a third BSR table, and a second LCG may be within range of a third BSR table)].
The motivation to combine these references is illustrated in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-11 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.
Conclusion
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/BRIAN P COX/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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