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 Claims
Claims 1-20 filed on July 17, 2024 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 17, 2024, May 31, 2025 and June 04, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner and an initialed and dated copy of the Applicant’s IDS form 1449 is attached to the instant Office Action.
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) 1-2, 8-12 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yi et al. (US 2024/0365425 A1, hereinafter "Yi").
Regarding claim 1, Yi discloses wireless communication method, comprising:
establishing a first communication link between a first network node and a second network node (Yi, [0042] Through this control link, the gNB 21 may configure the Network-Controlled Repeater 20 via side control information such as TDD configuration, switching information, RU beamforming information, etc.);
communicating, by the second network node, with the first network node via the first communication link (Yi, [0041] the Network-Controlled Repeater 20 may be divided into two parts, one part is used to realize some functions of a UE and communicate with the gNB 21); and
communicating, by the second network node, with a third network node via a second communication link (Yi, [0041] The other part realizes a radio frequency function, that is, an amplification and forwarding function of the repeater, this part may be called a radio unit (RU) 23).
Regarding claim 2, Yi discloses wherein
the first network node comprises a base station;
the second network node comprises a Network Controllable Repeater (NCR); and the third network node comprises a wireless communication device (Yi, Fig. 2 21 (i.e. base station), 20 (i.e. NCR), 24 (i.e. UE)).
Regarding claim 8, Yi discloses wherein the establishing the first communication link comprises one of the following:
sending, by the second network node to the first network node, a control link setup request after the second network node is integrated with the first network node, wherein the control link setup request indicates capabilities of the second network node (Yi, [0092] After receiving the message, the first unit edits a reply message, such as called RUCapabilityinformation message, according to the content of the message); or
sending, by the second network node to the first network node, a control link setup request while the second network node is being integrated with the first network node, wherein the control link setup request indicates an identifier of the second network node and capabilities of the second network node, wherein the identifier of the second network node is used for identification and authentication for integrating the second network node with the first network node (not given patentable weight due to not selected option).
Regarding claim 9, Yi discloses wherein the capabilities of the second network node comprises a maximum number of beams for the first communication link, a maximum number of beams for the second communication link, a supported frequency band for the first communication link, a supported frequency band for the second communication link, a supported uplink control and forwarding multiplexing method, a maximum transmission power for the first communication link, or a maximum transmission power for the second communication link (Yi, [0065-69] which may include at least one of the following: an on-off mode; timing information for aligning transmission and/or reception boundaries; a beamforming capability; power and/or gain control information; bandwidth information).
Regarding claim 10, Yi discloses further comprising receiving, by the second network node from the first network node, a control link setup response in response to the first network node accepting the control link setup request, wherein the control link setup response comprises at least one of a number of beams for the first communication link, a number of beams for the second communication link, a frequency band for the first communication link, a frequency band for the second communication link, a transmission power for the first communication link, a transmission power for the second communication link, an amplification gain for the first communication link, an amplification gain for the second communication link, a status report trigger method for triggering a status report by the second network node, or a status report period for the status report by the second network node (Yi, [0122-0131] the RRC reconfiguration message including the related configuration of the second unit… reference signal transmit power for the second unit).
Regarding claim 11, Yi discloses wherein the establishing the first communication link comprises:
receiving, by the second network node from the first network node, a reconfiguration request for at least one control parameter (Yi, [0184] the RRC reconfiguration message (RRCReconfiguration) received by the first unit 801 includes the related configuration of the second unit); and
reconfiguring, by the second network node, the at least one control parameter based on the reconfiguration request (Yi, [0185] the first unit 801 has performed synchronization reconfiguration (reconfiguration with sync)).
Regarding claim 12, Yi discloses wherein the at least one control parameter comprises at least one of a number of beams for the first communication link, a number of beams for the second communication link, a frequency band for the first communication link, a frequency band for the second communication link, a transmission power for the first communication link, a transmission power for the second communication link, an amplification gain for the first communication link, an amplification gain for the second communication link, a status report trigger method for triggering a status report by the second network node, or a status report period for the status report by the second network node (Yi, [0122-0131] the RRC reconfiguration message including the related configuration of the second unit… reference signal transmit power for the second unit).
Regarding claim 18, Yi discloses a wireless communication method, comprising:
establishing a first communication link between a first network node and a second network node (Yi, [0042] Through this control link, the gNB 21 may configure the Network-Controlled Repeater 20 via side control information such as TDD configuration, switching information, RU beamforming information, etc.); and
communicating, by the first network node via the first communication link, with the second network node that communicates with a third network node via a second communication link (Yi, [0041] The other part realizes a radio frequency function, that is, an amplification and forwarding function of the repeater, this part may be called a radio unit (RU) 23).
Regarding claims 16-17 and 19-20, these claims recite "a wireless communication apparatus" and "a non-transitory computer program product" that disclose similar steps as recited by the method of claims 1 and 18, thus are rejected with the same rationale applied against claims 1 and 18 as presented above.
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.
Claims 3-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yi et al. (US 2024/0365425 A1, hereinafter "Yi") in view of Watanabe (US 2014/0119199 A1, hereinafter "Watanabe").
Regarding claim 3, Yi discloses restarting configuration of network controlled repeater but does not explicitly disclose in response to determining that the second network node is malfunctioning or in response to determining that configuration of the first net work node related to functioning of the second network node have changed.
Watanabe from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the establishing the first communication link comprises restarting the second network node by resetting the second network node by the first network node in response to determining that the second network node is malfunctioning (Watanabe, [0075] The management device 42 is configured to be able to perform a reset operation for a relay device (for example, a router or a switch, which is not illustrated) which relays the communication between the access control device 31 and the data transmission device 41. In the present embodiment, the reset operation changes the state of the relay device to discard data and commands or the like that invited an abnormal state (for example, returns the relay device to an initial setting state), and then restarts the relay device).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified repeater disclosed by Yi and relay device disclosed by Watanabe with a motivation to make this modification in order to provide an appropriate control depending on the type of abnormality that has occurred may not have been performed (Watanabe, [0037]).
Regarding claim 4, Yi discloses receiving, by the second network node from the first network node, a reset message, wherein the reset message comprises an identifier of the second network node (Yi, [0073] The layer 2/layer 3 configuration of the first node e.g. is an identifier an IP address identification and authorization related information, etc. of the first node or the first unit);
sending, by the second network node to the first network node, a reset confirmation message in response to receiving the reset message (Yi, [0045] research and confirmation of signaling and configuration used to carry side control information);
stopping the communicating with the third network node via the second communication link (Yi, [0104] then restarts operating according to the related configuration of the second unit in the RRC reconfiguration message, that is, stops operating first, and then restarts operating or reworks or reactivates); and
restarting the second network node (Yi, [0104] then restarts operating according to the related configuration of the second unit in the RRC reconfiguration message, that is, stops operating first, and then restarts operating or reworks or reactivates).
Claim(s) 5 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yi et al. (US 2024/0365425 A1, hereinafter "Yi") in view of Watanabe (US 2014/0119199 A1, hereinafter "Watanabe") as applied to claim above, and further in view of Hori et al. (US 12,279,173 B2, hereinafter "Hori").
Regarding claim 5, Yi in view of Watanabe does not explicitly discloses the reset message is received by the second network node from the first network node via a signaling specific to the second network node; and the identifier of the second network node is implicitly included in the reset message as scrambled by a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) of the second network node.
Hori from the same field of endeavor discloses the reset message is received by the second network node from the first network node via a signaling specific to the second network node; and the identifier of the second network node is implicitly included in the reset message as scrambled by a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) of the second network node (Hori, Col. 25 line 5-8 The RRC connection reconfiguration complete message includes a C-RNTI, and the Target eNB verifies the C-RNTI of the RRC connection reconfiguration complete message received).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have to include the teachings of Hori’s system for RRC reset into Yi’s repeater as modified by Watanabe with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve handover robustness (Hori, Col. 2 line 37-38).
Regarding claim 7, Yi in view of Watanabe discloses receiving, by the second network node from the first network node a reset message (Yi, [0045] research and confirmation of signaling and configuration used to carry side control information), stopping the communicating with the third network node via the second communication link; and restarting the second network node (Yi, [0104] then restarts operating according to the related configuration of the second unit in the RRC reconfiguration message, that is, stops operating first, and then restarts operating or reworks or reactivates) but does not explicitly discloses a reset message that comprises one of the following:
a cell identifier identifying a cell associated with the second network node, the reset message is carried on cell-specific signaling; or
a beam identifier identifying a beam associated with the second network node, wherein the reset message is carried on beam-specific signaling (not given patentable weight due to not selected option).
Hori from the same field of endeavor discloses a reset message that comprises one of the following: a cell identifier identifying a cell associated with the second network node, the reset message is carried on cell-specific signaling (Hori, Col. 25 line 5-8 The RRC connection reconfiguration complete message includes a C-RNTI, and the Target eNB verifies the C-RNTI of the RRC connection reconfiguration complete message received).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have to include the teachings of Hori’s system for RRC reset into Yi’s repeater as modified by Watanabe with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve handover robustness (Hori, Col. 2 line 37-38).
Claims 13-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yi et al. (US 2024/0365425 A1, hereinafter "Yi") in view of Chen et al. (US 8,818,261 B1, hereinafter "Chen").
Regarding claim 13, Yi discloses the report by repeater to base station but does not explicitly discloses determining, by the second network node, at least one status report trigger; and
sending, by the second network node to the first network node, a status report indicating a status of the second network node in response to the at least one status report trigger.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses determining, by the second network node, at least one status report trigger (Chen, Col. 10 line 57 the event log response transmitted by a repeater 15 can have the following exemplary format: a command code indicating an event log request was received (2 bytes), a command body (variable size) and associated length field (2 bytes), a sequence number assigned by the sender (2 bytes), a result field (2 bytes, indicating the command execution result and including plural results depending on the number of events), and fields for each event (i.e., event data) (variable) including the number of event records (1 byte) where the event data includes a length field and data for the event record); and
sending, by the second network node to the first network node, a status report indicating a status of the second network node in response to the at least one status report trigger (Chen, Col. 11 line 1 the commands available for use by an AP (e.g., AP 12 of FIG. 1) to configure, manage and control the repeater include reset request (reset repeater), scan request (scan for wireless links), SSID broadcast and set, RF mode set (e.g., 802.11a, b or g), channel set, access control list set (to specifically deny client access), protection mode set, security mode set (e.g., WEP, WPA, WPA2, etc.)).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified repeater disclosed by Yi and relay device disclosed by Watanabe with a motivation to make this modification in order to provide the range of an AP can be extended using, for example, a wireless repeater (Chen, Col. 1).
Regarding claim 14, Yi does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one status report trigger comprises at least one of Radio Frequency (RF) fault, overheating, or self-excitation.
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the at least one status report trigger comprises at least one of Radio Frequency (RF) fault, overheating, or self-excitation (Chen, Col 2 line 40-45 The repeater inquiry can be selected from the group consisting of link status inquiry, associated station inquiry, site survey inquiry, configuration inquiry, event log, battery status inquiry, background noise inquiry, channel metrics inquiry, and retry inquiry).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified repeater disclosed by Yi and relay device disclosed by Watanabe with a motivation to make this modification in order to provide the range of an AP can be extended using, for example, a wireless repeater (Chen, Col. 1).
Regarding claim 15, Yi discloses repeater sending a report but does not explicitly disclose further comprising one of the following:
sending, by the second network node to the first network node based on a period, a status report indicating a status of the second network node, wherein the period is determined based on a configured status report period or a channel quality reporting period; or
sending, by the second network node to the first network node based on a configuration, a status report comprising acknowledgement to side control information from the first network node, wherein the configuration comprises at least one of a number of side control information messages and a periodic uplink grant used to carry the status report (not given patentable weight due to not selected option).
Chen from the same field of endeavor discloses sending, by the second network node to the first network node based on a period, a status report indicating a status of the second network node, wherein the period is determined based on a configured status report period or a channel quality reporting period (Chen, Col 11 line 15-25 he AP 12 to the repeater 15 includes both a command code, and command data. Command data can be of the form of SSID data (e.g., SSID, SSID length and SSID security for a SSID set command), RF mode information (e.g., 802.11a, b or g etc., for an RF mode command), channel identifier (for a channel set command), MAC data (including access control information including MAC addresses and corresponding control (e.g., restrict/allow/deny) data), protection mode data, security data (including security selection and keys, ID, pass phrase and encryption type), transmit rate (for Tx set command), beacon interval value (for beacon interval set command), RTS threshold data, and DTIM interval data).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified repeater disclosed by Yi and relay device disclosed by Watanabe with a motivation to make this modification in order to provide the range of an AP can be extended using, for example, a wireless repeater (Chen, Col. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 is 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.
Claim 6 is potentially allowable over the prior art of record Yi et al. (US 2024/0365425 A1, hereinafter "Yi") in view of Watanabe (US 2014/0119199 A1, hereinafter "Watanabe") and further in view of ddd (xxx, hereinafter "ddd") as applied to the claim above.
Yi in view of Watanabe discloses receiving, by the second network node from the first network node a reset message (Yi, [0045] research and confirmation of signaling and configuration used to carry side control information), stopping the communicating with the third network node via the second communication link; and restarting the second network node (Yi, [0104] then restarts operating according to the related configuration of the second unit in the RRC reconfiguration message, that is, stops operating first, and then restarts operating or reworks or reactivates), but fails to teach alone or in combination "a reset message carried by a common signaling received by a plurality of network nodes, wherein the reset message comprises a list of identifiers of the plurality of network nodes;
determining, by the second network node, that the list of identifiers includes an identifier of the second network node".
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUNA WEISSBERGER whose telephone number is (571)272-3315. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:30pm.
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, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached at (571)270-1215. 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.
/LUNA WEISSBERGER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
Prosecution Insights