DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is a response to an Application No. 18/776,900 filed on 07/18/2024 in which claims 1-20 are pending for examination.
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 .
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 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.
Drawings
The Examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 07/18/2024 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Examiner has considered the reference(s) listed on the Information Disclosure Statement submitted on 10/14/2024 and 02/27/2025.
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)(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.
Claims 1, 4-8, 11, 14, 16, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WANG et al. (US 2023/0224383 A1) hereinafter “Wang”. The U.S. reference, Wang, was cited in IDS filed 02/27/2025.
Regarding claims 1 and 16, Wang discloses Claim 1 of an extended reality (XR) device for wireless communication (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0038], XR client), and Claim 16 of a processor for wireless communication (see FIG. 17; see ¶ [0129], processing circuitry), comprising:
at least one memory (see FIG. 17; see ¶ [0129], memory); and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (see FIG. 17; see ¶ [0129], processing circuitry) and configured to cause the XR device to:
receive, by a first protocol layer, one or more service data units (SDU) from a second protocol layer (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0012] [0125], an SDU can be received at a radio protocol layer in a RAN protocol stack. The SDU carries application data that is generated from an application layer and passes through multiple protocol layers existing between the application layer and the radio protocol layer. The radio protocol layer can be one of a SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, a PHY layer, and the like);
implement one or more headers for the one or more SDU, the one or more headers comprising one or more fields indicating information related to a protocol data unit (PDU) set associated with the one or more SDU (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0034] [0126], a service data adaption protocol (SDAP) layer is configured to inspect header information of upper protocol layers carried in internet protocol (IP) packets and SDAP protocol data units (PDUs));
generate, based at least in part on the one or more SDU, a PDU comprising an SDU and a corresponding header (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0034] [0126], a service data adaption protocol (SDAP) layer is configured to inspect header information of upper protocol layers carried in internet protocol (IP) packets and accordingly classify IP packets into different classes, such as a critical IP packet class and a non-critical IP packet class. Based on the inspection and classification results, IP packets from a quality of service (QoS) flow can be mapped to different data radio bearers (DRBs). In some embodiments, SDAP protocol data units (PDUs) of different DRBs can be associated with discard timers having different time intervals); and
submit the PDU to a third protocol layer (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0036], the PDCP layer may prioritize the delivery of critical data units over non-critical data units from the PDCP layer to a radio-link control (RLC) layer).
Regarding claims 4, 14, and 19, Wang discloses wherein the second protocol layer comprises a Service Data Application Protocol (SDAP) layer (see FIG. 1 and 3; see ¶ [0038], SDAP layer).
Regarding claim 5, Wang discloses wherein the third protocol layer comprises a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer (see FIG. 1 and 3; see ¶ [0038], PDCP layer).
Regarding claim 6, Wang discloses wherein the corresponding header comprises one or more of a sequence number field (see ¶ [0010] and see Claim 9).
Regarding claim 7, Wang discloses wherein the corresponding header comprises a field indicating timing information of the SDU (see ¶ [0007] [0035]).
Regarding claim 8, Wang discloses wherein the timing information comprises an arrival time of the one or more SDU in the first protocol layer (see ¶ [0096]).
Regarding claims 11 and 20, Wang discloses Claim 1 of a user equipment (UE) device for wireless communication (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0038], UE), and Claim 20 of a processor for wireless communication (see FIG. 17; see ¶ [0129], processing circuitry), comprising:
at least one memory (see FIG. 17; see ¶ [0129], memory); and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (see FIG. 17; see ¶ [0129], processing circuitry) and configured to cause the UE device to:
generate, by a first protocol layer, one or more protocol data units (PDU), the one or more PDU comprising one or more headers and the one or more headers comprising one or more fields indicating information related to a protocol data unit (PDU) set associated with the one or more PDU (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0034] [0126], a service data adaption protocol (SDAP) layer is configured to inspect header information of upper protocol layers carried in internet protocol (IP) packets and accordingly classify IP packets into different classes, such as a critical IP packet class and a non-critical IP packet class. Based on the inspection and classification results, IP packets from a quality of service (QoS) flow can be mapped to different data radio bearers (DRBs). In some embodiments, SDAP protocol data units (PDUs) of different DRBs can be associated with discard timers having different time intervals);
transmit, via a second protocol layer, the one or more PDU to an extended reality (XR) device (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0012] [0125], an SDU can be received at a radio protocol layer in a RAN protocol stack. The SDU carries application data that is generated from an application layer and passes through multiple protocol layers existing between the application layer and the radio protocol layer. The radio protocol layer can be one of a SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, a MAC layer, a PHY layer, and the like); and
receive, from the XR device, data transmission (see FIG. 1; see ¶ [0036], the PDCP layer may prioritize the delivery of critical data units over non-critical data units from the PDCP layer to a radio-link control (RLC) layer).
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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 2-3, 12-13, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of WANG (US 2025/0330877 A1) hereinafter “Wang ‘877”.
Regarding claims 2, 12, and 17, Wang does not explicitly disclose an XRAP layer.
However, Wang ‘877 discloses wherein the first protocol layer comprises an extended reality (XR) application protocol (XRAP) layer (see FIG. 2B and 3B; see ¶ [0049], extended reality (XR) devices; see ¶ [0092], UE1 and UE2 may directly communicate with each other over PDCP layer and PC5-S layer).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide an XRAP layer as taught by Wang ‘877, in the system of Wang, so that it would provide to improve the communication efficiency (Wang ‘877: see ¶ [0064]).
Regarding claims 3, 13, and 18, the combined system of Wang and Wang ‘877 discloses wherein the XRAP layer comprises a Layer 2 protocol (Wang ‘877: see ¶ [0061], layer 2).
Claims 9 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Rossbach et al. (US 2024/0187919 A1) hereinafter “Rossbach”.
Regarding claims 9 and 15, Wang disclose radio resource control (RRC) message (see ¶ [0108], RRC signaling), but does not explicitly disclose a PC5.
However, Rossbach discloses wherein the processor is configured to cause the XR device to transmit traffic assistance information to a user equipment (UE) via a PC5 radio resource control (RRC) message (see ¶ [0059] [0087], PC5).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide a PC5 as taught by Rossbach, in the system of Wang, so that it would provide to improve the efficiency of signaling (Rossbach: see ¶ [0100]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Rossbach further in view of 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #122: Vice Chairman (Nokia) “Report on LTE legacy, XR, QoE and MUSIM hereinafter “3GPP”. The NPL reference, 3GPP, was cited in IDS filed 02/27/2025.
Regarding claim 10, Wang does not explicitly disclose uplink jitter information.
However, 3GPP discloses wherein the traffic assistance information comprises one or more of uplink jitter information (see section 7.5.2, XR traffic assistance information from UE to network including discussion on how UL jitter information is report from UE to network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide uplink jitter information as taught by 3GPP, in the combined system of Wang and Rossbach, so that it would provide UE to reports UL jitter information periodically.
Conclusion
A shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of the action. An extension of time may be obtained under 37 CFR 1.136(a). However, in no event, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7241. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at (571) 272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
Prosecution Insights