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 .
This is in response to the IDS filed 2/14/2025.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS filed 2/14/2025 has been considered. The International Search Report 11/29/2024 has been reviewed and is noted.
Claim Objections
Claims 1 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 2 is missing the colon at the end of the word comprising. It will be treated as though a colon will be added through future amendment in order to clarify the preamble of the claim. Appropriate correction is required.
b. Claim 11, line 2 is missing the colon at the end of the word comprising. It will be treated as though a colon will be added through future amendment in order to clarify the preamble of the claim. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
6. Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Anderson et al., USPGPub 2022/0272594 A1.
a. Regarding claim 1, Anderson et al. shows a method for providing enhanced resiliency of a radio access network (RAN) cell site having multiple sectors associated with multiple cells, comprising(:)
providing a first radio unit (RU) simultaneously serving a first set of sectors with a first set of antenna streams; and providing a second RU simultaneously serving at least a second set of sectors with a second set of antenna streams; and reconfiguring, by a network management unit, at least the first set of sectors with a reduced antenna configuration in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first RU, whereby all sectors of the cell site remain in service (Fig. 1C and 1A; [0016]-[0038] and [0055]-[0072]; i.e. upon failure of one DU the remaining RU are reassigned. The DU and corresponding RU may provide services for one or more slice types and additionally the management node facilitates the RU/DU pairing and can be based on latency, expected load,…failure of a given DU…, facilitate reassignment [0034]. The Backhaul, Midhaul, and fronthaul and IP connectivity are examples of the DU Ru connectivity and various transports [0025], elements pertaining to the latency, load, or failure among the reasons to adjust or continue the service with other sources having overlap to further maintain the coverage areas and nodes [0034], and that the management node uses information, such as constraint parameters, to follow failover actions or rules assignment upon failure ([0044]-[0045]). It is very clear that the systems and methods are in place to account for such considerations.
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b. Regarding claim 2, Anderson et al. shows the method of claim 1, further comprising: providing a third RU simultaneously serving at least a third set of sectors with a third set of antenna streams; wherein, in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first RU, all sectors of the cell site are served by the second RU and the third RU to remain in service (Fig. 1C and 1A; [0016]-[0038] and [0055]-[0072]; i.e. upon failure of one DU the remaining RU are reassigned).
c. Regarding claim 3, Anderson et al. shows the method of claim 1, further comprising: providing a third RU simultaneously serving at least a third set of sectors with a third set of antenna streams; wherein, in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first and second RUs, all sectors of the cell site are served by the third RU to remain in service (Fig. 1C and 1A; [0016]-[0038] and [0055]-[0072]; i.e. upon failure of one DU the remaining RU are reassigned).
d. Regarding claim 4, Anderson et al. shows the method of claim 2, further comprising: providing at least one distributed unit (DU) simultaneously serving at least one of the first RU, the second RU and the third RU (Fig. 1A and C; [0036], [0052], and [0055]; i.e. the DU, CU, and RU are arranged for overlap and to facilitate failover techniques).
e. Regarding claim 5, Anderson et al. shows the method of claim 3, further comprising: providing a first DU to serve the first RU, the second RU and the third RU for at least a first portion of at least one of the first, second and third set of antenna streams; and providing a second DU to serve the first RU, the second RU and the third RU for at least a second portion of at least one of the first, second and third set of antenna streams; wherein, in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of one of the first DU or the second DU, the remaining operational DU serves at least one operational RU to provide service to all sectors of the cell site (Fig. 1A and C; [0036], [0052], and [0055]; i.e. the DU, CU, and RU are arranged for overlap and to facilitate failover techniques. The DU and corresponding RU may provide services for one or more slice types and additionally the management node facilitates the RU/DU pairing and can be based on latency, expected load,…failure of a given DU…, facilitate reassignment [0034]. The Backhaul, Midhaul, and fronthaul and IP connectivity are examples of the DU Ru connectivity and various transports [0025], elements pertaining to the latency, load, or failure among the reasons to adjust or continue the service with other sources having overlap to further maintain the coverage areas and nodes [0034], and that the management node uses information, such as constraint parameters, to follow failover actions or rules assignment upon failure ([0044]-[0045]). It is very clear that the systems and methods are in place to account for such considerations.
f. Regarding claim 6, Anderson et al. shows the method of claim 4, wherein: a first DU is provided to serve the first RU, the second RU and the third RU for at least a first portion of at least one of the first, second and third set of antenna streams; and a second DU is provided to serve the first RU, the second RU and the third RU for at least a second portion of at least one of the first, second and third set of antenna streams; wherein, in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of one of the first DU or the second DU, the remaining operational DU serves at least one operational RU to provide service to all sectors of the cell site. (The DU and corresponding RU may provide services for one or more slice types and additionally the management node facilitates the RU/DU pairing and can be based on latency, expected load,…failure of a given DU…, facilitate reassignment [0034]. The Backhaul, Midhaul, and fronthaul and IP connectivity are examples of the DU Ru connectivity and various transports [0025] and elements pertaining to the latency, load, or failure among the reasons to adjust or continue the service with other sources having overlap to further maintain the coverage areas and nodes [0034] and that the management node uses information, such as constraint parameters, to follow failover actions or rules assignment upon failure ([0044]-[0045]).
g. Regarding claim 7, Anderson et al., shows the method of claim 1, wherein: at least one of the first set of sectors and the second set of sectors is configured as one of two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration, or four-transmitters-and-four-receivers antenna configuration; and in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first RU, the at least one of the first sector, the second sector and the third sector is reconfigured as follows: one of i) from two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration to one-transmitter-and-one-receiver antenna configuration, or ii) from four-transmitters-and-four-receivers antenna configuration to one of two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration or one-transmitter-and-one-receiver antenna configuration. The DU and corresponding RU may provide services for one or more slice types and additionally the management node facilitates the RU/DU pairing and can be based on latency, expected load,…failure of a given DU…, facilitate reassignment [0034]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have considered elements pertaining to the latency, load, or failure among the reasons to adjust or continue the service with other sources having overlap to further maintain the coverage areas and nodes [0034] and that the management node uses information, such as constraint parameters, to follow failover actions or rules assignment upon failure ([0044]-[0045]). It is very clear that the systems and methods are in place to account for such considerations and further clarify that this is at least obvious and why the consideration can be made and understood to be a reasonable expectation for success in understanding.
h. Regarding claim 8, Anderson et al. shows the method of claim 2, wherein: at least one of the first sector, the second sector and the third sector is configured as one of two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration, or four-transmitters-and-four-receivers antenna configuration; and in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first RU, the at least one of the first sector, the second sector and the third sector is reconfigured as follows: one of i) from two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration to one-transmitter-and-one-receiver antenna configuration, or ii) from four-transmitters-and-four-receivers antenna configuration to one of two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration or one-transmitter-and-one-receiver antenna configuration. The DU and corresponding RU may provide services for one or more slice types and additionally the management node facilitates the RU/DU pairing and can be based on latency, expected load,…failure of a given DU…, facilitate reassignment [0034]. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have considered elements pertaining to the latency, load, or failure among the reasons to adjust or continue the service with other sources having overlap to further maintain the coverage areas and nodes [0034] and that the management node uses information, such as constraint parameters, to follow failover actions or rules assignment upon failure ([0044]-[0045]).
i. Regarding claim 9, Anderson et al. shows the method of claim 1, further comprising: providing, in connection with the reconfiguring, changes to system information blocks indicating antenna capabilities, based on available active antenna processing chains (Fig. 1B; [0032]-[0034] and [0128]; i.e. the nodes and cells are given the identifiers and respective configurations and resources of the RU coverages which can be with regards to latency or load and managed/reassigned upon failure).
j. Regarding claim 10, Anderson et al. shows the method of claim 2, further comprising: providing, in connection with the reconfiguring, changes to system information blocks indicating antenna capabilities, based on available active antenna processing chains (Fig. 1B; [0032]-[0034] and [0128]; i.e. the nodes and cells are given the identifiers and respective configurations and resources of the RU coverages which can be with regards to latency or load and managed/reassigned upon failure).
k. Regarding claim 11, Anderson et al. shows a system for providing enhanced resiliency of a radio access network (RAN) cell site having multiple sectors associated with multiple cells, comprising(:) a first radio unit (RU) simultaneously serving a first set of sectors with a first set of antenna streams; and a second RU simultaneously serving at least a second set of sectors with a second set of antenna streams; and a network management unit selectively reconfiguring at least the first set of sectors with a reduced antenna configuration in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first RU, whereby all sectors of the cell site remain in service (Fig. 1C and 1A; [0016]-[0038] and [0055]-[0072]; i.e. upon failure of one DU the remaining RU are reassigned. The DU and corresponding RU may provide services for one or more slice types and additionally the management node facilitates the RU/DU pairing and can be based on latency, expected load,…failure of a given DU…, facilitate reassignment [0034]. The Backhaul, Midhaul, and fronthaul and IP connectivity are examples of the DU Ru connectivity and various transports [0025]. and elements pertaining to the latency, load, or failure among the reasons to adjust or continue the service with other sources having overlap to further maintain the coverage areas and nodes [0034] and that the management node uses information, such as constraint parameters, to follow failover actions or rules assignment upon failure ([0044]-[0045]). It is very clear that the systems and methods are in place to account for such considerations).
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l. Regarding claim 12, Anderson et al. shows t1he system of claim 11, further comprising: a third RU simultaneously serving at least a third set of sectors with a third set of antenna streams; wherein, in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first RU, all sectors of the cell site are served by the second RU and the third RU to remain in service (Fig. 1C and 1A; [0016]-[0038] and [0055]-[0072]; i.e. upon failure of one DU the remaining RU are reassigned).
m. Regarding claim 13, Anderson et al. shows the system of claim 11, further comprising: a third RU simultaneously serving at least a third set of sectors with a third set of antenna streams; wherein, in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first and second RUs, all sectors of the cell site are served by the third RU to remain in service (Fig. 1C and 1A; [0016]-[0038] and [0055]-[0072]; i.e. upon failure of one DU the remaining RU are reassigned).
n. Regarding claim 14, Anderson et al. shows the system of claim 12, further comprising: at least one distributed unit (DU) simultaneously serving at least one of the first RU, the second RU and the third RU (Fig. 1C and 1A; [0016]-[0038] and [0055]-[0072]; i.e. upon failure of one DU the remaining RU are reassigned).
o. Regarding claim 15, Anderson et al. shows the system of claim 13, further comprising: a first DU to serve the first RU, the second RU and the third RU for at least a first portion of at least one of the first, second and third set of antenna streams; and a second DU to serve the first RU, the second RU and the third RU for at least a second portion of at least one of the first, second and third set of antenna streams; wherein, in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of one of the first DU or the second DU, the remaining operational DU serves at least one operational RU to provide service to all sectors of the cell site (Fig. 1C and 1A; [0016]-[0038] and [0055]-[0072]; i.e. upon failure of one DU the remaining RU are reassigned).
p. Regarding claim 16, Anderson et al. shows the system of claim 14, wherein: a first DU is provided to serve the first RU, the second RU and the third RU for at least a first portion of at least one of the first, second and third set of antenna streams; and a second DU is provided to serve the first RU, the second RU and the third RU for at least a second portion of at least one of the first, second and third set of antenna streams; wherein, in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of one of the first DU or the second DU, the remaining operational DU serves at least one operational RU to provide service to all sectors of the cell site(Fig. 1C and 1A; [0016]-[0038] and [0055]-[0072]; i.e. upon failure of one DU the remaining RU are reassigned).
q. Regarding claim 17, Anderson et al. shows the system of claim 11, wherein: at least one of the first set of sectors and the second set of sectors is configured as one of two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration, or four-transmitters-and-four-receivers antenna configuration; and the network management unit reconfigures the at least one of the first sector, the second sector and the third sector in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first RU, as follows: one of i) from two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration to one-transmitter-and-one-receiver antenna configuration, or ii) from four-transmitters-and-four-receivers antenna configuration to one of two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration or one-transmitter-and-one-receiver antenna configuration ([0020] shows that the RU’s may be configured in any combination of transmitters and receivers).
r. regarding claim 18, Anderson et al. shows the system of claim 12, wherein: at least one of the first sector, the second sector and the third sector is configured as one of two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration, or four-transmitters-and-four-receivers antenna configuration; and the network management unit reconfigures the at least one of the first sector, the second sector and the third sector in the case of one of a failure or shutdown of the first RU, as follows: one of i) from two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration to one-transmitter-and-one-receiver antenna configuration, or ii) from four-transmitters-and-four-receivers antenna configuration to one of two-transmitters-and-two-receivers antenna configuration or one-transmitter-and-one-receiver antenna configuration ([0020] shows that the RU’s may be configured in any combination of transmitters and receivers) ([0033] shows that the DUs/RUs can be configured to manage the performance).
For sake of establishing the understanding of the material in Anderson et al is at least obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have further (fix here when you get back!)
Anderson et al. does not explicitly show the limitations as stated regarding the antenna streams. Anderson et al. teaches that the DU and corresponding RU may provide services for one or more slice types and additionally the management node facilitates the RU/DU pairing and can be based on latency, expected load,…failure of a given DU…, facilitate reassignment [0034]. The Backhaul, Midhaul, and fronthaul and IP connectivity are examples of the DU Ru connectivity and various transports [0025]. It would have been obvious to a peron having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to have considered elements pertaining to the latency, load, or failure among the reasons to adjust or continue the service with other sources having overlap to further maintain the coverage areas and nodes [0034] and that the management node uses information, such as constraint parameters, to follow failover actions or rules assignment upon failure ([0044]-[0045]). It is very clear that the systems and methods are in place to account for such considerations and further clarify that this is at least obvious and why the consideration can be made and understood to be a reasonable expectation for success in understanding.
s. regarding claim 19, Anderson et al. shows the system of claim 11, wherein: the network management unit is configured to provide, in connection with the reconfiguring, changes to system information blocks indicating antenna capabilities, based on available active antenna processing chains (Fig. 1B; [0032]-[0034] and [0128]; i.e. the nodes and cells are given the identifiers and respective configurations and resources of the RU coverages which can be with regards to latency or load and managed/reassigned upon failure).
t. regarding claim 20, Anderson et al. shows the system of claim 12, wherein: the network management unit is configured to provide, in connection with the reconfiguring, changes to system information blocks indicating antenna capabilities, based on available active antenna processing chains (Fig. 1B; [0032]-[0034] and [0128]; i.e. the nodes and cells are given the identifiers and respective configurations and resources of the RU coverages which can be with regards to latency or load and managed/reassigned upon failure).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Suthar et al., US PGPub 2020/0162348 A1, shows a method of automated provisioning of VRAN and further details of Virtualization of Radio Access Networks.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAHVOSH J NIKMANESH whose telephone number is (571)270-5549. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuwen Pan can be reached at (571)272-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Seahvosh Nikmanesh/Examiner, Art Unit 2649 /YUWEN PAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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