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 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20220322175 A1 (LIU et al.) (hereinafter LIU) in view of CN 105228208 A (ZHANG et al.) and in further view of US 20200221344 A1 (Jeon et al.) (hereinafter Jeon).
In re claim 1, LIU discloses a service handover method (Fig. 8A, [0011], “The method may further include selecting a target cell from the set of target cells for the conditional handover procedure based at least on the load information of the target cells”), applied to a first node (Fing 7B: BS 722, Fig, 8A: BS 854, [0100], “Base station 722 (first node) may send a resource status request 726 to base station 724 via the X2 interface”. [0089], “Different service types may have different requirements for radio resource. For example, eMBB may require more resource to handle large bandwidth transmission compared to URLLC. A node may reserve different amounts of resources based on different service types”) and comprising:
transmitting a link request to at least one second node (Fig. 8B, [0132], “the source cell (BS 854) may initiate and communicate a resource status request 862 to the target cell1 (BS 856) and the target cell 2 (BS 858). The resource status request 862 may include request for load information respectively from target cell 1 and target cell 2” (second nodes), and receiving response information determined by each of the at least one second node according to the link request (Fig. 8B: steps 866, 868, [0087], “To that end, base stations may monitor and collect load information and may communicate load information to other base stations”), wherein the response information at least comprises resource load information (Fig. 10:1020, [0101], “For example, base station 724 may determine the current load conditions at different radio resources, different beams, different service types, different carriers, CU and per DU, different TNL's, and the like”. [0088], “Load information may include per service type radio resource usage information. For example, load information may include information on the usage of different types of services, such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), enhanced Machine-Type Communication (eMTC), and etc.”. [0101], “Base station 724 may then generate a resource status response 728 including the requested load information and may send the resource status response 728 back to base station 722”);
determining a radio link channel state indication corresponding to each of the at least one second node according to respective resource load information ([0006], “For example, load balancing procedures may be performed to balance load between base stations by adjusting handover and cell reselection parameters based on the respective loadings of the base stations”. [0050], “A channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), channel quality indicator (CQI), and/or the like”. [0110], “For example, by implementing a conditional handover procedure, a network may reduce a likelihood of radio link failure for a UE and a BS in a scenario where a quality of a link between the UE and the BS degrades too quickly to apply a forward handover procedure” (channel link state indication for handover to avoid radio link failure due to excess loading)), and selecting a service scheduling node from the at least one second node according to the radio link channel state indication of each of the at least one second node (Fig. 11:1120, [0013], “The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to select, at the UE, a target cell from the set of target cells for the conditional handover procedure based at least on the load information of the target cells”. [0132], “The UE 852 may then use the load information of target cells 1 and 2 (and in some examples, load information of source cell) to perform cell selection and/or beam selection for a conditional handover. For example, the UE 852 may choose a target cell with a lower load among the target cells that satisfy the radio strength requirement”);
transmitting selection information of the service scheduling node and the radio link channel state indication to each of the at least one second node; and
waiting to perform a service handover with a target node, wherein the target node is a second node of the at least one second node that satisfies a preset service handover condition (Fig. 11:1130, [0110], “In a conditional handover procedure, the BS may proactively provide a conditional handover configuration to the UE. For example, the BS may provide the conditional handover configuration before a handover triggering event. In this case, the conditional handover configuration may include a configuration of a candidate target cell, an indication of a condition to trigger the conditional handover procedure, and/or the like (preset condition). When the condition to trigger the conditional handover procedure is satisfied, the UE may initiate a random-access channel procedure to transfer to a target cell”. [0113], “For example, the source cell may determine, based at least in part on the measurement report, that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied...In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold” (performing handover when condition is met)).
LIU does not explicitly disclose a service handover method and transmitting selection information of the service scheduling node and the radio link channel state indication to each of the at least one second node.
ZHANG discloses a service handover method (Page 2, lines 14-15, “the present invention provides a wireless mesh network and a cellular network between service switching method”. Page 2, lines 10-12, “according to real time performance parameter of the network, determining the best network so as to improve the utilization rate of the whole system wireless resources and increase network capacity and avoid network overload”. Page 2, lines 44-46, S21, “user terminal MMT currently connected to oMAP nodes of the wireless mesh network, when the MMT detects the signal strength and bandwidth of the oMAP are below a certain threshold, MMT sends switch request to the CP, and scanning the surrounding network”. Page 2, lines 26-31, “S12, the base station sends a query of the candidate MAP load state to the control platform CP request, network performance parameter of the CP real-time monitoring MAP, it sends a query response to the base station nMAP”) and transmitting selection information of the service scheduling node and the radio link channel state indication to each of the at least one second node (Page 5, lines 1-8, “S14. The MMT nMAP the Mesh network parameters (including signal strength, bandwidth, time delay, packet loss, network load, etc.) and network parameter of the cellular network to FAHP network selection algorithm, determining the best network, if the nMAP is not the best network, not to switch network, if the nMAP is the best network, determining the nMAP as the final target MAP step 13 in FIG. 1. S15, if nMAP is the final target MAP, the base station vehicle finishes information interaction through the MPP, the CP establishing MMT nMAP connected to the network, and updating the MPP information to finish the switching” (transmitting to the other nodes, the channel condition and selected node for switching)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU with ZHANG to provide a network selection and load balancing technique across multiple networks overlapping geographic coverage areas for providing various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and employing multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, and/or the like. The advantage of doing so is to improve the utilization ratio of network resource and ensuring the data service transmission quality and continuity for better user experience.
LIU and ZHANG do not explicitly disclose “scheduling node”.
Jeon discloses scheduling node ([0148], “In some embodiments, each mesh base station (BS) can schedule a link experiencing high congestion with high priority depending, for example, on the priority of the traffic (e.g., QoS level)”. [0176], “In various embodiments, the congestion feedback information is further used to schedule resources on the multiple paths for example based on path availability and data priority)”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU and ZHANG with Jeon to provide a network selection and load balancing technique across multiple networks overlapping geographic coverage areas for providing various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and employing multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, and/or the like. The advantage of doing so is to improve the utilization ratio of network resource and ensuring the data service transmission quality and continuity for better user experience.
In re claim 2, the combination discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein LIU discloses wherein the transmitting a link request to at least one second node and receiving response information determined by each of the at least one second node according to the link request comprises: transmitting the link request to all the at least one second node within signal coverage of the first node ([0038], “Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110”. [0069], “A UE may be located within the coverage of multiple BSs. One of these BSs may be selected to serve the UE. The serving BS may be selected based at least in part on various criteria such as received signal strength, received signal quality, path loss, and/or the like”), and receiving the response information that is fed back by each of the at least one second node, wherein the response information comprises the resource load information ([0101], “Base station 724 may then generate a resource status response 728 including the requested load information and may send the resource status response 728 back to base station 722”), wherein the at least one second node comprise at least one of: a base station, a small cell base station, an unmanned aerial vehicle onboard communication station or a user equipment with cooperation ([0004], “A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations (BSs) that can support communication for a number of user equipment (UEs)”. [0036], “The base stations 102 may include macro cells (high power cellular base station) and/or small cells (low power cellular base station). The macro cells include base stations. The small cells include femtocells, picocells, and microcells”. [0078], “The architecture may enable cooperation between and among TRPs 508. For example, cooperation may be preset within a TRP and/or across TRPs via the ANC 502”); screening out the response information that satisfies a preset heterogeneous network handshaking format ([0110], “In a conditional handover procedure, the BS may proactively provide a conditional handover configuration to the UE. For example, the BS may provide the conditional handover configuration before a handover triggering event (preset condition). [0113], “In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold”). ZHANG also discloses transmitting the link request to all the at least one second node within signal coverage of the first node (Page 2, lines 44-46, S21, “user terminal MMT currently connected to oMAP nodes of the wireless mesh network, when the MMT detects the signal strength and bandwidth of the oMAP are below a certain threshold, MMT sends switch request to the CP, and scanning the surrounding network”) and screening out the response information that satisfies a preset heterogeneous network handshaking format (Page 5, lines 1-8, “S14. The MMT nMAP the Mesh network parameters (including signal strength, bandwidth, time delay, packet loss, network load, etc.) and network parameter of the cellular network to FAHP network selection algorithm, determining the best network, if the nMAP is not the best network, not to switch network, if the nMAP is the best network, determining the nMAP as the final target MAP step 13 in FIG. 1).
In re claim 3, the combination discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein LIU discloses wherein the determining a radio link channel state indication corresponding to each of the at least one second node according to the respective resource load information and selecting a service scheduling node from the at least one second node according to the radio link channel state indication of each of the at least one second node comprises: determining the radio link channel state indication of a communication link between the first node and each of the at least one second node according to the resource load information of each of the at least one second node, wherein the radio link channel state indication at least comprises a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, a channel quality indicator, and a received signal strength indication ([0069], “A UE may be located within the coverage of multiple BSs. One of these BSs may be selected to serve the UE. The serving BS may be selected based at least in part on various criteria such as received signal strength, received signal quality, path loss, and/or the like. Received signal quality may be quantified by a signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR), or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or some other metric” (a cell to camp on within the cells in coverage is evaluated on various metrics such as SINR, RSRQ etc.). [0113], “In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold” (identifying a cell for handover based on signal quality). [0117], “In this case, the source cell may include information identifying a candidate cell identifier, a beam list (e.g., a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), and/or the like), a beam threshold, a handover priority indicator, and/or the like”); and taking a corresponding second node of the at least one second node with a highest signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio as the service scheduling node ([0120], “Additionally, or alternatively, when UE 852 determines that a plurality of candidate target cells are associated with cell qualities that satisfy a threshold, UE 852 may select a particular candidate target cell associated with a best cell quality relative to other candidate target cells”. [0121], “In this case, UE 852 may select a candidate target cell based at least in part on a best beam of the candidate target cell (e.g., a beam with a highest beam quality metric of beams of the candidate target cell) having a higher beam quality metric than other best beams of other candidate target cells” (best is interpreted as cell with highest quality metric)).
In re claim 4, the combination discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein LIU discloses wherein the preset service handover condition at least comprises: a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the radio link channel state indication being greater than a first handover threshold ([0112], “For example, the source cell may indicate which parameter UE 852 is to determine, such as a signal strength parameter (e.g., a reference signal received power (RSRP)), a signal quality parameter (e.g., a reference signal received quality (RSRQ)), and or the like. In this case, UE 852 may report that the parameter does not satisfy a threshold, which may trigger the source cell to determine an availability of the target cells for a handover. In some aspects, the source cell may provide information identifying the threshold” (preset handover threshold). [0113], “In this case, the source cell may determine that UE 852 is to be handed over from the source cell to a target cell. In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold”. [0118], “In this case, the condition may relate to a candidate target cell having a cell quality metric that satisfies a threshold” (target cell threshold greater than source cell causing handover)), a received signal strength indication of the radio link channel state indication being greater than a second handover threshold ([0121], “Additionally, or alternatively, UE 852 may select a first candidate target cell that has a best beam, with respect to a beam quality metric, that satisfies a threshold for beam quality”. [0144], “As used herein, satisfying a threshold may refer to a value being greater than the threshold” (here greater than the second handover threshold)), a sum of a transport block size and a buffer capacity of a resource balance being greater than a third handover threshold, and a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the second node being greater than a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of another second node of the at least one second node ([0121], “In this case, UE 852 may select a candidate target cell based at least in part on a best beam of the candidate target cell (e.g., a beam with a highest beam quality metric of beams of the candidate target cell) having a higher beam quality metric than other best beams of other candidate target cells” (SINR of second node higher than another second node of the plurality of second nodes)).
In re claim 10, LIU discloses an electronic device, comprising: at least one processor (Fig. 2:290); and a memory (Fig. 2:292) communicatively connected to the at least one processor ([0010], “In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may include memory and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to transmit, from a wireless communication device, a resource status request requesting load information related to load balancing between the wireless communication device and one or more other wireless communication devices”); wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program executable by the at least one processor ([0014], “Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product”. [0052], “For example, controller/processor 240 of base station 102, controller/processor 280 of UE 104, and/or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 1000 of FIG. 10, process 1100 of FIG. 11, and/or other processes as described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 102 and UE 104, respectively”), wherein the combination discloses the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, to perform the service handover method according to claim 1.
In re claim 11, the combination discloses the electronic device according to claim 10, wherein LIU discloses wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, enables the at least one processor to further perform: transmitting the link request to all the at least one second node within signal coverage of the first node ([0038], “Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographic coverage areas 110”. [0069], “A UE may be located within the coverage of multiple BSs. One of these BSs may be selected to serve the UE. The serving BS may be selected based at least in part on various criteria such as received signal strength, received signal quality, path loss, and/or the like”), and receiving the response information that is fed back by each of the at least one second node, wherein the response information comprises the resource load information ([0101], “Base station 724 may then generate a resource status response 728 including the requested load information and may send the resource status response 728 back to base station 722”), wherein the at least one second node comprise at least one of: a base station, a small cell base station, an unmanned aerial vehicle onboard communication station or a user equipment with cooperation ([0004], “A wireless communication network may include a number of base stations (BSs) that can support communication for a number of user equipment (UEs)”. [0036], “The base stations 102 may include macro cells (high power cellular base station) and/or small cells (low power cellular base station). The macro cells include base stations. The small cells include femtocells, picocells, and microcells”. [0078], “The architecture may enable cooperation between and among TRPs 508. For example, cooperation may be preset within a TRP and/or across TRPs via the ANC 502”); and screening out the response information that satisfies a preset heterogeneous network handshaking format ([0110], “In a conditional handover procedure, the BS may proactively provide a conditional handover configuration to the UE. For example, the BS may provide the conditional handover configuration before a handover triggering event (preset condition). [0113], “In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold”). ZHANG also discloses transmitting the link request to all the at least one second node within signal coverage of the first node (Page 2, lines 44-46, S21, “user terminal MMT currently connected to oMAP nodes of the wireless mesh network, when the MMT detects the signal strength and bandwidth of the oMAP are below a certain threshold, MMT sends switch request to the CP, and scanning the surrounding network”) and screening out the response information that satisfies a preset heterogeneous network handshaking format (Page 5, lines 1-8, “S14. The MMT nMAP the Mesh network parameters (including signal strength, bandwidth, time delay, packet loss, network load, etc.) and network parameter of the cellular network to FAHP network selection algorithm, determining the best network, if the nMAP is not the best network, not to switch network, if the nMAP is the best network, determining the nMAP as the final target MAP step 13 in FIG. 1).
In re claim 12, the combination discloses the electronic device according to claim 10, wherein LIU discloses wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, enables the at least one processor to further perform: determining the radio link channel state indication of a communication link between the first node and each of the at least one second node according to the resource load information of each of the at least one second node, wherein the radio link channel state indication at least comprises a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, a channel quality indicator, and a received signal strength indication ([0069], “A UE may be located within the coverage of multiple BSs. One of these BSs may be selected to serve the UE. The serving BS may be selected based at least in part on various criteria such as received signal strength, received signal quality, path loss, and/or the like. Received signal quality may be quantified by a signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR), or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or some other metric” (a cell to camp on within the cells in coverage is evaluated on various metrics such as SINR, RSRQ etc.). [0113], “In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold” (identifying a cell for handover based on signal quality). [0117], “In this case, the source cell may include information identifying a candidate cell identifier, a beam list (e.g., a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal block (SSB), and/or the like), a beam threshold, a handover priority indicator, and/or the like”); and taking a corresponding second node of the at least one second node with a highest signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio as the service scheduling node ([0120], “Additionally, or alternatively, when UE 852 determines that a plurality of candidate target cells are associated with cell qualities that satisfy a threshold, UE 852 may select a particular candidate target cell associated with a best cell quality relative to other candidate target cells”. [0121], “In this case, UE 852 may select a candidate target cell based at least in part on a best beam of the candidate target cell (e.g., a beam with a highest beam quality metric of beams of the candidate target cell) having a higher beam quality metric than other best beams of other candidate target cells” (best is interpreted as cell with highest quality metric)).
In re claim 13, the combination discloses the electronic device according to claim 10, wherein LIU discloses wherein the preset service handover condition at least comprises: a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the radio link channel state indication being greater than a first handover threshold ([0112], “For example, the source cell may indicate which parameter UE 852 is to determine, such as a signal strength parameter (e.g., a reference signal received power (RSRP)), a signal quality parameter (e.g., a reference signal received quality (RSRQ)), and or the like. In this case, UE 852 may report that the parameter does not satisfy a threshold, which may trigger the source cell to determine an availability of the target cells for a handover. In some aspects, the source cell may provide information identifying the threshold” (preset handover threshold). [0113], “In this case, the source cell may determine that UE 852 is to be handed over from the source cell to a target cell. In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold”. [0118], “In this case, the condition may relate to a candidate target cell having a cell quality metric that satisfies a threshold” (target cell threshold greater than source cell causing handover)), a received signal strength indication of the radio link channel state indication being greater than a second handover threshold ([0121], “Additionally, or alternatively, UE 852 may select a first candidate target cell that has a best beam, with respect to a beam quality metric, that satisfies a threshold for beam quality”. [0144], “As used herein, satisfying a threshold may refer to a value being greater than the threshold” (here greater than the second handover threshold)), a sum of a transport block size and a buffer capacity of a resource balance being greater than a third handover threshold, and a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the second node being greater than a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of another second node of the at least one second node ([0121], “In this case, UE 852 may select a candidate target cell based at least in part on a best beam of the candidate target cell (e.g., a beam with a highest beam quality metric of beams of the candidate target cell) having a higher beam quality metric than other best beams of other candidate target cells” (SINR of second node higher than another second node of the plurality of second nodes)).
In re claim 19, LIU discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions ([0014], “Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, base station, wireless communication device, source cell, target cell, and processing system as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings and specification”), wherein the combination discloses wherein the computer instructions are used for, when executed by a processor, implementing the service handover method according to claim 1.
In re claim 5, LIU discloses a service handover method (Fig. 8A, [0011], “The method may further include selecting a target cell from the set of target cells for the conditional handover procedure based at least on the load information of the target cells”), applied to a second node of at least one second node (Fig. 8B: BS 856, 858, [0069], “A UE may be located within the coverage of multiple BSs. One of these BSs may be selected to serve the UE”. [0132], “The target cell 1 may respond by sending back a resource status response 866 including the requested load information of the target cell 1” (second node)), and comprising:
receiving a link request transmitted by a first node (Fig. 8B: steps 862, 864, [0132], “the source cell (first node) may initiate and communicate a resource status request 862 to the target cell1 and the target cell 2. The resource status request 862 may include request for load information respectively from target cell 1 and target cell 2”), and feeding back corresponding response information to the first node according to the link request (Fig. 8B: steps 866, 868, [0132], “The target cell 1 may respond by sending back a resource status response 866 including the requested load information of the target cell 1. Similarly, the target cell 2 may respond by sending back a resource status response 868 including the requested load information of the target cell 2”), wherein the response information at least comprises resource load information (Fig. 10:1020, [0101], “For example, base station 724 may determine the current load conditions at different radio resources, different beams, different service types, different carriers, CU and per DU, different TNL's, and the like”. [0088], “Load information may include per service type radio resource usage information. For example, load information may include information on the usage of different types of services, such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC), enhanced Machine-Type Communication (eMTC), and etc.”. [0101], “Base station 724 may then generate a resource status response 728 including the requested load information and may send the resource status response 728 back to base station 722”);
receiving selection information of a service scheduling node transmitted by the first node (Fig. 11:1120, [0013], “The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to select, at the UE, a target cell from the set of target cells for the conditional handover procedure based at least on the load information of the target cells”), and determining a radio link channel state indication corresponding to the second node according to the resource load information ([0006], “For example, load balancing procedures may be performed to balance load between base stations by adjusting handover and cell reselection parameters based on the respective loadings of the base stations”. [0050], “A channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), channel quality indicator (CQI), and/or the like”. [0113], “For example, the source cell may determine, based at least in part on the measurement report, that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied...In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold” (channel link state indication of second node based on load));
determining a resource balance according to the radio link channel state indication; and transmitting the resource balance to the service scheduling node among the at least one second node to enable the service scheduling node to determine a target node for performing a service handover with the first node.
LIU does not explicitly disclose a service handover method and determining a resource balance according to the radio link channel state indication; and transmitting the resource balance to the service scheduling node among the at least one second node to enable the service scheduling node to determine a target node for performing a service handover with the first node.
ZHANG discloses a service handover method (Page 2, lines 14-15, “the present invention provides a wireless mesh network and a cellular network between service switching method”. Page 2, lines 26-31, “S12, the base station sends a query of the candidate MAP load state to the control platform CP request, network performance parameter of the CP real-time monitoring MAP, it sends a query response to the base station nMAP”), determining a resource balance according to the radio link channel state indication (Page 2, lines 10-12, “according to real time performance parameter of the network, determining the best network so as to improve the utilization rate of the whole system wireless resources and increase network capacity and avoid network overload”. Page 2, lines 44-46, S21, “user terminal MMT currently connected to oMAP nodes of the wireless mesh network, when the MMT detects the signal strength and bandwidth of the oMAP are below a certain threshold, MMT sends switch request to the CP, and scanning the surrounding network”); and transmitting the resource balance to the service scheduling node among the at least one second node to enable the service scheduling node to determine a target node for performing a service handover with the first node (Page 5, lines 1-8, “S14. The MMT nMAP the Mesh network parameters (including signal strength, bandwidth, time delay, packet loss, network load, etc.) and network parameter of the cellular network to FAHP network selection algorithm, determining the best network, if the nMAP is not the best network, not to switch network, if the nMAP is the best network, determining the nMAP as the final target MAP step 13 in FIG. 1. S15, if nMAP is the final target MAP, the base station vehicle finishes information interaction through the MPP, the CP establishing MMT nMAP connected to the network, and updating the MPP information to finish the switching” (transmitting to the scheduling nodes the resource balance and channel conditions to enable handover to target cell)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU with ZHANG to provide a network selection and load balancing technique across multiple networks overlapping geographic coverage areas for providing various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and employing multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, and/or the like. The advantage of doing so is to improve the utilization ratio of network resource and ensuring the data service transmission quality and continuity for better user experience.
LIU and ZHANG do not explicitly disclose “scheduling node”.
Jeon discloses scheduling node ([0148], “In some embodiments, each mesh base station (BS) can schedule a link experiencing high congestion with high priority depending, for example, on the priority of the traffic (e.g., QoS level)”. [0176], “In various embodiments, the congestion feedback information is further used to schedule resources on the multiple paths for example based on path availability and data priority)”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU and ZHANG with Jeon to provide a network selection and load balancing technique across multiple networks overlapping geographic coverage areas for providing various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and employing multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, and/or the like. The advantage of doing so is to improve the utilization ratio of network resource and ensuring the data service transmission quality and continuity for better user experience.
In re claim 6, the combination discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein Jeon discloses wherein the determining a resource balance according to the radio link channel state indication comprises: searching a preset modulation and coding scheme table for a data transport block size corresponding to the first node according to a channel quality indication of the radio link channel state indication ([0075], “A CSI report from a UE can include a channel quality indicator (CQI) informing a gNB of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for the UE to detect a data TB with a predetermined block error rate (BLER), such as a 10% BLER, of a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) informing a gNB how to precode signaling to a UE, and of a rank indicator (RI) indicating a transmission rank for a PDSCH”); determining a buffer capacity of the second node ([0146], “In another embodiment the feedback information may be shared aperiodically based on a trigger by a channel condition or a network event, such as (but not restricted to) a buffer size or delay exceeding a threshold value”); and taking the data transport block size and the buffer capacity as the resource balance ([0153], “In one example, bandwidth allocation information may indicate how much buffer size is available to receive data. The BAR message can be used for both UL and DL traffic”. [0157], “This splitting of the buffer size across the different paths may be performed using the path cost and routing metrics”. [0160], “The sum of all reported fractional buffer spaces can be equal to or almost the same as the total available buffer space. In one embodiment, this fractional buffer space reported may be proportional to the bearer QCI or GBR” (parameters such as buffer size taken into account for load balancing)).
In re claim 14, LIU discloses an electronic device, comprising: at least one processor (Fig. 2:290, [0018], “Fig. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a base station in communication with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network”); and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor (Fig. 2:292, [0010], “In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may include memory and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory”); wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program executable by the at least one processor ([0014], “Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product”. [0052], “For example, controller/processor 240 of base station 102, controller/processor 280 of UE 104, and/or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 1000 of FIG. 10, process 1100 of FIG. 11, and/or other processes as described herein”), wherein the combination discloses the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, enables the at least one processor to perform the service handover method according to claim 5.
In re claim 15, the combination discloses the electronic device according to claim 14, wherein Jeon discloses wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, enables the at least one processor to further perform: searching a preset modulation and coding scheme table for a data transport block size corresponding to the first node according to a channel quality indication of the radio link channel state indication ([0075], “A CSI report from a UE can include a channel quality indicator (CQI) informing a gNB of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for the UE to detect a data TB with a predetermined block error rate (BLER), such as a 10% BLER, of a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) informing a gNB how to precode signaling to a UE, and of a rank indicator (RI) indicating a transmission rank for a PDSCH”); determining a buffer capacity of the second node ([0146], “In another embodiment the feedback information may be shared aperiodically based on a trigger by a channel condition or a network event, such as (but not restricted to) a buffer size or delay exceeding a threshold value”); and taking the data transport block size and the buffer capacity as the resource balance ([0153], “In one example, bandwidth allocation information may indicate how much buffer size is available to receive data. The BAR message can be used for both UL and DL traffic”. [0157], “This splitting of the buffer size across the different paths may be performed using the path cost and routing metrics”. [0160], “The sum of all reported fractional buffer spaces can be equal to or almost the same as the total available buffer space. In one embodiment, this fractional buffer space reported may be proportional to the bearer QCI or GBR” (parameters such as buffer size taken into account for load balancing)).
In re claim 20, LIU discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions ([0014], “Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product, non-transitory computer-readable medium, user equipment, base station, wireless communication device, source cell, target cell, and processing system as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings and specification”), wherein the combination discloses wherein the computer instructions are used for, when executed by a processor, implementing the service handover method according to claim 5.
In re claim 7, LIU discloses a service handover method (Fig. 8A, [0011], “The method may further include selecting a target cell from the set of target cells for the conditional handover procedure based at least on the load information of the target cells”), applied to a service scheduling node among at least one second node (Fig. 8B: BS 856, 858, [0069], “A UE may be located within the coverage of multiple BSs. One of these BSs may be selected to serve the UE”. [0132], “The target cell 1 may respond by sending back a resource status response 866 including the requested load information of the target cell 1. Similarly, the target cell 2 may respond by sending back a resource status response 868 including the requested load information of the target cell 2” (any of the second nodes can be interpreted as a scheduling node)) and comprising:
receiving a radio link channel state indication corresponding to each of the at least one second node transmitted by a first node ([0050], “A channel processor may determine reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), channel quality indicator (CQI), and/or the like”. [0101], “Base station 724 may then generate a resource status response 728 including the requested load information and may send the resource status response 728 back to base station 722” (load information sent to the first node and transmitted by the first node to the scheduling node)) and a resource balance transmitted by each of the at least one second node ([0087], “To that end, base stations may monitor and collect load information and may communicate load information to other base stations”. [0101], “For example, base station 724 may determine the current load conditions at different radio resources, different beams, different service types, different carriers, CU and per DU, different TNL's, and the like”); and
selecting a target node for performing a service handover with the first node from the at least one second node according to the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance (Fig. 11:1120, [0110], “In a conditional handover procedure, the BS may proactively provide a conditional handover configuration to the UE...When the condition to trigger the conditional handover procedure is satisfied, the UE may initiate a random-access channel procedure to transfer to a target cell... By implementing a conditional handover procedure, a network may reduce a likelihood of radio link failure for a UE and a BS in a scenario where a quality of a link between the UE and the BS degrades too quickly to apply a forward handover procedure”. [0013], “The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to select, at the UE, a target cell from the set of target cells for the conditional handover procedure based at least on the load information of the target cells...For example, the source cell may determine, based at least in part on the measurement report...that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold).
LIU does not explicitly disclose a service handover method comprising receiving a radio link channel state indication corresponding to each of the at least one second node transmitted by a first node and selecting a target node for performing a service handover with the first node from the at least one second node according to the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance.
ZHANG discloses a service handover method (Page 2, lines 14-15, “the present invention provides a wireless mesh network and a cellular network between service switching method”. Page 2, lines 26-31, “S12, the base station sends a query of the candidate MAP load state to the control platform CP request, network performance parameter of the CP real-time monitoring MAP, it sends a query response to the base station nMAP”) and receiving a radio link channel state indication corresponding to each of the at least one second node transmitted by a first node (Page 2, lines 10-12, “according to real time performance parameter of the network, determining the best network so as to improve the utilization rate of the whole system wireless resources and increase network capacity and avoid network overload”. Page 2, lines 44-46, S21, “user terminal MMT currently connected to oMAP nodes of the wireless mesh network, when the MMT detects the signal strength and bandwidth of the oMAP are below a certain threshold, MMT sends switch request to the CP, and scanning the surrounding network”. Page 2, lines 26-31, “S12, the base station (first node) sends a query of the candidate MAP load state to the control platform CP request, network performance parameter of the CP real-time monitoring MAP, it sends a query response to the base station nMAP”); and selecting a target node for performing a service handover with the first node from the at least one second node according to the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance (Page 5, lines 1-8, “S14. The MMT nMAP the Mesh network parameters (including signal strength, bandwidth, time delay, packet loss, network load, etc.) and network parameter of the cellular network to FAHP network selection algorithm, determining the best network (selecting the target node), if the nMAP is not the best network, not to switch network, if the nMAP is the best network, determining the nMAP as the final target MAP step 13 in FIG. 1. S15, if nMAP is the final target MAP, the base station vehicle finishes information interaction through the MPP, the CP establishing MMT nMAP connected to the network, and updating the MPP information to finish the switching” (selecting the target node for handover based on channel indication and resource balance as best node)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU with ZHANG to provide a network selection and load balancing technique across multiple networks overlapping geographic coverage areas for providing various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and employing multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, and/or the like. The advantage of doing so is to improve the utilization ratio of network resource and ensuring the data service transmission quality and continuity for better user experience.
LIU and ZHANG do not explicitly disclose “scheduling node”.
Jeon discloses scheduling node ([0148], “In some embodiments, each mesh base station (BS) can schedule a link experiencing high congestion with high priority depending, for example, on the priority of the traffic (e.g., QoS level)”. [0176], “In various embodiments, the congestion feedback information is further used to schedule resources on the multiple paths for example based on path availability and data priority)”).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIU and ZHANG with Jeon to provide a network selection and load balancing technique across multiple networks overlapping geographic coverage areas for providing various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and employing multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, and/or the like. The advantage of doing so is to improve the utilization ratio of network resource and ensuring the data service transmission quality and continuity for better user experience.
In re claim 8, the combination discloses the method according to claim 7, wherein LIU discloses wherein the selecting a target node for performing a service handover with the first node from the at least one second node according to the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance comprises: determining whether the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance of each of the at least one second node satisfy a preset service handover condition ([0110], “In a conditional handover procedure, the BS may proactively provide a conditional handover configuration to the UE. For example, the BS may provide the conditional handover configuration before a handover triggering event. In this case, the conditional handover configuration may include a configuration of a candidate target cell, an indication of a condition to trigger the conditional handover procedure, and/or the like (preset condition). When the condition to trigger the conditional handover procedure is satisfied, the UE may initiate a random-access channel procedure to transfer to a target cell”. [0113], “For example, the source cell may determine, based at least in part on the measurement report, that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied...In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold” (determining if a preset handover condition such as a threshold is met)), and wherein ZHANG discloses taking a second node that satisfies the preset service handover condition as the target node (Page 5, lines 1-8, “S14. The MMT nMAP the Mesh network parameters (including signal strength, bandwidth, time delay, packet loss, network load, etc.) and network parameter of the cellular network to FAHP network selection algorithm, determining the best network, if the nMAP is not the best network, not to switch network, if the nMAP is the best network, determining the nMAP as the final target MAP step 13 in FIG. 1 (taking the best node that meets the condition)), wherein LIU discloses wherein the preset service handover condition at least comprises: a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the radio link channel state indication being greater than a first handover threshold ([0112], “For example, the source cell may indicate which parameter UE 852 is to determine, such as a signal strength parameter (e.g., a reference signal received power (RSRP)), a signal quality parameter (e.g., a reference signal received quality (RSRQ)), and or the like. In this case, UE 852 may report that the parameter does not satisfy a threshold, which may trigger the source cell to determine an availability of the target cells for a handover. In some aspects, the source cell may provide information identifying the threshold” (preset handover threshold). [0113], “In this case, the source cell may determine that UE 852 is to be handed over from the source cell to a target cell. In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold”. [0118], “In this case, the condition may relate to a candidate target cell having a cell quality metric that satisfies a threshold” (target cell threshold greater than source cell causing handover)), a received signal strength indication of the radio link channel state indication being greater than a second handover threshold ([0121], “Additionally, or alternatively, UE 852 may select a first candidate target cell that has a best beam, with respect to a beam quality metric, that satisfies a threshold for beam quality”. [0144], “As used herein, satisfying a threshold may refer to a value being greater than the threshold” (here greater than the second handover threshold)), a sum of a transport block size and a buffer capacity of the resource balance being greater than a third handover threshold, and a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the second node being greater than a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of another second node of the at least one second node ([0121], “In this case, UE 852 may select a candidate target cell based at least in part on a best beam of the candidate target cell (e.g., a beam with a highest beam quality metric of beams of the candidate target cell) having a higher beam quality metric than other best beams of other candidate target cells” (SINR of second node higher than another second node of the plurality of second nodes)).
In re claim 9, the combination discloses the method according to claim 8, further comprising: in response to the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance of a second node not satisfying the preset service handover condition, determining whether a corresponding second node with the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance not satisfying the preset service handover condition satisfies a preset overload condition, and if the corresponding second node satisfies the preset overload condition, controlling the corresponding second node to enter a sleep mode (preset overload condition maybe interpreted as a preset handover condition. It is implicit that if a node is overloaded the traffic is not routed or it enters an inactive mode or sleep mode); wherein Jeon discloses wherein the preset overload condition comprises at least one of the following: a remaining space of a buffer or a data storing area of a second node is smaller than a size of data to be transmitted by the first node ([0146], “In another embodiment the feedback information may be shared aperiodically based on a trigger by a channel condition or a network event, such as (but not restricted to) a buffer size or delay exceeding a threshold value”. [0153], “In one example, bandwidth allocation information may indicate how much buffer size is available to receive data. The BAR message can be used for both UL and DL traffic”. [0157], “This splitting of the buffer size across the different paths may be performed using the path cost and routing metrics”. [0160], “The sum of all reported fractional buffer spaces can be equal to or almost the same as the total available buffer space. In one embodiment, this fractional buffer space reported may be proportional to the bearer QCI or GBR” (parameters such as buffer size taken into account for load balancing)); wherein LIU discloses a remaining usage rate of a central processing unit of a second node is less than a preset central processing unit remaining usage rate threshold; or a downlink bandwidth that the second node needs to allocate to the first node is less than a preset downlink bandwidth threshold ([0089], “Different service types may have different requirements for radio resource. For example, eMBB may require more resource to handle large bandwidth transmission compared to URLLC. A node may reserve different amounts of resources based on different service types”. [0135], “In some aspects, the load information comprises one or more of beam utilization information, per service type radio resource usage information, supplementary uplink carrier load information, hardware load information, transport network layer load information, radio resource usage information, load per bandwidth part information, a number of User Equipment’s (UEs) in connected mode, and a number of UEs in inactive state” (preset condition can be a bandwidth threshold)).
In re claim 16, LIU discloses an electronic device, comprising: at least one processor (Fig. 2:290, [0018], “Fig. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of a base station in communication with a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network”); and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor (Fig. 2:292, [0010], “In some aspects, an apparatus for wireless communication may include memory and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory”); wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program executable by the at least one processor ([0014], “Aspects generally include a method, apparatus, system, computer program product”. [0052], “For example, controller/processor 240 of base station 102, controller/processor 280 of UE 104, and/or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 1000 of FIG. 10, process 1100 of FIG. 11, and/or other processes as described herein”), and wherein the combination discloses wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, enables the at least one processor to perform the service handover method according to claim 7.
In re claim 17, the combination discloses the electronic device according to claim 16, wherein LIU discloses wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, enables the at least one processor to further perform: determining whether the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance of each of the at least one second node satisfy a preset service handover condition, and taking a second node that satisfies the preset service handover condition as the target node, wherein the preset service handover condition at least comprises: a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the radio link channel state indication being greater than a first handover threshold ([0112], “For example, the source cell may indicate which parameter UE 852 is to determine, such as a signal strength parameter (e.g., a reference signal received power (RSRP)), a signal quality parameter (e.g., a reference signal received quality (RSRQ)), and or the like. In this case, UE 852 may report that the parameter does not satisfy a threshold, which may trigger the source cell to determine an availability of the target cells for a handover. In some aspects, the source cell may provide information identifying the threshold” (preset handover threshold). [0113], “In this case, the source cell may determine that UE 852 is to be handed over from the source cell to a target cell. In some aspects, the source cell may determine that a condition for performing a conditional handover is satisfied based at least in part on a signal quality of a link between UE 852 and the source cell not satisfying a threshold”. [0118], “In this case, the condition may relate to a candidate target cell having a cell quality metric that satisfies a threshold” (target cell threshold greater than source cell causing handover)), a received signal strength indication of the radio link channel state indication being greater than a second handover threshold ([0121], “Additionally, or alternatively, UE 852 may select a first candidate target cell that has a best beam, with respect to a beam quality metric, that satisfies a threshold for beam quality”. [0144], “As used herein, satisfying a threshold may refer to a value being greater than the threshold” (here greater than the second handover threshold)), a sum of a transport block size and a buffer capacity of the resource balance being greater than a third handover threshold, and a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of the second node being greater than a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio of another second node of the at least one second node ([0121], “In this case, UE 852 may select a candidate target cell based at least in part on a best beam of the candidate target cell (e.g., a beam with a highest beam quality metric of beams of the candidate target cell) having a higher beam quality metric than other best beams of other candidate target cells” (SINR of second node higher than another second node of the plurality of second nodes)).
In re claim 18, the combination discloses the electronic device according to claim 17, wherein the computer program, when executed by the at least one processor, enables the at least one processor to further perform: in response to the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance of a second node not satisfying the preset service handover condition, determining whether a corresponding second node with the radio link channel state indication and the resource balance not satisfying the preset service handover condition satisfies a preset overload condition, and if the corresponding second node satisfies the preset overload condition, controlling the corresponding second node to enter a sleep mode (preset overload condition maybe interpreted as a preset handover condition. It is implicit that if a node is overloaded the traffic is not routed or it enters an inactive mode or sleep mode); wherein Jeon discloses wherein the preset overload condition comprises at least one of the following: a remaining space of a buffer or a data storing area of a second node is smaller than a size of data to be transmitted by the first node ([0146], “In another embodiment the feedback information may be shared aperiodically based on a trigger by a channel condition or a network event, such as (but not restricted to) a buffer size or delay exceeding a threshold value”. [0153], “In one example, bandwidth allocation information may indicate how much buffer size is available to receive data. The BAR message can be used for both UL and DL traffic”. [0157], “This splitting of the buffer size across the different paths may be performed using the path cost and routing metrics”. [0160], “The sum of all reported fractional buffer spaces can be equal to or almost the same as the total available buffer space. In one embodiment, this fractional buffer space reported may be proportional to the bearer QCI or GBR” (parameters such as buffer size taken into account for load balancing)); and wherein LIU discloses a remaining usage rate of a central processing unit of a second node is less than a preset central processing unit remaining usage rate threshold; or a downlink bandwidth that the second node needs to allocate to the first node is less than a preset downlink bandwidth threshold([0089], “Different service types may have different requirements for radio resource. For example, eMBB may require more resource to handle large bandwidth transmission compared to URLLC. A node may reserve different amounts of resources based on different service types”. [0135], “In some aspects, the load information comprises one or more of beam utilization information, per service type radio resource usage information, supplementary uplink carrier load information, hardware load information, transport network layer load information, radio resource usage information, load per bandwidth part information, a number of User Equipment’s (UEs) in connected mode, and a number of UEs in inactive state” (preset condition can be a bandwidth threshold)).
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/SWATI JAIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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