Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/788,696

USER EQUIPMENT-AGGREGATION CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS THEREOF

Final Rejection §102§103
Filed
Jul 30, 2024
Priority
Jul 24, 2024 — CN 202410996400.6
Examiner
ALI, LABIBAH ILMA
Art Unit
2465
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
MediaTek Singapore Pte. Ltd.
OA Round
2 (Final)
100%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 100% — above average
100%
Career Allowance Rate
1 granted / 1 resolved
+42.0% vs TC avg
Minimal +0% lift
Without
With
+0.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 10m
Avg Prosecution
10 currently pending
Career history
15
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
100.0%
+60.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Status of the Claims This FINAL action is in response to Applicant’s amendment of 30 January 2026. Claims 1, 3-11, and 13-20 are pending and have been considered as follows. Claims 2 and 12 are cancelled. Response to Arguments Applicant’s amendment and/or arguments with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 3-11, and 13-20 under 35 USC 102 as set forth in the office action of 03 November 2025 have been considered and are NOT persuasive. Applicant argues that WANG does not disclose “displaying, by the processor, a control interface corresponding to the application after the application is performed; and initiating or terminating, by the processor, the UE aggregation through the control interface.” Examiner has respectfully considered Applicant’s arguments and respectfully disagrees. Examiner points to at least [0045-0047] and [0105] of WANG which teaches communication between user equipment (UEs) via interfaces including the PC5 and Uu interface, which are used to establish and manage communication links between devices. These interfaces are used by the processor to control communication operation, including establishing relay communication between UEs and determining routing and transmission of data packets. Such operations correspond to initiating UE aggregation (I.e., establishing communication via a relay UE) and include initiating, terminating or modifying such aggregation by controlling routing paths and communication links. Further, WANG discloses a communication and apparatus including a processing unit and communication unit (Fig. 12), wherein the processor executes operations that provide and utilize interfaces to control UE communication. The control interface broadly encompasses interfaces through which control operations are performed. Therefore, the PC5 and Uu interfaces, as implemented and controlled by the processor in WANG, reasonably correspond to the control interface. See 35 USC 102 below. 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. Claim(s) 1, 5-7, 11 and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by WANG (US 20230319682 A1). Regarding claim 1, WANG teaches A user equipment (UE) aggregation control method (Fig. 1), applied in a UE, comprising: performing, by a processor of the UE, an application to initiate UE aggregation with a relay UE (Fig. 1 -3 The First UE initiates communication and routing with a relay UE) ; establishing a non-3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) connection between the UE and the relay UE to achieve UE aggregation (Paragraphs [0095 - 0097] Referring back to Fig. 1 -3, the communication link between the remote UE or relay UE and another device can establish a connection using a PC5 sidelink interface. Paragraph [0075] specifies that that system can include access point in a Wi-Fi system, or the like.); and transmitting, by the processor, encapsulated data packets to the relay UE, which are transmitted to a network node after decapsulated (Paragraph [0009],[0018] The first UE send a first data packet containing identifiers of the UEs and the network device; the relay UE obtains the packet, decapsulates it, and forwards it to the network node as shown in Figure 8 (steps S805 – S810)), wherein the encapsulated data packets comprise headers which containing address information and port information of the UE and the relay UE (Paragraph [0043], [0143 – 0146] Referring to Table 4., the data packets include identifiers (address and port information) of the first UE and the relay UEs for mapping and routing between nodes) wherein the method further comprises: displaying ([0078]), by the processor, a control interface corresponding to the application after the application is performed ([0045 -0047] The communication apparatus may be a first terminal device, or a component (such as a processor), of the first termina device [0105] and Figure 12. A processor configured to execute routing and aggregation functions through a control or display interface of the communication apparatus); and initiating or terminating, by the processor, the UE aggregation through the control interface ([0097] Remote UE may be a service initiation device, a destination service that finally receives user data, or a source device that generates user data). Regarding claim 5, Wang teaches The UE aggregation control method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the processor, whether the network node supports the UE aggregation through the non-3GPP connection ([0075] an access point in a Wi-Fi system, or the like) before initiating the UE aggregation with the relay UE through the non-3GPP connection ([0081 – 0085] The remote UE sends a message to a network device through a relay UE. [0105-0106] The unicast communication in the sidelink communication is similar to data communication performed after an RRC connection is established between UE and a network device. In other words, a unicast connection needs to be first established between two UEs. After the unicast connection is established, the two UEs may perform data communication based on a negotiated communication identifier.). Regarding claim 6, Wang teaches The UE aggregation control method of claim 1, further comprising: encapsulating, by the processor, the address information and the port information ([0143] The first data packet includes first data based on port information such as a port number and/or an IP address) with data packets to generate the encapsulated data packets ([0150 – 0152] UE may encapsulate the data packet with a protocol header to obtain a new data packet). Regarding claim 7, Wang teaches the UE aggregation control method of claim 1, wherein the address information comprises internet protocol (IP) addresses of the UE and the relay UE, and the port information comprises user datagram protocol (UDP) ports or transmission control protocol (TCP) ports of the UE and the relay UE (Fig. 5 and [0143], Referring to Table 4, mapping DRBs based on port information and IP addresses between UE1 and UE2 demonstrates use of transport protocols). Regarding claim 11, Wang teaches an apparatus for wireless communications ([0047] The communication apparatus may be a first relay terminal device, or a component (such as processor, a chip, or a chip system)), comprising: a non-3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) transceiver, wirelessly communicating with a relay user equipment (UE)(Fig. 2 and [0072-0075] a Wi-Fi system, or the like as access network device, enabling a non-3GPP communication between a UE and a relay UE); and a processor, coupled to the non-3GPP transceiver, wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: ([0046], [0052] The communication apparatus can be a first terminal device, or a component (such as a processor). The processor is couples to a memory configured for controlling routing operations via non-3GPP interface) performing an application to initiate UE aggregation with a relay UE; establishing a non-3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) connection between the UE and the relay UE to achieve UE aggregation (Paragraphs [0095 - 0097] Referring back to Fig. 1 -3, the communication link between the remote UE or relay UE and another device can establish a connection using a PC5 sidelink interface. Paragraph [0075] specifies that that system can include access point in a Wi-Fi system, or the like.); and transmitting encapsulated data packets to the relay UE, which are transmitted to a network node after decapsulated(Paragraph [0009],[0018] The first UE send a first data packet containing identifiers of the UEs and the network device; the relay UE obtains the packet, decapsulates it, and forwards it to the network node as shown in Figure 8 (steps S805 – S810)), wherein the encapsulated data packets comprise headers which containing address information and port information of the UE and the relay UE. (Paragraph [0043], [0143 – 0146] Referring to Table 4., the data packets include identifiers (address and port information) of the first UE and the relay UEs for mapping and routing between nodes), wherein during operation, the processor performs operations ([0297-0301] The processor 1302 executes the program instructions stored in the memory 1303, and uses the data stored in the memory 1303, to implement the foregoing function, so as to implement the routing method provided in the foregoing embodiments.) comprising: displaying, via a display device of the apparatus, a control interface corresponding to the application after the application is performed ([0046-0047] The communication apparatus may be a first terminal device, or a component (such as a processor), of the first termina device [0052] Referring to Fig. 13 a communication apparatus with a processor executing a control program for user interface and communication operations); and initiating or terminating the UE aggregation through the control interface ([0046] Referring to Fig. 12, Wang discloses processor-controlled initiation and termination of communication via the interface). Regarding claim 15, WANG teaches the apparatus of claim 11, wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: determining whether the network node supports the UE aggregation through the non-3GPP connection ([0075] an access point in a Wi-Fi system, or the like) before initiating the UE aggregation through the non-3GPP connection with the relay UE ([0081 – 0085] The remote UE sends a message to a network device through a relay UE. [0105-0106] The unicast communication in the sidelink communication is similar to data communication performed after an RRC connection is established between UE and a network device. In other words, a unicast connection needs to be first established between two UEs. After the unicast connection is established, the two UEs may perform data communication based on a negotiated communication identifier.) Regarding claim 16, WANG teaches the apparatus of claim 11, wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: encapsulating the address information and the port information ([0143] The first data packet includes first data based on port information such as a port number and/or an IP address) with data packets to generate the encapsulated data packets ([0150 – 0152] UE may encapsulate the data packet with a protocol header to obtain a new data packet). Regarding claim 17, WANG teaches the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the address information comprises internet protocol (IP) addresses of the UE and the relay UE, and the port information comprises user datagram protocol (UDP) ports or transmission control protocol (TCP) ports of the UE and the relay UE (Fig. 5 and [0143], Referring to Table 4, mapping DRBs based on port information and IP addresses between UE1 and UE2 demonstrates use of transport protocols). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. The factual inquiries 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. Claim(s) 3, 4 and 13, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over in view of XING (WO 2022121388 A1), hereinafter XING. The cited paragraphs are based on a translated copy of the original reference. Provided Regarding claim 3, WANG teaches the UE aggregation control method of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach further comprising: receiving, by the processor, an electronic bill from the relay UE after the UE aggregation is terminated. XING, in the same field of wireless communication, teaches teach further comprising: receiving, by the processor, an electronic bill from the relay UE after the UE aggregation is terminated (Summary of the invention [Paragraph 008] In this way, the session management network element can configure the first reporting rule of the remote terminal device for the user plane network element according to the first charging policy, so that after the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device, the user plane network element can The first reporting rule reports the traffic usage of the remote terminal equipment to the network element with the charging function, so as to realize separate billing of the remote terminal equipment according to the traffic usage). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the aggregation control method of WANG with the relay-based billing teachings of XING. The motivation to do so would have been to enable accurate and transparent billing through a relay UE. Regarding claim 4, WANG does not explicitly teach the UE aggregation control method of claim 3, further comprising: disconnecting, by the processor, the non-3GPP connection after paying the electronic bill to the relay UE. XING, in the same field of wireless communication, teaches The UE aggregation control method of claim 3, further comprising: disconnecting (Summary of invention [Paragraph 0039] In a possible design solution, the remote terminal device is connected to the relay device, and the first charging policy is in an active state; or, the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device, and the first charging policy is in an inactive state), by the processor, the non-3GPP connection after paying the electronic bill to the relay UE (Summary of invention [Paragraph 0040] In a possible design solution, the connection between the remote terminal device and the relay device or the service flow is disconnected, the method described in the first aspect may further include: the policy control network element sends a charging notification message to the application function network element. Wherein, the charging notification message is used to notify the connection of the remote terminal device or the disconnection of the service flow). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the aggregation control method of WANG with the relay-based charging and disconnection teachings of XING. The motivation to do so would have been to enable efficient session control by terminating the relay connection once billing and payment procedures are complete. Regarding claim 13, WANG teaches the apparatus of claim 11, but does not explicitly teach wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: receiving, via the non-3GPP transceiver, an electronic bill from the relay UE after the UE aggregation is terminated XING, in the same field of wireless communication, teaches wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: receiving, via the non-3GPP transceiver, an electronic bill from the relay UE after the UE aggregation is terminated (Summary of the invention [Paragraph 008] In this way, the session management network element can configure the first reporting rule of the remote terminal device for the user plane network element according to the first charging policy, so that after the remote terminal device accesses the wireless network through the relay device, the user plane network element can The first reporting rule reports the traffic usage of the remote terminal equipment to the network element with the charging function, so as to realize separate billing of the remote terminal equipment according to the traffic usage). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the aggregation control method of WANG with the relay-based billing teachings of XING. The motivation to do so would have been to enable accurate and transparent billing through a relay UE. Regarding claim 14, WANG teaches the apparatus of claim 11, but does not explicitly teach wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: disconnecting (Summary of invention [Paragraph 0039] In a possible design solution, the remote terminal device is connected to the relay device, and the first charging policy is in an active state; or, the remote terminal device is disconnected from the relay device, and the first charging policy is in an inactive state) the non-3GPP connection after paying the electronic bill to the relay UE (Summary of invention [Paragraph 0040] In a possible design solution, the connection between the remote terminal device and the relay device or the service flow is disconnected, the method described in the first aspect may further include: the policy control network element sends a charging notification message to the application function network element. Wherein, the charging notification message is used to notify the connection of the remote terminal device or the disconnection of the service flow). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the aggregation control method of WANG with the relay-based charging and disconnection teachings of XING. The motivation to do so would have been to enable efficient session control by terminating the relay connection once billing and payment procedures are complete. Claim(s) 8, 9 and 18, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WANG in view of Peter et al. (WO 2011123549 A1), hereinafter Peter. Regarding claim 8, WANG teaches the UE aggregation control method of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach the further comprising: receiving, by the processor, transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node from the relay UE; and adjusting, by the processor, the amount of the data packets transmitted to the relay UE according to the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and the transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node. Peter, in the same field of wireless communication, teaches further comprising: receiving, by the processor, transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node from the relay UE ([007] The relay node BSR indicates a relay node uplink buffer status and/or a relay node downlink buffer status at the relay node. [0098] The DL buffer status in the relay node may indicate an overflow or underflow situation. The report may include a cause, (e.g., shortage of Uu bandwidth or Uu transmission issues); and adjusting, by the processor, the amount of the data packets transmitted to the relay UE according to the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and the transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node ([0098] The DL status report may indicate an overflow with a low Uu transmission NACK rate. This may indicate a Uu resource scheduling problem or Uu bandwidth shortage problem. The DeNB may use this information to adjust the Un configuration for the RN which may enable the RN to configure and/or use more DL Uu resources. The DL status report may indicate an underflow with a low Uu transmission NACK rate. This may indicate over resource scheduling or DL Uu bandwidth over allocation. The DeNB may use this information to adjust the Un configuration for the RN, for example to reduce the allocation to the Un for this RN and use the resources for other RNs or macro WTRUs.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the Peter’s relay-bandwidth reporting and the adaptive allocation into WANG’s user equipment aggregation method. The motivation to do so would have been to dynamically adjust data-packet transmission according to an indication of a bandwidth problem. Regarding claim 9, WANG does not explicitly teach the UE aggregation control method of claim 8, wherein the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and the transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node are periodically received from the relay UE. Peter, in the same field of wireless communication, teaches wherein the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and the transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node are periodically received from the relay UE ([0007] The relay node may send a relay node BSR to the DeNB. The relay node BSR may be triggered either periodically, based on occurrence of a configured triggering event, or based on combination of a periodic timer and occurrence of a configured triggering). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the Peter’s periodic-reporting mechanism and WANG’s UE aggregation framework. The motivation to do so would have been to maintain current link-condition information, thereby allowing continuous packet flow and improved performance of the aggregation system. Regarding claim 18, WANG teaches the apparatus of claim 11, but does not explicitly teach wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: receiving, via the non-3GPP transceiver, the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node from the relay UE and adjusting the amount of the data packets transmitted to the relay UE according to the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and the transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node. Peter in the same field of wireless communication, teaches wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: receiving, via the non-3GPP transceiver, the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node from the relay UE ([0007] The relay node BSR indicates a relay node uplink buffer status and/or a relay node downlink buffer status at the relay node. [0098] The DL buffer status in the relay node may indicate an overflow or underflow situation. The report may include a cause, (e.g., shortage of Uu bandwidth or Uu transmission issues); and adjusting the amount of the data packets transmitted to the relay UE according to the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and the transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node ([0098] The DL status report may indicate an overflow with a low Uu transmission NACK rate. This may indicate a Uu resource scheduling problem or Uu bandwidth shortage problem. The DeNB may use this information to adjust the Un configuration for the RN which may enable the RN to configure and/or use more DL Uu resources. The DL status report may indicate an underflow with a low Uu transmission NACK rate. This may indicate over resource scheduling or DL Uu bandwidth over allocation. The DeNB may use this information to adjust the Un configuration for the RN, for example to reduce the allocation to the Un for this RN and use the resources for other RNs or macro WTRUs.). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the Peter’s relay-bandwidth reporting and the adaptive allocation into WANG’s user equipment aggregation method. The motivation to do so would have been to dynamically adjust data-packet transmission according to an indication of a bandwidth problem. Regarding claim 19, WANG does not explicitly teach the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and the transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node are periodically received from the relay UE. Peter, in the same field of wireless communications, teaches the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the transmission bandwidth information of the non-3GPP connection and the transmission bandwidth information between the relay UE and the network node are periodically received from the relay UE ([007] The relay node may send a relay node BSR to the DeNB. The relay node BSR may be triggered either periodically, based on occurrence of a configured triggering event, or based on combination of a periodic timer and occurrence of a configured triggering). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the Peter’s periodic-reporting mechanism and WANG’s UE aggregation framework. The motivation to do so would have been to maintain current link-condition information, thereby allowing continuous packet flow and improved performance of the aggregation system. Claim(s) 10 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XUELONG (WO 2024171938 A1), hereinafter XUELONG. Regarding claim 10, WANG teaches the UE aggregation control method of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach further comprising: receiving, by the processor, a feedback message for the data packets from the relay UE after the data packets are transmitted to the network node from the relay UE; and retransmitting, by the processor, the data packet which has not transmitted to the network node successfully to the network node according to the feedback message. XUELONG, in the same field of wireless communication, teaches further comprising: receiving, by the processor, a feedback message for the data packets from the relay UE after the data packets are transmitted to the network node from the relay UE ( [0112] A receiving RLC entity in one device (e.g., the base station 5 or remote UE 3-4, or relay UE 3-1) can generate an RLC status report indicating the receive status of packets (RLC SDUs) successfully received (or not received) from a transmitting RLC entity at a corresponding peer device (e.g., the base station 5, remote UE 3-4, or relay UE 3-1) and send the RLC status report as an RLC status PDU to the peer device); and retransmitting, by the processor, the data packet which has not transmitted to the network node successfully to the network node according to the feedback message ([0154] A UE 3 operating as a remote UE 3-4 is therefore able, based on this enhanced RLC status report to retransmit RLC packets to the relay UE 3-1 based on the receive status in respect of uplink packets successfully received / not received at the relay UE 3-1. [Supplementary Note A30] A second feedback for indicating that another part of the data packets than the at least the part of the data packets has been received by the relay UE but has not been received by the second communication node; and means for retransmitting another part of the data packets to the relay UE based on the second feedback). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the aggregation control method of WANG with the feedback and retransmission method of XUELONG. The motivation to do so would have been to improve the efficiency and reliability of data delivery by ensuring that any packets not successfully transmitted to the network node are detected and retransmitted based on feedback from the relay UE. Regarding claim 20, WANG teaches the apparatus of claim 11, but does not explicitly teach wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: receiving, via the non-3GPP transceiver, a feedback message for the data packets from the relay UE after the data packets are transmitted to the network node from the relay UE; and retransmitting, via the non-3GPP transceiver, data packet which has not transmitted to the network node successfully to the network node according to the feedback message. XUELONG, in the same field of wireless communication, teaches wherein during operation, the processor performs operations comprising: receiving, via the non-3GPP transceiver, a feedback message for the data packets from the relay UE after the data packets are transmitted to the network node from the relay UE ([0112] A receiving RLC entity in one device (e.g., the base station 5 or remote UE 3-4, or relay UE 3-1) can generate an RLC status report indicating the receive status of packets (RLC SDUs) successfully received (or not received) from a transmitting RLC entity at a corresponding peer device (e.g., the base station 5, remote UE 3-4, or relay UE 3-1) and send the RLC status report as an RLC status PDU to the peer device); and retransmitting, via the non-3GPP transceiver, data packet which has not transmitted to the network node successfully to the network node according to the feedback message([0154] A UE 3 operating as a remote UE 3-4 is therefore able, based on this enhanced RLC status report to retransmit RLC packets to the relay UE 3-1 based on the receive status in respect of uplink packets successfully received / not received at the relay UE 3-1. [Supplementary Note A30] A second feedback for indicating that another part of the data packets than the at least the part of the data packets has been received by the relay UE but has not been received by the second communication node; and means for retransmitting another part of the data packets to the relay UE based on the second feedback). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the aggregation control method of WANG with the feedback and retransmission method of XUELONG. The motivation to do so would have been to improve the efficiency and reliability of data delivery by ensuring that any packets not successfully transmitted to the network node are detected and retransmitted based on feedback from the relay UE. Conclusion THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LABIBAH I. ALI whose telephone number is (571)272-6738. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-5:00. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faris Almatrahi can be reached at (313) 446-4821. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /LABIBAH ILMA ALI/Examiner, Art Unit 3667 /SAHAR MOTAZEDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3667
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Prosecution Timeline

Jul 30, 2024
Application Filed
Nov 03, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103
Jan 30, 2026
Response Filed
May 04, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
100%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+0.0%)
1y 10m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 1 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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