DETAILED ACTION
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because:
reference character “706” in Figure 7 has been used to designate both “DTMRG UL/DL Data Transfer via Hosting Cell” and “DTMRG UL Data”. The second instance (DTMRG UL Data) should be changed to “708” to be consistent with the specification (see [0121]);
reference character “822” in Figure 8 has been used twice. the solid line connecting the “Serving Cell MAC” entity to the “DTMRG Hosting Cell PHY” entity should be labeled “826”;
the solid line connecting the “UE PHY” entity to the “DTMRG Hosting Cell PHY” entity in Figure 9 is unlabeled; based on [0132] this line should be labeled with 924;
the two-way arrow labeled “UL/DL Data Transfer via DTMRG Hosting Cell” in Figure 14 is unlabeled; based on [0167] this two-way arrow should be labeled 1412.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In lines 9-10 of [0110], “…may determine that the serving cell 604 can be utilized for exchanging data…” should be changed to “…may determine that the hosting cell 606 can be utilized for exchanging data…”.
In line 3 of [0112], “the serving cell 604” should be changed to “the hosting cell 606”.
In line 4 of [0145], “send command” should be changed to “send a command”.
In line 1 of [0152], “The first scheme representation 1102” should be changed to “The second scheme representation 1116”.
In line 1 of [0324], “Example 15 may include the method of claim 14” should be changed to “Example 15 may include the method of example 14”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In line 6, “during at a measurements radio gap” should be changed to “during a measurements radio gap”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 30 depends from claim 27, which is interpreted as a method performed by a serving cell. In line 2 of claim 30, the limitation “receiving, from the serving cell” does not make sense (if the actor in the claim is the serving cell). This claim should be amended from the perspective of the serving cell. That is, the first step should be transmitting (to the hosting cell) the configuration for data transfer.
Further, regarding claim 30, the determining step in lines 4-6 may also be performed by the hosting cell and should be rewritten from the perspective of the serving cell.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-6, 21-28, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al (US 2015/0045038)in view of Tada et al (US 2021/0007033).
Regarding claim 1: Gao discloses a method comprising:
receiving, from a serving cell, a data exchange request, the data exchange request requesting performance of at least one data exchange with a user equipment (UE) on behalf of the serving cell (disclosed throughout; see the offload request 310 of Figure 3, which is received by small cell eNB 108 from macro eNB 104; the macro eNB is a serving cell; the offload request is the first part of the data offload described in [0068] – “initiate a data offload of at least a portion of traffic data to the small cell”; that is, the macro eNB/serving cell is requesting the small cell eNB to perform at least one data exchange (the at least a portion of traffic data) with a UE on behalf of the macro/serving cell);
generating a confirmation for transmission to the serving cell, the confirmation indicating that the at least one data exchange is accepted (disclosed throughout; see the offload request acknowledgement 312 of Figure 3, which, as indicated in [0071], “can indicate whether the small cell eNB 108 has accepted or denied the Offload Request”); and
performing a data exchange with the UE (disclosed throughout; see 322 and 326 of Figure 3 and [0082]-[0083], which indicate that the small cell performs the requested data exchange (the offloaded downlink and/or uplink data) with the UE).
Gao does not explicitly disclose the limitations that the request requests a data exchange during at least one measurement radio gap or performing the data exchange during a measurements radio gap. However, Tada discloses a system in which a serving cell (base station 100a) utilizes a hosting cell (base station 100b) to transmit/receive data during a gap section/measurement gap. For example, as indicated in [0103], the serving cell (100a) receives URLLC data addressed to the terminal during a gap section (measurement gap). When the radio quality of a neighboring cell (hosting cell) is above a threshold, the serving cell 100a requests that the neighboring/hosting cell 100b perform the data exchange with the UE/terminal device 200 in step S207. See [0104], for example, which indicates “the URLLC data is transferred to the base station device 100b being a neighboring base station (step S207)”. See also steps S208/S209, which disclose the neighboring/hosting cell 100b exchanging the data (URLLC data) with the terminal/UE 200. As indicated in [0104], “the URLLC data occurring during the gap section is transmitted in the frequency band of the neighboring cell, rather than in the frequency band of the connecting cell”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Gao such that the second/small is used to transmit data during a measurement gap as suggested by Tada. The rationale for doing so would have been to “suppress data transmission latency” as suggested by Tada in [0088], for example.
Regarding claim 21: Gao discloses an apparatus comprising:
interface circuitry (see communications component 222 of Figure 2, for example); and
processing circuitry, coupled with the interface circuity (see the processor 220 and storage medium 224 of Figure 2, for example), the processing circuitry to:
receive, from a serving cell, a data exchange request, the data exchange request requesting performance of a data exchange with a user equipment (UE) on behalf of the serving cell (disclosed throughout; see the offload request 310 of Figure 3, which is received by small cell eNB 108 from macro eNB 104; the macro eNB is a serving cell; the offload request is the first part of the data offload described in [0068] – “initiate a data offload of at least a portion of traffic data to the small cell”; that is, the macro eNB/serving cell is requesting the small cell eNB to perform at least one data exchange (the at least a portion of traffic data) with a UE on behalf of the macro/serving cell);
generate a confirmation for transmission to the serving cell, the confirmation indicating that the data exchange is accepted (disclosed throughout; see the offload request acknowledgement 312 of Figure 3, which, as indicated in [0071], “can indicate whether the small cell eNB 108 has accepted or denied the Offload Request”); and
perform the data exchange with the UE using the interface circuitry (disclosed throughout; see 322 and 326 of Figure 3 and [0082]-[0083], which indicate that the small cell performs the requested data exchange (the offloaded downlink and/or uplink data) with the UE).
Gao does not explicitly disclose the limitations that the request requests a data exchange during at least one measurement radio gap or performing the data exchange during a measurements radio gap. However, Tada discloses a system in which a serving cell (base station 100a) utilizes a hosting cell (base station 100b) to transmit/receive data during a gap section/measurement gap. For example, as indicated in [0103], the serving cell (100a) receives URLLC data addressed to the terminal during a gap section (measurement gap). When the radio quality of a neighboring cell (hosting cell) is above a threshold, the serving cell 100a requests that the neighboring/hosting cell 100b perform the data exchange with the UE/terminal device 200 in step S207. See [0104], for example, which indicates “the URLLC data is transferred to the base station device 100b being a neighboring base station (step S207)”. See also steps S208/S209, which disclose the neighboring/hosting cell 100b exchanging the data (URLLC data) with the terminal/UE 200. As indicated in [0104], “the URLLC data occurring during the gap section is transmitted in the frequency band of the neighboring cell, rather than in the frequency band of the connecting cell”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Gao such that the second/small is used to transmit data during a measurement gap as suggested by Tada. The rationale for doing so would have been to “suppress data transmission latency” as suggested by Tada in [0088], for example.
Regarding claim 27: Gao discloses a method comprising:
generating a first message for transmission, the first message facilitating performance of at least one data exchange between a user equipment (UE) and a hosting cell on behalf of a serving cell (disclosed throughout; see the offload request 310 of Figure 3, which is received by small cell eNB 108 from macro eNB 104; the macro eNB is a serving cell and the small cell is a hosting cell; the offload request is the first part of the data offload described in [0068] – “initiate a data offload of at least a portion of traffic data to the small cell”; that is, the macro eNB/serving cell is requesting the small cell eNB to perform at least one data exchange (the at least a portion of traffic data) with a UE on behalf of the macro/serving cell);
receiving a second message related to a confirmation of the at least one data exchange, the confirmation indicating that the at least one data exchange is accepted (disclosed throughout; see the offload request acknowledgement 312 of Figure 3, which, as indicated in [0071], “can indicate whether the small cell eNB 108 has accepted or denied the Offload Request”); and
performing a data exchange with the hosting cell (disclosed throughout; see DL data 320 and UL data 328 of Figure 3, for example, which as indicated in [0082]-[0083] are data exchanged between the serving/macro cell/eNB and the hosting/small cell/eNB).
Gao does not explicitly disclose the limitations that the first message requests a data exchange during at least one measurement radio gap or performing the data exchange during a measurements radio gap. However, Tada discloses a system in which a serving cell (base station 100a) utilizes a hosting cell (base station 100b) to transmit/receive data during a gap section/measurement gap. For example, as indicated in [0103], the serving cell (100a) receives URLLC data addressed to the terminal during a gap section (measurement gap). When the radio quality of a neighboring cell (hosting cell) is above a threshold, the serving cell 100a requests that the neighboring/hosting cell 100b perform the data exchange with the UE/terminal device 200 in step S207. See [0104], for example, which indicates “the URLLC data is transferred to the base station device 100b being a neighboring base station (step S207)”. See also steps S208/S209, which disclose the neighboring/hosting cell 100b exchanging the data (URLLC data) with the terminal/UE 200. As indicated in [0104], “the URLLC data occurring during the gap section is transmitted in the frequency band of the neighboring cell, rather than in the frequency band of the connecting cell”.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Gao such that the second/small is used to transmit data during a measurement gap as suggested by Tada. The rationale for doing so would have been to “suppress data transmission latency” as suggested by Tada in [0088], for example.
Regarding claims 2 and 22: Gao, modified, discloses the limitations of parent claims 1 and 21 as indicated above. Gao, modified, further discloses the limitations of claims 2 and 22 that the data exchange request includes a physical identifier (ID) for the UE, UE measurements for a hosting cell, or a UE measurement pattern for a frequency of the hosting cell (see [0069], for example, which indicates that the offload request includes an identifier to indicate the UE that is the subject of the offload).
Regarding claims 3 and 23: Gao, modified, discloses the limitations of parent claims 1 and 21 as indicated above. Gao, modified, further discloses the limitations of claims 3 and 23 that the confirmation includes an identifier (ID) to be utilized by the UE while operating on a hosting cell or a physical layer configuration for the UE for performance of the data exchange (disclosed throughout; see [0093] and the corresponding table with the contents of the DataOffloadControlInfo IE, which is included in the offload request acknowledgement message 312; this includes an identifier to be utilized by the UE while operating on a hosting cell (newUE-Identity) and physical layer configuration (radioResourceConfigDedicated)).
Regarding claims 4 and 24: Gao, modified, discloses the limitations of parent claims 1 and 21 as indicated above. Gao, modified, further discloses the limitations of receiving, from the serving cell, transfer request information, the transfer request information related to the measurements radio gap (disclosed throughout; see [0084], for example which indicates that the offload request message 310 includes a request to transfer UE context information to the small/hosting cell; as indicated above, in the combination, the request is related to the measurements radio gap as the offload is requested for assistance during the measurements gap for URLLC traffic (based on the teaching of Tada)); and generating a transfer request information confirmation for transmission to the serving cell based at least in part on the transfer request information (disclosed throughout; as indicated above, the offload request includes a request to transfer UE context information; the offload request acknowledgement is thus interpreted to include a transfer request information confirmation and is for transmission to the serving/macro cell/eNB).
Regarding claims 5 and 25: Gao, modified, discloses the limitations of parent claims 1 and 21 as indicated above. Gao, modified, further discloses the limitations of claims 5 and 25 of receiving, from the serving cell, a downlink (DL) payload, the DL payload including DL data to be provided to the UE in the data exchange (see step 320 of Figure 3 and [0082], for example, which discloses that the serving cell (macro eNB) can send downlink data for the hosting cell (small cell eNB)); and generating a DL transmission for transmission to the UE during the measurements radio gap, the DL transmission including the DL data (disclosed throughout; see step 322 of Figure 3 and [0082], for example, which discloses sending the offloaded data from the serving/macro cell to the hosting/small cell; this is also disclosed in step S208 of Figure 5 of Tada; in the combination, this data is sent to the UE during the measurement gap).
Regarding claims 6 and 26: Gao, modified, discloses the limitations of parent claims 1 and 21 as indicated above. Gao, modified, further discloses the limitations of claims 6 and 26 that the data exchange includes: exchange of data with the UE during the measurements radio gap (see steps 322 and 326 of Figure 3 of Gao and step S208 of Figure 5 of Tada, for example, which disclose the exchange of data with the UE (during the measurement gap, in the combination)); and exchange of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback with the UE during the measurements radio gap, the HARQ feedback related to the data (disclosed throughout; see step S209 of Figure 5 of Tada; as indicated in [0105], this information is ACK/NACK data for the URLLC transmitted in the measurement gap).
Regarding claim 28: Gao, modified, discloses the limitations of parent claim 27 as indicated above. Gao, modified, further discloses the limitations that the data exchange includes: exchange of data between the UE and the hosting cell during the measurements radio gap (see steps 322 and 326 of Figure 3 of Gao and step S208 of Figure 5 of Tada, for example, which disclose the exchange of data with the UE (during the measurement gap, in the combination)); and exchange of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback between the UE and the hosting cell during the measurements radio gap, the HARQ feedback related to the data (disclosed throughout; see step S209 of Figure 5 of Tada; as indicated in [0105], this information is ACK/NACK data for the URLLC transmitted in the measurement gap).
Regarding claim 30: Gao, modified, discloses the limitations of parent claim 27 as indicated above. Gao, modified, further discloses the limitations of receiving, from the serving cell, a configuration for data transfer within the measurement radio gap (disclosed throughout; see [0084], for example which indicates that the offload request message 310 includes a request to transfer UE context information to the small/hosting cell; as indicated above, in the combination, the request is related to the measurements radio gap as the offload is requested for assistance during the measurements gap for URLLC traffic (based on the teaching of Tada)); and determining at least one radio resource assignment for the data exchange based at least in part on the configuration, wherein the data exchange is performed using the at least one radio resource assignment (disclosed throughout; see [0087], which discloses that the configuration for data transfer may include “dedicated radio resource configuration in the macro eNB 104, which can be reused in the small cell without modification”).
Claims 7 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al (US 2015/0045038)in view of Tada et al (US 2021/0007033) in view of Yamamoto et al (US 2026/0006604).
Regarding claims 7 and 29: Gao, modified, discloses the limitations of parent claims 1 and 27 as indicated above. Gao does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claims 7 and 29 that the data exchange includes: exchange of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback with the UE during the measurements radio gap, the HARQ feedback related to data exchanged outside of the measurements radio gap. However, Yamamoto discloses that a “HARQ-ACK for the URLLC transmission configured as a high priority”. Further, as indicated in Figure 3, Gao supports offloading both uplink and downlink data (see 322 and 326 of Figure 3, for example) and the goal of Tada is to reduce latency related to URLLC communications. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Gao, modified, to include high priority URLLC HARQ-ACK transmissions during the transmission gap from the hosting/small cell. That is, if a URLLC downlink transmission has been transmitted (but not yet acknowledged) prior to the gap, it would have been obvious to include the corresponding HARQ-ACK (for the transmission occurring outside of the measurement gap) as part of the uplink data transmitted in the measurement gap. The rationale for doing so would have been to further reduce the URLLC latency by reducing the overall time to complete the downlink URLLC transmission (including the ACK) using the hosting/small cell during the measurement gap.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lee et al (US 2023/0189041) discloses an enhanced RRM measurement gap procedure.
Jin (US 2023/0055487) discloses a method for signal reception and transmission in a measurement gap.
Teyeb et al (US 2020/0128454) discloses a method for measurement gap communication.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Robert C Scheibel whose telephone number is (571)272-3169. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hassan A Phillips can be reached at 571-272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Robert C. Scheibel
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2467
/Robert C Scheibel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467 September 11, 2026
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