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 .
DETAILED ACTION
a. Claims 1-5 in the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, are being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
b. This is a first action on the merits based on Applicant’s claims submitted on 08/06/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/06/2024 and 12/23/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-5 are objected to because of the following informalities: typo error. The acronym "primary cell (PSCell)" has not been correctly defined in the claims. The first instance of this acronym should read "primary secondary cell (PSCell)". Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 1-5 are objected to because of the following informalities: typo error. Claims 1-5 recite the limitations “until both the execution condition for the PCell and both the execution condition for the PSCell are met”. The Examiner suggests that this sentence be modified as such: “until both the execution condition for the PCell and [[both]] the execution condition for the PSCell are met”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yang US Pub 2021/0400760 (hereinafter “Yang”).
Regarding claim 1
Yang discloses a communication method for communicating (“a method for access control, a terminal device, a base station and a storage medium, which can ensure that an access of the terminal device to a target primary secondary cell does not affect a service provided by the dual connectivity for the terminal device.” [0005]), by a user equipment (i.e. “terminal device”), with a Master Cell Group (MCG) and a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) (“a dual connectivity (DC) function is introduced in a mobile communication system, and the DC includes two cell groups: a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG). The MCG includes a primary cell (PCell) or additionally includes one or more secondary cells (SCells), and the SCG includes a primary secondary cell (PSCell) or additionally includes one or more SCells.” [0003]), the communication method comprising:
receiving, by the user equipment (“In 503, the source base station sends a handover command carrying handover condition(s) to UE.” [0062]; Fig. 5) from a master node managing a Master Cell Group (MCG) (see Fig. 3), a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message including a target MCG configuration (“The source MN configures the first trigger condition and the related configuration of the target PSCell for the terminal device over the signaling radio bearer (SRB) 1 through the RRC reconfiguration message, or the source SN configures the first trigger condition and the related configuration of the target PSCell for the terminal device over the SRB3 through the RRC reconfiguration message” [0099]) for performing Conditional Handover (CHO) to a target MCG (“The basic principle of conditional handover is that when the terminal device evaluates that a trigger condition related to a target cell is triggered according to a trigger condition configured by a network side, the terminal device performs handover to the target cell according to a preconfigured handover command (that is, triggering the random access procedure and sending a handover complete message)” [0056]), an SCG configuration of an SCG candidate associated with the target MCG (i.e. “target PSCell”), condition information indicating an execution condition for a primary cell (PCell) of the target MCG (“the second trigger condition is a trigger condition for PCell handover.” [0184]), and condition information indicating an execution condition for a primary cell (PSCell) of the candidate SCG (“The first trigger condition is a trigger condition for PSCell addition/change” [0184]); and
executing by the user equipment, a PCell change with PSCell addition/change based on the RRC message (“the procedure that the terminal device is performing radio resource control connection reestablishment is that the terminal device is performing access to a target primary cell through the radio resource control connection reestablishment procedure. In one example, the procedure that the terminal device is performing radio resource control connection transfer is that the terminal device is performing handover from a source primary cell to the target primary cell to access the target primary cell.” [0080]), wherein
executing the PCell change with PSCell addition/change comprising refraining from executing the PCell change with PSCell addition/change until both the execution condition for the PCell and both the execution condition for the PSCell are met (“In the third example, a PCell handover procedure is performed when a trigger condition for the PCell handover and a trigger condition for the PSCell addition/change are simultaneously satisfied. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the method includes the following operations. ” In S1201, a source MN configures a first trigger condition and a second trigger condition for an active UE. The first trigger condition is a trigger condition for PSCell addition/change, and the second trigger condition is a trigger condition for PCell handover. In S1201, the source base station also configures related configuration of the PCell and related configuration of the PSCell for the active UE. In S1202, when the first trigger condition and the second trigger condition are simultaneously met, the PCell handover procedure is performed for handover to a target PCell within the coverage area of a target MN. [0182-0186]).
Regarding claim 2
Yang discloses a user equipment (“electronic device 1700” in Fig. 17; [0245]) for communicating with a Master Cell Group (MCG) and a Secondary Cell Group (SCG), the user equipment comprising:
a receiver (“network interface 1704” in Fig. 17; [0245]) configured to receive, from a master node managing a Master Cell Group (MCG), a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message including a target MCG configuration for performing Conditional Handover (CHO) to a target MCG, an SCG configuration of an SCG candidate associated with the target MCG, condition information indicating an execution condition for a primary cell (PCell) of the target MCG, and condition information indicating an execution condition for a primary cell (PSCell) of the candidate SCG; and
a controller (“processor 1701” in Fig. 17; [0245]) configured to execute a PCell change with PSCell addition/change based on the RRC message, wherein
the controller is configured to refrain from executing the PCell change with PSCell addition/change until both the execution condition for the PCell and both the execution condition for the PSCell are met.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 2 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1. Therefore apparatus claim 2 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 3
Yang discloses a chipset for a user equipment (“The processor 1701 may be an integrated circuit chip with a signal processing capability” [0248] and furthermore “the electronic device 1700 may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), DSPs, Programmable Logic Devices (PLD), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLD), FPGAs, universal processors, controllers, MCUs, MPUs, or other electronic components for performing the above methods.” [0249]), the chipset configured to execute processing of: receiving from a master node managing a Master Cell Group (MCG), a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message including a target MCG configuration for performing Conditional Handover (CHO) to a target MCG, an SCG configuration of an SCG candidate associated with the target MCG, condition information indicating an execution condition for a primary cell (PCell) of the target MCG, and condition information indicating an execution condition for a primary cell (PSCell) of the candidate SCG; and
executing a PCell change with PSCell addition/change based on the RRC message, wherein
executing the PCell change with PSCell addition/change comprising refraining from executing the PCell change with PSCell addition/change until both the execution condition for the PCell and both the execution condition for the PSCell are met.
Regarding claim 4
A non-transitory computer readable medium that stores computer program comprising instructions that, when the computer program is executed by the user equipment, cause the user equipment to carry out the communication control method according to claim 1.
The scope and subject matter of non-transitory computer readable medium claim 4 is drawn to the computer program product of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1. Therefore computer program product claim 4 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 5
Yang discloses a mobile communication system comprising the user equipment and the master node (see Figs. 3 and 6) according to claim 2.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 5 is drawn to the apparatus as claimed in claim 2. Therefore apparatus claim 5 corresponds to apparatus claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used in claim 2 rejection above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG M NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-8184. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am - 6:30pm.
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/CHUONG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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