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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments with respect to claim 7 have been fully considered. The rejection of claim 7 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 8, 15 and 18 have been fully considered, a new ground for rejection has been made in view of amendment. Claims 1, 8, 15 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 (See 103 rejection of claims 15 and 18 below).
Applicant argues that “Zou is devoid of any contemplation of its source TRP sending a target cell
link addition request to the UE, and that such a target cell link addition request is used for instructing the UE to monitor data processed by a source cell and data processed by a target cell.” The examiner respectfully disagrees. The office action cites Fig. 3, [0095] of Zou, “At step 320, the source TRP 302 sends a radio resource control (RRC) connect reconfiguration message to the UE 304.”, “At step 330, the UE 304 exchanges packet data from split bearer with the source TRP 302. At step 331, the UE 304 exchanges packet data from split bearer with the target TRP1 306.” RRC connect reconfiguration message is used to add target TRPs at UE, i.e. RRC connect reconfiguration message is the target cell link addition request. After receiving RRC connect reconfiguration message, at step 330 and 331, the UE exchanges (receives/transmits) packet data from both the source TRP 302 and target TRP1 306, i.e. UE monitor data processed by the source cell and the target cell.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 8-9, 11, 15-16 and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20180124648 A1 (hereinafter Park) in view of US20200305037 (hereinafter Zou).
Regarding claim 15, Park teaches A source cell node comprising (Park eNB1 in Fig. 10; [0029]
FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of a base station 401.):
at least one processor configured to (Park [0029] The base station 401 may include at least one
processor 403, and at least one set of program code instructions 405 stored in non-transitory memory 404 and executable by the at least one processor 403.):
send, via a transceiver, resource configuration request for requesting resource configuration
information to a target cell; receive, via the transceiver, a resource configuration response fed back by the target cell (Park [0029] Base station 401 and wireless device 406 may be configured to send and receive data over wireless link 411 using multiple frequency carriers. According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, transceiver(s) may be employed. A transceiver is a device that includes both a transmitter and receiver. Transceivers may be employed in devices such as wireless devices, base stations.
[0226] in FIG. 10, the source eNB may transmit a handover request message to one or more potential target eNB passing information to prepare the handover at the target side. The handover request message may comprise SPS capability information of the UE.
[0232] the target eNB may prepare handover with L1/L2 and may send the handover request acknowledge message to the source eNB. the handover request acknowledge message may include a transparent container to be sent to the UE as an RRC message to perform the handover. The transparent container may further comprise the SPS configurations for connection of the UE to the target eNB. The SPS configurations may modify the SPS of the UE or may keep the same SPS configuration that the UE has with the serving base station.
[0264] FIG. 16 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. At 1610, a first base station may receive a UE assistance information message from a wireless device. The UE assistance information message may comprise traffic pattern parameters for one or more SPS traffic of the wireless device. The traffic pattern parameters may comprise: a first traffic periodicity of a first traffic of the one or more SPS traffic; a first timing offset of the first traffic; and a first message size of the first traffic. At 1620, the first base station may send, to a second base station, a request message for a handover of the wireless device. The request message may comprise the traffic pattern parameters. At 1630, the first base station may receive from the second base station, a handover request acknowledge message indicating at least one SPS configuration parameter for SPS radio resources determined based at least on the traffic pattern parameters. ); and
send, via the transceiver to a user equipment (UE), a target cell link addition request for establishing a link path between the UE and the target cell (Park [0029] Base station 401 and wireless device 406 may be configured to send and receive data over wireless link 411 using multiple frequency carriers. According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, transceiver(s) may be employed. A transceiver is a device that includes both a transmitter and receiver. Transceivers may be employed in devices such as wireless devices, base stations.
[0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0265] the at least one SPS configuration parameter may comprise an SPS periodicity for the SPS radio resources. the second base station may receive from the wireless device, a random access (RA) preamble associated with the handover of the wireless device. the second base station may transmit to the wireless device, an SPS activation control command in the subframe indicating activation of the SPS radio resources.),
wherein the target cell link addition request carries the resource configuration information, the resource configuration information carries at least one of: a periodicity factor of a configuration resource, a periodicity granularity of the configuration resource, or a periodicity length of the configuration resource, and the resource configuration information is used for configuring a resource related to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) or configured grant (CG) of the UE (Park [0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0265] the at least one SPS configuration parameter may comprise an SPS periodicity for the SPS radio resources. the second base station may receive from the wireless device, a random access (RA) preamble associated with the handover of the wireless device. the second base station may transmit to the wireless device, an SPS activation control command in the subframe indicating activation of the SPS radio resources.),
wherein the target cell link addition request is used for instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the target cell (Park [0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0265] the at least one SPS configuration parameter may comprise an SPS periodicity for the SPS radio resources. the second base station may receive from the wireless device, a random access (RA) preamble associated with the handover of the wireless device. According to an embodiment, a subframe in a plurality of subframes may be determined based at least on the traffic pattern parameters. the second base station may transmit to the wireless device, an SPS activation control command in the subframe indicating activation of the SPS radio resources. the SPS activation control command may comprise a resource block assignment determined based on the first message size. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be after a transmission of an RA response message in response to the RA preamble. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be via a downlink control information.
[0136] In an example, the UE configured with SPS configurations may monitor PDCCH and search for a DCI associated with the SPS C-RNTI (e.g. scrambled with SPS-CRNTI). The eNB may transmit a DCI associated to SPS C-RNTI to the UE to activate or release a SPS grant.
[0208] After receiving the SPS activation control command and transmitting first packets of the SPS traffic after “k” time duration from the SPS activation control command, the wireless device may transmit further packets of the SPS traffic via SPS resources coming after the SPS periodicity from the first packet transmission. The wireless device may transmit packets of the SPS traffic to the base station periodically with a periodic duration of the SPS periodicity.).
Park does not explicitly teach monitor data processed by the source cell.
Zou in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches monitor data processed by the source cell (Zou Fig. 3; [0095] In an aspect, the method 300 begins at step 310 with the UE 304 connected to the source TRP 302 with data exchanged on an MCG bearer. At step 312, the UE 304 sends a measurement report to the source TRP 302. At step 314, the source TRP 302 decides to add a secondary TRP (S-TRP) to be the target TRP. At steps 316, the source TRP 302 sends an S-TRP addition request to target TRP1 306. At steps 318, the target TRP1 306 send an S-TRP addition request acknowledgement (ACK) to the source TRP 302. At step 320, the source TRP 302 sends a radio resource control (RRC) connect reconfiguration message to the UE 304. At step 322, the UE 304 sends an RRC connect reconfiguration complete message to the source TRP 302. At steps 324, the source TRP 302 sends S-TRP reconfiguration complete messages to the target TRP1 306. At step 326, the UE 304 sends a synchronization and random access to target TRP to the target TRP1 306. At step 328, the target TRP1 306 sends a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) message to the UE 304 activating the target TRP1 306 as the new serving TRP. At step 330, the UE 304 exchanges packet data from split bearer with the source TRP 302. At step 331, the UE 304 exchanges packet data from split bearer with the target TRP1 306.
Note: RRC connect reconfiguration message is used to add target TRPs at UE, i.e. RRC connect reconfiguration message is the target cell link addition request. After receiving RRC connect reconfiguration message, at step 330 and 331, the UE exchanges (receives/transmits) packet data from both the source TRP 302 and target TRP1 306, i.e. UE monitor data processed by the source cell and the target cell.).
By modifying Park’s teachings of wherein the target cell link addition request is used for instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the target cell
with Zou’s teachings of monitor data processed by the source cell,
the modification results in
wherein the target cell link addition request is used for instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the source cell and data processed by the target cell.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park with Zou’s above teachings. The motivation is improving Handover reliability (Zou [0003]).
Regarding claim 18, Park teaches A user equipment (UE) comprising (Park UE in Fig. 10; [0029]
FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of a wireless device 406. [0051] wireless devices (or user equipment: UE).):
at least one processor configured to (Park [0029] The wireless device 406 may include at least
one processor 408, and at least one set of program code instructions 410 stored in non-transitory memory 409 and executable by the at least one processor 408.):
receive, via a transceiver, a target cell link addition request sent by a source cell; establish a
link path with a target cell (Park [0029] Base station 401 and wireless device 406 may be configured to send and receive data over wireless link 411 using multiple frequency carriers. According to some of the various aspects of embodiments, transceiver(s) may be employed. A transceiver is a device that includes both a transmitter and receiver. Transceivers may be employed in devices such as wireless devices, base stations.
[0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0265] the at least one SPS configuration parameter may comprise an SPS periodicity for the SPS radio resources. the second base station may receive from the wireless device, a random access (RA) preamble associated with the handover of the wireless device. the second base station may transmit to the wireless device, an SPS activation control command in the subframe indicating activation of the SPS radio resources.); and
monitor, according to the target cell link addition request, data processed by the target cell (Park [0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0265] the at least one SPS configuration parameter may comprise an SPS periodicity for the SPS radio resources. the second base station may receive from the wireless device, a random access (RA) preamble associated with the handover of the wireless device. According to an embodiment, a subframe in a plurality of subframes may be determined based at least on the traffic pattern parameters. the second base station may transmit to the wireless device, an SPS activation control command in the subframe indicating activation of the SPS radio resources. the SPS activation control command may comprise a resource block assignment determined based on the first message size. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be after a transmission of an RA response message in response to the RA preamble. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be via a downlink control information.
[0136] In an example, the UE configured with SPS configurations may monitor PDCCH and search for a DCI associated with the SPS C-RNTI (e.g. scrambled with SPS-CRNTI). The eNB may transmit a DCI associated to SPS C-RNTI to the UE to activate or release a SPS grant.
[0208] After receiving the SPS activation control command and transmitting first packets of the SPS traffic after “k” time duration from the SPS activation control command, the wireless device may transmit further packets of the SPS traffic via SPS resources coming after the SPS periodicity from the first packet transmission. The wireless device may transmit packets of the SPS traffic to the base station periodically with a periodic duration of the SPS periodicity.),
wherein the target cell link addition request carries resource configuration information, the resource configuration information is acquired by sending a resource configuration request from the source cell to the target cell, the resource configuration information carries at least one of: a periodicity factor of a configuration resource, a periodicity granularity of the configuration resource, or a periodicity length of the configuration resource, and the resource configuration information is used for configuring a resource related to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) or configured grant (CG) of the UE (Park
[0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0226] in FIG. 10, the source eNB may transmit a handover request message to one or more potential target eNB passing information to prepare the handover at the target side. The handover request message may comprise SPS capability information of the UE.
[0232] the target eNB may prepare handover with L1/L2 and may send the handover request acknowledge message to the source eNB. the handover request acknowledge message may include a transparent container to be sent to the UE as an RRC message to perform the handover. The transparent container may further comprise the SPS configurations for connection of the UE to the target eNB. The SPS configurations may modify the SPS of the UE or may keep the same SPS configuration that the UE has with the serving base station.
[0264] FIG. 16 is an example flow diagram as per an aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure. At 1610, a first base station may receive a UE assistance information message from a wireless device. The UE assistance information message may comprise traffic pattern parameters for one or more SPS traffic of the wireless device. The traffic pattern parameters may comprise: a first traffic periodicity of a first traffic of the one or more SPS traffic; a first timing offset of the first traffic; and a first message size of the first traffic. At 1620, the first base station may send, to a second base station, a request message for a handover of the wireless device. The request message may comprise the traffic pattern parameters. At 1630, the first base station may receive from the second base station, a handover request acknowledge message indicating at least one SPS configuration parameter for SPS radio resources determined based at least on the traffic pattern parameters.).
Park does not explicitly teach monitor, data processed by the source cell.
Zou in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches monitor, data processed by the source cell (Zou Fig. 3; [0095] In an aspect, the method 300 begins at step 310 with the UE 304 connected to the source TRP 302 with data exchanged on an MCG bearer. At step 312, the UE 304 sends a measurement report to the source TRP 302. At step 314, the source TRP 302 decides to add a secondary TRP (S-TRP) to be the target TRP. At steps 316, the source TRP 302 sends an S-TRP addition request to target TRP1 306. At steps 318, the target TRP1 306 send an S-TRP addition request acknowledgement (ACK) to the source TRP 302. At step 320, the source TRP 302 sends a radio resource control (RRC) connect reconfiguration message to the UE 304. At step 322, the UE 304 sends an RRC connect reconfiguration complete message to the source TRP 302. At steps 324, the source TRP 302 sends S-TRP reconfiguration complete messages to the target TRP1 306. At step 326, the UE 304 sends a synchronization and random access to target TRP to the target TRP1 306. At step 328, the target TRP1 306 sends a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) message to the UE 304 activating the target TRP1 306 as the new serving TRP. At step 330, the UE 304 exchanges packet data from split bearer with the source TRP 302. At step 331, the UE 304 exchanges packet data from split bearer with the target TRP1 306.
Note: RRC connect reconfiguration message is used to add target TRPs at UE, i.e. RRC connect reconfiguration message is the target cell link addition request. After receiving RRC connect reconfiguration message, at step 330 and 331, the UE exchanges (receives/transmits) packet data from both the source TRP 302 and target TRP1 306, i.e. UE monitor data processed by the source cell and the target cell.),
By modifying Park’s teachings of monitor, according to the target cell link addition request, data processed by the target cell
with Zou’s teachings of monitor, data processed by the source cell,
the modification results in
monitor, according to the target cell link addition request, data processed by the source cell and data processed by the target cell,
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park with Zou’s above teachings. The motivation is improving Handover reliability (Zou [0003]).
Claims 1 and 8 recite similar limitations of claims 15 and 18 respectively, are thus rejected under
similar rational.
Regarding claim 2, Park in view of Zou teaches The link path processing method of claim 1.
Park teaches wherein the data processed by the source cell and the data processed by the target
cell are sent on the resource related to the SPS or the CG (Park Park [0062] In an example, a base station may assign SPS radio resources via a radio resource control (RRC) message to a wireless device. One or more parameters of the RRC message may comprise a periodicity of the SPS radio resources. The base station may activate the SPS radio resources assigned via the RRC message by transmitting a DCI activation indication to the wireless device. The wireless device may be able to use the SPS radio resources periodically after k time duration from the DCI activation indication without further resource allocation request until the SPS radio resources are deactivated.
[0082] In an example, the information element SPS-Config may be used by RRC to specify the semi-persistent scheduling configuration.
[0083] In an example, multiple downlink or uplink SPS may be configured for a cell. In an example, multiple SPS RNTI may be configured when a plurality of SPS is configured. In an example, RRC may comprise an index identifying an SPS configuration for a cell. In an example, the DCI employing SPS RNTI and triggering an SPS may include the index of the SPS that is triggered (initialized) or released.
[0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0265] the at least one SPS configuration parameter may comprise an SPS periodicity for the SPS radio resources. the second base station may receive from the wireless device, a random access (RA) preamble associated with the handover of the wireless device. According to an embodiment, a subframe in a plurality of subframes may be determined based at least on the traffic pattern parameters. the second base station may transmit to the wireless device, an SPS activation control command in the subframe indicating activation of the SPS radio resources. the SPS activation control command may comprise a resource block assignment determined based on the first message size. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be after a transmission of an RA response message in response to the RA preamble. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be via a downlink control information.).
Claims 9, 16 and 19 recite similar limitations of claim 2, are thus rejected under similar rational.
Regarding claim 4, Park in view of Zou teaches The link path processing method of claim 1.
Park teaches wherein Park [0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0265] the at least one SPS configuration parameter may comprise an SPS periodicity for the SPS radio resources. the second base station may receive from the wireless device, a random access (RA) preamble associated with the handover of the wireless device. According to an embodiment, a subframe in a plurality of subframes may be determined based at least on the traffic pattern parameters. the second base station may transmit to the wireless device, an SPS activation control command in the subframe indicating activation of the SPS radio resources. the SPS activation control command may comprise a resource block assignment determined based on the first message size. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be after a transmission of an RA response message in response to the RA preamble. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be via a downlink control information.
[0136] In an example, the UE configured with SPS configurations may monitor PDCCH and search for a DCI associated with the SPS C-RNTI (e.g. scrambled with SPS-CRNTI). The eNB may transmit a DCI associated to SPS C-RNTI to the UE to activate or release a SPS grant.
[0208] After receiving the SPS activation control command and transmitting first packets of the SPS traffic after “k” time duration from the SPS activation control command, the wireless device may transmit further packets of the SPS traffic via SPS resources coming after the SPS periodicity from the first packet transmission. The wireless device may transmit packets of the SPS traffic to the base station periodically with a periodic duration of the SPS periodicity.).
Claim 11 recites similar limitations of claim 4, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Claim(s) 3, 10, 17 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Zou as applied to claims 2, 9, 16 and 19 above, and further in view of US20160021592 (hereinafter Vesely) and “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); S1 Application Protocol (S1AP)”, 3GPP TS 36.413 V15.4.0 (2018-12) (hereinafter 36.413).
Regarding claim 3, Park in view of Zou teaches The link path processing method of claim 2.
Although Park teaches sending, by the source cell, the target cell link addition request to the UE
(Park [0029], [0264] and [0265] cited above in rejection of claims 15 and 1), Park does not explicitly teach the method further comprises: receiving, by the source cell, at least one piece of the following radio quality indication information sent by the UE: reference signal receiving power (RSRP), or reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ); and in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, sending, by the source cell to a mobility management entity (MME), a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell.
Vesely in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches the method further comprises:
receiving, by the source cell, at least one piece of the following radio quality indication
information sent by the UE: reference signal receiving power (RSRP), or reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ) (Vesely [0094] the most important measurements metric used are the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ). RSRP is a cell specific measure of signal strength and it is mainly used to rank different cells for handover and cell reselection purposes. The RSRQ, on the other hand, also takes the interference into consideration by taking the total received wideband power into account as well.
[0095] One of the measurement configuration parameters that UEs receive from their serving eNBs is the S-measure, which tells the UE when to start measuring neighboring cells. If the measured RSRP of the serving cell falls below the S-measure, indicating the signal of the serving cell is not that strong anymore, the UE starts measuring the signal strength of RSs from the neighboring cells. Once the UE is enabled for measuring, it can report any of the following: [0096] The serving cell; [0097] Listed cells (i.e. cells indicated as part of the measurement object); and/or [0098] Detected cells on a listed frequency. [0099] There are several measurement configuration parameters that specify the triggering of measurement reports from the UE. The following event-triggered criteria are specified for intra-RAT measurement reporting in LTE: [0100] Event A1: Primary serving cell (PCell) becomes better than absolute threshold. [0101] Event A2: PCell becomes worse than absolute threshold. [0102] Event A3: Neighbor cell becomes better than an offset relative to the PCell.); and
in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, source cell initiates handoff to the target cell (Vesely [0110] The UE triggers the intra-frequency handover procedure by sending event A3 report to the eNB. This event occurs when the UE measures that the target cell is better than the serving cell with a margin “HOM”.
[0114] When the serving eNB receives the measurement report, the serving eNB can initiate a handover of communications for the UE.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou with Vesely’s above teachings. The motivation is improving the handling of connections between the UEs and the base stations, in particular dual connectivity wherein the UEs have simultaneous connections to several base stations (Vesely [0007]).
Vesely does not explicitly teach initiating handoff includes sending, by the source cell to a
mobility management entity (MME), a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell.
36.413 in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches initiating handoff includes sending, by the source cell to a mobility management entity (MME), a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell (36.413 page 52 Figure 8.4.1.2-1;
The source eNB initiates the handover preparation by sending the HANDOVER REQUIRED message to the serving MME.
page 116, 9.1.5.1 HANDOVER REQUIRED
This message is sent by the source eNB to the MME to request the preparation of resources at the target. Direction: eNB → MME.
HANDOVER REQUIRED contains Target ID IE.
page 149, 9.2.1.6 Target ID
The Target ID IE identifies the target for the handover. The target ID may be, e.g., the target Global eNB-ID (for intra SAE/LTE), the RNC-ID (for SAE/LTE-UMTS handover) or the Cell Global ID of the handover target (in case of SAE/LTE to GERAN A/Gb mode handover).).
By modifying Park’s teachings of sending, by the source cell, the target cell link addition request to the UE
with Vesely’s teachings of the method further comprises: receiving, by the source cell, at least one piece of the following radio quality indication information sent by the UE: reference signal receiving power (RSRP), or reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ); and in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, source cell initiates handoff to the target cell,
and 36.413’s teachings of initiating handoff includes sending, by the source cell to a mobility management entity (MME), a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell,
the modification results in
wherein after sending, by the source cell, the target cell link addition request to the UE, the
method further comprises: receiving, by the source cell, at least one piece of the following radio quality indication information sent by the UE: reference signal receiving power (RSRP), or reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ); and in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, sending, by the source cell to a mobility management entity (MME), a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely with 36.413’s above teachings. The motivation is supporting handover procedure (36.413 page 52).
Claim 17 recites similar limitations of claim 3, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Regarding claim 10, Park in view of Zou teaches The link path establishing method of claim 9.
Park does not explicitly teach further comprising: sending, by the UE, radio quality indication
information of the source cell to the source cell, wherein in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information is used for indicating that quality of the source cell is poor, the source cell sends a mobility management entity (MME) a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell.
Vesely in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches further comprising: sending, by the UE, radio quality indication information of the source cell to the source cell (Vesely [0094] the most important measurements metric used are the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ). RSRP is a cell specific measure of signal strength and it is mainly used to rank different cells for handover and cell reselection purposes. The RSRQ, on the other hand, also takes the interference into consideration by taking the total received wideband power into account as well.
[0095] One of the measurement configuration parameters that UEs receive from their serving eNBs is the S-measure, which tells the UE when to start measuring neighboring cells. If the measured RSRP of the serving cell falls below the S-measure, indicating the signal of the serving cell is not that strong anymore, the UE starts measuring the signal strength of RSs from the neighboring cells. Once the UE is enabled for measuring, it can report any of the following: [0096] The serving cell; [0099] There are several measurement configuration parameters that specify the triggering of measurement reports from the UE. The following event-triggered criteria are specified for intra-RAT measurement reporting in LTE: [0100] Event A1: Primary serving cell (PCell) becomes better than absolute threshold. [0101] Event A2: PCell becomes worse than absolute threshold. [0102] Event A3: Neighbor cell becomes better than an offset relative to the PCell.),
wherein in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information is used for indicating that quality of the source cell is poor, the source cell initiates handoff to the target cell (Vesely [0110] The UE triggers the intra-frequency handover procedure by sending event A3 report to the eNB. This event occurs when the UE measures that the target cell is better than the serving cell with a margin “HOM”.
[0114] When the serving eNB receives the measurement report, the serving eNB can initiate a handover of communications for the UE.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou with Vesely’s above teachings. The motivation is improving the handling of connections between the UEs and the base stations, in particular dual connectivity wherein the UEs have simultaneous connections to several base stations (Vesely [0007]).
Vesely does not explicitly teach initiates handoff includes sends a mobility management entity
(MME) a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell.
36.413 in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches initiates handoff includes sends a mobility management entity (MME) a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell (36.413 page 52 Figure 8.4.1.2-1;
The source eNB initiates the handover preparation by sending the HANDOVER REQUIRED message to the serving MME.
page 116, 9.1.5.1 HANDOVER REQUIRED
This message is sent by the source eNB to the MME to request the preparation of resources at the target. Direction: eNB → MME.
HANDOVER REQUIRED contains Target ID IE.
page 149, 9.2.1.6 Target ID
The Target ID IE identifies the target for the handover. The target ID may be, e.g., the target Global eNB-ID (for intra SAE/LTE), the RNC-ID (for SAE/LTE-UMTS handover) or the Cell Global ID of the handover target (in case of SAE/LTE to GERAN A/Gb mode handover).).
By modifying Park
with Vesely’s teachings of further comprising: sending, by the UE, radio quality indication information of the source cell to the source cell, wherein in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information is used for indicating that quality of the source cell is poor, the source cell initiates handoff to the target cell
and with 36.413’s teachings of initiates handoff includes sends a mobility management entity (MME) a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell,
the modification results in
further comprising: sending, by the UE, radio quality indication information of the source cell to
the source cell, wherein in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information is used for indicating that quality of the source cell is poor, the source cell sends a mobility management entity (MME) a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely with 36.413’s above teachings. The motivation is supporting handover procedure (36.413 page 52).
Claim 20 recites similar limitations of claim 10, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Claim(s) 6 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Zou and Vesely and 36.413 as applied to claims 3 and 10 above, and further in view of KR 20030056315 A (hereinafter Jung).
Regarding claim 6, Park in view of Zou and Vesely and 36.413 teaches The link path processing
method of claim 3.
Although Vesely teaches in the case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that the quality of the source cell is poor (Vesely [0094] the most important measurements metric used are the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ). RSRP is a cell specific measure of signal strength and it is mainly used to rank different cells for handover and cell reselection purposes. The RSRQ, on the other hand, also takes the interference into consideration by taking the total received wideband power into account as well.
[0095] One of the measurement configuration parameters that UEs receive from their serving eNBs is the S-measure, which tells the UE when to start measuring neighboring cells. If the measured RSRP of the serving cell falls below the S-measure, indicating the signal of the serving cell is not that strong anymore, the UE starts measuring the signal strength of RSs from the neighboring cells. Once the UE is enabled for measuring, it can report any of the following: [0096] The serving cell; [0099] There are several measurement configuration parameters that specify the triggering of measurement reports from the UE. The following event-triggered criteria are specified for intra-RAT measurement reporting in LTE: [0101] Event A2: PCell becomes worse than absolute threshold. ), Park in view of Zou and Vesely and 36.413 does not explicitly teach sending, by the source cell to the UE, a source cell link deletion request for deleting the UE and the source cell.
Jung in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches sending, by the source cell to the UE, a source cell link deletion request for deleting the UE and the source cell (Jung [22] source base station subsystem that establishes a wireless link with the mobile station and provides communication services, and then deletes the link with the mobile station upon a request to delete the wireless link from the source base station.).
By modifying Vesely’s teachings of in the case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that the quality of the source cell is poor
with Jung’s teachings of sending, by the source cell to the UE, a source cell link deletion request for deleting the UE and the source cell, the modification results in
further comprising: in the case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that the quality of the source cell is poor, sending, by the source cell to the UE, a source cell link deletion request for deleting the UE and the source cell.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 with Jung’s above teachings. The motivation is efficiently utilizing limited wireless channel resources (Jung [14]).
Claim 13 recites similar limitations of claim 6, is thus rejected under similar rational.
Claim(s) 7 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Jung as applied to claims 6 and 13 above, and further in view of WO 2015192578 A1 (hereinafter Han).
Regarding claim 7, Park in view of Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Jung teaches The link path
processing method of claim 6.
Although Park teaches instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the target cell (Park [0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0265] the at least one SPS configuration parameter may comprise an SPS periodicity for the SPS radio resources. the second base station may receive from the wireless device, a random access (RA) preamble associated with the handover of the wireless device. According to an embodiment, a subframe in a plurality of subframes may be determined based at least on the traffic pattern parameters. the second base station may transmit to the wireless device, an SPS activation control command in the subframe indicating activation of the SPS radio resources. the SPS activation control command may comprise a resource block assignment determined based on the first message size. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be after a transmission of an RA response message in response to the RA preamble. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be via a downlink control information.
[0136] In an example, the UE configured with SPS configurations may monitor PDCCH and search for a DCI associated with the SPS C-RNTI (e.g. scrambled with SPS-CRNTI). The eNB may transmit a DCI associated to SPS C-RNTI to the UE to activate or release a SPS grant.
[0208] After receiving the SPS activation control command and transmitting first packets of the SPS traffic after “k” time duration from the SPS activation control command, the wireless device may transmit further packets of the SPS traffic via SPS resources coming after the SPS periodicity from the first packet transmission. The wireless device may transmit packets of the SPS traffic to the base station periodically with a periodic duration of the SPS periodicity.), Park does not explicitly teach instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the source cell.
Zou teaches instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the source cell (Zou Fig. 3; [0095] cited above in rejection of claims 15 and 1.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Jung with Zou’s above teachings. The motivation is improving Handover reliability (Zou [0003]).
Park in view of Zou does not explicitly teach the source cell link deletion request, a target cell link deletion request.
Jung teaches the source cell link deletion request (Jung [22] source base station subsystem that establishes a wireless link with the mobile station and provides communication services, and then deletes the link with the mobile station upon a request to delete the wireless link from the source base station.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Jung with Jung’s above teachings. The motivation is efficiently utilizing limited wireless channel resources (Jung [14]).
Park in view of Zou and Jung does not explicitly teach a target cell link deletion request.
Han in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a target cell link deletion request (Han page 15, The source eNB can initiate link deletion in the target cell, that is, delete one link of the dual-connected UE in the target cell.).
By modifying Park’s teachings of instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the target cell
with Zou’s teachings of instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the source cell,
and Jung’s teachings of the source cell link deletion request,
and Han’s teachings of a target cell link deletion request, the modification results in
wherein the source cell link deletion request is further used for instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the target cell, and a target cell link deletion request is further used for instructing the UE to monitor data processed by the source cell.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Jung with Han’s above teachings. The motivation is improving resource utilization efficiency and enhancing user satisfaction (Han page 6).
Regarding claim 14, Park in view of Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Jung teaches The link path
establishing method of claim 13.
Although Park teaches monitoring, by the UE, the data processed by the target cell (Park [0264] At 1640, the first base station may transmit to the wireless device, a handover command message indicating the at least one SPS configuration parameter.
[0265] the at least one SPS configuration parameter may comprise an SPS periodicity for the SPS radio resources. the second base station may receive from the wireless device, a random access (RA) preamble associated with the handover of the wireless device. According to an embodiment, a subframe in a plurality of subframes may be determined based at least on the traffic pattern parameters. the second base station may transmit to the wireless device, an SPS activation control command in the subframe indicating activation of the SPS radio resources. the SPS activation control command may comprise a resource block assignment determined based on the first message size. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be after a transmission of an RA response message in response to the RA preamble. the transmission of the SPS activation control command may be via a downlink control information.
[0136] In an example, the UE configured with SPS configurations may monitor PDCCH and search for a DCI associated with the SPS C-RNTI (e.g. scrambled with SPS-CRNTI). The eNB may transmit a DCI associated to SPS C-RNTI to the UE to activate or release a SPS grant.
[0208] After receiving the SPS activation control command and transmitting first packets of the SPS traffic after “k” time duration from the SPS activation control command, the wireless device may transmit further packets of the SPS traffic via SPS resources coming after the SPS periodicity from the first packet transmission. The wireless device may transmit packets of the SPS traffic to the base station periodically with a periodic duration of the SPS periodicity.), Park does not explicitly teach monitoring, by the UE, the data processed by the source cell.
Zou in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches monitoring, by the UE, the data processed by the source cell (Zou Fig. 3; [0095] cited above in rejection of claims 18 and 8.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Jung with Zou’s above teachings. The motivation is improving Handover reliability (Zou [0003]).
Park in view of Zou does not explicitly teach deleting the link path between the UE and the source cell, deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell.
Jung teaches deleting the link path between the UE and the source cell (Jung [22] source base station subsystem that establishes a wireless link with the mobile station and provides communication services, and then deletes the link with the mobile station upon a request to delete the wireless link from the source base station.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Jung with Jung’s above teachings. The motivation is efficiently utilizing limited wireless channel resources (Jung [14]).
Park in view of Zou and Jung does not explicitly teach deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell.
Han in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell (Han page 15, The source eNB can initiate link deletion in the target cell, that is, delete one link of the dual-connected UE in the target cell.).
By modifying Park’s teachings of monitoring, by the UE, the data processed by the target cell with Zou’s teachings of monitoring, by the UE, the data processed by the source cell,
and Jung’s teachings of deleting the link path between the UE and the source cell, and
Han’s teachings of deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell,
the modification results in
further comprising: after deleting the link path between the UE and the source cell, monitoring, by the UE, the data processed by the target cell; and after deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell, monitoring, by the UE, the data processed by the source cell.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Jung with Han’s above teachings. The motivation is improving resource utilization efficiency and enhancing user satisfaction (Han page 6).
Claim(s) 5 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Zou as applied to claims 4 and 11 above, and further in view of Vesely and 36.413, and US 20190387440 A1 (hereinafter Yiu) and Han.
Regarding claim 5, Park in view of Zou teaches The link path processing method of claim 4.
Park does not explicitly teach further comprising: receiving, by the source cell, at least one piece
of the following radio quality indication information of the source cell or the target cell monitored by the UE: RSRP, or RSRQ; in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, sending, by the source cell to an MME, a data forwarding timer and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell; and in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor, sending, by the source cell to the UE, a target cell link deletion request for requesting deletion of the UE and the target cell; wherein the data forwarding timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout.
Vesely in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches further comprising:
receiving, by the source cell, at least one piece of the following radio quality indication information of the source cell or the target cell monitored by the UE: RSRP, or RSRQ (Vesely [0094] the most important measurements metric used are the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ). RSRP is a cell specific measure of signal strength and it is mainly used to rank different cells for handover and cell reselection purposes. The RSRQ, on the other hand, also takes the interference into consideration by taking the total received wideband power into account as well.
[0095] One of the measurement configuration parameters that UEs receive from their serving eNBs is the S-measure, which tells the UE when to start measuring neighboring cells. If the measured RSRP of the serving cell falls below the S-measure, indicating the signal of the serving cell is not that strong anymore, the UE starts measuring the signal strength of RSs from the neighboring cells. Once the UE is enabled for measuring, it can report any of the following: [0096] The serving cell; [0097] Listed cells (i.e. cells indicated as part of the measurement object); and/or [0098] Detected cells on a listed frequency. [0099] There are several measurement configuration parameters that specify the triggering of measurement reports from the UE. The following event-triggered criteria are specified for intra-RAT measurement reporting in LTE: [0100] Event A1: Primary serving cell (PCell) becomes better than absolute threshold. [0101] Event A2: PCell becomes worse than absolute threshold. [0102] Event A3: Neighbor cell becomes better than an offset relative to the PCell.);
in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, source cell initiates handoff to the target cell (Vesely [0110] The UE triggers the intra-frequency handover procedure by sending event A3 report to the eNB. This event occurs when the UE measures that the target cell is better than the serving cell with a margin “HOM”.
[0114] When the serving eNB receives the measurement report, the serving eNB can initiate a handover of communications for the UE.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou with Vesely’s above teachings. The motivation is improving the handling of connections between the UEs and the base stations, in particular dual connectivity wherein the UEs have simultaneous connections to several base stations (Vesely [0007]).
Vesely does not explicitly teach source cell initiates handoff to the target cell includes sending, by the source cell to an MME, a data forwarding timer and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell; wherein the data forwarding timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout.
36.413 in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches source cell initiates handoff to the target cell includes sending, by the source cell to an MME, a data forwarding and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell (36.413 page 52 Figure 8.4.1.2-1;
The source eNB initiates the handover preparation by sending the HANDOVER REQUIRED message to the serving MME.
page 54, If the DL forwarding IE is included within the Source eNB to Target eNB Transparent Container IE of the HANDOVER REQUIRED message and it is set to “DL forwarding proposed”, it indicates that the source eNB proposes forwarding of downlink data.
page 116, 9.1.5.1 HANDOVER REQUIRED
This message is sent by the source eNB to the MME to request the preparation of resources at the target. Direction: eNB → MME.
HANDOVER REQUIRED contains Target ID IE.
page 149, 9.2.1.6 Target ID
The Target ID IE identifies the target for the handover. The target ID may be, e.g., the target Global eNB-ID (for intra SAE/LTE), the RNC-ID (for SAE/LTE-UMTS handover) or the Cell Global ID of the handover target (in case of SAE/LTE to GERAN A/Gb mode handover).);
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely with 36.413’s above teachings. The motivation is supporting handover procedure (36.413 page 52).
Although 36.413 teaches source cell sending data forwarding indication to the MME (36.413 page 52, 54 116, 149 cited above), 36.413 does not explicitly teach a timer, wherein the timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout.
Zou in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a timer, wherein the timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout (Zou Fig. 4, timer 420; [0100] at step 418, packet data is exchanged between the UE 404 and the target DU/TRP 406 from split bearer and, at step 419, packet data is exchanged between the UE 404 and the source DU/TRP 402 from a split bearer. At step 422, the source DU/TRP 402 is deactivated after a timer 420 at the UE 404 has expired.).
By modifying Vesely’s teachings of further comprising: receiving, by the source cell, at least one piece of the following radio quality indication information of the source cell or the target cell monitored by the UE: RSRP, or RSRQ; in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, source cell initiates handoff to the target cell
with 36.413’s teachings of source cell initiates handoff to the target cell includes sending, by the source cell to an MME, a data forwarding and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell,
and Zou’s teachings of a timer, wherein the timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout,
the modification results in
further comprising: receiving, by the source cell, at least one piece
of the following radio quality indication information of the source cell or the target cell monitored by the UE: RSRP, or RSRQ; in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, sending, by the source cell to an MME, a data forwarding timer and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell;
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 with Zou’s above teachings. The motivation is improving Handover reliability (Zou [0003]).
Park in view of Zou and Vesely and 36.413 does not explicitly teach in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor, sending, by the source cell to the UE, a target cell link deletion request for requesting deletion of the UE and the target cell.
Yiu in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches sending, by the source cell to the UE, conditional HO command with condition to exit handoff when the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor and release the target resource (Yiu [0203] after the UE 101 receives the CHO command, the UE 101 may be considered as having entered the CHO condition. After entering the CHO condition, the UE 101 may wait for a target RAN node 112 (or target beam) to satisfy the CHO condition to trigger a handover with the target RAN node 112 (or target beam). However, when the CHO condition is not fulfilled, the exit condition may be considered to be fulfilled, and the network may be able to release the resources allocated to the UE 101 for the handover.
[0205] the exit condition may be event based, wherein a target cell or beam is offset lower than a serving cell or beam and/or below a threshold. This exit condition may be used by the UE 101 at operation 1035 to determine whether a handover to the target cell or beam is still desirable, and if not, then the CHO command may be discarded at operation 1040. Such embodiments may allow reserved resources to be released only when the target channel quality or signal strength is no longer optimal.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 with Yiu’s above teachings. The motivation is improving handover performance (Yiu [0003]).
Yiu does not explicitly teach a target cell link deletion request for requesting deletion of the UE and the target cell.
Han in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a target cell link deletion request for requesting deletion of the UE and the target cell (Han page 15, The source eNB can initiate link deletion in the target cell, that is, delete one link of the dual-connected UE in the target cell.).
By modifying Yiu’s teachings of sending, by the source cell to the UE, conditional HO command with condition to exit handoff when the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor and release the target resource
with Han’s teachings of a target cell link deletion request for requesting deletion of the UE and the target cell,
the modification results in
in a case of determining that the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor, sending, by the source cell to the UE, a target cell link deletion request for requesting deletion of the UE and the target cell.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Yiu with Han’s above teachings. The motivation is improving resource utilization efficiency and enhancing user satisfaction (Han page 6).
Regarding claim 12, Park in view of Zou teaches The link path establishing method of claim 11.
Park in view of Zou does not explicitly teach further comprising: sending, by the UE to the source
cell, radio quality indication information corresponding to one of the data processed by the source cell or the data processed by the target cell; wherein in a case where the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, the radio quality indication information is further used for instructing the source cell to send an MME a data forwarding timer and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell; in a case where the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor, receiving, by the UE, the data forwarding timer and a target cell link deletion request sent by the source cell, and deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell after the forwarding timer times out; wherein the data forwarding timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout.
Vesely in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches further comprising: sending, by the UE to the source cell, radio quality indication information corresponding to one of the data processed by the source cell or the data processed by the target cell (Vesely [0094] the most important measurements metric used are the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ). RSRP is a cell specific measure of signal strength and it is mainly used to rank different cells for handover and cell reselection purposes. The RSRQ, on the other hand, also takes the interference into consideration by taking the total received wideband power into account as well.
[0095] One of the measurement configuration parameters that UEs receive from their serving eNBs is the S-measure, which tells the UE when to start measuring neighboring cells. If the measured RSRP of the serving cell falls below the S-measure, indicating the signal of the serving cell is not that strong anymore, the UE starts measuring the signal strength of RSs from the neighboring cells. Once the UE is enabled for measuring, it can report any of the following: [0096] The serving cell; [0097] Listed cells (i.e. cells indicated as part of the measurement object); and/or [0098] Detected cells on a listed frequency. [0099] There are several measurement configuration parameters that specify the triggering of measurement reports from the UE. The following event-triggered criteria are specified for intra-RAT measurement reporting in LTE: [0100] Event A1: Primary serving cell (PCell) becomes better than absolute threshold. [0101] Event A2: PCell becomes worse than absolute threshold. [0102] Event A3: Neighbor cell becomes better than an offset relative to the PCell.);
wherein in a case where the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, the radio quality indication information is further used for instructing the source cell to initiate handoff to the target cell (Vesely [0110] The UE triggers the intra-frequency handover procedure by sending event A3 report to the eNB. This event occurs when the UE measures that the target cell is better than the serving cell with a margin “HOM”.
[0114] When the serving eNB receives the measurement report, the serving eNB can initiate a handover of communications for the UE.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou with Vesely’s above teachings. The motivation is improving the handling of connections between the UEs and the base stations, in particular dual connectivity wherein the UEs have simultaneous connections to several base stations (Vesely [0007]).
Vesely does not explicitly teach the source cell initiates handoff to the target cell includes
send an MME a data forwarding timer and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell; wherein the data forwarding timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout.
36.413 in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches the source cell initiates handoff to the target cell includes send an MME a data forwarding and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell (36.413 page 52 Figure 8.4.1.2-1;
The source eNB initiates the handover preparation by sending the HANDOVER REQUIRED message to the serving MME.
page 54, If the DL forwarding IE is included within the Source eNB to Target eNB Transparent Container IE of the HANDOVER REQUIRED message and it is set to “DL forwarding proposed”, it indicates that the source eNB proposes forwarding of downlink data.
page 116, 9.1.5.1 HANDOVER REQUIRED
This message is sent by the source eNB to the MME to request the preparation of resources at the target. Direction: eNB → MME.
HANDOVER REQUIRED contains Target ID IE.
page 149, 9.2.1.6 Target ID
The Target ID IE identifies the target for the handover. The target ID may be, e.g., the target Global eNB-ID (for intra SAE/LTE), the RNC-ID (for SAE/LTE-UMTS handover) or the Cell Global ID of the handover target (in case of SAE/LTE to GERAN A/Gb mode handover).);
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely with 36.413’s above teachings. The motivation is supporting handover procedure (36.413 page 52).
Although 36.413 teaches source cell sending data forwarding indication to the MME (36.413 page 52, 54 116, 149 cited above), 36.413 does not explicitly teach a timer, wherein the timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout.).
Zou in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a timer, wherein the timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout (Zou Fig. 4, timer 420; [0100] at step 418, packet data is exchanged between the UE 404 and the target DU/TRP 406 from split bearer and, at step 419, packet data is exchanged between the UE 404 and the source DU/TRP 402 from a split bearer. At step 422, the source DU/TRP 402 is deactivated after a timer 420 at the UE 404 has expired.).
By modifying Vesely’s teachings of further comprising: sending, by the UE to the source cell, radio quality indication information corresponding to one of the data processed by the source cell or the data processed by the target cell; wherein in a case where the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, the radio quality indication information is further used for instructing the source cell to initiate handoff to the target cell
with 36.413’s teachings of the source cell initiates handoff to the target cell includes send an MME a data forwarding and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell
and Zou’s teachings of a timer, wherein the timer is used for instructing the MME to simultaneously send downlink data to the source cell and the target cell in case of no timeout,
the modification results in
further comprising: sending, by the UE to the source
cell, radio quality indication information corresponding to one of the data processed by the source cell or the data processed by the target cell; wherein in a case where the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the source cell is poor, the radio quality indication information is further used for instructing the source cell to send an MME a data forwarding timer and a path handover indication for requesting handover to the target cell;
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 with Zou’s above teachings. The motivation is improving Handover reliability (Zou [0003]).
Park in view of Zou and Vesely and 36.413 does not explicitly teach in a case where the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor, receiving, by the UE, the data forwarding timer and a target cell link deletion request sent by the source cell, and deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell after the forwarding timer times out.
Yiu in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches receiving, by the UE, the conditional HO command with condition to exit handoff and a timer, when the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor and the timer expires and release the target resource after the timer times out (Yiu [0203] after the UE 101 receives the CHO command, the UE 101 may be considered as having entered the CHO condition. After entering the CHO condition, the UE 101 may wait for a target RAN node 112 (or target beam) to satisfy the CHO condition to trigger a handover with the target RAN node 112 (or target beam). However, when the CHO condition is not fulfilled, the exit condition may be considered to be fulfilled, and the network may be able to release the resources allocated to the UE 101 for the handover.
[0204] In some embodiments, the exit condition indicated by the CHO command may be a timer based exit condition, and at operation 1035, the processor circuitry of the UE 101 may start the timer in response to receipt of the CHO command. When the timer expires before the CHO condition is fulfilled, the processor circuitry of the UE 101 may consider the exit condition to be fulfilled and may proceed to discard the CHO command at operation 1040.
[0205] the exit condition may be event based, wherein a target cell or beam is offset lower than a serving cell or beam and/or below a threshold. This exit condition may be used by the UE 101 at operation 1035 to determine whether a handover to the target cell or beam is still desirable, and if not, then the CHO command may be discarded at operation 1040. Such embodiments may allow reserved resources to be released only when the target channel quality or signal strength is no longer optimal.).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 with Yiu’s above teachings. The motivation is improving handover performance (Yiu [0003]).
Yiu does not explicitly teach a target cell link deletion request and deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell.
Han in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a target cell link deletion request and deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell (Han page 15, The source eNB can initiate link deletion in the target cell, that is, delete one link of the dual-connected UE in the target cell.).
By modifying Yiu’s teachings of receiving, by the UE, the conditional HO command with condition to exit handoff and a timer, when the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor and the timer expires and release the target resource after the timer times out
with Han’s teachings of a target cell link deletion request and deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell, the modification results in
in a case where the radio quality indication information indicates that quality of the target cell is poor, receiving, by the UE, the data forwarding timer and a target cell link deletion request sent by the source cell, and deleting the link path between the UE and the target cell after the forwarding timer times out.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Park as modified by Zou and Vesely and 36.413 and Yiu with Han’s above teachings. The motivation is improving resource utilization efficiency and enhancing user satisfaction (Han page 6).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/D.Z.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2418
/Moo Jeong/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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