DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 16-27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (CN 102215545, hereinafter “Yang”) in view of Abedini et al. (US 2022/0053433 A1, hereinafter “Abedini”) and YOU et al. (WO2020113576. Hereinafter “YOU”).
Regarding claims 16, and 20, Yang discloses a radio link failure processing method, comprising: determining, by a layer 1 forwarding node, that a radio link failure occurs (see para. 0041, RN detects a radio link failure); and performing, by the layer 1 forwarding node, a first operation, wherein the first operation comprises at least one of the following: during radio link connection reestablishment, sending second information to a target base station, wherein the second information comprises at least one of the following: an identifier of an MT unit of the layer 1 forwarding node and an identifier of the layer 1 forwarding node (see para. 0041, to re-establish link determine whether the original cell is the original cell or another cell; para. 0045, reestablish backhaul link, RN sends the information required for reestablishing the backhaul link to the DeNB of the cell. The information required for reestablishing the backhaul link may include, RN identity, RN context information, UE context information covered by the RN); stopping forwarding behavior of a forwarding unit of the layer 1 forwarding node; and after a target cell is selected, forwarding a signal of the target cell by using a forwarding unit of the layer 1 forwarding node(see para. 0048-0049, sequence of data packets to target cell, context release of the original cell). Yang discloses all the subject matter but fails to mention layer-1 forwarding node. However, Abedini from a similar field of endeavor discloses layer-1 forwarding node (see para. 0188, layer-1 relay). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to include Abedini layer-1 relay node into Yang relay node. The method can be implemented in a relay node. The motivation of doing this is to amplify and forward signal. Yang and Abedini disclose all the subject matter but fails to mention selecting a target cell according to a preset rule. However, YOU from a similar field of endeavor discloses selecting a target cell according to a preset rule (see para. 0066, preset rules selection). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to include YOU preset rules scheme into Yang and Abedini target base station selection. The method can be implemented in a relay node. The motivation of doing this is to select a superior target base station.
Regarding claims 17 and 25, Yang and Abedini disclose all the subject matter but fails to mention wherein the preset rule comprises at least one of the following: in a case that a cell found through a search comprises one cell belonging to a second base station, the one cell belonging to the second base station is used as the target cell; in a case that cells found through a search comprise a plurality of cells belonging to a second base station, a cell with strongest received signals and/or best quality of received signals in the plurality of cells belonging to the second base station is used as the target cell; and in a case that a cell found through a search comprises a first cell and signal strength of the first cell is greater than a first threshold, the first cell is used as the target cell, wherein the second base station is a serving base station before the radio link failure occurs in the layer 1 forwarding node, and the first cell is a serving cell before the radio link failure occurs in the layer 1 forwarding node. However, YOU from a similar field of endeavor discloses wherein the preset rule (see para. 0066) comprises at least one of the following: in a case that a cell found through a search comprises one cell belonging to a second base station, the one cell belonging to the second base station is used as the target cell (see para. 0060, target base station determination);
Regarding claims 18 and 26, Yang and YOU disclose all the subject matter but fails to mention wherein when the signal of the target cell is an SSB, the forwarding a signal of the target cell by using a forwarding unit of the layer 1 forwarding node comprises at least one of the following: in a case that the selected target cell is different from a first cell, before new SSB forwarding configuration information is received, forwarding, by the layer 1 forwarding node by using the forwarding unit thereof, the SSB of the target cell according to default SSB forwarding configuration information; in a case that the selected target cell is a first cell, before new SSB forwarding configuration information is received, forwarding, by the layer 1 forwarding node by using the forwarding unit thereof, the SSB of the target cell according to SSB forwarding configuration information that has been received from the first cell; and after reestablishing a radio link connection to the target cell is completed, forwarding, by the layer 1 forwarding node by using the forwarding unit thereof, the SSB of the target cell according to SSB forwarding configuration information received from the target cell, wherein the first cell is a serving cell before the radio link failure occurs in the layer 1 forwarding node; or,
(see Fig. 22: (2202; 2208); Paragraph 260-265: "At block 2202, a repeater device may receive a first configuration specifying a first quantity of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be transmitted by the repeater device. For example, the beam configuration circuitry 2142 together with the communication and processing circuitry 2141 and the transceiver 2110, shown and described above in connection with FIG. 21, may receive an SSB configuration from a gNB and may provide a means for receiving a first configuration specifying a first quantity of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be transmitted by the repeater device. [...] At block 2208, the repeater device may transmit the at least one SSB transmission via the second quantity of beams. The repeater device may transmit the at least one SSB transmission via a relay unit (RU) of the repeater device."). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to include Abedini SSB forwarding scheme into Yang and YOU forwarding scheme. The method can be implemented in a relay unit or repeater device. The motivation of doing this is to improve forwarding data.
Regarding claims 19, and 27, Yang and YOU disclose all the subject matter but fails to mention wherein the default SSB forwarding configuration information comprises at least one of the following: information about the SSB that needs to be forwarded, a first forwarded beam precoding matrix, a first power amplification factor, and a first power spectrum density. However, Abedini from a similar field of endeavor discloses wherein the default SSB forwarding configuration information comprises at least one of the following: information about the SSB that needs to be forwarded, a first forwarded beam precoding matrix, a first power amplification factor, and a first power spectrum density(see Fig. 22: (2202; 2208); Paragraph 260-265: "At block 2202, a repeater device may receive a first configuration specifying a first quantity of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be transmitted by the repeater device. For example, the beam configuration circuitry 2142 together with the communication and processing circuitry 2141 and the transceiver 2110, shown and described above in connection with FIG. 21, may receive an SSB configuration from a gNB and may provide a means for receiving a first configuration specifying a first quantity of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be transmitted by the repeater device. [...] At block 2208, the repeater device may transmit the at least one SSB transmission via the second quantity of beams. The repeater device may transmit the at least one SSB transmission via a relay unit (RU) of the repeater device."). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to include Abedini SSB forwarding scheme into Yang and YOU forwarding scheme. The method can be implemented in a relay unit or repeater device. The motivation of doing this is to improve forwarding data.
Regarding claims 21, and 23, Yang and YOU disclose all the subject matter but fails to mention wherein the layer 1 forwarding node comprises a network controlled repeater (NCR) node. However, Abedini from a similar field of endeavor discloses wherein the layer 1 forwarding node comprises a network controlled repeater (NCR) node (see Figure 12, 1204; Figure 11, 1114; para. 0190, according some aspects of the disclosure, the repeater device 1114, may be configured as and referred to as a smart repeater device.The smart repeater device may apply some upper level functionality to layer-1 relay but may not provide the level of functionality that would be required to operate as a layer-2 relay). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to include Abedini SSB forwarding scheme into Yang and YOU forwarding scheme. The method can be implemented in a relay Unit or repeater device. The motivation of doing this is to improve forwarding data.
Regarding claims 22 and 24, Yang and YOU disclose all the subject matter but fails to mention wherein the NCR node comprises the mobile terminal (MT) unit and a repeater unit (RU). However, Abedini from a similar field of endeavor discloses wherein the NCR node comprises the mobile terminal (MT) unit and a repeater unit (RU) (see Figure 12, 1208, 1210). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to include Abedini SSB forwarding scheme into Yang and YOU forwarding scheme. The method can be implemented in a relay Unit or repeater device. The motivation of doing this is to improve forwarding data.
Claim(s) 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang in view of Abedini and YOU as applied to claim 20 above, and further in view of Liu et al. (US 2016/0309376 A1, hereinafter “Liu”).
Regarding claim 28, Yang, Abedini and YOU disclose all the subject matter but fails to mention wherein when the signal of the target cell is a signal other than an SSB, during forwarding a signal of the target cell by using a forwarding unit of the layer 1 forwarding node, the processor is configured to perform: forwarding the received signal of the target cell according to default forwarding configuration information, wherein the default forwarding configuration information comprises at least one of the following: a second forwarded beam precoding matrix, a second power amplification factor, and a second power spectrum density. However, Liu from a similar field of endeavor discloses wherein when the signal of the target cell is a signal other than an SSB, during forwarding a signal of the target cell by using a forwarding unit of the layer 1 forwarding node, the processor is configured to perform: forwarding the received signal of the target cell according to default forwarding configuration information, wherein the default forwarding configuration information comprises at least one of the following: a second forwarded beam precoding matrix, a second power amplification factor, and a second power spectrum density (see para. 0021,0057,0093,0150,0187 and 0244, configuration information of target cell correspond to one precoding matrix). Thus, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to include Liu configuration scheme into Yang, Abedini and YOU configuration scheme. The method can be implemented in a relay unit. The motivation of doing this is to select the target cell (para. 0048).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMAD S ANWAR whose telephone number is (571)270-5641. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6-5 EST.
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MOHAMMAD S. ANWAR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2463
/MOHAMMAD S ANWAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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