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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING RELAY CONFIGURATION
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
None of the instant claims invoke U.S.C. 112(f). A “controller” as claimed is known to be structure.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-7 9-10, 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 2011/0305143 A1 to Gray et al. (“Gray”) and IEEE802.1AB--2005 entitled "IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks-Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery" (incorporated by reference by Gray) [MPEP 2131.01: Multiple Reference 35 U.S.C. 102 Rejections….Extra References and Extrinsic Evidence Can Be Used To Show the Primary Reference Contains an "Enabled Disclosure"].
As to claims 1-3, see similar rejections to claims 5-7, respectively. The apparatus teaches the methods.
As to claim 5, Gray discloses a first user equipment (UE) (para. 0045, end-station 102’, para. 0041, send a broadcast) which is a constrained UE in a wireless communication system (para. 0040, end-stations 102 support LLDP; The LLDP is described in IEEE802.1AB--2005 entitled "IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks-Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery" (the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein); [see attached “IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks-Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery”: pages 16-17: LLDP Ethertype…802.11-1999 (i.e. wireless), page 5, “802.11 (Wireless)” ), the first UE comprising: a transceiver (claim 10, request….response; para. 0059, port/interface); and a controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to (para. 0039, processor): transmit, to a plurality of UEs, a first message for requesting a relay configuration for the first UE (para. 0041, each MTU discovery capable end-station 102' send a broadcast based explorer message (i.e. first message) that will only be understood by similar MTU discovery capable end stations 102'; para. 0031, The MTU discovery capable end-station can advantageously use the discovered MTU size to forward unicast PDUs at the largest real MTU size for the path connecting to another MTU discovery capable end-station rather than having to forward the unicast PDUs to the other MTU discovery capable end-station at the least MTU size for all of the paths in the Ethernet network, i.e. forwarding is a synonym for relaying, and therefore as each end-station plays a role in the forwarding set up by request/response, they have relay capabilities), receive, from at least one UE with a relay capability among the plurality of UEs, a second message as a response to the first message, the second message comprising information on the relay configuration (para. 0041, in this case, each MTU discovery capable end station 102' responds to the sender of every explorer message it receives, and records the sender's L2 address, thus learning that L2 address and providing that sender with its own L2 address (i.e. information on the relay configuration); para. 0031, The MTU discovery capable end-station can advantageously use the discovered MTU size to forward unicast PDUs at the largest real MTU size for the path connecting to another MTU discovery capable end-station rather than having to forward the unicast PDUs to the other MTU discovery capable end-station at the least MTU size for all of the paths in the Ethernet network, i.e. forwarding is a synonym for relaying, and therefore as each end-station plays a role in the forwarding set up by request/response, they have relay capabilities ), and identify a second UE for a relay service among the at least one UE with the relay capability based on the information on a maximum allowed packet size of the second UE (para. 0039, discover a MTU size for a DLL connection to each of the other MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' (step 114) (i.e. any of these being a second UE); para. 0031, The MTU discovery capable end-station can advantageously use the discovered MTU size to forward unicast PDUs at the largest real MTU size for the path connecting to another MTU discovery capable end-station rather than having to forward the unicast PDUs to the other MTU discovery capable end-station at the least MTU size for all of the paths in the Ethernet network, i.e. forwarding is a synonym for relaying, and therefore as each end-station plays a role in the forwarding set up by request/response, they have relay capabilities).
As to claim 6, Gray further discloses the first UE of claim 5, wherein the first message comprises at least one of a layer-2 identity (ID) of the first UE (para. 0041, each MTU discovery capable end station 102' responds to the sender of every explorer message it receives, and records the sender's L2 address, thus learning that L2 address and providing that sender with its own L2 address), a UE service ID of the first UE, a device ID of the first UE, or a maximum allowed packet size of the first UE (para. 0047, For instance, the explorer PDU and response PDU may contain information indicating the local maximum PDU sizes at the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' allowing for an initial starting MTU discovery PDU having a size equal to the lesser maximum of the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' which will be involved in the MTU size discovery process. ) , and wherein the second message comprises at least one of a layer-2 identity (ID) of the second UE (para. 0041, each MTU discovery capable end station 102' responds to the sender of every explorer message it receives, and records the sender's L2 address, thus learning that L2 address and providing that sender with its own L2 address), a UE service ID of the second UE, a device ID of the second UE, or the maximum allowed packet size of the second UE (para. 0047, For instance, the explorer PDU and response PDU may contain information indicating the local maximum PDU sizes at the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' allowing for an initial starting MTU discovery PDU having a size equal to the lesser maximum of the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' which will be involved in the MTU size discovery process. ).
As to claim 7, Gray further discloses the first UE of claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured to: in case that at least one of values of maximum allowed packet sizes of the at least one UE with the relay capability is equal or more than a value of the maximum allowed packet size of the first UE, identify a UE supporting a maximum allowed packet size equal or more than the maximum allowed packet size of the first UE as the second UE for the relay service (para. 0027, it is useful to know the MTU between the two end-stations independent of the MTU values that may apply in links not included in the L2 forwarding path between those two end-stations. This allows for unicast PDUs to be forwarded at the largest real MTU size for the path connecting the two end-stations), in case that the values of the maximum allowed packet sizes of the at least one UE with the relay capability are less than the value of the maximum allowed packet size of the first UE, identify a UE supporting a maximum allowed packet size having a maximum value among the values of maximum allowed packet sizes of the at least one UE with the relay capability as the second UE for the relay service, and set the value of the maximum allowed packet size of the first UE to a value of the maximum allowed packet size of the second UE for the relay service (para. 0047, the explorer PDU and response PDU may contain information indicating the local maximum PDU sizes at the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' allowing for an initial starting MTU discovery PDU having a size equal to the lesser maximum of the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' which will be involved in the MTU size discovery process ).
As to claims 9-10, see similar rejections to claims 12-13, respectively. The apparatus teaches the methods.
As to claim 12, Gray discloses a second user equipment (UE) (para. 0045, end-station 102’, para. 0041, each MTU discovery capable end station 102' responds) with a relay capability in a wireless communication system (para. 0040, end-stations 102 support LLDP; The LLDP is described in IEEE802.1AB--2005 entitled "IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks-Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery" (the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein); [see attached “IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks-Station and Media Access Control Connectivity Discovery”: pages 16-17: LLDP Ethertype…802.11-1999 (i.e. wireless), page 5, “802.11 (Wireless)” ), the second UE comprising: a transceiver (claim 10, request….response; para. 0059, port/interface); and a controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to: receive, from a first UE which is a constrained UE, a first message for requesting a relay configuration for the first UE (para. 0041, each MTU discovery capable end-station 102' send a broadcast based explorer message (i.e. first message) that will only be understood by similar MTU discovery capable end stations 102' (i.e. second user equipment (UE)); para. 0031, The MTU discovery capable end-station can advantageously use the discovered MTU size to forward unicast PDUs at the largest real MTU size for the path connecting to another MTU discovery capable end-station rather than having to forward the unicast PDUs to the other MTU discovery capable end-station at the least MTU size for all of the paths in the Ethernet network, i.e. forwarding is a synonym for relaying, and therefore as each end-station plays a role in the forwarding set up by request/response, they have relay capabilities), and transmit, to the first UE, a second message as a response to the first message, the second message comprising information on the relay con- figuration (para. 0041, in this case, each MTU discovery capable end station 102' responds to the sender of every explorer message it receives, and records the sender's L2 address, thus learning that L2 address and providing that sender with its own L2 address (i.e. information on the relay configuration); para. 0031, The MTU discovery capable end-station can advantageously use the discovered MTU size to forward unicast PDUs at the largest real MTU size for the path connecting to another MTU discovery capable end-station rather than having to forward the unicast PDUs to the other MTU discovery capable end-station at the least MTU size for all of the paths in the Ethernet network, i.e. forwarding is a synonym for relaying, and therefore as each end-station plays a role in the forwarding set up by request/response, they have relay capabilities ), wherein the second UE with the relay capability is used for a relay service based on the information on a maximum allowed packet size of the second UE comprised in the second message (para. 0039, discover a MTU size for a DLL connection to each of the other MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' (step 114) (i.e. any of these being a second UE); para. 0047, response PDU may contain information indicating the local maximum PDU sizes at the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' allowing for an initial starting MTU discovery PDU having a size equal to the lesser maximum of the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' which will be involved in the MTU size discovery process; para. 0031, The MTU discovery capable end-station can advantageously use the discovered MTU size to forward unicast PDUs at the largest real MTU size for the path connecting to another MTU discovery capable end-station rather than having to forward the unicast PDUs to the other MTU discovery capable end-station at the least MTU size for all of the paths in the Ethernet network, i.e. forwarding is a synonym for relaying, and therefore as each end-station plays a role in the forwarding set up by request/response, they have relay capabilities).
As to claim 13, Gray further discloses the second UE of claim 12, wherein the first message comprises at least one of a layer-2 identity (ID) of the first UE (para. 0041, each MTU discovery capable end station 102' responds to the sender of every explorer message it receives, and records the sender's L2 address, thus learning that L2 address and providing that sender with its own L2 address), a UE service ID of the first UE, a device ID of the first UE, or a maximum allowed packet size of the first UE (para. 0047, For instance, the explorer PDU and response PDU may contain information indicating the local maximum PDU sizes at the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' allowing for an initial starting MTU discovery PDU having a size equal to the lesser maximum of the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' which will be involved in the MTU size discovery process. ) , and wherein the second message comprises at least one of a layer-2 identity (ID) of the second UE (para. 0041, each MTU discovery capable end station 102' responds to the sender of every explorer message it receives, and records the sender's L2 address, thus learning that L2 address and providing that sender with its own L2 address), a UE service ID of the second UE, a device ID of the second UE, or the maximum allowed packet size of the second UE (para. 0047, For instance, the explorer PDU and response PDU may contain information indicating the local maximum PDU sizes at the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' allowing for an initial starting MTU discovery PDU having a size equal to the lesser maximum of the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' which will be involved in the MTU size discovery process.).
As to claim 14, Gray further discloses the second UE of claim 13, wherein a value of the maximum allowed packet size of the first UE is set to a value of the maximum allowed packet size of the second UE for the relay service (para. 0047, the explorer PDU and response PDU may contain information indicating the local maximum PDU sizes at the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' allowing for an initial starting MTU discovery PDU having a size equal to the lesser maximum of the two MTU discovery capable end-stations 102' which will be involved in the MTU size discovery process ).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 8, 11, 15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Examiner notes the various search reports in the instant file wrapper contain prior art references. However, Examiner has given the 02/08/2022 foreign priority claim of the instant application weight, thereby disqualifying some of the prior art utilized in the search reports. Examiner’s own prior art search yielded better references.
US 20260149949 A1 discloses at para. 0392: Said detailed configuration information may be a portion of the control information and may, for instance, comprise at least one of an SL resource pool configuration, a Relay configuration (max. packet size, only V2X traffic/VOiP), Group parameters (max. UEs, type of supported services e.g. low latency), Feedback configuration (keep alive or periodic group member status).
CN 101924689 A discloses (see attached English language translation) at para. 0009: The MSS parameter negotiation method of this invention comprising: a message with TCP connect message of the network forwarding device intercepts between the client and the server in the network; obtaining the interface MTU value of the next-hop device stored in advance by a network forwarding device, connected with the MSS parameter carried in the message with the interface MTU value adjusting TCP of next-hop device according to out interface MTU value of the network repeater device, and sending the adjusted TCP connect message.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMAR J GHOWRWAL whose telephone number is (571)270-5691. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00am-6:00pm.
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/OMAR J GHOWRWAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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