DETAILED ACTION
Claim(s) 1-6 have been examined and are pending.
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: TERMINAL, COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND RADIO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM FOR UPLINK/DOWNLINK DECOUPLING
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 6, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) in view of UEKUMASU (“An Access Strategy for Downlink and Uplink Decoupling in Multi-Channel Wireless Networks”, cited in IDS received August 1, 2024) in view of Rofougaran (US 20200367144 A1) in view of LEE (USPGPub No. 2010/0290430).
In regards to claim 1, VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) teaches a terminal for communicating with a first base station and a second base station, the terminal comprising (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which illustrate a terminal, mobile device 210, communicating with a first base station, base station 110 or 120, and a second base station, the other of base station 110 or 120):
a receiver that receives a first downlink signal from the first base station and a second downlink signal from the second base station (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, receiving a first downlink signal, [Fig 3, Ref 340] downlink 340 from the base station 110, and receiving a second downlink signal [Fig. 2, Ref 240] downlink 240 from the base station 120. Furthermore, with regard to a receiver, see where it recites, “[0018] The systems and methods described herein overcome such a limitation by decoupling downlinks and uplinks so that the user equipment may downlink with one base station while uplinking with another base station. Given this, one embodiment of the user equipment comprises a processor that determines an optimal downlink base station. The processor also determines an optimal uplink base station. The optimal uplink base station is determined independently of the optimal downlink base station, thereby allowing the user equipment to downlink with the optimal downlink base station and uplink with the optimal uplink base station. Once the downlink and uplink are established, a receiver on the user equipment receives data from the optimal downlink base station while a transmitter on the user equipment transmits data to the optimal uplink base station. In the event that the optimal downlink base station is the same as the optimal uplink base station, the user equipment uplinks and downlinks to the same base station.”);
a transmitter that transmits a first uplink signal to the first base station and a second uplink signal to the second base station (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, transmitting a first uplink signal, [Fig 5, Ref 560] uplink to the base station 110, and transmitting a second uplink signal [Fig. 5, Ref 260] uplink 260 to the base station 120. Furthermore, with regard to a transmitter, see where it recites, “[0018] The systems and methods described herein overcome such a limitation by decoupling downlinks and uplinks so that the user equipment may downlink with one base station while uplinking with another base station. Given this, one embodiment of the user equipment comprises a processor that determines an optimal downlink base station. The processor also determines an optimal uplink base station. The optimal uplink base station is determined independently of the optimal downlink base station, thereby allowing the user equipment to downlink with the optimal downlink base station and uplink with the optimal uplink base station. Once the downlink and uplink are established, a receiver on the user equipment receives data from the optimal downlink base station while a transmitter on the user equipment transmits data to the optimal uplink base station. In the event that the optimal downlink base station is the same as the optimal uplink base station, the user equipment uplinks and downlinks to the same base station.”);
and
a processor that establishes a downlink connection with the first base station and an uplink connection with the second base station (See [Fig 3 - Fig. 5] which show establishment of a downlink connection, downlink 560 and/or downlink 340 with base station 110 and a uplink connection , uplink 260, with base station 120. Furthermore, with regards to a processor for performing the establishment of the downlink and uplink connections, see [Par. 18], and detecting the received powers see where it recites, “[0025] In determining the optimal UL BS, the device 210a determines path losses from each of the available BS 110, 120. One way of determining path loss is by subtracting a measured signal strength at the device 210a from the transmit power of each BS. The path loss for each BS is then used as a proxy for UL signal strength, and the UL signal strength is then used as a basis for determining which BS is optimal for UL from the device 210a. In other words, a processor within the device 210a determines the DL signal strength and also the received signal strength, and then calculates the path loss as a function of the DL signal strength and the received signal strength. An optimal UL BS is then determined as a function of the path loss.”), in response to detecting that first received power of the first downlink signal in the terminal is higher than second received power of the second downlink signal in the terminal (See where it recites with respect to determining an optimum downlink base station, “[0023] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mobile device 210a that is operating in Zone-A 130, which is the closest zone to the femto-BS 120. As shown in FIG. 2, the device 210a listens for available base stations 110, 120 and monitors signal strengths from each of the available base stations (e.g., femto-BS 120 and macro-BS 110). From the monitored signal strengths, the device 210a determines whether the femto-BS 120 provides an optimal downlink (DL) to the device 210a, or whether the macro-BS 110 provides an optimal DL to the device 210a. One way of determining the optimal DL BS is by simply selecting the BS as a function of DL signal strength. Insofar as the device 210a is in Zone-A 130, the femto-BS 120 (rather than the macro-BS 110) has greater DL signal strength and, therefore, is determined to be the optimal DL BS. As such, a downlink (DL) 240 is established between the device 210a and the femto-BS 120. This DL 240 allows a receiver in the device 210a to DL with the femto-BS 120 and receive data from the femto-BS 120.”. Furthermore, see [Fig. 4], and “[0029] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mobile device 210c that is operating in Zone-C 150, which is more radially-distant from the femto-BS 120 than either Zone-A 130 or Zone-B 140. This can happen when the mobile device of FIG. 3 migrates from Zone-B 130 into Zone-C 150. Similar to the processes described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mobile device 210c again listens for available base stations 110, 120 and monitors signal strengths from each available BS in order to independently determine which BS is the optimal UL BS and which BS is the optimal DL BS.
[0030] Unlike FIG. 2, the device 210c, which is now operating in Zone-C 150, determines that the macro-BS 110 is the optimal DL BS. As such, DL 340 is established between the device 210c and the macro-BS 110. Specifically, if the device 210c has migrated into Zone-C 150 from Zone-B 140, then the device 210c maintains its DL 340 with the macro-BS 110, but severs the DL 240 with the femto-BS 120.
.”), and (See where it recites with respect to Fig. 4, “[0031] Independent of its DL determination, the device 210c determines which of the available BS is the optimal UL BS. Similar to FIG. 3, the device 210c in Zone-C 150 determines that the femto-BS 120 (rather than the macro-BS 110) is the optimal UL BS. Consequently, UL 260 is maintained between the device 210c and the femto-BS 120. By decoupling the UL and DL, the mobile device 210c (or any other user equipment) can now UL with an optimal UL BS (such as the femto-BS 120 in this example), which may be different from an optimal DL BS (such as the macro-BS 110 in this example). Additionally, since the UL and DL determinations are independent of each other, one BS need not simultaneously handoff (HO) both the UL and the DL as the device 210c migrates from one zone (e.g., Zone-B 140) to another (e.g., Zone-C 150)”),
The terminal of VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) differs from that of claim 1, in that VERMA is silent on where the uplink connection with the second base station is established in response to detecting that third received power of the first uplink signal in the first base station is lower than or equal to fourth received power of the second uplink signal in the second base station and in that VERMA is silent on wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving dual connectivity.
UEKUMASU (“An Access Strategy for Downlink and Uplink Decoupling in Multi-Channel Wireless Networks”, cited in IDS received August 1, 2024) teaches where an uplink connection with a second base station is established in response to detecting that a third received power of a first uplink signal of a first base station is lower than or equal to a fourth received power of a second uplink signal in a second base station (See Page 1, “On the other hand, in Fig. 2, the small cell base station is closer to the device than the macro cell base station, and therefore, the RSSI on the small cell base station is higher than that on the macro cell base station. In this case, for the uplink, the device connects to the small cell base station.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of UEKUMASU it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the dual connectivity feature of VERMA, by adopting UEKUMASU feature for selecting an optimal uplink base station to arrive at, where the uplink connection with the second base station is established in response to detecting that third received power of the first uplink signal in the first base station is lower than or equal to fourth received power of the second uplink signal in the second base station, as arranged with the remaining elements of claim 1, in order to provide a reliable means for selecting an optimal uplink BS, based on received powers of uplink signals.
The combined teachings of VERMA in view of UEKUMASU further differ from claim 1, in that the combined teachings are silent on wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving dual connectivity.
Rofougaran (US 20200367144 A1) teaches a dual connectivity feature where an uplink connection of a terminal, FWA UE, with a second base station, gNB 308 is via a relay device, repeater 302 (See [Fig. 3]).
Thus based upon the teachings of Rofougaran it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify dual connectivity feature of VERMA in view of UEKUMASU by adopting use of a relay device to provide an uplink connection, to arrive at an uplink connection with the second base station via relay device, in order to provide a benefit of a wireless network connection, in a case where the terminal is outside the range of the second base station (See Rofougaran [Par. 14]).
The combined teachings of VERMA in view of in view of UEKUMASU in view of Rofougaran differ from claim 1, in that the combined teachings are silent on wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving the use of relay/repeaters for wireless networking.
LEE (USPGPub No. 2010/0290430) teaches where upon detecting that a receiver of a terminal, UE, receives an instruction signal, handover command, from a base station, Macro eNB, changing a connection with the base station to a connection with the base station via a relay device, Relay eNB (“[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates a process of exchanging a handover signaling message for a handover from a macro eNB to a relay eNB not having an RRC connection in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, call admission control of the relay eNB is successful, and thus the handover process is also successful [0034] Referring to FIG. 2, while receiving a service by accessing a macro eNB 210, a UE 200 measures a channel state of neighbor macro eNBs and neighbor relay eNBs including a relay eNB 220 periodically or in an event-driven manner, and transmits a measurement report message 201 including a measurement result to the macro eNB 210… [0036] If it is determined to perform the handover of the UE 200 to the relay eNB 220, the macro eNB 210 performs call admission control for a call request of the UE 200 prior to a target eNB (i.e., the relay eNB 220) in block 205. The reason for the macro eNB 210 to perform the call admission control is that, if the handover of the UE 200 to the relay eNB 220 is successful, a radio link resource of the macro eNB 210 is used for data transmitted to or received by the UE 200 via the relay eNB 220 from the macro eNB 210… [0040] Upon receiving the handover request ACK response and RRC connection setup complete response message 211, the macro eNB 210 determines that the handover to the relay eNB 220 is possible, transmits a handover command message 213 to the UE 200, and instructs the handover to the relay eNB 220.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of LEE, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the feature for relays/repeaters suggested by the combined teachings of VERMA in view of in view of UEKUMASU in view of Rofougaran, by adopting use of an instruction to switch from a connection by a terminal directly to a base station to a connection by the terminal to the base station via a relay as seen in LEE, with the relay/repeater and second base station of the combined teachings, to thus arrive at wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device, and consequently arrive at claim 1. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make a modification in order to provide a reliable signaling mechanism in order to facilitate uplink connection to the second station via a relay/repeater suggested by the combined teachings of VERMA in view of in view of UEKUMASU in view of Rofougaran.
In regards to claim 5, VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) teaches a communication method executed by a terminal for communicating with a first base station and a second base station, the communication method comprising (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which illustrate a terminal, mobile device 210, communicating with a first base station, base station 110 or 120, and a second base station, the other of base station 110 or 120):
receiving a first downlink signal from the first base station and a second downlink signal from the second base station (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, receiving a first downlink signal, [Fig 3, Ref 340] downlink 340 from the base station 110, and receiving a second downlink signal [Fig. 2, Ref 240] downlink 240 from the base station 120. Furthermore, with regard to a receiver, see where it recites, “[0018] The systems and methods described herein overcome such a limitation by decoupling downlinks and uplinks so that the user equipment may downlink with one base station while uplinking with another base station. Given this, one embodiment of the user equipment comprises a processor that determines an optimal downlink base station. The processor also determines an optimal uplink base station. The optimal uplink base station is determined independently of the optimal downlink base station, thereby allowing the user equipment to downlink with the optimal downlink base station and uplink with the optimal uplink base station. Once the downlink and uplink are established, a receiver on the user equipment receives data from the optimal downlink base station while a transmitter on the user equipment transmits data to the optimal uplink base station. In the event that the optimal downlink base station is the same as the optimal uplink base station, the user equipment uplinks and downlinks to the same base station.”);
transmitting a first uplink signal to the first base station and a second uplink signal to the second base station (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, transmitting a first uplink signal, [Fig 5, Ref 560] uplink to the base station 110, and transmitting a second uplink signal [Fig. 5, Ref 260] uplink 260 to the base station 120. . Furthermore, with regard to a transmitter, see where it recites, “[0018] The systems and methods described herein overcome such a limitation by decoupling downlinks and uplinks so that the user equipment may downlink with one base station while uplinking with another base station. Given this, one embodiment of the user equipment comprises a processor that determines an optimal downlink base station. The processor also determines an optimal uplink base station. The optimal uplink base station is determined independently of the optimal downlink base station, thereby allowing the user equipment to downlink with the optimal downlink base station and uplink with the optimal uplink base station. Once the downlink and uplink are established, a receiver on the user equipment receives data from the optimal downlink base station while a transmitter on the user equipment transmits data to the optimal uplink base station. In the event that the optimal downlink base station is the same as the optimal uplink base station, the user equipment uplinks and downlinks to the same base station.”);
and
establishing a downlink connection with the first base station and an uplink connection with the second base station (See [Fig 3 - Fig. 5] which show establishment of a downlink connection, downlink 560 and/or downlink 340 with base station 110 and a uplink connection , uplink 260, with base station 120), in response to detecting that first received power of the first downlink signal in the terminal is higher than second received power of the second downlink signal in the terminal(See where it recites with respect to determining an optimum downlink base station, “[0023] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mobile device 210a that is operating in Zone-A 130, which is the closest zone to the femto-BS 120. As shown in FIG. 2, the device 210a listens for available base stations 110, 120 and monitors signal strengths from each of the available base stations (e.g., femto-BS 120 and macro-BS 110). From the monitored signal strengths, the device 210a determines whether the femto-BS 120 provides an optimal downlink (DL) to the device 210a, or whether the macro-BS 110 provides an optimal DL to the device 210a. One way of determining the optimal DL BS is by simply selecting the BS as a function of DL signal strength. Insofar as the device 210a is in Zone-A 130, the femto-BS 120 (rather than the macro-BS 110) has greater DL signal strength and, therefore, is determined to be the optimal DL BS. As such, a downlink (DL) 240 is established between the device 210a and the femto-BS 120. This DL 240 allows a receiver in the device 210a to DL with the femto-BS 120 and receive data from the femto-BS 120.” Also See where it recites with respect to Fig. 4, “[0029] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mobile device 210c that is operating in Zone-C 150, which is more radially-distant from the femto-BS 120 than either Zone-A 130 or Zone-B 140. This can happen when the mobile device of FIG. 3 migrates from Zone-B 130 into Zone-C 150. Similar to the processes described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mobile device 210c again listens for available base stations 110, 120 and monitors signal strengths from each available BS in order to independently determine which BS is the optimal UL BS and which BS is the optimal DL BS.
[0030] Unlike FIG. 2, the device 210c, which is now operating in Zone-C 150, determines that the macro-BS 110 is the optimal DL BS. As such, DL 340 is established between the device 210c and the macro-BS 110. Specifically, if the device 210c has migrated into Zone-C 150 from Zone-B 140, then the device 210c maintains its DL 340 with the macro-BS 110, but severs the DL 240 with the femto-BS 120.”), and t(See where it recites with respect to Fig. 4, “[0031] Independent of its DL determination, the device 210c determines which of the available BS is the optimal UL BS. Similar to FIG. 3, the device 210c in Zone-C 150 determines that the femto-BS 120 (rather than the macro-BS 110) is the optimal UL BS. Consequently, UL 260 is maintained between the device 210c and the femto-BS 120. By decoupling the UL and DL, the mobile device 210c (or any other user equipment) can now UL with an optimal UL BS (such as the femto-BS 120 in this example), which may be different from an optimal DL BS (such as the macro-BS 110 in this example). Additionally, since the UL and DL determinations are independent of each other, one BS need not simultaneously handoff (HO) both the UL and the DL as the device 210c migrates from one zone (e.g., Zone-B 140) to another (e.g., Zone-C 150)”),
The method of VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) differs from that of claim 5, in that VERMA is silent on where the uplink connection with the second base station is established in response to detecting that third received power of the first uplink signal in the first base station is lower than or equal to fourth received power of the second uplink signal in the second base station and in that VERMA is silent on wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving dual connectivity.
UEKUMASU (“An Access Strategy for Downlink and Uplink Decoupling in Multi-Channel Wireless Networks”, cited in IDS received August 1, 2024) teaches where an uplink connection with a second base station is established in response to detecting that a third received power of a first uplink signal of a first base station is lower than or equal to a fourth received power of a second uplink signal in a second base station (See Page 1, “On the other hand, in Fig. 2, the small cell base station is closer to the device than the macro cell base station, and therefore, the RSSI on the small cell base station is higher than that on the macro cell base station. In this case, for the uplink, the device connects to the small cell base station.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of UEKUMASU it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the dual connectivity feature of VERMA, by adopting UEKUMASU feature for selecting an optimal uplink base station to arrive at, where the uplink connection with the second base station is established in response to detecting that third received power of the first uplink signal in the first base station is lower than or equal to fourth received power of the second uplink signal in the second base station, as arranged with the remaining elements of claim 5, in order to provide a reliable means for selecting an optimal uplink BS, based on received powers of uplink signals.
The combined teachings of VERMA in view of UEKUMASU further differ from claim 5, in that the combined teachings are silent on wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving dual connectivity.
Rofougaran (US 20200367144 A1) teaches a dual connectivity feature where an uplink connection of a terminal, FWA UE, with a second base station, gNB 308 is via a relay device, repeater 302 (See [Fig. 3]).
Thus based upon the teachings of Rofougaran it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify dual connectivity feature of VERMA in view of UEKUMASU by adopting use of a relay device to provide an uplink connection, to arrive at an uplink connection with the second base station via relay device, in order to provide a benefit of a wireless network connection, in a case where the terminal is outside the range of the second base station (See Rofougaran [Par. 14]).
The combined teachings of VERMA in view of in view of UEKUMASU in view of Rofougaran differ from claim 5, in that the combined teachings are silent on wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving the use of relay/repeaters for wireless networking.
LEE (USPGPub No. 2010/0290430) teaches where upon detecting that a receiver of a terminal, UE, receives an instruction signal, handover command, from a base station, Macro eNB, changing a connection with the base station to a connection with the base station via a relay device, Relay eNB (“[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates a process of exchanging a handover signaling message for a handover from a macro eNB to a relay eNB not having an RRC connection in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, call admission control of the relay eNB is successful, and thus the handover process is also successful [0034] Referring to FIG. 2, while receiving a service by accessing a macro eNB 210, a UE 200 measures a channel state of neighbor macro eNBs and neighbor relay eNBs including a relay eNB 220 periodically or in an event-driven manner, and transmits a measurement report message 201 including a measurement result to the macro eNB 210… [0036] If it is determined to perform the handover of the UE 200 to the relay eNB 220, the macro eNB 210 performs call admission control for a call request of the UE 200 prior to a target eNB (i.e., the relay eNB 220) in block 205. The reason for the macro eNB 210 to perform the call admission control is that, if the handover of the UE 200 to the relay eNB 220 is successful, a radio link resource of the macro eNB 210 is used for data transmitted to or received by the UE 200 via the relay eNB 220 from the macro eNB 210… [0040] Upon receiving the handover request ACK response and RRC connection setup complete response message 211, the macro eNB 210 determines that the handover to the relay eNB 220 is possible, transmits a handover command message 213 to the UE 200, and instructs the handover to the relay eNB 220.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of LEE, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the feature for relays/repeaters suggested by the combined teachings of VERMA in view of in view of UEKUMASU in view of Rofougaran, by adopting use of an instruction to switch from a connection by a terminal directly to a base station to a connection by the terminal to the base station via a relay as seen in LEE, with the relay/repeater and second base station of the combined teachings, to thus arrive at wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device, and consequently arrive at claim 5. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make a modification in order to provide a reliable signaling mechanism in order to facilitate uplink connection to the second station via a relay/repeater suggested by the combined teachings of VERMA in view of in view of UEKUMASU in view of Rofougaran.
In regards to claim 6, VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) teaches a radio communication system comprising:
a first base station;
a second base station; and
a terminal for communicating with the first base station and the second base station (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which illustrate a terminal, mobile device 210, communicating with a first base station, base station 110 or 120, and a second base station, the other of base station 110 or 120),
wherein the first base station includes a first transmitter that transmits a first downlink signal to the terminal, and a first receiver that receives a first uplink signal from the terminal (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, receiving a first downlink signal, [Fig 3, Ref 340] downlink 340 transmitted from the base station 110. Also see [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, transmitting a first uplink signal, [Fig 5, Ref 560] uplink, which is received by the base station 110. Note that although a transmitter and receiver are not explicitly recited, that they are inherent in the receiving and transmitting performed by the base station),
wherein the second base station includes a second transmitter that transmits a second downlink signal to the terminal, and a second receiver that receives a second uplink signal from the terminal (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, receiving a second downlink signal [Fig. 2, Ref 240] downlink 240 from the base station 120. Also See [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, transmitting a second uplink signal [Fig. 5, Ref 260] uplink 260 which is received by the base station 120. Note that although a transmitter and receiver are not explicitly recited, that they are inherent in the receiving and transmitting performed by the base station), and
wherein the terminal includes
a receiver that receives the first downlink signal from the first base station and the second downlink signal from the second base station (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, receiving a first downlink signal, [Fig 3, Ref 340] downlink 340 from the base station 110, and receiving a second downlink signal [Fig. 2, Ref 240] downlink 240 from the base station 120. Furthermore, with regard to a receiver, see where it recites, “[0018] The systems and methods described herein overcome such a limitation by decoupling downlinks and uplinks so that the user equipment may downlink with one base station while uplinking with another base station. Given this, one embodiment of the user equipment comprises a processor that determines an optimal downlink base station. The processor also determines an optimal uplink base station. The optimal uplink base station is determined independently of the optimal downlink base station, thereby allowing the user equipment to downlink with the optimal downlink base station and uplink with the optimal uplink base station. Once the downlink and uplink are established, a receiver on the user equipment receives data from the optimal downlink base station while a transmitter on the user equipment transmits data to the optimal uplink base station. In the event that the optimal downlink base station is the same as the optimal uplink base station, the user equipment uplinks and downlinks to the same base station.”);
a transmitter that transmits the first uplink signal to the first base station and the second uplink signal to the second base station (See [Fig. 2 - 6] which show the mobile device 210, transmitting a first uplink signal, [Fig 5, Ref 560] uplink to the base station 110, and transmitting a second uplink signal [Fig. 5, Ref 260]uplink 260 to the base station 120. Furthermore, with regard to a transmitter, see where it recites, “[0018] The systems and methods described herein overcome such a limitation by decoupling downlinks and uplinks so that the user equipment may downlink with one base station while uplinking with another base station. Given this, one embodiment of the user equipment comprises a processor that determines an optimal downlink base station. The processor also determines an optimal uplink base station. The optimal uplink base station is determined independently of the optimal downlink base station, thereby allowing the user equipment to downlink with the optimal downlink base station and uplink with the optimal uplink base station. Once the downlink and uplink are established, a receiver on the user equipment receives data from the optimal downlink base station while a transmitter on the user equipment transmits data to the optimal uplink base station. In the event that the optimal downlink base station is the same as the optimal uplink base station, the user equipment uplinks and downlinks to the same base station.”); and
a processor that establishes a downlink connection with the first base station and an uplink connection with the second base station (See [Fig 3 - Fig. 5] which show establishment of a downlink connection, downlink 560 and/or downlink 340 with base station 110 and a uplink connection , uplink 260, with base station 120. Furthermore, with regards to a processor for performing the establishment of the downlink and uplink connections, and detecting the received powers see where it recites, “[0025] In determining the optimal UL BS, the device 210a determines path losses from each of the available BS 110, 120. One way of determining path loss is by subtracting a measured signal strength at the device 210a from the transmit power of each BS. The path loss for each BS is then used as a proxy for UL signal strength, and the UL signal strength is then used as a basis for determining which BS is optimal for UL from the device 210a. In other words, a processor within the device 210a determines the DL signal strength and also the received signal strength, and then calculates the path loss as a function of the DL signal strength and the received signal strength. An optimal UL BS is then determined as a function of the path loss.”), in response to detecting that first received power of the first downlink signal in the terminal is higher than second received power of the second downlink signal in the terminal (See where it recites with respect to determining an optimum downlink base station, “[0023] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a mobile device 210a that is operating in Zone-A 130, which is the closest zone to the femto-BS 120. As shown in FIG. 2, the device 210a listens for available base stations 110, 120 and monitors signal strengths from each of the available base stations (e.g., femto-BS 120 and macro-BS 110). From the monitored signal strengths, the device 210a determines whether the femto-BS 120 provides an optimal downlink (DL) to the device 210a, or whether the macro-BS 110 provides an optimal DL to the device 210a. One way of determining the optimal DL BS is by simply selecting the BS as a function of DL signal strength. Insofar as the device 210a is in Zone-A 130, the femto-BS 120 (rather than the macro-BS 110) has greater DL signal strength and, therefore, is determined to be the optimal DL BS. As such, a downlink (DL) 240 is established between the device 210a and the femto-BS 120. This DL 240 allows a receiver in the device 210a to DL with the femto-BS 120 and receive data from the femto-BS 120.” Also See where it recites with respect to Fig. 4, “[0029] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mobile device 210c that is operating in Zone-C 150, which is more radially-distant from the femto-BS 120 than either Zone-A 130 or Zone-B 140. This can happen when the mobile device of FIG. 3 migrates from Zone-B 130 into Zone-C 150. Similar to the processes described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mobile device 210c again listens for available base stations 110, 120 and monitors signal strengths from each available BS in order to independently determine which BS is the optimal UL BS and which BS is the optimal DL BS.
[0030] Unlike FIG. 2, the device 210c, which is now operating in Zone-C 150, determines that the macro-BS 110 is the optimal DL BS. As such, DL 340 is established between the device 210c and the macro-BS 110. Specifically, if the device 210c has migrated into Zone-C 150 from Zone-B 140, then the device 210c maintains its DL 340 with the macro-BS 110, but severs the DL 240 with the femto-BS 120.”)
and (See where it recites with respect to Fig. 4, “[0029] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a mobile device 210c that is operating in Zone-C 150, which is more radially-distant from the femto-BS 120 than either Zone-A 130 or Zone-B 140. This can happen when the mobile device of FIG. 3 migrates from Zone-B 130 into Zone-C 150. Similar to the processes described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the mobile device 210c again listens for available base stations 110, 120 and monitors signal strengths from each available BS in order to independently determine which BS is the optimal UL BS and which BS is the optimal DL BS.
[0030] Unlike FIG. 2, the device 210c, which is now operating in Zone-C 150, determines that the macro-BS 110 is the optimal DL BS. As such, DL 340 is established between the device 210c and the macro-BS 110. Specifically, if the device 210c has migrated into Zone-C 150 from Zone-B 140, then the device 210c maintains its DL 340 with the macro-BS 110, but severs the DL 240 with the femto-BS 120.”),
The radio communication system of VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) differs from that of claim 6, in that VERMA is silent on where the uplink connection with the second base station is established in response to detecting that third received power of the first uplink signal in the first base station is lower than or equal to fourth received power of the second uplink signal in the second base station. The radio communication system of VERMA further differs from claim 6, in that VERMA is silent on a relay device, and in that VERMA is silent on wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving dual connectivity.
UEKUMASU (“An Access Strategy for Downlink and Uplink Decoupling in Multi-Channel Wireless Networks”, cited in IDS received August 1, 2024) teaches where an uplink connection with a second base station is established in response to detecting that a third received power of a first uplink signal of a first base station is lower than or equal to a fourth received power of a second uplink signal in a second base station (See Page 1, “On the other hand, in Fig. 2, the small cell base station is closer to the device than the macro cell base station, and therefore, the RSSI on the small cell base station is higher than that on the macro cell base station. In this case, for the uplink, the device connects to the small cell base station.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of UEKUMASU it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the dual connectivity feature of VERMA, by adopting UEKUMASU feature for selecting an optimal uplink base station to arrive at, where the uplink connection with the second base station is established in response to detecting that third received power of the first uplink signal in the first base station is lower than or equal to fourth received power of the second uplink signal in the second base station, as arranged with the remaining elements of claim 6, in order to provide a reliable means for selecting an optimal uplink BS, based on received powers of uplink signals.
The combined teachings of VERMA in view of UEKUMASU further differ from claim 6, in that the combined teachings are silent on a relay device and in that the combination is silent on wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via the relay device. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving dual connectivity.
Rofougaran (US 20200367144 A1) teaches a dual connectivity feature where an uplink connection of a terminal, FWA UE, with a second base station, gNB 308 is via a relay device, repeater 302 (See [Fig. 3]).
Thus based upon the teachings of Rofougaran it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify dual connectivity feature of VERMA in view of UEKUMASU by adopting use of a relay device to provide an uplink connection, to arrive at an uplink connection with the second base station via relay device, in order to provide a benefit of a wireless network connection, in a case where the terminal is outside the range of the second base station (See Rofougaran [Par. 14]).
The combined teachings of VERMA in view of in view of UEKUMASU in view of Rofougaran differ from claim 6, in that the combined teachings are silent on wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via a relay device. Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving the use of relay/repeaters for wireless networking.
LEE (USPGPub No. 2010/0290430) teaches where upon detecting that a receiver of a terminal, UE, receives an instruction signal, handover command, from a base station, Macro eNB, changing a connection with the base station to a connection with the base station via a relay device, Relay eNB (“[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates a process of exchanging a handover signaling message for a handover from a macro eNB to a relay eNB not having an RRC connection in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, call admission control of the relay eNB is successful, and thus the handover process is also successful [0034] Referring to FIG. 2, while receiving a service by accessing a macro eNB 210, a UE 200 measures a channel state of neighbor macro eNBs and neighbor relay eNBs including a relay eNB 220 periodically or in an event-driven manner, and transmits a measurement report message 201 including a measurement result to the macro eNB 210… [0036] If it is determined to perform the handover of the UE 200 to the relay eNB 220, the macro eNB 210 performs call admission control for a call request of the UE 200 prior to a target eNB (i.e., the relay eNB 220) in block 205. The reason for the macro eNB 210 to perform the call admission control is that, if the handover of the UE 200 to the relay eNB 220 is successful, a radio link resource of the macro eNB 210 is used for data transmitted to or received by the UE 200 via the relay eNB 220 from the macro eNB 210… [0040] Upon receiving the handover request ACK response and RRC connection setup complete response message 211, the macro eNB 210 determines that the handover to the relay eNB 220 is possible, transmits a handover command message 213 to the UE 200, and instructs the handover to the relay eNB 220.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of LEE, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the feature for relays/repeaters suggested by the combined teachings of VERMA in view of in view of UEKUMASU in view of Rofougaran, by adopting use of an instruction to switch from a connection by a terminal directly to a base station to a connection by the terminal to the base station via a relay as seen in LEE, with the relay/repeater and second base station of the combined teachings, to thus arrive at wherein, upon detecting that the receiver receives an instruction signal from the second base station, the processor changes the uplink connection with the second base station to an uplink connection with the second base station via the relay device, and consequently arrive at claim 6. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make a modification in order to provide a reliable signaling mechanism in order to facilitate uplink connection to the second station via a relay/repeater suggested by the combined teachings of VERMA in view of in view of UEKUMASU in view of Rofougaran.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) in view of UEKUMASU (“An Access Strategy for Downlink and Uplink Decoupling in Multi-Channel Wireless Networks”, cited in IDS received August 1, 2024) in view of Rofougaran (US 20200367144 A1) in view of LEE (USPGPub No. 2010/0290430) in view of HAIJA (“US 20220014935 A1”)
In regards to claim 2, the combined teachings of VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) in view of UEKUMASU (“An Access Strategy for Downlink and Uplink Decoupling in Multi-Channel Wireless Networks”, cited in IDS received August 1, 2024) in view of Rofougaran (US 20200367144 A1) in view of LEE (USPGPub No. 2010/0290430) are silent on the terminal according to claim 1, wherein the relay device is a Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) including a plurality of reflection elements, the RIS being capable of changing a traveling direction of a reflection wave.
Despite these differences similar features have been seen in other prior art involving use of repeater/relay devices. HAIJA (“US 20220014935 A1”) teaches a feature where a relay device is a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), including a plurality of reflection elements, the RIS being capable of changing a traveling direction of a reflection wave (“[0005] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method involving transmitting first configuration information to a user equipment (UE), the first configuration information identifying both a reference signal and a carrier frequency of the reference signal, the reference signal and carrier frequency being used to determine channel information about a channel between a base station and the UE via a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS)... [0044] In some discussions in this disclosure, RIS devices may be referred as a set of configurable elements arranged in a linear array or a planar array. Nevertheless, the analysis and discussions are extendable to other two or three dimensional arrangements (e.g., circular array). A linear array is a vector of N configurable elements and a planar array is a matrix of N×M configurable elements. These configurable elements have the ability to redirect a wave/signal that is incident on the linear or planar array by changing the phase of the wave/signal. The configurable elements are also capable of changing the amplitude, polarization, or even the frequency of the wave/signal. In some planar arrays these changes occur as a result of changing bias voltages that controls the individual configurable elements of the array via a control circuit connected to the linear or planar array. The control circuit that enables control of the linear or planar array may be connected to a communications network that base stations and UEs communicating with each other are part of. For example, the network that controls the base station may also provide configuration information to the linear or planar array. Control methods other than bias voltage control include, but are not limited to, mechanical deformation and phase change materials. [0045] Because of their ability to manipulate the incident wave, the low cost of these types of devices, and because these types of devices require small bias voltages, RIS have recently received heightened research interest in the area of wireless communication as a valuable tool for beamforming and/or modulating communication signals. A basic example for RIS utilization in beamforming is shown in FIG. 1 where each RIS configurable element (unit cell) can change the phase of the incident wave from source such that the reflected waves from all of the RIS elements are aligned to the direction of the destination to increase or maximize its received signal strength (e.g. maximize the SNR). Such a reflection via the RIS may be referred to as reflect-array beamforming.”).
Thus, based upon the teachings of HAIJA it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify repeater/relay feature suggested by the combined teachings of VERMA (US 20130163441 A1) in view of UEKUMASU (“An Access Strategy for Downlink and Uplink Decoupling in Multi-Channel Wireless Networks”, cited in IDS received August 1, 2024) in view of Rofougaran (US 20200367144 A1) in view of LEE (USPGPub No. 2010/0290430), by adopting use of a RIS for relaying/repeating as similarly seen in HAIJA, to thus arrive at claim 2. A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such a modification in order to take advantage of benefits that reconfigurable intelligent surfaces provide to process of repeating/relaying wireless transmissions.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 3 and 4 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
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/TARELL A HAMPTON/Examiner, Art Unit 2476
/PETER P CHAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
Prosecution Insights