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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/12/24 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
The instant application claims priority to the Provisional filed on 2/25/22.
Abstract
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it contains more than 150 words. Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11, 13, 15-20, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wu et al. US 20240205789 (hereinafter “Wu”).
As to claim 1 and 27 (claim 1 is the method claim for the device in claim 27):
Wu discloses:
A wireless device, UE, the UE comprising: a transceiver; processing circuitry connected to the transceiver; and a memory connected to the processing circuitry, wherein the memory comprises computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the wireless device to (“FIG. 20 is a simplified block diagram of a device 2000 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the BS 220 and the UE 210 can be implemented by the device 2000. As shown, the device 2000 includes a processor 2010, a memory 2020 coupled to the processor 2010, and a transceiver 2040 coupled to the processor 2010.”, Wu [0191])
A method, performed by a wireless device, remote UE, wherein the remote UE is connected to a cell established by a base station, gNB, wherein the method performed by the remote UE comprises: maintaining a first and a second communication path, wherein each the first and the second communication path is either a direct path, where the communication is exchanged directly between the remote UE and the gNB, or an indirect path, wherein the communication is exchanged between the remote UE and the gNB via a relay UE; (FIG. 1-3 shows both indirect and direct path between a remote UE and base station, Wu) (“In some embodiments, a “suspending” state or dormant state is introduced for the indirect path or the secondary path. Thus, the traffic in the indirect path or secondary path can be paused/resumed. In the suspend state, the indirect path (e.g., PC5 link) is still measured and maintained. For example, the path is still used to transport some minimal “dummy” traffic, such as a “keep-alive” message so that the measurements can be still collected. In such a way, the indirect path can be re-activated without any issue.”, Wu [0130])
determining that one of the communication paths becomes or will become unavailable; (“With multi-path (e.g., dual-path in SL relay) configuration, the link failure can be reported to the NW via the alternative path. In this case, UE may be configured to conduct RRC-reestablishment (legacy) or wait for NW command. The UE 210 may inform the BS 220 of direct path issues via the SL relay and of SL relay issues via the direct path to gNB.”, Wu [0131]) (“At block 910, the UE 210 determines a path failure among multiple paths between the UE and a base station.”, Wu [0133])
and activating a third communication path, to replace the one of the communication paths that becomes or will become unavailable. (“At block 930, the UE 210 performs a path recovery operation. In some embodiments, the UE may perform an RRC-reestablishment operation like those in the legacy solution. Alternatively, the UE may receive a path recovery command from the base station, wherein the path recovery command instructs the UE to establish a new indirect path via another UE or to handover to another cell.”, Wu [0137]) (Examiner’s Note: a new indirect path can be established which maps to “third communication path”)
As to claim 2:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein the first communication path is a direct path, wherein the second communication path is an indirect path involving a first relay UE, wherein the third communication path is an indirect communication path involving a second relay UE, and wherein determining that one of the communication paths becomes or will become unavailable comprises detecting that the indirect path involving the first relay UE becomes or will become unavailable. (“At block 910, the UE 210 determines a path failure among multiple paths between the UE and a base station.”, Wu [0133]) (“At block 930, the UE 210 performs a path recovery operation. In some embodiments, the UE may perform an RRC-reestablishment operation like those in the legacy solution. Alternatively, the UE may receive a path recovery command from the base station, wherein the path recovery command instructs the UE to establish a new indirect path via another UE or to handover to another cell.”, Wu [0137]) (Examiner’s Note: a new indirect path can be established which maps to “third communication path”)
As to claim 3:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein in response to determining that one of communication paths becomes or will become unavailable, switching control plane signalling to the path that is still available or active. (“At block 910, the UE 210 determines a path failure among multiple paths between the UE and a base station.”, Wu [0133]) (“At block 930, the UE 210 performs a path recovery operation. In some embodiments, the UE may perform an RRC-reestablishment operation like those in the legacy solution. Alternatively, the UE may receive a path recovery command from the base station, wherein the path recovery command instructs the UE to establish a new indirect path via another UE or to handover to another cell.”, Wu [0137])
As to claim 4:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 3, wherein the switching is performed in response to one of: an autonomous detection; receiving an indication/or command from the gNB; or receiving an indication from the first relay UE. (“At block 930, the UE 210 performs a path recovery operation. In some embodiments, the UE may perform an RRC-reestablishment operation like those in the legacy solution. Alternatively, the UE may receive a path recovery command from the base station, wherein the path recovery command instructs the UE to establish a new indirect path via another UE or to handover to another cell.”, Wu [0137])
As to claim 5:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 4, wherein the remote UE receives from the first relay UE the indication that the first relay UE is: going out of cell coverage; going to IDLE mode or to INACTIVE mode; or going to be unavailable. (“If the link between the relay UE 230 and the BS 220 fails, the relay UE 230 will send a failure indication to the remote UE 210. Therefore, the UE 210 may determine the indirect path failure base on receiving a failure indication from relay UE.”, Wu [0135])
As to claim 6:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein, in response to determining that one of the communication paths becomes or will become unavailable, sending an indication to the gNB to exchange the corresponding paths. (“At block 920, the UE 210 transmits path failure information to the network device such as the BS 220 on a failure-free path of the multiple paths, wherein the path failure information contains information on determined path failure.”, Wu [0136]) (“In some embodiments, the BS 220 may further receive a user preference for at least one of path adding or path removing via RRC signaling. Additionally, or alternatively, the BS 220 may further receive an intention on path setup or path release in UEAssistanceInformation or SidelinkUEInformationNR.”, Wu [0141])
As to claim 7:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein the remote UE sends a Radio Link Failure, RLF report to the gNB indicative of a cause of the unavailability of one of the paths. (“At block 920, the UE 210 transmits path failure information to the network device such as the BS 220 on a failure-free path of the multiple paths, wherein the path failure information contains information on determined path failure.”, Wu [0136])
As to claim 8:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 7, wherein the report comprises information about the relay UE involved in the path being or becoming unavailable. (“At block 920, the UE 210 transmits path failure information to the network device such as the BS 220 on a failure-free path of the multiple paths, wherein the path failure information contains information on determined path failure.”, Wu [0136]) (Examiner’s Note: indirect path failure indicates the relay UE is not available which is why at block 930 the base station instructs the UE to establish a new indirect path via another UE)
As to claim 9:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 8, wherein the remote UE sends a measurement report to the gNB, the measurement report comprising an indication of one or a plurality of candidate relay UEs. (“In some embodiments, the BS 220 may further receive a measurement report on a first path between the UE and the base station from the UE, wherein the measurement report indicates channel quality information on one or more potential paths between the UE and the base station. The CPA triggering conditions/events and multi-path configuration may be determined based thereon.”, Wu [0153])
As to claim 10:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 8, wherein the remote UE initiates a discovery procedure to identify one or a plurality of candidate relay UEs, selects one of them as target relay UE to establish the third communication path, and sends a corresponding indication to the gNB. (“As illustrated, at the beginning of the flow chart, there was already a direct path. At 1501, the UE first conducts a relay discovery operation to discover potential relay UEs. At 1502, the UE 210 measures channel quality of the discovered relay UEs. At 1503, the UE 210 sends a measurement report related to channel quality information on the discovered relay UEs to the BS 210 on the direct path. At 1504, the BS 220 determines which indirect path can be added based on for example the measurement report and sends a path addition command indicating target relay and multi-path configurations to the UE 210 at 1505.”, Wu [0181])
As to claim 11:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 10, wherein the indication comprises one of: information that one of the paths needs to be changed and that the third communication path shall be directed over the selected target relay UE; or information including a list of candidate target relay UEs such that the gNB may select one of them as target relay UE to establish the third communication path. (“As illustrated, at the beginning of the flow chart, there was already a direct path. At 1501, the UE first conducts a relay discovery operation to discover potential relay UEs. At 1502, the UE 210 measures channel quality of the discovered relay UEs. At 1503, the UE 210 sends a measurement report related to channel quality information on the discovered relay UEs to the BS 210 on the direct path. At 1504, the BS 220 determines which indirect path can be added based on for example the measurement report and sends a path addition command indicating target relay and multi-path configurations to the UE 210 at 1505. The multi-path configurations which are already described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 8 and thus the detailed description will be omitted herein. After the UE 210 receives the path addition command, the UE establishes a PC 5 link with the relay UE at 1506 and the NR Uu link between the relay UE 230 and the BS 220 is established at 1507a, or 1507b. The establishment of NR Uu link between the relay UE 230 and the BS 220 can be initiated by the BS 210 (1507a) or by the UE (1507b). Thus, the relay UE is configured as a relay UE for the UE 210 at 1508. After the indirect path is established, the UE 210 applies the multi-path configuration at 1509. Thereafter, a path addition confirmation can be further fed back to the BS 220 via one or both of the direct path and the indirect path, at 1510a, 1510b. Then, at 1511, the UE begin communication with the BS on the newly added indirect path.”, Wu [0181])
As to claim 13:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 4, wherein the indication/command from the gNB or the indication from the first relay UE comprises one of: an indication about a radio link failure of the interface between the gNB and the first relay UE; an indication that a handover is performed or is about to be performed with respect to the first relay UE; or an indication that a cell (re)selection procedure is performed or about to be performed with respect to the first relay UE. (“If the link between the relay UE 230 and the BS 220 fails, the relay UE 230 will send a failure indication to the remote UE 210. Therefore, the UE 210 may determine the indirect path failure base on receiving a failure indication from relay UE.”, Wu [0135])
As to claim 15:
Claim 15 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1 from the perspective of the network node.
As to claim 16:
Claim 16 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 2 from the perspective of the network node.
As to claim 17:
Claim 17 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 3 from the perspective of the network node.
As to claim 18:
Claim 18 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 6 from the perspective of the network node.
As to claim 19:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 18, wherein the indication comprises one of: an indication about a radio link failure of the interface between the gNB and the first relay UE; an indication that a handover is performed or is about to be performed with respect to the first relay UE; or an indication that a cell (re)selection procedure is performed or about to be performed with respect to the first relay UE. (“If the link between the relay UE 230 and the BS 220 fails, the relay UE 230 will send a failure indication to the remote UE 210. Therefore, the UE 210 may determine the indirect path failure base on receiving a failure indication from relay UE.”, Wu [0135]) (“At block 920, the UE 210 transmits path failure information to the network device such as the BS 220 on a failure-free path of the multiple paths, wherein the path failure information contains information on determined path failure.”, Wu [0136]) (“In some embodiments, the BS 220 may further receive a user preference for at least one of path adding or path removing via RRC signaling. Additionally, or alternatively, the BS 220 may further receive an intention on path setup or path release in UEAssistanceInformation or SidelinkUEInformationNR.”, Wu [0141])
As to claim 20:
Wu discloses:
The method of claim 15, further comprising configuring the remote UE with a plurality of indirect paths, activating the third communication path by sending an activation command and/or deactivating the second communication path by sending a deactivation command, (“At block 930, the UE 210 performs a path recovery operation. In some embodiments, the UE may perform an RRC-reestablishment operation like those in the legacy solution. Alternatively, the UE may receive a path recovery command from the base station, wherein the path recovery command instructs the UE to establish a new indirect path via another UE or to handover to another cell.”, Wu [0137]) (Examiner’s Note: establishing a new indirect path implies “plurality of indirect paths”)
wherein the activation/deactivation command is sent in response to an actual radio quality of second communication path. (“At block 920, the UE 210 transmits path failure information to the network device such as the BS 220 on a failure-free path of the multiple paths, wherein the path failure information contains information on determined path failure.”, Wu [0136])
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.
Claim(s) 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu, as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of Cheng et al. US 20230269809 (hereinafter “Cheng”)
As to claim 12:
Wu as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 7, wherein a RLF detection is performed according to one or a plurality of the following criteria: a maximum number of retransmissions is reached over the interface to the first relay UE, a maximum number of DTX transmissions is reached over the interface to the first relay UE, a reconfiguration failure over the interface to the first relay UE, an indication from the first relay UE upon handover of cell (re)selection, an inactivity of the path for a certain amount of time, an indication from the first relay UE that a handover is performed or is about to be performed, and an indication from the first relay UE that a cell (re)selection procedure is performed or will be performed.
However, Cheng further teaches RLF detection criteria which includes:
The method of claim 7, wherein a RLF detection is performed according to one or a plurality of the following criteria: a maximum number of retransmissions is reached over the interface to the first relay UE, a maximum number of DTX transmissions is reached over the interface to the first relay UE, a reconfiguration failure over the interface to the first relay UE, an indication from the first relay UE upon handover of cell (re)selection, an inactivity of the path for a certain amount of time, an indication from the first relay UE that a handover is performed or is about to be performed, and an indication from the first relay UE that a cell (re)selection procedure is performed or will be performed. (“In general, a remote UE may declare a Uu RLF based on a number of conditions, for example, that occur within a radio link monitoring (RLM) timer (e.g., T310). For example, RLF may occur when a maximum number of retransmissions of radio link control (RLC) is reached. As another example, RLF may occur when a maximum number of random access channel (RACH) preamble (re)transmissions is reached, a Uu security failure or reconfiguration failure occurs. In general, a (remote or relay) UE may declare a PC5 RLF based on a number of conditions. For example, RLF may occur when a maximum number of retransmissions of radio link control (RLC) is reached. Another condition may be when reconfiguration fails (e.g., T400 expiry). As another example, RLF may occur when a maximum number of consecutive hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) discontinuous transmissions (DTX) for one destination is reached. Further, RLF may occur when a PC5 internet protocol (IP) check fails. It should be noted that each of the above mentioned conditions may be transmission (TX) detected RLF or reception (RX) detected RLF”, Cheng [0079-0080])
Wu and Cheng are analogous because they both pertain to radio link failure detection on various communication paths.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include RLF detection criteria as described in Cheng into Wu. By modifying the method to include RLF detection criteria as taught by Cheng, the benefits of improved failure detection (Cheng [0079-0080]) and reduced interruptions (Wu [0042]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 14 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. US 20240205789 (hereinafter “Wu”) in view of Damnjanovic et al. US 20230239882 (hereinafter “Damnjanovic”)
As to claim 14 and 35 (claim 14 is the method claim for the device in claim 35):
Wu discloses:
A wireless device, UE, the UE comprising: a transceiver, processing circuitry connected to the transceiver; and a memory connected to the processing circuitry, wherein the memory comprises computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the wireless device to: (“FIG. 20 is a simplified block diagram of a device 2000 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the BS 220 and the UE 210 can be implemented by the device 2000. As shown, the device 2000 includes a processor 2010, a memory 2020 coupled to the processor 2010, and a transceiver 2040 coupled to the processor 2010.”, Wu [0191])
A method, performed by a wireless device, UE, acting as a relay UE, wherein the UE is connected to a cell established by a base station, gNB, wherein the method performed by the UE comprises: maintaining a communication path, wherein the communication path is an indirect path for exchanging data traffic between a remote UE and the gNB via the UE; (FIG. 1-3 shows both indirect and direct path between a remote UE and base station, Wu) (“In some embodiments, a “suspending” state or dormant state is introduced for the indirect path or the secondary path. Thus, the traffic in the indirect path or secondary path can be paused/resumed. In the suspend state, the indirect path (e.g., PC5 link) is still measured and maintained. For example, the path is still used to transport some minimal “dummy” traffic, such as a “keep-alive” message so that the measurements can be still collected. In such a way, the indirect path can be re-activated without any issue.”, Wu [0130])
Wu as described above does not explicitly teach:
and activating or deactivating the communication path in response to receiving a corresponding indication from the remote UE or the gNB.
However, Damnjanovic further teaches a relay activating a communication path after receiving a command which includes:
and activating or deactivating the communication path in response to receiving a corresponding indication from the remote UE or the gNB. (“a first control signal indicating a sidelink relay communication link for communicating messages between the first UE and the base station via the relay UE, means for transmitting, to the first UE, the relay UE, or both, a second control signal that activates the sidelink relay communication link indicated via the first control signal, and means for communicating, via the sidelink relay communication link, a message to or from the first UE via the relay UE.”, Damnjanovic [0026])
Wu and Damnjanovic are analogous because they both pertain to radio link failure detection on various communication paths.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a relay activating a communication path after receiving a command as described in Damnjanovic into Wu. By modifying the method to include a relay activating a communication path after receiving a command as taught by Damnjanovic, the benefits of improved link activation (Damnjanovic [0003]) and reduced interruptions (Wu [0042]) are achieved.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW C KIM whose telephone number is (703)756-5607. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM - 5PM (PST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy K Kundu can be reached at (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.C.K./
Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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