DETAILED ACTION
This action is response to application number 18/840,038, dated on 08/20/2024.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-5, 7-8, 11-16, 20-24 and 26-27 pending.
Claims 6, 9-10, 17-19, 25 and 28-56 cancelled.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-8, 11-16, 20-24 and 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (3GPP, S2-2201227, hereinafter 3GPP-1227) in view of Cheng et al. (US 2023/0246701 A1).
Claim 1, 3GPP-1227 discloses an apparatus, in a first user equipment (UE-1; Fig. 6.x.2-1), comprising:
at least one processor (UE-1; Fig. 6.x.2-1) and at least one memory (memory of the UE-1; Fig. 6.x.2-1) including computer program code (programing and instructions of the UE-1; Fig. 6.x.2-1), the at least one memory and the computer program code configured (UE-1; configuration for using UE-to-UE Relay; step 1, Fig. 6.x.2-1) to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
receiving a discovery message, wherein the discovery message includes connection information including at least one of a first connection information and a second connection information for a connection to a second user equipment (UE-2; Fig. 6.x.2-1) via a relay user equipment (UE-to-UE Relay; Fig. 6.x.2-1), (receiving a discovery message; Fig. 6.x.2-1, A and step 2 show, the UE-1 receiving announcement based UE-to-UE relay discovery; The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay sends out a Relay Discovery message periodically, announcing its availability for serving other UEs in the area; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay discovery; 6x1; The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay also supports the query and response mode for discovery. The ProSe 5G UEto-UE Relay listens on a configured Layer-2 ID for the query, and would respond with its address and corresponding information to enable to other UE to establish a unicast connection with it. This process is similar to the unicast L2 link establishment procedure as defined in TS 23.287 [y] clause 6.3.3.1; Authorization and Configuration; 6.x.1; providing connection information (the IP address/prefix) including a first connection information and a second connection information for a connection to a target UE (the relay UE providing the IP addresses/prefixes of the UE-1 and UE-2 when the relay UE acts as a DNS server in order to establish a direct connection between the UE-1 and the UE-2 as shown in Fig. 6.x.2-1); As part of the unicast L2 link establishment procedure, the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay stores an association of the User Info of the peer UE of the unicast link (or ProSe Service provided by the peer UE) and the IP address/prefix allocated to the UE into its DNS entries. The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay acts as a DNS server to other UEs. When a (source) UE needs to communicate with another (target) UE or needs to discover a ProSe service via the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay, it sends a DNS query for the target UE (based on Target User Info) or for the ProSe Service to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay over the unicast link, which will return the IP address/prefix of the target UE or the IP address(es)/prefix(es) of UEs which provide the ProSe Service; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1),
selecting the relay user equipment for the connection to the second user equipment based on the received discovery message (selecting the relay UE; When a (source) UE needs to communicate with another (target) UE or needs to discover a ProSe service via the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay, it sends a DNS query for the target UE (based on Target User Info) or for the ProSe Service to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay over the unicast link, which will return the IP address/prefix of the target UE or the IP address(es)/prefix(es) of UEs which provide the ProSe Service; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1; If there are multiple ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays in the proximity, UE can choose either one or more ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays to establish the unicast L2 link based on UE implementation. For example, the UE sends a DNS query on each of the unicast L2 link to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays. Then, the source UE may choose to use the first ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay that returns a positive DNS query for the target UE; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1),
establishing a direct connection with the selected relay user equipment for the connection to the second user equipment based on the connection information (Fig. 6.x.2-1 shows the UE-1 equipment establishes a direct connection with the selected UE-to-UE Relay equipment for the connection to the UE-2 equipment based on the connection information; The source UE sends the IP data or non-IP data encapsulated in IP to the target UE or to the selected UE(s) which provide(s) the ProSe Service via the unicast L2 link to UE-to-UE Relay that returned the IP address/prefix of the target UE or UE(s) which provide(s) the ProSe Service. The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay acts as an IP router, and forwards the packets to the corresponding unicast L2 link towards the target UE or UE(s) which provide(s) the ProSe Service. Each of the unicast L2 link is treated as an IP interface; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1); and
Furthermore, Cheng in the same field of endeavor, a relay user equipment (UE) establishes a sidelink with a remote UE to provide one or more UE-to-network relay services to the remote UE (abstract) discloses wherein the second user equipment is capable of providing a relay to a service network, using the connection to the second user equipment to communicate with the service network (Figs. 9A and 9B show the user equipment is capable of providing a relay to a service network (els. 220, 262); In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a relay user equipment (UE) includes establishing a sidelink with a remote UE to provide one or more UE-to-network relay services to the remote UE; ¶8; In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a remote user equipment (UE) includes establishing a sidelink with a relay UE to receive one or more UE-to-network relay services from the relay UE; ¶9; 5G also supports UE-to-network relaying, in which a ProSe-capable “relay” UE forwards downlink network traffic from the RAN to a ProSe-capable “remote” UE, and forwards uplink user data from the remote UE to the RAN. Relay discovery in 5G leverages the existing LTE ProSe relay discovery procedures, i.e., both Model A (announcement) and Model B (solicitation and response) restricted discovery, as illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The UE 190 in FIG. 1 may be an example of a remote UE and the UE 104 to which it is connected over sidelink 192 may be an example of a relay UE; ¶133).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to provide a user equipment user equipment is capable of providing a relay to a service network and using a connection to the user equipment to communicate with the service network, as taught by Cheng to modify 3GPP-1227’s teaching in order to provide one or more UE-to-network relay services to the remote UE (abstract; ¶6).
Claims 2, 12, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
receiving the discovery message broadcasted from the relay user equipment (3GPP-1227; the UE-to-UE Relay broadcasts (sends out) a Relay Discovery message to be received by the UEs in the area; The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay sends out a Relay Discovery message periodically, announcing its availability for serving other UEs in the area; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay discovery; 6x1; Cheng; ¶133; UE-to-network relay broadcasts a Relay Discovery message; Relay service codes are used to identify the connectivity service(s) a ProSe relay UE may provide. A remote UE interested in a UE-to-network relay for a particular relay service attempts to discover a relay UE offering that relay service by monitoring for discovery messages from relay UEs that include a relay service code matching the desired relay service. Different relay service codes may be assigned for different PC5 services (e.g., for public safety police members, public safety firefighters, network controlled interactive service (NCIS) gaming, NCIS virtual conferencing, etc.). Relay service codes may be provisioned to a UE by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the policy control function (PCF) during Uu (the air interface between the UE and the RAN) registration, or the like. Security information for discovery messages may be provisioned during the key management process; ¶134).
Claim 3, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
monitoring for a discovery message including the connection information (3GPP-1227; the UE-1 listen or monitor to receive the discovery message; Fig. 6.x.2-1, A and step 2 show, the UE-1 receiving announcement based UE-to-UE relay discovery; The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay sends out a Relay Discovery message periodically, announcing its availability for serving other UEs in the area; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay discovery; 6x1; The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay also supports the query and response mode for discovery. The ProSe 5G UEto-UE Relay listens on a configured Layer-2 ID for the query, and would respond with its address and corresponding information to enable to other UE to establish a unicast connection with it. This process is similar to the unicast L2 link establishment procedure as defined in TS 23.287 [y] clause 6.3.3.1; Authorization and Configuration; 6.x.1; providing connection information (the IP address/prefix) including a first connection information and a second connection information for a connection to a target UE (the relay UE providing the IP addresses/prefixes of the UE-1 and UE-2 when the relay UE acts as a DNS server in order to establish a direct connection between the UE-1 and the UE-2 as shown in Fig. 6.x.2-1); As part of the unicast L2 link establishment procedure, the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay stores an association of the User Info of the peer UE of the unicast link (or ProSe Service provided by the peer UE) and the IP address/prefix allocated to the UE into its DNS entries. The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay acts as a DNS server to other UEs. When a (source) UE needs to communicate with another (target) UE or needs to discover a ProSe service via the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay, it sends a DNS query for the target UE (based on Target User Info) or for the ProSe Service to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay over the unicast link, which will return the IP address/prefix of the target UE or the IP address(es)/prefix(es) of UEs which provide the ProSe Service; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1; Cheng; monitoring for discovery messages from relay UEs; Relay service codes are used to identify the connectivity service(s) a ProSe relay UE may provide. A remote UE interested in a UE-to-network relay for a particular relay service attempts to discover a relay UE offering that relay service by monitoring for discovery messages from relay UEs that include a relay service code matching the desired relay service. Different relay service codes may be assigned for different PC5 services (e.g., for public safety police members, public safety firefighters, network controlled interactive service (NCIS) gaming, NCIS virtual conferencing, etc.). Relay service codes may be provisioned to a UE by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the policy control function (PCF) during Uu (the air interface between the UE and the RAN) registration, or the like. Security information for discovery messages may be provisioned during the key management process; ¶134).
Claims 4, 13, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
sending a discovery solicitation message including the connection information, and receiving the discovery message from the relay user equipment in response to the discovery solicitation message (3GPP-1227; sending the query and receiving the response including the IP addresses (UE-1, UE-2, UE-to-UE Relay IP addresses); The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay also supports the query and response mode for discovery. The ProSe 5G UEto-UE Relay listens on a configured Layer-2 ID for the query, and would respond with its address and corresponding information to enable to other UE to establish a unicast connection with it. This process is similar to the unicast L2 link establishment procedure as defined in TS 23.287 [y] clause 6.3.3.1; Authorization and Configuration; 6.x.1; Cheng; discovery solicitation and response; 5G supports two types of ProSe Direct Discovery procedures, “Model A” and “Model B.” These Direct Discovery procedures are defined in 3GPP Technical Report (TR) 23.752, which is publicly available and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. FIG. 7A illustrates an example call flow 700 for Model A discovery, and FIG. 7B illustrates an example call flow 750 for Model B discovery. As illustrated in FIG. 7A, for Model A discovery, an announcing UE (labeled “UE-1”) sends announcement messages to one or more monitoring UEs (labeled “UE-2,” “UE-3,” “UE-4,” and “UE-5”). In contrast, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, a discoverer UE (labeled “UE-1”) sends a solicitation message to one or more discoveree UEs (labeled “UE-2,” “UE-3,” “UE-4,” and “UE-5”). Discoveree UEs (“UE-2” and “UE-3” in the example of FIG. 7B) interested in establishing a sidelink with the discoverer UE respond to the solicitation message with a response message; ¶131; If there are multiple ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays in the proximity, UE can choose either one or more ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays to establish the unicast L2 link based on UE implementation. For example, the UE sends a DNS query on each of the unicast L2 link to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays. Then, the source UE may choose to use the first ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay that returns a positive DNS query for the target UE; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1; Cheng; 5G also supports UE-to-network relaying, in which a ProSe-capable “relay” UE forwards downlink network traffic from the RAN to a ProSe-capable “remote” UE, and forwards uplink user data from the remote UE to the RAN. Relay discovery in 5G leverages the existing LTE ProSe relay discovery procedures, i.e., both Model A (announcement) and Model B (solicitation and response) restricted discovery, as illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The UE 190 in FIG. 1 may be an example of a remote UE and the UE 104 to which it is connected over sidelink 192 may be an example of a relay UE; ¶133).
Claim 5, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
in establishing the direct connection, sending a connection establishment request message including the connection information to the relay user equipment, and receiving a connection establishment accept message from the relay user equipment (3GPP-1227; sending the query and receiving the response including the IP addresses to establish the direct connection between the UE-1 and UE-2 via UE-to-UE Relay as shown in Fig. 6.x.2-1; The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay also supports the query and response mode for discovery. The ProSe 5G UEto-UE Relay listens on a configured Layer-2 ID for the query, and would respond with its address and corresponding information to enable to other UE to establish a unicast connection with it. This process is similar to the unicast L2 link establishment procedure as defined in TS 23.287 [y] clause 6.3.3.1; Authorization and Configuration; 6.x.1; If there are multiple ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays in the proximity, UE can choose either one or more ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays to establish the unicast L2 link based on UE implementation. For example, the UE sends a DNS query on each of the unicast L2 link to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays. Then, the source UE may choose to use the first ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay that returns a positive DNS query for the target UE; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1; Cheng; discovery solicitation and response; 5G supports two types of ProSe Direct Discovery procedures, “Model A” and “Model B.” These Direct Discovery procedures are defined in 3GPP Technical Report (TR) 23.752, which is publicly available and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. FIG. 7A illustrates an example call flow 700 for Model A discovery, and FIG. 7B illustrates an example call flow 750 for Model B discovery. As illustrated in FIG. 7A, for Model A discovery, an announcing UE (labeled “UE-1”) sends announcement messages to one or more monitoring UEs (labeled “UE-2,” “UE-3,” “UE-4,” and “UE-5”). In contrast, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, a discoverer UE (labeled “UE-1”) sends a solicitation message to one or more discoveree UEs (labeled “UE-2,” “UE-3,” “UE-4,” and “UE-5”). Discoveree UEs (“UE-2” and “UE-3” in the example of FIG. 7B) interested in establishing a sidelink with the discoverer UE respond to the solicitation message with a response message; ¶131; If there are multiple ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays in the proximity, UE can choose either one or more ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays to establish the unicast L2 link based on UE implementation. For example, the UE sends a DNS query on each of the unicast L2 link to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays. Then, the source UE may choose to use the first ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay that returns a positive DNS query for the target UE; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1; Cheng; 5G also supports UE-to-network relaying, in which a ProSe-capable “relay” UE forwards downlink network traffic from the RAN to a ProSe-capable “remote” UE, and forwards uplink user data from the remote UE to the RAN. Relay discovery in 5G leverages the existing LTE ProSe relay discovery procedures, i.e., both Model A (announcement) and Model B (solicitation and response) restricted discovery, as illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The UE 190 in FIG. 1 may be an example of a remote UE and the UE 104 to which it is connected over sidelink 192 may be an example of a relay UE; ¶133; ¶140; ¶141).
Claim 7, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the discovery message includes the first connection information, and the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
using the second connection information for establishing the direct connection to the relay user equipment (3GPP-1227; using the IP addresses (the second and first connection information) to establish the direct connection between the UE-1 and UE-2 via UE-to-UE Relay as shown in Fig. 6.x.2-1; The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay also supports the query and response mode for discovery. The ProSe 5G UEto-UE Relay listens on a configured Layer-2 ID for the query, and would respond with its address and corresponding information to enable to other UE to establish a unicast connection with it. This process is similar to the unicast L2 link establishment procedure as defined in TS 23.287 [y] clause 6.3.3.1; Authorization and Configuration; 6.x.1; Cheng; the base station serving the relay UE configuring the PC5 sidelink; At stage 3, the remote UE 204-1 establishes a PC5-S unicast sidelink with the relay UE 204-2, and at stage 4, obtains an IP address. The PC5 unicast sidelink AS configuration is managed using PC5-RRC. The relay UE 204-2 and the remote UE 204-1 coordinate on the AS configuration. The relay UE 204-2 may consider information from the NG-RAN 220 (e.g., the base station serving the relay UE 204-2) to configure the PC5 sidelink. Whether the remote UE 204-1 is authenticated and/or authorized to access relay services is performed during the PC5 sidelink establishment. Also at stage 3, the relay UE 204-2 may establish a new PDU session for the relay UE 204-2. This may be a PDU session for another relay service code. After stage 4, the relay UE 204-2 performs Layer-3 relaying for the remote UE 204-1; ¶137).
Claim 8, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
obtaining authorization and policies for performing receiving the discovery message from the relay user equipment and establishing the direct connection to the relay user equipment from a network control element; and receiving the connection information from the network control element (3GPP-1227; obtaining authorization and policies for performing receiving the discovery message from the UE-to-UE Relay equipment and establishing the direct connection to the UE-to-UE Relay as shown in Fig. 6.x.2-1; Authorization and configuration: Only the UE authorized by the service authorization configuration can act as a ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay. These UEs will be configured according to the service authorization and provisioning mechanism defined in TS 23.304 [x] to operate in the UE-to-UE Relay mode; 6.x.1; Cheng; Fig. 9A shows a network control element (Fig. 9A, els. 220-262) providing authorization and policies (stage 0) for transmitting the discovery message (stage 2) and establishing the direct connection to the first user equipment or the relay user equipment (stage 3-4); ProSe authorization and policy provisioning; Fig. 9; At stage 3, the remote UE 204-1 establishes a PC5-S unicast sidelink with the relay UE 204-2, and at stage 4, obtains an IP address. The PC5 unicast sidelink AS configuration is managed using PC5-RRC. The relay UE 204-2 and the remote UE 204-1 coordinate on the AS configuration. The relay UE 204-2 may consider information from the NG-RAN 220 (e.g., the base station serving the relay UE 204-2) to configure the PC5 sidelink. Whether the remote UE 204-1 is authenticated and/or authorized to access relay services is performed during the PC5 sidelink establishment. Also at stage 3, the relay UE 204-2 may establish a new PDU session for the relay UE 204-2. This may be a PDU session for another relay service code. After stage 4, the relay UE 204-2 performs Layer-3 relaying for the remote UE 204-1; ¶137).
Claim 11, analyzed with respect to claim 1, the further limitation of claim 11 disclosed by 3GPP-1227, an apparatus, in a relay user equipment (UE-to-UE Relay equipment; Fig. Fig. 6.x.2-1), comprising at least one processor (processor of the UE-to-UE Relay equipment; Fig. Fig. 6.x.2-1) and at least one memory (memory of the UE-to-UE Relay equipment; Fig. Fig. 6.x.2-1) including computer program code (programing and instructions of the UE-to-UE Relay equipment; Fig. Fig. 6.x.2-1), the at least one memory and the computer program code configured (configured to act as a UE-to-UE Relay equipment; step 1, Fig. 6.x.2-1).
Claim 14, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
establishing a direct connection with the second user equipment (UE-2) after performing establishing the direct connection with the first user equipment (UE-1) (3GPP-1227; UE-to-UE Relay establishing the direct connection with the UE-2 after establishing the direct connection with the UE-1 as shown in Fig. 6.x.2-1; When a (source) UE needs to communicate with another (target) UE or needs to discover a ProSe service via the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay, it sends a DNS query for the target UE (based on Target User Info) or for the ProSe Service to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay over the unicast link, which will return the IP address/prefix of the target UE or the IP address(es)/prefix(es) of UEs which provide the ProSe Service; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1).
Claim 15, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
establishing a direct connection with the second user equipment before performing transmitting the discovery message with respect to the first user equipment (3GPP-1227; UE-to-UE Relay establishing the direct connection with the UE-2 when performing ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay procedure to announce the selected UE IP address to the UE-1; 6x1; The source UE sends the IP data or non-IP data encapsulated in IP to the target UE or to the selected UE(s) which provide(s) the ProSe Service via the unicast L2 link to UE-to-UE Relay that returned the IP address/prefix of the target UE or UE(s) which provide(s) the ProSe Service. The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay acts as an IP router, and forwards the packets to the corresponding unicast L2 link towards the target UE or UE(s) which provide(s) the ProSe Service. Each of the unicast L2 link is treated as an IP interface; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1).
Claim 16, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
establishing the direct connection with the second user equipment based on the second connection information (3GPP-1227; the UE-to-UE Relay using the IP addresses (the second and first connection information) to establish the direct connection with the UE-2 and the UE- as shown in Fig. 6.x.2-1; The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay also supports the query and response mode for discovery. The ProSe 5G UEto-UE Relay listens on a configured Layer-2 ID for the query, and would respond with its address and corresponding information to enable to other UE to establish a unicast connection with it. This process is similar to the unicast L2 link establishment procedure as defined in TS 23.287 [y] clause 6.3.3.1; Authorization and Configuration; 6.x.1; The source UE sends the IP data or non-IP data encapsulated in IP to the target UE or to the selected UE(s) which provide(s) the ProSe Service via the unicast L2 link to UE-to-UE Relay that returned the IP address/prefix of the target UE or UE(s) which provide(s) the ProSe Service. The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay acts as an IP router, and forwards the packets to the corresponding unicast L2 link towards the target UE or UE(s) which provide(s) the ProSe Service. Each of the unicast L2 link is treated as an IP interface; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1).
Claim 20, 3GPP-1227 discloses an apparatus, in a network control element (network node/PCF; not shown), comprising:
at least one processor (processor of the network node/PCF; not shown) and at least one memory including computer program code (program code of the network node/PCF; not shown), the at least one memory (memory of the network node/PCF; not shown) and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
receiving a request for authorization to perform transmitting a discovery message and establishing a direct connection between a first user equipment (UE-1; Fig. 6.x.2-1) and a second user equipment (UE-2; Fig. 6.x.2-1) via a relay user equipment (UE-to-UE Relay; Fig. 6.x.2-1) from the first user equipment (UE-1; Fig. 6.x.2-1) or the relay user equipment (UE-to-UE Relay; Fig. 6.x.2-1), and providing authorization and policies for transmitting the discovery message and establishing the direct connection to the first user equipment or the relay user equipment (3GPP-1227; the UE-to-UE Relay equipment obtaining authorization and policies (sending a request for authorization to a network node/PCF and receiving/obtaining authorization and policies from the network node/PCF) for performing the discovery message transmission and establishing the direct connection to the UEs as shown in Fig. 6.x.2-1; Authorization and configuration: Only the UE authorized by the service authorization configuration can act as a ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay. These UEs will be configured according to the service authorization and provisioning mechanism defined in TS 23.304 [x] to operate in the UE-to-UE Relay mode; 6.x.1).
Furthermore, Cheng in the same field of endeavor, a relay user equipment (UE) establishes a sidelink with a remote UE to provide one or more UE-to-network relay services to the remote UE (abstract) discloses a network control element (Fig. 9, els. 220-262), receiving a request for authorization to perform transmitting a discovery message (communicating messages for authorization to perform UE-to-NW relay discovery procedure; Fig. 9, el. 2) and establishing a direct connection between a first user equipment and a second user equipment via a relay user equipment from the first user equipment or the relay user equipment (establishing a direct PC5 connection between UEs via relay UE (el. 204-2) to the network; Fig. 9), and providing authorization and policies for transmitting the discovery message and establishing the direct connection to the first user equipment or the relay user equipment (Fig. 9A shows a network control element (Fig. 9A, els. 220-262) providing authorization and policies (stage 0) for transmitting the discovery message (stage 2) and establishing the direct connection to the first user equipment or the relay user equipment (stage 3-4); ProSe authorization and policy provisioning; Fig. 9; At stage 3, the remote UE 204-1 establishes a PC5-S unicast sidelink with the relay UE 204-2, and at stage 4, obtains an IP address. The PC5 unicast sidelink AS configuration is managed using PC5-RRC. The relay UE 204-2 and the remote UE 204-1 coordinate on the AS configuration. The relay UE 204-2 may consider information from the NG-RAN 220 (e.g., the base station serving the relay UE 204-2) to configure the PC5 sidelink. Whether the remote UE 204-1 is authenticated and/or authorized to access relay services is performed during the PC5 sidelink establishment. Also at stage 3, the relay UE 204-2 may establish a new PDU session for the relay UE 204-2. This may be a PDU session for another relay service code. After stage 4, the relay UE 204-2 performs Layer-3 relaying for the remote UE 204-1; ¶137).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to provide a network control element, receiving a request for authorization to perform transmitting a discovery message and establishing a direct connection between a first user equipment and a second user equipment via a relay user equipment from the first user equipment or the relay user equipment, and providing authorization and policies for transmitting the discovery message and establishing the direct connection to the first user equipment or the relay user equipment, as taught by Cheng to modify 3GPP-1227’s teaching in order to provide one or more UE-to-network relay services to the remote UE (abstract; ¶6).
Claim 21, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
providing a connection information including at least one of first connection information and second connection information to the first user equipment or the relay user equipment (UE-to-UE Relay), the connection information identifying a connectivity service including at least a relay connection between the first user equipment (UE-1) and the second user equipment (UE-2) via the relay user equipment (UE-to-UE Relay) (the network node/PCF providing the authorization and policies to the UE-to-UE Relay to establish the direct connection connectivity service including the relay connection between the UE-1 and the UE-2 via the UE-to-UE Relay as shown in Fig. 6.x.2-1; Authorization and configuration: Only the UE authorized by the service authorization configuration can act as a ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay. These UEs will be configured according to the service authorization and provisioning mechanism defined in TS 23.304 [x] to operate in the UE-to-UE Relay mode; 6.x.1).
Claim 22, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:
allocating a Proximity Service (ProSe) application ID and associated proximity service application code for the direct connection to the first user equipment or the relay user equipment (Cheng; PCF allocating the relay service codes, identifying the ProSe connectivity service(s) (a Proximity Service (ProSe) application ID and associated proximity service application code); Relay service codes are used to identify the connectivity service(s) a ProSe relay UE may provide. A remote UE interested in a UE-to-network relay for a particular relay service attempts to discover a relay UE offering that relay service by monitoring for discovery messages from relay UEs that include a relay service code matching the desired relay service. Different relay service codes may be assigned for different PC5 services (e.g., for public safety police members, public safety firefighters, network controlled interactive service (NCIS) gaming, NCIS virtual conferencing, etc.). Relay service codes may be provisioned to a UE by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the policy control function (PCF) during Uu (the air interface between the UE and the RAN) registration, or the like. Security information for discovery messages may be provisioned during the key management process; ¶134).
Claim 23, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the first connection information is relay connection information and the second connection information is direct connection information (3GPP-1227; first connection information of the relay connection information and IP addresses and the second connection information/direct connection information such as PC5 connection, providing messages between the two UEs via PC5 interface; The ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay also supports the query and response mode for discovery. The ProSe 5G UEto-UE Relay listens on a configured Layer-2 ID for the query, and would respond with its address and corresponding information to enable to other UE to establish a unicast connection with it. This process is similar to the unicast L2 link establishment procedure as defined in TS 23.287 [y] clause 6.3.3.1; Authorization and Configuration; 6.x.1; Correspondingly, the ProSe SG UE-to-UE Relay can also establish and modify the PCS QoS Flows using the above-mentioned procedures over the unicast L2 Link with the target UE based on PCS Packet Filter received from the source UE during the PCS QoS flow establishment/modification procedure or destination IP address of IP packet received from the source UE for the forwarding of source UE's traffic. The ProSe SG UE-to-UE Relay determines the PCS QoS parameters of PCS QoS Flows with target UE based on corresponding PCS QoS Flows with target UE; page 3, second paragraph).
Claim 24, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one of first connection information and second connection information defines a specific service provided in connection with the relay user equipment, or the at least one of first connection information and second connection information defines the relay user equipment as a relay user equipment capable of transmitting a discovery message and establishing a direct connection with a second user equipment, or the at least one of first connection information and second connection information is mapped to a plurality of relay service connectivities, or the at least one of first connection information and second connection information specifies only the relay user equipment (3GPP-1227; first connection information and second connection information defines a specific service, the relay user equipment, mapped to the relay service connectivity, specifying the relay user equipment; When a (source) UE needs to communicate with another (target) UE or needs to discover a ProSe service via the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay, it sends a DNS query for the target UE (based on Target User Info) or for the ProSe Service to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay over the unicast link, which will return the IP address/prefix of the target UE or the IP address(es)/prefix(es) of UEs which provide the ProSe Service; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1; If there are multiple UEs supporting the same ProSe Service, the (source) UE can select a UE(s) based on UE implementation; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1; If there are multiple ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays in the proximity, UE can choose either one or more ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays to establish the unicast L2 link based on UE implementation. For example, the UE sends a DNS query on each of the unicast L2 link to the ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relays. Then, the source UE may choose to use the first ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay that returns a positive DNS query for the target UE; ProSe 5G UE-to-UE Relay operation, 6x1; Cheng; Relay service codes are used to identify the connectivity service(s) a ProSe relay UE may provide. A remote UE interested in a UE-to-network relay for a particular relay service attempts to discover a relay UE offering that relay service by monitoring for discovery messages from relay UEs that include a relay service code matching the desired relay service. Different relay service codes may be assigned for different PC5 services (e.g., for public safety police members, public safety firefighters, network controlled interactive service (NCIS) gaming, NCIS virtual conferencing, etc.). Relay service codes may be provisioned to a UE by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the policy control function (PCF) during Uu (the air interface between the UE and the RAN) registration, or the like. Security information for discovery messages may be provisioned during the key management process; ¶134).
Claim 26, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the direct connections between the first user equipment and the relay user equipment and between the relay user equipment and the second user equipment are PC5 connections, and the discovery message is a PC5 discovery message (3GPP-1227; Fig. 6.x.2-1 shows the direct connections between the UE-1 and the UE-to-UE Relay and the UE-2 and the PC5 messaging being used; Correspondingly, the ProSe SG UE-to-UE Relay can also establish and modify the PCS QoS Flows using the above-mentioned procedures over the unicast L2 Link with the target UE based on PCS Packet Filter received from the source UE during the PCS QoS flow establishment/modification procedure or destination IP address of IP packet received from the source UE for the forwarding of source UE's traffic. The ProSe SG UE-to-UE Relay determines the PCS QoS parameters of PCS QoS Flows with target UE based on corresponding PCS QoS Flows with target UE; page 3, second paragraph; Cheng; The discovery messages (whether announcement messages or solicitation messages) are sent over a PC5 communication channel and not over a separate discovery channel. Discovery messages may be carried within the same Layer-2 frames as those used for ProSe Direct Communication. FIG. 8 is a diagram 800 of a simplified Layer-2 frame format for ProSe Direct Discovery messages. The “Destination Layer-2 ID” field can be set to a unicast, groupcast, or broadcast identifier. The “Source Layer-2 ID” field is set to a unicast identifier of the transmitter (e.g., “UE-1” in FIGS. 7A and 7B). The “Frame Type” field indicates that it is a ProSe Direct Discovery message; ¶132; At stage 3, the remote UE 204-1 establishes a PC5-S unicast sidelink with the relay UE 204-2, and at stage 4, obtains an IP address. The PC5 unicast sidelink AS configuration is managed using PC5-RRC. The relay UE 204-2 and the remote UE 204-1 coordinate on the AS configuration. The relay UE 204-2 may consider information from the NG-RAN 220 (e.g., the base station serving the relay UE 204-2) to configure the PC5 sidelink. Whether the remote UE 204-1 is authenticated and/or authorized to access relay services is performed during the PC5 sidelink establishment. Also at stage 3, the relay UE 204-2 may establish a new PDU session for the relay UE 204-2. This may be a PDU session for another relay service code. After stage 4, the relay UE 204-2 performs Layer-3 relaying for the remote UE 204-1; ¶137).
Claim 27, 3GPP-1227 in view of Cheng discloses wherein the at least one of first connection information and second connection information is an information element in a PC5 connection establishment message (3GPP-1227; using PC5 messaging to establish the direct connection; Correspondingly, the ProSe SG UE-to-UE Relay can also establish and modify the PCS QoS Flows using the above-mentioned procedures over the unicast L2 Link with the target UE based on PCS Packet Filter received from the source UE during the PCS QoS flow establishment/modification procedure or destination IP address of IP packet received from the source UE for the forwarding of source UE's traffic. The ProSe SG UE-to-UE Relay determines the PCS QoS parameters of PCS QoS Flows with target UE based on corresponding PCS QoS Flows with target UE; page 3, second paragraph; Cheng; information elements being a PC5 connection establishment messages; The discovery messages (whether announcement messages or solicitation messages) are sent over a PC5 communication channel and not over a separate discovery channel. Discovery messages may be carried within the same Layer-2 frames as those used for ProSe Direct Communication. FIG. 8 is a diagram 800 of a simplified Layer-2 frame format for ProSe Direct Discovery messages. The “Destination Layer-2 ID” field can be set to a unicast, groupcast, or broadcast identifier. The “Source Layer-2 ID” field is set to a unicast identifier of the transmitter (e.g., “UE-1” in FIGS. 7A and 7B). The “Frame Type” field indicates that it is a ProSe Direct Discovery message; ¶132; At stage 3, the remote UE 204-1 establishes a PC5-S unicast sidelink with the relay UE 204-2, and at stage 4, obtains an IP address. The PC5 unicast sidelink AS configuration is managed using PC5-RRC. The relay UE 204-2 and the remote UE 204-1 coordinate on the AS configuration. The relay UE 204-2 may consider information from the NG-RAN 220 (e.g., the base station serving the relay UE 204-2) to configure the PC5 sidelink. Whether the remote UE 204-1 is authenticated and/or authorized to access relay services is performed during the PC5 sidelink establishment. Also at stage 3, the relay UE 204-2 may establish a new PDU session for the relay UE 204-2. This may be a PDU session for another relay service code. After stage 4, the relay UE 204-2 performs Layer-3 relaying for the remote UE 204-1; ¶137; Fig. 9b, step 5).
Conclusion
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/KOUROUSH MOHEBBI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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