DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 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 for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form
the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 24 and 35 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20190208500 A1 (JIA et al.) (hereinafter JIA).
In re claim 1, JIA discloses a paging method (Fig. 2:202, [0015], “Embodiments of this disclosure provide a downlink data transmission method and apparatus and a communication system”), applied to a first access network device (Fig. 9: anchor eNB 901, [0016], “there is provided a downlink data transmission method, applicable to an anchor eNB (first access network device)”. [0012], “As shown in FIG. 1, when downlink data arrives, the anchor eNB initiates RAN-based paging and decides whether to initiate a paging on the X2 interface to another eNB (second access network device) ... If the UE has moved out of the coverage of the anchor eNB, it makes a response to the paging to a currently camped eNB (referred to as a current eNB for short); and when the current eNB receives the paging response, it acquires the context of the UE from the anchor eNB” (anchor eNB transmits UE context to a second access network when UE is out of coverage area of the anchor eNB)) and comprising: sending a first paging message to a second access network device ([0018], “transmitting a paging message by the anchor eNB to the non-anchor eNB”), wherein the first paging message contains an identity of a terminal device to be paged ([0018], “the paging message including a context of the UE and a data packet of the downlink data, so that the non-anchor eNB schedules the downlink data of UE according to the context of the UE”. [0024], “a transmitting unit configured to transmit a paging message to the non-anchor eNB, the paging message including a context of the UE and a data packet of the downlink data, so that the non-anchor eNB schedules the downlink data of UE according to the context of the UE”) and indication information for indicating that mobile terminated-small data transmission (MT-SDT) is to be performed ([0005], “In addition, a UE with light connection is currently being studied in the LTE, which is, reducing signaling overhead for a small data transmission”. [0056], “In one implementation of this embodiment, the paging message transmitted by the anchor eNB to the non-anchor eNB further includes indication information, such as 1-bit indication information, to indicate that the transmission of the downlink data is a small data transmission; hence, after receiving the indication information, the non-anchor eNB may determine not to perform path switch(s), that is, S1 connection between the anchor eNB and the core network is not changed, and the downlink data are transmitted to the non-anchor eNB via the anchor eNB, and then transmitted to the UE”).
In re claim 24, JIA discloses a paging apparatus (Fig. 5:500, Fig. 9, [0101], “As shown in Fig. 9, the communication system 900 includes an anchor eNB 901”. [0081], “In one implementation, the functions of the downlink data transmission apparatus 500 may be integrated into the central processing unit 601”), comprising a processor (Fig. 6:601) configured to perform the method of claim 1 ([0082], “For example, the central processing unit 601 may be configured to: determine a non-anchor eNB which is required to schedule downlink data of an UE according to paging area information of the UE when the downlink data of the UE arrives; and transmit a paging message to the non-anchor eNB, the paging message including a context of the UE and a data packet of the downlink data, so that the non-anchor eNB schedules the downlink data of the UE according to the context of the UE”).
In re claim 35, JIA discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Fig. 6:602), wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions which, when executed by a processor, enables the processor to perform the method of claim 1 ([0080], “As shown in FIG. 6, an eNB 600 may include a central processing unit (CPU) 601 and a memory 602, the memory 602 being coupled to the central processing unit 601. The memory 602 may store various data, and furthermore, it may store a program for information processing, and execute the program under control of the central processing unit 601, so as to receive various information transmitted by the UE, and transmit various information to the UE”).
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 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) 2, 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190208500 A1 (JIA et al.) (hereinafter JIA) in view of US 20240365316 A1 (Alfarhan et al.) (hereinafter Alfarhan).
In re claim 2, JIA discloses the method of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose the method further comprising: receiving first information from a core network device, wherein the first information contains quality of service (QoS) information about downlink data to be sent to the terminal device.
Alfarhan discloses receiving first information from a core network device, wherein the first information contains quality of service (QoS) information about downlink data to be sent to the terminal device ([0187], “The data for the configuration may be a function of QOS. In some cases, the WTRU may transition to connected mode if it has buffered small data to transmit, but does not have a suitable grant for transmission or does not meet the required QOS requirements configured for the associated bearers”. [0069], “The SMF 183a, 183b may perform other functions, such as managing and allocating WTRU IP address, managing PDU sessions, controlling policy enforcement and QOS, providing DL data notifications, and the like” (SMF sends QOS about DL data for terminal). [0160], “...The WTRU may possibly indicate additional information about the small data payload in Msg3 (and/or possibly msgA) e.g. transport block size, QOS characteristics such as latency and/or reliability requirements” (QOS requirements are sent in Msg3 by the UE). [0167], “In some cases, the small data may be subject to QOS requirements such as, for example, latency and reliability requirements...For instance, the WTRU may select a given resource only if it meets the QOS requirements associated with the buffered small data” (QOS information for terminal device to be sent in downlink data)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of JIA with Alfarhan to provide a paging method and apparatus for small data transmission when the terminal device is in the RRC_inactive state. The advantage of doing so is UE power efficiency, reduced latency and signaling overhead reduction.
In re claim 3, JIA discloses the method of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose the method further comprising: sending second information to the second access network device, wherein the second information contains one or more of the following: a data volume of downlink data to be sent to the terminal device, QoS information about the downlink data, and an identity of a radio bearer (RB) supporting small data transmission (SDT).
Alfarhan discloses sending second information to the second access network device, wherein the second information contains one or more of the following: a data volume of downlink data to be sent to the terminal device, QoS information about the downlink data, and an identity of a radio bearer (RB) supporting small data transmission (SDT) (Fig. 7, [0326], “At 720, the gNB 180 may send information indicating one or more data radio bearers (DRBs) which support SDT”. [0189], “In some cases, a trigger may be based on at least one property of data available for transmissions over at least one LCH. Such property or properties may include an amount and/or volume of data or PDU or SDU sizes (e.g. maximum or minimum thereof), a data priority (based, for example, on the priority of a highest priority LCH), or QoS requirements associated with the DRB or DRBs...”. [0199], “For example, a WTRU may be configured (e.g., preconfigured) with a data volume threshold to transition into connected mode, or request to transition into connected mode, upon condition that an amount or volume of buffered small data is above the threshold” (indication of data volume for comparison with threshold for UE to transition to connected state, QOS or identity of radio bearer supporting SDT in the paging message)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of JIA with Alfarhan to provide a paging method and apparatus for small data transmission when the terminal device is in the RRC_inactive state. The advantage of doing so is UE power efficiency, reduced latency and signaling overhead reduction.
In re claim 4, the combination discloses the method of claim 2, wherein Alfarhan discloses wherein the downlink data comprises predicted data to be sent to the terminal device ([0199], “In some embodiments, a WTRU may compute the volume, or amount, after filling a grant with data, where the grant may or may not also carry the data volume/amount report. For example, the data volume or amount can be computed as an amount (e.g., total) of data available across all logical channels configured for small data, and may also include data not yet associated with a logical channel, after any (e.g., all) MAC PDUs for the TTI and/or grant have been built. For example, a WTRU may be configured (e.g., preconfigured) with a data volume threshold to transition into connected mode, or request to transition into connected mode, upon condition that an amount or volume of buffered small data is above the threshold...The WTRU may then include the indication to transition to connected mode and/or subsequent data such as upon condition the amount and/or volume of small data is above the threshold” (predicted data to be sent for example calculated data volume above threshold for terminal to transition to the connected mode)).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190208500 A1 (JIA et al.) (hereinafter JIA) in view of US 20240365316 A1 (Alfarhan et al.) (hereinafter Alfarhan) and in further view of CN 118140574 A (LIN et al.) (hereinafter LIN).
In re claim 5, the combination discloses the method of claim 2, but does not explicitly disclose wherein sending the first paging message to the second access network device comprises: sending the first paging message to the second access network device in response to an identity of an RB supporting SDT comprising an identity of an RB of the downlink data.
LIN discloses wherein sending the first paging message to the second access network device comprises: sending the first paging message to the second access network device in response to an identity of an RB supporting SDT comprising an identity of an RB of the downlink data (Page 17, lines 8-10, “In step 690, if the radio bearer to which the data to be transmitted belongs is a radio bearer supporting the SDT, the access network device 2 sends the data to be transmitted to the terminal device through the recovered radio bearer supporting the SDT”. Page 2, lines 26-31, “applied to a target access network device, and the method comprises: receiving the paging indication message sent by the source access network device... for indicating that the network side triggers the MT-SDT aiming at the terminal device”. Page 10, lines 11-15, “Optionally, in some embodiments, if the data to be transmitted is transmitted from the core network device to the source access network device in step 410, the source access network device needs to detect ... whether the data to be transmitted is from the radio bearer supporting SDT”. Page 11, lines 36-37, “Optionally, the SDT-supporting radio bearers may include at least one MT-SDT-supporting radio bearer, and/or at least one MO-SDT-supporting radio bearer”. Page 14, lines 16-19, “if the data to be transmitted is corresponding to the wireless bearing supporting the SDT, that is, the data to be transmitted is from the wireless bearing supporting the SDT, the data to be transmitted is sent to the terminal device through the wireless bearing supporting the SDT” (sending the first paging message to the second access network device in response to detecting the identity of the radio bearer supporting SDT corresponds to the RB of downlink data)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of JIA and Alfarhan with LIN to provide a paging method and apparatus for small data transmission when the terminal device is in the RRC_inactive state. The advantage of doing so is UE power efficiency, reduced latency and signaling overhead reduction.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20190208500 A1 (JIA et al.) (hereinafter JIA) in view of CN 113766612 A (LI et al.) (hereinafter LI).
In re claim 6, JIA discloses the method of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose the method further comprising: receiving capability information from the second access network device, wherein the capability information indicates whether a cell served by the second access network device supports MT- SDT.
LI discloses receiving capability information from the second access network device, wherein the capability information indicates whether a cell served by the second access network device supports MT- SDT (Page 2, lines 39-44, “sending the first indication information to the first network device, receiving the first paging message from the first network device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the communication device receives the first paging message capability, the first paging message comprises service paging information and/or packet data information, packet data information comprises small packet data or packet data resource information” (receiving capability information for small data transmission from second network device). Page 3, lines 4-9, “sending the first paging message to the communication device, the first paging message is determined according to the capability of the communication device receiving the first paging message; so as to improve the success rate of the communication device receiving the paging message, and can avoid receiving the small packet data not needed by the communication device, so as to reduce the power consumption of the communication device” (small data transmission helps power consumption but success rate of transmission will depend on capability of the cell to support it, so sending paging message by first network to second based on the capability of the receiving cell on which UE is camped)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of JIA with LI to provide a paging method and apparatus for small data transmission when the terminal device is in the RRC_inactive state. The advantage of doing so is UE power efficiency, reduced latency and signaling overhead reduction.
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 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.
Claims 7, 8, 15, 16, 17, 18, 33, 34, 36 and 37 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by CN 118140574 A (LIN et al.) (hereinafter LIN).
In re claim 7, LIN discloses a paging method, applied to a terminal device (Fig. 14:1410, Page 2, lines 10-11, “In a first aspect, a communication processing method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device, the terminal device is in an inactive state”) and comprising: receiving a paging message from an access network device (Page 2, lines 36-39, “a communication processing apparatus is provided, which is applied to a terminal device, and includes a first receiving unit configured to receive a paging message in an inactive state”. Page 7, lines 39-40, “the access network device sends a paging message to the terminal device, and the paging message may carry MT-SDT indication information”. Page 9, lines 45-46; Page 10, lines 1-2, “It should be noted that if the access network device corresponding to the currently resident cell of the terminal device is a source access network device, the source access network device can directly send a paging message carrying the first indication information to the terminal device, so that the terminal device can perform the MT-SDT process”), wherein the paging message contains an identity of the terminal device to be paged and indication information for indicating that mobile terminated-small data transmission (MT-SDT) is to be performed (Page 2, lines 10-14, “In a first aspect, a communication processing method is provided, which is applied to a terminal device, the terminal device is in an inactive state, and the method comprises: receiving paging message; the paging message comprises first indication information; the first indication information is used for indicating that the network side triggers the downlink small data transmission (MT-SDT)”. Page 3, lines 13-18, “In a sixth aspect, a communication processing apparatus is provided, which is applied to a target access network device, and includes: a third receiving unit configured to receive a paging indication message sent by the source access network device; the paging indication message comprises first indication information and terminal identity information, the first indication information is used for indicating that the network side triggers the downlink small data transmission MT-SDT aiming at the terminal device; a third sending unit configured to send the paging message to a terminal device whose identity information matches with the terminal identity information; the paging message comprises the first indication information”. Page 10, lines 2-10, “If the access network device corresponding to the current resident cell of the terminal device is not the source access network device, the source access network device may send a paging indication message to the access network device corresponding to the resident cell of the terminal device (which may be referred to as the target access network device); and carries the terminal identity information and the first indication information in the paging indication message, so as to inform the target access network device that the current network side triggers the MT-SDT for the terminal device, so that the target access network device sends the paging message carrying the first indication information to the terminal device, enabling the terminal device to execute MT-SDT process” (terminal receiving paging message from the target access network comprising identifier and indication to execute small data transmission)); and determining whether to perform uplink transmission by using small data transmission (SDT) resources in response to presence of uplink data to be sent; and/or selecting the SDT resources to perform uplink transmission in response to absence of uplink data to be sent (Page 12, lines 17-19, “the terminal equipment can recover the radio bearer supporting the MT-SDT, and/or the radio bearer supporting the MO-SDT, and flexibly select the radio bearer to receive the data to be transmitted, which improves the flexibility of receiving the data of the terminal equipment”. Page 8, lines 21-28, “a terminal device in an inactive state can receive a paging message; the paging message comprises first indication information; the first indication information is used for indicating that the network side triggers the downlink small data transmission MT-SDT; and recovering at least a portion of the radio bearer from the suspended radio bearer; the at least part of radio bearer is used for receiving the data to be transmitted corresponding to the MT-SDT. That is, after the terminal device in the RRC-INACTIVE is triggered to enter the MT-SDT process, the RRC state switching cannot be performed, but at least part of the radio bearer can be recovered from the suspended radio bearer and receiving the downlink data by the recovered at least partial radio bearer”. Page 6, lines 48-51, “SDT mechanism is introduced in LTE. Wherein, the SDT mechanism refers to that the terminal equipment can always keep in the RRC idle (RRC_IDLE) state, and complete the transmission of the uplink and/or downlink small data packets without entering the RRC connection (RRC_CONNECTED) state”. Page 8, lines 1-9, “Step 4, the terminal device determines whether the paging message contains the corresponding terminal identifier and the MT-SDT indication information, and if so, the terminal device initiates the MO-EDT procedure in response to the paging of the network side. It should be noted that only one uplink/downlink data transmission is supported in the SDT mechanism”).
In re claim 8, LIN discloses the method of claim 7, wherein determining whether to perform uplink transmission by using the SDT resources comprises: determining to perform uplink transmission by using the SDT resources in response to an identity of an RB supporting SDT comprising an identity of an RB of the uplink data to be sent (Page 11, lines 12-14, “Optionally, recovering at least part of the radio bearer in step 450 may include: recovering the radio bearer supporting SDT from the suspended radio bearer; or, recovering all the suspended radio bearers”. Page 11, lines 9-11, “It should be noted that the suspended radio bearer can be understood as an unreleased radio bearer, and the terminal device can quickly recover the suspended radio bearer when needed, so as to transmit data through the recovered radio bearer”. Page 11, lines 15-18, “In some embodiments, if the terminal device is configured with a radio bearer supporting the SDT, the terminal device in the RRC_INACTIVE state can recover the radio bearer supporting the SDT from the suspended multiple radio bearers after receiving the paging message carrying the first indication information”. Page 11, lines 30-37, “In step 460, the terminal device receives the data to be transmitted corresponding to the MT-SDT through at least part of the radio bearer. It should be understood that the terminal device in the RRC_INACTIVE state can receive the data to be transmitted through the recovered radio bearer without switching the RRC state after recovering atleast part of the radio bearer. Therefore, it not only can ensure the normal transmission of the downlink data, but also can reduce the power consumption and signaling cost of the terminal device” (perform uplink by recovering radio bearers supporting SDT from the suspended radio bearers discloses identity of an RB supporting SDT comprising an identity of an RB of the uplink data to be sent)).
In re claim 33, LIN discloses a paging apparatus, comprising a processor configured to perform the method of claim 7 (Fig. 9, Page 20, lines 22-27, “FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication processing device according to an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a terminal device”. Page 22, lines 21-29, “FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1200... The communication device may be a terminal device, or an access network device (including a source access network device and/or a target access network device). The communication device 1200 shown in FIG. 12 includes a processor 1210. The processor 1210 may invoke and run a computer program from the memory 1220 to implement the method of the embodiment of the present application”).
In re claim 36, LIN discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions which, when executed by a processor, enables the processor to perform the method of claim 7 (Page 22, lines 21-29, “FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1200... The communication device may be a terminal device, or an access network device (including a source access network device and/or a target access network device). The communication device 1200 shown in FIG. 12 includes a memory 1220. The processor 1210 may invoke and run a computer program from the memory 1220 to implement the method of the embodiment of the present application”. Page 24, lines 38-39, “Optionally, the computer readable storage medium can be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal device in the embodiment of the present application”. Page 24, lines 48-49; Page 25, lines 1-3, “Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the mobile terminal/terminal device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions cause the computer to execute the corresponding flows implemented by the mobile terminal/terminal device in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application”).
In re claim 15, LIN discloses a paging method, applied to a second access network device and comprising: receiving second information from a first access network device (Page 9, lines 1-11, “the source access network device (second access network device) may receive the data to be transmitted and/or the third indication information sent by the core network device (first access network device). The core network device may be an AMF and/or UPF, or other network elements, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. It should be noted that the data to be transmitted is used for the terminal device, which may refer to that the data to be transmitted is downlink data for the terminal device. It should be understood that the core network device can only send the third indication information indicating the amount of data corresponding to the data to be transmitted to the source access network device” Page 7, lines 34-38, “the MME sends paging indication information to an access network device (e.g., a base station), and the paging indication information indicates the access network device to initiate a paging process for the terminal device. The paging indication information may include data amount information of data to be transmitted and identification information of the terminal device”), wherein the second information contains one or more of the following: a data volume of downlink data to be sent to a terminal device, quality of service (QoS) information about the downlink data, and an identity of a radio bearer (RB) supporting small data transmission (SDT) (Page 3, lines 1-5, “In a fifth aspect, a communication processing apparatus is provided, which is applied to a source access network device, and includes: a second receiving unit configured to receive data to be transmitted, and/or third indication information; the data to be transmitted is used for the terminal device; the third indication information is used for indicating the data amount of the data to be transmitted”. Page 9, lines 28-41, “if the data to be transmitted is sent by the core network device to the source access network device, the source access network device can calculate the data amount of the data to be transmitted, and compare the calculated data amount with a preset threshold value, if the data amount of the data to be transmitted is not greater than (that is less than or equal to) the preset threshold value, the data quantity of the data to be transmitted is considered to be in accordance with the data quantity requirement of the SDT”); and sending a fourth paging message to the terminal device according to the second information (Page 10, lines 16-24, “It should be understood that under the condition that the data amount of the data to be transmitted does not exceed the preset threshold and the data to be transmitted corresponds to the radio bearer supporting the SDT, the source access network device transmits the paging message to the terminal device within the RNA range, that is, the paging message carrying the first indication information, so that the terminal device executes MT-SDT or the source access network device can send paging indication information to the target access network device so that the target access network device can send paging message carrying the first indication information to the terminal device and make the terminal device execute MT-SDT process” (sending paging to the terminal according to the second information), wherein the fourth paging message contains an identity of the terminal device to be paged and indication information for indicating that mobile terminated-small data transmission (MT-SDT) is to be performed (Page 15, lines 15-16, “In step 630, the terminal device in the RRC_INACTVIE state receives the paging message sent by the access network device 2”. Page 15, lines 9-12, “In step 620, if the data amount of the data to be transmitted does not exceed (less than or equal to) a preset threshold, the access network device 1 sends a paging message, which may include MT-SDT indication information (i.e., the first indication information in the above embodiment) and terminal identity information”. Page 15, lines 18-22, “It should be understood that the access network device 2 may be within the RNA range corresponding to the access network device 1, and the terminal device may be within the communication coverage range corresponding to the access network device 2. Based on this, the access network device 2 can receive the paging indication message sent by the access network device 1, and the paging indication message can carry the terminal identity information and the MT-SDT indication information” (paging message to the terminal contains identification of terminal and indication to perform MT-SDT)).
In re claim 16, LIN discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving a first paging message from the first access network device, wherein the first paging message contains the identity of the terminal device to be paged and indication information for indicating that MT-SDT is to be performed (Page 7, lines 34-38, “the MME (first network access device) sends paging indication information to an access network device (e.g., a base station) (second access network device), and the paging indication information indicates the access network device to initiate a paging process for the terminal device. The paging indication information may include data amount information of data to be transmitted and identification information of the terminal device” (paging message from the first network device indicating identity of terminal and that mobile terminated small data transmission to be performed)).
In re claim 17, LIN discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the downlink data comprises predicted data to be sent to the terminal device (Page 9, lines 28-33, “if the data to be transmitted is sent by the core network device to the source access network device, the source access network device can calculate the data amount of the data to be transmitted, and compare the calculated data amount with a preset threshold value, if the data amount of the data to be transmitted is not greater than (that is less than or equal to) the preset threshold value, the data quantity of the data to be transmitted is considered to be in accordance with the data quantity requirement of the SDT”).
In re claim 18, LIN discloses the method of claim 15, wherein sending the fourth paging message to the terminal device according to the second information comprises: sending the fourth paging message to the terminal device in response to the identity of the RB supporting SDT comprising an identity of an RB of the downlink data (Page 22, lines 10-12, “The third sending unit 1120 is further configured to send the data to be transmitted to the terminal device through the radio bearer supporting the SDT if the data to be transmitted corresponds to the radio bearer supporting the SDT”).
In re claim 34, LIN discloses a paging apparatus, comprising a processor configured to perform the method of claim 15 (Fig. 10, Page 21, lines 6-8, “FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the communication processing device provided by the embodiment of the present application, which is applied to the source access network device”. Page 22, lines 21-26, “FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a terminal device, or an access network device (including a source access network device and/or a target access network device). The communication device 1200 shown in FIG. 12 includes a processor 1210, which may invoke from memory and run a computer program to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application”.
In re claim 37, LIN discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, the computer program includes program instructions which, when executed by a processor, enables the processor to perform the method of claim 15 (Page 22, lines 27-29, “FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be a terminal device, or an access network device (including a source access network device and/or a target access network device) ... Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 12, the communication device 1200 may also include a memory 1220. The processor 1210 may invoke and run a computer program from the memory 1220 to implement the method of the embodiment of the present application”. Page 24, lines 34-35, “Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application”. Page 24, lines 44-47, “Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the network device in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions cause the computer to execute the corresponding flow implemented by the network device in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application”).
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 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 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CN 118140574 A (LIN et al.) (hereinafter LIN) in view of CN 113766612 A (LI et al.) (hereinafter LI).
In re claim 19, LIN discloses the method of claim 16, but does not explicitly disclose the method further comprising: sending capability information to the first access network device, wherein the capability information indicates whether a cell served by the second access network device supports MT- SDT.
LI discloses sending capability information to the first access network device, wherein the capability information indicates whether a cell served by the second access network device supports MT- SDT (Page 2, lines 39-44, “sending the first indication information to the first network device, receiving the first paging message from the first network device, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the communication device receives the first paging message capability, the first paging message comprises service paging information and/or packet data information, packet data information comprises small packet data or packet data resource information” (receiving capability information for small data transmission from second network device). Page 3, lines 4-9, “sending the first paging message to the communication device, the first paging message is determined according to the capability of the communication device receiving the first paging message; so as to improve the success rate of the communication device receiving the paging message, and can avoid receiving the small packet data not needed by the communication device, so as to reduce the power consumption of the communication device” (small data transmission helps power consumption but success rate of transmission will depend on capability of the cell to support it, so sending paging message by first network to second based on the capability of the receiving cell on which UE is camped)).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of LIN with LI to provide a paging method and apparatus for small data transmission when the terminal device is in the RRC_inactive state. The advantage of doing so is UE power efficiency, reduced latency and signaling overhead reduction.
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/SWATI JAIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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