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 10/18/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan et al. (US 11665709 B1), hereinafter Pan, in view of Wang et al. (US 20220061021 A1), hereinafter Wang.
For claim 1,
Pan teaches a first user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver configured to communicate with a network directly or via another UE (at least [FIGs. 1-3, and 10] and [38] transceiver for UE to communicate with another UE and a base station using reception and transmission);
and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations comprising (at least [FIG. 2] and [30-31] processor configured to receive and transmit):
receiving, from the network, a first message indicating that the first UE is switched to communicate with the network via a second UE in an idle or inactive state (at least [FIG. 17], [0095] and [104] a path switch command is sent from gNB (network) to the remote UE);
performing, based on the local ID of the first UE, a data transmission with the network via the second UE (at least [102] and [FIG. 10] remote UE transmits RRCReconfigurationComplete message to network via relay UE).
Pan does not explicitly teach, however Wang teaches obtaining, from the second UE or the network, a local identity (ID) of the first UE (at least [FIG. 10], [0105], [0133], and [0183] PDSCH containing local ID of the remote and relay UE may be transmitted to the relay UE. The PDSCH may contain P-RNTI/C-RNTI of the first UE. The relay UE then transmits a full paging list to the remote UE, wherein the remote UE determines if its ID is included in the list. Therefore, the first UE receives its local ID from the network via the second UE.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methods of Pan for performing path switching with the method of Wang for a first UE obtaining its local ID from a second UE or the network to avoid collision or interference when relaying information between the base station and the first UE, and to ensure efficiency when creating a sidelink connection between the first and second UE.
For claim 2, Pan and Wang teach claim 1.
Pan further teaches wherein the first message does not indicate the local ID of the first UE (at least [FIG. 17], [0095] and [104] the first message is a path switch command that does not include the local ID of the first UE), and
wherein the operations further comprise: establishing a sidelink connection with the second UE (at least [FIG. 17] and [4] PC5 sidelink connection is established between the first and second UEs); and
transmitting, to the network and via the second UE, a response to the first message indicating that the switching is completed (at least [102] and [FIG. 10] remote UE transmits RRCReconfigurationComplete message to network via relay UE, indicating that the path switch is complete).
Pan does not explicitly teach, however Wang teaches wherein the response does not comprise the local ID in a sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) header or does not comprise the SRAP header (at least [FIG. 4] and [0092] RRCSetup complete message does not include local ID of the first UE in an SRAP header and does not include an SRAP header at all.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methods of Pan for performing path switching and informing the network that the path switching is complete with the method of Wang for the response informing the network that the path switching is complete not containing a local ID of the first UE in an SRAP header to reduce overhead, reduce the chance of packet loss and ID collisions, and optimize transmission efficiency over the sidelink interface.
For claim 3, Pan and Wang teach claim 2.
Pan does not explicitly teach, however Wang teaches wherein obtaining the local ID of the first UE comprises: receiving, from the network and via the second UE, a second message indicating the local ID of the first UE (at least [FIG. 10], [0105], [0133], and [0183] PDSCH containing local ID of the remote and relay UE may be transmitted to the relay UE. The PDSCH may contain P-RNTI/C-RNTI of the first UE. The relay UE then transmits a full paging list to the remote UE, wherein the remote UE determines if its ID is included in the list. Therefore, the first UE receives its local ID from the network via the second UE.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methods of Pan for performing path switching with the method of Wang for a first UE obtaining its local ID from a second UE or the network to avoid collision or interference when relaying information between the base station and the first UE, and to ensure efficiency when creating a sidelink connection between the first and second UE.
For claim 4, Pan and Wang teach claim 3.
Pan further teaches wherein performing the data transmission comprises: transmitting, to the network and via the second UE, uplink data multiplexed with a response to the second message (at least [62] information can be multiplexed over the same relay channel, including an SRAP containing the remote UE local ID.).
For claim 5, Pan and Wang teach claim 2.
Pan does not explicitly teach, however Wang teaches wherein obtaining the local ID of the first UE comprises: receiving, from the second UE and via the sidelink connection, a third message indicating the local ID of the first UE (at least [0112-0113] the second UE transmits paging information to the first UE over sideling, and the paging information may comprise a UE ID of the first UE. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that this information can be transmitted via a third message or any number message following the initial sidelink connection establishment.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methods of Pan for performing path switching with the method of Wang for a first UE obtaining its local ID from a second UE via sidelink to avoid collision or interference when relaying information between the base station and the first UE.
For claim 6, Pan and Wang teach claim 5.
Pan further teaches wherein performing the data transmission comprises: transmitting, to the network and via the second UE, uplink data comprising the local ID in a SRAP header (at least [62], [261], and [Abstract] SRAP Data PDU is sent from the first UE to the network via the second UE. The SRAP Data PDU contains a UE ID of the first UE.).
For claim 7, Pan and Wang teach claim 1.
Pan does not explicitly teach, however Wang teaches wherein the first message further indicates the local ID of the first UE, and wherein obtaining the local ID of the first UE comprises: obtaining the local ID of the first UE from the first message (at least [0091], [0121-0122], and [FIGs. 10 and 16] the second UE receives a paging message for the first UE from the base station and relays said message to the first UE. The paging message for the first UE can be a PDSCH containing a UE ID for the first UE. The paging message being relayed to the first UE via the second UE acts as a switching indication to inform the first UE that it will communicate with the base station via the second UE.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methods of Pan for performing path switching with the method of Wang for a first UE obtaining its local ID from a first message to avoid collision or interference when relaying information between the base station and the first UE.
For claim 8, Pan and Wang teach claim 7.
Pan further teaches wherein the operations further comprise: establishing a sidelink connection with the second UE (at least [FIG. 17] and [4] PC5 sidelink connection is established between the first and second UEs); and
transmitting, to the network and via the second UE, a response to the first message indicating that the switching is completed (at least [102] and [FIG. 10] remote UE transmits RRCReconfigurationComplete message to network via relay UE, indicating that the path switch is complete),
the response comprising the local ID in a sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) header (at least [62], [261], and [Abstract] SRAP Data PDU, including an RRCReconfigurationComplete message, is sent from the first UE to the network via the second UE. The SRAP Data PDU contains a UE ID of the first UE. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message indicates that the switching is complete.).
For claim 9, Pan and Wang teach claim 8.
Pan further teaches wherein performing the data transmission comprises: transmitting, to the network and via the second UE, uplink data multiplexed with the response to the first message (at least [62] information can be multiplexed over the same relay channel, including an SRAP containing the remote UE local ID. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message included in the SRAP Data PDU is a response to the first message indicating that the switching is complete.)
For claim 10, Pan and Wang teach claim 7.
Pan further teaches wherein the operations further comprise: receiving downlink data from the network via the second UE (at least [FIG. 10] first UE receives downlink data from the network via the second UE); and
in accordance with a determination that an ID of the first UE in a sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) header associated with the downlink data is different from the local ID obtained from the first message, triggering a radio resource control (RRC) re-establishment procedure (at least [64] first UE may obtain the local remote UE ID from an RRCReestablishment procedure. It is well known in the art for an RRC Reestablishment procedure to be triggered when the local UE ID of the UE receiving downlink data does not match the local UE ID included in the SRAP header of the downlink data being transmitted from the network. This would create a data mismatch because the ID of the UE that the data is intended for does not match the ID of the UE that received the data. It is well known in the art to trigger an RRC reestablishment procedure to reconfigure the UE IDs in this case.).
For claim 11, it is rejected on the same basis as claims 1 and 2, with the additional limitation of a second UE (at least [Pan: FIGs. 1-3 and 10]).
For claim 12, Pan and Wang teach claim 11.
Pan further teaches wherein obtaining the local ID of the first UE comprises: establishing a connection with the network (at least [281] second UE establishes a connection with the network.);
transmitting, to the network, a request for obtaining the local ID of the first UE (at least [281] second UE transmits request to the network asking for allocation of a local ID for the first UE); and
receiving, from the network, a fourth message indicating the local ID of the first UE (at least [281] second UE receives a message from the network containing the local ID of the first UE).
Pan does not explicitly teach, however Wang teaches wherein the response does not comprise the local ID in a sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) header or does not comprise the SRAP header (at least [FIG. 4] and [0092] RRCSetup complete message does not include local ID of the first UE in an SRAP header and does not include an SRAP header at all.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methods of Pan for performing path switching and informing the network that the path switching is complete with the method of Wang for the response informing the network that the path switching is complete not containing a local ID of the first UE in an SRAP header to reduce overhead, reduce the chance of packet loss and ID collisions, and optimize transmission efficiency over the sidelink interface.
For claim 13, Pan and Wang teach claim 12.
Pan further teaches receiving, from the first UE, uplink data comprising the local ID in a SRAP header; and transmitting the uplink data to the network. (at least [62], [261], and [Abstract] SRAP Data PDU is sent from the first UE to the network via the second UE. The SRAP Data PDU contains a UE ID of the first UE.).
Pan does not explicitly teach, however Wang teaches transmitting, to the first UE, a third message indicating the local ID of the first UE; (at least [FIG. 10], [0105], [0133], and [0183] PDSCH containing local ID of the remote and relay UE may be transmitted to the relay UE. The PDSCH may contain P-RNTI/C-RNTI of the first UE. The relay UE then transmits a full paging list to the remote UE, wherein the remote UE determines if its ID is included in the list. Therefore, the first UE receives its local ID from the network via the second UE.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methods of Pan for performing path switching with the method of Wang for a first UE obtaining its local ID from a second UE or the network to avoid collision or interference when relaying information between the base station and the first UE, and to ensure efficiency when creating a sidelink connection between the first and second UE.
For claim 14, Pan and Wang teach claim 11.
Pan further teaches wherein the response comprises the local ID in a sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) header (at least [62], [261], and [Abstract] SRAP Data PDU, including an RRCReconfigurationComplete message, is sent from the first UE to the network via the second UE. The SRAP Data PDU contains a UE ID of the first UE. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message indicates that the switching is complete.), and
wherein obtaining the local ID of the first UE comprises: establishing a connection with the network (at least [281] second UE establishes a connection with the network.);
transmitting, to the network, a request for obtaining the local ID of the first UE (at least [281] second UE transmits request to the network asking for allocation of a local ID for the first UE); and
receiving, from the network, a fourth message indicating the local ID of the first UE (at least [281] second UE receives a message from the network containing the local ID of the first UE).
For claim 15, Pan and Wang teach claim 14.
Pan further teaches wherein the operations further comprise: receiving, from the first UE, uplink data multiplexed with the response to the first message; and transmitting, to the network, the uplink data multiplexed with a response to the fourth message (at least [62] information can be multiplexed over the same relay channel, including an SRAP containing the remote UE local ID.)
For claim 16, Pan and Wang teach claim 11.
Pan further teaches wherein the response comprises the local ID in a sidelink relay adaptation protocol (SRAP) header, and obtaining the local ID of the first UE comprises: obtaining the local ID from the SRAP header (at least [62], [261], and [Abstract] SRAP Data PDU, including an RRCReconfigurationComplete message, is sent from the first UE to the network via the second UE. The SRAP Data PDU contains a UE ID of the first UE. The RRCReconfigurationComplete message indicates that the switching is complete.).
For claim 17, it is rejected on the same basis as claim 1, with the additional limitation of the actions being performed by a base station ([Pan: FIGs. 6-7, and 8-10] the first and second UEs are in communication with a base station to facilitate the limitations claimed.)
For claim 18, Pan and Wang teach claim 17.
Pan further teaches wherein the first message does not indicate the local ID of the first UE (at least [FIG. 17], [0095] and [104] the first message is a path switch command that does not include the local ID of the first UE), and
wherein transmitting the local ID of the first UE comprise: establishing a connection with the second UE (at least [FIG. 17] and [4] PC5 sidelink connection is established between the first and second UEs);
receiving, from the second UE, a request for obtaining the local ID of the first UE (at least [281] network (BS) receives a request from the second UE asking for allocation of a local ID for the first UE);
transmitting, to the second UE, a fourth message indicating the local ID of the first UE (at least [281] second UE receives a message from the network containing the local ID of the first UE);
receiving, from the second UE, a response to the fourth message indicating that the switching is completed (at least [102] and [FIG. 10] remote UE transmits RRCReconfigurationComplete message to network via relay UE, indicating that the path switch is complete).
Pan does not explicitly teach, however Wang teaches transmitting, to the first UE, a second message indicating the local ID of the first UE (at least [FIG. 10], [0105], [0133], and [0183] PDSCH containing local ID of the remote and relay UE may be transmitted to the relay UE. The PDSCH may contain P-RNTI/C-RNTI of the first UE. The relay UE then transmits a full paging list to the remote UE, wherein the remote UE determines if its ID is included in the list. Therefore, the first UE receives its local ID from the network via the second UE.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methods of Pan for performing path switching with the method of Wang for a first UE obtaining its local ID from the network to avoid collision or interference when relaying information between the base station and the first UE, and to ensure efficiency when creating a sidelink connection between the first and second UE.
For claim 19, Pan and Wang teach claim 18.
Pan further teaches wherein performing the data transmission comprise: receiving, from the first UE, uplink data multiplexed with a response to the second message. (at least [62] information can be multiplexed over the same relay channel, including an SRAP containing the remote UE local ID.)
For claim 20, Pan and Wang teach claim 17.
Pan does not explicitly teach, however Wang teaches wherein transmitting the local ID of the first UE comprises: transmitting the local ID of the first UE in the first message. (at least [0091], [0121-0122], and [FIGs. 10 and 16] the second UE receives a paging message for the first UE from the base station and relays said message to the first UE. The paging message for the first UE can be a PDSCH containing a UE ID for the first UE. The paging message being relayed to the first UE via the second UE acts as a switching indication to inform the first UE that it will communicate with the base station via the second UE.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the methods of Pan for performing path switching with the method of Wang for a first UE obtaining its local ID from a first message to avoid collision or interference when relaying information between the base station and the first UE.
Conclusion
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/BENJAMIN T. RANEW/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/NATASHA W COSME/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
