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 § 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness.
Claim(s) 16-18, 20, 22-27, 29, 31-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Helmers et al. (WO2023/052010)(hereafter Helmers) in view of Jeon et al. (US 2022/0124580)(hereafter Jeon).
Regarding claims 16, 25 and 34, Helmers discloses a method performed by a second node in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a first nodeprediction is not determined and send it to the other node however, its obvious as below);
receiving, from the first node, a handover request message including a request for UE trajectory reporting (see, Fig. 3, HO preparation message including UE history and cell trajectory status (UE info), received by the BS3 from BS2 see, Fig. 3, HO preparation with the trajectory status);
collecting UE trajectory information based on the UE trajectory information collection and reporting configuration (see, Fig. 3, HO preparation message including UE history and cell trajectory status (UE info), received by the BS3 from BS2)); and
transmitting, to the first node, information on a measured UE trajectory after a handover procedure for the UE is completed (see, page 11, para 5, Fig. 3, the NG-RAN Configuration Update procedure is composed of the NG- RAN CONFIGURATION UPDATE message (where the additional information in the form of a trajectory status report is transferred) and the NG-RAN CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE message. The Trajectory Status Transfer procedure is a new signaling procedure, and could be standardized using a single TRAJECTORY STATUS TRANSFER message, see, also from Xn setup (trajectory status , UE info) between the BS2 and BS5).
Hemlers further discloses a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a signal; and a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform steps as per claim 25 (page 3).
Here, the difference is that the receiving from a first node, a user equipment (UE) trajectory information collection and reporting.
However, in same field of endeavor, Jeon teaches in [0101] FIG. 4 depicts the concept of SHO through signal exchanges between UE 401, serving cell 402, and target cell 403. In SHO, the serving cell 402 can send HO request 404 to a target cell 403 based on the prediction on the future need of performing HO based on the location and/or trajectory of TRPs and/or UEs, including UE 401. When sending the HO request 404, the serving cell 402 can optionally inform the target cell 403 that the requested HO is SHO type. The scheduling information on when the SHO will be actually executed can be additionally informed. See, para [0102], The serving cell 402 can configure the timer value based on the prediction on when the HO needs to be performed using information including but not limited to the location and/or trajectory of TRPs and/or UEs, including UE 401.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Jeon with the Helmers, as a whole, so as to use the perform future handover based on the location and/or trajectory of the UEs, the motivation is to perform handover reliability enhancement in wireless communications.
Regarding claims 17, 26 and 35, the combined teachings further discloses the method, wherein the UE trajectory information collection and reporting configuration includes at least one of a reporting periodicity, a trajectory information collection duration, or a number of serving cells (see, Jeon, para [0012], In any of the embodiments, the serving cell preferably configures the handover validity timer based on one or more of a location of the UE, a location of a transmission reception point (TRP), a trajectory of the UE, or a trajectory of the TRP).
Regarding claims 18 and 27, the combined teachings further disclose the method of claim 16, wherein collecting the UE trajectory information is performed before the UE accesses a cell (see, Fig. 4, UE trajectory performs in step , 406 before the following steps RACH preamble and RAR procedures, with the RRC connection configuration performs in steps 408 and 409).
Regarding claims 20 and 29, Helmers further discloses the method of claim 16, wherein collecting the UE trajectory information is performed before the UE leaves a cell (see, Fig. 3, the handover acknowledge performs after the trajectory status in Xn setup and trajectory status transfer).
Regarding claims 22 and 31 , Helmers further discloses the method of claim 16, wherein the request for the UE trajectory reporting requests the second node to report the UE trajectory information after a handover based on the UE trajectory information collection and reporting configuration ((see, page 11, para 5, Fig. 3, the NG-RAN Configuration Update procedure is composed of the NG- RAN CONFIGURATION UPDATE message (where the additional information in the form of a trajectory status report is transferred) and the NG-RAN CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE message. The Trajectory Status Transfer procedure is a new signaling procedure, and could be standardized using a single TRAJECTORY STATUS TRANSFER message, see, also from Xn setup (trajectory status , UE info) between the BS2 and BS5).
Regarding claims 23 and 32, Helmers further discloses the method of claim 16, wherein transmitting information on the measured UE trajectory after the handover procedure is performed based on the UE trajectory information collection and reporting configuration (((see, page 11, para 5, Fig. 3, the NG-RAN Configuration Update procedure is composed of the NG- RAN CONFIGURATION UPDATE message (where the additional information in the form of a trajectory status report is transferred) and the NG-RAN CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE message. The Trajectory Status Transfer procedure is a new signaling procedure, and could be standardized using a single TRAJECTORY STATUS TRANSFER message, see, also from Xn setup (trajectory status , UE info) between the BS2 and BS5).
Regarding claims 24 and 33, Helmers further discloses the method of claim 16, wherein the information on the measured UE trajectory includes a cell identifier (ID) and a time of staying in a cell (see, page 7, This information contains a list of earlier serving cells (which also identifies the base stations controlling these cells), and a list of cells on which the UE has camped (also this list of cells identifies the base stations controlling these cells). The list also contains associated (per-cell) information elements, including time spent in the cell).
Claim(s) 19 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Helmers view of Jeon and further in view of Saily et al. (US 2022/0299589)(hereafter Saily).
Regarding claims 19 and 28, the combined teachings do not disclose the method, wherein collecting the UE trajectory information is performed before a UE radio resource control (RRC) state is switched to an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. However, in same field of endeavor, Saily teaches in Fig. 3, as shown, before the RRC inactive state, 325, the request assistance step, 309, the assistance data response, 313, location information request, 315 and location information, 317 performs. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Saily with the Helmers and Jeon, as whole, so as to collect trajectory information before the RRC inactive state, the motivation is to use this information to further assist in handover.
8. Claim(s) 21 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Helmers view of Jeon and further in view of Filin et al. (WO2025184341)(hereafter Filin).
Regarding claims 21 and 30, the combined teachings do not disclose the method, wherein collecting the UE trajectory information is performed based on a configured number of serving cells.
However, Filin teaches in para [0268], The parameter indicating the configuration for the wireless device (UE) trajectory reporting may comprise a parameter indicating a number of serving cells within the BS2 after which the BS2 is required to report the wireless device trajectory to the BS1 after a successful handover of the wireless device from the BS1 to the BS2 (e.g., Number of Visited Cells parameter).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Filin, with the Helmers and Jeon, as a whole, to calculate trajectory indicating number of serving cells, the motivation is to perform coverage modification feedback reporting in a radio access network.
Conclusion
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang (US 2026/0181543) discloses communication method, apparatus and system.
Wang et al. (US 12666243) discloses supporting wireless communication network data collection.
Stanczak et al. (US 2024/0323797) discloses conditional handover.
Gao et al. (US 12096284) discloses method and apparatus for processing information.
Li et al. (US 2024/0205781) discloses user equipment trajectory assisted handover.
Bao et al. (US 2024/0121753) discloses double differential timing procedures and indication of a required reference signal for positioning measurement set.
Pantelodou et al. (US 2024/0098586) discloses prediction in a distributed network.
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/DHAVAL V PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
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