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 11/21/2024 and 05/20/2026 are considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Claim Objections
Applicant is advised that should claim 39 be found allowable, claim 48 will be objected to under 37 CFR 1.75 as being a substantial duplicate thereof. When two claims in an application are duplicates or else are so close in content that they both cover the same thing, despite a slight difference in wording, it is proper after allowing one claim to object to the other as being a substantial duplicate of the allowed claim. See MPEP § 608.01(m).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11, 13-14, 38-39 and 48-51 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chen et al. (US 2024/0373321; hereinafter Chen).
Regarding claim 1, Chen shows a method (Figure 3A shows a method performed in part by MN/gNB 2.) performed by a first network node, the method comprising:
determining at least a first candidate relay user equipment (UE) served by a second network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0242; after receiving a multi-path request (operation 0), the MN sends an SN Addition request to the SN (operation 1), where the SN Addition request includes information about one or more candidate relay UEs served by gNB1 (for example, it may include L2 IDs or C-RNTIs for the candidate relay UEs, and/or the measurement results of the candidate relay UEs by the remote UE), and an indication that the trigger of the SN addition request can be a multi-path relay event.);
sending a first message comprising first information of the first candidate relay UE to the second network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0242; after receiving a multi-path request (operation 0), the MN sends an SN Addition request to the SN (operation 1), where the SN Addition request includes information about one or more candidate relay UEs served by gNB1 (for example, it may include L2 IDs or C-RNTIs for the candidate relay UEs, and/or the measurement results of the candidate relay UEs by the remote UE), and an indication that the trigger of the SN addition request can be a multi-path relay event.);
receiving a second message from the second network node, wherein the second message comprises at least one path for a UE served by the first network node to access the second network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0243; the SN sends an SN addition request acknowledge message to the MN (operation 4), which may include at least one of the following information: one or more identifiers of the candidate relay UEs, one or more L2 IDs of the candidate relay UEs; a Uu radio bearer configuration of the remote UE; a Uu RLC channel or logical channel configuration of the remote UE; a PC5 RLC channel configuration between the remote UE and relay UEs; a bearer mapping between the Uu RB of the remote UE and the Uu RLC RLC channel of the remote UE, or a bearer mapping between the Uu RB of the remote UE and the PC5 RLC channel of the remote UE.); and
sending the at least one path to the UE served by the first network node to enable the UE to setup the at least one path (Figure 3A; Par. 0243; After that, the MN will send an RRCReconfiguration message to the remote UE (operation 6), which can contain at least one of the following information: (a) a Uu RB configuration (for example, the PDCP of the Uu SRB of the remote UE, or the PDCP and SDAP configuration of the Uu DRB), (b) the remote UE identifier (e.g., a local ID and/or C-RNTI assigned by the SN), (c) a relay UE identifier (such as an L2 ID or a local ID or a C-RNTI allocated by the MN or SN), (d) a PC5 RLC channel configuration (e.g., including at least one of the following information: an identifier of a corresponding relay UE, configurations of RLC and logical channel for the PC5 RLC channel, or an identifier of a served RB), or (e) the bearer mapping of the Uu RB and the PC5 RLC channel.),
wherein the first candidate relay UE is able to be used for establishing at least one indirect path between the UE and the second network node (Figure 3A-3B; Par. 0243-0244; the remote UE can perform multi-path uplink transmission through the direct link and the indirect link according to the RRCReconfiguration sent by the MN.).
Regarding claim 2, Chen shows wherein a handover/path switch procedure used to hand over the UE from the first network node to the second network node is to be performed (Figures 3A-3B; Par. 0244; After the remote UE receives the RRCReconfiguration message sent by the MN, if the remote UE has not established a PC5 connection with the relay UE, the remote UE can initiate the establishment of a PC5 connection with the relay UE configured by the SN (operation 7). The remote UE sends an RRCReconfigurationComplete message to the MN (operation 8). After receiving the RRCReconfigurationComplete message, the MN can perform SN Status Transfer procedure (operation 9) and send downlink data packets to the SN if necessary (operation 10). In an embodiment, the MN may also perform a path update procedure with the AMF (operations 11 to 14). In an embodiment, the remote UE can perform multi-path uplink transmission through the direct link and the indirect link according to the RRCReconfiguration sent by the MN.).
Regarding claim 3, Chen shows wherein the first information comprises: an identifier of the first candidate relay UE (Figure 3A; Par. 0242; the SN Addition request includes information about one or more candidate relay UEs served by gNB1 (for example, it may include L2 IDs or C-RNTIs for the candidate relay UEs), and an indication that the trigger of the SN addition request can be a multi-path relay event.), and/or information indicating a sidelink performance the first candidate relay UE (Figure 3A; Par. 0242; the SN Addition request includes information about one or more candidate relay UEs served by gNB1 (for example, it may include the measurement results of the candidate relay UEs by the remote UE).).
Regarding claim 4, Chen shows wherein the first information comprises at least one of: respective identifier of the first candidate relay UE (Figure 3A; Par. 0242; the SN Addition request includes information about one or more candidate relay UEs served by gNB1 (for example, it may include L2 IDs or C-RNTIs for the candidate relay UEs), and an indication that the trigger of the SN addition request can be a multi-path relay event.),
respective sidelink performance of the first candidate relay UE,
an indication that a direct path and at least one indirect path are suitable for the UE to access the second network node,
Uu performance of a direct path between the UE and the second network node, a preference of direct path or indirect path,
information regarding whether the UE supports multipath communication involving relay UE, or
information regarding whether the UE demands to use multipath communication involving relay UE.
Regarding claim 5, Chen shows wherein the at least one path comprises at least one of:
at least one indirect path between the UE and the second network node (Figure 3A-3B; Par. 0243-0244; the remote UE can perform multi-path uplink transmission through the indirect link according to the RRCReconfiguration sent by the MN.), or
a direct path between the UE and the second network node (Figure 3A-3B; Par. 0243-0244; the remote UE can perform multi-path uplink transmission through the direct link according to the RRCReconfiguration sent by the MN.).
Regarding claim 6, Chen shows coordinating with the second network node to decide at least one of:
the first network node is responsible for selecting the at least one path for the UE to access the second network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0243; the SN sends an SN addition request acknowledge message to the MN (operation 4). If the SN requests the MN to create a DRB of the UE1, the MN may send an SN Reconfiguration Complete message to the SN (operation 5). After that, the MN will send an RRCReconfiguration message to the remote UE (operation 6).),
the second network node is responsible for selecting the at least one path for the UE to access the second network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0243; After receiving the information, the SN determines the Uu RB configuration of the corresponding the remote UE. Further, the SN can select a suitable relay UE according to the information of candidate relay UEs received from the MN. In an embodiment, the SN determines the configurations of the relay UE and the remote UE corresponding to the Uu RB data transmission of the remote UE.), or
the first network node is responsible for selecting at least one indirect path and the second network node is responsible for selecting a direct path and/or the at least one indirect path.
Regarding claim 7, Chen shows a method (Figure 3A shows a method performed in part by SN/gNB 1.) performed by a second network node, comprising:
receiving a first message comprising first information of at least a first candidate relay UE served by the second network node from a first network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0242; after receiving a multi-path request (operation 0), the MN sends an SN Addition request to the SN (operation 1), where the SN Addition request includes information about one or more candidate relay UEs served by gNB1 (for example, it may include L2 IDs or C-RNTIs for the candidate relay UEs, and/or the measurement results of the candidate relay UEs by the remote UE), and an indication that the trigger of the SN addition request can be a multi-path relay event.);
selecting at least one path for a UE served by the first network node to access the second network node based on the first information and assistance information regarding the first candidate relay UE (Figure 3A; Par. 0243; After receiving the information, the SN determines the Uu RB configuration of the corresponding the remote UE. Further, the SN can select a suitable relay UE according to the information of candidate relay UEs received from the MN. In an embodiment, the SN determines the configurations of the relay UE and the remote UE corresponding to the Uu RB data transmission of the remote UE.);
sending a second message to the first network node, wherein the second message comprises the at least one path for the UE to access the second network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0243; the SN sends an SN addition request acknowledge message to the MN (operation 4), which may include at least one of the following information: one or more identifiers of the candidate relay UEs, one or more L2 IDs of the candidate relay UEs; a Uu radio bearer configuration of the remote UE; a Uu RLC channel or logical channel configuration of the remote UE; a PC5 RLC channel configuration between the remote UE and relay UEs; a bearer mapping between the Uu RB of the remote UE and the Uu RLC RLC channel of the remote UE, or a bearer mapping between the Uu RB of the remote UE and the PC5 RLC channel of the remote UE.),
wherein the first candidate relay UE is able to be used for establishing at least one indirect path between the UE and the second network node (Figure 3A-3B; Par. 0243-0244; the remote UE can perform multi-path uplink transmission through the direct link and the indirect link according to the RRCReconfiguration sent by the MN.).
Regarding claims 8, 9, 10, 13 and 14, these claims are rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claims 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively.
Regarding claim 11, Chen shows wherein the assistance information regarding the first candidate relay UE comprises at least one of:
respective Uu performance of the first candidate relay UE,
respective quality of service (QOS) supported by the first candidate relay UE, a best QoS supported by the first candidate relay UE,
respective Uu discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration of the first candidate relay UE,
respective sidelink performance of the first candidate relay UE,
respective radio resource control (RRC) connected state of the first candidate relay UE, or
information regarding whether the network node supports multipath communication involving relay UE (Figure 3A; Par. 0243; the SN sends an SN addition request acknowledge message to the MN (operation 4), which may include at least a bearer mapping between the Uu RB of the remote UE and the PC5 RLC channel of the remote UE.).
Regarding claim 38, Chen shows a first network node (Figure 6 shows a network node (i.e. MN/gNB 2) performing in part the method of Figure 3A.), comprising:
a processor (Figure 6 shows a processor.); and
a memory coupled to the processor (Figure 6 shows storage unit coupled to the processor.), said the memory containing instructions executable by the processor (Figure 6 shows program code stored in storage unit executed by the processor to perform the disclosed method.), whereby the first network node is operative to:
determine at least a first candidate relay user equipment (UE) served by a second network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0242; after receiving a multi-path request (operation 0), the MN sends an SN Addition request to the SN (operation 1), where the SN Addition request includes information about one or more candidate relay UEs served by gNB1 (for example, it may include L2 IDs or C-RNTIs for the candidate relay UEs, and/or the measurement results of the candidate relay UEs by the remote UE), and an indication that the trigger of the SN addition request can be a multi-path relay event.);
send a first message comprising first information of the first candidate relay UE to the second network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0242; after receiving a multi-path request (operation 0), the MN sends an SN Addition request to the SN (operation 1), where the SN Addition request includes information about one or more candidate relay UEs served by gNB1 (for example, it may include L2 IDs or C-RNTIs for the candidate relay UEs, and/or the measurement results of the candidate relay UEs by the remote UE), and an indication that the trigger of the SN addition request can be a multi-path relay event.);
receive a second message from the second network node, wherein the second message comprises at least one path for a UE served by the first network node to access the second network node (Figure 3A; Par. 0243; the SN sends an SN addition request acknowledge message to the MN (operation 4), which may include at least one of the following information: one or more identifiers of the candidate relay UEs, one or more L2 IDs of the candidate relay UEs; a Uu radio bearer configuration of the remote UE; a Uu RLC channel or logical channel configuration of the remote UE; a PC5 RLC channel configuration between the remote UE and relay UEs; a bearer mapping between the Uu RB of the remote UE and the Uu RLC RLC channel of the remote UE, or a bearer mapping between the Uu RB of the remote UE and the PC5 RLC channel of the remote UE.); and
send the at least one path to the UE served by the first network node to enable the UE to setup the at least one path (Figure 3A; Par. 0243; After that, the MN will send an RRCReconfiguration message to the remote UE (operation 6), which can contain at least one of the following information: (a) a Uu RB configuration (for example, the PDCP of the Uu SRB of the remote UE, or the PDCP and SDAP configuration of the Uu DRB), (b) the remote UE identifier (e.g., a local ID and/or C-RNTI assigned by the SN), (c) a relay UE identifier (such as an L2 ID or a local ID or a C-RNTI allocated by the MN or SN), (d) a PC5 RLC channel configuration (e.g., including at least one of the following information: an identifier of a corresponding relay UE, configurations of RLC and logical channel for the PC5 RLC channel, or an identifier of a served RB), or (e) the bearer mapping of the Uu RB and the PC5 RLC channel.),
wherein the first candidate relay UE is able to be used for establishing at least one indirect path between the UE and the second network node (Figure 3A-3B; Par. 0243-0244; the remote UE can perform multi-path uplink transmission through the direct link and the indirect link according to the RRCReconfiguration sent by the MN.).
Regarding claims 39, 48, 49, 50 and 51, these claims are rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claims 3, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen in view of an alternative embodiment of Chen.
Regarding claim 12, Chen show all of the elements including selecting at least one path for a UE served by the first network node to access the second network node based on the first information, as discussed above. Chen does not specifically show when the first information comprises a preference of direct path or indirect path, checking whether a preferred path can be selected; when the preferred path can be selected, selecting the preferred path; and stopping checking other path.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by an alternative embodiment of Chen. Specifically, alternative embodiment of Chen shows when the first information comprises a preference of direct path or indirect path, checking whether a preferred path can be selected (Par. 0261-0270; the base station can provide path selection policies for the remote UE. For example, the remote UE reports the multi-path capability or indication to the base station. The base station may send path selection configurations to the remote UE. The path selection configuration can include information of QoS, a PC5 link quality, and/or a congestion level in the sidelink resource pool. For example, the path selection configuration received by the remote UE from the base station may include at least one of the following information: a PC5 QoS profile, a PC5 link quality, a CBR (Channel Busy Ratio), or an available path. The available path can include the direct path (such as the Uu path), the indirect path (such as the PC5 path), or both of the direct and indirect paths.); when the preferred path can be selected, selecting the preferred path; and stopping checking other path (Par. 0261-0270; If the UE detects that the available path corresponding to a QoS flow that conforms to the path selection configuration is both of the direct and indirect paths, the UE may decide to use the direct path and/or the indirect path to initiate the data transmission.).
In view of the above, having the system of Chen, then given the well-established teaching of the alternative embodiment of Chen, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Chen as taught by the alternative embodiment of Chen, in order to provide motivation to improve the reliability of data transmission or the data transmission rate (Par. 0251 of Chen).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/REDENTOR PASIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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