DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to an application filed on 09/20/2024, in which claims 1-12 are pending and ready for examination.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1, 3, 4, 6-7, 9-10 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 102 (a) (2) as being anticipated by PARK et al.(hereinafter, “PARK”; 20190182698).
In response to claim 1,
PARK teaches a method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: obtaining a listen-before-talk (LBT) failure indication from lower layers (paragraph 52 teaches using a LBT procedure, paragraph 205, change of an analog beam operation is interpreted as having a LBT failure, paragraph 207, L1 or L2 signaling is equated to lower layers, L1 or L2 is also equated to link failure indication, informing using L1 or L2 signaling is read as obtaining via the lower layers);
setting a cause value of a radio link failure (RLF) as an LBT failure in case that RLF is declared based on the LBT failure indication (paragraph 220-221, RRM measurement value in paragraph 221 is read as a cause value of the RLF as an LBT failure case, defining a RLF failure based on a RRM measurement value explicitly teaches this limitation); and
transmitting, to a base station, an RLF report including the cause value (paragraph 223-224 and 228, transmitting corresponding information described in paragraph 228 explicitly teaches this limitation).
In response to claims 3,6, 9 and 12,
PARK teaches further comprising starting a predetermined timer in case that an LBT failure indication is obtained from lower layers (paragraph 221, using a predetermined time explicitly teaches using a predetermined timer, paragraph 207, L1 or L2 signaling is equated to lower layers, L1 or L2 is also equated to link failure indication, informing using L1 or L2 signaling is read as obtaining via the lower layers).
In response to claim 4,
PARK teaches a terminal in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising: a transceiver; and a controller connected to the transceiver, wherein the controller is configured to (paragraphs 259 and 269 together teach this limitation):
obtain a listen-before-talk (LBT) failure indication from lower layers; set a cause value of a radio link failure (RLF) as an LBT failure in case that RLF is declared based on the LBT failure indication; and transmit, to a base station, an RLF report including the cause value (these limitations are identical to claim 1, therefore, these limitations are rejected as claim 1).
In response to claim 7,
PARK teaches a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: receiving, from a terminal, a radio link failure (RLF) report including a cause value of an RLF (paragraph 220-221, RRM measurement value in paragraph 221 is read as a cause value of the RLF as an LBT failure case, defining a RLF failure based on a RRM measurement value explicitly teaches using a cause value of an RLF, paragraph 223-224 and 228, transmitting corresponding information described in paragraph 228 explicitly teaches this limitation),
wherein the cause value of the RLF is set as a listen-before-talk (LBT) failure in case that RLF is declared based on a LBT failure indication obtained from lower layers (paragraph 207, L1 or L2 signaling is equated to lower layers, L1 or L2 is also equated to link failure indication, informing using L1 or L2 signaling is read as obtaining via the lower layers, paragraph 220-221, RRM measurement value in paragraph 221 is read as a cause value of the RLF as an LBT failure case, defining a RLF failure based on a RRM measurement value explicitly teaches the cause value of the RLF is set as a listen-before-talk (LBT) failure in case that RLF is declared based on a LBT failure indication obtained from lower layers).
In response to claim 10,
PARK teaches a base station in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising: a transceiver; and a controller connected to the transceiver (paragraphs 259 and 269 together teach this limitation),
wherein the controller is configured to receive, from a terminal, a radio link failure (RLF) report including a cause value of an RLF, wherein the cause value of the RLF is set as a listen-before-talk (LBT) failure in case that RLF is declared based on a LBT failure indication obtained from lower layers (these limitations are identical to claim 7, therefore, these limitations are rejected as claim 7).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5, 8 and 11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
As for claims 2, 5, 8 and 11, these claims are objected, because there is no prior art in the record that teaches claimed limitation “receiving, from the base station, a message including a preconfigured number associated with the LBT failure; and identifying whether a counter for an LBT failure indication obtained from lower layers is equal to or more than the preconfigured number, wherein the LBT failure is indicated to upper layers in case that the counter for the LBT failure indication obtained from lower layers is equal to or more than the preconfigured number.”
Closest prior art in the record is PARK et al.’s (20190182698) teaches paragraph 52 about using a LBT procedure, his teaching in paragraph 205 about changing of an analog beam operation is interpreted as having a LBT failure, his teaching in paragraph 207 about using a L1 or L2 signaling is equated to lower layers, L1 or L2 is also equated to link failure indication, informing using L1 or L2 signaling is read as obtaining via the lower layers, his teaching in paragraph 220-221, RRM measurement value in paragraph 221 is read as a cause value of the RLF as an LBT failure case, defining a RLF failure based on a RRM measurement value explicitly teaches setting a cause value of a radio link failure (RLF) as an LBT failure in case that RLF is declared based on the LBT failure indication. He fails to teach the above cited limitation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
20180184362…………………paragraph 165.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ABUSAYEED HAQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-7252. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am -7:30 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at 571-272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ABUSAYEED M HAQUE/ Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/CHRISTOPHER M CRUTCHFIELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
Prosecution Insights