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 statements (IDS) submitted on 20 September 2024, 17 September 2025, 17 October 2025, and 26 February 2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 30, the limitation “the data packet transmission timestamp scheme” has no antecedent basis. There is no mention of a data packet transmission timestamp scheme in claim 22 or claim 24. Thus, it is unclear which data packet transmission timestamp scheme is being referred to.
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 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 nonobviousness.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 12, 14, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 30, 33, 57, and 59 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0153070 (hereinafter “Velev”) in view of U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0007886 (hereinafter “Xu”).
Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests:
regarding claim 1, a method, by a wireless access network node of a wireless network, for provisioning a data transmission delay between a wireless terminal device and a core network (see at least Fig. 2, QoS monitoring of user plane path between a UE and a UPF), comprising:
receiving a transmission delay configuration from the core network (see at least paragraph 174, an SMF configures a RAN node for monitoring QoS parameters by sending a “Setup QoS measurement” indication), the transmission delay configuration specifying at least one of:
a transmission delay provisioning segmentation scheme among a plurality of segmentation schemes; or a monitoring/reporting configuration for the data transmission delay among a plurality of monitoring/reporting configurations (see at least paragraph 172, configuring the frequency for performing the QoS measurement, where a particular QoS parameter to measure is delay); and
transmitting at least part of the transmission delay configuration to the wireless terminal device (see at least paragraph 175, the RAN node sends a “Setup QoS measurement” indication from the RAN Node).
Velev does not explicitly disclose receiving a transmission delay information item from the wireless terminal device during a data transmission session between the core network and the wireless terminal device; and generating and transmitting a report to the core network based on the transmission delay information item and according to the transmission delay configuration.
However, in an analogous art, Xu discloses, teaches, or suggest receiving a transmission delay information item from the wireless terminal device during a data transmission session between the core network and the wireless terminal device (see at least Fig. 8 and paragraphs 377-378, the UE collects statistics on uplink delay of an uplink frame and sends a measurement report to CU-UP (i.e., RAN node) based on the measurement configuration information); and generating and transmitting a report to the core network based on the transmission delay information item and according to the transmission delay configuration (see at least Fig. 8 and paragraphs 394-403, the CU-UP sends an UL PDU session information carrying the uplink delay between the terminal device and the CU-UP to the UPF (i.e., core network node)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the above technique as taught by Xu in to the invention of Velev in order to allow the core network to more accurately evaluate data transmission performance based on the uplink delay to improve user experience (see at least paragraph 365 of Xu).
Regarding claim 3, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests the transmission delay provisioning segmentation scheme comprises one of an end-to-end delay scheme or a Radio Access Network (RAN) part delay scheme and the monitoring/reporting configuration comprises at least one of: a reporting timing configuration; a reporting granularity configuration; or a data packet transmission timestamp scheme (see at least paragraphs 47 and 69, the request to monitor the QoS parameter indicates a specific data connection, reporting frequency, and conditions for reporting the measured value of the QoS parameter, where the QoS monitoring is performed on the user plane path between the UE and the UPF).
Regarding claim 5, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests the reporting timing configuration indicates a reporting frequency or reporting time period and the reporting granularity configuration indicates reporting the data transmission delay as at least one of: an average data packet delay; a per-packet delay; a packet delay distribution; or a packet delay distribution formula information (see at least paragraphs 47 and 172, the request to monitor the QoS parameter indicates a specific data connection, reporting frequency, and conditions for reporting the measured value of the QoS parameter, where the QoS parameter to measure is delay for uplink data).
Regarding claim 12, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests that the data transmission delay comprises a downlink user-plane data transmission delay and relaying at least one downlink data packets from the core network to the wireless terminal device (see at least Fig. 8, and paragraphs 55, 69, 134, and 194-198, the QoS monitoring is performed on the downlink data packet transmission from the UPF to the UE, where the QoS parameters to measure is downlink delay) but Velev does not explicitly disclose that the transmission delay information item associated with the at least one downlink data packets is received from the wireless terminal device in a control-plane of the wireless access network node and comprises an end-to-end or RAN part downlink transmission delay information associated with the at least one downlink data packets as calculated by the wireless terminal device.
However, in an analogous art, Xu discloses, teaches, or suggest that the transmission delay information item associated with the at least one downlink data packets is received from the wireless terminal device in a control-plane of the wireless access network node and comprises an end-to-end or RAN part downlink transmission delay information associated with the at least one downlink data packets as calculated by the wireless terminal device (see at least Fig. 17 and paragraph 647-649, the UE collects statistics on downlink delay of an uplink frame and sends a measurement report to CU-UP via CU-CP (i.e., RAN node), where the CU-UP sends GNB-CU-CP measurement results information to the CU-UP carrying the downlink delay representing a RAN part downlink transmission delay).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the above technique as taught by Xu in to the invention of Velev in order to allow the core network to more accurately evaluate data transmission performance based on the downlink delay to improve user experience (see at least paragraph 636 of Xu).
Regarding claim 14, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests all of the subject matter of claim 12, as described above, but Velev does not explicitly disclose inserting the report in an NG Application Protocol (NGAP) message and transmitting the NGAP message to the core network in the control-plane, or inserting the report into an E1 Application Protocol (E1AP) message in the control- plane and transmitting the E1AP message to a user-plane of the wireless access network node. extracting the report from the E1AP message and inserting the report into a PDU session information PDU in the user-plane of the wireless access network node, and transmitting the PDU session information PDU to the core network in the user-plane.
However, in an analogous art, Xu discloses, teaches, or suggest inserting the report in an NG Application Protocol (NGAP) message and transmitting the NGAP message to the core network in the control-plane, or inserting the report into an E1 Application Protocol (E1AP) message in the control- plane and transmitting the E1AP message to a user-plane of the wireless access network node, extracting the report from the E1AP message and inserting the report into a PDU session information PDU in the user-plane of the wireless access network node, and transmitting the PDU session information PDU to the core network in the user-plane (see at least Fig. 8, and paragraphs 380 and 400, the CU-CP sends GNB-CU-CP measurement results information to the CU-UP and the CU-UP sends UL PDU session information to the UPF).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the above technique as taught by Xu in to the invention of Velev in order to allow the core network to more accurately evaluate data transmission performance based on the uplink delay to improve user experience (see at least paragraph 365 of Xu).
Regarding claim 17, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests that the data transmission delay comprises an uplink user-plane data transmission delay (see at least paragraph 133, uplink delay) but Velev does not explicitly disclose that the transmission delay information item received from the wireless terminal device comprises timestamp information for at least one uplink data packet transmitted from the wireless terminal device.
However, in an analogous art, Xu discloses, teaches, or suggests the transmission delay information item received from the wireless terminal device comprises timestamp information for at least one uplink data packet transmitted from the wireless terminal device (see at least paragraphs 378 and 413-415, the UE collects statistics on the uplink delay of the uplink frame, where the transmission delay item includes uplink frame timestamp as shown in Table 4).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the above technique as taught by Xu in to the invention of Velev in order to allow the core network to more accurately evaluate data transmission performance based on the uplink delay to improve user experience (see at least paragraph 365 of Xu).
Regarding claim 19, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests that the transmission delay provisioning scheme comprises end-to-end delay scheme (see at least paragraph 69, QoS monitoring is performed on the user plane path between the UE and the UPF), and generating and transmitting the report to the core network according to the transmission delay configuration comprises relaying the timestamp information to the core network for the core network to calculate the data transmission delay (see at least paragraphs 214-216, the QoS monitoring report includes timestamp information, where the UL QoS monitoring is performed at the UPF based on the GPS timestamp from the UE).
Regarding claim 20, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests all of the subject matter of claim 20, as described above, but Velev does not explicitly disclose the transmission delay provisioning segmentation scheme comprises the RAN part delay scheme; and generating and transmitting the report to the core network according to the transmission delay configuration comprises: calculating a RAN part delay information associated with the at least one uplink data packet in a[[the]] user-plane of the wireless access network node transmitting the RAN part delay information to a control-plane of the wireless access network node and transmitting the RAN part delay information to the core network via an NGAP message in the control-plane, or
calculating a RAN part delay information associated with the at least one uplink data packet in the user-plane of the wireless access network node, and transmitting the RAN part delay information to the core network via an uplink PDU session information PDU to the core network in the user-plane.
However, in an analogous art, Xu discloses, teaches, or suggests the transmission delay provisioning segmentation scheme comprises the RAN part delay scheme (see at least Fig. 17 and paragraph 647-649, the UE collects statistics on downlink delay of an uplink frame and sends a measurement report to CU-UP via CU-CP (i.e., RAN node), where the CU-UP sends GNB-CU-CP measurement results information to the CU-UP carrying the downlink delay representing a RAN part downlink transmission delay); and
generating and transmitting the report to the core network according to the transmission delay configuration comprises: calculating a RAN part delay information associated with the at least one uplink data packet in a user-plane of the wireless access network node, transmitting the RAN part delay information to a control-plane of the wireless access network node, and transmitting the RAN part delay information to the core network via an NGAP message in the control-plane, or calculating a RAN part delay information associated with the at least one uplink data packet in the user-plane of the wireless access network node, and transmitting the RAN part delay information to the core network via an uplink PDU session information PDU to the core network in the user-plane (see at least Fig. 8, and paragraphs 377, 378, 380, and 400, the UE collects statistics on the fourth uplink delay of the uplink frame, which represents a RAN part delay information and the UE sends the measurement report to the CU-CP, where the CU-CP sends GNB-CU-CP measurement results information to the CU-UP and the CU-UP sends UL PDU session information to the UPF).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the above technique as taught by Xu in to the invention of Velev in order to allow the core network to more accurately evaluate data transmission performance based on the uplink delay to improve user experience (see at least paragraph 365 of Xu).
Regarding claim 57, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests a wireless network node comprising a memory for storing instructions and a processor for executing the instructions to implement claim 1 (see at least Fig. 24 and paragraph 778, a processor configured to execute instructions stored in a memory).
Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests:
regarding claims 22 and 59, a method, by a wireless terminal device, for monitoring/reporting a data transmission delay between the wireless terminal device and a core network in a wireless network (see at least Fig. 2, QoS monitoring of user plane path between a UE and a UPF), the method and the wireless terminal device comprising:
a memory for storing instructions and a processor for executing the instructions to (see at least Fig. 24 and paragraph 778, a processor configured to execute instructions stored in a memory):
receive a transmission delay configuration from control-plane of a wireless access network (see at least paragraph 175, the UE receives a “Setup QoS measurement” indication having PDU session ID, QoS rules, UL QoS measurement setup, and pattern parameters), the transmission delay configuration specifying at least one of:
a transmission delay provisioning segmentation scheme among a plurality of segmentation schemes; or a monitoring/reporting configuration for the data transmission delay among a plurality of monitoring/reporting configurations (see at least paragraph 172, configuring the frequency for performing the QoS measurement, where a particular QoS parameter to measure is delay).
Velev does not explicitly disclose transmitting a transmission delay information item to the wireless access network node during a data transmission session between the core network and the wireless terminal device according to the transmission delay configuration.
However, in an analogous art, Xu discloses, teaches, or suggest transmitting a transmission delay information item to the wireless access network node during a data transmission session between the core network and the wireless terminal device according to the transmission delay configuration (see at least Fig. 8 and paragraphs 377-378, the UE collects statistics on uplink delay of an uplink frame and sends a measurement report to CU-UP (i.e., RAN node) based on the measurement configuration information).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the above technique as taught by Xu in to the invention of Velev in order to allow the core network to more accurately evaluate data transmission performance based on the uplink delay to improve user experience (see at least paragraph 365 of Xu).
Regarding claim 24, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests the transmission delay provisioning segmentation scheme comprises one of an end-to-end delay scheme or a Radio Access Network (RAN) part delay scheme and the monitoring/reporting configuration comprises at least one of: a reporting timing configuration; a reporting granularity configuration; or a data packet transmission timestamp scheme (see at least paragraphs 47 and 69, the request to monitor the QoS parameter indicates a specific data connection, reporting frequency, and conditions for reporting the measured value of the QoS parameter, where the QoS monitoring is performed on the user plane path between the UE and the UPF).
Regarding claim 26, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests the reporting granularity configuration indicates reporting the data transmission delay as at least one of: an average data packet delay; a per-packet delay; a packet delay distribution; or a packet delay distribution formula information (see at least paragraphs 47 and 172, the request to monitor the QoS parameter indicates a specific data connection, reporting frequency, and conditions for reporting the measured value of the QoS parameter, where the QoS parameter to measure is delay for uplink data).
Regarding claim 30, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests that the data packet transmission timestamp scheme indicates one of: including transmission time stamps in data packet headers; or including transmission time stamps in packet data convergence protocol headers (see at least paragraph 195, the DL Packet includes a GPS timestamp in a header of a Uu-interface protocol, e.g., in PDCP or SDAP).
Regarding claim 33, Velev discloses, teaches, or suggests that the data transmission delay comprises a downlink user-plane data transmission delay (see at least Fig. 8, and paragraphs 55, 69, 134, and 194-198, the QoS monitoring is performed on the downlink data packet transmission from the UPF to the UE, where the QoS parameters to measure is downlink delay), where the method comprises obtaining receive-timestamp information for at least one downlink data packet and generating the transmission delay information item by calculating an end-to-end or RAN part downlink transmission delay information associated with the at least one downlink data packets according to the receive-timestamp information and the transmission delay configuration (see at least paragraphs 194 and 198-199, when the UE receives the DL data, the UE may then calculate the downlink delay based on the global timestamp from the DL packet and a current GPS clock time, where the UE determines one or more DL QoS parameters and creates a DL QoS monitoring report, where the UPF marks the DL data packet by including the global timestamp and, therefore, the calculated downlink delay is an end-to-end downlink delay between the core network and the UE).
Velev does not explicitly disclose that the transmission delay information item is transmitted to a control-plane of the wireless access network node.
However, in an analogous art, Xu discloses, teaches, or suggest that the transmission delay information item is transmitted to a control-plane of the wireless access network node (see at least Fig. 17 and paragraph 647-649, the UE collects statistics on downlink delay of an uplink frame and sends a measurement report to CU-UP via CU-CP (i.e., RAN node)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the above technique as taught by Xu in to the invention of Velev in order to allow the core network to more accurately evaluate data transmission performance based on the downlink delay to improve user experience (see at least paragraph 636 of Xu).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-8, 27, and 29 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0276391 (Qiao et al.) discloses end-to-end latency measurement.
U.S. Pub. No. 2023/0362305 (Kim) discloses dynamic backhaul network delay-based session management.
U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0155409 (Babaei) discloses a configuration for Quality of Experience (QoE) measurements and reporting including one or more key performance indicators for the UE to measure and report, where the one or more KPIs comprises end-to-end delay, core network delay, or RAN delay.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Pawaris Sinkantarakorn whose telephone number is (571)270-1424. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hadi Armouche can be reached at (571) 270-3618. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAO SINKANTARAKORN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409 08/03/2026
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