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(s) was/were submitted on 09/26/2024, 03/04/2025, and 10/13/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is/are being considered by the examiner.
Preliminary Amendments
The present Office Action is based upon the original patent application filed as modified by the preliminary amendment filed on 09/26/2024.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 10-21 are now pending in the present application.
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(s) 1, 20, and 21 are 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 1, this claim recites in lines 6-9, “receiving, in the service announcement and/or in at least one message following the service announcement, at least one indication indicating support for all or at least some reduced capability terminal devices for the MBS”. The broadest interpretation (BRI) of “at least one indication” allows for a single indication, while “and/or” can be interpreted as “and” or “or”, and in the former case, only one indication would contradict the use of “and”. For purposes of examination, the Examiner interpreted “and/or” as “or” in claim 1.
The rationale set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claims 20 and 21.
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.
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) 1, 20, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2017/0295005 A1), IDS submitted on 10/13/2025, hereinafter referred to as Lee, in view of Gummadi et al. (US 2024/0224132 A1), IDS submitted on 10/13/2025, hereinafter referred to as Gummadi, and further in view of Huang et al. (US 2025/0039905 A1), IDS submitted on 10/13/2025, hereinafter referred to as Huang.
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches: An apparatus comprising (see FIG. 1B (WTRU)):
at least one processor (FIG. 1B, Processor (118); ¶[0028]); and
at least one memory storing instructions that (FIG. 1B , Removeable Memory (132), Non Removeable Memory (130); ¶[0028]), when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform (¶[0148], the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor):
receiving a service announcement of a multicast broadcast service, MBS ( see ¶[0136]
A low-cost WTRU may receive reduced capability support indication as part of the MBMS announcement and/or discovery process. For example, a low-cost WTRU may be indicated of this information as part of the User Service Description (USD) information. As part of the USD information, a low-cost WTRU may be indicated of MBMS service support for reduced capability WTRUs as part of the MBMS Feature Requirement List which is part of the USD. For example, a low-cost WTRU may subscribe to a MBMS service if the requirements indicate that reduced capability and/or reduced bandwidth feature is supported by that low-cost WTRU);
receiving, in the service announcement and/or in at least one message following the service announcement ( see ¶[0136] A low-cost WTRU may receive reduced capability support indication as part of the MBMS announcement and/or discovery process. For example, a low-cost WTRU may be indicated of this information as part of the User Service Description (USD) information. As part of the USD information, a low-cost WTRU may be indicated of MBMS service support for reduced capability WTRUs as part of the MBMS Feature Requirement List which is part of the USD. For example, a low-cost WTRU may subscribe to a MBMS service if the requirements indicate that reduced capability and/or reduced bandwidth feature is supported by that low-cost WTRU), at least one indication indicating support for all or at least some reduced capability terminal devices for the MBS; and
performing a cell reselection process based on cell measurements and the at least one indication.
Lee, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to (a) at least one indication indicating support for all or at least some reduced capability terminal devices for the MBS and (b) performing a cell reselection process based on cell measurements and the at least one indication.
However, Gummadi, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches (b) performing a cell reselection process based on cell measurements and the at least one indication (a RedCap (reduced capability) UE receives configuration information ["indication"] associated with a measurement-based handover procedure, that causes said RedCap UE to perform measurements for a target cell, whereby the RedCap UE undergoes a handover to the target cell based on the measurement satisfying a measurement condition (and therefore, also based on the received configuration information), according to ¶[0006], ¶[0052], ¶[0093], ¶[0111]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee's teachings with Gummadi's above teaching to allow different UEs to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and/or global level ( see Gummadi ¶[0004] ).
Although the combination teaches (Lee, ¶[0136] A low-cost WTRU may receive reduced capability support indication as part of the MBMS announcement and/or discovery process. For example, a low-cost WTRU may be indicated of this information as part of the User Service Description (USD) information. As part of the USD information, a low-cost WTRU may be indicated of MBMS service support for reduced capability WTRUs as part of the MBMS Feature Requirement List which is part of the USD. For example, a low-cost WTRU may subscribe to a MBMS service if the requirements indicate that reduced capability and/or reduced bandwidth feature is supported by that low-cost WTRU), the combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to at least one indication indicating support for all or at least some reduced capability terminal devices for the MBS.
However, Huang, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches (a) at least one indication indicating support for all or at least some reduced capability terminal devices for the MBS ( see Huang ¶[0044], a network entity may indicate a bandwidth of the MBS transmission and the UE may implicitly determine that a quantity of repetitions of the MBS transmission may be transmitted by the network entity ).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Huang's above teachings in order to improve the utilization of the reduced capabilities of the UE, offering improved communications quality and reliability (see Huang ¶[0044] ). Known work in one field of endeavor (Huang prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Lee prior art) based on design incentives ( improve the utilization of the reduced capabilities of the UE, offering improved communications quality and reliability) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Independent claim 20 recites the similar limitations of claim 1, and is thus rejected under the similar rationale (Lee discloses methods, systems, and apparatuses that support transmissions in wireless transmit and receive units (WTRUs) having reduced capabilities (see Lee Abstract; ¶[0015])).
Independent claim 21 recites the similar limitations of claim 1, and is thus rejected under the similar rationale (Lee discloses a computer readable medium that stores instruction thereon, that are executed by a processor ( see ¶[0148] ).
Claim(s) 2, 10, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Gummadi in view of Huang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Baek (US 2024/0040661 A1), IDS submitted on 10/13/2025, hereinafter referred to as Baek.
Regarding claim 2, Lee, Gummadi, Huang combination teaches the limitations of claim 1. The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to wherein the service announcement comprises at least one frequency selection area identity, FSAI, associated with the MBS and the at least one indication indicating that the at least one FSAI is defined for reduced capability terminal devices, and/or the service announcement comprises at least one frequency associated with the MBS and the at least one indication indicating that the at least one frequency is defined for reduced capability terminal devices, the performing of the cell reselection process being further based on the at least one FSAI and/or the at least one frequency.
However, Baek, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the service announcement comprises at least one frequency selection area identity, FSAI, associated with the MBS and the at least one indication indicating that the at least one FSAI is defined for reduced capability terminal devices ( Baek discloses the MBS service announcement includes MBS frequency selection area ID, along with primary TMGI (see ¶[0112]), whereby the primary TMGI information is associated with reduced resource usage and legacy hardware support, based on ¶[0048]- ¶[0050] and ¶[0097]), and/or the service announcement comprises at least one frequency associated with the MBS and the at least one indication indicating that the at least one frequency is defined for reduced capability terminal devices, the performing of the cell reselection process being further based on the at least one FSAI and/or the at least one frequency. (Note: The limitations of claim 2 are written in the alternative “and/or”. Therefore, it is sufficient to show that the applied reference teaches one of the alternative limitations).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Baek's above teachings in order to efficiently perform broadcast data transmission (see Baek ¶[0044] ).
Regarding claim 10, Lee, Gummadi, Huang, and Baek combination teaches: The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the service announcement comprises the at least one FSAI and the at least one indication indicating that the at least one FSAI is defined for reduced capability terminal devices ( Baek discloses the MBS service announcement includes MBS frequency selection area ID, along with primary TMGI (see ¶[0112]), whereby the primary TMGI information is associated with reduced resource usage and legacy hardware support, based on ¶[0048]- ¶[0050] and ¶[0097]; Lee discloses WTRU is a reduced capability terminal, based on abstract, ¶[0136]) and the at least one memory and the instructions are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform:
receiving, in said at least one message following the service announcement (Note: Examiner has given non-patentable weight because this limitation further narrows a non-chosen alternative feature of claim 1 (i.e., at least one message following the service announcement)), a mapping between the at least one FSAI defined in the service announcement and at least one frequency; and performing the cell reselection process further based on the mapping.
Regarding claim 17, Lee, Gummadi, and Huang combination teaches the limitations of claim 1. The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to the service announcement indicates at least one FSAI associated with the MBS session or at least one frequency associated with the MBS session, wherein the performing of the cell reselection process is further based on the service announcement.
However, Baek, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the service announcement indicates at least one FSAI associated with the MBS session or at least one frequency associated with the MBS session ( The MBS service announcement may include a part or all of a broadcast service ID, primary TMGI information, NG-RAN location information, an MBS frequency selection area ID (see ¶[0112]) ), wherein the performing of the cell reselection process is further based on the service announcement (As a result of the service announcement, the terminal undergoes an update to a new TMGI (which is associated different RAN based on ¶[0012], ¶[0015]) based on ¶[0112]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Baek's above teachings in order to efficiently perform broadcast data transmission (see Baek ¶[0044] ).
Claim(s) 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Gummadi in view of Huang in view of Baek as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Sha et al. (US 2026/0032706 A1), hereinafter referred to as Sha.
Regarding claim 3, Lee, Gummadi, Huang, and Baek combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the apparatus is a reduced capability terminal device ( see Lee Abstract, ¶[0015], ¶[0136] ); and wherein performing of the cell reselection process comprises: prioritizing, in the cell reselection process, frequencies associated with the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices.
The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to wherein performing of the cell reselection process comprises: prioritizing, in the cell reselection process, frequencies associated with the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices.
However, Sha, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: wherein performing of the cell reselection process comprises: prioritizing, in the cell reselection process, frequencies associated with the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices (see Sha Abstract, receiving indication information from a network device, where the indication information indicates whether a first cell can provide a broadcast service for a first-type terminal device, a frequency of the first cell is the first frequency, and the first-type terminal device is a reduced capability terminal device; and determining, based on the indication information, whether the first frequency is a high-priority frequency for cell reselection; ¶[0008], The REDCAP terminal device determines, by using the received indication information, whether the first cell can provide the broadcast service for the first-type terminal device, to determine whether to use the first frequency as the high-priority frequency for cell reselection, and preferentially reselect the first cell of the first frequency ).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Sha's above teachings in order to ensure MBS service continuity and improve communication quality (see Sha, ¶[0005]).
Regarding claim 4, Lee, Gummadi, Huang, and Baek combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the apparatus is a reduced capability terminal device ( see Lee Abstract, ¶[0015], ¶[0136] ); and wherein the service announcement further comprises one or more FSAIs or one or more frequencies without any indication indicating that the one or more FSAIs or the one or more frequencies are defined for reduced capability terminal device; and wherein performing of the cell reselection process comprises: prioritizing, in the cell reselection process, the frequencies associated with the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices at least over frequencies associated with the one or more FSAIs or one or more frequencies which are not indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices.
The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to the service announcement further comprises one or more FSAIs or one or more frequencies without any indication indicating that the one or more FSAIs or the one or more frequencies are defined for reduced capability terminal device; and wherein performing of the cell reselection process comprises: prioritizing, in the cell reselection process, the frequencies associated with the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices at least over frequencies associated with the one or more FSAIs or one or more frequencies which are not indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices.
However, Sha, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: wherein the service announcement further comprises one or more FSAIs or one or more frequencies without any indication indicating that the one or more FSAIs or the one or more frequencies are defined for reduced capability terminal device (see Sha Abstract, receiving indication information from a network device, where the indication information indicates whether a first cell can provide a broadcast service for a first-type terminal device, a frequency of the first cell is the first frequency, and the first-type terminal device is a reduced capability terminal device; and determining, based on the indication information, whether the first frequency is a high-priority frequency for cell reselection); and wherein performing of the cell reselection process comprises: prioritizing, in the cell reselection process, the frequencies associated with the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices at least over frequencies associated with the one or more FSAIs or one or more frequencies which are not indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices (see Sha Abstract, receiving indication information from a network device, where the indication information indicates whether a first cell can provide a broadcast service for a first-type terminal device, a frequency of the first cell is the first frequency, and the first-type terminal device is a reduced capability terminal device; and determining, based on the indication information, whether the first frequency is a high-priority frequency for cell reselection; ¶[0008], The REDCAP terminal device determines, by using the received indication information, whether the first cell can provide the broadcast service for the first-type terminal device, to determine whether to use the first frequency as the high-priority frequency for cell reselection, and preferentially reselect the first cell of the first frequency; ¶[0333] and ¶[0336]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Sha's above teachings in order to ensure MBS service continuity and improve communication quality ( see Sha, ¶[0005]).
Regarding claim 5, Lee, Gummadi, Huang, and Baek combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the apparatus is a non reduced capability terminal device (Lee discloses that the WTRU may be a normal WTRU that is not restricted to the MBS service, based on ¶[0135] ), the service announcement further comprises one or more FSAIs or one or more frequencies without any indication indicating that the one or more FSAIs or the one or more frequencies are defined for reduced capability terminal device; and wherein the performing of the cell reselection process comprises: prioritizing, in the cell reselection process, frequencies associated with the one or more FSAIs or the one or more frequencies without being indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices over frequencies associated with the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices.
The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to the service announcement further comprises one or more FSAIs or one or more frequencies without any indication indicating that the one or more FSAIs or the one or more frequencies are defined for reduced capability terminal device; and wherein the performing of the cell reselection process comprises: prioritizing, in the cell reselection process, frequencies associated with the one or more FSAIs or the one or more frequencies without being indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices over frequencies associated with the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices.
However, Sha, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: the service announcement further comprises one or more FSAIs or one or more frequencies without any indication indicating that the one or more FSAIs or the one or more frequencies are defined for reduced capability terminal device (see Sha Abstract, receiving indication information from a network device, where the indication information indicates whether a first cell can provide a broadcast service for a first-type terminal device, a frequency of the first cell is the first frequency, and the first-type terminal device is a reduced capability terminal device; and determining, based on the indication information, whether the first frequency is a high-priority frequency for cell reselection); and wherein the performing of the cell reselection process comprises: prioritizing, in the cell reselection process, frequencies associated with the one or more FSAIs or the one or more frequencies without being indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices over frequencies associated with the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices (see Sha Abstract, receiving indication information from a network device, where the indication information indicates whether a first cell can provide a broadcast service for a first-type terminal device, a frequency of the first cell is the first frequency, and the first-type terminal device is a reduced capability terminal device; and determining, based on the indication information, whether the first frequency is a high-priority frequency for cell reselection; ¶[0008], The REDCAP terminal device determines, by using the received indication information, whether the first cell can provide the broadcast service for the first-type terminal device, to determine whether to use the first frequency as the high-priority frequency for cell reselection, and preferentially reselect the first cell of the first frequency; ¶[0333] and ¶[0336]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Sha's above teachings in order to ensure MBS service continuity and improve communication quality (see Sha, ¶[0005]).
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Gummadi in view of Huang in view of Baek as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Santhanam et al. (US 2025/0031100 A1), IDS submitted on 10/13/2025, hereinafter referred to as Santhanam.
Regarding claim 6, Lee, Gummadi, Huang, and Baek combination teaches the limitation of claim 2. The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to wherein the service announcement further comprises, for at least one of the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency, information on at least one bandwidth limitation condition with which the at least one FSAI or at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices complies.
However, Santhanam in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the service announcement further comprises, for at least one of the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency, information on at least one bandwidth limitation condition with which the at least one FSAI or at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices complies ( see Santhanam FIG. 10, steps 1002 and 1008; a reduced capability UE determines, based on a received SIB1, the New Radio (NR) frequencies associated with a cell, along with the bandwidth threshold, such as 20MHz, that said reduced capability UE is limited to, based on ¶[0112]- ¶[0121] ).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Santhanam's above teachings in order to facilitate better compatibility between RedCap UEs and network nodes that may not have been upgraded to support the RedCap features (see Santhanam ¶[0111] ).
Regarding claim 7, Lee, Gummadi, Huang, and Baek combination teaches the limitations of claim 2. The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to wherein the service announcement further comprises, for at least one of the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency, information on at least one bandwidth limitation condition with which the at least one FSAI or at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices complies; and wherein the at least one bandwidth limitation condition comprises a condition for a bandwidth size and/or condition for a type of a reduced capacity terminal device.
However, Santhanam, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the service announcement further comprises, for at least one of the at least one FSAI or the at least one frequency, information on at least one bandwidth limitation condition with which the at least one FSAI or at least one frequency indicated as defined for reduced capability terminal devices complies; and wherein the at least one bandwidth limitation condition comprises a condition for a bandwidth size and/or condition for a type of a reduced capacity terminal device ( see Santhanam FIG. 10, steps 1002 and 1008; a reduced capability UE determines, based on a received SIB1, the New Radio (NR) frequencies associated with a cell, along with the bandwidth threshold, such as 20MHz, that said reduced capability UE is limited to, based on ¶[0112]- ¶[0121] ).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Santhanam's above teachings in order to facilitate better compatibility between RedCap UEs and network nodes that may not have been upgraded to support the RedCap features ( see Santhanam ¶[0111] ).
Claim(s) 11-13 and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Gummadi in view of Huang as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Sha.
Regarding claim 11, Lee, Gummadi, Huang combination teaches the limitation of claim 1. The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to receiving neighbor cell frequency information comprising a mapping between at least one neighbor cell frequency and at least one FSAI for at least one MBS session of the MBS, wherein a neighbor cell frequency is an operational frequency of a neighbor cell of a serving cell of the apparatus and the performing of the cell reselection is further based on the neighbor cell frequency information,
wherein at least one message following the service announcement comprises the at least one indication indicating, per at least one neighbor cell, support for said all or at least some reduced capability terminal devices for the MBS in terms of support for the at least one FSAI or the at least one MBS session.
However, Sha, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to further perform: receiving neighbor cell frequency information comprising a mapping between at least one neighbor cell frequency and at least one FSAI for at least one MBS session of the MBS, wherein a neighbor cell frequency is an operational frequency of a neighbor cell of a serving cell of the apparatus and the performing of the cell reselection is further based on the neighbor cell frequency information ( see Sha, ¶[0177], a base station sends SIB21 to the terminal device, and provides a mapping relationship between a frequency and an MBS service by using SIB21. SIB21 carries MBS frequency selection area identities (MBS FSAI) of a current frequency and a neighboring frequency. The MBS FSAI identifies an area in which an MBS broadcast service is provided, for example, a group of cells. The terminal device may obtain a user service description (USD) from an application layer or a service layer of the terminal device. The USD includes an identifier (for example, a TMGI), a frequency, and one or more MBS FSAIs of an MBS broadcast session that the terminal device is interested in. For a broadcast session or a broadcast service, if the terminal device determines that the MBS FSAIs in SIB21 include an MBS FSAI that is in the USD and that the terminal device is interested in, the terminal device considers that a corresponding frequency in SIB21 can provide the broadcast service that the terminal device is interested in. During cell reselection, if the terminal device is interested in receiving or is receiving broadcast, and can receive an MBS broadcast service only after camping on a specific frequency (assuming a frequency A), the terminal device considers the frequency (the frequency A) as a high-priority frequency for cell reselection when the following two conditions are met ),
wherein at least one message following the service announcement comprises the at least one indication indicating, per at least one neighbor cell, support for said all or at least some reduced capability terminal devices for the MBS in terms of support for the at least one FSAI or the at least one MBS session (see Sha ¶[0177], a base station sends SIB21 to the terminal device, and provides a mapping relationship between a frequency and an MBS service by using SIB21. SIB21 carries MBS frequency selection area identities (MBS FSAI) of a current frequency and a neighboring frequency. The MBS FSAI identifies an area in which an MBS broadcast service is provided, for example, a group of cells. The terminal device may obtain a user service description (USD) from an application layer or a service layer of the terminal device. The USD includes an identifier (for example, a TMGI), a frequency, and one or more MBS FSAIs of an MBS broadcast session that the terminal device is interested in. For a broadcast session or a broadcast service, if the terminal device determines that the MBS FSAIs in SIB21 include an MBS FSAI that is in the USD and that the terminal device is interested in, the terminal device considers that a corresponding frequency in SIB21 can provide the broadcast service that the terminal device is interested in. During cell reselection, if the terminal device is interested in receiving or is receiving broadcast, and can receive an MBS broadcast service only after camping on a specific frequency (assuming a frequency A), the terminal device considers the frequency (the frequency A) as a high-priority frequency for cell reselection when the following two conditions are met ).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Sha's above teachings in order to ensure MBS service continuity and improve communication quality ( see Sha, ¶[0005]).
Regarding claim 12, Lee, Gummadi, Huang, and Sha combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one indication indicates, per at least one neighbor cell, at least one of: whether reduced capability terminal devices are supported for the at least one FSAI or the at least one MBS session ( see Sha ¶[0177] ), at least one type of reduced capability terminal device supported for the at least one FSAI or the at least one MBS session, or at least one size of common frequency resources, CFRs, usable for the at least one FSAI or the at least one MBS session ( see Sha ¶[0009]- ¶[0010] ).
Regarding claim 13, Lee, Gummadi, Huang, and Sha combination teaches: The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the apparatus is a reduced capability terminal device ( see Lee Abstract, ¶[0015], ¶[0136] ).
Regarding claim 18, Lee, Gummadi, Huang combination teaches the limitations of claim 1. The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to wherein the at least one message is or comprises a system information block 21, SIB21, message.
However, Sha, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one message is or comprises a system information block 21, SIB21, message ( see Sha ¶[0177], a base station sends SIB21 to the terminal device, and provides a mapping relationship between a frequency and an MBS service by using SIB21. SIB21 carries MBS frequency selection area identities (MBS FSAI) of a current frequency and a neighboring frequency; ¶[0181], ¶[0207]).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Guo's above teachings in order to maintain service continuity for broadcast and multicast service receptions and improve communication quality ( see Sha ¶[0005] ).
Regarding claim 19, Lee, Gummadi, Huang combination teaches the limitations of claim 1. The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to operating in a radio resource control, RRC, idle or inactive state during the performing of the cell reselection process.
However, Sha, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform: operating in a radio resource control, RRC, idle or inactive state during the performing of the cell reselection process ( see Sha ¶[0173], A terminal device may perform cell reselection in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state; ¶[0190], The terminal device may perform cell reselection in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, and preferentially select a frequency at which the terminal device is interested in receiving an MBS as a high-priority frequency for cell reselection ).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Guo's above teachings in order to maintain service continuity for broadcast and multicast service receptions and improve communication quality (see Sha ¶[0005] ).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 8, 14-16 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.
Baek (US 2025/0212295 A1) discloses a method for providing broadcast service.
Shrivasta et al. (US 2023/0209315 A1) discloses methods for handling user equipment (UE) capability information and assistance information during a Multicast Broadcast Service (MBS) in a wireless communication system by a UE
Jeong et al. (US 2025/0279948 A1) discloses method and device for broadcasting qoe configuration in wireless communication system
Jung (US 2026/0095825 A1) discloses prioritization for cell reselection in a wireless communication system
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/MANG BOI THAWNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2476 /AYAZ R SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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