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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application no.
CN202210330976.X filed in PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA on 03/30/2022. It is noted that the applicant has filed a certified copy of the application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/30/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 19-31 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Independent Claims 19, 22, 26, and 28 recite a machine claim, “A transmitting/receiving apparatus . . .” and a list of devices (i.e. a processor, non-transitory storage medium) in the preamble. However, the body of the claim recites the action steps: “generate / send / receive suspension information, . . . “. Accordingly, for clarity and placing the claims in proper machine claim form, Claim 19 and 26, preamble “A transmitting apparatus, applied to a base station, comprising a processor. . .” should read - - A transmitting apparatus, applied to a base station, comprising: a processor. . . - - - and Claim 22 and 28, preamble “A receiving apparatus, applied to a user equipment (UE), comprising. . .” should read - - A receiving apparatus, applied to a user equipment (UE), comprising: - - - . (see MPEP 2106.03, section I1 ; MPEP 2173.05(p), section II2)
Claims 20-21, 23-25, 27, 29-30 are objected to by virtue of their dependency (directly or indirectly) on Claims 19, 22, 26 and 28.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 3-4, 10-12, 20 and 24 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.
Claims 3-4, 10-12, 20 and 24 recite the conditional limitation "if." The use of the conditional term "if" introduces ambiguity regarding the boundaries of the claimed invention. It creates a choice between alternative steps or structural configurations without clearly defining which path is required for infringement. Under MPEP 2111.04, conditional limitations are treated as "contingent limitations."
Therefore, Claims 3-4, 10-12, 20 and 24 are indefinite.
Further, Claim 4 recites the limitations as filed below, that appear unclear/ambiguous.
. . . “in the case where the bit is assigned a value of 0, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS not to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit, in the case where the bit is assigned a value of 1, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit.” . . .
The relationship between the aforementioned limitations appear unclear/ambiguous, absent a proper indication of the relationship of the two limitations. For example, whether there is a joinder of “and” or “or” or other equivalent between the limitations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claim is directed to a signal per se and does not recite a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. When the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) encompasses transitory forms of signal transmission, a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 as failing to claim statutory subject matter would be appropriate. However, in the interest of compact prosecution, examination will continue as if Claim 31 were amended to include the recitation “non-transitory.”"
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.
Claims 1-13, 19-25 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by YU et al (US 20250008437 A1), hereinafter YU.
Regarding Claim 1, YU teaches a multicast/broadcast service (MBS) processing method (YU, Abstract; ¶0025, method of multicast BRBs configured for multicast MBS; see also ¶¶0142-0145), comprising:
a base station generating suspension information (YU, ¶0039; ¶0309-0316, Base Station (BS)) packages suspension information/data inside a RRCRelease message using suspendConfig parameters, interpreted to correspond to “generating suspension information”)) and sending the suspension information to a user equipment (UE) (YU, ¶0040 FIG. 5, at S5201/S5202 ¶0401, second node/BS (“a base station”) transmitting first/second message to UE/first node U01),
wherein the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE to suspend all radio bearers associated with a MBS (YU, FIG. 6, ¶0485, ¶0488, second message [to UE] indicates to suspend states of all radio bearers; see also.), or is configured to instruct the UE not to suspend all the radio bears associated with the MBS (YU, FIG. 6, ¶0484, ¶0488, FIG. 6, second message [to UE] indicates to maintain states of all radio bearers, examiner interprets maintain to correspond to “not to suspend”), or is configured to instruct the UE to suspend some of all the radio bearers associated with the MBS and not to suspend the remaining radio bearers among all the radio bearers (YU, FIG. 7, ¶0522-¶0528, Embodiment 7, ¶0528 all radio bearers in a target radio bearer subset are maintained, and all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set other than the radio bearers in the target radio bearer subset are suspended; examiner interpreted targeted radio bearers to correspond to “some of all the radio bearers”) [and], wherein, each radio bearer associated with the MBS is a multicast/broadcast radio bearer (MRB) (YU, ¶0025, the target radio bearer set being all multicast MRBs configured for multicast MBS; see also ¶0092; ¶0108; ¶0145).
Regarding Claim 2, YU teaches Claim 1.
YU further teaches all the MRBs of the UE receiving the MBS include all the MRBs currently established by the UE or all the MRBs currently activated by the UE (YU, ¶0025; see also ¶0145, all bearers in target set are multicast MRBs; ¶0198 the target radio bearer set includes all DRBs configured for the first node.).
Regarding Claim 3, YU teaches Claim 1.
YU further teaches a total number of bits of the suspension information is 1 bit (YU, ¶0517-¶0518, the second message comprises 1 bit; the second message occupies 1 bit), and the 1 bit is assigned with a value of 0 or 1 (YU, ¶0511 the first value is different from the second value [and] ¶0512 the first value is 1, and the second value is 0);
if the 1 bit is assigned a value of 0, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend all MRBs of the UE (see also MPEP 2111.04, §112 rejection YU, ¶0511 the second message is set to a second value indicates suspending of all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set;),
if the 1 bit is assigned a value of 1, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE not to suspend all MRBs of the UE (see also MPEP 2111.04, YU, ¶0511 the second message is set to a first value indicates maintaining of the states of all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set; see also ¶0145, all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set are multicast MRBs); or
if the 1 bit is assigned a value of 0, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS not to suspend all MRBs of the UE, if the 1 bit is assigned a value of 1, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend all MRBs of the UE.
Regarding Claim 4, YU teaches Claim 1.
YU further teaches a total number of bits of the suspension information is the number of all MRBs of the UE, (YU, ¶0619-0651, Embodiment 11, as shown in FIG. 11, including but not limited to ¶0620 the second message comprises a bit string, the bit string indicating whether to maintain a state of each radio bearer in the target radio bearer set; ¶0634-0644, mapping; see also ¶0092-0102; ¶0146) and each bit is assigned a value of 0 or 1 (YU, ¶0625, the second message comprises a bit string, the bit string indicating whether to maintain a state of each radio bearer in the target radio bearer set;¶0626 the one bit in the one bit string being set to 1 indicates maintenance of the state of the one radio bearer; the one bit in the one bit string being set to 0 indicates suspense of the one radio bearer; or ¶0628,the one bit in the one bit string being set to 0 indicates maintenance of the state of the one radio bearer; the one bit in the one bit string being set to 1 indicates suspense of the one radio bearer)
the bits in the suspension information correspond, in the order from the most significant bit to the least significant bit or from the least significant bit to the most significant bit, one-to-one with all MRBs in ascending or descending order of MRB identifiers (ID) (YU, ¶0625, one bit in the one bit string corresponds to a radio bearer identifier for one radio bearer, and the value of the one bit in the one bit string is used to indicate whether the state of the one radio bearer is maintained / “one-to-one”; see also ¶0633 ascending order of MRB IDs);
for each bit in the suspension information: if the bit is assigned a value of 0, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit (see also MPEP 2111.04, §112 rejection YU, ¶0511 the second message is set to a second value indicates suspending of all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set; see also ¶0631-0632);
if the bit is assigned a value of 1, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS not to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit (see also MPEP 2111.04, YU, ¶0511 the second message is set to a first value indicates maintaining of the states of all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set; see also ¶0145, all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set are multicast MRBs); or
in the case where the bit is assigned a value of 0, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS not to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit, [see §112 rejection]
in the case where the bit is assigned a value of 1, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit.
Regarding Claim 5, YU teaches Claim 1. YU further teaches the suspension information includes at least one MRB ID (YU, ¶0092, the target radio bearer set includes Q2 multicast MRBs, each of the Q2 multicast MRBs being indicated by a multicast MRB identifier; ¶0102, a multicast MRB identifier is indicated by an MRB-Identity, see also 112 rejection), and the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend the MRB corresponding to each MRB ID of the at least one MRB ID. (YU, ¶0102, a multicast MRB identifier is indicated by an MRB-Identity, see also 112 rejection).
Regarding Claim 6, YU teaches Claim 1.
YU further teaches the suspension information is included in a Radio Resource Control Release (RRCRelease) message; or the suspension information is included in SuspendConfig information; or the suspension information is carried by control signalling, wherein the control signalling is Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signalling, Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer signalling, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer signalling, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer signalling, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer signalling, or Physical layer (PHY) signalling (YU, ¶0130, the first message is a suspendConfig field in an RRCRelease message; ¶0231, the second message is the same as the first message; ¶0233, the second message is a field in the first message).
Regarding Claim 7, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 1 and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 8, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 6 and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 6.
Regarding Claims 9 -11, the claims disclose similar features of Claims 2-4, respectively and are rejected based on the same rationales of Claims 1-4.
Regarding Claim 12, YU teaches claim 7.
YU further teaches the UE performing one of the following according to the suspension information: suspending all radio bearers; not suspending all radio bearers; suspending some of all the radio bearers and not suspending the remaining radio bearers among all the radio bearers, comprises: if the suspension information includes at least one MRB ID, the UE suspending the MRB corresponding to each MRB ID of the at least one MRB ID (YU,¶0489, the second message (“suspension information”) indicates suspending all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set; illustrated in ¶0078 target radio bearer set includes the Q1 radio bearers [and] ¶0301 Q1 is equal to 0, as a response to the first message being received, suspending all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set.)
Regarding Claim 13, YU teaches claim 7.
YU further teaches the UE enters a RRC_INACTIVE state (YU, disclosed throughout; including but not limited to FIG.1; ¶0004, [s]ince being in the RRC inactive state is power-efficient for the UE, how to make the UE to enter the RRC inactive state in advance as it performs data transmission needs to be enhanced; ¶0016 a problem to be solved in the present application includes: how to support the maintenance of the radio bearer's state when the UE enters RRC inactive state; ¶0018 a problem to be solved . . how to enable the UE to enter the RRC inactive state earlier while continuing data transmission; ¶0055 supporting the UE to enter the RRC inactive state in advance;¶0128 the first message is an RRCRelease message, the RRCRelease message being used to indicate entry into or maintenance of RRC inactive state; ¶0154 the RRC inactive state is RRC_INACTIVE state).
Regarding Claim 19, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 1, and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 1, in apparatus form (transmitting apparatus applied to a base station (YU, FIG. 2, ¶0306, ¶¶0309-0310, second node/node 203 is a Base Station (BS), may be called a base station, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a Base Service Set (BSS), an Extended Service Set (ESS), a Transmitter Receiver Point (TRP) or some other applicable term), comprising [:] a processor (YU, FIG. 4 controller/processor 475; FIG. 13, ¶0670 a processing device 1300) and a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions (YU, FIG. 4, ¶0380, second communication device/base station comprises a memory that stores a computer readable instruction program)).
Regarding Claim 20, YU teaches Claim 19.
YU further teaches all MRBs of the UE receiving the MBS include all MRBs currently established by the UE, or all MRBs currently activated by the UE (YU, ¶0025; see also ¶0145, all bearers in target set are multicast MRBs; ¶0198 the target radio bearer set includes all DRBs configured for the first node); wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to: generate the suspension information, wherein a total number of bits of the suspension information is 1 bit (YU, ¶0517-¶0518, the second message comprises 1 bit; the second message occupies 1 bit), and the 1 bit is assigned a value of 0 or 1 (YU, ¶0511 the first value is different from the second value [and] ¶0512 the first value is 1, and the second value is 0);
if the 1 bit is assigned a value of 0, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend all MRBs of the UE (see also MPEP 2111.04, §112 rejection; YU, ¶0511 the second message is set to a second value indicates suspending of all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set;), if the 1 bit is assigned a value of 1, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS not to suspend all MRBs of the UE (see also MPEP 2111.04; YU, ¶0511 the second message is set to a first value indicates maintaining of the states of all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set/ “not to suspend”; see also ¶0145, all radio bearers in the target radio bearer set are multicast MRBs); or
if the 1 bit is assigned a value of 0, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS not to suspend all MRBs of the UE; if the 1 bit is assigned a value of 1, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend all MRBs of the UE (see also MPEP 2111.04, §112 rejection); or
generate the suspension information, wherein a total number of bits of the suspension information is the number of all MRBs of the UE, and each bit is assigned a value of 0 or 1;
the bits in the suspension information correspond, in the order from the most significant bit to the least significant bit or from the least significant bit to the most significant bit, one-to-one with all MRBs in ascending or descending order of the MRB identifiers (ID);
for each bit in the suspension information:
if the bit is assigned a value of 0, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit, if the bit is assigned a value of 1, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS not to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit (see also MPEP 2111.04, §112 rejection); or
if the bit is assigned a value of 0, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS not to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit, if the bit is assigned a value of 1, the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend the MRB corresponding to the bit (see also MPEP 2111.04, §112 rejection); or
generate the suspension information, wherein the suspension information comprises at least one MRB ID, and the suspension information is configured to instruct the UE receiving the MBS to suspend the MRB corresponding to each MRB ID of the at least one MRB ID.
Regarding Claim 21, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 6, and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 6.
Regarding Claims 22 and 23, the claims disclose similar features of Claim 7 and 8, respectively, and are rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 7 and 8, in apparatus form (a receiving apparatus, applied to a user equipment (UE) (YU, ¶ a first node for wireless communications, comprising: [0049] a first receiver; FIG. 12, 1201)), comprising [:] a processor (¶0377and a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions (YU, FIG. 4, ¶0377, the first communication device 450 comprises at least one processor [and] ¶0378 a memory that stores a computer readable instruction program. see also ¶0696).
Regarding Claim 24, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 20, and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 20.
Regarding Claim 25, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 13, and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 13.
Regarding Claim 31, YU teaches claim 7.
YU further teaches a computer-readable storage medium, comprising a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a processor, the processor implements the method according to claim 7 (YU, ¶0696, all or part of steps in the above method may be implemented by instructing related hardware through a program . . .[t]he program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, for example Read-Only-Memory (ROM), hard disk or compact disc, etc.).
Claims 14-18 and 26-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by KIM et al (US 20230124420 A1) hereinafter KIM.
Regarding Claim 14, KIM teaches a multicast/broadcast service (MBS) processing method, comprising: a base station generating a Radio Resource Control Release (RRCRelease) message and sending the RRCRelease message to a user equipment (UE) (KIM, FIG. 1H ¶0132, is a flowchart of a procedure for supporting continuity of a broadcast service in an idle mode or an inactive mode, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; ¶0133, In operation 1h-15, a UE 1h-05 may receive, from an eNB 1h-10 / “a base station”, an RRCRelease message indicating switching to an idle mode or an inactive mode.), wherein the RRCRelease message includes SuspendConfig information, the RRCRelease message is configured to instruct the UE to suspend all radio bearers associated with the MBS; or the RRCRelease message is configured to instruct the UE not to suspend all radio bearers associated with the MBS; or the RRCRelease message is configured to instruct the UE to suspend some of all the radio bearers associated with the MBS and not to suspend the remaining radio bearers among all the radio bearers (KIM, FIG. 1H; ¶0133, at 1h-15, a UE 1h-05 may receive, from an eNB 1h-10/”a base station”, an RRCRelease message indicating switching to an idle mode or an inactive mode; [w]hen the RRCRelease message includes suspend configuration the UE 1h-05 may switch to an inactive mode [and] [t]he RRCRelease message may include a second indicator . . .[that] may be configured for all MBS DRBs or each MBS DRB; ¶0135, when Suspend Config is included in the RRCRelease message, normal PTP DRBs are suspended, and the MBS DRB for which the second indicator is configured is maintained and an MBS DRB otherwise is released); wherein, each radio bearer associated with the MBS is a multicast/broadcast radio bearer (MRB) (KIM, ¶0009, an MBS data radio bearer (DRB), i.e. interpreted to correspond to a “MRB”; ¶0133-0134 [t]he second indicator may be configured for all MBS DRBs or each MBS DRB [and] at 1h-20, when the second indicator is configured, the UE 1h-05 may maintain a MBS DRB and receive MBS even after RRC connection release, with respect to ALL MBS DRBS or the MBS DRB corresponding thereto).
Regarding Claim 15, KIM teaches claim 14.
KIM further teaches all the MRBs include at least one of the following: a broadcast service radio bearer; a multicast service radio bearer; a first type of MRB for transmitting data of the MBS; a second type of MRB for transmitting control information of the MBS; the MRBs currently established by the UE or the MRBs currently activated by the UE (KIM, ¶0133, RRCRelease message may include a second indicator [that] may be configured for all MBS DRBs).
Regarding Claims 16 and 17, the claims disclose similar features of Claim 14 and 15, respectively and are rejected based on the same rationales of Claims 14 and 15.
Regarding Claim 18, KIM teaches Claim 17.
KIM further teaches the UE enters a RRC_INACTIVE state (KIM, FIG. 1H, at 1h-15,¶0137 [w]hen the RRCRelease message includes suspend configuration, the UE 1h-05 may switch to an inactive mode, i.e. “enters an RRC_INACTIVE state”).
Regarding Claim 26 and 27, the claims disclose similar features of Claims 14 and 15, respectively and are rejected based on the same rationales of Claims 14 and 15 in apparatus form (KIM a transmitting apparatus applied to a base station (KIM, FIG. 1H, eNB 1h-10, “a base station”) comprising [:] a processor (KIM, ¶0152, the BS includes a RF processor 1k-10, baseband processor 1k-20, backhaul communicator 1k-30, and controller 1k-50) and a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions (KIM, ¶0159, a storage 1k-40, a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs (e.g., software modules)).
Regarding Claim 28 and 29, the claims disclose similar features of Claims 16 and 17, respectively and are rejected based on the same rationales of Claims 16 and 17, in apparatus form (KIM a receiving apparatus applied to a user equipment (UE)) (KIM, FIG. 1H, UE 1h-05) comprising [:] a processor (FIG. 1J, ¶0145, the UE may include a radio frequency (RF) processor 1j-10, baseband processor 1j-20, and controller 1j-40.) and a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions ((KIM, ¶0159, a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs (e.g., software modules)).
Regarding Claim 30, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 18 and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 18.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACY L WILLIAMS whose telephone number is 571-270-7694. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:30-5:30. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached at 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRACY L WILLIAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2465 /AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
1 A machine is a "concrete thing, consisting of parts, or of certain devices and combination of devices." Digitech, 758 F.3d at 1348-49, 111 USPQ2d at 1719 (quoting Burr v. Duryee, 68 U.S. 531, 570, 17 L. Ed. 650, 657 (1863)). This category "includes every mechanical device or combination of mechanical powers and devices to perform some function and produce a certain effect or result." Nuijten, 500 F.3d at 1355, 84 USPQ2d at 1501 (quoting Corning v. Burden, 56 U.S. 252, 267, 14 L. Ed. 683, 690 (1854)).
2 IPXL Holdings v. Amazon.com, Inc., 430 F.3d 1377, 1384, 77 USPQ2d 1140, 1145 (Fed. Cir. 2005)
Prosecution Insights