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) were submitted on 21 January 2025, 2 May 2025, and 6 February 2026. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by 3GPP R3-222351 “(TP for RA-SDT BL CR for TS 38.4243/463) Toward the completion of RA-SDT” (hereinafter referred to as “3GPP”). Note: 3GPP was cited by the applicant in the IDS received 2 May 2025.
As to claim 1, 3GPP teaches a network node configured to operate as a first node in a communications network for a user device initiating a small data transmission communication session through a receiving node in the communications network (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1), the network node comprises:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory storing processor-executable code;
wherein the processor executes the processor-executable code which cause the network node to:
receive a request from the receiving node (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: anchor/last serving gNB receives UE context request from new/receiving gNB); and
send a message to the receiving node, wherein the message comprises an indication of small data transmission configuration information for the user device (§§XX.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: anchor/last serving gNB transmits retrieve UE context response to new/receiving gNB as part of SDT context transfer).
As to claim 2, 3GPP teaches the network node as claimed in claim 1, wherein the message is a RETRIEVE UE CONTEXT RESPONSE message (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1).
As to claim 3, 3GPP teaches the network node as claimed in claim 1, wherein the message comprises user equipment (UE) context information, and the UE context information comprises the indication of small data transmission configuration information for the user device (§§XX.2, 2.2.2-2.2.3, and XX.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1).
As to claim 4, 3GPP teaches the network node as claimed in claim 3, wherein the UE context information comprises an access stratum configuration (AS-Config) field and an access stratum context (AS-Context) field, the AS-Config field comprises the indication of small data transmission configuration information for the user device (§§XX.2, 2.2.2-2.2.3, and XX.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1).
As to claim 5, 3GPP teaches the network node as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first node is a source node in the communication network (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1).
As to claim 6, 3GPP teaches the network node as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first node is a last serving node that maintains the small data transmission configuration information for the user device in the communications network (§§XX.2 and 2.2.1-2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1).
As to claim 7, 3GPP teaches the network node as claimed in claim 1, wherein the request from the receiving node is part of an XnAP Retrieve UE Context procedure (§§XX.2, 2.2.1-2.2.3, and 2.5; figures XX.2-1 and 1).
As to claim 8, 3GPP teaches a network node configured to operate as a receiving node in a communications network for a user device initiating a small data transmission communication session through a target node (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1), the network node comprises:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory storing processor-executable code;
wherein the processor executes the processor-executable code which cause the network node to:
receive a request from the user device for the network node to operate as the receiving node for the small data transmission communication session (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: new/receiving node receives RRC resume request with UL SDT data/SDT signaling);
send a request to a first node in the communications network for context information for the user device (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: anchor/last serving gNB receives UE context request from new/receiving gNB); and
receive a message from the first node comprising the context information for the user device, wherein the context information comprises an indication of small data transmission configuration information for the user device (§§XX.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: anchor/last serving gNB transmits retrieve UE context response to new/receiving gNB as part of SDT context transfer).
As to claim 9, claim 9 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
As to claim 10, claim 10 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As to claim 11, claim 11 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As to claim 12, 3GPP teaches the network node as claimed in claim 8, wherein the network node is configured to operate as the receiving node for the user device after relocating the context information for the user device from the first node to the network node (§§XX.2, 2.2.4, and 2.5; figure XX.2-1).
As to claim 13, 3GPP teaches a system, comprising a first network node and a second network node, wherein the first network node is configured to operate as a first node in a communications network for a user device initiating a small data transmission communication session through a receiving node in the communications network, and the second network node is configured to operate as the receiving node (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1),
wherein the second network node is configured to:
receive a request from the user device for the second network node to operate as the receiving node for the small data transmission communication session (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: new/receiving node receives RRC resume request with UL SDT data/SDT signaling);
send a request to the first network node in the communications network for context information for the user device (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: anchor/last serving gNB receives UE context request from new/receiving gNB); and
receive a message from the first node comprising the context information for the user device, wherein the context information comprises an indication of small data transmission configuration information for the user device; (§§XX.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: anchor/last serving gNB transmits retrieve UE context response to new/receiving gNB as part of SDT context transfer)
wherein the first network node is configured to:
receive the request from the second network node which is the receiving node (§§XX.2 and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: anchor/last serving gNB receives UE context request from new/receiving gNB); and
send the message to the second network node (§§XX.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, and 2.2.3; figures XX.2-1 and 1: anchor/last serving gNB transmits retrieve UE context response to new/receiving gNB as part of SDT context transfer).
As to claim 14, claim 14 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
As to claim 15, claim 15 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As to claim 16, claim 16 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As to claim 17, claim 17 is rejected the same way as claim 6.
As to claim 18, claim 18 is rejected the same way as claim 12.
As to claim 19, claim 19 is rejected the same way as claim 7.
As to claim 20, claim 20 is rejected the same way as claim 7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Xu et al. “Further Improvement of NR RRC Inactive for Small Data Transmission”
Latheef et al. “On the UE Context Retrieval Enhancements for Improved Inter-RAT Mobility”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN T VAN ROIE whose telephone number is (571)270-0308. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian N Moore can be reached at 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN T VAN ROIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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