DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-2 and 4-20 are pending in Instant Application.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s claim to priority benefits of This application is a CON of PCT/CN2022/086104 filed 04/11/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 10/3/2024, 4/25/2025, 10/6/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 4 recites “ … for each combination of a BAP address and a BAP path identity, there should be at most one entry with the same first type indicator." in lines 2-3. For clarification, it is suggested to change to “… for each combination of a BAP address and a BAP path identity, there is at most one entry with the same first type indicator”.
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.
Claims 1-2, and 4-20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites in line 1, “An apparatus for configuring information, applicable to an IAB-node (integrated access and backhaul node) …”. However, none of the features re-cited by said claim re-cites any configuration of information. Further clarification is therefore required. Thus the claim is indefinite.
Claims 6 and 16 are also rejected for the same reason as set forth above for claim 1.
Claims 2, 4-5, 7-15 and 17-20 are also rejected since they are dependent on the respective independent claims 1, 6, and 16, respectively as set forth above.
For purpose of examination, the examiner interprets the limitation as best understood.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-2, 4-7, and 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huawei (Introduction of eIAB to TS 38.340, R2-2204249, 2022-03-11), and further in view of Zhu et al. (US Pub. No.: 2023/0247521).
As per claim 1, Huawei disclose An apparatus for configuring information (see 5.2.1.2.1, SAP routing ID selection at IAB-node), applicable to an IAB-node (integrated access and backhaul node) (see 5.2.1.2.1, at an IAB-node), the apparatus comprising:
a CPU (see 5.2.1.2.1, at an IAB-node with a CPU) configured to
match a topology in backhaul routing configuration indicated by a first type indicator with a topology to which a BAP (Backhaul Adaptation Protocol) data protocol data unit (PDU) belongs ("match" is implicitly disclosed in view of the highlighted passages in the passages of 12th page, section 5.2.1.3 Routing: "The BAP entity performs routing based on: - the BH Routing Configuration derived from an F1AP message as specified in TS 38.473 [5]. Each entry of the BH Routing Configuration contains:
- a BAP Routing ID consisting of a BAP address and a BAP path identity, which is indicated by BAP Routing ID IE, and
- a Next Hop BAP Address which is indicated by Next-Hop BAP Address IE
- a Type indicator, indicating whether the entry belongs to the non-Ft-terminating donor topology, which is indicated by Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE In the BH Routing Configuration. the entry configured with Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE applies to the BAP Data PDU considered as non-Ft-terminating donor topology data. and the entry not configured with Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE only a12Qlies to the BAP Data PDU not considered as non-Ft-terminating donor topology data).
Huawei however does not explicitly disclose the apparatus comprising: processor circuitry.
Zhu however disclose and IAB apparatus (see Fig 1F, Fig,2A, Fig. 5, the first network node (for example, an IAB node 3 shown in FIG. 1F), see para. 0189, 0298) comprising: processor circuitry (see Fig.5, para. 0296-0298, IAB node 3 / a communication apparatus 500 includes a processing module 510 / processor circuitry).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of an apparatus comprising: processor circuitry, as taught by Zhu, in the system of Huawei, so as to enable a flexible and convenient access and backhaul solution and reduce a data packet loss, see Zhu, paragraphs 0003-0005.
As per claim 2, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 1.
Huawei further disclose wherein, when a BAP entity needs to transmit the BAP data PDU, if a BAP address of an entry in the backhaul routing configuration matches a destination field, a path identity of the entry is identical to a path field of the BAP address, a topology, obtained by the first type indicator, of the entry is identical to a topology of the BAP data PDU and an egress link to which a next-hop BAP address of the entry corresponds is available, the egress link to which the next-hop BAP address corresponds is selected (see 12th page, section 5.2.1.3 Routing: "For a BAP Data PDU to be transmitted, BAP entity shall: {...] else if there is an entry in the BH Routing Configuration whose BAP address matches the
DESTINATION field, whose BAP path identity is the same as the PATH field, and whose egress link
corresponding to the Next Hop BAP Address is available: select the egress link corresponding to the
Next Hop BAP Address of the entry").
As per claim 4, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 1.
Huawei further disclose wherein, in the backhaul routing configuration, for each combination of a BAP address and a BAP path identity, there should be at most one entry with the same first type indicator (see 13th page, section 5.2.1.3 Routing: "NOTE 2: For each combination of a BAP address and a BAP path identity, there should be at most one entry in the BH Routing Configuration).
As per claim 5, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 1.
Huawei further disclose wherein, in the backhaul routing configuration, there are at least one entry of the same BAP address with the same first type indicator (see page 12, section 5.2.1.3: "Each entry
of the BH Routing Configuration contains:
- a BAP Routing ID consisting of a BAP address and a BAP path identity, which is indicated by BAP
Routing ID IE, and
- a Next Hop BAP Address which is indicated by Next-Hop BAP Address IE.
- a Type indicator, indicating whether the entry belongs to the non-Ft-terminating donor topology,
which is indicated by Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE
In the BH Routing Configuration, the entry configured with Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE
applies to the BAP Data PDU considered as non-Ft-terminating donor topology data, and the entry not
configured with Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE only applies to the BAP Data PDU not
considered as non-Ft-terminating donor topology data).
As per claim 6, Huawei disclose An apparatus for configuring information (see 5.2.1.2.1, SAP routing ID selection at IAB-node), applicable to an IAB-node (integrated access and backhaul node) ) (see 5.2.1.2.1, at an IAB-node), the apparatus comprising:
a CPU (see 5.2.1.2.1, at an IAB-node with a CPU) configured to receive uplink traffic to routing ID mapping configuration (see 11th page, section 5.2.1.2 BAP routing ID selection, sub-section 5.2.1.2 BAP routing ID selection at IAB node: "At an IAB-node, for a BAP SDU received from upper layers and to be transmitted in upstream direction, the BAP entity performs mapping to a BAP address and BAP path identity based on: - Uplink Traffic to Routing ID Mapping Configuration, which is derived
from F1AP on the JAB-node in TS 38.473 [5],
- defaultUL-BAP-RoutinglD, which is configured by RRC on the JAB-node in TS 38.331[3].
Each entry of the Uplink Traffic to Routing ID Mapping Configuration contains:
- a traffic type specifier, which is indicated by UL UP TNL Information IE for F1-U packets and
Non-UP Traffic Type IE for non-F1-U packets in TS
38.473 [5], and
- a BAP routing ID, which includes a BAP address and a BAP path identity, indicated by BAP Routing ID IE in BH Information IE in TS 38.473 [5]').
Huawei however does not explicitly disclose each entry of the configuration including a second type indicator, the second type indicator being used to indicate whether a BAP (Backhaul Adaptation Protocol) routing ID in the entry belongs to a non-F1-terminating donor topology.
Huawei however disclose, see 12th page section 5.2.1.3 Routing does disclose a, "Type indicator indicating whether the entry belongs to the non-Ft-terminating donor topology, which is indicated by
Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE" for each entry of a "BH routing configuration". The
skilled person when prompted by said hint would surely find the implementation of such a "Type
indicator" in a uplink to routing ID mapping configuration when selecting a BAP routing ID at
an IAB node to be an obvious implementation choice.
Huawei however does not explicitly disclose the apparatus comprising: processor circuitry.
Zhu however disclose and IAB apparatus (see Fig 1F, Fig,2A, Fig. 5, the first network node (for example, an IAB node 3 shown in FIG. 1F), see para. 0189, 0298) comprising: processor circuitry (see Fig.5, para. 0296-0298, IAB node 3 / a communication apparatus 500 includes a processing module 510 / processor circuitry) and each entry of the configuration including a second type indicator, the second type indicator being used to indicate whether a BAP (Backhaul Adaptation Protocol) routing ID in the entry belongs to a non-F1-terminating donor topology (see para. 0189, an IAB node 3 shown in FIG. 1F, are SDUs at a BAP layer that are received from an upper-layer protocol layer, after the topology update, for example, after S210A is performed, the first network node adds, based on the received new BAP layer configurations, header information of the BAP layer to these buffered SDUs (where the header information of the BAP layer includes a routing identifier (BAP routing ID) corresponding to a target path, the target path includes a target parent node (for example, an IAB node 1 shown in FIG. 1F), the BAP routing ID includes a BAP address (BAP address) and a BAP path identifier (BAP path ID), the BAP address in the BAP routing ID corresponding to the target path indicates a destination node of the BAP layer, that is, a target IAB donor (for example, a second donor node shown in FIG. 1F) or a target IAB donor DU (for example, an IAB donor DU 2 shown in FIG. 1F), and the BAP path ID indicates a transmission path between the first network node and the target IAB donor or the target IAB donor DU), indicate whether a BAP (Backhaul Adaptation Protocol) routing ID in the entry belongs to a non-F1-terminating donor topology).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of an apparatus comprising: processor circuitry, as taught by Zhu, in the system of Huawei, so as to enable a flexible and convenient access and backhaul solution and reduce a data packet loss, see Zhu, paragraphs 0003-0005.
As per claim 7, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 6.
Huawei further disclose wherein, the second type indicator is indicated by a non-F1-terminating IAB-donor topology indicator IE in F1 application protocol (F1AP) signaling (see page 12, section 5.2.1.3: "If the BH Routing Configuration has not been (re)configured by F1AP after the last (re)configuration of default UL-BH-RLC-Channel by RRC").
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huawei (Introduction of eIAB to TS 38.340, R2-2204249, 2022-03-11), in view of Zhu et al. (US Pub. No.: 2023/0247521) and further in view of Dress et al. (US Patent No.: 6,122,605).
As per claim 8, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 6.
The combination of Huawei and Zhu however does not explicitly disclose wherein, the second type indicator is a Boolean variable.
Dress however disclose wherein, a second type indicator is a Boolean variable (see para. 13, 93, 95, using a second type indicator is a Boolean variable / true or false).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein, a second type indicator is a Boolean variable, as taught by Dress, in the system of Huawei and Zhu, as to enable the use of a Boolean variable, see Dress, paragraph 13.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huawei (Introduction of eIAB to TS 38.340, R2-2204249, 2022-03-11), in view of Zhu et al. (US Pub. No.: 2023/0247521), in view of Dress et al. (US Patent No.: 6,122,605) and further in view of Canon (CANON RESEARCH CENTRE FRANCE: "Rel-17 BAP 1 Operations", 3GPP DRAFT; R2-2110343, 2021-10-21).
As per claim 9, the combination of Huawei, Zhu and Dress disclose the apparatus according to claim 8.
The combination of Huawei, Zhu and Dress however does not explicitly disclose wherein, if the entry is configured with a non-F1-terminating IAB-donor topology indicator in the F1AP signaling, the second type indicator is of a first value; and if the entry is not configured with a non-F1-terminating IAB-donor topology indicator in the F1AP signaling, the second type indicator is of a second value.
Canon however disclose wherein, if the entry is configured with a non-F1-terminating IAB-donor topology indicator in the F1AP signaling, the second type indicator is of a first value; and if the entry is not configured with a non-F1-terminating IAB-donor topology indicator in the F1AP signaling, the second type indicator is of a second value (see page 3 and 4, section 2.3, when a transit traffic is identified, then the
boundary node checks the BAP Routing ID mapping (or header rewriting configuration) to rewrite the
BAP header. For that, the boundary nodes looks for an entry matching the ingress topology and the
BAP Routing ID in the packet header. Also, with the BAP Routing ID mapping configuration, the
boundary node shall identify the egress topology associated to the new BAP Routing ID).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein, if the entry is configured with a non-F1-terminating IAB-donor topology indicator in the F1AP signaling, the second type indicator is of a first value; and if the entry is not configured with a non-F1-terminating IAB-donor topology indicator in the F1AP signaling, the second type indicator is of a second value, as taught by Canon, in the system of Huawei, Zhu and Dress, so that for DL traffic, the configurations of BAP routing entry and RAP-routing-ID mapping at the boundary node need to indicate the ingress topology they refer to, and for UL traffic, they need to indicate the egress topology they refer to, see Canon, page 1.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huawei (Introduction of eIAB to TS 38.340, R2-2204249, 2022-03-11), in view of Zhu et al. (US Pub. No.: 2023/0247521) and further in view of Palm et al. (US Pub. No.: 2006/0161663).
As per claim 10, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 6.
The combination of Huawei and Zhu however does not explicitly disclose wherein, the second type indicator is an enumerated variable and is used to indicate a topology type.
Palm however disclose wherein, a second type indicator is an enumerated variable and is used to indicate a topology type (see para. 0029, a second type indicator is an enumerated variable and is used to indicate a topology type / Traffic Class).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein, a second type indicator is an enumerated variable and is used to indicate a topology type, as taught by Palm, in the system of Huawei and Zhu, so as to assign priorities for different types of data packets on the network, see Palm paragraphs.
As per claim 13, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 6.
Huawei further disclose wherein, when a BAP service data unit (SDU) is received from an upper layer by the IAB-node and needs to be transmitted to an upstream direction, a BAP entity, according to the uplink traffic to routing ID mapping configuration, determines a topology to which data need to be transmitted (see page 13, section 5.2.1.4, in the BH Routing Configuration. the entry configured with Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE applies to the BAP Data PDU considered as non-Ft-terminating donor topology data. and the entry not configured with Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE only applies to the BAP Data PDU not considered as non-Ft-terminating donor topology data).
As per claim 14, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 13.
Huawei further disclose wherein, when the BAP service data unit (SDU) is received from the upper layer by the IAB-node and needs to be transmitted to the upstream direction, after the BAP entity selects an entry from the uplink traffic to routing ID mapping configuration according to a traffic type specifier to which the BAP SDU corresponds, the BAP entity determines a topology of a BAP data PDU (protocol data unit) to which the BAP SDU corresponds according to the second type indicator in the entry (see page 14, section 5.2.4.2: "For a BAP SDU received from upper layers at the /AB-node and to be transmitted in upstream direction, whose egress link has been selected as specified in clause 5.2.1.3, the BAP entity shall: - if the Uplink Traffic to BH RLC Channel Mapping Configuration has not been (re)configured by F1AP after the last (re)configuration of default UL-BH-RLC-Channel by RRC:
- select the egress BH RLC channel corresponding to default UL-BH-RLC-Channel configured in TS
38.331 [3] for non-F1-U packets;
- else:
- for the BAP SDU encapsulating an F1-U packet:
- if there is an entry in the Uplink Traffic to BH RLC Channel Mapping Configuration with its
traffic type specifier corresponds to the destination IP address and TEID of this BAP SDU and its
egress link ID corresponding to the selected egress link;
- select the egress BH RLC channel corresponding to the egress BH RLC channel ID of this entry).
As per claim 15, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 14.
Huawei further disclose wherein, if the second type indicator to which the selected entry corresponds indicates a non-F1-terminating topology, the BAP data PDU to which the BAP SDU corresponds is data to be routed to a non-F1-terminating donor topology; or if the second type indicator to which the selected entry corresponds indicates an F1-terminating topology, the BAP data PDU to which the BAP SDU corresponds is data to be routed to an F1-terminating donor topology (see page 14, section 5.2.4.2, … for
the BAP SDU encapsulating a non-F1-U packet: if there is an entry from the Uplink Traffic to BH RLC
Channel Mapping Configuration with its traffic type specifier corresponds to the traffic type of
this BAP SDU and its egress link ID corresponding to the selected egress link; select the egress BH
RLC channel corresponding to the egress BH RLC channel ID of this entry).
As per claim 16, Huawei disclose An apparatus for configuring information (see 5.2.1.2.1, SAP routing ID selection at IAB-node), applicable to an IAB-node (integrated access and backhaul node) ) (see 5.2.1.2.1, at an IAB-node), the apparatus comprising:
a CPU (see 5.2.1.2.1, at an IAB-node with a CPU) configured to
perform BH RLC (radio link control) channel mapping for BAP (Backhaul Adaptation Protocol) data packets from collocated BAP entities, or perform BH RLC channel mapping for a BAP SDU (service data unit) from an upper layer, according to topology information on a link to which a BH RLC channel belongs (see 13th page, section 5.2.1.4 Mapping to BH RLC CHannel, sub-section 5.2.1.4.1 Mapping to BH RLC Channel for BAP Data Packets from collocated BAP entity at IAB node: "For a BAP Data Packet received from the collocated BAP entity, the transmitting part of the BAP entity performs mapping to an egress BH RLC channel based on:
- BH RLC Channel Mapping Configuration, which is derived from BAP layer BH RLC channel mapping Information List IE, and optionally together with the Configured BAP address IE and the BH RLC Channel to be Setup/Modified List IE, as configured on the /AB-node in TS 38.473 [5],Each entry of the BH RLC Channel Mapping Configuration contains:
- an ingress link ID, which is indicated by Prior-Hop BAP Address IE, or by the Configured BAP
address IE in UE-associated F1AP message for upstream, belonging to topology indicated by Ingress Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE in F1AP,
- an egress link ID, which is indicated by Next-Hop BAP Address IE, or by the Configured BAP
address IE in UE-associated F1AP message for downstream, belonging to topology indicated by Egress Non-F1-terminating Topology Indicator IE in F1AP, - an ingress BH RLC channel ID, which is indicated by Ingress BH RLC CH ID IE, or by the BH RLC CH ID IE in UE-associated F1AP message for upstream, and
- an egress BH RLC channel ID, which is indicated by Egress BH RLC CH ID IE, or by the BH RLC CH ID IE in UE-associated F1AP message for downstream. For a BAP Data PDU received from an ingress BH RLC channel of an ingress link and for which the egress link has been selected as specified in clause 5.2.1.3:,
- if there is an entry in the BH RLC Channel Mapping Configuration, whose ingress BH RLC channel ID matches the BAP Data PDU's ingress BH RLC channel, whose ingress link ID matches the BAP Data PDU's ingress link, and whose egress link ID corresponds to the selected egress link;
- select the egress BH RLC channel corresponding to egress BH RLC channel ID of this entry).
Huawei however does not explicitly disclose the apparatus comprising: processor circuitry.
Zhu however disclose and IAB apparatus (see Fig 1F, Fig,2A, Fig. 5, the first network node (for example, an IAB node 3 shown in FIG. 1F), see para. 0189, 0298) comprising: processor circuitry (see Fig.5, para. 0296-0298, IAB node 3 / a communication apparatus 500 includes a processing module 510 / processor circuitry).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of an apparatus comprising: processor circuitry, as taught by Zhu, in the system of Huawei, so as to enable a flexible and convenient access and backhaul solution and reduce a data packet loss, see Zhu, paragraphs 0003-0005.
As per claim 17, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 16.
Huawei further disclose wherein, for a BAP data PDU (protocol data unit) received from an ingress BH RLC channel on an ingress link, after the egress link is selected, if there is an entry in the BH RLC channel mapping configuration, an ingress BH RLC channel identity of the entry matches the ingress BH RLC channel of the BAP data PDU, an ingress link identity of the entry matches the ingress link of the BAP data PDU, a topology to which the ingress link identity of the entry belongs is identical to a topology to which the ingress link of the BAP data PDU belongs, the egress link identity of the entry corresponds to the selected egress link and a topology to which the egress link identity of the entry belongs is identical to a topology to which the selected egress link belongs, an egress BH RLC to which an egress BH RLC channel identity in the entry corresponds is selected (see page 13, section 5.2.1.4 Mapping to BH RLC CHannel, sub-section 5.2.1.4.1 Mapping to BH RLC Channel for BAP Data Packets from collocated BAP entity at IAB node: - an ingress link ID, which is indicated by Prior-Hop BAP Address IE, or by the Configured BAP address IE in UE-associated F1AP message for upstream, belonging to topology indicated by Ingress Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE in F1AP, - an egress link ID, which is indicated by Next-Hop BAP Address IE, or by the Configured BAP address IE in UE-associated Ft AP message for downstream, belonging to topology indicated by Egress Non-F1-terminating Topology Indicator IE in F1AP, - an ingress BH RLC channel ID, which is indicated by Ingress BH RLC CH ID IE, or by the BH RLC CH ID IE in UE-associated Ft AP message for upstream, and,
- an egress BH RLC channel ID, which is indicated by Egress BH RLC CH ID IE, or by the BH RLC CH ID
IE in UE-associated F1AP message for downstream. For a BAP Data PDU received from an ingress BH RLC channel of an ingress link and for which the egress link has been selected as specified
in clause 5.2.1.3).
As per claim 18, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 16.
Huawei further disclose wherein, in a case where the IAB-node receives a BAP SDU from the upper layer and transmits it to the uplink direction, after the BAP entity selects the egress link according to a BAP sublayer routing apparatus, for a BAP SDU encapsulated with F1-U data packets, if there is an entry in an uplink traffic to BH RLC channel mapping configuration, the traffic type specifier of the entry corresponds to a destination IP address and a TEID (tunnel endpoint identifier) of the BAP SDU, the egress link identity of the entry corresponds to the selected egress link and the topology to which the egress link identity of the entry belongs is identical to the topology to which the selected egress link belongs, the egress BH RLC channel to which the egress BH RLC channel identity in the entry corresponds is selected (see page 14, section 5.2.4.2: "For a BAP SDU received from upper layers at the /AB-node and to be transmitted in upstream direction, whose egress link has been selected as specified in clause 5.2.1.3, the BAP entity shall:
- if the Uplink Traffic to BH RLC Channel Mapping Configuration has not been (re)configured by F1AP
after the last (re)configuration of default UL-BH-RLC-Channel by RRC:
- select the egress BH RLC channel corresponding to default UL-BH-RLC-Channel configured in TS
38.331 [3] for non-F1-U packets;
- else:
- for the BAP SDU encapsulating an F1-U packet:
- if there is an entry in the Uplink Traffic to BH RLC Channel Mapping Configuration with its
traffic type specifier corresponds to the destination IP address and TEID of this BAP SDU and its
egress link ID corresponding to the selected egress link;
- select the egress BH RLC channel corresponding to the egress BH RLC
channel ID of this entry).
As per claim 19, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 16.
Huawei further disclose wherein, in a case where the IAB-node receives a BAP SDU from the upper layer and transmits it to the uplink direction, after the BAP entity selects the egress link according to a BAP sublayer routing apparatus, for a BAP SDU encapsulated with non-F1-U data packets, if there is an entry in the uplink traffic to BH RLC channel mapping configuration, the traffic type specifier of the entry corresponds to a traffic type of the BAP SDU, the egress link identity of the entry corresponds to the selected egress link and the topology to which the egress link identity of the entry belongs is identical to the topology to which the selected egress link belongs, the egress BH RLC channel to which the egress BH RLC channel identity in the entry corresponds is selected (see page 14, section 5.2.4.2, for
the BAP SDU encapsulating a non-F1-U packet: if there is an entry from the Uplink Traffic to BH RLC
Channel Mapping Configuration with its traffic type specifier corresponds to the traffic type of this BAP SDU and its egress link ID corresponding to the selected egress link; select the egress BH RLC channel corresponding to the egress BH RLC channel ID of this entry).
As per claim 20, the combination of Huawei and Zhu disclose the apparatus according to claim 1.
Huawei further disclose wherein, if no entry matching a destination field, a path field and a topology exists in the backhaul routing configuration, or an egress link to which a matching entry corresponds is unavailable, if there exists at least one entry in the backhaul routing configuration whose BAP address matches the destination field, the topology, obtained by the first type indicator, of the entry is identical to the topology of the BAP data PDU and an egress link to which the next-hop BAP address corresponds is available, an entry is selected from the at least one entry, and the egress link to which the next-hop BAP address of the entry corresponds is selected (see13th page, section 5.2.1.3 Routing: "{...] else if, for the transmitting part of JAB-MT, at least one egress link is available, and {...] if this egress link belongs to Ft-terminating donor topology, and there is an entry in the BH Routing Configuration not configured with Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE whose Next Hop BAP Address corresponds to this egress link, or if this egress link belongs to non-Ft-terminating donor topology, and there is an entry in the BH Routing Configuration configured with Non-Ft-terminating Topology Indicator IE whose Next Hop BAP Address corresponds to this egress link: select the egress link{...]").
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Second Rejection:
Claims 1, 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Canon (CANON RESEARCH CENTRE FRANCE: "Rel-17 BAP 1 Operations", 3GPP DRAFT; R2-2110343, 2021-10-21), and further in view of Zhu et al. (US Pub. No.: 2023/0247521).
As per claim 1, Canon disclose An apparatus for configuring information, applicable to an IAB-node (integrated access and backhaul node), the apparatus comprising: a CPU configured to match a topology in backhaul routing configuration indicated by a first type indicator with a topology to which a BAP (Backhaul Adaptation Protocol) data protocol data unit (PDU) belongs (see 3rd,4th pages, section 2.3 BAP operations discloses specifically: "If a transit traffic is identified, then the boundary node checks the BAP Routing ID mapping (or header rewriting configuration) to rewrite the BAP header. For that, the boundary nodes looks for an entry matching the ingress topology and the BAP Routing ID in the packet header. Also, with the BAP Routing ID mapping configuration, the boundary node shall identify the egress topology associated to the new BAP Routing ID).
Canon however does not explicitly disclose the apparatus comprising: processor circuitry.
Zhu however disclose and IAB apparatus (see Fig 1F, Fig,2A, Fig. 5, the first network node (for example, an IAB node 3 shown in FIG. 1F), see para. 0189, 0298) comprising: processor circuitry (see Fig.5, para. 0296-0298, IAB node 3 / a communication apparatus 500 includes a processing module 510 / processor circuitry).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of an apparatus comprising: processor circuitry, as taught by Zhu, in the system of Canon, so as to enable a flexible and convenient access and backhaul solution and reduce a data packet loss, see Zhu, paragraphs 0003-0005.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11 and 12 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.
Vamanan (US Pub. No.:2024/0040427) – see Fig.6A-C, para. 0065-0067, “The IAB MEC 604 includes the IAB gNB functionality 610, the IAB UPF 612, and the IAB UE functionality 614. The IAB gNB functionality 610 may include the functionality to operate the IAB MEC 604 in a gNB context (e.g., as an access node for the UE 602). The IAB UPF 612 may include an instance of the application (that can operate with the application on the UE 602) for which the PDU session is to be set up. The IAB UE functionality 614 may include the functionality to operate the IAB MEC 604 in a UE context (e.g., as a child of the IAB donor 606). The IAB MEC 604 may instantiate the IAB UPF 612 (including the application instance) based on its prior programming/a prior configuration, or the CN 608 may provide the IAB UPF 612 instructions for instantiating the IAB UPF 612 and/or the included application instance”.
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/LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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