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 .
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.
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to Application No. 18/915,487 filed on 15 October 2024. This application claims CON to PCT/CN2022/087650 filed on 19 April 2022. Claims 1-17 are presented for examination.
Claim Interpretation
Claims 1, 3, 8, 10, 12-17 recite “and/or.” According to MPEP 2111, examiner obliged to give the terms or phrases their broadest reasonable interpretation definition, consistent with the specification, and awarded by one of an ordinary skill in the art unless applicant has provided some indication of the definition of the claimed terms or phrases. For the purpose of this examination, Examiner will interpret this to mean “or.”
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)(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 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US PGPUB 2025/0234245 A1 to Wang et al.
Regarding Claim 8, Wang discloses a multi-path processing apparatus, comprising: a transmitter configured to transmit first indication information to a remote user equipment or a relay user equipment; the first indication information comprising information on activation and/or deactivation of a direct path and/or of an indirect path for a data radio bearer (0205 and 0404-0406 provides for gNB transmitting MAC CE to dynamically control deactivation on a duplication path for a DRB).
Regarding Claim 9, Wang discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, the first indication information comprises at least one of the following: a data radio bearer identity (0053 provides for an identifier of the uplink radio bearer), a radio link control entity identity or index, path usage indication information, or path state indication information.
Regarding Claim 10, Wang discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, the radio link control entity identity or index is used for: activating or deactivating a radio link control entity (0053 provides for an identifier of the uplink radio bearer) and/or a logical channel in a case where use of more than one radio link layer control entities and/or logical channel transmissions are supported on a PC5 interface of the indirect path.
Regarding Claim 11, Wang discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, the first indication information is transmitted via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (0055 provides for MAC CE).
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, 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 1-7 and 12-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PGPUB 2025/0234245 A1 to Wang et al and in view of US PGPUB 2019/0141771 A1 to Ma et al.
Regarding Claim 1, Wang discloses a multi-path processing apparatus, comprising: a receiver configured to receive first indication information, the first indication information comprising information on activation and/or deactivation of a direct path and/or an indirect path for a data radio bearer (0205 provides for receiving a MAC CE to dynamically control deactivation on a duplication path for a DRB). Wang doesn’t explicitly disclose a processor configured to perform activation and/or deactivation of the direct path and/or the indirect path, according to the first indication information. Ma, in a similar field of endeavor, discloses a processor configured to perform activation and/or deactivation of the direct path and/or the indirect path, according to the first indication information (FIG. 6 and 0177-0189 provides for a remote UE is configured to perform activation of a relay link S603 according to first cellular direct link information sent from base station S601). One of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filed date of the claimed invention would have recognized the ability to utilize the teachings of Ma for explicitly activating or deactivating transmission. The transmission activation of Ma, when implemented with the UE-to-network relay system of the Wang system, will allow one of ordinary skill in the art to switch transmission in order to adjust to changing quality metrics in the environment. Therefore, the examiner concludes it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to utilize the transmission activation of Ma with the UE-to-network relay system of the Wang system for the desirable purpose of activating path in a multi-path system.
Regarding Claim 2, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the first indication information comprises at least one of the following: a data radio bearer identity (Wang, 0053 provides for an identifier of the uplink radio bearer), a radio link control (RLC) entity identity or index, path usage indication information.
Regarding Claim 3, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, the radio link control entity identity or index is used for: activating or deactivating a radio link control entity (Wang, 0053 provides for an identifier of the uplink radio bearer) and/or a logical channel in a case where use of more than one radio link control entities and/or logical channel transmissions is supported on a PC5 interface of the indirect path.
Regarding Claim 4, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, the first indication information is transmitted via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (Wang, 0055 provides for MAC CE).
Regarding Claim 5, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, the path usage indication information (Examiner interprets this limitation to be an alternative limitation of the group of claim 2) indicates the information on whether split transmission or duplication transmission is used between the direct path and the indirect path for the data radio bearer.
Regarding Claim 6, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, when duplication transmission (Examiner interprets this limitation to be an alternative limitation of the group of claim 2) is used between the direct path and the indirect path for the data radio bearer, same PDCP PDU is delivered to a RLC entity corresponding to the data radio bearer in the direct path and a PC5 RLC entity corresponding to the data radio bearer in the indirect path.
Regarding Claim 7, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the indication information comprises third indication information transmitted by a relay user equipment (Wang, 0046-0050 provides for transmitting signaling comprises RLC entity), the third indication information comprising at least one of the following: a data radio bearer identity or index, a logical channel identity or index, a radio link control entity identity or index (Wang, 0046-0050 provides for RLC entity received from signaling), or path state indication information, or, the third indication information indicating, via a bitmap, the activation or deactivation state of the path to which the data radio bearer identity or index corresponds.
Regarding Claim 12, similar rejection where the multi-path apparatus of claim 1 teaches the multi-path processing apparatus of claim 12.
Regarding Claim 13, similar rejection where the multi-path apparatus of claim 1 teaches the multi-path processing apparatus of claim 13.
Regarding Claim 14, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising: a transmitter configured to transmit third indication information to a remote user equipment after the receiver receives the second indication information (Wang, 0046-0050 provides for transmitting signaling comprises RLC entity); wherein the third indication information includes information on activation and/or deactivation of the indirect path (Wang, 0050 provides for deactivating at least one RLC entity of the uplink radio bearer in the UE-to-network relay path).
Regarding Claim 15, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising: the second indication information and/or the third indication information comprise(s) at least one of the following: a data radio bearer identity (Wang, 0053 provides for an identifier of the uplink radio bearer) or index, a logical channel identity or index, a radio link control entity identity or index, or path state indication information; or, the second indication information and/or the third indication information indicate(s) via a bitmap, an activation or deactivation state of a path to which the data radio bearer identity or index corresponds (Wang, 0050 provides for deactivating at least one RLC entity of the uplink radio bearer in the UE-to-network relay path).
Regarding Claim 16, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, the logical channel identity or index or the radio link control entity identity or index (Examiner interprets this limitation to be an alternative limitation of the group of claim 15) is used for: activating or deactivating a radio link control entity and/or a logical channel in a case where use of more than one radio link control entities and/or logical channel transmissions are supported on a PC5 interface of the indirect path.
Regarding Claim 17, the Wang/Ma system discloses the multi-path processing apparatus according to claim 16, wherein, the second indication information is transmitted via a radio resource control message or a packet data convergence protocol control packet data unit or a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (Wang, 0055 provides for MAC CE); and/or the third indication information is transmitted via a PC5 radio resource control message or a PC5 sidelink relay adaptation protocol control packet data unit or a PC5 medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
USPGPUB 2022/0286234 A1 to Zhao discloses interface duplication and multi-path transmission gain.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCHQUITA GOODWIN whose telephone number is (571)272-5477. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm EST.
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/SCHQUITA D GOODWIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2459
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