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 . This action is in response to the communication filed on 10/16/2024. Claims 1-19 are pending.
Examiner Note
The examiner is here to serve, to assist, and to help applicant to the very best of his ability. The Primary Patent Examiner position is a position of serving and it is an honor to externally serve the applicant and attorney and to internally serve junior examiners and supervisors. The goal of the examiner is to work with and assist applicant to move cases along as efficiently as possible.
Applicant is encouraged to call examiner to schedule an interview if applicant has any questions about this action, wants to discuss any possible paths forward, has proposed amendments to the claims to run by the examiner, or for any other issues that applicant would like to discuss.
Examiner can normally be reached at (571) 270-3863 or michael.keller@uspto.gov, Monday-Friday, from about 6 AM - 10 PM EST and if your call is missed examiner will try to return call quickly, thank you.
Priority
This application claims priority of PCT/CN2022/087660, filed 4/19/2022. The assignee of record is FUJITSU LIMITED. The listed inventor(s) is/are: LI, Guorong; JIA, Meiyi; YI, Su; WANG, Xin.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 10/16/2024 & 10/3/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are:
i. transmitting unit configured to transmit in claims 1, 12, 13
ii. a processing unit configured to trigger in claim 8
iii. a receiving unit configured to receive in claim 12
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
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)(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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lin (CN 116939890 A, filed 3/30/2022, PE2E English Machine Translation provided with the Non-Final rejection 7/2026; hereinafter Lin).
For Claim 1, Lin teaches an apparatus for transmitting failure information of a remote user equipment, the remote user equipment being configured or activated with a first path and a second path, the apparatus comprising: a transmitting unit configured to transmit failure information to a network device via the second path in a case where the first path fails (Lin Pg 11 The remote UE uses the PC5 RLC configuration and sends the RRC signalling to the network side through the relay UE to indicate that the wireless link failure occurs in the direct connection path).
For Claim 2, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the path failure comprises at least one of the following cases where: a radio link failure of a PC5 interface of the remote user equipment or a beam failure or a failure of performing beam failure recovery is detected (Lin Pg 11); a notification of a radio link failure of a Uu interface of a relay user equipment or a failure of radio resource control connection of the relay user equipment or handover of the relay user equipment or a failure of beam failure recovery of the relay user equipment transmitted by the relay user equipment is received; establishment of PC5 connection with relay user equipment fails; a radio link failure of a Uu interface of the remote user equipment or a beam failure or a failure of performing beam failure recovery of the remote user equipment is detected; synchronous reconfiguration of the PC5 interface and/or Uu interface of the remote user equipment fails; or configuration of the PC5 interface and/or Uu interface of the remote user equipment fail(s).
For Claim 3, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, the notification of a radio link failure of a Uu interface of a relay user equipment or a failure of radio resource control connection of the relay user equipment or handover of the relay user equipment is transmitted via a PC5-RRC message (Lin Pg 11 remote UE uses the PC5 RLC configuration and sends the RRC signalling to the network side through the relay UE to indicate that the wireless link failure occurs in the direct connection path).
For Claim 4, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the first path is a direct path (Lin Pg 11 direct connection path), and the second path is an indirect path; or, the first path is an indirect path, and the second path is a direct path.
For Claim 5, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second path is an available path, the available path satisfying at least one of the following conditions that: channel quality of the available path is higher than a first threshold; channel quality of the available path satisfies criteria for cell selection and/or cell reselection; channel quality of the available path satisfies criteria for relay selection and/or relay reselection; the available path is an indirect path and no radio link failure or beam failure or beam failure recovery failure of the PC5 interface is detected on the indirect path; the available path is an indirect path and no notification of a radio link failure of a Uu interface of a relay user equipment or a failure of radio resource control connection of the relay user equipment or handover of the relay user equipment or a failure of beam failure recovery of the relay user equipment transmitted by the relay user equipment is received; the available path is an indirect path and synchronization reconfiguration failure of the PC5 interface of the remote user equipment does not occur on the indirect path; the available path is an indirect path and configuration failure of the PC5 interface of the remote user equipment does not occur on the indirect path; the available path is an indirect path and a failure of establishment of PC5 connection with the relay user equipment does not occur on the indirect path; the available path is a direct path and a radio link failure or a beam failure or a failure of beam failure recovery of a PC5 interface is not detected on the direct path; the available path is a direct path and no synchronization reconfiguration failure of the Uu interface of the remote user equipment occurs on the direct path; the available path is a direct path and no Uu interface configuration failure of the remote user equipment occurs on the direct path; or the available path is not deactivated or de-configured (Lin Pg 11).
For Claim 6, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the failure information comprises at least one of the following: failure indication information, failure type information, a measurement result of a serving cell, measurement results of other cells and/or frequencies, a measurement result of a connected relay user equipment, or measurement results of other relay user equipments (Lin Pg 12 The network side (base station) tries to recover the Uu interface wireless link for the remote UE according to the measurement result reported by the remote UE, that is, tries to recover the direct connection path. The possible conditions include: according to the currently available measurement result, if there is a target cell satisfying the switching condition, sending, by the relay user equipment, indication information (RRC signaling) for switching to the target cell to the remote user equipment, and carries handover-related configuration information (e.g., handover-related configuration information configured by the target cell for the remote UE). wherein the handover-related configuration information includes, for example, the following contents: the wireless bearing configuration of the target cell is used for the random access resource information and related parameter configuration of the random access to the target cell initiated by the UE. the base station selects to send different RRC signalling messages according to the type of the selected target cell. For example, if the target cell is an NR cell, the base station sends an RRCReconfiguration (RRC reconfiguration) message; If the target cell is a different system cell, such as LTE (Long TermEvolution) and so on, the base station sends a MobilityFromNRCommand message (MobilityFromNRCommand from NR)).
For Claim 7, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the failure indication information comprises at least one of the following: a radio link failure of a Uu interface, a beam failure of a Uu interface, a failure of beam failure recovery of a Uu interface, a radio link failure of a PC5 interface, a beam failure of a PC5 interface, a failure of beam failure recovery of a PC5 interface, a radio link failure of the Uu interface of the relay user equipment, handover of the relay user equipment, a radio resource control connection failure of the relay user equipment, a failure of beam failure recovery, a failure of establishment of PC5 connection, a failure of synchronous reconfiguration of a Uu interface, a failure of configuration of a Uu interface, a failure of synchronous reconfiguration of a PC5 interface and a failure of configuration of a PC5 interface of the relay user equipment (Lin Pg 12).
For Claim 8, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a processing unit configured to trigger a radio resource control connection reestablishment process when both the first path and the second path fail, and/or, trigger a radio resource control connection reestablishment process when the first path fails and the first path is a primary path (Lin Pg 15 In step 350, if the timer related to the radio link failure expires and the remote UE does not receive the second RRC signaling, the remote UE triggers the RRC reestablishment process).
For Claim 9, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the first path fails, the first path is a secondary path, the second path is available and the second path is a primary path, the transmitting unit transmits the failure information to a network device via the second path (Lin Pg 12).
For Claim 10, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, the primary path and/or the secondary path is configured by the network device or is predefined (Lin Pg 11 In step 220, the base station receives the radio link failure indication sent by the remote user equipment through the relay user equipment, and is configured to indicate that the radio link failure occurs in the direct connection path between the remote user equipment and the base station of the current serving cell).
For Claim 11, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, the failure information is transmitted via a radio resource control message (Lin Pg 11).
For Claim 12, Lin teaches the apparatus for receiving failure information, comprising: a receiving unit configured to, in a case where a first path fails, receive via a second path, failure information transmitted by a remote user equipment, wherein the remote user equipment is configured or activated with the first path and the second path (Lin Pg 11).
For Claim 13, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a transmitting unit configured to transmit first configuration information for configuring the first path to the remote user equipment or a relay user equipment according to the failure information (Lin Pg 11).
For Claim 14, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the apparatus further comprises: a transmitting unit configured to transmit second configuration information for configuring a primary path and/or a secondary path to the remote user equipment (Lin Pg 11-12).
For Claim 15, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 12, wherein, the first path is a direct path, and the second path is an indirect path; or, the first path is an indirect path, and the second path is a direct path (Lin Pg 11-12).
For Claim 16, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the failure information comprises at least one of the following: failure indication information, failure type information, a measurement result of a serving cell, measurement results of other cells and/or frequencies, a measurement result of a connected relay user equipment, or measurement results of other relay user equipments (Lin Pg 11-12).
For Claim 17, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the failure indication information comprises at least one of the following: a radio link failure of a Uu interface, a beam failure of a Uu interface, a failure of beam failure recovery of a Uu interface, a radio link failure of a PC5 interface, a beam failure of a PC5 interface, a failure of beam failure recovery of a PC5 interface, a radio link failure of the Uu interface of the relay user equipment, handover of the relay user equipment, a radio resource control connection failure of the relay user equipment, a failure of beam failure recovery, a failure of establishment of PC5 connection, a failure of synchronous reconfiguration of a Uu interface, a failure of configuration of a Uu interface, a failure of synchronous reconfiguration of a PC5 interface and a failure of configuration of a PC5 interface of the relay user equipment (Lin Pg 11-12).
For Claim 18, Lin teaches the apparatus according to claim 12, wherein, the failure information is received via a radio resource control message (Lin Pg 11-12).
For Claim 19, Lin teaches a communication system, comprising a remote user equipment and a network device, the remote user equipment being configured or activated with a first path and a second path, wherein, the user equipment transmits failure information to the network device via the second path in a case where the first path fails, the network device receives the failure information via the second path (Lin Pg 11-12).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is listed below, thank you:
i. US 20240205764 A1
Please see PTO-892 for additional listing of relevant prior art made of record but not relied upon, thank you.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael Keller at (571)270-3863 or michael.keller@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the examiner are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Moo Jeong can be reached on 571-272-9617.
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/MICHAEL A KELLER/
Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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