DETAILED ACTION
This communication is responsive to Application No. 18931075 filed on October 30th, 2024. Claims 1 – 10 are subject to examination.
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 .
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.
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: traffic profiling unit, buffer state estimating unit, and uplink resource calculating unit in claims 6 - 10.
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
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ly et al. (US 20230247655 A1) (Ly hereafter).
Regarding claim 1, Ly teaches
A method of allocating an uplink resource in a base station device, the method comprising:
a traffic profiling operation of profiling traffic received from a mobile terminal allocated with an uplink resource; (Ly: [0116] the UE 115 -a may receive (and the base station 105 -a may transmit) the resource allocation 220 -a in response to the scheduling request 215. In this regard, the base station 105 -a may schedule or allocate resources which will be used by the UE 115 -a to transmit an indication of expected data traffic 230 at the UE 115 -a (e.g., proactive BSR)) [Examiner’s note: resource allocation 220 -a is the uplink resource]
a buffer state estimating operation of predicting a traffic pattern based on the traffic profiling and preemptively estimating a buffer state according to the predicting; (Ly: [0110] … the base station 105 -a may indicate that the UE 115 -a is only to predict/anticipate data traffic 230 which is expected at the UE 115 -a for some time threshold (e.g., 100-150 ms) in advance [0123]…By indicating when the expected amount of data traffic 230 is expected to be transmitted/received, the base station 105-a may be able to more efficiently estimate/predict data traffic 230 within the wireless communication system 200, which may lead to more efficient use of resources and improved power consumption at the base station 105 -a)
and an uplink resource allocating operation of preemptively allocating an uplink resource to the mobile terminal according to the estimated buffer state. (Ly: [0129] For example, in some cases, the base station 105 -a may transmit the resource allocation 220 -b to accommodate the entirety, or just a portion of, the expected amount of data traffic 230)
Regarding claim 2, Ly teaches
The method of claim 1, further comprising, after the buffer state estimating operation, a preemptive uplink resource calculating operation of calculating an amount of an uplink resource to be preemptively allocated based on an amount of an uplink resource requested to be allocated according to an amount of an allocatable uplink resource and a buffer state reported through a buffer state report (BSR), (Ly: [0161] …the base station 105-b may allocate resources based on indicated differences between the expected data traffic and the actually scheduled/buffered data traffic. [0056] …user equipment (UEs) may transmit buffer status reports (BSRs) which indicate buffered/scheduled data traffic)
wherein, in the uplink resource allocating operation, the uplink resource requested through the BSR is first allocated, and then the uplink resource is preemptively and additionally allocated in a range of the calculated amount of the uplink resource to be preemptively allocated. (Ly: [0129] For example, in some cases, the base station 105 -a may transmit the resource allocation 220 -b to accommodate the entirety, or just a portion of, the expected amount of data traffic 230.)
Regarding claim 5, Ly teaches
The method of claim 1, wherein, in the traffic profiling operation, the traffic is profiled from buffer size information included in an uplink resource allocation request received from the mobile terminal. (Ly: [0129] In cases where the UE 115-a reports expected time resources for the expected amount of data traffic 230…the base station…may configure/transmit the resource allocation 220-b based on the expected time resources…In some cases, the base station 105-a may transmit the resource allocation 220-b based on an indication of actually scheduled/buffered data traffic) [Examiner’s note: The base station can allocate resources based on different traffic profiles, either expected traffic or actual traffic]
Regarding claim 6, Ly teaches
A base station device for allocating an uplink resource through buffer estimation, the base station device comprising; (Ly: [0214] …The device 905 may be an example of aspects of a device 805 or a base station 105 as described herein. The device 905 may also include a processor)
A traffic profiling unit configured to profile traffic received from a mobile terminal allocated with an uplink resource; (Ly: [0116] the UE 115 -a may receive (and the base station 105 -a may transmit) the resource allocation 220 -a in response to the scheduling request 215. In this regard, the base station 105 -a may schedule or allocate resources which will be used by the UE 115 -a to transmit an indication of expected data traffic 230 at the UE 115 -a (e.g., proactive BSR)) [Examiner’s note: resource allocation 220 -a is the uplink resource]
a buffer state estimating unit configured to predict a next traffic pattern based on the traffic profiling and preemptively estimate a buffer state according to the prediction; (Ly: [0110] … the base station 105 -a may indicate that the UE 115 -a is only to predict/anticipate data traffic 230 which is expected at the UE 115 -a for some time threshold (e.g., 100-150 ms) in advance [0123]…By indicating when the expected amount of data traffic 230 is expected to be transmitted/received, the base station 105-a may be able to more efficiently estimate/predict data traffic 230 within the wireless communication system 200, which may lead to more efficient use of resources and improved power consumption at the base station 105 -a)
and an uplink resource allocating operation of preemptively allocating an uplink resource to the mobile terminal according to the estimated buffer state. (Ly: [0129] For example, in some cases, the base station 105 -a may transmit the resource allocation 220 -b to accommodate the entirety, or just a portion of, the expected amount of data traffic 230)
Regarding claim 7, Ly teaches
The base station device of claim 6, further comprising an uplink resource calculating unit configured to, after the buffer state is estimated, calculate an amount of an uplink resource to be preemptively allocated based on an amount of an uplink resource requested to be allocated according to an amount of an allocatable uplink resource and a buffer state reported through a buffer state report (BSR). (Ly: [0161] …the base station 105-b may allocate resources based on indicated differences between the expected data traffic and the actually scheduled/buffered data traffic. [0056] …user equipment (UEs) may transmit buffer status reports (BSRs) which indicate buffered/scheduled data traffic)
Wherein the uplink resource scheduler preemptively allocates the uplink resources in a range of the calculated amount of the uplink resources to be preemptively allocated. (Ly: [0129] For example, in some cases, the base station 105 -a may transmit the resource allocation 220 -b to accommodate the entirety, or just a portion of, the expected amount of data traffic 230.)
Regarding claim 10, Ly teaches
The base station device of claim 6, wherein the traffic profiling unit profiles the traffic from buffer size information included in a resource allocation request received from the mobile terminal. (Ly: [0129] In cases where the UE 115-a reports expected time resources for the expected amount of data traffic 230…the base station…may configure/transmit the resource allocation 220-b based on the expected time resources…In some cases, the base station 105-a may transmit the resource allocation 220-b based on an indication of actually scheduled/buffered data traffic) [Examiner’s note: The base station can allocate resources based on different traffic profiles, either expected traffic or actual traffic]
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 3 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ly in view of Han et al. (WO 2021158001 A1) (Han hereafter).
Regarding claim 3, Ly teaches the method of claim 1, but fails to explicitly teach
wherein, in the traffic profiling operation, a traffic pattern that periodically repeats on- and off-periods is profiled with information including a length of the on-period, a length of the off-period, and an amount of traffic in the on-period.
However, Han teaches wherein, in the traffic profiling operation, a traffic pattern that periodically repeats on- and off-periods is profiled with information including a length of the on-period, a length of the off-period, and an amount of traffic in the on-period. (Han: [0095] …The information to be analyzed may include service traffic usage…traffic patterns (relationship between UL and DL data), average traffic size…periodicity, and ON/OFF pattern (whether traffic occurs for a certain period of time after traffic occurs at a specific time))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teachings of Ly to include the above cited limitations as taught by Han in order to analyze data to increase the efficiency of resource utilization by pre-allocating the optimal resources necessary for smooth service provision (Han: [0040]).
Regarding claim 8, Ly teaches the base station device of claim 6, but fails to explicitly teach
wherein, the traffic profiling unit profiles a traffic pattern, which periodically repeats on- and off-periods, with information including a length of the on-period, a length of the off-period, and an amount of traffic in the on-period.
However, Han teaches wherein, in the traffic profiling unit profiles a traffic pattern, which periodically repeats on- and off-periods, with information including a length of the on-period, a length of the off-period, and an amount of traffic in the on-period. (Han: [0095] …The information to be analyzed may include service traffic usage…traffic patterns (relationship between UL and DL data), average traffic size…periodicity, and ON/OFF pattern (whether traffic occurs for a certain period of time after traffic occurs at a specific time))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teachings of Ly to include the above cited limitations as taught by Han in order to analyze data to increase the efficiency of resource utilization by pre-allocating the optimal resources necessary for smooth service provision (Han: [0040]).
Claims 4 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ly-Han in view of Huang et al. (US 20200396638 A1) (Huang hereafter).
Regarding claim 4, Ly-Han teaches the method of claim 3, but fail to explicitly teach
Wherein, in the buffer state estimating operation, an estimate is performed such that a buffer size gradually increases during the off-period.
However, Huang teaches Wherein, in the buffer state estimating operation, an estimate is performed such that a buffer size gradually increases during the off-period. (Huang: [0025] …The traffic control platform may cause the MT traffic to be buffered according to a buffer size suited to alleviate congestion experienced by the user equipment…the traffic control platform may decrease the buffer size…or increase the buffer size)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teachings of Ly and Han to include the above cited limitations as taught by Huang in order to map network traffic patterns, detect congestion, and perform corrective actions that address traffic (Huang: [0010]).
Regarding claim 9, Ly-Han teaches the base station device of claim 8, but fail to explicitly teach
Wherein, the buffer state estimating unit performs an estimate such that a buffer size gradually increases during the off-period.
However, Huang teaches Wherein, the buffer state estimating unit performs an estimate such that a buffer size gradually increases during the off-period. (Huang: [0025] …The traffic control platform may cause the MT traffic to be buffered according to a buffer size suited to alleviate congestion experienced by the user equipment…the traffic control platform may decrease the buffer size…or increase the buffer size)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teachings of Ly and Han to include the above cited limitations as taught by Huang in order to map network traffic patterns, detect congestion, and perform corrective actions that address traffic (Huang: [0010]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RUDY C FUENTES whose telephone number is (571)270-0912. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 8:00am - 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached at (571) 270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/R.C.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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