DETAILED ACTION
In response to communications filed 11/11/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending for 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 Objections
Claims 2, 6, 9, 16 and 17 should be similarly amended to recite “the first terminal…”
Claims 2, 6, 9, 16 and 17 should be similarly amended to recite “the second terminal…”
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in China on 05/11/2022. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the China 202210509929.1 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 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)(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 1-14 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al. (US 2025/0039083 A1) hereinafter “Li.”
Regarding Claim 1, Li teaches A multi-path establishment method (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, multi-path configuration method), comprising:
receiving, by a first terminal (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, remote UE) through a first path to a first base station (Li: paragraph 0112 & Fig. 8, direct path between remote UE and network device (i.e. gNB)), path addition signaling sent by the first base station (Li: paragraph 0117 & Fig. 8, gNB transmits second reconfiguration information message to add indirect path), wherein the first path is a direct path between the first terminal and the first base station (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, said direct path between remote UE and gNB), the path addition signaling carries an identifier (Li: paragraph 0174 & Fig. 8, second reconfiguration information message includes a (target) relay terminal equipment identity (relay UE ID)) of a second terminal (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, said relay UE) through which a second path passes (Li: paragraph 0114 & Fig. 8, indirect path passing the target relay terminal equipment to the remote UE), and the second path is an indirect path between the first terminal and the first base station (Li: paragraph 0114 & Fig. 8, said indirect path between the remote UE and gNB).
Regarding Claim 2, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein before the receiving, by a first terminal, path addition signaling sent by the first base station (Li: paragraph 0117 & Fig. 8, said second reconfiguration information message to add indirect path), the method further comprises:
measuring, by the first terminal, signal quality of a measurement object (Li: paragraph 0113, performing measurement on one or more candidate relay terminal equipments by the remote UE) according to measurement configuration information sent by the first base station (Li: paragraph 0113, performing measurement according to the received measurement configuration), wherein the measurement object comprises: at least one adjacent terminal (Li: paragraph 0113, said one or more candidate relay terminal equipments); and
sending, by the first terminal, a measurement result of at least one candidate terminal to the first base station, wherein the at least one candidate terminal is an adjacent terminal that is among the at least one adjacent terminal and that meets a reporting condition (Li: paragraph 0113, reporting measurement results of one or more candidate relay terminal equipments in the first measurement report; see also paragraph 0107, SL-RSRP and/or SD-RSRP of the candidate relay terminal equipment).
Regarding Claim 3, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the measuring, by the first terminal, signal quality of a measurement object comprises one of the following:
measuring, by the first terminal, signal quality of the adjacent terminal based on discovery signaling sent by the adjacent terminal (Li: paragraph 0109, discovery message transmitted by the candidate relay terminal equipment); and
measuring, by the first terminal, the signal quality of the adjacent terminal based on a data signal transmitted by the adjacent terminal through a PC5 interface.
Regarding Claim 4, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the discovery signaling carries serving cell information of the adjacent terminal and/or radio resource control (RRC) state information of the adjacent terminal (Li: paragraph 0109, serving cell identity of a relay terminal equipment), wherein the RRC state information indicates that the adjacent terminal is in an RRC connected state or the RRC state information indicates that the adjacent terminal is in an RRC non-connected state (Li: paragraph 0111, target relay terminal equipment is in the RRC_Connected state).
Regarding Claim 5, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the measurement result reported by the first terminal further comprises serving cell information of the candidate terminal and/or RRC state information of the candidate terminal (Li: paragraph 0109, serving cell identity of a relay terminal equipment).
Regarding Claim 6, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein after the receiving, by a first terminal through a first path to a first base station, path addition signaling sent by the first base station (Li: paragraph 0117 & Fig. 8, said second reconfiguration information message to add indirect path), the method further comprises:
sending, by the first terminal, a first request to the second terminal based on the identifier of the second terminal, wherein the first request is used to request to establish a PC5 link with the second terminal (Li: paragraph 0118 & Fig. 8, establishing PC5 connection with relay UE).
Regarding Claim 7, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein target PC5 signaling sent by the first terminal to the second terminal carries first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates that a purpose of requesting to establish a PC5 link is to add the second path to the first terminal (Li: paragraph 0117 & Fig. 8, said second reconfiguration information message to add indirect path), and the target PC5 signaling comprises the first request or PC5 signaling sent to the second terminal after the first request (Li: paragraph 0118 & Fig. 8, performing RRC reconfiguration by the remote UE according to the second RRC reconfiguration information, so as to establish PC5 connection between the remote UE and the target relay terminal equipment).
Regarding Claim 8, Li teaches A multi-path establishment method (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, multi-path configuration method), comprising:
sending, by a first base station (Li: paragraph 0112 & Fig. 8, network device (i.e. gNB)), path addition signaling to a first terminal (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, remote UE) through a first path to the first terminal (Li: paragraph 0112 & Fig. 8, direct path between remote UE and gNB), wherein the first path is a direct path between the first terminal and the first base station(Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, said direct path between remote UE and gNB), the path addition signaling carries an identifier (Li: paragraph 0174 & Fig. 8, second reconfiguration information message includes a (target) relay terminal equipment identity (relay UE ID)) of a second terminal (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, said relay UE) through which a second path passes (Li: paragraph 0114 & Fig. 8, indirect path passing the target relay terminal equipment to the remote UE), and the second path is an indirect path between the first terminal and the first base station (Li: paragraph 0114 & Fig. 8, said indirect path between the remote UE and gNB).
Regarding Claim 9, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein before the sending, by a first base station, path addition signaling to a first terminal through a first path to the first terminal (Li: paragraph 0117 & Fig. 8, said second reconfiguration information message to add indirect path), the method further comprises:
sending, by the first base station, measurement configuration information to the first terminal (Li: paragraph 0112, transmit measurement configuration to remote UE), wherein the measurement configuration information indicates the first terminal to measure signal quality of at least one adjacent terminal (Li: paragraph 0113, measurement of one or more candidate relay terminal equipments);
receiving a measurement result of at least one candidate terminal sent by the first terminal, wherein the at least one candidate terminal is an adjacent terminal that is among the at least one adjacent terminal and that meets a reporting condition (Li: paragraph 0113, reporting measurement results of one or more candidate relay terminal equipments in the first measurement report; see also paragraph 0107, SL-RSRP and/or SD-RSRP of the candidate relay terminal equipment); and
selecting, by the first base station, a candidate terminal from the at least one candidate terminal as the second terminal based on the measurement result (Li: paragraph 0114, determining by the network device according to the first measurement report to add an indirect path passing the target relay terminal equipment to the remote UE).
Regarding Claim 10, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the measurement result further comprises: serving cell information of the candidate terminal and/or radio resource control (RRC) state information of the candidate terminal (Li: paragraph 0109, serving cell identity of a relay terminal equipment),
Regarding Claim 11, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the selecting, by the first base station, a candidate terminal from the at least one candidate terminal as the second terminal based on the measurement result comprises at least one of the following:
selecting, by the first base station, a candidate terminal with best PC5 link quality from the at least one candidate terminal as the second terminal;
in a case in which the at least one candidate terminal comprises a candidate terminal in a connected state under the first base station (Li: paragraph 0111, target relay terminal equipment is in the RRC_Connected state), selecting a candidate terminal in a connected state under the first base station as the second terminal (Li: paragraph 0105, select a target relay terminal equipment from candidate relay terminal equipments according to the first measurement report);
in a case in which the at least one candidate terminal does not comprise a candidate terminal in a connected state under the first base station, selecting a candidate terminal in a non-connected state under the first base station from the at least one candidate terminal as the second terminal;
in a case in which none of the at least one candidate terminal is under the first base station, selecting a candidate terminal in a non-connected state from the at least one candidate terminal as the second terminal; and
in a case in which none of the at least one candidate terminal is under the first base station and the at least one candidate terminal is in a connected state, selecting a candidate terminal in a connected state from the at least one candidate terminal as the second terminal.
Regarding Claim 12, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the path addition signaling further carries a first cell list recommended for access by the second terminal.
Regarding Claim 13, Li teaches A multi-path establishment method (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, multi-path configuration method), comprising:
receiving, by a second terminal (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, relay UE), a first request sent by a first terminal (Li: paragraph 0118, & Fig. 8, establishing PC5 connection), wherein the first request is used to request to establish a PC5 link with the second terminal (Li: paragraph 0118 & Fig. 8, performing RRC reconfiguration by the remote UE so as to establish PC5 connection between the remote UE and the target relay terminal equipment).
Regarding Claim 14, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein target PC5 signaling sent by the first terminal to the second terminal carries first indication information (Li: paragraph 0118 & Fig. 8, performing RRC reconfiguration by the remote UE according to the second RRC reconfiguration information), wherein the first indication information indicates that a purpose of requesting to establish a PC5 link is to add the second path to the first terminal (Li: paragraph 0117 & Fig. 8, second RRC reconfiguration includes information to add indirect path), and the target PC5 signaling comprises the first request or PC5 signaling sent to the second terminal after the first request (Li: paragraph 0118 & Fig. 8, performing RRC reconfiguration by the remote UE so as to establish PC5 connection between the remote UE and the target relay terminal equipment).
Regarding Claim 18, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches A terminal (Li: paragraphs 0111, 0316 & Fig. 16, remote UE), comprising a processor (Li: paragraph 0316 & Fig. 16, processor) and a memory (Li: paragraph 0316 & Fig. 16, memory), wherein the memory stores a program or instructions capable of running on the processor (Li: paragraph 0316, storing programs to execute on processor), and the program or the instructions are executed by the processor to implement the multi-path establishment method according to claim 1 (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, multi-path configuration method as presented in rejected claim 1).
Regarding Claim 19, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches A terminal (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, terminal equipment implemented as relay UE), comprising a processor (Li: paragraph 0316 & Fig. 16, processor) and a memory (Li: paragraph 0316 & Fig. 16, memory), wherein the memory stores a program or instructions capable of running on the processor (Li: paragraph 0316, storing programs to execute on processor), and the program or the instructions are executed by the processor to implement the multi-path establishment method according to claim 13 (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, multi-path configuration method as presented in rejected claim 13).
Regarding Claim 20, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches A network side device (Li: paragraph 0321 & Fig. 17, network device (i.e. gNB)), comprising a processor (Li: paragraph 0321 & Fig. 17, processor) and a memory (Li: paragraph 0321 & Fig. 17, memory), wherein the memory stores a program or instructions capable of running on the processor (Li: paragraph 0311, storing programs to execute on processor), and the program or the instructions are executed by the processor to implement the multi-path establishment method according to claim 8 (Li: paragraph 0111 & Fig. 8, multi-path configuration method as presented in rejected claim 8).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Back et al. (US 2025/0175865 A1) hereinafter “Back.”
Regarding Claim 15, Li teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above, however fails to explicitly teach wherein the target PC5 signaling further carries at least one of the following: a first cell list recommended for access by the second terminal and serving cell information of the first terminal. However, Back from an analogous art similarly teaches direct to indirect path switching (Back: paragraph 0141 & Fig. 13) and further teaches the remote UE transmitting a RRCReconfiguration including a cell ID of the remote UE to establish a PC5 connection with a relay UE (Back: paragraph 0172).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to include serving cell information of the remote UE to establish the PC5 connection with the relay UE as taught by Back so as to identify whether the relay terminal equipment is under coverage of the same network device as the remote UE.
Regarding Claim 16, Li-Back teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein after the receiving, by a second terminal, a first request sent by a first terminal, the method further comprises one of the following:
in a case in which a cell in the first cell list meets a cell selection condition or a cell reselection condition, selecting, by the second terminal in a non-connected state from the first cell list, a cell that meets the cell selection condition or the cell reselection condition as a serving cell for which connection establishment is initiated; and
in a case in which a serving cell of the first terminal meets the cell selection condition or the cell reselection condition (Li: paragraph 0135, cell selection), selecting, by the second terminal in a non-connected state (Li: paragraph 0121, target relay terminal equipment in Idle state), the serving cell of the first terminal as a serving cell for which connection establishment is initiated (Li: paragraph 0135, selecting a suitable cell to initiate access).
Regarding Claim 17, Li-Back teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein after the receiving, by a second terminal, a first request sent by a first terminal, the method further comprises:
in a case in which a second base station on which the second terminal in a connected state is located is different from a first base station (Back: RRC_CONNECTED relay with different cell ID of the remote UE), sending, by the second terminal, a rejection response to the first terminal, wherein the rejection response indicates that the second terminal rejects a PC5 link establishment request. (Back: paragraphs 0171-0172, relay UE may reject the PC5 connection and release the PC5 connection when the PC5 connection is established or may notify that the cell IDs are different). Examiner recites same reasoning to combine as presented in rejected claim 15.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Back et al. (US 2025/0358886 A1) teaches a remote user equipment (ULE) in a wireless communication system, in which: the remote UE establishes a radio resource control (RRC) connection to a base station; the remote UE establishes a PC5 RRC connection to a relay UE; and the remote UE transmits data to the base station through one path among i) a first path for direct data transmission to the base station and ii) a second path for data transmission to the base station via the relay UE, wherein, on the basis of a radio link failure (RLF) being detected in one path among the first path and the second path, the remote UE reports the RLF to the base station via a message based on a sidelink signaling radio bearer through the path in which the RLF is not detected (see abstract).
Back et al. (US 2025/0133615 A1) teaches a method for operating a sidelink remote UE in a wireless communication system, the method comprising the steps in which the remote UE: receives information related to measurement and reporting from a base station; performs a measurement on one or more candidate relay UEs; performs measurement reporting to the base station; and performs a PC5 connection establishment procedure with a target relay UE determined on the basis of the measurement reporting, wherein the remote UE transmits a cause value, related to failure to establish the connection, to the base station on the basis of a connection failure related to the target relay UE, and maintains a connection with the base station (see abstract).
Kuo (US 2023/0171825 A1) teaches a remote User Equipment (UE) receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Reconfiguration message from a network node, wherein the RRC Reconfiguration message indicates a relay UE used for direct to indirect path switching. The method also includes the remote UE establishing a PC5-RRC connection or a PC5 unicast link with the relay UE and further includes the remote UE releasing the PC5-RRC connection or the PC5 unicast link due to reception of a Disconnect Request message from the relay UE (see abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAJEEB ANSARI whose telephone number is (571)270-5446. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10am to 2pm.
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/NAJEEB ANSARI/Examiner, Art Unit 2463
/ASAD M NAWAZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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