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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the Application filed on 11/25/2024
Claims 1-20 are pending in this action. Claims 1, 12, and 14 are independent
This application claims the benefit of priority from People’s Republic of China Patent Application No. CN202210580782.5 filed on 05/26/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/18/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the 11/25/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08/13/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the 11/25/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/05/2025 was filed after the mailing date of the 11/25/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
Claims 2, 3, 5-11 recite the limitation “in response to”. The “in response to” clauses indicates that the associated limitations occur only when the criteria of these clauses are met. However, the present claims never affirmatively require such events to occur. The broadest reasonable interpretation of these limitations does not require these conditional steps to be performed. See Ex
parte Schulhauser, 2013-007847 (PTAB 2016) (precedential) (MPEP 2111.04 II) where the board held
that when method steps are to be carried out only upon the occurrence of a condition precedent, the
broadest reasonable interpretation holds that those steps are not required to be performed. As such,
the limitations preceding and followed by “in response to” clause do not appear to have patentable weight since they are contingent upon a condition occurring. Examiner suggests for example, in claim 5 “The method according to claim 2, further comprises: determining the terminal device is not being allowed access to the network device, determining the terminal device not being allowed to access the network device, the method further comprises:” and similar for the other claims listed.
For the purposes of compact prosecution, prior art will be presented as if the limitations do have patentable weight.
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 (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 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 1-4, 12-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadiri et al, U. S. Patent Publication No. 20210127448, published on 2021-04-29 (hereinafter Kadiri) in view of Wong et al, U. S. Patent Publication No. 11343791, published on 2022-05-24 (hereinafter Wong).
As for independent claim 1, Kadiri discloses a system and method, wherein the group paging message comprises first information usable to page a group of terminal devices to receive a first multicast service,
(Kadiri discloses the UE receiving first information (called MRB configuration) for setting up multicast services (called MRB), “Some techniques and apparatuses described herein enable a UE to reliably receive multicast/broadcast traffic while in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. As described in more detail below, the procedures for receiving multicast/broadcast traffic in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state may differ from corresponding procedures in the RRC connected state due to different operating characteristics associated with these states.” [0056], “In a first operation 505, the base station 110 may transmit, to the UE 120, a configuration for an MRB” [0058], “As shown, the MRB configuration may indicate a multicast/broadcast control channel (MCCH) for transmission of multicast/broadcast control messages.” [0059], “In some aspects, the MRB configuration may indicate whether the MRB 510 is permitted to be maintained during the idle/inactive state (for example, to enable or disable multicast/broadcast communication via the MRB” [0061])
and the group of terminal devices comprises the terminal device;
(Kadiri figure 3 shows the UE being one in a group of terminal devices 345 or 355)
and performing, by the terminal device, based on at least one of the first information or second information, at least one of: receiving the first multicast service in the RRC non-connected mode;
(Kadiri discloses the UE receiving multicast service (called maintain MRB, multicast radio bearer) while in idle state, “the UE 120 and the base station 110 may maintain the MRB 510 while the UE 120 is in the idle state or the inactive state.” [0066])
or performing an RRC connection control procedure,
(Kadiri discloses performing RRC connection, “When the connection between the UE 120 and the base station 110 is established (such as by an RRC connection establishment procedure, the UE 120 may transition from an RRC idle state 410 to an RRC connected state 405.” [0063])
wherein the second information indicates whether the network device provides the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode.
(Kadiri discloses second information (the MRB configuration contains both first and second information) indicating if the idle state is allowed for using the MRB (equivalent to receiving multicast services), “In some aspects, the MRB configuration may indicate whether the MRB 510 is permitted to be maintained during the idle/inactive state (for example, to enable or disable multicast/broadcast communication via the MRB 510 in the idle/inactive state” [0061])
Kadiri does not appear to disclose a system and method comprising receiving, by a terminal device in a radio resource control (RRC) non-connected mode, a group paging message from a network device.
However, Wong discloses a system and method comprising receiving, by a terminal device in a radio resource control (RRC) non-connected mode, a group paging message from a network device.
(Wong discloses a terminal device receiving paging messages in RRC idle mode, “FIG. 3 is a signalling ladder diagram representing some principles of a paging procedure corresponding to step T1 in FIG. 2 for a terminal device 104 in an RRC Idle mode” Col 7, Lines 50-52)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Wong, adding paging to the connection procedure, to the communication manager of Kadiri, in order to make the system more efficient by using a standard communication protocol.
As for claim 2, the limitations of the parent claim 1 have been discussed. Kadiri discloses a system and method wherein the performing, by the terminal device, to receive the first multicast service in the RRC non-connected mode comprises: (a) receiving, by the terminal device, the first multicast service in the RRC non-connected mode
(Kadiri discloses the UE receiving multicast service (called maintain MRB, multicast radio bearer) while in idle state, “the UE 120 and the base station 110 may maintain the MRB 510 while the UE 120 is in the idle state or the inactive state.” [0066]; “Some techniques and apparatuses described herein enable a UE to reliably receive multicast/broadcast traffic while in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.”, [0056])
in response to the second information indicating that the network device provides the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode; or (b) initiating, by the terminal device, an access control procedure based on the first information, and receiving, by the terminal device, the first multicast service in the RRC non-connected mode in response to the terminal device not being allowed to access the network device and the second information indicating that the network device provides the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode.
(Kadiri discloses the second information (MRB configuration) indicating if the idle state is allowed for using the MRB (equivalent to receiving multicast services), “In some aspects, the MRB configuration may indicate whether the MRB 510 is permitted to be maintained during the idle/inactive state (for example, to enable or disable multicast/broadcast communication via the MRB 510 in the idle/inactive state” [0061])
As for claim 3, the limitations of the parent claim 1 have been discussed. Kadiri discloses a system and method wherein the performing, by the terminal device, the RRC connection control procedure comprises: (i) performing, by the terminal device, the RRC connection control procedure or (ii) initiating, by the terminal device, an access control procedure based on the first information, and performing, by the terminal device, the RRC connection control procedure in response to the terminal device being allowed to access the network device.
(Kadiri discloses the UE (terminal device) going from RRC idle state to connected state, “the base station 110 and the UE 120 may communicate in a connected mode, such as the RRC connected mode 405 described above in connection with FIG. 4. For example, the base station 110 may transmit multicast/broadcast control information to the UE 120 via the MRB 510 (such as on the MCCH). The base station 110 may transmit multicast/broadcast data to the UE 120 via the MRB 510 (such as on the MTCH). When the connection between the UE 120 and the base station 110 is established (such as by an RRC connection establishment procedure), the UE 120 may transition from an RRC idle state 410 to an RRC connected state 405” [0063]).
Kadiri does not appear to disclose a system and method comprising in response to the second information indicating that the network device does not provide the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode;
However Wong does disclose a system and method comprising in response to the second information indicating that the network device does not provide the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode [performing an action]
(Wong discloses second information being in an indication in a paging message to determine if it will send data while in RRC idle mode (called EDT), “One approach for this is referred to as Early Data Transmission (EDT) and allows the UE to transmit and/or receive user plane data during the Random Access process whilst in idle mode (or more generally while not in an active radio resource connection mode),” Col 6, Lines 18-24 “In a first proposal for indicating in association with a paging message when downlink EDT is to be transmitted for a terminal device in accordance with certain embodiments of the disclosure, a base station (eNB) may set a flag, which may be referred to as an EDT data flag, in the paging message which is associated with/linked to an identifier for the terminal device being paged to indicate downlink EDT data is to be transmitted to the terminal device. For example the flag may comprise a single bit and may be set to a first value, e.g. “1”/“true”, when the base station has EDT data for transmission to the terminal device, and may be set to a second value, e.g. “0”/“false”, when the base station does not have EDT data for transmission to the terminal device,” Col 14, Lines 33-48)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Wong, an alternative operating mode, in order to make the system more efficient by using a standard communication protocol.
As for claim 4, the limitations of the parent claim 1 have been discussed. Kadiri discloses a system and method wherein the second information is carried in the group paging message; or the second information is carried on a multicast control channel.
(Kadiri discloses the terminal device (UE) receiving information via a multicast control channel, “Additionally or alternatively, the UE 120 may monitor for multicast/broadcast control information (such as on the MCCH) while in the idle/inactive state (such as on preconfigured resources) to identify resources via which the retransmissions are to be transmitted.”)
As for independent claim 12, Kadiri discloses a system and method, wherein the group paging message comprises first information usable to page a group of terminal devices to receive a first multicast service,
(Kadiri discloses the UE receiving the first information (called MRB configuration) for setting up multicast services (called multicast traffic, “Some techniques and apparatuses described herein enable a UE to reliably receive multicast/broadcast traffic while in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state. As described in more detail below, the procedures for receiving multicast/broadcast traffic in the RRC idle state or the RRC inactive state may differ from corresponding procedures in the RRC connected state due to different operating characteristics associated with these states.” [0056], “In a first operation 505, the base station 110 may transmit, to the UE 120, a configuration for an MRB” [0058], “As shown, the MRB configuration may indicate a multicast/broadcast control channel (MCCH) for transmission of multicast/broadcast control messages.” [0059], “In some aspects, the MRB configuration may indicate whether the MRB 510 is permitted to be maintained during the idle/inactive state (for example, to enable or disable multicast/broadcast communication via the MRB” [0061])
and the group of terminal devices comprises the terminal device;
(Kadiri figure 3 shows the UE being one in a group of terminal devices 345 or 355)
and sending, by the network device, second information to the terminal device, wherein the second information indicates whether the network device provides the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode.
(Kadiri discloses the second information (called MRB configuration) indicating if the idle state is allowed for using the MRB (equivalent to receiving multicast services), “In some aspects, the MRB configuration may indicate whether the MRB 510 is permitted to be maintained during the idle/inactive state (for example, to enable or disable multicast/broadcast communication via the MRB 510 in the idle/inactive state” [0061])
Kadiri does not appear to disclose a system and method comprising sending, by a network device, a group paging message to a terminal device in a radio resource control (RRC) non-connected mode.
However, Wong does disclose a system and method comprising sending, by a network device, a group paging message to a terminal device in a radio resource control (RRC) non-connected mode.
(Wong discloses a terminal device receiving paging messages in RRC idle mode, “FIG. 3 is a signalling ladder diagram representing some principles of a paging procedure corresponding to step T1 in FIG. 2 for a terminal device 104 in an RRC Idle mode” Col 7, Lines 50-52)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Wong, adding paging to the connection procedure, to the communication manager of Kadiri, in order to make the system more efficient by using a standard communication protocol.
As for claim 13, the limitations of the parent claim 12 have been discussed above. Claim 13 recites substantially similar subject matter as claim 4 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
As for independent claim 14, claim 14 recites a system for using the method of claim 1 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
As for claim 15, the limitations of the parent claim 14 have been discussed. Claim 15 recites a system for using the method of claim 2 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
As for claim 16, the limitations of the parent claim 14 have been discussed. Claim 16 recites a system for using the method of claim 3 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
As for claim 17, the limitations of the parent claim 14 have been discussed. Claim 17 recites a system for using the method of claim 4 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
Claims 5-6, 8, 10, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadiri in view of Wong in further view of Kadiri et al, U. S. Patent Publication No. 20210410045, published on 2021-12-30 (hereinafter Kadiri045).
As for claim 5, the limitations of the parent claim 2 have been discussed. Wong discloses a system and method wherein in response to the terminal device not being allowed to access the network device, the method further comprises: (A) monitoring, by the terminal device within running time of a timer, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) corresponding to a multicast control channel, to obtain the second information, or (B) in response to the group paging message comprising the second information, exiting, by the terminal device, the access control procedure, or skipping, by the terminal device, starting the timer, or stopping, by the terminal device, initiating the access control procedure upon expiration of the timer, wherein the running time of the timer is the duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device.
(Wong discloses an alternative way to obtain the second information (called the paging message in this art) by monitoring a PDCCH corresponding to a multicast control channel (called a MPDCCH), “On detecting MPDCCH in a Paging Occasion, PO (step B1), the UE first checks if the DCI passes the CRC check using P-RNTI as per legacy system behaviour (step B2), and if it detects a DCI with P-RNTI, the UE will read the paging message to see if it is being paged (step B3). If the UE fails to decode the DCI with P-RNTI in step B2, it will then try to see if the EDT-RNTI passes the CRC check (step B4). If it passes, then the UE proceeds to extract the MTD (EDT) message (step B5), otherwise it will consider that it failed to receive a DCI and move back into DRX where it will monitor the next PO (step B6). The EDT-RNTI may be configured by the network or predefined by standard.” Col 20 Lines 16-28)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Wong, adding the monitoring of a PDCCH, to the communication manager of Kadiri, in order to make the system more resilient by adding a backup access procedure.
Neither Kadiri or Wong appear to disclose a method wherein the running time of the timer is duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device; and exiting, by the terminal device, the access control procedure, or stopping, by the terminal device, initiating the access control procedure upon expiration of the timer;
However, Kadiri045 does disclose a system and method wherein the running time of the timer is duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device; and exiting, by the terminal device, the access control procedure, or stopping, by the terminal device, initiating the access control procedure upon expiration of the timer; or (B) in response to the group paging message comprising the second information, exiting, by the terminal device, the access control procedure, or skipping, by the terminal device, starting the timer, or stopping, by the terminal device, initiating the access control procedure upon expiration of the timer, wherein the running time of the timer is the duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device.
(Kadiri045 “Once the user equipment 302 identifies, based on the comparison between the generated random and a cell barring factor, that the user equipment 302 is not allowed to send an access attempt associated with the access category to establish or resume RRC connection to receive the one or more multicast broadcast services from the base station 304, the user equipment initiates a timer. When the timer for this access category is running, the user equipment may not be allowed to initiate an access attempt for the same access category. After the timer expires, if the user equipment seeks to access the cell for the same access category, then the user equipment may be allowed to repeat the barring test for the same access category.” [0086])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Kadiri045, adding a timer to retry connecting, to the communication manager of Kadiri and Wong, in order to make the system more resilient without overloading the system with too much traffic.
As for claim 6, the limitations of the parent claim 1 have been discussed. Kadiri discloses a system and method wherein the performing comprises: determining, by the terminal device based on the second information, whether the network device provides the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode;
(Kadiri discloses the second information (called MRB configuration) indicating if the idle state is allowed for using the MRB (equivalent to receiving multicast services), “In some aspects, the MRB configuration may indicate whether the MRB 510 is permitted to be maintained during the idle/inactive state (for example, to enable or disable multicast/broadcast communication via the MRB 510 in the idle/inactive state” [0061])
in response to the second information indicating that the network device provides the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode, receiving, by the terminal device, the first multicast service in the RRC non-connected mode;
(Kadiri discloses the UE receiving multicast service (called maintain MRB, multicast radio bearer) while in idle state, “the UE 120 and the base station 110 may maintain the MRB 510 while the UE 120 is in the idle state or the inactive state.” [0066])
in response to the terminal device being allowed to access the network device, performing, by the terminal device, the RRC connection control procedure;
(Kadiri discloses performing RRC connection, “When the connection between the UE 120 and the base station 110 is established (such as by an RRC connection establishment procedure, the UE 120 may transition from an RRC idle state 410 to an RRC connected state 405.” [0063])
Neither Kadiri or Wong appear to disclose a system and method comprising in response to the second information indicating that the network device does not provide the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode, initiating, by the terminal device, an access control procedure based on the first information; and in response to the terminal device not being allowed to access the network device, starting, by the terminal device, a timer having running time being duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device, and initiating, by the terminal device, the access control procedure again upon expiration of the timer.
However Kadiri045 does disclose a system and method comprising in response to the second information indicating that the network device does not provide the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode, initiating, by the terminal device, an access control procedure based on the first information;
(Kadiri045 discloses the UE (terminal device) performing access control procedure by using information to determine if it can connect, “In operation 318, the base station 304 transmits or broadcasts the one or more access control parameters to the group of UEs including the UE 302 based on identifying whether to permit the set of UEs to establish or resume the RRC connected state with the base station 304 for receiving the multicast broadcast services.” [0100])
and in response to the terminal device not being allowed to access the network device, starting, by the terminal device, a timer having running time being duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device, and initiating, by the terminal device, the access control procedure again upon expiration of the timer.
(Kadiri045 “Once the user equipment 302 identifies, based on the comparison between the generated random and a cell barring factor, that the user equipment 302 is not allowed to send an access attempt associated with the access category to establish or resume RRC connection to receive the one or more multicast broadcast services from the base station 304, the user equipment initiates a timer. When the timer for this access category is running, the user equipment may not be allowed to initiate an access attempt for the same access category. After the timer expires, if the user equipment seeks to access the cell for the same access category, then the user equipment may be allowed to repeat the barring test for the same access category.” [0086])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Kadiri045, adding a timer to retry connecting, to the communication manager of Kadiri and Wong, in order to make the system more resilient without overloading the system with too much traffic.
As for claim 8, the limitations of the parent claim 1 have been discussed. Kadiri discloses a system and method wherein the performing comprises: in response to the terminal device not being allowed to access the network device, determining, by the terminal device based on the second information, whether the network device provides the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode;
(Kadiri discloses the MRB configuration indicating if the idle state is allowed for using the MRB (equivalent to receiving multicast services), “In some aspects, the MRB configuration may indicate whether the MRB 510 is permitted to be maintained during the idle/inactive state (for example, to enable or disable multicast/broadcast communication via the MRB 510 in the idle/inactive state” [0061])
in response to the second information indicating that the network device provides the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode, receiving, by the terminal device, the first multicast service in the RRC non-connected mode;
(Kadiri discloses the UE receiving multicast service (called maintain MRB, multicast radio bearer) while in idle state, “the UE 120 and the base station 110 may maintain the MRB 510 while the UE 120 is in the idle state or the inactive state.” [0066])
in response to the terminal device being allowed to access the network device, performing, by the terminal device, the RRC connection control procedure;
(Kadiri discloses performing RRC connection, “When the connection between the UE 120 and the base station 110 is established (such as by an RRC connection establishment procedure, the UE 120 may transition from an RRC idle state 410 to an RRC connected state 405.” [0063])
Kadiri does not appear to disclose a system and method comprising in response to the second information indicating that the network device does not provide the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode.
However, Wong does disclose a system and method comprising in response to the second information indicating that the network device does not provide the first multicast service for the group of terminal devices in the RRC non-connected mode
(Wong discloses the second information being in an indication in a paging message to determine if it will send data while in RRC idle mode (called EDT), “One approach for this is referred to as Early Data Transmission (EDT) and allows the UE to transmit and/or receive user plane data during the Random Access process whilst in idle mode (or more generally while not in an active radio resource connection mode),” Col 6, Lines 18-24 “In a first proposal for indicating in association with a paging message when downlink EDT is to be transmitted for a terminal device in accordance with certain embodiments of the disclosure, a base station (eNB) may set a flag, which may be referred to as an EDT data flag, in the paging message which is associated with/linked to an identifier for the terminal device being paged to indicate downlink EDT data is to be transmitted to the terminal device. For example the flag may comprise a single bit and may be set to a first value, e.g. “1”/“true”, when the base station has EDT data for transmission to the terminal device, and may be set to a second value, e.g. “0”/“false”, when the base station does not have EDT data for transmission to the terminal device,” Col 14, Lines 33-48)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Wong, an alternative operating mode, with Kadiri in order to make the system more efficient by using a standard communication protocol.
Neither Kadiri or Wong appear to disclose a system and method comprising initiating, by the terminal device, an access control procedure based on the first information; in response to the terminal device being allowed to access the network device, performing, by the terminal device, the RRC connection control procedure; in response to the second information, starting, by the terminal device, a timer having running time being duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device, and initiating, by the terminal device, the access control procedure again upon expiration of the timer.
However, Kadiri045 does disclose a system and method comprising initiating, by the terminal device, an access control procedure based on the first information;
(Kadiri045 discloses the UE (terminal device) performing access control procedure by using information to determine if it can connect, “In operation 318, the base station 304 transmits or broadcasts the one or more access control parameters to the group of UEs including the UE 302 based on identifying whether to permit the set of UEs to establish or resume the RRC connected state with the base station 304 for receiving the multicast broadcast services.” [0100])
in response to the second information, starting, by the terminal device, a timer having running time being duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device, and initiating, by the terminal device, the access control procedure again upon expiration of the timer.
(Kadiri045 “Once the user equipment 302 identifies, based on the comparison between the generated random and a cell barring factor, that the user equipment 302 is not allowed to send an access attempt associated with the access category to establish or resume RRC connection to receive the one or more multicast broadcast services from the base station 304, the user equipment initiates a timer. When the timer for this access category is running, the user equipment may not be allowed to initiate an access attempt for the same access category. After the timer expires, if the user equipment seeks to access the cell for the same access category, then the user equipment may be allowed to repeat the barring test for the same access category.” [0086])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Kadiri045, adding a timer to retry connecting, to the communication manager of Kadiri and Wong, in order to make the system more resilient without overloading the system with too much traffic.
As for claim 10, the limitations of the parent claim 1 have been discussed. Kadiri discloses a system in method comprising in response to the terminal device being allowed to access the network device, performing, by the terminal device, the RRC connection control procedure;
(Kadiri discloses performing RRC connection, “When the connection between the UE 120 and the base station 110 is established (such as by an RRC connection establishment procedure, the UE 120 may transition from an RRC idle state 410 to an RRC connected state 405.” [0063])
Neither Kadiri or Wong appear to disclose a system and method wherein the performing comprises: initiating, by the terminal device, an access control procedure based on the first information; and in response to the terminal device not being allowed to access the network device, starting, by the terminal device, a timer having running time being duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device, and initiating, by the terminal device, the access control procedure again upon expiration of the timer.
However Kadiri045 discloses a system and method wherein the performing comprises: initiating, by the terminal device, an access control procedure based on the first information;
(Kadiri045 discloses the UE (terminal device) performing access control procedure by using information to determine if it can connect, “In operation 318, the base station 304 transmits or broadcasts the one or more access control parameters to the group of UEs including the UE 302 based on identifying whether to permit the set of UEs to establish or resume the RRC connected state with the base station 304 for receiving the multicast broadcast services.” [0100])
and in response to the terminal device not being allowed to access the network device, starting, by the terminal device, a timer having running time being duration to be waited by the terminal device before initiating the access control procedure again after the terminal device is not allowed to access the network device, and initiating, by the terminal device, the access control procedure again upon expiration of the timer.
(Kadiri045 “Once the user equipment 302 identifies, based on the comparison between the generated random and a cell barring factor, that the user equipment 302 is not allowed to send an access attempt associated with the access category to establish or resume RRC connection to receive the one or more multicast broadcast services from the base station 304, the user equipment initiates a timer. When the timer for this access category is running, the user equipment may not be allowed to initiate an access attempt for the same access category. After the timer expires, if the user equipment seeks to access the cell for the same access category, then the user equipment may be allowed to repeat the barring test for the same access category.” [0086])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Kadiri, adding a timer to retry connecting, to the communication manager of Kadiri and Wong, in order to make the system more resilient without overloading the system with too much traffic.
As for claim 18, the limitations of the parent claim 15 have been discussed. Claim 18 recites a system for using the method of claim 5 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
As for claim 19, the limitations of the parent claim 14 have been discussed. Claim 19 recites a system for using the method of claim 6 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
As for claim 20, the limitations of the parent claim 14 have been discussed. Claim 20 recites a system for using the method of claim 8 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
Claims 7, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kadiri in view of Wong in further view of Kadiri045, in further view of Pinheiro et al, WIPO Publication No. 2011100540, published on 2011-02-11 (hereinafter Pinheiro).
As for claim 7, the limitations of the parent claim 6 have been discussed. Kadiri discloses a system and method to detect whether the network device provides the first multicast service for the terminal device in the RRC non-connected mode,
(Kadiri discloses the MRB configuration indicating if the idle state is allowed for using the MRB (equivalent to receiving multicast services), “In some aspects, the MRB configuration may indicate whether the MRB 510 is permitted to be maintained during the idle/inactive state (for example, to enable or disable multicast/broadcast communication via the MRB 510 in the idle/inactive state” [0061])
and in response to detecting that the network device provides the first multicast service for the terminal device in the RRC non-connected mode, receiving, by the terminal device, the first multicast service in the RRC non-connected mode.
(Kadiri discloses the UE receiving multicast service (called maintain MRB, multicast radio bearer) while in idle state, “the UE 120 and the base station 110 may maintain the MRB 510 while the UE 120 is in the idle state or the inactive state.” [0066])
Kadiri does not appear to disclose a system and method wherein the performing further comprises: within the running time of the timer, monitoring, by the terminal device, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) corresponding to a multicast control channel to detect whether the network device provides the first multicast service for the terminal device in the RRC non-connected mode.
However, Wong discloses a system and method wherein the performing further comprises: monitoring, by the terminal device, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) corresponding to a multicast control channel to detect whether the network device provides the first multicast service for the terminal device in the RRC non-connected mode,
(Wong discloses a PDCCH corresponding to a multicast control channel (called a MPDCCH) being monitored to receive paging messages, “On detecting MPDCCH in a Paging Occasion, PO (step B1), the UE first checks if the DCI passes the CRC check using P-RNTI as per legacy system behaviour (step B2), and if it detects a DCI with P-RNTI, the UE will read the paging message to see if it is being paged (step B3). If the UE fails to decode the DCI with P-RNTI in step B2, it will then try to see if the EDT-RNTI passes the CRC check (step B4). If it passes, then the UE proceeds to extract the MTD (EDT) message (step B5), otherwise it will consider that it failed to receive a DCI and move back into DRX where it will monitor the next PO (step B6). The EDT-RNTI may be configured by the network or predefined by standard.” Col 20 Lines 16-28)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Wong, adding the monitoring of a PDCCH, to the communication manager of Kadiri, in order to make the system more resilient by adding a backup access procedure.
Neither Kadiri or Wong appear to disclose a system and method comprising within the running time of the timer, monitoring.
However, Pinheiro does disclose a system and method comprising within the running time of the timer, monitoring.
(Pinheiro “The access control may also be performed per access class or MTC access class. The new bit is used differently than the barring bit and is used to restrict access of the specific devices to the UL for a predetermined amount of time. This implies that the WTRU stays camped on the cell, but cannot transmit data on the UL until a predefined timer, for example i- restrict, expires. The timer may be broadcast or signaled to the WTRU and may be cell specific or MTC device specific. Alternatively, the WTRU may pick a random number between Trestrict and 0 and attempt UL RACH access when the timer expires, given that data is available. Optionally, the WTRU may start UL access following a network request, e.g., paging, even though the timer is still running.” [0090])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the communication manager of Pinheiro, adding an alternative access monitoring while the timer is running, to the communication manager of Kadiri and Wong, in order to make the system more resilient by adding a backup access procedure.
As for claim 9, the limitations of the parent claim have been discussed. Claim 9 recites substantially similar subject matter to claim 7 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
As for claim 11, the limitations of the parent claim have been discussed. Claim 11 recites substantially similar subject matter to claim 7 and is rejected alongside the same rationale.
Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Niu et al, U. S. Patent Publication No. 20140226552, discloses monitoring a PDCCH to find an opportunity to move to RRC connected mode in paragraph [0030]
Zhu et al, U. S. Patent Publication No. 20160119762, discloses receiving multicast services in RRC idle mode in paragraph [0170]
Conclusion
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/JOHN CALEB LAWRENCE/Examiner, Art Unit 2646
/JEANETTE J PARKER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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