CTNF 18/998,728 CTNF 73745 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 07-29-01 AIA Claim objected to because of the following informalities: “when the predicted cost metric is greater than the cost metric” . Appropriate correction is required. The conditional language precedes the processor, memory, instructions of the computer apparatus and appears to make the processor, memory, instructions of the computer apparatus a conditional element. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 42-52 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ekemark et al., US 10595230 B2 (hereafter referred to as Ekemark) in view of “official notice” . Claim 42, Ekemark teaches an apparatus (column 13, lines 2-6; “Further alternatively a common node, such as a Radio Network Controller node in W-CDMA, acts as a common node that collects the load information for each RBS and distributes the load to other RBSs frequently, or provides on request.”), comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor (column 21, lines 20-28; “The RBS comprises: a processor module 701 arranged to process program instructions; a memory module 702 arranged to store the program instructions and network parameters; an interface module 707 arranged to connect to other network entities …”), cause the apparatus at least to perform: determining a need for offloading at the apparatus (column 3, lines 59-66; “Based on the exchange of traffic load and cell traffic capacity information, the RBS is able to identify target cells on the other carrier frequencies to which there is a significant traffic load imbalance, hence where a certain amount of traffic load should be transferred to, in order to mitigate the present traffic load imbalance. The RBS acting as source cell in the transfer calculates the load balancing amount, thus the number of UEs to be relocated, for such transfer.”); transmitting a first request to a first network node for a cost metric associated with one or more user equipment connected to the apparatus that is to be offloaded (column 12, lines 63-67 – column 13, lines 1-6; “RBS-A 110 receives 302 the load in Cell-B 122. It is assumed that there is a continuous exchange of cell load measurements between the cells in the neighbouring cells in the system, so that source RBS-A is aware of the actual load in its neighbouring Cell-B 122, regarded the potential target for a load balance action.”); receiving the cost metric along with a list of the one or more user equipment associated with the cost metric (column 12, lines 63-67 – column 13, lines 1-6; “RBS-A 110 receives 302 the load in Cell-B 122. It is assumed that there is a continuous exchange of cell load measurements between the cells in the neighbouring cells in the system, so that source RBS-A is aware of the actual load in its neighbouring Cell-B 122, regarded the potential target for a load balance action.”); transmitting a second request and the list of the one or more user equipment (in combination with “piggy backing, column 17, lines 39-43; “The table applies arbitrary UE identifiers and values for the performances corresponding to FIG. 4A. The table shows a number of UEs 150, 152 having a unique identity (UE identifier) shown in the first column, that had reported measurement reports to the RBS-A 110.“) to a second network node for a predicted cost metric associated with the one or more user equipment in the list when connected to the second network node (repeat for another target cell, column 12, lines 63-67 – column 13, lines 1-6; “RBS-A 110 receives 302 the load in Cell-B 122. It is assumed that there is a continuous exchange of cell load measurements between the cells in the neighbouring cells in the system, so that source RBS-A is aware of the actual load in its neighbouring Cell-B 122, regarded the potential target for a load balance action.”); receiving the predicted cost metric in response to the second request (column 6, lines 57-63; “wherein RBS-A performs the further steps of calculating a performance identifier Ap1, identifying the performance of the at least one UE in respect of Cell-A, based on the signal quality report identifier Ar1, and calculating a performance identifier Bc1 in respect of the Cell-B from the reported signal quality identifier Br1 and the load in the Cell-B.” And column 6, lines 64-67; “The RBS-A performs as well the further step mapping the calculated performance identifier Bc1 to a corresponding estimated performance identifier Bp-est, indicating an estimated performance in Cell-B.”); and initiating offloading of the one or more user equipment in the list to the second or third network node based on whichever node has the lowest cost metric (column 7, lines 1-5; “the selection of the one or more UEs to be relocated, is based on a comparison comprising the performance identifier Ap1 and the estimated performance identifier Bp-est. for relocation to Cell-B.”) . Ekemark does not specifically teach attaching the identifiers. “Official notice” is taken piggybacking is well known in the art. It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ekemark to incorporate piggybacking ue identifiers with the load values because doing so would have reduced network resources. The motivation would have been to decrease the network traffic. Note Ekemark demonstrates piggybacking for example see column 23, lines 3-10; “For S1 the piggy-backed information is sent with Handover Notify and UE Context Release, regarded as optional features in existing networks. The calculation of the ranked UE to be relocated allows a mapping of perceived measures signals of the Cell-B (when connected to RBS-A) and the estimated performance in Cell-B, with any suitable function.” Claim 35 is method comprising steps similar to operations of the apparatus of claim 42 above. Claim 35 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 49 is an apparatus comprising operations similar to the operations of the apparatus of claim 42 above. Claim 49 recites the additional limitation checking a resource availability at the apparatus for the one or more user equipment in the list (column 14, lines 33-36; “RBS-A, receiving 314 the perceived performance identifier, updates its map, there by receiving a new value for the estimated performance value in Cell-B.” And column 14, lines 52-54; “The Cell Subscription Capacity value reflects the total amount of QCI Subscription Quanta the cell is able to handle with an acceptable QoS level.”). Claim 49 is rejected on a similar rationale. Claim 43, Ekemark teaches the apparatus according to claim 42, wherein the cost metric corresponds to at least one of a throughput value, a data volume, or a beam failure recovery metric associated with one or more user equipment in the list (column 18, lines 32-40; “The UE selection 506 for relocation is made by RBS-A. It is based on estimated performance or throughput in the source cell (Cell-A) compared to estimated performance or throughput in the target cell (Cell-B) based on the mapping table for Cell-B.”), or wherein the cost metric corresponds to a reward corresponding to at least one of a data volume, energy efficiency, or a traffic load at a cell level. Claim 36 is method comprising steps similar to operations of the apparatus of claim 43 above. Claim 36 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 50 is an apparatus comprising operations similar to the operations of the apparatus of claim 43 above. Claim 50 is rejected on a similar rationale. Claim 44, Ekemark teaches the apparatus according to claim 42, wherein the first request is transmitted together with a threshold value related to the cost metric (column 9, lines 1-4; “the selector module is arranged to cooperate with a rank selector module (706) to select the UEs to be relocated according to a ranked order wherein the UEs exceeding a first threshold are selected.”). Claim 37 is method comprising steps similar to operations of the apparatus of claim 44 above. Claim 37 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 45, Ekemark teaches The apparatus according to claim 42, wherein the list is an ordered list according to a priority with respect to the cost metric of each of the one or more user equipment (column 3, lines 3-8; “By ranking 308 the UEs according to the estimated performance in Cell-B and the calculated performance in Cell-A, RBS-A is enabled to select which UE has to be relocated. As an example UE 150 qualifies according to a ranking to be relocated, has having sufficient signal gain after relocation to Cell-B.”). Claim 38 is method comprising steps similar to operations of the apparatus of claim 45 above. Claim 38 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 51 is an apparatus comprising operations similar to the operations of the apparatus of claim 45 above. Claim 46, Ekemark teaches the apparatus according to claim 42, wherein the offloading comprises: a subset of the one or more user equipment and a total amount of resources needed at the second network node (column 16, lines 27-30; “the provision of the new value for the performance identifier Bp2 to RBS-A is submitted once all relocated UEs in the session 312 have provided their reports Br2. This performance identifier Bp2 is fed back to the source cell (Cell-A) in a message such as part of a UE Context Release message, …” And column 16, lines 34-37; “The UE Context Release procedure is standardized to inform the source RBS (RBS-A) of handover success and trigger release of the resources in the source RBS.”), or categories of the one or more user equipment, wherein each of the categories is separated based on resource usage, and resource needs of the one or more user equipment comprising user equipment based on resource categories such as guaranteed bit rate resources or user equipment with non-guaranteed bit rate resources (considered to be part of alternative limitation). Claim 39 is method comprising steps similar to operations of the apparatus of claim 46 above. Claim 39 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 52 is an apparatus comprising operations similar to the operations of the apparatus of claim 46 above. Claim 47, Ekemark teaches the apparatus according to claim 42, when the predicted cost metric is greater than the cost metric , the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to perform: requesting a third network node for an expected cost of offloading to the third network node (column 17, lines 31-34; “Although this is a single table for the relation from Cell-A to Cell-B, one must realize that for each relation to a neighbour cell a separate table is created for load balancing to several target cells.”). Claim 40 is method comprising steps similar to operations of the apparatus of claim 47 above. Claim 40 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 48, Ekemark teaches the apparatus according to claim 42, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus at least to perform: updating the list of the one or more user equipment when there is not an acceptable offloading candidate network node for the one or more user equipment (column 16, lines 38-44; “With the update the estimated performance identifier with respect to Cell-B Bp-est. is provided with a most recent value for the estimated performance in Cell-B, enabling a next load balancing action with reliable and accurate parameters for selecting which UEs should be relocated. UEs with a relatively poor performance or throughput prediction in the target cell are not selected for relocation.”). Claim 41 is method comprising steps similar to operations of the apparatus of claim 48 above. Claim 41 is rejected based on a similar rationale . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wu et al., US 20220141726 A1, teaches the target cell requests a load analytic report from the MDA module and the MDA module responds with the report and in an embodiment, the target cell decides to accept or reject the handover request on the basis of the UE load analytic report. Thomas et al., US 11343720 B2, teaches a table shows a number of UEs 150, 152 having a unique identity (UE identifier) shown in the first column, that had reported measurement reports to the RBS-A 110. The second column shows the perceived performance A.sub.pi in Cell-A as calculated by RBS-A including the load in Cell-A. Yang et al., US 20230164657 A1, teaches The method includes a first radio access network device receiving load prediction information of at least one first cell from a first network device, and determining a target cell in the at least one first cell based on the load prediction information of the at least one first cell. The first cell is a cell controlled by another radio access network device. The load prediction information includes at least one of a quantity of terminals accessing the first cell in a first time period, a setup success rate of a protocol data unit (PDU) session in the first cell in the first time period, or a handover success rate of the first cell in the first time period. Sarkar et al., US 20230345317 A1, teaches responsive to determining that the likelihood of service failure does not exceed a probability threshold, handover of the UE to the target cell may be suppressed (block 512). Otherwise, responsive to determining that the likelihood of service failure exceeds the probability threshold, in some embodiments, a handover of the UE device to the target cell may be initiated (block 514). Da silva et al., US 12096295 B2, teaches a cancelling mechanism triggered by the target node towards the source node may cancel any of the following alternatives: a single conditional handover for a single UE that has a target cell in the target node as a candidate for conditional handover; multiple conditional handovers for a single UE that has at least one target cell in the target node as a candidate for conditional handover; multiple conditional handovers for multiple UEs that have at least one target cell in the target node as a candidate for conditional handover; or all conditional handovers for multiple UEs that have at least one target cell in the target node as a candidate for conditional handover. Parichehrehteroujeni et al, US 20250267538 A1, receiving, from a candidate target network node of the reconfiguration procedure, information predicted to characterize service that the candidate target network node would provide to a wireless communication device if the candidate target network node were to be a target of the reconfiguration procedure. Netsiajnc, WO 2017195078 A1, teaches the goal of the MLB functionality is to improve cellular network's performance and resource usage efficiency through load balancing. This is achieved by handing over some UEs from heavily loaded cells to less loaded cells, by optimizing the handover parameters that are explained above. On the other hand, the MRO functionality aims to reduce handover related radio link failures. Specifically, the MRO functionality aims to detect too early and too late handovers, and handovers to wrong cells and takes corrective action by optimizing the handover parameters. Ekemark et al., MY 177871 A, teaches the UE selection 506 for relocation is made by RBS-A. It is based on estimated performance or throughput in the source cell (Cell-A) compared to estimated performance or throughput in the target cell (Cell-B) based on the mapping table for Cell-B. This mapping table comprises a mapping from the reported radio link quality values (RSRP/RSRQ) to UE throughput, based on previous feedback values from Cell-B from other UEs that have performed IEF handover. X2 signalling relocation or handover is performed if the difference between the UE throughput in target and source cells, is within certain thresholds. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICE L WINDER whose telephone number is (571)272-3935. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am-6pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KAMAL B DIVECHA can be reached at (571)272-5863. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Patrice L Winder/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2453 Application/Control Number: 18/998,728 Page 2 Art Unit: 2453
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