DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the original application filed on 1/13/2025. Claims 1-20 are pending in
the application.
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
3. Claims 1, 13, and 19-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 in line 1, “An operation method of user equipment,” should be replaced by “An operation method of a user equipment,”.
Claim 1 in line 6, “performing a conditional handover;” should be replaced by “performing the conditional handover;”.
Claim 13 in line 2, “assistance information from user equipment,” should be replaced by “assistance information from a user equipment,”.
Claim 13 in line 5, “performing a conditional handover;” should be replaced by “performing the conditional handover;”.
Claim 19 in line 1, “User equipment comprising:” should be replaced by “A user equipment comprising:”.
Claim 19 in line 2, “memory configured to” should be replaced by “A memory configured to”.
Claim 19 in line 3, “for conditional handover;” should be replaced by “for a conditional handover;”.
Claim 20 in lines 2-4, “the plurality of messages being defined in 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specification (TS) 38.331” should be removed. It contains 3GPP technical standard specification (TS) 38.331.
Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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, 5-6, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated
by LATHEEF et al. (US 2021/0051550 Al, hereinafter “Latheef”).
Regarding claim 1, Latheef discloses:
An operation method of user equipment, the operation method comprising (The method includes performing, by the UE, a CHO execution to one of a CHO candidate target cell, Latheef: [0013]):
transmitting a first message including assistance information to a serving cell based on a determination, the assistance information corresponding to a conditional handover (The serving cell performs the handover of the UE to the target cell on receiving assistance information from the UE. The assistance information includes measurement reports of the neighbor cells. The UE sends the assistance information to the serving cell for the handover. the UE sends the measurement report to the SgNB, wherein the measurement report includes the measurements of the TgNB. 3GPPP defines a Conditional handover (CHO), Latheef: Fig. 10A, [0034], [0036]-[0040], [0132], [0160]);
receiving a conditional handover-related message indicating adjusted first conditions, the adjusted first conditions having been adjusted from first conditions based on the assistance information, and the first conditions being conditions for performing a conditional handover (the SgNB associates the CHO triggering condition with the CHO target cell configurations and sends the CHO configuration of the TgNB to the UE in the RRC reconfiguration message. the SgNB sends the delta source cell configuration and the delta CHO target cell configuration to the UE in the RRC reconfiguration message. The CHO target cell configuration includes the source cell configuration and the container (including the target cell configuration prepared as delta over the received source cell configuration), Latheef: Fig. 10A, [0133]-[0135], [0160]-[0161]);
evaluating the adjusted first conditions to obtain an evaluation result (the UE applies the received source cell configuration in the CHO configuration to continue on the source cell. The UE performs the CHO execution, if the CHO triggering condition of the TgNB have been satisfied. The CHO execution involves applying the CHO target cell configuration of the TgNB for the handover, Latheef: Fig. 10A, [0161]-[0162]); and
performing the conditional handover with a target cell based on the evaluation result (the UE performs the RRC reestablishment and sends the RRC re-establishment complete to the TgNB, Latheef: Fig. 10A, [0163]).
PNG
media_image2.png
678
494
media_image2.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 5, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Latheef further discloses:
analyzing an evaluation-related history of at least one previous conditional handover to obtain an analysis result (When the source cell configuration has been changed after providing the CHO configurations to the UE, the source cell sends the delta source cell configuration (i.e. the change in the source cell configuration with respect to the earlier/ previous source cell configuration based on which the CHO configuration was generated by each candidate target cells) to the CHO candidate target cells in the handover request, Latheef: [0070]);
determining whether the analysis result satisfies an assistance condition to obtain a determination result (On receiving the delta source cell configuration, the CHO candidate target cells prepare updated/delta CHO target cell configurations in the container. Preparing the updated CHO configurations involve updating the CHO target cell configurations as delta over the delta source cell configurations, Latheef: [0070]); and
determining to perform the transmitting based on the determination result (On receiving the RRC reconfiguration message, the UE first updates the source cell configuration in the stored CHO configurations with the received delta source cell configurations. The UE then updates the CHO target cell configurations in the stored CHO configurations with the received delta CHO target cell configurations, Latheef: [0072]).
Regarding claim 6, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Latheef further discloses:
selecting one of relaxing or strengthening of the first conditions to obtain a selection result (transmission of the updated/delta source cell configuration to the UE can be delayed, till the reception of the updated/delta CHO target cell configurations by the source cell from the CHO candidate target cells, Latheef: [0073]); and
generating the assistance information based on the selection result (UE sends the assistance information to the serving cell for the handover, Latheef: [0034]).
Regarding claim 13, Latheef discloses:
An operation method of a serving cell, the operation method comprising (In a typical handover method, the serving cell triggers a handover procedure by sending a handover (HO) request to the target cell, Latheef: [0035]):
receiving a first message including assistance information from user equipment, the assistance information corresponding to a conditional handover (The serving cell performs the handover of the UE to the target cell on receiving assistance information from the UE. The assistance information includes measurement reports of the neighbor cells. The UE sends the assistance information to the serving cell for the handover. the UE sends the measurement report to the SgNB, wherein the measurement report includes the measurements of the TgNB. 3GPPP defines a Conditional handover (CHO), Latheef: Fig. 10A, [0034], [0036]-[0040], [0132], [0160]);
adjusting first conditions based on the assistance information to obtain adjusted first conditions, the first conditions being conditions for performing a conditional handover (The CHO target cell configuration includes the source cell configuration and the container (including the target cell configuration prepared as delta over the received source cell configuration). On receiving the CHO target cell configurations from the TgNB, the SgNB associates the CHO triggering condition with the CHO target cell configurations. the SgNB sends the delta source cell configuration and the delta CHO target cell configuration to the UE in the RRC reconfiguration message. The CHO target cell configuration includes the source cell configuration and the container (including the target cell configuration prepared as delta over the received source cell configuration), Latheef: Fig. 10A, [0132]-[0135], [0160]-[0161]); and
transmitting a conditional handover-related message indicating the adjusted first conditions (the SgNB associates the CHO triggering condition with the CHO target cell configurations and sends the CHO configuration of the TgNB to the UE in the RRC reconfiguration message. the SgNB sends the delta source cell configuration and the delta CHO target cell configuration to the UE in the RRC reconfiguration message, Latheef: Fig. 4, [0133]-[0135]).
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 2-3, 12, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latheef in view of
CHANG et al. (US 2024/0224150 Al, hereinafter “Chang”).
Regarding claim 2, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
generating an index value of reception performance by measuring a data reception rate and a received signal strength; and
determining to perform the transmitting based on the index value.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chang teaches:
generating an index value of reception performance by measuring a data reception rate and a received signal strength (After receiving the conditional handover command, the UE will not execute a handover immediately but stores a received handover command configuration, and starts to monitor the link quality of a source cell or the link quality of a target cell according to the handover execution condition carried in the handover command message, so as to evaluate whether the handover execution condition is met, Chang: [0031]-[0032]); and
determining to perform the transmitting based on the index value (when it is determined, by means of monitoring, that the configured handover execution condition is met, does the UE start to execute the stored handover command and access the target cell, Chang: [0031]-[0032]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Chang in order to further modify generating an index value of reception performance by measuring a data reception rate and a received signal strength and determining to perform the transmitting based on the index value from the teachings of Chang.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because in the conditional handover, a relatively conservative measurement report threshold is set, so that a base station acquires a measurement result in advance and performs handover preparation with a selected target base station in advance according to the measurement result (Chang: [0032]).
Regarding claim 3, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 2 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the data reception rate comprises at least one of a data error rate or a data throughput.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chang teaches:
wherein the data reception rate comprises at least one of a data error rate or a data throughput (After receiving the conditional handover command, the UE will not execute a handover immediately but stores a received handover command configuration, and starts to monitor the link quality of a source cell or the link quality of a target cell according to the handover execution condition carried in the handover command message, Chang: [0031]-[0032]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Chang in order to further modify the data reception rate which comprises at least one of a data error rate or a data throughput from the teachings of Chang.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because in the conditional handover, a relatively conservative measurement report threshold is set, so that a base station acquires a measurement result in advance and performs handover preparation with a selected target base station in advance according to the measurement result (Chang: [0032]).
Regarding claim 12, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first message comprises a user equipment information response message in response to a user equipment information request message indicating a previous conditional handover result.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chang teaches:
wherein the first message comprises a user equipment information response message in response to a user equipment information request message indicating a previous conditional handover result (After receiving the indication, the network side may request, by using an RRC message (an rlf-ReportReq information element in a UEinformationRequest message for indicating the request), the UE to report the radio link failure report stored thereby, Chang: [0037]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Chang in order to further modify the first message which comprises a user equipment information response message in response to a user equipment information request message indicating a previous conditional handover result from the teachings of Chang.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because in the conditional handover, a relatively conservative measurement report threshold is set, so that a base station acquires a measurement result in advance and performs handover preparation with a selected target base station in advance according to the measurement result (Chang: [0032]).
Regarding claim 18, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 13 above.
Latheef further discloses:
the first message including a user equipment information response message in response to the user equipment information request message (The serving cell performs the handover of the UE to the target cell on receiving assistance information from the UE. The UE sends the assistance information to the serving cell for the handover, Latheef: [0034]).
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
transmitting a user equipment information request message to the user equipment, the user equipment information request message indicating a previous conditional handover result,
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chang teaches:
transmitting a user equipment information request message to the user equipment, the user equipment information request message indicating a previous conditional handover result (After receiving the indication, the network side may request, by using an RRC message (an rlf-ReportReq information element in a UEinformationRequest message for indicating the request), the UE to report the radio link failure report stored thereby, Chang: [0037]),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Chang in order to further modify transmitting a user equipment information request message to the user equipment, the user equipment information request message indicating a previous conditional handover result from the teachings of Chang.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because in the conditional handover, a relatively conservative measurement report threshold is set, so that a base station acquires a measurement result in advance and performs handover preparation with a selected target base station in advance according to the measurement result (Chang: [0032]).
Regarding claim 19, Latheef discloses:
User equipment comprising (FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting hardware components of the UE, Latheef: Fig. 3, [0119]):
memory configured to store assistance information for relaxing or strengthening conditions for conditional handover (UE includes a memory. The memory can store at least one of the CHO candidate target cell list, the CHO configurations of the CHO candidate target cells, the updated source/CHO target cell configurations, the information about the source cell, Latheef: Fig. 3, [0119]-[0120]); and
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
a processor configured to determine whether to transmit the assistance information to a serving cell based on an index value of reception performance, the index value being generated by measuring a data reception rate and a received signal strength from signals received from the serving cell.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chang teaches:
a processor configured to determine whether to transmit the assistance information to a serving cell based on an index value of reception performance, the index value being generated by measuring a data reception rate and a received signal strength from signals received from the serving cell (When run by the processor, the instructions can perform the above handover information reporting. After receiving the conditional handover command, the UE will not execute a handover immediately but stores a received handover command configuration, and starts to monitor the link quality of a source cell or the link quality of a target cell according to the handover execution condition carried in the handover command message, so as to evaluate whether the handover execution condition is met, Chang: [0031]-[0032], [0079]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Chang in order to further modify a processor configured to determine whether to transmit the assistance information to a serving cell based on an index value of reception performance, the index value being generated by measuring a data reception rate and a received signal strength from signals received from the serving cell from the teachings of Chang.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because in the conditional handover, a relatively conservative measurement report threshold is set, so that a base station acquires a measurement result in advance and performs handover preparation with a selected target base station in advance according to the measurement result (Chang: [0032]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latheef in view of Chang and in further
view of Haghani et al. (US 2023/0035400 Al, hereinafter “Haghani”).
Regarding claim 4, Latheef in view of Chang teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 2 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
determining to perform the transmitting based on the index value being less than a threshold corresponding to the received signal strength.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Haghani teaches:
determining to perform the transmitting based on the index value being less than a threshold corresponding to the received signal strength (An A5 event may refer to the serving cell being worse than a first threshold and the target cell being better than a second threshold. The signal metrics for measuring the serving/ target cell may be one or more of reference signal receive power (RSRP), reference signal receive quality (RSRQ), or signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR). Haghani: [0036]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef and Chang in view of Haghani in order to further modify determining to perform the transmitting based on the index value being less than a threshold corresponding to the received signal strength from the teachings of Haghani.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because the network may utilize a conditional handover (CHO) or conditional PSCell change (CPC) to improve mobility robustness and reliability (Haghani: [0027]).
Claims 7-8, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latheef in view of WU et
al. (US 2025/0126539 Al, hereinafter “Wu”).
Regarding claim 7, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the assistance information comprises information to relax or strengthen the first conditions.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wu teaches:
wherein the assistance information comprises information to relax or strengthen the first conditions (the assistant information includes at least one of: a time duration, Wu: [0078]-[0081]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Wu in order to further modify the assistance information which comprises information to relax or strengthen the first conditions from the teachings of Wu.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because CHO configuration information associated with a candidate cell of the UE. The CHO configuration information includes an execution condition comprising an event and a further event (Wu: [0047]).
Regarding claim 8, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the assistance information comprises an assistance offset applied to the first conditions.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wu teaches:
wherein the assistance information comprises an assistance offset applied to the first conditions (information associated with the 1st event includes at least one of: a measurement object specific offset of a reference signal of a neighbor cell of the UE, Wu: [0060]-[0066]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Wu in order to further modify the assistance information which comprises an assistance offset applied to the first conditions from the teachings of Wu.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because CHO configuration information associated with a candidate cell of the UE. The CHO configuration information includes an execution condition comprising an event and a further event (Wu: [0047]).
Regarding claim 14, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 13 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the assistance information comprises an assistance offset applied to the first conditions.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wu teaches:
wherein the assistance information comprises an assistance offset applied to the first conditions (information associated with the 1st event includes at least one of: a measurement object specific offset of a reference signal of a neighbor cell of the UE, Wu: [0060]-[0066]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Wu in order to further modify the assistance information which comprises an assistance offset applied to the first conditions from the teachings of Wu.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because CHO configuration information associated with a candidate cell of the UE. The CHO configuration information includes an execution condition comprising an event and a further event (Wu: [0047]).
Claims 9 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latheef in view of FAN et
al. (US 2024/0365201 Al, hereinafter “Fan”).
Regarding claim 9, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Latheef further discloses:
preparing to transmit the first message based on the conditional handover assistance related configuration message (source cell initiates a CHO candidate cell preparation, on receiving the measurements of the one or more neighbor cells from the UE. the one or more CHO candidate target cells may prepare the CHO target cell configurations based on UE capability coordination and the source cell configurations, Latheef: [0054], [0057]).
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
reporting capability information to the serving cell, the capability information indicating support for a function of transmitting the assistance information;
receiving a conditional handover assistance-related configuration message based on the capability information from the serving cell; and
However, in the same field of endeavor, Fan teaches:
reporting capability information to the serving cell, the capability information indicating support for a function of transmitting the assistance information (the terminal device sends capability information to the network device. The capability information is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports, Fan: Fig. 7, [0172]);
receiving a conditional handover assistance-related configuration message based on the capability information from the serving cell (the network device sends first indication information to the terminal device, Fan: Fig. 7, [0173]); and
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Fan in order to further modify reporting capability information to the serving cell, the capability information indicating support for a function of transmitting the assistance information and receiving a conditional handover assistance-related configuration message based on the capability information from the serving cell from the teachings of Fan.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because configuration information may alternatively indicate a conditional handover target cell, in the one or more conditional handover cells corresponding to the conditional handover configuration information, on which evaluation of whether a handover condition is met does not need to be performed (Fan: [0171]).
Regarding claim 16, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 13 above.
Latheef further discloses:
transmitting, to the user equipment, a conditional handover assistance-related configuration message based on the capability information, the conditional handover assistance related configuration message including a timer for inhibiting transmission of the first message (the source cell can be configured to control enhanced mobility of the UE by configuring the UE with a conditional handover (CHO). the updated source or target cell configurations can be transmitted to the UE with delay. transmission of the updated/delta source cell configuration to the UE can be delayed, till the reception of the updated/delta CHO target cell configurations, Latheef: [0053]-[0054], [0073]).
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
receiving capability information from the user equipment, the capability information indicating support for a function of transmitting the assistance information; and
However, in the same field of endeavor, Fan teaches:
receiving a conditional handover assistance-related configuration message based on the capability information from the serving cell (the terminal device sends capability information to the network device. The capability information is used to indicate whether the terminal device supports, Fan: Fig. 7, [0172]); and
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Fan in order to further modify receiving a conditional handover assistance-related configuration message based on the capability information from the serving cell from the teachings of Fan.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because configuration information may alternatively indicate a conditional handover target cell, in the one or more conditional handover cells corresponding to the conditional handover configuration information, on which evaluation of whether a handover condition is met does not need to be performed (Fan: [0171]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latheef in view of Fan and in further
view of Wu.
Regarding claim 10, Latheef in view of Fan teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 9 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the conditional handover assistance related configuration message comprises information about a timer for inhibiting transmission of the first message.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wu teaches:
wherein the conditional handover assistance related configuration message comprises information about a timer for inhibiting transmission of the first message (the information associated with the 1st event includes at least one of: information regarding a timer to trigger (TTT). the assistant information includes at least one of: a time duration since the 1st event considered to be fulfilled, Wu: [0060]-[0061], [0078]-[0079]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef and Fan in view of Wu in order to further modify the conditional handover assistance related configuration message which comprises information about a timer for inhibiting transmission of the first message from the teachings of Wu.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because CHO configuration information associated with a candidate cell of the UE. The CHO configuration information includes an execution condition comprising an event and a further event (Wu: [0047]).
Claims 11 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latheef in view of Haghani.
Regarding claim 11, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first message comprises a conditional handover completion message transmitted from a previous cell to the serving cell.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Haghani teaches:
wherein the first message comprises a conditional handover completion message transmitted from a previous cell to the serving cell (the UE detaches from the access node, applies the stored corresponding configuration for the target cell, synchronizes to the target cell, and completes the RRC handover procedure by sending an RRC Reconfiguration Complete message to the access node. The target cell may be informed of the reason for early CHO/CPC by adding an indication in an IE of the RRC reconfiguration complete message, Haghani: [0037]-[0038], [0041]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Haghani in order to further modify the first message which comprises a conditional handover completion message transmitted from a previous cell to the serving cell from the teachings of Haghani.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because the network may utilize a conditional handover (CHO) or conditional PSCell change (CPC) to improve mobility robustness and reliability (Haghani: [0027]).
Regarding claim 17, Latheef teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 13 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first message comprises a conditional handover completion message transmitted from a previous cell to the serving cell.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Haghani teaches:
wherein the first message comprises a conditional handover completion message transmitted from a previous cell to the serving cell (the UE detaches from the access node, applies the stored corresponding configuration for the target cell, synchronizes to the target cell, and completes the RRC handover procedure by sending an RRC Reconfiguration Complete message to the access node. The target cell may be informed of the reason for early CHO/CPC by adding an indication in an IE of the RRC reconfiguration complete message, Haghani: [0037]-[0038], [0041]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef in view of Haghani in order to further modify the first message which comprises a conditional handover completion message transmitted from a previous cell to the serving cell from the teachings of Haghani.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because the network may utilize a conditional handover (CHO) or conditional PSCell change (CPC) to improve mobility robustness and reliability (Haghani: [0027]).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latheef in view of Wu and in further
view of LASELVA et al. (US 2025/0184855 Al, hereinafter “Laselva”).
Regarding claim 15, Latheef in view of Wu teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 14 above.
Latheef further discloses:
relaxing or strengthening the conditions for conditional handover based on the corrected assistance offset (transmission of the updated/delta source cell configuration to the UE can be delayed, till the reception of the updated/delta CHO target cell configurations by the source cell from the CHO candidate target cells, Latheef: [0073]):
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
correcting the assistance offset to obtain a corrected assistance offset; and
However, in the same field of endeavor, Laselva teaches:
wherein the assistance information comprises information to relax or strengthen the first conditions (when RSRP of a target cell becomes a defined offset better than that of the serving cell, the UE may trigger an A3 event (triggered when a neighboring cell becomes better than the serving cell by an offset), Laselva: [0044]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef and Wu in view of Laselva in order to further modify the assistance information which comprises information to relax or strengthen the first conditions from the teachings of Laselva.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because it may assist the network in identifying the relevant neighbor cell that may be used for handover for the UE, given the UE's radio conditions (Laselva: [0044]).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Latheef in view of Chang and in
further view of Wu.
Regarding claim 20, Latheef in view of Chang teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 19 above.
Latheef does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the assistance information is included in one of a plurality of messages transmitted from the user equipment to the serving cell, the plurality of messages being defined in 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specification (TS) 38.331.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wu teaches:
wherein the assistance information is included in one of a plurality of messages transmitted from the user equipment to the serving cell, the plurality of messages being defined in 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specification (TS) 38.331 (the information associated with the 1st event includes a measurement object specific offset of a reference signal of a neighbor cell of the UE, e.g., Ofn as defined in 3GPP TS38.331, Wu: [0060]-[0066]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Latheef and Chang in view of Wu in order to further modify the assistance information which is included in one of a plurality of messages transmitted from the user equipment to the serving cell, the plurality of messages being defined in 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) technical specification (TS) 38.331 from the teachings of Wu.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because CHO configuration information associated with a candidate cell of the UE. The CHO configuration information includes an execution condition comprising an event and a further event (Wu: [0047]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
References considered relevant to this application are listed in the attached “Notice of References Cited” (PTO-892).
Wu et al. (US 2025/0212082 A1); See Fig. 2 & Fig. 5, [0047]-[0049], [0080]-[0085].
KARABULUT et al. (US 2026/0025718 A1); See Fig. 8, [0005]-[0016], [0145]-[0150].
OZTURK et al. (US 2023/0126142A1); See Fig. 3, [0057]-[0080].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should
be directed to SANG C LEE whose telephone number is (703)756-1461. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00AM-5:00PM ET.
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, HASSAN PHILLIPS can be reached on (571)272-3940. 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.
/S.C.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/MOHAMMED S CHOWDHURY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
Prosecution Insights