Prior art

I am unable to directly access a live USPTO database or interactively browse websites to retrieve the "References Cited" section for US patent 10863573. The comprehensive patent text provided also does not include an explicit "References Cited" section listing U.S. Patent Documents or Foreign Patent Documents.

Therefore, I cannot provide a list of specific patent citations made by US10863573, their publication/filing dates, brief descriptions, and a detailed analysis of which claims they potentially anticipate under 35 U.S.C. § 102.

To perform such an analysis, one would typically:

1. Obtain the list of cited prior art: This involves accessing the official USPTO record for patent 10863573 (e.g., via Patent Public Search) and extracting the "References Cited" section, which lists all patents and non-patent literature considered by the examiner and applicant during prosecution.
2. Retrieve each cited reference: For each identified prior art patent, its full text (including claims, specification, and drawings) would need to be obtained.
3. Analyze each reference against the claims of US10863573:
   • Full Citation: Record the patent number, title, inventor(s), and assignee.
   • Publication/Filing Date: Note the earliest effective date of the prior art (e.g., filing date, publication date, or priority date). This is crucial for determining its applicability under 35 U.S.C. § 102.
   • Brief Description: Summarize the core invention or relevant aspects of the prior art, often by reviewing its abstract and key portions of the specification.
   • Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): A thorough claim-by-claim comparison would be performed. Anticipation under § 102 requires that every element of a claim in US10863573 is found, either explicitly or inherently, in a single prior art reference. This would involve:
     • Breaking down each independent claim of US10863573 into its individual limitations.
     • Systematically searching the disclosure of each prior art reference to determine if all limitations of a given claim are present in that single reference. If all limitations are present, the claim is potentially anticipated.
     • Dependent claims would also be assessed; if an independent claim is anticipated, its dependent claims would likely also be anticipated unless they introduce novel limitations not found in the prior art.

General Context of Prior Art for US10863573:

Based on the title "Method and apparatus for sequential forwarding considering multi-flow in dual connectivity system" and the description, the relevant prior art would likely involve:

• Dual Connectivity (DC) in LTE/LTE-A: Patents describing the establishment and management of connections with multiple base stations (e.g., macro eNB and small eNB).
• Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP): Prior art related to PDCP layer functionalities, including sequence numbering (SN), header compression, ciphering, and in-sequence delivery, particularly in scenarios involving multiple data paths.
• Radio Link Control (RLC): References concerning RLC entity operations, such as reordering, retransmission (ARQ), segmentation, and reassembly of RLC PDUs and SDUs.
• Multi-flow data transmission: Techniques for distributing data belonging to a single EPS bearer over multiple radio bearers or paths, especially in DC environments.
• In-sequence delivery mechanisms: Methods for ensuring ordered delivery of packets to higher layers, particularly when data can arrive out-of-sequence due to multiple transmission paths with varying delays. The patent explicitly mentions the problem of PDCP SDUs being delivered out of sequence in multi-flow dual connectivity, necessitating a "new method for sequential delivery of the PDCP SDUs to the upper layer in the PDCP entity" [Description]. Therefore, prior art dealing with similar sequencing issues in multi-path or multi-carrier scenarios would be highly relevant.

Without access to the actual cited references, a definitive analysis of anticipation is not possible.