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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments filed 10/28/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument in pages 8-10, the applicant asserts that “Claim 16, as amended, renders the rejection moot because the proposed combination of references as cited in the Office Action does not teach or suggest at least to "determining a timing advance based on all of the common timing advance, the absolute timing advance, and a timing advance related to a satellite, wherein the timing advance related to the satellite is estimated by the UE" as recited in Claim 16.” Examiner respectively disagrees since as indicated by the office action that GHANBARINEJAD et al. (US 20230362857) in par. 196, 203, 204, which determine the TAnew:=TAold+TA3+TAdrift or the TAnew:=TAold+TA3 and UE applies TA3 on top of TA1+TA2, which TA1 is consider as the common TA as indicated by par. 148-154, 287, TAref is the common TA and TA1=TAref and the TA3 is consider as the absolute TA as indicated by par. 201, 233, 234, 235, 239, 241, 289, The value of TA3 may be positive, zero, or negative… a MAC CE message comprising the value of TA3 and TA2 or TAdrift is consider as the timing advance related to the satellite is estimated by the UE as indicated by par. 136, 150. Therefore, the determine the TAnew:=TAold+TA3+TAdrift or the TAnew:=TAold+TA3 and UE applies TA3 on top of TA1+TA2 would consider as “determining a timing advance based on all of the common timing advance, the absolute timing advance, and a timing advance related to a satellite, wherein the timing advance related to the satellite is estimated by the UE;”. Therefore, the combination of the references would teach the claims.
The rejection is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GHANBARINEJAD et al. (US 20230362857 as supported by provisional app. 63078797 filed on 09/15/2020) in view of LI et al. (US 20230095158 with continuation of app. PCT/CN2020/098249 filed on 06/24/2020) and SHA et al. (US 20220322127 with continuation of PCT/CN2020/107982 filed on 08/07/2020).
Regarding claim 16, 23, GHANBARINEJAD et al. (US 20230362857) teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (fig. 1A, 1B, UE), the method including:
receiving, from a base station, a system information block (SIB) including a common timing advance (fig. 8 block 860, par. 135, 148-154, 156, 211, 237, 287, obtain TA1 from SIB… NT-TRP broadcasts TA.sub.ref in SIB…TA1:=TAref… The reference TA may consider the TA change due to a propagation delay from the satellite to the ground as well as a delay to apply the reference TA… the common TA value (also referred to as the reference TA value); par. 107, 135, the common TA, which refers to the common component of propagation delay shared by all UEs within the coverage of same satellite beam/cell…TA1 can be computed by calculating the propagation delay associated with the distance between the NT-TRP and the UE);
receiving, from the base station, an absolute timing advance in a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (par. 148-154, 201, 233, 234, 235, 239, 241, 289, the NT-TRP transmits a control message such as a MAC CE message comprising the value of TA3);
determining a timing advance based on all of the common timing advance, the absolute timing advance, and a timing advance related to a satellite, wherein the timing advance related to the satellite is estimated by the UE (par. 136, If the UE obtains the velocity of the satellite, VTRP, and/or its own velocity, VUE, in one embodiment, the UE may compute a TA drift rate associated with the relative velocity; par. 158, The value of TA2 may be significantly different for different UEs as the delay computed for propagation from the satellite to the ground corresponds to a reference point on the ground; par. 196, UE applies TA3 on top of TA1+TA2; par. 203, 204, TAnew:=TAold+TA3+TAdrift…TAnew:=TAold+TA3); and
transmitting, to the base station, an uplink signal based on the timing advance (par. 102, 194-196, 205, 241, The UE, in one embodiment, adds the value of TA3 to the current timing advance value for transmitting a next uplink signal).
However, GHANBARINEJAD does not teach reporting, to the base station, the timing advance based on a difference between information on the timing advance and last reported information on the timing advance exceeds a threshold;
But, LI et al. (US 20230095158) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches receiving, from the base station, second information on an absolute timing advance in a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (par. 60, If the TA value of a certain terminal device needs to be corrected, the network device will send a timing advance command to the terminal device, asking it to adjust the TA value. The timing advance command is sent to the terminal device through MAC CE of the timing advance command);
determining a timing advance based on the common timing advance the absolute timing advance (par. 60, 76, 77, 103, The relative TA value is a TA change of the absolute TA value relative to a last TA value obtained by the terminal device);
reporting, to the base station, the timing advance based on a difference between information on the timing advance and last reported information on the timing advance exceeds a threshold (par. 72, 78, 103, 122, 123, reporting the timing advance when greater or equal than threshold);
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by LI in the system of GHANBARINEJAD to report the TA.
The motivation would have been to maintain up to date timing advance for synchronization.
However, GHANBARINEJAD does not teach reporting, to the base station, the timing advance based a configuration indicating whether to report the timing advance is included in the SIB.
But, SHA et al. (US 20220322127) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches reporting, to the base station, the timing advance based a configuration indicating whether to report the timing advance is included in the SIB (par. 122, 132, an uplink timing advance (TA) value reporting indication and/or a downlink TA value reporting indication, and the measurement report message comprises the uplink TA values and/or a downlink TA values… the measurement request message is a system information block (SIB)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by SHA in the system of GHANBARINEJAD and LI to control TA report.
The motivation would have been to request on demand and reduce traffic on network.
Regarding claims 19, 26, GHANBARINEJAD teaches the method according to claim 16, wherein the timing advance related to the satellite is estimated by the UE based on a distance between the satellite and the UE (par. 158, The value of TA2 may be significantly different for different UEs as the delay computed for propagation from the satellite to the ground corresponds to a reference point on the ground, while UEs are expected to be spatially scattered; par. 135, 178, TA1 can be computed by calculating the propagation delay associated with the distance between the gateway and the NT-TRP plus the distance between the NT-TRP and the UE; par. 244).
Regarding claim 21, 28, GHANBARINEJAD teaches the method according to claim 16, wherein the timing advance related to the satellite (par. 136, If the UE obtains the velocity of the satellite, VTRP, and/or its own velocity, VUE, in one embodiment, the UE may compute a TA drift rate associated with the relative velocity; par. 158, The value of TA2 may be significantly different for different UEs as the delay computed for propagation from the satellite to the ground corresponds to a reference point on the ground; par. 196, UE applies TA3 on top of TA1+TA2; par. 203, 204, TAnew:=TAold+TA3+TAdrift…TAnew:=TAold+TA3).
However, GHANBARINEJAD does not teach wherein the timing advance is reported through an MAC CE.
But, LI et al. (US 20230095158) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the timing advance is reported through an MAC CE (par. 107, 149).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by LI in the system of GHANBARINEJAD and SHA to report the TA.
The motivation would have been to maintain up to date timing advance for synchronization.
Regarding claim 22, 29, GHANBARINEJAD teach the method according to claim 16, wherein the SIB further includes a timing offset (par. 211, 222, 223, the NT-TRP broadcasts additional information, for example in one or multiple system information blocks (“SIBs”)… the broadcast information may comprise additional information specific to NTN such as the following:…Propagation delay of a service link, e.g., propagation delay from the satellite/UAV to a reference point (normally on the ground)… Drift rate of the above propagation delay as a function of time; propagation delay or drift rate would consider as timing offset).
Regarding claim 30, GHANBARINEJAD et al. (US 20230362857) teaches a base station (fig. 1A, 1B, NT-TRP), the base station comprising:
a transceiver (fig. 1A, 1B, NT-TRP); and
a controller coupled with the transceiver (fig. 1A, 1B, NT-TRP) and configured to:
transmit, to a user equipment, UE, a system information block (SIB) including a common timing advance (fig. 8 block 860, par. 135, 156, 211, 237, obtain TA1 from SIB; par. 107, 135, the common TA, which refers to the common component of propagation delay shared by all UEs within the coverage of same satellite beam/cell…TA1 can be computed by calculating the propagation delay associated with the distance between the NT-TRP and the UE),
transmit, to the UE, an absolute timing advance in a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (par. 201, 233, 234, 235, 239, 241, 289, the NT-TRP transmits a control message such as a MAC CE message comprising the value of TA3),
wherein the timing advance related to a satellite is estimated by the UE (par. 136, If the UE obtains the velocity of the satellite, VTRP, and/or its own velocity, VUE, in one embodiment, the UE may compute a TA drift rate associated with the relative velocity; par. 158, The value of TA2 may be significantly different for different UEs as the delay computed for propagation from the satellite to the ground corresponds to a reference point on the ground; par. 196, UE applies TA3 on top of TA1+TA2; par. 203, 204, TAnew:=TAold+TA3+TAdrift…TAnew:=TAold+TA3), and
receive, from the UE, an uplink signal based on a timing advance, wherein the timing advance is determined based on all of the common timing advance, the absolute timing advance, and the timing advance related to the satellite (par. 136, If the UE obtains the velocity of the satellite, VTRP, and/or its own velocity, VUE, in one embodiment, the UE may compute a TA drift rate associated with the relative velocity; par. 158, The value of TA2 may be significantly different for different UEs as the delay computed for propagation from the satellite to the ground corresponds to a reference point on the ground; par. 196, UE applies TA3 on top of TA1+TA2; par. 203, 204, TAnew:=TAold+TA3+TAdrift…TAnew:=TAold+TA3).
However, GHANBARINEJAD does not teach receive, from the UE, a timing advance based on a difference between information on a timing advance and last reported information on the timing advance exceeds a threshold.
But, LI et al. (US 20230095158) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches transmitting, from the base station, second information on an absolute timing advance in a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (par. 60, If the TA value of a certain terminal device needs to be corrected, the network device will send a timing advance command to the terminal device, asking it to adjust the TA value. The timing advance command is sent to the terminal device through MAC CE of the timing advance command);
determining a timing advance based on the common timing advance the absolute timing advance (par. 60, 76, 77, 103, The relative TA value is a TA change of the absolute TA value relative to a last TA value obtained by the terminal device);
receive, from the UE, a timing advance based on a difference between information on a timing advance and last reported information on the timing advance exceeds a threshold (par. 72, 78, 103, 122, 123, reporting the timing advance when greater or equal than threshold);
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by LI in the system of GHANBARINEJAD to report the TA.
The motivation would have been to maintain up to date timing advance for synchronization.
However, GHANBARINEJAD does not teach receive, from the UE, a timing advance based on a configuration indicating whether to report the timing advance is included in the SIB.
But, SHA et al. (US 20220322127) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches receive, from the UE, a timing advance based on a configuration indicating whether to report the timing advance is included in the SIB (par. 122, 132, an uplink timing advance (TA) value reporting indication and/or a downlink TA value reporting indication, and the measurement report message comprises the uplink TA values and/or a downlink TA values… the measurement request message is a system information block (SIB)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by SHA in the system of GHANBARINEJAD and LI to control TA report.
The motivation would have been to request on demand and reduce traffic on network.
Regarding claim 31, GHANBARINEJAD teaches the base station according to claim 30, wherein the timing advance related to the satellite is reported by the UE based on a distance between the satellite and the UE (par. 158, The value of TA2 may be significantly different for different UEs as the delay computed for propagation from the satellite to the ground corresponds to a reference point on the ground, while UEs are expected to be spatially scattered; par. 135, 178, TA1 can be computed by calculating the propagation delay associated with the distance between the gateway and the NT-TRP plus the distance between the NT-TRP and the UE; par. 244).
Regarding claim 33, GHANBARINEJAD teaches the base station according to claim 30, wherein the timing advance related to the satellite (par. 136, If the UE obtains the velocity of the satellite, VTRP, and/or its own velocity, VUE, in one embodiment, the UE may compute a TA drift rate associated with the relative velocity; par. 158, The value of TA2 may be significantly different for different UEs as the delay computed for propagation from the satellite to the ground corresponds to a reference point on the ground; par. 196, UE applies TA3 on top of TA1+TA2; par. 203, 204, TAnew:=TAold+TA3+TAdrift…TAnew:=TAold+TA3).
However, GHANBARINEJAD does not teach wherein the timing advance is reported through an MAC CE.
But, LI et al. (US 20230095158) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the timing advance is reported through an MAC CE (par. 107, 149).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by LI in the system of GHANBARINEJAD and SHA to report the TA.
The motivation would have been to maintain up to date timing advance for synchronization.
Regarding claim 34, GHANBARINEJAD teach the base station according to claim 30, wherein the SIB further includes a timing offset (par. 211, 222, 223, the NT-TRP broadcasts additional information, for example in one or multiple system information blocks (“SIBs”)… the broadcast information may comprise additional information specific to NTN such as the following:…Propagation delay of a service link, e.g., propagation delay from the satellite/UAV to a reference point (normally on the ground)… Drift rate of the above propagation delay as a function of time; propagation delay or drift rate would consider as timing offset).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
MA et al. (US 20210194571) teaches the expiry timer for a TA update at an airborne sub-system or a satellite sub-system may be configured with a large value, the expiry timer for a TA update at a low-height flying sub-system may be configured with a medium value, and the expiry timer for a TA update at a terrestrial sub-system may be configured with a low value (fig. 1F, par. 189).
CHENG et al. (US 20220124660) teaches When the UE reports a UE autonomous TA to the network by receiving an indication or a request from the network, the UE may apply the reported value (e.g., the absolute TA applied for PRACH preamble) to derive MAC-CE latency (par. 88).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/THINH D TRAN/for /Thinh Tran/, Patent Examiner of Art Unit 2466 02/06/2026