DETAILED ACTION
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 Amendment
Applicant’s amendment, filed on 02/02/2026, has been entered and carefully considered.
Claims 1, 11 have been amended; Claims 2-10, 12-20, 22-28 and 30-40 are cancelled and Claims 1, 11, 21 and 29 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 02/02/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant argues that Bao, Agiwal, and Awad fail to disclose limitations A–E of claim 1, primarily asserting:
Agiwal’s OtherCellIndicator differs from Bao’s P field.
Bao does not disclose that random access success responses for different terminals are not allowed to be multiplexed.
Bao does not disclose that: the indication information is located in a MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU,
None of Bao, Awad, or Agiwal disclose “when the MAC RAR subPDU and the SRB subPDU use the same MAC subheader.”
These arguments are not persuasive for the reasons below.
I. Agiwal’s “OtherCellIndicator” vs. Bao’s P Field
The Applicant asserts that the function of Agiwal’s OtherCellIndicator differs from Bao’s P field because:
Agiwal has only one RAR,
Bao multiplexes RARs for multiple UEs,
and the P field cannot be within a MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU.
However:
Functional Similarity Controls, Not LabelingObviousness does not require identical terminology or identical primary purpose. The relevant inquiry is whether the references disclose or suggest:
a bit/indicator
included in a MAC header/subheader
that conveys information associated with a RAR message.
Agiwal expressly discloses that:
the OtherCellIndicator is a one-bit field,
it can be added in the MAC header,
and it indicates contextual information associated with the RAR.
Bao discloses:
a one-bit P field,
that controls inclusion of terminal-dedicated data (SRB/DRB subPDU),
within a success RAR message.
Both references teach embedding one-bit indication information in MAC-level signaling associated with RAR. The fact that one indicates cell origin and the other indicates SRB inclusion does not negate their structural and architectural similarity.
Multiplexing of Multiple UEs Does Not Distinguish the StructureBao’s disclosure of multiplexing multiple RARs for multiple UEs does not preclude the application of Agiwal’s teaching. Agiwal’s bit is applicable to any RAR transmission. Applying such an indicator to each RAR within a multiplexed structure would have been an obvious implementation detail.
Accordingly, the Applicant’s argument that the fields are “different” is directed to purpose and wording rather than structure and technical teaching.
II. “Random-access success responses for different terminals are not allowed to be multiplexed”
The Applicant argues Bao fails to disclose the limitation that success responses for different terminals are not allowed to be multiplexed.
However:
Bao’s Fig. 4C and related paragraphs describe multiplexing behavior of MAC subPDUs and RAR structures.
Even assuming Bao permits multiplexing, configuring the system to not multiplex responses for different terminals represents a predictable implementation choice within known MAC scheduling frameworks.
The LTE MAC architecture inherently allows control over whether subPDUs are multiplexed.
The claimed negative limitation (not allowing multiplexing) amounts to selecting among known alternatives. Selecting one known configuration over another does not confer patentability absent evidence of unexpected results, which has not been shown.
III. “Indication information is located in a MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU”
Bao (paragraph 0127) discloses a 1-bit P field in a success RAR message:
P=0- -> no terminal -deciated data included
P = 1 -> success RAR includes one terminal dedicated SRB subPDU or DRB subPDU
Thus, Bao expressly teaches:
i) A random-access success response message,
ii) Indication information (P field),
iii) The indication indicates whether an SRB subPDU is included
Accordingly, Bao teaches the functional limitation that the indication indicates that whether an SRB is carried in the success response.
The only distinction identified by Applicant is that Bao does not explicitly state that the P field is located in a MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU.
Agiwal (para 0082) teaches:
i) adding one-bit indicator (other cellindicator) in a random access response (RAR).
ii) The indicator may be added in the MAC header (i.e., MAC subheader for RAR) or in the MAC payload.
Thus, Agiwal expressly teaches that an indicator bit associated with a RAR may be placed in the MAC subheader rather than the payload.
A person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to relocate Bao’s P field to the MAC subheader in view of Agiwal because:
1. Both references related to LTE MAC random access response signaling.
2. Both disclose one-bit indicators associated with RAR.
3. Agiwal teaches flexibility in placing the indicator in either the MAC subleader or payload.
Relocating the P field to the MAC subheader would have yield predictable advantages, including early detection of SRB presence before payload parsing, fast processing at the receiver, clear separation between control signaling and payload data.
This represents a simple relocation of known information to a known alternative location with the same protocol layer. Under KSR, using a known technique to improve similar devices in the same way is obvious when it yields predictable results.
IV. “When the MAC RAR subPDU and the SRB subPDU use the same MAC subheader”
The applicant argues that the prior art fails to disclose the limitation” when the MAC RAR subPDU and the SRB subPDU use a same MAC subheader …”
However, as shown in the claim language, this language appears within an alternative structure, followed by a separate alternative:
1. First alternative: When the MAC RAR subPDU and the SRB subPDU use the same MAC subheader
2. Second alternative: When the MAC RAR subPDU and the SRB subPDU use MAC subheaders having different formats …
Thus, the claim is satisfied if either alternative is taught or rendered obvious. Bao discloses When the MAC RAR subPDU and the SRB subPDU use MAC subheaders having different formats (see Fig. 4C, , MAC subheaders for MAC subPDU 4 and MAC subPDU 5 are different formats).
For the reasons stated above, the Examiner believes the rejection should be 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.
Claims 1, 11, 21 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao et al (US 2022/0104275) in view of Awad et al (US 2018/0077722), further in view of Agiwal et al (US 2018/0359784).
Regarding claim 1, Bao teaches an information receiving method applied to a terminal, comprising:
receiving a random-access success response message, sent by a network device, of a two-step random access (Fig. 2, step 202, receive a random-access response message from the network device; [0036], “success RAR”, also see Fig. 4B; [0078], “2-step RACH procedure”); wherein, the random-access success response message comprises indication information for indicating whether a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) is carried in the random-access success response message ([0127], “a value of the P field may be 0 or 1, …1 indicates that a corresponding success RAR message includes one terminal dedicated SRB subPDU or DRB subPDU”);
wherein, a length of the data based on a logical channel identifier (LCID) and an L field”).
or wherein, when random-access success responses for different terminals are allowed to be multiplexed ([0088], “the network device may multiplex responses messages to the plurality of terminals together for sending”; Fig. 4C), the random-access success response message comprises one or more random-access success responses for one or more terminals, the random-access success response for each terminal comprises a Medium Access Control Random Access Response sub-Protocol-Data-Unit (MAC RAR subPDU), a length of the data based on a logical channel identifier (LCID) and an L field”),
wherein,
when the MAC RAR subPDU and the SRB subPDU use MAC subheaders having different formats (Fig. 4C, MAC subheaders for MAC subPDU 4 and MAC subPDU 5 are different formats; also see [0183], “a success RAR message further includes extra downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) data”, also see [0127], “terminal dedicated signaling radio bearer (SRB) subPDU or data radio bearer (DRB) subPDU”),
the MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU comprises a part or all of the following fields:
an extended field (E field) for indicating whether there are other MAC headers (Fig. 4C, MAC subheaders for MAC subPDU 4: E/T/RAPID; ),
a T field for indicating a random access preamble identifier or a fallback indication comprised in the MAC subheader ([0100], “T field (such as 1 bit): type indication information, used to indicate that a corresponding RAR message includes BI information or MAC RAR information”), and
random-access preamble identifier information ([0106], “RAPID field (such as 6 bits): used to correspond to a preamble used by a random access message”);
the MAC subheader of the SRB subPDU comprises part or all of the following fields:
an extended field (E field) for indicating whether there are other MAC headers (Fig. 4C, MAC subheader for MAC subPDU 5: E field; [0104], “E field (such as 1 bit): used to indicate whether a current MAC subPDU is the last one”),
a logical channel ID (LCID) field for indicating a logical channel to which the SRB belongs, a L field for indicating a length of the SRB subPDU (Fig. 4C, MAC subheader for MAC subPDU 5 – E/T/LCID/L subheader; [0131], “The terminal may learn data about to which logical channel a corresponding subPDU belongs and a length of the data based on a logical channel identifier (LCID) and an L field”).
Bao doesn’t explicitly teach that random-access success responses for different terminals are not allowed to be multiplexed.
Awad teaches that random-access success responses for different terminals are not allowed to be multiplexed ([0053], “the base station may multiplex RAR messages intended only for a first set of MTC devices (for example, MTC devices in normal coverage) and to transmit conventional (non-multiplexed) RAR messages for a second set of MTC devices (such as CE mode MTC devices and/or MTC devices configured with a particular CE level, e.g. 5 dB, 10 dB, and/or 15 dB)”, it’s noted that single (non-multiplexed) RAR message is transmitted to some communication devices require a particular CE level).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teaching of Awad in the system disclosed by Bao for the benefit of ensuring efficient use of radio resources and guarantees that each device receives a response tailored to its coverage needs by only multiplexing RAR messages for low-complexity devices in normal coverages and transmit conventional (non-multiplexed) RAR message for devices configured with a particular coverage enhancement level.
Bao in view of Awad doesn’t explicitly teach that the indication information is located in a MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU instead of a payload of the MAC RAR subPDU.
Agiwal teaches that the indication information is located in a MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU ([0082], “it is proposed to add one bit indicator (referred as ‘OtherCellIndicator’) in random access response (RAR). ‘OtherCellIndicator’ may be added in the medium access control (MAC) header (i.e. MAC subheader for RAR) or MAC payload (i.e. MAC RAR)”, it’s noted that the indicator can be added in MAC subheader for RAR or MAC payload (i.e. MAC RAR)).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teaching of Agiwal in the system disclosed by Bao in view of Awad. The advantage of having the indication information in the MAC subheader instead of the MAC payload is faster processing speed, and maintaining a clean separation between control and data.
Regarding claim 11, Bao aforementioned references teaches an information sending method applied to a network device, comprising:
sending, to a terminal, a random-access success response message of a two-step random access (Fig. 2, step 202, send a random-access response message to a terminal device; [0036], “success RAR”, also see Fig. 4B; [0078], “2-step RACH procedure”); wherein, the random-access success response message comprises indication information for indicating whether a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) is carried in the random-access success response message ([0127], “a value of the P field may be 0 or 1, …1 indicates that a corresponding success RAR message includes one terminal dedicated SRB subPDU or DRB subPDU”);
wherein, a length of the data based on a logical channel identifier (LCID) and an L field”).
or wherein, when random-access success responses for different terminals are allowed to be multiplexed ([0088], “the network device may multiplex responses messages to the plurality of terminals together for sending”; Fig. 4C), the random-access success response message comprises one or more random-access success responses for one or more terminals, the random-access success response for each terminal comprises a Medium Access Control Random Access Response sub-Protocol-Data-Unit (MAC RAR subPDU), a length of the data based on a logical channel identifier (LCID) and an L field”),
wherein,
when the MAC RAR subPDU and the SRB subPDU use MAC subheaders having different formats (Fig. 4C, MAC subheaders for MAC subPDU 4 and MAC subPDU 5 are different formats; also see [0183], “a success RAR message further includes extra downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) data”, also see [0127], “terminal dedicated signaling radio bearer (SRB) subPDU or data radio bearer (DRB) subPDU”),
the MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU comprises a part or all of the following fields:
an extended field (E field) for indicating whether there are other MAC headers (Fig. 4C, MAC subheaders for MAC subPDU 4: E/T/RAPID; ),
a T field for indicating a random access preamble identifier or a fallback indication comprised in the MAC subheader ([0100], “T field (such as 1 bit): type indication information, used to indicate that a corresponding RAR message includes BI information or MAC RAR information”), and
random-access preamble identifier information ([0106], “RAPID field (such as 6 bits): used to correspond to a preamble used by a random access message”);
the MAC subheader of the SRB subPDU comprises part or all of the following fields:
an extended field (E field) for indicating whether there are other MAC headers (Fig. 4C, MAC subheader for MAC subPDU 5: E field; [0104], “E field (such as 1 bit): used to indicate whether a current MAC subPDU is the last one”),
a logical channel ID (LCID) field for indicating a logical channel to which the SRB belongs, a L field for indicating a length of the SRB subPDU (Fig. 4C, MAC subheader for MAC subPDU 5 – E/T/LCID/L subheader; [0131], “The terminal may learn data about to which logical channel a corresponding subPDU belongs and a length of the data based on a logical channel identifier (LCID) and an L field”).
Bao doesn’t explicitly teach that random-access success responses for different terminals are not allowed to be multiplexed.
Awad teaches that random-access success responses for different terminals are not allowed to be multiplexed ([0053], “the base station may multiplex RAR messages intended only for a first set of MTC devices (for example, MTC devices in normal coverage) and to transmit conventional (non-multiplexed) RAR messages for a second set of MTC devices (such as CE mode MTC devices and/or MTC devices configured with a particular CE level, e.g. 5 dB, 10 dB, and/or 15 dB)”, it’s noted that single (non-multiplexed) RAR message is transmitted to some communication devices require a particular CE level).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teaching of Awad in the system disclosed by Bao for the benefit of ensuring efficient use of radio resources and guarantees that each device receives a response tailored to its coverage needs by only multiplexing RAR messages for low-complexity devices in normal coverages and transmit conventional (non-multiplexed) RAR message for devices configured with a particular coverage enhancement level.
Bao in view of Awad doesn’t explicitly teach that the indication information is located in a MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU instead of a payload of the MAC RAR subPDU.
Agiwal teaches that the indication information is located in a MAC subheader of the MAC RAR subPDU ([0082], “it is proposed to add one bit indicator (referred as ‘OtherCellIndicator’) in random access response (RAR). ‘OtherCellIndicator’ may be added in the medium access control (MAC) header (i.e. MAC subheader for RAR) or MAC payload (i.e. MAC RAR)”, it’s noted that the indicator can be added in MAC subheader for RAR or MAC payload (i.e. MAC RAR)).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teaching of Agiwal in the system disclosed by Bao in view of Awad. The advantage of having the indication information in the MAC subheader instead of the MAC payload is faster processing speed, and maintaining a clean separation between control and data.
Regarding claim 21, the aforementioned references further teach a terminal, comprising a memory, a processor and a program stored on the memory and executable on the processor (Bao, Fig. 1, terminal inherently has processor and memory), wherein when the processor executes the program, the processor implements steps of method according to claim 1 (please refer to claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 29, the aforementioned references further teach a network device, comprising a memory, a processor and a program stored on the memory and executable on the processor (Bao, Fig. 1, Network device inherently has processor and memory), wherein when the processor executes the program, the processor implements steps of the method according to claim 11 (please refer to claim 11 above).
Conclusion
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/SIMING LIU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411