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 .
DETAILED ACTION
a. Claims 1-40 in the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA :
- claims 1-4, 9-11, 14, 24, 32, 34-36, are amended
- claims 5, 8, 13, 16-17, 23, 26, 30, 33, and 37 are canceled
- claims 38-40 are new
b. This is a non final action on the merits based on Applicant’s claims submitted on 04/27/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/27/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Due to the significant amendment of the independent claims 1, 24, and 34 and the submission of new claims 38-40, prosecution on the merits of this application is reopened on all claims previously considered allowable in NoA 02/03/2026 for the reasons indicated in section Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 below.
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 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.
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.
Claims 1-4, 20, 24, 28, 32, and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. US Pub 2019/0141742 (hereinafter “Zhou”), in view of Mu US Pub 2023/0354346, claiming foreign priority 2020-06-24 (hereinafter “Mu4346”), and of Mu Foreign Patent WO2022/021326, claiming priority 2020-07-31 (hereinafter “Mu1326”), and further in view of Rastegardoost et al. US Pub 2022/0210806, claiming provisional application 63132883 priority 2020-12-31 (hereinafter “Rastegardoost”).
Regarding claim 1 (Currently Amended)
Zhou discloses a user equipment (UE) (“wireless device 406” in Fig. 4; [0162]) for wireless communication, comprising:
one or more memories (“memory 409” [0162]); and
one or more processors (“processor 408” in Fig. 4; [0162]), coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors individually or collectively configured to:
receive the RAR (“In the second step of the four-step RA procedure, a base station may transmit a RA response (RAR) to the UE in response to reception of a RAP that the UE transmits.” in Fig. 9; [0220]); and
decode the RAR based at least in part on the information (i.e. RA-RNTI) that differentiates RARs according to the UE type (“The RA Response window may have a length indicated by ra-ResponseWindowSize. A UE may compute the RA-RNTI associated with the PRACH in which the UE transmits a RAP as: RA-RNTI=1+t_id+10*f_id, where t_id is an index of a first subframe of a specified PRACH (0≤t_id<10), and f_id is an index of a specified PRACH within the subframe, in ascending order of frequency domain (0≤f_id<6). In an example, different types of UEs, e.g. NB-IoT, BL-UE, or UE-EC may employ different formulas for RA-RNTI calculations.” [0220]).
the initial BWP configuration indicating an initial downlink BWP and an initial uplink BWP configured for a first UE type (“In an example, more than one initial active UL BWPs may be configured to support different kinds of services, UE types/capabilities” [0307] and furthermore “the initial active DL/UL BWP may be set as default DL/UL BWP” [0350]).
Zhou does not specifically teach receive information that differentiates random access responses (RARs) according to UE type, the information that differentiates RARs according to UE type indicates an initial bandwidth part (BWP) configuration and a location of a control resource set (CORESET) for receiving an RAR.
In an analogous art, Mu4346 discloses receive information (i.e. “random access response control information” or RA-RNTI) that differentiates random access responses (RARs) according to UE type (“The random access response control information carried by different PDCCH signalings may be different, and different random access response control information may indicate different scheduling information of random access responses. In this way, the different types of UEs may receive their respective random access responses on the different transmission resources, which improves the transmission flexibility of the random access responses and reduces the coupling between the random access responses of the different types of UEs.” [0049]),
the information (i.e. “random access response control information” or RA-RNTI) that differentiates RARs according to UE type indicates an initial bandwidth part (BWP) configuration and a location of a control resource set (CORESET) (“In some embodiments, the information transmission method further includes carrying random access response control information of a first type of UE with a PDCCH signaling corresponding to a second type of UE in response to a bandwidth of an initial broadband part (BWP) of the first type of UE being equal to a bandwidth of CORESET #0” [0108] and furthermore “For example, when a bandwidth of the initial WP is equal to a bandwidth of CORESET #0, it is assumed that the NR-lite UE may use the same RAR receiving process as the non-NR-lite UE at this time.” [0219]) for receiving an RAR (“The search space of the RAR PDCCH signaling determines a corresponding CCE resource in a corresponding CORESET according to a resource determination rule” [0034]),
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, to include Mu4346’s information transmission method, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Mu4346 [0005]).
Zhou and Mu4346 do not specifically teach the initial uplink BWP configured for the first UE type being different from an initial uplink BWP configured for a second UE type, the initial uplink BWP configured for the second UE type being larger than a maximum uplink BWP supported by the UE.
In an analogous art, Mu1326 discloses the initial uplink BWP configured for the first UE type being different from an initial uplink BWP configured for a second UE type (“Different types of UEs may be distinguished according to the supported bandwidths, for example, the second type of UE supports a large bandwidth, and the first type of UE supports a small bandwidth. In some embodiments, the second type of UEs may be normal UEs and the first type of UEs may be reduced capability UEs.” [0073]), the initial uplink BWP configured for the second UE type being larger than a maximum uplink BWP supported by the UE (“For example, taking the first type of UE and the second type of UE as an example, since the bandwidth supported by the second type of UE is greater than the bandwidth supported by the first type of UE. Therefore, the indication parameter of the mapping relationship carried by the third set of configuration parameters may be a mapping relationship between the PRACH resource of the second type of UE and the initial UL BWP.” [0132] and furthermore “As can be seen from FIG. 4B, even if the UE supporting the narrower bandwidth is in the initial UL BWP supporting the UE with a large bandwidth, the initial UL BWP used by the UE can be obtained according to the PRACH resource used by the UE and the bandwidth supported by the UE.” [0177]; [0206]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346, to include Mu1326’s information transmission method, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Mu1326 [0005]).
Zhou, Mu4346, and Mu1326 do not specifically teach the information indicates a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) that is masked based at least in part on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), the RNTI differentiates between an RAR for the first UE type and an RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on being associated with a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource allocation for the first UE type, and wherein the first UE type corresponds to a reduced capability (RedCap) type UE and the second UE type corresponds to a non-RedCap type UE.
In an analogous art, Rastegardoost discloses the information indicates a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) that is masked based at least in part on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) (“A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI) may indicate a random access response (RAR).” [0189]), the RNTI differentiates between an RAR (“The UE may identify the RAR based on a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI).” [0174]) for the first UE type (e.g. “RedCap” and “non-RedCap UEs”) and an RAR for the second UE type (“The each RAR may comprise an UL grant for a Msg3 of a UE of the plurality of UEs (comprising RedCap and non-RedCap UEs).” [0281]) based at least in part on being associated with a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource allocation for the first UE type (“The exact impact may depend on numbers of device type(s)/sub-types/capabilities to be identified and exact details of PRACH preamble partitioning schemes.” [0254]), and
wherein
the first UE type corresponds to a reduced capability (RedCap) type UE (“A UE type/category may be associated with one or more of the capabilities considered for RedCap devices, and/or one or more enhancements considered for coverage recovery/enhancement and/or small data transmission and/or a combination thereof.” [0285-0286]),
and the second UE type of the UE corresponds to a non-RedCap type UE (“Identification of RedCap UE type(s) during transmission of Msg1 may enable efficient handling of different UE minimum processing times between RedCap and non-RedCap UEs” [0253]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346 and Mu1326, to include Rastegardoost’s mechanism for differentiating enhanced UE, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Rastegardoost [0250]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Rastegardoost’s mechanism for differentiating enhanced UE into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 2 (Currently Amended)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to, prior to receiving the RAR:
Zhou further discloses transmit a random access message within the initial uplink BWP configured for the first UE type (“In an example, more than one initial active UL BWPs may be configured to support different kinds of services, UE types/capabilities, and/or gNB's capabilities, or to reduce collision of preamble transmissions when multiple UEs performing random access procedures simultaneously.” [0307]).
Regarding claim 3 (Currently Amended)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 2,
Zhou further discloses wherein the one or more processors, to receive the RAR (i.e. Msg2), are configured to receive the RAR within the initial downlink BWP configured for the first UE type (“an initial DL BWP may comprise control channel for RMSI, OSI and paging and UE switches BWP to monitor such channel. In an example, a configured DL BWP may comprise control channel for Msg2.” [0365]).
Regarding claim 4 (Currently Amended)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 2,
Zhou further discloses wherein the one or more processors, to receive the information, are configured to receive at least a portion of the information in the initial downlink BWP (“an initial DL BWP may comprise control channel for RMSI, OSI and paging and UE switches BWP to monitor such channel. In an example, a configured DL BWP may comprise control channel for Msg2.” [0365]).
Regarding claim 20
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1,
Mu4346 further discloses wherein the CORESET that differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on the location of the CORESET (“The base station may adopt different CORESETs to send the PDCCH signalings corresponding to the different types of UEs, respectively.” [0053] and furthermore “For example, when a bandwidth of the initial WP is equal to a bandwidth of CORESET #0, it is assumed that the NR-lite UE may use the same RAR receiving process as the non-NR-lite UE at this time.” [0219]).
Regarding claim 24 (Currently Amended)
Zhou discloses a base station (“base station 401” in Fig. 4; [0162]) for wireless communication, comprising:
one or more memories (“memory 404” [0162]); and
one or more processors (“processor 403” in Fig. 4; [0162]), coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors individually or collectively configured to:
transmit information that includes information that differentiates random access responses (RARs) according to user equipment (UE) type,
the information that differentiates RARs according to UE type indicates an initial bandwidth part (BWP) configuration and a location of a control resource set (CORESET) for receiving an RAR, the initial BWP configuration indicating an initial downlink BWP and an initial uplink BWP configured for a first UE type, the initial uplink BWP configured for the first UE type being different from an initial uplink BWP configured for a second UE type, the initial uplink BWP configured for the second UE type being larger than a maximum uplink BWP supported by the UE,
the information indicates a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) that is masked based at least in part on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), the RNTI differentiates between an RAR for the first UE type and an RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on being associated with a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource allocation for the first UE type, and
wherein
the first UE type corresponds to a reduced capability (RedCap) type UE and the second UE type corresponds to a non-RedCap type UE;
encode the RAR for the UE with the information that differentiates RARs according to UE type and based at least in part whether the UE is of the first UE type or the second UE type; and
transmit the RAR to the UE.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 24 are reciprocal to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 1. Therefore apparatus claim 24 corresponds to apparatus claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 28
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the base station of claim 24, wherein the one or more processors, to encode the RAR based at least in part on the information, are configured to place the CORESET in the location for receiving the RAR in a location that differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 28 is similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 20. Therefore apparatus claim 28 corresponds to apparatus claim 20 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 20 rejection above.
Regarding claim 32 (Currently Amended)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the base station of claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are configured to, prior to transmitting the RAR:
Zhou further discloses receive a random access message (i.e. one or more preambles) within the initial uplink BWP configured for the first UE type (“In an example, one or more UL BWPs may be configured as initial active UL BWP(s). The initial active UL BWPs may be configured with the one or more RACH configurations. The one or more RACH configurations may comprise at least one of: one or more preambles with each preamble associated a preamble index; a preamble format; a preamble numerology; time or frequency radio resource allocation for RACH; and/or power setting of PRACH transmission.” [0304]).
Regarding claim 34 (Currently Amended)
A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving information that differentiates random access responses (RARs) according to UE type,
the information that differentiates RARs according to UE type indicates an initial bandwidth part (BWP) configuration and a location of a control resource set (CORESET) for receiving an RAR, the initial BWP configuration indicating an initial downlink BWP and an initial uplink BWP configured for a first UE type, the initial uplink BWP configured for the first UE type being different from an initial uplink BWP configured for another a second UE type, the initial uplink BWP configured for the second UE type being larger than a maximum uplink BWP supported by the UE, the information indicates a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) that is masked based at least in part on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI), the RNTI differentiates between an RAR for the first UE type and an RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on being associated with a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource allocation for the first UE type, and
wherein
the first UE type corresponds to a reduced capability (RedCap) type UE and the second UE type corresponds to a non- RedCap type UE;
receiving the RAR; and
decoding the RAR based at least in part on the information that differentiates RARs according to the UE type.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 34 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 1. Therefore method claim 34 corresponds to apparatus claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Claims 6, 7, 9-12, 14, 22, 23, 25, and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou, in view of Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, and further in view of Babaei et al. US Pub 2019/0215870 (hereinafter “Babaei”).
Regarding claim 6
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1,
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein the information differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on the initial BWP configuration.
In an analogous art, Babaei discloses wherein the information differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type (“Specifically, FIG. 19A shows the contents of a MAC RAR of a normal UE, FIG. 19B shows the contents of a MAC RAR of a MTC UE, and FIG. 19C shows the contents of MAC RAR of a NB-IOT UE.” [0418]) based at least in part on the initial BWP configuration (BWP information is received in RAR UL grant; see MAC RARs in Figs. 19A-C).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Babaei’s random access and BWP operation, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Babaei [0025]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Babaei’s random access and BWP operation into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 7
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, Rastegardoost, and Babaei, previously discloses the UE of claim 6,
Babaei further discloses wherein the first UE type shares an initial uplink BWP with the second UE type (“gNB may configure UE with multiple BWPs. For example, the multiple BWPs may share at least one CORESET including default BWP.” [0358]).
Regarding claim 9 (Currently Amended)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1,
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein the initial uplink BWP for the first UE type and the initial uplink BWP for the second UE type partially overlap.
In an analogous art, Babaei discloses wherein the initial uplink BWP for the first UE type and the initial uplink BWP for the second UE type partially overlap (“In an example, the BWPs may be partially overlapping. If the overlapping region is sufficient, a CSS may be across a first BWP and a second BWP.” [0375]; Fig. 28).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Babaei’s random access and BWP operation, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Babaei [0025]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Babaei’s random access and BWP operation into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 10 (Currently Amended)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1,
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein the initial uplink BWP for the first UE type and the initial uplink BWP for the second UE type are non-overlapping.
In an analogous art, Babaei discloses wherein the initial uplink BWP for the first UE type and the initial uplink BWP for the second UE type are non-overlapping (“a gNB may transmit a first type of service to a UE on a first component carrier. The gNB may transmit a second type of service to the UE on a second component carrier. Different type of services may have different service requirement (e.g., data rate, latency, reliability), which may be suitable for transmission via different component carrier having different subcarrier spacing and/or bandwidth. FIG. 7B shows an example embodiment.” [0266]. Different UE types (e.g. MTC-UE vs. NB-IOT-UE operate on different uplink carriers/bandwidths).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Babaei’s random access and BWP operation, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Babaei [0025]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Babaei’s random access and BWP operation into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 11 (Currently Amended)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1,
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein an initial downlink BWP for the first UE type is different than an initial downlink BWP for the second UE type.
In an analogous art, Babaei discloses wherein an initial downlink BWP for the first UE type is different than an initial downlink BWP for the second UE type (“to support dynamic load-balancing between different parts of the spectrum, there may be a need to configure one or more DL (UL) BWPs that jointly cover different parts of the downlink (uplink) carrier. In an example, for dynamic load balancing, it may be sufficient with two BWPs. In addition to the two BWPs, two additional BWPs may be needed for bandwidth adaptation.” [0372]. Different UE types (e.g. MTC-UE vs. NB-IOT-UE operate on different downlink carriers/bandwidths).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Babaei’s random access and BWP operation, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Babaei [0025]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Babaei’s random access and BWP operation into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 12
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, Rastegardoost, and Babaei, previously discloses the UE of claim 11,
Babaei further discloses wherein the initial downlink BWP for the first UE type and the initial downlink BWP for the second UE type partially overlap or are overlapping (“In an example, the BWPs may be partially overlapping. If the overlapping region is sufficient, a CSS may be across a first BWP and a second BWP.” [0375]; Fig. 28).
Regarding claim 14 (Currently Amended)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors, to decode the RAR based at least in part on the information, are configured to:
Zhou further discloses extract an initial RNTI based on the CRC that is masked (“a gNB may perform CRC scrambling for a DCI, before transmitting the DCI via a PDCCH. The gNB may perform CRC scrambling by bit-wise addition (or Modulo-2 addition or exclusive OR (XOR) operation) of multiple bits of at least one wireless device identifier (e.g., C-RNTI, CS-RNTI, TPC-CS-RNTI, TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, SP CSI C-RNTI, SRS-TPC-RNTI, INT-RNTI, SFI-RNTI, P-RNTI, SI-RNTI, RA-RNTI, and/or MCS-C-RNTI) with the CRC bits of the DCI. The wireless device may check the CRC bits of the DCI, when detecting the DCI.” [0278];
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach calculate the RNTI based at least in part on one or more of an index value of a first symbol of a PRACH occasion of the RAR, an index of a first slot of the PRACH occasion in a system frame, and an index of the PRACH occasion in a frequency domain; and decode the RAR based at least in part on the initial RNTI corresponding to a set of RNTIs associated with the first UE type or a set of RNTIs associated with the second UE type.
In an analogous art, Babaei discloses calculate the RNTI based at least in part on one or more of an index value of a first symbol (e.g. “index of a first OFDM symbol”) of a PRACH occasion of the RAR, an index of a first slot of the PRACH occasion in a system frame (i.e. “index of a first slot of a selected PRACH occasions”), and an index of the PRACH occasion in a frequency domain (i.e. “uplink carrier index”; “A UE may determine an RA-RNTI at least based on an index of a first OFDM symbol and an index of a first slot of a selected PRACH occasions, and/or an uplink carrier index for a transmission of Msg1 1220.” [0312]);
and decode the RAR based at least in part on the initial RNTI corresponding to a set of RNTIs associated with the first UE type or a set of RNTIs associated with the second UE type (“If a UE has C-RNTI, upon detection of C-RNTI on the PDCCH, the UE may determine the success of RA procedure. If a UE does not have C-RNTI pre-assigned, the UE may monitor DL-SCH associated with TC-RNTI that a base station transmits in a RAR of the second step and compare the identity in the data transmitted by the base station on DL-SCH in the fourth step with the identity that the UE transmits in the third step. If the two identities are identical, the UE may determine the success of RA procedure and promote the TC-RNTI to the C-RNTI.” [0420]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Babaei’s random access and BWP operation, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Babaei [0025]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Babaei’s random access and BWP operation into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 22
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1,
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein the information includes one or more PRACH formats associated with the first UE type or one or more PRACH formats associated with the second UE type.
In an analogous art, Babaei further discloses wherein the information includes one or more PRACH formats associated with the first UE type or one or more PRACH formats associated with the second UE type (“A UE may compute the RA-RNTI associated with the PRACH in which the UE transmits a RAP as: RA-RNTI=1+t_id+10*f_id, where t_id is the index of the first subframe of the specified PRACH (0≤t_id<10), and f_id is the index of the specified PRACH within that subframe, in ascending order of frequency domain (0≤f id<6). In an example, different types of UEs, e.g. NB-IoT, BL-UE, or UE-EC may employ different formulas for RA-RNTI calculations.” [0417]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Babaei’s random access and BWP operation, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Babaei [0025]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Babaei’s random access and BWP operation into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 25
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the base station of claim 24, wherein the information differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on the initial BWP configuration.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 25 is similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 6. Therefore apparatus claim 25 corresponds to apparatus claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 6 rejection above.
Regarding claim 29
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the base station of claim 24, wherein the information includes one or more PRACH formats associated with the first UE type or one or more PRACH formats associated with the second UE type.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 29 is similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 22. Therefore apparatus claim 29 corresponds to apparatus claim 22 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 22 rejection above.
Claims 38-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou, in view of Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, and further in view of Xiong et al. US Pub 2021/0014011 (hereinafter “Xiong”).
Regarding claim 38 (New)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1,
Rastegardoost further discloses wherein a first scrambling ID from a first subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the first UE type, and a second scrambling ID from a second subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the second UE type (“the first type UE may determine the first port based on a first RRC parameter, e.g., indicating a number of ports and/or DMRS type and/or DMRS length and/or DMRS scrambling ID and/or number of DMRS sequences.” [0324]).
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein the information further indicates a set of scrambling identifiers (IDs) for demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) of PDCCH transmissions that schedule RARs for the first UE type and RARs for the second UE type.
In an analogous art, Xiong discloses wherein the information further indicates a set of scrambling identifiers (IDs) for demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) of PDCCH transmissions that schedule RARs for the first UE type and RARs for the second UE type (“The UE may receive the PDCCH according to the RNTI. For example, the RNTI is used for CRC scrambling of the PDCCH to determine a DMRS (Demodulation Reference Signal) sequence. For example, the UE may determine a start point of the UE-specific search space. For example, the UE may scramble the PUSCH, or PUCCH, or the second type PDSCH (i.e. providing RAR) according to the RNTI, and the UE may determine the DMRS sequence according to a predefined RNTI. For convenience of description, this kind of RNTI may be referred to as a first type RNTI.” [0141]. The RNTI is UE-specific and can be used to determine the UE type “The PDCCH searched by the UE is scrambled by its CRC using the UE-specific RNTI, for example, when the uplink data sent includes the UE-specific RNTI, for example C-RNTI; or the PDCCH searched by the UE is scrambled by the CRC using the third type of RNTI, for example, when the transmitted uplink data includes CCCH, such as S-TMSI.” [0608]),
wherein a first scrambling ID from a first subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the first UE type, and a second scrambling ID from a second subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the second UE type (“The DMRS configuration information may include at least one of: the number of DMRS ports N_DMRS and/or indexes (i.e., port configuration information correspondingly included by each DMRS port) of DMRS ports and/or DMRS sequence indexes (e.g., scrambled IDs and the like) available on one PUSCH time-frequency resource unit; and DMRS port configuration information.” [0639]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Xiong’s method of downlink transmission, in order to maximize resource assignment efficiency (Xiong [0016]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Xiong’s method of downlink transmission into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 39 (New)
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the base station of claim 24,
Rastegardoost further discloses wherein a first scrambling ID from a first subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the first UE type, and a second scrambling ID from a second subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the second UE type (“the first type UE may determine the first port based on a first RRC parameter, e.g., indicating a number of ports and/or DMRS type and/or DMRS length and/or DMRS scrambling ID and/or number of DMRS sequences.” [0324]).
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein the information further indicates a set of scrambling identifiers (IDs) for demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) of PDCCH transmissions that schedule RARs for the first UE type and RARs for the second UE type.
In an analogous art, Xiong discloses wherein the information further indicates a set of scrambling identifiers (IDs) for demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) of PDCCH transmissions that schedule RARs for the first UE type and RARs for the second UE type (“The UE may receive the PDCCH according to the RNTI. For example, the RNTI is used for CRC scrambling of the PDCCH to determine a DMRS (Demodulation Reference Signal) sequence. For example, the UE may determine a start point of the UE-specific search space. For example, the UE may scramble the PUSCH, or PUCCH, or the second type PDSCH (i.e. providing RAR) according to the RNTI, and the UE may determine the DMRS sequence according to a predefined RNTI. For convenience of description, this kind of RNTI may be referred to as a first type RNTI.” [0141]. The RNTI is UE-specific and can be used to determine the UE type “The PDCCH searched by the UE is scrambled by its CRC using the UE-specific RNTI, for example, when the uplink data sent includes the UE-specific RNTI, for example C-RNTI; or the PDCCH searched by the UE is scrambled by the CRC using the third type of RNTI, for example, when the transmitted uplink data includes CCCH, such as S-TMSI.” [0608]),
wherein a first scrambling ID from a first subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the first UE type, and a second scrambling ID from a second subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the second UE type (“The DMRS configuration information may include at least one of: the number of DMRS ports N_DMRS and/or indexes (i.e., port configuration information correspondingly included by each DMRS port) of DMRS ports and/or DMRS sequence indexes (e.g., scrambled IDs and the like) available on one PUSCH time-frequency resource unit; and DMRS port configuration information.” [0639]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Xiong’s method of downlink transmission, in order to maximize resource assignment efficiency (Xiong [0016]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Xiong’s method of downlink transmission into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 40 (New)
The method of claim 34, wherein the information further indicates a set of scrambling identifiers (IDs) for demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) of PDCCH transmissions that schedule RARs for the first UE type and RARs for the second UE type, wherein a first scrambling ID from a first subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the first UE type, and a second scrambling ID from a second subset of the set of scrambling IDs is applied to a DMRS of PDCCH transmission that schedules the RAR for the second UE type.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 40 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 24. Therefore method claim 40 corresponds to apparatus claim 24 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 24 rejection above.
Claims 15 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, and further in view of Papasakellariou US Pub 2017/0367046 (hereinafter “Papasakellariou7046”)
Regarding claim 15
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 14,
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein the CRC differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on an interleaving pattern that is applied to the CRC, and wherein the one or more processors, to decode the RAR based at least in part on the information, are configured to: apply one or more of a first interleaving pattern or a second interleaving pattern to the CRC, wherein the first interleaving pattern is associated with the first UE type and the second interleaving pattern is associated with the second UE type; and decode the RAR based at least in part on a result of the applying.
In an analogous art, Papasakellariou7046 discloses wherein the CRC differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on an interleaving pattern that is applied to the CRC (“A gNB separately encodes and transmits each DCI format in a respective PDCCH. When applicable, a RNTI for a UE that a DCI format is intended for masks a CRC of the DCI format codeword in order to enable the UE to identify the DCI format. For example, the CRC and the RNTI can include 16 bits. Otherwise, when a RNTI is not included in a DCI format, a DCI format type indicator field can be included in the DCI format. The CRC of (non-coded) DCI format bits 810 is determined using a CRC computation unit 820, and the CRC is masked using an exclusive OR (XOR) operation unit 830 between CRC bits and RNTI bits 840. The XOR operation is defined as XOR(0,0)=0, XOR(0,1)=1, XOR(1,0)=1, XOR(1,1)=0. The masked CRC bits are appended to DCI format information bits using a CRC append unit 850.” [0131]), and wherein the one or more processors, to decode the RAR based at least in part on the information (“de-interleaved by a demodulator and a de-interleaver 920” [0133]), are configured to:
apply one or more of a first interleaving pattern or a second interleaving pattern to the CRC (“An encoder 860 performs channel coding (such as tail-biting convolutional coding or polar coding), followed by rate matching to allocated resources by rate matcher 870. Interleaving and modulation units 880 apply interleaving and modulation, such as QPSK, and the output control signal 890 is transmitted.” [0131]), wherein the first interleaving pattern is associated with the first UE type (“For a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH providing a random access response (RAR),” [0128]. Since DCI contains the interleaved CRC information, and the DCI is used to indicate RAR type, therefore by proxy, the interleaving pattern of CRC is associated with the UE type.) and the second interleaving pattern is associated with the second UE type (“For a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH providing a random access response (RAR),” [0128]. Since DCI contains the interleaved CRC information, and the DCI is used to indicate RAR type, therefore by proxy, the interleaving pattern of CRC is associated with the UE type.); and
decode the RAR based at least in part on a result of the applying (“A received control signal 910 is demodulated and de-interleaved by a demodulator and a de-interleaver 920. A rate matching applied at a gNB transmitter is restored by rate matcher 930, and resulting bits are decoded by decoder 940. After decoding, a CRC extractor 950 extracts CRC bits and provides DCI format information bits 960. The DCI format information bits are de-masked 970 by an XOR operation with a RNTI 980 (when applicable) and a CRC check is performed by unit 990. When the CRC check succeeds (check-sum is zero), the DCI format information bits are considered to be valid. When the CRC check does not succeed, the DCI format information bits are considered to be invalid.” [0133]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Papasakellariou7046’s method for transmitting physical downlink control channels that configure transmission and reception functionalities of user equipments, in order to efficiently support random access procedure (Papasakellariou7046 [0004]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Papasakellariou7046’s method for transmitting physical downlink control channels that configure transmission and reception functionalities of user equipments into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 31
The UE of claim 1, wherein the information includes a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), and wherein the CRC differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on an interleaving pattern that is applied to the CRC, and wherein the one or more processors, to decode the RAR based at least in part on the information, are configured to:
apply a first interleaving pattern or a second interleaving pattern to the CRC, wherein the first interleaving pattern indicates that the RAR is for the first UE type and the second interleaving pattern indicates that the RAR is for the second UE type; and
decode the RAR based at least in part on a result of the applying.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 31 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 15. Therefore apparatus claim 31 corresponds to apparatus claim 15 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 15 rejection above.
Claims 18 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, and further in view of Papasakellariou US Pub 2020/0022144 (hereinafter “Papasakellariou2144”).
Regarding claim 18
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1,
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein the information includes downlink control information (DCI) that differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on a scrambling identifier (ID) set that is applied to the DCI.
In an analogous art, Papasakellariou2144 discloses wherein the information includes downlink control information (DCI) that differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type (“When different types/categories of UEs are indicated different resources for PRACH transmission, it is also possible for the configuration for the fields of the first DCI format to be provided in a random access response (RAR) because a serving gNB can determine a UE type and accordingly adjust the contents of the RAR.” [0253]) based at least in part on a scrambling identifier (ID) set that is applied to the DCI (“A DCI format type is identified by a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) that scrambles the CRC bits.” [0083]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Papasakellariou2144’s method for transmitting and receiving DCIs, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Papasakellariou2144 [0014-0015]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Papasakellariou2144’s method for transmitting and receiving DCIs into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 27
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the base station of claim 24, wherein the information includes downlink control information (DCI) that differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type based at least in part on a scrambling identifier (ID) set that is applied to the DCI.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 27 is similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 18. Therefore apparatus claim 27 corresponds to apparatus claim 18 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 18 rejection above.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, Rastegardoost, and Papasakellariou2144, and further in view of Xia Foreign Patent WO2013174167 (hereinafter “Xia”).
Regarding claim 19
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, Rastegardoost, and Papasakellariou2144, previously discloses the UE of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors, to decode the RAR based at least in part on the information, are configured to:
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, Rastegardoost, and Papasakellariou2144 do not specifically teach apply one or more of a first scrambling ID set or a second scrambling ID set to the DCI, wherein the first scrambling ID set is associated with the first UE type and the second scrambling ID set is associated with the second UE type; and decode the RAR based at least in part on a result of the applying.
In an analogous art, Xia discloses apply one or more of a first scrambling ID set or a second scrambling ID set to the DCI, wherein the first scrambling ID set is associated with the first UE type and the second scrambling ID set is associated with the second UE type (“The base station, upon determining to transmit the common message to the first type of UE, may generate a common DCI scrambled by an identifier corresponding to the first type of UE, the common DCI indicating a common message for the first type of UE. When the base station determines to transmit the common message to the second type of UE, the base station may generate a public DCI scrambled by an identifier corresponding to the second type of UE, and the public DCI indicates a public message for the second type of UE.” Page 9, first paragraph); and
decode the RAR based at least in part on a result of the applying (“In this way, the first type UE and the second type UE can respectively receive the public DCI corresponding to themselves, and thus respectively according to the public A total of DCI detects its own public messages.” Page 9, first paragraph).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, Rastegardoost, and Papasakellariou2144, to include Xia’s method for transmitting and receiving DCIs, in order to efficiently support random access procedure based on UE type (Xia [Abstract]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Xia’s method for transmitting and receiving DCIs into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, and further in view of Patel et al. US Pub 2018/0098359 (hereinafter “Patel”).
Regarding claim 21
Zhou, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, previously discloses the UE of claim 1,
Zhou, Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost do not specifically teach wherein the information includes a precoding that differentiates between the RAR for the first UE type and the RAR for the second UE type.
In an analogous art, Patel discloses wherein the information includes a precoding (“the precoding for an initial PUSCH transmission may be refined based on a refined precoding setting received in a random access response message (e.g., in a RAR grant or DCI scheduling information for the initial PUSCH transmission, or for an initial PUSCH transmission of a prior random access procedure). In some examples, the refined precoding setting may take the form of a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) delta (e.g., a delta_PMI).” [0172]) that differentiates between an RAR for a first UE type and an RAR for a second UE type (“some of the UEs 115 in a wireless communication system may be capable of transmitting precoder selection signals, and other UEs 115 may not be capable of transmitting precoder selection signals. In these examples, it can be useful to identify the capability of a UE 115 early” [0173]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations, as modified by Mu4346, Mu1326, and Rastegardoost, to include Patel’s method for precoding management for random access procedures, in order to efficiently support precoding transmission based on UE type (Patel [0011]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Patel’s method for precoding management for random access procedures into Zhou’s method for supporting different bandwidth part configurations since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Conclusion
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/CHUONG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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