DETAILED ACTION
This communication is responsive to applicant’s response filed under 37 C.F.R §1.111 in response to a non-final office action. Claim(s) 1, 6, 11, 16, and 20-21 have been amended; Claims 2-5, 7-8, 12-15, 17-18, and 22 have been canceled; No Claim(s) have been added. Claim(s) 1, 6, 9-11, 16, 19-21, and 23-24 are subject to examination.
Acknowledgement is made to the applicant’s amendment to claims 6, 16, and 21 to obviate the previous 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection to claims 6, 16, and 21. The previous 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection to claims 6, 16, and 21 is/are hereby withdrawn.
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) 1, 6, 9-11, 16, 19-21, and 23-24 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.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 11, and 20 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1, 11, and 20 recites “a sequence of index values”. It is unclear whether the index values of the sequence is the same as “the index value of each of the at least one reference signal” or different. For the purpose of examination, the examiner will interpret the “a sequence of index values” as different index values.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 6, 9-11, 16, 19-21, and 23-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HE (US 20220086922 A1) in view of KO (US 20240049289 A1) (see 892 07/14/2025).
Claim 1:
HE teaches a random access method comprising: obtaining, by a terminal device, reference signal grouping information indicating a grouping of N reference signals into one or more groups of M reference signals, wherein N is equal to or greater than M and each of N and M is a positive integer greater than 1 (HE: FIG. 10 wherein SSB/reference signals are grouped by same QCL relationship; para 102 (“…a set of target random access resources corresponding to the target SSB is determined...”), para 106 (“…SSBs with the QCL relationship may correspond to the same random access resource…”), and para 109 (“The terminal device can determine the set of target random access resources corresponding to the position information of the target SSB based on the correspondence between the position indexes of SSBs and the random access resources.”) wherein terminal obtains/determines the groupings), and wherein each of the N references signals is associated with an index value (HE: para 101 (“S210 of the method 200…determine the position information of the target SSB (including a position index of the target SSB).”) wherein the SSB/reference signals have position index); detecting, by the terminal, at least one reference signal sent by a network device from among the N reference signals (HE: para 86 (“…the network device may further transmit the target SSB to the terminal device based on the determined position information of the target SSB and the determined QCL information of the target SSB, so as to facilitate receiving of the target SSB by the terminal device.”) wherein terminal receives at least one SSB from the network device); determining, by the terminal device, a detection sequence based on the index value of each of the at least one reference signal sent by the network device, wherein the detection identifies the group of M reference signals that includes the detected at least one reference signal (HE: FIG. 10 and para 109 (“The terminal device can determine the set of target random access resources corresponding to the position information of the target SSB based on the correspondence between the position indexes of SSBs and the random access resources…For example, assuming that the position index of the target SSB included in the position information of the target SSB is 2, a corresponding set of target random access resources may be PRACH Resources 2…”) wherein at least one sent SSB is detected and used to determine a QCL index group and PRACH Resource number); determining, by the terminal device, a random access resource for sending a random access preamble based on the detection (HE: para 87 (“…the terminal device and/or the network device may determine a set of target random access resources corresponding to the QCL information of the target SSB…”) wherein terminal determines random access resources based on detecting SSB); and sending, by the terminal device, the random access preamble to the network device on the random access resource (HE: FIG. 9 item 230 (“Random Access”) and para 88 (“…any set of random access resources…may refer to a PRACH resource which may include e.g., a PRACH occasion and/or a PRACH preamble.”) wherein random access includes sending a preamble on determined resources).
While HE teaches detecting reference signals indexes and determining random access signals based on the detection of reference signal indexes (HE: FIG. 10 and para 109 (“The terminal device can determine the set of target random access resources corresponding to the position information of the target SSB based on the correspondence between the position indexes of SSBs and the random access resources…For example, assuming that the position index of the target SSB included in the position information of the target SSB is 2, a corresponding set of target random access resources may be PRACH Resources 2…”) wherein at least one sent SSB is detected and used to determine a QCL index group and PRACH Resource number), HE does not explicitly disclose wherein the detection sequence is a sequence of index values.
KO, in the same field of endeavor, teaches the detection sequence is a sequence of index values (KO: para 183 (“A maximum of L SSBs may be transmitted in an SSB burst set, and the number and positions of actually transmitted SSBs may vary for each BS/cell…information about actually transmitted SSBs (e.g., ssb-PositionsInBurst) may be indicated…”) wherein transmitted SSBs for detection are indicated in a sequence of index values to be received by the terminal).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to have modified HE with KO, the combination hereby referred to as HE-KO, for the benefit of effective transmission and reception of preambles (KO: para 50-52).
Claim 6:
HE-KO teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein information associating the detection sequence and a peak of a beam and associating the peak of the beam to the random access resource is provided to the terminal device by the network device (KO: para 176 (“In this case, SSB indices are implicitly linked to SSB beams.”) and para 194 (“An RACH configuration for a cell is provided in system information of the cell to the UE. The RACH configuration includes information about PRACH SCS, available preambles, and a preamble format. The RACH configuration includes information about associations between SSBs and RACH…resources. The UE transmits a RACH preamble in RACH…resources associated with a detected or selected SSB.”) wherein information/RACH configuration associates detection sequence/SSB index with a peak of a beam/best SSB beam and random access resource).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to have modified HE with KO, the combination hereby referred to as HE-KO, for the benefit of effective transmission and reception of preambles (KO: para 50-52).
Claim 9:
HE-KO teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising: obtaining, by the terminal device, a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold from the network device (KO: para 195 (“An SSB threshold for RACH resource association may be configured by the network, and an RACH preamble is transmitted or retransmitted based on an SSB having a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement satisfying the threshold.”) wherein SSB threshold/RSRP threshold is obtained from the network device); and in response to an RSRP of the at least one reference signal being greater than the RSRP threshold, determining, by the terminal device, that the at least one reference signal is detected (KO: para 181 (“Thereafter, the UE may transmit a RACH preamble to the BS on a PRACH resource linked/corresponding to the index (i.e., beam) of the best SSB.”) and para 195 (“An SSB threshold for RACH resource association may be configured by the network, and an RACH preamble is transmitted or retransmitted based on an SSB having a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement satisfying the threshold.”) wherein a best beam is detected based on SSB threshold/greater than RSRP threshold).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to have modified HE with KO, the combination hereby referred to as HE-KO, for the benefit of effective transmission and reception of preambles (KO: para 50-52).
Claim 10:
HE-KO teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the reference signal grouping information comprises obtaining, by the terminal device, the reference signal grouping information from the network device (KO: para 194 (“An RACH configuration for a cell is provided in system information of the cell to the UE. The RACH configuration includes information about PRACH SCS, available preambles, and a preamble format. The RACH configuration includes information about associations between SSBs and RACH…resources. The UE transmits a RACH preamble in RACH…resources associated with a detected or selected SSB.”) wherein grouping information includes the index of a SSB and associated resources).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to have modified HE with KO, the combination hereby referred to as HE-KO, for the benefit of effective transmission and reception of preambles (KO: para 50-52).
Claim 11:
HE teaches a random access apparatus comprising: a transceiver configured to cooperate with a processor (HE: FIG. 12 item 420 (“Transceiving Unit”) and item 410 (“Processing Unit”)). For further limitations, see rejection for claim 1 above.
Claim 16:
HE-KO teaches the apparatus according to claim 11. For further limitations, see rejection for claim 6 above.
Claim 19:
HE-KO teaches the apparatus according to claim 11. For further limitations, see rejection for claim 9 above.
Claim 20:
HE teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing a program or instructions used to implement a random access method (HE: FIG. 14 item 620 (“Memory”) the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). For further limitations, see rejection for claim 1 above.
Claim 21:
HE-KO teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, according to claim 20. For further limitations, see rejection for claim 6 above.
Claim 23:
HE-KO teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, according to claim 20. For further limitations, see rejection for claim 9 above.
Claim 24:
HE-KO teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, according to claim 20. For further limitations, see rejection for claim 10 above.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANGELIE T NGO whose telephone number is (571)272-0180. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Thur: 8am - 5pm; 2nd Fri: 8am - 3pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached at (571) 270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.T.N./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416
Prosecution Insights