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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on August 28, 2025has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been considered but are moot because the amendments necessitated new grounds of rejection, and the arguments do not apply to the combination of references being used in the current rejection.
General Citations based upon the new reference Chen (US 20230030443 A1): Chen discloses SS/PBCH (The reference doesn’t explicitly state “SS/PBCH” but SSB in 5G is a “SS/PBCH”), support for this, another Kim reference (US 20210133448 para130 states: The term SSB is interchangeably used with synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH).
SSB corresponding to pre-configured transmission resource; Detecting signal quality of the one or more SSB (Para.[0062] For example, if one or more SSBs are configured with pre-configured PUSCH resources and one or more SSBs with the corresponding RSRP is greater than the threshold, the UE may randomly select one SSB with the corresponding RSRP greater than the threshold and transmit the UL data via pre-configured PUSCH resource(s) associated with the SSB for small data transmission in the RRC_INACTIVE state)
Chen also some of the citations that the third reference (Chang) was relied upon for but support from the provisional isn’t explicitly clear for the “UE resides” limitation:
UE resides in a serving cell (Para.[0063] . In one example, the UE may consider the configured grants (e.g., pre-configured PUSCH resources) as valid when the UE is camped on a cell from which the UE receives the RRC release message for configured grants) - Note: The provisional doesn’t explicitly mention “camped on”. The citation in the PGPUG states the UE considers the grant valid when the UE is camped on the cell. The provisional on page 13 has a section about determining if the PUSCH is valid and mentions the PUSCH is invalid when the UE moves/leaves/is not camped on the cell. “Resides” is the same as camps.
Pre-configured transmission resource obtained through RRC release message (Para.[0063] . In one example, the UE may consider the configured grants (e.g., pre-configured PUSCH resources) as valid when the UE is camped on a cell from which the UE receives the RRC release message for configured grants).
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 30-33 and 35-36 are rejected 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shih et al. (US 20200137761 A1; hereinafter "Shih") in view of Chen et al. (US 20230030443 A1; hereinafter "Chen"), and further in view of Chang et al. (US 20220039098 A1; hereinafter "Chang").
Regarding claim 30, Shih discloses a data transmission method, applied to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE is in an idle state or an inactive state ([0334] wherein the PUR is used for a transmission when the UE is in RRC IDLE state)), and the method comprises:
determining a quantity of bits of data to be transmitted; determining signal quality of a reference signal corresponding to a pre-configured transmission resource; and in response to the quantity of bits of the data to be transmitted being smaller than a second threshold, and the signal quality of one or more SSBs exceeding a pre-set threshold, performing data transmission based on the pre-configured transmission resource ([0320] To satisfy "PUR (Preconfigured Uplink Resources) is available" (in current enhanced coverage level) for a UL transmission (e.g. including above mentioned RRC message), one or some of the following bullets need to be fulfilled: [0323] 3. The message size (indicating quantity of bits) of the UL transmission (e.g. UL data available for transmission plus MAC header and, where required, MAC control elements) is not larger than a predefined or configured threshold (= a second threshold) (associated with current enhanced coverage level); this indicates applying PUR in response to the quantity of bits of the data to be transmitted being smaller than a second threshold; [0027] As described in the background, the UE entering the RRC idle state needs to determine that the TA is valid before using the pre-configured uplink resource... The downlink measurement result herein generally refers to a reference signal received power (RSRP). When the change in the downlink measurement result of the serving cell in which the UE resides has exceeded a threshold value, the UE considers the acquired and stored TA to be invalid; thus PUR can be applied for transmission only when the TA is valid, and the TA is valid only if the RSRP (indicating signal quality) exceeds a threshold value; [0334] wherein the PUR is used for a transmission when the UE is in RRC IDLE state).
But Shih does not disclose (a) determining signal quality of one or more synchronization signal (SS)/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) resource blocks (SSBs) corresponding to a pre-configured transmission resource; and (b) wherein a cell where the UE currently resides is a serving cell corresponding to the pre-configured transmission resource, wherein the one or more SSBs corresponding to the pre-configured transmission resource are configured by a network device; detecting a signal quality of the one or more SSBs and the pre-configured transmission resource is obtained through a radio resource control (RRC) release message.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Chen discloses determining signal quality of one or more synchronization signal (SS)/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) resource blocks (SSBs) corresponding to a pre-configured transmission resource (Paragraph 62, Note: SSB is in 5G; For example, if one or more SSBs are configured with pre-configured PUSCH resources and one or more SSBs with the corresponding RSRP is greater than the threshold, the UE may randomly select one SSB with the corresponding RSRP greater than the threshold and transmit the UL data via pre-configured PUSCH resource(s) associated with the SSB for small data transmission in the RRC_INACTIVE state); and wherein a cell where the UE currently resides is a serving cell corresponding to the pre-configured transmission resource (Paragraph 63), wherein the one or more SSBs corresponding to the pre-configured transmission resource are configured by a network device; detecting a signal quality of the one or more SSBs and the pre-configured transmission resource is obtained through a radio resource control (RRC) release message (Paragraph 63).
Furthermore, in the same field of endeavor, Chang discloses wherein a cell where the UE currently resides is a serving cell corresponding to the pre-configured transmission resource, and the pre-configured transmission resource is obtained through a radio resource control (RRC) release message ([0026] For dedicated pre-configured uplink resources, the dedicated pre-configured resources might be configured for the UE by a base station through RRC dedicated signaling, such as an RRC connection release message, RRC connection reconfiguration information, an RRC connection establishment message, an RRC connection recovery message, etc., when the UE was previously in an RRC connected state. The UE in an RRC idle state can use the dedicated pre-configured uplink resources to transmit uplink data; [0027] As described in the background, the UE entering the RRC idle state needs to determine that the TA is valid before using the pre- configured uplink resource. Methods for determining TA validity include: [0028] 1. The change of serving cells. In other words, if the serving cell in which the UE resides changes, the UE considers that the TA of the PUR acquired through the serving cell is not valid. The change of the serving cell in which the UE resides is usually caused by cell reselection; thus, the validation of TA is performed in a serving cell in which the UE currently resides.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Shih, based on the above teachings from Kim and Chang to derive the limitations of claim 30, because the modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to use preconfigured resources under certain conditions , wherein the preconfigured resources correspond to the serving cell and are obtained through a radio resource control (RRC) release message.
Regarding claim 32, Shih, Chen, and Chang disclose the limitations of claim 30 as set forth, and Shih further discloses acquiring transmission configuration information from a network device, wherein the transmission configuration information comprises the pre-configured transmission resource ([0005] receiving, from a network node, a configuration of Preconfigured Uplink Resources (PUR), when the UE is in RRC_CONNECTED state, wherein the PUR is used for a transmission when the UE is in RRC_IDLE state; [0320] To satisfy "PUR (Preconfigured Uplink Resources) is available" (in current enhanced coverage level) for a UL transmission (e.g. including above mentioned RRC message), one or some of the following bullets need to be fulfilled: [0324] 4. The UL transmission is associated with a predefined or configured service. PUR (Preconfigured Uplink Resources) may apply to some specific service(s) and not to other services.).
Regarding claim 33, Shih, Chen, and Chang disclose the limitations of claim 32 as set forth, and Chang further discloses wherein the acquiring the transmission configuration information from the network device comprises: receiving the RRC release message from the network device, wherein the RRC release message comprises the transmission configuration information ([0026] For dedicated pre-configured uplink resources, the dedicated pre- configured resources might be configured for the UE by a base station through RRC dedicated signaling, such as an RRC connection release message, RRC connection reconfiguration information, an RRC connection establishment message, an RRC connection recovery message, etc., when the UE was previously in an RRC connected state.
Claim 35 is rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claim 30. Claim 35 recites similar features as in claim 30, from the perspective of an apparatus for a user equipment. Shih further discloses a user equipment, comprising: at least one processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores computer execution instructions; and the at least one processor executes the computer execution instructions stored in the memory to cause the at least one processor to perform similar functions ([0033] and FIG. 3: communication device 300 with a central processing unit (CPU) 308 and a memory 310).
Claim 36 is rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claim 30. Claim 36 recites similar features as in claim 30, from the perspective of a non-transitory computer readable storage medium.
Conclusion
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/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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