DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. The instant application claims priority to the National Stage 371 of PCT/EP2021/060129 04/19/2021 and Provisional filed on 04/20/2020.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted, IDS - 10/19/2022 and 02/20/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Continued Examination (RCE)
4. 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has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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
09/17/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
5. The amendment filed 01/15/2026 has been entered. Claims 1,3-6,11-15,18-20,22,24,30-31,33-34,37,39 and 44 remain pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
7. 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
he claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner
in which the invention was made.
8. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness
under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
• Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
• Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
• Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
• Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating
• obviousness or nonobviousness.
9. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the
claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any
evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to
point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly
owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to
consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2)
prior art against the later invention.
10. Claims 1, 3-6, 11-15, 18, 20, 22, 24, 30-31, 33-34, 37, 39, and 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tang et al. (US-20220104160-A1) hereinafter “Tang” in view of Atsushi-Ishii et al. (US-10660023-B2) hereinafter “Atsushi-Ishii”.
Regarding Claim 1,
Tang discloses, ‘A method implemented by a user equipment (UE) of obtaining time information, the method comprising: sending, to a base station, request for a specific system information block (SIB) and an indication that the specific SIB or system information include an optional fifth generation (5G) time reference;’
A method acquired by the UE and performed by the UE for a reference time information (disclosure claim 1 and claim 2 that is implemented by the UE to obtain time information as recited in the claim), sent by the BS to the UE through a SIB. And, the SIB can be any SIBs or SIB9 and can request by dedicated RRC message [0140] and the UE includes receive module to receive configuration of SIB [0260]. The UE performs time synchronization with the BS [0077]. As part of time synchronization communication, the UE request to the BS timing advance (TA) [0133]. The time sensitive communication includes delay-sensitive communication and perform synchronization in a Time sensitive network (TSN) in the 5G system to meet the requirement of latency and reliability [0081-0082] and Fig. 3. And, the UE determines if the current TA is valid and when synchronization required can perform random access procedure or request the BS to send a TA [0125-0128].
Disclosure, the UE receives the SIB from the BS by dedicated RRC message and the SIB can be SIB9 and any SIBs [0140] received by dedicated RRC message.
And Tang though discloses request for a specific SIB and didn’t disclose,
‘an on-demand’ request for a specific SIB ‘or on demand’ that is for system information explicit on-demand request procedure for SIBs.
Atsushi-Ishii in the relevant art discloses, SIB acquisition process uses system information message indication on-demand delivery [abstract]; further disclosure (Claim 1), UE configured to initiate SIB acquisition process schedule system information message the indication indicating on-demand delivery; Fig. 8 and 9 shows the on-demand request procedure specific system information message; delivery-mode-IE described earlier. In one configuration, the information element sibValueTagList; to include specific system information block (SIBs type in Fig. 13) that comprises a list of value tags for the available SIBs included in schedulingInfoList, in the order of the SIB numbering scheme (e.g. SIB2, SIB3, SIB4, SIB5, . . . ); that can include any tags SIBs 1 to 9 (SIB9 time reference/info) though didn’t specifically mentioned SIB9, Col. 10 [0040] – [0042];
Therefore, a person in the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of
the claim invention would have recognized that the disclosure of Atsushi-Ishii and to modify with that of Tang to come up with the claim invention; someone in the skill in the art would be motivated to modify and include on-demand request to specific system information block to obtain time reference information when initiated by UE as disclosed by Tang;
Tang discloses either to use a dedicated RRC message whenever there is a necessity for synchronization to reinforce the delay-sensitive or latency requirement. Someone would be motivated to modify and include on-demand request as part of acquisition process for SIB and SI message for the acquisition process, Atsushi-Ishii disclosure claim 1 to claim 3.
Motivation would be to receive time information by SIB message (disclosed by Tang) as part of SI or SIB request procedures further explained by Atsushi-Ishii uses SI or SIB request time window procedure that can provide reliability to time sensitive information when requested or required without delay.
Tang includes monitor the valid TA by PDCCH to ensure reliability in delay-sensitive communication and perform time calibration [0332-0336]. And, Atsushi-Ishii Fig. 8 illustrates SI procedures and SI window to confirm successful reception of SI on-demand request that ensures more reliability to SI acquisition and SIB procedures when SIB# A is if not valid then obtain valid version SIB # A.
Tang discloses, ‘and receiving from the base station, responsive to the indication, system information comprising the 5G time reference.’
Disclosure, the BS sends the reference time information to the UE [0235] and by dedicated RRC message for SIB [0140].
And further include ‘the on-demand request’ (disclosed above by Atsushi-Ishii)
Motivation to modify would be identical to first claim element disclosed above.
Regarding Claim 3,
‘method of claim 1’ (disclosed above),
Tang discloses, ‘wherein, the system information comprising the 5G time reference is received in SIB9.’ (The UE determines to perform time reference SIB9 sent by the BS that is through RRC dedicated message [0138-0140].)
Regarding Claim 4,
‘method of claim 1’ (disclosed above),
Tang disclose, ‘wherein, the indication comprises a flag set to a first predetermined value.’
Disclosure, latency for time reference indication carried by IE uses predetermined field or flag “0” or “1” whether to perform latency for time information [0143-0145].
Regarding Claim 5,
‘method of claim 1’ (disclosed above),
Tang discloses, ‘wherein, the indication comprises a reference to a specific element of system information that contains the 5G time reference.’ (The UE performs time synchronization with the BS to meet the time synchronization and synchronization accuracy between the UE and the reference clock. The network side device may send the time synchronization information and time synchronization accuracy to the UE by carrying them in an RRC message or a broadcast message. Specifically, the carried information element (IE) may be a Time-Reference-Info IE [0077]. And, Fig. 3 illustrates 5G TSN architectures includes TSN components at the UE side and the core network to meet the reliability and latency requirements of time sensitive communication [0081-0082].)
Regarding Claim 6,
‘method of claim 1‘ (disclosed above),
Tang discloses, ‘wherein, receiving the system information comprising the 5G time reference comprises receiving the 5G time reference in a broadcast message’ (The BS device may send the time synchronization information and time synchronization accuracy to the UE by carrying them in an RRC message or a broadcast message. Specifically, the carried information element (IE) may be a Time-Reference-Info IE [0077]. )
Regarding Claim 11,
‘method of claim 1’, (disclosed above),
Tang discloses, ‘wherein the 5G time reference is for time sensitive communications (TSC).’ (FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a TSN network architecture, as shown in FIG. 3, the TSN network includes a 5G system both the UE side and the CN side. And, TSN uses time sensitive communication [0084])
Regarding Claim 12,
‘method of claim 1’ (disclosed above),
Tang discloses, ‘further comprising, before sending to the base station: receiving, from the base station, configuration information requests’ (Fig. 12 includes two modules specifically configured to send the request to the BS to receive the TA and the time reference information to adjust time information [0277-0280].)
And further to include ‘on-demand’ or ‘enabling on-demand’ request disclosed above in Claim 1. Therefore, a person in the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claim invention would have recognized that the disclosure of Atsushi-Ishii and obvious to modify with that of Tang to come up with the claim invention. Motivation would be identical to claim 1 disclosed above .
Regarding Claim 13,
‘method of claim 12’ (disclosed above),
Tang discloses, ‘wherein, the configuration information comprises a flag set to a first predetermined value.’ (IE includes an indication that the UE required to perform the latency for the time reference information [0143-0145]. And, configuration for the UE to adjust the latency for the time reference information [0314-0315]).
Regarding Claim 14,
‘method of claim 12’ (disclosed above),
Tang discloses, ‘wherein, the configuration information comprises a reference to a specific element of system information that contains the 5G time reference’ ( The BS send the time synchronization information and time synchronization accuracy to the UE by carrying them in an RRC message or a broadcast message. Specifically, the carried information element (IE) may be a TimeReferenceInfo IE [0077, 0187-0188, 0260]. And, IE indicates whether to perform adjustment for time reference information [0143-0145].)
Regarding Claim 15,
‘method of claim 12’ (disclosed above),
Tang discloses and identical to Claim 12 disclosed above and only inclusion broadcast message, ‘wherein, receiving the configuration information enabling on-demand requests for a 5G time reference comprises receiving the configuration information in a radio resource control (RRC) broadcast message.’ (The BS sends configuration carried IE for time reference information through RRC message and dedicated RRC message [0077, 0260]).
Regarding Claim 18,
‘method of claim 12’ (disclosed above),
Tang discloses, ‘wherein, receiving the configuration information in a dedicated message comprises receiving the configuration information in a radio resource control (RRC) message.’ (RRC message can be a dedicated RRC message [0140, 0199, 0260].)
Regarding Claim 20,
Tang discloses, ‘A method implemented by a base station of providing time information to a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from the UE
an on-demand request for a specific system information block (SIB)’
A method performed by the BS latency for the time reference and determined by the BS [0141-142] and IE includes time reference information [0145]. Time synchronization or time information provided by the BS, Fig. 3 TSN and Time sensitive communication [0091]. And remaining part of the claim element includes on-demand request for a SIB, identical to claim 1 disclose above.
Identical to Claim 1 disclosed above, ‘and an indication that the specific SIB or system information include an optional fifth generation (5G) time reference;
and sending to the UE, responsive to the indication, and the on-demand request, system information comprising the 5G time reference.’
Regarding Claim 22,
‘method of claim 20’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 3 disclosed above, ‘wherein, the system information comprising the 5G time reference is received in SIB9.’
Regarding Claim 24,
‘method of claim 20’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 5 disclosed above, ‘wherein, the indication comprises a reference to a specific element of system information that contains the 5G time reference.’
Regarding Claim 30,
‘method of claim 20’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 11 disclosed above, ‘wherein the 5G time reference is for time sensitive communications (TSC).’
Regarding Claim 31,
‘method of claim 20’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 12 disclosed above, ‘further comprising, before sending the on- demand request to the base station: sending, to the UE, configuration information enabling on-demand requests for the 5G time reference.’
Regarding Claim 33,
‘method of claim 31’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 14 disclosed above, ‘wherein, the configuration information comprises a reference to a specific element of system information that contains the 5G time reference.’
Regarding Claim 34,
‘method of claim 31’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 15 disclosed above, ‘wherein, receiving the configuration information enabling on-demand requests for a 5G time reference comprises receiving the configuration information in a broadcast message.’
Regarding Claim 37,
‘method of claim 31’ (disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 18 disclosed above, ‘wherein, receiving the configuration information in a dedicated message comprises receiving the configuration information in a radio resource control (RRC) message.’
Regarding Claim 39,
Tang discloses, ‘A user equipment in a wireless communication network, said user equipment being configured to: send, to a base station an on-demand request for a specific system information block (SIB) on-demand system information
and an indication that the specific SIB or system information include an optional fifth generation (5G time reference;’ (Fig. 15 includes the UE and identical to Claim 1 disclosed above),
Identical to Claim 1 disclosed above, ‘and receive from the base station, responsive to the indication the on-demand request, system information comprising the 5G time reference.’
Regarding Claim 44,
Identical to claim 20 disclosed above and Fig. 16, ‘A base station in a wireless communication network, said base station being configured to: receive, from the UE
an on-demand request for a specific system information block (SIB)
on-demand system information and an indication that the specific SIB or system information include an optional fifth generation (5G) time reference;’
Identical to Claim 20 disclosed above, ‘and send to the UE, responsive to the indication and the on-demand request, system information comprising the 5G time reference.’
11. Claims 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tang et al. hereinafter “Tang” in view of Atsushi-Ishii et al. and Shah et al. (US-20220264490-A1) hereinafter “Shah”.
Regarding Claim 19,
‘method of claim 18’ (disclosed above),
Tang though discloses downlink control channel sent by the BS and receives valid TA [0121] and didn’t disclose,
‘wherein, the RRC message comprises one of a reconfiguration (RRCReconfiguration) message or a downlink (DL) information (DLlnformationTransfer) message.’
Shah in the relevant art discloses, a downlink RRC message RRC reconfiguration for clock synchronization and clock information. Uses dedicated message for time information and a reference SFN corresponding to time information Fig. 8 [0097], [0135-0136]; (translation page 21 [0030]-[0033] and page 22 [0001]-[0002].
Therefore, a person in the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of
the claim invention would have recognized that the disclosure of Tang, Atsushi-Ishii and to include with that of Shah to come up with the claim invention;
Disclosure, Tang provide motive to perform the time synchronization and acquire latency to receive accurate timing. By a dedicated RRC message for reference time information and valid TA downlink data in RRC connected [0121-0122]. While determine current TA is valid identify status RRC inactive [0126]. Due to power saving the UE can temporarily inactive and switch to active by RRC reconfiguration procedure. And, Shah perform time sensitive communication to receive accurate timing information. Someone would be motivated to further include RRC reconfiguration procedure to reduce latency to perform time reference procedure.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/15/2026 have been fully considered but they are
not persuasive. Applicant’s arguments do not comply with 37 CFR 1.111(c) because they do not clearly point out the patentable novelty which he or she thinks the claims present in view of the state of the art disclosed by the references cited or the objections made. Further, they do not show how the amendments avoid such references or objections.
Arguments:
Section 103 Rejections
The Office Action rejects claims 1, 3-6, 11-15, 18, 20, 22, 24, 30-31, 33-34, 37, 39, and 44 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0104160 by Tang et al. ("Tang") in view of U.S. Patent No. 10,660,023 issued to Atsushi- Ishii et al. ("Atsushi-Ishu"). Office Action at p. 4. The Office Action rejects claim 19 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Tang in view of Atsushi-Ishu and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0264490 by Shah ("Shah"). Office Action at p. 15. Applicant respectfully traverses these rejections for the reasons given below.
Applicant respectfully submits that the proposed Tang-Atsushi Ishu combination fails to disclose, teach, or suggest each element of the claims and discusses independent claim 1 as an example. Claim 1 recites the following:
A method implemented by a user equipment (UE) of obtaining time
information, the method comprising:
sending, to a base station an on-demand request for a specific system
information block (SIB) or on-demand system information and an indication that the specific SIB or system information include an optional fifth generation
(5G) time reference; and
receiving from the base station, responsive to the indication and the on- demand request, system information comprising the 5G time reference.
Applicant respectfully submits that the proposed Tang-Atsushi Ishu combination fails to disclose, teach or suggest "sending, to a base station an on-demand request for a specific system information block (SIB) or on-demand system information and an indication that the specific SIB or system information include an optional fifth generation (5G) time reference," as recited in independent claim 1.
As background, Applicant's Specification discloses that to support time-sensitive communications (TSC), a user equipment (UE) needs to acquire a time reference from the network for synchronization. Although, the existing specifications include on-demand procedures for requesting system information blocks (SIBs), the on-demand procedures currently in use are not adequate to ensure that time reference information for TSC will be provided to the UE. 5G reference time information for synchronization is contained in SIB9, which includes two fields: 1) the timelnfo field and 2) the referenceTimelnfo-r16field. For TSC, the referenceTimelnfo-r16field is needed by the UE for synchronization. While the UE in Radio Resource Control (RRC) Idle mode or RRC Inactive mode can request SIB9 using existing procedures, both of the time info and referenceTimelnfo-r16fields are optional so there is no guarantee that the network will provide the time reference information that is needed by the UE for TSC. If the UE does not receive the time reference information needed for TSC, the lack of synchronization between the network and the UE may prevent TSC communication. Specification at 0003.
To overcome the problem described above, claim 1 recites that the UE sends to the base station (1) an on-demand request for a specific system information block (SIB) or on-demand system information, and (2) an indication that the specific SIB or system information include an optional fifth generation (5G) time reference. Applicant respectfully submits that even if the proposed Tang-Atsushi Ishu combination discloses (1), the proposed combination fails to disclose, teach or suggest (2).
For example, the Office Action relies on Tang at paragraphs 0077, 0140, and 0260 as allegedly disclosing a UE sending to a base station a request for a specific SIB and an indication that the specific SIB includes an optional 5G time reference. Office Action at pp. 5, 6. Paragraph 0077 of Tang discloses that a base station maintains clock synchronization with a UE and may send time synchronization information and time synchronization accuracy to the UE by carrying them in an RRC message or a broadcast message. There is no disclosure in paragraph 0077, however, that the UE sends an indication to the base station that the broadcast message should include the optional 5G time reference, as claimed. Paragraphs 0140 and 0260 of Tang disclose that the base station sends latency compensation information to the UE through a SIB. There is no disclosure in paragraphs 0140 or 0260, however, that the UE sends an indication to the base station that the SIB include an optional 5G time reference, as claimed.
The Office Action also refers to pargraphs 0081, 0082, 0125-28 and 0130 of Tang in reference to the same claim element. Paragraphs 0081 and 0082 refer to the concept of TSN. Paragraphs 0125-130 disclose the concept of timing advance (TA) and performing a random access procedure to acquire a TA value if the UE is out of synchronization with the network.
The TA procedures are a distinct and separate concept from that of TSN. Although it is unclear why the Office Action refers to the TA paragraphs, none of the paragraphs disclose that the UE sends an indication to the base station that the SIB include an optional 5G time reference, as claimed.
The Office Action also comments that "the UE receives the SIB from the BS by dedicated RRC message and the SIB can be SIB9 and any SIBs therefore, receiving time reference would be optional." Office Action at pp. 5, 6. Applicant has already stipulated that the time reference included in SIB9 is optional, hence the need for the request to include an indication for the SIB9 to include the optional 5G time reference, because without the indication, there is no guarantee that SIB9 will include optional 5G time reference. There is no disclosure in Tang, however, that the UE indicates to the base station that the base station should include the optional 5G time reference in SIB9, as claimed.
The Office Action relies on Atsushi Ishu as disclosing on-demand SIB acquisition.
Office Action at p. 6. Just as with Tang, however, there is no disclosure inAtsushi Ishu that the UE indicates to the base station that the base station should include the optional 5G time reference in SIB9, as claimed.
Accordingly, the proposed Tang-Atsushi Ishu combination fails to disclose, teach or suggest "sending, to a base station an on-demand request for a specific system information block (SIB) or on-demand system information and an indication that the specific SIB or system information include an optional fifth generation (5G) time reference," as recited in independent claim 1. Thus, the proposed Tang-Atsushi Ishu combination fails to disclose, teach or suggest every element of claim 1. Therefore, claim 1 and each of its dependent claims are in condition for allowance. For analogous reasons, Applicant further contends that claims 20, 39 and 44, and any claims dependent therefrom, are in condition for allowance.
No Waiver
All of Applicant's arguments are without prejudice or disclaimer. Applicant reserves the right to discuss the distinctions between the cited references and the claims in a later response or on appeal, if appropriate. By not responding to additional statements made by the Examiner, Applicant does not acquiesce to the Examiner's additional statements. The example arguments offered by Applicant are sufficient to overcome the rejections.
Examiners response:
With respect to applicant’s arguments/remarks, examiner responses are:
Examiner reviewed the applicant’s arguments/remarks and further amended claims and provided required disclosures in the office actions from the closest and relevant prior arts that covers the subject matters. Addressed all the claims and applicant’s
argument/remarks disclosed from the presented prior arts “Tang”, Atsushi-Ishii and “Shah”.
Regarding the applicant remarks latency compensation/parameters, the disclosure, Tang distinctly specifies, the UE perform the latency compensation time synchronization that provide more accuracy in time synchronization [0105-0106].
Examiner respectfully thanked to applicants/attorneys for their time and effort.
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 extension
fee 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 date of this final action.
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/S.A./Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/CHRISTOPHER M CRUTCHFIELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466