DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
This is in response to an amendment/response filed 4/14/2026.
No claim has been cancelled.
Claims 53 and 54 have been added.
Claims 42-43, 46-49, and 52-54 are now pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/14/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 5-9 of the remarks, in regard to the independent claims, the Applicant disagrees with the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang et al. US 20190069233 (hereinafter “Jiang”) in view of Onaka et al. US 20190306791 (hereinafter “Onaka”) and in further view of Pelletier et al. US 20130242730 (hereinafter “Pelletier”)
Specifically, the Applicant remarks:
Jiang does not teach "the first UE receiving downlink control information (DCI) transmitted by the access point, wherein the DCI includes a priority value indicating a priority level" and "the first UE determining, based on the priority value included in the DCI, whether or not the DCI is intended for a UE other than the first UE"
The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Regarding (1), Jiang teaches the concept/function of this limitation. The Examiner interpreted this limitation as the UE determining whether the DCI is intended for the UE or another UE based on a priority level indicated by the DCI. Jiang clearly teaches this since the UE receives a DCI, descrambles the DCI that is encoded using an identity that corresponds to a priority level, and if the UE successfully descrambles the message, then the UE corresponds to the matching priority level indicated by the identity. Even if the DCI message does not explicitly include a priority level, it includes identities that each corresponds to a priority level which in turn indicates a priority level that corresponds to each UE. In addition, if the UE is unable to descramble the DCI, then the message is not preferred by the UE which maps to “determining….whether or not the DCI is intended for a UE other than the first UE”. Therefore, the applicant's argument is not persuasive.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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) 42, 46-48, 52, 53, and 54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang et al. US 20190069233 (hereinafter “Jiang”) in view of Onaka et al. US 20190306791 (hereinafter “Onaka”) and in further view of Pelletier et al. US 20130242730 (hereinafter “Pelletier”).
As to claim 42 and 48 (claim 42 is the method claim for the UE in claim 48):
Jiang discloses:
A method performed by a first user equipment (UE) for establishing a connection with an access point, the method comprising:
the first UE receiving downlink control information (DCI) transmitted by the access point, wherein the DCI includes a priority value indicating a priority level, (“scrambling control information of the message by using an identity to which the message type corresponds; wherein, different identities correspond to different message types; and transmitting data information of the message and the scrambled control information to the one or more user equipments.” Jiang [0012]) (“In an embodiment, different identities correspond to different message types. A correspondence between the message type and the identity may be preconfigured, or may be configured according to auxiliary information reported by the user equipment. By scrambling the message by using the identity to which the message type corresponds, the user equipment may be made to process a preferred message only.”, Jiang [0060]) (“For example, the identities received by the user equipment are: ID 1 (corresponding to priority 1), ID 2 (corresponding to priority 2), and ID 3 (corresponding to priority 3).”, Jiang [0115]) (“For example, the DCI is descrambled by using different identities in an order of the priorities. The DCI may be descrambled by using an identity of a highest priority first, if the descrambling is successful, the data information associated with the DCI is continued to be received, and if the descrambling is unsuccessful, the DCI is descrambled by using an identity of a secondarily highest priority, and so on. If all the identities of the user equipment cannot be used to successfully descramble the DCI, it shows that the message associated with the DCI does not belong to the message type preferred by the user equipment, and the message is not processed any longer. Hence, the user equipment may sequentially receive messages according to priorities of the preferred message types, thereby reducing power consumption of the user equipment.” Jiang [0111])
the first UE determining the priority value included in the DCI; and the first UE determining, based on the priority value included in the DCI, whether or not the DCI is intended for a UE other than the first UE, (“scrambling control information of the message by using an identity to which the message type corresponds; wherein, different identities correspond to different message types; and transmitting data information of the message and the scrambled control information to the one or more user equipments.” Jiang [0012]) (“In an embodiment, different identities correspond to different message types. A correspondence between the message type and the identity may be preconfigured, or may be configured according to auxiliary information reported by the user equipment. By scrambling the message by using the identity to which the message type corresponds, the user equipment may be made to process a preferred message only.”, Jiang [0060]) (“For example, the identities received by the user equipment are: ID 1 (corresponding to priority 1), ID 2 (corresponding to priority 2), and ID 3 (corresponding to priority 3).”, Jiang [0115]) (“For example, the DCI is descrambled by using different identities in an order of the priorities. The DCI may be descrambled by using an identity of a highest priority first, if the descrambling is successful, the data information associated with the DCI is continued to be received, and if the descrambling is unsuccessful, the DCI is descrambled by using an identity of a secondarily highest priority, and so on. If all the identities of the user equipment cannot be used to successfully descramble the DCI, it shows that the message associated with the DCI does not belong to the message type preferred by the user equipment, and the message is not processed any longer. Hence, the user equipment may sequentially receive messages according to priorities of the preferred message types, thereby reducing power consumption of the user equipment.” Jiang [0111])
Jiang as described above does not explicitly teach:
the first UE determining a priority; the first UE selecting a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) configuration based on the determined priority; the first UE transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to an access point using the selected PRACH configuration;
and the priority value included in the DCI is based on the PRACH configuration that was used by the UE to transmit the RA preamble;
wherein the DCI message further comprises information identifying resources that will be used by the access point to transmit an RA response (RAR).
However, Onaka further teaches determining the priority of a UE based on PRACH configuration which includes:
and the priority value included in or associated with the message is based on the PRACH configuration that was used by the UE to transmit the RA preamble (“In Step ST4204, the ES cell determines a UE priority using the dedicated RACH configuration of the received PRACH and the stored association between the priority and the dedicated RACH configuration.”, Onaka [0434]) (“A physical random access channel (PRACH) is a channel for uplink transmission from the user equipment to the base station. The PRACH carries a random access preamble.”, Onaka [0013])
Jiang and Onaka are analogous because they pertain to managing communication between a base station and user equipment
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include determining the priority of a UE based on PRACH configuration as described in Onaka into Jiang. By modifying the method to include determining the priority of a UE based on PRACH configuration as taught by Onaka, the benefits of improved communication quality (Onaka [0509]) and reduced power consumption (Kim [0008]) are achieved.
The combination of Jiang and Onaka as described above does not explicitly teach:
the first UE determining a priority; the first UE selecting a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) configuration based on the determined priority; the first UE transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to an access point using the selected PRACH configuration;
wherein the DCI message further comprises information identifying resources that will be used by the access point to transmit an RA response (RAR).
However, Pelletier further teaches UE determining PRACH configuration based on priority which includes:
the first UE determining a priority; the first UE selecting a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) configuration based on the determined priority; the first UE transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to an access point using the selected PRACH configuration; (“According to various disclosed examples, a WTRU may associate different physical random access channel (PRACH) resources and/or formats with different random access channel (RACH) functions when triggering a RACH procedure. For example, a WTRU may determine what PRACH resource/format/occasion to use for the transmission of a preamble in a cell when multiple sets of PRACH resources may be configured. As an example, a first PRACH configuration (e.g., first set of PRACH resources) may be used for a first set of functions (and/or a first traffic priority) and a second PRACH configuration (e.g., second set of PRACH resources) may be used for a second set of functions (and/or a second traffic priority). The first set of PRACH resources may be common to the WTRUs within a cell and/or may be used for a random access scheduling request that may be determined to be a high priority request. Examples of functions that may be associated with a high priority request may include one or more of control plane signaling, VoIP or interactive applications, an application with high QoS requirements, emergency call signaling, etc. The second set of PRACH resources may be specific to a subset (e.g., one or more) WTRUs in a cell and/or may be used for a random access scheduling request that is determined to be a lower priority request. Examples of functions that may be associated with a lower priority request may include one or more of best effort background traffic, highly delay tolerant packets, delay tolerant control signaling, etc.”, Pelletier [0070])
wherein the DCI message further comprises information identifying resources that will be used by the access point to transmit an RA response (RAR). (“A Random Access RNTI (RA-RNTI) may be used to indicate scheduling of the Random Access Response (RAR) on PDCCH, and may unambiguously identify which time-frequency resource was used by a WTRU to transmit the random access preamble. The WTRU may find corresponding DCI on PDCCH using the RA-RNTI, and may then receive the RAR on PDSCH. The RA-RNTI may be associated with/correspond to a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) of the PCeI in which the Random Access Preamble was transmitted, and may be determined as:”, Pelletier [0094])
Jiang, Onaka, and Pelletier are analogous because they pertain to managing communication between a base station and user equipment
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include UE determining PRACH configuration based on priority as described in Pelletier into Jiang as modified by Onaka. By modifying the method to include UE determining PRACH configuration based on priority as taught by Pelletier, the benefits of improved communication quality (Onaka [0509]), improved RACH functionality (Pelletier [0005]), and reduced power consumption (Jiang [0008]) are achieved.
As to claim 46 and 52 (claim 46 is the method claim for the UE in claim 52):
Jiang discloses:
The method of claim 43, further comprising: receiving a second DCI, determining that the first DCI is not intended for the first UE, and as a result of determining that the first DCI is not intended for the first UE, further performing the steps of: determining a second priority value included in the second DCI; and determining, based on the second priority value, whether or not the second DCI is intended for a UE other than the first UE. (“An advantage of the embodiments of this disclosure exists in that the network device scrambles the control information of the message by using the identity to which the message type corresponds, and the user equipment descrambles the control information by using the identity to which the message type corresponds, and continues to receive the message (i.e. data information) only when the control information is successfully descrambled. Hence, the user equipment may not proceed with processing a message that is not preferred, thereby lowering power consumption of the user equipment.”, Jiang [0026]) (“Furthermore, the base station may determine a message type that is preferred by every user equipment in the cell according to a user equipment type and/or a user equipment position in the auxiliary information reported by the user equipment. For example, in the V2X communication, if UE 1 reports that a user equipment type is a P-UE (pedestrian UE) type, and the base station may determine that a message type that UE 1 prefers is an event trigger message type; for another example, in the V2X communication, if UE 2 reports position information, the base station may determine that a message preferred by UE 2 is a message transmitted by a V-UE (vehicle UE) within a range of m meters from the UE 2.”, Jiang [0068]) (“scrambling control information of the message by using an identity to which the message type corresponds; wherein, different identities correspond to different message types; and transmitting data information of the message and the scrambled control information to the one or more user equipments.” Jiang [0012]) (“In an embodiment, different identities correspond to different message types. A correspondence between the message type and the identity may be preconfigured, or may be configured according to auxiliary information reported by the user equipment. By scrambling the message by using the identity to which the message type corresponds, the user equipment may be made to process a preferred message only.”, Jiang [0060]) (“For example, the identities received by the user equipment are: ID 1 (corresponding to priority 1), ID 2 (corresponding to priority 2), and ID 3 (corresponding to priority 3).”, Jiang [0115]) (“For example, the DCI is descrambled by using different identities in an order of the priorities. The DCI may be descrambled by using an identity of a highest priority first, if the descrambling is successful, the data information associated with the DCI is continued to be received, and if the descrambling is unsuccessful, the DCI is descrambled by using an identity of a secondarily highest priority, and so on. If all the identities of the user equipment cannot be used to successfully descramble the DCI, it shows that the message associated with the DCI does not belong to the message type preferred by the user equipment, and the message is not processed any longer. Hence, the user equipment may sequentially receive messages according to priorities of the preferred message types, thereby reducing power consumption of the user equipment.” Jiang [0111])
As to claim 47:
Jiang discloses:
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) causes the UE to perform the method of claim 42. (“The above apparatuses of the present disclosure may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware in combination with software. The present disclosure relates to such a computer-readable program that when the program is executed by a logic device, the logic device is enabled to carry out the apparatus or components as described above, or to carry out the methods or steps as described above. The present disclosure also relates to a storage medium for storing the above program, such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, a CD, a DVD, and a flash memory, etc.”, Jiang [0201])
As to claim 53:
The combination of Jiang and Onaka as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 42, wherein the UE is a member of a first group, and the priority is associated with the first group.
However, Pelletier further teaches UE associated with a group which includes:
The method of claim 42, wherein the UE is a member of a first group, and the priority is associated with the first group. (“The first set of PRACH resources may be common to the WTRUs within a cell and/or may be used for a random access scheduling request that may be determined to be a high priority request. Examples of functions that may be associated with a high priority request may include one or more of control plane signaling, VoIP or interactive applications, an application with high QoS requirements, emergency call signaling, etc. The second set of PRACH resources may be specific to a subset (e.g., one or more) WTRUs in a cell and/or may be used for a random access scheduling request that is determined to be a lower priority request.”, Pelletier [0070]) (Examiner’s Note: WTRU can be a member of a subset of WTRUs in a cell associated with PRACH resources for scheduling request determined to be a specific priority level)
Jiang, Onaka, and Pelletier are analogous because they pertain to managing communication between a base station and user equipment
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include UE associated with a group as described in Pelletier into Jiang as modified by Onaka. By modifying the method to include UE associated with a group as taught by Pelletier, the benefits of improved communication quality (Onaka [0509]), improved RACH functionality (Pelletier [0005]), and reduced power consumption (Jiang [0008]) are achieved.
As to claim 54:
Jiang discloses:
A method performed by a first user equipment (UE) for establishing a connection with an access point,
the first UE receiving downlink control information (DCI) transmitted by the access point, wherein the DCI includes a priority value indicating a priority level, (“scrambling control information of the message by using an identity to which the message type corresponds; wherein, different identities correspond to different message types; and transmitting data information of the message and the scrambled control information to the one or more user equipments.” Jiang [0012]) (“In an embodiment, different identities correspond to different message types. A correspondence between the message type and the identity may be preconfigured, or may be configured according to auxiliary information reported by the user equipment. By scrambling the message by using the identity to which the message type corresponds, the user equipment may be made to process a preferred message only.”, Jiang [0060]) (“For example, the identities received by the user equipment are: ID 1 (corresponding to priority 1), ID 2 (corresponding to priority 2), and ID 3 (corresponding to priority 3).”, Jiang [0115]) (“For example, the DCI is descrambled by using different identities in an order of the priorities. The DCI may be descrambled by using an identity of a highest priority first, if the descrambling is successful, the data information associated with the DCI is continued to be received, and if the descrambling is unsuccessful, the DCI is descrambled by using an identity of a secondarily highest priority, and so on. If all the identities of the user equipment cannot be used to successfully descramble the DCI, it shows that the message associated with the DCI does not belong to the message type preferred by the user equipment, and the message is not processed any longer. Hence, the user equipment may sequentially receive messages according to priorities of the preferred message types, thereby reducing power consumption of the user equipment.” Jiang [0111])
and the first UE determining, based on the priority value included in the DCI, whether or not the DCI is intended for a UE other than the first UE, (“scrambling control information of the message by using an identity to which the message type corresponds; wherein, different identities correspond to different message types; and transmitting data information of the message and the scrambled control information to the one or more user equipments.” Jiang [0012]) (“In an embodiment, different identities correspond to different message types. A correspondence between the message type and the identity may be preconfigured, or may be configured according to auxiliary information reported by the user equipment. By scrambling the message by using the identity to which the message type corresponds, the user equipment may be made to process a preferred message only.”, Jiang [0060]) (“For example, the identities received by the user equipment are: ID 1 (corresponding to priority 1), ID 2 (corresponding to priority 2), and ID 3 (corresponding to priority 3).”, Jiang [0115]) (“For example, the DCI is descrambled by using different identities in an order of the priorities. The DCI may be descrambled by using an identity of a highest priority first, if the descrambling is successful, the data information associated with the DCI is continued to be received, and if the descrambling is unsuccessful, the DCI is descrambled by using an identity of a secondarily highest priority, and so on. If all the identities of the user equipment cannot be used to successfully descramble the DCI, it shows that the message associated with the DCI does not belong to the message type preferred by the user equipment, and the message is not processed any longer. Hence, the user equipment may sequentially receive messages according to priorities of the preferred message types, thereby reducing power consumption of the user equipment.” Jiang [0111])
Jiang as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein the UE is assigned to a first group, the method comprising: the first UE choosing a particular Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) configuration from a set of two or more candidate PRACH configurations as a result of the UE being assigned to the first group; the first UE transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to an access point using the selected PRACH configuration;
and the priority value included in the DCI is based on the PRACH configuration that was used by the UE to transmit the RA preamble;
wherein the DCI message further comprises information identifying resources that will be used by the access point to transmit an RA response (RAR).
However, Onaka further teaches determining the priority of a UE based on PRACH configuration which includes:
and the priority value included in or associated with the message is based on the PRACH configuration that was used by the UE to transmit the RA preamble (“In Step ST4204, the ES cell determines a UE priority using the dedicated RACH configuration of the received PRACH and the stored association between the priority and the dedicated RACH configuration.”, Onaka [0434]) (“A physical random access channel (PRACH) is a channel for uplink transmission from the user equipment to the base station. The PRACH carries a random access preamble.”, Onaka [0013])
Jiang and Onaka are analogous because they pertain to managing communication between a base station and user equipment
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include determining the priority of a UE based on PRACH configuration as described in Onaka into Jiang. By modifying the method to include determining the priority of a UE based on PRACH configuration as taught by Onaka, the benefits of improved communication quality (Onaka [0509]) and reduced power consumption (Kim [0008]) are achieved.
The combination of Jiang and Onaka as described above does not explicitly teach:
wherein the UE is assigned to a first group, the method comprising: the first UE choosing a particular Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) configuration from a set of two or more candidate PRACH configurations as a result of the UE being assigned to the first group; the first UE transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to an access point using the selected PRACH configuration;
wherein the DCI message further comprises information identifying resources that will be used by the access point to transmit an RA response (RAR).
However, Pelletier further teaches selecting a PRACH configuration based on being part of a group which includes:
wherein the UE is assigned to a first group, the method comprising: the first UE choosing a particular Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) configuration from a set of two or more candidate PRACH configurations as a result of the UE being assigned to the first group; (“As an example, a first PRACH configuration (e.g., first set of PRACH resources) may be used for a first set of functions (and/or a first traffic priority) and a second PRACH configuration (e.g., second set of PRACH resources) may be used for a second set of functions (and/or a second traffic priority). The first set of PRACH resources may be common to the WTRUs within a cell and/or may be used for a random access scheduling request that may be determined to be a high priority request. Examples of functions that may be associated with a high priority request may include one or more of control plane signaling, VoIP or interactive applications, an application with high QoS requirements, emergency call signaling, etc. The second set of PRACH resources may be specific to a subset (e.g., one or more) WTRUs in a cell and/or may be used for a random access scheduling request that is determined to be a lower priority request. Examples of functions that may be associated with a lower priority request may include one or more of best effort background traffic, highly delay tolerant packets, delay tolerant control signaling, etc.”, Pelletier [0070]) (“In an example, a priority level may be associated with a configuration used to perform a transmission. For example, a WTRU may be configured to determine which of a plurality of configurations to use when performing an uplink transmission. The first configuration may be associated with a first priority level and a second configuration may be associated with a second priority level. For example, the priority level may be based on a characteristic and/or a priority of the data to be transmitted and/or based on a state of the WTRU (e.g., a dormant state as a substate of the RRC_CONNECTED state).”, Pelletier [0137]) (Examiner’s Note: second PRACH configuration is used by a WTRU in a group of WTRUs associated with SR determined to be lower priority which maps to a UE choosing a specific PRACH configuration as a result of being associated with SR that is lower priority. In other words, a subset of WTRUs select a particular configuration as a result of using a lower priority request which and there is a subset of WTRUs that is determined to use lower priority request)
the first UE transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to an access point using the selected PRACH configuration; (“According to various disclosed examples, a WTRU may associate different physical random access channel (PRACH) resources and/or formats with different random access channel (RACH) functions when triggering a RACH procedure. For example, a WTRU may determine what PRACH resource/format/occasion to use for the transmission of a preamble in a cell when multiple sets of PRACH resources may be configured. As an example, a first PRACH configuration (e.g., first set of PRACH resources) may be used for a first set of functions (and/or a first traffic priority) and a second PRACH configuration (e.g., second set of PRACH resources) may be used for a second set of functions (and/or a second traffic priority). The first set of PRACH resources may be common to the WTRUs within a cell and/or may be used for a random access scheduling request that may be determined to be a high priority request. Examples of functions that may be associated with a high priority request may include one or more of control plane signaling, VoIP or interactive applications, an application with high QoS requirements, emergency call signaling, etc. The second set of PRACH resources may be specific to a subset (e.g., one or more) WTRUs in a cell and/or may be used for a random access scheduling request that is determined to be a lower priority request. Examples of functions that may be associated with a lower priority request may include one or more of best effort background traffic, highly delay tolerant packets, delay tolerant control signaling, etc.”, Pelletier [0070])
wherein the DCI message further comprises information identifying resources that will be used by the access point to transmit an RA response (RAR). (“A Random Access RNTI (RA-RNTI) may be used to indicate scheduling of the Random Access Response (RAR) on PDCCH, and may unambiguously identify which time-frequency resource was used by a WTRU to transmit the random access preamble. The WTRU may find corresponding DCI on PDCCH using the RA-RNTI, and may then receive the RAR on PDSCH. The RA-RNTI may be associated with/correspond to a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) of the PCeI in which the Random Access Preamble was transmitted, and may be determined as:”, Pelletier [0094])
Jiang, Onaka, and Pelletier are analogous because they pertain to managing communication between a base station and user equipment
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include selecting a PRACH configuration based on being part of a group as described in Pelletier into Jiang as modified by Onaka. By modifying the method to include selecting a PRACH configuration based on being part of a group as taught by Pelletier, the benefits of improved communication quality (Onaka [0509]), improved RACH functionality (Pelletier [0005]), and reduced power consumption (Jiang [0008]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 43 and 49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang in view of Onaka and Pelletier, as applied to claim 42 above, and further in view of Li et al. US 20190132882 (hereinafter “Li”)
The combination of Jiang, Onaka, and Pelletier as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 42, wherein the DCI that was received within an RAR window and the method further comprises the first UE searching for a second DCI within the RAR window as a result of determining that the DCI is intended for a UE other than the first UE.
However, Li further teaches monitoring the RAR window to determine if the message is intended for the UE which includes:
The method of claim 42, wherein the DCI that was received within an RAR window (“Further, the processor is further configured to cause the transceiver to receive a responded random access (Re-RA) message in response to the transmitted RA message within a random access response (RAR) window, wherein a first portion of the RAR message is carried by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled with a radio network temporary identified (RNTI) of the UE, and a second portion of the Re-RA message is carried by a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the PDCCH.”, Jiang [0012]) and the method further comprises the first UE searching for a second DCI within the RAR window as a result of determining that the DCI is intended for a UE other than the first UE. (“FIG. 36 illustrates another flowchart for 4-step RA procedure according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In the embodiment, the UE receives a RAR message with incorrect RAPID 3602 for the 4-step RA. This can occur when the RAR message is intended to another UE. The UE continues to monitor the RAR window 3603 until either the UE receives a RAR that includes the correct RAPID or the end of the RAR window is reached. When the end of RAR window is reached without the UE receiving the RAR that corresponds to the correct RAPID, the UE behavior can be as in the case where the UE does not receive a RAR message within the RAR window.”, Li [0443])
Jiang, Onaka, Li, and Pelletier are analogous because they pertain to managing communication between a base station and user equipment
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include monitoring the RAR window to determine if the message is intended for the UE as described in Li into Jiang as modified by Onaka and Pelletier. By modifying the method to include monitoring the RAR window to determine if the message is intended for the UE as taught by Li, the benefits of improved communication quality (Onaka [0509]), improved RACH functionality (Pelletier [0005] and Li [0297]), and reduced power consumption (Jiang [0008]) are achieved.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 ANDREW C KIM whose telephone number is (703)756-5607. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM - 5PM (PST).
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, Sujoy K Kundu can be reached at (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/A.C.K./
Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
Prosecution Insights