Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 March, 5 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed March 5, 2026 have been fully considered but they moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Lee et al. (US 2011/0299492) (Hereafter, Lee ‘9492) discloses, in Fig. 3, S340 determine that data size of the MTC data is less than a predetermined threshold; and in paragraph [0024], the mobile communication device 210 further determines whether the data size of the MTC data to be transmitted is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value and then determines whether to transmit the MTC data in the scheduled transmission step according to the comparison result. the predetermined threshold value may be configured by the radio resource control (RRC) layer and broadcasted in the system information.
Lee et al. (US 2013/0308545) (Hereafter, Lee ‘8545) discloses, in paragraph [0076], that a specific indicator that a short data transmission will be carried out is included as an Establishment Cause.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claim(s) 1 and 5-6 and 9 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2013/0034059) in view of Lee et al. (US 2011/0299492) (Hereafter, Lee ‘9492).
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses a communication system comprising a user equipment (UE) and a base station configured to perform radio communication with the user equipment (Lee, Fig. 4, UE, eNB; paragraph [0072], UE and a base station in a contention-based random access procedure),
wherein a random access procedure is performed between the user equipment and the base station (Lee, Fig. 4, UE, eNB; paragraph [0072], UE and a base station in a contention-based random access procedure; paragraph [0075], step 430, the UE transmits data to the BS by using the UL grant; paragraph [0110], step S780, UE transmits RRC connection request message via uplink SCH channel, establishment cause included in the RRC connection request message), wherein the random access procedure includes;
a first step where a random access preamble message is transmitted from the user equipment to the base station (Lee, Fig. 4, UE, eNB, step 410 random access preamble; paragraph [0073], UE transmits random access preamble),
a second step where a random access response message is transmitted from the base station to the user equipment (Lee, Fig. 4, UE, eNB, step 420 random access response; paragraph [0074], UE receives random access response),
a third step where a scheduled transmission message is transmitted from the user equipment to the base station (Lee, Fig. 4, UE, eNB, step 430 scheduled transmission; paragraph [0075], step 430, the UE transmits data to the BS by using the UL grant; Fig. 7, step S780 transmit uplink SCH RRC connection request message; paragraph [0110], step S780, UE transmits RRC connection request message via uplink SCH channel, establishment cause included in the RRC connection request message), and
a fourth step where a contention resolution message is transmitted from the base station to the user equipment (Lee, Fig. 4, UE, eNB, step 440 contention resolution; paragraph [0076], UE receives contention resolution response),
in a case where the second size of the uplink data is small, the user equipment is configured to transmit the scheduled transmission message including establishment cause information and the uplink data (Lee, Fig. 4, UE, eNB, step 430 scheduled transmission; paragraph [0075], step 430, the UE transmits data to the BS by using the UL grant; Fig. 7, step S780 transmit uplink SCH RRC connection request message; paragraph [0086], MTC service should support small data transmission; paragraph [0096], in a random access process, a MTC UE sets an establishment cause to “MTC access”; paragraph [0110], UE transmits RRC connection request message 780 via uplink SCH channel, establishment cause included in the RRC connection request message), and
the establishment cause information contains information indicating that the uplink data exists (Lee, Fig. 4, UE, eNB, step 430 scheduled transmission; paragraph [0002], MTC is a type of data communication not requiring human interaction; paragraph [0075], step 430, the UE transmits data to the BS by using the UL grant; paragraph [0086], MTC service should support small data transmission; paragraph [0096], in a random access process, a MTC UE sets an establishment cause to “MTC access”; paragraph [0110], UE transmits RRC connection request message 780 via uplink SCH channel, establishment cause included in the RRC connection request message, establishment cause set as MTC).
Lee does not explicitly disclose that the user equipment is configured to receive information about a first size of data from the base station, and compare a second size of uplink data with the first size of data indicated in the information, and in a case where the second size of the uplink data is equal to or less than the first size, the user equipment is configured to transmit the scheduled transmission message the uplink data
Lee ‘9492 discloses the user equipment is configured to receive information about a first size of data from the base station, and compare a second size of uplink data with the first size of data indicated in the information (Lee ‘9492, Fig. 3, S340 determine that data size of the MTC data is less than a predetermined threshold; paragraph [0024], the mobile communication device 210 further determines whether the data size of the MTC data to be transmitted is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value and then determines whether to transmit the MTC data in the scheduled transmission step according to the comparison result. the predetermined threshold value may be configured by the radio resource control (RRC) layer and broadcasted in the system information),
in a case where the second size of the uplink data is equal to or less than the first size, the user equipment is configured to transmit the scheduled transmission message the uplink data (Lee ‘9492, Fig. 3, S340 determine that data size of the MTC data is less than a predetermined threshold; paragraph [0024], the mobile communication device 210 further determines whether the data size of the MTC data to be transmitted is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value and then determines whether to transmit the MTC data in the scheduled transmission step according to the comparison result. the predetermined threshold value may be configured by the radio resource control (RRC) layer and broadcasted in the system information).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for a size threshold to be received from the network for determining whether data was small enough to be part of an MTC small-data random access procedure, in the invention of Lee. The motivation to combine the references would have been to determine that data was small enough to be part of an MTC small-data random access procedure.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under substantially the same rationale as claim 1.
Regarding claim 9, Lee discloses the communication system according to claim 1, wherein parameters of the establishment cause information of the scheduled transmission message include existence of the user equipment (Lee, paragraph [0110], UE transmits RRC connection request message 780 via uplink SCH channel, establishment cause included in the RRC connection request message, establishment cause set as MTC [an indication of data from an MTC device indicates that the MTC device exists]).
Claim 10 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Lee ‘9492, and further in view of Lee ‘8545, and further in view of Pelletier et al. (US 20120281566)
Regarding claim 10, Lee in view of Lee ‘9492, discloses the communication system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission/reception of data during the random access procedure.
The combination of Lee and Lee `9492 does not explicitly disclose wherein the transmission/reception of data during the random access procedure is a UE monitoring message.
Pelletier discloses wherein the transmission/reception of data during the random access procedure is a UE monitoring message (Pelletier, paragraph [0166]-[0167], WTRU may enable reception of control signaling on a PDCCH subsequent to transmission of a PRACH preamble and then WTRU may monitor control signaling for a random access response, then once the WTRU successfully decodes the control signaling, the monitoring may be extended when a DCI is received including scheduling information for the purpose of providing a “keep-alive”; paragraph [0174], small data transmission may be characterized by a keep-alive message from a network service or a uplink data transfer keep-alive message from an application; paragraph [0175]-[0177], WTRU may perform a RACH procedure to use connectionless approach to transfer small data using control plane signaling).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for the transmission/reception of data during the random access procedure to be a UE monitoring message, in the invention of Lee and Lee `9492. The motivation to combine the references would have been to efficiently monitor for and transmit keep-alive messaging.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Lee et al. (US 2013/0058301) discloses an establishment cause specified in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request message is associated with machine type communication (MTC) or low priority access.
"Connectionless approaches to supporting Diverse Data Applications”, IP WIRELESS INC., 3GPP TSG RAN WG2, Meeting #77, R2-120444, February 6-10, 2012, 5 pages (cited in Applicant's IDS filed on November 21, 2022) (Hereafter, R2-120444) discloses that the transmission/reception of data between the base station and the gateway device is via the mobility management device (R2-120444, Fig. 1, message transfer between eNB and S-GW via MME).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALAN LOUIS LINDENBAUM whose telephone number is (571)270-3858. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM EST.
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/ALAN L LINDENBAUM/Examiner, Art Unit 2413
/UN C CHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2413