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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 8-15, 17-18 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Molavianjazi et al. (US Publication 2021/0076384 A1).
In regards to claims 1 and 27, Molavianjazi et al. (US Publication 2021/0076384 A1) a communication method, performed by a reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE) (see paragraph 164; the terms “NR-Light UE,” “reduced capability UE” or “RedCap UE,” and “BL/CE UE” are used interchangeably to refer to a UE or a group of UEs with reduced cost and/or complexity and/or capability, such as reduced bandwidth, reduced number of Rx and/or Tx RF chain, reduced power amplifier class (or simply, reduced power class), compared to a UE or UE group/category such as one as defined by NR specification. Additionally, while certain embodiments may refer to NR-Light UE or RedCap UEs with reduced capability, cost, and/or complexity compared to legacy UEs, any embodiments of the present disclosure may be also implemented in any type of UE including, for example, UEs with the same, similar, or more capabilities compared to legacy UEs), comprising:
receiving random access configuration information, wherein the random access configuration information comprises configuration information of at least one set of random access resources (see paragraph 98; A RACH configuration includes RACH occasions (ROs) in certain RACH slots and certain frequency resource blocks that repeat with a certain periodicity); and
determining at least one of random access resources and transmission parameters associated with random access according to the random access configuration information (see paragraph 235; he RBG size can be determined based on the values for “configuration 2” for RBG-size (as shown below), regardless of the actual configuration of the layer parameter rbg-Size),
wherein receiving random access configuration information comprises: receiving the random access configuration information according to first state information of the RedCap UE, wherein the first state information comprises channel state information, wherein the channel state information comprises a synchronization signal block, SSB-based reference signal received power (Rsrp) (see figure 8 and paragraph 194; The UE selects a DL RS resource for association with a PRACH transmission in step 810, such as an SSB or a CSI-RS, and measures a RSRP for the selected DL RS resource in step 820).
In regards to claims 3, Molavianjazi teaches, wherein the first state information comprises capability information (paragraph 158; If requested by higher layers, the UE is expected to transmit a PRACH no later than N.sub.T,1+0.75 msec after the last symbol of the window, or the last symbol of the PDSCH reception, where N.sub.T,1 is a time duration of N.sub.1 symbols corresponding to a PDSCH processing time for UE processing capability 1 when additional PDSCH DM-RS is configured).
In regards to claim 4, Malovianjazi teaches, wherein determining at least one of random access resources and transmission parameters associated with random access according to the random access configuration information comprises: determining, according to second state information of the RedCap UE, configuration information corresponding to the second state information in the configuration information of the at least one set of random access resources (see paragraphs 237, 241;a (reduced capability) UE can follow such restrictions/simplifications in FDRA for frequency resource allocation for one or both of Msg3 PUSCH and other PDSCH/PUSCH transmissions after Msg3; a (reduced capability) UE can follow such restrictions/simplifications in TDRA for time resource allocation for one or both of Msg3 PUSCH and other PDSCH/PUSCH transmissions after Msg3).
In regards to claim 5, Malovianjazi teaches, wherein the second state information comprises: capability information; and channel state information (see paragraphs 237 and 241; the reduced capability UE).
In regards to claim 6, Malovianjazi teaches, wherein the capability information comprises at least one of: a device type; a corresponding receiving bandwidth; a corresponding transmission bandwidth; a number of receiving antennas; or a number of transmitting antennas (see paragraph 164; the terms “NR-Light UE,” “reduced capability UE” or “RedCap UE,” and “BL/CE UE” are used interchangeably to refer to a UE or a group of UEs with reduced cost and/or complexity and/or capability, such as reduced bandwidth, reduced number of Rx and/or Tx RF chain, reduced power amplifier class (or simply, reduced power class), compared to a UE or UE group/category such as one as defined by NR specification).
In regards to claims 8-9, Malavianjazi teaches, wherein the random access configuration information comprises configuration information of two or more sets of random access resources and wherein the configuration information of each set of random access resources comprises a channel parameter threshold of channel state information (see paragraphs 181, 194; the RSRP is compared to the threshold).
In regards to claim 10, Malavianjazi teaches, wherein the channel parameter threshold comprises at least one of an upper threshold and a lower threshold (see figure 7, the first, second and last thresholds in steps 740, 760 and 780).
In regards to claims 11-12, Malavianjazi teaches, wherein at least one configuration parameter in the configuration information of each set of random access resources is configured differently and wherein the configuration parameter comprises: a random access channel generic configuration; a physical random access channel configuration index;at least one of configuration parameters associated with at least one of random access time domain resource and frequency domain resource configurations (see paragraphs 237, 241;a (reduced capability) UE can follow such restrictions/simplifications in FDRA for frequency resource allocation for one or both of Msg3 PUSCH and other PDSCH/PUSCH transmissions after Msg3; a (reduced capability) UE can follow such restrictions/simplifications in TDRA for time resource allocation for one or both of Msg3 PUSCH and other PDSCH/PUSCH transmissions after Msg3); a configuration parameter associated with a random access preamble; and a random access response window width.
In regards to claim 13, Malavianjazi teaches, wherein the configuration parameter associated with the random access preamble comprises at least one of: a random access preamble configuration parameter; a random access preamble maximum transmission number; a random access preamble transmission power; or a random access preamble transmission power ramping step (see paragraph 113; If RAR is not successful, the UE attempts (possibly after a back-off and/or UE processing time up to N.sub.T,1+0.75 msec as specified in NR specification) a new PRACH preamble transmission with PRACH resource selection (possibly including a different SSB and/or a different preamble) and possibly applying PRACH preamble power ramping, unless the UE has already reached a configured maximum number of PRACH attempts, in which case a random access problem is reported to higher layers and the procedure stops).
In regards to claim 14, Malavianjazi teaches, a communication method, performed by a base station, comprising: sending random access configuration information, wherein the random access configuration information comprises configuration information of at least one set of random access resources (see paragraph 98; A RACH configuration includes RACH occasions (ROs) in certain RACH slots and certain frequency resource blocks that repeat with a certain periodicity), wherein the random access configuration information comprises configuration information of at least one set of random access resources corresponding to at least one type of state information of a reduced capability user equipment (RedCap UE) (see paragraph 235; he RBG size can be determined based on the values for “configuration 2” for RBG-size (as shown below), regardless of the actual configuration of the layer parameter rbg-Size; (see paragraph 164; the terms “NR-Light UE,” “reduced capability UE” or “RedCap UE,” and “BL/CE UE” are used interchangeably to refer to a UE or a group of UEs with reduced cost and/or complexity and/or capability, such as reduced bandwidth, reduced number of Rx and/or Tx RF chain, reduced power amplifier class (or simply, reduced power class), compared to a UE or UE group/category such as one as defined by NR specification. Additionally, while certain embodiments may refer to NR-Light UE or RedCap UEs with reduced capability, cost, and/or complexity compared to legacy UEs, any embodiments of the present disclosure may be also implemented in any type of UE including, for example, UEs with the same, similar, or more capabilities compared to legacy UEs),wherein the state information of the RedCap UE comprises channel state information corresponding to the RedCap UE, wherein the channel state information comprises a synchronization signal block, SSB-based reference signal received power (Rsrp) (see figure 8 and paragraph 194; The UE selects a DL RS resource for association with a PRACH transmission in step 810, such as an SSB or a CSI-RS, and measures a RSRP for the selected DL RS resource in step 820).
In regards to claim 15, Malavianjazi teaches, wherein the random access configuration information comprises configuration information of at least one set of random access resources of at least two sets of supported random access resources (see paragraphs 237, 241;a (reduced capability) UE can follow such restrictions/simplifications in FDRA for frequency resource allocation for one or both of Msg3 PUSCH and other PDSCH/PUSCH transmissions after Msg3; a (reduced capability) UE can follow such restrictions/simplifications in TDRA for time resource allocation for one or both of Msg3 PUSCH and other PDSCH/PUSCH transmissions after Msg3).
In regards to claim 17, Malavianjazi teaches, wherein the state information of the RedCap UE comprises capability information of the RedCap UE (paragraph 158; If requested by higher layers, the UE is expected to transmit a PRACH no later than N.sub.T,1+0.75 msec after the last symbol of the window, or the last symbol of the PDSCH reception, where N.sub.T,1 is a time duration of N.sub.1 symbols corresponding to a PDSCH processing time for UE processing capability 1 when additional PDSCH DM-RS is configured).
In regards to claim 18, Malavianjazi teaches, wherein the capability information of the RedCap UE comprises at least one of: a device type; a corresponding receiving bandwidth; a corresponding transmission bandwidth; a number of receiving antennas; (see paragraph 164; the terms “NR-Light UE,” “reduced capability UE” or “RedCap UE,” and “BL/CE UE” are used interchangeably to refer to a UE or a group of UEs with reduced cost and/or complexity and/or capability, such as reduced bandwidth, reduced number of Rx and/or Tx RF chain, reduced power amplifier class (or simply, reduced power class), compared to a UE or UE group/category such as one as defined by NR specification).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 12/09/2025 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.
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.
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/JAY P PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466