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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 11/26/2025 has been entered.
Summary
This action is in reply to Applicant’s Amendments and Remarks filed on 10/28/2025 and RCE filed on 11/26/2025.
Claims 1-8, 10, 11, 13-16, 18-20, and 22 are pending.
Claims 9, 12, 17 and 21 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments dated 10/28/2025 and RCE filed on 11/26/2025 with respect to claims 1-8, 10, 11, 13-16, 18-20, and 22 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive specifically for independent claims 1, 13, and 22.
The Applicant presented argument that Wang fails to cure the deficiencies of 3GPP. The amended claim now requires receiving a TA drift figure that "represents a changing propagation delay on the feeder link," and receiving this specific information in an RAR or MAC message, because while Wang does disclose sending a "numerical drift" via a MAC CE, that parameter is for a completely different function of shifting a value's numerical range, not for representing a changing propagation delay.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. After further search and consideration, Examiner presents that 3GPP discloses-
Page 66:
Option 2: Timing advanced adjustment based on network indication
In this way, the common TA, which refers to the common component of propagation delay shared by all UEs within the coverage of same satellite beam/cell, is broadcasted by the network per satellite beam/cell. The calculation of this common TA is conducted by the network with assumption on at least a single reference point per satellite beam/cell.
……. For satisfying the larger coverage of NTN, extension of value range for TA indication in RAR, either explicitly or implicitly, is identified. ….
Moreover, indication of timing drift rate, from the network to UE, is also supported to enable the TA adjustment at UE side.
Although 3GPP provides the concept, 3GPP does not explicitly disclose a TA drift figure that "represents a changing propagation delay on the feeder link," and receiving this specific information in an RAR or MAC message.
However, Wang discloses-
[0312] Manner 2: The fixed value is a numerical drift.
[0313] As described above (for example, Embodiment 3), the network side sends the common compensation timing advance value (that is, the round-trip delay value between the satellite and the compensation reference point) to the terminal to replace the position coordinates of the compensation reference point. When the compensation reference point is on the feeder link, the common compensation timing advance value needs to be used after a positive sign is added before the value. When the compensation reference point is on the service link, the common compensation timing advance value needs to be used after a negative sign is added before the value.
[0314] To improve flexibility of the solution, ….. the network side sends, to the terminal, a common timing parameter used by the terminal to determine the common compensation timing advance value. The network side may send/configure a numerical drift to the terminal. After receiving the common timing parameter, the terminal performs subtraction or addition between the common timing parameter and the numerical drift, to obtain the common compensation timing advance value used by the terminal, that is:
[0315] The common compensation timing advance value herein that is obtained through common timing parameter+/−numerical drift may be positive, or may be negative.
[0322] if the offset, the common timing parameter, the numerical drift, and the like are sent in a radio resource control (RRC) connection phase, the network side may carry the information in at least one of RRC information, ……. a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).
[0355] In this example, the network side adds a common timing parameter as a new variable field, that is, TA-common-timing, to the RACH-ConfigGeneric parameter to indicate a parameter value used to determine the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value.
[0359] After receiving the common timing parameter TA-common-timing, the terminal subtracts the numerical drift from the common timing parameter TA-common-timing, to obtain the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value.
[0398] If an SIB1 carries the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value, an update cycle of the SIB1 determines a maximum error of the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value. The error is caused by relative movement between the satellite and the gateway.
[0408] The idea of the technical solution of the present invention may also be applicable to sending of a timing advance rate (TA rate) reference point and a Doppler pre-compensation reference point/a Doppler post-compensation reference point.
[0411] Feeder link timing advance rate (TA rate) reference point: A terminal may calculate a feeder link common timing advance rate of a beam or a cell based on a relative movement speed or a distance change rate between a satellite (the terminal may obtain information about a position and speed of the satellite through ephemeris information) and a feeder link TA rate reference point ….. The feeder link timing advance rate reference point may be position coordinates of a gateway.
Fig. 21A, [0414] …. the network side may separately send the coordinates of the service link TA rate reference point, the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates.
(It is construed that Fig. 17 Gateway, the infrastructure with Satellite sends the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates)
[0417] In a possible implementation, the service link TA rate reference point coordinates, the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates, and the Doppler pre/post-compensation reference point coordinates may be respectively replaced with a service link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication), a feeder link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication) …..
(Construed that Fig. 17 Gateway, the infrastructure with Satellite sends the feeder link TA rate value or a common TA drift figure using MAC message)
Fig. 23, [0418] as shown in FIG. 23, an indicator bit may be added to each piece of the signaling to indicate that the transmitted signaling is the service link TA rate reference point coordinates or the service link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication), the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates or the feeder link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication), …
[0419] When the network side does not send the TA rate reference point coordinates …to the terminal, ….. the terminal may use a default reference point coordinate value.
From above [0313-0315, 0322, 0417-0419] and Figs, 17, 23, it is obvious to person skill in the art, that Wang teaching Network infrastructure equipment with Gateway and Satellite provides the terminal or UE TA drift figure and its direction with positive/negative sign indication corresponding to changing propagation delay in the feeder link between the satellite and the Gateway of Fig. 17 using MAC message for updating common TA due the common TA drift as required by amended claim 1.
Accordingly independent claim 1, and similarly independent claims 13 and 22 are rejected.
The amended claim 11, overcoming identified prior arts, is considered as allowable subject matter.
Remaining dependent claims 2-8, 10 and 14-16, 18-20, being dependent on claims 1 and 13 are also rejected for the same reason as above.
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.
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.
Claims 1-8, 10-11, 13-16, 18-20 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP (3GPP TR 38.821 V1.0.0, of IDS, hereinafter ‘3GPP821v100’) in view of Wang et al. (US 20220393957 A1 with priority of CN 202010093795.0, of record, hereinafter ‘WANG’).
Regarding claim 1, 3GPP821v100 teaches an electronic device comprising circuitry (Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload UEx) configured to compensate feeder link (Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload, feeder Link D02, UE Specific Differential TA for xth UE (TUEx) == 2*(D1x-D01)/c, Full TA (TFull ) == Tcom + TUEx) influence on the common TA (Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload, Tcom = 2*(D01+D02)/c) in a transparent payload non-terrestrial network configuration with a non-terrestrial network component (Page 13,
Satellite: a space-borne vehicle embarking a bent pipe payload .... telecommunication transmitter, placed into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO), or Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO).
Transparent payload: payload that changes the frequency carrier of the uplink RF signal, filters and amplifies it before transmitting it on the downlink
Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload Satellite ) and an infrastructure equipment tethered by the non-terrestrial network component (Page 13,
On ground NTN gNB: gNB of a transparent satellite (respectively HAPS) payload implemented on ground.
Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload feeder Link D02, Full TA (TFull ) == Tcom + TUEx
(Since TFull provides UEx specific TA, calculation of TFull for UEx indicating UEx is configured to compensate feeder link influence on the common TA (Tcom ) in a transparent payload non-terrestrial network configuration with a non-terrestrial network component as disclosed in Option 1 described below.)
Page 66,
For the timing advance (TA) in the initial access and the subsequent TA maintenance, the following solutions are identified with an illustration of the definition of terminology given in Figure 6.3.4-1:
Option 1: Autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris.
In this way, the required TA value for UL transmission including PRACH can be calculated by the UE. The corresponding adjustment can be done, either with UE-specific differential TA or full TA (consisting of UE specific differential TA and common TA.
W.r.t the full TA compensation at the UE side, both the alignment on the UL timing among UEs and DL and UL frame timing at network side can be achieved. However, in case of satellite with transparent payload, further discussion on how to handle the impact introduced by feeder link will be conducted in normative work. …..
W.r.t the UE specific differential TA only, additional indication on a single reference point should be signalled to UEs per beam/cell for achieving the UL timing alignment among UEs within the coverage of the same beam/cell. …..
With concern on the accuracy on the self-calculated TA value at the UE side, additional TA signalling from network to UE for TA refinement, e.g., during initial access and/or TA maintenance, can be determined in the normative work.
For calculation of common TA in the above …., single reference point per beam is considered as the baseline.
Page 79:
Estimation and application of the timing advance with respect to the satellite before UE sending Msg1 (i.e. random access preamble) to the network. The details are to be decided during the work item phase, but examples of how this can be achieved:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE. ),
3GPP does not explicitly disclose the compensating including:
receiving a TA drift figure and its direction from the infrastructure equipment in a Random Access Response, RAR, message or a Medium Access Control. MAC message, wherein the TA drift figure and its direction represents a changing propagation delay on the feeder link:
repeatedly determining a current TA adjustment based on the TA drift figure and its direction; and
adjusting the common TA according to the current TA adjustment.
In an analogous art, WANG teaches the compensating including:
receiving a TA drift figure and its direction from the infrastructure equipment in a Random Access Response, RAR, message or a Medium Access Control, MAC, message, wherein the TA drift figure and its direction represents a changing propagation delay on the feeder link (
[0312] Manner 2: The fixed value is a numerical drift.
[0313] As described above (for example, Embodiment 3), the network side sends the common compensation timing advance value (that is, the round-trip delay value between the satellite and the compensation reference point) to the terminal to replace the position coordinates of the compensation reference point. When the compensation reference point is on the feeder link, the common compensation timing advance value needs to be used after a positive sign is added before the value. When the compensation reference point is on the service link, the common compensation timing advance value needs to be used after a negative sign is added before the value.
[0314] To improve flexibility of the solution, ….. the network side sends, to the terminal, a common timing parameter used by the terminal to determine the common compensation timing advance value. The network side may send/configure a numerical drift to the terminal. After receiving the common timing parameter, the terminal performs subtraction or addition between the common timing parameter and the numerical drift, to obtain the common compensation timing advance value used by the terminal, that is:
[0315] The common compensation timing advance value herein that is obtained through common timing parameter+/−numerical drift may be positive, or may be negative.
[0322] if the offset, the common timing parameter, the numerical drift, and the like are sent in a radio resource control (RRC) connection phase, the network side may carry the information in at least one of RRC information, ……. a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE)
[0355] In this example, the network side adds a common timing parameter as a new variable field, that is, TA-common-timing, to the RACH-ConfigGeneric parameter to indicate a parameter value used to determine the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value.
[0359] After receiving the common timing parameter TA-common-timing, the terminal subtracts the numerical drift from the common timing parameter TA-common-timing, to obtain the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value.
[0398] If an SIB1 carries the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value, an update cycle of the SIB1 determines a maximum error of the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value. The error is caused by relative movement between the satellite and the gateway.
[0408] The idea of the technical solution of the present invention may also be applicable to sending of a timing advance rate (TA rate) reference point and a Doppler pre-compensation reference point/a Doppler post-compensation reference point.
[0411] Feeder link timing advance rate (TA rate) reference point: A terminal may calculate a feeder link common timing advance rate of a beam or a cell based on a relative movement speed or a distance change rate between a satellite (the terminal may obtain information about a position and speed of the satellite through ephemeris information) and a feeder link TA rate reference point ….. The feeder link timing advance rate reference point may be position coordinates of a gateway.
Fig. 21A, [0414] …. the network side may separately send the coordinates of the service link TA rate reference point, the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates.
(Construed that Fig. 17 Gateway, the infrastructure with Satellite sends the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates)
[0417] In a possible implementation, the service link TA rate reference point coordinates, the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates, and the Doppler pre/post-compensation reference point coordinates may be respectively replaced with a service link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication), a feeder link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication) …..
(Construed that Fig. 17 Gateway, the infrastructure with Satellite sends the feeder link TA rate value or a common TA drift figure)
Fig. 23, [0418] as shown in FIG. 23, an indicator bit may be added to each piece of the signaling to indicate that the transmitted signaling is the service link TA rate reference point coordinates or the service link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication), the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates or the feeder link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication), …
[0419] When the network side does not send the TA rate reference point coordinates …to the terminal, ….. the terminal may use a default reference point coordinate value.
(From above [0313-0315, 0322, 0417-0419] and Figs, 17, 23, it is obvious to person skill in the art, that Wang teaching Network infrastructure equipment with Gateway and Satellite provides the terminal or UE TA drift figure and its direction with positive/negative sign indication corresponding to changing propagation delay in the feeder link between the satellite and the Gateway of Fig. 17 using MAC message for updating common TA due the common TA drift as required by amended claim 1.));
repeatedly determining a current TA adjustment based on the TA drift figure and its direction (
[0411] The terminal corrects, based on the common timing advance rate, a timing advance adjustment value of a signal sent by the sending terminal (if there is a common timing advance rate of a service link, a combination of the common timing advance rate of the service link and the common timing advance rate of the feeder link, that is, a sum of the two, may be used to calculate a final TA rate, so as to correct an uplink timing advance adjustment value). The feeder link timing advance rate reference point may be position coordinates of a gateway.
[0424] If the network side sends the link reference point coordinates, the compensation reference point coordinates, the TA rate reference point coordinates, and the like to the terminal in a periodic broadcast manner, when the parameter expires, the terminal may obtain a new parameter value through re-receiving the parameter and in a decoding manner.); and
adjusting the common TA according to the current TA adjustment (
[0411] The terminal corrects, based on the common timing advance rate, a timing advance adjustment value of a signal sent by the sending terminal (if there is a common timing advance rate of a service link, a combination of the common timing advance rate of the service link and the common timing advance rate of the feeder link, that is, a sum of the two, may be used to calculate a final TA rate, so as to correct an uplink timing advance adjustment value).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of receiving timing drift for common timing parameter of WANG to estimate the full TA compensation by autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris for maintenance for UL timing advance in satellite communication system of 3GPP821v100 in order to take the advantage of a method for improve precision of calculating a TA by a terminal and improve accuracy of the TA. (WANG: [0005]).
Regarding claim 2, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the user equipment of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to absorb changes in a feeder link propagation time as part of a UE-specific differential TA (Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload feeder Link D02, Full TA (TFull ) == Tcom + TUEx
Since TFull provides TA UEx specific TA, calculation of TFull for UEx indicating UEx is configured to compensate feeder link influence on the common TA in a transparent payload non-terrestrial network configuration with a non-terrestrial network component as disclosed in Option 1 described below.
Page 66,
Option 1: Autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris.
In this way, the required TA value for UL transmission including PRACH can be calculated by the UE. The corresponding adjustment can be done, either with UE-specific differential TA or full TA (consisting of UE specific differential TA and common TA.
W.r.t the UE specific differential TA only, additional indication on a single reference point should be signalled to UEs per beam/cell for achieving the UL timing alignment among UEs within the coverage of the same beam/cell. …..
(Further the following can be derived –
UE Specific Differential TA for xth UE (TUEx) == 2*(D1x-D01)/c,
Tcom = 2*(D01+D02)/c,
UE Specific TA Full TA (TFull ) == Tcom + TUEx == 2*(D1x-D01)/c + 2*(D01+D02)/c
== 2* (D1x+D02)/c
The above, indicates Autonomous acquisition or compensation of the TA at UE with known UE location and satellite ephemeris, imply UEx can determine feeder link propagation time D02/c from satellite ephemeris, UE location, D01 for reference point at the center of the cell as shown in Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload and given Tcom , since Tcom [Wingdings font/0xE8] f(D02, D01), and D1x from given satellite ephemeris and a given UE location;
and therefore UE specific TA (TFull), includes compensation by UE-specific differential TA is updated absorbing changes in a feeder link propagation time D02/c)).
Regarding claim 3, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the user equipment of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to repeatedly adjust a UE-specific differential TA to take account of a distance between the non-terrestrial network component and the infrastructure equipment (Page 65,
UE Specific Differential TA for xth UE (TUEx) == 2*(D1x-D01)/c,
Common TA Tcom = 2*(D01+D02)/c,
UE Specific TA Full TA (TFull ) == Tcom + TUEx == 2*(D1x-D01)/c + 2*(D01+D02)/c
== 2* (D1x+D02)/c
Page 66,
Option 1: Autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris.
In this way, the required TA value for UL transmission including PRACH can be calculated by the UE. The corresponding adjustment can be done, either with UE-specific differential TA or full TA (consisting of UE specific differential TA and common TA.
Pages 78-79:
As shown in Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8, the value of common TA is determined by …… d0+d0_F for bent-pipe payload while the value of UE specific TA is determined by d1-d0.
For UE with location information, the following framework should be considered as a baseline for UE to perform initial timing advance during 4-step random access procedure:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE. ).
3GPP821v100 does not explicitly disclose in which the circuitry is configured to repeatedly adjust a UE-specific differential TA to take account of a changing distance between the non-terrestrial network component and the infrastructure equipment.
WANG teaches in which the circuitry is configured to repeatedly adjust a UE-specific differential TA to take account of a changing distance between the non-terrestrial network component and the infrastructure equipment (
[0411] Feeder link timing advance rate (TA rate) reference point: A terminal may calculate a feeder link common timing advance rate of a beam or a cell based on a relative movement speed or a distance change rate between a satellite (the terminal may obtain information about a position and speed of the satellite through ephemeris information) and a feeder link TA rate reference point (similar to the foregoing description). The terminal corrects, based on the common timing advance rate, a timing advance adjustment value of a signal sent by the sending terminal (if there is a common timing advance rate of a service link, a combination of the common timing advance rate of the service link and the common timing advance rate of the feeder link, that is, a sum of the two, may be used to calculate a final TA rate, so as to correct an uplink timing advance adjustment value). The feeder link timing advance rate reference point may be position coordinates of a gateway.
[0424] If the network side sends the link reference point coordinates, the compensation reference point coordinates, the TA rate reference point coordinates, and the like to the terminal in a periodic broadcast manner, when the parameter expires, the terminal may obtain a new parameter value through re-receiving the parameter and in a decoding manner.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of receiving timing drift for common timing parameter of WANG to estimate the full TA compensation by autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris for maintenance for UL timing advance in satellite communication system of 3GPP821v100 in order to take the advantage of a method for improve precision of calculating a TA by a terminal and improve accuracy of the TA. (WANG: [0005]).
Regarding claim 4, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the user equipment of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive information on the ephemeris of the non-terrestrial network component and a location of the infrastructure equipment (Page 65,
UE Specific Differential TA for xth UE (TUEx) == 2*(D1x-D01)/c,
Common TA Tcom = 2*(D01+D02)/c,
UE Specific TA Full TA (TFull ) == Tcom + TUEx == 2*(D1x-D01)/c + 2*(D01+D02)/c
== 2* (D1x+D02)/c
Page 66,
Option 1: Autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris.
In this way, the required TA value for UL transmission including PRACH can be calculated by the UE. The corresponding adjustment can be done, either with UE-specific differential TA or full TA (consisting of UE specific differential TA and common TA.
Pages 78-79:
As shown in Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8, the value of common TA is determined by …… d0+d0_F for bent-pipe payload while the value of UE specific TA is determined by d1-d0.
For UE with location information, the following framework should be considered as a baseline for UE to perform initial timing advance during 4-step random access procedure:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE.
).
3GPP821v100 does not explicitly disclose to repeatedly calculate a distance between the non- terrestrial network component and the infrastructure equipment based on this information.
WANG teaches to repeatedly calculate a distance between the non- terrestrial network component and the infrastructure equipment based on this information (
See WANG [0411, 0424] presented for claim 3 above).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of receiving timing drift for common timing parameter of WANG to estimate the full TA compensation by autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris for maintenance for UL timing advance in satellite communication system of 3GPP821v100 in order to take the advantage of a method for improve precision of calculating a TA by a terminal and improve accuracy of the TA. (WANG: [0005]).
Regarding claim 5, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the user equipment of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive information on ephemeris of the non-terrestrial network component and an initial distance between the infrastructure equipment and the non-terrestrial network component (
Pages 78-79:
As shown in Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8, the value of common TA is determined by …… d0+d0_F for bent-pipe payload while the value of UE specific TA is determined by d1-d0.
For UE with location information, the following framework should be considered as a baseline for UE to perform initial timing advance during 4-step random access procedure:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE.
).
3GPP821v100 does not explicitly disclose to repeatedly calculate a distance between the non-terrestrial network component and the infrastructure equipment based on this information.
WANG teaches to repeatedly calculate a distance between the non- terrestrial network component and the infrastructure equipment based on this information (
See WANG [0411, 0424] presented for claim 3 above).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of receiving timing drift for common timing parameter of WANG to estimate the full TA compensation by autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris for maintenance for UL timing advance in satellite communication system of 3GPP821v100 in order to take the advantage of a method for improve precision of calculating a TA by a terminal and improve accuracy of the TA. (WANG: [0005]).
Regarding claim 6, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the user equipment of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive information on a location of the infrastructure equipment or information on a distance of the infrastructure equipment from the non-terrestrial network component once the user equipment enters RRC connected mode and/or shortly after feeder link switching occurs (
Page 65,
UE Specific Differential TA for xth UE (TUEx) == 2*(D1x-D01)/c,
Common TA Tcom = 2*(D01+D02)/c,
UE Specific TA Full TA (TFull ) == Tcom + TUEx == 2*(D1x-D01)/c + 2*(D01+D02)/c
== 2* (D1x+D02)/c
Page 66,
Option 1: Autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris.
In this way, the required TA value for UL transmission including PRACH can be calculated by the UE. The corresponding adjustment can be done, either with UE-specific differential TA or full TA (consisting of UE specific differential TA and common TA.
Pages 78-79:
As shown in Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8, the value of common TA is determined by …… d0+d0_F for bent-pipe payload while the value of UE specific TA is determined by d1-d0.
For UE with location information, the following framework should be considered as a baseline for UE to perform initial timing advance during 4-step random access procedure:
PNG
media_image1.png
697
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media_image1.png
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Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8: Framework on 4-step random access procedure for UE with location information
Estimation and application of the timing advance with respect to the satellite before UE sending Msg1 (i.e. random access preamble) to the network. The details are to be decided during the work item phase, but examples of how this can be achieved:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE.
Page 97:
7.3.2.1.1 Latency associated with mobility signalling
Propagation delay in NTN is orders of magnitude higher than terrestrial systems, introducing additional latency to mobility signalling such as measurement reporting, reception of the HO command, and HO request/ACK (if the target cell originates from a different satellite).
The basic handover procedure is illustrated in Figure 7.3.2.1.1-1
Pages 101-102 Section 7.3.2.2.2 Conditional Handover
- Timing advance value based triggering: additional triggering conditions based on timing advance value to the target cell can be considered in NTN and may be considered independently or jointly with another trigger.
Table 7.3.2.2.2-1: Pros and Cons of the different triggering conditions
Timing advance value based triggering
- Timing advance based triggering fits well for the issue where UE needs to precompensate time when sending the RACH preamble in order the target cell to receive the preamble properly.
- Further, due to small difference to RSRP/RSRQ values between overlapping cells, timing advance based triggering may provide better accuracy for the triggering point.
- Requires GNSS capable UEs. Support for this needs to be explicitly added as not part of Rel-16.
(It is construed that UE receive information on the location of gateway/gNB or information on the distance of the gateway/gNB from the satellite once the electronic device enters RRC connected mode before msg 1 transmission and/or shortly after feeder link switching occurs due to handover to target cell with corresponding satellite and gateway/gNB)).
Regarding claim 7, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the user equipment of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive information on a location of the infrastructure equipment or information on a distance of the infrastructure equipment from the non-terrestrial network component in encrypted form (
Page 13,
Regenerative payload: payload that transforms and amplifies an uplink RF signal before transmitting it on the downlink. The transformation of the signal refers to digital processing that may include demodulation, decoding, re-encoding, re-modulation and/or filtering.
Satellite: a space-borne vehicle embarking a bent pipe payload .... telecommunication transmitter, placed into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO), or Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO).
Transparent payload: payload that changes the frequency carrier of the uplink RF signal, filters and amplifies it before transmitting it on the downlink
On ground NTN gNB: gNB of a transparent satellite (respectively HAPS) payload implemented on ground.
(Construed that transmission from ground NTN gNB is encoded or encripted)
Page 66,
Option 1: Autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris.
In this way, the required TA value for UL transmission including PRACH can be calculated by the UE. The corresponding adjustment can be done, either with UE-specific differential TA or full TA (consisting of UE specific differential TA and common TA.
Pages 78-79:
As shown in Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8, the value of common TA is determined by …… d0+d0_F for bent-pipe payload while the value of UE specific TA is determined by d1-d0.
For UE with location information, the following framework should be considered as a baseline for UE to perform initial timing advance during 4-step random access procedure:
Estimation and application of the timing advance with respect to the satellite before UE sending Msg1 (i.e. random access preamble) to the network. The details are to be decided during the work item phase, but examples of how this can be achieved:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE.
Page 128:
8.7.1.1.2 Transparent LEO NTN, Architecture Option 1, same gNB
Assuming two feeder link connections serving via the same satellite during the transition, It could be possible for the gNB to keep the DL reference signals and to keep the cell ''alive".
Note: In this case, it may be possible to not to need a HO if the security keys of gNB can he kept…..
(Construed that gNB via Satellite transmits key encrypted encoded signal with gateway position to the UE)).
Regarding claim 8, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the user equipment of claim 1.
3GPP821v100 does not explicitly disclose wherein the circuitry is configured to repeatedly receive the current TA adjustment and to adjust a common TA according to this TA adjustment.
WANG teaches wherein the circuitry is configured to repeatedly receive the current TA adjustment, and to adjust the common TA according to this TA adjustment (
WANG teaches to repeatedly calculate a distance between the non- terrestrial network component and the infrastructure equipment based on this information (
See WANG [0411, 0424] presented for claim 3 above).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of receiving timing drift for common timing parameter of WANG to estimate the full TA compensation by autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris for maintenance for UL timing advance in satellite communication system of 3GPP821v100 in order to take the advantage of a method for improve precision of calculating a TA by a terminal and improve accuracy of the TA. (WANG: [0005]).
Regarding claim 10, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the user equipment of claim 1.
3GPP821v100 does not explicitly disclose in which the TA drift figure and its direction includes both a drift due to satellite movement in its orbit and also its changing displacement from the tethered infrastructure equipment.
WANG teaches wherein the TA drift figure and its direction includes both a drift due to the satellite movement in its orbit and also its changing displacement from the tethered infrastructure equipment (
WANG teaches to repeatedly calculate a distance between the non- terrestrial network component and the infrastructure equipment based on this information (
See WANG [0411, 0424] presented for claim 3 above).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of receiving timing drift for common timing parameter of WANG to estimate the full TA compensation by autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris for maintenance for UL timing advance in satellite communication system of 3GPP821v100 in order to take the advantage of a method for improve precision of calculating a TA by a terminal and improve accuracy of the TA. (WANG: [0005]).
Regarding claim 11, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the user equipment of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive the TA drift figure and its direction (
Page 66:
indication of timing drift rate, from the network to UE, is also supported to enable the TA adjustment at UE side).
3GPP821v100 does not explicitly disclose to receive the TA drift figure and its direction as part of the RAR response in msg2 of 4-step RACH or msgB of 2-step RACH or by regular MAC messages.
WANG teaches to receive the TA drift figure and its direction as part of the RAR response in msg2 of 4-step RACH or msgB of 2-step RACH or by regular MAC messages (
[0320] The network side not only sends an offset to the terminal, but also agrees on a numerical drift with the terminal (or the network side sends a numerical drift to the terminal), so that the terminal side may add the round-trip delay of the service link, the common timing parameter, the ±numerical drift, and the ±offset in the NTN, to obtain a TA to be used, that is:
[0322] In addition, if the offset, the common timing parameter, the numerical drift, and the like are sent in a radio resource control (RRC) connection phase, ….. downlink control information (DCI), group DCI, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE)
See also Fig. 2)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of receiving timing drift for common timing parameter by MAC-CE of WANG to estimate the full TA compensation by autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris for maintenance for UL timing advance in satellite communication system of 3GPP821v100 in order to take the advantage of a method for improve precision of calculating a TA by a terminal and improve accuracy of the TA. (WANG: [0005]).
Regarding claim 13, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches an infrastructure equipment comprising circuitry (Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload, Ground Gateway or NTN gNB) configured to provide information to a user equipment (Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload UEx) for compensating feeder link (Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload, feeder Link D02, UE Specific Differential TA for xth UE (TUEx) == 2*(D1x-D01)/c, Full TA (TFull ) == Tcom + TUEx) influence on the common TA (Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload, Tcom = 2*(D01+D02)/c) in a transparent payload non-terrestrial network configuration with a non-terrestrial network component (
Page 13,
Satellite: a space-borne vehicle embarking a bent pipe payload .... telecommunication transmitter, placed into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO), or Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO).
Transparent payload: payload that changes the frequency carrier of the uplink RF signal, filters and amplifies it before transmitting it on the downlink
Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload Satellite ) and a base station tethered by the non-terrestrial network component (
Page 13,
On ground NTN gNB: gNB of a transparent satellite (respectively HAPS) payload implemented on ground.
Page 65, Figure 6.3.4.1 (a) Transparent Payload
feeder Link D02, Full TA (TFull ) == Tcom + TUEx
(Since TFull provides UEx specific TA, calculation of TFull for UEx indicating UEx is configured to compensate feeder link influence on the common TA (Tcom ) in a transparent payload non-terrestrial network configuration with a non-terrestrial network component as disclosed in Option 1 described below.)
Page 66,
For the timing advance (TA) in the initial access and the subsequent TA maintenance, the following solutions are identified with an illustration of the definition of terminology given in Figure 6.3.4-1:
Option 1: Autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris.
In this way, the required TA value for UL transmission including PRACH can be calculated by the UE. The corresponding adjustment can be done, either with UE-specific differential TA or full TA (consisting of UE specific differential TA and common TA.
W.r.t the full TA compensation at the UE side, both the alignment on the UL timing among UEs and DL and UL frame timing at network side can be achieved. However, in case of satellite with transparent payload, further discussion on how to handle the impact introduced by feeder link will be conducted in normative work. …..
W.r.t the UE specific differential TA only, additional indication on a single reference point should be signalled to UEs per beam/cell for achieving the UL timing alignment among UEs within the coverage of the same beam/cell. …..
With concern on the accuracy on the self-calculated TA value at the UE side, additional TA signalling from network to UE for TA refinement, e.g., during initial access and/or TA maintenance, can be determined in the normative work.
For calculation of common TA in the above …., single reference point per beam is considered as the baseline.
Pages 78-79:
As shown in Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8, the value of common TA is determined by …… d0+d0_F for bent-pipe payload while the value of UE specific TA is determined by d1-d0.
For UE with location information, the following framework should be considered as a baseline for UE to perform initial timing advance during 4-step random access procedure:
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Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8: Framework on 4-step random access procedure for UE with location information
Estimation and application of the timing advance with respect to the satellite before UE sending Msg1 (i.e. random access preamble) to the network. The details are to be decided during the work item phase, but examples of how this can be achieved:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE.
In Msg2, when the UE receives the RAR, it applies a timing advance correction for the UE-based estimation. Since the UE is now estimating the timing advance the UE may now both under- and overestimate the timing advance, there may need to be some adjustments of the timing advance to deal with this.
(It is construed that in bent-pipe or transparent payload configuration gNB, an infrastructure equipment comprising circuitry, configured to provide via satellite, information for common TA, information contains satellite ephemeris, gateway/gNB position/location information (see Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8 Case b and i. and ii above) to a user equipment for compensating feeder link influence on the common TA)), wherein
the information includes at least one of ephemeris of the non-terrestrial network component, a location of the infrastructure equipment tethered by the non-terrestrial network component, an initial distance between the infrastructure equipment and the non-terrestrial network component (
Pages 78-79:
Estimation and application of the timing advance with respect to the satellite before UE sending Msg1 (i.e. random access preamble) to the network. The details are to be decided during the work item phase, but examples of how this can be achieved:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE.).
3GPP does not explicitly disclose the information includes at least one of a TA drift figure and its direction, and
wherein the information is sent to the user equipment upon the user equipment entering RRC connected mode or shortly after feeder link switching occurs.
WANG teaches the information includes at least one of a TA drift figure and its direction, and wherein the information is sent to the user equipment upon the user equipment entering RRC connected mode or shortly after feeder link switching occurs (
[0395] Further, when the soft gateway switch or hard gateway switch occurs, the gNB sends, to the UE through MAC CE signaling, the common compensation timing advance value or a common timing advance value to be used by the UE at the target gateway, or the difference between the common compensation timing advance value to be used by the UE at the target gateway and the common compensation timing advance value currently in use, or the difference between the common timing advance value to be used by the UE at the target gateway and the common timing advance value currently in use.
[0398] If an SIB1 carries the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value, an update cycle of the SIB1 determines a maximum error of the common compensation timing advance value or the common timing advance value. The error is caused by relative movement between the satellite and the gateway.
[0411] Feeder link timing advance rate (TA rate) reference point: A terminal may calculate a feeder link common timing advance rate of a beam or a cell based on a relative movement speed or a distance change rate between a satellite (the terminal may obtain information about a position and speed of the satellite through ephemeris information) and a feeder link TA rate reference point (similar to the foregoing description). The terminal corrects, based on the common timing advance rate, a timing advance adjustment value of a signal sent by the sending terminal (if there is a common timing advance rate of a service link, a combination of the common timing advance rate of the service link and the common timing advance rate of the feeder link, that is, a sum of the two, may be used to calculate a final TA rate, so as to correct an uplink timing advance adjustment value). The feeder link timing advance rate reference point may be position coordinates of a gateway.
[0414] …. the network side may separately send the coordinates of the service link TA rate reference point, the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates.
(Construed that Fig. 17 Gateway, the infrastructure with Satellite sends the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates)
[0417] In a possible implementation, the service link TA rate reference point coordinates, the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates, and the Doppler pre/post-compensation reference point coordinates may be respectively replaced with a service link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication), a feeder link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication) …..
(Construed that Fig. 17 Gateway, the infrastructure with Satellite sends the feeder link TA rate value or a common TA drift figure)
Fig. 23, [0418] as shown in FIG. 23, an indicator bit may be added to each piece of the signaling to indicate that the transmitted signaling is the service link TA rate reference point coordinates or the service link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication), the feeder link TA rate reference point coordinates or the feeder link TA rate value (with a positive/negative sign indication), …
[0419] When the network side does not send the TA rate reference point coordinates …to the terminal, ….. the terminal may use a default reference point coordinate value.
(It is obvious that Network infrastructure equipment with Gateway and Satellite provides the terminal or UE TA drift figure and its direction with positive/negative sign indication));
[0424] If the network side sends the link reference point coordinates, the compensation reference point coordinates, the TA rate reference point coordinates, and the like to the terminal in a periodic broadcast manner, when the parameter expires, the terminal may obtain a new parameter value through re-receiving the parameter and in a decoding manner.
(It is obvious that the terminal/UE is in RRC connected state and receiving periodic TA rate or drift values via periodic broadcast from the network for TA update by the terminal/UE)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of receiving timing drift for common timing parameter of WANG to estimate the full TA compensation by autonomous acquisition of the TA at UE with UE known location and satellite ephemeris for maintenance for UL timing advance in satellite communication system of 3GPP821v100 in order to take the advantage of a method for improve precision of calculating a TA by a terminal and improve accuracy of the TA. (WANG: [0005]).
Regarding claim 14, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the infrastructure equipment of claim 13, wherein the information includes the ephemeris of the non-terrestrial network component (
Pages 78-79:
As shown in Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8, the value of common TA is determined by …… d0+d0_F for bent-pipe payload while the value of UE specific TA is determined by d1-d0.
For UE with location information, the following framework should be considered as a baseline for UE to perform initial timing advance during 4-step random access procedure:
Estimation and application of the timing advance with respect to the satellite before UE sending Msg1 (i.e. random access preamble) to the network. The details are to be decided during the work item phase, but examples of how this can be achieved:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE.
In Msg2, when the UE receives the RAR, it applies a timing advance correction for the UE-based estimation. Since the UE is now estimating the timing advance the UE may now both under- and overestimate the timing advance, there may need to be some adjustments of the timing advance to deal with this. ).
Regarding claim 15, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the infrastructure equipment of claim 13, wherein the information includes the location of the infrastructure equipment tethered by the non-terrestrial network component (Pages 78-79:
As shown in Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8, the value of common TA is determined by …… d0+d0_F for bent-pipe payload while the value of UE specific TA is determined by d1-d0.
For UE with location information, the following framework should be considered as a baseline for UE to perform initial timing advance during 4-step random access procedure:
Estimation and application of the timing advance with respect to the satellite before UE sending Msg1 (i.e. random access preamble) to the network. The details are to be decided during the work item phase, but examples of how this can be achieved:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE.
In Msg2, when the UE receives the RAR, it applies a timing advance correction for the UE-based estimation. Since the UE is now estimating the timing advance the UE may now both under- and overestimate the timing advance, there may need to be some adjustments of the timing advance to deal with this. ).
Regarding claim 16, 3GPP821v100, in view of WANG, teaches the infrastructure equipment of claim 13, wherein the information includes the initial distance between the infrastructure equipment and the non-terrestrial network component (Pages 78-79:
As shown in Figure 7.2.1.1.1.2-8, the value of common TA is determined by …… d0+d0_F for bent-pipe payload while the value of UE specific TA is determined by d1-d0.
For UE with location information, the following framework should be considered as a baseline for UE to perform initial timing advance during 4-step random access procedure:
Estimation and application of the timing advance with respect to the satellite before UE sending Msg1 (i.e. random access preamble) to the network. The details are to be decided during the work item phase, but examples of how this can be achieved:
For transparent architecture: …. the delay that needs to be estimated is between the UE and the gNB interface on the ground. Some options are:
To broadcast the position of the satellite along with the delay from satellite to gateway where the gNB interface is situated.
Signal ephemeris along with gateway position to the UE.
In Msg2, when the UE receives the RAR, it applies a timing advance correction for the UE-based estimation. Since the UE is now estimating the timing advance the UE may now both under- and overestimate the timing advance, there may need to be some adjustments of the timing advance to deal with this.).
Regarding Claim 18, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 7.
Regarding Claim 19, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 8.
Regarding Claim 20, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 10.
Regarding Claim 22, the claim is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1, and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and in intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 11, 3GPP, WANG or any prior art of record either alone or in combination fails to teach the user equipment of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive the TA drift figure and its direction as part of the RAR response in msg2 of 4-step RACH or msgB of 2-step RACH.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Ryu et al. (US 20230254795 A1), describing METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INDICATING TIMING ADVANCE IN COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Wu et al. (US 20220039044 A1), describing USER EQUIPMENT, BASE STATION AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATION IN NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORK
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/SHAH M RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413