DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to Applicant’s reply dated 1/23/26. Claims 1-20 have been examined.
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 . 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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3-8, 11, 13-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable by Lin et al. (WO 2023/108454) hereafter Lin.
Regarding Claim 1 (Currently Amended),
A method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages indicating: a first time alignment timer (TAT), of a cell, associated with a small data transmission (SDT) procedure in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state [Lin: p. 8; for CG -SDT scenario, the UE can use the first timer (such as SDT-TAT, here is only a reference, the specific name of the first timer or the selection of the first timer is not limited to the description here) to maintain the validity of the timing advance; p. 9; the network device can configure pre-configured resources and/or timing advance for the terminal device, so that the terminal device (such as a mobile phone) realizes small data transmission in the RRC inactive state, and satisfies uplink synchronization by maintaining the validity of the timing advance; p. 13; S810: the network device sends an RRC message, where the RRC message includes first configuration information; in some examples, the first configuration information includes at least: pre-configured resources and/or timing advances, so that the terminal equipment in the RRC inactive state can maintain the timing advances in uplink small data transmission based on the pre-configured resources efficient; p. 14; the UE uses a first timer (such as SDT-TAT) to determine whether the timing advance is valid, and the timing advance is considered valid during the running of the first timer]; and
a second TAT, of the cell, associated with a random access [Lin: p.8; the random access process can also be used to send a small amount of packet data from the terminal device to the network device to realize uplink small data transmission (hereinafter referred to as RA-SDT); for the RA-SDT scenario, UE can use the second timer configured in the system broadcast (such as TAT, here is just a reference, the specific name of the second timer or the second timer) according to the random access process and the situation of the connection state; p. 9; S420: the base station sends first configuration information to the terminal device in response to the random access procedure, where the first configuration information includes at least: preconfigured resources and/or timing advance; S430: the terminal device receives the first configuration information during the random access process, and operates on the pre-configured resource and/or the corresponding first timer, so as to keep the timing advance valid; p. 13-14; the network device sends first configuration information in response to a random access procedure; wherein, the first configuration information at least includes: pre-configured resources and/or timing advance, so that the terminal equipment in the RRC inactive state realizes the second timer in the uplink small data transmission through the random access process (the second timer can be denoted as TAT) to operate to keep the timing advance valid; p. 14; the UE may use the second timer (such as TAT) configured in the system broadcast to determine whether the timing advance is valid, and the timing advance is considered valid during the running of the second timer]; and
transmitting, during the SDT procedure, a signal via an uplink control channel of the cell based on: the second TAT being expired; and the first TAT being running [Lin: p. 15; in the selection process of the small data transmission type in the RRC inactive state, the UE first judges whether the conditions for executing the CG-SDT scenario are met, and the UE in the RRC inactive state satisfies the above mentioned first condition … the small data transmission in the CG-SDT scenario is triggered (in the case of not going into details here), and if the network device configures the UE to determine whether the timing advance; during the operation of the first timer (such as SDT-TAT), it is considered that the timing advance is valid, then the UE initiates a random access procedure in the CG-SDT scenario; p. 16; Case 2: as shown in Figure 10, similar to the above case 1, the CG-SDT resources are also released, and the first timer (such as SDT-TAT) in the running state is stopped, but the timing of CG-SDT resource release is different; it is triggered to release the CG-SDT resource and stop the first timer (such as SDT-TAT) after the contention conflict in the random access process is successfully resolved; in the random access process, after receiving a downlink message (such as RAR or MsgB), the UE starts a second timer (such as TAT) when acquiring the TAC in the downlink message; if the contention conflict in the random access process is not successfully resolved, stop the second timer (such as TAT); otherwise, keep the second timer (such as TAT) running; Case 3: as shown in Figure 11, the difference from the above cases 1 and 2 is that the CG-SDT resource will not be released, and the first timer (such as SDT-TAT) will not be stopped, and the UE initiates random access During the process, the first timer (such as SDT-TAT) always keeps running; in the random access process, after receiving a downlink message (such as RAR or MsgB), the UE starts a second timer (such as TAT) when acquiring the TAC in the downlink message; when the contention conflict in the random access process is successfully resolved, restart the first timer (such as SDT-TAT), stop the second timer (such as TAT), and use the TAC obtained in the RAR or MsgB as the current SDT-TAT maintained The value of the timing advance].
Regarding Claim 3,
further comprising not releasing, during the SDT procedure and based on the second TAT being expired while the first TAT is running, a resource for the uplink control channel [Lin: p. 15; the first uplink message may include UE user plane/control plane data … after successfully transmitting the first uplink message, the UE may continue to transmit uplink data based on dynamic scheduling of network equipment or use CG resources, that is, subsequent transmission; in the subsequent transmission phase, when some situations are encountered (for example, there is no SSB that satisfies the conditions; the timing advance is invalid; there is no PUCCH resource for SR transmission, etc.;), the UE initiates a random access procedure].
Regarding Claim 4,
wherein the one or more messages comprise a system information block (SIB) indicating a first timer value of the second TAT [Lin: p. 14; the UE may use the second timer (such as TAT) configured in the system broadcast to determine whether the timing advance is valid, and the timing advance is considered valid during the running of the second timer].
Regarding Claim 5,
further comprising: initiating the random access during the SDT procedure; and starting the second TAT based on the initiating [Lin: p. 16; Case 2: as shown in Figure 10, similar to the above case 1, the CG-SDT resources are also released, and the first timer (such as SDT-TAT) in the running state is stopped, but the timing of CG-SDT resource release is different; it is triggered to release the CG-SDT resource and stop the first timer (such as SDT-TAT) after the contention conflict in the random access process is successfully resolved; in the random access process, after receiving a downlink message (such as RAR or MsgB), the UE starts a second timer (such as TAT) when acquiring the TAC in the downlink message; if the contention conflict in the random access process is not successfully resolved, stop the second timer (such as TAT); otherwise, keep the second timer (such as TAT) running].
Regarding Claim 6,
wherein the starting the second TAT occurs while the first TAT is running [Lin: p. 16; Case 3: as shown in Figure 11, the difference from the above cases 1 and 2 is that the CG-SDT resource will not be released, and the first timer (such as SDT-TAT) will not be stopped, and the UE initiates random access; during the process, the first timer (such as SDT-TAT) always keeps running; in the random access process, after receiving a downlink message (such as RAR or MsgB), the UE starts a second timer (such as TAT) when acquiring the TAC in the downlink message; when the contention conflict in the random access process is successfully resolved, restart the first timer (such as SDT-TAT), stop the second timer (such as TAT), and use the TAC obtained in the RAR or MsgB as the current SDT-TAT maintained The value of the timing advance].
Regarding Claim 7,
wherein the one or more messages comprise a radio resource control (RRC) release message indicating a second timer value of the first TAT [Lin: p. 13; S810. The network device sends an RRC message, where the RRC message includes first configuration information; in some examples, the first configuration information includes at least: pre-configured resources and/or timing advances, so that the terminal equipment in the RRC inactive state can maintain the timing advances in uplink small data transmission based on the pre-configured resources efficient].
Regarding Claim 8,
wherein the signal comprises an uplink control information [Lin: p. 15; the first uplink message may include UE user plane/control plane data].
Regarding Claims 11 and 13-18, which recite the same claim limitations as those in claims 1 and 3-8 above, the same rationale of rejection as presented in claims 1 and 3-8 is applicable.
Regarding Claim 20, which recites a system having the same claim limitations as those in claim 1 above, the same rationale of rejection as presented in claim 1 is applicable.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 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.
Claim(s) 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin in view of Kim (WO 2021/257856).
Regarding Claim 9,
Lin teaches that the network device sends an RRC message, where the RRC message includes first configuration information [Lin: p. 13].
However, Lin does not teach that the one or more messages further indicate sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration parameters of an SRS associated with the cell.
Kim teaches:
wherein the one or more messages further indicate sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration parameters of an SRS associated with the cell [Kim: 0143; the base station may semi- statically configure the UE with one or more SRS configuration parameters indicating at least one of following: a SRS resource configuration identifier; a number of SRS ports; time domain behavior of an SRS resource configuration (e.g., an indication of periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic SRS); slot, mini-slot, and/or subframe level periodicity; offset for a periodic and/or an aperiodic SRS resource; a number of OFDM symbols in an SRS resource; a starting OFDM symbol of an SRS resource; an SRS bandwidth; a frequency hopping bandwidth; a cyclic shift; and/or an SRS sequence ID].
It would have been obvious for POSITA before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of Lin and Kim in order to facilitate time synchronization of a UE to a base station [Kim: 0127].
Regarding Claim 19, which recites same claim limitations as those in claim 9 above, the same rationale of rejection as presented in claim 9 is applicable.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 10, and 12 are 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 any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/23/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues regarding claims 1 and 11 on pages 5-7 of the Remarks section that in cases 1, 2, and 3 of example 1 in Lin, the TAT is not started until after the UE performs a subsequent operation, specifically, receiving a TAC from the network. Therefore, the operation of initiating an RA procedure in Lin cannot be said to be based on a TAT associated with an RA being expired and a TAT associated with an SDT procedure being running.
Examiner’s Response:
The claim limitation at issue merely recites “transmitting, during the SDT procedure, a signal via an uplink control channel … based on: the second TAT being expired; and the first TAT being running.” Specification describes that “a timer may begin running once it is started and continue running until it is stopped or until it expires.” See Specification [PGPUB: para. 0220]. In other words, absent expiration of the second TAT being tied to a predetermined or specified duration, the term “being expired” in view of Specification has been construed to mean that the second TAT is “no longer running”. Lin teaches that “in the selection process of the small data transmission type in the RRC inactive state, the UE first judges whether the conditions for executing the CG-SDT scenario are met … the small data transmission in the CG-SDT scenario is triggered ….”. See Lin [p. 15]. Case 3 further describes one of the conditions, where “the CG-SDT resource will not be released, and the first timer (such as SDT-TAT) will not be stopped … when the contention conflict in random access process is successfully resolved, restart the first timer (such as SDT-TAT), stop the second timer (such as TAT) ….” See Lin [o. 16]. Thus, Lin teaches the claim limitation at issue above.
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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SAAD A. WAQAS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2468
/Saad A. Waqas/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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