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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/15/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s submission filed 12/15/2025 have been entered. Claims 1 and 24 are amended. Claims 1-3, 7-8, and 21-34 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/15/2025 have been fully considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejection does not relay on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claims 1-3, 7-8, 21, 24-30, and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam et al. (US 2019/0215220), Islam ‘220 hereinafter, in view of Kim et al. (US 2019/0394805), Kim hereinafter, further in view of Wu et al. (US 2020/0128589), Wu hereinafter, further in view of Maso et al. (US 2022/0049724), Maso hereinafter.
Re. Claim 1. Islam ‘220 teaches
a method performed by a wireless communication device for preamble aggregation (Islam ‘220, ¶0005: The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, or apparatus that support determining a number of random access channel (RACH) preamble messages for transmission. … In some wireless communication systems, a UE may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages within a random access response (RAR) window to initiate a RACH procedure (e.g., a contention-free or contention-based random access procedure).), the method comprising:
transmitting, to a wireless communication node, a first message comprising a number of copies of a preamble for an access to the wireless communication node (Islam ‘220, ¶0057: The UE may transmit one or more RACH preamble messages to the base station using the uplink transmit beams in order to initiate the RACH procedure.),
wherein the number is an integer larger than one (Islam ‘220, 0105: In some cases, UE 115-a may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages 210 during a same RAR window.), and
wherein the copies of the preamble are carried by different uplink random access channel (RACH) occasions respectively (Islam ’220, ¶0104: For example, base station 105-a may transmit, from one or more downlink transmit antennas or beams, one or more SSBs, CSI-RSs, or a combination of these or other reference signals 205 associated with RACH occasions (e.g., transmission opportunities). And ¶0106: In some cases, UE 115-a may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages 210 in multiple transmission opportunities for a single reference signal (e.g., using different uplink transmit beams 215 in cases without beam correspondence, and using a same uplink transmit beam in cases with beam correspondence), but may monitor the same downlink receive beam for any of the corresponding multiple RAR messages.); and
monitoring, within a response time window, for a second message comprising a response to the first message from the wireless communication node (Islam ‘220, ¶0058: For example, for each RACH preamble message transmitted to the base station, the UE may monitor for a [random access response] RAR message in response.),
wherein all of the copies of the preamble are transmitted before the response time window expires (Islam ‘220, ¶0103: In some cases, UE 115-a may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages 210 within a RAR window, which may span a length of time based on a TTI of the UE 115 or base station 105 (e.g., 5 ms, 10 ms, etc.).);
Yet, Islam ’220 does not explicitly teach wherein the method further comprises: in response to an increase in a counter of power ramping after transmitting the first message, transmitting an additional first message with an increased preamble aggregation level to the wireless communication node.
However, in the related art, Kim teaches
wherein the method further comprises: in response to an increase in a counter of power ramping after transmitting the first message (Kim, ¶0122: The UE may increase the transmission power value by increasing a power ramping counter during retransmission for the same Tx beam.),
transmitting an additional first message with an increased preamble aggregation level to the wireless communication node (Kim, ¶0122: That is, the UE increases an actual transmission power, that is, target received power, as much as a certain level by increasing a counter for power ramping as much as 1 during every retransmission. And ¶0171: For example, it is assumed that RACH preamble is transmitted N1 times when the power ramping counter reaches PC1 and is transmitted N2 times when the power ramping counter reaches PC2.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining a number of RACH preamble messages for transmission of Islam ‘220 with the method for transmitting random access preamble of Kim. The resulting invention of would provide for improved throughput of a radio communication system (Kim, ¶0022).
Yet, neither Islam ‘220 nor Kim explicitly teaches wherein the increase in the counter of power ramping after transmitting the first message indicates an increase in the preamble aggregation level, and the preamble aggregation level indicates the number of the copies of the preamble to be used by the wireless communication device for aggregation.
However, in the related art, Wu teaches wherein the increase in the counter of power ramping after transmitting the first message indicates an increase in the preamble aggregation level (Wu, 0213: Specifically, the manner of switching to the coverage level N+1 and sending the preamble in a power ramping manner may be similar to sending the preamble at the coverage level N in a ramping manner, and a difference lies in that a quantity of repetition times corresponding to the coverage level N+1 is greater than a quantity of repetition times corresponding to the coverage level N. 0216: Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, during level switching, the terminal device still sends the preamble by using power determined in a power ramping manner, and a prior-art manner of directly sending a preamble by using maximum power is abandoned. This can reduce impact on another terminal device. In addition, after the level switching, although the transmit power is determined in a previous power control manner, the preamble is sent based on the quantity of repetition times corresponding to the next coverage level, so that a quantity of repetition times of the preamble during each transmission can be increased, thereby improving an access success probability. [By switching from coverage level N to N+1 in a power ramping manner, the coverage level serves as the counter of power ramping, and since the quantity of repetition times corresponding to coverage level N+1 is greater than the quantity of repetitions at coverage level N, the increase in the coverage level also indicates an increase in the preamble aggregation level.]), and
the preamble aggregation level indicates the number of the copies of the preamble to be used by the wireless communication device for aggregation (Wu, 0153: Afterwards, the terminal device determines a current coverage level, and sends a preamble through an NPRACH by using a quantity of repetition times and a resource that are corresponding to the current coverage level, to perform random access. [As noted above, the coverage level determines the number of repetitions or the number of copies of the preamble being transmitted at the current coverage level.]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the related art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Islam ‘220 as modified by the teaching of Kim with the coverage level based random access power ramping method of Wu. The resulting invention of would reduce the impact of the power ramping of preamble transmission on other terminal devices (Wu, 0216).
None of Islam ‘220, Kim, or Wu explicitly teaches wherein the copies of the preamble have a same preamble index [Both Kim and Wu teach repeated transmissions of the preamble, but they are silent as to whether the preambles have the same index.].
However, in the related art, Maso teaches wherein the copies of the preamble have a same preamble index (Maso, 0320: As described previously, a UE that is sweeping TX beams can use the same preamble index over multiple ROs associated to the same SSB beam ID #x, in the same PRACH association pattern period(s).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the related art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Islam ‘220 as modified by the teaching of Kim and Wu with the preamble group and PRACH configuration of Maso. The resulting invention would provide for minimizing preamble usage (Maso, 0320).
Re. Claim 2, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 1.
Islam ‘220 further teaches determining a mapping relationship between downlink synchronized signal block (SSB) and uplink RACH occasion (RO) (Islam ‘220, ¶0104: For example, base station 105-a may transmit, from one or more downlink transmit antennas or beams, one or more SSBs, CSI-RSs, or a combination of these or other reference signals 205 associated with RACH occasions (e.g., transmission opportunities).),
wherein the uplink ROs carrying the copies of the preamble are mapped to a same downlink SSB (Islam ‘220, ¶0108: If UE 115-a receives a first reference signal (e.g., an SSB or a CSI-RS) over a first downlink receive beam, second and third reference signals over a second downlink receive beam, and a fourth reference signal over a third downlink receive beam, UE 115-a may transmit three RACH preamble messages 210 corresponding to the second reference signal, the third reference signal, and either the first or the fourth reference signal (e.g., based on a receive signal strength of the first and fourth reference signals).),
based on the mapping relationship (Islam ‘220, 0106: To be able to monitor for all pending RAR responses, UE 115-a may transmit RACH preamble messages 210 in resources within a RAR window that correspond to reference signals 205 that UE 115-a may monitor or detect simultaneously.).
Re. Claim 3, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 2.
Islam ‘220 further teaches receiving the second message with an implicit indication from the wireless communication node (Islam ‘220, ¶0110: For example, base station 105-a may determine the resources used by UE 115-a for a RACH preamble message and may identify the corresponding reference signal based on the resources (e.g., in some cases, based on an SSB index). Base station 105-a may transmit the RAR message using the same downlink transmit antenna used for the corresponding reference signal.),
wherein the second message comprises a response to at least one successfully received copy of the preamble (Islam ‘220, ¶0110: If base station 105-a receives one or more of the RACH preamble messages 210, base station 105-a may transmit a RAR message on the downlink in response.), and
the implicit indication indicates at least one of the copies of the preamble (Islam ‘220, ¶0110: In some RACH procedures (e.g., contention-based random access procedures), UE 115-a may receive one or more of the RAR messages in response to the RACH preamble messages 210 (e.g., in the corresponding RAR windows), and may similarly determine to transmit one or more RACH Message 3 (Msg3) transmissions in response to continue the RACH procedure.).
Re. Claim 7, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 2.
Islam ‘220 further teaches wherein: RO indices of the uplink ROs carrying the copies of the preamble are continuous (Islam ‘220: ¶0101: This indication may configure the number of consecutive RACH preamble messages for UE 115-c to transmit using the same uplink transmit beam 405-a before expiration of the RAR window 415.);
the uplink ROs are allocated continuously in one of: a time domain, Additionally or alternatively, base station 105-a may transmit an indication of an association between RACH resources and synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), a set of dedicated RACH resources (e.g., time, frequency, or sequence), or other parameters for UE 115 synchronization. And ¶0101: This indication may configure the number of consecutive RACH preamble messages for UE 115-c to transmit using the same uplink transmit beam 405-a before expiration of the RAR window 415.);
the uplink ROs are selected from one of a plurality of aggregation RO resource sets that are different from and not shared with a legacy RO resource set used by wireless communication devices without preamble aggregation (Islam ‘220, ¶0120: In some cases, base station 105-c may configure UE 115-c to transmit a specific number of RACH messages in the dedicated RACH resources 420 and may include that specific number of TTIs for each uplink reception beam. And ¶0121: In some cases, UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages in dedicated RACH resources 420. [Since the RACH resources are dedicated, they would not be shared with UEs without preamble aggregation.]); and
the aggregation RO resource sets are associated with different preamble aggregation levels respectively (Islam ‘220, ¶0123: In a first example, UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages corresponding to a same reference signal (e.g., an SSB or CSI-RS) with different uplink transmit beams 405 (e.g., to implement a beam sweep). In a second example, UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages corresponding to a same reference signal with a same uplink transmit beam 405 (e.g., to improve the link budget of the RACH procedure). In a third example UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages corresponding to different reference signals with different uplink transmit beams 405 (e.g., either in interleaved or non-interleaved RAR windows 415, to improve RACH throughput).).
Re. Claim 8, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 1.
Yet, Islam ‘220 does not explicitly teach determining that a transmit power of the wireless communication device reaches a maximum power based on the power ramping, wherein the first message is transmitted with preamble aggregation based on the determining.
However, in the related art, Kim teaches determining that a transmit power of the wireless communication device reaches a maximum power based on the power ramping (Kim, ¶0163: The condition ii is a modified condition of the condition i, and if the PRACH transmission power calculated by the UE reaches (or exceeds) a specific transmission power value Pset configured by the network and the UE transmits a RACH preamble by selecting different Tx beams, the UE transmits PRACH (that is, RACH preamble) at the corresponding power Pset as much as the certain number of times and then resets the PRACH transmission power to an initial value or a value configured by the network during PRACH retransmission.),
wherein the first message is transmitted with preamble aggregation based on the determining (Kim, ¶0163: The number of times that the UE is allowed to transmit RACH preamble at a transmission power Pset may be restricted, and the maximum number of times that the UE is allowed to transmit RACH preamble at a transmission power Pset may be equal to the number of beams of the UE or may be configured by the network.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining a number of RACH preamble messages for transmission of Islam ‘220 with the method for transmitting random access preamble of Kim. The resulting invention of would provide for improved throughput of a radio communication system (Kim, ¶0022).
Re. Claim 21, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 1.
Islam ‘220 further teaches receiving, from the wireless communication node, an indication indicating a preamble aggregation level configured for the wireless communication device (Islam ‘220, ¶0120: In some cases, base station 105-c may configure UE 115-c to transmit a specific number of RACH messages in the dedicated RACH resources 420 and may include that specific number of TTIs for each uplink reception beam.); and
determining the number of copies based on the preamble aggregation level (Islam ‘220, ¶0121: In some cases, UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages in dedicated RACH resources 420.).
Re. Claim 24, Islam ‘220 teaches a wireless communication device configured to perform preamble aggregation (Islam ‘220, ¶0005: The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices, or apparatus that support determining a number of random access channel (RACH) preamble messages for transmission. … In some wireless communication systems, a UE may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages within a random access response (RAR) window to initiate a RACH procedure (e.g., a contention-free or contention-based random access procedure).), the wireless communication device comprising:
a transceiver (Islam ‘220, Fig. 10; ¶0166: Device 1005 may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, including UE multiple RACH preamble module 1015, processor 1020, memory 1025, software 1030, transceiver 1035, antenna 1040, and I/0 controller 1045.)
configured to transmit, to a wireless communication node, a first message comprising a number of copies of a preamble for an access to the wireless communication node (Islam ‘220, ¶0057: The UE may transmit one or more RACH preamble messages to the base station using the uplink transmit beams in order to initiate the RACH procedure.),
wherein the number is an integer larger than one (Islam ‘220, ¶0105: In some cases, UE 115-a may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages 210 during a same RAR window.), and
wherein the copies of the preamble are carried by different uplink random access channel (RACH) occasions respectively (Islam ’220, ¶0104: For example, base station 105-a may transmit, from one or more downlink transmit antennas or beams, one or more SSBs, CSI-RSs, or a combination of these or other reference signals 205 associated with RACH occasions (e.g., transmission opportunities). And ¶0106: In some cases, UE 115-a may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages 210 in multiple transmission opportunities for a single reference signal (e.g., using different uplink transmit beams 215 in cases without beam correspondence, and using a same uplink transmit beam in cases with beam correspondence), but may monitor the same downlink receive beam for any of the corresponding multiple RAR messages.); and
at least one processor (Islam ‘220, Fig. 10; ¶0166: Device 1005 may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, including UE multiple RACH preamble module 1015, processor 1020, memory 1025, software 1030, transceiver 1035, antenna 1040, and I/0 controller 1045.) configured to
monitor, within a response time window, for a second message comprising a response to the first message from the wireless communication node (Islam ‘220, ¶0058: For example, for each RACH preamble message transmitted to the base station, the UE may monitor for a [random access response] RAR message in response.),
wherein all of the copies of the preamble are transmitted before the response time window expires (Islam ‘220, ¶0103: In some cases, UE 115-a may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages 210 within a RAR window, which may span a length of time based on a TTI of the UE 115 or base station 105 (e.g., 5 ms, 10 ms, etc.).);
Yet, Islam ‘220 does not explicitly teach wherein the transceiver is further configured to: in response to an increase in a counter of power ramping after transmitting the first message, transmit an additional first message with an increased preamble aggregation level to the wireless communication node.
However, in the related art, Kim teaches wherein the transceiver is further configured to: in response to an increase in a counter of power ramping after transmitting the first message (Kim, ¶0122: The UE may increase the transmission power value by increasing a power ramping counter during retransmission for the same Tx beam.),
transmit an additional first message with an increased preamble aggregation level to the wireless communication node (Kim, ¶0122: That is, the UE increases an actual transmission power, that is, target received power, as much as a certain level by increasing a counter for power ramping as much as 1 during every retransmission. And ¶0171: For example, it is assumed that RACH preamble is transmitted N1 times when the power ramping counter reaches PC1 and is transmitted N2 times when the power ramping counter reaches PC2.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining a number of RACH preamble messages for transmission of Islam ‘220 with the method for transmitting random access preamble of Kim. The resulting invention of would provide for improved throughput of a radio communication system (Kim, ¶0022).
Yet, neither Islam ‘220 nor Kim explicitly teaches wherein the increase in the counter of power ramping after transmitting the first message indicates an increase in the preamble aggregation level, and the preamble aggregation level indicates the number of the copies of the preamble to be used by the wireless communication device for aggregation.
However, in the related art, Wu teaches wherein the increase in the counter of power ramping after transmitting the first message indicates an increase in the preamble aggregation level (Wu, 0213: Specifically, the manner of switching to the coverage level N+1 and sending the preamble in a power ramping manner may be similar to sending the preamble at the coverage level N in a ramping manner, and a difference lies in that a quantity of repetition times corresponding to the coverage level N+1 is greater than a quantity of repetition times corresponding to the coverage level N. 0216: Therefore, in this embodiment of this application, during level switching, the terminal device still sends the preamble by using power determined in a power ramping manner, and a prior-art manner of directly sending a preamble by using maximum power is abandoned. This can reduce impact on another terminal device. In addition, after the level switching, although the transmit power is determined in a previous power control manner, the preamble is sent based on the quantity of repetition times corresponding to the next coverage level, so that a quantity of repetition times of the preamble during each transmission can be increased, thereby improving an access success probability. [By switching from coverage level N to N+1 in a power ramping manner, the coverage level serves as the counter of power ramping, and since the quantity of repetition times corresponding to coverage level N+1 is greater than the quantity of repetitions at coverage level N, the increase in the coverage level also indicates an increase in the preamble aggregation level.]), and
the preamble aggregation level indicates the number of the copies of the preamble to be used by the wireless communication device for aggregation (Wu, 0153: Afterwards, the terminal device determines a current coverage level, and sends a preamble through an NPRACH by using a quantity of repetition times and a resource that are corresponding to the current coverage level, to perform random access. [As noted above, the coverage level determines the number of repetitions or the number of copies of the preamble being transmitted at the current coverage level.]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the related art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Islam ‘220 as modified by the teaching of Kim with the coverage level based random access power ramping method of Wu. The resulting invention of would reduce the impact of the power ramping of preamble transmission on other terminal devices (Wu, 0216).
Yet, none of Islam ‘220, Kim, or Wu explicitly teaches wherein the copies of the preamble have a same preamble index [Both Kim and Wu teach repeated transmissions of the preamble, but they are silent as to whether the preambles have the same index.].
However, in the related art, Maso teaches wherein the copies of the preamble have a same preamble index (Maso, 0320: As described previously, a UE that is sweeping TX beams can use the same preamble index over multiple ROs associated to the same SSB beam ID #x, in the same PRACH association pattern period(s).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the related art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Islam ‘220 as modified by the teaching of Kim and Wu with the preamble group and PRACH configuration of Maso. The resulting invention would provide for minimizing preamble usage (Maso, 0320).
Re. Claim 25, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 24.
Islam ‘220 further teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a mapping relationship between downlink synchronized signal block (SSB) and uplink RACH occasion (RO) (Islam ‘220, ¶0104: For example, base station 105-a may transmit, from one or more downlink transmit antennas or beams, one or more SSBs, CSI-RSs, or a combination of these or other reference signals 205 associated with RACH occasions (e.g., transmission opportunities).),
wherein the uplink ROs carrying the copies of the preamble are mapped to a same downlink SSB (Islam ‘220, ¶0108: If UE 115-a receives a first reference signal (e.g., an SSB or a CSI-RS) over a first downlink receive beam, second and third reference signals over a second downlink receive beam, and a fourth reference signal over a third downlink receive beam, UE 115-a may transmit three RACH preamble messages 210 corresponding to the second reference signal, the third reference signal, and either the first or the fourth reference signal (e.g., based on a receive signal strength of the first and fourth reference signals).),
based on the mapping relationship (Islam ‘220, 0106: To be able to monitor for all pending RAR responses, UE 115-a may transmit RACH preamble messages 210 in resources within a RAR window that correspond to reference signals 205 that UE 115-a may monitor or detect simultaneously.).
Re. Claim 26, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 25.
Islam ‘220 further teaches wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive the second message with an implicit indication from the wireless communication node (Islam ‘220, ¶0110: For example, base station 105-a may determine the resources used by UE 115-a for a RACH preamble message and may identify the corresponding reference signal based on the resources (e.g., in some cases, based on an SSB index). Base station 105-a may transmit the RAR message using the same downlink transmit antenna used for the corresponding reference signal.),
wherein the second message comprises a response to at least one successfully received copy of the preamble (Islam ‘220, ¶0110: If base station 105-a receives one or more of the RACH preamble messages 210, base station 105-a may transmit a RAR message on the downlink in response.), and
the implicit indication indicates at least one of the copies of the preamble (Islam ‘220, ¶0110: In some RACH procedures (e.g., contention-based random access procedures), UE 115-a may receive one or more of the RAR messages in response to the RACH preamble messages 210 (e.g., in the corresponding RAR windows), and may similarly determine to transmit one or more RACH Message 3 (Msg3) transmissions in response to continue the RACH procedure.).
Re. Claim 27, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 25.
Islam ‘220 further teaches RO indices of the uplink ROs carrying the copies of the preamble are continuous (Islam ‘220: ¶0101: This indication may configure the number of consecutive RACH preamble messages for UE 115-c to transmit using the same uplink transmit beam 405-a before expiration of the RAR window 415.);
the uplink ROs are allocated continuously in one of: a time domain, Additionally or alternatively, base station 105-a may transmit an indication of an association between RACH resources and synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), a set of dedicated RACH resources (e.g., time, frequency, or sequence), or other parameters for UE 115 synchronization. And ¶0101: This indication may configure the number of consecutive RACH preamble messages for UE 115-c to transmit using the same uplink transmit beam 405-a before expiration of the RAR window 415.);
the uplink ROs are selected from one of a plurality of aggregation RO resource sets that are different from and not shared with a legacy RO resource set used by wireless communication devices without preamble aggregation (Islam ‘220, ¶0120: In some cases, base station 105-c may configure UE 115-c to transmit a specific number of RACH messages in the dedicated RACH resources 420 and may include that specific number of TTIs for each uplink reception beam. And ¶0121: In some cases, UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages in dedicated RACH resources 420. [Since the RACH resources are dedicated, they would not be shared with UEs without preamble aggregation.]); and
the aggregation RO resource sets are associated with different preamble aggregation levels respectively (Islam ‘220, ¶0123: In a first example, UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages corresponding to a same reference signal (e.g., an SSB or CSI-RS) with different uplink transmit beams 405 (e.g., to implement a beam sweep). In a second example, UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages corresponding to a same reference signal with a same uplink transmit beam 405 (e.g., to improve the link budget of the RACH procedure). In a third example UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages corresponding to different reference signals with different uplink transmit beams 405 (e.g., either in interleaved or non-interleaved RAR windows 415, to improve RACH throughput).).
Re. Claim 28, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 25.
Islam ‘220 further teaches wherein: RO indices of the uplink ROs carrying the copies of the preamble are discontinuous (Islam ‘220, ¶0126: In the third example described above, UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages in interleaved or overlapped RAR windows 415.);
the uplink ROs are distributed discontinuously in one of: a time domain, a frequency domain, or a hybrid time-frequency domain (Islam ‘220, ¶0120: Additionally or alternatively, base station 105-c may allocate periodic or aperiodic sets of common RACH resources 425 in a pool of common RACH resources 430. [Aperiodic sets of resources are necessarily discontinuous in time. Since the allocated RACH resources are from a pool of common RACH resources, the resource sets are necessarily shared by other wireless communication devices. “Wireless communication devices with and without preamble aggregation” covers any set of wireless communication devices, as all wireless communication devices either support or don’t support preamble aggregation.]); and
the uplink ROs are selected from a RO resource set shared by wireless communication devices with and without preamble aggregation (Islam ‘220, ¶0120: Additionally or alternatively, base station 105-c may allocate periodic or aperiodic sets of common RACH resources 425 in a pool of common RACH resources 430. [Aperiodic sets of resources are necessarily discontinuous in time. Since the allocated RACH resources are from a pool of common RACH resources, the resource sets are necessarily shared by other wireless communication devices. “Wireless communication devices with and without preamble aggregation” covers any set of wireless communication devices, as all wireless communication devices either support or don’t support preamble aggregation.]).
Re. Claim 29, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 24.
Yet, Islam ‘220 does not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine that a transmit power of the wireless communication device reaches a maximum power based on the power ramping, wherein the first message is transmitted with preamble aggregation based on the determining.
However, in the related art, Kim teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine that a transmit power of the wireless communication device reaches a maximum power based on the power ramping (Kim, ¶0163: The condition ii is a modified condition of the condition i, and if the PRACH transmission power calculated by the UE reaches (or exceeds) a specific transmission power value Pset configured by the network and the UE transmits a RACH preamble by selecting different Tx beams, the UE transmits PRACH (that is, RACH preamble) at the corresponding power Pset as much as the certain number of times and then resets the PRACH transmission power to an initial value or a value configured by the network during PRACH retransmission.),
wherein the first message is transmitted with preamble aggregation based on the determining (Kim, ¶0163: The number of times that the UE is allowed to transmit RACH preamble at a transmission power Pset may be restricted, and the maximum number of times that the UE is allowed to transmit RACH preamble at a transmission power Pset may be equal to the number of beams of the UE or may be configured by the network.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of determining a number of RACH preamble messages for transmission of Islam ‘220 with the method for transmitting random access preamble of Kim. The resulting invention of would provide for improved throughput of a radio communication system (Kim, ¶0022).
Re. Claim 30, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 24.
Islam ‘220 further teaches wherein: the transceiver is further configured to receive, from the wireless communication node, an indication indicating a preamble aggregation level configured for the wireless communication device (Islam ‘220, ¶0120: In some cases, base station 105-c may configure UE 115-c to transmit a specific number of RACH messages in the dedicated RACH resources 420 and may include that specific number of TTIs for each uplink reception beam.); and
the at least one processor is further configured to determine the number of copies based on the preamble aggregation level (Islam ‘220, ¶0121: In some cases, UE 115-c may transmit multiple RACH preamble messages in dedicated RACH resources 420.).
Re. Claim 34, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 1.
Islam ‘220 further teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs (Islam ‘220, ¶0166: Device 1005 may include components for bi-directional voice and data communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, including UE multiple RACH preamble module 1015, processor 1020, memory 1025, software 1030, transceiver 1035, antenna 1040, and I/0 controller 1045. And ¶0168: Memory 1025 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). The memory 1025 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software 1030 including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform various functions described herein.),
wherein the one or more programs are executable by one or more processors to implement the method of claim 1 (Islam ‘220, And ¶0168: Memory 1025 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). The memory 1025 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software 1030 including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform various functions described herein. See claim 1 rejection).
Claims 22-23 and 31-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso as applied to claims 21 and 30 above, and further in view of Abedini et al. (US 2019/0215220), Abedini hereinafter.
Re. Claim 22, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 21.
Islam ‘220 further teaches determining the number of copies as a preamble aggregation level being no larger than a maximum value of uplink ROs mapped to a same downlink SSB (Islam ‘220, ¶0118: Base station 105-b may instead configure RACH resources for UE 115-b based on a pre-determined maximum number of RACH preamble messages a UE 115 may transmit before receiving a RAR.),
None of Islam ‘220, Kim, or Wu explicitly teaches wherein the maximum value is determined based on a parameter about SSB per RO.
However, in the related art, Abedini teaches wherein the maximum value is determined based on a parameter about SSB per RO (Abedini, ¶0006: In some cases, one or more SSBs may be mapped to one or more random access resources for initial access. For example, one SSB may be mapped to one random access resource, multiple SSBs may be mapped to one random access resource, one SSB may be mapped to multiple random access resources, and so forth.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Islam ‘220 as modified by the teaching of Kim, Wu, and Maso with the random access response techniques based on synchronization signal block transmissions of Abedini. The resulting combination would improve support for random access response based on SS block transmissions (Abedini, ¶0005).
Re. Claim 23, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, Masao, and Abedini teaches claim 22.
Islam ‘220 further teaches determining the uplink ROs carrying the copies of the preamble, based on subsets of a whole set of ROs configured in accordance with the maximum value (Islam ‘220, ¶0118: Base station 105-b may instead configure RACH resources for UE 115-b based on a pre-determined maximum number of RACH preamble messages a UE 115 may transmit before receiving a RAR. In some cases, base station 105-b may transmit this pre-determined maximum number of RACH preamble messages to UE 115-b in the resource configuration 310.),
wherein the subsets are determined by the wireless communication device or configured by the wireless communication node with a configuration of a subset size or a quantity of subsets (Islam ‘220, ¶0118: UE 115-b may receive the RACH configuration 310, and may initiate a RACH procedure (e.g., a contention-free random access procedure) by transmitting one or more RACH preamble messages within a RAR window based on the received RACH configuration 310.).
Re. Claim 31, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, Masao teaches claim 30.
Islam ‘220 further teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the number of copies as a preamble aggregation level being no larger than a maximum value of uplink ROs mapped to a same downlink SSB (Islam ‘220, ¶0118: Base station 105-b may instead configure RACH resources for UE 115-b based on a pre-determined maximum number of RACH preamble messages a UE 115 may transmit before receiving a RAR.),
None of Islam ‘220, Kim, Wu, or Masao explicitly teaches wherein the maximum value is determined based on a parameter about SSB per RO.
However, in the related art, Abedini teaches wherein the maximum value is determined based on a parameter about SSB per RO (Abedini, ¶0006: In some cases, one or more SSBs may be mapped to one or more random access resources for initial access. For example, one SSB may be mapped to one random access resource, multiple SSBs may be mapped to one random access resource, one SSB may be mapped to multiple random access resources, and so forth.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Islam ‘220 as modified by the teaching of Kim, Wu, and Maso with the random access response techniques based on synchronization signal block transmissions of Abedini. The resulting combination would improve support for random access response based on SS block transmissions (Abedini, ¶0005).
Re. Claim 32, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, Masao, and Abedini teaches claim 31,
Islam ‘220 further teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the uplink ROs carrying the copies of the preamble, based on subsets of a whole set of ROs configured in accordance with the maximum value (Islam ‘220, ¶0118: Base station 105-b may instead configure RACH resources for UE 115-b based on a pre-determined maximum number of RACH preamble messages a UE 115 may transmit before receiving a RAR. In some cases, base station 105-b may transmit this pre-determined maximum number of RACH preamble messages to UE 115-b in the resource configuration 310.),
wherein the subsets are determined by the wireless communication device or configured by the wireless communication node with a configuration of a subset size or a quantity of subsets (Islam ‘220, ¶0118: UE 115-b may receive the RACH configuration 310, and may initiate a RACH procedure (e.g., a contention-free random access procedure) by transmitting one or more RACH preamble messages within a RAR window based on the received RACH configuration 310.).
Re. Claim 33, Islam ‘220 in view of Kim, Wu, and Maso teaches claim 24.
Islam ‘220 further teaches wherein a maximum value of uplink ROs mapped to a same downlink SSB is determined to be one of 2, 4 or 8 (Islam ‘220, ¶0118: In some cases, base station 105-b may transmit this pre-determined maximum number of RACH preamble messages to UE 115-b in the resource configuration 310.),
None of Islam ‘220, Kim, Wu, or Masao explicitly teaches based on a reciprocal of a parameter about SSB per RO.
However, in the related art, Abedini teaches wherein based on a reciprocal of a parameter about SSB per RO (Abedini, ¶0006: In some cases, one or more SSBs may be mapped to one or more random access resources for initial access. For example, one SSB may be mapped to one random access resource, multiple SSBs may be mapped to one random access resource, one SSB may be mapped to multiple random access resources, and so forth. [The mappings between the SSBs and the random access resources as one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-one give the SSB per RO parameter.]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Islam ‘220 as modified by the teaching of Kim, Wu, and Maso with the random access response techniques based on synchronization signal block transmissions of Abedini. The resulting combination would improve support for random access response based on SS block transmissions (Abedini, ¶0005).
Conclusion
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/C.H.M./ Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417