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 .
DETAILED ACTION
a. Claims 1-19 in the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA :
- claims 1, 2, 5-7, 13, and 17 are amended
- claim 10 is cancelled
b. This is a final action on the merits based on Applicant’s claims submitted on 11/04/2025.
Response to Arguments
Regarding claims 1, 2, 5, 14, and 15 previously objected for informalities, claims 1, 2, 5, 14, and15 have been amended according to the examiner's recommendation and thus the previous objection has been withdrawn.
Regarding claim 17 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101, claim 17 has been amended according to the examiner's recommendation and thus the previous rejection has been withdrawn.
Regarding claims 5-7 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b), claims 5-7 have been amended according to the examiner's recommendation and thus the previous rejection has been withdrawn.
Regarding claims 12 and 13 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2), Applicant's first arguments, see “the Applicant notes that the above description does not come from Sun, but comes from another comparative document 2020/0296635” on page 8, filed on 11/04/2025, with respect to Sun et al. (US2020/0245367) are persuasive. The Examiner has fixed the typo error to indicate the erroneously cited paragraphs are related to the Rastegardoost’s reference (US 20200296635) instead of Sun’s reference.
Regarding Independent claim 1 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant's second arguments, see “Although Ericsson discloses that "Proposal 5: Default timing offset which is determined by common TA and maximum possible TA adjustment range indicated by RAN, can be used for random access procedure and/or RRC connection re-establish procedure", it does not specifically disclose how to determine a default timing offset according to "common TA and maximum possible TA adjustment range", nor does it specifically disclose that "the time offset corresponding to the first time offset is not less than a maximum value of a timing advance applied by UEs to transmit the preamble within the coverage range of a cell".” on page 11, filed on 11/04/2025, with respect to Ericsson, have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the previous rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of CMCC NPL “Discussion on timing relationship enhancements for NTN”, 3GPP R1-2006210, Aug 17-28, 2020 (hereinafter ”CMCC”), in combination with previously applied reference Sun. See section 35 USC 103 rejection below for complete details.
Regarding claim 2 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant's third arguments, see “it can be seen that the DCI disclosed in Rastegardoost is a DCI for scheduling msg2 (that is, RAR) after receiving msg1 of random access, which is essentially different from the DCI that "triggers a random access procedure" in claim 1. As a result, Rastegardoost does not disclose that "SSB ID and preamble ID are both indicated by the DCI".” on page 11, filed on 11/04/2025, with respect to have been fully considered but are moot, see discussion on Independent claim 1 above.
Regarding Independent claim 1, 14, and 17 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant's fourth arguments, see “In order to solve the above technical problems that may exist in the scenario of "UE performs timing advance pre-compensation when transmitting a preamble” on page 10, filed on 11/04/2025, with respect to Sun et al. (US2020/0245367), have been fully considered but are moot, over the limitations of “suitable for scenario where a User Equipment (UE) performs timing advance pre-compensation when transmitting a preamble”. Said limitations are newly added to the amended Claims 1, 14, and 17 and have been addressed in instant office action, as shown in section 35 USC 103 rejection below, with newly identified prior art teaching from newly found reference Qiu et al. US Pub 2022/0217790, claiming parent domestic priority 2019-09-30 (hereinafter “Qiu”), in combination with previously applied reference Sun, thus rendering said Applicant’s arguments moot.
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 of this title, 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.
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 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.
Claims 1, 3, 14, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. US Pub 2020/0245367 (hereinafter “Sun”), in view of Qiu et al. US Pub 2022/0217790, claiming parent domestic priority 2019-09-30 (hereinafter “Qiu”), and further in view of CMCC NPL “Discussion on timing relationship enhancements for NTN”, 3GPP R1-2006210, Aug 17-28, 2020 (hereinafter ”CMCC”).
Regarding claim 1 (Currently Amended)
Sun discloses a contention-free random access resource indication method (“the downlink control signal may carry or otherwise convey an indication of when (e.g., the random access occasions 710) random access signal transmissions may occur. In some aspects, the downlink control signal may carry or otherwise convey a set of contention-free preambles which can be used for random access signal transmissions and orders a set of UEs to perform random access signal transmission.” [0136]), comprising the following steps:
determining, from a random access triggering time, a time different from the random access triggering time by a first interval as a first time (“The base station may transmit or otherwise output a downlink control signal (e.g., DCI) to the UE that triggers one or more random access occasions and/or provides an indication of, or otherwise identifies, the location (e.g., time, frequency, and/or spatial location) for the triggered random access occasions.” [0004]), and selecting a random access occasion (RO) to carry the preamble at and after the first time (“The base station may configure the UE with a repetition factor for a pattern of the random access occasions (e.g., this may include indicating the number of repetitions of a specific pattern of random access occasions, all of which may be triggered by a single DCI). The base station may configure the UE with a preamble configuration for the random access signal (e.g., such as a contention free random access and contention based random access preamble split). The base station may configure the UE with a timing advance of the random access signal (e.g., whether any timing advance needs to be applied for the random access signal).” [0094]),
wherein the first interval is a time offset corresponding to a first time offset, and the random access triggering time is a time when Downlink Control Information (DCI) triggers a random access procedure (“The base station may configure the UE with one or more timing offsets (e.g., a set of time offsets that can be used in conjunction with the triggering DCI to locate the random access resources). For example, the base station may configure the UE with the first set of timing offsets for a random access occasion that is relative to a downlink control signal (e.g., DCI) and/or a second set of timing offsets for the random access occasion that is relative to a network configured reference point. That is, the base station can indicate to the UE whether the time offset is relative to the trigger (DCI) or an uplink burst in a channel occupancy time (e.g., slot format indicator/channel occupancy time indicator).” [0095]).
Sun does not specifically teach characterized by, suitable for scenario where a User Equipment (UE) performs timing advance pre-compensation when transmitting a preamble.
In an analogous art, Qiu discloses characterized by, suitable for scenario where a User Equipment (UE) performs timing advance pre-compensation when transmitting a preamble (“In some embodiments, a UE can estimate TA before initiating RACH, and use this TA to assist RACH. For example, the UE can apply the estimated TA before the transmission of random access preamble to mitigate the large transmission delay's impact on the RACH procedure. In some embodiments, the UE can estimate the TA based on the UE location information and satellite (BS) ephemeris, or by other methods. The discussion below provides examples of the RACH procedures where TA is not pre-compensated with TA estimated by UE (RACH without TA estimated by UE) and the RACH procedures where TA is pre-compensated with TA estimated by UE (RACH with TA estimated by UE). Pre-compensating TA can mean that the UE can apply the estimated TA before transmission of the random access preamble to the BS.” [0047]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, to include Qiu’s usage of a timing advance (TA) estimated by the wireless communication device for communication with the wireless communication node, in order to facilitate RACH transmission (Qiu [Abstract]).
Sun and Qiu do not specifically teach the time offset corresponding to the first time offset is not less than a maximum value of a timing advance applied by UEs to transmit the preamble within the coverage range of a cell.
In an analogous art, CMCC discloses the time offset (i.e. “K_offset”) corresponding to the first time offset is not less than a maximum value of a timing advance applied by UEs (“K_offset=f(full TA)”) to transmit the preamble within the coverage range of a cell (“For Opt 2 (i.e., gNB indicates common TA to all users within the coverage of the same beam via SIB/MIB), UE and gNB can have common understanding on full TA after UE received TA command in RAR, where,
full TA = common TA + TA command
then K_offset can be automatically determined by both UE and gNB via full TA, e.g.,
K_offset=f(full TA)
where, f(∙) denotes any function.
Nevertheless, for Opt 1 (i.e., UE can autonomously acquisition of the TA with known location and satellite ephemeris), only UE known full TA.
Assume that common TA is always indicated via system information in the scenario where UE unknown location can NOT be precluded in the coverage of a spot beam, it is preferred to determine default timing offset (K_offset^default) only based on common TA to achieve a unified design, which applies for both Opt 1 and Opt 2, as following
K_offset^default=f(common TA,max TA adjust range indicated by RAR)
For example, in the case of K_offset^default, common TA, and max TA adjust range indicated by RAR have the same time unit, K_offset^default can be determined as following
K_offset^default=⌈common TA+max TA adjust range indicated by RAR⌉
It can be guaranteed that K_offset^default is no less than the maximum propagation delay within the spot beam.” On page 5, section 2).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu, to include CMCC’s method for determining Koffset based on timing advance, in order to minimize propagation delay during transmission (CMCC, section 2). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate CMCC’s method for determining Koffset based on timing advance into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 3
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the contention-free random access resource indication method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method for selecting an RO to carry a preamble further comprises:
Sun further discloses selecting an RO in a first available SSB ID and RO association pattern (“which SSB(s)) are associated with the triggered random access occasions 210” [0105]) at and after the first time to carry a preamble (“In some aspects, the downlink control signal 605 may also carry or otherwise convey an indication of a configuration to map one or more SSBs to one or more random access occasions 610 and random access preambles. In some aspects, the configuration in the downlink control signal 605 may override or otherwise be used to update the configuration indicated in the configured random access parameters. For example, this may provide for different behavior of the triggered random access occasions 610 for different UEs. For example, the downlink control signal 605 may include an SSB bitmap that indicates which SSBs are associated with the triggered random access occasions 610. In some aspects, the mapping between the SSBs and the random access occasions 610 (and corresponding random access preambles) may be configured beforehand, with the downlink control signal 605 indicating or otherwise identifying an index to at least one of the configured mappings.” [0133]), wherein SSB ID and preamble ID are both indicated by the DCI (“In some aspects, the downlink control signal 205 may carry or otherwise convey an indication of a configuration mapping synchronization signal block(s) SSB(s). For example, the downlink control signal 205 may carry or convey an indication of which (e.g., which SSB(s)) are associated with the triggered random access occasions 210. This may include using or otherwise indicating an SSB bitmap in the downlink control signal 205 indicating which SSBs are mapped to the triggered random access occasions 210. In some aspects, this may include a mapping from SSBs to random access occasions 210 being defined in the downlink control signal 205.” [0105]).
Regarding claim 14
Sun discloses a contention-free random access resource indication UE device (“FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a device 1105 that supports triggered PRACH for NR-U in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1105 may be an example of aspects of a device 1005, or a UE 115 as described herein” [0158]), configured to implement the method according to claim 1, and characterized by comprising:
a UE receiving module (“receiver 1110” in Fig. 11, [0159]), configured to receive DCI,
a UE determining module (“communications manager 1115” in Fig. 11, [0160]), configured to determine an RO corresponding to DCI indication at and after a time offset corresponding to a first time offset superposed at a time when DCI triggers a random access procedure; and
a UE transmitting module (“transmitter 1140” in Fig. 11, [0165]), configured to transmit a preamble on the determined RO.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 14 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 12. Therefore apparatus claim 14 corresponds to method claim 12 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 12 rejection above.
Regarding claim 16
Sun discloses A contention-free random access resource indication device (“FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a device 1105 that supports triggered PRACH for NR-U in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1105 may be an example of aspects of a device 1005, or a UE 115 as described herein” [0158]), characterized by comprising: a memory , a processor, and a computer program (“An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include a processor, memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory.” [0006]) that is stored in the memory and is capable of running on the processor, wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the method according to claim 1.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 16 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1. Therefore apparatus claim 16 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 17 (Currently Amended)
Sun discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium, characterized in that the computer-readable medium stores a computer program (“A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a UE is described.” [0008]); the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method according to claim 1.
The scope and subject matter of non-transitory computer readable medium claim 17 is drawn to the computer program product of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1. Therefore computer program product claim 17 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 18
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses a mobile communication system (see Fig. 1), characterized by comprising at least one UE device (“UEs 115” [0051]) according to claim 14 and at least one network device (“base stations 105” [0051]).
Claims 2, 4-6, 12-13, 15, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun, in view of Qiu and CMCC, and further in view of Rastegardoost et al. US Pub 2020/0296635 (hereinafter “Rastegardoost”).
Regarding claim 2 (Currently Amended)
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the contention-free random access resource indication method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method for selecting an RO to carry a preamble further comprises:
Sun, Qiu, and CMCC do not specifically teach selecting an RO corresponding to Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) Mask ID in a first available Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) ID and RO association pattern at and after the first time to carry a preamble, wherein SSB ID, PRACH Mask ID and preamble ID are all indicated by the DCI.
In an analogous art, Rastegardoost discloses selecting an RO corresponding to Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) Mask ID in a first available Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) ID and RO association pattern at and after the first time to carry a preamble, wherein SSB ID, PRACH Mask ID and preamble ID are all indicated by the DCI (“the DCI format 1_0 may comprise at least one of the following fields: one or more random access preamble index, SS/PBCH index, PRACH mask index, UL/SUL indicator, frequency and time domain resource assignments, modulation and/or coding schemes.” [0323]; see also [0320]; [0419]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, to include Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band in order to properly issue a response to PRACH transmission (Rastegardoost [0323]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 4
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the contention-free random access resource indication method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method for selecting an RO to carry a preamble further comprises:
Sun, Qiu, and CMCC do not specifically teach selecting a first available RO corresponding to PRACH Mask ID indicated by DCI at and after the first time to carry a preamble, wherein PRACH Mask ID and preamble ID are both indicated by the DCI.
In an analogous art, Rastegardoost discloses selecting a first available RO corresponding to PRACH Mask ID indicated by DCI at and after the first time to carry a preamble, wherein PRACH Mask ID and preamble ID are both indicated by the DCI (“The downlink control signal may comprise one or more parameters of a random access procedure in the target cell. For example, the downlink control signal may comprise at least one of following: a random access preamble index; a SS/PBCH index (or a CSI-RS index) of the target cell; a PRACH mask index that indicates a RACH occasion (RO) associated with the SS/PBCH (or the CSI-RS) indicated by the SS/PBCH index (or the CSI-RS index) for PRACH transmission. The downlink control signal may further comprise a third time offset to indicate the dynamically scheduled RO in the target cell.” [0422]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, to include Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band in order to properly issue a response to PRACH transmission (Rastegardoost [0323]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 5 (Currently Amended)
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses The contention-free random access resource indication method according to claim 1,
Sun further discloses characterized in that the first time offset is obtained in any one of the following ways:
indicated in information that is transmitted by a network device to a UE (“The base station may configure the UE with one or more timing offsets (e.g., a set of time offsets that can be used in conjunction with the triggering DCI to locate the random access resources). For example, the base station may configure the UE with the first set of timing offsets for a random access occasion that is relative to a downlink control signal (e.g., DCI) and/or a second set of timing offsets for the random access occasion that is relative to a network configured reference point. That is, the base station can indicate to the UE whether the time offset is relative to the trigger (DCI) or an uplink burst in a channel occupancy time (e.g., slot format indicator/channel occupancy time indicator).” [0095]);
indicated in information that is reported by the UE to the network device (“In some aspects, the UE may also use the channel occupancy time indicator and/or slot format indicator from the control signal (e.g., common PDCCH (CPDCCH) or group common-PDCCH) to determine or otherwise identify a start of uplink, and use the timing offset from the configuration (e.g., RMSI and/or RRC signaling) to compute the location of the random access occasions 210, e.g., to compute the timing offset 215.” [0101]);
a corresponding relation with a timing advance compensated by the UE itself (“UE may also use the channel occupancy time indicator and/or slot format indicator from the control signal (e.g., common PDCCH (CPDCCH) or group common-PDCCH) to determine or otherwise identify a start of uplink, and use the timing offset from the configuration (e.g., RMSI and/or RRC signaling) to compute the location of the random access occasions 210, e.g., to compute the timing offset 215.” [0101]);
Sun, Qiu, and CMCC do not specifically teach a corresponding relation with a maximum timing advance compensated by UEs within the service range of a cell; acquired by a device through writing or measurement; the information is DCI, upper-layer Radio Resource Control (RRC )signaling under the condition that the first time offset is indicated in the information that is transmitted by the network device to the UE; the reported information is information carried by Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) under the condition that the first time offset is indicated in the information that is reported by the UE to the network device.
In an analogous art, Rastegardoost discloses has a corresponding relation with a maximum timing advance compensated by UEs within the service range of a cell (“A wireless device may perform a RACH procedure during handover to obtain a timing advance (TA) value and an UL grant for PUSCH transmission (e.g., RRC reconfiguration complete message) to the target cell.” [0401]);
acquired by a device through writing or measurement (“For example, a first time offset “k” may be indicated by the handover command (or RRC reconfiguration message) to determine the earliest CORESET/search space set of the target cell. For example, a wireless device capability (e.g., DL/UL switching time, BWP switching time, DL preparation time, and/or measurement gap) may indicate a second time offset “1” to determine the earliest CORESET/search space set, and/or the semi-statically configured CORESET/search space set of the target cell.” [0416]);
the information is DCI, upper-layer Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling under the condition that the first time offset is indicated in the information that is transmitted by the network device to the UE (“the wireless device may start a monitoring window for the downlink control signal (e.g., PRACH trigger signal and/or DCI) in subframe/slot/symbol “n+k+1”, where “k” (k>=1) may be the first time offset indicated by the handover command (e.g., the RRC reconfiguration message), and “1” (l>=1) may be the second time offset determined based on the wireless device capability.” [0421]);
the reported information is information carried by Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) (a secondary base station may initiate a reconfiguration of the secondary base station existing serving cells (e.g. PUCCH towards the secondary base station)“[0272]) or PUSCH (“a DCI detection to a PUSCH transmission timing value; an offset of a first PRB of a DL bandwidth or an UL bandwidth, respectively, relative to a first PRB of a bandwidth.” [0257]) under the condition that the first time offset is indicated in the information that is reported by the UE to the network device.
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, to include Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band in order to properly issue a response to PRACH transmission (Rastegardoost [0323]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 6 (Currently Amended)
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the contention-free random access resource indication method according to claim 1,
Sun does not specifically teach characterized in that a time unit of a time offset corresponding to the first time offset is millisecond.
In an analogous art, Rastegardoost discloses characterized in that a time unit of a time offset corresponding to the first time offset is millisecond (“For example, the third time offset may be indicated as “i” (i>=0), where “i” may be in ms and/or number of slots/subframes/symbols.” [0418]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, to include Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band in order to properly issue a response to PRACH transmission (Rastegardoost [0323]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 12
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the method according to claim 1, applied to a UE device (“FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a device 1105 that supports triggered PRACH for NR-U in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1105 may be an example of aspects of a device 1005, or a UE 115 as described herein” [0158]) and characterized by comprising the following steps:
Sun, Qiu and CMCC do not specifically teach acquiring the first time offset; and receiving DCI triggering a random access procedure, and selecting an RO corresponding to DCI indication to transmit the preamble at and after the time offset corresponding to the first time offset superposed at the time when DCI is received.
In an analogous art, Rastegardoost discloses acquiring the first time offset (“The wireless device may employ the first time offset “k” and/or the second time offset “1” to monitor for the PRACH trigger signal (e.g., DCI) in a CORESET/search space set.” [0416]); and
receiving DCI triggering a random access procedure, and selecting an RO corresponding to DCI indication to transmit the preamble at and after the time offset corresponding to the first time offset superposed at the time when DCI is received (“The downlink control signal (e.g., PRACH trigger signal and/or DCI) may comprise a third time offset to indicate a dynamically scheduled RACH occasion (RO) for the wireless device to transmit a preamble to the target base station. For example, the third time offset may be indicated as “i” (i>=0), where “i” may be in ms and/or number of slots/subframes/symbols. The value of “i” may be determined based on the wireless device capability. The value of “i” may be pre-defined. The value of “i” may be configured by RRC.” [0418]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, to include Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band in order to properly issue a response to PRACH transmission (Rastegardoost [0323]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 13 (Currently Amended)
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the method according to claim 1, characterized by being applied to a network device (“FIG. 17 shows a diagram of a system 1700 including a device 1705 that supports triggered PRACH for NR-U in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1705 may be an example of or include the components of device 1405, device 1505, or a base station 105 as described herein.” [0209]) and comprising the following steps:
Sun, Qiu and CMCC do not specifically teach acquiring the first time offset; and transmitting DCI triggering a random access procedure, and selecting one or a plurality of ROs corresponding to DCI indication to receive and detect the preamble at and after the time offset corresponding to the first time offset superposed at the time when DCI is transmitted.
In an analogous art, Rastegardoost discloses acquiring the first time offset (“The wireless device may employ the first time offset “k” and/or the second time offset “1” to monitor for the PRACH trigger signal (e.g., DCI) in a CORESET/search space set.” [0416]); and
transmitting DCI triggering a random access procedure, and selecting one or a plurality of ROs corresponding to DCI indication to receive and detect the preamble at and after the time offset corresponding to the first time offset superposed at the time when DCI is transmitted (“The base station may transmit, to the wireless device, a DCI indicating a random access channel occasion (RO) of the second cell. The base station may receive a preamble from the wireless device via the RO in response to the DCI. The base station may transmit to the wireless device a response of the preamble.” [0426]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, to include Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band in order to properly issue a response to PRACH transmission (Rastegardoost [0323]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Rastegardoost’s method for handover in unlicensed band into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 15
Sun discloses a contention-free random access resource indication network device (“FIG. 17 shows a diagram of a system 1700 including a device 1705 that supports triggered PRACH for NR-U in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1705 may be an example of or include the components of device 1405, device 1505, or a base station 105 as described herein.” [0209]), configured to implement the method according to claim 1, and characterized by comprising:
a network transmitting module (“transceiver 1720” in Fig. 17; [0212]), configured to transmit DCT,
a network determining module (“communication manager 1710” in Fig. 17; [0210]), configured to determine one or a plurality of ROs corresponding to DCI indication at and after a time offset corresponding to a first time offset superposed at a time when DCI is transmitted; and
a network receiving module (“transceiver 1720” in Fig. 17; [0212]), configured to receive and detect a preamble at a determined RO.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 15 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 13. Therefore apparatus claim 15 corresponds to method claim 13 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 13 rejection above.
Regarding claim 19
Sun, as modified by Qiu, CMCC, and Rastergardoost, previously discloses a mobile communication system,
Sun further discloses characterized by comprising at least one UE device and at least one network device according to claim 15 (“FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system 100 that supports triggered PRACH for NR-U in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and a core network 130.” [0051]).
Claims 7-9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun, in view of Qiu and CMCC, and further in view of Ericsson NPL “Feature lead summary on timing relationship enhancements”, 3GPP R1-200xxxx, August 17th – 28th, 2020 (hereinafter “Ericsson”).
Regarding claim 7 (Currently Amended)
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the contention-free random access resource indication method according to claim 1,
Sun further discloses characterized in that a time unit of a time offset corresponding to the first time offset is slot (“the base station can indicate to the UE whether the time offset is relative to the trigger (DCI) or an uplink burst in a channel occupancy time (e.g., slot format indicator/channel occupancy time indicator).” [0095]), and
Sun, Qiu, and CMCC do not specifically teach the time offset corresponding to the first time offset is:
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wherein Koffset is the first time offset, 2µPRACH is based on uplink subcarrier spacing configuration, 2µPDSCH is based on downlink subcarrier spacing configuration, and p is a downlink slot at which DCI triggering random access is present.
In an analogous art, Ericsson discloses the time offset corresponding to the first time offset is:
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wherein Koffset is the first time offset, 2µPRACH is based on uplink subcarrier spacing configuration, 2µPDSCH is based on downlink subcarrier spacing configuration, and p is a downlink slot at which DCI triggering random access is present (“Chapter 1, Issue #1: Timing relationships that need Koffset. Ericsson discusses the Koffset introduction to enhance several timing relationships. It refers to the transmission timing of DCI scheduled PUSCH and provides the first equation on pages 1 and 2 which indicates the slot where the PUSCH is transmitted when a Koffset is introduced, where n is the slot with the scheduling DCI and µPDSCH are the subcarrier spacing configurations for PUSCH and PDCCH, respectively).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, to include Ericsson’s method for establishing timing relationships with Koffset, in order to properly calculate respective timing values (Ericsson [Chapter 1 - Issue #1: Timing relationships that need Koffset]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Ericsson’s method for establishing timing relationships with Koffset into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 8
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the contention-free random access resource indication method according to claim 1, characterized in that
Sun, Qiu, and CMCC do not specifically teach the time offset corresponding to the first time offset is not less than a timing advance applied by the UE to transmit the preamble.
In an analogous art, Ericsson discloses the time offset corresponding to the first time offset is not less than a timing advance applied by the UE to transmit the preamble (“Proposal 5: Default timing offset (K_offset^default), which is determined by common TA and maximum possible TA adjustment range indicated by RAN, can be used for random access procedure and/or RRC connection re-establish procedure.” CMCC, on page 5).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, to include Ericsson’s method for establishing timing relationships with Koffset, in order to properly calculate respective timing values (Ericsson [Chapter 1 - Issue #1: Timing relationships that need Koffset]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Ericsson’s method for establishing timing relationships with Koffset into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 9
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the contention-free random access resource indication method according to claim 1, characterized in that
Sun further discloses the time offset corresponding to the first time offset is not less than the sum of a timing advance applied by the UE to transmit the preamble (“For example, the time duration indicated in the downlink control signal 205 may signal the time duration 220 and/or correspond to the number of cycles for which the triggered random access occasions 210 are valid. That is, when multiple random access occasions 210 are triggered, the downlink control signal 205 may indicate the number of random access occasions 210 and/or time validity of random access occasions 210 that are triggered. For example, the downlink control signal 205 may indicate that the triggered random access occasions 210 are valid for a certain number of slots, subframes, frames, and the like.” [0104] and also [0112]; [0119]; Figs. 2-4),.
Sun, Qiu, and CMCC do not specifically teach a processing delay.
In an analogous art, Ericsson discloses a processing delay (“Proposal 3: To reduce the scheduling delay, support updating Koffset from cell-specific to beam-specific.” Huawei, HiSilicon R1-2005265, on page 8, section 2.1)
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, to include Ericsson’s method for establishing timing relationships with Koffset, in order to properly calculate respective timing values (Ericsson [Chapter 1 - Issue #1: Timing relationships that need Koffset]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Ericsson’s method for establishing timing relationships with Koffset into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 11
Sun, as modified by Qiu and CMCC, previously discloses the contention-free random access resource indication method according to claim 1, characterized in that
CMCC further discloses the time offset (i.e. “K_offset”) corresponding to the first time offset is not less than a maximum value of a timing advance applied by UEs (“K_offset=f(full TA)”) to transmit the preamble within the coverage range of a cell (“For Opt 2 (i.e., gNB indicates common TA to all users within the coverage of the same beam via SIB/MIB), UE and gNB can have common understanding on full TA after UE received TA command in RAR, where,
full TA = common TA + TA command
then K_offset can be automatically determined by both UE and gNB via full TA, e.g.,
K_offset=f(full TA)
where, f(∙) denotes any function.
Nevertheless, for Opt 1 (i.e., UE can autonomously acquisition of the TA with known location and satellite ephemeris), only UE known full TA.
Assume that common TA is always indicated via system information in the scenario where UE unknown location can NOT be precluded in the coverage of a spot beam, it is preferred to determine default timing offset (K_offset^default) only based on common TA to achieve a unified design, which applies for both Opt 1 and Opt 2, as following
K_offset^default=f(common TA,max TA adjust range indicated by RAR)
For example, in the case of K_offset^default, common TA, and max TA adjust range indicated by RAR have the same time unit, K_offset^default can be determined as following
K_offset^default=⌈common TA+max TA adjust range indicated by RAR⌉
It can be guaranteed that K_offset^default is no less than the maximum propagation delay within the spot beam.” On page 5, section 2)
Sun, Qiu, and CMCC do not specifically teach a processing delay.
In an analogous art, Ericsson discloses a processing delay (“Proposal 3: To reduce the scheduling delay, support updating Koffset from cell-specific to beam-specific.” Huawei, HiSilicon R1-2005265, on page 8, section 2.1)
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio, as modified by Qiu and CMCC to include Ericsson’s method for establishing timing relationships with Koffset, in order to properly calculate respective timing values (Ericsson [Chapter 1 - Issue #1: Timing relationships that need Koffset]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Ericsson’s method for establishing timing relationships with Koffset into Sun’s method for triggering PRACH for New Radio since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG M NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-8184. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am - 6:30pm.
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/CHUONG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411