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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/5/2026 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 1/2/2026 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, claims 1 and 11 have been amended. New claims 16-17 have been added.
Claims 1, 3-11, and 13-17 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3-4, 11, 13-14, and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei et al. (US 2021/0315049 A1), hereinafter referred to as Wei, in view of Tsai et al. (US 2021/0307055 A1), hereinafter referred to as Tsai.
Re. Claim 1, Wei teaches:
A wireless communication method, (Abstract: A method and a User Equipment (UE) for small data transmission are provided & ¶0296 FIG. 18 illustrates a block diagram of a node 1800 for wireless communication according to an implementation of the present disclosure)
comprising: receiving, by a wireless communication device from a network via first signaling, Small Data Transmission (SDT) information, (¶0007 a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) [i.e. wireless communication device] for small data transmission is provided… The method includes receiving, when operating in a Radio Resource Control (RRC)_CONNECTED state, an RRC release message from a Base Station (BS), the RRC release message indicating at least one downlink (DL) Reference Signal (RS), at least one Configured Grant (CG) resource and information indicating an association between the at least one DL RS and the at least one CG resource; … selecting, from the at least one CG resource, a particular CG resource for the small data transmission [i.e. SDT information determined when RRC received from base station])
wherein the SDT information comprises SDT Configured Grant (CG) configuration; (¶0007 receiving, when operating in a Radio Resource Control (RRC)_CONNECTED state, an RRC release message from a Base Station (BS), the RRC release message indicating at least one downlink (DL) Reference Signal (RS), at least one Configured Grant (CG) resource [i.e. receiving the possible SDT configurations] …selecting, from the at least one CG resource, a particular CG resource for the small data transmission [i.e. selecting a SDT configuration] …determining whether a Timing Advance (TA) value for the particular CG resource is valid for the small data transmission)
and performing, by the wireless communication device with the network, SDT procedure using the SDT information; (¶0007 performing the small data transmission on the particular CG resource)
Yet, Wei does not explicitly teach: receiving, by the wireless communication device from the network via second signaling different from the first signaling, Time Alignment (TA) information for maintaining TA of the SDT CG configuration, in response to receiving the TA information via the second signaling, initiating, by the wireless communication device, a timer; and in response to determining that the timer has expired, releasing, by the wireless communication device, SDT CG resources.
However, in the analogous art, Tsai teaches such limitations:
receiving, by the wireless communication device from the network via second signaling different from the first signaling, Time Alignment (TA) information for maintaining TA of the SDT CG configuration, (¶0304 The UE may receive the RRC release message from the cell of the NW while the UE is in the RRC_CONNECTED state in action 202, where the RRC release message may include the CG configuration, an IE suspendConfig, a configuration for a TA timer (e.g., an IE for the TA timer), and/or a configuration for small data transmission. [i.e. first signaling for SDT information] & ¶0307 The UE may(re)start the TA timer in a case that the UE receives a Timing Advance command while the UE is in RRC_INACTIVE state. The UE may release the CG configuration in a case that the TA timer expires while the UE is in RRC_INACTIVE state, where the Timing Advance command may be included in one of an RAR, a MAC CE (e.g., a Timing Advance Command MAC CE) [i.e. Timing Advance command, which is considered Time Alignment information for maintaining TA of the SDT SC configuration, is included in a MAC CE, which is different signaling from the RRC message for SDT CG configuration information])
in response to receiving the TA information via the second signaling, initiating, by the wireless communication device, a timer; (¶0307 The UE may(re)start the TA timer in a case that the UE receives a Timing Advance command [i.e. starting (initiating) a timer in response to receiving the Timing Advance command (TA information)] while the UE is in RRC_INACTIVE state.)
and in response to determining that the timer has expired, releasing, by the wireless communication device, SDT CG resources. (¶0307 The UE may release the CG configuration in a case that the TA timer expires while the UE is in RRC_INACTIVE state)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Tsai’s teaching of receiving timing alignment information from the network for maintaining TA of the SDT CG configuration, because it would enable the use of a timing alignment timer which may be used for the release of the CG resources while the UE is in an inactive state. (see Tsai ¶0304)
Re. Claim 3, Wei combined with Tsai teaches claim 1.
Wei further teaches:
wherein the wireless communication method comprises: in response to receiving the TA information and determining that the TA information is maintained: (¶0156-¶0157 In the RRC_CONNECTED state, the BS may maintain the TA value(s). An RRC_CONNECTED UE may be configured, by the BS via a DL RRC message, with a timeAlignmentTimer for each TAG. The timeAlignmentTimer may (re)start when the UE receives a TA value from the BS [i.e. the device determines the TA information is maintained by BS when it is received from the BS] & ¶0158 The TA value may be indicated by a TA command included in an RAR message or a DL MAC CE. In the RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE may dynamically or aperiodically receive a TA command for TA maintenance.)
applying the TA information; (¶0157 The timeAlignmentTimer may (re)start when the UE receives a TA value from the BS. The TA value may be an absolute timing value that the UE should take into consideration when determining the time-domain position of an UL transmission. The TA value may be an offset in time domain that the UE should take into consideration when adjusting the current TA value for UL transmission. & ¶0160 the UE 820 may perform TA validation check to determine whether there is any valid TA value applicable for small data transmission [i.e. applies the TA information to small data transmission when there is valid TA value].)
and starting or restarting the timer. (¶0193 The TA-related timer may be started or restarted when TA validation check procedure is performed and the TA value is considered valid.)
Re. Claim 4, Wei combined with Tsai teaches claim 1.
Wei further teaches:
wherein the SDT information comprises SDT Random Access Channel (RACH) configuration; (¶0096 a BS transmits indication information to indicate that the BS supports a SDT procedure. For example, the SDT procedure is at least one of: a RACH based SDT procedure & ¶0099 the BS transmits a message during a RACH based SDT procedure… The message includes the configuration information [i.e. SDT information with configuration])
and the wireless communication method comprises: receiving, from the network, the TA information with the SDT RACH configuration. (¶0099 the BS transmits a message during a RACH based SDT procedure of a UE (e.g., UE 101, UE 210, or UE 310 as shown and illustrated in any of FIGS. 1-3). The message includes the configuration information, and the configuration information configures… to the UE, a dedicated TAT for the SDT procedure [i.e. TA information with the configuration for RACH based SDT procedure])
Re. Claim 11, Wei teaches:
A wireless communication device, comprising: at least one processor (Wei: ¶0296 FIG. 18 illustrates a block diagram of a node 1800 for wireless communication according to an implementation of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 18, the node 1800 may include a transceiver 1806, a processor 1808,). The remaining limitations of claim 11 does not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim 1. Therefore, claim 11 is also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim 1.
Re. Claim 13, Wei combined with Tsai teaches claim 11.
Wei further teaches:
A wireless communication device, comprising: at least one processor (¶0296 FIG. 18 illustrates a block diagram of a node 1800 for wireless communication according to an implementation of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 18, the node 1800 may include a transceiver 1806, a processor 1808,). The remaining limitations of claim 13 does not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim 3. Therefore, claim 13 is also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim 3.
Claim 14 is further directed to device claims and does not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim 4. Therefore, claim 14 is also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim 4.
Re. Claim 16, Wei combined with Tsai teaches claim 1.
Tsai further teaches:
wherein the first signaling comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling; (¶0304 The UE may receive the RRC release message from the cell of the NW while the UE is in the RRC_CONNECTED state in action 202, where the RRC release message may include the CG configuration, an IE suspendConfig, a configuration for a TA timer (e.g., an IE for the TA timer), and/or a configuration for small data transmission. [i.e. RRC release message considered first signaling for SDT information])
and the second signaling comprises Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) (¶0307 The UE may (re)start the TA timer in a case that the UE receives a Timing Advance command while the UE is in RRC_INACTIVE state. The UE may release the CG configuration in a case that the TA timer expires while the UE is in RRC_INACTIVE state, where the Timing Advance command may be included in one of an RAR, a MAC CE (e.g., a Timing Advance Command MAC CE) [i.e. Timing Advance command, which is considered the second signaling, is included in a MAC CE])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Tsai’s teaching of receiving a MAC-CE containing timing alignment information from the network for maintaining TA of the SDT CG configuration, because it would enable the use of a timing alignment timer which may be used for the release of the CG resources while the UE is in an inactive state. (see Tsai ¶0304)
Claim 17 is further directed to a device claim and does not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim 16. Therefore, claim 17 is rejected for similar reasons as described for claim 16.
Claims 5-6, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei combined with Tsai, and further in view of Singh et al (US 2023/0389081 A1), hereinafter referred to as Singh.
Re. Claim 5, Wei combined with Tsai teaches claim 1.
Wei further teaches:
wherein the SDT information comprises SDT Random Access Channel (RACH) configuration, and the wireless communication method comprises: (¶0096 a BS transmits indication information to indicate that the BS supports a SDT procedure. For example, the SDT procedure is at least one of: a RACH based SDT procedure & ¶0099 the BS transmits a message during a RACH based SDT procedure. The message includes the configuration information [i.e. SDT RACH information with configuration])
in initiating the SDT procedure, applying first TA information (¶0160 the UE 820 may perform TA validation check to determine whether there is any valid TA value applicable for small data transmission [i.e. applies the TA information to small data transmission when there is valid TA value, which initiates the SDT procedure].)
and initiating the timer. (¶0193 The TA-related timer may be started or restarted when TA validation check procedure is performed and the TA value is considered valid [i.e. initiates the timer when initiating the SDT procedure].)
Yet, the combined references do not teach: during performing the SDT procedure, in response to determining that the timer is not running: initiating a Random Access (RA) procedure in which uplink synchronization is obtained in a RRC-Inactive state; and in response to determining that the SDT procedure ends and that the wireless communication device enters into an Radio Resource Control (RRC)-Inactive state, terminating the timer, wherein the timer is reinitiated in response to receiving any TA information.
However, in the analogous art, Singh teaches such limitations:
during performing the SDT procedure, in response to determining that the timer is not running: initiating a Random Access (RA) procedure in which uplink synchronization is obtained in a RRC-Inactive state; (Singh, ¶0053 The nodes of this network 1 are configured to support small data transmission services for the UE 3 in RRC INACTIVE state using configured grant (whilst an associated Time Alignment Timer (TAT) is valid). When the TAT has run out and the UE 3 still has data to send, the UE 3 can initiate small data transmission through an appropriate random access procedure (either 2-step or 4-step random access).)
and in response to determining that the SDT procedure ends and that the wireless communication device enters into an Radio Resource Control (RRC)-Inactive state, terminating the timer, (Fig. 6 (Case 5) – Expire TAT (reads on timer being terminated when SDT procedure ends; the following mapping shows the device entering RRC-Inactive state as a part of the SDT procedure being completed and as part of the same process) & ¶0094 As part of suspending the RRC connection or completing the small data transmission procedure and staying in RRC-Inactive mode, the base station 5 transmits an appropriately formatted RRC message to the UE 3)
wherein the timer is reinitiated in response to receiving any TA information. (Reads on initiating timer once RAR with TAC is received: Fig. 8 (S1) & Within step S1, the network transmits a Random Access Response including a time advance command (TAC). This allows the UE 3 to restart its TAT)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei and Tsai’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Singh’s teaching of initiating a random access procedure in RRC-inactive state, because it would allow the system to use either 2 or 4 step random access procedure in a case where the UE still has data to send. (see Singh ¶0053)
Re. Claim 6, Wei combined with Tsai teaches claim 1.
Wei further teaches:
wherein the SDT information comprises SDT Random Access Channel (RACH) configuration; (¶0096 a BS transmits indication information to indicate that the BS supports a SDT procedure. For example, the SDT procedure is at least one of: a RACH based SDT procedure & ¶0099 the BS transmits a message during a RACH based SDT procedure. The message includes the configuration information [i.e. SDT RACH information with configuration])
Yet, the combined references do not teach: and using the SDT RACH configuration for the SDT procedure in response to determining that using the SDT CG configuration has failed.
Yet, in the analogous art, Singh teaches such a limitation:
and using the SDT RACH configuration for the SDT procedure in response to determining that using the SDT CG configuration has failed. (Fig. 8 & ¶0083 Thus, in the RRC INACTIVE state, and whilst an associated Time Alignment Timer (TAT) is valid, the UE 3 can perform small data transmission using its configured grant. When the TAT has run out, the UE 3 can initiate small data transmission through an appropriate random access procedure (either 2-step or 4-step random access). & ¶0123 It is assumed that a CG is (re)activated when the associated TAT is running, and deactivated when the TAT expires. When the CG is de-activated (or all CGs are de-activated if there are multiple), small data transmission can only be done through either a 4-step or a 2-step random access procedure. In the examples shown in FIG. 8, the 4-step random access procedure is used)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei and Tsai’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Singh’s teaching of initiating a random access procedure in RRC-inactive state, because it would allow the system to use either 2 or 4 step random access procedure in a case where the UE still has data to send. (see Singh ¶0053)
Claim 15 is further directed to a device claim and does not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim 5. Therefore, claim 15 is also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim 5
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei combined with Tsai and Singh, and further in view of Yue et al. (US 2023/0413207 A1), hereinafter referred to as Yue.
Re. Claim 7, Wei combined with Tsai and Singh teach claim 6.
Wei further teaches:
and the wireless communication method further comprises: in response to determining that the first timer has expired, release the SDT CG resources; (¶0007 and the at least one CG resource is released when the TA-related timer expires.)
Singh further teaches:
in response to determining that another cell of the network has been selected: stopping the first timer (Singh, ¶0095 Thus, when the CG is cell specific (when the ConfigGrantforSmallDataTransmission IE in step S3 or S5 is valid for the current cell only), the UE 3 will expire the TAT upon cell reselection and release any CG for SDT.) *examiner notes that only one limitation has been examined due to the presence of alternative limitations
and releasing or suspending the SDT CG configurations; (Singh, ¶0095 Thus, when the CG is cell specific (when the ConfigGrantforSmallDataTransmission IE in step S3 or S5 is valid for the current cell only), the UE 3 will expire the TAT upon cell reselection and release any CG for SDT.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei and Tsai’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Singh’s teaching stopping the first or second timer in response to determining that another cell of the network has been selected, because it would allow the system avoid transmissions in the UE’s new cell using resources that may not be appropriate for SDT in that cell. (see Singh ¶0053)
Yet, the combined references do not teach: wherein the timer comprises a first timer corresponds to the SDT CG configuration a second timer corresponds to the SDT RACH configuration. in response to initiating the SDT procedure using the SDT RACH configuration and receiving from the network, Time Alignment (TA) information: apply the TA information stop the first timer and starting the second timer; and in response to determining that the SDT procedure has ended and the wireless communication device is set to a Radio Resource Control (RRC)-Inactive state: maintaining the first timer or the second timer upon determining that CG resources are valid and stopping the first timer or the second timer upon determining that the CG resources are invalid.
However, in the analogous art, Yue teaches such limitations:
wherein the timer comprises a first timer corresponds to the SDT CG configuration (¶0109 At least one TAT for SDT (e.g., one TAT is for RACH based SDT TAT and one TAT is for CG type 1 based SDT TAT) can be configured in a system broadcast message),
and a second timer corresponds to the SDT RACH configuration. (Yue, ¶0107 A separate Msg3/MsgA HARQ buffer for a RACH based SDT procedure (for example, Msg3-SDT) can be specified or configured. [0108] (2) A HARQ process associated with the separate Msg3/MsgA HARQ buffer is specified or configured. [0109] (3) At least one TAT for SDT (e.g., one TAT is for RACH based SDT TAT and one TAT is for CG type 1 based SDT TAT) can be configured in a system broadcast message, for example, SIB1 or with the indication of supporting SDT.)
in response to initiating the SDT procedure using the SDT RACH configuration and receiving from the network, Time Alignment (TA) information: apply the TA information (Yue, ¶0091 If the UE receives the PDCCH message and the PDCCH message includes timing advance adjustment, the UE may apply the timing advance adjustment & ¶0156 when a Timing Advance Command MAC control element is received or PDCCH indicates timing advance adjustment as specified in TS 36.212 [5] during SDT (Including RACH based and CG type 1 based SDT): [0157] apply the Timing Advance Command or the timing advance adjustment;)
stop the first timer (Yue, ¶0076-¶0077 In some embodiments, the UE performs a RACH based SDT procedure. Then, the UE receives, during the RACH based SDT procedure, configuration information regarding another TAT for the SDT procedure. In some cases, the UE overrides the TAT for the SDT procedure by the abovementioned another TAT for the SDT procedure. (This reads on stopping the first timer, as the timer will now be overridden and used for another purpose when TAT is restarted));
and starting the second timer; (Yue, ¶0091 If the UE receives the PDCCH message and the PDCCH message includes timing advance adjustment, the UE may apply the timing advance adjustment, and start or restart the TAT for the SDT procedure. & ¶0112 The at least one TAT is restarted once a TAC MAC CE is received or a PDCCH transmission indicates timing advance adjustment.)
and in response to determining that the SDT procedure has ended and the wireless communication device is set to a Radio Resource Control (RRC)-Inactive state: maintaining the first timer or the second timer upon determining that CG resources are valid (Yue, ¶0052 After the contention resolution, the UE could be still in the RRC_INACTIVE state. However, an issue regarding how to handle the TAC received in Msg2 when the SDT TAT is running has not been addressed yet. & ¶0054 Embodiments of the present application provide a mechanism for handling TA for a SDT procedure of a UE in 3GPP 5G NR system or the like to solve any of the above issues. & ¶0142 When a TAC is received in a Random Access Response message during a SDT procedure or in a MsgB for a SDT procedure for a serving cell, the UE ignores the received TAC if the SDT TAT is running and the TA for SDT is valid.);
and stopping the first timer or the second timer upon determining that the CG resources are invalid. (Yue, ¶0151 A TAC is received in a Random Access Response message (e.g., Msg2) for which procedure the contention resolution has not been successfully completed. [0152] (2) The UE applies the TAC and starts or restarts the SDT-timeAlignmentTimer if TA is not valid. [0153] (3) Once the contention resolution is considered as not successful, the TA for SDT should be considered as invalid, and the UE stops the SDT-timeAlignmentTimer and all the other configured TA related counter or timer.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei, Tsai, and Singh’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Yue’s teaching of a timer corresponding to SDT and a timer corresponding to a SDT RACH configuration, because it would allow for a TAT to be utilized for each configuration. (See Yue ¶0054-¶0057)
Claims 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei combined with Tsai, and further in view of Shih et al. (US 2022/0095410 A1), hereinafter referred to as Shih.
Re. Claim 8, Wei combined with Tsai teaches claim 1.
Yet, the combined references do not teach: comprising determining, during performing the SDT procedure, that Radio Link Failure (RLF) has occurred in response to determining at least one of: a Random Access (RA) procedure failure, or a Radio Link Control (RLC) failure.
However, in the analogous art, Shih teaches such a limitation:
comprising determining, during performing the SDT procedure, that Radio Link Failure (RLF) has occurred in response to determining at least one of: a Random Access (RA) procedure failure, or a Radio Link Control (RLC) failure. (¶0393 In one example, if a UE detects radio link failure during a SDT procedure (or subsequent data transmission in the SDT procedure), the UE may stop the ongoing transmission (e.g. small data transmission or subsequent transmission). & ¶0405 The UE may consider radio link failure is detected if a RLC problem is detected (e.g. a maximum number of RLC retransmissions has been reached). The RLC problem may be indicated (or determined) if the number of maximum number of RLC retransmission is exceeded (or reached).)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei and Tsai’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Shih’s teaching of determining that RLF has occurred in response to a RLC failure or RA procedure failure, because it would allow the ability to know when there is a problem with synchronization, and proceed with alternative methods. (see Shih ¶0460-¶0461)
Re. Claim 9, Wei combined with Tsai and Shih teaches claim 8.
Shih further teaches:
comprising: in response to determining that the RLF has occurred during performing the SDT procedure: releasing the SDT CG configuration, (Shih, ¶0393 In one example, if a UE detects radio link failure during a SDT procedure (or subsequent data transmission in the SDT procedure), the UE may stop the ongoing transmission (e.g. small data transmission or subsequent transmission). & ¶0414 The actions mentioned above may include at least one of the following actions or sub-actions: [0415] Stop (or abort) the current SDT procedure (and/or RRC resume procedure) & ¶0416 The UE may stop (or abort) the ongoing SDT procedure. The UE may stop (or abort) the ongoing RRC procedure (e.g. RRC resume procedure). The UE may release (or stop applying) a SDT related configuration.)
and setting the wireless communication device to the RRC-Idle state. (Shih, ¶0393 In one example, if a UE detects radio link failure during a SDT procedure (or subsequent data transmission in the SDT procedure), the UE may stop the ongoing transmission (e.g. small data transmission or subsequent transmission). The UE may go to RRC_IDLE (e.g. if no cell can be selected, if the selected cell is not a NR cell))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei and Tsai’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Shih’s teaching of releasing the SDT configuration in response to RLF occurring and setting the device to RRC-Idle state, because doing so prevents unnecessary resource usage, allowing it to allocate resources to other connections faster. (see Shih ¶0391-¶0394)
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei combined with Tsai, in view of Singh, and further in view of Shih
Re. Claim 10, Wei combined with Tsai teaches claim 1.
Yet, the references fail to teach: comprising: in response to determining that the cell-reselection has occurred during performing the SDT procedure: releasing SDT Configured Grant (CG) configuration.
However, in the analogous art, Singh teaches such a limitation:
comprising: in response to determining that the cell-reselection has occurred during performing the SDT procedure: releasing SDT Configured Grant (CG) configuration; (¶0095 Thus, when the CG is cell specific (when the ConfigGrantforSmallDataTransmission IE in step S3 or S5 is valid for the current cell only), the UE 3 will expire the TAT upon cell reselection and release any CG for SDT).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei and Tsai’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Singh’s teaching of releasing SDT CG configuration in response to cell-reselection having occurred during the SDT procedure, because it would enable the device to avoid drawbacks such as increased power consumption and signalling overhead. (see Singh ¶0012)
Yet, the references fail to teach: comprising: in response to determining that the cell-reselection has occurred during performing the SDT procedure: releasing SDT Configured Grant (CG) configuration; and setting the wireless communication device to a Radio Resource Control (RRC)-Idle state.
However, in the analogous art, Shih teaches such a limitation:
and setting the wireless communication device to a Radio Resource Control (RRC)-Idle state. (¶0393 In one example, if a UE detects radio link failure during a SDT procedure (or subsequent data transmission in the SDT procedure), the UE may stop the ongoing transmission (e.g. small data transmission or subsequent transmission). The UE may stop the SDT procedure (e.g. in response to the detection). The UE may perform a cell selection (e.g. in response to the detection). The UE may go to RRC_IDLE (e.g. if no cell can be selected, if the selected cell is not a NR cell))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Wei, Tsai, and Singh’s invention of a method and user equipment for small data transmission to include Shih’s teaching of setting the device to RRC-Idle when cell-reselection occurs, because doing so allows lower power consumption. (see Shih ¶0391-¶0394)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chen (US 2024/0023042 A1); at least ¶0063 & ¶0065 teaches timing alignment information for maintaining TA of the SDT CG configuration using a TA timer initiated by a TA command contained in a MAC CE received while the UE is in RRC_INACTIVE state. Also see ¶0103, ¶0105, ¶0107, and ¶0109
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 GARY A MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-4423. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8 to 5.
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/G.A.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417