PRACH FOR COVERAGE ENHANCEMENTS

§102 §112

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 09/24/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Non-Final Rejection on 05/28/2026. The submission is 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 to the claims filed on 08/28/2026 complies with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.121(c) and has been entered. Claims 1, 12 and 17 are amended. Response to Arguments Applicant's Arguments/Remarks filed 08/28/2026 (hereinafter Resp.) have been fully considered hereinafter. Regarding the §102(a)(2) rejection under Matsumura et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0063604 (hereinafter Matsumura) Applicant first argues that “Matsumura seemingly provides a very broad description of its disclosed joint decoding” because “Matsumura is seemingly silent regarding the amended limitations of independent claim 1, which are further directed to the claimed ‘joint decoding.’” – See Resp., p.8:¶1. Applicant respectfully disagrees because on the one hand Matsumura discloses “joint decoding” to the same level of detail (if not deeper) as the present Specification [¶00097] and [¶00101]. Applicant’s intimation that the amended limitations “based on the first preamble index, the second preamble index, and the first preamble being transmitted for the PRACH transmission and repetitions in a determined RO location based on ROs for the selected number L of PRACH transmissions” would distinguish from Matsumura is unpersuasive at least for the following reasons: First, there is no support in the Specification for the limitation the joint decoding is “based on based on the first preamble index, the second preamble index, and the first preamble being transmitted for the PRACH transmission and repetitions in a determined RO location based on ROs for the selected number L of PRACH transmissions,” because there is no support for the first preamble index and the second preamble index based on the (same) first preamble, as further explained in the present Office Action; and Second, under the BRI standard of claim interpretation, assuming that Applicant meant the first preamble index and the second preamble index indicate the same preamble, this is no more than saying the first preamble index and the second preamble index point to the same SSB beam that is the beam used by the first PRACH and the other repetitions of the PRACH in the ROs associated with that SSB beam, as taught in Matsumura. Applicant further argues that “the reference still seemingly fails to disclose performing any determination that can govern where a UE may begin its first PRACH preamble transmission, which correlates the starting location directly to the number of repetitions that the UE intends to transmit (e.g., starting RO locations based on how many repetitions L the UE plans to send) in the same manner as amended independent claim 1” although no rule is claimed for where the starting RO position/index to send the first PRACH is situated or how to “correlate” the starting RO position/index with the number L of repetitions. To be sure, Matsumura makes such a disclosure, e.g., in Fig. 21 and [¶0342] (stating that “Four repetition ROs are present in one repetition period. When the UE selects SSB 0 for a PRACH after the second repetition RO, the UE may transmit, in from the third repetition RO associated with the same PRACH preamble/SSB 0 until the last (fourth) repetition RO, the PRACH preamble” ) whereby the UE will select for actual PRACH preamble transmission(s) the best received SSB# beam – See [¶0344](“For the selected beam, the UE may determine a PRACH resource (RO/preamble) on the basis of an RSRP value”). Therefore, this argument also fails to persuade. In sum, all Applicant’s arguments have been considered but they are unpersuasive and the §102 rejection over Matsumura is maintained. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(a) The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a): (a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention. Amended Claims 1, 12, and 17 and their dependent claims 2-11, 13-16 and 18-20, respectively, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Regarding Amended Claim 1, the amendment now requires “a second preamble index based on the first preamble.” However, the Specification only supports a second preamble index of a second preamble – See [¶0011] (stating: “the second PRACH transmission includes a second preamble, having a second preamble index differing from the first preamble index by a set integer”) whereby, in general, each PRACH preamble may have an index associated with that preamble and no one preamble has two different indices – See, e.g., [¶0086] (stating “the ith preamble in a set of L preambles . . . the ith preamble, and pi, the used preamble index in that RO”). Amended Claims 12 and 17 suffer the same deficiency. Therefore, Amended Claims 1, 12, and 17 and their dependent claims 2-11, 13-16 and 18-20, respectively, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(a) for introducing new matter. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b) The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Amended Claims 1, 12, and 17 and their dependent claims 2-11, 13-16 and 18-20, respectively, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. Where applicant acts as his or her own lexicographer to specifically define a term of a claim contrary to its ordinary meaning, the written description must clearly redefine the claim term and set forth the uncommon definition so as to put one reasonably skilled in the art on notice that the applicant intended to so redefine that claim term. Process Control Corp. v. HydReclaim Corp., 190 F.3d 1350, 1357, 52 USPQ2d 1029, 1033 (Fed. Cir. 1999). For example, the term “preamble index based on a first preamble” in Amended claims 1, 12, and 17 is used by the claim to mean “the index is determined from the preamble,” while the accepted meaning in the art is “the preamble sequence is determined based on a logical index.” The term is indefinite because the specification does not clearly redefine the term – See, e.g., 3GPP TS 38.211 V17.1.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical channels and modulation (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.211), specifying, at page 46, that “the PRACH preamble format [i]s given by Tables 6.3.3.1-1 and 6.3.3.1-2,” i.e., formats A1/2/3, B1/2/3/4 etc., whereby “There are 64 preambles defined in each time-frequency PRACH occasion, enumerated in increasing order of first increasing cyclic shift PNG media_image1.png 20 19 media_image1.png Greyscale of a logical root sequence, and then in increasing order of the logical root sequence index, starting with the index obtained from the higher-layer parameter prach-RootSequenceIndex or rootSequenceIndex-BFR or by msgA-PRACH-RootSequenceIndex” which are RRC parameters and the preamble sequence number “is obtained from the logical root sequence index according to Tables 6.3.3.1-3 to 6.3.3.1-4B,” i.e., each preamble corresponds to a logical root sequence index i, an integer shown in increasing order in Tables 6.3.3.1-3 to 6.3.3.1-4B at page 49-51 wherein i=0, 1…,LRA-1 and “where PNG media_image2.png 20 61 media_image2.png Greyscale , PNG media_image3.png 20 60 media_image3.png Greyscale , L RA = 1151 , or L RA = 571 depending on the PRACH preamble format as given by Tables 6.3.3.1-1 and 6.3.3.1-2” – See id. at page 46. Although it is impermissible to import specific meaning from the Specification in the claims, for examination purposes it would be assumed that Applicant meant the first/second preamble indicated by a first/second index (e.g., as per the 3GPP specification tables) in accord with the following paragraphs from the Specification: [¶0086] (stating that “ith preamble in a set of L preambles” has a “pi, the used preamble index in that RO”) and [¶0084] (stating that pi is “the label of the preamble sequence used in the pool of available preamble sequences in the RO”) together with the knowledge from the 3GPP Specification regarding Tables 6.3.3.1-3 to 6.3.3.1-4B at page 49-51 comprising the available preamble sequences indexed by the logical root sequence index i defined supra. Furthermore, as known in the art, the PRACH preamble index points to a sequence value used as the PRACH preamble and is distinguishable from a PRACH Configuration Index (shown in Fig. 3 of Matsumura infra and Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4, at page 54-72 of 3GPP TS 38.211) that point to a specific PRACH preamble format and the number of ROs per slot that may carry a PRACH, and is indicated by prach-ConfigurationIndex field of the RACH-ConfigGeneric RRC IE discussed in Footnote 1 infra. Therefore, Amended Claims 1, 12, and 17 and their dependent claims 2-11, 13-16 and 18-20, respectively, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(b) as being indefinite. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-20, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Matsumura et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0063604 (hereinafter Matsumura). Regarding Amended Claim 1, Matsumura teaches a method (procedures for “[c]overage enhancement” using “PRACH repetition using the same beam or a plurality of different beams” – See [¶0076]) comprising: transmitting, by a User Equipment (UE), a first Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission in a first Random Access Channel Occasion (RO) (a “UE implementation is to use an SSB beam associated with the PRACH occasion” so that “a base station can use an SSB for reception of a PRACH associated with the PRACH occasion” – See [¶0337] because “a set of PRACH occasions or PRACH preambles [are] mapped to N_Tx'SSB SS/PBCH block indices” for “an integer number of cycles of mapping from SS/PBCH block indices to PRACH occasions in [an] association period” – See [¶0081] whereby “In a case of PRACH transmission triggered by a higher layer (PRACH transmission not triggered by the PDCCH order), if ssb-ResourceList is provided, the PRACH mask index is indicated by ra-ssb-OccasionMasklndex. That ra-ssb-OccasionMaskindex indicates that PRACH occasion for PRACH transmission for which a PRACH occasion is associated with a selected SS/PBCH block index” – See [¶0110] and “PRACH occasions are mapped consecutively for each corresponding SS/PBCH block index” – See [¶0111] so that “In the first available mapping cycle, the UE selects, for the PRACH transmission, a PRACH occasion indicated by a PRACH mask index value for an indicated SS/PBCH block index” – See [¶0112] and the subsequent “sequence of the PRACH occasions is described” – See [¶0113-16]) and comprising a first preamble index (indicating) a first preamble (a “transmitted preamble index (PREAMBLE_INDEX)”1 – See [¶¶0096-97] whereby the UE is “Setting PREAMBLE_INDEX to notified ra-Preambleindex and selecting SSB notified by PDCCH when ra-Preambleindex is explicitly provided from PDCCH” – See [¶0123] i.e., when the PRACH is triggered by a DCI or, as further disclosed in 3GPP specifications2, e.g., 3GPP TS 38.321 V17.0.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.321) specifying at page 27 that in case of “Random Access Resources associated with SSBs have been explicitly provided in rach-ConfigDedicated and at least one SSB with SS-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdSSB amongst the associated SSBs is available: 2>select an SSB with SS-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdSSB amongst the associated SSBs; 2>set the PREAMBLE_INDEX to a ra-PreambleIndex corresponding to the selected SSB,” i.e., the PRACH preamble index based on the (first) preamble of the selected (first) SSB among “the number N of SS/PBCH blocks associated with one PRACH occasion” – See Matsumura:[¶0079]; see also 3GPP TS 38.211 V17.1.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical channels and modulation (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.211), specifying, at page 46, that “the PRACH preamble format [i]s given by Tables 6.3.3.1-1 and 6.3.3.1-2,” i.e., formats A1/2/3, B1/2/3/4 etc. in Fig. 3 of Matsumura, whereby “There are 64 preambles defined in each time-frequency PRACH occasion, enumerated in increasing order of first increasing cyclic shift PNG media_image1.png 20 19 media_image1.png Greyscale of a logical root sequence, and then in increasing order of the logical root sequence index, starting with the index obtained from the higher-layer parameter prach-RootSequenceIndex . . . or by msgA-PRACH-RootSequenceIndex” which are RRC IEs and the preamble sequence “is obtained from the logical root sequence index according to Tables 6.3.3.1-3 to 6.3.3.1-4B,” i.e., each preamble corresponds to a logical root sequence index, an integer i shown in increasing order in Tables 6.3.3.1-3 to 6.3.3.1-4B at page 49-51, wherein i=0, 1…,LRA-1 and “where PNG media_image2.png 20 61 media_image2.png Greyscale , PNG media_image3.png 20 60 media_image3.png Greyscale , L RA = 1151 , or L RA = 571 depending on the PRACH preamble format as given by Tables 6.3.3.1-1 and 6.3.3.1-2” – See id. at page 46) transmitting, by the UE, a second PRACH transmission in a second RO and comprising a second preamble index based on (indicating) a second preamble (because each “N_Tx^SSB SS/PBCH block indices are mapped to PRACH occasions at least one time in the association period”3 – See [¶0081], and “The number of repetitions may be configured/ indicated by an SIB/RRC IE explicitly or implicitly, or may be defined in specifications” – See [¶0314] then “For example, when a measurement value of RSRP/RSRQ/ SINR/quality/power of an SSB is lower than a threshold value, and PRACH repetition has been configured for the UE, the UE may transmit a PRACH a plurality of times (may transmit the PRACH repetition)” – See [¶0317] whereby the “PRACH repetition [is] using the same beam or a plurality of different beams,” i.e., the same SSB index or different SSB indices4 – See [¶0076];[¶0176], i.e., the same first preamble/beam may be used in a second RO whereby “a UE can appropriately determine, for specific RA, PRACH repetition accompanied by the same beam or a plurality of different beams” – See [¶0180] and Fig 5 wherein and “A UE may support a combination of two or more repetitions accompanied by the same beam and one or more repetitions accompanied by one or more beams different from the beam.” – See [¶0228] i.e., the second preamble (SSB beam) may be the same as the first preamble (SSB beam), e.g., “FIG. 2A shows an example (mapping 1) of an association between a PRACH occasion (RACH occasion (RO)) and a beam (SSB/CSI-RS)” based on ssb-perRACHOccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB whereby “when N<l, one SSB is mapped to a plurality of ROs. Therefore, RO capacity for each beam can be enhanced,”– See [¶0083] and Fig. 2A showing four ROs in each slot/TTI with each SSB mapped to two ROs; the second PRACH transmission being a repetition of the first PRACH transmission from a selected number L of PRACH transmissions (“UE may transmit the same PRACH preamble on ROs associated with repetition of the same PRACH preamble until the last repetition RO in the repetition period” – See [¶0341] i.e., a maximum number of repetitions, wherein “Coverage enhancement including . . . PRACH repetition using the same beam” is used – See [¶0076] whereby a “number of actual repetitions may be less than a maximum number of repetitions in one repetition period (configured value/reported value)” – See [¶0341] i.e., a selected number L of actual PRACH transmissions in one repetition period5; see also 3GPP TS 38.331 v17.0.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331), describing, at page 729-732, the RACH-ConfigCommon Information Element (IE), comprising totalNumberOfRA-Preambles field, indicating “Total number of preambles used for contention based and contention free 4-step or 2-step random access in the RACH resources defined in RACH-ConfigCommon . . . consistent with the setting of ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB, i.e. it should be a multiple of the number of SSBs per RACH occasion,” i.e., when one SSB is used for two ROs, the number of RACH preambles may be 1, therefore two ROs mapped to the same SSB could use the same preamble6; see also id., at page 736-738, describing the RACH-ConfigDedicated IE, indicating the ra-PreambleIndex as “[t]he preamble index that the UE shall use when performing CF-RA upon selecting the candidate beams identified by this SSB”), the second RO having an index differing from an index of the first RO by a set integer (“Indexing of the RO (repetition resource pattern) may be performed for each SSB/for each repetition/for each mapping cycle” and any of Embodiments #A0 to #A10 “may be employed in the indexing of the RO” – See [¶0477] knowing that there may be “an integer number of cycles of mapping from SS/PBCH block indices to PRACH occasions in the association period . . . so that a pattern between PRACH occasions and SS/PBCH block indices repeats every 160 ms at most,” – See [¶0081] i.e., the longest pattern occupies 16 10 ms frames but one pattern could occupy just one frame, as shown in Fig. 3, depending on the prach-ConfigurationIndex setting the RO index and ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB setting the number of SSBs per RO7 – See [¶0085] and Fig. 13A showing two cycles/association periods of SSB# to PRACH RO# mapping, wherein an RO index of the second repetition is separated by an integer from the first RO index, because “PRACH occasions are mapped consecutively for each corresponding SS/PBCH block index. Indexing of PRACH occasions . . . is reset . . . for each mapping cycle of consecutive PRACH occasions” – See [¶0111] and “[f]or an indicated preamble index, a sequence of the PRACH occasions is . . . [in] order of increment of frequency resource index for frequency multiplexed PRACH occasion” then in “order of increment of time resource index for time multiplexed PRACH occasion in PRACH slot;” and then in “ascending order of PRACH slot indices” – See [¶¶0113-6] e.g., as shown in Fig. 14B, SSB0 is mapped to RO1 and RO9 and each SSB# to RO# association is separated by 8 from the next occurrence of the association; furthermore, “indexing of an RO and a repetition resource pattern may be interchangeably interpreted” – See [¶0161] and “a repetition RO accompanied by the same beam, and repetition associated with the same SSB index may be interchangeably interpreted” – See [¶0164] and there are many possible PRACH repetition patterns8 including repeating an association period wherein one RO is mapped to one SSB and “[i]n ROs for the same SSB in respective repetition resources, a PRACH is repeated” – See [¶0312]) wherein the first PRACH transmission and the second PRACH transmission are configured for joint decoding operating at the network node (e.g., when “the repetition resource is one PRACH configuration period (10 ms),” i.e., one frame – See [¶¶0324-25] and Figs. 18A and B, “[i]n ROs for the same SSB in respective repetition resources, a PRACH is repeated. When a base station has decoded/ received, in the first repetition resource, preamble 1 associated with SSB #x, the base station assumes that the same preamble associated with the same SSB is decoded/received in the second repetition resource. The base station may perform joint decoding/reception in order to enhance PRACH decoding/reception performance” – See [¶0326]) based on the first preamble index, the second preamble index, and the first preamble being transmitted for the PRACH transmission and repetitions in a determined RO location based on ROs for the selected number L of PRACH transmissions (as shown in Fig. 18 A wherein “In ROs for the same SSB in respective repetition resources, a PRACH is repeated” – See [¶0324], i.e., for a PRACH aligned with an SSB index, i.e., having/pointing to the same preamble is repeated twice if the SSB index is between 0 and 40 when there are two actual PRACH transmissions, e.g., as shown in Fig. 21 where SSB0 is selected for the actual PRACH repetitions) and the first RO, the second RO, and ROs for the selected number of PRACH transmissions are associated with the same Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) index (for the ROs above, “an association between a plurality of PRACH resources repeated for the same beam may be recognized by a UE. Which RO is the xth repetition transmission may be recognized by the UE” – See [¶0341]; then “[t]he UE may transmit the same PRACH preamble on ROs associated with repetition of the same PRACH preamble until the last repetition RO in the repetition period (from the xth repetition until the last repetition)” – See [¶0341] and Fig. 21 wherein, “the number of repetitions is 4. Four repetition ROs are present in one repetition period. When the UE selects SSB 0 for a PRACH after the second repetition RO, the UE may transmit, in from the third repetition RO associated with the same PRACH preamble/SSB 0 until the last (fourth) repetition RO, the PRACH preamble” – See [¶0342]; furthermore “The base station using beam correspondence transmits a respective plurality of SSBs by using a plurality of beams every SSB transmission periodicity. The plurality of SSBs have a plurality of SSB indices. The UE that has detected one SSB transmits a PRACH in a RACH occasion associated with the SSB index” – See [¶0071]). Therefore, Amended Claim 1 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claim 2, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Matsumura further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first RO and the second RO are selected based on a corresponding property (the property may be the “repetition RO [is] associated with the same PRACH preamble/SSB 0” – See [¶0342] and Fig. 21 whereby SSB0 was selected because of its RSRP is greater than a threshold; furthermore “In addition to the RSRP value of each beam, the UE also considers a sequence of repetitions of a subsequent available RO associated with the beam (or the number of actual remaining repetitions associated with each beam)” whereby because “At a timing at which the UE selects a beam for access, the number of actual remaining repetitions associated with each beam may vary” the UE may select the first RO so that there are more remaining ROs associated with the same SSB index/beam– See [¶0355]). Regarding Claim 3, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Matsumura further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first PRACH transmission and the second PRACH transmission use an uplink (UL) beam (“the UE selects a beam for PRACH transmission” – See [¶0350], e.g., the “UE considers an RSRP value of each beam” and selects an SSB preamble – See [¶0351] e.g., SSB0 in Fig. 21, wherein “[t]he UE may transmit the same PRACH preamble on ROs associated with repetition of the same PRACH preamble until the last repetition RO in the repetition period (from the xth repetition until the last repetition)” – See [¶0341]; here, “a beam, an SSB, and an SSB index may be interchangeably interpreted” – See [¶0163]). Therefore, Claim 3 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claim 4, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Matsumura further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the set integer is Radio Resource Control (RRC) configured (“A UE may support a combination of two or more repetitions accompanied by the same beam” – See [¶0228] whereby “[w]hich of PRACH repetition accompanied by the same beam is used may be indicated/configured for a base station by SIB/RRC configuration,” – See [¶0232] “a repetition RO accompanied by the same beam, and repetition associated with the same SSB index may be interchangeably interpreted” – See [¶0164] and the RRC parameter ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB indicates “the number N of SS/PBCH blocks associated with one PRACH occasion” – See [¶0080] and the RRC parameter “PRACH configuration index (prach-Configurationindex)” indicates “the PRACH occasion configuration” – See [¶0077] whereby the combination of the latter two RRC parameters define the set integer separating the indices of repeating ROs mapped to the same SSB#, as explained in Regarding Amended Claim 1 supra). Therefore, Claim 4 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claim 5, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Matsumura further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the set integer is configured by a System Information Block (“The SIB1 includes RACH configuration and information for performing a RACH procedure,” – See [¶0070] whereby “common RACH configuration” includes “an SSB for each RACH occasion” and “rach-ConfigGeneric may include a PRACH configuration index” – See [¶0078] used to calculate the set integer separating the indices of repeating ROs mapped to the same SSB#, as explained in Regarding Amended Claim1 supra). Therefore, Claim 5 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claim 6, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Matsumura further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the set integer is configured at startup of the UE (e.g., “[t]he UE capability may indicate whether the UE supports at least one function of the following” – See [¶0498] “Counting configured ROs for indicated number of repetitions” – See [¶0500] “that repetition of same PRACH preamble occurs across a plurality of repetition periods” – See [¶0502] and the “Configuration of repetition period” – See [¶0528] i.e., the set integer is configured at startup of the UE as a capability; and “the UE can achieve the . . . function while maintaining compatibility with existing specifications” – See [¶0530]). Therefore, Claim 6 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claim 7, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Matsumura further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first PRACH transmission, the second PRACH transmission, and remaining PRACH transmissions from the selected number of PRACH transmissions are used for performing joint decoding operating at the network node ( “[i]n ROs for the same SSB in respective repetition resources, a PRACH is repeated” – See [¶0312] e.g., when “the repetition resource is one SSB (RO mapped to one SSB)” – See [¶0313] then “ROs for the same SSB in respective repetition resources, a PRACH is repeated” and “When a base station has decoded/ received, in the first repetition resource, preamble 1 associated with SSB #x, the base station assumes that the same preamble associated with the same SSB is decoded/received in the second repetition resource. The base station may perform joint decoding/reception in order to enhance PRACH decoding/reception performance” – See [¶0326] and “The UE may transmit the same PRACH preamble on ROs associated with repetition of the same PRACH preamble until the last repetition RO in the repetition period (from the xth repetition until the last repetition)” out of “a maximum number of repetitions in one repetition period (configured value/reported value)” – See [¶0341] and Fig. 21, showing the first PRACH transmission, the second PRACH transmission, and remaining PRACH transmissions using SSB0). Therefore, Claim 7 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claim 8, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Matsumura further teaches the method of claim 1, comprising transmitting the selected number L of PRACH transmissions including: the first PRACH transmission; and L-1 PRACH repetitions including the second PRACH transmission, the L PRACH transmissions being in one SSB-RO association period (“The UE may transmit the same PRACH preamble on ROs associated with repetition of the same PRACH preamble until the last repetition RO in the repetition period (from the xth repetition until the last repetition)” out of “a maximum number of repetitions in one repetition period (configured value/reported value)” – See [¶0341] and Fig. 21, showing the first PRACH transmission, the second PRACH transmission, and remaining actual PRACH transmissions using SSB0, wherein an “association period may be X SSB mapping periodicities/cycles” – See [¶0299] e.g., in Fig. 21 8 cycles are shown as the SSB-RO association period comprising more than 2 actual PRACH transmissions using the SSB0 beam; see also [¶¶0359-60] and 3GPP TS 38.321, at page 33, specifying PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER as maximum actual PRACH transmissions, whereby e.g., L= preambleTransMax). Therefore, Claim 8 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claim 9, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Matsumura further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first PRACH transmission is made on one of N' ROs, the N' ROs being a set proper subset of N available ROs (“In an example of FIG. 21, the number of repetitions is 4. Four repetition ROs are present in one repetition period. When the UE selects SSB0 for a PRACH after the second repetition RO, the UE may transmit, in from the third repetition RO associated with the same PRACH preamble/SSB0 until the last (fourth) repetition RO, the PRACH preamble” – See [¶0342] i.e., 2 ROs out of 4 available ROs are used for an actual PRACH transmission and “subsequent available RO associated with the beam is not the first repetition transmission RO in a repetition period” – See [¶0340] and “[t]he number of actual repetitions may be less than a maximum number of repetitions in one repetition period (configured value/reported value)” – See [¶0341], therefore it is a proper subset of the set of the number of available ROs within the repetition period). Therefore, Claim 9 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claim 10, dependent from Claim 9, Matsumura further teaches wherein the set proper subset is Radio Resource Control (RRC) configured (“The random access preamble can be transmitted only in a time resource defined in random access configuration of specifications” – See [¶0085] while the “UE operation for repetitive preamble transmission, an impact on a RACH related counter/timer” – See [¶0091] must be configured to the UE, e.g., “A UE-specific number of PRACH repetitions may be configured by RRC” and “[t]he UE may determine the number of actual PRACH repetitions in accordance with a determination rule” e.g., when a SSB RSRP/RSRQ/ SINR/quality/power “threshold value may be defined in specifications, or may be configured by an RRC IE” and “PRACH repetition has been configured for the UE, the UE may transmit a PRACH a plurality of times (may transmit the PRACH repetition)” whereby “[a] plurality of threshold values/ranges associated with the number of PRACH repetitions may be configured” – See [¶0317] and the configured number of PRACH repetitions for each threshold value is always smaller than the available SSB-RO mapping repetitions in the repetition period, as shown in Fig. 22, whereby both the “association between a plurality of PRACH resources repeated for the same beam” and “[w]hich RO is the xth repetition transmission may be recognized by the UE” – See [¶0339]; similarly, “[a] preamble transmission counter” may be configured to the UE – See [¶0360] to count “[w]hen the second and subsequent (second, third, . . . ) repetitions of preambles are transmitted” – See [¶0359]). Therefore, Claim 10 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Amended Claim 11, dependent from Claim 9, Matsumura further teaches the method of claim 9, comprising transmitting the selected number L of PRACH transmissions including: the first PRACH transmission; and L-1 PRACH repetitions including the second PRACH transmission, wherein the N' ROs are selected based on the value of L (“When the second and subsequent (second, third, . . . ) repetitions of preambles are transmitted” – See [¶0359] using the “preamble transmission counter (PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER)” – See [¶0360], and, e.g., L= preambleTransMax or L=PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER, “the UE can appropriately transmit PRACH repetition” – See [¶0363], i.e., the selected number L of PRACH transmissions including: the first PRACH transmission; and L-1 PRACH repetitions including the second PRACH transmission, up to preambleTransMax specified by 3GPP standards; furthermore, for a UE which supports PRACH repetitions: (1) “the UE may determine/calculate the number of repetitions on the basis of a determination rule or limitation,” e.g., “the UE may calculate the number of repetitions on the basis of an indicated/defined repetition period” – See [¶0319] and “[t]he repetition period may mean that mapping from all indicated SSB indices to ROs is repeated Y times in the period” – See [¶0320], i.e., Y=N ROs; and (2) “Which RO is the xth repetition transmission may be recognized by the UE” – See [¶0339] i.e., the UE knows that x<= L PRACHs were actually transmitted, whereby x ϵ N’ ROs as explained in Regarding Claim 9 supra, and that at least Y-x ROs are still available for the same PRACH preamble transmission; because x is always smaller than the configured maximum number of actual PRACH preamble transmissions, preambleTransMax, i.e., L, and x ϵ N’ ROs, then N’ ROs are selected based on the value of L). Therefore, Claim 11 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Amended Claim 12, Matsumura teaches a method (“provide a terminal, a radio communication method, and a base station that improve coverage in a random access procedure” – See [¶0007]), comprising: transmitting, by a User Equipment (UE), a first Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission comprising a preamble, in a first RO; and transmitting, by the UE, a second PRACH transmission comprising the preamble, in a second RO, the second PRACH transmission being a repetition of the first PRACH transmission from a selected number of PRACH transmissions (as explained in Regarding Amended Claim 1 supra, wherein the limitations are recited using the same language), the first RO being selected based on an RO index (“Indexing of the RO (repetition resource pattern) may be performed for each SSB/for each repetition/for each mapping cycle” and any of Embodiments #A0 to #A10 “may be employed in the indexing of the RO” – See [¶0477] whereby the “PRACH occasion and an SSB index are normally mapped in specifications” and “UE implementation is to use an SSB beam associated with the PRACH occasion” – See [¶0337] and Fig. 4 showing the association by RO index, whereby “an association between a plurality of PRACH resources repeated for the same beam may be recognized by a UE. Which RO is the xth repetition transmission may be recognized by the UE” – See [¶0339], i.e., the UE may select an RO based on the RO index), and the second RO being selected based on an RO index differing from the RO index of the first RO by a set integer, wherein the first PRACH transmission and the second PRACH transmission are configured for joint decoding operations at the network node based on the preamble, and the first RO, the second RO, and ROs for the selected number of transmissions are selected to be associated with the same Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) index (e.g., as shown in Fig. 21 each SSB-RO indexing pattern/cycle is repeated 4 times in the repetition period; furthermore, each of these limitations have been explained in detail in Regarding Amended Claim 1 supra, wherein the limitations are recited using the same language). Therefore, Amended Claim 12 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claims 13-16, dependent from Amended Claim 12, they merely recite the same limitations as Claims 8-11 with no other limitations. Because Claims 8-12, as amended, are anticipated by Matsumura, Claims 13-16 are also anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Amended Claim 17, Matsumura teaches, in Figs. 36and 37, a User Equipment (UE) comprising: one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause performance of the method disclosed in Amended Claim 1. Therefore, Amended Claim 17 is anticipated by Matsumura. Regarding Claims 18-20, as amended, dependent from Amended Claim 17, each claim merely discloses the same limitations as in Claims 2 - 4, respectively, as amended, and no other limitations. Because each of Claims 2-4, and 17, as amended, is anticipated by Matsumura, each of the Claims 18-20, as amended, is anticipated by Matsumura. In sum, Claims 1-20, as amended, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) as anticipated by Matsumura. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: MolavianJazi et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0125571 (same assignee) disclosing the preamble indexing as a function of SSB index – See [¶0096] (when “N> 1 SSBs are mapped to a RO, select the [preamble index ]=[indicated (starting) preamble index]+[ associated SSB index], where [associated SSB index] belongs to {0, . .. , N-1}. This [associated SSB index] is a re-indexing to enumerate the associated SSBs; not to be confused with the SSB time index in the SSB burst set which belongs to the set {0, 1, ... , 63}”); Deng, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0097988; Yang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0337287; and Wang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0397256 as used in previous Office actions; Matsumura et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0024509 disclosing similar teachings with emphasis on configuration of a PRACH repetition pattern; Matsumura et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0008566 disclosing similar teachings with emphasis on configuration of a PRACH repetition pattern; Matsumura et al., WIPO Patent Application Publication No. WO 2023105755 disclosing multiple numbers of repetitions of a physical random access channel on the basis of the reception of the downlink control information; Ali et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0371081 discloses joint detection of repeated PUSCHs at the base station; Utkovski et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0110169 describes PRACH preambles and an example signature matrix with seven orthogonal subgroups of preambles; Park, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0322443 (hereinafter Park). 2023/0085104 teaches how a UE discovers the time-frequency resource allocation of PRACH ROs; Zhang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0168894 teaches various schemes for ROs to SSB indices associations; Irukulapati et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0352697 teaches SSNB to RO mapping against interference; Kwak et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0322443 teaches method and apparatus to determine one or more physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble transmission parameters associated with one or more PRACH coverage enhancement (CE) levels of a RACH procedure, wherein the one or more PRACH preamble transmission parameters comprise a first transmission attempt threshold that indicates a first number of PRACH preamble transmission attempts at a first PRACH CE level of the RACH procedure that will trigger a transition to a second PRACH CE level that is higher than the first PRACH CE level; Islam et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0267773 teaches method and apparatus for selecting which RACH procedure of multiple RACH procedures to perform; Liu et al., WIPO Patent Application Publication No. 2023/201720 teaches method and apparatus to select a PRACH repetition number from the set of PRACH repetition numbers; and determine at least one time period for PRACH repetition based on the selected PRACH repetition number, wherein each time period of the at least one time period includes a set of random access channel (RACH) occasions (ROs) for PRACH repetition; Ren et al., China Patent Application Publication CN114071772A, teaches mapping relationship between SSB and RO, and sets a preamble code that must exist for each RO; 3GPP TS 38.213 V17.1.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for control (Release 17); 3GPP TS 38.211 3GPP TS 38.211 V17.1.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical channels and modulation (Release 17)”; 3GPP TS 38.321 V17.0.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 17)”; 3GPP TS 38.331 v17.0.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17)”; Chakrapani, “On the Design Details of SS/PBCH, Signal Generation and PRACH in 5G-NR,” IEEE Access, VOLUME 8, 2020, published July 20, 2020. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /L.G.G./Examiner, Art Unit 2478 /JOSEPH E AVELLINO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478 1 This index is different from the PRACH Configuration Index shown in Fig. 3 and chosen based on Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4, 3GPP TS 38.211, at page 54-72, specifying the correspondence between prach-ConfigurationIndex indices and ROs per slot number depending on the length of the repetition period in number of frames, specifically Table 6.3.3.2-4 showing PRACH configurations for FR2 for SCS=60KHz with each index pointing to the slots of a frame comprising the indicated number of ROs per slot that could be used for PRACH. 2 Because “The random access preamble can be transmitted only in a time resource defined in random access configuration of specifications, and depends on whether FR1 or FR2” is used – See [¶0085](emphasis added) and Fig. 1 showing an example of RACH-ConfigCommon RRC Information Element (IE) comprising totalNumberOfRA-Preambles per RO and the ratio of ssb-perRACH-Occasion. 3 “An association period, starting from frame 0, for mapping SS/PBCH blocks to PRACH occasions is a minimum value in a set determined by a PRACH configuration period in accordance with a relationship (relationship defined in specifications) between a PRACH configuration period and an association period (the number of PRACH configuration periods) so that N_Tx'SSB SS/PBCH block indices are mapped to PRACH occasions at least one time in the association period” and “a pattern between PRACH occasions and SS/PBCH block indices repeats every 160 ms at most” – See [¶0081]; furthermore, “For PRACH configuration periods 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 [msec], association periods are {1, 2, 4, 8, 16}, {1, 2, 4, 8}, {1, 2, 4}, {1, 2}, and {1}, respectively” – See [¶0082] and Fig. 3 wherein the PRACH Configuration Index indicates the positions of one or more ROs in a subframe/slot during an association period as indicated by the field prach-Configurationlndex of the RACH-ConfigGeneric RRC IE shown in Fig. 1. 4 “One or more indices of the RO/preamble are associated with each beam (SSB index). One index of the reference resource of the RO/preamble out of the one or more indices is configured by the RRC IE” – See [¶0185]. 5 In accord with present Spec.:[¶0083] stating “One mechanism is to let the UE targeting the transmission of L PRACH repetitions select preambles from ROs associated with the selected SSB index.” 6 See, e.g., 3GPP TS 38.321, at page 27, explaining the setting of the PRACH preamble based on the associated SSB as “if the contention-free Random Access Resources associated with SSBs have been explicitly provided in rach-ConfigDedicated and at least one SSB with SS-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdSSB amongst the associated SSBs is available . . . set the PREAMBLE_INDEX to a ra-PreambleIndex corresponding to the selected SSB.” 7 The two configured parameters, prach-ConfigurationIndex and ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB together determine the set integer separating consecutive ROs mapped to the same SSB#.in a PRACH configuration period following the sequence described in [¶¶0113-16] and Fig. 1. These Information Elements are specified in 3GPP 38.331 at page 729, as part of RACH-ConfigCommon IE, referencing also RACH-ConfigDedicated IE at page 737, and rach-ConfigGeneric IE, at page 739; see also 3GPP TS 38.211 3GPP TS 38.211 V17.1.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical channels and modulation (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.211) showing in Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4, at page 54-72, the correspondence between prach-ConfigurationIndex indices and RO indices per slot number depending on the length of the repetition period in number of frames. 8 See, e.g., [¶¶0299-304]; accord with §8.1, 3GPP TS 38.213 V17.1.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for control (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.213), describing, at page 48-50, the RA procedure whereby “a PRACH transmission includes the following: A configuration for PRACH transmission [4, TS 38.211]” and “[a] preamble index, a preamble SCS, P_(PRACH,target), a corresponding RA-RNTI, and a PRACH resource” and defines the mapping between a PRACH configuration period and SS/PBCH block to PRACH occasion association period in Table 8.1-1, at page 50; see also §6.3.3, 3GPP TS 38.211 V17.1.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical channels and modulation (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.211) , specifying, at page 52, the time resources allocations for transmitting random access preambles based on the PRACH configuration index in Tables 6.3.3.2-2 to 6.3.3.2-4 “given by the higher-layer parameter prach-ConfigurationIndex, or by msgA-PRACH-ConfigurationIndex if configured”;