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 .
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/06/2026 has been entered.
Applicant amended claims 1, 8, 9, and 18 in the amendment filed on 04/06/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 8, 9, 18, and 19 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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xu et al (US Publication No. 2023/0413139 A1)(effective filing date of 06/15/2022 from US Provisional application No. 63/352413).
With respect to claim 1, Xu teaches an apparatus (wireless device) comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor (Fig. 15A-B), cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a source cell, a physical downlink control channel order, wherein the physical downlink control channel order comprises, at least, an indication of a target cell (paragraph 0229 teaches the wireless device 2110 receiving a PDCCH order 2162 from the source base station and/or via the source cell 2130. The PDCCH order may indicate the target cell 2140 for a random access procedure performed by the wireless device); transmit, to the target cell, a random access channel signaling (paragraph 0230 discloses the wireless device 2110 may send (e.g., transmit), via the target base station 2140, a preamble of the random access procedure 2163, for example, based on (e.g., after or in response to) receiving a PDCCH order 2162 indicating the target base station 2140. The target base station 2140 may receive the preamble of the random access procedure 2163); receive an indication of an uplink grant and an indication of a timer value associated with the uplink grant (paragraph 0230 disclose the wireless device 2110 may receive the random access response message from the target base station and/or via the target base station 2140. The random access response message may comprise an uplink grant 2164 (e.g., used for uplink resource allocation by the wireless device) and/or a TA value 2165), wherein the indication of the uplink grant and the indication of the timer value are received via one of: a random access response to the random access channel signaling (paragraph 0230 disclose the random access response message may comprise an uplink grant 2164 (e.g., used for uplink resource allocation by the wireless device) and/or a TA value 2165); and receive, from the source cell, an indication to perform cell change to the target cell (paragraph 0217 disclose the wireless device may trigger a random access procedure for a target cell and/or a target base station based on receiving one or more RRC messages comprising a handover (HO) command via a source cell and/or a source base station).
With respect to claim 2, Xu teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: transmit, to the source cell, an indication of a capability of the apparatus to maintain at least one timer for a plurality of candidate target cells associated with the uplink grant (paragraph 0235 discloses the wireless device 2310 may receive one or more first control commands 2362 from the source base station 2330, via the source cell, and/or via serving cell. The one or more first control commands 2330 may indicate one or more first unified TCI states, for the source cell 2330, from the plurality of unified TCI state. The one or more first control commands 2362 may comprise one or more of: one or more DCI; one or more MAC CEs; or one or more RRC messages).
The limitations of claim 8 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 3-7 and 9-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al (US Publication No. 2023/0413139 A1)(effective filing date of 06/15/2022 from US Provisional application No. 63/352413) in view of Ozturk et al (US Publication No. 2018/0049079 A1).
With respect to claim 3, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: start a validity timer for the uplink grant based, at least partially, on the timer value, wherein the physical downlink control channel order comprises, at least, the indication of the uplink grant and the indication of the timer value, wherein the validity timer is started at a time determined based, at least partially, on receiving the physical downlink control channel order; and in response to the indication to perform cell change to the target cell, determine whether the uplink grant is valid based, at least partially, on the validity timer.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: start a validity timer for the uplink grant based, at least partially, on the timer value (paragraph 0116 disclose the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number), wherein the physical downlink control channel order comprises, at least, the indication of the uplink grant and the indication of the timer value, wherein the validity timer is started at a time determined based, at least partially, on receiving the physical downlink control channel order (paragraph 0123 disclose o obtain the dynamic UL grant, the UE 102 may start monitoring the PDCCH of the target base station 106b after receiving the handover command from the source base station 106. In some aspects, that starting time for the UE 102 to monitor the PDCCH may be configured by the target base station 106b. The target base station 106b may signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command); and in response to the indication to perform cell change to the target cell, determine whether the uplink grant is valid based, at least partially, on the validity timer (paragraph 0116 disclose a SPS UL grant is valid from the time it is received by the UE 102. However, the target base station 106b may not have information of when the uplink grant is actually received by the UE 102. Accordingly, in certain aspects, instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 4, Xu teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive the random access response to the random access channel signaling, wherein the random access response comprises, at least, the indication of the uplink grant and the indication of the timer value (paragraph 0230 disclose the wireless device 2110 may receive the random access response message from the target base station and/or via the target base station 2140. The random access response message may comprise an uplink grant 2164 (e.g., used for uplink resource allocation by the wireless device) and/or a TA value 2165).
Xu does not explicitly disclose start a validity timer for the uplink grant based, at least partially, on the timer value, wherein the validity timer is started at a time determined based, at least partially, on receiving the random access response; and in response to the indication to perform cell change to the target cell, determine whether the uplink grant is valid based, at least partially, on the validity timer.
However, Sunell teaches start a validity timer for the uplink grant based, at least partially, on the timer value, wherein the validity timer is started at a time determined based, at least partially, on receiving the random access response (paragraph 0116 disclose the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number); and in response to the indication to perform cell change to the target cell, determine whether the uplink grant is valid based, at least partially, on the validity timer (paragraph 0116 disclose a SPS UL grant is valid from the time it is received by the UE 102. However, the target base station 106b may not have information of when the uplink grant is actually received by the UE 102. Accordingly, in certain aspects, instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 5, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: stop the validity timer in response to at least one of: the received indication to perform cell change to the target cell, or a determined change in a radio condition with respect to the target cell.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: stop the validity timer in response to at least one of: the received indication to perform cell change to the target cell, or a determined change in a radio condition with respect to the target cell (paragraph 0122 discloses instead of providing a SPS uplink grant to the UE 102, the target base station 106b provides a dynamic uplink grant to the UE 102 for a dynamic scheduling (DS) (e.g., on PUSCH). In DS, the UE may be scheduled/assigned resources in one or more subframes of a UL channel (e.g., PUSCH) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 6, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: perform cell change to the target cell; and at least one of: maintain the validity timer, maintain the uplink grant, or maintain a synchronization signal block associated with the uplink grant, after the cell change to the target cell.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: perform cell change to the target cell; and at least one of: maintain the validity timer, maintain the uplink grant, or maintain a synchronization signal block associated with the uplink grant, after the cell change to the target cell (paragraph 0116 disclose a SPS UL grant is valid from the time it is received by the UE 102. However, the target base station 106b may not have information of when the uplink grant is actually received by the UE 102. Accordingly, in certain aspects, instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 7, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: in response to a determination that the validity timer has expired, transmit a request to extend the validity timer; receive one of: an indication to extend the validity timer, or a further uplink grant and a further timer value; and reset the validity timer based, at least partially, on the one of the indication to extend the validity timer, or the further timer value.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: in response to a determination that the validity timer has expired, transmit a request to extend the validity timer; receive one of: an indication to extend the validity timer, or a further uplink grant and a further timer value; and reset the validity timer based, at least partially, on the one of the indication to extend the validity timer, or the further timer value (paragraph 0116 disclose a SPS UL grant is valid from the time it is received by the UE 102. However, the target base station 106b may not have information of when the uplink grant is actually received by the UE 102. Accordingly, in certain aspects, instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 9, Xu teaches an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit, to a user equipment, a physical downlink control channel order, wherein the physical downlink control channel order comprises, at least, an indication of a target cell (paragraph 0229 teaches the wireless device 2110 receiving a PDCCH order 2162 from the source base station and/or via the source cell 2130. The PDCCH order may indicate the target cell 2140 for a random access procedure performed by the wireless device); receive, from a centralized unit, an indication of an uplink grant and an indication of a timer value associated with the uplink grant, wherein the uplink grant and the timer value are associated with the target cell (paragraph 0230 disclose the wireless device 2110 may receive the random access response message from the target base station and/or via the target base station 2140. The random access response message may comprise an uplink grant 2164 (e.g., used for uplink resource allocation by the wireless device) and/or a TA value 2165); and transmit, to the user equipment, at least the indication of the uplink grant, wherein the indication of the uplink grant is transmitted via a random access response (paragraph 0230 disclose the random access response message may comprise an uplink grant 2164 (e.g., used for uplink resource allocation by the wireless device) and/or a TA value 2165).
Xu does not explicitly disclose start a validity timer for the uplink grant based, at least partially, on the timer value.
However, Ozturk teaches start a validity timer for the uplink grant based, at least partially, on the timer value (paragraph 0116 disclose a SPS UL grant is valid from the time it is received by the UE 102. However, the target base station 106b may not have information of when the uplink grant is actually received by the UE 102. Accordingly, in certain aspects, instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 10, Xu teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive, from the user equipment, an indication of a capability of the user equipment to maintain at least one timer for a plurality of candidate target cells associated with the uplink grant (paragraph 0235 discloses the wireless device 2310 may receive one or more first control commands 2362 from the source base station 2330, via the source cell, and/or via serving cell. The one or more first control commands 2330 may indicate one or more first unified TCI states, for the source cell 2330, from the plurality of unified TCI state. The one or more first control commands 2362 may comprise one or more of: one or more DCI; one or more MAC CEs; or one or more RRC messages).
With respect to claim 11, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: determine whether the uplink grant is valid based, at least partially, on the timer value and at least one quasi co-location reference.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: determine whether the uplink grant is valid based, at least partially, on the timer value and at least one quasi co-location reference (paragraph 0116 disclose a SPS UL grant is valid from the time it is received by the UE 102. However, the target base station 106b may not have information of when the uplink grant is actually received by the UE 102. Accordingly, in certain aspects, instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 12, Xu teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive, from the user equipment, at least one layer one measurement report (paragraph 0086-0088; 0205 disclose the wireless device may report these measurements to a serving base station (e.g., the base station currently serving the wireless device). The serving base station of the wireless device may request a handover to a cell of one of the neighboring base stations, for example, based on the reported measurements); determine a change in at least one radio condition of the user equipment with respect to the target cell based, at least partially, on the at least one received layer one measurement report (paragraph 0086-0088; 0205 disclose The source base station 1830 may make a handover (HO) 1864 decision based on the measurement report 1862 and radio resource management (RRM) information. The source base station 1830 may send (e.g., transmit) a HO request message 1866 to the target base station 1840. The HO request message 1866 may comprise an RRC container with necessary information to prepare the handover at side of the target base station 1840).
Xu does not explicitly disclose in response to the determined change, at least one of: stop the validity timer; transmit, to the user equipment, a further physical downlink control channel order; transmit, to the user equipment, an indication to perform a random access channel based cell switch; or transmit, to the target cell, a request to update the uplink grant.
However, Ozturk teaches in response to the determined change, at least one of: stop the validity timer (paragraph 0122 discloses instead of providing a SPS uplink grant to the UE 102, the target base station 106b provides a dynamic uplink grant to the UE 102 for a dynamic scheduling (DS) (e.g., on PUSCH). In DS, the UE may be scheduled/assigned resources in one or more subframes of a UL channel (e.g., PUSCH)); transmit, to the user equipment, a further physical downlink control channel order (paragraph 0123 discloses to obtain the dynamic UL grant, the UE 102 may start monitoring the PDCCH of the target base station 106b after receiving the handover command from the source base station 106. In some aspects, that starting time for the UE 102 to monitor the PDCCH may be configured by the target base station 106b. The target base station 106b may signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command); transmit, to the user equipment, an indication to perform a random access channel based cell switch (paragraph 0135); or transmit, to the target cell, a request to update the uplink grant (paragraph 0140 discloses he grant of uplink resources may indicate a periodicity and timing offset for uplink transmissions on the granted uplink resources which may be chosen, for example, such that the grant occasions are consistent across a plurality of frames. In some cases, the UE may use the signaled uplink grant until the UE successfully transmits a handover complete message (e.g., an RRC Reconfiguration Complete message) to the target base station. After the UE transmits the handover complete message, the UE may release the granted uplink resources. In some cases, the UE may use the granted uplink resources until the UE receives a grant cancellation message from the target base station. The grant cancellation message may be received, for example, via physical layer (PHY) signaling (e.g., signaling carried on the PDCCH), media access control layer (MAC) signaling (e.g., signaling in a MAC Control Element), or upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling)) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 13, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: stop the validity timer in response to a determination that the target cell has been released.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: stop the validity timer in response to a determination that the target cell has been released (paragraph 0122 discloses instead of providing a SPS uplink grant to the UE 102, the target base station 106b provides a dynamic uplink grant to the UE 102 for a dynamic scheduling (DS) (e.g., on PUSCH). In DS, the UE may be scheduled/assigned resources in one or more subframes of a UL channel (e.g., PUSCH)) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 14, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: in response to a determination that the validity timer has expired, transmit a request to extend the validity timer; receive one of: an indication to extend the validity timer, or a further uplink grant and a further timer value; and reset the validity timer based, at least partially, on the one of the indication to extend the validity timer, or the further timer value.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: in response to a determination that the validity timer has expired, transmit a request to extend the validity timer; receive one of: an indication to extend the validity timer, or a further uplink grant and a further timer value; and reset the validity timer based, at least partially, on the one of the indication to extend the validity timer, or the further timer value (paragraph 0116 disclose a SPS UL grant is valid from the time it is received by the UE 102. However, the target base station 106b may not have information of when the uplink grant is actually received by the UE 102. Accordingly, in certain aspects, instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 15, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the request to extend the validity timer is further based on a quality of a radio link between the user equipment and the target cell.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the request to extend the validity timer is further based on a quality of a radio link between the user equipment and the target cell (paragraph 0116 disclose a SPS UL grant is valid from the time it is received by the UE 102. However, the target base station 106b may not have information of when the uplink grant is actually received by the UE 102. Accordingly, in certain aspects, instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 16, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: in response to a determination that the uplink grant is valid, transmit, to the user equipment, an indication to perform cell change with the uplink grant; and stop the validity timer.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: in response to a determination that the uplink grant is valid, transmit, to the user equipment, an indication to perform cell change with the uplink grant (paragraph 0122 discloses instead of providing a SPS uplink grant to the UE 102, the target base station 106b provides a dynamic uplink grant to the UE 102 for a dynamic scheduling (DS) (e.g., on PUSCH). In DS, the UE may be scheduled/assigned resources in one or more subframes of a UL channel (e.g., PUSCH)); and stop the validity timer (paragraph 0140 discloses the grant of uplink resources may indicate a periodicity and timing offset for uplink transmissions on the granted uplink resources which may be chosen, for example, such that the grant occasions are consistent across a plurality of frames. In some cases, the UE may use the signaled uplink grant until the UE successfully transmits a handover complete message (e.g., an RRC Reconfiguration Complete message) to the target base station. After the UE transmits the handover complete message, the UE may release the granted uplink resources. In some cases, the UE may use the granted uplink resources until the UE receives a grant cancellation message from the target base station. The grant cancellation message may be received, for example, via physical layer (PHY) signaling (e.g., signaling carried on the PDCCH), media access control layer (MAC) signaling (e.g., signaling in a MAC Control Element), or upper layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling)) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 17, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the validity timer is further based on at least one of: a delay value, or a received time to start the validity timer.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the validity timer is further based on at least one of: a delay value, or a received time to start the validity timer (paragraph 0116 discloses instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
The limitations of claim 18 are rejected in the analysis of claim 9 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis.
With respect to claim 19, Xu teaches an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from a user equipment, a random access channel signaling (paragraph 0229; 0230 discloses the wireless device 2110 may send (e.g., transmit), via the target base station 2140, a preamble of the random access procedure 2163, for example, based on (e.g., after or in response to) receiving a PDCCH order 2162 indicating the target base station 2140. The target base station 2140 may receive the preamble of the random access procedure 2163).
Xu does not explicitly disclose transmit, to a centralized unit, at least an indication of a timing advance, an uplink grant, and a timer value in response to the received random access channel signaling.
However, Ozturk teaches transmit, to a centralized unit, at least an indication of a timing advance, an uplink grant, and a timer value in response to the received random access channel signaling (paragraph 0109 disclose the target base station 106b transmits a response message (e.g., random access response message) indicating it received the preamble from the UE 102. The response message may include an uplink grant and an indication of the timing advance (e.g., timing advance command (TAC)). The uplink grant may indicate a scheduling of resources (e.g., resource blocks) for the UE 102 to transmit information on a UL to the target base station 106b. At 1120, the UE 102 may receive the response message and transmit a handover complete message (e.g., RRC connection reconfiguration complete message) to the target base station 106b indicating that the handover is complete) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
With respect to claim 20, Xu discloses the claimed subject matter as discussed above except wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive a request to extend a validity timer; and in response to the received request, transmit at least one of: an indication to extend the validity timer, or a further uplink grant and a further timer value.
However, Ozturk teaches wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, when executed with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receive a request to extend a validity timer; and in response to the received request, transmit at least one of: an indication to extend the validity timer, or a further uplink grant and a further timer value (paragraph 0116 disclose a SPS UL grant is valid from the time it is received by the UE 102. However, the target base station 106b may not have information of when the uplink grant is actually received by the UE 102. Accordingly, in certain aspects, instead of having the uplink grant be valid from the time it is received by the UE 102, the target base station 106b may explicitly select a starting time for validity of the uplink grant and signal the starting time to the UE 102 (e.g., via the source base station 106, such as, through the handover acknowledgment message and handover command). In certain aspects, the starting time is described by a SFN and subframe number) in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command (paragraph 0140). Therefore, based on Xu in view of Ozturk, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teaching of Ozturk to the system of Xu in order to obtain a valid uplink grant for transmission of a handover command.
Conclusion
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/CHEIKH T NDIAYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447
5/1/2026
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