DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to the application 18/217,988 filed on July 3rd, 2023.
Claim Status
This office action is based upon claims received on 01/05/2026, which replace all prior or other submitted versions of the claims.
Claims 4, 7, 9 – 17 are canceled.
Claims 1 – 3, 5 – 6, 8, and 18 are pending.
Claims 1 – 3, 8, and 18 are rejected.
Claims 5 – 6 are objected to.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination, filed on 01/05/2026, 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/05/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments/Remarks
Applicant’s note regarding Obligation under 37 CFR 1.56, that ADS identifies a single inventor is acknowledged.
Applicant's arguments, see pages 5 – 8 of the Remarks, filed 01/05/2026, with respect to the rejections of independent claims 1 and 18, and dependent claims 2 – 3, and 8, with the exception of newly canceled claims 4, 7, and 9 - 17, under applied prior art references of record in the office action dated 11/05/2025, particularly as regards the amended limitations, have been fully considered and are persuasive. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Zhang et al. [US 20230397069 A1]. Therefore, the rejection has been revised as set forth below according to the amended claims. See office action below.
It should be noted that the scope of the previous claim 1 has been changed with the current amendment. The amended claim limitation recites “a first Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) for cell switching, the first MAC CE including an identifier associated with the first configuration information, and a first TCI state identifier that indicates a first TCI state of the TCI state list of the first cell, and a field related to a random access; and performing cell switching to the first cell based on the first MAC CE, wherein performing the cell switching comprises: if the field indicates a specific value, initiating a random access procedure in the first cell based on the first MAC CE; otherwise, skipping the random access procedure.”. Adding this concept of cell switching and a conditional random access procedure makes it more specific than was previously claimed. Therefore, this amendment changes the scope of the limitation as recited in amended claim 1, and it necessitates a new ground(s) of rejection.
All remaining arguments presented by Applicant not specifically addressed herein and directed to various dependent claims are found unpersuasive for the same reasons as stated herein, with regard to independent claims. The rejection has been revised and set forth below according to the amended claims.
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.
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.
Claims 1 – 3, 8, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jin et al. [US 20210105780 A1] hereinafter Jin, and further in view of Lee et al. [US 20220329364 A1] hereinafter Lee, Zhang et al. [US 20230397069 A1] hereinafter Zhang, and Jassal et al. [US 20210329512 A1] hereinafter Jassal.
Regarding claim 1, Jin teaches a method performed by a wireless device (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 292-296; wherein UE 1m-01 is a wireless device), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, at least one Radio Resource Control (RRC) message (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294; wherein in the RRC_connected state, the eNB delivers configuration information related to a plurality of TRPs 1m-03 and 1m-04 to the UE through an RRC message (1m-20)), the at least one RRC message including:
first configuration information indicating a Transmission Configuration Index (TCI) state list of a first cell (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294; wherein the RRC message includes configuration information and TCI state configuration and in particular, the TCI state-related configuration may be performed for each BWP and for each serving cell (TRP1 1m-03 and TRP2 1m-04), and wherein TCI state for a bandwidth part (BWP) of a serving cell is among the plurality of TCI states (i.e., TCI state list). Therefore, the RRC message comprises configuration information indicating a TCI state list of a first cell (i.e., TRP1 1m-03)); and
second configuration information indicating a TCI state list of a second cell (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294; wherein the RRC message includes configuration information and TCI state configuration and in particular, the TCI state-related configuration may be performed for each BWP and for each serving cell, and wherein TCI state for a bandwidth part (BWP) of a serving cell is among the plurality of TCI states (i.e., TCI state list). Therefore, the RRC message comprises configuration information indicating a TCI state list of a second cell (i.e., TRP2 1m-04));
receiving from the base station via the second cell (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 295; wherein the TRP2 1m-04 sends a corresponding MAC CE to the UE through an L1/L2 signal message (1m-25)), a first Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294-295; wherein the eNB may instruct the activation of a function requiring activation of the TRP operation through L1/L2 signaling with respect to the configuration for the TRP configured as the RRC configuration information. The L1 signaling means a DCI, and the L2 signaling means a MAC CE. For example, the corresponding MAC CE (i.e., a first MAC CE for TRP2) may be transmitted to activate the PDCCH TCI state for TRP2), the first MAC CE is associated with the first configuration information and a first TCI state that indicates a first TCI state of the TCI state list of the first cell (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294-295; wherein the MAC CE includes information indicating that the at least one TCI state is for a transmission and reception point (TRP) of a second TRP, the corresponding MAC CE (i.e., a first MAC CE for TRP2) may be transmitted to activate the PDCCH TCI state for TRP2 and the corresponding MAC CE and DCI are sequentially transmitted to activate the PDSCH TCI state. Thus, the MAC CE is associated with the configuration information and the TCI state);
Jin does not explicitly disclose MAC CE for cell switching, the MAC CE including an identifier associated with configuration information and a TCI state identifier, and a field related to a random access; and
performing cell switching to the first cell based on the first MAC CE,
wherein performing the cell switching comprises:
if the field indicates a specific value, initiating a random access procedure in the first cell based on the first MAC CE; otherwise skipping the random access procedure.
Referring to the invention of Lee, Lee teaches that MAC CE including an identifier associated with configuration information and a TCI state identifier (Lee: Fig. 9, ¶ 199, ¶ 203-205: wherein Fig. 9 illustrates TCI state indication for UE-specific MAC CE, and the Serving Cell ID indicates the identity of the Serving Cell for which the MAC CE applies, and the UE determines one or more TCI states indicated by group common MAC CE among all TCI states configured by the RRC message. Thus, the MAC CE comprises an identifier associated with configuration information (i.e., the serving cell ID and the TCI states configured by the RRC), and it is also associated with the TCI state identifier (i.e., the TCI state ID present in the MAC CE)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the MAC CE identifier teachings of Lee into the MAC CE teachings of Jin in order to provide a method of efficiently performing wireless signal transmission/reception procedures (Lee: ¶ 4).
In view of the combined MAC CE identifier teachings of Lee, and the MAC CE teachings of Jin, the limitation “receiving, …, a … MAC CE, wherein the … MAC CE including an identifier associated with the … configuration information and a … TCI state identifier, and wherein the … TCI state identifier indicates a … TCI state of the TCI state list of the … cell” is obviously met.
Jin in view of Lee does not explicitly disclose MAC CE for cell switching, and a field related to a random access; and performing cell switching to the first cell based on the first MAC CE, wherein performing the cell switching comprises: if the field indicates a specific value, initiating a random access procedure in the first cell based on the first MAC CE; otherwise skipping the random access procedure.
Referring to the invention of Zhang, Zhang teaches MAC CE for cell switching (Zhang: Fig. 5, Fig. 6, ¶ 43 – 45; wherein the UE receives a cell switch command from the network during mobility…, the cell switch command is sent by MAC CE), and a field related to a random access (Zhang: Fig. 5, Fig. 6, ¶ 43 – 46; wherein in view of the teaching that UE cell switching command is received through MAC CE, (Para 46)), thus the MAC CE has a field related to cell switching, and wherein in the process of cell switching, a UE skips random access (Para 45), therefore MAC CE has a field related to random access procedure because MAC CE is related to cell switching and cell switching is related to random access skipping (it should be noted that the limitation "MAC CE… field related to a random access" only requires that a MAC CE should have a field related to a random access procedure not that the MAC CE has a random access field)); and
performing cell switching to the first cell based on the first MAC CE (Zhang: Fig. 5, Fig. 6, ¶ 43 – 45; wherein the UE receives a cell switch command from the network during mobility…, the cell switch command is sent by MAC CE. UE is switched back-and-forth between the first and second cell (i.e., the UE performs cell switching). The network decides to perform cell switch and change the serving cell from the source cell to the target cell. Then network sends a cell switch command to the UE. UE performs RLC re-establishment and MAC reset for cell switch. when the UE performs cell switch in the case of that the TAG associated with the target cell is valid and the timeAlignment timer of the TAG is running, the UE skips the random access (RA) procedure for target cell.…), wherein performing the cell switching comprises:
if the field indicates a specific value, otherwise skipping the random access procedure (Zhang: Fig. 5, Fig. 6, ¶ 43 – 45; wherein when the UE performs cell switch in the case of that the TAG associated with the target cell is valid (i.e., the TAG associated with the target cell is a specific value) and the timeAlignment timer of the TAG is running, the UE skips the random access (RA) procedure for target cell).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the random access skipping procedure as taught by Zhang into the combined mobility management teachings of Jin and Lee in order for the network to take advantage of ping-pong effects, i.e., cell switching back and forth between the source and target cells, to select the best beams among a wider area including both the source cell and target cell for throughput boosting during UE mobility (Zhang: ¶ 31, ¶ 38).
Referring to the invention of Jassal, Jassal teaches a MAC CE having a random access field (Jassal: Fig. 8A, ¶ 136) and initiating a random access procedure in the first cell based on the first MAC CE (Jassal: ¶ 170-171; wherein the UE initiates a random access procedure (i.e. a random access process) by transmitting a random access preamble to the network via the source cell (i.e., the first cell), and the inter-cell mobility management (i.e., cell switching) is triggered upon reception of a MAC CE command for inter-cell mobility).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the initiation of random access procedure teachings of Jassal into the MAC CE teachings of Jin, Lee, and Zhang combined, in order to provide a method of efficiently acquiring system information from neighbor cells, and to semi-statically activate/deactivate frequency layers and indicate resources used by given neighbor cells in order to update system information in a user-centric manner (Jassal: ¶ 63).
In view of the combined MAC CE teachings of Jin, Lee, Zhang, and the initiation of random access procedure based on MAC CE teachings of Jassal, the limitations of claim 1 are obviously met.
Regarding claim 2, Jin in view of Lee, Zhang and Jassal teaches the method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first MAC CE comprises:
while the first configuration information and the second configuration information are configured for the wireless device, receiving the first MAC CE (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 294; wherein the TRP2 1m-04 sends a corresponding MAC CE to the UE through an L1/L2 signal message (1m-25) after the UE receives the first and second configuration information for the UE).
Regarding claim 3, Jin in view of Lee, Zhang and Jassal teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
applying, the first configuration information based on the first MAC CE (Jin: ¶ 158, ¶ 165; wherein when a plurality of TRPs are configured in one serving cell, general configuration information on the serving cell is transmitted in common… and the eNB indicates the TCI state ID for PDCCH reception in a specific CORESET through a MAC CE); and
performing wireless communication with the base station via the first cell based on the first configuration information (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 296, Fig. 1N, ¶ 300; wherein in operation 1m-40, the UE may change and apply active beam information in each TRP according to L1/L2 signaling received from the eNB, likewise, if the L1/L2 signaling received by the UE in operation 1n-20 is beam activation information for the plurality of TRPs (for PDCCH, PDSCH, or PUCCH), the corresponding transmission/reception resources may be transmitted in each TRP (TRP 1 and TRP 2) through the downlink beam (TCI state) and the uplink beam (PUCCH resource transmission beam) for which activation is indicated. The UE performs uplink and downlink data reception through a beam configured for communication with the eNB).
Regarding claim 8, Jin in view of Lee, Zhang and Jassal teaches the method of claim 1, wherein receiving the at least one RRC message comprises:
receiving, from the base station, a first RRC message including the first configuration information; and receiving, from the base station, a second RRC message including the second configuration information (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 294, ¶ 320; wherein the eNB configures a downlink beam used for transmission to the UE through the PDCCH up to 64 beams as an RRC message or as RRC messages. Thus, the eNB is capable of sending multiple RRC messages, wherein each RRC message will comprise its own configuration information).
Regarding claim 1, Jin teaches a method performed by a wireless device (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 292-296; wherein UE 1m-01 is a wireless device), the method comprising:
a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a signal (Jin: Fig. 1P, ¶ 304-305; baseband processor 1p-20 and the RF processor 1p-10 may be referred to as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver); and
a controller configured to control the transceiver to (Jin: Fig. 1P, ¶ 304-305; controller 1p-40):
receiving, from a base station, at least one Radio Resource Control (RRC) message (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294; wherein in the RRC_connected state, the eNB delivers configuration information related to a plurality of TRPs 1m-03 and 1m-04 to the UE through an RRC message (1m-20)), the at least one RRC message including:
first configuration information indicating a Transmission Configuration Index (TCI) state list of a first cell (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294; wherein the RRC message includes configuration information and TCI state configuration and in particular, the TCI state-related configuration may be performed for each BWP and for each serving cell (TRP1 1m-03 and TRP2 1m-04), and wherein TCI state for a bandwidth part (BWP) of a serving cell is among the plurality of TCI states (i.e., TCI state list). Therefore, the RRC message comprises configuration information indicating a TCI state list of a first cell (i.e., TRP1 1m-03)); and
second configuration information indicating a TCI state list of a second cell (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294; wherein the RRC message includes configuration information and TCI state configuration and in particular, the TCI state-related configuration may be performed for each BWP and for each serving cell, and wherein TCI state for a bandwidth part (BWP) of a serving cell is among the plurality of TCI states (i.e., TCI state list). Therefore, the RRC message comprises configuration information indicating a TCI state list of a second cell (i.e., TRP2 1m-04));
receiving from the base station via the second cell (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 295; wherein the TRP2 1m-04 sends a corresponding MAC CE to the UE through an L1/L2 signal message (1m-25)), a first Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294-295; wherein the eNB may instruct the activation of a function requiring activation of the TRP operation through L1/L2 signaling with respect to the configuration for the TRP configured as the RRC configuration information. The L1 signaling means a DCI, and the L2 signaling means a MAC CE. For example, the corresponding MAC CE (i.e., a first MAC CE for TRP2) may be transmitted to activate the PDCCH TCI state for TRP2), the first MAC CE is associated with the first configuration information and a first TCI state that indicates a first TCI state of the TCI state list of the first cell (Jin: Fig. 1M, ¶ 14, ¶ 294-295; wherein the MAC CE includes information indicating that the at least one TCI state is for a transmission and reception point (TRP) of a second TRP, the corresponding MAC CE (i.e., a first MAC CE for TRP2) may be transmitted to activate the PDCCH TCI state for TRP2 and the corresponding MAC CE and DCI are sequentially transmitted to activate the PDSCH TCI state. Thus, the MAC CE is associated with the configuration information and the TCI state);
Jin does not explicitly disclose the MAC CE including an identifier associated with configuration information and a TCI state identifier, and a field related to a random access; and
if the field indicates a specific value, perform cell switching to the first cell by initiating a random access procedure based on the first MAC CE; otherwise perform cell switching to the first cell by skipping the random access procedure.
Referring to the invention of Lee, Lee teaches that MAC CE including an identifier associated with configuration information and a TCI state identifier (Lee: Fig. 9, ¶ 199, ¶ 203-205: wherein Fig. 9 illustrates TCI state indication for UE-specific MAC CE, and the Serving Cell ID indicates the identity of the Serving Cell for which the MAC CE applies, and the UE determines one or more TCI states indicated by group common MAC CE among all TCI states configured by the RRC message. Thus, the MAC CE comprises an identifier associated with configuration information (i.e., the serving cell ID and the TCI states configured by the RRC), and it is also associated with the TCI state identifier (i.e., the TCI state ID present in the MAC CE)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the MAC CE identifier teachings of Lee into the MAC CE teachings of Jin in order to provide a method of efficiently performing wireless signal transmission/reception procedures (Lee: ¶ 4).
In view of the combined MAC CE identifier teachings of Lee, and the MAC CE teachings of Jin, the limitation “receiving, …, a … MAC CE, wherein the … MAC CE including an identifier associated with the … configuration information and a … TCI state identifier, and wherein the … TCI state identifier indicates a … TCI state of the TCI state list of the … cell” is obviously met.
Jin in view of Lee does not explicitly disclose a field related to a random access; if the field indicates a specific value, perform cell switching to the first cell by initiating a random access procedure based on the first MAC CE; otherwise perform cell switching to the first cell by skipping the random access procedure.
Referring to the invention of Zhang, Zhang teaches a field related to a random access (Zhang: Fig. 5, Fig. 6, ¶ 43 – 46; wherein in view of the teaching that UE cell switching command is received through MAC CE, (Para 46)), thus the MAC CE has a field related to cell switching, and wherein in the process of cell switching, a UE skips random access (Para 45), therefore MAC CE has a field related to random access procedure because MAC CE is related to cell switching and cell switching is related to random access skipping (it should be noted that the limitation "MAC CE… field related to a random access" only requires that a MAC CE should have a field related to a random access procedure not that the MAC CE has a random access field)); and
if the field indicates a specific value, perform cell switching to the first cell based on the first MAC CE (Zhang: Fig. 5, Fig. 6, ¶ 43 – 45; wherein the UE receives a cell switch command from the network during mobility…, the cell switch command is sent by MAC CE. UE is switched back-and-forth between the first and second cell (i.e., the UE performs cell switching). The network decides to perform cell switch and change the serving cell from the source cell to the target cell. Then network sends a cell switch command to the UE. UE performs RLC re-establishment and MAC reset for cell switch. when the UE performs cell switch in the case of that the TAG associated with the target cell is valid (i.e., the TAG associated with the target cell is a specific value) and the timeAlignment timer of the TAG is running, the UE skips the random access (RA) procedure for target cell. Therefore, when the UE performs cell switch in the case of that the TAG associated with the target cell is NOT valid , the UE performs the random access (RA) procedure for target cell), otherwise perform cell switching to the first cell by skipping the random access procedure. (Zhang: Fig. 5, Fig. 6, ¶ 43 – 45; wherein when the UE performs cell switch in the case of that the TAG associated with the target cell is valid (i.e., the TAG associated with the target cell is a specific value) and the timeAlignment timer of the TAG is running, the UE skips the random access (RA) procedure for target cell).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the random access skipping procedure as taught by Zhang into the combined mobility management teachings of Jin and Lee in order for the network to take advantage of ping-pong effects, i.e., cell switching back and forth between the source and target cells, to select the best beams among a wider area including both the source cell and target cell for throughput boosting during UE mobility (Zhang: ¶ 31, ¶ 38).
Referring to the invention of Jassal, Jassal teaches a MAC CE having a random access field (Jassal: Fig. 8A, ¶ 136) and initiating a random access procedure based on the first MAC CE (Jassal: ¶ 170-171; wherein the UE initiates a random access procedure (i.e. a random access process) by transmitting a random access preamble to the network via the source cell (i.e., the first cell), and the inter-cell mobility management (i.e., cell switching) is triggered upon reception of a MAC CE command for inter-cell mobility).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to incorporate the initiation of random access procedure teachings of Jassal into the MAC CE teachings of Jin, Lee, and Zhang combined, in order to provide a method of efficiently acquiring system information from neighbor cells, and to semi-statically activate/deactivate frequency layers and indicate resources used by given neighbor cells in order to update system information in a user-centric manner (Jassal: ¶ 63).
In view of the combined MAC CE teachings of Jin, Lee, Zhang, and the initiation of random access procedure based on MAC CE teachings of Jassal, the limitations of claim 1 are obviously met.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 – 6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 5, the prior art of record fail to disclose, alone or in any reasonable combination, as required by the dependent claim “wherein the first cell is associated with a first layer- 2 mobility group, and the second cell is associated with a second layer-2 mobility group”.
Claims 6 is objected to, based on its dependency on claim 5.
The Examiner notes the above limitation(s) are not taken alone but in view of the entirety of the claim language including any preceding claim limitations, any proceeding claim limitations, and any intervening claim limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Li et al. [US 20220408327 A1]: Transmission Control Method, Terminal Device, and Network Device.
Loffe et al. [US 20210250833 A1]: Primary Cell Switching in Non-Simultaneous uplink Carrier Aggregation Scenarios.
Loehr et al. [US 20200053793 A1]: Skipping Uplink Transmission Allocated by RACH Procedure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIDAYAT DABIRI whose telephone number is (703)756-4541. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached at 571-272-7884. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/HD/Examiner, Art Unit 2414
/EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414