Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1, 21, 22 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) 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. Specifically, the amendments substantially change the scope of the claimed subject matter and necessitate new grounds of rejection with new citations of prior art.
Rejections for similar independent and dependent claims are revised and/or maintained accordingly.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim 1, 21, 22 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shih et al. (US 2022/0150986) in view of Echigo et al. (US 2024/0283559) in view of Fakoorian et al. (US 2026/0164463).
For claim 1, Shih teaches: A method performed by a wireless device (see at least fig. 2, UE and BS may comprise processor/memory for communication), the method comprising:
receiving system information of a cell, wherein the system information comprises first configuration information for normal uplink (NUL) (see at least 0390, network may transmit a first threshold in System Information for selection between a normal uplink (NUL) carrier and a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier, thus may be for NUL/SUL), and
wherein the first configuration information comprises a first reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold parameter for selection between the NUL and the SUL (see at least 0390, network may transmit a first threshold in System Information for selection between a normal uplink (NUL) carrier and a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier), and
selecting the SUL for random access based on the first RSRP threshold parameter (see at least 0390, network may transmit a first threshold in System Information for selection between a normal uplink (NUL) carrier and a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier, thus SUL carrier may be selected);
transmitting a random access preamble on the SUL and receiving a random access response (RAR) (see at least 0461, RA preamble may be transmitted and RA response may be received); and
transmitting on the SUL a msg3 (see at least 0461, Msg3 may be transmitted after Msg2/RAR is received).
Shih further teaches msg3 repetition for coverage enhancement (Abstract) but not explicitly: …a list of parameters related to a number of repetitions for msg3, or: …the RAR including an uplink grant indicating one parameter among the list of parameters, or: transmitting on the SUL a msg3 based on the one parameter indicated by the uplink grant included in the RAR. Echigo from an analogous art teaches (see at least 0124, fig. 5-8, SIB may configure a TDRA list of bit values and corresponding Msg3 repetitions; 0172-0173, UE may determine Msg3 repetition number accordingly when receiving a TDRA bit value in UL grant in Msg2). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Echigo to the system of Shih, so the SIB may include a list of bit values and corresponding Msg3 repetitions, and Msg2 (RAR) UL grant indicates one of the bit values corresponding to a number of Msg3 repetitions, as suggested by Echigo. The motivation would have been to enhance communications by allowing network to configure appropriate Msg3 repetitions (Echigo 0172-0173).
Shih further teaches threshold for determining repetition in SIB (0398-0400) but not explicitly: …and second configuration information for supplementary uplink (SUL), separate from the first configuration information, or: …wherein the second configuration information comprises: a second RSRP threshold parameter, of the SUL, related to a message 3 (msg3) repetition mode, or: …in response to selecting the SUL, determining the msg3 repetition mode based on the second RSRP threshold parameter. Fakoorian from an analogous art teaches (see at least 0052, UE may receive RSRP threshold T3 for determining whether to perform Msg3 repetition on NUL carrier, and RSRP threshold T4 for determining whether to perform Msg3 repetition on SUL carrier, thus being specific for NUL or SUL (0027, network may allocate Msg3 resources accordingly)). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Fakoorian to the system of Shih, Echigo, so the SIB may include a separate RSRP threshold for msg3 repetition on SUL, and UE determines whether to perform msg3 repetition for selected SUL based on this specific threshold, as suggested by Fakoorian. The motivation would have been to enhance communications by configuring separate thresholds for determining Msg3 repetition on NUL and SUL (Fakoorian 0052).
Claim 21 recites an apparatus substantially similar to the method of claim 1 and is rejected under similar reasoning.
Claim 22 recites an apparatus substantially similar to the method of claim 1 from perspective of base station and is rejected under similar reasoning.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIREN WEI whose telephone number is (571)272-0687. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday 7-4. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hassan Phillips can be reached on 571-272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Siren Wei/
Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2467
