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 .
Responsive to amendments filed 02/06/2026.
Claims 1, 10-11, 17, 26-27, 65, and 70-71 are amended, claims 3, 19, and 69 are cancelled, and claims 72-76 are added. Claims 1, 10-11, 17, 26-27, and 65-68, and 70-76 remain pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments and remarks filed 02/06/2026 have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive.
With regards to the independent claims (claim 1 is used in this explanation, but similar arguments apply to other independent claims), the cited reference to Liu is believed to meet the limitations of the claim(s) as amended. Claim 1, for example, requires a network device determining a bandwidth part (BWP) that comprises a random access (PRACH) resource for a terminal of a first type that needs coverage enhancement, and comprises one of either a PRACH resource for a terminal of a second type that needs coverage enhancement or a PRACH resource for a terminal of a second type that does not need coverage enhancement; with a terminal of a first type having greater capability than the terminal of a second type. With this, Liu discloses a network device (called a WANN 204 in the reference) that determines (configures) PRACH resource sets for UEs in the network (paragraphs 0028-0036), the resource sets comprising at least an uplink BWP (as it is known from the new radio technology, and as mentioned in paragraphs 0037-0039 of the reference); the PRACH resource sets and BWP determined (or configured) comprising PRACH resources for a first type or UE that needs coverage enhancement, and PRACH resources for one of a second type of UE that either needs or one that does not need, coverage enhancement as seen in paragraphs 0036-0039, and tables 2A-2H which teach how the PRACH resource sets are configured for the two different types of UEs, and for whether or not they require coverage enhancement; with the reference also disclosing a first type of UE that has a greater capability than a second type of UE (full capability UE and reduced capability UE). Thus, the reference is believed to meet the claim(s) as it(they) stand since they merely require determination of resources to be used by some UEs without any further steps or any practical application for the PRACH resources.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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, 10-11, 17, 26-27, 65-68, and 70-76 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2022/0369388; hereinafter Liu).
Regarding claim 1 Liu discloses a method for determining an access resource, performed by a network device, comprising: determining a first bandwidth part (BWP) (paragraphs 0032, 0036, 0038; a UE is configured, by a network device, with a random access resource set which corresponds to an uplink bandwidth part); wherein the first BWP comprises at least one of a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource for a terminal of a first type that needs coverage enhancement, and the first BWP comprises at least one of: a PRACH resource for a terminal of a second type that needs coverage enhancement, or a PRACH resource for a terminal of a second type that does not need coverage enhancement (paragraphs 0036-0039, and tables 2A-2H which teach how the PRACH resource sets are configured for the two different types of UEs, and for whether or not they require coverage enhancement); wherein the terminal of the first type has a greater capability than the terminal of the second type (paragraphs 0030-0039; full capability UE and reduced capability UE).
Regarding claim 10 Liu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the PRACH resource comprises: a PRACH preamble (paragraphs 0020, 0039, 0040; wherein the resource set comprises a preamble to be transmitted via a MSG1 of the random access procedure).
Regarding claim 11 Liu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein a coverage enhancement level is determined based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement value of the terminal (paragraphs 0022, 0024, 0033; a UE may obtain a measurement result of a downlink reference signal received from the network device 204; the measurement result may, for example, include reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal received power (RSRP)).
Regarding claim 17 Liu discloses a method for determining an access resource, performed by a terminal, comprising:
determining a first bandwidth part (BWP) (paragraphs 0032, 0036, 0038; a UE is configured, by a network device, with a random access resource set which corresponds to an uplink bandwidth part);
wherein the terminal is a terminal of a first type that needs coverage enhancement or a terminal of a second type (paragraphs 0033, 0035; UE’s type/capability can be a UE needing coverage enhancement);
the first BWP comprises physical random access channel (PRACH) resource for the terminal of the first type that needs coverage enhancement, and the first BWP comprises at least one of: a PRACH resource for a terminal of a second type that needs coverage enhancement, or a PRACH resource for a terminal of a second type that does not need coverage enhancement (paragraphs 0036-0039, and tables 2A-2H which teach how the PRACH resource sets are configured for the two different types of UEs, and for whether or not they require coverage enhancement); and
the terminal of the first type has a greater capability than the terminal of the second type (paragraphs 0024, 0033, 0035; the UE type/capability comprises a full capability UE needing coverage enhancement).
Regarding claim 26 Liu discloses the method of claim 17, wherein the PRACH resource comprises: a PRACH preamble (paragraphs 0020, 0039, 0040; wherein the resource set comprises a preamble to be transmitted via a MSG1 of the random access procedure).
Regarding claim 27 Liu discloses the method of claim 17, wherein a coverage enhancement level is determined based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement value of the terminal (paragraphs 0022, 0024, 0033; a UE may obtain a measurement result of a downlink reference signal received from the network device 204; the measurement result may, for example, include reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal received power (RSRP)).
Regarding claim 65 Liu discloses a device for determining an access resource (figure 2), comprising:
a processor (processor 220 in the network device 204 of figure 2); and
a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor (memory 222 in the network device 204);
wherein the processor is configured to:
determine a first bandwidth part (BWP) (paragraphs 0032, 0036, 0038; a UE is configured, by a network device, with a random access resource set which corresponds to an uplink bandwidth part);
wherein the first BWP comprises physical random access channel (PRACH) resource for the terminal of the first type that needs coverage enhancement, and the first BWP comprises at least one of: a PRACH resource for a terminal of a second type that needs coverage enhancement, or a PRACH resource for a terminal of a second type that does not need coverage enhancement (paragraphs 0036-0039, and tables 2A-2H which teach how the PRACH resource sets are configured for the two different types of UEs, and for whether or not they require coverage enhancement);
wherein the terminal of the first type has a greater capability than the terminal of the second type (paragraphs 0030-0039; full capability UE and reduced capability UE).
Regarding claim 66 Liu discloses a device for determining an access resource (figure 2), comprising:
a processor (processor 210 in the UE 202 of figure 2); and
a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor (memory 212 in the UE 202);
wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 17 (paragraph 0014; UE 202 configured to perform the steps described in the reference).
Regarding claim 67 Liu discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor of a network device, cause the network device to perform the method of claim 1 (paragraph 0006; a computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the above method).
Regarding claim 68 Liu discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor of a mobile terminal, cause the terminal to perform the method of claim 17 (paragraph 0006; a computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the above method).
Regarding claim 70 Liu discloses the device of claim 65, wherein the PRACH resource comprises a PRACH preamble (paragraphs 0020, 0039, 0040; wherein the resource set comprises a preamble to be transmitted via a MSG1 of the random access procedure).
Regarding claim 71 Liu discloses the device of claim 65, wherein a coverage enhancement level is determined based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement value of the terminal (paragraphs 0022, 0024, 0033; a UE may obtain a measurement result of a downlink reference signal received from the network device 204; the measurement result may, for example, include reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal received power (RSRP)).
Regarding claim 72 Liu discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a second BWP, wherein the second BWP comprises a PRACH resource for a terminal of a first type that does not need coverage enhancement (paragraphs 0035-0039, tables 2A-2H, wherein separate resource sets are configured for each UE type, with the sets each comprising at least an uplink BWP).
Regarding claim 73 Liu discloses the method of claim 72, wherein the PRACH resource for the terminal of the first type that needs coverage enhancement, the PRACH resource for the terminal of the second type that needs coverage enhancement, the PRACH resource for the terminal of the first type that does not need coverage enhancement, and the PRACH resource for the terminal of the second type that does not need coverage enhancement are different (from table 2D it can be seen that both types of UE, whether they need coverage enhancement or not, can be configured with a PRACH set of resources).
Regarding claim 74 Liu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the PRACH resource is determined based on a coverage enhancement level (paragraphs 0021, 0032; select the first random access channel resource set corresponding to the first coverage recovery level from the plurality of random access channel resource sets), and the coverage enhancement level is determined based on a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement value of the terminal (paragraphs 0022, 0024, 0033; a UE may obtain a measurement result of a downlink reference signal received from the network device 204; the measurement result may, for example, include reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal received power (RSRP)).
Regarding claim 75 Liu discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information comprises capability information associated with the terminal of the second type (paragraphs 0033-0034; the UE 202 may transmit the feature information to the WANN 204, feature information may include, for example, a type of the user equipment, whether the user equipment to enable coverage enhancement, a level of the coverage enhancement for the user equipment, whether the user equipment to enable coverage recovery, and a level of the coverage recovery for the user equipment).
Regarding claim 76 Liu discloses the method of claim 75, wherein receiving the first indication information comprises: receiving the first indication information based on an access message (paragraph 0034; the UE 202 may transmit the feature information to the WANN 204 during the random access procedure); or receiving the first indication information based on a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (the claim does not necessitate this due to the “or” clause).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Application Publication 2023/0188261 to Awadin et al. – that discloses a reduced capability NR device may receive, from a base station, a reference signal (RS) or broadcast system information. The reduced capability NR device may determine, based on the received RS or the received broadcast system information, a coverage enhancement for the wireless communications device and may determine a repetition configuration. The reduced capability NR device may select, based on the coverage enhancement and repetition configuration, a plurality of random access channel occasions (ROs) for a plurality of physical random access channel (PRACH) repetitions.
US Patent Application Publication 2024/0008050 to Zhou et al. – which discloses a wireless device receives one or more messages indicating: a first random access (RA) search space (SS) on a first initial bandwidth part (BWP), of a cell, for a first wireless device type; and a second RA SS on a second initial BWP, of the cell, for a second wireless device type. The wireless device transmits a preamble.
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 Aixa A Guadalupe-Cruz whose telephone number is (571)270-7523. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 6AM - 4:00PM.
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/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/Aixa Guadalupe-Cruz/
Examiner
Art Unit 2466
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