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 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/8/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed 6/8/2026 have been accepted and entered. Accordingly, claims 1, 14, and 32 have been amended.
Claims 1, 5, 6, 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 24, 28, 32, and 34-40 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 6/8/2026, with respect to claims 1, 5, 6, 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 24, 28, 32, and 34-40 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 § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 5, 6, 11, 13, 14, 18, 19, 24, 28, 32, and 36, and 39-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 2015/0016312 A1), hereinafter referred to as Li, and further in view of Yu et al. (US 2023/0262751 A1), hereinafter referred to as Yu.
Re. Claim 1, Li teaches:
A method for indicating repetition of a random access message, performed by a base station, (Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for a User Equipment (UE) and a base station in communication with each other to determine parameters for a Random Access (RA) process. The base station informs the UE through a System Information Block (SIB) of a number of resource sets for RA preamble transmission by the UE. Each resource set is associated with a number of repetitions for a RA preamble transmission [i.e. the method indicates repetitions of a random access message] & ¶0046 This disclosure relates to a random access process for DL or UL coverage limited User Equipments (UEs). A wireless communication network includes a DownLink (DL) that conveys signals from transmission points, such as base stations or enhanced NodeBs (eNBs), to UEs.)
comprising: sending first indication information to a terminal, (¶0135 Part of the information in Table 2 can be broadcasted by the eNB 102 in a SIB [i.e. the SIB contains the indication information which is sent from a base station] a first eNB 102 can include an indication of number R.sub.1 using a value of `00` in a SIB, a second eNB 103 can include an indication of R, using a value of `01` in a SIB. If R.sub.2 is included in a SIB, it can either imply that both R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are supported or that only R.sub.2 is supported. UE 114 that receives an indication for a number of PRACH repetitions [i.e. indication information].)
Yet, Li does not explicitly teach: wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a configuration for repetition of the random access message, wherein the first indication information comprises index information, the configuration comprises a number of repetitions, the random access message is a third message (Msg3) in a random access procedure, the index information is located in a random access response uplink grant in a second message (Msg2) in the random access procedure, the index information is used to indicate, in a list comprising four candidate repetition numbers, the number of repetitions for the Msg3, wherein the first indication information is multiplexed in an existing modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field of the random access response uplink grant.
However, in the analogous art, Yu teaches such limitations:
wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a configuration for repetition of the random access message, (¶0079 S301. The network device includes first indication information in a shared bit in first information, and sends the first information to the terminal device. The first indication information indicates a quantity of repeated transmissions of a third message Msg 3. & ¶0083 S304. The terminal device determines the quantity of repeated transmissions of the third message based on the first indication information. & ¶0087 after determining that the Msg 3 needs to be repeatedly transmitted, the terminal device may further determine, based on the type of the repeated transmission that is indicated by the first indication information which one of the repetition type A or the repetition type B is used to repeatedly transmit the Msg 3, so that the Msg 3 can be repeatedly transmitted in a more flexible manner, [i.e. citations show first indication information is used for indicating a configuration for random access Msg3])
wherein the first indication information comprises index information, (¶0088 Based on the method shown in FIG. 3, in a process of transmitting the first information and the first indication information, to achieve an objective that two types of information are simultaneously indicated and the two types of information do not affect each other, a quantity of bits that may be used as the shared bit and that are in the first information may be limited to some extent. To more flexibly set the quantity of repeated transmissions of the Msg 3, this embodiment of this application further provides a manner in which a repeated transmission factor K and the first indication information are combined to indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions. A specific implementation may be: determining the quantity of repeated transmissions of the third message based on a first quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information and the repeated transmission factor K. & ¶0091 A1. The repeated transmission factor K is included in the first indication information. & ¶0119-¶0120 the MCS field may have two redundant bits, and the two redundant bits may be used as the shared bits to indicate the first indication information. to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, the quantity of repeated transmissions may be further indicated based on a predefined repeated transmission factor, as shown in Table 4 [i.e. the two redundant bits are the index information which points to the predefined repeated transmission factors, the shared bits are used as indices for each K value and therefore each repetition value of the list, this can be seen below in Table 4])
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the configuration comprises a number of repetitions, (¶0083 S304. The terminal device determines the quantity of repeated transmissions of the third message based on the first indication information. [i.e. first indication information that indicates the configuration comprises information for determining number of repetitions])
the random access message is a third message (Msg3) in a random access procedure, (¶0079 The first indication information indicates a quantity of repeated transmissions of a third message Msg 3.)
the index information is located in a random access response uplink grant in a second message (Msg2) in the random access procedure, (¶0072 S202. The network device sends a random access response (random access response, RAR) to the UE after detecting the random access preamble. The random access response may also be referred to as a message 2 (Msg2). The random access response includes scheduling information, that is, RAR uplink (UL) grant information, of a message 3. & ¶0111 In uplink grant RAR UL grant information of an existing random access response, a total of 16 MCS index values are included, and are indicated by four bits. ¶0133 after receiving the first information (the first information is information sent by the network device and the terminal device in the random access procedure in the conventional technology), the terminal device obtains the first indication information based on the shared bit in the first information. The first indication information may indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions of the Msg 3. The shared bit is shared by the first information and the first indication information. [i.e. MCS field which contains the first indication information, and in turn the index information, is in uplink grant RAR UL grant information, Random access response in Fig. 2])
the index information is used to indicate, in a list comprising four candidate repetition numbers, the number of repetitions for the Msg3, (¶0119-¶0120 The coverage-limited terminal device selects MCS index values 0 to 3. In this case, status values of the 4-bit field that indicates the MCS field are 0000 to 0011. In this case, the MCS field may have two redundant bits, and the two redundant bits may be used as the shared bits to indicate the first indication information. to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, the quantity of repeated transmissions may be further indicated based on a predefined repeated transmission factor, as shown in Table 4 [i.e. the two shared bits are the index information which point to the predefined repeated transmission factors of which there are 4, are equivalent to a list of four candidate repetition numbers, therefore comprising the number of repetitions for the random access message Msg3])
wherein the first indication information is multiplexed in an existing modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field of the random access response uplink grant. (¶0119 The coverage-limited terminal device selects MCS index values 0 to 3. In this case, status values of the 4-bit field that indicates the MCS field are 0000 to 0011. In this case, the MCS field may have two redundant bits, and the two redundant bits may be used as the shared bits to indicate the first indication information. [i.e. the two redundant bits of MCS field being shared (multiplexed) for conveying the first indication information])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of information for indicating a configuration for the repetition of a random access message multiplexed within an existing modulation and coding scheme field, because it would allow a Msg3 to be repeatedly transmitted in a more flexible manner without increasing overhead, in order to improve stability of accessing a network. (see Yu ¶0008 & ¶0010)
Re. Claim 5, Li combined with Yu teaches claim 1.
Yu further teaches:
wherein the list is pre-determined or indicated to the terminal by system information. (¶0145-¶0146 Alternatively, the repeated transmission factor K is a predefined value. Alternatively, the repeated transmission factor K is included in a received system message SIB.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of the list being pre-determined through system information broadcast, because it would allow the terminal to receive a predefined configuration of repeated transmissions of a Msg3 PUSCH from the base station, and enables more flexible indication of the quantity of repeated transmissions. (see Yu ¶0116-¶0117)
Re. Claim 6, Li combined with Yu teaches claim 1.
Yu further teaches:
wherein the list is an existing list, (¶0108 for an existing MCS field, there may be a redundant bit. ¶0110 the MCS field can carry the first indication information without affecting an existing meaning of the MCS field. To further describe the shared bit provided by the MCS field, an existing format of the MCS field and a meaning to be indicated by the field are first described [i.e. the MCS field that contains first indication information and index information is the existing MCS field, therefore the list that the index information points to is existing])
and the existing list is . (¶0116 the first indication information may be determined based on a predefined relationship between a value carried in the MSB and a quantity of repeated transmissions. For example, when the MSB is 0, it indicates that the quantity of repeated transmissions is 0 (that is, repeated transmission of the Msg 3 is not supported); or when the MSB is 1, the quantity of repeated transmissions is 2. Certainly, for the coverage-limited terminal, the Msg 3 may alternatively need to be repeatedly transmitted by default. In this case, when the MSB is 0, it may alternatively be indicated that the quantity of repeated transmissions is 2 or another specified value. [i.e. the list which is pointed to by index information determined by the first indication information contains predefined (default) parameters, therefore is a default table]) *Examiner notes that only one alternative limitation is examined in this application
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of the list being a default table, because it would allow the terminal to receive a pre-determined list for configuration of repeated transmissions of a Msg3 PUSCH from the base station. (see Yu ¶0012-¶0013)
Re. Claim 11, Li combined with Yu teaches claim 1.
Yu further teaches:
further comprising: sending second indication information to the terminal, (¶0096-¶0097 the network device may include the repeated transmission factor K in the system message (System Information Block, SIB). In a specific application implementation, a SIB1 may be selected to carry the repeated transmission factor K. Correspondingly, the terminal device may obtain the repeated transmission factor K from the SIB1 message. the terminal device and the network device may be preconfigured to transmit the repeated transmission factor K by using one piece of second information. Because limited information is exchanged between the network device and the terminal device before a radio resource control (RRC) connection is established, in this case, a SIB message may be selected as the second information in this example, that is, a SIB is selected to carry the repeated transmission factor K. [i.e. terminal receives second information (second indication information) from base station])
wherein the second indication information is used to indicate the configuration in the list for repetition of random access message re-transmission. (¶0098 According to the foregoing method, a value indicated by the first indication information and the repeated transmission factor K may be combined to determine the quantity of repeated transmissions. When a quantity of repeated transmissions that can be indicated by the first indication information is limited and the quantity of repeated transmissions needs to be flexibly indicated, an appropriate occasion may be selected more flexibly to indicate a latest repeated transmission factor K by using the first information or the SIB. & ¶0117 to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, the quantity of repeated transmissions may be further determined based on a predefined repeated transmission factor K and a value indicated by the shared bit, and a finally determined quantity of repeated transmissions = the value indicated by the shared bit * K. [i.e. these citations together with Table 4 show that second information K is used for indicating particular configuration within the list of candidate repetition numbers shown in the table])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of performing repetition on the random access message based on second indication information, because it would allow the terminal to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions. (see Yu ¶0117)
Re. Claim 13, Li combined with Yu teaches claim 1.
Yu further teaches:
further comprising: sending third indication information to the terminal, (¶0089 the quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information includes a case whether repeated transmission can be performed. When the quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information is 0, it indicates that repeated transmission is not supported. If the indicated quantity of repeated transmissions is not 0, an appropriate quantity of repeated transmissions may be determined based on the first indication information and the repeated transmission factor K, to perform repeated transmission. [i.e. sending 0 as first indication information is considered third indication information as it indicates separate information that repeated transmission is not supported])
wherein the third indication information is configured to indicate the terminal whether to perform repetition on the random access message. (¶0079 The first indication information indicates a quantity of repeated transmissions of a third message Msg 3. & ¶0089 the quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information includes a case whether repeated transmission can be performed. When the quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information is 0, it indicates that repeated transmission is not supported. If the indicated quantity of repeated transmissions is not 0, an appropriate quantity of repeated transmissions may be determined based on the first indication information and the repeated transmission factor K, to perform repeated transmission. [i.e. when first information is not 0, this is an indication (third indication information) to perform repeated transmission])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of performing repetition on the random access message based on whether first information is transmitted as 0 or not, because it would allow the terminal to decide whether repeated transmissions of a Msg3 PUSCH are configured based on existing information, which decreases overhead while avoiding limited coverage problems. (see Yu ¶0089 & ¶0133)
Re. Claim 14, Li teaches:
A method for repetition of a random access message, performed by a terminal, (Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for a User Equipment (UE) [i.e. terminal] and a base station in communication with each other to determine parameters for a Random Access (RA) process. The base station informs the UE through a System Information Block (SIB) of a number of resource sets for RA preamble transmission by the UE. Each resource set is associated with a number of repetitions for a RA preamble transmission [i.e. the method indicates repetitions of a random access message] & ¶0046 This disclosure relates to a random access process for DL or UL coverage limited User Equipments (UEs). A wireless communication network includes a DownLink (DL) that conveys signals from transmission points, such as base stations or enhanced NodeBs (eNBs), to UEs.)
comprising: receiving first indication information sent by a base station; (¶0135 Part of the information in Table 2 can be broadcasted by the eNB 102 in a SIB [i.e. the SIB contains the indication information which is sent from a base station] a first eNB 102 can include an indication of number R.sub.1 using a value of `00` in a SIB, a second eNB 103 can include an indication of R, using a value of `01` in a SIB. If R.sub.2 is included in a SIB, it can either imply that both R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are supported or that only R.sub.2 is supported. UE 114 that receives an indication for a number of PRACH repetitions [i.e. indication information].)
Yet, Li does not explicitly teach: and determining a configuration for repetition of the random access message based on the first indication information, wherein the first indication information comprises index information, the configuration comprises a number of repetitions, the random access message is a third message (Msg3) in a random access procedure, the index information is located in a random access response uplink grant in a second message (Msg2) in random access procedure, the index information is used to indicate in a list comprising four candidate repetition numbers, the number of repetitions for the Msg3,
However, in the analogous art, Yu teaches such limitations:
and determining a configuration for repetition of the random access message based on the first indication information, (¶0079 S301. The network device includes first indication information in a shared bit in first information, and sends the first information to the terminal device. The first indication information indicates a quantity of repeated transmissions of a third message Msg 3. & ¶0083 S304. The terminal device determines the quantity of repeated transmissions of the third message based on the first indication information. & ¶0087 after determining that the Msg 3 needs to be repeatedly transmitted, the terminal device may further determine, based on the type of the repeated transmission that is indicated by the first indication information which one of the repetition type A or the repetition type B is used to repeatedly transmit the Msg 3, so that the Msg 3 can be repeatedly transmitted in a more flexible manner, [i.e. citations show first indication information is used for indicating a configuration for random access Msg3])
wherein the first indication information comprises index information, (¶0088 Based on the method shown in FIG. 3, in a process of transmitting the first information and the first indication information, to achieve an objective that two types of information are simultaneously indicated and the two types of information do not affect each other, a quantity of bits that may be used as the shared bit and that are in the first information may be limited to some extent. To more flexibly set the quantity of repeated transmissions of the Msg 3, this embodiment of this application further provides a manner in which a repeated transmission factor K and the first indication information are combined to indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions. A specific implementation may be: determining the quantity of repeated transmissions of the third message based on a first quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information and the repeated transmission factor K. & ¶0091 A1. The repeated transmission factor K is included in the first indication information. & ¶0119-¶0120 the MCS field may have two redundant bits, and the two redundant bits may be used as the shared bits to indicate the first indication information. to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, the quantity of repeated transmissions may be further indicated based on a predefined repeated transmission factor, as shown in Table 4 [i.e. the two redundant bits are the index information which points to the predefined repeated transmission factors, the shared bits are used as indices for each K value and therefore each repetition value of the list, this can be seen below in Table 4])
the configuration comprises a number of repetitions, (¶0083 S304. The terminal device determines the quantity of repeated transmissions of the third message based on the first indication information. [i.e. first indication information that indicates the configuration comprises information for determining number of repetitions])
the random access message is a third message (Msg3) in a random access procedure, (¶0079 The first indication information indicates a quantity of repeated transmissions of a third message Msg 3.)
the index information is located in a random access response uplink grant in a second message (Msg2) in random access procedure, (¶0072 S202. The network device sends a random access response (random access response, RAR) to the UE after detecting the random access preamble. The random access response may also be referred to as a message 2 (Msg2). The random access response includes scheduling information, that is, RAR uplink (UL) grant information, of a message 3. & ¶0111 In uplink grant RAR UL grant information of an existing random access response, a total of 16 MCS index values are included, and are indicated by four bits. ¶0133 after receiving the first information (the first information is information sent by the network device and the terminal device in the random access procedure in the conventional technology), the terminal device obtains the first indication information based on the shared bit in the first information. The first indication information may indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions of the Msg 3. The shared bit is shared by the first information and the first indication information. [i.e. MCS field which contains the first indication information, and in turn the index information, is in uplink grant RAR UL grant information, Random access response in Fig. 2])
the index information is used to indicate in a list comprising four candidate repetition numbers, the number of repetitions for the Msg3, (¶0119-¶0120 The coverage-limited terminal device selects MCS index values 0 to 3. In this case, status values of the 4-bit field that indicates the MCS field are 0000 to 0011. In this case, the MCS field may have two redundant bits, and the two redundant bits may be used as the shared bits to indicate the first indication information. to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, the quantity of repeated transmissions may be further indicated based on a predefined repeated transmission factor, as shown in Table 4 [i.e. the two redundant bits are the index information which point to the predefined repeated transmission factors of which there are 4, are equivalent to a list of four candidate repetition numbers, therefore comprising the number of repetitions for the random access message Msg3])
wherein the first indication information is multiplexed in an existing modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field of the random access response uplink grant. (¶0119 The coverage-limited terminal device selects MCS index values 0 to 3. In this case, status values of the 4-bit field that indicates the MCS field are 0000 to 0011. In this case, the MCS field may have two redundant bits, and the two redundant bits may be used as the shared bits to indicate the first indication information. [i.e. the two redundant bits of MCS field being shared (multiplexed) for conveying the first indication information])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of information for indicating a configuration for the repetition of a random access message multiplexed within an existing modulation and coding scheme field, because it would allow a Msg3 to be repeatedly transmitted in a more flexible manner without increasing overhead, in order to improve stability of accessing a network. (see Yu ¶0008 & ¶0010)
Claims 18-19 recite similar limitations to those of claims 5-6. Therefore, the rejections for claims 18-19 are similar to those put forth in claims 5-6.
Re. Claim 24, Li combined with Yu teaches claim 14.
Yu further teaches:
further comprising: receiving second indication information sent by the base station; (¶0096-¶0097 the network device may include the repeated transmission factor K in the system message (System Information Block, SIB). In a specific application implementation, a SIB1 may be selected to carry the repeated transmission factor K. Correspondingly, the terminal device may obtain the repeated transmission factor K from the SIB1 message. the terminal device and the network device may be preconfigured to transmit the repeated transmission factor K by using one piece of second information. Because limited information is exchanged between the network device and the terminal device before a radio resource control (RRC) connection is established, in this case, a SIB message may be selected as the second information in this example, that is, a SIB is selected to carry the repeated transmission factor K. [i.e. terminal receives second information (second indication information) from base station])
and determining whether to perform repetition again on the random access message based on the second indication information. (¶0098 According to the foregoing method, a value indicated by the first indication information and the repeated transmission factor K may be combined to determine the quantity of repeated transmissions. When a quantity of repeated transmissions that can be indicated by the first indication information is limited and the quantity of repeated transmissions needs to be flexibly indicated, an appropriate occasion may be selected more flexibly to indicate a latest repeated transmission factor K by using the first information or the SIB. & ¶0117 to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, the quantity of repeated transmissions may be further determined based on a predefined repeated transmission factor K and a value indicated by the shared bit, and a finally determined quantity of repeated transmissions = the value indicated by the shared bit * K. [i.e. second information K is used for indicating whether there are to be repeated transmissions and how many])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of performing repetition on the random access message based on second indication information, because it would allow the terminal to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions. (see Yu ¶0117)
Re. Claim 28, Li combined with Yu teaches claim 14.
Yu further teaches:
further comprising: receiving third indication information sent by the base station; (¶0089 the quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information includes a case whether repeated transmission can be performed. When the quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information is 0, it indicates that repeated transmission is not supported. If the indicated quantity of repeated transmissions is not 0, an appropriate quantity of repeated transmissions may be determined based on the first indication information and the repeated transmission factor K, to perform repeated transmission. [i.e. sending 0 as first indication information is considered third indication information as it indicates that repeated transmission is not supported])
and determining whether to perform repetition on the random access message based on the third indication information. (¶0079 The first indication information indicates a quantity of repeated transmissions of a third message Msg 3. & ¶0089 the quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information includes a case whether repeated transmission can be performed. When the quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information is 0, it indicates that repeated transmission is not supported. If the indicated quantity of repeated transmissions is not 0, an appropriate quantity of repeated transmissions may be determined based on the first indication information and the repeated transmission factor K, to perform repeated transmission. [i.e. when first information is not 0, this is an indication (third indication information) to perform repeated transmission])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of performing repetition on the random access message based on whether first information is transmitted as 0 or not, because it would allow the terminal to decide whether repeated transmissions of a Msg3 PUSCH are configured based on existing information, which decreases overhead while avoiding limited coverage problems. (see Yu ¶0089 & ¶0133)
Re. Claim 32, Li teaches:
A base station, (¶0064 FIG. 3 illustrates an example eNB 102 according to this disclosure.)
comprising: a processor; (¶0065 The eNB 102 also includes a controller/processor 325)
and a memory, configured to store instructions executable by the processor, (¶0065 The eNB 102 also includes a controller/processor 325, a memory 330 & ¶0069 The controller/processor 325 is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory 330)
wherein the processor is configured to: send first indication information to a terminal, (¶0135 Part of the information in Table 2 can be broadcasted by the eNB 102 in a SIB [i.e. the SIB contains the indication information which is sent from a base station]… a first eNB 102 can include an indication of number R.sub.1 using a value of `00` in a SIB, a second eNB 103 can include an indication of R, using a value of `01` in a SIB. If R.sub.2 is included in a SIB, it can either imply that both R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are supported or that only R.sub.2 is supported. UE 114 that receives an indication for a number of PRACH repetitions [i.e. indication information].)
Yet, Li does not explicitly teach: wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a configuration for the repetition of the random access message. wherein the first indication information comprises index information, the configuration comprises a number of repetitions, the random access message is a third message (Msg3) in a random access procedure, the index information is located in a random access response uplink grant in a second message (Msg2) in the random access procedure, the index information is used to indicate, in a list comprising four candidate repetition numbers, the number of repetitions for the Msg3, wherein the first indication information is multiplexed in an existing modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field of the random access response uplink grant.
However, in the analogous art, Yu teaches such limitations:
wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a configuration for the repetition of the random access message. (¶0079 S301. The network device includes first indication information in a shared bit in first information, and sends the first information to the terminal device. The first indication information indicates a quantity of repeated transmissions of a third message Msg 3. & ¶0083 S304. The terminal device determines the quantity of repeated transmissions of the third message based on the first indication information. & ¶0087 after determining that the Msg 3 needs to be repeatedly transmitted, the terminal device may further determine, based on the type of the repeated transmission that is indicated by the first indication information which one of the repetition type A or the repetition type B is used to repeatedly transmit the Msg 3, so that the Msg 3 can be repeatedly transmitted in a more flexible manner, [i.e. citations show first indication information is used for indicating a configuration for random access Msg3])
wherein the first indication information comprises index information, (¶0088 Based on the method shown in FIG. 3, in a process of transmitting the first information and the first indication information, to achieve an objective that two types of information are simultaneously indicated and the two types of information do not affect each other, a quantity of bits that may be used as the shared bit and that are in the first information may be limited to some extent. To more flexibly set the quantity of repeated transmissions of the Msg 3, this embodiment of this application further provides a manner in which a repeated transmission factor K and the first indication information are combined to indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions. A specific implementation may be: determining the quantity of repeated transmissions of the third message based on a first quantity of repeated transmissions that is indicated by the first indication information and the repeated transmission factor K. & ¶0091 A1. The repeated transmission factor K is included in the first indication information. & ¶0119-¶0120 the MCS field may have two redundant bits, and the two redundant bits may be used as the shared bits to indicate the first indication information. to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, the quantity of repeated transmissions may be further indicated based on a predefined repeated transmission factor, as shown in Table 4 [i.e. the two redundant bits are the index information which points to the predefined repeated transmission factors, the shared bits are used as indices for each K value and therefore each repetition value of the list, this can be seen below in Table 4])
the configuration comprises a number of repetitions, (¶0083 S304. The terminal device determines the quantity of repeated transmissions of the third message based on the first indication information. [i.e. first indication information that indicates the configuration comprises information for determining number of repetitions])
the random access message is a third message (Msg3) in a random access procedure, (¶0079 The first indication information indicates a quantity of repeated transmissions of a third message Msg 3.)
the index information is located in a random access response uplink grant in a second message (Msg2) in the random access procedure, (¶0072 S202. The network device sends a random access response (random access response, RAR) to the UE after detecting the random access preamble. The random access response may also be referred to as a message 2 (Msg2). The random access response includes scheduling information, that is, RAR uplink (UL) grant information, of a message 3. & ¶0111 In uplink grant RAR UL grant information of an existing random access response, a total of 16 MCS index values are included, and are indicated by four bits. ¶0133 after receiving the first information (the first information is information sent by the network device and the terminal device in the random access procedure in the conventional technology), the terminal device obtains the first indication information based on the shared bit in the first information. The first indication information may indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions of the Msg 3. The shared bit is shared by the first information and the first indication information. [i.e. MCS field which contains the first indication information, and in turn the index information, is in uplink grant RAR UL grant information, Random access response in Fig. 2])
the index information is used to indicate, in a list comprising four candidate repetition numbers, the number of repetitions for the Msg3, (¶0119-¶0120 The coverage-limited terminal device selects MCS index values 0 to 3. In this case, status values of the 4-bit field that indicates the MCS field are 0000 to 0011. In this case, the MCS field may have two redundant bits, and the two redundant bits may be used as the shared bits to indicate the first indication information. to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, the quantity of repeated transmissions may be further indicated based on a predefined repeated transmission factor, as shown in Table 4 [i.e. the two redundant bits are the index information which point to the predefined repeated transmission factors of which there are 4, are equivalent to a list of four candidate repetition numbers, therefore comprising the number of repetitions for the random access message Msg3])
wherein the first indication information is multiplexed in an existing modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field of the random access response uplink grant. (¶0119 The coverage-limited terminal device selects MCS index values 0 to 3. In this case, status values of the 4-bit field that indicates the MCS field are 0000 to 0011. In this case, the MCS field may have two redundant bits, and the two redundant bits may be used as the shared bits to indicate the first indication information. [i.e. the two shared bits of MCS field being shared (multiplexed) for conveying the first indication information])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of information for indicating a configuration for the repetition of a random access message multiplexed within an existing modulation and coding scheme field, because it would allow a Msg3 to be repeatedly transmitted in a more flexible manner without increasing overhead, in order to improve stability of accessing a network. (see Yu ¶0008 & ¶0010)
Re. Claim 36, Li combined with Yu teaches claim 1.
Yu further teaches:
wherein the list is a newly added list, (¶0117 to more flexibly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, the quantity of repeated transmissions may be further determined based on a predefined repeated transmission factor K and a value indicated by the shared bit, and a finally determined quantity of repeated transmissions = the value indicated by the shared bit * K. In this embodiment of this application, the value indicated by the shared bit is not limited to a value obtained by performing binary conversion on the shared bit. Alternatively, a value obtained by performing binary conversion may be mapped to a new value based on a preset mapping relationship. For example, as shown in Table 2, when the value obtained by performing binary conversion on the shared bit is 0, 0 is mapped to another value (for example, 1) based on the mapping relationship. In this example, a specific mapping relationship may be set based on a specific transmission requirement and is not specifically limited herein. [i.e. the index values which determine the quantity of repeated transmission can be newly added, such as configurating a preset mapping relationship with specific values])
and the index information is (¶0128-¶0129 both the MCS field and the TPC field may be used. Therefore, in the method provided in this embodiment of this application, shared bits that can be provided by the MCS field and the TPC field may be further used in combination, to further increase a value of a quantity of repeated transmissions that can be indicated, and indicate a repeated transmission type, a repeated transmission factor, and the like. If the most significant bit of the MCS field and the least significant bit of the TPC field are used to jointly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, during joint indication, the most significant bit of the MCS field and the least significant bit of the TPC field may be selected; or the most significant bit of the MCS field and a most significant bit of the TPC field may be used to jointly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions. If the repeated transmission factor K is not configured, K is 1 by default. Corresponding indicated quantities of repeated transmissions are shown in the following Table 7. [i.e. the bits from MCS field and transmission power control (TPC) field indicate the index values seen in Table 7 which determines the number of repeated retransmissions])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of index information also being located in a transmission power control field, because in the case of a terminal lacking coverage and a PUSCH using high transmission power as a result, it would allow the terminal to interpret a value of a combination of bit values among two different fields for indication of repetitive transmission of a Msg3 PUSCH, which allows the UE to obtain the quantity of repeated transmissions without increasing time-frequency resource overheads. (see Yu ¶0133)
Claim 39 recites similar limitations to those of claim 36. Therefore, the rejections for claim 39 is similar to those put forth in claim 36.
Re. Claim 40, Li combined with Yu teaches claim 14.
Li further teaches:
A terminal, (¶0054 FIG. 2 illustrates an example UE 114 according to this disclosure.)
comprising: a processor; (¶0055 As shown in FIG. 2, the UE 114 includes an antenna 205, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 210, transmit (TX) processing circuitry 215, a microphone 220, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 225. The UE 114 also includes a speaker 230, a main processor 240,)
and a memory, (¶0055 As shown in FIG. 2, the UE 114 includes an antenna 205, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 210, transmit (TX) processing circuitry 215, a microphone 220, and receive (RX) processing circuitry 225. The UE 114 also includes a speaker 230, a main processor 240, an input/output (I/O) interface (IF) 245, a keypad 250, a display 255, and a memory 260.)
configured to store instructions executable by the processor, (¶0055 The memory 260 includes a basic operating system (OS) program 261 and one or more applications 262. & ¶0058 The main processor 240 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and can execute the basic OS program 261 stored in the memory 260 in order to control the overall operation of the UE 114.)
wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 14. (¶0058 The main processor 240 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and can execute the basic OS program 261 stored in the memory 260 in order to control the overall operation of the UE 114. See the rejection of claim 14)
Claims 34-35 and 37-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li combined with Yu, and further in view of You et al. (US 2022/0225388 A1), hereinafter referred to as You.
Re. Claim 34, Li combined with Yu teaches claim 6.
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: wherein the index information is located in a target field related to the existing list in the Msg2.
However, in the analogous art, You teaches:
wherein the index information is located in a target field related to the existing list in the Msg2. (¶0130 To improve PUCCH, the following mechanisms may be considered. 1) a signaling mechanism to support dynamic PUCCH repetition factor indication, 2) a mechanism supporting DM-RS (demodulation-reference signal: DMRS) bundling over PUCCH repetitions, 3) a mechanism to support PUSCH repetition type A for message 3. & ¶0303 The values of Z and K may be set as separate independent indexes through the TDRA field. That is, a specific value W is set through TDRA, and the values of Z and K are determined according to the value of W. For this, {Z, K} values mapped to each value of W may be set in advance through RRC. In this case, as a TDRA table applied for TBoMS transmission, a dedicated TDRA table independent of the TDRA table for existing PUSCH transmission is applied, and the value of W may be included in this dedicated TDRA table. Alternatively, the TDRA table applied for TBoMS transmission reuses the existing TDRA table for PUSCH transmission, but the W value may be included as an additional column/parameter.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li and Yu’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include You’s teaching of index information being located in a target field, because it would allow the terminal to interpret a value of a particular number of bits in a target field such as FDRA as a field value for repetitive transmission of a Msg3 PUSCH for additional coverage enhancement. (see You ¶0400)
Re. Claim 35, Li combined with Yu and You teaches claim 34.
Yu further teaches:
wherein the index information is (¶0128-¶0129 both the MCS field and the TPC field may be used. Therefore, in the method provided in this embodiment of this application, shared bits that can be provided by the MCS field and the TPC field may be further used in combination, to further increase a value of a quantity of repeated transmissions that can be indicated, and indicate a repeated transmission type, a repeated transmission factor, and the like. If the most significant bit of the MCS field and the least significant bit of the TPC field are used to jointly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions, during joint indication, the most significant bit of the MCS field and the least significant bit of the TPC field may be selected; or the most significant bit of the MCS field and a most significant bit of the TPC field may be used to jointly indicate the quantity of repeated transmissions. If the repeated transmission factor K is not configured, K is 1 by default. Corresponding indicated quantities of repeated transmissions are shown in the following Table 7. [i.e. the bits from MCS field and transmission power control (TPC) field indicate the index values seen in Table 7 which determines the number of repeated retransmissions])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Li and You’s invention of a method and apparatus for coverage enhancement for a random access process to include Yu’s teaching of index information also being located in a transmission power control field, because in the case of a terminal lacking coverage and a PUSCH using high transmission power as a result, it would allow the terminal to interpret a value of a combination of bit values among two different fields for indication of repetitive transmission of a Msg3 PUSCH, which allows the UE to obtain the quantity of repeated transmissions without increasing time-frequency resource overheads. (see Yu ¶0133)
Claims 37-38 recite similar limitations to those of claims 34-35. Therefore, the rejections for claims 37-38 are similar to those put forth in claims 34-35.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Su et al. (US 2021/0215015 A1); teaches that an uplink grant field in a RAR indicates number of Msg3 repetitions. Relevant to independent claims 1, 14, and 32.
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/G.A.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
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