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
a. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/30/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-23 in the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, are being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
- claims 1, 3, 8-9, 15, 16, and 20 are amended
- claims 5-7, 11, 18-19, 21, and 23 are canceled
b. This is a first action on the merits based on Applicant’s claims submitted on 04/30/2026.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/26/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Regarding Independent claims 1, 15, and 20 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant's arguments, see “Lee does not disclose switching between two non-connected states (from the inactive state to the idle state), it merely discloses releasing the configured grant for a data unit in such a non- connected state. Thus, Lee does not disclose the technical feature "in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data being greater than or equal to a number threshold and the terminal being in the inactive state, switching to the idle state" in the amended claim 1 of the present disclosure.” on page 10, filed on 04/30/2026, with respect to Lee et al. US Pub 2022/0061125 (hereinafter “Lee”), and in view of Shi US Pub 2022/0110170 (hereinafter “Shi”), have been fully considered but are moot, over the limitations of “that is closest to a time point at which the terminal determines that sending the uplink data fails”. Said limitations are newly added to the amended Claims 1, 15, and 20 and have been addressed in instant office action, as shown in section 35 USC 103 rejection below, with newly identified prior art teachings from newly found references Zhang et al. US Pub 2017/0238314 (hereinafter “Zhang”) and Park et al. US Pub 2019/0246442 (hereinafter “Park”), in combination of previously applied Lee and Shi references, thus rendering said Applicant’s arguments moot.
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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 15, 20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. US Pub 2017/0238314 (hereinafter “Zhang”), in view of Park et al. US Pub 2019/0246442 (hereinafter “Park”).
Regarding claim 1 (Currently Amended)
Zhang discloses a method for transmitting data (“The UE 10 may then continue performing UL transmissions on the further allocated radio resources indicated by the D-UL grants 706, 707, as illustrated by D-UL transmissions 708 and 709.” [0100]; Fig. 7), performed by a terminal (i.e. “UE 10” in Fig. 7), comprising:
in response to determining that sending, using a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process (i.e. “HARQ NACK” [0006]), uplink data in a non-connected state fails (“the eNB detects failure of the UL transmission” [0006]), retransmitting the uplink data on a dedicated uplink resource for the HARQ process, configured retransmission resource (“A first UE performs an UL transmission on UL radio resources allocated by a conventional UL grant in a certain TTI. In one of the next TTIs, the eNB allocates these UL radio resources by a long lasting grant to another UE. After providing the long lasting grant to the second UE, the eNB detects failure of the UL transmission and sends a HARQ NACK (negative acknowledgement) to the first UE to trigger a retransmission by the first UE.” [0006]), wherein the dedicated uplink resource is a resource, among a plurality of resources for the HARQ process (e.g. “UL radio resources” [0103]), that is closest to a time point at which the terminal determines that sending the uplink data fails (“the UL transmission of the UE 10′ on the UL radio resources allocated by the D-UL grant fails” [0103]), and the dedicated uplink resource is of a type of a pre-allocated uplink resource (PUR) (“In this time interval, the eNB 100 may provide a IUA-UL grant to the UE 10. Because the UL radio resources allocated by the D-UL grant are available again (since the D-UL grant covers only one TTI), the eNB 100 allocates at least a part or all these UL radio resources by the IUA-UL grant to the UE 10. Now assuming that the UL transmission of the UE 10′ on the UL radio resources allocated by the D-UL grant fails, a retransmission by the UE 10′ on the same UL radio resources by the UE 10′ will be triggered. Due to the HARQ processing, e.g., involving detection of the failure of the initial UL transmission by the UE 10′, sending a HARQ NACK from the eNB 100 to the UE 10′, and preparing the retransmission by the UE 10′, the retransmission by the UE 10′ is performed eight TTIs from the initial UL transmission, i.e., at a time (i.e. closest to a time point) when at least a part of the UL radio resources previously allocated (i.e. a type of a pre-allocated uplink resource) by the D-UL grant to the UE 10′ is now allocated by the IUA-UL grant to the UE 10.” [0103]);
Zhang does not specifically teach wherein the non-connected state comprises an idle state or an inactive state; and in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data being greater than or equal to a number threshold and the terminal being in the inactive state, switching to the idle state.
In an analogous art, Park discloses wherein the non-connected state comprises an idle state or an inactive state; and
in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data being greater than or equal to a number threshold and the terminal being in the inactive state, switching to the idle state (“RLC failure (e.g. a number of retransmission is over a threshold); and/or the like. In an example, after the RLF is declared, the wireless device may: stay in an RRC_CONNECTED state (e.g. RRC connected state); select a suitable cell and initiate RRC re-establishment; enter an RRC_IDLE state (e.g. RRC idle state) if a suitable cell wasn't found within a certain time after the RLF was declared; stay at an RRC_INACTIVE state (e.g. RRC inactive state) if a suitable cell wasn't found within a certain time after the RLF was declared; and/or the like.” [0161]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, to include Park’s method for radio link failure reporting, in order to determine whether RLF criteria are met or not (Park [0161]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Park’s method for radio link failure reporting into Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 2
Zhang, as modified by Park, previously discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
Zhang further discloses in a connected state, receiving resource configuration information sent by a base station (“the eNB 100 may send configuration information 201 to the UE 10. The configuration information 201 may for example indicate radio resources of a UL control channel which are allocated to the UE 10, e.g., radio resources of a PUCCH (Physical UL Control Channel).” [0038]).
Regarding claim 15 (Currently Amended)
Zhang discloses a method for transmitting data (“In the processes of FIG. 7, initially the eNB 100 sends a IUA-UL grant 701 to the UE 10. The IUA-UL grant 701 indicates UL radio resources allocated to the UE 10 in reoccurring time intervals. In the example of FIG. 7, it is assumed that these IUA UL radio resources are allocated in each subframe. The IUA-UL grant 701 may be sent on the PDCCH.” [0093]), performed by a base station (i.e. “eNB 100” in Fig. 7), comprising:
in a connected state, sending resource configuration information to a terminal;
wherein, the resource configuration information is used by the terminal to determine a retransmission resource for retransmitting uplink data when determining that sending, using a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, the uplink data in a non-connected state fails, the non-connected state comprising an idle state or an inactive state;
wherein the retransmission resource used by the terminal to retransmit the uplink data is a dedicated uplink resource for the HARQ process, wherein the dedicated uplink resource is a resource, among a plurality of resources for the HARQ process, that is closest to a time point at which the terminal determines that sending the uplink data fails, and the dedicated uplink resource is of a type of a pre-allocated uplink resource (PUR);
wherein in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data being greater than or equal to a number threshold and the terminal being in the inactive state, the terminal switching to the idle state.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 15 are reciprocal to the scope and subject matter as claimed in method claim 1. Therefore method claim 15 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 20 (Currently Amended)
Zhang discloses a terminal (“UE 10” in Fig. 15; [0162]), comprising:
an antenna (“interface 1510” [0163]; Fig. 15);
a memory (“memory 1560” [0164]; Fig. 15);
a processor (“one or more processors 1550” [0164]; Fig. 15), connected to the antenna and the memory, respectively, configured to control the antenna to receive and send and to perform the following:
in response to determining that sending uplink data in a non-connected state fails, retransmitting the uplink data on a configured retransmission resource;
wherein the non-connected state comprises: an idle state or an inactive state;
in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data being greater than or equal to a number threshold and the terminal being in the inactive state, switching to the idle state.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 20 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1. Therefore apparatus claim 20 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 22
Zhang discloses a base station (“eNB 100” in Fig. 14; [0158]), comprising:
a processor (“one or more processors 1450” [0160]; Fig. 14);
a memory (“memory 1460” [0160]; Fig. 14) configured store instructions executable by the processor;
wherein, when the instructions are executed by the processor, the processor is caused to perform the method according to claim 15.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 22 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 15. Therefore apparatus claim 22 corresponds to method claim 15 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 15 rejection above.
Claims 3, 4, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang, in view of Park, and further in view of Lee et al. US Pub 2022/0061125 (hereinafter “Lee”).
Regarding claim 3 (Currently Amended)
Zhang, as modified by Park, previously discloses the method of claim 2, wherein the resource configuration information indicates at least one of the following information:
Zhang further discloses an allocation period (“a duration of time period for which the utilization of the UL radio resources allocated by the IUA-UL grant” [0104]) of a dedicated uplink resource (i.e. “IUA-UL grant” [0104]);
Zhang and Park do not specifically teach an allocation starting position of the dedicated uplink resource; wherein, the allocation starting position comprises: at least one of a time domain position or a frequency domain position; a total number of configured HARQ processes; a starting number of the configured HARQ processes.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses an allocation starting position of the dedicated uplink resource (“the UE stores the uplink grant provided by RRC as a configured uplink grant for the indicated serving cell, and initialize or re-initialise the configured uplink grant to start in the symbol according to timeDomainOffset and S (derived from SLIV), and to reoccur with periodicity.” [0130]); wherein, the allocation starting position comprises: at least one of a time domain position or a frequency domain position (“The resource allocation includes time domain resource allocation and frequency domain resource allocation. In the present disclosure, uplink resource allocation is also referred to as uplink grant” [0121]);
a total number of configured HARQ processes (“nrofHARQ-Processes: which provides the number of configured HARQ processes for SPS” [0141]);
a starting number of the configured HARQ processes (“In addition, with configured grants, the BS can allocate uplink resources for the initial HARQ transmissions to UEs.” [0122]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, as modified by Park, to include Lee’s method for deactivation of a configured grant based on a number of retransmissions for a wireless device in an idle state and/or an inactive state, in order to maximize resources utilization efficiency (Lee [Abstract]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Lee’s method for deactivation of a configured grant based on a number of retransmissions for a wireless device in an idle state and/or an inactive state into Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 4
Zhang, as modified by Park, previously discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:
Zhang and Park do not specifically teach determining that sending the uplink data to a base station fails, in response to not receiving feedback information sent by the base station for the uplink data within a first time period after sending the uplink data; or determining that sending the uplink data to a base station fails, in response to receiving feedback information indicating that sending the uplink data fails sent by the base station.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses determining that sending the uplink data to a base station fails, in response to not receiving feedback information sent by the base station for the uplink data within a first time period after sending the uplink data (“whenever the UE retransmits the data unit, the UE may count the number of retransmissions for the data unit. The UE may retransmit the data unit to the network based on the configured grant without positive acknowledgement from the network, up to the maximum number of retransmissions.” [0245]); or
determining that sending the uplink data to a base station fails, in response to receiving feedback information indicating that sending the uplink data fails sent by the base station (“If a (re-)transmission of the data unit is not positively acknowledged by the network, the UE may consider the transmission is unsuccessful and then perform retransmission of the data unit.” [0245]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, as modified by Park, to include Lee’s method for deactivation of a configured grant based on a number of retransmissions for a wireless device in an idle state and/or an inactive state, in order to maximize resources utilization efficiency (Lee [Abstract]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Lee’s method for deactivation of a configured grant based on a number of retransmissions for a wireless device in an idle state and/or an inactive state into Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 16 (Currently Amended)
The method of claim 15, wherein the resource configuration information indicates at least one of the following information:
an allocation period of a dedicated uplink resource;
an allocation starting position of the dedicated uplink resource; wherein, the allocation starting position comprises: at least one of a time domain position and/or a frequency domain position;
a total number of configured HARQ processes;
a starting number of the configured HARQ processes.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 16 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in method claim 3. Therefore method claim 16 corresponds to method claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 3 rejection above.
Claims 8, 9, 14, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang, in view of Park, and further in view of Tsai et al. US Pub 2021/0410180, claiming provisional application 63043734 priority 2020-06-24 (hereinafter “Tsai”).
Regarding claim 8 (Currently Amended)
Zhang, as modified by Park, previously discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising one of the following:
Zhang and Park do not specifically teach in response to a HARQ process not sending the uplink data, determining that the HARQ process is not used; in response to timeout of a timer for controlling running of a HARQ process, determining that the HARQ process is not used; or in response to a stop of a timer for controlling running of a HARQ process, determining that the HARQ process is not used.
In an analogous art, Tsai discloses in response to a HARQ process not sending the uplink data, determining that the HARQ process is not used (“In one example, the UE 302 may (only) stop the specific timer 310 for a HARQ process when the response/feedback (e.g., ACK or NACK) indicates information (e.g., an index) of the HARQ process.” [0271]);
in response to timeout of a timer for controlling running of a HARQ process, determining that the HARQ process is not used (“When the specific timer 310 expires, the UE 302 may perform the retransmission via the CG autonomously. The UE 302 may perform the retransmission for a HARQ process used for the previous transmission based on the same CG configuration” [0264] and furthermore “expiration of cg-Retransmission Timer for a HARQ process may imply “NACK” of a corresponding CG transmission. When cg-Retransmission Timer is configured and the HARQ entity obtains a MAC PDU to transmit, the corresponding HARQ process may be considered pending. A pending HARQ process is pending until a transmission is performed on that HARQ process or until the HARQ process/buffer is flushed.” [0229]); or
in response to a stop of a timer for controlling running of a HARQ process, determining that the HARQ process is not used (“In one implementation, the UE 302 may (only) stop the specific timer 310 when the response/feedback indicates/schedules a specific UL grant for a new transmission associated with a HARQ process used for the transmission.” [0253]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, as modified by Park, to include Tsai’s method for small data transmission (SDT), in order to effectively monitor a timer after initiating the transmission (Tsai [0106]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Tsai’s method for small data transmission (SDT) into Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 9 (Currently Amended)
Zhang, as modified by Park, previously discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the resource configuration information carries a plurality sets of resource configurations, and the dedicated uplink resource comprises one of the following:
Zhang and Park do not specifically teach wherein the resource configuration information carries a plurality sets of resource configurations, and the dedicated uplink resource comprises one of the following: a dedicated uplink resource indicated by a resource configuration corresponding to a dedicated uplink resource used when sending the uplink data fails; a dedicated uplink resource indicated by a candidate resource configuration in the plurality sets of resource configurations, wherein an amount of data that can be sent by the dedicated uplink resource indicated by the candidate resource configuration is the same as an amount of data that can be sent by a dedicated uplink resource used when sending the uplink data fails; or a dedicated uplink resource indicated by any resource configuration in the plurality sets of resource configurations.
In an analogous art, Tsai discloses a dedicated uplink resource indicated by a resource configuration (“the UL resource being either configured by the CG configuration or scheduled by a UL grant from the BS” [0106]) corresponding to a dedicated uplink resource used when sending the uplink data fails (“one wireless device performing uplink transmission by using uplink resources in a regular pattern for a certain duration (e.g., a configured grant) after leaving connected mode can properly recover from failure of radio resources on a cell/carrier/bandwidth part by deactivating use of the resources and informing the network about the failure, in particular when connection between the UE and the network is disconnected or suspended.” [0010]);
a dedicated uplink resource indicated by a candidate resource configuration in the plurality sets of resource configurations (“The UE may be configured with multiple configured grant configurations (e.g., with different CG indexes), which may be used for small data transmission in RRC_INACTIVE.” [0209]), wherein an amount of data that can be sent by the dedicated uplink resource indicated by the candidate resource configuration is the same as an amount of data that can be sent by a dedicated uplink resource used when sending the uplink data fails (“The SDT configuration may include a configured grant (CG) configuration for SDT: The CG configuration included in the small data transmission configuration may include one or more of the parameters listed in the IE ConfiguredGrantConfig (e.g., the periodicity of the configured grant, the size of the UL resource, the duration of the UL resource, etc.) and/or other parameters (e.g., a number and/or a threshold that may be used for the release of the CG, a TA timer for SDT, an RSRP change threshold, a specific RNTI, a configured grant index, and/or a timer for the response/feedback, etc.).” [0209]); or
a dedicated uplink resource indicated by any resource configuration in the plurality sets of resource configurations (“In one implementation, a DCI may indicate a specific UL grant for a new transmission associated with a HARQ process used for the previous transmission via a CG resource. In one implementation, the DCI may indicate one or more HARQ process ID(s) for the feedback and/or the specific UL grant.” [0234]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, as modified by Park, to include Tsai’s method for small data transmission (SDT), in order to effectively monitor a timer after initiating the transmission (Tsai [0106]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Tsai’s method for small data transmission (SDT) into Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 14
Zhang, as modified by Park, previously discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
Zhang and Park do not specifically teach receiving retransmission configuration information sent by a base station, wherein the retransmission configuration information is at least used by the terminal to determine the number threshold.
In an analogous art, Tsai discloses receiving retransmission configuration information (i.e. “IE ConfiguredGrantConfig”) sent by a base station (step 402 in Fig. 4), wherein the retransmission configuration information is at least used by the terminal (step 404 in Fig. 4) to determine the number threshold (“The SDT configuration may include a configured grant (CG) configuration for SDT: The CG configuration included in the small data transmission configuration may include one or more of the parameters listed in the IE ConfiguredGrantConfig (e.g., the periodicity of the configured grant, the size of the UL resource, the duration of the UL resource, etc.) and/or other parameters (e.g., a number and/or a threshold that may be used for the release of the CG, a TA timer for SDT, an RSRP change threshold, a specific RNTI, a configured grant index, and/or a timer for the response/feedback, etc.).” [0212]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, as modified by Park, to include Tsai’s method for small data transmission (SDT), in order to effectively monitor a timer after initiating the transmission (Tsai [0106]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Tsai’s method for small data transmission (SDT) into Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 17
The method of claim 15, further comprising:
sending retransmission configuration information to the terminal, wherein the retransmission configuration information is at least used by the terminal to determine the number threshold for retransmitting the uplink data.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 17 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in method claim 14. Therefore method claim 17 corresponds to method claim 14 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 14 rejection above.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang, in view of Park, and further in view of Chen Foreign Patent WO 2017133285 (hereinafter “Chen”).
Regarding claim 10
Zhang, as modified by Park, previously discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
Zhang and Park do not specifically teach obtaining the uplink data from a first cache, wherein the first cache is independent from a cache of a HARQ process.
In an analogous art, Chen discloses obtaining the uplink data from a first cache (“the terminal obtains time domain and frequency domain information of resources obtained by contention”), wherein the first cache is independent from a cache of a HARQ process (“The method comprises: a terminal receives an uplink grant instruction sent by a base station, wherein the uplink grant instruction comprises at least identification information of a first HARQ process; the terminal obtains state information of the first HARQ process according to the identification information of the HARQ process, wherein the state information of the first HARQ process comprises at least an NDI value of the first HARQ process and the state of a cache area of the first HARQ process; the terminal determines, according to the uplink grant instruction and/or the state information of the first HARQ process, whether to perform retransmission or new transmission; the terminal obtains time domain and frequency domain information of resources obtained by contention; and if the terminal determines to perform retransmission, the terminal re-sends, over the resources corresponding to the time domain and frequency domain information by using the first HARQ process (i.e. “first cache”) that is different from a second HARQ process (i.e. independent from a cache of a second HARQ process), uplink data which is sent before the second HARQ process.” [Abstract]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, as modified by Park, to include Chen’s method for sending unlicensed carrier uplink data, in order to properly select retransmission resources (Chen [Abstract]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Chen’s method for sending unlicensed carrier uplink data into Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang, in view of Park, and further in view of Shi US Pub 2022/0110170 (hereinafter “Shi”) and of Wu et al. US Pub 2022/0070938, claiming foreign application priority 2019-01-17 (hereinafter “Wu”).
Regarding claim 12
Zhang, as modified by Park, previously discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of the following:
Zhang and Park do not specifically teach in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data using the A message MsgA in the two-step random access procedure being greater than or equal to the number threshold and the terminal being in the inactive state, switching to the idle state.
In an analogous art, Shi discloses in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data using the A message MsgA in the two-step random access procedure being greater than or equal to the number threshold and the terminal being in the inactive state, switching to the idle state (“after N re-transmissions of 2-step RA msgA, so that the RRC layer triggers a RRC re-establishment process or triggers the UE to return to an IDLE state, where N is a preset threshold value.” [0036]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, as modified by Park, to include Shi’s method for selecting RACH type based on predefined threshold, in order to effectively select appropriate random access procedure (Shi [0008]).
Zhang, Park, and Shi do not specifically teach in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data using the third message Msg3 in the four-step random access procedure being greater than or equal to the number threshold and the terminal being in the inactive state, switching to the idle state.
In an analogous art, Wu discloses in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data using the third message Msg3 in the four-step random access procedure being greater than or equal to the number threshold and the terminal being in the inactive state, switching to the idle state (“Step 4: the UE monitoring the retransmission scheduling of Msg3 (PUSCH) or Msg4 (composed of the PDCCH and the PDSCH). If the UE detects the retransmission scheduling of the Msg3, the UE retransmits the Msg3 and performs step 3 and step 4 in Embodiment 3 of the present application, until the RACH procedure contention ends (which may be successful, or may also be unsuccessful), or the contention window expires; if the UE detects the scheduling of Msg4, and the contention resolution signaling contained in Msg4 shows that the RACH procedure is successful, then the UE returns to the RRC idle mode (that is the RACH procedure of the EDT)” [0227]);
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, as modified by Park and Shi, to include Wu’s method for performing uplink data transmission via a contention-based random access (RACH) procedure, in order to effectively minimize resources utilization (Wu [Abstract]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Wu’s method for performing uplink data transmission via a contention-based random access (RACH) procedure into Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang, in view of Park, and further in view of Wang US Pub 2011/0002262 (hereinafter “Wang”).
Regarding claim 13
Zhang, as modified by Park, previously discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of the following:
Zhang and Park do not specifically teach in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data using the third message Msg3 in the four-step random access procedure being greater than or equal to the number threshold and the terminal being in the non-connected state, performing the cell reselection; or
in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data using the A message MsgA in the two-step random access procedure being greater than or equal to the number threshold and the terminal being in the non-connected state, performing the cell reselection.
In an analogous art, Wang discloses in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data using the third message Msg3 in the four-step random access procedure (“Other triggers for a MAC reset may include: a) reaching a predetermined number of RACH retries; b) expiry of reserved dedicated RACH preambles (i.e. could be for either 2-step or 4-step RACH procedure);” [0057-0059]) being greater than or equal to the number threshold (“i) a number of retransmissions of control elements (CE's) exceeds a maximum number of retransmissions allowed” [0066]) and the terminal being in the non-connected state (“A MAC reset may be triggered by a handover, cell-reselection or an RRC state transition from connected mode to idle mode” [0057]), performing the cell reselection (“a measurement indicates that a neighbor cell provides better signal quality than the source cell and WTRU decides to perform cell reselection;” [0065); or
in response to a number of times of retransmitting the uplink data using the A message MsgA in the two-step random access procedure (“Other triggers for a MAC reset may include: a) reaching a predetermined number of RACH retries; b) expiry of reserved dedicated RACH preambles (i.e. could be for either 2-step or 4-step RACH procedure);” [0057-0059]) being greater than or equal to the number threshold (“i) a number of retransmissions of control elements (CE's) exceeds a maximum number of retransmissions allowed” [0066]) and the terminal being in the non-connected state (“A MAC reset may be triggered by a handover, cell-reselection or an RRC state transition from connected mode to idle mode” [0057]), performing the cell reselection (“a measurement indicates that a neighbor cell provides better signal quality than the source cell and WTRU decides to perform cell reselection;” [0065).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices, as modified by Park, to include Wang’s method for resetting and reconfiguring a medium access control (MAC) entity, in order to effectively minimize resources utilization (Wang [0010]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Wang’s method for resetting and reconfiguring a medium access control (MAC) entity into Zhang’s method for controlling radio transmission in a cellular network and to corresponding devices since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Conclusion
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/CHUONG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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