DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Responsive to the after final filed on 08/11/2026.
Claims 27, 30-37, and 39-46 remain pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's remarks filed on 08/11/2026 have been fully considered and they are persuasive. Applicant’s arguments are moot in light of the new grounds of rejection presented below.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 27, 30-32, 34-35, 37, 39-40, and 42-46 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2023/0156822; hereinafter Zhou) in view of Wang et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2020/0314892; hereinafter Wang).
Regarding claim 27 Zhou discloses a method in a network device, comprising:
determining a Random Access Channel (RACH) configuration according to at least one random access procedure, wherein the RACH configuration comprises a preamble mapping indication indicating mapping of RACH preambles to Synchronization Signal/Physical Broadcast Channels (SSBs) and a SSB mapping indication indicating mapping of SSBs to RACH Occasions (ROs), transmitting the RACH configuration (paragraphs 0070-0083; wherein a network device sends configuration information for, at least one, random access procedure to user equipment that comprise correspondence information between preambles and SSBs, as well as correspondence between SSBs and ROs); and
receiving a RACH preamble which is transmitted according to the RACH configuration from a terminal device (paragraph 0088; wherein the UE sends a first message comprising a preamble to the network device).
Zhou fails to explicitly disclose but Wang, in the same field of endeavor related to random access in non-terrestrial networks, discloses wherein the at least one random access procedure comprises at least two random access procedures (paragraphs 0053-0054; the BS may transmit an indication of whether the UE is to perform a first RACH procedure (e.g., a RACH procedure associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN)) or a second RACH procedure (e.g., a RACH procedure not associated with an NTN, such as a RACH procedure associated with a terrestrial network)), and wherein at least one of the preamble mapping indication and the SSB mapping indication is configured separately for the at least two random access procedures (paragraph 0053; the indication may be based at least in part on a synchronization signal block (SSB) of the UE. For example, the SSB may be associated with information identifying the indication, or may be configured in a way that provides the indication (e.g., scrambled using a particular radio temporary network identifier, provided in a time or frequency location that indicates the indication, and/or the like)), and wherein the at least one random access procedure further comprise at least one second type of random access procedure in a Terrestrial Network (TN) (paragraphs 0053-0054; the BS may transmit an indication of whether the UE is to perform a first RACH procedure (e.g., a RACH procedure associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN)) or a second RACH procedure (e.g., a RACH procedure not associated with an NTN, such as a RACH procedure associated with a terrestrial network)); wherein the at least one second type of random access procedure comprises a 4-step random access procedure and/or a 2-step random access procedure (paragraph 0057; the random access procedures are at least one of a four-step or a two-step procedure). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Zhou with the teachings of Wang, in order to improve resource utilization (Wang: paragraph 0051).
Regarding claim 30 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 27, wherein the preamble mapping indication is configured in a way that a sum of the number of preambles configured for the at least two random access procedures for one RO is no more than a total number of preambles for the one RO (paragraphs 0107-0112; SSB per RACH Occasion sum is a total quantity of ROs).
Regarding claim 31 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 27, wherein the at least one random access procedure comprises at least one first type of random access procedure in a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) (paragraphs 0058-0059, 0093; wherein the random access procedures are applicable to TNs and NTNs).
Regarding claim 32 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 27, wherein the at least one first type of random access procedure comprises a normal random access procedure and/or an NTN-specific random access procedure (paragraphs 0058-0059, 0093; wherein the random access procedures are applicable to TNs and NTNs).
Regarding claim 34 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 32. Zhou fails to explicitly disclose but Wang, in the same field of endeavor related to random access in non-terrestrial networks, discloses wherein the SSB mapping indication is configured in a way that ROs mapped in the SSB mapping indication configured for the NTN-specific random access procedure are a subset of ROs mapped in the SSB mapping indication configured for the normal random access procedure (paragraphs 0049-0050, 0068; wherein RACH resources or RACH occasions are configured for the RACH procedures, and according to the indication received and a determination of whether a first or a second RACH procedure will be performed, the UE selects a subset of the resources for the RACH procedure). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Zhou with the teachings of Wang, in order to improve resource utilization (Wang: paragraph 0051).
Regarding claim 35 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 27, further comprising: determining the RO used by the terminal device in transmitting the RACH preamble according to the received RACH preamble (paragraphs 0071-0083, 0093; RACH configuration parameter indicates RO for preamble transmission), and determining a SSB to which the determined RO is mapped according the SSB mapping indication (paragraphs 0071-0083, 0093; RACH configuration parameter indicates SSB to RO correspondence).
Regarding claim 37 Zhou discloses a method in a terminal device, comprising:
obtaining a Random Access Channel (RACH) configuration from a network device, wherein the RACH configuration is determined according to at least one random access procedure, and comprises a preamble mapping indication indicating mapping of RACH preambles to Synchronization Signal/Physical Broadcast Channels (SSBs) and a SSB mapping indication indicating the mapping of SSBs to RACH Occasions (ROs) (paragraphs 0070-0083; wherein a network device sends configuration information for, at least one, random access procedure to user equipment that comprise correspondence information between preambles and SSBs, as well as correspondence between SSBs and ROs), selecting a RACH preamble and a RO according to the RACH configuration (paragraph 0088; UE selects an RO and preamble); and
transmitting the RACH preamble on the RO to the network device (paragraph 0088; wherein the UE sends a first message comprising a preamble to the network device);
Zhou fails to explicitly disclose but Wang, in the same field of endeavor related to random access in non-terrestrial networks, discloses wherein the at least one random access procedure comprises at least two random access procedure (paragraphs 0053-0054; the BS may transmit an indication of whether the UE is to perform a first RACH procedure (e.g., a RACH procedure associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN)) or a second RACH procedure (e.g., a RACH procedure not associated with an NTN, such as a RACH procedure associated with a terrestrial network)), and wherein at least one of the preamble mapping indication and the SSB mapping indication is configured separately for the at least two random access procedures (paragraph 0053; the indication may be based at least in part on a synchronization signal block (SSB) of the UE. For example, the SSB may be associated with information identifying the indication, or may be configured in a way that provides the indication (e.g., scrambled using a particular radio temporary network identifier, provided in a time or frequency location that indicates the indication, and/or the like)). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Zhou with the teachings of Wang, in order to improve resource utilization (Wang: paragraph 0051).
Regarding claim 39 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 37, wherein the at least one random access procedure comprises at least one first type of random access procedure in a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) (paragraphs 0058-0059, 0093; wherein the random access procedures are applicable to TNs and NTNs).
Regarding claim 40 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 37, wherein the at least one first type of random access procedure comprises a normal random access procedure and/or an NTN-specific random access procedure (paragraphs 0058-0059, 0093; wherein the random access procedures are applicable to TNs and NTNs).
Regarding claim 42 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 37, wherein the at least one random access procedure further comprises at least one second type of random access procedure in a Terrestrial network (paragraphs 0058-0059, 0093; wherein the random access procedures are applicable to TNs and NTNs).
Regarding claim 43 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 42, wherein the at least one second type of random access procedure comprises a 4-step random access procedure and/or a 2-step random access procedure (paragraphs 0070-0083; the random access procedure disclosed meets being at least one the 4-step or 2-step).
Regarding claim 44 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 37, wherein selecting a RACH preamble and a RO according to the RACH configuration comprises: determining a SSB according to the received RACH configuration (paragraphs 0071-0083, 0093; RACH configuration parameter indicates SSB); and determining a RO according to the SSB mapping indication in the received RACH configuration (paragraphs 0071-0083, 0093; RACH configuration parameter indicates SSB to RO correspondence); and wherein transmitting the RACH preamble on the RO to the network device comprises transmitting the RACH preamble on the RO and one or more ROs following the RO (paragraphs 0071-0083, 0088, 0093; preamble is transmitted in the RO).
Regarding claim 45 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 37, wherein the RACH preamble comprises one or more preambles (paragraphs 0071-0083, 0093; multiple CB preambles).
Regarding claim 46 Zhou discloses a terminal device (fig. 13), comprising a transceiver (transceiver 1330), a processor and a memory (processor 1310, memory 1320), the memory comprising instructions executable by the processor (paragraph 0141) whereby the terminal device is operative to perform of:
obtaining a Random Access Channel (RACH) configuration from a network device, wherein the RACH configuration is determined according to at least one random access procedure, and comprises a preamble mapping indication indicating mapping of RACH preambles to Synchronization Signal/Physical Broadcast Channels (SSBs) and a SSB mapping indication indicating the mapping of SSBs to RACH Occasions (ROs) (paragraphs 0070-0083; wherein a network device sends configuration information for, at least one, random access procedure to user equipment that comprise correspondence information between preambles and SSBs, as well as correspondence between SSBs and ROs), selecting a RACH preamble and a RO according to the RACH configuration (paragraph 0088; UE selects an RO and preamble); and
transmitting the RACH preamble on the RO to the network device (paragraph 0088; wherein the UE sends a first message comprising a preamble to the network device);
Zhou fails to explicitly disclose but Wang, in the same field of endeavor related to random access in non-terrestrial networks, discloses wherein the at least one random access procedure comprises at least two random access procedure (paragraphs 0053-0054; the BS may transmit an indication of whether the UE is to perform a first RACH procedure (e.g., a RACH procedure associated with a non-terrestrial network (NTN)) or a second RACH procedure (e.g., a RACH procedure not associated with an NTN, such as a RACH procedure associated with a terrestrial network)), and wherein at least one of the preamble mapping indication and the SSB mapping indication is configured separately for the at least two random access procedures (paragraph 0053; the indication may be based at least in part on a synchronization signal block (SSB) of the UE. For example, the SSB may be associated with information identifying the indication, or may be configured in a way that provides the indication (e.g., scrambled using a particular radio temporary network identifier, provided in a time or frequency location that indicates the indication, and/or the like)). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Zhou with the teachings of Wang, in order to improve resource utilization (Wang: paragraph 0051).
Claim(s) 33 and 41 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Wang and further in view of Hoang et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2022/0159741; hereinafter Hoang).
Regarding claim 33 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 32, wherein and the NTN-specific random access procedure is a random access procedure without the pre-compensation (Zhou: paragraphs 0058-0059, 0093; no pre-compensation performed). Zhou fails to explicitly disclose but Hoang, in the same field of endeavor related to random access in NTN, discloses wherein the normal random access procedure is a random access procedure with pre-compensation of Time-Advanced (TA) and/or frequency (paragraphs 0166-0167; the WTRU may be configured to perform Doppler pre-compensation by using information received from the network and/or information estimated by and/or preconfigured into the WTRU, information estimated by and/or preconfigured into the WTRU may include, for example a TA and satellite ephemeris). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zhou with the teachings of Hoang, in order to avoid random access ambiguity by a UE (Hoang: paragraph 0077).
Regarding claim 41 the modified Zhou discloses the method of claim 40, wherein and the NTN-specific random access procedure is a random access procedure without the pre-compensation (Zhou: paragraphs 0058-0059, 0093; no pre-compensation performed). Zhou fails to explicitly disclose but Hoang, in the same field of endeavor related to random access in NTN, discloses the normal random access procedure is a random access procedure with pre-compensation of Time-Advanced (TA) and/or frequency (paragraphs 0166-0167; the WTRU may be configured to perform Doppler pre-compensation by using information received from the network and/or information estimated by and/or preconfigured into the WTRU, information estimated by and/or preconfigured into the WTRU may include, for example a TA and satellite ephemeris). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zhou with the teachings of Hoang, in order to avoid random access ambiguity by a UE (Hoang: paragraph 0077).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 36 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The elements recited in the claim, when in combination with elements of the independent claim and intervening claims, are not taught by the prior art cited or any other reference found during the updated search.
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Application Publication 2022/0217790 to Qiu et al. – that discloses determine, by a wireless communication device, usage of a timing advance (TA) estimated by the wireless communication device for communication with the wireless communication node; select, by the wireless communication device, a RACH type to communicate with the wireless communication node; and initiate, by the wireless communication device, a RACH communication with the wireless communication node according to the selected RACH type and the determination on usage of TA estimated by the wireless communication device.
US Patent Application Publication 2023/0042104 to Li et al. – that discloses terminal device and a network device, which can implement random access in an NTN system.
Conclusion
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/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/Aixa Guadalupe-Cruz/
Examiner
Art Unit 2466
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