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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 11 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.
Applicant’s argues on pages 7-8 that the “cell switch” as disclosed by Lee are changes between SCells, and that Lee discloses “switching to a SCell, NOT from a first cell to a second cell.” Examiner respectfully disagrees and maintains that the SCells of Lee are “cells” and that broadest reasonable interpretation of the limitations of “first cell” and “second cell” of previous claim 1 is met by the changing between SCells described by Lee. Applicant further argues that “there is a fundamental difference between SCell changes and inter-cell switches between two PCells, and so it applies to TAT/TAG procedure”. Applicant further argues that “SCell is only used for supplementary data transmission and does not involve RRC information”, that “all RRC info is via Pcell”, that “Scell is more like a physical extension to Pcell”, and that it does not have complete L2 protocol stacks (SDAP/PDCP/RLC layer). However, Examiner respectfully submits that a broadest reasonable interpretation of the language of claims 1 and 11 fail to require the “first primary cell” and the ”second primary cells” utilize RRC signaling or have complete L2 protocol stacks.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4-5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the second cell" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It appears that “the second cell” should be changed to “the second primary cell”.
Claim 5 recites the limitation "the first cell" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It appears that “the first cell” should be changed to “the first primary cell”.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the first cell" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It appears that “the first cell” should be changed to “the first primary cell”.
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.
Claims 1-6, 8-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2017/0374687 A1)(hereinafter “Lee”) in view of Jassal et al. (US 2020/0314708 A1)(hereinafter “Jassal”) and further view of Wang et al (US 2025/0220518 A1)(hereinafter “Wang”).
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses a method for a user equipment (UE) (Figure 5, [¶0052]: user equipment (UE)), comprising:
maintaining, by the UE, a plurality of timing advance (TA) groups (TAGs), wherein each TAG is associated with a cell and a TA timer (TAT) ([¶0152]: two MAC entities are configured in the UE: one for the master cell group (MCG) and one for the secondary cell group (SCG). Each MAC entity is configured by RRC with a serving cell supporting PUCCH transmission and contention based Random Access. The term SpCell either refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCH depending on if the MAC entity is associated to the MCG or the SCG, respectively. A Timing Advance Group containing the SpCell of a MAC entity is referred to as pTAG, whereas the term sTAG refers to other TAGs. [¶0161]: the MAC entity has a configurable timer timeAlignment Timer per TAG used to control how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned.);
receiving an …indication to switch from a first…cell to a second…cell, wherein the UE is connected with the first…cell with a first-cell timing advance (TA) group (TAG) associated with the first…cell (Figure 14, [¶0181]-[ ¶0182]: in S1401, the UE receives, from an eNB, an RRC signal which configures a new SCell with PUCCH resource (“an indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell”). The eNB transmits the RRC signal to the UE in order to add the SCell with PUCCH resource to the UE, including: an identifier of the PUCCH SCell, or an identifier of the TAG to which the PUCCH SCell belongs.);
determining whether a TAG associated with the second…cell is valid upon receiving the inter-cell beam management indication to switch (Figure 14, [¶0183]: in S1403, when the UE receives an RRC signal from the network which configures the PUCCH SCell, the UE checks whether the TAT associated with the TAG to which the new SCell with the PUCCH resource belong is running or not (“determining whether a TAG associated with the second cell is valid”).); and
performing a cell switch to the second…cell by skipping a random access (RA) process when the UE determines a second-cell TAG associated with the second…cell is valid (Figure 14, [¶0185]-[¶0186]: in S1407, the MAC entity of the UE does not initiate a random access procedure if the TAT is running (“the UE determines a second-cell TAG associated with the second cell is valid”).).
Although Lee discloses that a UE receives an RRC signal as an indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell, Lee does not disclose receiving an inter-cell beam management indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell. However, Jassal discloses receiving an inter-cell beam management indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell ([¶0089]: a beam switching indication or command is an example of an indication signal that could be transmitted to the UE by base station 606 to transition the UE from base station 606 (beam 1) to base station 608 (beam 11). The UE could switch from beam 1 to beam 11 in response to the indication signal, thereby enabling inter-cell mobility between the different cells 602, 604 while avoiding an interruption in UE communications. [¶0119]: inter-cell beam management could involve “cell-transparent” beam switching, in which a UE switches between beams that are associated with different cells, without first completing RRC reconfiguration and experiencing an interruption in communications.).
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 procedure of Lee to use an inter-cell beam management indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell, as taught by Jassal, instead of an RRC signal, as taught by Lee. Doing so allows for faster switching between the first cell and the second cell to avoid interruption of UE communications (see Jassal: [¶0089]).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the first cell and the second cell are a first primary cell and a second primary cell, respectively. However, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067]: in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may establish a dual connection (i.e., simultaneous connection) with the network device 120 and the network device 130. For example, the network device 120 is a master node (MN) and the network device 130 is a secondary node (SN). In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120 via a set of serving cells. The set of serving cells form a MCG, and a primary cell in the MCG is called as PCell. In some scenarios, the PCell may be changed from the cell 121 to another cell. This is called as a handover. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 130 via another set of serving cells. The other set of serving cells form a SCG, and a primary cell in the SCG is called as PSCell. It is to be understood that the number of cells in the MCG and SCG may be any positive integer. In some scenarios, the PSCell may be changed from the cell 131 to another cell. This is called as a PScell change.).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 2, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 1 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein the second-cell TAG is determined to be valid when the second-cell TAG exists and a TAT of the second-cell TAG is running (Figure 14, [¶0183]: in S1403, when the UE receives an RRC signal from the network which configures the PUCCH SCell, the UE checks whether the TAT associated with the TAG to which the new SCell with the PUCCH resource belong is running or not. [¶0185]-[¶0186]: in S1407, the MAC entity of the UE does not initiate a random access procedure if the TAT is running).
Regarding claim 3, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 1 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses performing a RA to the second…cell when the UE determines that there is no TAG associated with the second…cell or when a TAT of the second-cell TAG expires (Figure 14, [¶0185]- [¶0186]: in S1405, the UE initiates a random access procedure on the new SCell in the TAG if the associated TAT is not running. If the TAT associated with the TAG is not running, the MAC entity of the UE initiates the random access procedure).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 4, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 3 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses creating and maintaining the second-cell TAG associated with the second cell upon success of the RA to the second…cell ([¶0163]: when a Timing Advance Command is received in a Random Access Response message for a serving cell belonging to a TAG, if the Random Access Preamble was not selected by the MAC entity, the MAC entity applies the Timing Advance Command for this TAG, and starts or restarts the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG. Else, if the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG is not running, the MAC entity applies the Timing Advance Command for this TAG, starts the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG.).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 5, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 1 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses where a TAG for the first cell is created when a radio resource control (RRC) configuration is received for the first…cell ([¶0152]: two MAC entities are configured in the UE: one for the master cell group (MCG) and one for the secondary cell group (SCG). Each MAC entity is configured by RRC with a serving cell supporting PUCCH transmission and contention based Random Access. The term SpCell either refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCH depending on if the MAC entity is associated to the MCG or the SCG, respectively. A Timing Advance Group containing the SpCell of a MAC entity is referred to as pTAG, whereas the term sTAG refers to other TAGs.).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the first cell is a first primary cell or the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 6, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 1 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein the first…cell and the second…cell belong to a same cell group (Figure 7, [¶0076]-[00¶0078]: both a Master eNode-B (MeNB) and a Secondary eNode-B (SeNB) can belong to a Master Cell Group (MCS)).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the first cell is a first primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 8, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 1 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein the first…cell and the second…cell belong to different cell groups (Figure 7, [¶0076]-[00¶0078]: a Master eNode-B (MeNB) can belong to a Master Cell Group (MCS) and a Secondary eNode-B (SeNB) can belong to a Secondary Cell Group (SCG)).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the first cell is a first primary cell or the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 9, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 1 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses creating a MAC entity for the…second cell ([¶0152]: two MAC entities are configured in the UE: one for the master cell group (MCG) and one for the secondary cell group (SCG). Each MAC entity is configured by RRC with a serving cell supporting PUCCH transmission and contention based Random Access. The term SpCell either refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCH depending on if the MAC entity is associated to the MCG or the SCG, respectively. A Timing Advance Group containing the SpCell of a MAC entity is referred to as pTAG, whereas the term sTAG refers to other TAGs.).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 10, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 1 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein uplink TAs for the first-cell TAG and the second-cell TAG are maintained independently ([¶0152]: two MAC entities are configured in the UE: one for the master cell group (MCG) and one for the secondary cell group (SCG). Each MAC entity is configured by RRC with a serving cell supporting PUCCH transmission and contention based Random Access. [¶0161]: the MAC entity has a configurable timer timeAlignment Timer per TAG used to control how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned.).
Regarding claim 11, Lee discloses a user equipment (UE) (Figure 5, [¶0052]: user equipment (UE)), comprising:
a transceiver that transmits and receives radio frequency (RF) signal in a wireless network (Figure 5, [¶0053]: transceiver 135);
a timing advance (TA) groups (TAG) record module that maintains a plurality of TAGs, wherein each TAG is associated with a cell and a TA timer (TAT) ([¶0152]: two MAC entities are configured in the UE: one for the master cell group (MCG) and one for the secondary cell group (SCG). Each MAC entity is configured by RRC with a serving cell supporting PUCCH transmission and contention based Random Access. The term SpCell either refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCH depending on if the MAC entity is associated to the MCG or the SCG, respectively. A Timing Advance Group containing the SpCell of a MAC entity is referred to as pTAG, whereas the term sTAG refers to other TAGs. [¶0161]: the MAC entity has a configurable timer timeAlignment Timer per TAG used to control how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned. [¶0194]: in a firmware or software configuration, the method according to the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the form of modules, procedures, functions, etc. performing the above-described functions or operations. Accordingly, Lee discloses “a timing advance (TA) groups (TAG) record module”.);
an inter-cell management module that receives an… indication to switch from a first…cell to a second…cell, wherein the UE is connected with the first…cell with a first-cell TAG associated with the…first cell (Figure 14, [¶0181]-[ ¶0182]: in S1401, the UE receives, from an eNB, an RRC signal which configures a new SCell with PUCCH resource (“an indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell”). The eNB transmits the RRC signal to the UE in order to add the SCell with PUCCH resource to the UE, including: an identifier of the PUCCH SCell, or an identifier of the TAG to which the PUCCH SCell belongs. [¶0194]: in a firmware or software configuration, the method according to the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the form of modules, procedures, functions, etc. performing the above-described functions or operations. Accordingly, Lee discloses “an inter-cell management module”.);
a TAG control module that determines whether a TAG associated with the second…cell is valid upon receiving the inter-cell beam management indication to switch (Figure 14, [¶0183]: in S1403, when the UE receives an RRC signal from the network which configures the PUCCH SCell, the UE checks whether the TAT associated with the TAG to which the new SCell with the PUCCH resource belong is running or not. [¶0194]: in a firmware or software configuration, the method according to the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the form of modules, procedures, functions, etc. performing the above-described functions or operations. Accordingly, Lee discloses “a TAG control module”.); and
a cell switch controller that performs a cell switch to the second cell by skipping a random access (RA) process when the UE determines a second-cell TAG associated with the second…cell is valid (Figure 14, [¶0185]-[¶0186]: in S1407, the MAC entity of the UE does not initiate a random access procedure if the TAT is running. [¶0193] In a hardware configuration, the method according to the embodiments of the present invention may be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, or microprocessors. Accordingly, Lee discloses “a cell switch controller”.).
Although Lee discloses that a UE receives an RRC signal as an indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell, Lee does not disclose receiving an inter-cell beam management indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell. However, Jassal discloses an inter-cell management module that receives an inter-cell beam management indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell ([¶0089]: a beam switching indication or command is an example of an indication signal that could be transmitted to the UE by base station 606 to transition the UE from base station 606 (beam 1) to base station 608 (beam 11). The UE could switch from beam 1 to beam 11 in response to the indication signal, thereby enabling inter-cell mobility between the different cells 602, 604 while avoiding an interruption in UE communications. [¶0119]: inter-cell beam management could involve “cell-transparent” beam switching, in which a UE switches between beams that are associated with different cells, without first completing RRC reconfiguration and experiencing an interruption in communications).
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 procedure of Lee to use an inter-cell beam management indication to switch from a first cell to a second cell, as taught by Jassal, instead of an RRC signal, as taught by Lee. Doing so allows for faster switching between the first cell and the second cell to avoid interruption of UE communications (see Jassal: [¶0089]).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the first cell and the second cell are a first primary cell and a second primary cell, respectively. However, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067]: in some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may establish a dual connection (i.e., simultaneous connection) with the network device 120 and the network device 130. For example, the network device 120 is a master node (MN) and the network device 130 is a secondary node (SN). In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120 via a set of serving cells. The set of serving cells form a MCG, and a primary cell in the MCG is called as PCell. In some scenarios, the PCell may be changed from the cell 121 to another cell. This is called as a handover. In some embodiments, the terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 130 via another set of serving cells. The other set of serving cells form a SCG, and a primary cell in the SCG is called as PSCell. It is to be understood that the number of cells in the MCG and SCG may be any positive integer. In some scenarios, the PSCell may be changed from the cell 131 to another cell. This is called as a PScell change.).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 12, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 11 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein the second-cell TAG is determined to be valid when the second-cell TAG exists and a TAT of the second-cell TAG is running (Figure 14, [¶0183]: in S1403, when the UE receives an RRC signal from the network which configures the PUCCH SCell, the UE checks whether the TAT associated with the TAG to which the new SCell with the PUCCH resource belong is running or not. [¶0185]-[¶0186]: in S1407, the MAC entity of the UE does not initiate a random access procedure if the TAT is running).
Regarding claim 13, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 11 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein the UE performs a RA to the second…cell when the UE determines that there is no TAG associated with the second…cell or when a TAT of the second-cell TAG expires (Figure 14, [¶0185]- [¶0186]: in S1405, the UE initiates a random access procedure on the new SCell in the TAG if the associated TAT is not running. If the TAT associated with the TAG is not running, the MAC entity of the UE initiates the random access procedure).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 14, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 13 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein the UE creates and maintains the second-cell TAG associated with the second…cell upon success of the RA to the second … cell ([¶0163]: when a Timing Advance Command is received in a Random Access Response message for a serving cell belonging to a TAG, if the Random Access Preamble was not selected by the MAC entity, the MAC entity applies the Timing Advance Command for this TAG, and starts or restarts the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG. Else, if the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG is not running, the MAC entity applies the Timing Advance Command for this TAG, starts the timeAlignmentTimer associated with this TAG.).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 15, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 11 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses where a TAG for the first…cell is created when a radio resource control (RRC) configuration is received for the first cell ([¶0152]: two MAC entities are configured in the UE: one for the master cell group (MCG) and one for the secondary cell group (SCG). Each MAC entity is configured by RRC with a serving cell supporting PUCCH transmission and contention based Random Access. The term SpCell either refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCH depending on if the MAC entity is associated to the MCG or the SCG, respectively. A Timing Advance Group containing the SpCell of a MAC entity is referred to as pTAG, whereas the term sTAG refers to other TAGs.).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the first cell is a first primary cell or the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 16, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 11 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein the first…cell and the second…cell belong to a same cell group (Figure 7, [¶0076]-[00¶0078]: both a Master eNode-B (MeNB) and a Secondary eNode-B (SeNB) can belong to a Master Cell Group (MCS)).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the first cell is a first primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 18, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 11 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein the first…cell and the second…\cell belong to different cell groups (Figure 7, [¶0076]-[00¶0078]: a Master eNode-B (MeNB) can belong to a Master Cell Group (MCS) and a Secondary eNode-B (SeNB) can belong to a Secondary Cell Group (SCG)).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the first cell is a first primary cell or the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 19, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 11 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein the UE creates a MAC entity for the second…cell ([¶0152]: two MAC entities are configured in the UE: one for the master cell group (MCG) and one for the secondary cell group (SCG). Each MAC entity is configured by RRC with a serving cell supporting PUCCH transmission and contention based Random Access. The term SpCell either refers to the PCell of the MCG or the PSCell of the SCH depending on if the MAC entity is associated to the MCG or the SCG, respectively. A Timing Advance Group containing the SpCell of a MAC entity is referred to as pTAG, whereas the term sTAG refers to other TAGs.).
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the second cell is a second primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Regarding claim 20, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claim 11 as outlined above.
Lee further discloses wherein uplink TAs for the first- cell TAG and the second-cell TAG are maintained independently ([¶0152]: two MAC entities are configured in the UE: one for the master cell group (MCG) and one for the secondary cell group (SCG). Each MAC entity is configured by RRC with a serving cell supporting PUCCH transmission and contention based Random Access. [¶0161]: the MAC entity has a configurable timer timeAlignment Timer per TAG used to control how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned.).
Claims 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Jassal and Wang, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2023/0276296 A1)(hereinafter “Kim”).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Lee in view of Jassal and further view of Wang discloses all features of claims 6 and 16 as outlined above.
Lee in view of Jassal and Wang does not disclose that the performing of the cell switch comprises performing a partial MAC reset and maintaining a TAT associated with the first cell. However, Kim discloses the performing of the cell switch comprises performing a partial MAC reset and maintaining a TAT associated with the first…cell ([¶0640]: when an indicator or configuration information is received, the UE may perform MAC partial reset. For example, the timing advance timer (TAT) indicating validity of signal synchronization between the UE and the base station may be continuously maintained. [¶0658]: if there is a timer running in the MAC layer, all running timers may be suspended. The timer may include a TAT timer related to the cell group (MCG, PCell, SCG or PSCell).).
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 procedure of Lee to include performing a partial MAC reset and maintaining a TAT associated with the first cell during performing of the cell switch, as taught by Kim. Doing so allows for faster switching between back to the first cell to avoid interruption of UE communications.
Lee in view of Jassal does not disclose that the first cell is a first primary cell. However, as discussed above, Wang discloses intercell mobility between a first primary cell and a second primary cell using inter-cell beam management ([¶0067])).
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 procedure of changing between SCells, as taught by Lee, to enable switching between primary cells, as taught by Wang. Doing so allows for extended UE mobility by providing handover between coverage areas served by different primary cells (See Wang [¶0067]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Suzuki et al. (US 2019/0297549 A1) – Terminal Apparatus, Base Station Apparatus, Communication Method, and Integrated Circuit.
Da Silva et al. (US 2024/0023045 A1) – Timing Advance In Multiple Transmission Point or Panel Configuration For Communication Network.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL W MADDOX whose telephone number is (571)272-5834. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7:30am-5:00pm, 1st F 7:30am-4:00pm, 2nd F off.
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/MICHAEL WAYNE MADDOX/ Examiner, Art Unit 2463
/ASAD M NAWAZ/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2463