DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-30 have been examined and are pending.
Response to Amendment
2. In response to the amendments received in the Office on 11/25/2025, the Office acknowledges the current status of the claims: claims 1-25 have been amended, an no new matter appears to be included.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant's arguments filed 11/25/2025 with respect to the rejections of claims 1-6, 9, 12-17, 22, and 26-30 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication 2023/0379721 A1 to Gupta (hereinafter “Gupta”) in view of United States Patent Application Publication 2024/0040463 A1 to Haustein et al. (hereinafter “Haustein”) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Examiner addresses each of the Applicant’s concerns in the following response.
Applicant argues Gupta fails to disclose the feature of “one or more physical synchronization signal blocks comprising dedicated system information that is associated with the mobile network operator and shared system information that is associated with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators” (Emphasis, Applicant; see Remarks, page 13). In support of this argument, Applicant contends, based on the cited portions of Gupta, that Gupta merely describes spectrum sharing, and further contends that assigning PRBs to different MNOs and having multiple Rus use a PRB at the same time is not relevant to the claim language (Remarks, page 14).
Examiner respectfully disagrees, as Gupta is particularly relevant to the broad claim language. First, Examiner directs the Applicant’s attention that the term “associating” only requires that the prior art of record to include any information that is shared between a plurality of MNOs, in any form, since the claim language does not require a direct assignment of “information”. The Office is not required to define “shared system information”, as the claim does not explicitly recite any particular meaning to the term. Therefore, it is the position of the Examiner that any information, whether dedicated or shared, may correspond to any information of the system, wherein the MNO may be a part of a system of MNOs. The cited portions of Gupta include [0045-0048], [0051-0066], and [0080] in which the PRBs are monitored within a frequency, wherein the PRBs may associate information to dedicated information and shared information (Gupta: [0045-0048] – users (attached to radio units (RU)) are operable to monitor a radio frequency (RF) spectrum for physical resource blocks (PRBs) assigned by a core network and received through one or more distribution units (DU); [0056-0066] – RU, DU, and centralized units (CU) may be shared (operated) by one or more mobile network operators (MNO, service providers); [0048], [0051-0055] – corresponds to receiving one or more PRBs at one or more users transmitted by the RU. Each user receives part of the bandwidth, wherein multiple RUs can transmit the same PRB at the same time.). That is system information may be dedicated to one or more MNOs, and shared information may be associated with one or more MNOs.
Examiner respectfully maintains the rejections.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
5. Claims 1-6, 9, 12-17, 22, and 26-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication 2023/0379721 A1 to Gupta (hereinafter “Gupta”) in view of United States Patent Application Publication 2024/0040463 A1 to Haustein et al. (hereinafter “Haustein”).
Regarding Claim 1, Gupta discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (Gupta: Figure 7 with [0081] – a client (user) device)), comprising:
one or more processors (Gupta: Figure 7 – element 710);
one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors (Gupta: Figure 7 – element 740); and
instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors (Gupta: Figure 7 – element 750) to cause the UE to:
monitor a radio frequency spectrum for one or more physical synchronization signal blocks from a network entity (Gupta: [0045-0048] – users (attached to radio units (RU)) are operable to monitor a radio frequency (RF) spectrum for physical resource blocks (PRBs) assigned by a core network and received through one or more distribution units (DU).) and associated with a mobile network operator (Gupta: [0056-0066] – RU, DU, and centralized units (CU) may be shared (operated) by one or more mobile network operators (MNO, service providers).), wherein the radio frequency spectrum and the network entity are shared by the mobile network operator and one or more other mobile network operators (Gupta: [0056-0066] – spectrum sharing is performed by RUs, DUs, and CUs, along with one or more MNOs.);
receive, based at least in part on the monitoring, the one or more physical synchronization signal blocks via [a]…channel within the radio frequency spectrum (Gupta: [0048], [0051-0055] – corresponds to receiving one or more PRBs at one or more users transmitted by the RU. Each user receives part of the bandwidth, wherein multiple RUs can transmit the same PRB at the same time.), the one or more physical synchronization signal blocks comprising dedicated system information that is associated with the mobile network operator (Gupta: [0080] – corresponds to radio link control (RLC) system information processing that is done as part of dedicated MNO (or private network MNO) processing.) and shared system information that is associated with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators (Gupta: [0056-0066] – spectrum sharing is performed by RUs, DUs, and CUs, along with one or more MNOs. Sharing may include sharing between private MNO and public MNO.); and
communicate via the radio frequency spectrum in accordance with the dedicated system information and the shared system information (Gupta: [0056-0066] – spectrum sharing is performed by RUs, DUs, and CUs, along with one or more MNOs. Sharing may include sharing between private MNO and public MNO, thus allowing transmission/reception of radio signals between public and private MNOs.).
Gupta does not expressly disclose that the channel is a broadcast channel, or that the information is specifically broadcasted.
However, this feature cannot be considered new or novel in the presence of Haustein. Haustein is similarly concerned with sharing a radio frequency spectrum in a multi-operator radio access network (Haustein: [0044]). Haustein discloses broadcasting system information on a broadcast channel (Haustein: [0328-0331] – corresponds to common SIB information (RRC, common and specific) that is forwarded/broadcasted to the MNO’s core network and/or associated MNO’s core network when the radio spectrum is shared. [0003] – corresponds to SIB and/or MIB may be transmitted in a physical broadcast channel, PBCH, of one or more of a physical downlink shared control channel, PDSCH, and physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Gupta in view of the split message termination scheme of Haustein to receive broadcast information block that is common to a mobile network operator and one or more other mobile network operators for the reasons of permitting the sharing of infrastructure, network components, and functions between two or more MNOs (Haustein: [0044]).
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Gupta and Haustein discloses the UE of claim 1, wherein Haustein further discloses the instructions to receive the one or more physical synchronization signal blocks are executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to:
receive broadcast information block that is common to the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators (Haustein: [0328-0331] – corresponds to common SIB information (RRC, common and specific) that is forwarded/broadcasted to the MNO’s core network and/or associated MNO’s core network when the radio spectrum is shared.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Gupta in view of the split message termination scheme of Haustein to receive broadcast information block that is common to a mobile network operator and one or more other mobile network operators for the reasons of permitting the sharing of infrastructure, network components, and functions between two or more MNOs (Haustein: [0044]).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Gupta and Haustein discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein Haustein further discloses the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to:
receive, via the broadcast information block, an indication of one or more downlink control channel resources allocated for a common system information block associated with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators (Haustein: [0003], [0328-0331] – corresponds to SIB and/or MIB may be transmitted in a physical broadcast channel, PBCH, of one or more of a physical downlink shared control channel, PDSCH, and physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Gupta in view of the split message termination scheme of Haustein to receive, via the broadcast information block, an indication of one or more downlink control channel resources allocated for a common system information block associated with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators for the reasons of permitting the sharing of infrastructure, network components, and functions between two or more MNOs (Haustein: [0044]).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Gupta and Haustein discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein Haustein further discloses the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to:
receive, via the broadcast information block, at least a portion of the shared system information, wherein the shared system information comprises an indication of a system frame number (alternative or dispositive limitation), a subcarrier spacing (alternative or dispositive limitation), a synchronization signal block subcarrier offset (alternative or dispositive limitation), one or more cell barring parameters (Haustein: [0212] – SIB includes at least cell access barring.), one or more cell reselection parameters (Haustein: [0080-0081] – SIB includes at least cell reselection parameters.), or any combination thereof for communications (alternative or dispositive limitation) in accordance with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators (Haustein: [0003], [0328-0331] – corresponds to SIB and/or MIB may be transmitted in a physical broadcast channel, PBCH, of one or more of a physical downlink shared control channel, PDSCH, and physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Gupta in view of the split message termination scheme of Haustein to receive, via the broadcast information block, at least a portion of the shared system information, wherein the shared system information comprises one or more cell barring parameters or one or more cell reselection parameters in accordance with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators for the reasons of permitting the sharing of infrastructure, network components, and functions between two or more MNOs (Haustein: [0044]).
Regarding Claim 5, Gupta discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but does not expressly disclose wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to:
receive a broadcast system information block via one or more resources that are common to the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators, the broadcast system information block comprising at least the shared system information.
However, this feature cannot be considered new or novel in the presence of Haustein. Haustein is similarly concerned with sharing a radio frequency spectrum in a multi-operator radio access network (Haustein: [0044]). Haustein discloses receiving a broadcast system information block via one or more resources that are common to the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators, the broadcast system information block comprising at least the shared system information (Haustein: [0328-0331] – corresponds to common SIB information (RRC, common and specific) that is forwarded/broadcasted to the MNO’s core network and/or associated MNO’s core network when the radio spectrum is shared. [0003] – corresponds to SIB and/or MIB be transmitted in a physical broadcast channel, PBCH, of one or more of a physical downlink shared control channel, PDSCH, and physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Gupta in view of the split message termination scheme of Haustein to receive a broadcast system information block via one or more resources that are common to the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators, the broadcast system information block comprising at least the shared system information for the reasons of permitting the sharing of infrastructure, network components, and functions between two or more MNOs (Haustein: [0044]).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Gupta and Haustein discloses the apparatus of claim 5, wherein Haustein further discloses the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to:
receive, via one or more second resources that are associated with the mobile network operator, a system information block extension comprising one or more fields that indicate the dedicated system information associated with the mobile network operator (Haustein: [0168-0170], [0280-0282], [0305] – a special SIB may be used as including configuration information corresponding to dedicated radio resources.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Gupta in view of the split message termination scheme of Haustein to receive, via one or more second resources that are associated with the mobile network operator, a system information block extension comprising one or more fields that indicate the dedicated system information associated with the mobile network operator for the reasons of permitting the sharing of infrastructure, network components, and functions between two or more MNOs (Haustein: [0044]).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Gupta and Haustein discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein Haustein further discloses the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to:
receive a broadcast system information block that comprises an indication of a set of one or more resources for a physical random access channel procedure associated with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators (Haustein: [0328-0330] – corresponds to a RACH procedure being performed after reception of an SIB, and a message associated with the RACH procedure is propagated to the MNO’s core network and associated MNO’s core network. [0003] – corresponds to SIB and/or MIB be transmitted in a physical broadcast channel, PBCH, of one or more of a physical downlink shared control channel, PDSCH, and physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.). Haustein suggests transmitting, via the set of one or more resources, a random access preamble associated with the mobile network operator, since the RACH procedure requires the transmission and reception of a Msg2 (Haustein: [0227]), which is proceeded by a Msg1, or preamble by a user equipment.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Gupta in view of the split message termination scheme of Haustein to receive a broadcast system information block that comprises an indication of a set of one or more resources for a physical random access channel procedure associated with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators for the reasons of permitting the sharing of infrastructure, network components, and functions between two or more MNOs (Haustein: [0044]).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Gupta and Haustein discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein Haustein further discloses the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the UE to:
receive a broadcast system information block that comprises an indication of a set of one or more resources for a physical random access channel procedure associated with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators (Haustein: [0328-0330] – corresponds to a RACH procedure being performed after reception of an SIB, and a message associated with the RACH procedure is propagated to the MNO’s core network and associated MNO’s core network. [0003] – corresponds to SIB and/or MIB be transmitted in a physical broadcast channel, PBCH, of one or more of a physical downlink shared control channel, PDSCH, and physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.). Haustein suggests transmitting, via the set of one or more resources, a random access preamble associated with the mobile network operator, since the RACH procedure requires the transmission and reception of a Msg2 (Haustein: [0227]), which is proceeded by a Msg1, or preamble by a user equipment.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Gupta in view of the split message termination scheme of Haustein to receive a broadcast system information block that comprises an indication of a set of one or more resources for a physical random access channel procedure associated with the mobile network operator and the one or more other mobile network operators for the reasons of permitting the sharing of infrastructure, network components, and functions between two or more MNOs (Haustein: [0044]).
Claims 26-28, directed to a method embodiment of claims 1-3, recite similar features as claims 1-3, respectively, and are therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claims 1-3. Please see above rejections of claims 1-3.
Regarding Claim 13, Gupta discloses a network node for wireless communication (Gupta: Figure 7 with [0081] – a server (network) device)), comprising:
one or more processors (Gupta: Figure 7 – element 710);
one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors (Gupta: Figure 7 – element 740); and
instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors (Gupta: Figure 7 – element 750) to cause the network node to:
transmit one or more physical synchronization signal blocks via a…channel within a radio frequency spectrum (Gupta: [0045-0048] – users (attached to radio units (RU)) are operable to monitor a radio frequency (RF) spectrum for physical resource blocks (PRBs) assigned by a core network and received through one or more distribution units (DU).), wherein both the network node and the radio frequency spectrum are shared by a plurality of mobile network operators (Gupta: [0056-0066] – spectrum sharing is performed by RUs, DUs, and CUs, along with one or more MNOs.), the one or more physical synchronization signal blocks comprising dedicated system information that is associated with a mobile network operator of the plurality of mobile network operators and shared system information that is associated with the plurality of mobile network operators (Gupta: [0080] – corresponds to radio link control (RLC) system information processing that is done as part of dedicated MNO (or private network MNO) processing.); and
communicate via the radio frequency spectrum in accordance with the dedicated system information and the shared system information (Gupta: [0056-0066] – spectrum sharing is performed by RUs, DUs, and CUs, along with one or more MNOs. Sharing may include sharing between private MNO and public MNO, thus allowing transmission/reception of radio signals between public and private MNOs.).
Gupta does not expressly disclose that the channel is a broadcast channel, or that the information is specifically broadcasted.
However, this feature cannot be considered new or novel in the presence of Haustein. Haustein is similarly concerned with sharing a radio frequency spectrum in a multi-operator radio access network (Haustein: [0044]). Haustein discloses broadcasting system information on a broadcast channel (Haustein: [0328-0331] – corresponds to common SIB information (RRC, common and specific) that is forwarded/broadcasted to the MNO’s core network and/or associated MNO’s core network when the radio spectrum is shared. [0003] – corresponds to SIB and/or MIB may be transmitted in a physical broadcast channel, PBCH, of one or more of a physical downlink shared control channel, PDSCH, and physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the apparatus of Gupta in view of the split message termination scheme of Haustein to receive broadcast information block that is common to a mobile network operator and one or more other mobile network operators for the reasons of permitting the sharing of infrastructure, network components, and functions between two or more MNOs (Haustein: [0044]).
Claims 14-17 and 22, dependent upon claim 13, recite similar features as claims 2-5 and 9, respectively, and are therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claims 2-5 and 9. Please see above rejections of claims 2-5 and 9.
Claims 29 and 30, directed to a method embodiment of claims 13 and 14, recite similar features as claims 13 and 14, respectively, and are therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claims 13 and 14. Please see above rejections of claims 13 and 14.
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 7, 8, 10, 11, 18-21, 23-25 are 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.
Conclusion
8. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV whose telephone number is (571)270-7163. The examiner can normally be reached M, T, R, F 5:00 AM-5:00 PM, W 5:00 AM-3:00 PM (EDT).
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BENJAMIN H. ELLIOTT IV
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 January 23, 2026