Claims 1-15 and 17-21 are pending.
Claim 16 has been cancelled.
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 .
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, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 6-11, 13 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong et al. (US Pg. Pub. 2025/0048197), hereinafter referred to as Dong, in view of Zhang et al. (US Pg Pub 2024/0015793), hereinafter referred to as Zhang.
For claim 1, Dong discloses receiving, by a wireless device (UE), a downlink control information (DCI) message (DCI message) configured to trigger a random-access transmission for a cell (target cell; the DCI triggers fast serving cell change which includes a random access procedure with the target cell; see paragraphs 0005, 0144 and figure 6), wherein the DCI message (DCI message) comprises: a first field indicating a physical cell identifier (PCI) of the cell (PCI of target cell; see paragraph 0146); a second field indicating a preamble (preamble index; see paragraph 0151); and a third field indicating random-access resources (RO index; see paragraph 0152).
Dong discloses the use of handover that includes preambles and random access. Dong does not disclose the transmission of a preamble using random access resources. Zhang discloses transmitting, via the random-access resource of the cell (PRACH resource configuration) indicated the PCI (PCI indicates cell to receive PRACH message), the preamble (PRACH message includes a PRACH preamble; see paragraphs 0040, 0073 and figure 8A steps 806-808). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Zhang’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to obtain synchronization with a neighbor cell (Zhang, 0003).
For claim 2, Dong discloses receiving, by the wireless device (UE), an indication (beam indicator) of unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states (TCI) for the cell (target cell; the beam indicator indicates the TCI is activated after transferring to target cell; see paragraph 0149).
For claim 3, Dong discloses receiving, by the wireless device (UE), at least one reference signal (CSI-RS) for the cell (target cell; the beam information includes Channel State Information Reference Signals; see paragraph 0149).
For claim 4, Dong discloses wherein the random access resources (RO index) comprises at least one of: a random-access occasion (RACH Occasion; see paragraph 0152); a frequency domain resource assignment for the random-access transmission; an index of a physical random-access channel mask; or an index of a reference signal associated with random-access occasions.
For claim 6, Dong discloses the use of handover that includes preambles and random access. Dong does not disclose the transmission of a preamble using random access resources. Zhang discloses wherein the transmitting the preamble is based on receiving the DCI (the DCI triggers the transmission of the PRACH preamble; see paragraph 0012). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Zhang’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to obtain synchronization with a neighbor cell (Zhang, 0003).
For claim 7, Dong discloses wherein the second field (preamble index) indicating the preamble by indicating at least one of: an index of the preamble (preamble index; see paragraph 0151); or an indicator of the preamble.
For claim 8, Dong discloses receiving, by the wireless device (UE), a downlink reference signal comprising at least one of: a synchronization signal block (SSB); or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS; the SSB and CSI-RS information are components of the beam information; see paragraph 0149).
For claim 9, Dong discloses receiving, via a first cell (source cell), a downlink control information (DCI) message (DCI message; see paragraphs 0005, 0144 and figure 6) comprising: a first field (Physical Cell ID) indicating a physical cell identifier (PCI) of a second cell (target cell; see paragraph 0146); a second field indicating (preamble index) a preamble associated with a random access transmission (perform RACH) of the second cell (target cell; this feature is suggested because the preamble index indicates the RACH to use for the target cell; see paragraph 0151); and a third field (beam information) indicating one or more unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, of a plurality of unified TCI states, for the second cell (target cell; this feature is suggested because the beam information indicates which TCI state can be activated. The term “which” suggests one or more states; see paragraph 0149). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Guo’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to reduce latency of inter-cell mobility (Guo, paragraph 0007).
Dong discloses preamble information is part of control data via including the preamble information in the DCI (see paragraphs 0144, 0151). Dong does not disclose the transmission of a preamble using TCI states. Zhang discloses transmitting, using the one or more unified TCI states (TCI state) via the second cell indicated by the PCI (PCI indicates cell to receive PRACH message), the preamble (PRACH message includes PRACH preamble; see paragraphs 0040, 0073 and 0083). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Zhang’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to obtain synchronization with a neighbor cell (Zhang, 0003).
For claim 10, Dong discloses wherein the second field (preamble index) indicating the preamble associated with the random-access transmission (perform RACH) by indicating an index of the preamble associated with the random-access transmission (the preamble index field is used to indicate a preamble index; see paragraph 0151).
For claim 11, Dong discloses wherein the PCI comprises at least one of: an identity of a physical cell (the PCI indicates the target cell; see paragraph 0146); an index of a physical cell; an index of a transmission reception point corresponding to a cell; an index of a reference signal set corresponding to a cell; an index of a control resource set corresponding to a cell; or an index of a control resource set pool corresponding to a cell.
For claim 13, Dong discloses receiving configuration parameters, of the second cell (target cell), that indicate one or more reference signals (CSI-RS) associated with one or more preambles of the second cell (target cell; the CSI-RS and preamble are associated because they are information items related to the target cell in the same DCI message; see paragraphs 0144, 0146 and 0151. The CSI-RS measurements include measuring neighbor cells; see paragraphs 0074, 0077).
For claim 21, Dong discloses wherein the cell is as non-serving cell (target cell; figure 6 shows the target cell is a non-serving cell)
Claims 5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong in view of Zhang as applied to claims 1 and 9 respectively above, and further in view of Zhou (US Pg Pub 2025/0151117).
For claim 5, Dong discloses the use of random access resources. The combination of Dong and Zhang does not disclose the use of frequency domain occasions. Zhou discloses wherein the random- access resources comprises at least one of: a time domain occasion; or a frequency domain occasion (frequency domain resource assignment; see table 1 of paragraph 0043). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Zhou’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to improve the performance of the wireless network (Zhou, paragraph 0004).
For claim 12, Dong discloses the use of preambles and random access channels. The combination of Dong and Zhang does not disclose the use of PDCCH order. Zhou discloses wherein the transmitting the preamble (PRACH preamble) is based on receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order (the transmission of the PRACH preambles is based on the received PDCCH order; see paragraph 0040). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Zhou’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to improve the performance of the wireless network (Zhou, paragraph 0004).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong in view of Zhang as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Shen et al. (US Pg Pub 20230247675), hereinafter referred to as Shen.
For claim 14, Dong discloses receiving wherein the configuration parameters, of the second cell (target cell), that indicate a time offset value (timing advance; see paragraph 0150). The combination of Dong and Zhang does not disclose when preambles are transmitted. Shen discloses wherein the sending transmitting the preamble (preamble) is within a time period (time between DCI trigger and a selected RO; see figure 2(a), associated with the time offset value (time offset), after receiving the configuration parameters (DCI; the preamble is transmitted in an RO corresponding to the DCI indication; see paragraphs 0016-0017 and figure 2(a)). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Shen’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to allow for enough time for the UE to prepare the preamble for random access (Shen, 0086).
Claims 15, 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong in view of Xu et al. (US Pg Pub 2022/0303953), hereinafter referred to as Xu.
For claim 15, Dong discloses receiving, by a wireless device (UE) via a first cell (source cell), a message (DCI message) comprising configuration parameters of a second cell (target cell; see figure 6 and paragraphs 0144-0145), wherein the configuration parameters comprise: a plurality of unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states for the second cell (target cell; this feature is suggested because the beam information indicates which TCI state can be activated. The term “which” suggests one or more states; see paragraph 0149); and reference signals (Channel State Information Reference Signals; see paragraph 0149); receiving, via the first cell (source cell), downlink control information (DCI) indicating first unified TCI states from the plurality of unified TCI states (TCI states which can be activated; see paragraph 0149) and physical cell identifier (PCI) of the second cell (PCI of target cell; see paragraph 0146); and transmitting, via the second cell (target cell) indicated by the PCI (PCI indicates the target cell; see paragraph 0146), a preamble based on a reference signal (CSI-RS) of the first unified TCI states (this feature is suggested because the TCI states indicate uplink or downlink states after transferring to the target cell. The preamble index is used to perform RACH on the target cell; see paragraph 0149, 0151).
Dong discloses the use of reference signals. Dong does not disclose the use of a plurality of reference signals. Xu discloses a plurality of reference signals (a plurality of reference signals are used for the TCI state pool; see figure 20). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Xu’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to select the TCI state (Xu, paragraph 0235).
For claim 18, Dong discloses the use of reference signals. Dong does not disclose the selection of reference signals based on power. Xu discloses wherein the method further comprises selecting, based on a reference signal power value (RSRP), the reference signal from the plurality of reference signals (RSRP is used to select reference signals; see paragraph 0172). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Xu’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to select the TCI state (Xu, paragraph 0233).
For claim 19, Dong disclose wherein the transmitting the preamble is based on receiving the DCI ( the DCI is used to trigger the random access procedure that includes the preamble index; see paragraphs 0005, 0144 and 0151 of Dong).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong in view of Xu as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Ly et al. (US Pg Pub 20180124636), hereinafter referred to as Ly.
For claim 17, Dong discloses the use of preambles and reference signals. The combination of Dong and Xu does not disclose preambles as part of the reference signal. Ly discloses wherein at least one of the plurality of reference signals (reference signal) comprise the preamble (RACH preamble; see paragraph 0158). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Ly’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to reduce network collision (Ly, paragraph 0005).
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dong in view of Xu as applied to claim 15 above, and further in view of Cui et al. (US Pg Pub 20240179758), hereinafter referred to as Cui.
For claim 20, Dong discloses the use of RACH occasions. The combination of Dong and Xu does not disclose TCI offset values. Cui discloses wherein the configuration parameters further comprise a time offset value (timing offset) of the first unified TCI states (active TCI; see paragraphs 0088, 0095), and wherein the transmitting the preamble (CFRA preamble) is within a time period (time between receiving the PDCCH order and transmitting preamble during the RO; see figure 4 steps 402 and 412), associated with before the time offset value (step 402 in figure 4), after receiving the time offset value (step 404; the preamble is transmitted after the offset value is determined in step 404; see paragraphs 0088, 0095 and figure 4). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Cui’s arrangement in Dong’s invention to promote consistency on how the RO is measured (Cui, paragraph 0019).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-4, 6-11 and 13 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.
Conclusion
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.
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JEFFREY M. RUTKOWSKI
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2415
/JEFFREY M RUTKOWSKI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2415