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 Amendment
This action is in response to the application filed on January 23, 2026
Claims 1-30 is under examination.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/23/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
Claim elements in this application that use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Similarly, claim elements that do not use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed not to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Liu et al. (USP: 2024/0039587) in view of Cheema et al. (USP 2024/0162978).
As per Claim 1 Liu teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:
memory (Paragraph 0646 the processing system 1700 includes a processor 1704, a memory 1706 ); and
one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to (Paragraph 0646 the processing system 1700 includes a processor 1704, a memory 1706):
receive, in a system information block SIB), information identifying a timing and position for a transition from a first synchronization signal block associated with a first cell to a second synchronization signal block associated with a second cell, wherein the first cell and the second cell have a common physical cell index and a common frequency (Paragraph 0014, 0026, 0031, 0124, 0134, 0194 the first PUSCH is associated with a first cell and the second PUSCH is associated with a second cell different than the first cell. The first PUSCH is associated with a first synchronization signal block (SSB), and the second PUSCH is associated with a second SSB different than the first SSB, the first SSB associated with a first PCI and the second SSB associated with a second PCI. TRP 1 has a CORESET pool index 1, cell 2 has a CORESET pool index 2, and TRP 3 has a CORESET pool index 3. However, for other signals, like SSB, CSI-RS and common PDCCH, it is possible that the UE have to receive from two cells (with different timing), either at the same time or right after each other. ); and tune from the first synchronization signal block to the second synchronization signal block in accordance with the timing and position (Paragraph 0124, 0131, 0134 each SSB index may be used to define a separate RG if the SSBs with different SSB indexes are transmitted from non-co-located TRPs. The UE receives timing advance (TA) commands associated with a configured TA group (TAG) to adjust its uplink transmission timing to synchronize with the network for uplink transmission, so that uplink transmissions from multiple UEs arrive at the base station at about the same time in a transmission time interval (TTI).).
Liu doesn’t explicitly disclose a transition from a first synchronization signal block, in a system information block SIB),
Cheema discloses a transition from a first synchronization signal block, in a system information block SIB), (Paragraph 0005-0008, 0046, 0096, 0108, 0112 the assistance information can be sent to the UE via system information block (“SIB”) instead of dedicated signaling respectively, as a result, the signaling overhead caused by the large number of UEs can be effectively reduced. The network transmits an indication of the satellite transition time. For earth-fixed cells, the indication may be sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”).. a User Equipment (“UE”) for handling satellite hard feeder link switchover includes receiving a configuration from a mobile communication network, where the network comprises a satellite, a first gateway to which the satellite is connected, and a second gateway to which the satellite is to connect in the future. Here, the configuration indicates a transition period required by the satellite connected to the first gateway for feeder link switchover to the second gateway, the transition period defined by a transition time and a transition duration. The method includes suspending communication with the mobile communication network at the transition time and resuming communication with the mobile communication network after expiry of the transition duration.. Physical layer solutions for fast resynchronization in case of hard feeder link switch over for transparent satellites. This problem becomes critical as many UEs in an NTN cell start RACH procedure simultaneously after the feeder link switch. The RACH procedure is the procedure where the UE creates an initial connection with the network. A RACH occasion (“RO”) is an area specified in time and frequency domain that are available for the reception of RACH preamble. In 3GPP NR, the synchronization signal block (“SSB”) is associated with different beam. The transition period indication may be configured to the UE(s) using higher layer signaling—such as dedicated RRC signaling or common RRC signaling or MAC/CE or DCI or any other signaling method.).
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 Liu to include the teaching of Cheema so that the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. (See Cheema Paragraph 0119).
As per Claim 2 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the first synchronization signal block is transmitted in a first timing position and the second synchronization signal block is transmitted in a second timing position that does not overlap with the first timing position (Paragraph 0025, 0047, 0076 The UE receives timing advance (TA) commands associated with a configured TA group (TAG) to adjust its uplink transmission timing to synchronize with the network for uplink transmission, so that uplink transmissions from multiple UEs arrive at the base station at about the same time in a transmission time interval (TTI). The UE receives timing advance (TA) commands associated with a configured TA group (TAG) to adjust its uplink transmission timing to synchronize with the network for uplink transmission, so that uplink transmissions from multiple UEs arrive at the base station at about the same time in a transmission time interval (TTI). Optionally, in any of preceding aspects, the first PUSCH is associated with a first timing advance, and the second PUSCH is associated with a second timing advance different than the first timing advance).
As per Claim 3 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the second synchronization signal block is a plurality of synchronization signal blocks (Paragraph 0014, 0081 a first uplink reference signal (RS) associated with a first synchronization signal block (SSB), and transmit a second uplink RS associated with a second SSB that is different than the first SSB. ).
As per Claim 4 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the timing is associated with at least one of: an end time for the first synchronization signal block, a cell stop time broadcast in a serving cell system information block, a start time for the second synchronization signal block, a search time for the second synchronization signal block, or a position for the second synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0188, 0200 As a starting point for the enhancements, once the non-serving cell's PCI/SSB/RS are configured for the UE, the TA offset is the time difference between a UL transmission (UL signal starting time, or UL OFDM symbol starting time) and a corresponding DL signal (the first path, the strongest path, or the OFDM symbol starting boundary inferred by the UE) ).
As per Claim 5 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block have respective arrival times within a threshold range, and wherein the one or more processors, that cause the UE to tune from the first synchronization signal block to the second synchronization signal block, are configured to cause the UE to: reacquire the second synchronization signal block based at least in part on the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block having respective arrival times within a threshold range (Paragraph 0313, 0345 Multi-TRP TDM/FDM/SFN can provide much gain compared to TDM/FDM performance gains over single-TRP PDCCH scheme. In addition, if the timing signals from multiple TRPs are not well aligned and arrive at a UE at different times For example, M-TRP candidate 1 may overlap with SSB and S-TRP candidate. If the gNB/UE first decide between the S-TRP candidate and the M-TRP candidates, gNB/UE may drop the M-TRP candidates (such as according to Option 2 of S-TRP/M-TRP collision case) ).
As per Claim 6 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein respective control resource sets and system information blocks of the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block are time division multiplexed with different downlink timings (Paragraph 0224, 0313 As for time-division multiplex (TDM)/frequency-division multiplex (FDM)/SFN for PDCCH, FDM/SFN require two panels to receive PDCCH at the same time for FR2, which adds extra complexity to UE blind detection/blind decoding and may not be desired To enable TDMed PUCCH transmissions with different multiple spatial relation info, the following options may be considered PDCCH2 (different coded 2 for TRP2 set 2. bits) in SS set 2. TDM/FDM TDM/FDM Alt2 ).
As per Claim 7 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block have a common timing advance value and different ephemeris data (Paragraph 0078, 0083, 0107 Within each RG, the resources are generally directly or indirectly QCLed, and may share some common properties and parameters, such as timing advance (TA) or DL timing; and across different RGs, the resources are generally NCLed and may have different properties and parameters such as TA or DL timing. Therefore, from the UE perspective, the TRPs share many common properties, such as the same time/frequency/phase synchronization, and thus one source, i.e., one PCI/SSB, is sufficient for a UE to communicate with the TRPs. ).
Liu doesn’t explicitly disclose a transition from a first synchronization signal block
Cheema discloses a transition from a first synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0005-0008, 0046, 0108, 0104 0112 For each satellite in the list, an identifier (“ID”), a list of cell(s) from the RAN node which is served through the satellite, and the ephemeris data for the satellite. The network transmits an indication of the satellite transition time. For earth-fixed cells, the indication may be sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”).. a User Equipment (“UE”) for handling satellite hard feeder link switchover includes receiving a configuration from a mobile communication network, where the network comprises a satellite, a first gateway to which the satellite is connected, and a second gateway to which the satellite is to connect in the future. Here, the configuration indicates a transition period required by the satellite connected to the first gateway for feeder link switchover to the second gateway, the transition period defined by a transition time and a transition duration. The method includes suspending communication with the mobile communication network at the transition time and resuming communication with the mobile communication network after expiry of the transition duration.. Physical layer solutions for fast resynchronization in case of hard feeder link switch over for transparent satellites. This problem becomes critical as many UEs in an NTN cell start RACH procedure simultaneously after the feeder link switch. The RACH procedure is the procedure where the UE creates an initial connection with the network. A RACH occasion (“RO”) is an area specified in time and frequency domain that are available for the reception of RACH preamble. In 3GPP NR, the synchronization signal block (“SSB”) is associated with different beam. The transition period indication may be configured to the UE(s) using higher layer signaling—such as dedicated RRC signaling or common RRC signaling or MAC/CE or DCI or any other signaling method.).
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 Liu to include the teaching of Cheema so that the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. (See Cheema Paragraph 0119).
As per Claim 8 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive, via broadcast signaling or dedicated signaling, a system information block identifying configuration information for the second synchronization signal block, wherein the system information block identifying configuration information for the second synchronization signal block is time division multiplexed with another system information block associated with the first synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0014, 0128 the first PUSCH is associated with a first synchronization signal block (SSB), and the second PUSCH is associated with a second SSB different than the first SSB, the first SSB associated with a first PCI and the second SSB associated with a second PCI. The TRP1 330 is associated with TAG1, and may also send the SSB but on a different resource (this SSB is referred to as SSB0-1). The TRP n 340 is associated with TAG n and may send a SSB n of the cell n. These TRPs are NCLed ).
As per Claim 9 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: detect the second synchronization signal block based at least in part on tuning from the first synchronization signal block to the second synchronization signal block; decode one or more system information blocks associated with the second synchronization signal block; and synchronize with the second cell based at least in part on information included in the one or more system information blocks (Paragraph 0319, 0361, 0367 UE decodes using (AL4+AL4), and [0323] i1b) UE selection scheme: UE decodes with one AL4 selected by the UE; [0324] i2) One-outage scenario: Only one transmission has gone through (the other experiences an outage due to, e.g., blockage), and UE decodes with the one succeeded AL4. ).
As per Claim 10 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: trigger a random access channel procedure to synchronize with the second cell based at least in part on tuning from the first synchronization signal block to the second synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0099, 0121 A PDCCH order may be used to indicate that a UE need to perform the random access procedure (e.g., sending a RACH) to which TRP, via a ID or QCL relation/default relation (cross-TRP PDCCH order) The UE 202 may transmit a RACH preamble to the TRPn 222, and receive a TA command of a third TAG or RG, e.g., TAGS or RG3, which is associated with the carrier and includes the TRPn 222.. ).
As per Claim 11 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: synchronize, based at least in part on tuning from the first synchronization signal block to the second synchronization signal block, with the second cell using a timing advance associated with the second cell (Paragraph 0076, 0078 The UE receives timing advance (TA) commands associated with a configured TA group (TAG) to adjust its uplink transmission timing to synchronize with the network for uplink transmission, so that uplink transmissions from multiple UEs arrive at the base station at about the same time in a transmission time interval (TTI). Likewise, the UE receives DL reference signals (RS) or synchronization signal (SS) blocks, also called SS/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) blocks (SS/PBCH blocks or SSB blocks), to acquire and maintain the DL synchronization, e.g., via maintaining a DL timing tracking loop, based on which the UE places its Fourier frequency transform (FFT) window inside the cyclic prefix (CP) for its DL reception. ).
As per Claim 12 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: detect the second synchronization signal block based at least in part on tuning from the first synchronization signal block to the second synchronization signal block; and switch from a UE-specific offset value to a cell-specific offset value based at least in part on detecting the second synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0187, 0188, 0202 Each TA offset may be applied relative to the corresponding DL signal (e.g., the first path, the strongest path, or the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol starting boundary inferred by the UE) . More generally, the TA offset is the time difference between a UL transmission (UL signal starting time, or UL OFDM symbol starting time) and a corresponding DL signal (the first path, the strongest path, or the OFDM symbol starting boundary inferred by the UE)).
As per Claim 13 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: detect the second synchronization signal block based at least in part on tuning from the first synchronization signal block to the second synchronization signal block; and trigger a timing advance report based at least in part on detecting the second synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0014, 0190, 0213 the second PUSCH is associated with a second SSB different than the first SSB, the first SSB associated with a first PCI and the second SSB associated with a second PCI.. A first group of IDs for a first group of signals for a first TRP1 associated with a RG1 (and possibly a first beam), a second group of IDs for a second group of signals for a second TRP2 associated with a RG2 (and possibly a second beam), and a third group of IDs for a third group of signals for a third TRPS associated with a RG3 (and possibly a third beam). ).
Liu doesn’t explicitly disclose a transition from a first synchronization signal block
Cheema discloses a transition from a first synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0005-0008, 0046, 0108, 0104 0112 For each satellite in the list, an identifier (“ID”), a list of cell(s) from the RAN node which is served through the satellite, and the ephemeris data for the satellite. The network transmits an indication of the satellite transition time. For earth-fixed cells, the indication may be sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”).. a User Equipment (“UE”) for handling satellite hard feeder link switchover includes receiving a configuration from a mobile communication network, where the network comprises a satellite, a first gateway to which the satellite is connected, and a second gateway to which the satellite is to connect in the future. Here, the configuration indicates a transition period required by the satellite connected to the first gateway for feeder link switchover to the second gateway, the transition period defined by a transition time and a transition duration. The method includes suspending communication with the mobile communication network at the transition time and resuming communication with the mobile communication network after expiry of the transition duration.. Physical layer solutions for fast resynchronization in case of hard feeder link switch over for transparent satellites. This problem becomes critical as many UEs in an NTN cell start RACH procedure simultaneously after the feeder link switch. The RACH procedure is the procedure where the UE creates an initial connection with the network. A RACH occasion (“RO”) is an area specified in time and frequency domain that are available for the reception of RACH preamble. In 3GPP NR, the synchronization signal block (“SSB”) is associated with different beam. The transition period indication may be configured to the UE(s) using higher layer signaling—such as dedicated RRC signaling or common RRC signaling or MAC/CE or DCI or any other signaling method.).
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 Liu to include the teaching of Cheema so that the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. (See Cheema Paragraph 0119).
As per Claim 14 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive ephemeris data associated with the second cell; and wherein the one or more processors, when configured to cause the UE to tune from the first synchronization signal block to the second synchronization signal block, are configured to cause the UE to: tune to the second synchronization signal block based at least in part on the ephemeris data (Paragraph 0013-0017transmitting, by the UE, a second SRS having a second spatial relation with a second CSI-RS or the second SSB, the second CSI-RS having a QCL relationship with the second SSB. Transmitting, by the UE, a first sounding reference signal (SRS) associated with the first SSB; and transmitting, by the UE, a second SRS associated with the second SSB.).
As per Claim 15 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 14, wherein a timing consistency criterion is satisfied by the first synchronization signal block and the second synchronization signal block, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: acquire a synchronization signal block timing after a switching time associated with the ephemeris data (Paragraph 0194, 0221 the UE to receive/switch from one beam with one timing to another beam with another timing. In an embodiment, since the SSB, CSI-RS and CSS are periodic, the standards can mandate that the beam will be switched to be consistent with periodic transmissions having higher priority before a slot starts. whereas for joint A/N, joint semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook can be used and A/N bits are concatenated in a certain order; switching between separate and joint A/N feedback is supported via radio resource control (RRC) configuration.).
Liu doesn’t explicitly disclose a transition from a first synchronization signal block
Cheema discloses a transition from a first synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0005-0008, 0046, 0108, 0104 0112 For each satellite in the list, an identifier (“ID”), a list of cell(s) from the RAN node which is served through the satellite, and the ephemeris data for the satellite. The network transmits an indication of the satellite transition time. For earth-fixed cells, the indication may be sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”).. a User Equipment (“UE”) for handling satellite hard feeder link switchover includes receiving a configuration from a mobile communication network, where the network comprises a satellite, a first gateway to which the satellite is connected, and a second gateway to which the satellite is to connect in the future. Here, the configuration indicates a transition period required by the satellite connected to the first gateway for feeder link switchover to the second gateway, the transition period defined by a transition time and a transition duration. The method includes suspending communication with the mobile communication network at the transition time and resuming communication with the mobile communication network after expiry of the transition duration.. Physical layer solutions for fast resynchronization in case of hard feeder link switch over for transparent satellites. This problem becomes critical as many UEs in an NTN cell start RACH procedure simultaneously after the feeder link switch. The RACH procedure is the procedure where the UE creates an initial connection with the network. A RACH occasion (“RO”) is an area specified in time and frequency domain that are available for the reception of RACH preamble. In 3GPP NR, the synchronization signal block (“SSB”) is associated with different beam. The transition period indication may be configured to the UE(s) using higher layer signaling—such as dedicated RRC signaling or common RRC signaling or MAC/CE or DCI or any other signaling method.).
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 Liu to include the teaching of Cheema so that the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. (See Cheema Paragraph 0119).
As per Claim 16 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: communicate on the second cell after a threshold period of time has elapsed from tuning to the second synchronization signal block, wherein the threshold period of time is based at least in part on at least one of an identified switching time or a re-acquisition time (Paragraph 0078, The inaccurate uplink timing may negatively affect the UE's physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)/physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) reliability, spectrum efficiency, and sounding accuracy for uplink/downlink multi-input multi-output (MIMO) channel state information (CSI) acquisition. Thus, it would be desirable that the UE is configured with separate TAGs for the serving cell and the NCLed TRP, and applies different TAs when transmitting to different TRPs. In some embodiments, methods are provided for configuring the TRPs with separate RGs, and acquiring/obtaining/maintaining timings and association relationships of the separate TAGs by the UE. ).
Liu doesn’t explicitly disclose a transition from a first synchronization signal block
Cheema discloses a transition from a first synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0005-0008, 0046, 0108, 0104 0112 For each satellite in the list, an identifier (“ID”), a list of cell(s) from the RAN node which is served through the satellite, and the ephemeris data for the satellite. The network transmits an indication of the satellite transition time. For earth-fixed cells, the indication may be sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”).. a User Equipment (“UE”) for handling satellite hard feeder link switchover includes receiving a configuration from a mobile communication network, where the network comprises a satellite, a first gateway to which the satellite is connected, and a second gateway to which the satellite is to connect in the future. Here, the configuration indicates a transition period required by the satellite connected to the first gateway for feeder link switchover to the second gateway, the transition period defined by a transition time and a transition duration. The method includes suspending communication with the mobile communication network at the transition time and resuming communication with the mobile communication network after expiry of the transition duration.. Physical layer solutions for fast resynchronization in case of hard feeder link switch over for transparent satellites. This problem becomes critical as many UEs in an NTN cell start RACH procedure simultaneously after the feeder link switch. The RACH procedure is the procedure where the UE creates an initial connection with the network. A RACH occasion (“RO”) is an area specified in time and frequency domain that are available for the reception of RACH preamble. In 3GPP NR, the synchronization signal block (“SSB”) is associated with different beam. The transition period indication may be configured to the UE(s) using higher layer signaling—such as dedicated RRC signaling or common RRC signaling or MAC/CE or DCI or any other signaling method.).
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 Liu to include the teaching of Cheema so that the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. (See Cheema Paragraph 0119).
As per Claim 17 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein a timing advance command or a system offset value is reset based at least in part on tuning from the first synchronization signal block to the second synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0185-0087, 0202 In an embodiment for M-TRP UL TA, the following may be considered: UE behavior for TA may also be defined Each TA offset may be applied relative to the corresponding DL signal (e.g., the first path, the strongest path, or the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol starting boundary inferred by the UE) More generally, the TA offset is the time difference between a UL transmission (UL signal starting time, or UL OFDM symbol starting time) and a corresponding DL signal (the first path, the strongest path, or the OFDM symbol starting boundary inferred by the UE). UL power control (PC) is based on either the SSB or periodic CSI-RS which relies on SSB transmission power directly or indirectly (e.g., the CSI-RS transmission power is configured using an offset from the SSB transmission power). When configuring the neighbor cell's SSB to the UE, due to the synchronization offset between the serving cell and the neighbor cell, the UE may need to perform a search within a time window for the PSS/SSS. ).
As per Claim 18 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: determine that a trigger condition for expiration of an uplink synchronization timer is satisfied; and acquire a system information block to identify new synchronization information based at least in part on determining that the trigger condition is satisfied (Paragraph 0185-0188, 0193 Each TA offset may be applied relative to the corresponding DL signal (e.g., the first path, the strongest path, or the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol starting boundary inferred by the UE) [0188] More generally, the TA offset is the time difference between a UL transmission (UL signal starting time, or UL OFDM symbol starting time) and a corresponding DL signal (the first path, the strongest path, or the OFDM symbol starting boundary inferred by the UE) There may be different ways for the UE to infer the symbol boundary).
Liu doesn’t explicitly disclose a transition from a first synchronization signal block
Cheema discloses a transition from a first synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0005-0008, 0046, 0108, 0104 0112 For each satellite in the list, an identifier (“ID”), a list of cell(s) from the RAN node which is served through the satellite, and the ephemeris data for the satellite. The network transmits an indication of the satellite transition time. For earth-fixed cells, the indication may be sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”).. a User Equipment (“UE”) for handling satellite hard feeder link switchover includes receiving a configuration from a mobile communication network, where the network comprises a satellite, a first gateway to which the satellite is connected, and a second gateway to which the satellite is to connect in the future. Here, the configuration indicates a transition period required by the satellite connected to the first gateway for feeder link switchover to the second gateway, the transition period defined by a transition time and a transition duration. The method includes suspending communication with the mobile communication network at the transition time and resuming communication with the mobile communication network after expiry of the transition duration.. Physical layer solutions for fast resynchronization in case of hard feeder link switch over for transparent satellites. This problem becomes critical as many UEs in an NTN cell start RACH procedure simultaneously after the feeder link switch. The RACH procedure is the procedure where the UE creates an initial connection with the network. A RACH occasion (“RO”) is an area specified in time and frequency domain that are available for the reception of RACH preamble. In 3GPP NR, the synchronization signal block (“SSB”) is associated with different beam. The transition period indication may be configured to the UE(s) using higher layer signaling—such as dedicated RRC signaling or common RRC signaling or MAC/CE or DCI or any other signaling method.).
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 Liu to include the teaching of Cheema so that the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. (See Cheema Paragraph 0119).
As per Claim 19 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the first cell is associated with a first satellite and the second cell is associated with a second satellite (Paragraph 0591, 0593 The Doppler shift may be adjusted based on TRS 0, i.e., the network pre-compensates TRP 1 to match TRP 0; OR The Doppler shift may be adjusted based on TRS 1, i.e., the network pre-compensates TRP 0 to match TRP 1; OR The Doppler shift may be adjusted based on both TRSs, i.e., the network pre-compensates both TRPs to the average of the TRPs' frequencies; OR. The Doppler shift may be adjusted based on a gNB preference, i.e., the network pre-compensates both TRPs to a frequency determined by the gNB. TRPs are synchronized, and they transmit in a synchronized fashion, without pre-compensation for Doppler shifts for the first set of TRP-specific TRSs, and with sufficient pre-compensation for Doppler shift(s) for the second set of TRSs and SFN DMRS. The pre-compensation may be based on UE signals sent in the UL, and the network may adjust the frequency for one or both of the second set of TRSs so that the UE will experience the same Doppler shift on the TRSs. The TRSs may form a SFN if the network chooses to send the TRSs on the same REs, but the network can alternatively choose to send the TRSs on different REs, i.e., this may still be Scheme 1. ).
As per Claim 20 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: reset at least one of layer 1 filtering or layer 3 filtering for a serving cell based at least in part on tuning to the second synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0499, 0512 Note that the DMRS may be QCLed to SSB directly without TRS. For PDxCH and its DMRS, a layer of the PDxCH may be seen as QCLed to its corresponding DMRS port with all QCL types. In order for the network to apply Doppler shift pre-compensation value for each TRP before transmitting the SFN PDSCH, the UE may need to transmit SRS to each TRP, and the SRS may be based on the Doppler shift that the UE experiences for that TRP in DL. This may require the UL signal and DL signal to be associated, e.g., with respect to the Doppler shift and possibly spatial filtering (i.e., beams). This can fit into the generic QCL framework, i.e., the UL/DL signals can be defined as QCLed to each other. ).
Liu doesn’t explicitly disclose a transition from a first synchronization signal block
Cheema discloses a transition from a first synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0005-0008, 0046, 0108, 0104 0112 For each satellite in the list, an identifier (“ID”), a list of cell(s) from the RAN node which is served through the satellite, and the ephemeris data for the satellite. The network transmits an indication of the satellite transition time. For earth-fixed cells, the indication may be sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”).. a User Equipment (“UE”) for handling satellite hard feeder link switchover includes receiving a configuration from a mobile communication network, where the network comprises a satellite, a first gateway to which the satellite is connected, and a second gateway to which the satellite is to connect in the future. Here, the configuration indicates a transition period required by the satellite connected to the first gateway for feeder link switchover to the second gateway, the transition period defined by a transition time and a transition duration. The method includes suspending communication with the mobile communication network at the transition time and resuming communication with the mobile communication network after expiry of the transition duration.. Physical layer solutions for fast resynchronization in case of hard feeder link switch over for transparent satellites. This problem becomes critical as many UEs in an NTN cell start RACH procedure simultaneously after the feeder link switch. The RACH procedure is the procedure where the UE creates an initial connection with the network. A RACH occasion (“RO”) is an area specified in time and frequency domain that are available for the reception of RACH preamble. In 3GPP NR, the synchronization signal block (“SSB”) is associated with different beam. The transition period indication may be configured to the UE(s) using higher layer signaling—such as dedicated RRC signaling or common RRC signaling or MAC/CE or DCI or any other signaling method.).
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 Liu to include the teaching of Cheema so that the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. (See Cheema Paragraph 0119).
As per Claim 21 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 20, wherein the one or more processors, to reset the at least one of the layer 1 filter or the layer 3 filter, are configured to at least one of: reset a layer 3 measurement window from a satellite switch time to a new satellite to a second synchronization signal block start time, reset a timer T310, reset a timer T311, reset a counter N310, or reset a counter N311 (Paragraph 0007, 0054, 0076 a layer number and a first transmit precoding matrix index (TPMI) to be used for a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) of the UE, and a second TPMI to be used for a second PUSCH of the UE, the second TPMI corresponding to the layer number; and sending, to the UE, first information indicating the layer number and the first TPMI, and the second information indicating the second TPMI. The UE receives timing advance (TA) commands associated with a configured TA group (TAG) to adjust its uplink transmission timing to synchronize with the network for uplink transmission, so that uplink transmissions from multiple UEs arrive at the base station at about the same time in a transmission time interval (TTI). Likewise, the UE receives DL reference signals (RS) or synchronization signal (SS) blocks, also called SS/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) blocks (SS/PBCH blocks or SSB blocks), to acquire and maintain the DL synchronization, e.g., via maintaining a DL timing tracking loop, based on which the UE places its Fourier frequency transform (FFT) window inside the cyclic prefix (CP) for its DL reception. In addition, both UL and DL signals/channels need to be associated with some other signals for deriving the signal/channel properties, such as delay spread, Doppler shift, and so on. ).
Liu doesn’t explicitly disclose a transition from a first synchronization signal block
Cheema discloses a transition from a first synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0005-0008, 0046, 0108, 0104 0112 For each satellite in the list, an identifier (“ID”), a list of cell(s) from the RAN node which is served through the satellite, and the ephemeris data for the satellite. The network transmits an indication of the satellite transition time. For earth-fixed cells, the indication may be sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”).. a User Equipment (“UE”) for handling satellite hard feeder link switchover includes receiving a configuration from a mobile communication network, where the network comprises a satellite, a first gateway to which the satellite is connected, and a second gateway to which the satellite is to connect in the future. Here, the configuration indicates a transition period required by the satellite connected to the first gateway for feeder link switchover to the second gateway, the transition period defined by a transition time and a transition duration. The method includes suspending communication with the mobile communication network at the transition time and resuming communication with the mobile communication network after expiry of the transition duration.. Physical layer solutions for fast resynchronization in case of hard feeder link switch over for transparent satellites. This problem becomes critical as many UEs in an NTN cell start RACH procedure simultaneously after the feeder link switch. The RACH procedure is the procedure where the UE creates an initial connection with the network. A RACH occasion (“RO”) is an area specified in time and frequency domain that are available for the reception of RACH preamble. In 3GPP NR, the synchronization signal block (“SSB”) is associated with different beam. The transition period indication may be configured to the UE(s) using higher layer signaling—such as dedicated RRC signaling or common RRC signaling or MAC/CE or DCI or any other signaling method.).
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 Liu to include the teaching of Cheema so that the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. (See Cheema Paragraph 0119).
As per Claim 22 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: trigger at least one of a layer 1 measurement report or a layer 3 measurement report based at least in part on tuning to the second synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0085, 0121The TA command may be carried in an MAC CE. The TA may be updated by the network by measuring an uplink transmission from the UE 202, e.g., a SRS. Uplink timing of a UE may be measured by a TRP using an uplink signal or channel, e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH or SRS, transmitted by the UE. A TA value may be determined and assigned to the UE based on the measurement.).
Liu doesn’t explicitly disclose a transition from a first synchronization signal block
Cheema discloses a transition from a first synchronization signal block (Paragraph 0005-0008, 0046, 0108, 0104 0112 For each satellite in the list, an identifier (“ID”), a list of cell(s) from the RAN node which is served through the satellite, and the ephemeris data for the satellite. The network transmits an indication of the satellite transition time. For earth-fixed cells, the indication may be sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”).. a User Equipment (“UE”) for handling satellite hard feeder link switchover includes receiving a configuration from a mobile communication network, where the network comprises a satellite, a first gateway to which the satellite is connected, and a second gateway to which the satellite is to connect in the future. Here, the configuration indicates a transition period required by the satellite connected to the first gateway for feeder link switchover to the second gateway, the transition period defined by a transition time and a transition duration. The method includes suspending communication with the mobile communication network at the transition time and resuming communication with the mobile communication network after expiry of the transition duration.. Physical layer solutions for fast resynchronization in case of hard feeder link switch over for transparent satellites. This problem becomes critical as many UEs in an NTN cell start RACH procedure simultaneously after the feeder link switch. The RACH procedure is the procedure where the UE creates an initial connection with the network. A RACH occasion (“RO”) is an area specified in time and frequency domain that are available for the reception of RACH preamble. In 3GPP NR, the synchronization signal block (“SSB”) is associated with different beam. The transition period indication may be configured to the UE(s) using higher layer signaling—such as dedicated RRC signaling or common RRC signaling or MAC/CE or DCI or any other signaling method.).
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 Liu to include the teaching of Cheema so that the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. (See Cheema Paragraph 0119).
As per Claim 23 Liu- Cheema teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: update information identifying a start time for the second synchronization signal block; and start a cell search at the start time or when a handover command is received, the handover command being executed at the start time (Paragraph 0123, 0124 The serving cell 210 is associated with a first PCID and a first SSB. A UL signal or channel in the first group of UL signals and channels may be quasi-co-located (QCLed) to the first SSB, or QCLed to a downlink/uplink reference signal that is QCLed to the first SSB, or is configured with a pathloss RS that is the first SSB or is QCLed to the first SSB, or is configured with a spatial relation RS that is the first SSB or is QCLed to the first SSB. In an embodiment, all UL signal or channel in the first group of UL signals and channels are associated with the first RG. ).
Claims 24-30 are the User equipment claims corresponding to the method claims 1-23 that have been rejected above. Applicant attention is directed to the rejection of claims 1-23. Claims 24-30 are rejected under the same rational as claims 1-23.
Response to Argument(s)
Applicant's argument(s) filed on January 23, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Therefore, the rejection is maintained.
In the remarks, at page 13-14 the Applicant argues in substance that:
Remark:
(A) “the Office Action has not shown that LIU discloses "receive, in a system information block (SIB), information identifying a timing and position for a transition from a first synchronization signal block associated with a first cell to a second synchronization signal block associated with a second cell," as recited in amended claim 1....”
Response:
In response, Examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant’s representative’s assertions. The Examiner has thoroughly reviewed Applicants' representative’s arguments but firmly believes that the cited references to reasonably and properly meet the claimed limitation. Applicant’s representative’s are reminded that the Examiner is entitled to give the broadest reasonable interpretation to the language of the claims. Examiner appreciates applicant’s representative’s explanation however, Cheema states that the assistance information can be sent to the UE via system information block (“SIB”) instead of dedicated signaling respectively, as a result, the signaling overhead caused by the large number of UEs can be effectively reduced. The network transmits an indication sent semi-statically to a UE via dedicated RRC signaling or via Broadcast in a system information block (“SIB”). Alternatively, the indication may be sent dynamically via MAC CE, or DCI message, or some combination thereof. For earth-moving cells, the indication of the satellite transition time may be sent through SIB with location information. Alternatively, the indication may be sent using group-common DCI (“GC-DCI”) message. Example from Cheema (Paragraph 0119 the start and duration of transition period 613 is indicated in a system information block (“SIB”). Such indication may be common to all UEs in the cell, all UEs served by a beam in the case of multi-beam cells, or a like. In the case of earth-moving cells, a location information may be included in SIB that indicates that SIB is valid for UEs in a certain geographical area (e.g., coverage area 611 or 621). For example, such location information may include inner and outer latitude and longitude axes of UEs to apply the timer. In this case, a UE located in the indicated range may run a switchover timer while a UE located outside the indicated range may neglect the procedure....)
Therefore LIU and Cheema reference teaches the claim limitation as currently presented.
Examiner’s Note
Examiner is open for discussion if the applicant’s representative need further clarifications.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. (See form 892).
Conclusion
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/SYED ALI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463