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 communication is in response to the amendment filed 11/26/2025. The amendment has been entered and considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 21-25, 27-32 ,34-38, 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NAGARAJAN et al. “Nagarajan” US 20220191869 in view of Matsumura et al. “Matsumura” US 20220322411.
Regarding Claims 21 and 28, Nagarajan discloses a method and terminal device for transmitting information (¶0008 a method for a UE configured to communicate, with a base station (BS) over a random access channel), comprising:
A first transceiver processor and memory communicating through a bus and a processor configured to communicate with a network device through the transceiver (Figure 14, transceiver (1430) processor (1420) memory (1422);
receiving, by a terminal device (¶0108 FIG. 8, UE 104), first indication information, (¶0113-0114, Fig. 8, At 810, UE 104 receive a random access response (i.e. message 2, ¶0117, as first indication))
wherein the first indication information is used for indicating a transmission parameter for target information during a random access procedure; (Fig. 8, ¶0113 At 810, the BS 102/180 transmits a random access response (i.e. message 2, ¶0117, as first indication) indicating the timing advance information, the uplink resource, and the temporary ID (indicates transmission parameters for target information) for the UE 104 to transmit a connection request (i.e. message 3, ¶0117, as target information) at step 814 (¶0115) based on these transmission parameters) and
transmitting, by the terminal device, the target information based on the transmission parameters during the random access procedure. (Fig. 8, ¶0114 At 812, upon receiving the random access response, the UE 104 processes the random access response. The UE 104 may obtain information associated with the UL resource, the temporary ID, and the timing advance information (transmission parameters) from the random access response. ¶0115 At 814, the UE 104 transmits a connection request (i.e. message 3, ¶0117, as target information) to the BS 102/180 based on the UL resource, the temporary ID, and the timing advance information.)
wherein the target information comprises information of a random access message 3 (¶ 0115, At 814, the UE 104 transmits a connection request ((¶0117 Message 3) to the BS 102/180 based on the UL resource information received in the RAR at 810)
and the transmission parameter includes an aggregation factor for transmission of the target information (¶0113-0115 the UE 104 may obtain information associated with the UL resource. The UL resource may correspond to information indicating which aggregation level (factor) to be selected from the nested data structure of aggregation levels such that the UE 104 can transmit a PUCCH signal on a single-RB resource or multi-RB resource depending on the transmit power of the transmitted PRACH signal and/or the measured uplink transmission timing by the BS 102/180).
While Nagarajan teaches that Msg3 can include PUCCH, Nagarajan does not expressly disclose data in the Msg3; however, Matsumura teaches Message3 (PUSCH (i.e. data)); Paragraph 129.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing to modify the teachings of Nagarajan to expressly state data is in Msg3 as taught by Matsumura.
One would be motivated to make the modification such that the network device and base station can properly communicate/complete the RACH process as taught by Matsumura; Paragraphs 127-131.
Regarding claims 22 and 29, Nagarajan teaches the target information includes at least one of data/control information of a random access msg2 (RAR 810; Figure 8);
Control information of Msg3 (connection request 814; Figure 8);
Data/control of Message 4 or control information of a feedback message corresponding to a message4 (connection response 818 is a feedback message; Paragraph 116 and Figure 8).
Regarding Claims 23 and 30, Nagarajan further discloses:
wherein the transmission parameter (Fig. 8, ¶0113 At 810, the BS 102/180 transmits a random access response (i.e. message 2, ¶0117, as first indication) indicating the timing advance information, the uplink resource, and the temporary ID (indicates transmission parameters) comprises at least one of:
a frequency domain position of frequency hopping for transmitting the target information; (¶0084 the UE communicating over the frequency spectrum 490 may be allocated (e.g., via control channel 422 information) resource unit based frequency hopping)
a modulation parameter for transmitting the target information; (¶0035 UE capability may be known to a base station (e.g., gNB). The base station can schedule the UE with a wider uplink bandwidth and lower modulation and coding scheme (MCS)) and
resources for transmitting the target information. (¶0113-0115 the UE 104 may obtain information associated with the UL resource, so that the UE 104 can transmit a PUCCH signal).
Regarding Claims 24 and 31, Nagarajan does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first indication information is carried by a medium access control (MAC) layer signaling.
Matsumura, however, discloses:
wherein the first indication information is carried by a medium access control (MAC) layer signaling. (Matsumura ¶0036 FIG. 3 shows an example of MAC control information (MAC RAR) corresponding to the RAR. The UE performs uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission based on a timing advance command, a UL grant, or the like included in the RAR)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Nagarajan with Matsumura to support random access procedure with performing PUSCH based on the parameters received in UL transmission indication (for example, UL grant) in a response signal from eNB transmitted in response to a random access preamble (Matsumura, ¶0007) to more flexibly and appropriately control improvement of the use efficiency and communication quality of a network (Matsumura, ¶0102).
Regarding Claims 25 and 32, Nagarajan does not explicitly disclose:
receiving MAC layer signaling that includes a first reserved field and a second dedicated field wherein the terminal determines the first indication based on the first or second field..
Matsumura, however, discloses:
receiving MAC which includes the first indication information. (Matsumura ¶0036 FIG. 3 shows an example of MAC control information (MAC RAR) corresponding to the RAR. The UE performs uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission based on a timing advance command, a UL grant, or the like included in the RAR).
Wherein the MAC has a first reserved field and a second dedicated field (Figure 3 shows a reserved field (“R”) and a dedicated field (any of the TA command, or UL grant). As the indication is sent in the MAC RAR, the terminal would determine the indication based on the first/second fields as claimed.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Nagarajan with Matsumura to support random access procedure with performing PUSCH based on the parameters received in UL transmission indication (for example, UL grant) in a response signal from eNB transmitted in response to a random access preamble (Matsumura, ¶0007) to more flexibly and appropriately control improvement of the use efficiency and communication quality of a network (Matsumura, ¶0102).
Regarding claims 27 and 34, Nagarajan teaches sending a random access message 1 to the network device wherein the Msg1 comprises a random access preamble sequence (a PRACH is transmit from the UE to a base station (804 i.e. Msg1) and the PRACH includes a random access sequence; Paragraph 110).
Regarding claim 35, Nagarajan discloses A network device (Fig. 3, ¶0071 base station 310) comprising a second transceiver (Fig. 3, ¶0072,0077 Base Station TX/RX 318), a second processor (Fig. 3, ¶0072 processor 316/370), and a second memory for storing a computer program; (Fig. 3, ¶0078 memory 376); wherein the second transceiver, the second processor and the second memory communicate through a second communication bus; (¶0071 FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a base station 310 in communication with a UE 350 in an access network) the second processor is configured to communicate with the terminal device (Fig. 3, ¶0071 UE 350), through the second transceiver; and the second transceiver is configured to
send first indication information, (¶0113-0114, Fig. 8, At 810, the BS 102/180 transmits a random access response (i.e. message 2, ¶0117, as first indication))
wherein the first indication information is used for indicating a transmission parameter for target information during a random access procedure; (Fig. 8, ¶0113 At 810, the BS 102/180 transmits a random access response (i.e. message 2, ¶0117, as first indication) indicating the timing advance information, the uplink resource, and the temporary ID (indicates transmission parameters for target information) for the UE 104 to transmit a connection request (i.e. message 3, ¶0117, as target information) at step 814 (¶0115) based on these transmission parameters)
transmit the target information based on the transmission parameter. (¶0112, Fig. 8, The BS 102/180 may determine uplink transmission timing of the UE 104 and assign a UL resource and a temporary identifier (ID) (transmission parameters) to the UE 104 for sending a subsequent message based on the received PRACH signal. ¶0117, Fig. 8, the random access signature may be referred to as a random access-radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI). The temporary ID may be referred to as a temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI). The BS 102 transmit the random access response (step 810, message 2) and the connection response (step 818, message 4) as the target information using the transmission parameters)
wherein the target information comprises information of a random access message 3 (¶ 0115, At 814, the UE 104 transmits a connection request ((¶0117 Message 3) to the BS 102/180 based on the UL resource information received in the RAR at 810); and
and the transmission parameter includes an aggregation factor for transmission of the target information (¶0113-0115 the UE 104 may obtain information associated with the UL resource. The UL resource may correspond to information indicating which aggregation level (factor) to be selected from the nested data structure of aggregation levels such that the UE 104 can transmit a PUCCH signal on a single-RB resource or multi-RB resource depending on the transmit power of the transmitted PRACH signal and/or the measured uplink transmission timing by the BS 102/180).
While Nagarajan teaches that Msg3 can include PUCCH, Nagarajan does not expressly disclose data in the Msg3; however, Matsumura teaches Message3 (PUSCH (i.e. data)); Paragraph 129.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing to modify the teachings of Nagarajan to expressly state data is in Msg3 as taught by Matsumura.
One would be motivated to make the modification such that the network device and base station can properly communicate/complete the RACH process as taught by Matsumura; Paragraphs 127-131.
Regarding claim 36, Nagarajan teaches the target information includes at least one of data/control information of a random access msg2 (RAR 810; Figure 8);
Control information of Msg3 (connection request 814; Figure 8);
Data/control of Message 4 or control information of a feedback message corresponding to a message4 (connection response 818 is a feedback message; Paragraph 116 and Figure 8).
Regarding claim 37, Nagarajan does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first indication information is carried by a medium access control (MAC) layer signaling.
Matsumura, however, discloses:
wherein the first indication information is carried by a medium access control (MAC) layer signaling. (Matsumura ¶0036 FIG. 3 shows an example of MAC control information (MAC RAR) corresponding to the RAR. The UE performs uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission based on a timing advance command, a UL grant, or the like included in the RAR)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Nagarajan with Matsumura to support random access procedure with performing PUSCH based on the parameters received in UL transmission indication (for example, UL grant) in a response signal from eNB transmitted in response to a random access preamble (Matsumura, ¶0007) to more flexibly and appropriately control improvement of the use efficiency and communication quality of a network (Matsumura, ¶0102).
Regarding claim 38, Nagarajan does not explicitly disclose:
send MAC layer signaling that includes a first reserved field and a second dedicated field wherein the terminal determines the first indication based on the first or second field.
Matsumura, however, discloses:
sending MAC which includes the first indication information. (Matsumura ¶0036 FIG. 3 shows an example of MAC control information (MAC RAR) corresponding to the RAR. The UE performs uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission based on a timing advance command, a UL grant, or the like included in the RAR).
Wherein the MAC has a first reserved field and a second dedicated field (Figure 3 shows a reserved field (“R”) and a dedicated field (any of the TA command, or UL grant). As the indication is sent in the MAC RAR, the terminal would determine the indication based on the first/second fields as claimed.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Nagarajan with Matsumura to support random access procedure with performing PUSCH based on the parameters received in UL transmission indication (for example, UL grant) in a response signal from eNB transmitted in response to a random access preamble (Matsumura, ¶0007) to more flexibly and appropriately control improvement of the use efficiency and communication quality of a network (Matsumura, ¶0102).
Regarding claim 40, Nagarajan teaches receiving a random access message 1 to the network device wherein the Msg1 comprises a random access preamble sequence (a PRACH is transmit from the UE to a base station (804 i.e. Msg1) and the PRACH includes a random access sequence; Paragraph 110).
Claims 26, 33, 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nagarajan in view Matsumura and further in view of Lei et al. (US 20220217713 A1), hereinafter Lei.
Regarding Claims 26 and 33, Nagarajan does not disclose:
wherein receiving, by the terminal device, the first indication information comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, downlink control information (DCI),
wherein the DCI comprises a transport block scaling factor; and
determining, the first indication information based on the transport block scaling factor.
Lei, however, discloses:
wherein receiving, by the terminal device, the first indication information comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, downlink control information (DCI), (Fig. 2, ¶0136 base station 205 may transmit, provide, or otherwise convey a grant (e.g., DCI grant) activating a set of resources for an uplink data transmission (e.g., a PUSCH transmission) to UE 210)
wherein the DCI comprises a transport block scaling factor; (¶0137 TBS parameter (e.g., Transport Block Size (TBS) scaling factor or more simply scaler) is indicated in the DCI) and
determining, the first indication information based on the transport block scaling factor. (¶0138 UE 210 may identify or otherwise determine a scaler associated with the TBS parameter and identify the slot aggregation factor for the uplink data transmission based on the scaler and the TBS parameter indicated in the (DCI) grant.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Nagarajan and Matsumura with Lei to support using transport block size (TBS) scaling and optimizations using a joint slot aggregation factor/TBS scaling indication to improve latency reduction and coverage enhancements. (Lei ¶0003, 0005).
Regarding claim 39, Nagarajan does not disclose:
wherein receiving, by the terminal device, the first indication information comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, downlink control information (DCI),
wherein the DCI comprises a transport block scaling factor; and
determining, the first indication information based on the transport block scaling factor.
Lei, however, discloses:
wherein receiving, by the terminal device, the first indication information comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, downlink control information (DCI), (Fig. 2, ¶0136 base station 205 may transmit, provide, or otherwise convey a grant (e.g., DCI grant) activating a set of resources for an uplink data transmission (e.g., a PUSCH transmission) to UE 210)
wherein the DCI comprises a transport block scaling factor; (¶0137 TBS parameter (e.g., Transport Block Size (TBS) scaling factor or more simply scaler) is indicated in the DCI) and
determining, the first indication information based on the transport block scaling factor. (¶0138 UE 210 may identify or otherwise determine a scaler associated with the TBS parameter and identify the slot aggregation factor for the uplink data transmission based on the scaler and the TBS parameter indicated in the (DCI) grant.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Nagarajan and Matsumura with Lei to support using transport block size (TBS) scaling and optimizations using a joint slot aggregation factor/TBS scaling indication to improve latency reduction and coverage enhancements. (Lei ¶0003, 0005).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 21-40 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRANDON M RENNER whose telephone number is (571)270-3621. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-5pm EST.
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/BRANDON M RENNER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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