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
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 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 [1-8] is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Johan (US 20170150519 A1) in view of Anil (US 20250016739 A1).
In regards to claim 1 Johan teaches a base station (gNB), [0005] FIGS. 1A-1E illustrate different examples of antenna beam patterns and their coverage range. In FIG. 1A, a base station antenna array 20 is shown providing an antenna beam pattern 26, comprising: receiving circuitry configured to: receive a preamble in a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource; [0014] Upon receiving the synchronization signals at block 52 and the system information at block 54, the UE 50 may attempt to access the network and initiate the random-access procedure by transmitting a random-access preamble in the uplink on a Physical Random-Access Channel (PRACH), as indicated at block 56, and transmitting circuitry configured to: determine a downlink (DL) beam or a small set of DL beams for the received preamble; [0020] Thus, when a base station employs narrow beamforming, it would be desirable to address the potential mismatch between the DL and UL beam directions so that, despite such mismatch, the RAR message during the random-access procedure of FIG. 2 is not only received by a UE, but is received over a DL beam that is good enough for that UE determine corresponding DL beams within the determined beam group and/or beam pattern for a random access response (RAR) transmission; [0084] In particular embodiments, for each RAR transmission attempt, the eNB 72 may also switch the DL beam in order to eventually cover the targeted UE 68. FIG. 7 illustrates how the eNB 72 in FIG. 3 may use beam-switching to enable a UE, such as the UE 68, to receive at least one of the plurality of RAR messages transmitted by the eNB 72 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, and transmit the RAR within a RAR window of a preamble transmission with the determined DL beam or the small set of DL beams. [0080] In the illustration of FIG. 6, an RA-response window 110 also starts after the fixed minimum scheduling delay of 5 subframes. Thus, as shown, the RA-response window 110 may start from subframe-10, which is identified using the reference numeral “112” and is the fifth subframe after the Msg1 subframe 108. In one embodiment, the value of the RAR window 110 may be a system variable that can be signaled to the UE 68 as the ra-ResponseWindow parameter in the System Information (SI) broadcast in the network 70, like the SI at block 54 in FIG. 2.
Johan does not teach determine a synchronization signal block (SSB) index associated with the preamble to determine a corresponding beam group and/or beam pattern.
However, Anil teaches determine a synchronization signal block (SSB) index associated with the preamble to determine a corresponding beam group and/or beam pattern. [0111] In case the number of gNB 404 TX beams/SSBs/LPSSs is N, there can be N (or N*X, where X is the number of transmission occasions (or resources) per TX beam/SSB/LP SS) transmission occasions (or resources) for transmitting the paging request and each of these is uniquely mapped to gNB 404's TX beam/SSB/LP SS.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Johan and Anil before him or her, to modify the method of Johan to include the SSB as taught by Anil.
The motivation for doing so would be to improve network communication. (Paragraph 0025 by Anil).
In regards to claim 2 Johan and Anil teaches the limitations of the parent claims.
Johan does not teach wherein the transmitting circuitry is further configured to configure SSBs that associate with different beam groups and/or beam patterns.
However, Anil teaches determine a synchronization signal block (SSB) index associated with the preamble to determine a corresponding beam group and/or beam pattern. [0100] The subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the LP WUS transmission occasions can be signaled by gNB 404 in SI (e.g., SIB1 or MIB or another SIB). In one embodiment, the LP WUS is transmitted using beam sweeping, wherein the LP WUS is transmitted N*X times where N is the number of transmitted beams/SSBs/lower power synchronization signals (LPSSs), and X is the number of transmissions per transmitted beam/SSB/LPSS. X can be 1 by default.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Johan and Anil before him or her, to modify the method of Johan to include the SSB as taught by Anil.
The motivation for doing so would be to improve network communication. (Paragraph 0025 by Anil).
In regards to claim 3 Johan and Anil teaches the limitations of the parent claims.
Johan does not teach wherein the transmitting circuitry is further configured to transmit SSBs/PBCHs (synchronization signal blocks/physical broadcast channels) with system information block type 1 (SIB 1) information including PRACH configurations.
However, Anil teaches wherein the transmitting circuitry is further configured to transmit SSBs/PBCHs (synchronization signal blocks/physical broadcast channels) with system information block type 1 (SIB 1) information including PRACH configurations [0064] The MIB is transmitted on the BCH with a periodicity of 80 ms and repetitions made within 80 ms and it includes parameters that are needed to acquire SIB1 from the cell. The SIB1 is transmitted on the DL-SCH with a periodicity of 160 ms and variable transmission repetition. The default transmission repetition periodicity of SIB1 is 20 ms but the actual transmission repetition periodicity is up to network implementation. For SSB and CORESET multiplexing pattern 1, the SIB1 repetition transmission period is 20 ms.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Johan and Anil before him or her, to modify the method of Johan to include the SSB as taught by Anil.
The motivation for doing so would be to improve network communication. (Paragraph 0025 by Anil).
In regards to claim 4 Johan and Anil teaches the limitations of the parent claims.
Johan also teaches wherein the transmitting circuitry is further configured to evaluate uplink (UL) beams for the preamble among the beams in the beam group and/or beam pattern. [0074] In one embodiment, a one-to-many (one Msg2-to-many Msg3) mapping may be used by the eNB 72 if the UL best (or preferable) beam is unknown or may not be readily determined from the UE's Msg1—like the Msg1 at block 56 in FIG. 2.
In regards to claim 5 Johan teaches monitor and receive a random access response (RAR) in a RAR window of a preamble transmission [0080] In the illustration of FIG. 6, an RA-response window 110 also starts after the fixed minimum scheduling delay of 5 subframes. Thus, as shown, the RA-response window 110 may start from subframe-10, which is identified using the reference numeral “112” and is the fifth subframe after the Msg1 subframe 108, and transmitting circuitry configured to transmit the determined preamble format in the determined PRACH resource using the determined UL beam [0014] Upon receiving the synchronization signals at block 52 and the system information at block 54, the UE 50 may attempt to access the network and initiate the random-access procedure by transmitting a random-access preamble in the uplink on a Physical Random-Access Channel (PRACH), as indicated at block 56. The preamble allows the eNB 48 to estimate the timing-advance necessary for the UE 50.
Johan does not teach evaluate a reference signal received power (RRSP) of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) for an optimal downlink (DL) beam to determine an uplink (UL) beam for a preamble transmission; determine a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource and a preamble format based on a determined synchronization signal block (SSB) index;
However, Anil teaches evaluate a reference signal received power (RRSP) of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) for an optimal downlink (DL) beam [0105] UE 402 may monitor the occasions corresponding to a suitable (RSRP above a configured threshold)/best transmitted beam/SSB/LPSS where the suitable/best transmitted beam/SSB/LPSS is identified based on a measurement of the transmitted beam/SSB/LPSS, to determine an uplink (UL) beam for a preamble transmission; [0151] In case of beamforming, UE 502 selects gNB 504's best/suitable TXbeam/SSB/LP SS (the TXbeam/SSB/LP SS is suitable if the RSRP of the TX beam/SSB/LP SS is above a configured threshold; the TX beam/SSB/LP SS with the highest RSRP is considered best) and then selects a PRACH preamble and/or RO corresponding to the selected TX beam/SSB/LP SS and transmits the selected preamble in the selected RO, determine a physical random access channel (PRACH) resource [0114] If N SSBs/gNB TX beams/LP SSs are associated with a RACH occasion, where N>=1, for the i-th SSB/TX beam/LPSS (i=0, . . . , N−1) the preamble with preamble index=ra-PreambleStartIndex+i is used for the paging request (or response/ack to the low power wake up signal or presence indication) and a preamble format based on a determined synchronization signal block (SSB) index. [0151] then selects a PRACH preamble and/or RO corresponding to the selected TX beam/SSB/LP SS and transmits the selected preamble in the selected RO. The selected preamble/RO uniquely identifies the selected TX beam/SSB/LP SS. PRACH preamble(s) and/RO(s) for this transmission are received by UE 502 in the PEI or system information.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Johan and Anil before him or her, to modify the method of Johan to include the SSB as taught by Anil.
The motivation for doing so would be to improve network communication. (Paragraph 0025 by Anil).
In regards to claim 6 Johan and Anil teaches the limitations of the parent claims.
Johan does not teach wherein each SSB index is associated with a beam group and/or a beam pattern index.
However, Anil teaches wherein each SSB index is associated with a beam group and/or a beam pattern index [0100] Each of these N*X transmissions can be time division multiplexed over multiple N*X transmission occasions. Each of these N*X transmission occasions are mapped to a transmitted beam/SSB/LPSS sequentially in increasing order of a transmitted beam/SSB/LPSS index
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Johan and Anil before him or her, to modify the method of Johan to include the SSB as taught by Anil.
The motivation for doing so would be to improve network communication. (Paragraph 0025 by Anil).
In regards to claim 7 Johan and Anil teaches the limitations of the parent claims.
Johan does teach wherein the preamble format includes timing information, location information, sequence information, or cyclic shift information. [0075] The UE 68 may then transmit its Msg3 in several subframes—one subframe per selected RAR message, based on the UL grant in the message. Each Msg3 may be transmitted with the timing advance as specified in the corresponding RAR message.
In regards to claim 8 Johan and Anil teaches the limitations of the parent claims.
Johan does teach wherein the receiving circuitry is further configured to monitor SSBs/PBCHs (synchronization signal blocks/physical broadcast channels) and [0013] As shown at block 54 in FIG. 2, the eNB 48 may also transmit Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) and Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) signals in the corresponding cell. The PBCH may provide such basic information as the downlink system bandwidth, which may be essential for the initial access of the cell, obtain system information block type 1 (SIB 1) information [0013] any UE-specific scheduling information such as, for example, how to decode the SIBs, may be transmitted by the eNB 48 on an Enhanced PDCCH (ePDCCH) after random access is completed including PRACH configurations [0014] Upon receiving the synchronization signals at block 52 and the system information at block 54, the UE 50 may attempt to access the network and initiate the random-access procedure by transmitting a random-access preamble in the uplink on a Physical Random-Access Channel (PRACH).\
Claim [9] is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Anil (US 20250016739 A1) in view of Johan (US 20170150519 A1).
In regards to claim 9 Anil does teach a method by a user equipment (UE), comprising: monitoring synchronization signal blocks/physical broadcast channels (SSBs/PBCHs); [0064] In the next generation wireless communication system, a node B (gNB) or base station in cell broadcast Synchronization Signal and PBCH block, also referred to as a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) obtaining system information block type 1 (SIB 1) information including physical random access channel (PRACH) configurations; [0064] SIB1 includes information regarding the availability and scheduling (e.g., mapping of SIBs to an SI message, periodicity, SI-window size) of other SIBs with an indication whether one or more SIBs are only provided on-demand, and, in that case, the configuration needed by the UE to perform the SI request. SIB1 is a cell-specific SIB; SIBs other than SIB1 and posSIBs are carried in SystemInformation (SI) messages, which are transmitted on the DL-SCH, evaluating a reference signal received power (RRSP) of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) for an optimal downlink (DL) beam to determine an uplink (UL) beam for a preamble transmission; [0151] In case of beamforming, UE 502 selects gNB 504's best/suitable TXbeam/SSB/LP SS (the TXbeam/SSB/LP SS is suitable if the RSRP of the TX beam/SSB/LP SS is above a configured threshold; the TX beam/SSB/LP SS with the highest RSRP is considered best, determining a PRACH resource and a preamble format based on a determined synchronization signal block (SSB) index; [0114]If N SSBs/gNB TX beams/LP SSs are associated with a RACH occasion, where N>=1, for the i-th SSB/TX beam/LPSS (i=0, . . . , N−1) the preamble with preamble index=ra-PreambleStartIndex+i is used for the paging request (or response/ack to the low power wake up signal or presence indication); For N<1, the preamble with preamble index=ra-PreambleStartIndex is used for the paging request (or response/ack to the low power wake up signal or presence indication, transmitting the determined preamble format in the determined PRACH resource using the determined UL beam. [0114] the TX beam/SSB/LP SS with highest RSRP is considered best) and then selects a PRACH preamble and/or RO corresponding to the selected TX beam/SSB/LP SS and transmits the selected preamble in the selected RO,
Anil does not teach monitoring and receiving a random access response (RAR) in a RAR window of the preamble transmission.
However, Johan teaches monitoring and receiving a random access response (RAR) in a RAR window of the preamble transmission. [0080] After sending its Msg1, the UE 68 may monitor Msg2 during the RAR window 110. The multiple RAR messages according to teachings of the present disclosure may be successively transmitted through a RAR window. In the embodiment of FIG. 6, sixteen (16) RAR messages (Msg2) are shown to be transmitted by the eNB 72 in up to 16 different DL beams.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Johan and Anil before him or her, to modify the method of Anil to include the RAR as taught by Johan.
The motivation for doing so would be to improve network range. (Paragraph 0007 by Johan).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEHAB A ALAWDI whose telephone number is (571)270-3203. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, [ Hamza, Faruk ] can be reached at [ (571) 272-7969 ]. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHEHAB A ALAWDI/Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/JAY P PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466