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 .
DETAILED ACTION
RESPONSE TO AMENDMENT
Status of Application/Amendments/claims
Applicant’s amendment filed on 4/1/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 1-2, 7-12, 14-15, 20-21, 23-25, 27 and 29 are amended.
Claims 1-30 are pending and have been examined, of which claims 1, 14, 27 and 29 are independent.
Claim Rejections/Objections Withdrawn
In view of the amendment filed, the following rejections/objections are withdrawn.
Claim rejection under 35 USC 112(b) for claims 23-25 has been withdrawn.
New Grounds of Rejection Necessitated by the Amendment
The following rejections are new grounds of rejections necessitated by the amendment filed. The prior art is maintained for the reasons as described in response to argument section.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims, the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-8, 14-17, 27-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HE (US 2022/0061105).
Regarding claim 1, HE teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (terminal device 120, fig 1, 11, 13-14), comprising:
one or more memories (memory 1320, fig 13); and
one or more processors (processor 1310, fig 13) coupled with the one or more memories (fig 13) and configured to cause the UE (para 174: the communication device 1300 can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device) to:
receive information indicative of a plurality of quantities of random access channel (RACH) occasions associated with a plurality of synchronization signal block (SSB) indices (para 70: there is an association relationship between a PRACH resource and an SSB index, the association relationship can also be indicated to the terminal device through a system message, each PRACH resource includes one or more PRACH occasions, each SSB can be associated with one or more PRACH occasions), each quantity of RACH occasions of the plurality of quantities of RACH occasions associated with a respective SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (fig 7; para 71: SSB index 1 is associated with a PRACH resource 1, including: PRACH occasions 1-1 to 1-4, SSB index 2 is associated with PRACH resource 2, including PRACH occasions 2-1 to 2-4); and
transmit a message via a RACH occasion in accordance with the information (para 71: the terminal device competitively selects one PRACH occasion among multiple PRACH occasions associated with its SSB index to send the PRACH; step 830, fig 8).
He teaches system message that indicate the association of RACH occasion and SSB index. He does not teach specific number associated with specific SSB index. However, in para 70, the reference teaches that each PRACH resource includes one or more PRACH occasions, each SSB can be associated with one or more PRACH occasions. Para 71 teaches four SSB indexes. Although para 71 teaches each SSB associated with four PRACH occasions, it is example and the reference is not limited to the quantity in view of table 1, para 70. Thus, He reference teaches wherein the plurality of quantities of RACH occasions comprises at least a first quantity of RACH occasions associated with a first SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (from para 70, considering instance of one SSB associated with one (first quantity) PRACH occasion) and a second quantity of RACH occasions associated with a second SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (from para 70, considering instance of another SSB associated with more (second quantity) PRACH occasion), and wherein the first quantity of RACH occasions is different than the second quantity of RACH occasions (first quantity is one and second quantity is more (multiple), thus different from each other). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with quantity of PRACH occasion associated with the SSB index as taught by He for the benefit of improving the random access performance of a terminal device in an unlicensed spectrum as taught by He in abstract.
Regarding claim 14, HE teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (terminal device 120, fig 1, 11, 13-14), comprising:
one or more memories (memory 1320, fig 13); and
one or more processors (processor 1310, fig 13) coupled with the one or more memories (fig 13) and configured to cause the UE (para 174: the communication device 1300 can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the terminal device) to:
receive information indicative of a plurality of quantities of random access preambles associated with a plurality of synchronization signal block (SSB) indices (para 70: there is an association relationship between a PRACH resource and an SSB index, the association relationship can also be indicated to the terminal device through a system message, each PRACH resource includes one or more PRACH occasions, each SSB can be associated with one or more PRACH occasions, each SSB may also be associated with one or more contention based preamble indexes; para 68: the PRACH resource in the embodiments of the present application may include a time domain resource used for sending a PRACH, for example, a PRACH occasion, a frequency domain resource, a code domain resource, such as a PRACH preamble), each quantity of random access preambles of the plurality of quantities of random access preambles associated with a respective SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (fig 7; para 71: SSB index 1 is associated with a PRACH resource 1, including: PRACH occasions 1-1 to 1-4, SSB index 2 is associated with PRACH resource 2, including PRACH occasions 2-1 to 2-4); and
transmit, via a random access channel (RACH) occasion, a message that includes a random access preamble in accordance with the information (para 70: the terminal device selects an appropriate preamble from the preamble indexes associated with the acquired SSB indexes for random access; para 132: The terminal device can also determine a preamble for use according to an association relationship between the SSB QCL index and the preamble, an association relationship between the SSB position index and the preamble or an association relationship between the PRACH resource and preamble; step 830, fig 8).
He teaches system message that indicate the association of PRACH resources with SSB index, where PRACH resources include preamble and SSB index being associated with preamble. He does not teach specific number associated with specific SSB index. However, in para 70, each SSB may also be associated with one or more contention based preamble indexes, the terminal device selects an appropriate preamble from the preamble indexes associated with the acquired SSB indexes for random access. Thus, He reference teaches wherein the plurality of quantities of random access preambles comprises at least a first quantity of random access preambles associated with a first SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (from para 70, considering instance of one SSB associated with one (first quantity) preamble index and preamble) and a second quantity of random access preambles associated with a second SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (from para 70, considering instance of another SSB associated with more (second quantity) preamble index and preamble), and wherein the first quantity of random access preambles is different than the second quantity of random access preambles (first quantity is one and second quantity is more (multiple), thus different from each other). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with quantity of PRACH resource associated with the SSB index as taught by He for the benefit of improving the random access performance of a terminal device in an unlicensed spectrum as taught by He in abstract.
Regarding claim 27, HE teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity (network device 110, fig 1, 12, 13-14), comprising:
one or more memories (memory 1320, fig 13); and
one or more processors (processor 1310, fig 13) coupled with the one or more memories (fig 13) and configured to cause the network entity (para 175: the communication device 1300 can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device) to:
output information indicative of a plurality of quantities of random access channel (RACH) occasions associated with a plurality of synchronization signal block (SSB) indices para 70: there is an association relationship between a PRACH resource and an SSB index, the association relationship can also be indicated to the terminal device through a system message, each PRACH resource includes one or more PRACH occasions, each SSB can be associated with one or more PRACH occasions), each quantity of RACH occasions of the plurality of quantities of RACH occasions associated with a respective SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (fig 7; para 71: SSB index 1 is associated with a PRACH resource 1, including: PRACH occasions 1-1 to 1-4, SSB index 2 is associated with PRACH resource 2, including PRACH occasions 2-1 to 2-4); and
obtain one or more messages via one or more RACH occasions in accordance with the information (para 71: the terminal device competitively selects one PRACH occasion among multiple PRACH occasions associated with its SSB index to send the PRACH; step 830, fig 8).
He teaches system message that indicate the association of RACH occasion and SSB index. He does not teach specific number associated with specific SSB index. However, in para 70, the reference teaches that each PRACH resource includes one or more PRACH occasions, each SSB can be associated with one or more PRACH occasions. Para 71 teaches four SSB indexes. Although para 71 teaches each SSB associated with four PRACH occasions, it is example and the reference is not limited to the quantity in view of table 1, para 70. Thus, He reference teaches wherein the plurality of quantities of RACH occasions comprises at least a first quantity of RACH occasions associated with a first SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (from para 70, considering instance of one SSB associated with one (first quantity) PRACH occasion) and a second quantity of RACH occasions associated with a second SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (from para 70, considering instance of another SSB associated with more (second quantity) PRACH occasion), and wherein the first quantity of RACH occasions is different than the second quantity of RACH occasions (first quantity is one and second quantity is more (multiple), thus different from each other). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with quantity of PRACH occasion associated with the SSB index as taught by He for the benefit of improving the random access performance of a terminal device in an unlicensed spectrum as taught by He in abstract.
Regarding claim 29, HE teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity (network device 110, fig 1, 12, 13-14), comprising:
one or more memories (memory 1320, fig 13); and
one or more processors (processor 1310, fig 13) coupled with the one or more memories (fig 13) and configured to cause the network entity (para 175: the communication device 1300 can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the network device) to:
output information indicative of a plurality of quantities of random access preambles associated with a plurality of synchronization signal block (SSB) indices (para 70: there is an association relationship between a PRACH resource and an SSB index, the association relationship can also be indicated to the terminal device through a system message, each PRACH resource includes one or more PRACH occasions, each SSB can be associated with one or more PRACH occasions, each SSB may also be associated with one or more contention based preamble indexes; para 68: the PRACH resource in the embodiments of the present application may include a time domain resource used for sending a PRACH, for example, a PRACH occasion, a frequency domain resource, a code domain resource, such as a PRACH preamble), each quantity of random access preambles of the plurality of quantities of random access preambles associated with a respective SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (fig 7; para 71: SSB index 1 is associated with a PRACH resource 1, including: PRACH occasions 1-1 to 1-4, SSB index 2 is associated with PRACH resource 2, including PRACH occasions 2-1 to 2-4); and
obtain one or more messages via one or more random access channel (RACH) occasions, wherein each message of the one or more messages includes a respective random access preamble in accordance with the information (para 70: the terminal device selects an appropriate preamble from the preamble indexes associated with the acquired SSB indexes for random access; para 132: The terminal device can also determine a preamble for use according to an association relationship between the SSB QCL index and the preamble, an association relationship between the SSB position index and the preamble or an association relationship between the PRACH resource and preamble; step 830, fig 8).
He teaches system message that indicate the association of PRACH resources with SSB index, where PRACH resources include preamble and SSB index being associated with preamble. He does not teach specific number associated with specific SSB index. However, in para 70, each SSB may also be associated with one or more contention based preamble indexes, the terminal device selects an appropriate preamble from the preamble indexes associated with the acquired SSB indexes for random access. Thus, He reference teaches wherein the plurality of quantities of random access preambles comprises at least a first quantity of random access preambles associated with a first SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (from para 70, considering instance of one SSB associated with one (first quantity) preamble index and preamble) and a second quantity of random access preambles associated with a second SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (from para 70, considering instance of another SSB associated with more (second quantity) preamble index and preamble), and wherein the first quantity of random access preambles is different than the second quantity of random access preambles (first quantity is one and second quantity is more (multiple), thus different from each other). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with quantity of PRACH resource associated with the SSB index as taught by He for the benefit of improving the random access performance of a terminal device in an unlicensed spectrum as taught by He in abstract.
Regarding claim 2 and 15, HE further teaches the UE to: receive the information via one or more fields of a RACH configuration information element (para 99: the association relationship between the PRACH resource and the SSB position index and the SSB QCL index, can be indicated by the network device to the terminal device through a system message, such as ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB carried in the system message; para 88; also PRACH configuration index in the system message as described in para 68-70 and table 1).
Regarding claim 3, HE further teaches wherein the one or more fields includes a single field (table 1, PRACH configuration index and associated number of PRACH occasions in the PRACH), and wherein the single field includes an indication of each quantity of RACH occasions of the plurality of quantities of RACH occasions (table 1, para 69: the PRACH configuration index (PRACH Configuration Index) of the PRACH resource is 86, and the PRACH configuration includes a preamble format corresponding to the PRACH resource, a period, an offset of a radio frame, a numbering of a sub-frame in a radio frame, a start symbol in the sub-frame, the number of PRACH slots in the sub-frame, the number of PRACH occasions in the PRACH slot; fig 7 shows four PRACH resources, each associated with respective SSB index, each PRACH resource including 4 PRACH occasions).
Regarding claim 4 and 17, HE further teaches wherein a length of the single field is based at least in part on a quantity of the plurality of SSB indices (para 106: the PRACH resource indication information includes multiple SSB position indexes and/or SSB QCL indexes, the association relationship shown in FIG. 10).
Regarding claim 7, HE further teaches the UE to: map the plurality of SSB indices to the plurality of quantities of RACH occasions in accordance with the information (para 70: there is an association relationship between a PRACH resource and an SSB index, the association relationship can also be indicated to the terminal device through a system message, the terminal device can determine, according to the SSB index of the detected SSB and the association relationship, which resources of the PRACH resources configured by the network device for a corresponding cell can be used for random access; fig 7 showing the association or mapping of the SSB index to PRACH resources and occasions), wherein transmission of the message is based at least in part on the mapping of the plurality of SSB indices to the RACH occasions (para 70-71: the terminal device sends a PRACH on the associated PRACH occasion, the terminal device competitively selects one PRACH occasion among multiple PRACH occasions associated with its SSB index to send the PRACH).
Regarding claim 8, HE further teaches the UE to:
map the first SSB index to a first subset of RACH occasions, wherein the first subset of RACH occasions includes the first quantity of RACH occasions, the first quantity of RACH occasions associated with the first SSB index in accordance with the information (SSB index 1 associated with PRACH resource 1, including four PRACH occasions 1-1 to 1-4, fig 7, para 71; para 70: each SSB index associated with one PRACH occasion); and
map the second SSB index to a second subset of RACH occasions, wherein the second subset of RACH occasions includes the second quantity of RACH occasions, the second quantity of RACH occasions associated with the second SSB index in accordance with the information (SSB index 2 associated with PRACH resource 2, including four PRACH occasions 2-1 to 2-4, fig 7, para 71; para 70: each SSB index associated with more PRACH occasions), and
wherein the mapping of the second SSB index to the second subset of RACH occasions occurs after the mapping of the first SSB index to the first subset of RACH occasions in accordance with a mapping order (fig 7 shows that the PRACH resource 2, occasions 2-1 to 2-4 associated with SSB index 2 occur after the PRACH resource 1, occasions 1-1 to 1-4 associated with SSB index 1 in the time domain).
Regarding claim 16, HE further teaches wherein the one or more fields include a single field (table 1, PRACH configuration index and associated number of PRACH occasions in the PRACH), and wherein the single field includes an indication of each quantity of random access preambles of the plurality of quantities of random access preambles (table 1, para 69: the PRACH configuration index (PRACH Configuration Index) of the PRACH resource is 86, and the PRACH configuration includes a preamble format corresponding to the PRACH resource, a period, an offset of a radio frame, a numbering of a sub-frame in a radio frame, a start symbol in the sub-frame, the number of PRACH slots in the sub-frame, the number of PRACH occasions in the PRACH slot; fig 7 shows four PRACH resources, each associated with respective SSB index, each PRACH resource including 4 PRACH occasions).
Regarding claim 28 and 30, HE further teaches the apparatus further comprising an antenna array (fig 13; para 173: the transceiver 1330 includes a transmitter and a receiver and an antenna) configured to cause the network entity to: output the information via one or more fields of a RACH configuration information element (para 99: the association relationship between the PRACH resource and the SSB position index and the SSB QCL index, can be indicated by the network device to the terminal device through a system message, such as ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB carried in the system message; para 88; also PRACH configuration index in the system message as described in para 68-70 and table 1).
Claims 10 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HE (US 20220061105) in view of Sakhnini et al. (US 20210392697)
Regarding claim 10, He teaches the limitation of the parent claim. He teaches the system message to indicate the association of RACH occasions and SSB index, but does not teach the message to be paging message. Sakhnini is directed to random access channel beam management.
Sakhnini further teaches the UE to: receive the information indicative of the plurality of quantities of RACH occasions associated with the plurality of SSB indices via a paging indication (para 76-79: base station 110 may indicate that a first RO associated with a first one or more SSB beams is unavailable to UE 120, UE 120 may determine to switch from the first RO associated with the first one or more SSB beams to a second RO associated with a second one or more SSBs, base station 110 may indicate the second RO to UE 120, base station 110 may transmit information identifying a set of one or more available ROs, base station 110 may transmit an indication via a particular type of message - DCI, a MAC control element (MAC-CE), a paging message). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with transmitting configuration to UE in paging as taught by Sakhnini for the benefit of enabling reduced network congestion as taught by Sakhnini in para 73.
Regarding claim 23, He teaches the limitation of the parent claim. He teaches the system message to indicate the association of RACH occasions, preambles and SSB index, but does not teach the message to be paging message. Sakhnini is directed to random access channel beam management.
Sakhnini further teaches the UE to: receive the information indicative of the plurality of random access preambles associated with the plurality of SSB indices via a paging indication (para 76-79: base station 110 may indicate that a first RO associated with a first one or more SSB beams is unavailable to UE 120, UE 120 may determine to switch from the first RO associated with the first one or more SSB beams to a second RO associated with a second one or more SSBs, base station 110 may indicate the second RO to UE 120, base station 110 may transmit information identifying a set of one or more available ROs, base station 110 may transmit an indication via a particular type of message - DCI, a MAC control element (MAC-CE), a paging message). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with transmitting configuration to UE in paging as taught by Sakhnini for the benefit of enabling reduced network congestion as taught by Sakhnini in para 73.
Claims 11-13, 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HE (US 20220061105) in view of Ohara et al. (US 20240205981)
Regarding claim 11, He teaches the limitation of the parent claim. He teaches the system message to indicate the association of RACH occasions and SSB index, but does not teach the message to be paging message. Ohara is directed to control of an initial access or a random access procedure even when the number of terminals/given signals increases (para 8).
Ohara further teaches the UE to: receive the information indicative of the plurality of quantities of RACH occasions associated with the plurality of SSB indices via radio resource control (RRC) signaling (fig 1a; para 25-27: a UE, first, receives information (random access channel (PRACH) configuration information) indicating a configuration of a PRACH (PRACH configuration, RACH configuration) in advance, through higher layer signaling (for example, RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling), the UE first receives PRACH configuration information in a synchronization signal block (SSB) and minimum system information (Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI))). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with transmitting configuration to UE in advance as taught by Ohara for the benefit of appropriately controlling an initial access or a random access procedure as taught by Ohara in para 10.
Regarding claim 12, HE fails to teach, but Ohara further teaches the UE to: receive the information indicative of the plurality of quantities of RACH occasions associated with the plurality of SSB indices via a system information block (SIB) (fig 1a; para 25-27: a UE, first, receives information (random access channel (PRACH) configuration information) indicating a configuration of a PRACH (PRACH configuration, RACH configuration) in advance, through SIB (System Information Block)), the UE first receives PRACH configuration information in a synchronization signal block (SSB) and minimum system information (Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI))). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with transmitting configuration to UE in advance as taught by Ohara for the benefit of appropriately controlling an initial access or a random access procedure as taught by Ohara in para 10.
Regarding claim 13, HE teaches the limitations of parent claim, including the apparatus further comprising: an antenna array (fig 13; para 173: the transceiver 1330 includes a transmitter and a receiver and an antenna) configured to cause the UE to: receive an indication of an SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (para 70-71); select the RACH occasion from a quantity of RACH occasions associated with the SSB index (para 71: the terminal device competitively selects one PRACH occasion among multiple PRACH occasions associated with its SSB index to send the PRACH).
He fails to teach that SSB index is associated with directional communication (beam).
Ohara further teaches wherein the SSB index is associated with a directional communication between the UE and a network entity (para 94-95: a correspondence relation of a plurality of SSB indices and a PRACH transmission occasion and preamble index may be notified/configured for a UE by a base station, a plurality of SSB indices corresponding to beams (or spatial domain filters, TCI states, QCLs) that can be spatially divided may be associated with a same preamble index in a same transmission occasion (see FIG. 5A). In FIG. 5A, a plurality of SSBs #0, #2, #4, and #6 corresponding to beams #0, #2, #4, and #6, respectively, may correspond to a same preamble index #Y in a same transmission occasion #X). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with transmitting configuration to UE in advance as taught by Ohara for the benefit of appropriately controlling an initial access or a random access procedure as taught by Ohara in para 10.
Regarding claim 24, He teaches the limitation of the parent claim. He teaches the system message to indicate the association of RACH occasions, preambles and SSB index, but does not teach the message to be paging message. Ohara is directed to control of an initial access or a random access procedure even when the number of terminals/given signals increases (para 8).
Ohara further teaches the UE to: receive the information indicative of the plurality of quantities of random access preambles associated with the plurality of SSB indices via radio resource control (RRC) signaling (fig 1a; para 25-27: a UE, first, receives information (random access channel (PRACH) configuration information) indicating a configuration of a PRACH (PRACH configuration, RACH configuration) in advance, through higher layer signaling (for example, RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling), the UE first receives PRACH configuration information in a synchronization signal block (SSB) and minimum system information (Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI))). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with transmitting configuration to UE in advance as taught by Ohara for the benefit of appropriately controlling an initial access or a random access procedure as taught by Ohara in para 10.
Regarding claim 25, HE fails to teach, but Ohara further teaches the UE to: receive the information indicative of the plurality of quantities of random access preambles associated with the plurality of SSB indices via a system information block (SIB) (fig 1a; para 25-27: a UE, first, receives information (random access channel (PRACH) configuration information) indicating a configuration of a PRACH (PRACH configuration, RACH configuration) in advance, through SIB (System Information Block)), the UE first receives PRACH configuration information in a synchronization signal block (SSB) and minimum system information (Remaining Minimum System Information (RMSI))). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with transmitting configuration to UE in advance as taught by Ohara for the benefit of appropriately controlling an initial access or a random access procedure as taught by Ohara in para 10.
Regarding claim 26, HE teaches the limitations of parent claim, including the apparatus further comprising: an antenna array (fig 13; para 173: the transceiver 1330 includes a transmitter and a receiver and an antenna) configured to cause the UE to: receive an indication of an SSB index of the plurality of SSB indices (para 70-71); select the random access preamble from a quantity of random access preambles associated with the SSB index (para 71: the terminal device competitively selects one PRACH occasion among multiple PRACH occasions associated with its SSB index to send the PRACH; para 132: The terminal device can also determine a preamble for use according to an association relationship between the SSB QCL index and the preamble).
He fails to teach that SSB index is associated with directional communication (beam).
Ohara further teaches wherein the SSB index is associated with a directional communication between the UE and a network entity (para 94-95: a correspondence relation of a plurality of SSB indices and a PRACH transmission occasion and preamble index may be notified/configured for a UE by a base station, a plurality of SSB indices corresponding to beams (or spatial domain filters, TCI states, QCLs) that can be spatially divided may be associated with a same preamble index in a same transmission occasion (see FIG. 5A). In FIG. 5A, a plurality of SSBs #0, #2, #4, and #6 corresponding to beams #0, #2, #4, and #6, respectively, may correspond to a same preamble index #Y in a same transmission occasion #X). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine random access procedure by associating PRACH resources with SSB index as taught by HE with transmitting configuration to UE in advance as taught by Ohara for the benefit of appropriately controlling an initial access or a random access procedure as taught by Ohara in para 10.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6, 9, 18-22 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed with respect to He reference not teaching the amended claim limitation of claims 1, 14, 27 and 29 (pages 12-14) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant further argues that the He reference teaches SSB index associated with a PRACH resource that corresponds to the same quantities of PRACH occasions. The examiner respectfully disagrees.
The examiner agrees with the applicant that the reference He in Para 71 provides example where four SSB indexes are associated with respective PRACH resource, each of them having same quantity of PRACH occasions. However, the He reference is not limited to the example of fig 7 and para 71. He reference teaches in para 70 that each SSB index is associated with one or more PRACH occasions. The para 70 also teaches SSB index being associated with one or more preamble indexes and preambles. Thus, it would be obvious that the reference teaches one SSB index being associated with one PRACH occasion or preamble and other SSB index being associated with more (multiple) PRACH occasions or preambles. Further, table 1 shows another example of PRACH index 86, which includes 3 PRACH occasions and preamble format being A1. Thus, the reference He is obvious to teach the amended claim limitations as described above with respect to the rejection.
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 RINA C PANCHOLI whose telephone number is (571)272-2679. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-4pm.
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/RINA C PANCHOLI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 4/25/2026
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