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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 10-11, 13-14 and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shin (US 2025/0048291).
Shin discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 10, receiving, by a second communication device (see satellite in Fig. 8 and see paragraph [0107] shows the base station being installed on a satellite), first information, wherein the first information comprises information about a first TA, and the information about the first TA indicates TA information between a first communication apparatus and a target reference point (see “a NTN terminal may report to a base station information on a time reference applied to uplink transmission. Reported information on a time reference may include a current TA value calculated/acquired by a terminal or may include a TA offset for deriving a current TA value” recited in paragraph [0155]; “An updated or reported time reference may include at least one of a UE-specific TA or a common TA” recited in paragraph [0156]; and see Fig. 8 and paragraph [0150], which shows the full TA being information between the satellite base station, the reference point and the UE); and determining, by the second communication apparatus, a TA between the second communication apparatus and the first apparatus based on the first information (paragraphs [0152]-[0156] shows that the base station receives the reported TA to successfully receive uplink transmission from the terminal, during which the reported TA must have been determined and applied).
Regarding claim 11, wherein the first information comprises information about the target reference point (see Fig. 8 and paragraph [0150], which shows the full TA being information between the satellite base station, the reference point and the UE
Regarding claim 13, wherein, before the receiving the first information, the method further comprises: sending, by the second communication apparatus, first configuration information for configuring a sending policy of the first information (see “A base station may configure/indicate a TA update period to a terminal” recited in paragraph [0186], which must occur prior to the TA update transmission by the terminal; this paragraphs shows the configuration of the TA update period, while Shin also discloses other configuration of the TA update in other paragraphs).
Regarding claim 14, wherein the sending policy comprises at least one of a sending frequency of the first information, a sending periodicity of the first information (see “A base station may configure/indicate a TA update period to a terminal” recited in paragraph [0186], which must occur prior to the TA update transmission by the terminal; this paragraphs shows the configuration of the TA update period, while Shin also discloses other configuration of the TA update in other paragraphs), a time domain resource carrying the first information, and a frequency domain resource carrying the first information (paragraph [0192] shows that the base station instructing the terminal to update TA information using resources indicated by the base station).
Regarding claim 17, wherein the information about the first TA comprises at least one of:
an offset between the first TA and a second TA (see Full TA in Fig. 8(a) that includes the Common TA and the UE specific differential TA), wherein the first TA is a TA between the first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus (see Fig. 8(a), wherein the UE specific differential TA being the TA based on a function between the UE and the satellite base station), and the second TA is a TA between the target reference point and the second communication apparatus (see Fig. 8(a), wherein the UE specific differential TA being the TA based on a function between the Reference Point and the satellite base station); or
an offset between Koffset corresponding to the first TA and Koffset corresponding to the second TA (see paragraph [0169], which describes K-offset value acquired through the sum of a common TA and a UE-specific TA).
Regarding claim 18, wherein both of the first TA and the second TA are service link side TAs (see Fig. 8(a), shown the common TA and the UE-specific TA being on the service side links that connects the terminal to the base station).
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.
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) 1-2, 7 and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang (US 2023/0199688) in view of Liu (US 2023/0300770).
Wang discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 1, a communication method, comprising:
determining, by a first communication apparatus (see terminal recited in paragraph [0081] that performs the method in Fig. 7), a target reference point (see step S710 in Fig. 7 and paragraph [0081], which recites “a target reference point is selected from the above-mentioned plurality of common TA reference points based on the location of the terminal”);
determining, by the first communication apparatus, information about a first TA, wherein the information about the first TA indicates TA information between the first communication apparatus and the target reference point (see “a random access procedure, the complete TA is determined based on the terminal-specific TA indicated by the RAR message and the common TA corresponding to the selected target reference point. For example, the complete TA is the sum of the terminal-specific TA and the common TA” recited in paragraph [0086]).
Regarding claim 7, wherein, before the determining the target reference point, the method further comprises: receiving, by the first communication apparatus, second configuration information for configuring a set of reference points, wherein the set of reference points comprises the target reference point (see step S710 in Fig. 7, wherein the UE receive information related to a plurality of common TA reference points of a cell, then take a reference point closest to the terminal from the plurality of common TA reference points).
Regarding claim 19, a communication apparatus (see terminal recited in paragraph [0081] that performs the method in Fig. 7), comprising at least one memory and at least one processor (see processor 810 and memory 820 in Fig. 8), wherein the at least one memory is configured to store instructions, executable by the at least one processor to cause the communication apparatus to:
determine a target reference point (see step S710 in Fig. 7 and paragraph [0081], which recites “a target reference point is selected from the above-mentioned plurality of common TA reference points based on the location of the terminal”);
determine information about a first TA, wherein the information about the first TA indicates TA information between the first communication apparatus and the target reference point (see “a random access procedure, the complete TA is determined based on the terminal-specific TA indicated by the RAR message and the common TA corresponding to the selected target reference point. For example, the complete TA is the sum of the terminal-specific TA and the common TA” recited in paragraph [0086]).
Wang does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 1 and 19, sending, by the first communication apparatus, first information, wherein the first information comprises the information about the first TA; regarding claims 2 and 20, wherein the first information further comprises information about the target reference point.
Liu discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 1 and 19, sending, by the first communication apparatus, first information, wherein the first information comprises the information about the first TA (see “the UE reports the time domain difference (the scheduling delay or the feedback delay) or the TA associated with a specific reference point of the multiple reference points to the BS by selecting RACH resource(s) for PRACH transmission” recited in paragraph [0082]).
Regarding claims 2 and 20, wherein the first information further comprises information about the target reference point (see “the UE reports the time domain difference (the scheduling delay or the feedback delay) or the TA associated with a specific reference point of the multiple reference points to the BS by selecting RACH resource(s) for PRACH transmission” recited in paragraph [0082]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Wang using features, as taught by Liu, in order to report the timing advance associated with the specific reference point to be used by the UE (see paragraph [0082] of Liu).
Claim(s) 3 and 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang and Liu as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Wigard (US 2024/0089883).
Wang and Liu disclose the features as shown above.
Wang does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 3, before the sending the first information comprising information about the target reference point, the method further comprises: sending, by the first communication apparatus, a first request message, wherein the first request message requests to report the information about the target reference point; and receiving, by the first communication apparatus, a first response message responsive to the first request message, wherein the first response message indicates that reporting of the information about the target reference point is allowed; regarding claim 6, wherein the information about the target reference point is three-dimensional coordinate system information, longitude and latitude coordinate system information, or index information.
Wigard discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 3, before the sending the first information comprising information about the target reference point (see Fig. 2 and paragraph [0056], wherein the UE determines the reference TA in step 208, which must occur prior to the sending of any TA information by the UE, including the sending of TA information as taught by Liu above), the method further comprises: sending, by the first communication apparatus, a first request message, wherein the first request message requests to report the information about the target reference point (see step 202 in Fig. 2, wherein “the UE 110 may report 202 a reference location” as recited in paragraph [0046] to “enable TA exchange between UE and RAN” as recited in paragraph [0045], wherein the transmission in step 202 acts as a request for the TA exchange using the specified “reference location”); and receiving, by the first communication apparatus, a first response message responsive to the first request message, wherein the first response message indicates that reporting of the information about the target reference point is allowed (see step 204 in Fig. 2 and paragraph [0052], wherein the UE 120 receives a response from the gNB 110 in response to the message 202; the message 204 allows the reporting of information in step 212 that includes information about the reference location as shown in paragraph [0063]).
Regarding claim 6, wherein the information about the target reference point is three-dimensional coordinate system information, longitude and latitude coordinate system information, or index information (see “Each reference point may be associated with an index” recited paragraph [0049]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Wang and Liu using features, as taught by Wigard, in order to enable TA exchange between UE and RAN (see paragraph [0045] of Wigard).
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang and Liu as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Myung (US 2024/0073842).
Wang and Liu disclose the features as shown above.
Wang does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 4, receiving, by the first communication apparatus, first configuration information for configuring a sending policy of the first information; and the sending the first information comprises: sending, by the first communication apparatus, the first information based on the first configuration information; regarding claim 5, wherein the sending policy comprises at least one of sending frequency of the first information, a sending periodicity of the first information, a time domain resource carrying the first information, or a frequency domain resource carrying the first information
Myung discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 4, receiving, by the first communication apparatus, first configuration information for configuring a sending policy of the first information (see step 3030 in Fig. 30B, wherein the UE receives configuration information related to TA report transmitted by the base station); and the sending the first information comprises: sending, by the first communication apparatus, the first information based on the first configuration information (see step 3050 in Fig. 30B, wherein the UE transmits the TA report according to configuration in step 3030).
Regarding claim 5, wherein the sending policy comprises at least one of sending frequency of the first information, a sending periodicity of the first information, a time domain resource carrying the first information, or a frequency domain resource carrying the first information (see “The configuration information may include, for example, at least one piece of information for configuring the TA report, such as a period and offset for performing the TA report, a TA report trigger condition, TA value reference time point information, a type of TA information to be reported, or resource configuration information for performing the TA report” recited in paragraph [0324]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Wang and Liu using features, as taught by Myung, in order to configure the TA reporting (see paragraph [0323] of Myung).
Claim(s) 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang and Liu as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Shin.
Wang and Liu disclose the features as shown above.
Wang does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 8, wherein the information about the first TA comprises at least one of: an offset between the first TA and a second TA, wherein the first TA is a TA between the first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus, and the second TA is a TA between the target reference point and the second communication apparatus (Wang discloses a first TA and a second TA, but does not show that the TA being between the target reference point/first communication and second communication device as required in claim 8); or an offset between Koffset corresponding to the first TA and Koffset corresponding to the second TA; regarding claim 9, wherein both of the first TA and the second TA are service link side TAs.
Shin discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 8, wherein the information about the first TA comprises at least one of:
an offset between the first TA and a second TA (see Full TA in Fig. 8(a) that includes the Common TA and the UE specific differential TA), wherein the first TA is a TA between the first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus (see Fig. 8(a), wherein the UE specific differential TA being the TA based on a function between the UE and the satellite base station), and the second TA is a TA between the target reference point and the second communication apparatus (see Fig. 8(a), wherein the UE specific differential TA being the TA based on a function between the Reference Point and the satellite base station); or
an offset between Koffset corresponding to the first TA and Koffset corresponding to the second TA (see paragraph [0169], which describes K-offset value acquired through the sum of a common TA and a UE-specific TA).
Regarding claim 9, wherein both of the first TA and the second TA are service link side TAs (see Fig. 8(a), shown the common TA and the UE-specific TA being on the service side links that connects the terminal to the base station).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Wang and Liu using features, as taught by Shin, in order to determine the timing advance value that is actually used by a terminal in a connection mode for uplink signal transmission (see paragraph [0182] of Shin).
Claim(s) 12 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Wigard.
Shin disclose the features as shown above.
Shin does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 12, before the receiving the first information, the method further comprises: receiving, by the second communication apparatus, a first request message, wherein the first request message requests to report the information about the target reference point; and sending, by the second communication apparatus, a first response message responsive to the first request message, wherein the first response message indicates that reporting of the information about the target reference point is allowed; regarding claim 15, wherein the information about the target reference point is three-dimensional coordinate system information, longitude and latitude coordinate system information, or index information.
Wigard discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 12, before the receiving the first information (see Fig. 2 and paragraph [0056], wherein the UE determines the reference TA in step 208, which must occur prior to the sending of any TA information by the UE, including the sending of TA information as taught by Shin above), the method further comprises: receiving, by the second communication apparatus, a first request message, wherein the first request message requests to report the information about the target reference point (see step 202 in Fig. 2, wherein “the UE 110 may report 202 a reference location” as recited in paragraph [0046] to “enable TA exchange between UE and RAN” as recited in paragraph [0045], wherein the transmission in step 202 acts as a request for the TA exchange using the specified “reference location”); sending, by the second communication apparatus, a first response message responsive to the first request message, wherein the first response message indicates that reporting of the information about the target reference point is allowed (see step 204 in Fig. 2 and paragraph [0052], wherein the UE 120 receives a response from the gNB 110 in response to the message 202; the message 204 allows the reporting of information in step 212 that includes information about the reference location as shown in paragraph [0063]).
Regarding claim 15, wherein the information about the target reference point is three-dimensional coordinate system information, longitude and latitude coordinate system information, or index information (see “Each reference point may be associated with an index” recited paragraph [0049]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Shin using features, as taught by Wigard, in order to enable TA exchange between UE and RAN (see paragraph [0045] of Wigard).
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Wang.
Shin disclose the features as shown above.
Shin does not disclose the following features: regarding claim 16, wherein, before the receiving the first information, the method further comprises: sending, by the second communication apparatus, second configuration information for configuring a set of reference points, wherein the set of reference points comprises the target reference point.
Wang discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 16, wherein, before the receiving the first information, the method further comprises: sending, by the second communication apparatus, second configuration information for configuring a set of reference points, wherein the set of reference points comprises the target reference point (see step S710 in Fig. 7, wherein the UE receive information related to a plurality of common TA reference points of a cell, then take a reference point closest to the terminal from the plurality of common TA reference points).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of Shin using features, as taught by Wang, in order to allow the terminal to select an appropriate timing advance reference point (see paragraph [0063] of Wang).
Conclusion
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/JUTAI KAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473