DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
2. Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. Claims 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dinan (US 20220279453, hereinafter referred to as Dinan) in view of Park et al (US 20200351730, hereinafter referred to as Park) and further in view of Tsuboi et al (US 20230413333, hereinafter referred to as Tsuboi).
Re claim 1, Dinan teaches a communication apparatus (Wireless device, 406, Fig. 4) comprising:
(i) a receiver (Transceiver, communication interface 407, Fig. 4, Par 0034) configured to receive by using a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (RRC message configuring timing advance group, TAG, Par 0050-0051, Par 0057), from a base station (eNB), configuration information including information for configuring each of an identifier of a first timing advance group (Primary TAG, PTAG configuration, Fig. 7, Par 0041, Par 0043, Par 0050-0051, Par 0057) and an identifier of a second timing advance group as a configuration (Secondary TAG, STAG configuration , Fig. 7, Par 0041, Par 0043, Par 0050-0051, Par 0057) for the communication apparatus with a serving cell (primary cell corresponding to PTAG) having a physical cell identifier (each cell is associated with a cell ID, Par 0038, Par 0051), and
(ii) receive, from the base station, a random access response in random access procedure (random access response including timing advance command, Par 0047-0048, Par 0063, Par 0080, Par 0085, Par 0208); and
(iii) a controller (Processor, 408, Fig. 4, Par 0034) configured to control a first time alignment timer corresponding to the first timing advance group (time alignment timer for the pTAG, TAG0) on a basis of a timing advance command corresponding to the first timing advance group (controlling/starting/restarting time alignment timer corresponding to the pTAG based on the reception of timing advance command for the pTAG, Par 0059-0061, Par 0089, Par 0206-0207), the timing advance command corresponding to the first timing advance group being included in the random access response (random access response including timing advance command for the timing advance group (TAG)/cell group index such as pTAG, Par 0059 , Par 0063, Par 0080, Par 0206- 0208), and
(iv) control a second time alignment timer corresponding to the second timing advance group (time alignment timer for the secondary cell group, sTAG) on a basis of a timing advance command corresponding to the second timing advance group (controlling/starting/restarting time alignment timer corresponding to the sTAG based on the reception of timing advance command for the sTAG, Par 0059-0061, Par 0085, Par 0089, Par 0206-0207), the timing advance command corresponding to the second timing advance group being included in the random access response (random access response including timing advance command for the timing advance group (TAG)/cell group index such as sTAG, Par 0059 , Par 0063, Par 0080, Par 0085, Par 0206- 0208),
(v) wherein the controller is configured to control a timing of a first uplink transmission based on a timing advance command corresponding to the first timing advance group (adjusting uplink transmission timing for a timing advance group such as pTAG based on the time adjustment value, NTA included in the timing advance command, Par 0059, Par 0062-0063, Par 0065, Par 0080, Par 0206-0208, Par 0222-0223) and a first offset (NTA offset, Par 0065 Par 0206, Par 0208, Par 0210) for adjusting the timing of the first uplink transmission corresponding to the serving cell (adjusting uplink transmission timing of the cell/primary cell corresponding to the pTAG, Par 0059, Par 0062-0063, Par 0065, Par 0080, Par 0206-0208, Par 0222-0223), and
(vi) control a timing of a second uplink transmission based on a timing advance command corresponding to the second timing advance group (adjusting uplink transmission timing for a timing advance group such as sTAG based on the time adjustment value, NTA included in the timing advance command, Par 0059, Par 0062-0063, Par 0065, Par 0071, Par 0080, Par 0206-0208, Par 0222-0223) and a second offset (NTA offset, Par 0065 Par 0206, Par 0208, Par 0210) for adjusting the timing of the second uplink transmission corresponding to a cell having a physical cell identifier (secondary cell corresponding to sTAG) different from the physical cell identifier of the serving cell (pcell/primary cell of the pTAG) (adjusting uplink transmission timing of the secondary cell corresponding to the sTAG, Fig. 7, Par 0038, Par 0059, Par 0062-0063, Par 0065, Par 0071, Par 0080, Par 0085, Par 0206-0208, Par 0222),
(vii) maintain the alignment value of the timing of the uplink transmission on the second timing advance group (storing timing advance value (NTA) of the secondary cell group (sTAG) when the time alignment timer of the secondary cell group (sTAG) is expired, Par 0085, Par 0089, Par 0206).
Dinan does not explicitly disclose to
(viii) receive, from the base station, information for activating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state corresponding to an identifier of the second timing advance group, and
(ix) clear a physical uplink shared channel resource for reporting semi-persistent channel state information corresponding to the activated TCI state in a case where the second time alignment timer expires.
Re component (viii), Park teaches to
(viii) receive, from the base station, information for activating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (access information associating a timing advance value with a TCI state corresponding to a TAG such as pTAG, sTAG) to an identifier of the second timing advance group (sTAG ID) (Fig. 26-27, Par 0318-0321, Par 0323-0325, Par 0337, Par 0348-0349, Par 0365),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dinan by including the feature to (viii) receive, from the base station, information for activating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state corresponding to an identifier of the second timing advance group, as taught by Park for the purpose of improving cell access to enhance communication reliability and decrease service latency, as taught by Park (Par 0304).
Re component (ix), Tsuboi teaches to
(ix) clear a physical uplink shared channel resource for reporting semi-persistent channel state information (clear PUSCH resources for semi persistent CSI report, Par 0195) corresponding to the activated TCI state (corresponding to sTAG) in a case where the second time alignment timer expires (time alignment timer with the sTAG is expired) (Par 0190-0196).
Park discloses to map sTAG with a corresponding TCI state. Therefore, Dinan in view of Park discloses to associate sTAG with a corresponding TCI state. When PUSCH resources for semi persistent CSI report is associated with sTAG (cleared for the cells belonging to sTAG, reference, Tsuboi, Par 0195), then the PUSCH resources for semi persistent CSI report are also associated with the TCI state specified for the sTAG. Therefore, Dinan in view of Park and Tsuboi discloses to clear a physical uplink shared channel resource for reporting semi-persistent channel state information corresponding to the activated TCI state (TCI state corresponding to sTAG) in a case where the second time alignment timer expires (time alignment timer with the sTAG is expired).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dinan by including the feature to (ix) clear a physical uplink shared channel resource for reporting semi-persistent channel state information corresponding to the activated TCI state (corresponding to sTAG) in a case where the second time alignment timer expires, as taught by Tsuboi for the purpose of implementing “efficient communication control processing”, as taught by Tsuboi (Par 0022).
Claim 9 recites a method performing the functions recited in claim 1 and thereby, is rejected for the reasons discussed above with respect to claim 1.
Re claims 3, 7, 11, Dinan teaches to maintain the alignment value of the timing of the uplink transmission on the second timing advance group in a case where the second time alignment timer corresponding to the second timing advance group expires (storing timing advance value (NTA) of the secondary cell group (sTAG) when the time alignment timer of the secondary cell group (sTAG) is expired, Par 0085, Par 0089, Par 0206).
Re claim 5, Dinan teaches a base station (eNB/base station, 401, Fig. 4) comprising:
(i) a transmitter (Transceiver, communication interface 402, Fig. 4, Par 0034) is configured to transmit by using a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (RRC message configuring timing advance group, TAG, Par 0050-0051, Par 0057), to a communication apparatus (Wireless device, 406, Fig. 4), configuration information including information for configuring each of an identifier of a first timing advance group (Primary TAG, PTAG configuration, Fig. 7, Par 0041, Par 0043, Par 0050-0051, Par 0057) and an identifier of a second timing advance group as a configuration (Secondary TAG, STAG configuration , Fig. 7, Par 0041, Par 0043, Par 0050-0051, Par 0057) for the communication apparatus with a serving cell (primary cell corresponding to PTAG) having a physical cell identifier (each cell is associated with a cell ID, Par 0038, Par 0051), and
(ii) transmit, to a communication apparatus, a random access response in random access procedure (random access response including timing advance command, Par 0047-0048, Par 0063, Par 0080, Par 0085, Par 0208); and
(iii) a controller (Processor, 403, Fig. 4, Par 0034) configured to control a first time alignment timer corresponding to the first timing advance group (time alignment timer for the pTAG, TAG0) on a basis of a timing advance command corresponding to the first timing advance group (controlling/starting/restarting time alignment timer corresponding to the pTAG based on the reception of timing advance command for the pTAG, Par 0059-0061, Par 0089, Par 0206-0207), the timing advance command corresponding to the first timing advance group being included in the random access response (random access response including timing advance command for the timing advance group (TAG)/cell group index such as pTAG, Par 0059 , Par 0063, Par 0080, Par 0206- 0208), and
(iv) control a second time alignment timer corresponding to the second timing advance group (time alignment timer for the secondary cell group, sTAG) on a basis of a timing advance command corresponding to the second timing advance group (controlling/starting/restarting time alignment timer corresponding to the sTAG based on the reception of timing advance command for the sTAG, Par 0059-0061, Par 0085, Par 0089, Par 0206-0207), the timing advance command corresponding to the second timing advance group being included in the random access response (random access response including timing advance command for the timing advance group (TAG)/cell group index such as sTAG, Par 0059 , Par 0063, Par 0080, Par 0085, Par 0206- 0208),
(v) wherein a timing of a first uplink transmission is controlled based on a timing advance command corresponding to the first timing advance group (adjusting uplink transmission timing for a timing advance group such as pTAG based on the time adjustment value, NTA included in the timing advance command, Par 0059, Par 0062-0063, Par 0065, Par 0080, Par 0206-0208, Par 0222-0223) and a first offset (NTA offset, Par 0065 Par 0206, Par 0208, Par 0210) for adjusting the timing of the first uplink transmission corresponding to the serving cell (adjusting uplink transmission timing of the cell/primary cell corresponding to the pTAG, Par 0059, Par 0062-0063, Par 0065, Par 0080, Par 0206-0208, Par 0222-0223), and
(vi) a timing of a second uplink transmission is controlled based on a timing advance command corresponding to the second timing advance group (adjusting uplink transmission timing for a timing advance group such as sTAG based on the time adjustment value, NTA included in the timing advance command, Par 0059, Par 0062-0063, Par 0065, Par 0071, Par 0080, Par 0206-0208, Par 0222-0223) and a second offset (NTA offset, Par 0065 Par 0206, Par 0208, Par 0210) for adjusting the timing of the second uplink transmission corresponding to a cell having a physical cell identifier (secondary cell corresponding to sTAG) different from the physical cell identifier of the serving cell (pcell/primary cell of the pTAG) (adjusting uplink transmission timing of the secondary cell corresponding to the sTAG, Fig. 7, Par 0038, Par 0059, Par 0062-0063, Par 0065, Par 0071, Par 0080, Par 0085, Par 0206-0208, Par 0222),
(vii) the alignment value of the timing of the uplink transmission on the second timing advance group is maintained (storing timing advance value (NTA) of the secondary cell group (sTAG) when the time alignment timer of the secondary cell group (sTAG) is expired, Par 0085, Par 0089, Par 0206).
Dinan does not explicitly disclose to
(viii) transmit, to the communication apparatus, information for activating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state corresponding to an identifier of the second timing advance group, and
(ix) in the communication apparatus, a physical uplink shared channel resource is cleared for reporting semi-persistent channel state information corresponding to the activated TCI state in a case where the second time alignment timer expires.
Re component (viii), Park teaches to
(viii) transmit, to the communication apparatus, information for activating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (access information associating a timing advance value with a TCI state corresponding to a TAG such as pTAG, sTAG) to an identifier of the second timing advance group (sTAG ID) (Fig. 26-27, Par 0318-0321, Par 0323-0325, Par 0337, Par 0348-0349, Par 0365),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dinan by including the feature to (viii) transmit, to the communication apparatus, information for activating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state corresponding to an identifier of the second timing advance group, as taught by Park for the purpose of improving cell access to enhance communication reliability and decrease service latency, as taught by Park (Par 0304).
Re component (ix), Tsuboi teaches to
(ix) in the communication apparatus, a physical uplink shared channel resource is cleared for reporting semi-persistent channel state information (clear PUSCH resources for semi persistent CSI report, Par 0195) corresponding to the activated TCI state (corresponding to sTAG) in a case where the second time alignment timer expires (time alignment timer with the sTAG is expired) (Par 0190-0196).
Park discloses to map sTAG with a corresponding TCI state. Therefore, Dinan in view of Park discloses to associate sTAG with a corresponding TCI state. When PUSCH resources for semi persistent CSI report is associated with sTAG (cleared for the cells belonging to sTAG, reference, Tsuboi, Par 0195), then the PUSCH resources for semi persistent CSI report are also associated with the TCI state specified for the sTAG. Therefore, Dinan in view of Park and Tsuboi discloses to clear a physical uplink shared channel resource for reporting semi-persistent channel state information corresponding to the activated TCI state (TCI state corresponding to sTAG) in a case where the second time alignment timer expires (time alignment timer with the sTAG is expired).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Dinan by including the feature that (ix) in the communication apparatus, a physical uplink shared channel resource is cleared for reporting semi-persistent channel state information corresponding to the activated TCI state in a case where the second time alignment timer expires, as taught by Tsuboi for the purpose of implementing “efficient communication control processing”, as taught by Tsuboi (Par 0022).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARUN UR R CHOWDHURY whose telephone number is (571)270-3895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM.
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/HARUN CHOWDHURY/Examiner, Art Unit 2473