DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 11/3/2023 in which claims 1-39 are pending.
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)(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) 1-4, 6, 7, 19, 20, and 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park et al. (US20230133633A1).
As to claims 1 and 38, Park teaches a method of non-terrestrial network communication, adapted to a user equipment (UE), wherein the method comprising: ([0089]-[0151] Fig. 7 and [0124] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example process 800 performed, for example, by a UE, in accordance with the present disclosure. Example process 800 is an example where the UE (e.g., UE 120) performs operations associated with signaling of timing and synchronization parameters for handover in non-terrestrial network)
receiving a cell change command comprising re-synchronization information; and ([0103] As further shown in FIG. 7, and by reference number 725, the source base station 705 may transmit, to the UE 120, a handover command including configuration information for a conditional handover. The configuration information included in the handover command may indicate the timing and synchronization parameters for each of the candidate target non-terrestrial cells.)
performing a re-synchronization procedure according to the re-synchronization information, wherein the re-synchronization information comprising at least one of the following: a re-synchronization time; ephemeris information associated with a target cell; timing advance adjustment information associated with the target cell; a timing advance command value associated with the target cell; and a re-synchronization indication for indicating the UE to perform the re-synchronization procedure, wherein the re-synchronization procedure comprises a downlink re-synchronization procedure. ([0125] As shown in FIG. 8, in some aspects, process 800 may include receiving, from a source base station, configuration information for a handover, wherein the configuration information indicates, for a target non-terrestrial cell, timing and synchronization parameters including a scheduling timing offset, a round trip time between a reference point and a target base station associated with the target non-terrestrial cell, satellite ephemeris information, an ephemeris validity duration associated with the satellite ephemeris information, common timing advance parameters, and a common timing advance validity duration associated with the common timing advance parameters (block 810). [0126] For example, the UE (e.g., using communication manager 140 and/or handover component 1008, depicted in FIG. 10) may perform the handover with the target base station associated with the target non-terrestrial cell based at least in part on the timing and synchronization parameters for the target non-terrestrial cell, as described above.)
As to claim 2, Park teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the re-synchronization time comprising at least one of the following: a configuration for a timer, a starting time, a starting time and a time period, and a starting time and a stopping time. ([0125] the configuration information indicates, for a candidate target non-terrestrial cell, timing and synchronization parameters including a scheduling timing offset, a round trip time between a reference point and a target base station associated with the target non-terrestrial cell, satellite ephemeris information, an ephemeris validity duration associated with the satellite ephemeris information, common timing advance parameters, and a common timing advance validity duration associated with the common timing advance parameters, as described above.)
As to claim 3, Park teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the cell change command is transmitted to the UE via one of a broadcast signaling and a dedicated signaling for the UE. ([0065] The RRC reconfiguration message may include a handover command instructing the UE 120 to execute the handover from the source base station 305 to the target base station 310. [0110] the RRC reconfiguration message (RRCReconfiguration) with ReconfigurationWithSync may be extended to include dedicatedNTN-SIB-Delivery, which may be an octet string including the NTN-SIB information (e.g., the timing and synchronization parameters associated with NTN).)
As to claim 4, Park teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the re-synchronization information further comprises a configuration of downlink reference signal, wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the re-synchronization information comprising one of the following:
upon receiving the re-synchronization information, performing a downlink re-synchronization procedure according to a configuration of downlink reference signal indicated by the re-synchronization information, and the configuration of downlink reference signal indicated by the re-synchronization information is an indicated downlink reference signal; ([0102] In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may also include a reference location associated with the frequency pre-compensation for the downlink transmission, such as a location for a beam center of a beam identified by a synchronization signal block (SSB) or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource indicator (CRI).)
in response to the re-synchronization information comprising a re-synchronization indication, performing the downlink re-synchronization procedure according to a downlink reference signal associated with a serving cell, and the downlink reference signal associated with the serving cell is an indicated downlink reference signal; and ([0102] In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may also include a reference location associated with the frequency pre-compensation for the downlink transmission, such as a location for a beam center of a beam identified by a synchronization signal block (SSB) or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource indicator (CRI).)
performing the downlink re-synchronization procedure according to the indicated downlink reference signal, wherein the indicated downlink reference signal is received no earlier than a re-synchronization time indicated by the re-synchronization information. ([0102] In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may also include a reference location associated with the frequency pre-compensation for the downlink transmission, such as a location for a beam center of a beam identified by a synchronization signal block (SSB) or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource indicator (CRI). ([0125] the configuration information indicates, for a candidate target non-terrestrial cell, timing and synchronization parameters including a scheduling timing offset, a round trip time between a reference point and a target base station associated with the target non-terrestrial cell, satellite ephemeris information, an ephemeris validity duration associated with the satellite ephemeris information, common timing advance parameters, and a common timing advance validity duration associated with the common timing advance parameters, as described above.))
As to claim 6, Park teaches the method of claim 1, wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure further comprising: performing an uplink re-synchronization procedure after completing a downlink re-synchronization procedure. ([0083] In some examples, a UE may apply a TA to uplink transmissions in an NTN. The TA may be a negative timing offset that is used by the UE for uplink transmissions to pre-compensate for the propagation delay in the NTN and synchronize the uplink transmissions with the timing of the base station. ([0102] In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may include at least one of a downlink frequency offset or an uplink frequency offset associated with the candidate target non-terrestrial cell. 104] In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may include a respective cell-specific scheduling timing offset (K_offset) for each candidate target non-terrestrial cell. The scheduling timing offset (K_offset) may be a cell-specific timing offset for scheduling uplink communications to be transmitted (e.g., via satellite) in the candidate target non-terrestrial cell. [0120] In some aspects, the UE 120 may initiate a synchronization timer (e.g., uplink synchronization timer) based at least in part on the ephemeris validity duration and/or the common TA validity duration.)
As to claim 7, Park teaches the method of claim 6, wherein the re-synchronization information further comprises a configuration of downlink reference signal, wherein performing the uplink re-synchronization procedure comprising at least one of the following: performing a random access procedure according to a random access resource associated with a downlink reference signal; and ([0105] The ephemeris validity duration may be a time duration for which the satellite ephemeris information is valid. In some aspects, the ephemeris validity duration, for a candidate target non-terrestrial cell, may include a single ephemeris validity duration value to be applied by the UE 120 for all uplink transmissions during a handover, including a PRACH transmission and one or more other uplink communications in a RACH procedure (e.g., message 3 (Msg3), message 5 (Msg5), and/or message B (MsgB)). In some aspects, the ephemeris validity duration included in the configuration information may include an indication of a first ephemeris validity duration value to be applied to a PRACH communication (e.g., to initiate the RACH procedure) and an indication of a second ephemeris validity duration value to be applied to communications on other uplink channels (e.g., PUSCH and/or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) communications Fig. 4 step 440).
sending an uplink signal through a physical uplink control channel or a physical uplink shared channel according to a configuration associated with the downlink reference signal. ([0105] In this case, the first ephemeris validity duration value to be applied to the PRACH communication may be longer than the second ephemeris validity duration value (e.g., for the PUSCH and/or PUCCH communications) (e.g., due to relaxation of initial timing requirements on PRACH as compared to other uplink transmissions). In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may also include an indication of a reference time from which the indicated ephemeris validity duration begins. Fig. 4 step 440)
As to claim 19, Park teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a common target cell configuration before receiving the cell change command. ([0088] Some techniques and apparatuses described herein enable a source base station to transmit, to a UE, configuration information for a handover. The configuration information may indicate, for each of one or more candidate target non-terrestrial cells, timing and synchronization parameters including a scheduling timing offset, a round trip time between a reference point and a base station associated with the candidate target non-terrestrial cell, satellite ephemeris information, and ephemeris validity duration associated with the satellite ephemeris information, common TA parameters, and a common TA validity duration. The UE may perform the handover with a target base station associated with a candidate target non-terrestrial cell based at least in part on the timing and synchronization parameters for the candidate target non-terrestrial cell. As a result, the UE may apply the satellite ephemeris information (e.g., for calculating the TA) for the candidate target terrestrial cell only during the ephemeris validity duration, and the UE may apply the common TA information (e.g., for calculating the TA) for the candidate target terrestrial cell only during the common TA validity duration. In this way, the UE may avoid attempting to connect with the target base station using outdated synchronization parameters, which may increase reliability and decrease latency and UE power consumption for handovers in an NTN. Fig. 7 725)
As to claim 20, Park teaches the method of claim 19, wherein the common target cell configuration comprising at least one of the following: a synchronization signal block frequency associated with a target cell; a physical cell identifier of a target cell; a configuration of downlink reference signal associated with a downlink bandwidth part; a bandwidth part identifier; a bandwidth part recovery time; and a timing difference between a serving cell and a target cell. ([0102] In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may include at least one of a downlink frequency offset or an uplink frequency offset associated with the candidate target non-terrestrial cell. The downlink frequency offset may include an indication of a frequency pre-compensation for a downlink transmission. In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may also include a reference location associated with the frequency pre-compensation for the downlink transmission, such as a location for a beam center of a beam identified by a synchronization signal block (SSB) or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource indicator (CRI).)
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.
Claim(s) 22-24, 26-28, 33-35, and 39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US20230022834A1) in view of Park.
As to claims 22 and 39, Wu teaches a method of non-terrestrial network communication, adapted to a user equipment (UE), wherein the method comprising: ([0005] This application provides a communication method, so that a terminal device can obtain a timing advance of a next base station in advance in the case of TA change arising from base station handover in an NTN scenario.)
receiving, via a broadcast signaling, a first handover configuration message from a source cell, wherein the first handover configuration message comprises a common target cell configuration for changing a connection of one or more UEs from the source cell to a target cell, timing advance adjustment information associated with the target cell for the UE to adjust a timing advance value for uplink transmission to the target cell, and timestamp information associated with the timing advance adjustment information; ([0070] Optionally, the first information may be broadcast by the first base station. [0066] In an embodiment, the first information may include a first timing advance of a second base station, where the first timing advance may be a timing advance used in a process of data transmission with the second base station. [0069] Optionally, the first information may include a second timing advance of the second base station, where the second timing advance is a timing advance used by the terminal device to send a preamble in a process of randomly accessing the second base station by the terminal device. Optionally, the second timing advance may be a common timing advance of the second base station. [0082] In an embodiment, the first information may further include information about handover between the first base station and the second base station, where the information about handover may include a location and/or moment at which handover is performed between the first base station and the second base station. The terminal device may communicate with the second base station based on the first time information of the second base station and the information about handover between the first base station and the second base station. Optionally, the handover location may be a relative location or an absolute location, and the location is used for adjustment of an angle of an antenna of the UE. The handover moment may be an absolute moment or a relative moment, and is a moment at which the UE is notified of a next moment for satellite handover.)
But does not specifically teach:
receiving, via a UE specific signaling, a second handover configuration message from the source cell, wherein the second handover configuration message comprises a UE specific target call configuration for changing the connection of the UE from the source cell to the target cell; and performing a handover procedure to connect to the target cell according to the first handover configuration message and the second handover configuration message.
However Park teaches receiving, via a UE specific signaling, a second handover configuration message from the source cell, wherein the second handover configuration message comprises a UE specific target call configuration for changing the connection of the UE from the source cell to the target cell; and performing a handover procedure to connect to the target cell according to the first handover configuration message and the second handover configuration message. ([0082] K_offset may be set by the base station. In some examples, K_offset may be cell-specific, UE-specific, or beam-specific (e.g., a respective K_offset value may be configured for each beam from a same satellite and/or in a same non-terrestrial he base station may transmit an indication of the synchronization parameters (e.g., the ephemeris and the common TA), as well as the scheduling timing offset (e.g., K_offset) and the RTT between the reference point and the base station (e.g., K.sub.mac) in a system information block (SIB). [0087] In some aspects, the source base station may forward the synchronization parameters, the scheduling timing offset value and the RTT between the reference point and the base station for the target non-terrestrial cell to the UE, for example, in the handover command. [0045] In some aspects, the UE 120 may include a communication manager 140. As described in more detail elsewhere herein, the communication manager 140 may receive, from a source base station, configuration information for a handover, wherein the configuration information indicates, for a target non-terrestrial cell, timing and synchronization parameters including a scheduling timing offset, a round trip time between a reference point and a target base station associated with the target non-terrestrial cell, satellite ephemeris information, an ephemeris validity duration associated with the satellite ephemeris information, common timing advance parameters, and a common timing advance validity duration associated with the common timing advance parameters; and perform the handover with the target base station associated with the target non-terrestrial cell based at least in part on the timing and synchronization parameters for the target non-terrestrial cell.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu with the configuration information of Park in order to perform a handover in a NTN network.
As to claim 23, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 22, wherein the first handover configuration message comprising at least one of the following: ephemeris information of the target cell, wherein the ephemeris information comprises ephemeris of a satellite embarking a network device of non-terrestrial network to provide non-terrestrial network functions of a non-terrestrial network cell; and a timing difference between the source cell and the target cell. (Wu [0068] Optionally, the first information may include the parameter used by the terminal device to obtain the first timing advance of the second base station. The parameter may include a timing advance of the first base station, a location of the terminal device, or a location of the first base station or the second base station. The terminal device may obtain the first timing advance through calculation based on the plurality of parameters. Alternatively, the first information may include mapping relationship information. The mapping relationship information is used to indicate mapping relationships between a plurality of parameter groups including a first parameter group and a plurality of timing advances, where each parameter group includes a value of at least one of the following parameters: a timing advance of the first base station, a location of the terminal device, or a location of the first base station or the second base station. Optionally, the mapping relationship information may be sent by the first base station to the terminal device,)
As to claim 24, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 22, wherein the second handover configuration message comprising at least one of the following: a random access resource configuration, a random backoff time of initiating an uplink transmission of a random access procedure to the target cell; a timing advance adjustment value for the UE; a serving cell configuration for the UE; and a cell radio network temporary identifier. (Park [0087] In some aspects, the source base station may forward the synchronization parameters, the scheduling timing offset value and the RTT between the reference point and the base station for the target non-terrestrial cell to the UE, for example, in the handover command.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu with the configuration information of Park in order to perform a handover in a NTN network.
As to claim 26, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 22, wherein performing the handover procedure comprising one of the following: performing the handover procedure upon receiving the second handover configuration message; performing the handover procedure upon a handover time in response to the handover time being indicated by the second handover configuration message; and performing the handover procedure according to a random backoff time in response to the random backoff time being indicated by the second handover configuration message. (Park [0065] The RRC reconfiguration message may include a handover command instructing the UE 120 to execute the handover from the source base station 305 to the target base station 310. In a fifth operation 335, the UE 120 may change an RRC connection from the source base station 305 to the target base station 310 based at least in part on the RRC configuration.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu with the configuration information of Park in order to perform a handover in a NTN network.
As to claim 27, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 22, wherein performing the handover procedure comprising: receiving, via a broadcast signaling or a unicast signaling, a handover indication from the source cell, wherein the handover indication is used for change the connection of one or more UEs from the source cell to the target cell; and performing the handover procedure upon receiving the handover indication. (Park [0065] The RRC reconfiguration message may include a handover command instructing the UE 120 to execute the handover from the source base station 305 to the target base station 310. In a fifth operation 335, the UE 120 may change an RRC connection from the source base station 305 to the target base station 310 based at least in part on the RRC configuration.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu with the configuration information of Park in order to perform a handover in a NTN network.
As to claim 28, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 22, wherein the first handover configuration message comprising at least one of the following: a timing difference between the source cell and the target cell; a transition bandwidth part identifier; a synchronization signal block frequency associated with a transition bandwidth part; a downlink bandwidth part identifier associated with the target cell; a uplink bandwidth part identifier associated with the target cell; a bandwidth part transition period; and a bandwidth part recovery time. (Wu [0068] Optionally, the first information may include the parameter used by the terminal device to obtain the first timing advance of the second base station. The parameter may include a timing advance of the first base station, a location of the terminal device, or a location of the first base station or the second base station. The terminal device may obtain the first timing advance through calculation based on the plurality of parameters. Alternatively, the first information may include mapping relationship information. The mapping relationship information is used to indicate mapping relationships between a plurality of parameter groups including a first parameter group and a plurality of timing advances, where each parameter group includes a value of at least one of the following parameters: a timing advance of the first base station, a location of the terminal device, or a location of the first base station or the second base station. Optionally, the mapping relationship information may be sent by the first base station to the terminal device,)
As to claim 33, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 22, wherein the second handover configuration message comprises re-synchronization information, and the re-synchronization information comprises a re-synchronization indication for a re-synchronization procedure between the UE and the target cell. (Park [0065] The RRC reconfiguration message may include a handover command instructing the UE 120 to execute the handover from the source base station 305 to the target base station 310. In a fifth operation 335, the UE 120 may change an RRC connection from the source base station 305 to the target base station 310 based at least in part on the RRC configuration.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu with the configuration information of Park in order to perform a handover in a NTN network.
As to claim 34, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 33, further comprising one of the following: upon receiving the second handover configuration message, performing the re-synchronization procedure, wherein the re-synchronization procedure is a downlink re-synchronization procedure; performing the re-synchronization procedure according to a downlink reference signal, wherein the downlink reference signal is received no earlier than a re-synchronization time indicated by the re-synchronization information; and upon receiving the second handover configuration message, performing the re-synchronization procedure, wherein the re-synchronization procedure comprises an uplink re-synchronization procedure. (Park [0065] The RRC reconfiguration message may include a handover command instructing the UE 120 to execute the handover from the source base station 305 to the target base station 310. In a fifth operation 335, the UE 120 may change an RRC connection from the source base station 305 to the target base station 310 based at least in part on the RRC configuration. Fig. 4 440)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu with the configuration information of Park in order to perform a handover in a NTN network.
As to claim 35, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 34,
wherein the uplink re-synchronization procedure comprising one of the following: performing a random access procedure associated with the target cell; and (Wu fig 1)
sending an uplink signal through a physical uplink control channel or a physical uplink shared channel to the target cell.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Tao et al. (US20220345961A1).
As to claim 5, Park teaches the method of claim 1,
wherein the re-synchronization information further comprises a configuration of downlink reference signal, ([0102] In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may include at least one of a downlink frequency offset or an uplink frequency offset associated with the candidate target non-terrestrial cell. The downlink frequency offset may include an indication of a frequency pre-compensation for a downlink transmission. In some aspects, the timing and synchronization parameters may also include a reference location associated with the frequency pre-compensation for the downlink transmission, such as a location for a beam center of a beam identified by a synchronization signal block (SSB) or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource indicator (CRI).)
But does not specifically teach:
wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the re-synchronization information comprising: monitoring a synchronization signal block according to a configuration of downlink reference signal indicated by the re-synchronization information so as to be downlink synchronized in time domain and frequency domain based on a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal of the synchronization signal block.
However Tao teaches monitoring a synchronization signal block according to a configuration of downlink reference signal indicated by the re-synchronization information so as to be downlink synchronized in time domain and frequency domain based on a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal of the synchronization signal block. ([0140] The UE would then, e.g., select one of the beam-specific common TA values based on the SSB selection (Synchronization Signal Block selection). [0143] the UE is then instructed through a handover command message (RRCReconfiguration message) to switch from the source cell to the target cell, which, e.g., involves reconfiguration the UE's radio resources so as to establish a connection with the target base station of the target radio cell. The UE accordingly performs the reconfiguration and attaches to the new target base station, which comprises a synchronization and performing a (e.g., contention-free) random access procedure. For instance, the synchronization may comprise that the UE acquires the synchronization signals (e.g., Primary Synchronization Signal, PSS, and Secondary Synchronization Signal, SSS) typically used to obtain the cell identity and frame timing of the target cell, thereby achieving time and frequency synchronization.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the method from Tao in order to achieve time and frequency synchronization.
Claim(s) 8-18, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park in view of Hong et al. (US20220086715A1)
As to claim 8, Park teaches the method of claim 6,
But does not specifically teach:
wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure comprising at least one of the following: stopping performing a beam failure detection associated with a source cell and a target cell correspondingly; and stopping performing a radio link failure detection associated with the source cell and the target cell correspondingly.
However Hong teaches wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure comprising at least one of the following: stopping performing a beam failure detection associated with a source cell and a target cell correspondingly; and stopping performing a radio link failure detection associated with the source cell and the target cell correspondingly. ([0246] the base station may configure the beam change or the beam failure detection duration to the UE. For convenience of explanation, the following is a monitoring location range/area/zone/duration/valid time/time range/execution time/trigger satisfaction time (timer to trigger) for execution of cell/satellite beam change or beam failure detection/recovery, cell/satellite beam change or beam failure detection/recovery expected duration/effective time/time range/execution time/timer to trigger or cell/satellite beam change or beam failure detection/recovery, or the location range/area/zone/duration/valid time/time range/execution time/timer to trigger satisfying the criteria for execution of cell/satellite beam change or beam failure detection/recovery is indicated as the beam failure detection duration. This is only for convenience of description and may be replaced with any other terminology. [0256] For another example, when the UE receives configuration information including the beam failure duration, it may be applied. For example, if the start time of the beam failure duration is indicated to be 2 seconds later, the UE starts a timer set to the received value. When this timer expires after 2 seconds, the UE may initiate the beam change or the beam failure detection/recovery procedure.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 9, Park teaches the method of claim 1,
But does not specifically teach:
further comprising: receiving a bandwidth adaptation configuration before receiving the cell change command.
However Hong teaches receiving a bandwidth adaptation configuration before receiving the cell change command. ([0039] the cell may be used as a meaning including a bandwidth part (BWP) in the frequency domain. For example, the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE [0008] The method may include receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station, determining whether a trigger condition for the cell change or the beam failure recovery is satisfied using the configuration information, and performing the cell change or the beam failure recovery operation when the trigger condition is satisfied.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 10, Park in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 9, wherein the bandwidth adaptation configuration comprising at least one of the following: a transition bandwidth part configuration; a configuration of downlink reference signal associated with a transition bandwidth part, wherein the configuration of downlink reference signal indicates a frequency and time location and subcarrier spacing associated with a downlink reference signal; a bandwidth part identifier; a bandwidth part recovery time; a timing difference between a serving cell and a target cell; a serving cell configuration; a cell radio network temporary identifier of the UE; and a UE specific bandwidth part configuration comprising at least one of a configuration of downlink bandwidth part and a configuration of uplink bandwidth part. (Hong [0203] Referring to FIG. 12, a user equipment (UE) for performing communication using a non-terrestrial network may perform a step of receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station at S1210. [0205] the configuration information may include orbit information for each satellite beam and SSB or CSI-RS index information for linking it. [0197] The downlink common configuration information includes downlink frequency information (frequencyInfoDL) and initial downlink BWP (initialDownlink BWP) information, and uplink common configuration information includes uplink frequency information (frequencyInfoUL) and initial uplink BWP (initialuplink BWP) information. [0199] The satellite beam may be configured to have one PCI per one satellite beam,)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 11, Park in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 10, wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the re-synchronization information comprising: in response to both the configuration of downlink synchronization signal associated with the transition bandwidth part and a configuration of downlink reference signal included in the cell change command being configured to the UE, performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the configuration of downlink reference signal associated with the transition bandwidth part. (Hong [0213] The UE may perform a step of performing the cell change or the beam failure recovery operation when the trigger condition is satisfied at S1230.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 12, Park in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 11, wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the re-synchronization information comprising: performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the configuration of downlink reference signal included in the cell change command, applying the bandwidth part configuration associated with the bandwidth part identifier indicated in the bandwidth adaptation configuration if the UE performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the configuration of downlink reference signal included in the cell change command. (Hong [0203] Referring to FIG. 12, a user equipment (UE) for performing communication using a non-terrestrial network may perform a step of receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station at S1210. [0205] the configuration information may include orbit information for each satellite beam and SSB or CSI-RS index information for linking it. [0197] The downlink common configuration information includes downlink frequency information (frequencyInfoDL) and initial downlink BWP (initialDownlink BWP) information, and uplink common configuration information includes uplink frequency information (frequencyInfoUL) and initial uplink BWP (initialuplink BWP) information. [0199] The satellite beam may be configured to have one PCI per one satellite beam,)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 13, Park in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 10, wherein the transition bandwidth part configuration comprises a configuration of downlink transition bandwidth part and a configuration of uplink transition bandwidth part. (Hong [0203] Referring to FIG. 12, a user equipment (UE) for performing communication using a non-terrestrial network may perform a step of receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station at S1210. [0205] the configuration information may include orbit information for each satellite beam and SSB or CSI-RS index information for linking it. [0197] The downlink common configuration information includes downlink frequency information (frequencyInfoDL) and initial downlink BWP (initialDownlink BWP) information, and uplink common configuration information includes uplink frequency information (frequencyInfoUL) and initial uplink BWP (initialuplink BWP) information. [0199] The satellite beam may be configured to have one PCI per one satellite beam,)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 14, Park in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 13, wherein the configuration of downlink transition bandwidth part comprising at least one of the following: a bandwidth part identifier; a frequency location and a bandwidth of a bandwidth part, wherein the bandwidth part is configured to use a subset of the total cell bandwidth of the corresponding cell; information of subcarrier space to be adopted in a bandwidth part; a control resource set for monitoring a random access response; a control resource set for monitoring a physical downlink control channel, and a control resource set for monitoring a physical downlink shared channel. (Hong [0120] NR supports a beam indication function. For example, the base station notifies the UE of beams used in the PDSCH and the PDCCH using configuration information and a transmission configuration indicator (TCI). [0203] Referring to FIG. 12, a user equipment (UE) for performing communication using a non-terrestrial network may perform a step of receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station at S1210. [0205] the configuration information may include orbit information for each satellite beam and SSB or CSI-RS index information for linking it. [0197] The downlink common configuration information includes downlink frequency information (frequencyInfoDL) and initial downlink BWP (initialDownlink BWP) information, and uplink common configuration information includes uplink frequency information (frequencyInfoUL) and initial uplink BWP (initialuplink BWP) information. [0199] The satellite beam may be configured to have one PCI per one satellite beam,)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 15, Park in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 13, wherein the configuration of uplink transition bandwidth part comprising at least one of the following: a bandwidth part identifier; a frequency location and a bandwidth of a bandwidth part; information of subcarrier space to be adopted in a bandwidth part; a resource configuration of random access channel for transmitting a preamble; a resource configuration of physical uplink control channel transmission; and a resource configuration of physical uplink shared channel transmission. (Hong [0084] The UE receives a random access response to the transmitted random access preamble. The random access response may include a random access preamble identifier (ID), UL Grant (uplink radio resource), a temporary C-RNTI (temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier), and a TAC (time alignment command). [0120] NR supports a beam indication function. For example, the base station notifies the UE of beams used in the PDSCH and the PDCCH using configuration information and a transmission configuration indicator (TCI). [0203] Referring to FIG. 12, a user equipment (UE) for performing communication using a non-terrestrial network may perform a step of receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station at S1210. [0205] the configuration information may include orbit information for each satellite beam and SSB or CSI-RS index information for linking it. [0197] The downlink common configuration information includes downlink frequency information (frequencyInfoDL) and initial downlink BWP (initialDownlink BWP) information, and uplink common configuration information includes uplink frequency information (frequencyInfoUL) and initial uplink BWP (initialuplink BWP) information. [0199] The satellite beam may be configured to have one PCI per one satellite beam,)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 16, Park in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 10, wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the re-synchronization information comprising: applying the transition bandwidth part configuration after performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the configuration of downlink reference signal associated with the transition bandwidth part if the UE performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the configuration of downlink reference signal associated with the transition bandwidth part. . (Hong [0039] the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE. [0203] Referring to FIG. 12, a user equipment (UE) for performing communication using a non-terrestrial network may perform a step of receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station at S1210. [0208] The UE may perform a step of determining whether a trigger condition for the cell change or the beam failure recovery is satisfied using the configuration information at S1220.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 17, Park in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 10, wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the re-synchronization information comprising: performing the re-synchronization procedure according to configuration of downlink reference signal associated with the bandwidth part identifier indicated in the bandwidth adaptation configuration, applying the bandwidth part configuration associated with the bandwidth part identifier indicated in the bandwidth adaptation configuration. (Hong [0039] the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE. [0203] Referring to FIG. 12, a user equipment (UE) for performing communication using a non-terrestrial network may perform a step of receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station at S1210. [0205] the configuration information may include orbit information for each satellite beam and SSB or CSI-RS index information for linking it. [0197] The downlink common configuration information includes downlink frequency information (frequencyInfoDL) and initial downlink BWP (initialDownlink BWP) information, and uplink common configuration information includes uplink frequency information (frequencyInfoUL) and initial uplink BWP (initialuplink BWP) information. [0199] The satellite beam may be configured to have one PCI per one satellite beam,)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 18, Park in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 9, further comprising one of the following: applying a bandwidth part configuration before performing the re-synchronization procedure, and resuming the bandwidth part configuration after completing the re-synchronization procedure according to a bandwidth part recovery time indicated by the bandwidth adaptation configuration, wherein the resuming may be implemented by storing the bandwidth part configuration which is applied before performing the re-synchronization procedure and applying the stored bandwidth part configuration after the bandwidth part recovery time; applying the bandwidth part configuration before performing the re-synchronization procedure, and resuming the bandwidth part configuration after receiving a physical downlink control channel addressed to a cell radio network temporary identifier of the UE, wherein the cell radio network temporary identifier is associated with a cell corresponding to the configuration of downlink reference signal indicated by the bandwidth adaptation configuration; applying a UE specific bandwidth part configuration according to the bandwidth part recovery time indicated by the bandwidth adaptation configuration; and applying the UE specific bandwidth part configuration after receiving the physical downlink control channel addressed to the cell radio network temporary identifier of the UE, wherein the cell radio network temporary identifier is associated with the cell corresponding to the configuration of downlink reference signal indicated by the bandwidth adaptation configuration. (Hong [0039] the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE. [0203] Referring to FIG. 12, a user equipment (UE) for performing communication using a non-terrestrial network may perform a step of receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station at S1210. [0206] In addition, the configuration information may include information for performing the cell change or the beam failure recovery only at a specific time point or a specific area. For example, information for inactivating the cell change or the beam failure recovery operation may be included in the configuration information until the UE is at a specific location or reaches a specific time point. To this end, the configuration information may include a timer value, a counter value, and the like, and the configuration information may include or refer to beam failure recovery configuration information and radio link monitoring configuration information.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 21, Park teaches the method of claim 20,
But does not specifically teach:
wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the re-synchronization information comprising one of the following: in response to both the synchronization signal block frequency associated with a target cell and a configuration of downlink reference signal associated with a downlink bandwidth part, performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the configuration of downlink reference signal associated with a downlink bandwidth part; and in response to the bandwidth part identifier and a timing difference between a UE measured current time and a stopping time of a transition period being less than a threshold, performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the bandwidth part identifier.
However Hong teaches wherein performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the re-synchronization information comprising one of the following: in response to both the synchronization signal block frequency associated with a target cell and a configuration of downlink reference signal associated with a downlink bandwidth part, performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the configuration of downlink reference signal associated with a downlink bandwidth part; and in response to the bandwidth part identifier and a timing difference between a UE measured current time and a stopping time of a transition period being less than a threshold, performing the re-synchronization procedure according to the bandwidth part identifier. ([0039] the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE [0205] Specifically, the configuration information may include duration information used by the UE to detect beam failure. Alternatively, the configuration information may include location information (e.g., coordinate information) and orbital movement information of the base station. Alternatively, the configuration information may include the coordinate information and the orbital movement information of a plurality of base stations (e.g., satellites). If necessary, the configuration information may include orbit information for each satellite beam and SSB or CSI-RS index information for linking it. [0206] In addition, the configuration information may include information for performing the cell change or the beam failure recovery only at a specific time point or a specific area. For example, information for inactivating the cell change or the beam failure recovery operation may be included in the configuration information until the UE is at a specific location or reaches a specific time point. To this end, the configuration information may include a timer value, a counter value, and the like, and the configuration information may include or refer to beam failure recovery configuration information and radio link monitoring configuration information.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
Claim(s) 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu in view of Park as applied to claim 24 and further in view of Ulupinar et al. (US20160323800A1).
As to claim 25, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 24,
But does not specifically teach:
wherein the second handover configuration message further comprises a handover time for the handover procedure, wherein the handover time is indicated by s system frame number and a subframe number.
However Ulupinar teaches handover configuration message further comprises a handover time for the handover procedure, wherein the handover time is indicated by s system frame number and a subframe number. ([0141] if the Handoff Activation Time is specified to be at the SFN 5, then the UT stops transmitting or receiving at sub-frame 0 of the SFN 5. [0188] At point 1118, the source AxP 1108 pre-configures the target BxP 1106 for handoff before (e.g., 1 second before) the handoff activation time (e.g., before THO_a_priori). At step 1A, the source AxP 1108 sends a Radio Connection Reconfiguration message to the UT 1102. At step 1B, the message is sent to the UT 1102 sufficiently in advance of the handoff activation time so that the UT 1102 has adequate time to receive the message. This message may include satellite handoff information such as a row of a transition table (e.g., indicative of a handoff activation time) and other parameters.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the second handover configuration message of Wu in view of Park with the reconfiguration message of Ulupinar in order to determine when a UT should stop transmitting and receiving at the source cell.
Claim(s) 29-31, 36, and 37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu in view of Park as applied to claim 22 and further in view of Hong.
As to claim 29, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 22,
But does not specifically teach:
further comprising one of the following: performing a bandwidth adaptation with synchronization according to the first handover configuration message; performing a bandwidth adaptation with synchronization according to a starting time of a transition period; and performing the bandwidth adaptation with synchronization according to a bandwidth part transition period.
However Hong teaches performing a bandwidth adaptation with synchronization according to the first handover configuration message; performing a bandwidth adaptation with synchronization according to a starting time of a transition period; and performing the bandwidth adaptation with synchronization according to a bandwidth part transition period. ([0039] the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE. [0203] Referring to FIG. 12, a user equipment (UE) for performing communication using a non-terrestrial network may perform a step of receiving configuration information for a cell change or a beam failure recovery from a base station at S1210. 0206] In addition, the configuration information may include information for performing the cell change or the beam failure recovery only at a specific time point or a specific area. For example, information for inactivating the cell change or the beam failure recovery operation may be included in the configuration information until the UE is at a specific location or reaches a specific time point. To this end, the configuration information may include a timer value, a counter value, and the like, and the configuration information may include or refer to beam failure recovery configuration information and radio link monitoring configuration information. [0208] The UE may perform a step of determining whether a trigger condition for the cell change or the beam failure recovery is satisfied using the configuration information at S1220. [0213] The UE may perform a step of performing the cell change or the beam failure recovery operation when the trigger condition is satisfied at 51230.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu in view Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 30, Wu in view of Park as applied to claim 22 and further in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 29, wherein the bandwidth adaptation with synchronization comprises a downlink frequency and timing synchronization with a downlink bandwidth part indicated by the first handover configuration message. (Hong [0197] The downlink common configuration information includes downlink frequency information (frequencyInfoDL) and initial downlink BWP (initialDownlink BWP) information, Park [0095] the requested set of timing and synchronization parameters may include frequency offset parameters (e.g., for downlink and/or uplink transmissions). [0109] In some aspects, the configuration information included in the handover command may include, for at least one candidate target non-terrestrial cell, an indication for the UE 120 to use the same timing and synchronization parameters (e.g., K_offset, K.sub.mac, the satellite ephemeris, the common TA, and/or the downlink/uplink frequency offsets) as for current timing and synchronization parameters associated with the source base station 705. For example, a bit in the handover command may be defined to indicate to use the same parameters as the source base station 705 for a candidate target non-terrestrial cell. In this case, the configuration information associated with that candidate target non-terrestrial cell may not signal the individual timing and synchronization parameters for that candidate target non-terrestrial cell. For example, the handover command may indicate for the UE 120 to use the same timing and synchronization parameters as in the source base station 705 in a case in which the satellite is the same for the source non-terrestrial cell and for the candidate target non-terrestrial cell (and/or in a case in which the base station and/or the gateway are the same).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu with the configuration information of Park in order to perform a handover in a NTN network.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu in view Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 31, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 22,
But does not specifically teach:
further comprising: performing an uplink synchronization via a random access procedure on an uplink bandwidth part by utilizing a random access resource associated with the uplink bandwidth part.
However Hong teaches performing an uplink synchronization via a random access procedure on an uplink bandwidth part by utilizing a random access resource associated with the uplink bandwidth part. ([0039] the serving cell may refer to an active BWP of a UE. [0072] In NR, a UE performs a cell search and a random access procedure in order to access and communicates with a base station. [0073] The cell search is a procedure of the UE for synchronizing with a cell of a corresponding base station using a synchronization signal block (SSB) transmitted from the base station and acquiring a physical-layer cell ID and system information. [0084] The UE receives a random access response to the transmitted random access preamble. The random access response may include a random access preamble identifier (ID), UL Grant (uplink radio resource), a temporary C-RNTI (temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier), and a TAC (time alignment command). Since one random access response may include random access response information for one or more UEs, the random access preamble identifier may be included in order to indicate the UE for which the included UL Grant, temporary C-RNTI, and TAC are valid. The random access preamble identifier may be an identifier of the random access preamble received by the base station. The TAC may be included as information for the UE to adjust uplink synchronization.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu in view Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 36, Wu in view of Park teaches the method of claim 35,
But does not specifically teach:
wherein sending the uplink signal comprising: sending the uplink signal via an uplink resource, wherein the uplink resource is configured before the UE completing a downlink synchronization procedure with the target cell.
However Hong teaches wherein sending the uplink signal comprising: sending the uplink signal via an uplink resource, wherein the uplink resource is configured before the UE completing a downlink synchronization procedure with the target cell. ([0084] The UE receives a random access response to the transmitted random access preamble. The random access response may include a random access preamble identifier (ID), UL Grant (uplink radio resource), a temporary C-RNTI (temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier), and a TAC (time alignment command).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu in view Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
As to claim 37, Wu in view of Park as applied to claim 35 and further in view of Hong teaches the method of claim 36, wherein the uplink resource is configured by a physical downlink control channel indication from the target cell. (Hong [0084] The random access response may be indicated by a random access identifier on the PDCCH, i.e., a random access-radio network temporary identifier (RA-RNTI).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the synchronization method of Wu in view Park with the beam failure detection method of Hong in order to indicate the UE to trigger/execute the beam change in the vicinity of the edge/boundary of the satellite beam coverage, or to detect and recover the beam failure.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 32 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.
Conclusion
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/Elton Williams/Examiner, Art Unit 2465