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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/17/2025 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-7, 14-15, and 17-20, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (US 2021/0227586 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 14, Huang discloses:
a user equipment (fig.1 depicts a user equipment which is configured to perform wireless communications with a base station 100) for comprising:
processor circuitry (fig.2 depicts wireless devices each with a processor); and
a transceiver (fig.1 depicts a UE with reception circuitry) configured to receive:
a first signal (par.[0324] describes a first signaled threshold), a second signal (par.[0324] describes at least a second signaled threshold), and a third signal (par.[0309] describes reception of a signal to determine a current radio condition between the UE and the network), wherein the first signal comprises at least one of:
a first threshold value, a RACH-ConfigCommon IE, or a RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA IE (par.[0324 describes three thresholds derived from at least three signaling of the thresholds from the base station to the UE. Par.[0233] describes the UE receiving the RACH-ConfigCommon which comprises a plurality of signaling used to derive thresholds for performing one of 2 different RACH procedures with different configurations), and
wherein the second signal comprises a second threshold value (par.[0233] which recites, in part, “The IE RACH-ConfigCommon is used to specify the cell specific random-access parameters.”. Thus, the thresholds used for determining which type of RACH to perform based on data size and signal quality are derived from the parameters transmitted to the UE from the base station);
the processor circuity configured to:
generate a first data block in a first radio state based on determining the first condition set is satisfied (fig(s).5-7 and par.[0314 – 0325] which correspond at least in part to aforementioned figures wherein the UE determines the TB size, and further determines the RSRP being greater than a threshold, or rather capable of performing the type of RACH either with SDT or not), wherein the first data block comprises more than one bit, and wherein the first data size is equal to a number of bits comprised in the first data block (fig(s). 5-7 and par.[0314] which recites, in part, “A RACH-based small data transmission procedure may be initiated if the uplink data size is less than or equal to a Transport Block (TB) size indicated in the related configuration, the system information, the dedicated RRC signaling and/or the Downlink Control Information (DCI). One or more conditions mentioned above may be applied jointly.” In addition, the first TB size is the data to be transmitted, thus, the size of the TB is equal to a number of bits in the TB), and wherein the first radio state comprises an RRC_INACTIVE state (par.[0282] describes the RRC_INACTIVE state);
measure the third signal and determine a first receive quality (par.[0309] describes reception of a signal in order to determine whether or not to perform RACH procedure, see e.g. “a UE could consider radio condition as a factor to determine whether to initiate a RACH-based small data transmission. The UE may determine whether the RACH-based small data transmission is allowed to be initiated based on factors including radio condition. For example, the UE may use a threshold (of radio condition) to determine whether the radio condition is good enough to initiate a small data transmission. The UE may measure and/or derive the current radio condition and compare it with the threshold.”);
determine the second threshold value based on the second signal (par.[0233] which recites, in part, “The IE RACH-ConfigCommon is used to specify the cell specific random-access parameters.”. Thus, the thresholds used for determining which type of RACH to perform based on data size and signal quality are derived from the parameters transmitted to the UE from the base station);
determine a first threshold value based on the first signal, the first threshold value being a positive integer (par.[0235] which describes the SIB which comprises a threshold for SDT)
determine a first condition set is satisfied, the first condition set comprising a first data size is not greater than a first threshold value (fig(s). 5-7 wherein input is applied to a first threshold, wherein if the data size is less than a first threshold meaning the data may be transmitted using small data, par.[0235] which describes the size of the data block is less than a threshold) and when the first receive quality is greater than the second threshold value (fig.5 and par.[0325] which recites, in part, “According to the selected carrier, the UE may check whether the RSRP of the DL pathloss reference is above the second threshold (e.g. rsrp-Threshold-msgA) to determine which RA type (2-step or 4-step) to use. Then upon the UE entering the Random Access Resource selection procedure, the UE may check whether the SS-RSRP of any SSBs is above rsrp-ThresholdSSB (as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331) to select a SSB and/or the CSI-RSRP of any CSI-RSs is above rsrp-ThresholdCSI-RS (as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331) to select a CSI-RS to continue the remain RA procedure for small data transmission.”) and the first data size is greater than the first threshold value (fig(s). 5-7 depict the process of determining a threshold size of uplink data that needs to be transmitted as discussed in par.[0235] and the disclosure of par.[0325] which describes the receive quality being greater than a threshold); and
the transceiver configured to (fig.2 depicts a first and second wireless devices each with a transceiver):
transmit a fourth signal based on:
the first condition set being satisfied, wherein the fourth signal is a first sequence and is used for a first-type Random Access (RA) procedure, and wherein the first-type RA procedure is one of a 2-step or a 4-step RACH (fig(s).5-7 and for example fig.5 depicts reception of an input or signal, based upon the input at least a first and second threshold are determined. In a first scenario small data is transmitted, based on the evaluation of the threshold for determining small data transmission and a threshold for determining whether to perform 2-step or 4-step RACH procedure for small data transmission); and
transmit a fifth signal based on the first condition set not being satisfied (fig(s).5-7 as discussed above, wherein at least an evaluation for performing whether or not to perform Small Data Transmission, wherein when the UE evaluates the threshold the UE may select a SDT or transmit not using SDT), wherein the fifth signal is a second sequence (fig(s).5-7 wherein the UE would send a first sequence for a SDT RACH and a different sequence for non-SDT transmission. That is, the preamble for SDT are different from preambles for non-SDT transmission) and is used for a second-type RA procedure (fig(s). 5-7 wherein the UE may select a non-EDT RACH procedure), wherein the second type RA procedure is one of a 2-step RACH or a 4-step RACH (as discussed the figures depict two different types of RACH for EDT and not for EDT and comprise a 2-step or 4-step RACH procedure), wherein the first sequence differs from the second sequence (par.[0306 – 0307] which further describes that the preambles for different RACH types are different), and wherein the first-type RACH procedure is different form the second-type RA procedure (fig(s).5-7 wherein there are 2 different types of RACH procedures either 2-step or 4-step, for either EDT or non EDT).
Regarding claims 2, 9, and 15, Huang discloses:
wherein the first signal comprises a MsgA, wherein the MsgA comprises the first sequence and a payload; and wherein the payload comprises one of an RRCResumeRequest1 message or an RRCResumeRequest message; and a Buffer Status Report (fig.5 depicts a 2-step RACH which comprises a MSGA transmission from the UE to the base station, and a MSGB transmission from the base station to the UE. Par.[0304] describes the RRC_RESUME procedure which comprises the RRCResumeRequest or ResumeRequest1. The Office takes Official Notice that a UE may also transmit a BSR during resume procedure for small data as well).
Regarding claims 4, 11, and 17, Huang discloses:
the processor circuity is further configured to:
enable small data transmission (SDT) based on the first threshold (fig(s).5 - 7 depicts evaluating a first threshold, wherein the first threshold is used to determine whether to perform SDT based RACH or not based on the first threshold) and;
determining to switch from an RRC inactive state to an RRC connected state based on the determined first threshold value and second threshold value (fig(s). 5-7 depict a 2-step and 4-step RACH each for non-SDT which would cause the UE to enter into RRC_CONNECTED state based on a first threshold for determining to not perform SDT, and a second threshold used for determining a type of RACH or vice-versa, see diagram below).
Regarding claims 5, 12, and 18, Huang discloses:
The wireless communication node according to claim 4, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to:
when the first condition set is satisfied, initiating the first-type RA procedure (fig.5 the UE may perform RACH for EDT if the first condition is satisfied);
when the first condition set is not satisfied, initiating the second-type RA procedure (fig.5 when the first condition is not satisfied then the UE may perform RACH not for EDT when the first condition isn’t satisfied).
Regarding claims 6, 13, and 19, Huang discloses: wherein the first sequence comprises a preamble sequence of the first-type RA; the second sequence comprises a preamble sequence of the second-type RA (par.[0306 – 0307] describe preamble for 2-step RACH, and preambles for 4-step RACH).
Regarding claims 7, 14, and 20, Huang discloses:
the first sequence and the second sequence are associated with different RA preamble groups (par.[0306 – 0307] as there is a distinction for each type of RACH preamble, naturally, the preambles are grouped separately).
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Applicant’s arguments, see 112 Rejections, filed 08/29/2025, with respect to claims 1-2, 4-7, 14-15, and 17-20, have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 112 Rejection of the above claims has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Applicant's arguments filed 08/29/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The Applicant alleges that the disclosure of Huang et al. (US 2021/0227586 A1) does not disclose, teach, or suggest:
“a first condition set being satisfied, the first condition set comprising a first data size not greater than a first threshold value and the first receive quality is greater than the second threshold value”
The office respectfully disagrees.
As a first matter, the term “small data transmission” invokes in its name an explicit data size that must be met in order for it to be considered a “small data transmission”. For example, it is known in the art, and shown in Huang that a buffered data size must be less than or equal to a threshold in order to support SDT in a RRC_INACTIVE state, par.[0235] which recites, in part, “EDT is triggered when the upper layers have requested the establishment or resumption of the RRC Connection for Mobile Originated data (i.e., not signalling or SMS) and the uplink data size is less than or equal to a TB size indicated in the system information.”. The purpose of SDT is to allow for a UE to send small and sometimes frequent data transmission followed by another downlink data transmission which occurs while the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state. As discussed above, par.[0235] teaches EDT, which is a synonym for SDT, wherein the UE is capable of performing an SDT transmission which is than or equal to a threshold data size. So in order for a small data transmission to occur the amount of data that is transmitted needs to be smaller than a threshold as is known in the art, and discussed in Huang. As shown the UE is configured with a SDT/EDT threshold by a first signal as discussed in par.[0235] “and the uplink data size is less than or equal to a TB size indicated in the system information.”. As can be seen the system information indicates a threshold amount of data which cannot be exceeded in order to perform EDT/SDT. The applicants assertion that only radio conditions are needed in order to determine whether or not EDT/SDT is performed, is respectfully, incorrect. The assertion that SDT/EDT is performed solely on an evaluation of the radio condition would, in fact, defeat the intended purpose of small data transmission and would overwhelm the network resources as if there were no data size requirement in addition to the radio condition requirement. We can imagine, for example, the scenario wherein only radio condition is evaluated for the purpose of determining EDT/SDT wherein there was no size constraint. You would quickly run out of resources because terminals could send a resume request to the network with SDT/EDT multiplexed therein of any data size, which would quickly overload the network resources.
Again, in contrast a traditional RACH procedure occurs when the size of buffered data is larger than a threshold the UE will perform traditional RACH. Huang has also introduced the RSRP thresholds which must be met in addition to the size thresholds in order to perform SDT or RACH, as discussed below.
The disclosure of Huang teaches that a first data block is generated and sent based on the evaluation of at minimum a first and second threshold as depicted in fig(s).5-8 wherein there are explicit thresholds for determining whether and par.[0235] which teaches the size threshold, and fig.8 which describes the consideration of the radio condition. It is noted that the disclosure of Huang does not consider only the radio condition as suggested by the applicant. The thresholds pertaining to whether or not SDT should be performed and the particular RACH procedure e.g. a 2-step and/or a 4-step RACH procedure. As discussed throughout Huang the SDT allows for a UE to remain in an RRC_INACTIVE state, and perform an uplink data transmission based on the evaluation of first and second thresholds being the data size and channel quality which is acknowledged by the applicant. Additionally, the channel condition is evaluated based on the reception of a third signal, (e.g. CSI-RS or SSB), as discussed in par.[0309] wherein the UE may determine the channel condition based on a reception of the signal at the UE. Additionally, in order to perform EDT/SDT the TB size must be a threshold size in order for EDT/SDT to be performed, hence the small in Small Data Transmission, par.[0235 and 0344], which recites, in part, “The RACH-based small data transmission procedure may be initiated if the uplink data size is less than or equal to a TB size indicated in the related configuration, the system information, the dedicated RRC signaling and/or the DCI.”.
Thus, if the TB is unable to be transmitted because of its size, then the UE is unable to perform EDT/SDT transmission. Thus, it is shown that two thresholds are utilized when making the determination of whether or not to perform SDT/EDT, and the claims stand rejected.
So as discussed above, the disclosure of Huang substantially disclose meeting a first and second threshold(s) before performing a first type data transmission, and the claims stand rejected.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Huang (US 2021/0219349 A1) “Methods, Apparatus and Systems for Performing a Random Access Procedure in a Wireless Communication”
Xing et al. (US 2022/0174752 A1) “Random Access Method, Terminal Device, and Network Device”
Chen et al. (US 2022/0095389 A1) “Data Transmission Method and Apparatus”
Huang et al. (US 2021/0307073 A1) “Method and Apparatus for Random Access Preamble Partition for Small Data Transmission in a Wireless Communication System”
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JAMAAL HENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2411
/JAMAAL HENSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411