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 . This Action is in response to Applicant’s remarks and amended claims filed on March 23, 2026. Claims 1-14 and 17-22 are now pending in the present application. This Action is made FINAL.
Response to Amendment
2. The outstanding rejections of Claims 1-14 and 17-22 under 35 U.S.C. 103 are withdrawn in light of Applicant's amendment to Claims 1, 11, and 17 filed on March 23, 2026.
Specification
3. The amendments to the specification received on March 23, 2026. These amendments to the specification are NOT accepted.
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 2, 4-10, 17, 19, and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2019/0159149 A1), in view of R1-2101717 (“UL time synchronization methods for NTN systems”, January 25th- February 5th, 2020), and Medles et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0289460 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ryu et al. teach a method for transmitting an uplink signal (Fig(s).5 @ 510 and 9 @ 905), performed by a terminal device (read as UE (Fig(s).5 @ 510 and 9 @ 905)), comprising:
dividing a transmission time of the uplink signal into a plurality of time segments according to a duration configured by a network device (read as the base station and UE capable of executing TDD/TDM/TDMA techniques (Paragraph(s) [0062], [0074], and [0203]) For example, “base station 505 may transmit (and UE 510 may receive) an indication of a set of available uplink timing advance values. The set of uplink timing advance values may be for UE 510 to use for uplink transmissions. Each uplink timing advance value may be associated with or otherwise represent an amount of time that an uplink transmission is expected to take from transmission at the UE 510 to reception at the base station 505. The set of uplink timing advance values may be absolute uplink timing advance values and/or relative uplink timing advance values.”(Fig.5 @ 515; Paragraph(s) [0125])); and
receiving satellite information sent by the network device (read as UE receiving SPS coordinates of the base station (Fig.2, 5, and 9 @ ; Paragraph [0127]) Further, “The SPS may use signals from regional and/or global satellite systems.”(Paragraph [0095])),
calculating an open-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment according to the satellite information (read as SPS coordinates) (read as “UE 510 may calculate a distance between the UE 510 and the base station 505 and use the distance when performing the open-loop adjustment to adjust the uplink timing advance value. For example, UE 510 may use SPS coordinates of the UE 510 and the base station 505 to calculate the distance. ”(Paragraph [0127])), and
However, Ryu et al. fail to explicitly teach generating a timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment; and
adjusting a transmission time of one of the plurality of time segments of the uplink signal according to a corresponding timing advance for the one of the plurality of time segments.
The R1-2101717 teach a method for generating a timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and a closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment (read as “combination of open and closed loop TA update should be adopted. New TA value update equation will be,
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.”(Section 3, page 5)); and
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for updating a time advance (TA) based on open loop TA and closed loop TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of improving time resource allocations for uplink transmission by devices in a network.
However, Ryu et al. and the R1-2101717 fail to explicitly teach adjusting a transmission time of one of the plurality of time segments of the uplink signal according to a corresponding timing advance for the one of the plurality of time segments.
Medles et al. teach a method for adjusting a transmission time of one of the plurality of time segments of the uplink signal according to a corresponding timing advance (read as time delay) for the one of the plurality of time segments. (Fig(s).3 @ 310 and 4 @ 420)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for auto-compensating time delays in signaling as taught Medles et al. and the function for updating a time advance (TA) based on open-loop TA and closed-loop TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of enhancing updating capabilities for devices in an NTN.
Regarding claim 17, Ryu et al. teach a terminal device (Fig(s).5 @ 510 and 9 @ 905), comprising:
a processor (Fig.9 @ 920);
a transceiver (Fig.9 @ 935); and
a memory (Fig.9 @ 925) storing a program executable by the processor (Fig.9 @ 920);
wherein the processor (Fig.9 @ 920) is configured to:
divide a transmission time of an uplink signal into a plurality of time segments according to a duration configured by a network device (read as the base station and UE capable of executing TDD/TDM/TDMA techniques (Paragraph(s) [0062], [0074], and [0203]) For example, “base station 505 may transmit (and UE 510 may receive) an indication of a set of available uplink timing advance values. The set of uplink timing advance values may be for UE 510 to use for uplink transmissions. Each uplink timing advance value may be associated with or otherwise represent an amount of time that an uplink transmission is expected to take from transmission at the UE 510 to reception at the base station 505. The set of uplink timing advance values may be absolute uplink timing advance values and/or relative uplink timing advance values.”(Fig.5 @ 515; Paragraph(s) [0125]));
receive satellite information sent by the network device (read as UE receiving SPS coordinates of the base station (Fig.2; Paragraph [0127]) Further, “The SPS may use signals from regional and/or global satellite systems.”(Paragraph [0095])),
calculate an open-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment according to the satellite information (read as SPS coordinates) (read as “UE 510 may calculate a distance between the UE 510 and the base station 505 and use the distance when performing the open-loop adjustment to adjust the uplink timing advance value. For example, UE 510 may use SPS coordinates of the UE 510 and the base station 505 to calculate the distance. ”(Paragraph [0127])), and
However, Ryu et al. fail to explicitly teach generate a timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment; and
adjust a transmission time of one of the plurality of time segments of the uplink signal according to a corresponding timing advance for the one of the plurality of time segments.
The R1-2101717 document teaches a method to obtain an open-loop uplink timing advance (read as open-loop TA (Fig.1; Section 3, page 5)) and a closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment (read as closed loop TA (Fig.1; Section 3, page 5)), and
generate a timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment (read as “combination of open and closed loop TA update should be adopted. New TA value update equation will be,
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.”(Section 3, page 5)); and
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for updating a time advance (TA) based on open loop TA and closed loop TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of improving time resource allocations for uplink transmission by devices in a network.
However, Ryu et al. and the R1-2101717 fail to explicitly teach adjust a transmission time of one of the plurality of time segments of the uplink signal according to a corresponding timing advance for the one of the plurality of time segments.
Medles et al. teach a communication apparatus (Fig.2 @ 210) to adjust a transmission time of one of the plurality of time segments of the uplink signal according to a corresponding timing advance (read as time delay) for the one of the plurality of time segments. (Fig(s).3 @ 310 and 4 @ 420)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the computer hardware architecture of a communication apparatus and the function for auto-compensating time delays in signaling as taught Medles et al. and the function for updating a time advance (TA) based on open-loop TA and closed-loop TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of enhancing updating capabilities for devices in an NTN.
Regarding claim 2, and as applied to claim 1 above, Ryu et al., as modified by the R1-2101717 document and Medles et al., teach a method wherein dividing the transmission time of the uplink signal into the plurality of time segments comprises:
receiving at least one of a first effective duration of the open-loop uplink timing advance or a second effective duration of the closed-loop uplink timing advance transmitted by a network device (Fig(s).1-2, 5, and 9 @ 935); and
dividing the transmission time of the uplink signal into the plurality of time segments according to the at least one of the first effective duration or the second effective duration. (read as TDD/TDM/TDMA techniques (Paragraph(s) [0062], [0074], and [0203]))
Regarding claim 4, and as applied to claim 1 above, Ryu et al. ,as modified by the R1-2101717 document and Medles et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the satellite comprises at least one of position information of a satellite (read as SPS coordinates (Paragraph [0127])) or velocity information of the satellite, and calculating the open-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment comprises:
calculating the open-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment according to one or more of positioning information of the terminal device, position information of a satellite, and velocity information of the satellite. (read as “UE 510 may calculate a distance between the UE 510 and the base station 505 and use the distance when performing the open-loop adjustment to adjust the uplink timing advance value. For example, UE 510 may use SPS coordinates of the UE 510 and the base station 505 to calculate the distance. ”(Paragraph [0127]))
Regarding claim 5, and as applied to claim 4 above, Ryu et al. teach “methods, systems, devices, or apparatuses that support open loop uplink timing advance.”(Fig(s).1-2, 5, 9, and 13; Paragraph [0007])
Medles et al. teach “An apparatus (e.g., a UE), capable of auto-compensation of time delays in signaling, establishes a wireless connection with a network node of a wireless network. The apparatus then transmits a TA report to the network node. Based on the TA, the network can configure a UE-specific offset for UL scheduling.”(Fig(s).1-4; Abstract)
However, Ryu et al. and Medles et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the satellite information further comprises an ephemeris received from the network device and the position information of the satellite and the velocity information of the satellite are received from a network device or obtained according to an ephemeris received from the network device.
The R1-2101717 document teaches a method wherein the satellite information further comprises an ephemeris received from the network device and the position information of the satellite and the velocity information of the satellite are received from a network device or obtained according to an ephemeris received from the network device. (read as “gNB can convey the satellite velocity information including velocity and velocity vector along with the ephemeris.”(Section 3, page 5))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for auto-compensating time delays in signaling as taught Medles et al. and the function for using satellite velocity information and ephemeris updating a time advance (TA) as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of enhancing updating capabilities for devices in an NTN.
Regarding claims 6 and 21, and as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, Ryu et al. teach “methods, systems, devices, or apparatuses that support open loop uplink timing advance.”(Fig(s).1-2, 5, 9, and 13; Paragraph [0007])
Medles et al. teach “An apparatus (e.g., a UE), capable of auto-compensation of time delays in signaling, establishes a wireless connection with a network node of a wireless network. The apparatus then transmits a TA report to the network node. Based on the TA, the network can configure a UE-specific offset for UL scheduling.”(Fig(s).1-4; Abstract)
However, Ryu et al. and Medles et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment is obtained by:
receiving at least one closed-loop uplink timing advance transmitted by a network device;
determining, according to a receiving time and a second effective duration of each closed-loop uplink timing advance, the closed-loop uplink timing advance that matches each time segment (read as processor (Paragraph [0116])); and
determining the closed-loop uplink timing advance corresponding to one time segment to be set as a fixed value in a case that no closed-loop uplink timing advance matches the one time segment. (read as processor (Paragraph [0116]))
The R1-2101717 document teaches wherein the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment is obtained by:
receiving at least one closed-loop uplink timing advance transmitted by a network device (read as “In case of closed loop TA update the gNB will provide change in the TA i.e., using MAC-CE based TA command.”(Section 3, page 5));
determining, according to a receiving time and a second effective duration of each closed-loop uplink timing advance, the closed-loop uplink timing advance that matches each time segment (read as MAC-CE based TA command (Section 3, page 5)); and
determining the closed-loop uplink timing advance corresponding to one time segment to be set as a fixed value in a case that no closed-loop uplink timing advance matches the one time segment. (read as MAC-CE based TA command (Section 3, page 5))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for auto-compensating time delays in signaling as taught Medles et al. and the function for using generating and transmitting a MAC-CE based time advance (TA) command for closed TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of enhancing updating capabilities for devices in an NTN.
Regarding claim 7, and as applied to claim 6 above, Ryu et al., as modified by the R1-2101717 document and Medles et al., teach a method wherein the fixed value is set as zero. (read as absolute time (e.g.: fixed time value) (Paragraph [0008]))
Regarding claims 8 and 22, and as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, Ryu et al. teach “methods, systems, devices, or apparatuses that support open loop uplink timing advance.”(Fig(s).1-2, 5, 9, and 13; Paragraph [0007])
Medles et al. teach “An apparatus (e.g., a UE), capable of auto-compensation of time delays in signaling, establishes a wireless connection with a network node of a wireless network. The apparatus then transmits a TA report to the network node. Based on the TA, the network can configure a UE-specific offset for UL scheduling.”(Fig(s).1-4; Abstract)
However, Ryu et al. and Medles et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment is obtained by:
receiving an adjustment increment for the closed-loop uplink timing advance transmitted by a network device and an adjustment step size of the adjustment increment;
calculating an elapsed duration according to an obtaining time of a last closed-loop uplink timing advance and a start time of a current time segment for pending transmission; and
calculating a closed-loop uplink timing advance for the current time segment for pending transmission according to one or more of the last closed-loop uplink timing advance, the elapsed duration, the adjustment increment, and the adjustment step size.
The R1-2101717 document teaches a method wherein the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment is obtained by:
receiving an adjustment increment for the closed-loop uplink timing advance transmitted by a network device and an adjustment step size of the adjustment increment (read as “In case of closed loop TA update the gNB will provide change in the TA i.e., using MAC-CE based TA command.”(Section 3, page 5));
calculating an elapsed duration according to an obtaining time of a last closed-loop uplink timing advance and a start time of a current time segment for pending transmission (read as “In closed loop gNB can additionally indicate the additional time drift apart from the MAC-CE TAC which will be common in the cell. This value can be derived based on the reported UE specific TA to gNB and any other known error in the estimation.”(Section 3, page 5)); and
calculating a closed-loop uplink timing advance for the current time segment for pending transmission according to one or more of the last closed-loop uplink timing advance, the elapsed duration, the adjustment increment, and the adjustment step size. (read as “In closed loop gNB can additionally indicate the additional time drift apart from the MAC-CE TAC which will be common in the cell. This value can be derived based on the reported UE specific TA to gNB and any other known error in the estimation.”(Section 3, page 5))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for auto-compensating time delays in signaling as taught Medles et al. and the function for using generating and transmitting a MAC-CE based time advance (TA) command for closed TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of enhancing updating capabilities for devices in an NTN.
Regarding claim 9, and as applied to claim 1 above, Ryu et al. teach “methods, systems, devices, or apparatuses that support open loop uplink timing advance.”(Fig(s).1-2, 5, 9, and 13; Paragraph [0007])
Medles et al. teach “An apparatus (e.g., a UE), capable of auto-compensation of time delays in signaling, establishes a wireless connection with a network node of a wireless network. The apparatus then transmits a TA report to the network node. Based on the TA, the network can configure a UE-specific offset for UL scheduling.”(Fig(s).1-4; Abstract)
However, Ryu et al. and Medles et al. fail to explicitly teach generating the timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment comprises:
obtaining the timing advance for each time segment by performing summation on the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment.
The R1-2101717 document teaches a method wherein generating the timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment comprises:
obtaining the timing advance for each time segment by performing summation on the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment. (read as “combination of open and closed loop TA update should be adopted. New TA value update equation will be,
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for auto-compensating time delays in signaling as taught Medles et al. and the function for updating a time advance (TA) based on open-loop TA and closed-loop TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of enhancing updating capabilities for devices in an NTN.
Regarding claim 10, and as applied to claim 1 above, Ryu et al. teach “methods, systems, devices, or apparatuses that support open loop uplink timing advance.”(Fig(s).1-2, 5, 9, and 13; Paragraph [0007]) Also, Ryu et al. teach receiving an uplink timing advance at a cell level or a beam level transmitted by a network device (Fig(s).1-2, 5, and 9);
Medles et al. teach “An apparatus (e.g., a UE), capable of auto-compensation of time delays in signaling, establishes a wireless connection with a network node of a wireless network. The apparatus then transmits a TA report to the network node. Based on the TA, the network can configure a UE-specific offset for UL scheduling.”(Fig(s).1-4; Abstract)
However, Ryu et al. and Medles et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein generating the timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment comprises:
obtaining the timing advance for each time segment by performing summation on the uplink timing advance at the cell level or the beam level, the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment.
The R1-2101717 document teaches a method wherein generating the timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment comprises:
obtaining the timing advance for each time segment by performing summation on the uplink timing advance at the cell level or the beam level, the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment. (read as “combination of open and closed loop TA update should be adopted. New TA value update equation will be,
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for auto-compensating time delays in signaling as taught Medles et al. and the function for updating a time advance (TA) based on open-loop TA and closed-loop TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of enhancing updating capabilities for devices in an NTN.
Regarding claim 19, and as applied to claim 1 above, Ryu et al., as modified by the R1-2101717 document and Medles et al., teach a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Fig.9 @ 925) having stored thereon a computer program (Fig.9 @ 930) that, when executed by a processor (Fig.9 @ 920) of a terminal device (Fig.9 @ 905), causes the terminal device (Fig.9 @ 905) to perform the method of claim 1. (Fig(s).1-2, 5, and 9)
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2019/0159149 A1), in view of R1-2101717 (“UL time synchronization methods for NTN systems”, January 25th- February 5th, 2020), Medles et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0289460 A1), and Park et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2020/0204241 A1).
Regarding claim 3, and as applied to claim 2 above, Ryu et al. teach “methods, systems, devices, or apparatuses that support open loop uplink timing advance.”(Fig(s).1-2, 5, 9, and 13; Paragraph [0007])
The R1-2101717 document teaches “combination of open and closed loop TA update should be adopted. New TA value update equation will be,
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.”(Section 3, page 5)
Medles et al. teach “An apparatus (e.g., a UE), capable of auto-compensation of time delays in signaling, establishes a wireless connection with a network node of a wireless network. The apparatus then transmits a TA report to the network node. Based on the TA, the network can configure a UE-specific offset for UL scheduling.”(Fig(s).1-4; Abstract)
However, Ryu et al., the R1-2101717 document, and Medles et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the duration is a third duration determined according to at least one of the first effective duration or the second effective duration, and
the method further comprises:
taking a minimum duration of the first effective duration and the second effective duration as the third duration.
Park et al. teach a method wherein the duration is a third duration determined according to at least one of the first effective duration or the second effective duration (read as TDD slot duration (Paragraph [0193])), and
the method further comprises:
taking a minimum duration of the first effective duration and the second effective duration as the third duration. (read as “A TDD Slot i Duration field (1≤i≤M) indicates the duration of an ith TDD slot in each TDD interval in microseconds. ”(Paragraph [0193]))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for setting a TDD slot duration as taught by Park et al., the function for auto-compensating time delays in signaling as taught Medles et al. and the function for updating a time advance (TA) based on open-loop TA and closed-loop TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the UE conducting UL transmissions as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of enhancing updating capabilities for devices in an NTN.
Claims 11-14, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ryu et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2019/0159149 A1) in view of R1-2101717 (“UL time synchronization methods for NTN systems”, January 25th- February 5th, 2020).
Regarding claim 11, Li et al. teach a method for transmitting an uplink signal, performed by a network device (read as base station (Fig.5 @ 505)), comprising:
configuring a duration for a terminal device (Fig.5 @ 510), wherein the duration is configured to be used by the terminal device (Fig.5 @ 505) to divide a transmission time of the uplink signal into a plurality of time segments (read as the base station and UE capable of executing TDD/TDM/TDMA techniques (Paragraph(s) [0062], [0074], and [0203]) For example, “base station 505 may transmit (and UE 510 may receive) an indication of a set of available uplink timing advance values. The set of uplink timing advance values may be for UE 510 to use for uplink transmissions. Each uplink timing advance value may be associated with or otherwise represent an amount of time that an uplink transmission is expected to take from transmission at the UE 510 to reception at the base station 505. The set of uplink timing advance values may be absolute uplink timing advance values and/or relative uplink timing advance values.”(Fig.5 @ 515; Paragraph(s) [0125]));
calculating at least one uplink timing advance according to an arrival time of the uplink signal of a terminal device (read as “… calculate the adjusted uplink timing advance value 455 in order to transmit uplink frame 440 at a time that complies with the uplink transmission schedule.”(Paragraph [0123])) and
However, Ryu et al. fail to explicitly teach a closed-loop timing advance
transmitting the at least one closed-loop uplink timing advance to the terminal device, to enable the terminal device to obtain the closed-loop uplink timing advance that matches each time segment for transmitting the uplink signal; and
transmitting satellite information to the terminal device to enable the terminal device to calculate an open-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment according to the satellite information, and
generate a timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance to adjust a transmission time of one of the plurality of time segments of the uplink signal according to a corresponding timing advance for the one of the plurality of time segments.
The R1-2101717 document teaches a closed-loop timing advance (read as closed loop TA (Fig.1; Section 3, page 5))
transmitting the at least one closed-loop uplink timing advance to the terminal device, to enable the terminal device to obtain the closed-loop uplink timing advance that matches each time segment for transmitting the uplink signal (Fig.1, pages 2-3); and
transmitting satellite information to the terminal device to enable the terminal device to calculate an open-loop uplink timing advance for each time segment according to the satellite information (read as satellite motion used for a an open loop TA (Fig.1; Section 3, page 5)), and
generate a timing advance for each time segment according to the open-loop uplink timing advance and the closed-loop uplink timing advance to adjust a transmission time of one of the plurality of time segments of the uplink signal according to a corresponding timing advance for the one of the plurality of time segments. (read as “combination of open and closed loop TA update should be adopted. New TA value update equation will be,
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+
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16.64
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.”(Section 3, page 5))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for transmitting open loop TA and closed loop TA and updating a time advance (TA) based on open loop TA and closed loop TA as taught by the R1-2101717 document with the eNodeB as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of improving time resource allocations for uplink transmission by devices in a network.
Regarding claim 12, and as applied to claim 11 above, Ryu et al., as modified by the R1-2101717 document, teach a method further comprising:
transmitting at least one of a first effective duration of the open-loop uplink timing advance or a second effective duration of the closed-loop uplink timing advance to the terminal device (Fig(s).5 and 13),
to enable the terminal device to divide the transmission time of the uplink signal into a plurality of time segments according to the at least one of the first effective duration or the second effective duration. (read as the base station and UE capable of executing TDD/TDM/TDMA techniques (Paragraph(s) [0062], [0074], and [0203]) For example, “base station 505 may transmit (and UE 510 may receive) an indication of a set of available uplink timing advance values. The set of uplink timing advance values may be for UE 510 to use for uplink transmissions. Each uplink timing advance value may be associated with or otherwise represent an amount of time that an uplink transmission is expected to take from transmission at the UE 510 to reception at the base station 505. The set of uplink timing advance values may be absolute uplink timing advance values and/or relative uplink timing advance values.”(Fig.5 @ 515; Paragraph(s) [0125]))
Regarding claim 13, and as applied to claim 11 above, Ryu et al. teach “methods, systems, devices, or apparatuses that support open loop uplink timing advance.”(Fig(s).1-2, 5, 9, and 13; Paragraph [0007])
However, Ryu et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein transmitting the satellite information to the terminal device comprises:
transmitting at least one of
an ephemeris, position information of a satellite, or
velocity information of the satellite to the terminal device.
The R1-2101717 document teaches a method wherein transmitting the satellite information to the terminal device comprises:
transmitting at least one of an ephemeris, position information of a satellite, or velocity information of the satellite to the terminal device. (read as “gNB can convey the satellite velocity information including velocity and velocity vector along with the ephemeris.”(Section 3, page 5))
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for using satellite velocity information and ephemeris updating a time advance (TA) as taught by the R1-2101717 document the eNodeB as taught by Ryu et al. for the purpose of improving time resource allocations for uplink transmission by devices in a network.
Regarding claim 14, and as applied to claim 11 above, Ryu et al., as modified by the R1-2101717 document, teach a method further comprising:
transmitting an adjustment increment for the closed-loop uplink timing advance and an adjustment step size of the adjustment increment to the terminal device, to enable the terminal device to calculate a closed-loop uplink timing advance for a current time segment for pending transmission according to the adjustment increment and the adjustment step size. (Fig(s).5 and 13)
Regarding claim 18, Ryu et al., as modified by the R1-2101717 document, teach a network device (Fig(s).5 @ 505 and 13 @ 1305), comprising:
a processor (Fig.13 @ 1320);
a transceiver (Fig.13 @ 1335); and
a memory (Fig.13 @ 1325) storing a program executable (Fig.13 @ 1330) by the processor (Fig.13 @ 1320);
wherein the processor (Fig.13 @ 1320) is configured to perform the method of claim 11. (Fig(s).5 and 13)
Regarding claim 20, Ryu et al., as modified by the R1-2101717 document, teach a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Fig.13 @ 1325) having stored thereon a computer program (Fig.13 @ 1330) that, when executed by a processor (Fig.13 @ 1320) of a network device (Fig(s).5 @ 505 and 13 @ 1305), causes the network device (Fig(s).5 @ 505 and 13 @ 1305) to perform the method of claim 11. (Fig(s).5 and 13 @ 1305))
Response to Arguments
5. Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-14 and 17-22 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure:
Nuttall et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 20210091849 A1) teach “the data profiles for the data device include a function to calculate a timing advance based upon the location (for example, GPS location) of the data device, and a static location of the satellite the hub of the data device is wirelessly linked to the base station through.”(Fig.2; Paragraph [0060])
Lin et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 20180020472 A1) teach “Based on the UE's SPS information, the target eNB can decode the UE's uplink and calculate timing advance for the UE. The target eNB can schedule the unlink resources in time domain as ‘n+x’ to ‘n+x+m’, where ‘x’ corresponds to UL grant sub-frame delay and ‘m’ corresponds to a number of consecutive sub-frames granted for UE.”(Paragraph [0041])
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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P.O. Box 1450
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/SALVADOR E RIVAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
June 9, 2026
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