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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/14/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Page 11 of the Remarks, Applicant argued Thangarasa does not teach the limitations combined from claims 23 and 33: wherein the first set of metrics or the second set of metrics comprises at least one of a reference signal receiving power value or a reference signal receiving quality value obtained for the at least one beam associated with the communication network, because Thangarasa, para. [0099] “describes how the UE selects which path's timing to measure (i.e., the strongest path), not that the metric itself indicates signal level. The resulting metric TT1,B0 is still a timing value measured in time units, not a signal level value measured in dBm. Using signal strength to select which path to measure is fundamentally different from the metric itself indicating signal level.” Examiner respectfully disagrees. The signal strength is not a timing value. The signal strength is the transmitter power output as received by a reference antenna at a distance from the transmitting antenna. In mobile phone systems, the signal strength is expressed in dBm.
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)(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.
Claims 16-18, 20-21, 24-28, 30-31 and 34-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Thangarasa et al (hereinafter “Thangarasa”), US Pub. No. 2024/0172155 A1.
Regarding claims 16 and 26-27, Thangarasa discloses methods and apparatus of timing advance validation and in particular timing advance validation for small data transmission, comprising: at least one processing circuitry (fig. 6 illustrates UE 600 comprising a processor 601), and at least one memory for storing instructions to be executed with the at least one processing circuitry (fig. 6, memory 615 stores instructions to be executed by the processor 601), wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry, cause the apparatus at least to: obtain a first set of metrics indicating a signal level of at least one beam associated with the communication network (fig. 2, step 210 and p. [0098]: the UE is determining the received beam timing TT1, B0 (e.g., a time of arrival) of the current beam B0 at timing T1; [0099]: the received timing of the beam at the UE (e.g., TT1, B0 for B0) may correspond to the time at which the UE detects the strongest path of the beam (e.g., path whose signal strength is largest among all the paths), or may correspond to the time at which the UE detects any path of the beam whose signal level is above certain threshold); obtain, before a small data transmission is conducted, a second set of metrics indicating the signal level of the at least one beam associated with the communication network (fig. 2, step 230 and p. [0101]: the UE is determining the received beam timing TT2, B1 (e.g., a time of arrival) of the current beam B-1 at timing T2. Similarly with TT1, B0, the received timing TT2, B1 of the beam may correspond to the largest signal strength, or the signal level is above certain threshold); conduct a validation processing for determining whether a timing advance setting is valid, wherein the determination is based on the obtained first set of metrics and the obtained second set of metrics and a preset rule related to the at least one beam associated with the communication network (fig. 2, step 240, p. [0102]: The TA is considered as valid when following condition is fulfilled: |TT1, B0 - TT2, B1| ≤ H1); and select a small data transmission mode on the basis of a result of the validation processing (fig. 2, step 250, p. [0104]: the TA is considered valid, and UE may perform the associated actions such as transmitting the small data using the preconfigured uplink resources); wherein the first set of metrics or the second set of metrics indicating the signal level of the at least one beam associated with the communication network comprises at least one of a reference signal receiving power (RSRP) value or a reference signal receiving quality (RSRQ)value obtained for the at least one beam associated with the communication network (p. [0037], [0061], [0063]-[0065], [0076], [0082], [0087]-[0091]: the UE validates the TA based on a RSRP or RSRQ).
Regarding claims 17 and 28, Thangarasa discloses wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry (as shown in claim 16 above), cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from an access network control element or function, configuration information of: settings for obtaining the first set of metrics or the second set of metrics indicating the signal level of the at least one beam associated with the communication network (see fig. 2, steps 210 and 230 mentioned in claim 16 above), including an indication allowing determination of beams to be measured (p. [0079]: The beams may be addressed or configured by an identifier, which can indicate the location of the beam in time in beam pattern), and settings for conducting the validation processing (fig. 2, step 240), and settings for small data transmission indicating resources to be used for the small data transmission according to the selected small data transmission mode (fig. 2, step 250, p. [0104]: the TA is considered valid, and UE may perform the associated actions such as transmitting the small data using the preconfigured uplink resources); and process the received configuration information (see the whole process in fig. 2).
Regarding claim 18, Thangarasa discloses wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry (as shown in claim 16 above), cause the apparatus at least to: store results of the obtaining of the first set of metrics and the second set of metrics indicating the(fig. 2, step 210 and p. [0098]: TT1, B0 is determined and measured and stored in the UE’s memory. Similarly, TT2, B1 is determined and measured and stored in the UE’s memory at step 230; and p. [0079]: The beams may be addressed or configured by an identifier).
Regarding claims 20 and 30, Thangarasa discloses wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry (as shown in claim 16 above), cause the apparatus at least to: obtain the first set of metrics indicating the signal level of the at least one beam associated with the communication network when the communication element or function is in an inactive radio resource control state having a valid timing advance setting for communicating with a serving access network control element or function ([0029]-[0031]: New Radio Rel-17 standard enables for SDT in INACTIVE state; [0046]: Transmission in INACTIVE mode using preconfigured uplink resources is realized by UE obtaining timing advance (TA) command in the RRC_CONNECTED state;).
Regarding claims 21 and 31, Thangarasa discloses wherein the at least one memory and the instructions are further configured to, with the at least one processing circuitry (as shown in claim 16 above), cause the apparatus at least to: select, as the small data transmission mode, a configured grant small data transmission when the result of the validation processing indicates that a valid timing advance setting is present (abstract: The present disclosure relates to time difference of arrival and signal strength-based timing advance (TA) validation for configured grant small data transmission; [0030]: SDT over configured grant type-1 PUSCH resources for UEs in RRC inactive state); and select, as the small data transmission mode, to conduct a random access procedure for the small data transmission when the result of the validation processing indicates that no valid timing advance setting is present ([0030]-[0031]: RACH-based SDT (e.g., transmitting small data on Message A PUSCH in a 2-step RACH procedure, or transmitting small data on Message 3 PUSCH in a 4-step RACH procedure) and Configured Grant (CG) based SDT (e.g., SDT over configured grant type-1 PUSCH resources for UEs in RRC inactive state; p. [0104], [0121]fig. 4, step 425 fallback to Random access procedure if invalid TA).
Regarding claims 24 and 34, Thangarasa discloses wherein the first set of metrics or the second set of metrics indicating the signal level of the at least one beam associated with the communication network are at least one of beam related values or cell related values, wherein the beam related values are related to at least one of a serving beam, a default beam or non-serving beams having a strongest signal strength (fig. 2, step 230 and p. [0101]: the UE is determining the received beam timing TT2, B1 (e.g., a time of arrival) of the current beam B-1 at timing T2. Similarly with TT1, B0, the received timing TT2, B1 of the beam may correspond to the largest signal strength, or the signal level is above certain threshold).
Regarding claims 25 and 35, Thangarasa discloses wherein the preset rule for conducting the validation processing comprises at least one of: a comparison of identifications of serving beams in the first set of metrics and the second set of metrics, a comparison of identifications of sets of beams in the first set of metrics and the second set of metrics, a comparison of variations of obtained metrics of individual beams with a predetermined first threshold (see fig. 2, step 240: the UE is comparing determined beam timings TT1, B0 and TT2, B1 using one or more functions to a threshold called H1), a comparison of variations of obtained metrics of paired beams with a predetermined second threshold, or a comparison of obtained metrics of non-serving beams with a predetermined third threshold.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19, 22, 29, 32 are 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAI D HOANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3184. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30 am-18:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Asad Nawaz can be reached at (571) 272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
THAI HOANG D.
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2463
/THAI DINH HOANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
Prosecution Insights