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 .
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.
Claims 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CATT “WF on further RRM enhancement for NR and MR-DC-PUCCH SCell activation/deactivation requirements”, 3GPP, R4-2103675 in view of Tang et al. US (2021/0251040).
Regarding Claim 7, CATT discloses a terminal comprising: a control unit that performs an activation of a specific secondary cell configured with a physical uplink control channel; (see Pg. 10 i.e., “PUCCH SCell activation”…The UE (i.e., UE includes a processor which may be the “control unit”) shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length, where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure and apply the TA).
and a transmission unit that transmits the physical uplink control channel to the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10 i.e., “PUCCH SCell activation”… option 1 i.e., applying the received TA for uplink transmission… option 2 i.e., UE (i.e., UE includes a transmitter for transmitting PUCCH on SCell) shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell…and apply the TA & Pg. 11 i.e., applying the received TA for uplink transmission on target PUCCH SCell being activated)
wherein the control unit performs an operation involved with the activation of the specific secondary cell so as not to exceed a requested delay time when a timing advance of the specific secondary cell is not valid; (see Pg. 9 i.e., Compared to valid TA case, additional delay is needed for the NR PUCCH SCell activation delay requirements with invalid TA & Pg. 10 i.e., “PUCCH SCell activation”…option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…The UE shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length (i.e., “requested delay time”), where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure and apply the TA & PG. 11 i.e., delays T1, T2, & T3)
the requested delay time includes a first delay time determined based on a transmission occasion of a random access preamble of the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10, option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…-the delay uncertainty in acquiring the first available PRACH occasion in the PUCCH SCell…option 2 i.e., The UE shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length (i.e., “requested delay time”), where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure (i.e., delay to perform the RACH procedure includes delay time (i.e., T1) of acquiring the first available PRACH occasion in the PUCCH SCell which is part of the PUCCH SCell activation) and apply the TA & Pg. 11 i.e., T1)
a second delay time for receiving the timing advance of the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10, option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…-the delay for obtaining a valid TA for uplink transmission…option 2 i.e., where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure and apply the TA & Pg. 11 i.e., the delay for obtaining a valid TA command for the sTAG to which the SCell configured with PUCCH belongs)
and a third delay time for applying the timing advance of the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10, option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…-the delay for applying the received TA for uplink transmission & Pg. 11 i.e., the delay for applying the received TA for uplink transmission on target PUCCH SCell being activated (i.e., T3))
While CATT discloses the requested delay time is determined based on a NR slot length of the specific secondary cell (see Pg. 10 i.e., The UE shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length), CATT does not does not disclose the claim feature of and the requested delay time is determined based on a subcarrier spacing of the specific secondary cell and does not explicitly disclose the control unit and transmission unit of the terminal. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Tang et al. US (2021/0251040).
Tang discloses the requested delay time is determined based on a subcarrier spacing of the specific secondary cell (see Para’s [0051-0053] [0093] i.e., Accordingly, if the SCell activation command is received in slot n, the UE 101 can transmit the CSI report and apply actions related to the activation command for the SCell 120a being activated no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING/NR slot length …The NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a. For example, corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 KHz, the slot length can be 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16ms, respectively)
A control unit (see Fig. 11 i.e., processing circuitry 1110) and transmission unit (see Fig. 11 i.e., Radio Frequency module 1130) of the terminal used for performing activation and transmission of the secondary cell (SCell), (see Para’s [0053], [0093], & [0149-0152])
(Tang suggests the NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a which is determined in order for the UE to performing an SCell activation process which results in achieving a high data throughput when data traffic from the base station towards the UE is high, (see Para’s [0004], [0051-0055], & [0093])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the requested delay time that is determined based on a NR slot length of the specific secondary cell when performing activation of the specific secondary cell as disclosed in CATT to be based on a subcarrier spacing of the specific secondary cell based on the teachings of Tang who discloses the NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a which is determined when the UE is performing an SCell activation process, because the motivation lies in Tang the that the NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a which is determined in order for the UE to performing an SCell activation process which results in achieving a high data throughput when data traffic from the base station towards the UE is high.
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Catt in view of Tang discloses the terminal according to claim 7, wherein the operation involved with the activation of the specific secondary cell includes an operation of transmitting a beam information related to the specific secondary cell, (CATT, see Pg. 4 i.e., The beam information is needed for NW to initiate the RA for TA updating by a PDCCH order & Pg. 5 i.e., option 1, the beam information of the PUCCH SCell being activated is needed to be indicated to NW & Tang, see Para [0102]).
Regarding Claim 9, Catt discloses the terminal according to claim 7, wherein the transmission unit transmits a measurement report related to a measurement in a physical layer (see Pg. 3 i.e., CSI report of PUCCH SCell is transmitted on PUCCH SCell to be activated, Pg. 5, option 4 i.e., L1-RSRP (i.e., related to measurement in physical layer L1) is transmitted on SpCell or SCell first & Pg. 10 i.e., CSI reporting), when the timing advance of the specific secondary cell is valid (see Pg. 7 i.e., the condition that TA of target PUCCH SCell is valid & Pg. 8 i.e., The PUCCH SCell activation delay when TA of target PUCCH SCell is valid), but does not disclose transmitting the measurement report when the specific secondary cell is unknown. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Tang et al. US (2021/0251040).
Tang discloses transmits a measurement report related to a measurement in a physical layer when the specific secondary cell is unknown during SCell activation (see Fig. 5 & Para’s [0059] i.e., the UE can measure RSRP of each beam pair link at physical layer L1 referred to as L1-RSRP measurement, [0099] i.e., the process 500 assumes that the SCell 120a is unknown to the UE 101…During the phase 551, an L1-RSRP measurement process is performed on the SCell 120a being activated, and measurement results are reported to the base station 105 on the PCell & [0102] i.e., an L1-RSRP measurement process 525 and an L1-RSRP reporting process can be successively performed. In the process 525, beam sweepings with Tx beams of the base station 105 and beam sweepings with Rx beams of the UE 101 can be performed on the SCell 120a. Beam pair link qualities (e.g., RSRP) can be measured based on SSBs. In the process 526, L1-RSRP measurement results of the SCell 120a can be reported to the base station 105 on the PCell 110 & Para [0106] i.e., with consideration of the SCell 120a being unknown).
(Tang suggests the L1-RSRP measurement report including the L1-RSRP measurement indicates beam level link qualities corresponding to beam pair links for indicating which Tx beams are best choices for downlink transmission and which Rx beams are best choices for receiving a signal from a Tx beam for the SCell, (see Para’s [0059-0061] & [0102])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for activation of the specific secondary cell performed by the terminal as disclosed in the teachings of Catt to include transmitting a measurement report related to a measurement in a physical layer, when the specific secondary cell is unknown according to the SCell activation process performed by the UE as disclosed in the teachings of Tang, because the motivation lies in Tang a L1-RSRP measurement report transmitted by the UE including the L1-RSRP measurement indicates beam level link qualities corresponding to beam pair links for indicating which Tx beams are best choices for downlink transmission and which Rx beams are best choices for receiving a signal from a Tx beam for the SCell.
Regarding Claim 10, CATT discloses a radio communication system comprising: a terminal (see Pg. 10 i.e., the UE); and a base station (see Pg.’s 4-5 i.e., the network (NW) which receives beam information of the PUCCH SCell being activated includes a base station & Pg. 11 i.e., applying the received TA for uplink transmission on target PUCCH SCell being activated will be received by a base station);
wherein the terminal comprises a control unit that performs an activation of a specific secondary cell configured with a physical uplink control channel; (see Pg. 10 i.e., “PUCCH SCell activation”…The UE (i.e., UE includes a processor which may be the “control unit”) shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length, where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure and apply the TA).
the base station receives the physical uplink control channel to the specific secondary cell; (see Pg. 10 i.e., NR PUCCH SCell activation & Pg. 11 i.e., applying the received TA for uplink transmission on target PUCCH SCell being activated will be received by a base station)
the control unit performs an operation involved with the activation of the specific secondary cell so as not to exceed a requested delay time when a timing advance of the specific secondary cell is not valid; (see Pg. 9 i.e., Compared to valid TA case, additional delay is needed for the NR PUCCH SCell activation delay requirements with invalid TA & Pg. 10 i.e., “PUCCH SCell activation”…option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…The UE shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length (i.e., “requested delay time”), where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure and apply the TA & PG. 11 i.e., delays T1, T2, & T3)
the requested delay time includes a first delay time determined based on a transmission occasion of a random access preamble of the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10, option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…-the delay uncertainty in acquiring the first available PRACH occasion in the PUCCH SCell…option 2 i.e., The UE shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length (i.e., “requested delay time”), where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure (i.e., delay to perform the RACH procedure includes delay time (i.e., T1) of acquiring the first available PRACH occasion in the PUCCH SCell which is part of the PUCCH SCell activation) and apply the TA & Pg. 11 i.e., T1)
a second delay time for receiving the timing advance of the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10, option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…-the delay for obtaining a valid TA for uplink transmission…option 2 i.e., where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure and apply the TA & Pg. 11 i.e., the delay for obtaining a valid TA command for the sTAG to which the SCell configured with PUCCH belongs)
and a third delay time for applying the timing advance of the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10, option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…-the delay for applying the received TA for uplink transmission & Pg. 11 i.e., the delay for applying the received TA for uplink transmission on target PUCCH SCell being activated (i.e., T3))
While CATT discloses the requested delay time is determined based on a NR slot length of the specific secondary cell (see Pg. 10 i.e., The UE shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length), CATT does not does not disclose the claim feature of and the requested delay time is determined based on a subcarrier spacing of the specific secondary cell and does not explicitly disclose the control unit and transmission unit of the terminal and the base station comprises a reception unit that receives the physical uplink control channel to the specific secondary cell. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Tang et al. US (2021/0251040).
Tang discloses the requested delay time is determined based on a subcarrier spacing of the specific secondary cell (see Para’s [0051-0053] [0093] i.e., Accordingly, if the SCell activation command is received in slot n, the UE 101 can transmit the CSI report and apply actions related to the activation command for the SCell 120a being activated no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING/NR slot length …The NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a. For example, corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 KHz, the slot length can be 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16ms, respectively)
A control unit (see Fig. 11 i.e., processing circuitry 1110) and transmission unit (see Fig. 11 i.e., Radio Frequency module 1130) of the terminal used for performing activation and transmission of the secondary cell (SCell), (see Para’s [0053], [0093], & [0149-0152])
and a base station (see Fig. 1 i.e., base station 105 & Fig. 11 & Para’s [0149]) comprises a reception unit (see Fig. 11 i.e., radio frequency module 1130) that receives the physical uplink control channel to the specific secondary cell (see Para’s [0047-0050], [0053] i.e., As a result of the SCell activation process, the UE 101 can become ready to perform normal operations on the SCells being activated including PUCCH transmission, [0149], [0152] i.e., The RF module 1130 performs reception and transmission operations)
(Tang suggests the NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a which is determined in order for the UE to performing an SCell activation process which results in achieving a high data throughput when data traffic from the base station towards the UE is high, (see Para’s [0004], [0051-0055], & [0093])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the requested delay time that is determined based on a NR slot length of the specific secondary cell when performing activation of the specific secondary cell as disclosed in CATT to be based on a subcarrier spacing of the specific secondary cell based on the teachings of Tang who discloses the NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a which is determined when the UE is performing an SCell activation process, because the motivation lies in Tang the that the NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a which is determined in order for the UE to performing an SCell activation process which results in achieving a high data throughput when data traffic from the base station towards the UE is high.
Regarding Claim 11, CATT discloses a radio communication method comprising: a step A of performing an activation of a specific secondary cell configured with a physical uplink control channel; (see Pg. 10 i.e., “PUCCH SCell activation”…The UE (i.e., UE includes a processor which may be the “control unit”) shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length, where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure and apply the TA).
and a step B of transmitting the physical uplink control channel to the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10 i.e., “PUCCH SCell activation”… option 1 i.e., applying the received TA for uplink transmission… option 2 i.e., UE (i.e., UE includes a transmitter for transmitting PUCCH on SCell) shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell…and apply the TA & Pg. 11 i.e., applying the received TA for uplink transmission on target PUCCH SCell being activated)
wherein the step A includes a step of performing an operation involved with the activation of the specific secondary cell so as not to exceed a requested delay time when a timing advance of the specific secondary cell is not valid; (see Pg. 9 i.e., Compared to valid TA case, additional delay is needed for the NR PUCCH SCell activation delay requirements with invalid TA & Pg. 10 i.e., “PUCCH SCell activation”…option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…The UE shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length (i.e., “requested delay time”), where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure and apply the TA & PG. 11 i.e., delays T1, T2, & T3)
the requested delay time includes a first delay time determined based on a transmission occasion of a random access preamble of the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10, option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…-the delay uncertainty in acquiring the first available PRACH occasion in the PUCCH SCell…option 2 i.e., The UE shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length (i.e., “requested delay time”), where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure (i.e., delay to perform the RACH procedure includes delay time (i.e., T1) of acquiring the first available PRACH occasion in the PUCCH SCell which is part of the PUCCH SCell activation) and apply the TA & Pg. 11 i.e., T1)
a second delay time for receiving the timing advance of the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10, option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…-the delay for obtaining a valid TA for uplink transmission…option 2 i.e., where TRACH is the delay to perform RACH procedure and apply the TA & Pg. 11 i.e., the delay for obtaining a valid TA command for the sTAG to which the SCell configured with PUCCH belongs)
and a third delay time for applying the timing advance of the specific secondary cell, (see Pg. 10, option 1 i.e., the following three additional delay parts (T1/T2/T3) could be reused for NR PUCCH SCell activation with invalid TA…-the delay for applying the received TA for uplink transmission & Pg. 11 i.e., the delay for applying the received TA for uplink transmission on target PUCCH SCell being activated (i.e., T3))
While CATT discloses the requested delay time is determined based on a NR slot length of the specific secondary cell (see Pg. 10 i.e., The UE shall be capable to perform uplink actions related to the SCell activation command for the SCell being activated on the PUCCH SCell no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING+TRACH/NR slot length), CATT does not does not disclose the claim feature of and the requested delay time is determined based on a subcarrier spacing of the specific secondary cell. However the claim feature would be rendered obvious in view of Tang et al. US (2021/0251040).
Tang discloses the requested delay time is determined based on a subcarrier spacing of the specific secondary cell (see Para’s [0051-0053] [0093] i.e., Accordingly, if the SCell activation command is received in slot n, the UE 101 can transmit the CSI report and apply actions related to the activation command for the SCell 120a being activated no later than in slot n + THARQ+Tactivation_time+TCSI_REPORTING/NR slot length …The NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a. For example, corresponding to the subcarrier spacing of 15, 30, 60, 120, and 240 KHz, the slot length can be 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16ms, respectively)
(Tang suggests the NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a which is determined in order for the UE to performing an SCell activation process which results in achieving a high data throughput when data traffic from the base station towards the UE is high, (see Para’s [0004], [0051-0055], & [0093])).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date for the requested delay time that is determined based on a NR slot length of the specific secondary cell when performing activation of the specific secondary cell as disclosed in CATT to be based on a subcarrier spacing of the specific secondary cell based on the teachings of Tang who discloses the NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a which is determined when the UE is performing an SCell activation process, because the motivation lies in Tang the that the NR slot length depends on a subcarrier spacing used in the SCell 120a which is determined in order for the UE to performing an SCell activation process which results in achieving a high data throughput when data traffic from the base station towards the UE is high.
Conclusion
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/ADNAN BAIG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461