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 Status
Claims 1, 12, 14 and 15 are amended. Claims 1, 3-4, 11-12 and 14-15 are pending.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
3. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/8/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 4/8/2026 with respect to claims 1, 3-4, 11-12 and 14-15, have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
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, 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.
5. Claims 1, 3, 11, 12, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al. (US. Pub. No. 2019/0098671 A1) in view of Xiong et al. (US. Pub. No. 2015/0085764 A1) and further in view of Robert Safavi et al. (US. Pub. No. 2011/0286548 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lin discloses a communication apparatus (See Lin; Fig. 11; User equipment 12) comprising: control circuitry (See Lin; Fig. 11; Processing Circuit [Microcontroller] 30) configured to:
generate a transmission signal (See Par. [76] and Fig. 12; 1220 & 1230 of Lin for a reference to generating a second random access preamble signal and transmitting the RACH preamble signal to the eNB [Communication Partner]), the transmission signal comprising two parts that are concatenated in time, each of the two parts comprising symbols of equal length, each of the two parts having a corresponding cyclic prefix at a head or a tail thereof (See Par. [12], [53] and Figs. 7 of Lin for a reference to the cyclic prefix is a guard interval that is added between consecutive symbols, which is either the head or the tail of the first RACH preamble in the second RACH preamble); a first part of the two parts comprising a first signal that has been repeated a first number of times (See Par. [27], [64]-[66], [83] and Fig. 6 & 7 of Lin for a reference to transmitting, by the remote user equipment, a third random access preamble that is formed by repeating a basic OFDM symbol a plurality of times [First Number of Times]), and a second part of the two parts comprising a second signal, different from the first signal, that has been repeated the first number of times (See Par. [53[, [76], [87], [95] and Figs. 4 & 12 of Lin for a reference to the second RACH preamble signal is generated by concatenating N [Second Number of Times] first preamble signals that comprises a cyclic prefix portion and a plurality of identical symbols. The CP portion is between consecutive symbols (Head/Tail of second signal); and
transmit the transmission signal (See Par. [27], [64], [83] and Fig. 6 & 7 of Lin for a reference to transmitting, by a first remote user equipment, a first random access preamble that is formed by repeating a basic OFDM symbol a plurality of times [First Number of Times]);
Lin does not explicitly disclose wherein only one of the first signals that is adjacent to the corresponding cyclic prefix is truncated by a length equal to a length of the cyclic prefix so that the truncated first signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of a common symbol of the first part while remaining ones of the first signals occupy an entire respective symbol, and wherein only one of the second signals that is adjacent to the corresponding cyclic prefix is truncated by a length equal to a length of the cyclic prefix so that the truncated second signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of are contained within a common symbol of the second part while remaining ones of the second signals occupy an entire respective symbol.
However, Xiong discloses wherein only one of the first signals that is adjacent to the corresponding cyclic prefix is truncated by a length equal to a length of the cyclic prefix (See par. [31], [40]-[41] and Fig. 4 of Xiong for a reference to puncturing [Truncating] the cyclic shift on the head with the first repetition block of the first signal in the first symbol having the same length of the cyclic prefix), and
wherein only one of the second signals that is adjacent to the corresponding cyclic prefix is truncated by a length equal to a length of the cyclic prefix (See par. [31], [40]-[42] and Fig. 4 & 5 of Xiong for a reference to puncturing [Truncating] the cyclic shift on the head with the first repetition block of the second signal in the first symbol having the same length of the cyclic prefix).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Xiong to Lin. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by reducing interference and allowing a receiving device to distinguish the transmission from transmissions of other devices through including signals based on a basic sequence and modified by a cyclic shift. (Xiong; Par. [27])
The combination of Lin and Xiong does not explicitly disclose the truncated first signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of a common symbol of the first part while remaining ones of the first signals occupy an entire respective symbol; the truncated second signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of are contained within a common symbol of the second part while remaining ones of the second signals occupy an entire respective symbol.
However, Robert Safavi et al. discloses the truncated first signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of a common symbol of the first part (See Par. [5]-[7] and Fig. 1 of Robert Safavi for a reference to that in the case of normal Cyclic Prefix (CP), DRS occupies the 4th symbol of each uplink slot and SRS is transmitted in the last symbol of some sub-frames which are configured by eNB. The UE will transmit DRS with length equal to scheduled bandwidth on the 4.sup.th symbol of the two slots of the subframe) while remaining ones of the first signals occupy an entire respective symbol (See Par. [41]-[45] and Fig. 1 of Robert Safavi for a reference to The subsequent repetition blocks of DRS are contained in the following symbol); the truncated second signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of are contained within a common symbol of the second part (See Par. [5]-[7] and Fig. 1 of Robert Safavi for a reference to that in the case of normal Cyclic Prefix (CP), DRS occupies the 4th symbol of each uplink slot and SRS is transmitted in the last symbol of some sub-frames which are configured by eNB. The UE will transmit DRS with length equal to scheduled bandwidth on the 4.sup.th symbol of the two slots of the subframe) while remaining ones of the second signals occupy an entire respective symbol (See Par. [41]-[45] and Fig. 1 of Robert Safavi for a reference to The subsequent repetition blocks of DRS are contained in the following symbol).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Robert Safavi to the combination of Lin and Xiong. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by reducing the interference level between SRS of UE B and DRS of UE A, as well as the signaling overhead due to the fact that a better distribution of cyclic shifts over each slot. (Robert Safavi; Par. [41])
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Lin and Xiong, specifically Lin discloses wherein the transmission signal is repeated for a second number of times (See Par. [53[, [76], [87], [95] and Figs. 4 & 12 of Lin for a reference to receiving a second random access preamble signal, which is generated by concatenating N [Second Number of Times] first preamble signals that comprises a cyclic prefix portion and a plurality of identical symbols. The CP portion is between consecutive symbols (Head/Tail of second signal)), wherein the first number of times is same as the second number of times (See Par. [62], [70]-[71], [95] and Figs. 8 of Lin for a reference to the number of times of repetitive transmission is N symbols, and the number of times of concatenation is N preamble symbols [Same Number]).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Lin and Xiong, specifically Lin discloses wherein each of the two parts are divided into two subparts, wherein each of the two subparts are transmitted in different frequency bands, with each subpart having the corresponding cyclic prefix at the head or the tail thereof (See Par. [95], [99], [101] and Figs. 7 of Lin for a reference to generating a RACH preamble signal formed by concatenating a plurality N of preamble symbols [Blocks]. Each preamble symbol is transmitted at different subcarrier frequency).
Regarding claim 12, Lin discloses a communication apparatus (See Lin; Fig. 13; Base Station 10) comprising: control circuitry (See Lin; Fig. 13; Processing Circuit [Microcontroller] 40) configured to receive a reception signal (See Par. [27], [64], [83] and Fig. 6 & 7 of Lin for a reference to receiving, by the base station, a first random access preamble that is formed by repeating a basic OFDM symbol a plurality of times [First Number of Times]), the reception signal comprising two parts that are concatenated in time each of the two parts having a cyclic prefix at a head or a tail thereof (See Par. [12], [53] and Figs. 7 of Lin for a reference to the cyclic prefix is a guard interval that is added between consecutive symbols, which is either the head or the tail of the first RACH preamble in the second RACH preamble), a first part of the two parts comprising a first signal that has been repeated a first number of times (See Par. [27], [64]-[66], [83] and Fig. 6 & 7 of Lin for a reference to transmitting, by the remote user equipment, a third random access preamble that is formed by repeating a basic OFDM symbol a plurality of times [First Number of Times]), and a second part of the two parts comprising a second signal, different from the first signal, that has been repeated the first number of times (See Par. [53[, [76], [87], [95] and Figs. 4 & 12 of Lin for a reference to the second RACH preamble signal is generated by concatenating N [Second Number of Times] first preamble signals that comprises a cyclic prefix portion and a plurality of identical symbols. The CP portion is between consecutive symbols (Head/Tail of second signal).
Lin does not explicitly disclose wherein only one of the first signals that is adjacent to the corresponding cyclic prefix is truncated by a length equal to a length of the cyclic prefix so that the truncated first signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of a common symbol of the first part while remaining ones of the first signals occupy an entire respective symbol, and wherein only one of the second signals that is adjacent to the corresponding cyclic prefix is truncated by a length equal to a length of the cyclic prefix so that the truncated second signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of are contained within a common symbol of the second part while remaining ones of the second signals occupy an entire respective symbol.
However, Xiong discloses wherein only one of the first signals that is adjacent to the corresponding cyclic prefix is truncated by a length equal to a length of the cyclic prefix (See par. [31], [40]-[41] and Fig. 4 of Xiong for a reference to puncturing [Truncating] the cyclic shift on the head with the first repetition block of the first signal in the first symbol having the same length of the cyclic prefix), and
wherein only one of the second signals that is adjacent to the corresponding cyclic prefix is truncated by a length equal to a length of the cyclic prefix (See par. [31], [40]-[42] and Fig. 4 & 5 of Xiong for a reference to puncturing [Truncating] the cyclic shift on the head with the first repetition block of the second signal in the first symbol having the same length of the cyclic prefix).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Xiong to Lin. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by reducing interference and allowing a receiving device to distinguish the transmission from transmissions of other devices through including signals based on a basic sequence and modified by a cyclic shift. (Xiong; Par. [27])
The combination of Lin and Xiong does not explicitly disclose the truncated first signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of a common symbol of the first part while remaining ones of the first signals occupy an entire respective symbol; the truncated second signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of are contained within a common symbol of the second part while remaining ones of the second signals occupy an entire respective symbol.
However, Robert Safavi et al. discloses the truncated first signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of a common symbol of the first part (See Par. [5]-[7] and Fig. 1 of Robert Safavi for a reference to that in the case of normal Cyclic Prefix (CP), DRS occupies the 4th symbol of each uplink slot and SRS is transmitted in the last symbol of some sub-frames which are configured by eNB. The UE will transmit DRS with length equal to scheduled bandwidth on the 4.sup.th symbol of the two slots of the subframe) while remaining ones of the first signals occupy an entire respective symbol (See Par. [41]-[45] and Fig. 1 of Robert Safavi for a reference to The subsequent repetition blocks of DRS are contained in the following symbol); the truncated second signal and the corresponding cyclic prefix occupy an entirety of are contained within a common symbol of the second part (See Par. [5]-[7] and Fig. 1 of Robert Safavi for a reference to that in the case of normal Cyclic Prefix (CP), DRS occupies the 4th symbol of each uplink slot and SRS is transmitted in the last symbol of some sub-frames which are configured by eNB. The UE will transmit DRS with length equal to scheduled bandwidth on the 4.sup.th symbol of the two slots of the subframe) while remaining ones of the second signals occupy an entire respective symbol (See Par. [41]-[45] and Fig. 1 of Robert Safavi for a reference to The subsequent repetition blocks of DRS are contained in the following symbol).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Robert Safavi to the combination of Lin and Xiong. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by reducing the interference level between SRS of UE B and DRS of UE A, as well as the signaling overhead due to the fact that a better distribution of cyclic shifts over each slot. (Robert Safavi; Par. [41])
Regarding claim 14, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth
in claim 1.
Regarding claim 15, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth
in claim 12.
6. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al. in view of Xiong et al. in view of Robert Safavi et al. and further in view of Shin et al. (US. Pub. No. 2019/0159248 A1).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Lin, Xiong and Robert Safavi does not explicitly disclose wherein a signal length of each of the two parts not including the cyclic prefix or/and a signal length of each of the two parts including the cyclic prefix are set as a transmission unit in a time axis.
However, Shin discloses wherein a signal length of each of the two parts not including the cyclic prefix or/and a signal length of each of the two parts including the cyclic prefix are set as a transmission unit in a time axis (See Par. [198], [210], [216], [242] and Fig. 10 of Shin for a reference to the preamble length, including the cyclic prefix (CP) length, is configured as the transmission time unit).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Shin to the combination of Lin, Xiong and Robert Safavi. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by improving the preamble reception performance at the BS, by setting a frequency gap having the same size in both directions of the preamble. (Shin; Par. [210])
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liu et al. (US 2022/0123899 A1) discloses a symbol processing method and apparatus.
Hellfajer et al. (US 2021/0099329 A1) discloses methods and device for communications in device-to-device (D2D) networks.
Wu (US 2020/0322982 A1) discloses a wireless communication method and a device for an unlicensed spectrum.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to RASHA FAYED whose telephone number is (571) 270-3804. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Primary Examiner, Shah M. Rahman can be reached on (571)272-8951. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/R. F./
Examiner, Art Unit 2413
/UN C CHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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