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 Amendment
The following is a final office action in response to applicant’s reply, filed on 04/28/2026, to the Non-Final Office Action mailed on 01/28/2026.
Claims 4, 8-9 are canceled. Claims 1-3, 5-7 are amended. Claim 10 is new. Claims 1-3, 5-7 and 10 are pending and addressed below.
Applicant’s amendment to the claims has overcome rejection under USC 112(b) and claim interpretation under USC 112(f), previously set forth in the non-final office action.
Applicant’s amendment to the specification has overcome objection to the Title previously set forth in the non-final office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claims 1-2, 5, 6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by TANG; Zhixun et al US 20210251040 A1, hereinafter TANG.
Regarding claims 1, 5, 6 and 10, TANG teaches, A terminal comprising:
a receiver that receives a first Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) including information used for at least one of activation and deactivation of non-serving cells (“Non-serving cell” is interpreted as a neighboring cell that is to be activated/deactivated for the wireless communication connection – a secondary cell (SCell) is well-known in the art as being such a non-serving cell. TANG [0005] “ The method can include receiving on a primary cell (PCell) at a user equipment (UE) a first medium access (MAC) control element (CE) for activating a first secondary cell (SCell) and a second SCell for the UE in a wireless communication system., [0069] ” Accordingly, control signaling (e.g., MAC CEs) can be received on the PCell 110 for activating or deactivating one of the SCells 120a-120n.”), and a second MAC CE including information to indicate a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SSB) index of at least one non-serving cell of the non-serving cells that are active and indicated in the first MAC CE (TANG [0006] “ In an embodiment, the activating the first and second SCells in parallel includes receiving on the PCell a second MAC CE for indicating a first transmission configuration indication (TCI) state […], performing a time-frequency tracking process on the second SCell based on an SSB indicated in the first TCI state, […], [0062] “For example, a TCI state may be signaled to the UE 101 in a MAC CE (or a MAC CE activation command) to indicate an SSB (in form of an SSB index) for PDCCH or PDSCH reception.”, teaching a second MAC CE that includes TCI state comprising SSB index); and
a processor that controls transmission/reception to/from the non-serving cell indicated in the second MAC CE (Implied in TANG. See also Fig. 2, [62] “When beamforming is employed and the TCI mechanism is utilized. […]).
With respect to claim 5, claim recites the identical features of claim 1 for a corresponding method. Therefore, it is subjected to the same rejection.
With respect to claim 6, claim recites the identical features of claim 1 for a corresponding inter-working base station of the transmitting side. Therefore, it is subjected to the same rejection.
With respect to claim 10, claim recites the identical features of claim 1 for a corresponding system comprising the terminal and the base station. Therefore, it is subjected to the same rejection.
Regarding claim 2, TANG teaches the terminal, as outlined in the rejection of claim 1.
TANG further teaches, wherein the receiver receives a third MAC CE to indicate non-serving cells for which channel state information (CSI) reporting is activated and a fourth MAC CE to indicate a TCI state for at least one non-serving cell of non- serving cells indicated in the third MAC CE (The claim about using different MAC-CEs for activating CSI reporting and TCI state indication of the non-serving cell. TANG [6] “receiving a third MAC CE on the PCell for activating a semi-persistent (SP) channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource set of the second SCell, and performing a channel state information (CSI) reporting process based on the SP CSI-RS resource set activated by the third MAC CE on the second SCell.”, [11] “a fourth MAC CE for indicating a TCI state for receiving the other one of the PDCCH and the PDSCH of the SCell.”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 3 and 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TANG, in view of SUN; Haitong et al US 20230422165 A1, hereinafter SUN.
Regarding claims 3 and 7, TANG teaches the terminal, as outlined in the rejection of claims 1 and 2.
While implicitly teaching, performing CSI reporting for active SCells ( see e.g., TANG [0007]), TANG does not expressly teach, however, in the same field of endeavor, SUN teaches, wherein the processor performs CSI reporting for a non-serving cell being active out of the non-serving cells, and does not perform CSI reporting for a non-serving cell being inactive out of the non-serving cells (SUN [43], [45] “FIG. 6b shows a new MAC-CE 650 according to a second option. The second MAC-CE 650 includes a five bit SCell index field and a six bit CSI request field for each activated SCell. The SCell index indicates the SCell that is to be activated and the CSI request indicates the AP-TRS that is to be triggered.”, teaches CSI reporting is performed only for the activated SCell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of SHIMODA to include the features as taught by SUN above in order to provide SCell activation enhancement with assistance reference signal (SUN [0001]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 04/28/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues in Remarks: page 13 “Thus, while it may be said that Tang discloses multiple MAC CEs, Tang is also silent regarding a second MAC CE including information indicating the SSB index. Tang is also silent regarding a non-serving cell. That is, Tang fails to supply that which Shimoda lacks.”.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Tang discloses a second MAC CE indicating TCI that comprises SSB-index, as cited in the U.S.C. 102(a)(2) rejection above. Furthermore, non-serving cell is equivalent to SCell in TANG and also well-known in the technology.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
LIN; Hsuan-Li US 20210111851 A1, SECONDARY CELL ACTIVATION IN NEW RADIO SYSTEM.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/MAHBUBUL BAR CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2475
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