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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3/26/2024, 6/23/2025, 2/9/2026, 3/4/2026, and 3/5/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the Examiner.
Preliminary Amendment
The present Office Action is based upon the original patent application filed on 12/15/2023 as modified by the preliminary amendment filed also on 12/15/2023.
Claims 1-11, 14, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 32, 34, and 35 are now pending in the present application.
Claim Objections
Claims 5, 6, 10, 19, and 23 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5, line 6 states “TBS”. Suggest expanding the term to state --transport block size (TSB)-- to maintain clarity.
Claim 6, line 3 states “TBS”. Suggest expanding the term to state --transport
block size (TSB)-- to maintain clarity.
Claim 10, line 3 states “TBS”. Suggest expanding the term to state --transport block size (TSB)-- to maintain clarity.
Claim 19, line 5 states “TBS”. Suggest expanding the term to state --transport block size (TSB)-- to maintain clarity.
Claim 23, line 5 states “TBS”. Suggest expanding the term to state --transport block size (TSB)-- to maintain clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 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 1, 3, 4, 23, 24, 26, 32, 34, and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by HE (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0422240).
Referring to Claim 1, HE discloses a method at a user equipment (UE) (pars 70-
72, UE) for performing a random access procedure with a network node (pars 70-72, Random Access), the method comprising:
receiving a configuration for physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission (pars 70-72, configure, Msg/PRACH);
determining a first preamble from two or more groups of preambles indicated by the received configuration at least partially based on the received configuration and one or more measurements at the UE (pars 70-76, preamble used from multiple preamble/set; channel condition at UE), the first preamble indicating whether one or more features are requested or not (pars 70-72, preamble used based on Msg3 repetition requested); and
transmitting, to the network node, the PRACH transmission by using the first preamble (pars 70-72, preamble, then Msg/PRACH/communication).
Referring to Claim 3 as applied to Claim 1 above, HE discloses the method wherein the one or more features comprise at least one of: - Msg3 repetition; - MsgA repetition; - a network slice; - small data transmission (SDT); - a UE with reduced capability (RedCap UE); -a random access in non-terrestrial network; and - a specific service type or UE priority (pars 70-72, Msg3 repetition).
Referring to Claim 4 as applied to Claim 1 above, HE discloses the method, wherein the two or more groups comprise at least a first group and a second group, each preamble in the first group indicating that a first feature of the one or more features is not requested and each preamble in the second group indicating that the first feature is requested (pars 70-72, Msg3 repetition requested/not; preamble/set).
Referring to Claim 23 as applied to Claim 1 above, HE discloses the method,
wherein the two or more groups comprise at least a first group and multiple second groups, each preamble in the first group indicating that a first feature of the one or more features is not requested and each preamble in each second group indicating that the first feature is requested (pars 70-76, requested/not), wherein each preamble in each second group indicates that a TBS for Msg3 that belongs to a TBS range configured for the corresponding second group is requested (pars 51 and 70-76, range, Msg3).
Referring to Claim 24 as applied to Claim 1 above, HE discloses the method, wherein when the first feature is Msg3 repetition, each of the two or more groups indicating that Msg3 repetition is requested is associated with a group specific maximum number of Msg3 repetitions requested; wherein the group specific maximum number of Msg3 repetitions requested is signaled by the network node (pars 56 and 70-76, repetitions).
Referring to Claim 26 as applied to Claim 1 above, HE discloses the method, wherein the received configuration comprises one or more criteria for dividing all the preambles, which are available for grouping, into the two or more groups (pars 51-57 and 70-76, preamble/set), and the one or more criteria comprise at least one of: whether a preamble is used for contention based random access (CBRA) or contention free random access (CFRA); whether a preamble is used for Type-1 RA procedure or Type-2 RA procedure (pars 51-57, Type); whether RACH occasions are shared or separately configured for Type-1 and Type-2 RACH procedures (pars 51-57, Type); whether a TBS for Msg3 that belongs to a specific TBS range is requested or not; a power threshold for determining whether the UE is allowed to use preambles in a corresponding group based on its measured RSRP of the DL pathloss reference; whether a specific maximum number of Msg3 repetitions is requested or not; whether Msg3 repetition is requested or not; whether MsgA repetition is requested or not; whether a network slice is requested or not; whether SDT is requested or not; whether to indicate the UE as a RedCap UE or not; whether to indicate a random access in non-terrestrial network or not; and whether to indicate a specific service type or UE priority.
Referring to Claim 32 as applied to Claim 1 above, HE discloses the method,
wherein the two or more groups are sequentially ordered in its preamble space by their numbers of preambles in a predetermined order or an order signaled from the network node, wherein the order is an increasing order (Table 1, par 53 and 70-75, by repetition type).
Referring to Claim 34 as applied to Claim 1 above, HE discloses the method, wherein when the PRACH transmission is not a part of a Type-2 RA procedure, the method further comprises: receiving, from the network node, a random access response (RAR) comprising an indicator indicating whether the first feature is to be used or not; and transmitting, to the network node, a Msg3 with or without the first feature depending on the received indicator (pars 51-56 and 70-76, repetitions, configure, Type).
Referring to Claim 35, HE discloses a user equipment (UE) (pars 70-72, UE) comprising:
a processor (par 11, processor);
a memory (par 11, program) storing instructions which, when executed by the processor (par 11, processor, memory, program), cause the processor to perform the method of:
receiving a configuration for physical random access channel (PRACH)
transmission (pars 70-72, configure, Msg/PRACH);
determining a first preamble from two or more groups of preambles indicated by the received configuration at least partially based on the received configuration and one or more measurements at the UE (pars 70-76, preamble used from multiple preamble/set; channel condition at UE), the first preamble indicating whether one or more features are requested or not (pars 70-72, preamble used based on Msg3 repetition requested); and
transmitting, to the network node, the PRACH transmission by using the first preamble (pars 70-72, preamble, then Msg/PRACH/communication).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5, 6-11, 14, 19, and 21 are objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, and further incorporating amendment suggestion in Objections listed above if applicable, to change “TBS” to --transport block size (TSB)--.
Claims 2, 5, and 19 are allowed because the prior art of record singly or in combination failed to teach claimed preamble indicates Msg 3 TBS greater than TBS threshold is requested or not.
Claim 6 is allowed because the prior art of record singly or in combination failed to teach none of the claimed groups indicate Msg 3 TBS greater than TBS threshold is requested and first feature is requested, as applied to the intervening claim.
Claim 10 is allowed because the prior art of record singly or in combination failed to teach claimed group indicating Msg 3 TBS greater than TBS threshold and first feature are requested, as applied to the intervening claim.
Claims 7-9, 11, 14, and 21 are allowed as being depending on above allowed claims 6, 10, and 19.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SUHAIL KHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7187. The examiner can normally be reached on M-TH 8:30am-6:30pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on 5712727915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. 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.
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/Suhail Khan/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
Prosecution Insights