DETAILED ACTION
1. This Office action is a response to Preliminary Amendment for application No. 18/578,709 filed on 01/11/2024.
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 .
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Examiner has fully considered the references provided in the Information Disclosure Statements submitted on 01/11/2024, 01/07/2025, and 07/30/2025.
Claim Status
Claim(s) 1-4 and 16-19 have been amended.
Claim(s) 6-15 and 20-47 have been cancelled.
Claim(s) 48-58 have been added.
Claim(s) 1-5, 16-19, and 48-58 are currently pending for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 16-19, and 48-58 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by MolavianJazi et al. (US 2021/0058971 A1), hereinafter “MolavianJazi”. MolavianJazi is provided in the IDS submitted on 01/07/2025.
Regarding claim 1, MolavianJazi discloses an information processing method, comprising:
Determining a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), wherein the first PUSCH is used for transmitting a message A (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0176], “… a first UE of a first UE-type can be configured with a first PRACH configuration, such as one or more of a first set of PRACH preambles, a first set of RACH occasions, a first set of PUSCH occasions for 2-step RACH, and a first set of DL RS resources for PRACH transmission.”);
Transmitting the first PUSCH to a network device (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 22, ¶0215], “Embodiments of the present disclosure address the above issues and provide additional design aspects for supporting a PRACH transmission with repetitions, for supporting a random access procedure where associated messages are transmitted with repetitions and provide solutions discussed below.”), wherein the first PUSCHs corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… a UE type distinction can be made based on a PRACH configuration.”).
Regarding claim 2, MolavianJazi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining the first PUSCH comprises:
Determining terminal type indication information (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… a UE type distinction can be made based on a PRACH configuration.”), wherein the terminal type indication information is used for indicating the type of the terminal (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “A UE-type can include … such as legacy UE type of Rel-15/16 UEs, or a reduced-capability (RedCap) UE type …”);
Carrying the terminal type indication in the first PUSCH (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0176], “… a first UE of a first UE-type can be configured with a first PRACH configuration, such as one or more of a first set of PRACH preambles, a first set of RACH occasions, a first set of PUSCH occasions for 2-stp RACH, and a first set of DL RS resources for PRACH transmission.”).
Regarding claim 3, MolavianJazi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the type of the terminal comprises one or more of a RedCap low-capacity terminal type and a non-low-capacity terminal type (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “A UE-type can include … such as legacy UE type of Rel-15/16 UEs, or a reduced-capability (RedCap) UE type …”);
Wherein different types of terminals support different maximum terminal bandwidths and/or different minimum number of antennas (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… or a reduced-capability (RedCap) UE type for example with smaller bandwidth/number of antennas/UE power class, such as NR-Light UEs.”).
Regarding claim 4, MolavianJazi discloses an information processing method, comprising:
Receiving a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmitted by a terminal (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 22, ¶0215], “Embodiments of the present disclosure address the above issues and provide additional design aspects for supporting a PRACH transmission with repetitions, for supporting a random access procedure where associated messages are transmitted with repetitions and provide solutions discussed below.”), wherein the first PUSCH is used for transmitting a message A (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0176], “… a first UE of a first UE-type can be configured with a first PRACH configuration, such as one or more of a first set of PRACH preambles, a first set of RACH occasions, a first set of PUSCH occasions for 2-step RACH, and a first set of DL RS resources for PRACH transmission.”);
Determining a type of the terminal according to the first PUSCH (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… a UE type distinction can be made based on a PRACH configuration.”).
Regarding claim 5, MolavianJazi discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein the determining the type of the terminal according to the first PUSCH comprises:
Determining the type of the terminal according to terminal type indication information carried in the first PUSCH (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… a UE type distinction can be made based on a PRACH configuration.”; also see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “A UE-type can include … such as legacy UE type of Rel-15/16 UEs, or a reduced-capability (RedCap) UE type …”; also see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0176], “… a first UE of a first UE-type can be configured with a first PRACH configuration, such as one or more of a first set of PRACH preambles, a first set of RACH occasions, a first set of PUSCH occasions for 2-stp RACH, and a first set of DL RS resources for PRACH transmission.”).
Regarding claim 16, MolavianJazi discloses an information processing apparatus (see MolavianJazi [Figure 3], UE 116), comprising a memory (see MolavianJazi [Figure 3], Memory 360), a transceiver (see MolavianJazi [Figure 3], RF Transceiver 310) and a processor (see MolavianJazi [Figure 3], Processor 340),
Wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program (see MolavianJazi [Figure 3], Applications 362);
The transceiver is configured to receive and transmit data under control of the processor (see MolavianJazi [Figure 3], RF Transceiver 310/ TX Processing Circuitry 315/ RX Processing Circuitry 325);
The processor is configured to read the computer program stored in the memory to (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 4, ¶0056], “The processor 340 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS 361 stored in the memory 360 in order to control the overall operation of the UE 116.”):
Determine a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), wherein the first PUSCH is used for transmitting a message A (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0176], “… a first UE of a first UE-type can be configured with a first PRACH configuration, such as one or more of a first set of PRACH preambles, a first set of RACH occasions, a first set of PUSCH occasions for 2-step RACH, and a first set of DL RS resources for PRACH transmission.”);
Transmitting the first PUSCH to a network device (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 22, ¶0215], “Embodiments of the present disclosure address the above issues and provide additional design aspects for supporting a PRACH transmission with repetitions, for supporting a random access procedure where associated messages are transmitted with repetitions and provide solutions discussed below.”), wherein the first PUSCHs corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… a UE type distinction can be made based on a PRACH configuration.”).
Regarding claim 17, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the type of the processor is further configured to:
Determine terminal type indication information (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… a UE type distinction can be made based on a PRACH configuration.”), wherein the terminal type indication information is used for indicating the type of the terminal (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “A UE-type can include … such as legacy UE type of Rel-15/16 UEs, or a reduced-capability (RedCap) UE type …”);
Carry the terminal type indication information in the first PUSCH (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0176], “… a first UE of a first UE-type can be configured with a first PRACH configuration, such as one or more of a first set of PRACH preambles, a first set of RACH occasions, a first set of PUSCH occasions for 2-stp RACH, and a first set of DL RS resources for PRACH transmission.”).
Regarding claim 18, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the type of the terminal comprises one or more of a RedCap low-capacity terminal type and a non-low-capacity terminal type (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “A UE-type can include … such as legacy UE type of Rel-15/16 UEs, or a reduced-capability (RedCap) UE type …”);
Different types of terminals support different maximum terminal bandwidths and/or different minimum numbers of antennas (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… or a reduced-capability (RedCap) UE type for example with smaller bandwidth/number of antennas/UE power class, such as NR-Light UEs.”).
Regarding claim 19, MolavianJazi discloses an information processing apparatus, comprising a memory, a transceiver and a processor,
Wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program;
The transceiver is configured to receive and transmit data under control of the processor;
The processor is configured to read the computer program stored in the memory and perform the method according to claim 4.
Regarding claim 48, MolavianJazi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein resource of PUSCH occasion of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… a UE type distinction can be made based on a PRACH configuration … A PRACH configuration can include a configuration for one or more of PRACH preambles, RACH occasions, PUSCH occasions (in case of 2-step RACH), and DL RS associated with PRACH transmission.”).
Regarding claim 49, MolavianJazi discloses the method of claim 1, wherein time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources of the first PUSCHs of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0177], “… a legacy UE can use a first set of PRACH occasions in time and/or frequency while a reduced-capability UE/NR-Light UE can use a second, different set of PRACH occasions, or PUSCH occasions for 2-step RACH, in time and/or frequency.”).
Regarding claim 50, MolavianJazi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein resources of PUSCH occasion of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are the same, and demodulation reference signals of the first PUSCHs of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 26, ¶0259], “… the UE can be configured by higher layer parameters (e.g., dedicated or broadcast/SIB) with multiple Msg-A PUSCH configurations (associated with different PRACH preamble groups, different RO partitions, different DMRS ports/sequences, etc.) per CE level/RSRP range … each Msg-A PUSCH configuration provides a separate (same or different) configuration of a number of repetitions for MsgA PUSCH, while in another option, a number of repetitions for MsgA PUSCH can be a common higher layer parameter for all of the multiple Msg-A PUSCH configurations.”).
Regarding claim 51, MolavianJazi discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein ports and/or sequences of demodulation reference signals of the first PUSCHs of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 10-11, ¶0111], “A mapping between PRACH occasions and PUSCH occasions is per PUSCH configuration. … are mapped to a valid PUSCH occasion: … (ii) second, in increasing order of DMRS indexes within a PUSCH occasion, where a DMRS index DMRS is determined first in an ascending order of a DMRS port index and second in an ascending order of DMRS sequence index, …”).
Regarding claim 52, MolavianJazi discloses the method of claim 4, wherein resources of PUSCH occasion of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… a UE type distinction can be made based on a PRACH configuration … A PRACH configuration can include a configuration for one or more of PRACH preambles, RACH occasions, PUSCH occasions (in case of 2-step RACH), and DL RS associated with PRACH transmission.”).
Regarding claim 53, MolavianJazi discloses the method of claim 4, wherein time domain resources and/or frequency domain resources of the first PUSCHs of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0177], “… a legacy UE can use a first set of PRACH occasions in time and/or frequency while a reduced-capability UE/NR-Light UE can use a second, different set of PRACH occasions, or PUSCH occasions for 2-step RACH, in time and/or frequency.”).
Regarding claim 54, MolavianJazi discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein resources of PUSCH occasion of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are the same, and demodulation reference signals of the first PUSCHs of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 26, ¶0259], “… the UE can be configured by higher layer parameters (e.g., dedicated or broadcast/SIB) with multiple Msg-A PUSCH configurations (associated with different PRACH preamble groups, different RO partitions, different DMRS ports/sequences, etc.) per CE level/RSRP range … each Msg-A PUSCH configuration provides a separate (same or different) configuration of a number of repetitions for MsgA PUSCH, while in another option, a number of repetitions for MsgA PUSCH can be a common higher layer parameter for all of the multiple Msg-A PUSCH configurations.”).
Regarding claim 55, MolavianJazi discloses the method according to claim 4, wherein ports and/or sequences of demodulation reference signals of the first PUSCHs of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 10-11, ¶0111], “A mapping between PRACH occasions and PUSCH occasions is per PUSCH configuration. … are mapped to a valid PUSCH occasion: … (ii) second, in increasing order of DMRS indexes within a PUSCH occasion, where a DMRS index DMRS is determined first in an ascending order of a DMRS port index and second in an ascending order of DMRS sequence index, …”).
Regarding claim 56, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus according to claim 16, wherein resources of PUSCH occasion of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0175], “… a UE type distinction can be made based on a PRACH configuration … A PRACH configuration can include a configuration for one or more of PRACH preambles, RACH occasions, PUSCH occasions (in case of 2-step RACH), and DL RS associated with PRACH transmission.”).
Regarding claim 57, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus according to claim 16, wherein time domain resource and/or frequency domain resources of the first PUSCHs of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 17, ¶0177], “… a legacy UE can use a first set of PRACH occasions in time and/or frequency while a reduced-capability UE/NR-Light UE can use a second, different set of PRACH occasions, or PUSCH occasions for 2-step RACH, in time and/or frequency.”).
Regarding claim 58, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus according to claim 16, wherein resources of PUSCH occasion of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are the same, and demodulation reference signals of the first PUSCHs of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 26, ¶0259], “… the UE can be configured by higher layer parameters (e.g., dedicated or broadcast/SIB) with multiple Msg-A PUSCH configurations (associated with different PRACH preamble groups, different RO partitions, different DMRS ports/sequences, etc.) per CE level/RSRP range … each Msg-A PUSCH configuration provides a separate (same or different) configuration of a number of repetitions for MsgA PUSCH, while in another option, a number of repetitions for MsgA PUSCH can be a common higher layer parameter for all of the multiple Msg-A PUSCH configurations.”);
Ports and/or sequences of demodulation reference signals of the first PUSCHs of the message A corresponding to different types of terminals are different (see MolavianJazi [Pg. 10-11, ¶0111], “A mapping between PRACH occasions and PUSCH occasions is per PUSCH configuration. … are mapped to a valid PUSCH occasion: … (ii) second, in increasing order of DMRS indexes within a PUSCH occasion, where a DMRS index DMRS is determined first in an ascending order of a DMRS port index and second in an ascending order of DMRS sequence index, …”).
Conclusion
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/J.D./Examiner, Art Unit 2462 /YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462