DETAILED ACTION
The office action is a response to an application filed on January 12, 2024, wherein claims 1-30 are pending and ready for examination.
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 § 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 (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.
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 1-17 and 19-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Xiao et al. (Xiao hereafter) (US 20190223212 A1) (IDS provided).
Regarding claim 1 Xiao teaches, an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a memory (Xiao; [0282] non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), or other memory systems.); and
a processor, coupled to the memory (Xiao; [0282] controlling the central processing unit (CPU). The program or information processed by the program can be stored temporarily in volatile memory (e.g., random access memory RAM), hard disk drive (HDD)), and configured to:
receive, from a base station (receives configuration information from an eNB), system information for a cell that comprises an anchor carrier and one or more other carriers (Xiao; [0073] FIG. 1, at step S110, the UE receives configuration information from an eNB. The configuration information indicates an anchor carrier and/or one or a plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access), the system information comprising ([0147] broadcast the configuration information in system information) an indication of a first other carrier of the one or more other carriers ([0145] The generation unit 410 is configured to generate configuration information, the configuration information indicating one or a plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access.) for receiving a downlink control channel scheduling a second random access message (paging message … supports a random access) (Xiao; [0077] if a downlink carrier on which the UE receives a paging message is configured with a corresponding uplink carrier and the uplink carrier (which may be an uplink carrier corresponding to a non-anchor carrier) supports a random access, then the random access carrier is the uplink carrier, i.e., a carrier on which the UE receives a paging message) ([0068-0069] for indicating that a criteria for UE to select an NPRACH resource, and nprach-ParametersList that respectively configures NPRACH parameters for a set of NPRACH resources) ([0147, 0153, 0158, 0159, 0168,0169], 0180,0181, 0190, 0191, 0195,0196, 0226,0228);
transmit a first random access message for a random access procedure (Xiao; [0075] At step S120, the UE selects a carrier from the anchor carrier and/or the one or plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access as a random access carrier); and
receive, in response to the first random access message (receiving an RAR) and via the first other carrier, the downlink control channel (carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier) scheduling the second random access message (Xiao; [0206] a carrier used for performing a random access (process) may actually be considered as a carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier and a corresponding uplink carrier. It may thus be considered that the execution of a random access on a carrier as described in the present invention generally comprises: sending a preamble and/or sending a MSG3 on an uplink carrier of a carrier pair, and receiving an RAR and/or a MSG4 on a corresponding downlink carrier of the carrier pair) ([0069, 0207, 0212, 0214, 0218, 0239,] fig. 6).
Regarding claim 19 Xiao teaches, an apparatus for wireless communication at a base station (BS), comprising:
a memory (Xiao; [0282] non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), or other memory systems.); and
a processor, coupled to the memory (Xiao; [0282] controlling the central processing unit (CPU). The program or information processed by the program can be stored temporarily in volatile memory (e.g., random access memory RAM), hard disk drive (HDD)), and configured to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), system information for a cell that comprises an anchor carrier and one or more other carriers (Xiao; [0073] FIG. 1, at step S110, the UE receives configuration information from an eNB. The configuration information indicates an anchor carrier and/or one or a plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access), the system information comprising ([0147] broadcast the configuration information in system information) an indication of a first other carrier of the one or more other carriers ([0145] The generation unit 410 is configured to generate configuration information, the configuration information indicating one or a plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access.) for receiving a downlink control channel scheduling a second random access message (paging message … supports a random access) (Xiao; [0077] if a downlink carrier on which the UE receives a paging message is configured with a corresponding uplink carrier and the uplink carrier (which may be an uplink carrier corresponding to a non-anchor carrier) supports a random access, then the random access carrier is the uplink carrier, i.e., a carrier on which the UE receives a paging message) ([0068-0069] for indicating that a criteria for UE to select an NPRACH resource, and nprach-ParametersList that respectively configures NPRACH parameters for a set of NPRACH resources) ([0147, 0153, 0158, 0159, 0168,0169], 0180,0181, 0190, 0191, 0195,0196, 0226,0228);
receive from the UE a first random access message for a random access procedure (Xiao; [0075] At step S120, the UE selects a carrier from the anchor carrier and/or the one or plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access as a random access carrier); and
transmit, in response to the first random access message (receiving an RAR) and via the first other carrier, the downlink control channel (carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier) scheduling the second random access message (Xiao; [0206] a carrier used for performing a random access (process) may actually be considered as a carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier and a corresponding uplink carrier. It may thus be considered that the execution of a random access on a carrier as described in the present invention generally comprises: sending a preamble and/or sending a MSG3 on an uplink carrier of a carrier pair, and receiving an RAR and/or a MSG4 on a corresponding downlink carrier of the carrier pair) ([0069, 0207, 0212, 0214, 0218, 0239,] fig. 6).
Regarding claim 29 Xiao teaches, a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving, from a base station, system information for a cell that comprises an anchor carrier and one or more other carriers (Xiao; [0073] FIG. 1, at step S110, the UE receives configuration information from an eNB. The configuration information indicates an anchor carrier and/or one or a plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access), the system information comprising ([0147] broadcast the configuration information in system information) an indication of a first other carrier of the one or more other carriers ([0145] The generation unit 410 is configured to generate configuration information, the configuration information indicating one or a plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access.) for receiving a downlink control channel scheduling a second random access message (paging message … supports a random access) (Xiao; [0077] if a downlink carrier on which the UE receives a paging message is configured with a corresponding uplink carrier and the uplink carrier (which may be an uplink carrier corresponding to a non-anchor carrier) supports a random access, then the random access carrier is the uplink carrier, i.e., a carrier on which the UE receives a paging message) ([0068-0069] for indicating that a criteria for UE to select an NPRACH resource, and nprach-ParametersList that respectively configures NPRACH parameters for a set of NPRACH resources) ([0147, 0153, 0158, 0159, 0168,0169], 0180,0181, 0190, 0191, 0195,0196, 0226,0228);
transmitting a first random access message for a random access procedure (Xiao; [0075] At step S120, the UE selects a carrier from the anchor carrier and/or the one or plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access as a random access carrier); and
receiving, in response to the first random access message (receiving an RAR) and via the first other carrier, the downlink control channel (carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier) scheduling the second random access message (Xiao; [0206] a carrier used for performing a random access (process) may actually be considered as a carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier and a corresponding uplink carrier. It may thus be considered that the execution of a random access on a carrier as described in the present invention generally comprises: sending a preamble and/or sending a MSG3 on an uplink carrier of a carrier pair, and receiving an RAR and/or a MSG4 on a corresponding downlink carrier of the carrier pair) ([0069, 0207, 0212, 0214, 0218, 0239,] fig. 6).
Regarding claim 30 Xiao teaches, a method for wireless communication at a base station (BS), comprising:
transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), system information for a cell that comprises an anchor carrier and one or more other carriers (Xiao; [0073] FIG. 1, at step S110, the UE receives configuration information from an eNB. The configuration information indicates an anchor carrier and/or one or a plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access), the system information comprising ([0147] broadcast the configuration information in system information) an indication of a first other carrier of the one or more other carriers ([0145] The generation unit 410 is configured to generate configuration information, the configuration information indicating one or a plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access.) for receiving a downlink control channel scheduling a second random access message (paging message … supports a random access) (Xiao; [0077] if a downlink carrier on which the UE receives a paging message is configured with a corresponding uplink carrier and the uplink carrier (which may be an uplink carrier corresponding to a non-anchor carrier) supports a random access, then the random access carrier is the uplink carrier, i.e., a carrier on which the UE receives a paging message) ([0068-0069] for indicating that a criteria for UE to select an NPRACH resource, and nprach-ParametersList that respectively configures NPRACH parameters for a set of NPRACH resources) ([0147, 0153, 0158, 0159, 0168,0169], 0180,0181, 0190, 0191, 0195,0196, 0226,0228);
receiving from the UE a first random access message for a random access procedure (Xiao; [0075] At step S120, the UE selects a carrier from the anchor carrier and/or the one or plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access as a random access carrier); and
transmitting, in response to the first random access message (receiving an RAR) and via the first other carrier, the downlink control channel (carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier) scheduling the second random access message (Xiao; [0206] a carrier used for performing a random access (process) may actually be considered as a carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier and a corresponding uplink carrier. It may thus be considered that the execution of a random access on a carrier as described in the present invention generally comprises: sending a preamble and/or sending a MSG3 on an uplink carrier of a carrier pair, and receiving an RAR and/or a MSG4 on a corresponding downlink carrier of the carrier pair) ([0069, 0207, 0212, 0214, 0218, 0239,] fig. 6).
Regarding claims 2 and 20 Xiao teaches, the claims 1 and 19,
Xiao further teaches, wherein the processor is further configure to: receive the second random access message via the first other carrier based at least in part on the indication of the first other carrier in the system information and in response to receiving the downlink control channel scheduling the second random access message (Xiao; [0106] the configuration information further comprises a fourth indicator used to indicate whether an anchor carrier can be used as a random access carrier (an uplink carrier on which the UE can transmit an uplink message such as a preamble and a corresponding downlink carrier on which the UE can receive a downlink message such as a random access response (RAR)). Specifically, when the value of the indicator is set to “true” or “setup” or “1”, the UE determines that an anchor carrier can be used as a random access carrier; when the value of the indicator is set to “false” or “release” or “0” or the indicator is absent, the UE determines that an anchor carrier cannot be used as a random access carrier; and vice versa.[0107] Optionally, the configuration information further comprises a threshold for the UE to select a carrier for executing a random access, [0148]).
Regarding claims 3 and 21 Xiao teaches, the claims 1 and 19,
Xiao further teaches, wherein the processor is further configure to; receive, via the system information, an indication of a second other carrier for receiving the second random access message (Xiao; [0075], [0147] the sending unit 420 is further configured to: broadcast the configuration information in system information; or send the configuration information by using RRC dedicated signaling.); and
receive the second random access message via the second other carrier based at least in part on the indication of the second other carrier in the system information and in response to receiving the downlink control channel scheduling the second random access message (Xiao; [0104] Optionally, the non-anchor carrier configuration information further comprises a second indicator used to indicate whether a corresponding non-anchor carrier adopts a random access resource configuration of an anchor carrier or indicate whether a PSS/SSS/NPBCH/SIB-NB has been transmitted on the non-anchor carrier (if a PSS/SSS/NPBCH/SIB-NB has been transmitted on the non-anchor carrier, the non-anchor carrier can adopt the random access resource).
Regarding claims 4 and 22 Xiao teaches, the claims 1 and 19,
Xiao further teaches, wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via the downlink control channel, an indication of a second other carrier for receiving the second random access message (Xiao; [0206] a carrier used for performing a random access (process) may actually be considered as a carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier and a corresponding uplink carrier. It may thus be considered that the execution of a random access on a carrier as described in the present invention generally comprises: sending a preamble and/or sending a MSG3 on an uplink carrier of a carrier pair, and receiving an RAR and/or a MSG4 on a corresponding downlink carrier of the carrier pair); and
receive the second random access message via the second other carrier based at least in part on the indication of the second other carrier in the downlink control channel and in response to receiving the downlink control channel scheduling the second random access message (Xiao; [0207], [0214] UE behavior 4: The UE is NB-IoT UE and is configured with a non-anchor carrier; in regard to a non-contention-based random access, if a random access preamble is sent on another non-anchor carrier supporting a random access which is different from the configured non-anchor carrier, the UE determines that a UL grant contained in an RAR is valid for the configured non-anchor carrier.).
Regarding claims 5 and 23 Xiao teaches, the claims 1 and 19,
Xiao further teaches,wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via the first other carrier, a second downlink control channel scheduling a third random access message based at least in part on the indication of the first other carrier in the system information (Xiao; [0147], [0215] UE behavior 5: The UE is NB-IoT UE and is configured with a non-anchor carrier; in regard to a contention-based random access, if a random access preamble is sent on another non-anchor carrier supporting a random access which is different from the configured non-anchor carrier, the UE determines that a UL grant or a DL assignment contained in a PDCCH transmission received on a non-anchor carrier on which a preamble is sent or a random access is executed is valid for the configured non-anchor carrier).
Regarding claims 6 and 24 Xiao teaches, the claims 1 and 19,
Xiao further teaches, wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via a second other carrier, a second downlink control channel scheduling a third random access message based at least in part on receiving the second random access message via the second other carrier (Xiao; [0167-0168] In an implementation, step S520 may comprise: determining, if the switching command message comprises the non-anchor carrier configuration information about the target non-anchor carrier and the switching command message or the target cell system information comprises the random access configuration information corresponding to the target non-anchor carrier, to use the target non-anchor carrier to perform a random access.).
Regarding claim 7 Xiao teaches, The apparatus of claim 1,
Xiao further teaches,wherein the processor is further configure to: receive an indication of a third other carrier for a second downlink control channel scheduling a third random access message, wherein the indication of the third other carrier is received via the system information, the downlink control channel, the second random access message, or any combination thereof (Xiao; [0180] In an implementation, step S520 may comprise: selecting, if the switching command message comprises the non-anchor carrier configuration information about the target non-anchor carrier, the switching command message or the target cell system information indicates that the target anchor carrier does not support a random access, and the non-anchor carrier configuration information indicates that the target non-anchor carrier does not support a random access, a non-anchor carrier from one or a plurality of carriers supporting a random access to perform a random access, [0190]); and
receive, via the third other carrier, the second downlink control channel based at least in part on the indication of the third other carrier (Xiao; [0181] For example, if the switching command message comprises the non-anchor carrier configuration information and the switching command message or the target cell system information comprises an indication (e.g., the foregoing fourth indicator) for indicating that the target anchor carrier does not support a random access, the UE performs one or a plurality of the following operations: [0182] if the target non-anchor carrier supports a random access, then [0183] if the switching command message comprises a dedicated random access channel configuration)([0190, 0191, 0195]).
Regarding claims 8 and 25 Xiao teaches, the claims 1 and 19,
Xiao further teaches,wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via the first other carrier, a third downlink control channel scheduling a fourth random access message based at least in part on the indication of the first other carrier in the system information (Xiao; [0231] step S710 may comprise: receiving or responding to, if the switching related information comprises the non-anchor carrier configuration information about the target non-anchor carrier, the switching related information or the target cell system information indicates that the target anchor carrier does not support a random access, and the non-anchor carrier configuration information indicates that the target non-anchor carrier does not support a random access, the random access on a non-anchor carrier supporting a random access.[0228, 0231, 0232]).
Regarding claims 9 and 26 Xiao teaches, the claims 1 and 19,
Xiao further teaches, wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via a second other carrier, a third downlink control channel scheduling a fourth random access message based at least in part on receiving the second random access message via the second other carrier (Xiao; [0153] S520, the UE begins to perform downlink synchronization to synchronize to the target anchor carrier and/or receives system information on the target anchor carrier. The system information herein comprises related information to be acquired for executing a random access on the target non-anchor carrier).
Regarding claims 10 and 27 Xiao teaches, the claims 1 and 19,
Xiao further teaches,wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via a third other carrier, a third downlink control channel scheduling a fourth random access message based at least in part on receiving, via the third other carrier, a second downlink control channel scheduling a third random access message (Xiao; [0158] step S520 may comprise: determining, if the switching command message comprises the non-anchor carrier configuration information about the target non-anchor carrier and the switching command message or the target cell system information does not comprise random access configuration information corresponding to the target non-anchor carrier, to use the target anchor carrier to perform a random access).
Regarding claims 11 and 28 Xiao teaches, the claims 1 and 19,
Xiao further teaches,wherein the processor is further configure to: receive an indication of a fourth other carrier for a third downlink control channel scheduling a fourth random access message, wherein the indication of the fourth other carrier is received via the system information, the downlink control channel, the second random access message, a second downlink control channel scheduling a third random access message, or any combination thereof (Xiao; [0206] In the above embodiments, a carrier used for performing a random access (process) may actually be considered as a carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier and a corresponding uplink carrier. It may thus be considered that the execution of a random access on a carrier as described in the present invention generally comprises: sending a preamble and/or sending a MSG3 on an uplink carrier of a carrier pair, and receiving an RAR and/or a MSG4 on a corresponding downlink carrier of the carrier pair [0207]); and
receive, via the fourth other carrier, the third downlink control channel based at least in part on the indication of the fourth other carrier (Xiao; [0207] step S530 may comprise: sending to a target base station a preamble and/or a MSG3 message on an uplink carrier associated with the determined target anchor carrier or non-anchor carrier; and receiving an RAR and/or a MSG4 message from the target base station on a downlink carrier associated with the determined target anchor carrier or non-anchor carrier, [0261] fig. 6).
Regarding claim 12 Xiao teaches, The apparatus of claim 1,
Xiao further teaches,wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via the first other carrier, a fourth random access message based at least in part on the indication of the first other carrier in the system information (Xiao; [0246] the determining unit 820 is further configured to: determine, if the switching command message comprises the non-anchor carrier configuration information about the target non-anchor carrier and the switching command message or target cell system information does not comprise the random access configuration information corresponding to the target non-anchor carrier, to use the target anchor carrier to perform random access).
Regarding claim 13 Xiao teaches, The apparatus of claim 1,
Xiao further teaches,wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via a second other carrier, a fourth random access message based at least in part on receiving the second random access message via the second other carrier (Xiao; [0254] the determining unit 820 is further configured to: select, if the switching command message comprises the non-anchor carrier configuration information about the target non-anchor carrier and the target non-anchor carrier does not support a random access, a non-anchor carrier from one or a plurality of carriers supporting a random access to perform a random access., [0261] fig. 6).
Regarding claim 14 Xiao teaches, The apparatus of claim 1,
Xiao further teaches,wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via a third other carrier, a fourth random access message based at least in part on receiving, via the third other carrier, a second downlink control channel scheduling a third random access message (Xiao; [0257] the random access executing unit 830 is further configured to: send to the target base station a preamble and/or a MSG3 message on an uplink carrier associated with the determined target anchor carrier or non-anchor carrier; and receive an RAR and/or a MSG4 message from the target base station on a downlink carrier associated with the determined target anchor carrier or non-anchor carrier).
Regarding claim 15 Xiao teaches, The apparatus of claim 1,
Xiao further teaches,wherein the processor is further configure to: receive, via a fourth other carrier, a fourth random access message based at least in part on receiving, via the fourth other carrier, a third downlink control channel scheduling the fourth random access message (Xiao; [0248] the determining unit 820 is further configured to: determine, if the switching command message comprises the non-anchor carrier configuration information about the target non-anchor carrier and the switching command message or the target cell system information comprises the random access configuration information corresponding to the target non-anchor carrier, to use the target non-anchor carrier to perform a random access [0012] a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or an upper layer specifies a carrier for the UE to execute a random access, the random access carrier is the specified carrier).
Regarding claim 16 Xiao teaches, The apparatus of claim 1,
Xiao further teaches, wherein the processor is further configure to: receive an indication of a fifth other carrier for a fourth random access message, wherein the indication of the fifth other carrier is received via the system information, the downlink control channel, the second random access message, a second downlink control channel scheduling a third random access message, a third downlink control channel scheduling the fourth random access message, or any combination thereof (Xiao; [0206] In the above embodiments, a carrier used for performing a random access (process) may actually be considered as a carrier pair comprising a downlink carrier and a corresponding uplink carrier. It may thus be considered that the execution of a random access on a carrier as described in the present invention generally comprises: sending a preamble and/or sending a MSG3 on an uplink carrier of a carrier pair, and receiving an RAR and/or a MSG4 on a corresponding downlink carrier of the carrier pair [0207], [0026] indicating an one or a plurality of non-anchor carriers supporting a random access; and sending to user equipment (UE) the configuration information for the UE to perform a random access.); and
receive via the fifth other carrier, the fourth other carrier random access message based at least in part on the indication of the fifth other carrier (Xiao; [0207] step S530 may comprise: sending to a target base station a preamble and/or a MSG3 message on an uplink carrier associated with the determined target anchor carrier or non-anchor carrier; and receiving an RAR and/or a MSG4 message from the target base station on a downlink carrier associated with the determined target anchor carrier or non-anchor carrier, [0261] fig. 6).
Regarding claim 17 Xiao teaches, The apparatus of claim 1,
Xiao further teaches, wherein the processor is further configure to: wherein the cell comprises a flexible cell that includes a set of non-aggregated carriers, the set of non-aggregated carriers comprising the anchor carrier (Xiao; [0005] NB-IoT, UE performs a random access process on only an anchor carrier.); and
the one or more other carriers and the one or more other carriers comprises one or more non-anchor carriers (Xiao; [0005] After a base station (eNB) configures a non-anchor carrier for UE, the UE will operate on the non-anchor carrier).
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.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiao as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wang et al. (Wang hereafter) (US 20180160407 A1).
Regarding claim 18 Xiao teaches, The apparatus of claim 1,
Xiao fails to explicitly teach, wherein the second random access message is a message 2 (msg2) and the random access procedure is a four-step random access procedure; or the second random access message is a message B (msgB) and the random access procedure is a two-step random access procedure.
Wang teaches, wherein the second random access message is a message 2 (msg2) and the random access procedure is a four-step random access procedure; or the second random access message is a message B (msgB) and the random access procedure is a two-step random access procedure. (Wang; [0061] In the wireless communication procedure WCP2, the user equipment 13 first transmits a random access preamble message (i.e., a first message (MSG1)) to the base station 11 on the uplink non-anchor carrier pair 431, and then the base station 11 transmits a random access response message (i.e., the second message (MSG2)) to the user equipment 13 on the downlink non-anchor carrier pair 433. If the random access response message comprises a random access preamble ID that is consistent with the random access preamble message, then the user equipment 13 and the base station 11 will continue the subsequent random access processing (i.e., the processing of the third message (MSG3) and the fourth message (MSG4)).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to create the invention of Xiao to include the above recited limitations as taught by Wang in order to perform the wireless communication (Wang; [0046]).
Conclusion
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/W. T/ Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416