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
This office action is in response to amendment filed on 6/18/26. Claims 1-24 are currently pending.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al. (US 2025/0247753).
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches a method by a terminal (UE), the method comprising:
selecting, by the terminal, a first cell (see “A wireless connection can be established between
the base station 120 and the user equipment 110 through a radio air interface” [0034] which suggests the UE selects a cell of the base station since it has an established wireless connection with it);
receiving, by the terminal in the first cell, a first system information block (MIB) of the first cell, wherein the first system information block of the first cell comprises a first field (cell barred identifier) that indicates either that corresponding cell is barred or that corresponding cell is not barred (allowed) (see “In one embodiment, the MIB includes a cell barred (cellbar) identifier and/or a cell reselection identifier. The cell barred identifier is used to indicate whether access to the cell is allowed” [0041]);
receiving, by the terminal in the first cell and based on the first system information block of the first cell, a second system information block (SIB) of the first cell (see “In one embodiment, when the specified UE determines that the cell barred identifier in the MIB indicates access barred, the specified UE determines the execution of the cell reselection operation according to the cell reselection identifier in the MIB and/or the cell reselection identifier for the specified UE in the SIB” [0055]), wherein the second system information block comprises a second field (intra-frequency reselection identifier) that indicates either that intra frequency reselection is allowed or that intra frequency reselection is not allowed (see “In an embodiment, the cell reselection identifier includes an intra-frequency reselection identifier. Here, the intra-frequency reselection identifier may indicate that intra frequency cell reselection is allowed or intra-frequency cell reselection is not allowed” [0061]); and
performing, by the terminal in the first cell and based on the second field, cell reselection to a second cell (cell reselection operation) that is different from the first cell in case that the first field indicates that the first cell is barred (MIB indicates access barred) (see “In one embodiment, when the specified UE determines that the cell barred identifier in the MIB indicates access barred, the specified UE determines the execution of the cell reselection operation according to the cell reselection identifier in the MIB and/or the cell reselection identifier for the specified UE in the SIB” [0055], wherein the second cell is:
on same frequency as the first cell in case that the second field indicates intra frequency reselection is allowed (see “If the UE determines that the intra-frequency reselection identifier indicates that reselection is allowed, it is determined that the UE is allowed to reselect cells with the same frequency as the barred cell” [0042]); or
on different frequency from the first cell in case that the second field indicates intra frequency resection is not allowed (see “If the UE determines that the intra-frequency reselection identifier indicates that reselection is not allowed, it is determined that the UE is not allowed to reselect cells with the same frequency as the barred cell” [0042] which suggests that UE reselects a cell on a “different frequency”).
Claim 24 recites subject matter similar to claim 1 and is therefore rejected on the same basis.
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(s) 4-9, 12-17, and 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 2025/0247753) in view of Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057).
Regarding claim 4, Li teaches receiving, by the terminal in the second cell, a first system information block (MIB) of the second cell, wherein the first system information block of the second cell comprises the first field (cell barred identifier) that indicates the second cell is not barred (allowed) (see “In one embodiment, the MIB includes a cell barred (cellbar) identifier and/or a cell reselection identifier. The cell barred identifier is used to indicate whether access to the cell is allowed” [0041] wherein the UE may receive MIB of a second cell with a cell barred identifier indicating allowed during reselection), but does not explicitly teach receiving, by the terminal in the second cell and based on the first system information block of the second cell, a second system information block of the second cell, wherein the second system information block of the second cell comprises parameters related to a random access; and performing, by the terminal in the second cell and based on the parameters related to random access, the random access. In an analogous prior art reference, Jang teaches receiving, by the terminal in the second cell and based on the first system information block of the second cell, a second system information block (SIB1) of the second cell, wherein the second system information block of the second cell comprises parameters related to a random access (see “Alternatively, the UE may receive (6-17) an SIB1 by using pdcch-ConfigSIB1 information in the MIB…” [par 72] and “Meanwhile, the SIB1 may deliver various necessary parameters to UEs in the cell when the UE needs to perform random access to the corresponding base station” [par 73]); and performing, by the terminal in the second cell and based on the parameters related to random access, the random access (UE performs random access based on random access parameters received in SIB1). 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 Li to allow receiving, by the terminal in the second cell and based on the first system information block of the second cell, a second system information block of the second cell, wherein the second system information block of the second cell comprises parameters related to a random access; and performing, by the terminal in the second cell and based on the parameters related to random access, the random access, as taught by Jang, in order to allow the UE to establish a connection with a cell during reselection.
Regarding claim 5, Jang teaches the method of claim 4, wherein the performing the random access further comprises:
transmitting a preamble [Fig. 6, 6-29];
receiving a Random Access Response (RAR) [Fig. 6, 6-33];
transmitting a Msg 3 [Fig. 6, 6-35];
receiving a Msg 4 [Fig. 6, 6-39]; and
transmitting a positive feedback (HARQ/ACK) for the Msg 4 (see “Uplink HARQ ACK/NACK information for a downlink data transmission may be transmitted through Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)” [par 35]).
or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).].
Regarding claim 6, Jang teaches the method of claim 5, wherein the preamble is transmitted based on a first parameter (msg1-FrequencyStart) related to transmission resource in a frequency domain in case that the first parameter related to transmission resource in the frequency domain is present in the second system information block of the second cell (see “That is, the UE may have to select a PRACH resource to transmit a preamble; if the base station has separately signaled parameters (prach-ConfigurationIndex, msg1-FDM, msg1-FrequencyStart, etc.) specifying the time-frequency resource of the PRACH resource, the NR lite UE may transmit (6-29) a preamble via a PRACH resource for the type 2 UE” [par 80] which suggests the UE transmits the preamble on msg1-FrequencyStart for the type 2 UE when it is separately signaled or “present” as claimed).
Regarding claim 7, Jang teaches the method of claim 6, wherein the preamble is transmitted based on a second parameter (msg1-Frequency start) related to transmission resource in the frequency domain in case that the first parameter related to transmission resource in the frequency domain is not present in the second system information block of the second cell (see “If only one parameter set (prach-ConfigurationIndex, msg1-FDM, msg1-FrequencyStart, etc.) for specifying the time-frequency resource of the PRACH resource is signaled in RACH-ConfigCommon, the UE may transmit (6-29) a preamble via a common PRACH resource” [par 80] which suggests the UE transmits the preamble on msg1-FrequencyStart for a common UE when a PRACH resource for the type 2 UE is not signaled or “not present” as claimed).
Regarding claim 8, Jang teaches the method of claim 5, wherein the preamble is transmitted in a transmission opportunity in time domain based on a first configuration index (prach-ConfigurationIndex) in case that the first configuration index is indicated in the second system information block of the second cell (see “That is, the UE may have to select a PRACH resource to transmit a preamble; if the base station has separately signaled parameters (prach-ConfigurationIndex, msg1-FDM, msg1-FrequencyStart, etc.) specifying the time-frequency resource of the PRACH resource, the NR lite UE may transmit (6-29) a preamble via a PRACH resource for the type 2 UE” [par 80] which suggests the UE transmits the preamble based on prach-ConfigurationIndexfor the type 2 UE when it is separately signaled or “present” as claimed).
Regarding claim 9, Jang teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the preamble is transmitted in a transmission opportunity in time domain based on a second configuration index (prach-ConfigurationIndex) in case that the first configuration index is not indicated in the second system information block of the second cell (see “If only one parameter set (prach-ConfigurationIndex, msg1-FDM, msg1-FrequencyStart, etc.) for specifying the time-frequency resource of the PRACH resource is signaled in RACH-ConfigCommon, the UE may transmit (6-29) a preamble via a common PRACH resource” [par 80] which suggests the UE transmits the preamble on msg1-FrequencyStart for a common UE when a PRACH resource for a type 2 UE is not signaled or “not present” as claimed).
Regarding claim 12, Jang teaches the method of claim 5, wherein the RAR includes:
an uplink grant for Msg 3 transmission (see “More specifically, if the NR-lite UE has used a separate PRACH resource for NR-lite when transmitting the preamble and pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight has been signaled, the UE may determine K2 by using pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight and time domain resource assignment of the UL grant of the RAR and transmit (6-35) the PUSCH (i.e., Msg3 in this example)” [par 81]);
a time domain allocation indicator (time domain resource assignment) (see “More specifically, if the NR-lite UE has used a separate PRACH resource for NR-lite when transmitting the preamble and pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight has been signaled, the UE may determine K2 by using pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight and time domain resource assignment of the UL grant of the RAR and transmit (6-35) the PUSCH (i.e., Msg3 in this example)” [par 81]); and
a temporary identifier for the terminal (see “The RAR message may include identifier information of the preamble used at step 4-11, and may include uplink transmission timing adjustment information, uplink resource allocation information to be used at a subsequent step (i.e., step 4-31), temporary UE identifier information, and the like” [par 49]).
Regarding claim 13, Jang teaches the method of claim 5, wherein the transmission of the Msg 3 is performed based on an uplink grant in the RAR (see “More specifically, if the NR-lite UE has used a separate PRACH resource for NR-lite when transmitting the preamble and pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight has been signaled, the UE may determine K2 by using pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight and time domain resource assignment of the UL grant of the RAR and transmit (6-35) the PUSCH (i.e., Msg3 in this example)” [par 81]).
Regarding claim 14, Jang teaches the method of claim 5, wherein transmission period of the Msg 3 is determined based on a time domain allocation indicator in the RAR and a first list for time domain allocation (pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight) in case that the first list for time domain allocation is present in the second system information block of the second cell (see “More specifically, if the NR-lite UE has used a separate PRACH resource for NR-lite when transmitting the preamble and pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight has been signaled, the UE may determine K2 by using pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight and time domain resource assignment of the UL grant of the RAR and transmit (6-35) the PUSCH (i.e., Msg3 in this example)” [par 81] which suggests the UE uses pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight, or “a first list for time domain allocation” when it is signaled in SIB1).
Regarding claim 15, Jang teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the transmission period of the Msg 3 is determined based on the time domain allocation indicator in the RAR and a second list for time domain allocation in case that:
the first list for time domain allocation is not present in the second system information block of the second cell; and
the second list for time domain allocation is present in the second system information block of the second cell (see “However, if a normal PRACH resource has been used when transmitting the preamble, or if a PRACH resource for NR-lite has been used but pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight is not signaled, the UE may determine K2 by using pusch-TimeDomainAllocationList and the time domain resource assignment of the RAR UL grant and transmit (6-35) the PUSCH (i.e., Msg3 in this example)” [par 81] which suggests the UE uses pusch-TimeDomainAllocationList, or “a second list for time domain allocation”, when pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight is not present).
Regarding claim 16, Jang teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the transmission period of the Msg 3 is determined based on the time domain allocation indicator in the RAR and a default list for time domain allocation in case that:
the first list for time domain allocation is not present in the second system information block of the second cell;
and the second list for time domain allocation is not present in the second system information block of the second cell (see “if both pusch-TimeDomainAllocationList and are included, the NR-lite UE may determine K2 by using pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListLight; if neither is included, K2 may be determined by using a default (i.e., pre-configured in the UE) table defined in 3GPP TS 38.214” [par 78] which suggests the UE uses a default list when puschTimeDomainAllocationListLight, or a “first list for time domain allocation”, and puschTimeDomainAllocationList, or a ”second list for time domain allocation” is not included in SIB1).
Regarding claim 17, Jang teaches the method of claim 5, wherein the Msg 4 includes a downlink Radio Resource Control (RRC) message for RRC connection setup (see “Then, after transmitting Msg3, the UE may receive (6-37) scheduling from the base station, and may receive (6-39) Msg4” [par 82]).
Regarding claim 21, Jang teaches the method of claim 5, wherein a first timer (raResponseWindow) is started after the preamble is transmitted (see “…if parameters separately configured for NR-lite are included in SIB1, it may apply preambleTransMax, ra-ResponseWindow; ra-ContentionResolutionTimer, and RAR window length separately configured for NR-lite to perform RAR reception, Msg3 transmission, and determination of the successfulness of random access” [par 84]).
Regarding claim 22, Jang teaches the method of claim 16, wherein a first timer is set to a value indicated by a first ra-ResponseWindow in case that the first ra-ResponseWindow is included in the second system information block of the second cell (see “…if parameters separately configured for NR-lite are included in SIB1, it may apply preambleTransMax, ra-ResponseWindow; ra-ContentionResolutionTimer, and RAR window length separately configured for NR-lite to perform RAR reception, Msg3 transmission, and determination of the successfulness of random access” [par 84]) which suggests UE uses ra-ResponseWindow for NR lite if it is included in SIB1).
Regarding claim 23, Jang teaches the method of claim 17, wherein a first timer is set to a value indicated by a second ra-ResponseWindow in case that a first ra-ResponseWindow is not included in the second system information block of the second cell (see “However, if parameters separately configured for NR-lite are not included in SIB1, the UE may apply preambleTransMax, ra-ResponseWindow, ra-ContentionResolutionTimer, and RAR window length for a normal NR UE to perform RAR reception, Msg3 transmission, and determination of the successfulness of random access” [par 84] which suggests UE uses ra-ResponseWindow for a normal NR UE when ra-ResponseWindow for NR lite is not included).
Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 2025/0247753) in view of Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of MolavianJazi et al. (US 2021/0076384).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Li and Jang does not explicitly teach wherein the RAR is received based on a first search space and a first CORESET in case that a first search space identifier for random access is indicated in the second system information block of the second cell. In an analogous prior art reference, MolavianJazi teaches a RAR is received based on a first search space (Type1-PDCCH CCS set) and a first CORESET in case that a first search space identifier (RA-RNTI) for random access is indicated in the second system information block of the second cell (see “From the physical layer perspective, the type-2 L1 random access procedure includes the transmission of random-access preamble in a PRACH and of a PUSCH (MsgA) and the reception of a RAR message with a PDCCH/PDSCH (MsgB)” [par 147] and “In response to a transmission of a PRACH and a PUSCH, a UE attempts to detect a DCI format 1_0 with CRC scrambled by a corresponding RA-RNTI/MsgB-RNTI during a window controlled by higher layers as shown in NR specification” [par 150] and “The window starts at the first symbol of the earliest CORESET the UE is configured to receive PDCCH for Type1-PDCCH CSS set, as defined in NR specification” [par 151] which suggests the UE receives a RAR based on Type1-PDCCH Common Search Space set, or a “first search space”, and the earliest CORESET, or “first CORESET”). 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 combination of Li and Jang to allow the RAR to be received based on a first search space and a first CORESET in case that a first search space identifier for random access is indicated in the second system information block of the second cell, as taught by MolavianJazi, in order to receive the RAR message with a PDCCH/PDSCH.
Regarding claim 11, Li, Jang, and MolavianJazi in combination teaches the method of claim 10, wherein the RAR is received based on a second search space and a second CORESET in case that the first search space identifier for random access is not indicated in the second system information block of the second cell (see “However, if parameters separately configured for NR-lite are not included in SIB1, the UE may apply preambleTransMax, ra-ResponseWindow, ra-ContentionResolutionTimer, and RAR window length for a normal NR UE to perform RAR reception, Msg3 transmission, and determination of the successfulness of random access” [Jang; par 84] which suggests that a UE would use a Type1-PDCCH CSS set and CORESET for a normal UE if a Type1-PDCCH CSS set and CORESET for a NR-lite UE are not included in SIB1 in the combination of Li, Jang, and MolavianJazi).
Claim(s) 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 2025/0247753) in view of Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of KIM et al. (US 20230292322).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Li and Jang does not explicitly teach wherein transmission resource for the positive feedback is determined from a first index corresponding to cell-specific Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource parameters, in case that the first index is indicated in the second system information block of the second cell. In an analogous prior art reference, Kim teaches a transmission resource for the positive feedback (ACK) is determined from a first index corresponding to cell-specific Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource parameters, in case that the first index is indicated in the second system information block of the second cell (see “In relation to PUCCH resource sets, if a UE does not have dedicated PUCCH resource configuration, provided by PUCCH-ResourceSet in PUCCH-Config, a PUCCH resource set is provided by pucch-ResourceCommon through an index to a row of Table 14 for transmission of HARQ-ACK information on PUCCH in an initial UL BWP of N.sub.BWP.sup.size PRBs” [par 500]). 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 combination of Li and Jang to allow a transmission resource for the positive feedback to be determined from a first index corresponding to cell-specific Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource parameters, in case that the first index is indicated in the second system information block of the second cell, as taught by Kim, in order to transmit Msg4 ACK/NACK.
Regarding claim 19, Li, Jang, and Kim in combination teaches the method of claim 18, wherein transmission resource for the positive feedback is determined from a second index corresponding to cell-specific Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource parameters, in case that the second index is indicated in the second system information block of the second cell (see “However, if parameters separately configured for NR-lite are not included in SIB1, the UE may apply preambleTransMax, ra-ResponseWindow, ra-ContentionResolutionTimer, and RAR window length for a normal NR UE to perform RAR reception, Msg3 transmission, and determination of the successfulness of random access” [Jang; par 84] which suggests that a UE would use a index for pucch-ResourceCommon for a normal UE if pucch-ResourceCommon for a NR-lite UE are not included in SIB1 in the combination of Li, Jang, and Kim).
Regarding claim 20, Kim teaches the method of claim 18, wherein cell specific PUCCH resource parameters comprise:
a parameter related to PUCCH format;
a parameter related to PUCCH time period (duration);
and a parameter related to PUCCH code (cyclic shift index set) (see “The PUCCH resource set includes sixteen resources, each corresponding to a PUCCH format, a first symbol, a duration, a PRB offset RB.sub.BWP.sup.offset, and a cyclic shift index set for a PUCCH transmission” [par 501]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-3 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 4-26 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nam T Huynh whose telephone number is (571)272-5970. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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/NAM T HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
