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 certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/21/24 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1 and 4-9, 12-17, and 21-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057) in view of LI et al. (US 2023/0156538).
Regarding claim 1, Jang teaches a method by a terminal (UE), the method comprising:
selecting, by the terminal, a first cell (see “…the UE 6-01 may camp on (6-11) a base station where a signal is detected, to receive data transmitted from the network” [par 70]);
receiving, by the terminal in the first cell, a first system information block of the first cell (MIB), wherein the first system information block of the first cell comprises a first field (cellBarred) that indicates either that corresponding cell is barred or that corresponding cell is not barred (see “Thereafter, the UE may receive (6-13) an SSB transmitted from the corresponding base station 6-03. The SSB includes an MIB…” [par 71] and Table 2 “cellBarred”);
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 of the first cell (SIB1) (see “Alternatively, the UE may receive (6-17) an SIB1 by using pdcch-ConfigSIB1 information in the MIB, and determine whether a type 2 UE is supported based on the SIB1 received from the base station” [par 72]).
Jang does not explicitly teach wherein the second system information block comprises a second field that indicates either that intra frequency reselection is allowed or that intra frequency reselection is not allowed; and performing, by the terminal in the first cell and based on the second field, cell reselection to a second cell that is different from the first cell in case that the first field indicates that the first cell is barred, wherein the second cell is: on same frequency as the first cell in case that the second field indicates intra frequency reselection is allowed; or on different frequency from the first cell in case that the second field indicates intra frequency resection is not allowed.
In an analogous prior art reference, LI teaches a second system information block (SIB1) comprises a second field (intraFreqReselection) that indicates either that intra frequency reselection is allowed or that intra frequency reselection is not allowed (see “For example, an information element of the newly added first intra-frequency reselection parameter may be expressed as intraFreqReselection and is used to indicate whether the reduced capability terminal equipment is allowed to perform intra-frequency reselection” [par 114] and “The system information includes a master information block (MIB) or system information block type 1 (SIB1), or RedCap-specific system information” [par 116] which in combination suggests that intraFreqReselection may be included in SIB1); and performing, by the terminal in the first cell and based on the second field, cell reselection to a second cell (another cell) that is different from the first cell in case that the first field indicates that the first cell is barred (barred state), wherein the second cell is: on same frequency as the first cell in case that the second field indicates intra frequency reselection is allowed; or on different frequency from the first cell in case that the second field indicates intra frequency resection is not allowed (see “For example, in the process of cell selection and/or reselection, if this parameter is set to be allowed, when an access state of the current cell is indicated to be in a barred state for the reduced capability terminal equipment, the terminal equipment may select another cell at the same frequency as a current cell. If this parameter is set to be not allowed, when an access state of the current cell is indicated to be in a barred state for the reduced capability terminal equipment, the terminal equipment determines that another cell at the same frequency as the current cell is also barred, or does not reselect another cell at the same frequency” [par 114]). 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 Jang to allow the second system information block to comprises a second field that indicates either that intra frequency reselection is allowed or that intra frequency reselection is not allowed; and performing, by the terminal in the first cell and based on the second field, cell reselection to a second cell that is different from the first cell in case that the first field indicates that the first cell is barred, wherein the second cell is: on same frequency as the first cell in case that the second field indicates intra frequency reselection is allowed; or on different frequency from the first cell in case that the second field indicates intra frequency resection is not allowed, as taught by JI, in order to allow the terminal to determine whether the second cell and/or the frequency of the second cell is a candidate cell and/or a candidate frequency in the cell selection and/or cell reselection process of the terminal.
Regarding claim 4, Jang teaches the method of claim 1, the method further comprising:
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 (cellBarred) that indicates the second cell is not barred (see “Thereafter, the UE may receive (6-13) an SSB transmitted from the corresponding base station 6-03. The SSB includes an MIB…” [par 71] and Table 2 “cellBarred” which suggests UE may receive MIB with cellBarred indicating notBarred);
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).
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 24 recites subject matter similar to claim 1 and is therefore rejected on the same basis.
Claim(s) 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057) in view of LI et al. (US 2023/0156538) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of MolavianJazi et al. (US 2021/0076384).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Jang and LI 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 Jang and LI 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 10, Jang, LI, 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 Jang, LI, and MolavianJazi).
Claim(s) 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057) in view of LI et al. (US 2023/0156538) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of KIM et al. (US 20230292322).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Jang and LI 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 Lang and LI 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, Jang, LI, 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 Jang, LI, 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.
Conclusion
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/NAM T HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647