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 7/2/26. Claims 1-26 are currently pending.
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, 4, and 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2024/0155442) in view of Takahashi et al. (JP 2019036869 see translation for citations).
Regarding claim 1, Jang teaches a method comprising:
selecting, by a terminal (UE), a first cell (base station) (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]);
considering, by the terminal, the first cell as barred in case that:
a first field (cellBarred) indicates the first cell is barred (see “Thereafter, the terminal may receive an SSB transmitted from the base station 6-03 (6-13). The SSB includes an MIB…” [par 89] and cellBarred field of MIB which may be barred or notBarred [Table 2]; and
performing, by the terminal in the first cell, cell reselection to a second cell, wherein the second cell is on the same frequency as the first cell (see “The other SIB information may separately indicate by which cells on the same frequency (SIB2 or SIB3) and a different frequency (SIB4) the RedCap terminal is supported, and thus when the terminal reselects a cell due to a change in signal strength, etc., the other SIB information may be used to reselect a cell supporting the RedCap terminal” [par 102]),
wherein the first field indicates that either the first cell is barred or the first cell is not barred (cellBarred field indicates whether a cell is barred or notBarred [par 89, Table 2]), and
wherein the first filed is comprised in a Master Information Block (MIB) of the first cell [par 89, Table 2].
Jang teaches the first field may indicate the first cell is not barred (see “By determining accessibility to the corresponding cell via the MIB and SIB1 (6-19), if it is determined that the cell is not barred, the terminal may receive other SIB information from the corresponding cell (6-21)” [par 102], but does not explicitly teach considering, by the terminal, the first cell is barred in case that a System Information Block 1 (SIB1) does not comprise a second field; wherein the second field indicates either intra frequency reselection is allowed or intra frequency reselection is not allowed. In an analogous prior art reference, Takahashi teaches considering, by a terminal (user device), the first cell is barred (excluded from cell selection/reselection) in case that a System Information Block 1 (SIB1) does not comprise a second field (intraFreqReselection); wherein the second field indicates either intra frequency reselection is allowed or intra frequency reselection is not allowed (see “…there is a possibility that intraFreqReselection will not be set in SIB1, so the user device 20 determines whether intraFreqReselection is included in SIB1 (step S203)” [par 34] and “…SIB1 is received from base station 10 but intraFreqReselection is not included in SIB1, the user device 20 determines that access to the base station 10's cell is unavailable for a predetermined period of time, and excludes the cell from cell selection/cell reselection)” [par 35] and “…no intraFreqReselection is notified from base station 10 (step S202: No or step S203: No), the user device 20 excludes the cell from cell selection/cell reselection for a predetermined period of time” [par 36]). 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 considering, by the terminal, the first cell is barred in case that a System Information Block 1 (SIB1) does not comprise a second field; wherein the second field indicates either intra frequency reselection is allowed or intra frequency reselection is not allowed, as taught by Takahashi, in order to control cell selection/reselection of the terminal when intraFreqReselection is not set in SIB1.
Regarding claim 4, Jang teaches the method of claim 1, the method further comprising:
receiving, by the terminal in a third cell, a MIB of the third cell, wherein the MIB of the third cell comprises a third field that indicates the third cell is not barred (see “If access barring or accessibility information for a RedCap 1RX UE is not indicated in the MIB, the terminal may additionally determine accessibility to the corresponding cell by using pdcch-ConfigSIB1 information” [par 93] which suggests the terminal may reselect a third cell and receive a MIB that indicates notBarred);
receiving, by the terminal in the third cell and based on the MIB of the third cell, a SIB1 of the third cell, wherein the SIB1 of the third cell comprises parameters related to random access (PRACH occasions) (see “By determining accessibility to the corresponding cell via the MIB and SIB1 (6-19), if it is determined that the cell is not barred, the terminal may receive other SIB information from the corresponding cell (6-21)” [par 102] and “If the SIB1 is received, the terminal may be aware of the total number of SSBs transmitted by the base station, and may identify locations (assuming a scenario in which a PRACH occasion is allocated every 1 ms in this illustrated drawing: 3-30 to 3-39) of physical random access channel (PRACH) occasions in which the terminal may perform random access to transition to the connected mode state (more precisely, may transmit a preamble which is a physical signal specially designed for uplink synchronization)” [par 61] which suggests the terminal may receive MIB indicating that the cell is not barred and receive SIB1 with PRACH occasions); and
performing, by the terminal and based on the parameters related to random access, the random access in the third cell (see “For example, the terminal 6-01 may transmit a random access preamble (or a preamble or Msg 1, hereinafter used interchangeably) to the base station 6-03 (6-31)” [par 104] which initiates random access).
Claim 26 recites subject matter similar to claim 1 and is therefore rejected on the same basis.
Claim(s) 2-3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2024/0155442) in view of Takahashi et al. (JP 2019036869) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; User Equipment (UE) procedures in Idle mode and RRC Inactive state (Release 15)," Technical Specification 38.304, Version 15.4.0 (hereinafter “3GPP”).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Jang and Takahashi does not explicitly teach considering, by the terminal, the first cell is barred in case that the terminal fails to receive the MIB; and performing, by the terminal in the first cell, cell reselection to the second cell. In an analogous prior art reference, 3GPP teaches considering, by the terminal, the first cell is barred in case that the terminal fails to receive the MIB (see “If the cell is to be treated as if the cell status is "barred" due to being unable to acquire the MIB” [p. 26, Section 5.3.1]); and performing, by the terminal in the first cell, cell reselection to the second cell (see “the UE may select another cell on the same frequency if the selection criteria are fulfilled” [p. 26, Section 5.3.1]). 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 Takahashi to allow considering, by the terminal, the first cell is barred in case that the terminal fails to receive the MIB; and performing, by the terminal in the first cell, cell reselection to the second cell, as taught by 3GPP, in order for the terminal to select another cell when MIB cannot be acquired.
Regarding claim 3, 3GPP teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
considering, by the terminal, the first cell is barred in case that:
the first field indicates that the first cell is barred (see “When cell status "barred" is indicated or to be treated as if the cell status is "barred",” [p. 25, Section 5.3.1]); and
the second field indicates intra frequency reselection is not allowed (see “If the field intraFreqReselection in MIB message is set to "not allowed"…” [p. 26, Section 5.3.1]; and
performing, by the terminal in the first cell, cell reselection to a third cell, wherein the third cell is on a different frequency from the first cell (see “If the field intraFreqReselection in MIB message is set to "not allowed" the UE shall not re-select a cell on the same frequency as the barred cell” [p. 26, Section 5.3.1]).
Claim(s) 5-9, 11-14, and 23-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2024/0155442 hereinafter “Jang ‘442”) in view of Takahashi et al. (JP 2019036869 ) as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057 hereinafter “Jang ‘057”).
Regarding claim 5, Jang ‘442 teaches 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], but does not explicitly teach transmitting a positive feedback for the Msg 4. In an analogous prior art reference Jang ‘057 teaches 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]). 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 ‘442 and Takahashi to allow the random access to comprise transmitting a positive feedback for the Msg4, as taught by Jang ‘057, in order to allow the terminal to acknowledge reception of Msg4.
Regarding claim 6, Jang ‘057 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 SIB1 of the third 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 ‘057 teaches the method of claim 5, 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 SIB1 of the third 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 ‘057 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 SIB1 of the third 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 ‘057 teaches the method of claim 5, 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 SIB1 of the third 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 11, Jang ‘057 teaches the method of claim 5, wherein the RAR includes an uplink grant (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 12, Jang ‘057 teaches the method of claim 11, 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 13, Jang ‘057 teaches the method of claim 11, wherein the Msg 4 is received by the terminal based on the temporary identifier (C-RNTI) of the terminal (see “…when receiving DCI (6-37) addressed by a temporary C-RNTI assigned in Msg2 for Msg4 reception, the UE may determine KO by applying the value indicated by the time domain resource assignment of the DCI to PDSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocationList and receive Msg4 by applying K0 correspondingly” [par 83]).
Regarding claim 14, Jang ‘057 teaches the method of claim 13, 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 23, Jang ‘057 teaches the method of claim 5, wherein a timer (raContentionResolutionTimer) is started after the Msg 3 is transmitted (see “if parameters separately configured for NR-lite are included in SIB1, it may apply preambleTransMax, ra-ResponseWindow; raContentionResolutionTimer, 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 24, Jang ‘057 teaches the method of claim 23, wherein the timer is set to a value indicated by a first ra-ContentionResolutionTimer in case that the first ra-ContentionResolutionTimer is included in the SIB1 of the third cell (see “if parameters separately configured for NR-lite are included in SIB1, it may apply preambleTransMax, ra-ResponseWindow; raContentionResolutionTimer, 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 sets timer to ra-ContentionResolutionTimer for NR-lite if it is included SIB1).
Regarding claim 25, Jang ‘057 teaches the method of claim 23, wherein the timer is set to a value indicated by a second ra-ContentionResolutionTimer in case that a first ra-ContentionResolutionTimer is not included in the SIB1 of the third 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 sets timer to ra-ContentionResolutionTimer for a normal NR UE, or “second ra-ConentionResolutionTimer”, when a ra-ConentionResolutionTimer for NR-lite is not included in SIB1).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2024/0155442 hereinafter “Jang ‘442”) in view of Takahashi et al. (JP 2019036869), in view of Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057 hereinafter “Jang ‘057”) as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of MolavianJazi et al. (US 2021/0076384).
The combination of Jang ‘442, Takahashi, and Jang ‘057 does not explicitly teach wherein the RAR is received based on a specific search space and a specific CORESET. In an analogous prior art reference, MolavianJazi teaches a RAR is received based on a specific search space (Type1-PDCCH CCS set) and a specific CORESET (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 “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 “specific search space”, and the earliest CORESET, or “specific 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 ‘442, Takahashi, and Jang ‘057 to allow the RAR to be received based on a specific search space and a specific CORESET, as taught by MolavianJazi, in order to receive the RAR message with a PDCCH/PDSCH.
Claim(s) 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2024/0155442 hereinafter Jang ‘442) in view of Takahashi et al. (JP 2019036869), in view of Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057 hereinafter Jang ‘057) as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of KIM et al. (US 20230292322).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Jang ‘442, Takahashi, and Jang ‘057 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 SIB1 of the third 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 SIB1 of the third 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 Jang ‘442, Takahashi, and Jang ‘057 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 SIB1 of the third cell, as taught by Kim, in order to transmit Msg4 ACK/NACK.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Jang ‘442, Takahashi, Jang ‘057, 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 ‘057; 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 ‘442, Takahashi, Jang ‘057, and Kim).
Regarding claim 17, 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]).
Claim(s) 18-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jang et al. (US 2024/0155442 hereinafter “Jang ‘442”) in view of Takahashi et al. (JP 2019036869 hereinafter “Takahashi ‘869”), in view of Jang et al. (US 2023/0132057 hereinafter “Jang ‘057”) as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Takahashi et al. (US 2024/0310897 hereinafter “Takahashi ‘897”).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Jang ‘442, Takahashi ‘869, and Jang ‘057 does not explicitly teach wherein transmission power of the positive feedback is determined based on a first nominal power offset in case that the first nominal power offset is present in the SIB1 of the third cell. In an analogous prior art reference, Takahashi ‘897 teaches transmission power of the positive feedback is determined based on a first nominal power offset (p0-nominal) in case that the first nominal power offset is present in the SIB1 (REDCAP SIB1) of the third cell (see “The parameter pucch-ConfigCommon included in initialUplinkBWP may include… a parameter p0-nominal indicating a power control parameter (P0) for PUCCH transmission” [par 194] and “The initial uplink BWP may be defined/configured in initialUplinkBWP provided in the SIB1 (which may be the REDCAP SIB1, another SIB, or an RRC parameter)” [par 147] which in combination suggests that a nominal power offset may be present in REDCAP SIB1 which suggests “the first nominal power offset is present in the SIB1 of the third cell” which may be used for “transmission power of the positive feedback” since feedback is transmitted on PUCCH). 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 ‘442, Takahashi ‘869, and Jang ‘057 to allow the transmission power of the positive feedback to be determined based on a first nominal power offset in case that the first nominal power offset is present in the SIB1 of the third cell, as taught by Takahashi ‘897, in order to indicate a power control parameter for PUCCH transmission.
Regarding claim 19, Takahashi ‘869 teaches the method of claim 5, wherein transmission power of the positive feedback is determined based on a second nominal power offset (p0-nominal) in case that a first nominal power offset is not present in the SIB1 (another SIB) of the third cell (see “The initial uplink BWP may be defined/configured in initialUplinkBWP provided in the SIB1 (which may be the REDCAP SIB1, another SIB, or an RRC parameter)” [par 147] which suggests that a UE may use the nominal power in another SIB or RRC parameter if REDCAP SIB1 is not present which reads on the claimed “second nominal power offset”).
Regarding claim 20, Takahashi ‘869 teaches the method of claim 5, wherein transmission power of the positive feedback is determined based on a default nominal power offset (p0-nominal) in case that neither a first nominal power offset nor a second nominal power offset is present in the SIB1 (RRC pararmeter) of the third cell (see “The initial uplink BWP may be defined/configured in initialUplinkBWP provided in the SIB1 (which may be the REDCAP SIB1, another SIB, or an RRC parameter)” [par 147] which suggests that a UE would may use the nominal power in a RRC parameter if REDCAP SIB1 and another SIB is not present which reads on the claimed “default nominal power offset”).
Regarding claim 21, the combination of Jang ‘442, Takahashi ‘869, and Jang ‘057 does not explicitly teach wherein paging reception is performed based on a first Search Space (SS) identifier for paging in case that the first SS identifier for paging is indicated in the SIB1 of the first cell. Takahashi ‘897 further teaches a first Search Space (SS) identifier (pagingSearchSpace) for paging in case that the first SS identifier for paging is indicated in the SIB1 (REDCAP SIB1) of the first cell (see “The parameter pdcch-ConfigCommon included in initialDownlinkBWP may include… a parameter pagingSearchSpace indicating an ID of a search space for paging…” [par 157] and “The initial uplink BWP may be defined/configured in initialUplinkBWP provided in the SIB1 (which may be the REDCAP SIB1, another SIB, or an RRC parameter)” [par 147] which in combination suggests the UE may use pagaingSearchSpace if it is indicated in REDCAP 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 combination of Jang ‘442, Takahashi ‘869, and Jang ‘057 to allow paging reception to be performed based on a first Search Space (SS) identifier for paging in case that the first SS identifier for paging is indicated in the SIB1 of the first cell, as taught by Takahashi ‘897, in order to indicate an ID of a search space for paging to the UE.
Regarding claim 22, Takahashi ‘897 teaches the method of claim 1, wherein paging reception is performed based on a second SS identifier for paging in case that a first SS identifier is not indicated in the SIB1 of the first cell (see “The initial uplink BWP may be defined/configured in initialUplinkBWP provided in the SIB1 (which may be the REDCAP SIB1, another SIB, or an RRC parameter)” [par 147] which suggests that a UE would may use the pagingSearchSpace parameter in another SIB if REDCAP SIB1 is not present which reads on the claimed “second SS identifier”).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/2/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claims 1 and 26 (Section III, A, 1-4), Applicant argues that Jang ‘442 does not teach or suggest “considering, by the terminal, the first cell as barred in case that: the first field indicates the first cell is not barred and a System Information Block 1 (SIB1) does not comprise a second field” (referred to as Condition (B)). In response to this argument, the Examiner submits that these arguments have been considered and have been found persuasive, however the claim does not require that Condition (B) be give patentable weight due to the limitations being written in an alternative "or" format which requires the selection of either Condition (A) or Condition (B) in order to meet the claimed limitations as is indicated by MPEP 2143.03 & MPEP 2111.04 Section II. Claims 1 and 26 are therefore not patentable over the combination of Jang and Takahashi because Jang teaches “considering, by the terminal, the first cell as barred in case that: a first field indicates the first cell is barred” (referred to as Condition (A)) as indicated in the rejection above, and Takahashi discloses “If the value of cellBarred in the MIB received by the user device 20 is barred, the user device 20 determines that it cannot connect to the base station 10” [par 29] which also teaches Condition (A).
For these reasons, the combination of Jang and Takahashi teaches all the limitations of claims 1 and 26 including at least ““considering, by the terminal, the first cell as barred in case that: a first field indicates the first cell is barred” and the ground(s) of rejection from the previous office action have been maintained. According claims 2-25 (Section III, B-G) are not patentable by virtue of their dependence on an allowable base claim(s).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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
