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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on March 12, 2024 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 12 should be amended to read, “wherein the first set of operations further comprises Master Information Block of the candidate cell based on one or more parameters comprised…”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-8, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0374130) and further in view of Yuan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0113318).
Regarding Claim 1, Zhou et al. teaches A method by a terminal (Zhou et al. teaches a layer 1/2 triggered mobility (para. [0046]; FIG. 37)), the method comprising: receiving, by the terminal from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message (Zhou et al. teaches that a source gNB forwards the HO (e.g., contained in RRC reconfiguration messages of the target gNB, cell group configuration IE of the target gNB, and SpCell configuration IE of a target PCell/SCells of the target gNB) message received from the target gNB to the wireless device (para. [0358]); a layer 1/2 candidate PCell configuration in RRC reconfiguration comprises a list of candidate target PCells, each candidate target PCell being associated with dedicated RACH resources for the RA procedure (para. [0359])), wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises one or more inner RRC reconfiguration messages and one or more first identifiers (Zhou et al. teaches that for each candidate target PCell, the RRC reconfiguration message of the source gNB comprises a capsulated RRC reconfiguration message, of a candidate target gNB is received by the source gNB from a candidate target gNB via X2/Xn interface (para. [0360]); the wireless device, according to the received RRC reconfiguration messages perform Layer 1/2 measurement report for the list of candidate target PCells (para. [0364]), indicating that the identifies of target PCells are included in the RRC reconfiguration message); performing, by the terminal and based on an inner RRC reconfiguration message, a first set of operations for a candidate cell associated with the inner RRC reconfiguration message (Zhou et al. teaches that the wireless device starts to perform downlink synchronization toward the target PCell (para. [0388])), wherein the first set of operations comprises downlink synchronization (Zhou et al. teaches that the wireless device starts to perform downlink synchronization toward the target PCell (para. [0388])); receiving, by the terminal from the base station, a first downlink (DL) Medium Access Control (MAC) message or a second DL MAC message (Zhou et al. teaches that the source gNB transmits to the wireless device a first DCI/MAC CE configuring/indicating a first candidate target cell of the candidate target cells (PCells/SCells)(para. [0368]); wireless device performs UL synchronization by conducting RACH procedure, where performing UL synchronization comprises monitoring PDCCH on an active BWP for receiving RAR and/or obtaining the TA (para. [0332]); the new cell is one of the neighbor (non-serving) cells used in the ICBM procedure indicated by the first DCI/MAC CE (para. [0376]); in response to receiving the second DCI/MAC CE, the wireless device changes the PCell from cell 0 to cell 1 (para. [0378]; FIG. 37)); and adjusting, by the terminal and based on a timing advance command, an uplink transmission timing of a cell (Zhou et al. teaches that after completing the UL synchronization, the wireless device obtains the TA to be used for PUSCH/PUCCH transmission via the target PCell (para. [0332]); the wireless device, by using TA to adjust uplink transmission timing, transmits PUSCH/PUCCH via the target PCell (para. [0332]); Msg B comprises a timing advance command (para. [0210])), wherein the cell is: a specific candidate cell in case that the first DL MAC message is received (Zhou et al. teaches the source gNB transmits to the wireless device a first DCI/MAC CE configuring/indicating a first candidate target cell of the candidate target cells (PCells/SCells)(para. [0368]); the new cell is one of the neighbor (non-serving) cells used in the ICBM procedure indicated by the first DCI/MAC CE (para. [0376])); and a specific serving cell in case that the second DL MAC message is received (Zhou et al. teaches the source gNB transmits to the wireless device a first DCI/MAC CE configuring/indicating a first candidate target cell of the candidate target cells (PCells/SCells)(para. [0368]); in response to receiving the second DCI/MAC CE, the wireless device changes the PCell from cell 0 to cell 1 (para. [0378]; FIG. 37)).
Although teaching that the MAC CE includes a timing advance command, and that MAC CE indicates a first candidate target cell and new PCell as noted above, Zhou et al. does not explicitly teach
wherein the first DL MAC message comprises: a timing advance command field; and a first identifier field, wherein the second DL MAC message comprises: a timing advance command field; and a second identifier field, wherein the specific candidate cell is determined based on the first identifier indicated in the first identifier field, and wherein the specific serving cell is determined based on a second identifier indicated in the second identifier field. Yuan et al. teaches such limitations.
Yuan et al. is directed to communication method and apparatus. More specifically, Yuan et al. teaches wherein the first DL MAC message comprises: a timing advance command field; and a first identifier field (Yuan et al. teaches that the MAC CE command includes a virtual cell ID field and a TAC field (para. [0213]; FIG. 6h)), wherein the second DL MAC message comprises: a timing advance command field; and a second identifier field (Yuan et al. teaches that the MAC CE command includes a virtual cell ID field and a TAC field (para. [0213]; FIG. 6h)), wherein the specific candidate cell is determined based on the first identifier indicated in the first identifier field (Yuan et al. teaches that when a physical cell identifier associated with the virtual cell ID in the MAC CE command is not a serving cell ID, the signaling is used to update the first uplink sending timing advance (para. [0213])), and wherein the specific serving cell is determined based on a second identifier indicated in the second identifier field (Yuan et al. teaches that when a physical cell identifier associated with the virtual cell ID in the MAC CE command is a serving cell ID, the signaling is used to update the second uplink sending timing advance (para. [0213])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. so that the DL MAC message comprises a timing advance command field and an identifier field, as taught by Yuan et al. The modification would have allowed the system to adjust timing advance (see Yuan et al., para. [0003]).
Regarding Claim 2, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 1, and further, the references teach wherein each of the one or more inner RRC reconfiguration messages is associated with at least one candidate cell (Zhou et al. teaches that for each candidate target PCell, the RRC reconfiguration message of the source gNB comprises a capsulated RRC reconfiguration message, of a candidate target gNB is received by the source gNB from a candidate target gNB via X2/Xn interface (para. [0360])).
Regarding Claim 3, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 1, and further, the references teach wherein each of the one or more first identifiers is associated with one of the one or more inner RRC reconfiguration messages (Zhou et al. teaches that for each candidate target PCell, the RRC reconfiguration message of the source gNB comprises a capsulated RRC reconfiguration message, of a candidate target gNB is received by the source gNB from a candidate target gNB via X2/Xn interface (para. [0360]); the wireless device, according to the received RRC reconfiguration messages perform Layer 1/2 measurement report for the list of candidate target PCells (para. [0364])).
Regarding Claim 4, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 1, and further, the references teach wherein an amount of uplink transmission timing of the specific candidate cell is determined based on the timing advance command field in the first DL MAC message (Zhou et al. teaches that the wireless device performs UL synchronization by conducting RACH procedure, where performing UL synchronization comprises monitoring PDCCH on an active BWP for receiving RAR and/or obtaining the TA (para. [0332]); the wireless device, by using the TA to adjust uplink transmission timing, transmits PUSCH/PUCCH via the target PCell, and that the adjusting uplink transmission timing comprises advancing or delay the transmissions by the amount indicated by a value of TA (para. [0332])).
Regarding Claim 5, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 4, and further, the references teach wherein the amount of uplink transmission timing of the specific candidate cell is further determined based on a specific timing advance command offset (Yuan et al. teaches that the network device updates the uplink sending timing advance by using MAC CE signaling, and that timing advance command field in the MAC CE signaling indicates an adjustment amount T.sub.A of the uplink sending timing advance (para. [0139]); TAC includes a TA offset (para. [0210]; FIG. 6d)).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. so that the amount of uplink transmission timing of the specific candidate cell is further determined based on a specific timing advance command offset, as taught by Yuan et al. The modification would have allowed the system to adjust timing advance (see Yuan et al., para. [0003]).
Regarding Claim 7, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 1, and further, the references teach wherein an amount of uplink transmission timing of the specific serving cell is determined based on the timing advance command field in the second DL MAC message (Zhou et al. teaches that UE initiates the random access procedure to acquire uplink timing (para. [0192]); Yuan et al. teaches that the network device updates the uplink sending timing advance by using MAC CE signaling, and that timing advance command field in the MAC CE signaling indicates an adjustment amount T.sub.A of the uplink sending timing advance (para. [0139])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. so that the DL MAC message comprises a timing advance command field and an identifier field, as taught by Yuan et al. The modification would have allowed the system to adjust timing advance (see Yuan et al., para. [0003]).
Regarding Claim 8, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 7, and further, the references teach wherein the amount of uplink transmission timing of the specific serving cell is further determined based on a specific timing advance command offset (Yuan et al. teaches that when a physical cell identifier associated with the virtual cell ID in the MAC CE command is a serving cell ID, the signaling is used to update the second uplink sending timing advance (para. [0213]); that the network device updates the uplink sending timing advance by using MAC CE signaling, and that timing advance command field in the MAC CE signaling indicates an adjustment amount T.sub.A of the uplink sending timing advance (para. [0139])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. so that the amount of transmission timing of the specific serving cell is further determined based on a specific timing advance command offset, as taught by Yuan et al. The modification would have allowed the system to adjust timing advance (see Yuan et al., para. [0003]).
Regarding Claim 19, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 1, and further, the references teach wherein: the first identifier is associated with one or more candidate cells (Zhou et al. teaches the source gNB transmits to the wireless device a first DCI/MAC CE configuring/indicating a first candidate target cell of the candidate target cells (PCells/SCells)(para. [0368]); the new cell is one of the neighbor (non-serving) cells used in the ICBM procedure indicated by the first DCI/MAC CE (para. [0376]); Yuan et al. teaches that when a physical cell identifier associated with the virtual cell ID in the MAC CE command is not a serving cell ID, the signaling is used to update the first uplink sending timing advance (para. [0213])); and the second identifier is associated with one or more serving cells (Zhou et al. teaches the source gNB transmits to the wireless device a first DCI/MAC CE configuring/indicating a first candidate target cell of the candidate target cells (PCells/SCells)(para. [0368]); in response to receiving the second DCI/MAC CE, the wireless device changes the PCell from cell 0 to cell 1 (para. [0378]; FIG. 37); Yuan et al. teaches that when a physical cell identifier associated with the virtual cell ID in the MAC CE command is a serving cell ID, the signaling is used to update the second uplink sending timing advance (para. [0213])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. so that the first identifier is associated with one or more candidate cells, and the second identifier is associated with one or more serving cells, as taught by Yuan et al. The modification would have allowed the system to adjust timing advance (see Yuan et al., para. [0003]).
Regarding Claim 20, Zhou et al. teaches a terminal (Zhou et al. teaches a wireless device (FIG. 15)) comprising: a transceiver (Zhou et al. teaches TX processing system and RX processing system (FIG. 15)), a memory (memory 1524 (FIG. 15)), and a controller (processing system (FIG. 15)). Further, Claim 20 is directed to an apparatus claim and it does not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim 1. Therefore, claim 20 is also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim 1.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0374130), Yuan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0113318), and further in view of Ranta-Aho et al. (WO 2021/214007).
Regarding Claim 6, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 5, and further, the references teach wherein the specific timing advance command offset is indicated in a specific inner RRC reconfiguration message (Zhou et al. teaches that UE initiates the random access procedure to acquire uplink timing (para. [0192]); for each candidate target PCell, the RRC reconfiguration message of the source gNB comprises a capsulated RRC reconfiguration message, of a candidate target gNB is received by the source gNB from a candidate target gNB via X2/Xn interface (para. [0360])).
Howewver, the references do not explicitly teach wherein the specific timing advance command offset is indicated in a specific inner RRC reconfiguration message. Ranta-Aho et al. teaches such a limitation.
Ranta-Aho et al. is directed to determining timing advance. More specifically, Ranta-Aho et al. teaches that BTS sends an RRC reconfiguration request comprising the determined timing advance offset for the target cell to the UE (para. 0117])).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. so that the specific timing advance command offset is indicated in a specific inner RRC reconfiguration message, as taught by Ranta-Aho et al. The modification would have allowed the system to adapt the target cell TA used by the UE to movement of the UE (see Ranta-Aho et al., para. [0120]).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0374130), Yuan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0113318), and further in view of Myung et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0073842).
Regarding Claim 9, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 8, however, the references do not explicitly teach wherein the specific timing advance command offset is indicated in system information. Myung et al. teaches such a limitation.
Myung et al. is directed to method and device for determining and applying timing advance in a communication system. More specifically, Myung et al. teaches that a base station transmits system information including information about a common timing advance offset (para. [0015]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. so that the specific timing advance command offset is indicated in system information, as taught by Myung et al. The modification would have allowed the system to enable UE to correct a time varying delay time (see Myung et al., para. [0012]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0374130), Yuan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0113318), and further in view of Grant et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0064669).
Regarding Claim 10, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 1, however, the references do not explicitly teach wherein the first set of operations further comprises measuring a Synchronization Signal/Physical Broadcast Channel (SSB) of the candidate cell based on a parameter indicating an absolute frequency of SSB comprised in the inner RRC reconfiguration message associated with the candidate cell. Grant et al. teaches such a limitation.
Grant et al. is directed to enhanced cell global identifier reporting. More specifically, Grant et al. teaches that UE obtains the absolute frequency position of the SS/PBCH block on which it should measure via RRC configuration of the measurement object IE MeasObjectNR (para. [0103]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. so that a SSB of the candidate cell is measured based on a parameter indicating an absolute frequency of SSB comprised in the inner RRC reconfiguration message associated with the candidate cell, as taught by Grant et al. The modification would have allowed the system to report its measurement results (see Grant et al., para. [0102]).
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0374130), Yuan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0113318), and further in view of Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0240831, hereinafter referred to as Zhou’831).
Regarding Claim 11, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 1, however, although teaching that the preamble group is determined based on a pathloss measurement (Zhou et al., para. [0197]), the references do not explicitly teach wherein the first set of operations further comprises determining a pathloss of SSB of the candidate cell. Zhou’831 teaches such a limitation.
Zhou’831 is directed to uplink transmission for early time alignment acquisition. More specifically, Zhou’831 teaches that the wireless device determines a RS of the candidate target PCell as a pathloss reference for uplink transmission power calculation of the preamble (para. [0442]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. so that the first set of operation further comprises determining a pathloss of SSB of the candidate cell, as taught by Zhou’831. The modification would have allowed the system to enable UE to determine a correct RS for uplink transmission power calculation for the preamble (see Zhou’831, para. [0442]).
Regarding Claim 12, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 1, however, the references do not explicitly teach wherein the first set of operations further comprises receiving Mater Information Block of the candidate cell based on one or more parameters comprised in the inner RRC reconfiguration message associated with the candidate cell. Zhou’831 teaches such a limitation.
Zhou’831 is directed to uplink transmission for early time alignment acquisition. More specifically, Zhou’831 teaches that based on receiving the one or more RRC messages, the wireless device communicates with the base station via cell 0 and one or more scells, and that communicating with the base station comprises receiving MIBs (para. [0462]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. so that the first set of operation further comprises determining a pathloss of SSB of the candidate cell, as taught by Zhou’831. The modification would have allowed the system to enable UE to determine a correct RS for uplink transmission power calculation for the preamble (see Zhou’831, para. [0442]).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0374130), Yuan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0113318), Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0240831, hereinafter referred to as Zhou’831), and further in view of Grant et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0064669).
Regarding Claim 13, the combined teachings of Zhou et al., Yuan et al., and Zhou’831 teach The method of claim 12, and further, the references teach wherein the one or more parameters comprised in the inner RRC reconfiguration message associated with the candidate cell comprises: a parameter indicating a Synchronization Signal/Physical Broadcast Channel (SSB) position in burst (Zhou et al. teaches that the base station transmits one or more SSBs in a SSB burst (para. [0287]); the base station indicates a transmission periodicity of SSB via RRC message (para. [0288]); the SSB burst is transmitted in a periodicity (para. [0293])).
However, the references do not explicitly teach and a parameter indicating an absolute frequency of SSB. Grant et al. teaches such a limitation.
Grant et al. is directed to enhanced cell global identifier reporting. More specifically, Grant et al. teaches that UE obtains the absolute frequency position of the SS/PBCH block on which it should measure via RRC configuration of the measurement object IE MeasObjectNR (para. [0103]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al., Yuan et al., and Zhou’831 so that a SSB of the candidate cell is measured based on a parameter indicating an absolute frequency of SSB comprised in the inner RRC reconfiguration message associated with the candidate cell, as taught by Grant et al. The modification would have allowed the system to report its measurement results (see Grant et al., para. [0102]).
Claims 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0374130), Yuan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0113318), and further in view of Inoue et al. (WO 2024171627, the machine translation attached is used in mapping).
Regarding Claim 14, the combined teachings of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. teach The method of claim 1, however, the references do not explicitly teach further comprising: after the receiving the RRC reconfiguration message in a serving cell, receiving, in the serving cell, by the terminal, a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) order, wherein the PDCCH order comprises: a random access preamble index field; and a Synchronization Signal/Physical Broadcast Channel (SSB) field. Inoue et al. teaches such limitations.
Inoue et al. is directed to terminal device, method, and integrated circuit. More specifically, Inoue et al. teaches further comprising: after the receiving the RRC reconfiguration message in a serving cell, receiving, in the serving cell, by the terminal, a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) order (Inoue et al. teaches that UE receives RRC signaling from a base station, and that RRC signaling includes one or more LTM candidate target configurations (page 49, 2nd to the last paragraph); UE receives a PDCCH order that explicitly provides an identifier of a random access preamble (page 50, 2nd paragraph); UE receives the PDCCH order after receiving the RRC signaling (page 50, 2nd paragraph)), wherein the PDCCH order comprises: a random access preamble index field (Inoue et al. teaches that the random access procedure initiated by a PDCCH order is a random access procedure including a procedure in which a random access preamble identifier is explicitly provided by a PDCCH order, where the random access preamble identifier is a 6-bit identifier named ra-PreambleIndex (page 38, 2nd paragraph)); and a Synchronization Signal/Physical Broadcast Channel (SSB) field (Inoue et al. teaches that the PDCCH order includes an identifier (SS/PBCH block index field) of an SS/PBCH (SSB) used to determine a RACH occasion for PRACH transmission if the value of the random access preamble identifier is not all zeros (page 38, 2nd paragraph)).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. so that after the receiving the RRC reconfiguration message in a serving cell, receiving, in the serving cell, by the terminal, a PDCCH order, as taught by Inoue et al. The modification would have allowed the system to initiate random access procedure (see Inoue et al., page 38, 2nd paragraph).
Regarding Claim 15, the combined teachings of Zhou et al., Yuan et al., and Inoue et al. teach The method of claim 14, and further, the references teach further comprising: performing, by the terminal, a preamble transmission in a specific candidate cell that is different from the serving cell (Inoue et al, teaches that the processing unit of UE sets the preamble identifier to the value of the identifier of the random access preamble, and transmits a PRACH to a candidate cell of a cell group associated with the LTM candidate target setting (page 51, 2nd paragraph)) based on that: the PDCCH order comprises a specific field (Inoue et al. teaches that PDCCH order includes an identifier that identifies an LTM candidate target setting (page 50, (a) under step 900)); and the specific field indicates a specific value (Inoue et al. teaches that PDCCH order includes an identifier that identifies an LTM candidate target setting (page 50, (a) under step 900)).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. so that a preamble transmission in a specific candidate cell is performed, as taught by Inoue et al. The modification would have allowed the system to initiate random access procedure (see Inoue et al., page 38, 2nd paragraph).
Regarding Claim 16, the combined teachings of Zhou et al., Yuan et al., and Inoue et al. teach The method of claim 15, and further, the references teach wherein the candidate cell is indicated by a third identifier indicated in the PDCCH order (Inoue et al. teaches that PDCCH order includes an identifier that identifies one or more candidate cells associated with the LTM candidate target setting (page 50, (a) under step 900)).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. so that the candidate cell is indicated by a third identifier indicated in the PDCCH order, as taught by Inoue et al. The modification would have allowed the system to initiate random access procedure (see Inoue et al., page 38, 2nd paragraph).
Regarding Claim 17, the combined teachings of Zhou et al., Yuan et al., and Inoue et al. teach The method of claim 16, and further, the references teach wherein the third identifier is associated with the candidate cell (Inoue et al. teaches that PDCCH order includes an identifier that identifies one or more candidate cells associated with the LTM candidate target setting (page 50, (a) under step 900)).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al. and Yuan et al. so that the third identifier is associated with the candidate cell, as taught by Inoue et al. The modification would have allowed the system to initiate random access procedure (see Inoue et al., page 38, 2nd paragraph).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0374130), Yuan et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0113318), Inoue et al. (WO 2024171627), and further in view of Jeon et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0144742).
Regarding Claim 18, the combined teachings of Zhou et al., Yuan et al., and Inoue et al. teach The method of claim 15, and further, the references teach wherein a Random Access Channel (RACH) occasion for the preamble transmission is determined based on: the SSB field in the PDCCH order (Inoue et al. teaches that the PDCCH order includes an identifier (SS/PBCH block index field) of an SS/PBCH (SSB) used to determine a RACH occasion for PRACH transmission if the value of the random access preamble identifier is not all zeros (page 38, 2nd paragraph)).
However, the references do not explicitly teach that RACH for the preamble transmission is determined based on and a parameter about a number of SSB per RACH occasion comprised in the inner RRC reconfiguration message associated with the candidate cell. Jeon et al. teaches such a limitation.
Jeon et al. is directed to power control for a two-step random access procedure. More specifically, Jeon et al. teaches that RRC message comprises a common random access configuration message indicating a number of SSBs per random access channel (RACH) occasion (para. [0264]). Further, Jeon et al. teaches that the control order (e.g. PDCCH order) initiating an RA procedure comprises at least one PRACH mask index, and that UE identifies one or more PRACH occasion of the particular downlink reference signal (e.g., SSB) based on a PRACH mask index value indicated by the PDCCH order (para. [0268]). Jeon et al. further teaches that PDCCH order comprises a field indicating a particular SSB (para. [0268]).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Zhou et al., Yuan et al., and Inoue et al. so a number of SSB per RACH occasion is included in RRC reconfiguration message associated with the candidate cell, as taught by Jeon et al. The modification would have allowed the system to initiate an RA procedure (see Jeon et al., para. [0268]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Guo (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0340971), which is directed to methods and apparatus of transmitting physical random access channel (PRACH) for non-serving cells; and teaches that in MAC CE message, the first network device provides an indicator to indicate a physical cell ID, a TAG (timing advance group), a timing advance value (para. [0040]).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to REBECCA E. SONG whose telephone number is (571)270-3667. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday: 8-5 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Deborah Reynolds can be reached at 571-272-0734. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417