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 .
This action is in response to the application filed on 04 April 2024.
Claims 1-19 are under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted 22 October 2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “a receiver configure to”, “a transmitter configure to” and “a controller configure to” in claims 13-19. The specification discloses the controller 1310 controls the overall operation of the network node 1300 according to the above-described cell switch operation according to the present embodiment, paragraph 261. The transmitter 1320 and the receiver 1330 are used to transmit or receive signals or messages or data necessary for performing the above-described disclosure, with the UE or the other network node, Paragraph 262. In the case of implementation by hardware, the method according to the present embodiments may be implemented as at least one of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a digital signal processing device (DSPD), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a processor, a controller, a microcontroller, or a microprocessor, paragraph 265.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Guo et al. (US Publication 2023/0388871).
With respect to claim 1, Guo teaches A method for controlling mobility of a user equipment (UE), (UE, figure 1) the method comprising:
receiving a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including an L1/L2 triggered mobility (LTM) candidate cell configuration from a network node; (the LTM candidate cell configuration is provided to the UE 5402 by a source cell (e.g., S-Cell 130s). In legacy designs, a RRCReconfiguration message and/or a CellGroupConfig IE can be used for a candidate cell, Paragraph 445)
transmitting a random access preamble to an LTM candidate cell based on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order of a serving cell (after the UE 5402 receives the PDCCH order, the UE 5402 transmits the PRACH preamble in the corresponding PRACH occasion, Paragraph 462) to perform an early synchronization operation for obtaining an uplink timing advance of the LTM candidate cell; (To further reduce the latency of cell switch execution, the downlink (DL) synchronization and uplink (UL) synchronization towards a candidate target cell may be achieved by a user equipment (UE) before the reception of cell switch command, paragraph 427. The present disclosure is related to early UL synchronization towards candidate cell, such as early TA acquisition of LTM, paragraph 429)
receiving a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) including a cell switch command from the serving cell; (the preamble can be a target-specific preamble (e.g., specific to the C-Cell 130c). That is, the same preamble can be used by source for some other UEs 5402. As a special case, the S-Cell 130s can send the TA in a cell switch command MAC CE, Paragraph 477) and
performing a cell switching operation to a target cell based on the MAC CE. (the UE 5402 identifies and/or determines, from a S-Cell 130s of a cellular network, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) Tx related to timing advance (TA) acquisition. At operation 4602, the UE 5402 transmits, based on the PDCCH Tx, a random access channel (RACH) Tx to a target cell. At operation 4603, the UE 5402 identifies and/or determines, based on the RACH Tx, an indication of a TA value, Paragraph 502)
With respect to claims 2, 9 and 14, Guo teaches wherein the LTM candidate cell configuration includes at least one of identification information for identifying the LTM candidate cell configuration, physical cell ID (PCI) information about a predetermined cell included in the LTM candidate cell configuration, and configuration information for the early synchronization. (each candidate cell, at least the following configurations can be provided: PCI, and frequency related information; Reference signals for radio link monitoring (RLM-RS); measObjectId of the MeasObjectNR in MeasConfig which is associated to the candidate cell (e.g., servingCellMO); dedicated channels configured as a part of unified TCI states; cell specific parameters of the candidate cell; and/or C-RNTI used by UE when the PHY is switched to this candidate cell, Paragraph 156)
With respect to claims 3 and 15, Guo teaches wherein performing the early synchronization is configured not to monitor a random access response for the random access preamble. (the UE 5402 can receive the RAR form the same C-Cell 130c. In some examples, this element is not performed or is otherwise omitted, which means the calculated TA is not sent to the UE 5402 and is stored at network side only (e.g., at the C-Cell 130c and/or the S-Cell 130s), Paragraph 478)
With respect to claims 4, 10 and 16, Guo teaches wherein the PDCCH order includes cell indication information indicating the LTM candidate cell for transmitting the random access preamble. (the indication of candidate cell and/or RO of candidate cell are included in PDCCH order; Paragraph 428)
With respect to claims 5, 11 and 17, Guo teaches wherein the cell indication information is mapped in ascending order of the identification information for identifying the LTM candidate cell configuration and indicated through a field of downlink control information (DCI) format 1_0. (The RAN node 5414 (e.g., a gNB 5414a) transmits PDCCH order (e.g., DCI format 1_0) to trigger a PRACH Preamble (step 1); Paragraph 438. Parameters/fields included in a PDCCH order message, paragraph 439. The PDCCH order only contains the indication of candidate cell ID (e.g., candidate configuration index), Paragraph 449)
With respect to claims 6 and 18, Guo teaches wherein in performing the cell switching operation, whether to perform a random access procedure with the target cell is determined based on whether the MAC CE includes valid uplink timing advance information of the MAC CE. (The TA is sent over dedicated RRC signaling or using MAC CE in the S-Cell; Paragraph 477. a TA timer at the UE 5402 is started/restarted when the UE 5402 receives a TA value. In some examples, the timer length or value is configured by the S-Cell 130s. When the timer expires, the UE 5402 cannot use this TA value for access to the corresponding C-Cell 130c. This means that the RACH procedure may still be needed to acquire UL synchronization towards the target cell, paragraph 482)
With respect to claims 7 and 19, Guo teaches wherein performing the cell switching operation performs the random access procedure with the target cell when the MAC CE does not include the valid uplink timing advance information. (previous RACH resources (e.g., previously configured RACH resources) are reused for TA updates. If the preamble resource is UE-specific, or can be shared by multiple UEs 5402, the S-Cell 130s can send PDCCH order to trigger preamble Tx again for TA update; Paragraph 493)
With respect to claim 8, Guo teaches A method for controlling a mobility operation of a user equipment (UE) by a network node, (S-cell, figure 1) the method comprising:
transmitting, to the UE, a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including an L1/L2 triggered mobility (LTM) candidate cell configuration; (the LTM candidate cell configuration is provided to the UE 5402 by a source cell (e.g., S-Cell 130s). In legacy designs, a RRCReconfiguration message and/or a CellGroupConfig IE can be used for a candidate cell, Paragraph 445)
transmitting, to the UE, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order for indicating early synchronization for an LTM candidate cell of the UE; (The RAN node 5414 (e.g., a gNB 5414a) transmits PDCCH order (e.g., DCI format 1_0) to trigger a PRACH Preamble (step 1); Paragraph 438)
receiving at least one of uplink timing advance information about the LTM candidate cell, random access preamble information, and LTM candidate cell identification information from a target network node where the LTM candidate cell belongs; (a S-Cell 130s sends a PDCCH order to trigger a preamble Tx towards a first C-Cell 130c (e.g., C-Cell 130c-1), and a second C-Cell 130c (e.g., C-Cell 130c-2) also receives this preamble and calculates the TA value accordingly. In this case, the assistance information of the DL time difference between C-Cell 130c-1 and C-Cell 130c-2 needs to be reported to the S-Cell 130s by the UE 5402, then the S-Cell 130s transfers this assistance information to the C-Cell 130c-2, paragraph 473) and
transmitting, to the UE, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) including a cell switch command to a target cell. (the preamble can be a target-specific preamble (e.g., specific to the C-Cell 130c). That is, the same preamble can be used by source for some other UEs 5402. As a special case, the S-Cell 130s can send the TA in a cell switch command MAC CE, Paragraph 477)
With respect to claim 12, Guo teaches wherein at least one of the uplink timing advance information about the LTM candidate cell, the random access preamble information, and the LTM candidate cell identification information is received through an F1 message from a central unit (CU) when the network node is a distributed unit (DU) providing a serving cell to the UE, and the target network node is another DU providing the LTM candidate cell, and wherein the CU is connected to the DU and the another DU to configure one base station. (After preparing multiple candidate cell configurations with a candidate DU 5731 over the F1 interface, allow DU 5731 and CU-CP 5732c to request cancellation of configured candidate cells, paragraph 302. in a centralized unit (CU)-distributed unit (DU) split scenario, some complementary description is needed. If it's intra-DU cell switch case and the determination of preamble resource is based on L1 measurement report, the source cell/candidate cell above refer to the same DU 5731; if it's intra-CU inter-DU cell switch case and the determination of preamble resource is based on L1 measurement report, the source cell refers to the source DU 5731 and the candidate cell refers to the candidate DU 5731, the signalling between source DU 5731 and candidate DU 5731 needs to be transferred by CU; if it's intra-CU inter-DU cell switch case and the determination of preamble resource is based on L3 measurement report, the source cell refers to CU and the candidate cell refers to the candidate DU 5731; Paragraph 457)
With respect to claim 13, Guo teaches A user equipment (UE) performing a mobility control operation, (UE, Figure 1) comprising:
a receiver configured to receive a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including an L1/L2 triggered mobility (LTM) candidate cell configuration from a network node; (the LTM candidate cell configuration is provided to the UE 5402 by a source cell (e.g., S-Cell 130s). In legacy designs, a RRCReconfiguration message and/or a CellGroupConfig IE can be used for a candidate cell, Paragraph 445)
a transmitter configured to transmit a random access preamble to an LTM candidate cell based on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order of a serving cell (after the UE 5402 receives the PDCCH order, the UE 5402 transmits the PRACH preamble in the corresponding PRACH occasion, Paragraph 462) to perform an early synchronization operation for obtaining an uplink timing advance of the LTM candidate cell; (To further reduce the latency of cell switch execution, the downlink (DL) synchronization and uplink (UL) synchronization towards a candidate target cell may be achieved by a user equipment (UE) before the reception of cell switch command, paragraph 427. The present disclosure is related to early UL synchronization towards candidate cell, such as early TA acquisition of LTM, paragraph 429)
a controller configured to perform a cell switching operation to a target cell based on a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) including a cell switch command received from the serving cell. (the preamble can be a target-specific preamble (e.g., specific to the C-Cell 130c). That is, the same preamble can be used by source for some other UEs 5402. As a special case, the S-Cell 130s can send the TA in a cell switch command MAC CE, Paragraph 477. The UE 5402 identifies and/or determines, from a S-Cell 130s of a cellular network, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) Tx related to timing advance (TA) acquisition. At operation 4602, the UE 5402 transmits, based on the PDCCH Tx, a random access channel (RACH) Tx to a target cell. At operation 4603, the UE 5402 identifies and/or determines, based on the RACH Tx, an indication of a TA value, Paragraph 502)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Kim et al. (US Publication 2025/0106705) discloses receiving, from a base station, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order for a random access procedure on a layer 1/layer 2 triggered mobility (LTM) candidate cell, transmitting a random access preamble for an early timing advance (TA) acquisition for the LTM candidate cell, based on the PDCCH order and receiving, from the base station, a cell switch command including a TA value of the LTM candidate cell, wherein a bandwidth part (BWP) operation is not performed for the LTM candidate cell based on the random access procedure being initiated by the PDCCH order.
Abraham et al. (US Publication 2026/0012863) discloses performing a power ramping for early timing advance synchronization and a layer 1 (L1)/layer 2 (L2) Triggered Mobility (LTM) cell switch execution in a communication system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to ABDULLAHI AHMED whose telephone number is (571) 270-3652. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Khalid Kassim can be reached on 571-270-3370. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABDULLAHI AHMED/Examiner Art Unit 2475