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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. The title recites, “METHOD FOR CONNECTION ESTABLISHMENT, TERMINAL DEVICE, AND NETWORK DEVICE”. The title of invention is “technically inaccurate and non-descriptive”. [See 37 CFR 1.72(a) and MPEP § 606]. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: “METHOD FOR PROVIDING USER IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION DURING A CONNECTION ESTABLISHMENT, TERMINAL DEVICE, AND NETWORK DEVICE” or equivalent thereof.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 2 and 13 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 2 recites, “and/or” in line 2. For clarity, it is suggested to use “word”, instead of the operator “/”. (e.g. at one of…). Other claims 13 is also objected for the same reason as claim 2. Appropriate correction is required.
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, 5, 6, 10-12, 16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2022/0312530 A1 to Turtinen et al. (hereafter refers as Turtinen).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Turtinen teaches a method for connection establishment, and a terminal device (a method for establishing connection and a UE for performing the method, Fig. 3-4), comprising:
a transceiver (the UE includes a transceiver, Fig. 1 and paragraph [82]);
a processor coupled to the transceiver (the UE includes a processor coupled to the transceiver, Fig. 1 and paragraph [82]); and
a memory storing a computer program (the UE includes a memory for storing a computer program, Fig. 1 and paragraph [82]) which, when executed by the processor, causes the terminal device to (wherein the computer program which, when executed by the processor, cause the UE to perform the method, paragraphs [82, 216, 232, 247]):
transmit a first sequence to a network device during connection establishment with the network device (the UE transmits sequence of bits in a RRC setup request message or a RRC resume request message, paragraphs [163, 167-169] and Fig. 3-4), the first sequence indicating first identification information, and the first identification information being used to identify the terminal device (wherein the sequence of bits includes identification information of the UE, such as an UE-identity information, paragraphs [161, 163, 166, 167, 169]).
Regarding claim 5, Turtinen further teaches wherein the first sequence corresponds to a terminal type of the terminal device (wherein the first indication information indicate at least a terminal type, paragraphs [162, 166, 181, 187, 189, 195]).
Regarding claim 6, Turtinen further teaches wherein the first sequence is determined according to a preconfigured first correspondence (wherein the terminal uses a particular codepoints/index in the LCID field in the MSG3 to indicate its type, thus the correspondence between the codepoints/index and the terminal type is preconfigured prior to the transmission of the codepoints/index in the MSG3, paragraphs [180-191]);
wherein the first correspondence is a correspondence between the terminal type of the terminal device and the first sequence (wherein the terminal type is determined based on one or more codepoints/index in the LCID field in the MSG3, wherein the base station/network upon received these codepoints/index, determines a terminal type of the UE, from a plurality of terminal types using these codepoints/index, i.e. a correspondence between the terminal type and one or more codepoints/index, paragraphs [180-191]).
Regarding claim 10, Turtinen further teaches wherein the first sequence corresponds to terminal identification for the terminal device (wherein the sequence of bits or bit string size (39) is corresponded to terminal identification for the UE, paragraphs [163, 164, 167, 169]), wherein a correspondence between the first sequence and the terminal identification is preconfigured (wherein the sequence of bits used to identify the UE is configured prior to transmission of the MSG3, paragraphs [162-163, 167, 169]).
Regarding claim 12, Turtinen teaches a network device (a gNB/RAN node, paragraphs [84-85, 247, 277] and Fig. 1), comprising:
a transceiver (the gNB/RAN node includes a transceiver, Fig. 1 and paragraph [84]);
a processor coupled to the transceiver (the gNB/RAN node includes a processor coupled to the transceiver, Fig. 1 and paragraph [84]); and
a memory storing a computer program (the gNB/RAN node includes a memory for storing a computer program, Fig. 1 and paragraphs [84-85]) which, when executed by the processor, causes the network device to (wherein the computer program which, when executed by the processor, cause the gNB/RAN node to perform following steps, paragraphs [84-85, 232, 247]):
receive a first sequence transmitted by a terminal device during connection establishment with the terminal device (the gNB/RAN node receives sequence of bits in a RRC setup request message or a RRC resume request message from a UE, paragraphs [163, 167-169] and Fig. 3-4); and
determine first identification information according to the first sequence, the first identification information being used to identify the terminal device (the gNB/RAN node determines whether the UE is a reduced capability user equipment based on the sequence of bits that providing identification information related to the UE, paragraphs [181, 190-192, 195] and Fig. 8, step 820, or determines the identity of the UE based on the sequence of bits, paragraph [170]).
Regarding claim 16, Turtinen further teaches wherein the computer program is further executed by the processor to cause the network device to: determine a terminal type of the terminal device according to the first sequence (the gNB/RAN node determines whether the UE is a reduced capability user equipment based on the sequence of bits, paragraphs [181, 190-192, 195] and Fig. 8, step 820).
Regarding claim 20, Turtinen further teaches wherein the computer program is further executed by the processor to cause the terminal device to: determine terminal identification for the terminal device according to the first sequence (the gNB/RAN node determines whether the UE is a reduced capability user equipment based on the sequence of bits that providing identification information related to the UE, paragraphs [181, 190-192, 195] and Fig. 8, step 820, or determines the identity of the UE based on the sequence of bits, paragraph [170]), wherein a correspondence between the first sequence and the terminal identification is preconfigured (wherein the sequence of bits used to identify the UE is configured prior to transmission of the MSG3, paragraphs [162-163, 167, 169]).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 2-3 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0312530 A1 to Turtinen et al. (hereafter refers as Turtinen) as applied to claims above, and further in view of US 2023/0108740 A1 to Dai et al. (hereafter refers as Dai).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Turtinen further teaches wherein the first identification information comprises a terminal type of the terminal device and/or at least partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device (wherein the first indication information indicating at least a terminal type, paragraphs [162, 166, 181, 187, 189, 195] or UE identity information, paragraphs [162, 163]).
However, Turtinen does not explicitly teach the terminal identification is “configured by the network device”.
Dai teaches the terminal identification is configured by the network device (the terminal identification for the terminal device is obtained from a network device, paragraphs [134-136, 141-150, 190, 220]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of the terminal identification is configured by the network device as taught by Dai, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of obtaining the terminal identification from the network device, thus increase efficiency in identifying the terminal device by the network device (see Dai, paragraphs [134-136, 141-150, 190, 220]).
Regarding claim 3, Turtinen does not explicitly teach “transmitting, by the terminal device, a second sequence to the network device, wherein the second sequence is used to initiate registration to obtain the terminal identification for the terminal device; wherein the second sequence is preconfigured or configured via a first system broadcast message transmitted by the network device”.
Dai teaches transmitting, by a terminal device, a second sequence to a network device (a terminal device transmits, a message 1 including a random access preamble, to a first service unit, Fig. 10 and paragraphs [142-145], wherein a first service unit is part of a network device, Fig. 2a, 3, 4a and paragraphs [80, 105-107]), wherein the second sequence is used to initiate registration to obtain the terminal identification for the terminal device (wherein the random access preamble is used to initiate a connection setup with a network to obtain terminal identification for the terminal device to connect with the network, paragraphs [134-136, 141-150, 190, 220]); wherein the second sequence is preconfigured or configured via a first system broadcast message transmitted by the network device (wherein the random access preamble is obtained from a system broadcast message transmitted by the network device, paragraphs [25, 106, 144-145]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of transmitting, by the terminal device, a second sequence to the network device, wherein the second sequence is used to initiate registration to obtain the terminal identification for the terminal device, wherein the second sequence is preconfigured or configured via a first system broadcast message transmitted by the network device as taught by Dai, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of obtaining the terminal identification from the network device, thus increase efficiency in identifying the terminal device by the network device (see Dai, paragraphs [134-136, 141-150, 190, 220]).
Regarding claim 14, Turtinen does not explicitly teach “transmit to the terminal device to the terminal identification for the terminal device in response to reception of a second sequence transmitted by the terminal device; wherein the second sequence is preconfigured or configured via a first system broadcast message transmitted by the network device”.
Dai teaches transmitting to the terminal device the terminal identification for the terminal device in response to reception of a second sequence transmitted by the terminal device (a network device includes a first service unit, Fig. 2a, 3, 4a and paragraphs [80, 105-107], transmits a message 2 including a first identifier or a second identifier, in response to receives a message 1 including a random access preamble from a terminal device, Fig. 10 and paragraphs [142-145]), wherein the second sequence is preconfigured or configured via a first system broadcast message transmitted by the network device (wherein the random access preamble is obtained via system broadcast message transmitted by the network device, paragraphs [25, 106, 144-145]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of transmitting to the terminal device to the terminal identification for the terminal device in response to reception of a second sequence transmitted by the terminal device; wherein the second sequence is preconfigured or configured via a first system broadcast message transmitted by the network device as taught by Dai, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of obtaining the terminal identification from the network device, thus increase efficiency in identifying the terminal device by the network device (see Dai, paragraphs [134-136, 141-150, 190, 220]).
Claims 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0312530 A1 to Turtinen et al. (hereafter refers as Turtinen) as applied to claims above, and further in view of US 2013/0308545 A1 to Lee et al. (hereafter refers as Lee).
Regarding claims 4 and 15, Turtinen does not explicitly teach “transmitting, by the terminal device, a first uplink message to the network device in response to reception of a first response message from the network device; wherein the first uplink message contains user data; wherein the user data comprises at least one of: data pre-stored in the terminal device; data about surroundings collected by the terminal device; and data obtained by the terminal device through internal operations”.
Lee teaches transmitting, by a terminal device, a first uplink message to a network device in response to reception of a first response message from the network device (in response to reception of a first response message, i.e. RRC connection setup message, from a network device, a UE transmits a first uplink message, i.e. RRC connection setup completion message including short data or separate short data, to the network device, Fig. 8, steps 803, 804, Fig. 9, step 906, paragraphs [85-88, 92-95]);
wherein the first uplink message contains user data (wherein the short data comprises user data, paragraphs [41, 52, 80-82, 85]);
wherein the user data comprises at least one of:
data pre-stored in the terminal device (wherein the data is pre-stored in a buffer of the UE, paragraphs [92-93]);
data about surroundings collected by the terminal device (generated via phone call, paragraph [41]); and
data obtained by the terminal device through internal operations (response message, paragraphs [41, 53, 81]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of transmitting, by the terminal device, a first uplink message to the network device in response to reception of a first response message from the network device; wherein the first uplink message contains user data; wherein the user data comprises at least one of: data pre-stored in the terminal device; data about surroundings collected by the terminal device; and data obtained by the terminal device through internal operations as taught by Lee, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of increase efficiency in transmitting the uplink message by ensure that the uplink message is accepted/expected by the network device, by transmitting the uplink message in response to reception of the first response message from the network device (see Lee, Fig. 8, steps 803, 804, Fig. 9, step 906, paragraphs [85-88, 92-95]).
Claims 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0312530 A1 to Turtinen et al. (hereafter refers as Turtinen) as applied to claims above, and further in view of US 2016/0302147 A1 to Lee et al. (hereafter refers as Lee’147).
Regarding claim 7, Turtinen does not explicitly teach wherein the first sequence is determined “according to a third system broadcast message transmitted by the network device, wherein the third system broadcast message indicates a correspondence between a plurality of terminal types and a plurality of sequence identifiers (IDs)”.
Lee’147 teaches a first sequence (UE transmits an attach request including device class identification information, i.e. index, Fig. 5 and paragraphs [62-64]) is determined according to a third system broadcast message transmitted by the network device (wherein the device class identification information is selected from a plurality of device classes identification information, transmitted via a system information by a network device/eNB, Fig. 5 and paragraphs [61-62], wherein the system information is transmitted to all UES in a cell, paragraphs [51-52]),
wherein the third system broadcast message indicates a correspondence between a plurality of terminal types and a plurality of sequence identifiers (IDs) (wherein the system information indicates a correspondence between a plurality of device classes and a plurality of indexes, wherein each index corresponded to a particular device class, paragraphs [61-62]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of wherein the first sequence is determined according to a third system broadcast message transmitted by the network device, wherein the third system broadcast message indicates a correspondence between a plurality of terminal types and a plurality of sequence identifiers (IDs) as taught by Lee’147, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of increase efficiency in determining the terminal type by using the sequence identifier that is known by the network device (see Lee’147, paragraphs [60-63, 68]).
Regarding claim 17, Turtinen does not explicitly teach “transmit a third system broadcast message to the terminal device, wherein the third system broadcast message is used for instructing the terminal device to determine the first sequence, wherein the third system broadcast message indicates a correspondence between a plurality of terminal types and a plurality of sequence identifiers (IDs)”.
Lee’147 teaches transmitting a third system broadcast message to the terminal device (a network device/eNB transmits a system information to a plurality of UEs, paragraphs [51-52, 61-62]), wherein the third system broadcast message is used for instructing the terminal device to determine the first sequence (wherein the system information instructs the UE to determine an identification information associated with the UE, Fig. 5 and paragraphs [61-62]), wherein the third system broadcast message indicates a correspondence between a plurality of terminal types and a plurality of sequence identifiers (IDs) (wherein the system information indicates a correspondence between a plurality of device classes and a plurality of indexes, wherein each index corresponded to a particular device class, paragraphs [61-62]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of transmitting a third system broadcast message to the terminal device, wherein the third system broadcast message is used for instructing the terminal device to determine the first sequence, wherein the third system broadcast message indicates a correspondence between a plurality of terminal types and a plurality of sequence identifiers (IDs) as taught by Lee’147, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of increase efficiency in determining the terminal type by using the sequence identifier that is known by the network device and the terminal device (see Lee’147, paragraphs [60-63, 68]).
Claims 8-9 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0312530 A1 to Turtinen et al. (hereafter refers as Turtinen) as applied to claims above, and further in view of US 2019/0350015 A1 to Kim et al. (hereafter refers as Kim).
Regarding claim 8, Turtinen does not explicitly teach wherein “a logical position number for the first sequence corresponds to first partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device, wherein the first partial information is a higher-order truncated portion of the terminal identification or a lower-order truncated portion of the terminal identification”.
Kim teaches a logical position number for the first sequence corresponds to first partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device (a logical position number of a number of bits corresponding to a partial information of terminal identification of UE, i.e. lower 40 bits, paragraphs [151, 160, 168]), wherein the first partial information is a higher-order truncated portion of the terminal identification (the first partial information including an upper portion of the terminal identification of UE, i.e. upper part 40 bits, paragraphs [168, 169]), or a lower-order truncated portion of the terminal identification (or the first partial information including an lower portion of the terminal identification of UE, paragraphs [160, 321]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of a logical position number for the first sequence corresponds to first partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device, wherein the first partial information is a higher-order truncated portion of the terminal identification or a lower-order truncated portion of the terminal identification as taught by Kim, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of allowing the teachings to be compatible with a transmission of a small transport block size by only include the partial information of the terminal identification in the transmission while allowing the network to identify the terminal device (see Kim, paragraphs [165, 468]).
Regarding claim 9, Kim further teaches wherein a first uplink message transmitted by the terminal device contains second partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device (after transmitting the first partial information of the terminal identification, the UE transmits second partial information of the terminal identification via an uplink message, paragraphs [166, 168]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of the first uplink message transmitted by the terminal device contains second partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device as taught by Kim, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of increase efficiency in identifying the terminal device, by further transmit the second partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device (see Kim, paragraphs [166, 168]).
Regarding claim 18, Turtinen does not explicitly teach “determine, according to the first sequence, first partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device, wherein the first partial information is a higher-order truncated portion of the terminal identification or a lower-order truncated portion of the terminal identification”.
Kim teaches determining, according to a first sequence, first partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device (determines, based on a sequence of bits, a first part information of identification for the UE, paragraphs [151, 160, 165, 168]), wherein the first partial information is a higher-order truncated portion of the terminal identification (the first partial information including an upper portion of the terminal identification of UE, i.e. upper part 40 bits, paragraphs [168, 169]) or a lower-order truncated portion of the terminal identification (or the first partial information including an lower portion of the terminal identification of UE, paragraphs [160, 321]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of determine, according to the first sequence, first partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device, wherein the first partial information is a higher-order truncated portion of the terminal identification or a lower-order truncated portion of the terminal identification as taught by Kim, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of allowing the teachings to be compatible with a transmission of a small transport block size by only include the partial information of the terminal identification in the transmission while allowing the network to identify the terminal device (see Kim, paragraphs [165, 468]).
Regarding claim 19, Kim further teaches receive a first uplink message transmitted by the terminal device (receives a first uplink message from the UE, Fig. 1H and paragraphs [166, 168]), wherein the first uplink message contains second partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device (wherein the first uplink message comprises a second part of the terminal identification, Fig. 1H and paragraphs [166, 168]); and
determine the terminal identification for the terminal device according to the first partial information and the second partial information of the terminal identification (determines the terminal identification for the UE based on the first and second parts of the terminal identification, paragraphs [152-153, 166]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of receiving the first uplink message transmitted by the terminal device, wherein the first uplink message contains second partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device and determining the terminal identification for the terminal device according to the first partial information and the second partial information of the terminal identification as taught by Kim, with the teachings of Turtinen, for a purpose of increase efficiency in identifying the terminal device, by further transmit the second partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device (see Kim, , paragraphs [166, 168]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2021/0259031 A1 discloses UE receives truncated UE identity information from a base station via SIB and transmits RRC connection request including the truncated UE identity information to the base station (Fig. 7A-7B).
US 2019/0350002 A1 discloses a UE transmits a first part of a UE ID to a base station via a MSG 3 and transmits a second part of the UE ID to the base station via a MSG 5 (See Fig. 3-5).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUNG B. HUYNH whose telephone number is (571)270-7642. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM.
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/DUNG B HUYNH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469 March 6, 2026