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
The amendments to the specification and the Title filed on 06/11/2026 have not introduced a new matter, thus they have been accepted and entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed on 06/11/2026, with respect to the objection to the specification (i.e. Title) have been fully considered and are persuasive in view of the amendment to the Title filed on 06/11/2026. The objection to the specification (i.e. Title) has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed on 06/11/2026, with respect to the claim objection of claims 2 and 13 have been fully considered and are persuasive in view of the amendment filed on 06/11/2026. The claim objections of claims 2 and 13 have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-4, 6-13 and 15-22 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-13 and 15-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claims 1, 11, and 12, the claims recite “wherein the first sequence is a lower-layer signal sequence transmitted…”, but however, the instant specification only discloses on paragraphs [56, 63, 75, 83] as follows:
[0056] During connection establishment between a terminal device and a network device, the core task is to make the network device identify an identity of the terminal device to prepare for subsequent transmission and reception of user data. Currently, in a communication system, in the case where a terminal device in an idle state or in an inactive state wants to enter a connected state, a 2-step RA procedure or a 4-step RA procedure may be adopted to realize access. The 4-step RA procedure is time-consuming and is not suitable for a delay-sensitive scenario. The 2-step RA procedure is less time-consuming than the 4-step RA procedure, but due to a relatively large amount of data carried in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for MSGA and a fact that the PUSCH for MSGA is transmitted on a common resource, successful reception of information carried in the PUSCH for MSGA by a receiving terminal, e.g., a network, requires relatively high signal quality, and a transmitting terminal, e.g., the terminal device, needs to use relatively high transmission power to effectively transmit the information carried in the PUSCH for MSGA.
[0063] Exemplarily, during connection establishment with the network device, i.e., before the terminal device and the network device perform transmission and reception of user data, the terminal device selects an available access channel resource and transmits on the available access channel resource a sequence indicating identification information of the terminal device, i.e., the first sequence. The first sequence may be an underlying signal sequence. The access channel resource is used for connection establishment performed before the terminal device and the network device perform transmission and reception of user data. Optionally, the access channel resource includes at least one of a frequency-domain resource, a time-domain resource, or a space-domain resource.
[0075] In the above method provided in embodiments of the disclosure, during connection establishment with the network device, the terminal device transmits a sequence to indicate identification information of the terminal device, so that identification of an identity of the terminal device by the network device may be performed as fast as possible, and user-plane data interaction with the network device may be performed as early as possible, thereby reducing delay of data interaction. Moreover, sequence transmission has low requirements on terminal device capability, which is conducive to realizing fast access to a network by a low-capability terminal device with low power consumption.
[0083] On the other hand, in the 2-step RA procedure, interaction of the terminal identification is performed at step 1, but a sequence and a message carried in the PUSCH need to be transmitted successively in a relatively short period of time during MSGA transmission at step 1, contention resolution (i.e., the network device agrees that a certain terminal device can access a network) is performed at step 2, a resource scheduled by the network device is further accepted at step 3, and user-plane data interaction with the network device may be performed only after step 4. Therefore, compared with the 2-step RA procedure, during connection establishment in the above method, the message carried in the PUSCH does not need to be transmitted for interaction at step 1, thereby reducing requirements on transmit power of the terminal device during access and identification and facilitating realization of connection establishment by a low-cost terminal device with ultra-low power consumption or zero power consumption. In addition, in the above method, user-plane data interaction with the network device may be performed at step 3, which is faster than the operation in the 2-step RA procedure.
Thus, the instant specification merely discloses the sequence as a sequence has low requirements, has been transmitted in the PUSCH, and has been transmitted on available access channel resource. As such, the instant specification has not disclosed any layer related to the sequence. Therefore, the instant specification has failed to provide written description for the limitation of “lower-layer signal sequence”.
Accordingly, claims 1, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims 2-4, 6-10 and 21-22, which depend on claim 1 are also rejected since they are depended upon rejected claim set forth above. The claims 13 and 15-20, which depend on claim 12 are also rejected since they are depended upon rejected claims set forth above.
If this is an oversight by the Examiner, Applicant is respectfully requested to point out where in the specification this feature can be found. For the examination purpose, the claim's limitations are interpreted as best understood.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-13 and 15-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “lower-layer signal sequence” in claims 1, 11 and 12 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “lower-layer signal sequence” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
It is impossible to determine which layer is considered as lower and which layer is considered as higher. Therefore, it would be impossible to determine the metes and bounds of the claimed invention. Thus, the claims 1, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite. The claims 2-4, 6-10 and 21-22, which depend on claim 1, are also rejected since they are depended on the rejected claims set forth above. The claims 13 and 15-20, which depend on claim 12 are also rejected since they are depended on the rejected claims set forth above.
For examination purpose, the claimed limitations are interpreted as best understood.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 10-12 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2020/0252973 A1 to Zhang et al. (hereafter refers as Zhang).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Zhang teaches a method for connection establishment and a terminal device (a method for establishing connection by a UE and the UE for performing the method, abstract, paragraphs [162-164] and Fig. 4-8), comprising:
a transceiver (the UE includes a transceiver, Fig. 12 and paragraph [249]);
a processor coupled to the transceiver (the UE includes processor coupled to the transceiver, Fig. 12 and paragraphs [249, 256-258]); and
a memory storing a computer program which, when executed by the processor, causes the terminal device (the UE includes a memory for storing instruction that when executed by the processor, cause the UE to perform the method, Fig. 12 and paragraphs [249, 256-258]) to:
transmit a first sequence to a network device during connection establishment with the network device (the UE transmits a sequence, including a preamble, in a message A or message 3, to a network device/base station, during a connection establishment with the network device, Fig. 4-8, paragraphs [134-136, 191-193]),
wherein the first sequence is a lower-layer signal sequence transmitted via an access channel (wherein the sequence is a sequence transmitted in PUSCH, paragraphs [85, 87, 128-130], via an access channel resource, paragraphs [135, 139-141, 160]), the first sequence indicates first identification information (wherein the sequence indicates an identification information, paragraphs [87, 135]), and the first identification information being is used to identify the terminal device (wherein the identification information being used to identify the UE, i.e. UE ID, paragraphs [87, 135]).
Regarding claim 10, Zhang further teaches wherein the first sequence corresponds to terminal identification for the terminal device (wherein the sequence contains the UE ID for the UE, paragraphs [134-136, 191-193]).
Regarding claim 12, Zhang teaches a network device (a base station, Fig. 4-8), comprising:
a transceiver (the base station includes a transceiver, Fig. 16 and paragraphs [90, 293-295]);
a processor coupled to the transceiver (the base station includes processor coupled to the transceiver, Fig. 16 and paragraphs [90, 293-295]); and
a memory storing a computer program which, when executed by the processor, causes the network device (the base station includes a memory for storing instruction that when executed by the processor, cause the base station to perform the method, Fig. 16 and paragraphs [90, 293-295, 300-302]) to:
receive a first sequence transmitted by a terminal device during connection establishment with the terminal device (the base station receives a sequence, including a preamble, in a message A or message 3, transmitted by a UE, during a connection establishment with the network device, Fig. 4-8, paragraphs [134-136, 191-193]), wherein the first sequence is a lower-layer signal sequence transmitted via an access channel (wherein the sequence is a sequence transmitted in PUSCH, paragraphs [85, 87, 128-130], via an access channel resource, paragraphs [135, 139-141, 160]); and
determine first identification information according to the first sequence (determines the UE ID based on the sequence, paragraphs [87, 135]), wherein the first identification information being is used to identify the terminal device (wherein the identification information/UE ID being used to identify the UE, paragraphs [87, 135]).
Regarding claim 20, Zhang further teaches determine terminal identification for the terminal device according to the first sequence (determining UE ID for the UE based on the sequence, paragraphs [134-136, 191-193]).
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, 4, 13, 15 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0252973 A1 to Zhang et al. (hereafter refers as Zhang) as applied to claims above, and further in view of US 2021/0368547 to Kadiri et al. (hereafter refers as Kadiri).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein the first identification information comprises “at least partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device”.
Kadiri teaches first identification information comprises at least partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device (UE sends a sequence comprising at least partial information of terminal identification for the UE, i.e. truncated identifier of the UE, abstract and paragraphs [47, 51, 52, 92-97, 136, 149, 160, 163]).
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 first identification information comprises at least partial information of terminal identification for the terminal device as taught by Kadiri, with the teachings of the first identification information as taught by Zhang, for a purpose of reduce number of bits being transmitted by using partial information of terminal identification (see Kadiri, paragraphs 136, 149, 160-163]).
Regarding claim 4, Zhang further teaches 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 (the UE transmits to the network device/base station, an pusch payload in message 3, when the UE receives a response after transmitted the sequence in message A, Fig. 4-8, and paragraphs [85, 87, 131, 137, 154]).
Regarding claim 15, Zhang further teaches transmit a first response message to the terminal device, wherein the first response message is used for instructing the terminal device to transmit a first uplink message (the base station transmits the message 2 or message B to the UE, to instruct the UE to transmit to the network device/base station, an pusch payload in message 3, Fig. 4-8, and paragraphs [85, 87, 131, 137, 154]).
Regarding claim 21, Zhang further taches wherein the first response message indicates at least one of:
a resource for uplink data transmission (wherein the second message/response include uplink grant and timing advance command, paragraphs [39, 66, 126, 127, 137, 139]); or
timing advance (TA) information (wherein the second message/response include uplink grant and timing advance command, paragraphs [39, 66, 126, 127, 137, 139]).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0252973 A1 to Zhang et al. (hereafter refers as Zhang) in view of US 2021/0368547 to Kadiri et al. (hereafter refers as Kadiri) as applied to claims above, and further in view of US 2023/0108740 A1 to Dai et al. (hereafter refers as Dai).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Zhang and Kadiri 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 combination of Zhang and Kadiri, 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]).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0252973 A1 to Zhang et al. (hereafter refers as Zhang) as applied to claims above, and further in view of US 2022/0312530 A1 to Turtinen et al. (hereafter refers as Turtinen).
Regarding claim 6, Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein the first sequence corresponds “to a terminal type of the terminal device, and the first sequence is determined according to a preconfigured first correspondence; wherein the first correspondence is a correspondence between the terminal type of the terminal device and the first sequence or a correspondence between the terminal type of the terminal device and a root sequence configuration for the first sequence”.
Turtinen teaches 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]) and 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]).
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 corresponds to a terminal type of the terminal device, and the first sequence is determined according to a preconfigured first correspondence; wherein the first correspondence is a correspondence between the terminal type of the terminal device and the first sequence or a correspondence between the terminal type of the terminal device and a root sequence configuration for the first sequence as taught by Turtinen, with the teachings of Zhang, for a purpose of increase efficiency in allocating the sequence by mapping the terminal type to the sequence, as such, it is able to identify the terminal type based on the sequence (see Turtinen, paragraphs [180-191]).
Claims 7 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0252973 A1 to Zhang et al. (hereafter refers as Zhang) 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, Zhang does not explicitly teach “wherein the first sequence corresponds to a terminal type of the terminal device, and 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]) corresponds to a terminal type of the terminal device (wherein each index corresponded to a particular device class, paragraphs [61-62]), and the first sequence 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 16, Zhang does not explicitly teach “determine a terminal type of the terminal device according to the first sequence”.
Lee’147 teaches determining a terminal type of the terminal device according to the first sequence (determines a device class of the UE based on index corresponding 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 determining a terminal type of the terminal device according to the first sequence as taught by Lee’147, with the teachings of Zhang, 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, Lee’147 further 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 Zhang, 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 2020/0252973 A1 to Zhang et al. (hereafter refers as Zhang) in view of US 2021/0368547 to Kadiri et al. (hereafter refers as Kadiri) 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, the combination of Zhang and Kadiri does not explicitly teach wherein “a logical position number for the first sequence corresponds to first partial information of the 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 the 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 the 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 combination of Zhang and Kadiri, 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 the 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 combination of Zhang and Kadiri, 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, combination of Zhang and Kadiri does not explicitly teach “determine, according to the first sequence, first partial information of the 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 the 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 the 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 combination of Zhang and Kadiri, 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 the 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 the 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 combination of Zhang and Kadiri, 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]).
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0252973 A1 to Zhang et al. (hereafter refers as Zhang) in view of US 2021/0368547 to Kadiri et al. (hereafter refers as Kadiri) as applied to claims above, and further in view of US 2013/0308545 A1 to Lee et al. (hereafter refers as Lee).
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Zhang and Kadiri does not explicitly teach “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; or 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]); or
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 combination of Zhang and Kadiri, 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]).
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 an MSG 3 and transmits a second part of the UE ID to the base station via a MSG 5 (See Fig. 3-5).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/DUNG B HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469 August 28, 2026
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