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 .
Claims 1-60 are subject under examination.
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.
Claim(s) 1-8, 10-20, 23-38, 40-50, 53-60 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Khan Beigi (US 2025/0311008 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Khan Beigi teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
one or more memories (See para 0030 “the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, ….non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132,”); and
one or more processors, the one or more processors, individually or collectively and
based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories (see para 0035 “the processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data…. the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130”), being configured to:
receive configuration information identifying a selection indicator for a physical
random access channel (PRACH) communication in a sub-band full-duplex (SBFD)
random access channel (RACH) occasion (RO) configured for the PRACH
communication or in a non-SBFD RO configured for the PRACH communication ( see para 0184 “The WTRU receives an SBFD configuration”; see para 0143 “the SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation). The modes of operation (e.g., SBFD or non-SBFD) may be indicated via, for example one or more MIBs, SIBs, RRC messages, MAC-CEs, DCIs, and or other logically equivalent signaling.”); and
transmit the PRACH communication in the SBFD RO or the non-SBFD RO in
accordance with the selection indicator. (see para 0165 “The WTRU may receive configuration information and/or indications for performing the random access procedure”)
Regarding claim 31, Khan Beigi teaches An apparatus for wireless communication at a network node comprising:
one or more memories (See para 0030 “the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, ….non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132,”); and
one or more processors, the one or more processors, individually or collectively and
based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories (see para 0035 “the processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data…. the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130”), being configured to:
transmit configuration information identifying a selection indicator for a physical
random access channel (PRACH) communication in a sub-band full-duplex (SBFD)
random access channel (RACH) occasion (RO) configured for the PRACH
communication or in a non-SBFD RO configured for the PRACH communication ( see para 0184 “The WTRU receives an SBFD configuration”; see para 0143 “the SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation). The modes of operation (e.g., SBFD or non-SBFD) may be indicated via, for example one or more MIBs, SIBs, RRC messages, MAC-CEs, DCIs, and or other logically equivalent signaling.”); and
receive the PRACH communication in the SBFD RO or the non-SBFD RO in
accordance with the selection indicator. (see para 0165 “The WTRU may receive configuration information and/or indications for performing the random access procedure”)
Regarding claim 2, 32, Khan Bieigi teaches wherein the SBFD RO and the non-SBFD RO are each associated with a measured synchronization signal block index (see para 0186 “the WTRU receives an indication (e.g., via SIB1) that indicates a limitation (also referred to herein as “criteria”) for RO usage in SBFD time resources (e.g., slots). … The limitation may be indicated by an SBFD mask (e.g., via SBFD Mask Index indication, e.g., ssb-SBFD-MaskIndex)”. See para 0185 “The WTRU also receives a RACH configuration (e.g., via SIB1), where the configuration indicates that each of one or more SSBs is mapped to N ROs (e.g., consecutive ROs) and where M ROs (e.g., consecutive ROs) are FDM-ed in frequency domain”
Regarding claim 3,33, Khan Bieigi teaches the SBFD RO is configured via a dedicated SBFD RACH configuration. (see para 0143 “the SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation). The modes of operation (e.g., SBFD or non-SBFD) may be indicated via, for example one or more MIBs, SIBs, RRC messages, MAC-CEs, DCIs, and or other logically equivalent signaling.”)
Regarding claim 4, 34, Khan Bieigi teaches an interpretation of the selection indicator is based on receipt of at least one of: an SBFD RACH configuration or a non-SBFD RACH configuration. see para 0143 “the SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation). The modes of operation (e.g., SBFD or non-SBFD) may be indicated via, for example one or more MIBs, SIBs, RRC messages, MAC-CEs, DCIs, and or other logically equivalent signaling.”)
Regarding claim 5, 35, Khan Bieigi teaches wherein the selection indicator comprises a field of a mask index with a reserved value interpreted to indicate whether, for transmission of the PRACH communication, none of a group of ROs corresponding to the selection indicator are allowed for selection (see para 0245 “WTRU may receive one or more indications (e.g., via SIB1) of allowed ROs and their association with the configured first or second sets of power ramping configurations (e.g., via ssb-SBFD-PR-MaskIndex)”).
Regarding claim 6,36, Khan Bieigi teaches wherein selection indicator is conveyed via a mask index field of a common RACH configuration for the SBFD RO and the non-SBFD RO (see para 0180 “The RACH-ConfigCommon element, as shown in FIG. 3, is one element that may carry the ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB.”; (see para 0181 “the WTRU has received PRACH Mask Index indication, indicating further limitations on the allowed ROs per SSB.”)
Regarding claim 7,37, Khan Bieigi teaches wherein an interpretation of a mask index field of a RACH configuration is based on whether the selection indicator identifies the SBFD RO or the non- SBFD RO. see para 0143 “the SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation). The modes of operation (e.g., SBFD or non-SBFD) may be indicated via, for example one or more MIBs, SIBs, RRC messages, MAC-CEs, DCIs, and or other logically equivalent signaling.”)
Regarding claim 8, 38,Khan Bieigi teaches wherein the mask index field is associated with an explicit bit to indicate whether the mask index field is for the SBFD RO or the non-SBFD RO. see para 0143 “the SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation). The modes of operation (e.g., SBFD or non-SBFD) may be indicated via, for example one or more MIBs, SIBs, RRC messages, MAC-CEs, DCIs, and or other logically equivalent signaling.”)
Regarding claim 10,40, Khan Bieigi teaches wherein the selection indicator comprises one or more reserved bit fields of a mask index field with a value mapping to a selection of the SBFD RO. (see para 0181 “the WTRU has received PRACH Mask Index indication, indicating further limitations on the allowed ROs per SSB.”)
Regarding claim 11, 41,Khan Bieigi teaches wherein one or more index values, of the mapping, are assigned for interpretation in connection with the SBFD RO. (see para 0181 “the WTRU has received PRACH Mask Index indication, indicating further limitations on the allowed ROs per SSB.”)
Regarding claim 12,42, Khan Bieigi teaches the selection of the SBFD RO includes a selection of a set of possible SBFD ROs from which the UE is configured to select the SBFD RO. (See para 0189 “the WTRU uses the received SBFD RO limitation to select an RO based on the configured N ROs per SSB, M FDM-ed ROs, indicated R ROs.”)
Regarding claim 13, 43,Khan Bieigi teaches the selection indicator is conveyed via a first mask index field for conveying selection of the SBFD RO and a second mask index field for conveying selection of the non-SBFD RO. See para 0143 “he SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation).”).
Regarding claim 14,44, Khan Bieigi teaches the UE is configured to store a first mapping for the first mask index field and the SBFD RO and a second mapping for the second mask index field and the non-SBFD RO (See para 0143 “he SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation).”).
Regarding claim 15,45, Khan Bieigi teaches at least one of the first mapping or the second mapping includes a reserved field value to indicate that the non-SBFD RO is not selectable for transmission of the PRACH communication (See para 0143 “he SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation).”)
Regarding claim 16,46, Khan Bieigi teaches the selection indicator comprises a PRACH mask index with a set of values mapping to a selection of an RO (see para 0186 “At 620, the WTRU receives an indication (e.g., via SIB1) that indicates a limitation (also referred to herein as “criteria”) for RO usage in SBFD time resources (e.g., slots). ... The limitation may be indicated by an SBFD mask (e.g., via SBFD Mask Index indication, e.g., ssb-SBFD-MaskIndex.”)
Regarding claim 17,47, Khan Bieigi teaches wherein the PRACH mask index is a 6-bit PRACH mask index with a set of reserved mapping values (see para 0183 “s shown, a PRACH Mask Index may correspond to one or more allowed RACH occasions.”)
Regarding claim 18,48, Khan Bieigi teaches wherein values for the 6-bit PRACH mask index map to at least one of:
an indication of a selection of all SBFD ROs,
an indication of a selection of an enumerated SBFD RO,
an indication of a subset of enumerated SBFD ROs, or
a reserved field. (see para 0183 “As shown, a PRACH Mask Index may correspond to one or more allowed RACH occasions.”; see para 0187 “The SBFD RO limitation (e.g., SBFD Mask Index indication) may define a group of R Ros”)
Regarding claim 19,49 Khan Bieigi teaches wherein the selection indicator is indicated via dynamic signaling or static signaling. see para 0143 “the modes of operation (e.g., SBFD or non-SBFD) may be indicated via, for example one or more MIBs, SIBs, RRC messages, MAC-CEs, DCIs, and or other logically equivalent signaling.”)
Regarding claim 20,50 Khan Beigi teaches the selection indicator is indicated via at least one of:
a physical downlink control channel order RACH message,
a radio resource control message,
a beam failure recovery message,
a system information request message,
a 2-step message for a shared RO,
a dedicated RACH message, or
a contention-free random access message. (see para 0143 “the modes of operation (e.g., SBFD or non-SBFD) may be indicated via, for example one or more MIBs, SIBs, RRC messages, MAC-CEs, DCIs, and or other logically equivalent signaling.”)
Regarding claims 23,53 Khan Beigi teaches a first mask index field, for conveying the value of the selection indicator, corresponds to a first subset of SSBs of the set of SSBs, wherein a second mask index field, for conveying the value of the selection indicator, corresponds to a second subset of SSBs of the set of SSBs, and wherein the first subset of SSBs is associated with the SBFD RO and the second subset of SSBs is associated with the non-SBFD RO (See para 0187 “The SBFD RO limitation (e.g., SBFD Mask Index indication) may define a group of R ROs or indicate a subset of R ROs (e.g., consecutive ROs) out of the M FDM-ed ROs”; see para 0186 “ the WTRU receives an indication (e.g., via SIB1) that indicates a limitation (also referred to herein as “criteria”) for RO usage in SBFD time resources (e.g., slots). .. The limitation may be indicated by an SBFD mask (e.g., via SBFD Mask Index indication, e.g., ssb-SBFD-MaskIndex)).
Regarding claim 24, Khan Biegi teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at user equipment, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, the one or more processors, individually or collectively and based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories (see para 0035 “the processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data…. the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory 130”), being configured to:
Receive configuration information identifying a selection indicator for a subset of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), of a set of SSBs, associated with a physical random-access channel (PRACH) communication in a sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) random access channel (RACH) occasion (RO) configured for the PRACH communication (see para 0192 “The network (e.g., a base station or another network node or entity) may transmit configuration information”; see para 0184 “the WTRU detects one or more SSBs and, for example, decodes a corresponding SIB1, e.g., during initial access. The WTRU receives an SBFD configuration (e.g., via a SIB), which indicates time and frequency resources associated with an SBFD mode of operation”; see para 0201 “he WTRU may receive configuration information or an indication of a limitation on RO usage, such as for the ROs that are configured in SBFD resources (e.g., UL subband, e.g., in SBFD symbols, slots, frames, etc.)”); and
transmit the PRACH communication in accordance with the subset of SSBs associated with the SBFD RO (See para 0189 “WTRU, having selected an SSB that is associated with the M FDM-ed ROs, may select one of the N configured ROs for transmission of the PRACH preamble.”)
Regarding claim 54, Khan Biegi teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, the one or more processors, individually or collectively and based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories (See para 0192 “see para 0192 “The network (e.g., a base station or another network node or entity”)[ it is known in the art that base station has processor and memory], being configured to:
transmit configuration information identifying a selection indicator for a subset of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), of a set of SSBs, associated with a physical random-access channel (PRACH) communication in a sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) random access channel (RACH) occasion (RO) configured for the PRACH communication (see para 0192 “The network (e.g., a base station or another network node or entity) may transmit configuration information”; see para 0184 “the WTRU detects one or more SSBs and, for example, decodes a corresponding SIB1, e.g., during initial access. The WTRU receives an SBFD configuration (e.g., via a SIB), which indicates time and frequency resources associated with an SBFD mode of operation”; see para 0201 “he WTRU may receive configuration information or an indication of a limitation on RO usage, such as for the ROs that are configured in SBFD resources (e.g., UL subband, e.g., in SBFD symbols, slots, frames, etc.)”); and
receive the PRACH communication in accordance with the subset of SSBs associated with the SBFD RO (See para 0189 “WTRU, having selected an SSB that is associated with the M FDM-ed ROs, may select one of the N configured ROs for transmission of the PRACH preamble.”)
Regarding claim 25, 55, Khan Biegi teaches transmit/ receive system information block signaling identifying the subset of SSBs. (see para 0185 “The WTRU also receives a RACH configuration (e.g., via SIB1), where the configuration indicates that each of one or more SSBs is mapped to N ROs”)
Regarding claim 26, 56, Khan Biegi teaches the system information block signaling conveys a bitmap field with a set of bits corresponding to the set of SSBs from which the subset of SSBs is identified (see para 0179 “WTRU may be provided with a number of SSB indexes associated with one RACH occasion by ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB.”)
Regarding claim 27 and 57, Khan Biegi teaches transmit/ receive radio resource control signaling identifying the subset of SSBs (see para 0172 “he WTRU may receive the configuration and/or indication via a SIB, RRC message”; see para 0179 “a WTRU may be provided with a number of SSB indexes associated with one RACH occasion”).
Regarding claim 28 and 58, Khan Biegi teaches the radio resource control signaling conveys a bitmap field with a set of bits corresponding to the set of SSBs from which the subset of SSBs is identified. see para 0181 “example of an SSB-to-RO mapping where the number of ROs to which each SSB is mapped (e.g., N is 4)…. the WTRU performs selection of an appropriate SSB to use”)
Regarding claims 29, 59, Khan Biegi teaches wherein a mapping of SSBs to ROs is associated with the subset of SSBs and omits one or more other SSBs of the set of SSBs (see para 0181 “example of an SSB-to-RO mapping where the number of ROs to which each SSB is mapped (e.g., N is 4)…. the WTRU performs selection of an appropriate SSB to use”)
Regarding claims 30 and 60, Khan Biegi teaches wherein the selection indicator is a first selection indicator applicable to the SBFD RO, and wherein the configuration information comprises a field for a second selection indicator applicable to a non-SBFD RO configured for the PRACH communication (see para 0143 “the SBFD configuration may include a flag signal (e.g., enabled/disabled), where, for example, a first value of the signal (e.g., zero (0) may indicate a first mode of operation (e.g., SBFD configuration), and a second value (e.g., one (1)) may indicate a second mode of operation (e.g., non-SBFD operation.”)
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.
6. 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.
7. Claim(s) 21,22, 51 and 52 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US 2025/0311008 A1) in view of Xiong (US 2024/0172271 A1).
Regarding claim 21,51 Khan Beigi doesn’t teach wherein a value of the selection indicator corresponds to a synchronization signal block (SSB), of a set of SSBs mapping to a set of selection indicator values.
Xiong (US 2024/0172271 A1) teaches a value of the selection indicator corresponds to a synchronization signal block (SSB), of a set of SSBs mapping to a set of selection indicator values. (see para 0108 “the specific method can be bit map method (for example, if one SSB is associated with four ROs, then, for new technical features, RO0 and RO1 are represented by a 4-bit bit map, such as “1100”); look-up table method, for example, for the configuration of 16 rows, one or more RO indexes are available for each row configuration”)
Thus it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine a value of the selection indicator corresponds to a synchronization signal block (SSB), of a set of SSBs mapping to a set of selection indicator values in the system of Khan Biegi. The motivation is to improve enhancement of communication (Xiong: see para 0004)
Regarding claim 22,52 Khan Beigi doesn’t teach wherein a mapping of the set of SSBs to ROs is based on a synchronization signal block beam loading characteristic.
Xiong (US 2024/0172271 A1) teaches a mapping of the set of SSBs to ROs is based on a synchronization signal block beam loading characteristic (See para 0108 “the specific method can be bit map method (for example, if one SSB is associated with four ROs, then, for new technical features, RO0 and RO1 are represented by a 4-bit bit map, such as “1100”); look-up table method, for example, for the configuration of 16 rows, one or more RO indexes are available for each row configuration”)
Thus it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine a mapping of the set of SSBs to ROs is based on a synchronization signal block beam loading characteristic in the system of Khan Biegi. The motivation is to improve enhancement of communication (Xiong: see para 0004)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 9, 39 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/PAMIT KAUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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