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
This is in response to an amendment/response filed on August 6, 2026.
Claims 1-3,5-6,12,and 15 have been amended.
No Claims have been cancelled.
No Claims have been added.
Claims 1-15 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on August 6, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues on pages 1-6 that Lee fails to disclose ” wherein the terminal performs the random access procedure for SI request with message- 1 repetition and without message-3 repetition in case that: the set of parameters related to system information comprises one or more sets of parameters related to SI request with message-1 repetition; and Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a downlink pathloss reference is less than at least one of the one or more second thresholds.”
The examiner respectfully disagrees. Lee discloses the UE may transmit an RACH preamble as Msg 1 on a PRACH in an RACH procedure considered as message- 1 repetition without message – 3 repetition as claimed by the instant application(See fig . 21 [0130]). Lee further disclose the UE capable of supporting the 2-step RACH procedure and the 4-step RACH procedure decides to which one of RACH procedures will be performed, a reference for determining whether the UE can attempt to perform the 2-step RACH procedure may be established between the UE and the BS. That is, a threshold serving as a reference for performing the 2-step RACH procedure may be established between the UE and the BS. The UE may measure the quality of a channel to be used for transmission of the Msg A. When the measurement quality satisfies the condition of the threshold, the UE may attempt to perform the 2-step RACH procedure. When the measured quality does not satisfy the condition of the threshold, the UE may attempt to perform the 4-step RACH procedure. In this case, the threshold may refer to information included in the RACH configuration (system information or RRC signaling) for the 2-step RACH procedure, and may be transmitted from the BS to the UE ([0190]). Which is the same function as : the set of parameters related to system information comprises one or more sets of parameters related to SI request with message-1 repetition; and Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a downlink pathloss reference is less than at least one of the one or more second thresholds claimed by the present application.
Based on the above disclosures and others Lee teaches wherein the terminal performs the random access procedure for SI request with message- 1 repetition and without message-3 repetition in case that: the set of parameters related to system information comprises one or more sets of parameters related to SI request with message-1 repetition; and Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a downlink pathloss reference is less than at least one of the one or more second thresholds.
For at least the reasons provided above, the applicant arguments regarding independent claims are not persuasive. The applicant argues that independent claims are patentable for similar reasons and are also not persuasive. The applicant further argues that since dependent claims depend on the argued independent claim; they are patentable at least by virtue of their dependencies. Since the applicant's arguments regarding independent claims are not persuasive, the applicant's arguments regarding dependent claims are also not persuasive.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
Claim(s) 1,7-9,and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US Application 2022/0210843, hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claims 1,15, Lee discloses a method(Figs. 8,9, 18-22,24-27) by a terminal comprising: a transceiver (106,206) configured to transmit and receive a signal, and a controller (102,202) configured to control the transceiver ([0264], which recites first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104, and further include one or more transceivers 106 and/or one or more antennas 108. The processor(s) 102 may control the memory(s) 104 and/or the transceiver(s) 106 and may be configured to implement the descriptions) the method comprising:
receiving by the terminal a System Information Block1 (SIB1), wherein the SIB1 ([0111]-[0113], which recites a SIB1 receive by the terminal) comprises:
a set of parameters related to system information([0111]-[0112], which recites systemInformationBlock1 (SIB1), carrying basic information required for initial access and information required to acquire the other SI. SIB1 includes information related to availability and scheduling (e.g., a transmission periodicity and an SI-window size) of the remaining SIBs ); and
a set of parameters related to serving cell configuration([0064],[0088],[0091],[0253], which recites the UE may perform cell search, system information acquisition, wherein Cell search is a process of acquiring time/frequency synchronization with a cell and detecting the cell ID (e.g., physical layer cell ID (PCID)) of the cell at a UE ); and
performing by the terminal a random access procedure for System Information (SI) request(Abstract,[0013], [0110],[0136],[0253] which recites the UE may transmit the Msg A for performing the 2-step RACH procedure to the BS upon receiving the RACH configuration from the BS ), wherein the set of parameters related to serving cell configuration([0064],[0088],[0091],[0253], which recites the UE may perform cell search, system information acquisition, wherein Cell search is a process of acquiring time/frequency synchronization with a cell and detecting the cell ID (e.g., physical layer cell ID (PCID)) of the cell at a UE ); comprises:
one or more sets of parameters related to Random Access Channel (RACH) (Abstract,[0013], [0110],[0136],[0253]), which recites a terminal carries out a random access channel (RACH) procedure in a wireless communication system); a parameter indicating a first threshold(Abstract,[0009]), which recites the method may comprise: receiving a first threshold related to channel quality for the transmission of message A including a physical random access channel (PRACH) and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)); and
one or more parameters indicating one or more second thresholds(Abstract,[0009]), which recites the method may further include receiving a second threshold related to selection of a synchronization signal block (SSB));
wherein the terminal performs the random access procedure for SI request with message-1 repetition and without message-3 repetition ([0006], [0188]-[0191], which recites a random access procedure with msg1 repetition) in case that:
the set of parameters related to system information comprises one or more sets of parameters related to SI request with message-1 repetition([0006], [0188]-[0191], which recites the Msg-A PUSCH is previously transmitted before the UE receives a response related to the Msg-A PRACH from the BS); and
Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of downlink pathloss reference is less than at least one of the one or more second thresholds([0006], [0188]-[0191], which recites the UE may receive a threshold related to performance of the 2-step RACH procedure from the BS through higher layer signaling, and may measure a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of a pathloss reference signal such as a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) or a Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS). When the RSRP value measured by the UE is less than the previously received threshold, the UE can transmit the Msg 1 by selecting the 4-step RACH procedure).
Regarding claim 7, Lee discloses the method of claim 1, wherein each set of the one or more sets of parameters related to RACH comprises: a first subset of parameters related to RACH(Abstract,[0013], [0110],[0136],[0253]); and one or more second subsets of parameters related to RACH(Abstract,[0013], [0110],[0136],[0253]).
Regarding claim 8, Lee discloses the method of claim 7, wherein the first subset of parameters related to RACH comprises: a parameter indicating PRACH configuration([0134],[0225]); and a parameter indicating preamble target power([0134],[0225]).
Regarding claim 9, Lee discloses the method of claim 7, wherein each set of the one or more second subsets of parameters related to RACH comprises: a parameter indicating one or more features([0134],[0201],[0225]); a parameter indicating start preamble; and a parameter indicating power offset([0134],[0201],[0225]).
Regarding claim 12, Lee discloses the method of claim 1, wherein transmission power of message-1, for the random access procedure for SI request with message-1 repetition and without message-3 repetition, is determined based on sum of a specific preamble target power and a specific delta preamble([0006], [0134], [0188]-[0191], [0201],[0225]).
Regarding claim 13, Lee discloses the method of claim 12, wherein the specific preamble target power and the specific delta preamble are determined based on a specific set of the one or more sets of parameters related to SI request with message-1 repetition([0006], [0134], [0188]-[0191], [0201],[0225]).
Regarding claim 14, Lee discloses the method of claim 13, wherein the specific set of parameters related to SI request with message-1 repetition is determined based on number of repetitions([0006], [0134], [0188]-[0191], [0201],[0225]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-6, and 10-11 are 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art in record fails to anticipate or render obvious the following limitations: wherein the terminal performs the random access procedure for SI request without message-1 repetition and with message-3 repetition in case that:
the set of parameters related to system information does not comprise the one or more sets of parameters related to SI request with message-1 repetition;
the set of parameters related to system information does not comprise the set of parameters related to SI request without message-1 repetition; and
RSRP of downlink pathloss reference is less than the first threshold.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DADY CHERY whose telephone number is (571)270-1207. The examiner can normally be reached M to T, 8 am to 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Moo Jeong can be reached at 571-272-9617. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DADY CHERY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2418
