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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 05/23/2024.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Claims 1-4, 16-20 are rejected.
Claims 5-15 are objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over Claim 1-2, 4-17, 30 of Patent No. US 12016054 B2.
Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because Claims 1, 16 & 20 of the instant application merely broaden the scope of claims 1, 17 & 30 of Patent No. US 12016054 B2 by omitting limitations, such as at least one of the random access preamble or the random access payload being transmitted based at least in part on one or more cell-specific transmission parameters or cell-specific transmission schemes.
It has been held that the omission of an element and its function is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements perform the same function as before. In re Karlson, 136 USPQ 184 (CCPA), also note Exparte Rainu, 168 USPQ 375 (Bd. App. 1969); the omission of a reference element whose function is not needed would be obvious to one skilled in the art.
The table below maps the claims in the instant applications to corresponding claims which have substantially the same limitations [up to and including limitations of parent and intervening claims] in Patent No. US 12016054 B2. Corresponding claim limitations are placed side-by-side (below).
Claim # in Instant Application
( 18673218)
Claim # in Patent No. US 12016054 B22
[Claim 1] A user equipment (UE) in a cell, comprising: one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to:
transmit, to a base station serving the cell, a first random access message of a two-step random access procedure, the first random access message including a random access preamble and a random access payload, wherein information bits of the random access payload are scrambled in accordance with a scrambling sequence, wherein the scrambling sequence is based at least in part on a random access radio network temporary identifier, a preamble identifier, and a cell identifier;
receive, from the base station, a second random access response message of the two-step random access procedure in response to the first random access message; and
establish a connection with the base station based at least in part on the first random access message and the second random access response message.
A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) in a cell, comprising:
transmitting, to a base station serving the cell, a first random access message of a two-step random access procedure, the first random access message including a random access preamble and a random access payload, at least one of the random access preamble or the random access payload being transmitted based at least in part on one or more cell-specific transmission parameters or cell-specific transmission schemes, wherein information bits of the random access payload are scrambled based at least in part on a random access radio network temporary identifier, and wherein a scrambling sequence applied to the information bits of the random access payload is a function of a cell identifier and a UE identifier;
receiving, from the base station, a second random access response message of the two-step random access procedure in response to the first random access message; and establishing a connection with the base station based at least in part on the first random access message and the second random access response message.
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Claims 17-19 are also rejected for depending from a rejected base claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1-2, 16-17, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yumin Wu et al (US 20210153259 A1) in view of Yingzhe Li et al (US 20190132882 A1).
Claims 1-20 of the instant application are directed to a method of wireless communication performed by user equipment UE to: transmit, to a base station serving the cell, a first random access message of a two-step random access procedure, the first random access message including a random access preamble and a random access payload, wherein information bits of the random access payload are scrambled in accordance with a scrambling sequence, wherein the scrambling sequence is based at least in part on a random access radio network temporary identifier, a preamble identifier, and a cell identifier; receive, from the base station, a second random access response message of the two-step random access procedure in response to the first random access message; and establish a connection with the base station based at least in part on the first random access message and the second random access response message, the system shown in FIG. 15.
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The Wu reference is concerned with a two-step random access procedure that includes the following steps: Step S1: The terminal device sends, to the network-side device, Msg1 that includes a data payload (that is, Data) and a terminal device identifier (that is, UE ID). Step S2: The network-side device sends, to the terminal device, Msg2 that contains confirmation information, the method shown in FIG. 3.
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The Li reference, for its part, is concerned with a wireless communication system that cures the deficiency of Wu by disclosing that In another sub-example, if the UE has already been assigned a C-RNTI, the UE-ID included in data part of Msg1 can be C-RNTI. In one instance, if RA2-RNTI is configured to be based on UE-ID, the C-RNTI can also be directly utilized by the UE as the RA2-RNTI (see ¶ 0337).
For Claim 1, Wu discloses a user equipment (UE) in a cell, comprising: one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories (Wu shows, in FIG. 7, that the terminal device 700 includes, but is not limited to, a radio frequency unit 701, a network module 702, … an interface unit 708, a memory 709, a processor) and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: transmit, to a base station serving the cell, a first random access message of a two-step random access procedure, the first random access message including a random access preamble and a random access payload (Wu teaches, in FIG. 1, Step S1: The terminal device sends, to the network-side device, Msg1 that includes a data payload (that is, Data) and a terminal device identifier (that is, UE ID). Wu teaches, in ¶ 0054 that the Msg1 may include both a data payload and a control payload (for example, a preamble)), wherein information bits of the random access payload are scrambled in accordance with a scrambling sequence, wherein the scrambling sequence is based at least in part on a random access radio network temporary identifier, a preamble identifier (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0123, that the Msg1 identification information includes at least one of a preamble identifier and a terminal device identifier of a data channel. The terminal device identifier of the data channel may be a data identifier of a PUSCH, such as an RA-RNTI (Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier, random access radio network temporary identifier). Wu also teaches, in ¶ 0129, that the RA-RNTI serves as a data identifier of the PUSCH transmitted in the data payload in the Msg1. It should be noted that when the RNTI is not included in a scrambling code of the PUSCH transmitted in the data payload in the Msg1);
receive, from the base station, a second random access response message of the two-step random access procedure in response to the first random access message (Wu teaches, in FIG. 1, Step S2: The network-side device sends, to the terminal device, Msg2 that contains confirmation information); and
establish a connection with the base station based at least in part on the first random access message and the second random access response message (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0035, that the confirmation information may include a terminal device identifier (that is, a UE ID) and a response indication (that is, an ACK Indication)).
Wu fails to expressly disclose that the information bits of the random access payload scrambled based at least in part on a cell identifier.
However, Li, in analogous art, discloses that the information bits of the random access payload scrambled based at least in part on a cell identifier (Li teaches, in ¶ 0337, that if the UE has already been assigned a C-RNTI, the UE-ID included in data part of Msg1 can be C-RNTI).
Li further teaches, in ¶ 0397, that In one sub-example, the 2-step RA is successful in this case. The UE can establish RRC connection and UL synchronization with the gNB.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system taught in Wu with the enhancements to Msg1 taught in Li. The motivation is to reduce an initial access latency.
For Claim 2, Wu discloses all of the claimed subject matter with the exception to determine the random access radio network temporary identifier based at least in part on the cell identifier, wherein the first random access message is transmitted after channel coding.
However, Li, in analogous art, discloses to determine the random access radio network temporary identifier based at least in part on the cell identifier, wherein the first random access message is transmitted after channel coding (Li teaches, in ¶ 0336, such that the RA2-RNTI can be determined as scrambling RNTI_1 with ID_1, ID_2, . . . , ID_k, with 1<=k<=n.).
Li further teaches, in ¶ 0087, that The TX processing circuitry 215 encodes, multiplexes, and/or digitizes the outgoing baseband data to generate processed baseband or IF signals..
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system taught in Wu with the enhancements to Msg1 taught in Li. The motivation is to reduce an initial access latency.
For Claims 16 & 20, please refer to the rejection of claim 1, above.
For Claim 17, please refer to the rejection of claim 2, above.
Claims 3, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yumin Wu et al (US 20210153259 A1) in view of Yingzhe Li et al (US 20190132882 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yiqing Cao et al (US 20220124813 A1).
For Claims 3, 18, Wu and Li teach all of the claimed subject matter with the exception to scramble the information bits of the random access payload based at least in part on a port index of a demodulation reference signal, wherein the scrambling sequence is based at least in part on the port index of the demodulation reference signal.
However, Cao, in analogous art, discloses to scramble the information bits of the random access payload based at least in part on a port index of a demodulation reference signal, wherein the scrambling sequence is based at least in part on the port index of the demodulation reference signal (Cao teaches, in ¶ 0094, In one such configuration, the UE 504 may use a combination of the index or ID of the preamble 522a and the DMRS port index (e.g., UE-specific uplink DMRS port index) to identify the UE 504, which may be used for both the msgA 522 (PUSCH scrambling) and msgB 530 (PDCCH scrambling).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system taught in Wu and Li with the port scrambling taught in Cao. The motivation is to enhance the reliability of the communication network.
Claims 4, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yumin Wu et al (US 20210153259 A1) in view of Yingzhe Li et al (US 20190132882 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Min Wang et al (US 20210195676 A1).
For Claims 4, 19, Wu and Li teach all of the claimed subject matter with the exception that the random access radio network temporary identifier is used for a radio resource control idle mode, a radio resource control inactive mode, and a radio resource connected mode.
However, Wang, in analogous art, discloses that the random access radio network temporary identifier is used for a radio resource control idle mode, a radio resource control inactive mode, and a radio resource connected mode (Wang teaches, in ¶ 0084, Since the UE 10 is in connected mode the UE 10 may use RA-RNTI to determine that the RAR is intended for the UE 10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system taught in Wu and Li with the connected mode taught in Wang. The motivation is so that the UE transmits, to the radio network node, a preamble of a random access procedure [Wang: ¶ 0033].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-15 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the nonstatutory double patenting the rejection(s), set forth in this Office action and to include 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: Claims 5-15 are considered allowable because the prior art does not teach limitations:
“receive a cell-specific configuration for transmission of the random access preamble, wherein the cell-specific configuration comprises one or more cell-specific transmission parameters; and identify, from the cell-specific configuration, one or more random access preamble transmission occasions, wherein the one or more random access preamble transmission occasions comprise time domain resources, frequency domain resources, or both, at least one of the time domain resources or frequency domain resources being a cell-specific transmission parameter for the cell-specific configuration, wherein, to transmit the first random access message, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: transmit the random access preamble on a physical random access channel (PRACH) during the one or more random access preamble transmission occasions” as recited in dependent claim 5.
“identify a hopping sequence for transmission of the random access payload, wherein the hopping sequence is based at least in part on a time domain offset or a frequency domain offset, or both, between the random access preamble and the random access payload, wherein the first random access message is based at least in part on cell-specific time and frequency resources used for one or more transmission occasions defined by the hopping sequence, wherein, to transmit the first random access message, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: transmit the random access payload on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in a random access payload transmission occasion based at least in part on the hopping sequence” as recited in dependent claim 9.
“determine a transmission power for transmission of the first random access message based at least in part on a pathloss compensation factor, wherein the pathloss compensation factor is different from neighboring cell pathloss compensation factors used by other UEs in neighboring cells during same transmission occasions, wherein, to transmit the first random access message, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: transmit the first random access message based at least in part on the transmission power” as recited in dependent claim 14.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: HUANG (US 20240407007 A1) is pertinent to a method comprising: receiving, from a wireless communication device, a first message comprising a preamble and a payload for an access to the wireless communication node; and transmitting, to the wireless communication device, a second message in response to the first message..
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMED A KAMARA whose telephone number is (571)270-5629. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CHARLES JIANG can be reached at 5712707191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMED A KAMARA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412