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
Response to Amendment
Examiner acknowledges Applicant's amendment filed on April 28, 2026. Claims 1, 4-7, 10-13, 15, 16, 19, and 23 are amended.
Claims 1-30 are currently pending consideration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's remarks filed April 28, 2026 concerning claims 1-30 have been fully considered, but are not persuasive. The reasons set forth below.
Regarding claim 1, on page 9 of Applicant's remarks, Applicant submits that the “timing advance value” in Paragraph [0251] of Murray does not teach “receive a timing advance configuration from a base station for sidelink communication with one or more user equipments (UEs), the timing advance configuration indicating an initial timing advance for the sidelink communication with the one or more UEs”
In response to applicant’s remarks, the examiner respectfully disagrees. Murray teaches in Paragraph [0251] base station signals an initial timing advance value and determines if adjustments are needed. The UE shares timing advance command information with other UEs or network entities for example over the sidelink interface as taught in Paragraph [0260]. Therefore, Murray teaches “receive a timing advance configuration from a base station for sidelink communication with one or more user equipments (UEs) the timing advance configuration indicating an initial timing advance for the sidelink communication with the one or more UEs” and examiners assertion is clear and proper.
Regarding claim 1, on page 10 of Applicant's remarks, Applicant submits that Murray fails to disclose or suggest that an “aerial device” transmit a discovery message from the aerial device to the one or more UEs at a transmission time based on the initial timing advance relative to a reference time of a sidelink synchronization reference.
In response to applicant’s remarks, the examiner respectfully disagrees. The timing advance command is applied for the random access preamble transmission, discovery message” and applies to NTNs/aerial device. The UE shares timing advance command information with other UEs or network entities for example over the sidelink interface as taught in Paragraph [0260]. Therefore Murray teaches aerial device and discovery message for sidelink communication and examiner’s assertion is clear and proper.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-11 and 26-30 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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4-6, 12, 13, 15-20 and 23- 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Murray et al. (US 2022/0272760 A1).
1. Regarding claims 1 and 20, Murray teaches an apparatus (Figure 1A Paragraph [0036] WTRU; aerial; drone) for wireless communication and a method at an aerial device, comprising:
memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to cause the aerial device to:
receive a timing advance configuration from a base station for sidelink
communication with one or more user equipments (UEs), whereinthe timing advance
configuration indicates an initial timing advance for the sidelink communication with
the one or more UEs (Paragraph [0251] initial timing advance from base station); and
transmit a discovery message from the aerial device to the one or more
UEs at a transmission time based on the initial timing advance relative to a reference
time of a sidelink synchronization reference (Paragraphs [0260] to [0262] UE shares timing advance command information with other UE; over sidelink interface).
2. Regarding claim 13, Murray teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node (Figures 1A and 1D Paragraph [0036] gNode-B; aerial; drone), comprising:
memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory and, configured to cause the network node to:
transmit downlink communication for one or more user equipment (UEs)
to an aerial device for relay over a sidelink (Paragraph [0251] initial timing advance from base station; random access procedure); and
transmit, to the aerial device, an indication of a timing advance
configuration for sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, whereinthe timing advance
configuration indicates an initial timing advance for the sidelink communication (Paragraph [0251] initial timing advance from base station; random access procedure).
Regarding claims 4 and 23, Murray teaches wherein the reference time of the sidelink synchronization reference is a time of the base station, and wherein to transmit the discovery message from the aerial device to the one or more UEs, the one or more processors are further configured to cause the aerial device to:
transmit the discovery message to the one or more UEs at the transmission time
based on the initial timing advance and an uplink timing advance for communication
with the base station (Paragraphs [0251] and [0260] to [0262] UE shares timing advance command information with other UE; over sidelink interface; adjustment to timing advance; maintain uplink synchronization).
Regarding claims 5 and 24, Murray teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the aerial device to:
receive a sidelink transmission from the one or more UEs at a reception time
with a sidelink reception frame timing that is offset from the reference time based at
least on the initial timing advance (Paragraphs [0251] and [0260] to [0262] UE shares timing advance command information with other UE; over sidelink interface; adjustment to timing advance; uplink frame).
Regarding claims 6 and 25, Murray teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the aerial device to:
adjust the transmission time or the reception time based at least on a timing
advance update for the sidelink communication with the one or more UEs, the timing
advance update being based on a propagation delay between the aerial device and the
one or more UEs (Paragraphs [0251], [0260] to [0262], [0267] UE shares timing advance command information with other UE; over sidelink interface; adjustment to timing advance; propagation delay).
Regarding claim 12, Murray teaches, further comprising:
at least one antenna coupled to the one or more processors (Paragraphs [0095] to [0097] antenna configured to transmit and receive; processor coupled to transceiver coupled to transmit/receive element/antenna).
7. Regarding claim 15, Murray teaches, further comprising:
at least one antenna coupled to the one or more processors (Paragraph [0069] gNode-B use multiple antennas to transmit/receive wireless signals).
Regarding claim 16, Murray teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (Figure 1A Paragraph [0036] WTRU; aerial; drone), comprising:
memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to cause the UE to:
transmit sidelink transmissions to multiple aerial devices based on a
common frame timing (Paragraphs [0260] to [0262] UE requests timing advance information from UEs in proximity; common signaling; over sidelink interface); and
receive relayed transmissions from the multiple aerial devices based on
the common frame timing (Paragraphs [0260] to [0262] UE requests timing advance information from UEs in proximity; common signaling; over sidelink interface).
9. Regarding claim 17, Murray teaches wherein the sidelink transmissions to the multiple aerial devices overlap at least partially in time (Paragraphs [0260] to [0262] UE requests timing advance information from UEs in proximity; common signaling; over sidelink interface).
10. Regarding claim 18, Murray teaches, wherein the common frame timing is based on a reference time without a timing advance for individual aerial devices (Paragraphs [0260] to [0262] UE requests timing advance information from UEs in proximity; common signaling; over sidelink interface).
11. Regarding claim 19, Murray teaches, further comprising:
at least one antenna coupled to the one or more processors (Paragraphs [0095] to [0097] antenna configured to transmit and receive; processor coupled to transceiver coupled to transmit/receive element/antenna).
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.
Claims 2, 3, 14, 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murray et al. (US 2022/0272760 A1) in view of Gupta et al. (US 2021/0168869 A1).
Regarding claims 2 and 21, Murray does not explicitly disclose wherein the timing advance configuration for the aerial device comprises a set of timing advance values each associated with a different altitude value.
Gupta teaches wherein the timing advance configuration for the aerial device comprises a set of timing advance values each associated with a different altitude value (Paragraphs [0082] to [0084] TA estimation at different heights).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the timing advance configuration for the aerial device comprises a set of timing advance values each associated with a different altitude value as taught by Gupta in the system of Murray for optimizing random access procedure using a default TA see Paragraph [0031] of Gupta.
13. Regarding claims 3, 14, and 22, Murray does not explicitly disclose wherein a value of the initial timing advance is based on a current altitude of the aerial device.
Gupta teaches wherein a value of the initial timing advance is based on a current altitude of the aerial device (Paragraphs [0082] to [0084] TA estimation using current altitude).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein a value of the initial timing advance is based on a current altitude of the aerial device as taught by Gupta in the system of Murray for optimizing random access procedure using a default TA see Paragraph [0031] of Gupta.
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 DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at (571)272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DIANE L LO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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