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
Claim Rejections - 35 USC §102(a)2
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-5,11-13,16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being clearly anticipated by BEALE et al (US 20220124658 A1) hereinafter as BEALE.
Regarding claim(s) 1, BEALE discloses a time parameter determination method (See Fig(s). 7 see step S1), being applied to a first communication node and comprising:
in a case where mobile terminal transmission timing of the first communication
node corresponds to a first timing mode (See ¶ 28, idle mode), determining, by the first communication node, the mobile terminal transmission timing of the first communication node based on a timing advance of TtA before mobile terminal reception timing of the first communication node (See Fig(s). 7, step s3, See ¶ 28, the correct timing for uplink transmission on physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources by a terminal device is generally established through control signaling transmitted to the terminal device by a serving base station to configure an appropriate timing advance….The timing advance to be used by a terminal device is typically determined on the basis of information transmitted to the terminal device by the base station. Such information, often referred to as a timing advance command, may be transmitted to the terminal device as part of a random access response (RAR) message).
Regarding claim(s) 2, Beale discloses wherein the first timing mode
comprises that the distribution unit transmission timing of the first communication node is aligned with distribution unit transmission timing of a donor node (See Fig(s). 2, See ¶ 23, . a terminal device may be aware of which distributed unit(s) are involved in its communications. Switching and scheduling of the one or more distributed units may be done at the network controlling node based on measurements by the distributed units of the terminal device uplink signal or measurements taken by the terminal device and reported to the controlling node via one or more distributed units).
Regarding claim(s) 3, Beale discloses wherein the second timing mode
comprises that: distribution unit reception timing of a second communication node is aligned with mobile terminal reception timing of the second communication node (See ¶ 21;
Regarding claim(s) 4, Beale discloses wherein the third timing mode
comprises that: the mobile terminal transmission timing of the first communication node is aligned with the distribution unit transmission timing of the first communication node (See ¶ 28, n wireless telecommunication systems, the successful reception of data by a receiving node (e.g. a network access node such as a base station) can depend on the timing alignment at the receiving node between the reference timing of the radio frame structure used by the receiving node and the timing of the message arrival at the receiving node.).
Regarding claim(s) 5,13, Beale discloses wherein the mobile terminal
transmission timing of the first communication node is determined according to one of the following signaling: time offset index invalid signaling, timing mode switching signaling, or uplink transmission timing switching signaling (See ¶ 23, Switching and scheduling of the one or more distributed units may be done at the network controlling node based on measurements by the distributed units of the terminal device uplink signal or measurements taken by the terminal device and reported to the controlling node via one or more distributed units.).
Regarding claim(s) 11,16-20, Beale discloses communication device, comprising a communication module, a memory, and one or more processors; wherein the communication module is configured to perform communication interaction between a first communication node, a second communication node, and a donor node;
the memory is configured to store one or more programs; and when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 1 (See Fig(s). 1, 5, See ¶ 49-50).
Regarding claim(s) 12, Beale discloses non-transitory storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor, performs the method of claim 1 (See Fig(s). 1, 5, See ¶ 49-50).
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 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.
Claim(s) 6-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BEALE et al (US 20220124658 A1) hereinafter as BEALE in view of Abdel Ghaffar (US 20030210713 A1).
Regarding claim(s) 6, Abdel discloses receiving a time offset index configured by a second communication node; and determining the time offset according to the time offset index and time offset granularity (See Fig(s). 1-2, See ¶ 30-32, cell timing relates to its Node B timing via the cell offset parameter T.sub.cell=0, t.sub.256, 2*t.sub.256, . . . , 9*t.sub.256, which is different for all cells belonging to a particular Node B.).
Timing offset index provides for resource index corresponding to a beginning or end of the uplink transmission.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teachings of Abdel within BEALE, so as to proper align BS with UE and have corresponding to a beginning or end of the uplink transmission.
Regarding claim(s) 7, Abdel discloses wherein a manner of determining the time offset comprises Noffset=Ioffset (16*64/2u); wherein Ioffset denotes the time offset index and J denotes a sub-carrier spacing index (See ¶ 25-26, 32,41). Reasons for combining same as claim 6.
Regarding claim(s) 8, Beale discloses wherein a bearing manner of
signaling corresponding to the time offset index comprises one of the following: downlink control information (DCI), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (See ¶ 28), a medium access control element (MAC CE), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) signaling.
Regarding claim(s) 9, Beale discloses wherein the signaling comprises at least one of the following: a time offset index field, a timing advance group identifier field, or a value type field ( See ¶ 28, a terminal device in idle mode which determines it has uplink data to transmit to a base station may first acquire an up-to-date timing advance value from the base station by transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) preamble to the base station, and receiving a RAR message comprising a timing advance command.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102(a)1
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 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 pre-AIA 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 –
(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of application for patent in the United States.
Claim(s) 10 are/is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)1 as being clearly anticipated by Abdel Ghaffar (US 20030210713 A1).
Regarding claim(s) 10, Abdel discloses a time parameter determination method, being applied to a second communication node (See Fig(s). 1-2, with nodes Bi and Bq) and comprising:
configuring a time offset index (See Fig(s). 1, See ¶ 15-16, 19-21, time configuration between nodes Bi and Bq); and
sending the time offset index to a first communication node so that the first communication node determines a time offset according to the time offset index (See Fig(s). 2, See ¶ 32, cell timing relates to its Node B timing via the cell offset parameter T.sub.cell=0, t.sub.256, 2*t.sub.256, . . . , 9*t.sub.256, which is different for all cells belonging to a particular Node B. The inter cell analysis in this section refers to the non-trivial case when Nodes B.sub.i and B.sub.q are different, or otherwise the relation would be straightforward via T.sub.cell. For mapping purposes, the same time offset, index offset and phase offset variables Y, N, .theta. as before, but with subscripts j, k instead of i, q will be used.).
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 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.
Claim(s) 14-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abdel Ghaffar (US 20030210713 A1) in view of BEALE et al (US 20220124658 A1) hereinafter as BEALE.
Regarding claim(s) 14, Beale discloses communication device, comprising a communication module, a memory, and one or more processors; wherein the communication module is configured to perform communication interaction between a first communication node, a second communication node, and a donor node;
the memory is configured to store one or more programs; and when executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 1 (See Fig(s). 1, 5, See ¶ 49-50).
The use processor and memory modules allows for efficient and accurate calculations and upscaling of communication nodes as needed.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teachings of Beale within Abdel, so as to enhance overall network performance in an efficient and accurate mode.
Regarding claim(s) 15, Beale discloses non-transitory storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor, performs the method of claim 1 (See Fig(s). 1, 5, See ¶ 49-50). Reasons for combining same as claim 14.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's election without traverse of Group 1 claims 1-9,11-13,16-20 in the reply filed on April 30, 2026 is acknowledged. However, upon further review Examiner has withdrawn the restriction requirement and all claims as filed on April 30, 2026 are Examined on the merits without prejudice.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Raj Jain whose telephone number is (571) 272-3145. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th ~8 ~6.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached on 571-272-3123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAJ JAIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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