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 .
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) 1-6,10,16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Guo to (US20180084546)
Regarding claims 1,16,20 Guo teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory([0268] discloses a UE, the device 300 includes a program code 312 stored in the memory 310. The CPU 308 could execute program code 312 to enable the UE to maintain at least a first timing advance value and a second timing advance value) and configured to cause the UE to: determine whether a maximum uplink (UL) transmission (TX) timing difference is exceeded during UL transmission;([0111] discloses When the MAC entity stops uplink transmissions for an SCell due to the fact that the maximum uplink transmission timing difference (as described in subclause 7.9.2 of TS 36.133 [9]) or the maximum uplink transmission timing difference the UE can handle between TAGs of any MAC entity of the UE is exceeded, the MAC entity considers the timeAlignmentTimer associated with the SCell as expired) and stop or suspend UL transmission on a first link in response to the determination that the maximum UL TX timing difference is exceeded, ([0112] discloses The MAC entity shall not perform any uplink transmission on a Serving Cell except the Random Access Preamble transmission when the timeAlignmentTimer associated with the TAG to which this Serving Cell belongs is not running. Furthermore, when the timeAlignmentTimer associated with the pTAG is not running, the MAC entity shall not perform any uplink transmission on any Serving Cell except the Random Access Preamble transmission on the SpCell.The MAC entity shall not perform any sidelink transmission which is performed based on UL timing of the corresponding serving cell and any associated SCI transmissions when the corresponding timeAlignmentTimer is not running)wherein the UE supports maintenance of multiple time alignments (TAs) or multiple timing advance values or multiple timing adjustment amounts([0286] discloses the UE could be able to maintain multiple timing advance values simultaneously. Maintaining a timing advance value means that the UE could apply the timing advance value to adjust timing of UL transmission. The UE could maintain different timing advance values for different network nodes or for different groups of network nodes).
Regarding claim 19, Guo teaches a base station for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory([0219] discloses a network node, the device 300 includes a program code 312 stored in the memory 310. The CPU 308 could execute program code 312 to enable the network node to transmit a signaling to a UE to schedule a first uplink transmission) and configured to cause the base station to: configure a user equipment (UE) to enable or support maintenance of multiple time alignment or multiple timing advance values or multiple timing adjustment amounts([0286] discloses the UE could be able to maintain multiple timing advance values simultaneously. Maintaining a timing advance value means that the UE could apply the timing advance value to adjust timing of UL transmission. The UE could maintain different timing advance values for different network nodes or for different groups of network nodes. [0195] A UE can maintain one or more TA values for a cell. How many TA values are maintained may be controlled by network, e.g., based on network configuration).
Regarding claims 2,17 Guo teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to consider that a TA timer of the first link expires in response to the determination that the maximum UL TX timing difference is exceeded during UL transmission([0255] discloses Only utilizing timer to control validity of the UL timing advance, e.g., as LTE discussed in 3GPP TS 36.321, may not be efficient since the UE may keep performing transmissions, e.g., UL reference signal, to the TRP(s) using invalid UL timing advance value until the timer is expired. Alternatively, network could send a third indication to ask the UE to remove, discard, or stop maintaining certain UL timing advance value(s). The third indication may indicate TA index(es) (e.g., expressed by index list or bitmap) that the UE should stop maintaining associated UL timing advance value(s). The third indication may be a physical layer or MAC layer control signaling. When the UE receives the third indication, the UE would stop maintaining the associated UL timing advance value(s), e.g., stop timer(s) associated with the UL timing advance value(s), and may stop UL transmission(s) associated with the UL timing advance value(s), e.g., stop UL transmission(s) to TRP(s) or stop UL transmission(s) via beam(s) associated with the UL timing advance value(s)).
Regarding claim 3, Guo teaches wherein to suspend UL transmission on the first link, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to suspend configured grants associated with the first link([0106] clear any configured downlink assignments and uplink grants).
Regarding claims 4,18 Guo teaches wherein the maximum UL TX timing difference is pre-configured by a network node or pre-defined([0195] A UE can maintain one or more TA values for a cell. How many TA values are maintained may be controlled by network, e.g., based on network configuration).
Regarding claim 5, Guo teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to support multi-panel transmission and/or multiple transmit-receive point (multi-TRP) reception([0199],[0200] Discloses .. a UE is configured with more than one TAG… a group of TRPs may comprise one or multiple TRPs. The association of maintained TA value and (group of) TRP (or NW beam) may be provided by network).
Regarding claim 6, Guo teaches wherein to determine whether the maximum UL TX timing difference is exceeded, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: compare TAs of links; ([0199] In LTE, if a UE is configured with more than one TAG, it has more than one TA values. However, one cell can only belong to one TAG at a time, and therefore there is only one TA value for a cell. Compared with LTE, the method allows a UE to maintain more than one TA values for a single cell) and determine that the maximum UL TX timing difference is exceeded in response to a timing difference between any two links exceeding the maximum UL TX timing difference([0111] discloses When the MAC entity stops uplink transmissions for an SCell due to the fact that the maximum uplink transmission timing difference (as described in subclause 7.9.2 of TS 36.133 [9]) or the maximum uplink transmission timing difference the UE can handle between TAGs of any MAC entity of the UE is exceeded, the MAC entity considers the timeAlignmentTimer associated with the SCell as expired).
Regarding claim 10,Guo teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to, with timing advance group (TAG), stop UL transmission on the first link in response to the determination that the maximum UL TX timing difference is exceeded, and suspend or stop UL transmission to a secondary cell (SCell) ([0111] discloses When the MAC entity stops uplink transmissions for an SCell due to the fact that the maximum uplink transmission timing difference (as described in subclause 7.9.2 of TS 36.133 [9]) or the maximum uplink transmission timing difference the UE can handle between TAGs of any MAC entity of the UE is exceeded, the MAC entity considers the timeAlignmentTimer associated with the SCell as expired).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo to (US20180084546) in view of Kuo to (US20180198665)
Regarding claim 7, Guo does not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: maintain UL transmission on a second link in response to the determination that the maximum UL TX timing difference is exceeded
However, Kuo teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: maintain UL transmission on a second link in response to the determination that the maximum UL TX timing difference is exceeded([0137] FIG. 10 , gNodeB 1001 controls serving cell 1004 through TRP 1002. Utilizing, e.g., beamforming techniques, UE 1003 is able send transmissions to and receive transmission from TRP 1002 through a first beam 1006 and a second beam 1008. First beam 1006 is associated with a TA value 1 1005, and second beam 1008 is associated with a TA value 2 1007. As discussed in this disclosure, TA value 1 1005 may become invalid. Accordingly, UE 1003 will cease transmission over first beam 1006 while maintaining transmission over second beam 1008)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Guo include wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: maintain UL transmission on a second link in response to the determination that the maximum UL TX timing difference is exceeded, as suggested by Kuo. This modification would benefit the system to reduce transmission loss,
Regarding claim 8, Guo and Kuo teaches wherein to maintain UL transmission on the second link, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to select as the second link a link of a beam or a beam pair having best quality or a link with a TA timer expiring latest among links(Kuo, [0137] FIG. 10 ,Utilizing, e.g., beamforming techniques, UE 1003 is able send transmissions to and receive transmission from TRP 1002 through a first beam 1006 and a second beam 1008. First beam 1006 is associated with a TA value 1 1005, and second beam 1008 is associated with a TA value 2 1007. As discussed in this disclosure, TA value 1 1005 may become invalid. Accordingly, UE 1003 will cease transmission over first beam 1006 while maintaining transmission over second beam 1008).
Regarding claim 9, Guo and Kuo teaches wherein to maintain UL transmission on the second link, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to select as the second link a pre-defined link, or a link indicated or configured by a base station (BS) to be the second link(Kuo, [0133] disclosesThe association between a TA value to be maintained and a TRP or a beam could be established based on information provided by a network node, e.g., a TRP or gNodeB. The association between a TA value to be maintained and a beam could be established based on the content of a (beam specific) reference signal. In addition, the serving cell may be the only serving cell for the UE or the UE could have multiple serving cells).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-15 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZEWDU A BEYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-6:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy D Vu can be reached at 571-272-3155. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZEWDU A BEYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461