CTNF 18/708,254 CTNF 100209 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. 07-30-03-h AIA Claim Interpretation MPEP §2111.04 recites “The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. For example, assume a method claim requires step A if a first condition happens and step B if a second condition happens. If the claimed invention may be practiced without either the first or second condition happening, then neither step A or B is required by the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim. If the claimed invention requires the first condition to occur, then the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim requires step A. If the claimed invention requires both the first and second conditions to occur, then the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim requires both steps A and B.” Claim 29 is a method claim and contains contingent limitations. For method claims with contingent limitations, the broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent are not met. The limitation starting with “when the information transmitted to the network node indicates that at least one symbol …” (in line 8), “when the information transmitted to the network node indicates that at least one sample …” (in line 11). See MPEP 2111.04 subsection II. The similar contingent limitations with “when” also recited in claim 40 (Line 7, 10). The similar contingent limitations with “… when the timing advance is increasing ; or determining not to insert the at least one gap between adjacent transmission segments in the at least one uplink transmission when the timing advance is decreasing ” also recited in claim 39 (Line 4, 6). The similar contingent limitations with “… when the UE is to insert the at least one gap the information indicates that the UE is a Type-A UE or when the UE is not to insert.” also recited in claim 30 (Line 2). The similar contingent limitations with “When” also recited in claims 31 (Line 1), 32 (Line 1, 34 (Line 1), 36 (Line 1) and 43 (Line 4, 6). Since this are contingent limitations not required to occur, they are not required by the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim. Applicant is encouraged to require the conditions of the limitation to occur within the claim language or otherwise rewrite the claim language to avoid using contingent claiming. The prior art mapping was mapped to address the claim language, including the contingent limitations, however the contingent limitations are not included in the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim scope, so they cannot be relied upon to distinguish the claim scope from the prior art. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. 07-34-01 AIA Claim s 29-45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Claim 29 recite “… subframe is to be dropped and /or punctured to implement segmented pre-compensation …” is unclear. It is unclear when to perform “implement segmented pre-compensation”, after dropped OR after punctured. It is also unclear what “implement segmented pre-compensation” refers to, is “insert the at least one gap” performing the similar functionality as “implement segmented pre-compensation” OR some else. Further, it is unclear which node perform “indicates that at least one symbol, slot, and/or subframe is to be dropped”, the indication is from UE OR eNB. Regarding claims 30-38 , claims 30-38 fail to remedy the deficiencies of the claim 29 and therefore, are rejected. Claims 32, 40, 44 have similar issues with “implement segmented pre-compensation”. Thus, these claims are rejected. Regarding claims 41-43 , claims 41-43 fail to remedy the deficiencies of the claim 40 and therefore, are rejected. Regarding claims 45 , claims 45 fail to remedy the deficiencies of the claim 44 and therefore, are rejected. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 29-45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAN et al. (US 20240267862 A1, hereinafter YAN) in view of CUI et al. (US 20240224281 A1, hereinafter CUI) . Claim 29 : YAN teaches A method by a user equipment, UE, for facilitating long uplink transmission in an Internet of Things, IoT, Non-Terrestrial Network, NTN, the method comprising ( FIG. 2, [0029], “FIG. 2 illustrates the concept of the common TA and the UE-specific TA in NTN for two cases” ): transmitting, to a network node, information for determining whether the UE is to insert at least one gap between adjacent transmission segments in at least one uplink transmission ( Fig. 6, 9, [0054-0058], disclose All uplink transmissions of duration greater than or equal to X ms applies transmission gap with gap length Y and periodicity X until the uplink transmission completes, TA updating during gap time, and the length Y of the TA gap is configured based on the delta TA, wherein ΔTA is serving as the information for determining whether the UE is to insert at least one gap. Fig. 1, [0003], disclose the handshake between gNB and UE corresponding to TA, and UE use Msg2 (corrected TA ) to schedule Msg3 transmission ), and receiving, from the network node, configuration information configuring the UE to ([0025], “ the first time duration (Y) can be configured by higher layer or fixed as 1 symbol. The time period (X) can be configured by higher layer or configured as multiple of a preamble duration or configured as multiple repetitions of the uplink data transmission ”): insert the at least one gap when the information transmitted to the network node indicates that at least one symbol, slot, and/or subframe is to be dropped and/or punctured to implement segmented pre-compensation ( Fig. 7a/b/c, [0074], “It is obvious that the total dropped length is one symbol (e.g. the last half symbol of a first X time period+the first half symbol of a second X time period). It can be seen from FIG. 7(c) that the last half symbol is dropped (punctured) from the first X time period (start time period 1) to the second latest X time period (i.e. the fourth X time period in FIG. 7(c)) (end time period 1) of the uplink NPUSCH transmission”,[0056-0058], disclose a transmission gap with length of Y is inserted after or within every X duration from the beginning of the uplink transmission, TA update can be done in each of the transmission gaps, The length Y of the TA gap is configured based on the delta TA. Fig. 3, [0066], “when the delay drift is ±20 μs/s … Y is configured as 1 symbol (i.e. 66.7 μs) or half symbol (i.e. 33.3 μs)” ), and not insert the at least one gap when the information transmitted to the network node indicates that at least one sample is to be dropped and/or punctured to implement segmented pre-compensation ( Fig. 3, delta TA with 0.07sym indicate TA can be maintained the same during the transmission, wherein 0.07sym is reading as 1 sample, [0078], “The Y time duration can alternatively be configured as other values such as half symbol (i.e. 33.3 μs), or a value determined by the delta TA” ,[0058], “TA update can be done in each of the transmission gaps. The length Y of the TA gap is configured based on the delta TA”, Wherein “TA can be maintained” is reading as TA update is unnecessary, thus no gap insertion is needed ). However, YAN does not explicitly teach adjacent transmission segments. CUI , from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches adjacent transmission segments ( Fig. 2, [0072], disclose to Insert UL gap between adjacent segments to avoid overlap, wherein handle the overlap due to TA variation ). YAN and CUI are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore , it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the system of YAN and the features of inserting gap between two adjacent segments as taught by CUI, for the benefit for allowing BS to configure both segment length and UL gap for each individual transmission segment, thus handling overlap due to TA variation (paragraph [0069-0075]). Claim 40 is directed to the same method as claim 29, performed by the network node, analyzed and rejected according to Claim 29 and YAN further teach a network node ( Fig. 10, element eNB ). Claim 44 is analyzed and rejected according to Claim 29 and YAN further teach a user equipment ( Fig. 10, element UE ) comprising processing circuitry ( Fig. 10, [0102], “the UE (i.e. the remote unit) includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The processor implements a function, a process, and/or a method which are proposed in FIG. 9”). Claim 30 : The combination of YAN and CUI teaches the method of Claim 29, YAN additionally teaches wherein when the UE is to insert the at least one gap the information indicates that the UE is a Type-A UE ([0066], “when the delay drift is ±20 μs/s, X can be configured as 100 ms, 64 ms or 32 ms, while Y is configured as 1 symbol (i.e. 66.7 μs) or half symbol (i.e. 33.3 μs)”,[0059], “Doppler shift is compensated in the transmission gap by UE”, wherein UE that supporting Doppler shift compensation is reading as Type-A UE ) or when the UE is not to insert the at least one gap the information indicates that the UE is a Type-B UE ( alternative) . Claim 45 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 44 and claim 30. Claim 31 : The combination of YA N and CUI teaches the method of claim 29, wherein, when the UE is to insert the at least one gap, the information indicates a gap duration or a range of gap durations that can be inserted between the adjacent transmission segments (YAN: Fig. 7a/b/c/, [0076], “the Y time duration is configured between every two adjacent X time periods”,[0079], “the gap insertion solution proposed in the first embodiment and the puncture data transmission proposed in the second embodiment are combined to support TA update during transmission … Between every two adjacent X1 time periods within each X0 duration (or within each X0-Y0 duration), UE drops Y1 time duration NPUSCH transmission.”. CUI: Fig. 2, [0072], “Insert UL gap between adjacent segments to avoid overlap ”). Claim 32 : YAN teaches the method of claim 29, wherein, when the UE is to insert the at least one gap, the information indicates a number of symbols, slots, and/or subframes to be dropped ( 0078], “The Y time duration is described as 1 symbol (i.e. 66.7 μs) in above examples. The Y time duration can alternatively be configured as other values such as half symbol (i.e. 33.3 μs), or a value determined by the delta TA.”,[0075], “a Y time duration NPUSCH transmission is dropped (punctured) every X ms time interval or every X repetitions of NPUSCH transmission (abbreviated as X time period)”) and/or punctured to implement segmented pre-compensation (alternative ). Claim 33 : The combination of YAN and CUI teaches the method of claim 29, CUI additionally teaches wherein the information comprises capability information associated with the UE ([0055], “with different elevation angle, the drift rates of TA and Doppler are different so that the required segment length is also different. In order to achieve better performance, UE could report its information to help BS configure the segmentation parameters, e.g., segment length. For this purpose, UE could consider reporting any one or more of the UE's elevation angle, position, and velocity”, wherein “UE's elevation angle, position, and velocity” is reading as capability information ). The motivation for combining YAN and CUI regarding to the claim 29 is also applied to claim 33. Claim 34 : YAN teaches the method of claim 29, wherein, when the UE is to insert the at least one gap, the information indicates that the at least one gap is to be inserted for a particular type of transmission and/or a particular type of physical channel ( [0058-0061], [0065 – 0068], disclose eNB configure gap length Y and transmission window X according to PUSCH or NPUSCH. for NPUSCH, X is counted as a multiple of NPUSCH repetitions, for PUSCH, X may be configured in view of the delay drift ). Claim 35 : YAN teaches the method of Claim 34, wherein the particular type of physical channel is a Physical Uplink Shared Channel, Physical Uplink Control Channel (alternative), or Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared Channel ( Fig.3, illustrate TA updating method for PUSCH, NPSCH format 1 and 2, [0061-0062], disclose gap insertion method during PUSCH transmission, [0065-0066], disclose gap insertion method during NPUSCH transmission ). Claim 36 : YAN teaches the method of Claim 35, wherein, when the UE is to insert the at least one gap, the information indicates: that the at least one gap is to be inserted between the adjacent transmission segments for each transmission having a duration above a threshold duration ( alternative ), or that the at least one gap is to be inserted between the adjacent transmission segments for each transmission having a particular duration ([ 0058], “The length Y of the TA gap is configured based on the delta TA. If CP is 5 μs (±2.5 μs) (i.e. To is 2.5 μs), TA should be updated less than every 250 ms (±125 ms) in view of the delay drift of ±20 μs/s. In order to ensure initial TA error margin, X should be smaller than 125 ms. For example, X may be configured as 100 ms, 64 ms or 32 ms, while Y is configured as 1 ms”). Claim 42 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 40 and claim 36. Claim 37 : The combination of YAN and CUI teaches the method of claim 29, wherein the information indicates a particular type of NTN and the configuration information configures the UE to insert the at least one gap between the adjacent transmission segments for each transmission associated with the particular type of NTN ( YAN, Fig. 2, [ 0006-0015], disclose TA is corresponding to the speed, the propagation delay between the satellite (NTN) and UE, [0058], “TA update can be done in each of the transmission gaps. The length Y of the TA gap is configured based on the delta TA”, [0059], “Doppler shift is compensated in the transmission gap by UE”. CUI, [0054], “the pre-compensated TA and frequency offset values should be able to be updated within one UL transmission time period in IoT-NTN to ensure the timing and/or frequency drifts are within the tolerable range” ). Claim 38 : YAN teaches the method of Claim 37, wherein the particular type of the NTN is low earth orbit ( [0013], “For NTN network, the satellite (e.g., LEO) is moving with high speed, the propagation delay and frequency between the satellite and UE are always changing ”) or medium earth orbit ( alternative ). Claim 39 : YAN teaches the method of claim 29, wherein the information indicates a timing advance and the method comprises: inserting the at least one gap between adjacent transmission segments in at least one uplink transmission when the timing advance is increasing ( Fig. 7a/b/c, [0075], “When the Y time duration starts from Sp or Sn and ends at the end of the first X time period, it means that the last Y time duration of the first X time period is dropped … When the Y time duration starts from a position that is Y/2 time duration ahead of the end of the first X time period and ends at a position that is Y/2 time duration behind the start of the second X time period, it means that the last Y/2 time duration of the first X time period and the first Y/2 time duration of the second X time period are dropped”); or determining not to insert the at least one gap between adjacent transmission segments in the at least one uplink transmission when the timing advance is decreasing ( alternative ). Claim 43 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 40 and claim 39. Claim 41: YAN teaches the method of claim 40, wherein the information indicates a particular type of transmission and/or a particular type of physical channel, and the method further includes determining that the at least one gap will be inserted between the adjacent transmission segments based on the particular type of transmission and/or the particular type of physical channel ( [0058-0061], [0065 – 0068], disclose eNB configure gap length Y and transmission window X according to PUSCH or NPUSCH. for NPUSCH, X is counted as a multiple of NPUSCH repetitions, for PUSCH, X may be configured in view of the delay drift ), wherein the information comprises capability information associated with the UE and wherein the particular type of physical channel is a Physical Uplink Shared Channel, Physical Uplink Control Channel ( alternative ), or Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared Channel ( Fig.3, illustrate TA updating method for PUSCH, NPSCH format 1 and 2, [0061-0062], disclose gap insertion method during PUSCH transmission, [0065-0066], disclose gap insertion method during NPUSCH transmission ) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form. The closest prior art reference is Chen et al. (US 20230319751 A1, hereinafter Chen), which describes a system for determining a length of the first time interval and a location of the first time interval between the plurality of first time periods based on the first TA change rate . Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YONGHONG ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)272-4089. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday 9:00 am - 5:00pm. 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, NICHOLAS JENSEN can be reached on (571) 270-5443. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Y.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 2472 /ANDREW W CHRISS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 2 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 3 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 4 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 5 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 6 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 7 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 8 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 9 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 10 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 11 Art Unit: 2472 Application/Control Number: 18/708,254 Page 12 Art Unit: 2472
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