DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/23/2024 and 06/06/2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 of this title, 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 1-3 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fu et al. (US 20230092926, Fu hereinafter) in view of Min et al. (US 20240397420, Min hereinafter).
As to claim 1: Fu discloses a user equipment (UE), comprising:
at least one memory (see at least paragraph [0158], memory); and
at least one processor (see at least paragraph [0158], processor) coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to: receive, from a network node, configuration information regarding at least one of a network slicing operation or an uplink (UL) transmission repetition operation (see at least paragraphs [0064]-[0127, [0131]-[0163] and Fig. 4-6, a terminal device receives first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes at least two random access resources associated with or corresponding to a network slice.);
perform a UL data transmission procedure or a random access channel (RACH) procedure based on the configuration information (see at least paragraphs [0064]-[0127, [0131]-[0163] and Fig. 4-6, the terminal device performs random access based on the random access resource determined.).
Fu does not explicitly disclose transmit, to a serving cell, assistant information related to a failure of the UL data transmission procedure or a random access problem of the RACH procedure, wherein the assistant information is associated with at least one of the network slicing operation or the UL transmission repetition operation.
However Min discloses transmit, to a serving cell, assistant information related to a failure of the UL data transmission procedure or a random access problem of the RACH procedure, wherein the assistant information is associated with at least one of the network slicing operation or the UL transmission repetition operation (see at least paragraphs [0134]-[0140], when a slice specific RACH fails, RA procedure-related information including at least any of the following messages may be reported to the RACH report. 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping (interpreted as assistance information), For example, it may be the number of times PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_COUNTER is incremented. Slice ID (NSSAI) or slice group ID that the UE 200 attempts to access.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement RACH report to include 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping, as taught by Min, into the invention of Fu in order to optimizing parameter setting regarding the slice specific RACH (see Min, paragraph [0145]).
As to claim 2: Fu and Min disclose the UE of claim 1. Fu does not explicitly disclose wherein: in response to the UE being in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, the configuration information is received via RRC signalling; or in response to the UE being in an idle state or an inactive state, the configuration information is received via broadcast signalling.
However Min discloses wherein: in response to the UE being in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, the configuration information is received via RRC signalling; or in response to the UE being in an idle state or an inactive state, the configuration information is received via broadcast signalling (see at least paragraph [0171], RRC signalling.)
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement RACH report to include 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping, as taught by Min, into the invention of Fu in order to optimizing parameter setting regarding the slice specific RACH (see Min, paragraph [0145]).
As to claim 3: Fu and Min disclose the UE of claim 1. Fu does not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information is carried in at least one of a radio link failure (RLF) report or a radio access (RA) report, and wherein the at least one of the RLF report or the RA report is included in a UE information response message.
However Min discloses wherein the assistant information is carried in at least one of a radio link failure (RLF) report or a radio access (RA) report, and wherein the at least one of the RLF report or the RA report is included in a UE information response message (see at least paragraphs [0134]-[0140], when a slice specific RACH fails, RA procedure-related information including at least any of the following messages may be reported to the RACH report. 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping (interpreted as assistance information), For example, it may be the number of times PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_COUNTER is incremented. Slice ID (NSSAI) or slice group ID that the UE 200 attempts to access.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement RACH report to include 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping, as taught by Min, into the invention of Fu in order to optimizing parameter setting regarding the slice specific RACH (see Min, paragraph [0145]).
As to claim 10: Fu discloses an apparatus for performing a network function, the apparatus comprising:
at least one memory (see at least paragraph [0158], memory); and
at least one processor (see at least paragraph [0158], processor) coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), configuration information regarding at least one of a network slicing operation or an uplink (UL) transmission repetition operation (see at least paragraphs [0064]-[0127, [0131]-[0163] and Fig. 4-6, a terminal device receives first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes at least two random access resources associated with or corresponding to a network slice.); and
receive, from a target network node, assistant information related to a failure of a UL data transmission procedure or a random access problem of a random access channel (RACH) procedure, wherein the assistant information is associated with at least one of the network slicing operation or the UL transmission repetition operation (see at least paragraphs [0134]-[0140], when a slice specific RACH fails, RA procedure-related information including at least any of the following messages may be reported to the RACH report. 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping (interpreted as assistance information), For example, it may be the number of times PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_COUNTER is incremented. Slice ID (NSSAI) or slice group ID that the UE 200 attempts to access.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement RACH report to include 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping, as taught by Min, into the invention of Fu in order to optimizing parameter setting regarding the slice specific RACH (see Min, paragraph [0145]).
As to claim 11: Fu and Min disclose the apparatus of claim 10. Fu does not explicitly disclose wherein: in response to the UE being in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, the configuration information is transmitted via RRC signalling; or in response to the UE being in an idle state or an inactive state, the configuration information is transmitted via broadcast signalling.
However Min discloses wherein: in response to the UE being in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, the configuration information is transmitted via RRC signalling; or in response to the UE being in an idle state or an inactive state, the configuration information is transmitted via broadcast signalling (see at least paragraph [0171], RRC signalling.)
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement RACH report to include 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping, as taught by Min, into the invention of Fu in order to optimizing parameter setting regarding the slice specific RACH (see Min, paragraph [0145]).
As to claim 12: Fu and Min disclose the apparatus of claim 10. Fu does not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information is carried in a message over an Xn interface.
However Min discloses wherein the assistant information is carried in a message over an Xn interface (see at least paragraph [0123], Xn interface).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement RACH report to include 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping, as taught by Min, into the invention of Fu in order to optimizing parameter setting regarding the slice specific RACH (see Min, paragraph [0145]).
Claims 4-9 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fu et al. (US 20230092926, Fu hereinafter) in view of Min et al. (US 20240397420, Min hereinafter) and further in view of Liu et al. (US 20240080881, Liu hereinafter).
As to claim 4: Fu and Min disclose the UE of claim 1. Fu and Min do not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a repetition total number of a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission.
However Liu discloses a repetition total number of a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission (see at least paragraph [0034], PUSCH repetition.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Fu and Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
As to claim 5: Fu and Min disclose the UE of claim 1. Fu and Min do not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold for requesting a PUSCH repetition of Msg3.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold for requesting a PUSCH repetition of Msg3 (see at least paragraph [0053], the RSRP threshold configuration comprises at least one of the following: an Msg3 repetition RSRP threshold, an SSB selection RSRP threshold, or a set of two carrier selection RSRP thresholds.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Fu and Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
As to claim 6: Fu and Min disclose the UE of claim 1. Fu and Min do not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a RSRP threshold for determining candidate synchronization signal block (SSB) to attempt PUSCH repetition of Msg3.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a RSRP threshold for determining candidate synchronization signal block (SSB) to attempt PUSCH repetition of Msg3 (see at least paragraph [0053], the RSRP threshold configuration comprises at least one of the following: an Msg3 repetition RSRP threshold, an SSB selection RSRP threshold, or a set of two carrier selection RSRP thresholds.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Fu and Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
As to claim 7: Fu and Min disclose the UE of claim 1. Fu and Min do not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: information indicating whether a preamble is configured for requesting a PUSCH repetition of Msg3 for each attempt; or information indicating whether a preamble is configured for requesting the PUSCH repetition of MsgA for the each attempt.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: information indicating whether a preamble is configured for requesting a PUSCH repetition of Msg3 for each attempt; or information indicating whether a preamble is configured for requesting the PUSCH repetition of MsgA for the each attempt (see at least paragraph [0034], PUSCH repetition.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Fu and Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
As to claim 8: Fu and Min disclose the UE of claim 1. Fu and Min do not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a total number of PUSCH repetitions for Msg3 initial transmission.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a total number of PUSCH repetitions for Msg3 initial transmission (see at least paragraph [0034], PUSCH repetition).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Fu and Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
As to claim 9: Fu and Min disclose the UE of claim 1. Fu and Min do not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a RSRP threshold for a selection operation between a slice-specific RACH procedure and a common RACH procedure; a RSRP threshold for a selection operation between a 2-step RACH procedure and a 4-step RACH procedure; information indicating whether a preamble is configured for a specific slicing or a specific slicing group for each attempt; information indicating whether a fallback operation happens; a maximum number of MsgA preamble transmissions performed before switching from a 2-step slice specific RACH procedure to a 4-step RACH procedure; or information indicating whether a reported MsgA PUSCH resource is configured for the network slicing operation or not.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a RSRP threshold for a selection operation between a slice-specific RACH procedure and a common RACH procedure; a RSRP threshold for a selection operation between a 2-step RACH procedure and a 4-step RACH procedure; information indicating whether a preamble is configured for a specific slicing or a specific slicing group for each attempt; information indicating whether a fallback operation happens; a maximum number of MsgA preamble transmissions performed before switching from a 2-step slice specific RACH procedure to a 4-step RACH procedure; or information indicating whether a reported MsgA PUSCH resource is configured for the network slicing operation or not (see at least paragraph [0053], the RSRP threshold configuration comprises at least one of the following: an Msg3 repetition RSRP threshold, an SSB selection RSRP threshold, or a set of two carrier selection RSRP thresholds.)
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Fu and Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
As to claim 13: Fu and Min disclose the apparatus of claim 10. Fu and Min do not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a repetition total number of a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a repetition total number of a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission (see at least paragraph [0034], PUSCH repetition.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Fu and Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
As to claim 14: Fu and Min disclose the apparatus of claim 10. Fu and Min do not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold for requesting a PUSCH repetition of Msg3.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold for requesting a PUSCH repetition of Msg3 (see at least paragraph [0053], the RSRP threshold configuration comprises at least one of the following: an Msg3 repetition RSRP threshold, an SSB selection RSRP threshold, or a set of two carrier selection RSRP thresholds.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Fu and Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
As to claim 15: Fu and Min disclose the apparatus of claim 10. Fu and Min do not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a RSRP threshold for determining candidate synchronization signal block (SSB) to attempt PUSCH repetition of Msg3.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a RSRP threshold for determining candidate synchronization signal block (SSB) to attempt PUSCH repetition of Msg3 (see at least paragraph [0053], the RSRP threshold configuration comprises at least one of the following: an Msg3 repetition RSRP threshold, an SSB selection RSRP threshold, or a set of two carrier selection RSRP thresholds.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Fu and Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Min et al. (US 20240397420, Min hereinafter).
As to claim 16: Min discloses an apparatus for performing a network function, the apparatus comprising:
at least one memory (see at least paragraph [0158], memory); and
at least one processor (see at least paragraph [0158], processor) coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the apparatus to: receive, from a user equipment (UE), assistant information related to a failure of an uplink (UL) data transmission procedure or a random access problem of a random access channel (RACH) procedure, wherein the assistant information is associated with at least one of a network slicing operation or a UL transmission repetition operation (see at least paragraphs [0134]-[0140], when a slice specific RACH fails, RA procedure-related information including at least any of the following messages may be reported to the RACH report. 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping (interpreted as assistance information), For example, it may be the number of times PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_COUNTER is incremented. Slice ID (NSSAI) or slice group ID that the UE 200 attempts to access.); and
transmit the assistant information to a source network node ((see at least paragraphs [0134]-[0140], transmit RACH report including 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping (interpreted as assistance information)).
As to claim 18: Min discloses the apparatus of claim 16. Min further discloses wherein the assistant information is carried in at least one of a radio link failure (RLF) report or a radio access (RA) report, wherein the at least one of the RLF report or the RA report is included in a UE information response message, and wherein the UE information response message is received by the apparatus (see at least paragraphs [0134]-[0140], when a slice specific RACH fails, RA procedure-related information including at least any of the following messages may be reported to the RACH report. 2-step slice specific RACH resource that was used. 4-step slice specific RACH resource that was used, scalingFactorBI and slice specific powerRampingStepHighPriority setting value, the number of times performing power ramping (interpreted as assistance information), For example, it may be the number of times PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_COUNTER is incremented. Slice ID (NSSAI) or slice group ID that the UE 200 attempts to access.).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Min et al. (US 20240397420, Min hereinafter) in view of Fu et al. (US 20230092926, Fu hereinafter).
As to claim 17: Min discloses the apparatus of claim 16. Min does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the apparatus to transmit, to the UE, configuration information regarding at least one of the network slicing operation or the UL transmission repetition operation.
However Fu discloses wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the apparatus to transmit, to the UE, configuration information regarding at least one of the network slicing operation or the UL transmission repetition operation (see at least paragraphs [0064]-[0127, [0131]-[0163] and Fig. 4-6, a terminal device receives first configuration information, where the first configuration information includes at least two random access resources associated with or corresponding to a network slice.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement configuration information corresponding to a network slice, as taught by Fu, into the invention of Min in order to enhance Network slicing (see Liu, paragraph [0018]).
Claim 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Min et al. (US 20240397420, Min hereinafter) in view of Fu et al. (US 20230092926, Fu hereinafter).
As to claim 19: Min discloses the apparatus of claim 16. Min does not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a repetition total number of a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a repetition total number of a physical uplink share channel (PUSCH) transmission (see at least paragraph [0034], PUSCH repetition.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
As to claim 20: Min discloses the apparatus of claim 16. Min does not explicitly disclose wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold for requesting a PUSCH repetition of Msg3.
However Liu discloses wherein the assistant information includes at least one of: a reference signal received power (RSRP) threshold for requesting a PUSCH repetition of Msg3 (see at least paragraph [0053], the RSRP threshold configuration comprises at least one of the following: an Msg3 repetition RSRP threshold, an SSB selection RSRP threshold, or a set of two carrier selection RSRP thresholds.).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement PUSCH repetition, as taught by Liu, into the invention of Min in order to improving the performance of the wireless communication (see Liu, paragraph [0004]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
HE et al. (US 20250330852) discloses Random Access Channel Procedure Type Selection.
Su et al. (US 20240215015) discloses Method and Apparatus for PUSCH Repetition in a Random Access Procedure.
GURSU et al. (US 20240314847) discloses Random Access Channel Steering Based On Network Slicing.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KABIR U JAHANGIR whose telephone number is (571)272-0796. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 10am to 6:30pm.
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/K. J./
Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/RICKY Q NGO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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