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 .
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 § 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)(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) 1-5, 10-12, 13-17, 22-25 and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (US 2019/0297619 A1). Regarding claims 1, 13, 25, Liu et al. discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory (Para 61) and configured to: transmit, to a base station, a first random access message (Msg1) (Para 82 teaches of UE transmitting msg1); receive, from the base station, an indication of a waveform of a third random access message (Msg3) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (Para 83-86 teaches of base station indicating the transmission waveform ); and transmit, to the base station, the Msg3 PUSCH using the waveform indicated by the base station (Para 83-86 teaches of the UE transition msg3). Regarding claims 2, 14, Liu et al. discloses an apparatus, wherein the indication of the waveform for the Msg3 PUSCH is in a downlink control information (DCI) associated with a random access response (RAR) in a second random access message (Msg2) (Para 86 teaches “Alternatively, the base station 100 can configure the transmission waveform for the random access message 3 (msg3) and all of its subsequent PUSCHs only through a MAC RAR, rather than reconfiguring the transmission waveform of the UE 200 for the PUSCH through the RRC signaling dedicated to the UE 200 after the UE 200 enters the RRC connected state.”). Regarding claims 3, 15, Liu et al. discloses an apparatus, wherein the indication of the waveform for the Msg3 PUSCH is in a random access response (RAR) to the Msg1. (Para 86 teaches “Alternatively, the base station 100 can configure the transmission waveform for the random access message 3 (msg3) and all of its subsequent PUSCHs only through a MAC RAR, rather than reconfiguring the transmission waveform of the UE 200 for the PUSCH through the RRC signaling dedicated to the UE 200 after the UE 200 enters the RRC connected state.”). Regarding claims 4, 16, Liu et al. discloses an apparatus, wherein the indication of the waveform for the Msg3 PUSCH is in at least one of a first bit of a medium access control (MAC) protocol data unit (PDU) of the RAR or a second bit of a MAC payload of the RAR (Para 83 teaches “Alternatively, a 1-bit information field can be added in a message header (or a message sub-header) of a random access response to indicate a transmission waveform used by the UE 200 to transmit a msg3. For example, “1” indicates DFT-S-OFDM, and “0” indicates CP-OFDM.”). Regarding claims 5, 17, Liu et al. discloses an apparatus, wherein the indication of the waveform for the Msg3 PUSCH is in a channel state information (CSI) request field of an uplink grant in the RAR (Para 83 teaches “Alternatively, a 1-bit information field can be added in a message header (or a message sub-header) of a random access response to indicate a transmission waveform used by the UE 200 to transmit a msg3. For example, “1” indicates DFT-S-OFDM, and “0” indicates CP-OFDM.”). Regarding claims 10, 22, Liu et al. discloses an apparatus, wherein the Msg1 indicates support for waveform switching for the Msg3 PUSCH (Para 95). Regarding claims 11, 23, Liu et al. discloses an apparatus, wherein the Msg1 indicates the support for the waveform switching based on at least one of: a random access channel (RACH) occasion of the Msg1, a RACH preamble comprised in the Msg1, or an indication of another capability (Para 83 teaches of choosing the waveform a DFT-S-OFDM waveform or a CP-OFDM waveform) Regarding claims 12, 24, Liu et al. discloses an apparatus, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor, and wherein the waveform comprises cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). (Para 83 teaches of choosing the waveform a DFT-S-OFDM waveform or a CP-OFDM waveform)
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.
Claim(s) 6, 18, 26, and 29, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2019/0297619 A1) in view of Sun et al. (US 2022/0264589 A1) Regarding claims 6, 18, 26, 29, Liu et al. discloses the claimed invention as set forth in claim 1 above. Liu et al. does not discloses an apparatus, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, to the base station, at least one retransmission of the Msg3 PUSCH using the waveform indicated for an initial transmission of the Msg3 PUSCH. However Sun et al. discloses an apparatus, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, to the base station, at least one retransmission of the Msg3 PUSCH using the waveform indicated for an initial transmission of the Msg3 PUSCH (Para 203 , Para 416 and Para 423 teaches of retransmission of Msg3). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the method of retransmission of Msg3 of Sun et al. with the system of Liu et al. in order to provide a system that utilizes different redundancy versions providing coding gain and reduce interference.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9, 19-21, 27 and 30 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 AJAY P CATTUNGAL whose telephone number is (571)270-7525. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00 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, Hassan Phillips can be reached at 5712723940. 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.
/AJAY CATTUNGAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
Prosecution Insights