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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/15/2024 and 10/20/2025 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.
Status of the Application
This Office action is in response to the amendment and remarks filed 07/22/2026. Claims 1, 3, 8, 15, 18, 20 and 25 have been amended; claims 2, 7 and 19 have been cancelled. Claims 1, 3-6, 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 32 and 37 are pending and are examined herein. Applicant’s amendment of independent claims 1, 15 and 18 necessitated the new grounds of rejection set forth in this Office action. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 07/22/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to Applicant’s argument that “Paragraph 0007 of Gupta merely discloses an NTN deployment scenario but does not explicitly disclose the first random access process performed by a terminal after a satellite cell coverage change under an NTN scenario” (Remarks, page 11, paragraph 7), Applicant’s arguments about Gupta are moot because the rejections below no longer rely on Gupta. The Examiner now relies on Khan (US 2021/0399797 A1) for the first random access process after a satellite cell coverage change. Khan describes a satellite network in which the same ground area is covered by different satellites over time (Khan, para [0054], “The same geographical region on the ground can be covered by different satellites and different beams over time.”), in which the satellite serving an area, or cell, is switched (Khan, para [0060], “the moving RAN refers to a deployment where there will be a switch in time of satellite serving a certain area, or cell”), and in which, upon that switch, the UEs lose their RRC connection and search for the new cell (Khan, para [0064], “An abrupt switch may cause the loss of RRC connection for UEs. As a result, the UEs may need to enter IDLE mode to start searching for new cell”), so that a flood of access requests follows the transition (Khan, para [0067], “Since such UEs cannot access the network during the transition, there may be a flood of access requests following the transition.”). Khan therefore describes the random access that the UEs perform in the new satellite cell after the satellite serving the area changes, and it recognizes the congestion that Applicant says the prior art did not recognize. This feature was previously recited only in claim 7; adding it to claims 1, 15 and 18 necessitated the new grounds of rejection.
In regard to Applicant’s argument that “in Lee, the backoff parameter is only considered after a failed first access, and the priority determination is used to decide whether to ignore the backoff, not to decide whether to initiate the first access at all” (Remarks, page 13, paragraph 1), the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the claimed choice between initiating the random access process and performing a backoff process is Lee’s choice, made from the priority of the terminal’s establishment cause, between transmitting the random access preamble without backoff and performing backoff before transmitting it.
Applicant reads Lee from paragraphs [0003], [0004] and [0006], which describe the conventional backoff of the prior art. The Examiner relies on Lee’s own embodiments of FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. In FIG. 8 the UE first identifies its prioritized access, then receives the backoff parameter, and then decides whether to apply it (Lee, para [0089] “At step S120, the UE determines whether or not to apply the received backoff parameter according to the prioritized access. If the prioritized access is identified, the UE determines not to apply the received backoff parameter.”). Lee says the decision is made before the preamble is transmitted (Lee, para [0089] “the UE ignores the received backoff parameter before transmitting a random access preamble if the prioritized access is identified”; Lee, para [0089] “the UE performs backoff based on the received backoff parameter before transmitting a random access preamble if the prioritized access is not identified”). The priority decision in Lee therefore comes before the preamble and decides whether the preamble is sent at once or only after backoff.
In FIG. 9 the priority information is not obtained from a random access response after a failed attempt. The backoff configuration arrives by system information, paging or a dedicated RRC message (Lee, para [0094] “At step S200, the UE receives a backoff configuration of a random access via system information, paging, or UE dedicated RRC message, such as an RRC connection reconfiguration message.”). It tells the UEs which establishment causes ignore backoff or apply a specific backoff parameter before the UE transmits or retransmits a preamble (Lee, para [0096] “the backoff configuration can inform UEs for which establishment cause or traffic/bearer type UEs ignore backoff or apply a specific backoff parameter before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble when UEs need to perform backoff”). The special backoff parameter arrives the same way (Lee, para [0098] “The special backoff parameter may be provided via a random access response, system information, or UE dedicated RRC message.”). Lee’s wording in paragraph [0096], which writes the retransmission as a parenthetical alternative to the transmission, covers the first transmission of the preamble as well as a retransmission. The Examiner’s position is that Lee has no precondition of a failed first access.
Lee also says that the UE performs random access by transmitting a random-access preamble (Lee, para [0099] “the UE performs random access by transmitting a random access preamble to the eNB”). Lee’s transmission of the preamble without backoff is therefore the claimed initiating of the random-access process, and Lee’s backoff before transmitting the preamble is the claimed backoff process. The claims do not require the priority decision to come before every preamble transmission of the random-access process, and the Examiner does not read that requirement into the claims.
As to Applicant’s argument that “If one were to combine Lee with Gupta, it would be necessary to remove the precondition in Lee that the first access attempt must fail” (Remarks, page 13, paragraph 5), the Examiner respectfully disagrees for the reasons given above: Lee’s paragraphs [0089], [0094], [0096] and [0098] show that Lee has no such precondition, so nothing in Lee has to be removed. In response to applicant’s argument that “This is not a mere combination of technical features, but rather a fundamental restructuring of the underlying interaction logic of the communication system” (Remarks, page 13, paragraph 5), the test for obviousness is not whether the features of a secondary reference may be bodily incorporated into the structure of the primary reference; nor is it that the claimed invention must be expressly suggested in any one or all of the references. Rather, the test is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981).
In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
In this case, the motivation is in the references themselves. Khan says the flood of access requests after the satellite switch should be controlled by letting some UEs access and delaying the others (Khan, para [0067], “The proposed methods and systems may help control the number of access attempts by allowing a subset of UEs to access the network while preventing or delaying other subsets of UEs in attempts to access the network.”). Lee’s priority-based backoff does exactly that: the prioritized establishment causes send the preamble at once and the others wait (Lee, para [0085] “a method for performing backoff based on a priority of access may be proposed”). Using Lee’s known technique for the first random access after Khan’s satellite switch improves that random access in the same way, with predictable results.
Turning to Applicant’s argument that “These steps together constitute an inseparable and holistic solution” (Remarks, page 13, paragraph 4), the Examiner has considered the claim as a whole. In response to applicant’s arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). As set forth in the rejection of claim 1 below, Lee teaches every recited step in the recited order: receiving the configuration that ties establishment causes to their priority treatment, matching the terminal’s own establishment cause against the configured causes, taking the priority from the matched cause, deciding whether that priority is prioritized, and then either sending the preamble without backoff or performing backoff. Khan supplies the satellite cell coverage change after which that random access is the first one.
With respect to Applicant’s argument that “Tsai also fails to disclose the solution of amended claim 1 of the present disclosure and provides no teaching to that effect” (Remarks, page 14, paragraph 1) and that “As the independent claims 1, 15 and 18 are novel and patentable, their dependent claims are also novel and patentable” (Remarks, page 14, paragraph 3), the Examiner does not rely on Tsai for claim 1. Tsai is relied on only for the power-related features of claims 8, 9, 16, 25 and 26, as set forth below. The independent claims are unpatentable over Lee in view of Khan for the reasons set forth below, so the dependent claims are not patentable by dependency alone.
The new grounds of rejection necessitated by the amendment are set forth below.
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 (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 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.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22, 32 and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (WO 2014/065593 A1) in view of Khan (US 2021/0399797 A1).
Regarding claim 1, (Currently Amended) Lee discloses: A random access method, applied to a terminal, wherein the method comprises: obtaining configuration information of random access, the configuration information comprising priority indication information of first radio resource control connection establishment causes, because Lee’s UE receives a backoff configuration of random access by system information, paging or a dedicated RRC message, and the backoff configuration tells the UE, for each listed establishment cause, whether to ignore backoff or apply a specific backoff parameter; the backoff configuration is the claimed configuration information and its per-cause indication is the claimed priority indication information: (Lee, para [0094] “At step S200, the UE receives a backoff configuration of a random access via system information, paging, or UE dedicated RRC message, such as an RRC connection reconfiguration message. . . . [0096] “the backoff configuration can inform UEs for which establishment cause or traffic/bearer type UEs ignore backoff or apply a specific backoff parameter before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble when UEs need to perform backoff”).
Furthermore, Lee discloses: wherein the priority indication information of the first radio resource control connection establishment causes comprises a correspondence between a plurality of priorities of first radio resource control connection establishment causes and corresponding first radio resource control connection establishment causes, because Lee’s backoff configuration lists one set of establishment causes (emergency access, high priority access, MMTel-voice, MMTEL-video, VoLTE) that ignore backoff or apply a special backoff parameter and, alternatively, another set (MO-data, MT access, MMTEL-other, data service) that apply the existing backoff parameter; Lee calls this backoff based on a priority of access, so the configuration ties each listed establishment cause to one of a plurality of priorities, the prioritized treatment or the non-prioritized treatment: (Lee, para [0096] “the backoff configuration can indicate one or some of emergency access, high priority access, multimedia telephony service (MMTel)-voice, MMTEL-video, and voice over LTE (VoLTE)”; Lee, para [0097] “Alternatively, the backoff configuration can indicate one or some of MO-data, MT access, MMTEL-other, and data service. If the UE receives this backoff configuration, and if the UE has accessed for one of the indicated ones, the UE applies backoff according to the existing backoff parameter of random access response before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble.”; Lee, para [0085] “a method for performing backoff based on a priority of access may be proposed”).
Moreover, Lee discloses: obtaining a second radio resource control connection establishment cause of the terminal, because Lee’s UE identifies its own access by the establishment cause for which it is accessing; that establishment cause of the UE is the claimed second radio resource control connection establishment cause: (Lee, para [0087] “At step S100, the UE identifies a prioritized access. The prioritized access may correspond to an establishment cause including emergency access or high priority access, when the UE is in RRC_IDLE.”).
In addition, Lee discloses: performing a one-by-one matching between the first radio resource control connection establishment causes in the configuration information and the second radio resource control connection establishment cause, because Lee’s UE checks whether the establishment cause for which it has accessed is one of the establishment causes listed in the backoff configuration; that check compares the UE’s own establishment cause against the listed causes to find the one that matches: (Lee, para [0096] “If the UE receives this backoff configuration, and if the UE has accessed for one of the indicated ones, the UE ignores backoff during random access or applies a special backoff parameter before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble.”).
Furthermore, Lee discloses: determining, according to the priority indication information of the matched first radio resource control connection establishment cause, a priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause, because when the UE’s establishment cause is one of the listed causes, the UE takes the treatment that the backoff configuration indicates for that cause, ignoring backoff or applying the special backoff parameter; the priority of the UE’s own establishment cause is thus taken from the indication of the matched cause: (Lee, para [0096] “If the UE receives this backoff configuration, and if the UE has accessed for one of the indicated ones, the UE ignores backoff during random access or applies a special backoff parameter before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble.”; Lee, para [0089] “At step S120, the UE determines whether or not to apply the received backoff parameter according to the prioritized access. If the prioritized access is identified, the UE determines not to apply the received backoff parameter.”).
Moreover, Lee discloses: determining whether the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause is higher than a priority threshold, because Lee’s UE determines whether or not its access is a prioritized access; that determination decides whether the priority of the UE’s establishment cause is above or below the line between prioritized and non-prioritized access, and that line is the claimed priority threshold: (Lee, para [0089] “At step S120, the UE determines whether or not to apply the received backoff parameter according to the prioritized access. If the prioritized access is identified, the UE determines not to apply the received backoff parameter.”; Lee, para [0089] “If the prioritized access is not identified, the UE determines to apply the received backoff parameter.”).
In addition, Lee discloses: if yes, initiating the random access process, because when the prioritized access is identified Lee’s UE ignores the backoff parameter and transmits the preamble without backoff, and transmitting the preamble is how Lee’s UE performs random access, so the preamble sent without backoff initiates the random access process: (Lee, para [0110] “the UE ignores the received backoff parameter and transmits a random access preamble without backoff”; Lee, para [0089] “the UE ignores the received backoff parameter before transmitting a random access preamble if the prioritized access is identified”; Lee, para [0099] “the UE performs random access by transmitting a random access preamble to the eNB”).
Furthermore, Lee discloses: if no, performing a backoff process, because when the prioritized access is not identified Lee’s UE applies the backoff parameter and performs backoff before transmitting the preamble: (Lee, para [0111] “Else, the UE applies the (existing) backoff parameter and then transmits a random access preamble after backoff.”; Lee, para [0089] “the UE performs backoff based on the received backoff parameter before transmitting a random access preamble if the prioritized access is not identified”).
Although Lee teaches a random access method in which the UE decides from the priority of its establishment cause whether to transmit the preamble without backoff or to perform backoff first: (Lee, para [0085], para [0089], para [0096]), Lee does not explicitly disclose that the random access process is the first random access process after a satellite cell coverage change in an area in which the terminal is located.
However, Lee in view of Khan discloses wherein the random access process is the first random access process after a satellite cell coverage change in an area in which the terminal is located. because in Khan’s satellite network the satellite serving an area, or cell, changes over time, and when it changes the UEs lose their RRC connection, enter idle mode, search for the new cell and access the network in the new cell; that access after the switch is the first random access after the satellite cell coverage of the UE’s area has changed (Khan, para [0054], “The same geographical region on the ground can be covered by different satellites and different beams over time.”; Khan, para [0060], “the moving RAN refers to a deployment where there will be a switch in time of satellite serving a certain area, or cell”; Khan, para [0064], “An abrupt switch may cause the loss of RRC connection for UEs. As a result, the UEs may need to enter IDLE mode to start searching for new cell”; Khan, para [0067], “Since such UEs cannot access the network during the transition, there may be a flood of access requests following the transition.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply Lee’s priority-based random access to the first random access performed by the UE after the satellite switch described by Khan, because Khan teaches that a massive number of UEs is hit by the satellite switch and that the flood of access requests after it should be controlled by letting a subset of the UEs access while delaying the others, and Lee’s priority-based backoff is a known way to do that: the prioritized establishment causes access at once and the others wait. Applying it to the first random access after the satellite switch would have limited the excessive access attempts after the switch while keeping the important accesses through, with predictable results.
Regarding claim 3, which depends on claim 1, (Currently Amended) Lee discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the configuration information further comprises: backoff indication information for priority of the first radio resource control connection establishment cause, the backoff indication information for priority being configured to generate a backoff time corresponding to the priority of the first radio resource control connection establishment cause., as Lee further discloses a special backoff parameter, provided by system information or a dedicated RRC message, that the UE applies instead of the existing backoff parameter for the establishment causes listed in the backoff configuration; the special backoff parameter is the claimed backoff indication information for priority, from which the backoff time for the listed causes is generated (Lee, para [0098] “The special backoff parameter may be provided via a random access response, system information, or UE dedicated RRC message.”; Lee, para [0096] “If the UE receives this backoff configuration, and if the UE has accessed for one of the indicated ones, the UE ignores backoff during random access or applies a special backoff parameter before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble.”).
Regarding claim 4, which depends on claim 3, (Original) Lee discloses The method according to claim 3, wherein performing the backoff process comprises: obtaining, from the backoff indication information for priority, a backoff level corresponding to the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause, wherein the backoff level is configured to indicate a backoff time range of a corresponding priority, as Lee further discloses that the UE sets its backoff parameter value as indicated by the received backoff indicator field; the indicated value is the claimed backoff level, and it sets the range, from 0 to that value, from which the UE’s backoff time is drawn (Lee, para [0080] “if the random access response contains a backoff indicator (BI) subheader, the backoff parameter value in the UE is set as indicated by a BI field of the BI subheader”; Lee, para [0083] “the UE selects a random backoff time according to a uniform distribution between 0 and the packoff parameter value based on the backoff parameter in the UE”).
Furthermore, Lee discloses: determining, according to the backoff time range corresponding to the backoff level, a backoff time corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause; and initiating the random access process after delaying the backoff time corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause., because Lee’s UE draws a random backoff time between 0 and the backoff parameter value and delays its random access transmission by that time: (Lee, para [0083] “the UE selects a random backoff time according to a uniform distribution between 0 and the packoff parameter value based on the backoff parameter in the UE, and delays the subsequent random access transmission by the backoff time”).
Regarding claim 5, which depends on claim 4, (Original) Lee discloses The method according to claim 4, wherein determining, according to the backoff time range corresponding to the backoff level, the backoff time corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause comprises: randomly generating a random number within the backoff time range corresponding to the backoff level; and generating the backoff time corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause according to the random number., as Lee further discloses that the backoff time is a random value drawn uniformly between 0 and the backoff parameter value; that random value is the claimed random number and is used as the backoff time (Lee, para [0083] “the UE selects a random backoff time according to a uniform distribution between 0 and the packoff parameter value based on the backoff parameter in the UE, and delays the subsequent random access transmission by the backoff time”).
Regarding claim 6, which depends on claim 1, (Original) Lee discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the configuration information of random access comprises: receiving the configuration information of random access sent by a network side; or obtaining the configuration information of random access from predefined information, wherein the predefined information is pre-configured in the terminal or predefined in a related standard., as Lee further discloses that the UE receives the backoff configuration from the network by system information, paging or a dedicated RRC message, which meets the first recited alternative (Lee, para [0094] “At step S200, the UE receives a backoff configuration of a random access via system information, paging, or UE dedicated RRC message, such as an RRC connection reconfiguration message.”).
Regarding claim 11, which depends on claim 1, (Previously presented) Lee discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the first radio resource control connection establishment cause comprises: at least one of an access corresponding to a first service or an access corresponding to a second service that is not completed during a previous satellite cell coverage, as Lee further discloses that the establishment causes listed in the backoff configuration include emergency access, high priority access, MMTel-voice, MMTEL-video and VoLTE, each an access corresponding to a first service, which meets the first of the two recited alternatives (Lee, para [0096] “the backoff configuration can indicate one or some of emergency access, high priority access, multimedia telephony service (MMTel)-voice, MMTEL-video, and voice over LTE (VoLTE)”).
Furthermore, Lee discloses: wherein the first service comprises an emergency call access service, a voice access service, or a data access service, the voice access service comprising a first called voice access or a calling voice access, because Lee’s prioritized access corresponds to emergency access (an emergency call access service), to MMTEL-voice and VoLTE (voice access services, a voice call access being either a called or a calling voice access) and to a data radio bearer for voice/video service (a data access service): (Lee, para [0008] “The prioritized access may correspond to one of emergency access, high priority access, control element/information in media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC) or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), data radio bearer (DRB) for voice/video service, signaling radio bearer (SRB) 0, SRB 1, SRB 2, multimedia telephony service (MMTEL)-voice, MMTEL-video, and voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE).”).
Moreover, Lee discloses: wherein the second service comprises a second called voice access, a second called data access, or a service access that initiates the second service., because Lee’s non-prioritized access corresponds to mobile terminating access (a called voice access or a called data access) and to mobile originating data, mobile originating signaling and delay tolerant access (each a service access that initiates the second service): (Lee, para [0087] “the non-prioritized access may correspond to an establishment cause other than emergency access and high priority access, i.e., one of mobile terminating (MT) access, mobile originating (MO) data, MO signaling and delay tolerant access”).
Regarding claim 15, (Currently Amended) Lee discloses: A random access method, applied to a network side, comprising: determining configuration information of random access, wherein the configuration information comprises priority indication information of first radio resource control connection establishment causes, because Lee’s network provides the UEs, by system information, paging or a dedicated RRC message, with a backoff configuration of random access that tells the UEs for which establishment causes they ignore backoff or apply a specific backoff parameter; the backoff configuration is the claimed configuration information determined at the network side and its per-cause indication is the claimed priority indication information: (Lee, para [0096] “the backoff configuration can inform UEs for which establishment cause or traffic/bearer type UEs ignore backoff or apply a specific backoff parameter before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble when UEs need to perform backoff”; Lee, para [0094] “At step S200, the UE receives a backoff configuration of a random access via system information, paging, or UE dedicated RRC message, such as an RRC connection reconfiguration message.”).
Furthermore, Lee discloses: and the priority indication information of the first radio resource control connection establishment causes comprises a correspondence between a plurality of priorities of first radio resource control connection establishment causes and corresponding first radio resource control connection establishment causes, because Lee’s backoff configuration lists one set of establishment causes (emergency access, high priority access, MMTel-voice, MMTEL-video, VoLTE) that ignore backoff or apply a special backoff parameter and, alternatively, another set (MO-data, MT access, MMTEL-other, data service) that apply the existing backoff parameter; Lee calls this backoff based on a priority of access, so the configuration ties each listed establishment cause to one of a plurality of priorities: (Lee, para [0096] “the backoff configuration can indicate one or some of emergency access, high priority access, multimedia telephony service (MMTel)-voice, MMTEL-video, and voice over LTE (VoLTE)”; Lee, para [0097] “Alternatively, the backoff configuration can indicate one or some of MO-data, MT access, MMTEL-other, and data service. If the UE receives this backoff configuration, and if the UE has accessed for one of the indicated ones, the UE applies backoff according to the existing backoff parameter of random access response before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble.”; Lee, para [0085] “a method for performing backoff based on a priority of access may be proposed”).
Moreover, Lee discloses: transmitting the configuration information, because Lee’s eNB transmits backoff information to the UE in the random access response, and the backoff configuration reaches the UE by system information, paging or a dedicated RRC message: (Lee, para [0114] “the eNB may respond by transmitting the random access response that may include the RAPID, UL grant, and backoff information”; Lee, para [0094] “At step S200, the UE receives a backoff configuration of a random access via system information, paging, or UE dedicated RRC message, such as an RRC connection reconfiguration message.”).
In addition, Lee discloses: wherein the configuration information is configured to enable the terminal to, because Lee’s backoff configuration, once received, governs how the UE treats its random access according to its establishment cause: (Lee, para [0096] “If the UE receives this backoff configuration, and if the UE has accessed for one of the indicated ones, the UE ignores backoff during random access or applies a special backoff parameter before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble.”).
Furthermore, Lee discloses: perform a one-by-one matching between the first radio resource control connection establishment causes and a second radio resource control connection establishment cause of the terminal to determine a priority of the second radio resource control connection establishment cause., because Lee’s UE checks whether the establishment cause for which it has accessed is one of the causes listed in the backoff configuration and takes for its own cause the treatment indicated for the matched cause, ignoring backoff or applying the special backoff parameter; the priority of the UE’s own establishment cause is thus determined by matching it against the configured causes: (Lee, para [0096] “If the UE receives this backoff configuration, and if the UE has accessed for one of the indicated ones, the UE ignores backoff during random access or applies a special backoff parameter before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble.”; Lee, para [0089] “At step S120, the UE determines whether or not to apply the received backoff parameter according to the prioritized access. If the prioritized access is identified, the UE determines not to apply the received backoff parameter.”).
Although Lee teaches a network side that provides the UEs with a backoff configuration from which the UE determines the priority treatment of its own establishment cause during random access: (Lee, para [0085], para [0094], para [0096]), Lee does not explicitly disclose that the terminal performs that matching during a first random access process after a satellite cell coverage change in an area in which the terminal is located.
However, Lee in view of Khan discloses during a first random access process after a satellite cell coverage change in an area in which the terminal is located because in Khan’s satellite network the satellite serving an area, or cell, changes over time, and when it changes the UEs lose their RRC connection, enter idle mode, search for the new cell and access the network in the new cell; that access after the switch is the first random access after the satellite cell coverage of the UE’s area has changed (Khan, para [0054], “The same geographical region on the ground can be covered by different satellites and different beams over time.”; Khan, para [0060], “the moving RAN refers to a deployment where there will be a switch in time of satellite serving a certain area, or cell”; Khan, para [0064], “An abrupt switch may cause the loss of RRC connection for UEs. As a result, the UEs may need to enter IDLE mode to start searching for new cell”; Khan, para [0067], “Since such UEs cannot access the network during the transition, there may be a flood of access requests following the transition.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the network side of Lee provide its backoff configuration for the first random access performed by the UEs after the satellite switch described by Khan, because Khan teaches that a massive number of UEs is hit by the satellite switch and that the flood of access requests after it should be controlled by letting a subset of the UEs access while delaying the others, and Lee’s network-provided priority-based backoff configuration is a known way to do that: the prioritized establishment causes access at once and the others wait. Applying it to the first random access after the satellite switch would have limited the excessive access attempts after the switch while keeping the important accesses through, with predictable results.
Regarding claim 18, (Currently Amended) the claim recites: A terminal, wherein the terminal comprises a memory, a transceiver, and a processor; the memory is configured to store a computer program; the transceiver is configured to receive and transmit data under control of the processor; the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: obtaining configuration information of random access, the configuration information comprising priority indication information of first radio resource control connection establishment causes, wherein the priority indication information of the first radio resource control connection establishment causes comprises a correspondence between a plurality of priorities of first radio resource control connection establishment causes and corresponding first radio resource control connection establishment causes; obtaining a second radio resource control connection establishment cause of the terminal; performing a one-by-one matching between the first radio resource control connection establishment causes in the configuration information and the second radio resource control connection establishment cause; determining, according to the priority indication information of the matched first radio resource control connection establishment cause, a priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause; determining whether the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause is higher than a priority threshold; if yes, initiating the random access process; and if no, performing a backoff process; wherein the random access process is the first random access process after a satellite cell coverage change in an area in which the terminal is located. Claim 18 is analogous to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 20, which depends on claim 18, (Currently Amended) Lee discloses The terminal according to claim 18, wherein the configuration information further comprises: backoff indication information for priority of the first radio resource control connection establishment cause, the backoff indication information for priority being configured to generate a backoff time corresponding to the priority of the first radio resource control connection establishment cause;, as Lee further discloses a special backoff parameter, provided by system information or a dedicated RRC message, that the UE applies instead of the existing backoff parameter for the establishment causes listed in the backoff configuration; the special backoff parameter is the claimed backoff indication information for priority, from which the backoff time for the listed causes is generated (Lee, para [0098] “The special backoff parameter may be provided via a random access response, system information, or UE dedicated RRC message.”; Lee, para [0096] “If the UE receives this backoff configuration, and if the UE has accessed for one of the indicated ones, the UE ignores backoff during random access or applies a special backoff parameter before (re-)transmitting a random access preamble.”).
Furthermore, Lee discloses: wherein the processor is specifically configured to: obtain, from the backoff indication information for priority, a backoff level corresponding to the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause, wherein the backoff level is configured to indicate a backoff time range of a corresponding priority, because Lee’s UE sets its backoff parameter value as indicated by the received backoff indicator field; the indicated value is the claimed backoff level, and it sets the range, from 0 to that value, from which the UE’s backoff time is drawn: (Lee, para [0080] “if the random access response contains a backoff indicator (BI) subheader, the backoff parameter value in the UE is set as indicated by a BI field of the BI subheader”; Lee, para [0083] “the UE selects a random backoff time according to a uniform distribution between 0 and the packoff parameter value based on the backoff parameter in the UE”).
Moreover, Lee discloses: determine, according to the backoff time range corresponding to the backoff level, a backoff time corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause; and initiate the random access process after delaying the backoff time corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause., because Lee’s UE draws a random backoff time between 0 and the backoff parameter value and delays its random access transmission by that time: (Lee, para [0083] “the UE selects a random backoff time according to a uniform distribution between 0 and the packoff parameter value based on the backoff parameter in the UE, and delays the subsequent random access transmission by the backoff time”).
Regarding claim 22, which depends on claim 20, (Previously presented) Lee discloses The terminal according to claim 20, wherein the processor is specifically configured to: randomly generate a random number within the backoff time range corresponding to the backoff level; and generate the backoff time corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause according to the random number., as Lee further discloses that the backoff time is a random value drawn uniformly between 0 and the backoff parameter value; that random value is the claimed random number and is used as the backoff time (Lee, para [0083] “the UE selects a random backoff time according to a uniform distribution between 0 and the packoff parameter value based on the backoff parameter in the UE, and delays the subsequent random access transmission by the backoff time”).
Regarding claim 32, (Previously presented) the claim recites: A random access apparatus, applied to a network side, wherein the random access apparatus comprises a memory, a transceiver, and a processor, the memory is configured to store a computer program, the transceiver is configured to receive and transmit data under control of the processor, and the processor is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the method according to claim 15. Claim 32 is analogous to claim 15 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 37, (Previously presented) the claim recites: A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, wherein the processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program is configured to cause the processor to perform the method according to claim 1. Claim 37 is analogous to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 8, 9, 16, 25 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (WO 2014/065593 A1) in view of Khan (US 2021/0399797 A1) and further in view of Tsai (US 2018/0270869 A1).
Regarding claim 8, which depends on claim 1, (Currently Amended) even though Lee in view of Khan teaches determining the priority of the terminal’s establishment cause from the received backoff configuration during the first random access after the satellite switch: (Lee, para [0089], para [0096]; Khan, para [0067]), Lee in view of Khan does not explicitly disclose obtaining power-related information of the terminal and adjusting the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause according to the power-related information of the terminal.
Nevertheless, Lee in view of Khan and further in view of Tsai discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause further comprises: obtaining power-related information of the terminal, the power-related information of the terminal comprising a remaining power status of the terminal or power consumption sensitivity information of the terminal; because Tsai’s UE takes its RRC state into account in adjusting the backoff time, and the RRC_INACTIVE state carries a lower power consumption requirement, as for mMTC devices, that allows a longer backoff time; the UE’s power consumption requirement, taken into account through its RRC state, is the claimed power consumption sensitivity information of the terminal (Tsai, para [0373], “The RRC_INACTIVE state has a lower power consumption requirement, e.g., for mMTC devices, and may accept a longer backoff time.”).
Furthermore, Tsai discloses adjusting the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause according to the power-related information of the terminal. because Tsai extends the backoff time of the UE’s random access on the basis of the UE’s power consumption issues; in Lee the priority of the terminal’s establishment cause is expressed as the backoff applied to it, so extending that backoff for power reasons adjusts the priority of the establishment cause according to the terminal’s power-related information (Tsai, para [0368], “backoff time may be extended for mMTC due to latency requirement or power consumption issues”).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the priority-based backoff of Lee in view of Khan to take the terminal’s power consumption requirement into account as taught by Tsai, because Tsai teaches that a terminal with a lower power consumption requirement can accept a longer backoff time, so adjusting the priority treatment of the terminal’s establishment cause by its power consumption sensitivity would have fitted the random access of Lee in view of Khan to the power limits of the different terminal types, with predictable results. Lee and Khan are combined for the reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 9, which depends on claim 8, (Original) Lee in view of Khan and further in view of Tsai discloses The method according to claim 8, before adjusting the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause according to the obtained power-related information, further comprising: obtaining indication information, the indication information being configured to indicate whether the power-related information of the terminal is involved in determining the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause., as Tsai further discloses that the network node sends the UE RRC signaling with a first backoff parameter that is zero and a second that is not zero, from which the UE derives its adjusted backoff time; the received parameters tell the UE whether the adjustment of its backoff, which for claim 8 is the adjustment by the terminal’s power consumption requirement, is applied, a zero parameter giving no adjustment and a non-zero parameter giving the adjustment (Tsai, para [0384], “the network node transmits to a user equipment (UE) a RRC signalling with a plurality of backoff parameters including a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter is zero (0) and the second parameter is not 0”).
Regarding claim 16, which depends on claim 15, (Original) even though Lee in view of Khan teaches a network side that transmits the backoff configuration to the UE for the first random access after the satellite switch: (Lee, para [0094], para [0114]; Khan, para [0067]), Lee in view of Khan does not explicitly disclose transmitting indication information to a terminal, the indication information being configured to indicate whether power-related information of the terminal is involved in determining the priority of the second radio resource control connection establishment cause of the terminal.
Nonetheless, Lee in view of Khan and further in view of Tsai discloses The method according to claim 15, after transmitting the configuration information, further comprising: transmitting indication information to a terminal, the indication information being configured to indicate whether power-related information of the terminal is involved in determining the priority of the second radio resource control connection establishment cause of the terminal. because Tsai’s network node sends the UE RRC signaling with a first backoff parameter that is zero and a second that is not zero, from which the UE derives its adjusted backoff time by the factors that apply to it, among which Tsai names the UE’s power consumption requirement; the transmitted parameters tell the UE whether the power-based adjustment of the backoff that sets the priority treatment of its establishment cause is applied, a zero parameter giving no adjustment and a non-zero parameter giving the adjustment (Tsai, para [0384], “the network node transmits to a user equipment (UE) a RRC signaling with a plurality of backoff parameters including a first parameter and a second parameter, wherein the first parameter is zero (0) and the second parameter is not 0”).
Consequently, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add Tsai’s network-transmitted backoff parameters to the backoff configuration transmitted by the network side of Lee in view of Khan, because Tsai teaches that the network node controls, by the parameters it signals, how the UE adjusts its backoff by the factors that apply to it, so transmitting the indication would have given the network control over whether the power-related adjustment applies when the terminal determines the priority of its establishment cause, with predictable results. Lee and Khan are combined for the reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 15 above.
Regarding claim 25, which depends on claim 18, (Currently Amended) the claim recites: The terminal according to claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain power-related information of the terminal, the power-related information of the terminal comprising a remaining power status of the terminal or power consumption sensitivity information of the terminal; and adjust the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause according to the power-related information of the terminal. Claim 25 is analogous to claim 8 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 26, which depends on claim 25, (Original) the claim recites: The terminal according to claim 25, wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain indication information before adjusting the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause according to the obtained power-related information, the indication information being configured to indicate whether the power-related information of the terminal is involved in determining the priority corresponding to the second radio resource control connection establishment cause. Claim 26 is analogous to claim 9 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/CHONGSUH PARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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