CTNF 18/721,595 CTNF 80192 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The preliminary amendment filed 6/18/2024 is acknowledged. Claims 1–30 are pending and examined herein. 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. The Examiner recommends filing a written authorization for Internet communication in response to the present action. Doing so permits the USPTO to communicate with Applicant using Internet email to schedule interviews or discuss other aspects of the application. Without a written authorization in place, the USPTO cannot respond to Internet correspondence received from Applicant. The preferred method of providing authorization is by filing form PTO/SB/439, available at: https://www.uspto.gov/PatentForms. See MPEP § 502.03 for other methods of providing written authorization. In the interest of expedited prosecution, the Examiner would like to recommend conducting an interview prior to filing a response to the present Office action. The Examiner feels that an interview would help foster a mutual understanding of the respective positions of Applicant and the Examiner, and assist in the identification of allowable subject matter and/or issues for appeal. If Applicant agrees that an interview would be beneficial, he/she is encouraged to contact the Examiner to schedule one. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 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. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-01 Claims 7 and 28 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claims 7 and 28 state that “the one or more timer operations comprise refraining from receiving…” However, “refraining” recites an operation that is not performed rather than an operation. The Examiner recommends amending these claims to include a positive recitation of what actions are taken to cause or otherwise result in “refraining” from receiving the DCI. Alternatively, appropriate explanation may be provided to clarify how “refraining from receiving” amounts to an operation performed by the UE. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1–12, 15–19, and 21–30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Jiang (US 2020/0260398) . With regard to claim 1, Jiang discloses an apparatus for communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: memory (UE contains a memory)(¶10); and at least one processor coupled to the memory (UE contains a processor)(¶9) and configured to: receive, from a network entity, a first timing advance (TA) group (TAG) configuration associated with a first transmission reception point (TRP) (e.g., the SUL carrier)(¶45) associated with the network entity (UE receives configuration information containing multiple TAG IDs from a base station) (¶40–44); receive, from the network entity, a second TAG configuration associated with a second TRP (e.g., the non-SUL carrier)(¶45) associated with the network entity (UE receives configuration information containing multiple TAG IDs from a base station) (¶40–44), the first TAG configuration and the second TAG configuration being associated with a bandwidth part (BWP) or a component carrier (CC) (the first and second TAG IDs are associated with the SUL carrier and the non-SUL carrier, respectively)(¶40–45), the first TAG configuration being associated with a first time alignment timer and the second TAG configuration being associated with a second time alignment timer (each TAG ID is associated with corresponding time alignment timer)(¶50); and perform one or more timer expiration operations for a serving cell based on at least one of the first time alignment timer or the second time alignment timer (in response to a time alignment timer expiring, various operations are performed for the serving cells)(¶64). With regard to claim 2, Jiang further discloses that the serving cell is associated with the first TRP (the base station provides the configuration information for the serving cell)(¶41), and wherein the one or more timer expiration operations for the serving cell are performed based on an expiration of the first time alignment timer that is independent of the second time alignment timer (each time alignment timer is associated with a specific TAG and may expire independently of other timers)(¶53; ¶64). With regard to claim 3, Jiang further discloses that the one or more timer expiration operations comprise canceling one or more uplink (UL) configurations associated with the TRP (e.g., all PUCCHs and SPS may be released and the UL resource allocation may be cleared) and (¶64). With regard to claim 4, Jiang further discloses that the one or more UL configurations comprise one or more of: a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for periodic channel state information (P-CSI), a second PUCCH for a scheduling request (SR), a periodic sounding reference signal (P-SRS), a configured grant (CG) one physical uplink shared channel (CG1-PUSCH), or a third PUCCH for acknowledgment or non-acknowledgment (A/N) to a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) physical downlink shared channel (SPS-PDSCH) (e.g., the PUCCHs and SPS for all service cells may be released)(¶64). With regard to claim 5, Jiang further discloses that the one or more timer expiration operations comprise suspending one or more semi-persistent uplink (UL) transmissions or one or more semi-persistent UL configurations associated with the TRP (all configured UL resource allocations are cleared)(¶64). With regard to claim 6, Jiang further discloses that the one or more semi-persistent UL transmissions or the one or more semi-persistent UL configurations comprise one or more of: a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for semi-persistent channel state information (SP-CSI), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for the SP-CSI or a semi-persistent sounding reference signal (SP-SRS), or a configured grant (CG) two physical uplink shared channel (CG2-PUSCH) (e.g., the PUCCHs and SPS for all service cells may be released)(¶64). With regard to claim 7, Jiang further discloses that the one or more timer expiration operations comprise refraining from receiving downlink control information (DCI) scheduling an uplink (UL) transmission associated with the TRP (UL resource allocations are cleared and further UL transmissions are prevented)(¶64; ¶67). With regard to claim 8, Jiang further discloses that the UL transmission associated with the TRP comprises a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) (a PUCCH used for communication with the base station until the timer alignment timer expires)(¶64). With regard to claim 9, Jiang further discloses that the one or more timer expiration operations for the serving cell are performed based on a first expiration of the first time alignment timer or a second expiration of the second time alignment timer (in response to a time alignment timer expiring, various operations are performed for the serving cells; different operations may be performed if a second time alignment timer expires)(¶64; ¶78). With regard to claim 10, Jiang further discloses that the one or more timer expiration operations for the serving cell are performed based on an expiration of the first time alignment timer and an expiration of the second time alignment timer (in response to a time alignment timer expiring, various operations are performed for the serving cells; different operations may be performed if a second time alignment timer expires, such that all operations will be performed if both timers expire)(¶64; ¶78). With regard to claim 11, Jiang further discloses that the one or more timer expiration operations comprise one or more of: flushing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) buffers associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, notifying a radio resource control (RRC) to release a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, notifying the RRC to release a sounding reference signal (SRS) associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, clearing one or more configured downlink (DL) assignments or one or more configured uplink (UL) grants associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, clearing one or more physical uplink control channel (PUSCH) resources associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, or maintaining a timing advance (TA) associated with the first TAG configuration or the second TAG configuration (operations include clearing HARQ caches, releasing PUCCHs, and clearing UL resource allocations)(¶64); ¶78). With regard to claim 12, Jiang further discloses that the one or more timer expiration operations comprise one or more of: flushing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) buffers associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, notifying a radio resource control (RRC) to release a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) associated with the first TRP or the second TRP for periodic channel state information (P-CSI), suspending a second PUCCH for semi-persistent channel state information (SP-CSI) associated with the first TRP or the second TRP or a third PUCCH for acknowledgment or non-acknowledgment (A/N) to a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) physical downlink shared channel (SPS-PDSCH) associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, suspending a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for SP-CSI reporting associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, suspending one or more type 2 configured uplink grants associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, clearing one or more configured downlink (DL) assignments or one or more type 1 configured uplink (UL) grants associated with the first TRP or the second TRP, or suspending or maintaining a timing advance (TA) associated with the first TAG configuration or the second TAG configuration (operations include clearing HARQ caches, releasing PUCCHs, and clearing UL resource allocations)(¶64); ¶78). With regard to claim 15, Jiang further discloses at least one of a transceiver or an antenna coupled to the at least one processor (UE includes an antenna and a communication component)(fig. 15; ¶154). With regard to claim 16, Jiang discloses an apparatus for communication at a network entity comprising: memory (base station contains a memory)(¶157); and at least one processor coupled to the memory (base station contains a processor)(¶157) and configured to: transmit a first timing advance (TA) group (TAG) configuration associated with a first transmission reception point (TRP) associated with the network entity (base station transmits configuration information containing multiple TAG IDs to the UE) (¶40–44); and transmit a second TAG configuration associated with a second TRP associated with the network entity (base station transmits configuration information containing multiple TAG IDs to the UE) (¶40–44), the first TAG configuration and the second TAG configuration being associated with a bandwidth part (BWP) or a component carrier (CC) (the first and second TAG IDs are associated with the SUL carrier and the non-SUL carrier, respectively)(¶40–45), the first TAG configuration being associated with a first time alignment timer and the second TAG configuration being associated with a second time alignment timer (each TAG ID is associated with corresponding time alignment timer)(¶50), wherein at least one of the first time alignment timer or the second time alignment timer is associated with one or more timer expiration operations for a serving cell(in response to a time alignment timer expiring, various operations are performed for the serving cells)(¶64). With regard to claim 17, Jiang further discloses that the serving cell is associated with the first TRP (the base station provides the configuration information for the serving cell)(¶41), and wherein the one or more timer expiration operations for the serving cell are associated with an expiration of the first time alignment timer that is independent of the second time alignment timer (each time alignment timer is associated with a specific TAG and may expire independently of other timers)(¶53; ¶64). With regard to claim 18, Jiang further discloses that the one or more timer expiration operations for the serving cell are associated with a first expiration of the first time alignment timer or a second expiration of the second time alignment timer (in response to a time alignment timer expiring, various operations are performed for the serving cells; different operations may be performed if a second time alignment timer expires)(¶64; ¶78). With regard to claim 19, Jiang further discloses that the one or more timer expiration operations for the serving cell are associated with an expiration of the first time alignment timer and an expiration of the second time alignment timer (in response to a time alignment timer expiring, various operations are performed for the serving cells; different operations may be performed if a second time alignment timer expires, such that all operations will be performed if both timers expire)(¶64; ¶78). With regard to claim 21, Jiang further discloses at least one of a transceiver or an antenna coupled to the at least one processor (base station includes an antenna and a transceiver component)(¶157). Claims 22–30 are rejected under the same rationale as claims 1–8 and 16, since they recite substantially identical subject matter. Any differences between the claims do not result in patentably distinct claims and all of the limitations are explicitly or inherently taught by the above cited art . 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 13, 14, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (US 2020/0260398) in view of Kung et al. (US 2023/0284287) . With regard to claim 13, while the system disclosed by Jiang shows substantial features of the claimed invention (discussed above), including that that the first TRP is associated with the serving cell (base station sends configuration information for a serving cell of the UE)(¶64) and that the one or more timer expiration operations comprise one or more cell-level operations (e.g., all PUCCHs and SRS for the service cell are released in response to the timer expiration)(¶64), it fails to specifically disclose that the second TRP is associated with a non-serving cell. Kung discloses a similar system for enhancing timing alignment in a wireless communication system (Abstract). Kung discloses a UE provided with a first TAG associated with a first TRP/serving cell and second TAG associated with a second TRP/non-serving cell (¶386–388; ¶390) and teaches resource and timer management in response to expiration of timers associated with each cell (¶394–426). This would have been an advantageous addition to the system disclosed by Jiang since it would have permitted the UE to be associated with both a serving cell and a non-serving cell. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to associate the UE with a service cell and a non-serving cell and configure the UE by providing a first TAG associated with the service cell and a second TAG associated with the non-serving cell, in order to permit the UE to be associated with both cells. With regard to claim 14, while the system disclosed by Jiang shows substantial features of the claimed invention (discussed above), it fails to specifically disclose that the one or more timer expiration operations comprise maintaining one or more radio resource control (RRC) configured uplink (UL) resources. Kung discloses a similar system for enhancing timing alignment in a wireless communication system (Abstract). Kung discloses maintaining a time alignment timer associated with a TAG configuration (¶387–388) and, upon expiration of the timer, performing timer expiration operations including maintaining one or more radio resource control (RRC) configured uplink (UL) resources (e.g., configured uplink grants may not be cleared)(¶407; ¶422). This would have been an advantageous addition to the system disclosed by Jiang since it would have retained resources upon expiration of the timer, permitting faster resumption of connections and/or handover to a different cell. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to maintain one or more radio resource control (RRC) configured uplink (UL) resources, even when the time alignment timer has expired, to permit faster resumption of connections and/or handover to a different cell. Claim 20 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 13, since they recite substantially identical subject matter. Any differences between the claims do not result in patentably distinct claims and all of the limitations are explicitly or inherently taught by the above cited art . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. For example: Wu (US 2010/238908) discloses a system using multiple time alignment timers and performing timer expiration operations based on expiration of one or more of the timers (e.g., ¶31). Heo et al. (US 2014/0092865) also discloses a system including multiple time alignment timers associated with a TAG and performing expiration operations upon expiry of one or more of the timers (e.g., ¶57–67). Xu et al. (US 2021/0160805) discloses a system including multiple time alignment timers and performing various operations upon expiration of one or more of the timers (¶5–88). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AARON N STRANGE whose telephone number is (571)272-3959. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00. 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, Matthew Sked can be reached at 571-272-7627. 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. /AARON N STRANGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 6221 Application/Control Number: 18/721,595 Page 2 Art Unit: 6221 Application/Control Number: 18/721,595 Page 3 Art Unit: 6221 Application/Control Number: 18/721,595 Page 5 Art Unit: 6221 Application/Control Number: 18/721,595 Page 7 Art Unit: 6221 Application/Control Number: 18/721,595 Page 8 Art Unit: 6221 Application/Control Number: 18/721,595 Page 9 Art Unit: 6221 Application/Control Number: 18/721,595 Page 10 Art Unit: 6221 Application/Control Number: 18/721,595 Page 11 Art Unit: 6221
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