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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/11/2024, 08/11/2025 and 03/03/2026 are considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claim is directed to “transitory media/signals” and/or software per se.
Claim 18 recites the claim limitation “computer-readable storage medium” in line 1. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation, the claim may be read as being directed to “transitory media/signals” and/or software per se. In addition, Par. 0152-0155 of the original specification details various embodiments of a computer-readable medium that are directed to “transitory media/signals.” In this instance, the claim is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 7-8 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma (US 2021/020331; hereinafter Ma) in view of Deogun et al. (US 2023/0072506; hereinafter Deogun).
Regarding claim 1, Ma shows an information receiving method (Figures 5-6 shows a method), applied to a first communication node and comprising:
receiving first information sent by a second communication node (Par. 0054; receiving a random access response sent by a network-side device.); and
determining a temporary identifier (ID) of the second communication node according to a resource serial number of a transmission resource used for transmission of the first information (Par. 0057-0062; calculating a random access-radio network temporary identifier such as an RA-RNTI based on transmission resource information in a random access procedure.), wherein the temporary ID comprises a bit sequence corresponding to the resource serial number (Figure 4; MAC PDU formed by the random access response comprised of octets.).
Ma shows all of the elements as discussed above. Ma does not specifically show the resource serial number comprises at least one of the following: a round serial number, a slot serial number, a group serial number, a spreading code serial number, or a subchannel serial number.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Deogun. Specifically, Deogun shows the resource serial number comprises at least one of the following: a round serial number, a slot serial number (Figure 5; Par. 0129-0134; The UE (100) calculates the value of RA-RNTI as the function of the system frame number or the COT number or the subframe number or the time duration number corresponding to the PRACH occasion where the UE (100) performs PRACH transmission. Here, SFN_id is a function of the system frame number and/or the COT number (i.e. each network COT is identified by a COT number value which can be broadcasted using DCI or System Information within the COT by the base station (200) or can be determined by the UE (100) e.g. using system frame number and/or subframe number and/or slot number),), a group serial number, a spreading code serial number, or a subchannel serial number.
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Deogun, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Deogun, in order to provide motivation for efficiently performing a random access response reception for an extended RAR timer or window (Par. 0017-0019 of Deogun).
Regarding claim 2, modified Ma shows before receiving the first information sent by the second communication node, the method further comprising:
sending second information to the second communication node (Ma: Figures 1-2; Par. 0030; prior to receiving Msg 2/RAR message, UE sends Msg 1 to the network-side device.), wherein the second information comprises configuration information of the transmission resource (Ma: Figures 1-2; Par. 0069-0071; Msg1 for initiating RACH may use a preamble or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a combination thereof. For calculation of the RA-RNTI, the following calculation parameters may be used: the preamble used by Msg1 to initiate RACH and a corresponding time domain resource and/or frequency domain resource and/or space domain resource and/or power domain resource; and/or a PUSCH used by Msg1 to initiate RACH and a corresponding time domain resource and/or frequency domain resource and/or space domain resource and/or power domain resource.).
Ma shows all of the elements including the configuration information, as discussed above. Ma does not specifically show the configuration information of the transmission resource comprises at least one of the following: the round serial number, slot configuration information, group configuration information, spreading code configuration information, or subchannel configuration information.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Deogun. Specifically, Deogun shows he configuration information of the transmission resource comprises at least one of the following: the round serial number, slot configuration information (Par. 0092, 0152; transmitting the PRACH preamble and determine a frame index value for the transmitted PRACH preamble based on at least one of a system frame number, a COT number, a subframe number and a time duration number. SFN_id is a function of the system frame number and/or the COT number (i.e. each network COT is identified by the COT number value which can be broadcasted using the DCI or the System Information within the COT by the base station (200) or can be determined by the UE (100) e.g. using system frame number and/or subframe number and/or slot number.), group configuration information, spreading code configuration information, or subchannel configuration information.
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Deogun, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Deogun, in order to provide motivation for efficiently performing a random access response reception for an extended RAR timer or window (Par. 0017-0019 of Deogun).
Regarding claim 4, modified Ma shows wherein the first information comprises a random number of n bits or n bits in a unique product number of the second communication node (Ma: Par. 0074; the following formula may be used to calculate the RA-RNTI: RA-RNTI=1+s_id+14×t_id+14×80×f_id+14×80×8×ul_carrier_id(2-step RACH carrier).).
Regarding claim 5, modified Ma shows wherein the temporary ID further comprises the first information (Ma: Par. 0057-0062; calculating a random access-radio network temporary identifier such as an RA-RNTI based on transmission resource information in a random access procedure.).
Regarding claim 7, Ma shows an information sending method (Figures 5-6 shows a method), applied to a second communication node and comprising:
sending first information to a first communication node (Par. 0054; sending a random access response to a user equipment.); and
determining a temporary ID of the second communication node according to a resource serial number of a transmission resource used for transmission of the first information (Par. 0057-0062; calculating a random access-radio network temporary identifier such as an RA-RNTI based on transmission resource information in a random access procedure.), wherein the temporary ID comprises a bit sequence corresponding to the resource serial number (Figure 4; MAC PDU formed by the random access response comprised of octets.).
Ma shows all of the elements as discussed above. Ma does not specifically show the resource serial number comprises at least one of the following: a round serial number, a slot serial number, a group serial number, a spreading code serial number, or a subchannel serial number.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Deogun. Specifically, Deogun shows the resource serial number comprises at least one of the following: a round serial number, a slot serial number (Figure 5; Par. 0129-0134; The UE (100) calculates the value of RA-RNTI as the function of the system frame number or the COT number or the subframe number or the time duration number corresponding to the PRACH occasion where the UE (100) performs PRACH transmission. Here, SFN_id is a function of the system frame number and/or the COT number (i.e. each network COT is identified by a COT number value which can be broadcasted using DCI or System Information within the COT by the base station (200) or can be determined by the UE (100) e.g. using system frame number and/or subframe number and/or slot number),), a group serial number, a spreading code serial number, or a subchannel serial number.
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Deogun, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Deogun, in order to provide motivation for efficiently performing a random access response reception for an extended RAR timer or window (Par. 0017-0019 of Deogun).
Regarding claim 8, this claim is rejected based on the same reasoning as presented in the rejection of claim 2.
Regarding claim 17, Ma shows a communication node (Figure 10 shows a UE performing in part the method of Figures 5-6.), comprising
a processor configured to perform an information receiving method (Figure 10 shows a processor utilized by the UE to perform the disclosed method.), wherein the information receiving method comprises:
receiving first information sent by a second communication node (Par. 0054; receiving a random access response sent by a network-side device.); and
determining a temporary identifier (ID) of the second communication node according to a resource serial number of a transmission resource used for transmission of the first information (Par. 0057-0062; calculating a random access-radio network temporary identifier such as an RA-RNTI based on transmission resource information in a random access procedure.), wherein the temporary ID comprises a bit sequence corresponding to the resource serial number (Figure 4; MAC PDU formed by the random access response comprised of octets.).
Ma shows all of the elements as discussed above. Ma does not specifically show the resource serial number comprises at least one of the following: a round serial number, a slot serial number, a group serial number, a spreading code serial number, or a subchannel serial number.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Deogun. Specifically, Deogun shows the resource serial number comprises at least one of the following: a round serial number, a slot serial number (Figure 5; Par. 0129-0134; The UE (100) calculates the value of RA-RNTI as the function of the system frame number or the COT number or the subframe number or the time duration number corresponding to the PRACH occasion where the UE (100) performs PRACH transmission. Here, SFN_id is a function of the system frame number and/or the COT number (i.e. each network COT is identified by a COT number value which can be broadcasted using DCI or System Information within the COT by the base station (200) or can be determined by the UE (100) e.g. using system frame number and/or subframe number and/or slot number),), a group serial number, a spreading code serial number, or a subchannel serial number.
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Deogun, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Deogun, in order to provide motivation for efficiently performing a random access response reception for an extended RAR timer or window (Par. 0017-0019 of Deogun).
Regarding claim 18, modified Ma shows a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor (Ma: Figure 10; instructions stored in memory and executed by a processor to perform the disclosed method.), causes the processor to perform the information receiving method of claim 1.
Claim(s) 3 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma in view of Deogun and Li et al. (US 2023/0345541; hereinafter Li).
Regarding claim 3, modified Ma shows all of the elements except wherein the resource serial number satisfies at least one of the following features: the resource serial number comprises the round serial number, wherein the round serial number is determined according to a number of times a slot value range is updated; or the resource serial number comprises the slot serial number, wherein the slot serial number is determined according to a slot in which the first information is correctly received; or the resource serial number comprises the group serial number, wherein the group serial number is determined according to a group where the first information is correctly received; or the resource serial number comprises the spreading code serial number, wherein the spreading code serial number is determined according to a spreading code through which despreading is correctly performed; or the resource serial number comprises the subchannel serial number, wherein the subchannel serial number is determined according to a subchannel where the first information is located.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Li. Specifically, Li shows wherein the resource serial number satisfies at least one of the following features:
the resource serial number comprises the round serial number, wherein the round serial number is determined according to a number of times a slot value range is updated; or
the resource serial number comprises the slot serial number, wherein the slot serial number is determined according to a slot in which the first information is correctly received (Par. 0063-0068; after sending the preamble, the UE monitors, during running of the random access response RAR window, the physical downlink control channel PDCCH scrambled based on the RA-RNTI. Because the UE has calculated the RA-RNTI, the UE may obtain, during running of the random access response RAR window, the physical downlink control channel PDCCH scrambled based on the RA-RNTI. The calculating the RA-RNTI based on a parameter t_id, wherein t_id is a slot number of a 1st slot of the RO occupied for sending the preamble within a first specified time, the slot number is obtained through numbering based on a PRACH slot subcarrier spacing, and the first specified time is at least one slot, at least one millisecond, at least one subframe, at least one time domain length of an RO, at least one frame, or at least one time window.); or
the resource serial number comprises the group serial number, wherein the group serial number is determined according to a group where the first information is correctly received; or
the resource serial number comprises the spreading code serial number, wherein the spreading code serial number is determined according to a spreading code through which despreading is correctly performed; or
the resource serial number comprises the subchannel serial number, wherein the subchannel serial number is determined according to a subchannel where the first information is located.
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Li, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Li, in order to provide motivation to avoid a problem that access efficiency decreases in a case that a PRACH SCS exceeds 120 KHz (Par. 0055 of Li).
Regarding claim 11, modified Ma shows all of the elements except wherein the resource serial number comprises the group serial number, wherein the group serial number is randomly selected by the second communication node; or the group serial number is a serial number of a fixed group of the second communication node; or the group number is determined according to a unique product number of the second communication node.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Li. Specifically, Li shows wherein the resource serial number comprises the group serial number (Par. 0052-0055; The calculating an RA-RNTI based on time-frequency resource information of a random access occasion RO for sending a preamble includes: [0053] calculating the RA-RNTI based on a parameter t_id, where [0054] t_id is a slot number of a 1st slot of the RO occupied for sending the preamble within a first specified time, or a number of a 1st slot group of the RO occupied for sending the preamble, or a number of a 1st PRACH slot that is of the RO occupied for sending the preamble and that is in a slot group.),
wherein the group serial number is randomly selected by the second communication node; or the group serial number is a serial number of a fixed group of the second communication node; or the group number is determined according to a unique product number of the second communication node (Par. 0052-0055, 0134; obtaining the RA-RNTI through calculation according to the following formula: RARNTI=1×F1+s_id×F2+Symbol×t_id×F3+Symbol×X×f_id×F4+Symbol×X×Y×slot_id×F5 (6), where t_id is a number of a 1st slot group of the RO occupied for sending the preamble in N slot groups that are obtained by grouping slots within a first specified time according to a specific rule, and the first specified time is at least one slot, at least one millisecond, at least one subframe, at least one time domain length of an RO, at least one frame, or at least one time window.).
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Li, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Li, in order to provide motivation to avoid a problem that access efficiency decreases in a case that a PRACH SCS exceeds 120 KHz (Par. 0055 of Li).
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma in view of Deogun and Kim et al (US 2020/0260495; hereinafter Kim).
Regarding claim 9, modified Ma shows all of the elements except wherein the resource serial number comprises the round serial number, wherein the round serial number is notified by the first communication node or determined according to a number of times a slot value range is updated.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Kim. Specifically, Kim shows wherein the resource serial number comprises the round serial number, wherein the round serial number is notified by the first communication node (Par. 0061, 0146; the RA-RNTI may be determined based on index information about the first (or starting) radio frame in which repeated transmission of the random access preamble starts. As a specific example, the legacy UE may determine the RA-RNTI based on Equation 9. In Equation 9, SFN_id denotes index information about the first (or starting) radio frame in which repeated transmission of the random access preamble starts, and floor( ) denotes a floor function that rounds a number to the nearest integer,) or determined according to a number of times a slot value range is updated.
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Kim, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Kim, in order to provide motivation for a random access procedure to be efficiently performed in a wireless communication system that simultaneously supports a legacy preamble and an enhanced preamble (Par. 0018 of Kim).
Claim(s) rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma in view of Deogun and Baligh et al. (US 2018/00367358; hereinafter Baligh).
Regarding claim 10, modified Ma shows all of the elements except wherein the resource serial number comprises the slot serial number, wherein the slot serial number is randomly selected by the second communication node.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Baligh. Specifically, Baligh shows wherein the resource serial number comprises the slot serial number, wherein the slot serial number is randomly selected by the second communication node (Par. 0126, 0139; randomly selected one of a set of available sequences, (for example, one of a set of 64 sequences having sequence indices 0 to 63) using one of a possible set of time slots (for example one of slots 0 to 9), A random access-RNTI (RA-RNTI) is associated with the slot number and frequency resource in which the preamble is sent and preamble index (RAPID) is the index of the sent sequence).
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Baligh, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Baligh, in order to provide motivation for efficient handovers in dense communications network (Par. 0004-0005 of Baligh).
Claim(s) 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma in view of Deogun and Cao et al. (US 2020/0322079; hereinafter Cao).
Regarding claim 13, modified Ma shows all of the elements except wherein the resource serial number comprises the spreading code serial number, wherein the spreading code serial number is randomly selected by the second communication node; or the spreading code serial number is a serial number of a fixed spreading code of the second communication node.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Cao. Specifically, Cao shows wherein the resource serial number comprises the spreading code serial number, wherein the spreading code serial number is randomly selected by the second communication node (Par. 0112, 0115; A UE can randomly select a combination of ZC root, cyclic shift, and a spreading code from the code set to generate its reference signal symbols.); or the spreading code serial number is a serial number of a fixed spreading code of the second communication node.
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Cao, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Cao, in order to provide motivation for control information to be conveyed as a part of reference signal transmission without incurring any signaling overhead (Par. 0045 of Cao).
Regarding claim 14, modified Ma shows the spreading code serial number being randomly selected by the second communication node, and the method further comprising:
acquiring spreading code length indication information, wherein the spreading code length indication information indicates a spreading code length, and the spreading code serial number is a serial number of a spreading code randomly selected from a spreading code set corresponding to the spreading code length (Cao: Par. 0115; a legacy LTE RACH-style sequence with length of 144 is generated using a length-139 cyclic-padded ZC sequence. A phase rotation sequence is generated to carry a specific cyclic shift. With four ZC roots (Nroot=4) and cyclic shift resolution of 2π/16 (Ncs=16), a reference signal pool with 4×16=64 entries is obtained. A length-3 codebook (Ncode=3) with 12 entries is given by [1 1 1; 1 ω ω2; 1 ω2 ω4; 1 1 0; 1 ω 0; 1 ω2 0; 1 0 1; 1 0 ω2; 1 0 ω.sup.4; 0 1 1; 0 ω ω2; 0 ω.sup.2 ω.sup.4] (i.e., M=12, M>Ncode). With this codebook, the size of the legacy reference signal pool can be extended to 4×16×12=768 entries. A UE can randomly select a combination of ZC root, cyclic shift, and a spreading code from the code set to generate its reference signal symbols.); or
acquiring repetition number indication information, wherein the repetition number indication information indicates a number of repetitions, the number of repetitions determines a spreading code length, and the spreading code serial number is a serial number of a spreading code randomly selected from a spreading code set corresponding to the spreading code length.
Claim(s) 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ma in view of Deogun and Huang et al. (US 2020/0178217; hereinafter Huang).
Regarding claim 15, modified Ma shows all of the elements except wherein the resource serial number comprises the subchannel serial number, wherein the subchannel serial number is randomly selected by the second communication node; or the subchannel serial number is a serial number of a fixed subchannel of the second communication node.
However, the above-mentioned claim limitations are well-established in the art as evidenced by Huang. Specifically, Huang shows wherein the resource serial number comprises the subchannel serial number, wherein the subchannel serial number is randomly selected by the second communication node; or the subchannel serial number is a serial number of a fixed subchannel of the second communication node (Par. 0064-0065; The shared resource pool related information in this embodiment includes the information of resource(s) selected/reserved by the reporting UE, which includes the information of resource(s) selected/reserved by the reporting UE for initial transmission and/or retransmission. In detail, the information of resource(s) selected/reserved by the reporting UE may include at least one of the following: frequency indication, priority information, frequency resource location of initial transmission and/or retransmission, time gap between initial transmission and retransmission, modulation and coding scheme, time resource location of initial transmission and/or retransmission information, sub-channel information, RB (resource block) information, reservation period indication, and Activation/Release indication.).
In view of the above, having the system of Ma, then given the well-established teaching of Huang, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ma as taught by Huang, in order to provide motivation for control information to be conveyed as a part of reference signal transmission without incurring any signaling overhead (Par. 0045 of Huang).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 12 and 16 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.
Examiner submits that none of the prior art references cited in this action teaches the claimed subject matter as specifically presented in the above dependent claims. The allowance of this application is based on an examination wherein the claim limitations recited in the dependent claims were not taken alone but in view of the scope of the claim(s) as a whole including any proceeding and/or preceding claim limitation(s) present within the claims and by their respective dependencies on other claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/REDENTOR PASIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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