DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is a response to an application filed on July 2, 2024. Claims 1-20 are currently pending and ready for examination.
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 September 3, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: Fig. 6 is missing the label “S210,” which is included in ¶[0110] of the description. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 2, 6 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.01.
Regarding claim 1, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 discloses a wireless communication method (See, Pages 34-36, §§5.1.5 and 5.1.6), comprising: in a case that a random access contention resolution timer expires (See, page 35, line 7) and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for scheduling retransmission of a message Msg3 is not received before the random access contention resolution timer expires considering, by a terminal device, that contention resolution does not succeed (See, Page 35, lines 7-9; “if [the] ra-ContentionResolutionTimer expires, consider the Contention Resolution not successful.” In light of the description in Page 34, line 10–Page 35, line 2, it is clear that this unsuccessful case is when the “notification of a reception of a PDCCH transmission of the SpCell” was not received prior to the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer expiration).
Regarding claim 2, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 further discloses that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted at a first time domain symbol after the Msg3 is sent (See, Page 34, lines 12-13; “start the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer and restart the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer at each HARQ retransmission in the first symbol after the end of the Msg3 transmission,” Emphasis Added).
Regarding claim 6, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 further discloses that the method further comprises: in a case that the random access contention resolution timer expires and the PDCCH for scheduling the retransmission of the Msg3 is not received before the random access contention resolution timer expires, discarding a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI), wherein the TC-RNTI is used to scramble the PDCCH (See, Page 35, lines 7-8, if ra-ContentionResolutionTimer expires: 2> discard the TEMPORARY_C-RNTI.” It is noted that, with regard to the recited claim language, “the TC-RNTI is used to scramble the PDCCH,” in the parlance of, e.g., 5G NR, has the meaning equivalent to the “the PDCCH transmission is addressed to its TEMPORARY_C-RNTI.“ (See, Page 34, lines 28-29, Emphasis added). That is, such “addressing” is achieved by scrambling the CRC of the PDCCH wth (e.g., XOR’d with) the TEMPORARY_C-RNTI. See, e.g., 3GPPTS38.213V16.7.02, Page 45, §8.2, et seq., which is hereby made of record)).
Regarding claim 7, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 further discloses that the method further comprises: in a case that the random access contention resolution timer expires and the PDCCH for scheduling the retransmission of the Msg3 is received before the random access contention resolution timer expires, skipping, by the terminal device, considering that contention resolution fails (See, Page 34, line 10–Page 35, line 2; “consider this Random Access procedure successfully completed,” if the “notification of a reception of a PDCCH transmission of the SpCell [was] received from lower layers,” See, Page 34, line 16.).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. §103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 in view of Lee et al. (US Patent Publication No. US2020/0170045).
Regarding claim 4, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 teaches a wireless communication method comprising all of the recited elements of claim 1 as discussed above.
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0, however, fails to explicitly teach that the starting or restarting occurs in a subframe in which a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) is retransmitted for a last time, and the first PUSCH is used to carry the Msg3.
Lee et al. teaches that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted in a subframe in which a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) is retransmitted for a last time, and the first PUSCH is used to carry the Msg3 (See, e.g., Fig. 10, and ¶[0111]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Lee et al. in order to allow power savings for low power UEs (See, e.g., Lee et al., ¶[0086] and [0111]).
Claims 3, 5, 8-13 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 in view of Sedin et al. (US Patent Publication No. US2022/0006514).
Regarding claim 3, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 teaches a wireless communication method comprising all of the recited elements of claim 1, and further teaches that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted at a first time domain symbol after following the sending of the Msg3 (See, Page 34, lines 12-13; “start the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer and restart the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer at each HARQ retransmission in the first symbol after the end of the Msg3 transmission,” Emphasis Added).
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0, however, fails to explicitly teach that such starting or restarting occurs after a first time offset following the sending of the Msg3.
Sedin et al. teaches that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted after a time offset following the sending of the Msg3 (See, e.g., Fig. 5, #512 and 514; and ¶[0095]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for satellite communication devices in 5G NR networks (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0066] and [0080]).
Regarding claim 5, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 teaches a wireless communication method comprising all of the recited elements of claim 1.
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0, however, fails to teach explicitly that the staring or restarting of the random access contention resolution timer occurs after the first time offset following the PUSCH subframe carrying the Msg3.
Sedin et al. teaches that the staring or restarting of the random access contention resolution timer occurs after the first time offset following the PUSCH subframe carrying the Msg3 (See, e.g., Fig. 5, #512 and 514; ¶s[0070] “the Round Trip Time (RTT) can be more than 500 ms;” [0094] and ¶[0095]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for satellite communication devices in 5G NR networks (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0066] and [0080]).
Regarding claim 8, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 teaches that the method further comprises: in a case that the PDCCH for scheduling the retransmission of the Msg3 is received before the random access contention resolution timer expires (See, Page 34, line 10–26),
retransmitting the Msg3 by the terminal device (See, Page 35, line 17-Page 36, line 7; §5.1.2 (Page 23, line 3-Page 24, line 40), in particular, Page 24, line 3 “(i.e. Msg3 is being retransmitted);” and §5.1.3, et seq.),
restarting the random access contention resolution timer by the terminal device (See, Page, 34, lines 11-13), and during running of the random access contention resolution timer, monitoring, by the terminal device, a PDCCH that is scrambled by a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or a TC-RNTI and sent by a network device (See, Page, 34, lines 14-15. See, also, the discussion above in connection to claim 6 regarding the recited claim language “scrambled by a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or a TC-RNTI” ).
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0, however, fails to teach explicitly that the restarting the random access contention resolution timer by the terminal device is performed after a first time offset following the retransmission of the Msg3.
Sedin et al. teaches that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted after a time offset following the retransmission of the Msg3 (See, e.g., Fig. 5, #512 and 514; and ¶[0095]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for satellite communication devices in 5G NR networks (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0066] and [0080]).
Regarding claim 9, Sedin et al. further teaches that the first time offset is determined according to a round-trip time (RTT) between the terminal device and a network device (See, Fig. 5, #s512 and 514; and ¶s[0090]-[0095]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for satellite communication devices in 5G NR networks, in consideration of the longer round trip time (RTT) for the satellite communication device (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0069] and [0070]).
Regarding claim 10, Sedin et al. further teaches that the wireless communication method is applied to a non-terrestrial networks (NTN) system, or the method is applied to an NTN system and a terrestrial networks (TN) system (See, e.g., ¶s[0004],[0021], [0027] and [0030]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for NTN communication devices in 5G NR networks, in consideration of the longer round trip time (RTT) for the satellite communication device (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0069] and [0070]).
Regarding claim 11, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 teaches a terminal device (See, §4.1 at Page 11, a “UE”) configured to perform: in a case that a random access contention resolution timer expires (See, page 35, line 7) and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for scheduling retransmission of a message Msg3 is not received before the random access contention resolution timer expires, considering that contention resolution does not succeed (See, Page 35, lines 7-9; “if [the] ra-ContentionResolutionTimer expires, consider the Contention Resolution not successful.” In light of the description in Page 34, line 10–Page 35, line 2, it is clear that this unsuccessful case is when the “notification of a reception of a PDCCH transmission of the SpCell” was not received prior to the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer expiration).
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0, however, while describing the UE “from a functional point of view” (See, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0., page 11, §4.1), fails to explicitly teach that the UE comprises a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform the above recited process steps.
Sedin et al. teaches that the UE (Fig. 12, #1200), which comprises a processor (Fig. 12, #1202) and a memory, wherein the memory (Fig. 12, #1204) is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform the above recited process steps (See, ¶s[0139] and [0140]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to provide a conventional hardware components for the UE to implement the functionalities of the UE as described by the 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 (See, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0, Page 11, §4.1).
Regarding claim 12. 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 further discloses that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted at a first time domain symbol after the Msg3 is sent (See, Page 34, lines 12-13; “start the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer and restart the ra-ContentionResolutionTimer at each HARQ retransmission in the first symbol after the end of the Msg3 transmission,” Emphasis Added).
Regarding claim 13, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 teaches a terminal device comprising all of the recited elements of claim 11, and teaches further that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted at a first time domain symbol after following the sending of the Msg3, however, fails to explicitly teach that such starting or restarting occurs after a first time offset following the sending of the Msg3 (See, Page 34, lines 12-13).
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0, however, fails to explicitly teach that such starting or restarting occurs after a first time offset following the sending of the Msg3.
Sedin et al. teaches that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted after a time offset following the sending of the Msg3 (See, e.g., Fig. 5, #512 and 514, and ¶[0095]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for satellite communication devices in 5G NR networks (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0066] and [0080]).
Regarding claim 15, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 in view Sedin et al. of teaches a terminal device comprising all of the recited elements of claim 11.
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0, however, fails to teach explicitly that the staring or restarting of the random access contention resolution timer occurs after the first time offset following the PUSCH subframe carrying the Msg3.
Sedin et al. teaches that the staring or restarting of the random access contention resolution timer occurs after the first time offset following the PUSCH subframe carrying the Msg3 (See, e.g., Fig. 5, #512 and 514; ¶s[0070] “the Round Trip Time (RTT) can be more than 500 ms;” [0094] and ¶[0095]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for satellite communication devices in 5G NR networks (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0066] and [0080]).
Regarding claim 16, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 further teaches that the terminal device further comprises: in a case that the random access contention resolution timer expires and the PDCCH for scheduling the retransmission of the Msg3 is not received before the random access contention resolution timer expires, discarding a temporary cell radio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI), wherein the TC-RNTI is used to scramble the PDCCH (See, Page 35, lines 7-8, if ra-ContentionResolutionTimer expires: 2> discard the TEMPORARY_C-RNTI.” See, above discussion in connection to claim 6 regarding the recited claim language regarding “the TC-RNTI is used to scramble the PDCCH,”).
Regarding claim 17, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 in view of Sedin et al. teaches a terminal device comprising all of the elements recited in claim 11 as discussed above.
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 further teaches that the method further comprises: in a case that the random access contention resolution timer expires and the PDCCH for scheduling the retransmission of the Msg3 is received before the random access contention resolution timer expires, skipping, by the terminal device, considering that contention resolution fails (See, Page 34, line 10–Page 35, line 2; “consider this Random Access procedure successfully completed,” if the “notification of a reception of a PDCCH transmission of the SpCell [was] received from lower layers,” See, Page 34, line 16.).
Regarding claim 18, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 in view of Sedin et al. teaches a terminal device comprising all elements recited in claim 11.
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 further teaches that in a case that the PDCCH for scheduling the retransmission of the Msg3 is received before the random access contention resolution timer expires (See, Page 34, line 10–26),
retransmitting the Msg3 by the terminal device (See, Page 35, line 17-Page 36, line 7; §5.1.2 (Page 23, line 3-Page 24, line 40), in particular, Page 24, line 3 “(i.e. Msg3 is being retransmitted);” and §5.1.3, et seq.),
restarting the random access contention resolution timer by the terminal device (See, Page, 34, lines 11-13), and during running of the random access contention resolution timer, monitoring, by the terminal device, a PDCCH that is scrambled by a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or a TC-RNTI and sent by a network device (See, Page, 34, lines 14-15. See, also, the discussion above in connection to claim 6 regarding the recited claim language “scrambled by a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) or a TC-RNTI”).
Sedin et al. further teaches that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted after a time offset following the retransmission of the Msg3 (See, e.g., Fig. 5, #512 and 514; and ¶[0095]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for satellite communication devices in 5G NR networks (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0066] and [0080]).
Regarding claim 19. Sedin et al. further teaches that the first time offset is determined according to a round-trip time (RTT) between the terminal device and a network device (See, Fig. 5, #512; and ¶[0095]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for satellite communication devices in 5G NR networks, in consideration of the longer round trip time (RTT) for the satellite communication device (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0069] and [0070]).
Regarding claim 20, Sedin et al. further teaches that the terminal device is a non-terrestrial networks (NTN) system, or the method is applied to an NTN system and a terrestrial networks (TN) system (See, e.g., ¶s[0004],[0021], [0027] and [0030]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 to incorporate the above teaching of Sedin et al. in order to allow a random access procedure for NTN communication devices in 5G NR networks, in consideration of the longer round trip time (RTT) for the satellite communication device (See, e.g., Sedin et al., ¶[0069] and [0070]).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 and Sedin et al. (US Patent Publication No. US2022/0006514) in further view of Lee et al.
Regarding claim 14, 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 in view of Sedin et al. teaches a terminal device comprising all of the recited elements of claim 11.
3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 in view of Sedin et al., however, fails to explicitly teach that the starting or restarting occurs in a subframe in which a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) is retransmitted for a last time, and the first PUSCH is used to carry the Msg3.
Lee et al. teaches that the random access contention resolution timer is started or restarted in a subframe in which a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) is retransmitted for a last time, and the first PUSCH is used to carry the Msg3 (See, e.g., Fig. 10, and ¶[0111]).
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 UE taught by 3GPPTS38.321V16.7.0 in view of Sedin et al., to incorporate the above teaching of Lee et al. in order to allow power savings for low power UEs (See, e.g., Lee et al., ¶[0086] and [0111]).
Conclusion
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Moo R Jeong can be reached at (571) 272-9617. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/K.S.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2418 March 18, 2026
/Moo Jeong/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418
1 3GPP TS 38.321 V16.7.0 (2021-12) Technical Specification 3rd Generation Partnership Project;
Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 16), Published by 3GPP Organizational Partners, December 2021), Pp. 1-158.
2 3GPP TS 38.213 V16.7.0 (2021-09), “Technical Specification, 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for control (Release 16), Published by the 3GPP Organizational Partners, September 2021, Pp. 1-188.