CTNF 18/786,358 CTNF 79662 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 – 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-6,9-11, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shahmohammadian et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0259974 hereinafter “Shahmohammadian”) . Referring to apparatus claim 1 and method claim 30 , Shahmohammadian teaches an apparatus for wireless communication (see UE 102 in figure 1 and figure 13), comprising: one or more memories, individually or in combination, having instructions (see item 1330 in figure 13); and one or more processors, individually or in combination (see item (see item 1320 in figure 13), configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: generate data for transmission (see ¶ 86); and output, via a first set of one or more resources dedicated to an apparatus-initiated physical random-access channel (PRACH), a resource request for transmission of the generated data (see ¶ 59). Referring to claim 2 , Shahmohammadian teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further teaches the one or more processors, individually or in combination, are further configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain, after output of the resource request, an indication of a timing advance (TA), an indication of a second set of one or more resources for transmission of the generated data, and an indication of an apparatus-specific identifier configured to identify the apparatus (see ¶ 59); and output, for transmission using the TA and the second set of one or more resources, the generated data and the apparatus-specific identifier (see ¶ 101). Referring to claim 3 , Shahmohammadian discloses the apparatus of claim 2 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further discloses the indication of the second set of one or more resources comprises one or more of: a resource block allocation, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a quantity of layers, and a precoder (see item 310 in figure 3). Referring to claim 4 , Shahmohammadian discloses the apparatus of claim 2 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further discloses the apparatus-specific identifier is obtained via a control channel associated with the second set of one or more resources or a shared channel associated with the second set of one or more resources (see ¶ 49). Referring to claim 5 , Shahmohammadian teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further teaches the one or more processors, individually or in combination, are further configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain, prior to output of the resource request, an indication of: (i) the first set of one or more resources, and (ii) a second set of one or more resources dedicated to at least one of: contention based random access (CBRA) associated with a 2-step PRACH or a 4-step PRACH, or a contention free random access (CFRA), wherein the first set of one or more resources is separate from the second set of one or more resources (see ¶ 59). Referring to claim 6 , Shahmohammadian teaches the apparatus of claim 5 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further teaches the one or more processors, individually or in combination, are further configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain, prior to output of the resource request, an indication of at least one of: (i) a first preamble dedicated to the apparatus-initiated PRACH, or (ii) a second preamble dedicated to at least one of the CBRA or the CFRA, wherein the resource request includes an indication of the first preamble (see ¶ 59). Referring to claim 9 , Shahmohammadian teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further teaches wherein the one or more processors, individually or in combination, are further configured to cause the apparatus to: establish, prior to output of the resource request, a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a network entity; and obtain, prior to output of the resource request, a first preamble dedicated to the apparatus-initiated PRACH, wherein the resource request comprises an indication of the first preamble, and wherein the resource request is output for transmission to the network entity (see ¶ 59). Referring to claim 10 , Shahmohammadian teaches the apparatus of claim 9 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further teaches wherein the first preamble is an apparatus-specific preamble (see ¶ 59). Referring to claim 11 , Shahmohammadian teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further teaches the one or more processors, individually or in combination, are further configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain, after output of the resource request, a message indicating transmission of a grant (see ¶ 59); obtain, via a control channel, the grant, wherein the grant comprises an indication of a timing advance (TA), an indication of a second set of one or more resources, and an indication of an apparatus-specific identifier configured to identify the apparatus (see figure 3); and output, for transmission using the TA and the second set of one or more resources, the generated data and the apparatus-specific identifier (see ¶ 101). Referring to claim 20 , Shahmohammadian teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian discloses the apparatus further comprising a transceiver configured to: transmit the resource request for transmission of the generated data, wherein the apparatus is configured as a user equipment (UE) (see item 1390 in figure 13 and ¶ 37) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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) 21-24,26, and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shahmohammadian in view of Farag et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2024/0147541 hereinafter Farag) . Referring to claim 21 , Shahmohammadian teaches an apparatus for wireless communication, which is configured to output an indication of: (i) a first set of one or more resources dedicated to a user equipment (UE)-initiated physical random-access channel (PRACH), and (ii) a second set of one or more resources dedicated to at least one of: contention based random access (CBRA) associated with a 2-step PRACH or a 4-step PRACH, or a contention free random access (CFRA), wherein the first set of one or more resources is separate from the second set of one or more resources (see ¶ 59); and obtain, via the first set of one or more resources, a resource request for transmission of data (see ¶ 59). Shahmohammadian fails to explicitly disclose the apparatus comprises one or more memories, individually or in combination, having instructions; and one or more processors, individually or in combination, configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to perform the steps above. Farag teaches, in analogous system, the above limitation (see ¶ 78). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the Applicant’s invention to modify the teachings of Shahmohammadian with the above teachings of base stations typically include these components. Referring to claim 22 , the combination of Shahmohammadian and Farag renders obvious the apparatus of claim 21 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further discloses the apparatus is configured to: output, after the resource request is obtained, an indication of a timing advance (TA), an indication of a third set of one or more resources for transmission of the data, and an indication of an apparatus-specific identifier configured to identify the apparatus (see ¶ 59); and obtain, via the third set of one or more resources and using the TA, the data and an indication of the apparatus-specific identifier (see ¶ 101). Referring to claim 23 , the combination of Shahmohammadian and Farag renders obvious the apparatus of claim 22 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further dicloses wherein the indication of the third set of one or more resources comprises one or more of: a resource block allocation, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a quantity of layers, and a precoder (see item 310 in figure 3). Referring to claim 24 , the combination of Shahmohammadian and Farag renders obvious the apparatus of claim 22 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian further discloses the apparatus-specific identifier is obtained via a control channel associated with the second set of one or more resources or a shared channel associated with the third set of one or more resources (see ¶ 49). Referring to claim 26 , Shahmohammadian discloses the apparatus of claim 21 (as shown above), wherein the one or more processors, individually or in combination, are further configured to cause the apparatus to: establish, prior to the resource request being obtained, a radio resource control (RRC) connection with a UE; and output, prior to the resource request being obtained, a first preamble dedicated to the UE-initiated PRACH, wherein the resource request comprises an indication of the first preamble, and wherein the resource request is obtained from the UE (see ¶ 59). Referring to claim 29 , Shahmohammadian The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising a transceiver configured to: transmit the indication of: (i) the first set of one or more resources, and (ii) the second set of one or more resources; and receive the resource request for transmission of data, wherein the apparatus is configured as a network entity (see item 802 in figure 8) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shahmohammadian in view of He et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0368179 hereinafter “He”) . Referring to claim 8 , Shahmohammadian discloses the apparatus of claim 1 (as shown above), however Shahmohammadian fails to disclose the resource request is output for transmission to a network entity independent of a radio resource control (RRC) connection between the apparatus and the network entity. He teaches, in an analogous system, the above limitation (see ¶ 98). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the Applicant’s invention to modify the teachings of Shahmohammadian with the above teachings of He in order to reconnect to the cell as suggested by He (see ¶ 98) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shahmohammadian in view of Farag as applied to claim 21 and further in view He . Referring to claim 25 , the combination of Shahmohammadian and Farag renders obvious the apparatus of claim 21 (as shown above), however the combination fails to teach wherein the resource request is obtained from a UE independent of a radio resource control (RRC) connection being established between the apparatus and the UE. He teaches, in an analogous system, the above limitation (see ¶ 98). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the Applicant’s invention to modify the teachings of Shahmohammadian with the above teachings of He in order to reconnect to the cell as suggested by He (see ¶ 98) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shahmohammadian in view of Yi et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0273416 hereinafter Yi) . Referring to claim 7 , Shahmohammadian teaches the apparatus of claim 6 (as shown above), however Shahmohammadian fails to disclose wherein the one or more processors, individually or in combination, are further configured to cause the apparatus to: select the first preamble randomly from a plurality of preambles, wherein: the indication of the first set of one or more resources and the indication of the first preamble are obtained via a broadcast message. Yi teaches, in an analogous system, the above limitation (see ¶ 67). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the Applicant’s invention to modify the teachings of Shahmohammadian with the above teachings of Yi such that the first preamble is one of the plurality of preambles dedicated to the apparatus-initiated PRACH and obtained via the broadcast message. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make such modification in order to increase the amount of resources available for resource requests . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shahmohammadian in view of Papasakellariou (U.S. Pub. No. 2016/0270038) . Referring to claim 16 , Shahmohammadian teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (as shown above), and Shahmohammadian futher discloses the one or more processors, individually or in combination, are further configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain, after output of the resource request, an indication of at least one of: (i) a second set of one or more resources, or (ii) an apparatus-specific identifier configured to identify the apparatus (see ¶ 59); output, for transmission via the second set of one or more resources, the generated data and the apparatus-specific identifier (see ¶ 101); Shahmohammadian fails to teach the apparatus is configured to obtain, via a downlink control information (DCI) message, an acknowledgement (ACK) or negative ACK (NACK) associated with the output of the generated data. Papasakellariou teaches, in an analogous system, the above limitation (see ¶ 150). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the Applicant’s invention to modify the system of Shahmohammadian with the above teachings of Papasakellariou in order for the UE to determine if the transmission was successful. Referring to claim 17 , the combination of Shahmohammadian and Papasakellariou renders obvious the apparatus of claim 16 (as shown above), and Papasakellariou further discloses the one or more processors, individually or in combination, are further configured to cause the apparatus to: scramble cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits of the DCI based on the apparatus-specific identifier (see ¶ 150). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the Applicant’s invention to modify the system of Shahmohammadian with the above teachings of Papasakellariou for the same reasons as mentioned above. Referring to claim 18 , the combination of Shahmohammadian and Papasakellariou renders obvious the apparatus of claim 16 (as shown above), and Papasakellariou further discloses wherein the ACK is obtained via the DCI, and wherein the DCI comprises one or more bits of the generated data (see ¶ 150). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the Applicant’s invention to modify the system of Shahmohammadian with the above teachings of Papasakellariou for the same reasons as mentioned above. Referring to claim 19 , the combination of Shahmohammadian and Papasakellariou renders obvious the apparatus of claim 16 (as shown above), and Papasakellariou further discloses wherein the NACK is obtained via the DCI, wherein the DCI comprises a resource allocation for retransmission of the generated data (see ¶ 150). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the Applicant’s invention to modify the system of Shahmohammadian with the above teachings of Papasakellariou for the same reasons as mentioned above . . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 12-15,27, and 28 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERON J SORRELL whose telephone number is (571)272-4160. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-6PM EST. 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, Michael Fuelling can be reached at 571-270-1367. 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. Signed: /ERON J SORRELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992 Application/Control Number: 18/786,358 Page 2 Art Unit: 3992 Application/Control Number: 18/786,358 Page 3 Art Unit: 3992 Application/Control Number: 18/786,358 Page 4 Art Unit: 3992
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