CTNF 18/790,344 CTNF 98556 DETAILED ACTION 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. Information Disclosure Statement 06-52 The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 09/23/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-2, 5, and 8-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chandrashekar ( US 2024/0298224 A1) in view of Dural ( US 2025/0097792 A1) . Regarding claim 1, Chandrashekar teaches: An apparatus (see FIG. 7, gnB-DU (Neighbour) 720) comprising: at least one processor (inherent element of a Distributed Unit (DU) ) ; and at least one memory (inherent element of a Distributed Unit (DU) ) including computer program code, the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to ( see ¶[0027], ¶[0093] ) : receive an identification of a serving network access node ; and associate a sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources with the identified serving network access node ( see ¶[0018], .. receiving, by the serving DU, a Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble based on the best BG, wherein the RACH preamble originates from the target DU; and executing, by the serving DU, a serving cell change (SCC) for the UE to one of a prepared target cell based on the RACH preamble; ¶[0022], The preamble signal may include a contention free random access (CFRA) preamble, wherein the target DU is configured to determine whether there is already a preamble allocated to the UE … wherein the method further comprises: sending the newly allocated RACH preamble to the serving DU, wherein the sending to the serving DU is via a control unit (CU) or directly over a DU-DU interface ) . Although Chandrashekar teaches ( see ¶[0048], CU-CP 630 may perform a F1: UE context setup procedure by sending a request to the target DU 620, and receive a response therefrom. Subsequently, CU-CP 630 may send a RRC reconfiguration message to UE 600 to configure for LTM in the target cell (target DU 620) using CBRA. UE 600 may then send an intra-frequency L1 measurement report to the serving DU 610) , Chandrashekar, however fails to explicitly teach information related to receive an identification of a serving network access node. However, Dural, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: receive an identification of a serving network access node ( see Dural, ¶[0062], The CU may send a UE context setup request (the arrow labeled 3) to the handover target DU 514 , requesting the handover target DU to create a UE context and set up one or more data bearers. The UE context setup request may include information about the handover in the form of a HandoverPreparationInformation message in some embodiments, as well as other configuration information pertaining to the handover. The UE context setup request may include an identifier of the handover source DU in some embodiments. The target DU 514 may send a UE context setup response message (the arrow labeled 4) to the CU in response to the UE context setup request) . It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chandrashekar 's teachings with Dural's above teaching, to improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications (see ¶[0016]) . Known work in one field of endeavor (Dural prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Chandrashekar prior art) based on design incentives ( improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications ) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Regarding claim 2, the combination teaches: The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to enable contention-free-random-access by reserving the sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources for association with only the identified serving network access node and no other network access node ( see Chandrashekar, ¶[0046], during inter-cell mobility the preamble resource reservation at the target cell (target DU) is performed based on an uplink sync (UL sync); ¶[0056], Based on a determination that the RACH resource becomes available, target DU 620 may thereafter be configured to allocate a RACH preamble, and send the RACH preamble to serving DU 610 in order to configure CFRA for UE 600 with the best BG for UE 600 ) . Regarding claim 5, the combination teaches: The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to associate sub-sets of CFRA resources with respective serving network access nodes based on received identifications of a serving network access nodes ( see Chandrashekar, ¶[0018], .. receiving, by the serving DU, a Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble based on the best BG, wherein the RACH preamble originates from the target DU; and executing, by the serving DU, a serving cell change (SCC) for the UE to one of a prepared target cell based on the RACH preamble; ¶[0022], The preamble signal may include a contention free random access (CFRA) preamble, wherein the target DU is configured to determine whether there is already a preamble allocated to the UE … wherein the method further comprises: sending the newly allocated RACH preamble to the serving DU, wherein the sending to the serving DU is via a control unit (CU) or directly over a DU-DU interface; Dural, ¶[0062], The CU may send a UE context setup request (the arrow labeled 3) to the handover target DU 514 , requesting the handover target DU to create a UE context and set up one or more data bearers. The UE context setup request may include information about the handover in the form of a HandoverPreparationInformation message in some embodiments, as well as other configuration information pertaining to the handover. The UE context setup request may include an identifier of the handover source DU in some embodiments. The target DU 514 may send a UE context setup response message (the arrow labeled 4) to the CU in response to the UE context setup request) . It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chandrashekar 's teachings with Dural's above teaching, to improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications (see ¶[0016]) . Known work in one field of endeavor (Dural prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Chandrashekar prior art) based on design incentives ( improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications ) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Regarding claim 8, the combination teaches: The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, configured for operation as a distributed unit (DU) of a radio access network (see Chandrashekar, FIG. 7, gnB-DU (Neighbour) 720; Dural FIG. 5, Handover target DU 514) . Regarding claim 9, the combination teaches: The apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to receive the identification of the serving network access node is configured to receive the identification of the serving network access node from a central unit (CU) of the radio access network ( see Dural, FIG. 5, CU 516; ¶[0062], The CU may send a UE context setup request (the arrow labeled 3) to the handover target DU 514 , requesting the handover target DU to create a UE context and set up one or more data bearers. The UE context setup request may include information about the handover in the form of a HandoverPreparationInformation message in some embodiments, as well as other configuration information pertaining to the handover. The UE context setup request may include an identifier of the handover source DU in some embodiments. The target DU 514 may send a UE context setup response message (the arrow labeled 4) to the CU in response to the UE context setup request) . It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chandrashekar 's teachings with Dural's above teaching, to improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications (see ¶[0016]) . Known work in one field of endeavor (Dural prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Chandrashekar prior art) based on design incentives ( improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications ) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Regarding claim 10, the combination teaches: The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, configured to process a standardized message comprising standardized information elements to obtain from a standardized information element the identification of the serving network access node ( see Chandrashekar, ¶[0005], The gNB-DU nodes may communicate with the CU-CP via an F1-C interface, and with the CU-UP via an F1-U interface; ¶[0048], CU-CP 630 may perform a F1: UE context setup procedure by sending a request to the target DU 620, and receive a response therefrom; see Dural: ¶[0062], The CU may send a UE context setup request … the UE context setup request may include an identifier of the handover source DU in some embodiments. The target DU 514 may send a UE context setup response message (the arrow labeled 4) to the CU in response to the UE context setup request) ) . Regarding claim 11, the combination teaches: The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, configured as a network access node and configured for lower layer trigger mobility (LTM) handover (HO) of a user equipment served by the serving network access node to the apparatus using a random-access procedure based on a contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resource from the sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources associated with the serving network access node ( see Chandrashekar, ¶[0007], The L1/L2-Triggered Mobility (LTM) is a mobility procedure that allows the network to switch the UE from a source cell to a target cell without necessarily requiring a reconfiguration with sync. In particular, the network, based L1 measurements received, can indicate in a L2 signalling (e.g., MAC CE) a beam belonging to a LTM candidate cell to which the UE should perform the LTM cell switch procedure. The UE is provided with at least one (or more) LTM candidate cell configuration(s) by the network before the execution of a LTM cell switch procedure; ¶[0057]- ¶[0058]; see Dural ¶[0064]- ¶[0064]) . Regarding claim 12, Chandrashekar teaches: A method comprising ( see Abstract, a method and system for handling L1/L2 triggered mobility (LTM) to reduce mobile latency) : receiving an identification of a serving network access node ; and associating a sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources with the identified serving network access node ( see ¶[0018], .. receiving, by the serving DU, a Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble based on the best BG, wherein the RACH preamble originates from the target DU; and executing, by the serving DU, a serving cell change (SCC) for the UE to one of a prepared target cell based on the RACH preamble; ¶[0022], The preamble signal may include a contention free random access (CFRA) preamble, wherein the target DU is configured to determine whether there is already a preamble allocated to the UE … wherein the method further comprises: sending the newly allocated RACH preamble to the serving DU, wherein the sending to the serving DU is via a control unit (CU) or directly over a DU-DU interface; ¶[0025], based on a determination that the RACH resource has become available, the target DU is configured to allocate a RACH preamble and send the RACH preamble to the serving DU, to configure contention free random access (CFRA) for the UE with a best beam group (BG) for the UE ) . Although Chandrashekar teaches ( see ¶[0048], CU-CP 630 may perform a F1: UE context setup procedure by sending a request to the target DU 620, and receive a response therefrom. Subsequently, CU-CP 630 may send a RRC reconfiguration message to UE 600 to configure for LTM in the target cell (target DU 620) using CBRA. UE 600 may then send an intra-frequency L1 measurement report to the serving DU 610) , Chandrashekar, however fails to explicitly teach information related to receiving an identification of a serving network access node. However, Dural, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: receiving an identification of a serving network access node ( see Dural, ¶[0062], The CU may send a UE context setup request (the arrow labeled 3) to the handover target DU 514 , requesting the handover target DU to create a UE context and set up one or more data bearers. The UE context setup request may include information about the handover in the form of a HandoverPreparationInformation message in some embodiments, as well as other configuration information pertaining to the handover. The UE context setup request may include an identifier of the handover source DU in some embodiments. The target DU 514 may send a UE context setup response message (the arrow labeled 4) to the CU in response to the UE context setup request) . It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chandrashekar 's teachings with Dural's above teaching, to improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications (see ¶[0016]) . Known work in one field of endeavor (Dural prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Chandrashekar prior art) based on design incentives ( improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications ) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 4, 6, 13-14, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chandrashekar ( US 2024/0298224 A1) in view of Dural ( US 2025/0097792 A1), and further in view of Viering et al. ( EP 3716682 A1) , Regarding claim 4, Chandrashekar and Dural combination teaches the apparatus as claimed in claim 1. The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to wherein the sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources for the serving network access node is contention-free with respect to other different network access nodes. However, Viering, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches ( see Viering ¶[0014], the HO command may include random access parameters, for example "contention free random access" (CFRA) resources, such as dedicated preambles, so that the UE can perform CFRA; ¶[0022], a target cell may provide a set of CFRA resources (e.g., one or more dedicated preambles associated with a beam) to the source cell. In some examples, the set of CFRA resources may be provided before, after, or along with a HO command; ¶[0055], a network node sending, to a further network node serving a neighbor cell, a configuration of a set of CFRA resources for CHO for a specific UE. In some embodiments, the network node is a network node serving a target cell or a neighbor cell of the UE, and the further network node is a network node serving the source cell of the UE) . It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Viering's above teachings in order to improve functioning of communications networks and their nodes ( see ¶[0096] ) . Known work in one field of endeavor (Viering prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Chandrashekar prior art) based on design incentives ( improve functioning of communications networks and their nodes) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Regarding claim 6, Chandrashekar and Dural combination teaches: The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: allocate sub-sets of CFRA resources to respective serving network access nodes ( see Chandrashekar, ¶[0025], based on a determination that the RACH resource has become available, the target DU is configured to allocate a RACH preamble and send the RACH preamble to the serving DU, to configure contention free random access (CFRA) for the UE with a best beam group (BG) for the UE; ¶[0056]) and inform the network of the allocation of sub-sets of CFRA resources to respective serving network access nodes . The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to inform the network of the allocation of sub-sets of CFRA resources to respective serving network access nodes. However, Viering, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches ( see Viering, ¶[0012], certain embodiments may also be applied in other network nodes, such as a base station, access node, access point, node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), distributed unit, central unit, or the like; ¶[0025], Fig. 4, at 400, a neighboring cell B (which may become or which may already be a candidate target cell) provides a set S ("a pool") of CFRA resources including beams for CFRA to the source cell. This allows the source cell to autonomously allocate these CFRA resources to UEs which require a CFRA update. In other words, these CFRA resources are not just assigned to a specific UE. ¶[0030], the source cell may also inform the target cell that the new CFRA resources are assigned to the UE (using again the C-RNTI)) . It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Viering's above teachings in order to improve functioning of communications networks and their nodes ( see ¶[0096] ) . Known work in one field of endeavor (Viering prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Chandrashekar prior art) based on design incentives ( improve functioning of communications networks and their nodes) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Regarding claim 13, Chandrashekar teaches: An apparatus comprising (see FIG. 6, gnB-CU-CP 630) : at least one processor (inherent element of a Central Unit (CP) ) ; and at least one memory including computer program code (inherent element of a Central Unit (CP) ) , the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to (¶[0093]) : send a first message (see FIG. 6, gnB CU-CP perform a F1: UE context setup procedure by sending a request to the target DU 620, and receive a response; ¶[0048]) comprising an identification of a serving network access node to enable association of a sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources with the identified serving network access node ( see ¶[0018], .. receiving, by the serving DU, a Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble based on the best BG, wherein the RACH preamble originates from the target DU; and executing, by the serving DU, a serving cell change (SCC) for the UE to one of a prepared target cell based on the RACH preamble; ¶[0022], The preamble signal may include a contention free random access (CFRA) preamble, wherein the target DU is configured to determine whether there is already a preamble allocated to the UE … wherein the method further comprises: sending the newly allocated RACH preamble to the serving DU, wherein the sending to the serving DU is via a control unit (CU) or directly over a DU-DU interface; ¶[0025], based on a determination that the RACH resource has become available, the target DU is configured to allocate a RACH preamble and send the RACH preamble to the serving DU, to configure contention free random access (CFRA) for the UE with a best beam group (BG) for the UE ) ; and receive, in reply, a second message specifying the association of the sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources with the identified serving network access node. Chandrashekar, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to (a) a first message comprising an identification of a serving network access node and (b) a second message specifying the association of the sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources with the identified serving network access node. However, Dural, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: a first message comprising an identification of a serving network access node ( see Dural, ¶[0062], The CU may send a UE context setup request (the arrow labeled 3) to the handover target DU 514 , requesting the handover target DU to create a UE context and set up one or more data bearers. The UE context setup request may include information about the handover in the form of a HandoverPreparationInformation message in some embodiments, as well as other configuration information pertaining to the handover. The UE context setup request may include an identifier of the handover source DU in some embodiments. The target DU 514 may send a UE context setup response message (the arrow labeled 4) to the CU in response to the UE context setup request) . It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chandrashekar 's teachings with Dural's above teaching, to improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications (see ¶[0016]) . Known work in one field of endeavor (Dural prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Chandrashekar prior art) based on design incentives ( improve the user experience of end users of various radio-based communications ) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Although the combination teaches ( see Chandrashekar ¶[0048], CU-CP 630 may perform a F1: UE context setup procedure by sending a request to the target DU 620, and receive a response; ¶[0025], the target DU is configured to allocate a RACH preamble and send the RACH preamble to the serving DU, to configure contention free random access (CFRA) for the UE with a best beam group (BG) for the UE ), the combination, however, fails to explicitly teaches information related to (b) receive, in reply, a second message specifying the association of the sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources with the identified serving network access node. However, Viering, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: receive, in reply, a second message specifying the association of the sub-set of contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources with the identified serving network access node ( see Viering, ¶[0012], certain embodiments may also be applied in other network nodes, such as a base station, access node, access point, node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), distributed unit, central unit, or the like; ¶[0025], Fig. 4, at 400, a neighboring cell B (which may become or which may already be a candidate target cell) provides a set S ("a pool") of CFRA resources including beams for CFRA to the source cell. This allows the source cell to autonomously allocate these CFRA resources to UEs which require a CFRA update. In other words, these CFRA resources are not just assigned to a specific UE. ¶[0030], the source cell may also inform the target cell that the new CFRA resources are assigned to the UE (using again the C-RNTI)) . It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Viering's above teachings in order to order to improve functioning of communications networks and their nodes (see ¶[0096]) . Known work in one field of endeavor (Viering prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (Chandrashekar prior art) based on design incentives ( improve functioning of communications networks and their nodes) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art. Regarding claim 14, Chandrashekar, Dural, and Viering combination teaches: The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the first message is configured to prepare a non-serving network access node to become a serving network access node for a UE ( see Dural, ¶[0060], Based on analysis of the report and/or based on other factors, the CU 516 may make a decision that a handover of traffic associated with UE device 510 is to be performed. The CU may choose the handover target DU 514 (e.g., also based on data in the report, and/or other factors) as the new DU to be used for the UE device's traffic; ¶[0062], The CU may send a UE context setup request (the arrow labeled 3) to the handover target DU 514, requesting the handover target DU to create a UE context and set up one or more data bearers. The UE context setup request may include information about the handover in the form of a HandoverPreparationInformation message in some embodiments, as well as other configuration information pertaining to the handover. The UE context setup request may include an identifier of the handover source DU in some embodiments. The target DU 514 may send a UE context setup response message (the arrow labeled 4) to the CU in response to the UE context setup request) via contention-free-random-access (CFRA) connection using a contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resource selected from the sub-set of a contention-free-random-access (CFRA) resources associated with the serving access node of the UE ( see Chandrashekar, ¶[0018], .. receiving, by the serving DU, a Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble based on the best BG, wherein the RACH preamble originates from the target DU; and executing, by the serving DU, a serving cell change (SCC) for the UE to one of a prepared target cell based on the RACH preamble; ¶[0022], The preamble signal may include a contention free random access (CFRA) preamble, wherein the target DU is configured to determine whether there is already a preamble allocated to the UE … wherein the method further comprises: sending the newly allocated RACH preamble to the serving DU, wherein the sending to the serving DU is via a control unit (CU) or directly over a DU-DU interface ) . Regarding claim 19, Chandrashekar, Dural, and Viering combination teaches: The apparatus as claimed in claim 13 configured as a central unit (CU) of a radio access network, wherein sending the identification of the serving network access node comprises sending the identification of the serving network access node to a distributed unit (DU) of the radio access network ( see Dural, FIG. 5, CU 516; ¶[0062], The CU may send a UE context setup request (the arrow labeled 3) to the handover target DU 514 , requesting the handover target DU to create a UE context and set up one or more data bearers. The UE context setup request may include information about the handover in the form of a HandoverPreparationInformation message in some embodiments, as well as other configuration information pertaining to the handover. The UE context setup request may include an identifier of the handover source DU in some embodiments. The target DU 514 may send a UE context setup response message (the arrow labeled 4) to the CU in response to the UE context setup request) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim (s) 3, 7, and 15-18 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 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chandrashekar et al. ( US 2025/0081052 A1) discloses a layer 1-layer 2 (L1/L2) triggered Mobility (LTM) handover (HO) procedure and method. A gNB-CU-CP sends Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages with LTM candidate cell configuration of LTM candidate gNB-DUs. Based on the RRC messages, a Layer (L1) Measurement Report is sent to the LTM candidate gNB-DUs. In response, the LTM candidate gNB-DUs determine whether a radio condition of the LTM candidate gNB-DUs meet a predetermined resource reservation criteria. Based on meeting the predetermined resource reservation criteria, the LTM candidate gNB-DUs initiate reservation of radio resources for an LTM candidate cell for a LTM cell switch. The LTM candidate gNB-DUs send to the gNB-CU-CP an updated LTM candidate cell configuration. The gNB-CU-CP sends the updated radio resource configuration to the UE via the serving gNB-DU You et al. ( US 2026/0032615 A1) discloses a communication method including terminal device receives a TA of a first candidate cell and an identifier of a target cell of a switch and identification information of the first candidate cell, where the target cell is a second candidate cell, and the identification information of the first candidate cell indicates to determine a TA of the target cell based on the TA of the first candidate cell. Silva et al. (US 2026/0025721 A1) discloses methods for a user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a radio access network (RAN) node comprising a central unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) that provides a serving cell for the UE. Methods include receiving from the DU a lower layer signalling message indicating that the UE should perform L1/L2-based inter-cell mobility to a first candidate cell provided by a candidate DU Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANG BOI THAWNG whose telephone number is (703)756-4751. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 am - 5:00 pm. 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, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at (571)272-3795. 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. /MANG BOI THAWNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2476 /AYAZ R SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 2 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 3 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 4 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 5 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 6 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 7 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 8 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 9 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 10 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 11 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 12 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 13 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 14 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 15 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 16 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 17 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 18 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 19 Art Unit: 2476 Application/Control Number: 18/790,344 Page 20 Art Unit: 2476
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