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 .
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)(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, 4, 6-8, 10, 12, 13, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Pub. 2019/0327766 to Zhang et al. (hereinafter Zhang).
In regard claim 1, Zhang teaches or discloses a method comprising:
receiving, from a network element, a configuration of one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0007], [0018], [0173], and [0177], receiving, from a base station, PRACH configuration information that indicates a set of PRACH occasions available for aggregation of random access requests);
determining, based on the configuration, a value of the one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0041], [0100], and [0111], the UE may determine whether the measured signal strength meets or exceeds a threshold value. The threshold value may be provided by the base station as part of the PRACH configuration information);
mapping at least one physical random access channel occasion within a reference time period to at least one value of the one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0065], [0089], and [0182], at the Physical (PHY) layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels. One SSB may map to eight PRACH occasions, where the time period may span one or more PRACH configuration periods and the cyclic mapping may be used to effectively realize the same SSB mapping to multiple RACH occasions); and
transmitting, based on the mapping, the determined value for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraph [0097], the PRACH aggregation parameters may include an indication of a signal strength threshold value (e.g., RSRP threshold value) that may be used to determine whether to transmit an aggregated or non-aggregated random access request).
In regard claims 2 and 8, Zhang teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining, based on the mapping, one or more physical random access channel occasion groups for at least one of the one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0084], and [0173], the PRACH formats 300 may include short sequence based preambles, in which a same short sequence is repeated in each symbol of the PRACH occasion following the cyclic prefix 320. The UE may identify time-frequency resources over which the RMSI is transmitted, demodulate the transmission over the time-frequency resources, and decode the demodulated transmission to obtain bits that indicate the downlink transmission. The PRACH configuration information further includes PRACH format information, where a first PRACH occasion of the set of PRACH occasions has a first PRACH format, and a second PRACH occasion of the set of PRACH occasions has a second PRACH format).
In regard claims 4 and 10, Zhang teaches or discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one physical random access channel occasion is determined based on a mapping of the at least one physical random access channel occasion within a reference time period (see paragraphs [0016], [0089], and [0177], the two or more PRACH occasions for transmission of the aggregated random access request span two or more PRACH configuration periods. Multiple aggregated PRACH occasions may map to a same SSB for random access request extension. In some cases, one SSB, which may correspond to one PRACH configuration period, may be configured to span multiple PRACH occasions, where two or more of the multiple PRACH occasions may be configured for extended random access requests. For example, one SSB may map to eight PRACH occasions, and two or more of the eight PRACH occasions may be configured for extended random access requests. In other cases, two SSBs may map to a single PRACH occasion, and the two or more PRACH occasions 410 and 415 for transmission of the aggregated random access request may span two or more PRACH configuration periods. In some cases, a cyclic mapping of SSBs to PRACH occasions may be provided during a time period, where the time period may span one or more PRACH configuration periods and the cyclic mapping may be used to effectively realize the same SSB mapping to multiple RACH occasions).
In regard claims 6 and 12, Zhang teaches or discloses the method according to claims 1, wherein the mapping is performed in a frequency domain and then in a time domain (see paragraphs [0056], [0057], [0059], [0067], [0086], and [0092], a slot may further be divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols. In some instances, a symbol of a mini-slot or a mini-slot may be the smallest unit of scheduling. Each symbol may vary in duration depending on the subcarrier spacing or frequency band of operation, for example. The first PRACH occasion 410 may be located in a first slot, the second PRACH occasion 415 may be located in a second slot, and the PRACH occasions 410 and 415 may be aggregated to form an extended PRACH occasion 405. In some cases, the plurality of radio frames 505 may each include a plurality of subframes 510, each subframe 510 including a plurality of slots 515, and each slot 515 including a plurality of symbols 520).
In regard claim 7, Zhang teaches or discloses an apparatus (see Fig. 9), comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code (see Fig. 9),
wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to (see Fig. 9):
receive, from a network element, a configuration of one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0007], [0018], [0173], and [0177], receiving, from a base station, PRACH configuration information that indicates a set of PRACH occasions available for aggregation of random access requests);
determine, based on the configuration, a value of the one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0041], [0100], and [0111], the UE may determine whether the measured signal strength meets or exceeds a threshold value. The threshold value may be provided by the base station as part of the PRACH configuration information);
map at least one physical random access channel occasion within a reference time period to at least one value of the one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0065], [0089], and [0182], at the Physical (PHY) layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels. One SSB may map to eight PRACH occasions, where the time period may span one or more PRACH configuration periods and the cyclic mapping may be used to effectively realize the same SSB mapping to multiple RACH occasions); and
transmit, based on the mapping, the determined value for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraph [0097], the PRACH aggregation parameters may include an indication of a signal strength threshold value (e.g., RSRP threshold value) that may be used to determine whether to transmit an aggregated or non-aggregat random access request).
In regard claim 13, Zhang teaches or discloses the apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the mapping is performed across different values of the one or more values for the multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0107], and [0182], the PRACH configuration information may be included in a table of configuration parameters, or may be indicated by one or more index values that are mapped to PRACH configuration parameters).
In regard claim 20, Zhang teaches or discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing:
receiving, from a network element, a configuration of one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0007], [0018], [0173], and [0177], receiving, from a base station, PRACH configuration information that indicates a set of PRACH occasions available for aggregation of random access requests);
determining, based on the configuration, a value of the one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0041], [0100], [0111], the UE may determine whether the measured signal strength meets or exceeds a threshold value. The threshold value may be provided by the base station as part of the PRACH configuration information);
mapping at least one physical random access channel occasion within a reference time period to at least one value of the one or more values for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraphs [0065], [0089], [0182], at the Physical (PHY) layer, transport channels may be mapped to physical channels. One SSB may map to eight PRACH occasions, where the time period may span one or more PRACH configuration periods and the cyclic mapping may be used to effectively realize the same SSB mapping to multiple RACH occasions); and
transmitting, based on the mapping, the determined value for multiple physical random access channel transmissions (see paragraph [0097], the PRACH aggregation parameters may include an indication of a signal strength threshold value (e.g., RSRP threshold value) that may be used to determine whether to transmit an aggregated or non-aggregated random access request).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5, 9, 11, and 14-19 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
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Date: 07/29/2026
/PHIRIN SAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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