CTNF 18/798,742 CTNF 83566 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. 07-30-03-h AIA Claim Interpretation Claims 1, 9 and 15 , “in response to the transmission of the RRC reconfiguration complete message not being successful until the expiration time or until the transmission is completed up to the maximum number of transmissions, performing a fallback procedure for the RACH-less handover”. This is contingent/conditional limitation(s). The contingent/conditional limitations are not positively recited in the claim(s) and are thus only executed [or performed or implemented], when the condition is true/met. [See, (MPEP 2111.04) II. CONTINGENT LIMITATIONS The broadest reasonable interpretation of a method (or process) claim having contingent limitations requires only those steps that must be performed and does not include steps that are not required to be performed because the condition(s) precedent is not met.] In present claim 1 for instance, fallback procedure is only performed when the transmission of the RRC reconfiguration complete message not being successful until the expiration time or until the transmission is completed up to the maximum number of transmissions; otherwise, this step is not performed, and the prior art is not required to teach this element when the condition is not met. Claim 6, in response to the received signal strength of the target cell being better than the received signal strength of the source cell, performing a RACH procedure to the target cell; and transmitting the RRC reconfiguration complete message to the target cell after performing the RACH procedure, is contingent limitation. Claim 8, in response to the received signal strength of the source cell being better than the received signal strength of the target cell, performing an RRC connection re-establishment procedure for the source cell, is also contingent limitation. Claim 14, in response to the received signal strength of a source cell of the source base station being better than the received signal strength of the target cell, performing an RRC connection re-establishment procedure with the terminal, is contingent limitation. Claim 19, in response to the received signal strength of the target cell being better than the received signal strength of the source cell, performing a RACH procedure with the terminal; and receiving the RRC reconfiguration complete message from the terminal after performing the RACH procedure, is contingent limitation. However, for the compact prosecution, examiner has addressed these limitations. 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-103 AIA The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. 07-15 AIA Claim (s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11-13, 15, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 ( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by Sabouri-Sichani et al. (US 2021/0022057) (hereafter Sabouri) . Regarding claim 1, Sabouri discloses a method of a terminal for a random access channel (RACH)-less handover (see, abstract, RACH-less handover), the method comprising: receiving, from a source cell (see, Figs. 4 and 5, source gNB, 170), information on an uplink (UL) grant for UL transmission in a target cell (see, Fig. 5, UL grant), the information on the UL grant including a start time and an expiration time of the UL grant and/or a maximum number of transmissions according to the UL grant (see, Fig. see, step 540, timer expires (OR N configured UL grant elapsed)); performing transmission of a radio resource configuration (RRC) reconfiguration complete message (see, Fig. 5, RRC reconfiguration complete, step 530) using resources indicated by the UL grant from the start time, until the expiration time or until the transmission is completed up to the maximum number of transmissions from the start time (see, step 540, timer T (or N configured UL grant elapsed)); and in response to the transmission of the RRC reconfiguration complete message not being successful until the expiration time or until the transmission is completed up to the maximum number of transmissions, performing a fallback procedure for the RACH-less handover (see, step 540, timer T expires (or N configured UL grant elapsed) without success , then UE initiates 4 step RACH using RACH-less UL grant, see, steps 545, 550 with the RACH preamble using RACH-less UL grant, see, para [0069], [0071] An “alternative two-step RACH” where dedicated UL grant from RACH-less are re-used to perform two-step RACH, [0120], As shown in step 545 of FIG. 5 for Option A the UE 110 sends towards the target gNB 90 a PRACH preamble, and as shown step 550 of FIG. 5 the UE 110 sends towards the target gNB 90 a Beam/Cell Measurement using RACH-less UL grant, [0122] As shown in step 565 of FIG. 5 for Option C the UE 110 sends towards the target gNB 90 a RACH preamble using a RACH-less UL grant). Regarding claim 2, Sabouri further discloses the method wherein the UL grant is a pre-configured UL grant or dynamic UL grant (see, Fig. 5, step 520, pre-allocated UL grant in handover command). Regarding claim 4, Sabouri further discloses the method, wherein the expiration time of the UL grant is indicated by a setting value for a timer that starts at the start time of the UL grant (see, Fig. 5, UL grant timer as step 540, see, para [0044], In FIG. 1, on the UE 110 side upon the reception of handover command (RRC Reconfiguration 130), the UE 110 starts timer T304 which will be stopped upon successful completion of handover execution (i.e. when the UE 110 receives ACK from gNB 90 for its RRC Reconfiguration Complete message 140. The timer T304 can start at reception of RRC Connection Re-configuration message such as one that includes a Mobility Control message for a handover or a secondary cell group connection). Regarding claim 5, Sabouri further discloses the method wherein the information on the UL grant is transmitted from a target base station operating the target cell to a source base station operating the source cell through a handover request acknowledge message (see, Fig. 5, PDCCH addressed to C-RNTI (ACK)), and is received from the source base station through an RRC reconfiguration message (see, Fig. 5, RRC reconfiguration). Regarding claim 9, Sabouri further discloses a method of a source base station for a random access channel (RACH)-less handover (see, Fig. 5), the method comprising: deciding a handover of a terminal based on a measurement report received from the terminal (see, Fig. 5 step, 510, HO command, includes timing advance and UL grant); transmitting a handover request message requesting the decided handover to a target base station of a target cell determined based on the measurement report received from the terminal (see, para [0042], here is a UE 110, a source gNB 170 and a target gNB 90. In response to a handover request 110 from the source gNB 170 to the target gNB 90 there is admission control 115 at the target gNB 90. Then as shown in FIG. 1 there is a handover request acknowledge 120 of the handover requests sent from the target gNB 90 to the source gNB 170. Fig. 5, UE finds pre-allocated UL grant in HO command if not found, it monitors the UL grant in target cells PDCCH); receiving, from the target base station, information on an uplink (UL) grant for uplink transmission in the target cell (see, Fig. 5, PDCCH with UL grant information, in 525), the information on the UL grant including a start time and an expiration time of the UL grant and/or a maximum number of transmissions according to the UL grant (see, Fig. 5, (see, Fig. see, step 540, timer expires (OR N configured UL grant elapsed)); transmitting the information on the UL grant to the terminal (see, Fig. 5, para [0048], Semi-persistent/Periodic pre-allocated UL grant on PUSCH that is already provided to the UE in HO command received from source gNB); attempting reception of a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration complete message from the terminal using resources indicated by the UL grant (see, step 530, RRC reconfiguration complete); and in response to the reception of the RRC reconfiguration complete message not being successful until the expiration time or until transmission of the RRC reconfiguration complete message is completed up to the maximum number of transmissions (see, step 540, timer T expires (or N configured UL grant elapsed) without success , then UE initiates 4 step RACH using RACH-less, see, steps 545, 550 with the RACH preamble using RACH-less UL grant), performing a fallback procedure for the RACH-less handover with the terminal (see, step 540, timer T expires (or N configured UL grant elapsed) without success , then UE initiates 4 step RACH using RACH-less, see, steps 545, 550 with the RACH preamble using RACH-less UL grant, see, para [0064], [0068] After the expiry of timer T or after the time duration used for the first N UL grants, the UE would automatically fallback to two-step RACH and start utilizing the information and allocated resources from the target NB which it has received in HO command (or target node's PDCCH in case it was not received with HO command) for RACH-less HO procedure, [0071] An “alternative two-step RACH” where dedicated UL grant from RACH-less are re-used to perform two-step RACH, [0120], As shown in step 545 of FIG. 5 for Option A the UE 110 sends towards the target gNB 90 a PRACH preamble, and as shown step 550 of FIG. 5 the UE 110 sends towards the target gNB 90 a Beam/Cell Measurement using RACH-less UL grant, [0122] As shown in step 565 of FIG. 5 for Option C the UE 110 sends towards the target gNB 90 a RACH preamble using a RACH-less UL grant)). Regarding claim 11, claim is rejected for the same reason claim 4 is rejected. See , claim 4 rationales for rejection. Regarding claim 12, claim is rejected for the same reason claim 2 is rejected. See , claim 2 rationales for rejection. Regarding claim 13, claim is rejected for the same reason claim 5 is rejected. See , claim 5 rationales for rejection. Regarding claim 15, Sabouri discloses a method of a target base station for a random access channel (RACH)-less handover, the method comprising: receiving a handover request message requesting a handover for a terminal from a source base station of a source cell (para [0042], here is a UE 110, a source gNB 170 and a target gNB 90. In response to a handover request 110 from the source gNB 170 to the target gNB 90 there is admission control 115 at the target gNB 90. Then as shown in FIG. 1 there is a handover request acknowledge 120 of the handover requests sent from the target gNB 90 to the source gNB 170. Fig. 5, UE finds pre-allocated UL grant in HO command if not found, it monitors the UL grant in target cells PDCCH); transmitting, to the source base station, information on an uplink (UL) grant for uplink transmission in a target cell of the target base station (see, Fig. 5, the UL grant, see, step 520 and 525 discloses UE finds pre allocated UL grant in handover command), the information on the UL grant including a start time and an expiration time of the UL grant and/or a maximum number of transmissions according to the UL grant (see, Fig. 5, (see, Fig. see, step 540, timer expires (OR N configured UL grant elapsed); attempting reception of a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration complete message from the terminal using resources indicated by the UL grant message (see, Fig. 5, RRC reconfiguration complete, step 530); and in response to the reception of the RRC reconfiguration complete message not being successful until the expiration time or until transmission of the RRC reconfiguration complete message is completed up to the maximum number of transmissions (see, step 540, timer T expires (or N configured UL grant elapsed) without success , then UE initiates 4 step RACH using RACH-less, see, steps 545, 550 with the RACH preamble using RACH-less UL grant), performing a fallback procedure for the RACH-less handover with the terminal. (see, step 540, timer T expires (or N configured UL grant elapsed) without success , then UE initiates 4 step RACH using RACH-less, see, steps 545, 550 with the RACH preamble using RACH-less UL grant, see, para [0064], [0068] After the expiry of timer T or after the time duration used for the first N UL grants, the UE would automatically fallback to two-step RACH and start utilizing the information and allocated resources from the target NB which it has received in HO command (or target node's PDCCH in case it was not received with HO command) for RACH-less HO procedure). Regarding claim 17, claim is rejected for the same reason claim 4 is rejected. See , claim 4 rationales for rejection. Regarding claim 18, claim is rejected for the same reason claim 5 is rejected. See , claim 5 rationales for rejection . 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. 07-103 AIA The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 3, 6-8, 10, 14, 16, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sabouri in view of Park et al. (US 11039357) (hereafter Park) . Regarding claims 3, 10 and 16, Sabouri does not disclose the method wherein the start time of the UL grant is indicated by a system frame number (SFN) and a subframe number . However, in same field of endeavor, Park teaches, col. 4 lines 15-24, the system timing difference information may include a difference between a system frame number (SFN) of the source base station and a SFN of the target base station. The system timing difference information may include information indicating whether a SFN of the target base station is odd or even when a SFN of the source base station is odd or information indicating whether the SFN of the target base station is odd or even when the SFN of the source base station is even. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Park with the Sabouri, as a whole, so as to use start time of the UL grant is indicated by a system frame number (SFN), the motivation is to use this information to synchronize the target base station during handover process. Regarding claims 6, 14 and 19, Sabouri does not disclose the method wherein the fallback procedure for the RACH-less handover comprises: measuring received signal strengths of the source cell and the target cell; in response to the received signal strength of the target cell being better than the received signal strength of the source cell, performing a RACH procedure to the target cell; and transmitting the RRC reconfiguration complete message to the target cell after performing the RACH procedure. However, in same field of endeavor, Park teaches see, Fig. 4, the RACH-less handover method. See, col. 8 lines 66-67 and col. 9 lines 1-27, That is, the terminal 100 may measure signal strengths of neighbor base stations according to a measurement configuration (S310) of the source base station 110 (S311), and report a measurement result to the source base station (S312). The measurement result may include a cell-level measurement result of the neighbor base stations as well as a beam-level measurement result of the neighbor base stations. Based on the measurement result received from the terminal, the source base station 110 may determine whether to handover the terminal to the target base station 120 (S320), and instruct the target base station to prepare for the handover by transmitting a handover request message to the target base station (S330). Here, measurement results of at least one beam of the target base station may be included in the handover request message and transmitted to the target base station. The target base station may determine whether to accept the handover of the terminal (S331), and transmit a handover request acknowledgment message to the source base station when it is determined to accept the handover (S332). Here, the target base station 120 may transmit a message to be transmitted to the terminal to the source base station 110. This message may include information on at least one beam to be used by the terminal for an access procedure which is determined based on the measurement result of at least one beam of the target base station and RACH resources to be used for the corresponding beam. The source base station may transmit a handover command message to the terminal and instruct the terminal to perform handover (S340). Col. 11 lines 49-55 teaches, the terminal may transmit an uplink message (e.g., a handover complete message) through the uplink resources by applying the TA value received as included in the handover command message and complete the execution of the handover (S460). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Park with the Sabouri, as a whole, so as to use the signal strength of the target station to perform handover to the target cell in RACH-less procedure, the motivation is to reduce handover interruption time. Regarding claims 7 and 20, Sabouri further discloses the method according to claim 6, wherein the information on the UL grant additionally includes information on a dedicated RACH preamble to be used in the target cell, and the RACH procedure is a contention-free random access (CFRA) procedure using the dedicated RACH preamble (see, para [0074], [0077] Option C: The UE may be configured to send a PRACH preamble on the dedicated UL grant as RACH occasion. In other words, the UE may use the UL grant as dedicated RACH occasion for the random access. This would allow a “contention-free random access” although the UE is using a contention-based PRACH preamble out of the common pool of RACH preambles). Regarding claim 8, the combine teachings further discloses the method, wherein the fallback procedure for the RACH-less handover further comprises: in response to the received signal strength of the source cell being better than the received signal strength of the target cell, performing an RRC connection re-establishment procedure for the source cell (see, Park, col. 8 lines 66-67 and col. 9 lines 1-27, That is, the terminal 100 may measure signal strengths of neighbor base stations according to a measurement configuration (S310) of the source base station 110 (S311), and report a measurement result to the source base station (S312). The measurement result may include a cell-level measurement result of the neighbor base stations as well as a beam-level measurement result of the neighbor base stations. Based on the measurement result received from the terminal, the source base station 110 may determine whether to handover the terminal to the target base station 120 (S320), and instruct the target base station to prepare for the handover by transmitting a handover request message to the target base station (S330). Here, measurement results of at least one beam of the target base station may be included in the handover request message and transmitted to the target base station. The target base station may determine whether to accept the handover of the terminal (S331), and transmit a handover request acknowledgment message to the source base station when it is determined to accept the handover (S332). Here, the target base station 120 may transmit a message to be transmitted to the terminal to the source base station 110. This message may include information on at least one beam to be used by the terminal for an access procedure which is determined based on the measurement result of at least one beam of the target base station and RACH resources to be used for the corresponding beam. The source base station may transmit a handover command message to the terminal and instruct the terminal to perform handover (S340),see, col. 11 lines 37-44, Here, the handover command message may be an RRC connection reconfiguration message as an RRC signaling message. The handover command message may include the TA value received from the target base station. Also, the handover command message may further include the uplink resource allocation information for uplink transmission) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Awada et al. (US 2025/0106708) discloses lower layer RACH-less mobility. Kim et al. (US 2024/0056917) discloses METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MOBILITY IN DUAL CONNECTIVITY IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM. Yavuz et al. (US 2024/0022972) discloses HANDOVER COMMAND IN NON-TERRESTRIAL NETWORKS. Stanczak et al. (US 2022/0361062) discloses APPARATUS, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR HANDOVER. Tao et al. (US 2022/0345961) discloses USER EQUIPMENT AND BASE STATION INVOLVED IN A HANDOVER. Cheng et al. (US 2022/0015131) discloses RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL (RACH)-LESS PROCEDURE. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DHAVAL V PATEL whose telephone number is (571)270-1818. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday (8:00am-4:30pm). 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, Hannah Wang can be reached at 571-272-9018. 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. /DHAVAL V PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 2 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 3 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 4 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 5 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 6 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 7 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 8 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 9 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 10 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 11 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 12 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 13 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 14 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 15 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 16 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 17 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 18 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 19 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 20 Art Unit: 2631 Application/Control Number: 18/798,742 Page 21 Art Unit: 2631
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