DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-20 are pending in Instant Application.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s claim to priority benefits KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2024-0105959 filed 08/08/2024 and KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2023-0110620 filed 08/23/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 8/23/2024 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “… wherein the second system information includes information on SSB group(s) and mapping information of an SSB group to which the first TRP belongs, and the information on the SSB group(s) includes information on an SSB index transmitted by TRP(s) belonging to each of the SSB group(s)." It is suggested remove the brackets , change to “… wherein the second system information includes information on SSB groupsgroupsTRPsgroups
Claims 2-20 are also objected for the same reason as set forth above.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-2, 9-10 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai et al. (US Pub. No.: 2021/0314853), and further in view of Molavian et al. (US Pub. No.: 2022/0210844).
As per claim 1, Bai disclose A method of a mobile station (MS) (see Fig.2, UE115-a), comprising:
receiving a first synchronization signal block (SSB) including a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) from a first transmission and reception point (TRP) (see para. 0114-0115, the UE receiving a first SSB including a PBCH from /broadcast by the base stations 105 (e.g., TRPs 145) in a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) of an SSB);
receiving a system information block (SIB1) based on a master information block (MIB) included in the PBCH (see para. 0114-0116, identifying /receiving a SIB1 based a MIB included in the PBCH;
receiving second system information based on the SIB1 (see para. 0114-0116, the SIB1 includes system information such as, cell selection information, cell access information, connection establishment information, system information scheduling information, serving cell configuration information, emergency support information, call over IMS support information, timer and constant information, barring information, resume identifiers, non-critical extensions, critical extensions, the UE 115-a uses at least a portion of such information from the MIB or the SIB1 to communicate in a cell (e.g., by applying the system information / second system information based on the SIB1); and
performing a random access (RA) procedure with the first TRP based on the second system information (see para. 0114-016, UE 115-a request the SIB2-9 on demand using MSG1 or MSG3 in a random access channel (RACH) procedure / performing a RA procedure with the base station based on the second system information),
Although Bai disclose performing a random access (RA) procedure with the first TRP based on the second system information;
Bai however does not explicitly disclose wherein the second system information includes information on SSB group(s) and mapping information of an SSB group to which the first TRP belongs, and the information on the SSB group(s) includes information on an SSB index transmitted by TRP(s) belonging to each of the SSB group(s).
Molavian however disclose wherein a second system information includes information on SSB group(s) and mapping information of an SSB group to which the first TRP belongs, and the information on the SSB group(s) includes information on an SSB index transmitted by TRP(s) belonging to each of the SSB group(s) (see Fig.9, para. 0020, 0210, SSB indices {0,1,2,3} correspond to TRP #1 / a second system information and SSB indices {4,5,6,7} correspond to TRP #2, a number of “SSB groups” are considered for a cell, where each “SSB group” corresponds to a different TRP / mapping information of an SSB group to which the first TRP belongs, and a UE determines a first SSB index from the first SSB group for a first RA procedure, the UE determines that the first RA procedures is associated with the first TRP, see also para. 0236, 0251-0255).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein a second system information includes information on SSB group(s) and mapping information of an SSB group to which the first TRP belongs, and the information on the SSB group(s) includes information on an SSB index transmitted by TRP(s) belonging to each of the SSB group(s), as taught by Molavian, in the system of Bai, so as to enable a UE to perform multiple concurrent random access procedures with multiple transmission reception points or multiple cells, see Molavian, paragraphs 4-7.
As per claim 2, the combination of Bai and Molavian disclose the method according to claim 1.
Molavian further disclose wherein the second system information further includes information on a timing advance (TA) offset for each of the SSB group(s) (see para. 0329, second information includes information on a timing advance (TA) offset for each of the SSB group(s) ).
As per claim 9, claim 9 is rejected the same way as claim 1. Bai also disclose A mobile station (MS) (see Fig.5, a UE 115, see para. 0133) comprising a processor (see Fig.5, the device 505 includes a receiver 510, a communications manager 515, and a transmitter 520, the device 505 also includes a processor, see para. 0133).
As per claim 10, claim 10 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
As per claim 17, claim 17 (corresponds to a method of a performed by a base station (BS)) is rejected the same way as claim 1.
As per claim 18, claim 18 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
Claims 3-4, 11-12 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bai et al. (US Pub. No.: 2021/0314853), in view of Molavian et al. (US Pub. No.: 2022/0210844) and further in view of Jia et al. (US Pub. No.: 2024/0381446).
As per claim 3, the combination of Bai and Molavian disclose the method according to claim 1.
Molavian further disclose receiving a radio resource control (RRC) configuration message from the first TRP and wherein the RRC configuration message includes SSB group mapping relationship information for the first TRP and adjacent TRPs (see Fig.9, para. 0120, 0242-0246, FIG. 9 illustrates the method 900 describing a flowchart for two concurrent RA procedures on two TRPs captured as two “SSB groups”. In step 910, a UE (such as the UE 116) receives a configuration (such as higher layer configuration in SIB1 or common RRC) of a first “SSB group” and a second “SSB group.” For example, “SSB group(s)” can be a new information element (IE) in SIB1 or common RRC configuration under “non-critical extensions” that is read and interpreted only by capable UEs and are discarded by other UEs. In another example, SSB groups can be provided by a new other system information (OSI) that is broadcasted or transmitted on demand or provided by dedicated RRC configuration , see also para. 0293).
The combination of Bai and Molavian however does not explicitly disclose transmitting an RRC configuration complete message to the first TRP in response to the RRC configuration message;
Jia however disclose transmitting an RRC configuration complete message to the first TRP in response to a RRC configuration message (see para. 0242-0243, 0257, a first message (Msg5) after the random access procedure is completed is an RRC establishment / configuration complete message, see also para. 0295-0297, 0312).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of transmitting an RRC configuration complete message to the first TRP in response to a RRC configuration message, as taught by Jia, in the system of Bai and Molavian, so as to enable a UE to response to a RRC configuration message, see Jia, paragraph 0312.
As per claim 4, the combination of Bai, Molavian and Jai disclose the method according to claim 3.
Molavian further disclose wherein a RRC configuration message further includes information on a TA offset for each of the SSB group(s) (see para. 0329, a RRC configuration message includes information on a timing advance (TA) offset for each of the SSB group(s) ).
As per claim 11, claim 11 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As per claim 12, claim 12 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As per claim 19, claim 19 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8, 13-16 and 20 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Liu et al (US Pub. No.:2023/0188283) – see para. 0076-0078, “The UE 302 may receive scheduling information scheduling uplink transmission of the UE with a TRP on a carrier according to a TAG associated with the TRP. In some embodiments, the UE 302 may receive first configuration information of the carrier of the serving cell 310 via a RRC configuration signaling. FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate embodiment configuration information that may be sent to the UE, indicating an association of a TAG with an uplink transmission by the UE. The first configuration information may include/indicate an association between a first group of uplink signals and channels to be transmitted on the carrier by the UE in the serving cell 310 and the uplink TAGi, and the TAGi is associated with a first TA value. That is, the first configuration information of the carrier indicates that transmission of the first group of uplink signals and channels by the UE is according to the first TA value of the TAGi. The first configuration information may be transmitted by the TRP0 312 to the UE 302. The UE 302 may also receive second configuration information of the carrier, which includes/indicates an association between a second group of uplink signals and channels to be transmitted on the carrier by the UE and the uplink TAG2, and the TAG2 is associated with a second TA value. That is, the second configuration information of the carrier indicates that transmission of the second group of uplink signals and channels by the UE is according to the second TA value of the TAG2. The second configuration information may be transmitted by the TRP0 312 or the TRP1 314 to the UE 302.”.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR whose telephone number is (571)272-1335. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7 am - 4 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian Moore can be reached on 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
Prosecution Insights