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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 36-42, 45 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Chien et al. (Pub. No. 20200267672).
- With respect to claims 1, 36 and 45, Chien teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (e.g. Fig. 3 shows the BS and UE communication with 108), comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, configured to: receive, from a radio access network (RAN) node, an indication that a time synchronization change has been detected (e.g. par. 77 discloses “When the first time synchronization error is larger than or equal to the second time synchronization error, the BS 1 generates the synchronization indication message 108 and transmits the synchronization indication message 108, indicating the satellite ECS, to the UE 2”); and adjust a clock associated with the UE based at least in part on the indication (see par. 39 discloses UE adjust clock); and based at least in part on the indication that the time synchronization change has been detected: perform a registration update with a network associated with the RAN node; or perform a location procedure with a network associated with the RAN node (see par. 61 and 80).
- With respect to claims 2, 37, Chien teaches wherein the indication that the time synchronization change has been detected is included in a broadcast message (e.g. par. 45 discloses reference time information is broadcasted).
- With respect to claims 3, 38, Chien teaches wherein the indication that the time synchronization change has been detected is included in a dedicated radio resource control (RRC) message (par. 36, 45 discloses the unicast reference time information through RRC message).
- With respect to claims 4, 39, Chien teaches wherein the indication that the time synchronization change has been detected is included in a precision time protocol (PTP) message (see par. 65).
- With respect to claim 5, 40, Chien teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: transmit a precision time protocol (PTP) message indicating the time synchronization change (see claim 9).
- With respect to claims 6, 41, Chien teaches wherein the PTP message is transmitted by a device- side time sensitive networking (TSN) translator (DS-TT) co-located with the UE (see par. 29, 49, ).
- With respect to claims 7, 42, Chien teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive, from a time synchronization node, a request for a time synchronization status associated with the UE; and transmit, based at least in part on the request, an indication of the time synchronization change (such as the requirement for time synchronization between UE and system see par. 7, 103).
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, 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.
Claim(s) 8-9, 43-44 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chien et al. (Pub. No. 20200267672) in view of Chandramouli et al. (Pub. No. 20220053327).
- With respect to claims 8, 43, Chien fails to teach wherein the request and the indication of the time synchronization change are included in non-access stratum (NAS) messages. Chandramouli teaches NAS message for network using (see par. 56), therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date to implement the method of using NAS message into Chien’s invention for carry time synchronization information in high-level signaling message in wireless communication.
- With respect to claims 9, 44, Chandramouli teaches wherein the NAS messages comprise port management information containers (PMICs) (see par. 56).
Conclusion
. Examiner's Note: Examiner has cited particular paragraphs or columns and line numbers in the references applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHUC H TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3172. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 Flex.
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, Sujoy K. Kundu can be reached at 571-272-8586. 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.
/PHUC H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
Prosecution Insights