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 Objections
Claims 1 and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
The claims recite “identifying the number of RACH occasions (ROs) M” and “determining the number of SSB-to-RO association pattern periods K”. There is no antecedent basis for “the number of RACH occasions (ROs) M” and “the number of SSB-to-RO association pattern periods K”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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)(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.
(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 and 18-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (US 20250168894 A1).
Regarding claim 1,
Zhang discloses “An apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed, are configured to cause the one or more processors to perform operations for Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmissions” (See Fig. 14, [0055] Fig. 14 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary apparatus for PRACH repetition), “the operations comprising: identifying the number of RACH occasions (ROs) M associated with a particular Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) in a single SSB-to-RO association pattern period P” (See [0080] the BS may transmit configuration information to the UE to indicate the association between SSB and RO, for example, the BS may transmit a parameter SSB-PerRACH-Occasion to indicate the association between SSB and RO, the configuration information (i.e., SSB-PerRACH-Occasion=1/N) may indicate that one SSB is associated with more than one RO (which is referred to as 1-to-N association hereinafter). [0085] the association between SSB and RO may be performed periodically in each SSB to RO association period); “determining a particular PRACH repetition number N, wherein the particular PRACH repetition number N is equal to or less than a maximum PRACH repetition number L” (See [0094] FIG. 5, in step 501, the UE may obtain configuration information, the configuration information may indicate a set of PRACH repetition numbers. The set of PRACH repetition numbers may include one or more PRACH repetition numbers. [0098] After receiving the set of PRACH repetition numbers, in step 503, the UE may select a PRACH repetition number from the set of PRACH repetition numbers. Note: Since the repetition number is selected from a configured set of PRACH repetition numbers, the selected repetition number necessarily does not exceed the maximum configured repetition number); “and determining the number of SSB-to-RO association pattern periods K within a time period X as a function of the number of ROs M associated with the particular SSB in the single SSB-to-RO association pattern period P and the particular PRACH repetition number N” (See [0144] the UE may determine the number of the at least one time period for PRACH repetition to be ceil(K/N), wherein K is the selected PRACH repetition number and N is a number of candidate ROs in the set of candidate ROs. [0025] each time period is a SSB to RO association period. See Fig. 9, [0147] the at least one time period for PRACH repetition may include time periods #T+4 and #T+5 in the case that M=2. Note: The number of association periods is determined within a time period, and is a function of the PRACH repetition number (K) and the number of ROs associated with an SSB in an SSB-RO association period (N)).
Regarding claim 2,
Zhang discloses “The apparatus of claim 1, wherein K =
N
/
M
i
f
N
>
=
M
1
i
f
N
<
M
and X=K x P” (See [0151] a total number of candidate ROs (i.e., a number of candidate ROs in a set of candidate ROs) in each time period may be smaller than the selected PRACH repetition number (i.e., N<K). In such embodiments, the number of at least one time periods (i.e., M) for PRACH repetition is larger than 1. That is, the at least one time period includes more than one time period (i.e., M>1). [0144] the UE may determine the number of the at least one time period for PRACH repetition to be ceil(K/N), wherein K is the selected PRACH repetition number and N is a number of candidate ROs in the set of candidate ROs. [0158] a total number of candidate ROs in each time period may be larger than or equal to the selected PRACH repetition number (i.e., N>=K). In such embodiments, the number of at least one time periods (i.e., M) is 1. That is, the at least one time period only includes one time period (i.e., M=1). See Fig. 9, [0147] the at least one time period for PRACH repetition may include time periods #T+4 and #T+5 in the case that M=2).
Regarding claim 18,
Zhang discloses “A method for Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmissions” (See Fig. 5, [0046] Fig. 5 illustrates a method PRACH repetition), “the method comprising: identifying the number of RACH occasions (ROs) M associated with a particular Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) in a single SSB-to-RO association pattern period P” (See [0080] the BS may transmit configuration information to the UE to indicate the association between SSB and RO, for example, the BS may transmit a parameter SSB-PerRACH-Occasion to indicate the association between SSB and RO, the configuration information (i.e., SSB-PerRACH-Occasion=1/N) may indicate that one SSB is associated with more than one RO (which is referred to as 1-to-N association hereinafter). [0085] the association between SSB and RO may be performed periodically in each SSB to RO association period); “determining a particular PRACH repetition number N, wherein the particular PRACH repetition number N is equal to or less than a maximum PRACH repetition number L” (See [0094] FIG. 5, in step 501, the UE may obtain configuration information, the configuration information may indicate a set of PRACH repetition numbers. The set of PRACH repetition numbers may include one or more PRACH repetition numbers. [0098] After receiving the set of PRACH repetition numbers, in step 503, the UE may select a PRACH repetition number from the set of PRACH repetition numbers. Note: Since the repetition number is selected from a configured set of PRACH repetition numbers, the selected repetition number necessarily does not exceed the maximum configured repetition number); “and determining the number of SSB-to-RO association pattern periods K within a time period X as a function of the number of ROs M associated with the particular SSB in the single SSB-to- RO association pattern period P and the particular PRACH repetition number N” (See [0144] the UE may determine the number of the at least one time period for PRACH repetition to be ceil(K/N), wherein K is the selected PRACH repetition number and N is a number of candidate ROs in the set of candidate ROs. [0025] each time period is a SSB to RO association period. See Fig. 9, [0147] the at least one time period for PRACH repetition may include time periods #T+4 and #T+5 in the case that M=2. Note: The number of association periods is determined within a time period, and is a function of the PRACH repetition number (K) and the number of ROs associated with an SSB in an SSB-RO association period (N)).
Regarding claim 19,
Zhang discloses “One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform the method of claim 18” (See Fig. 14, [0055] Fig. 14 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary apparatus for PRACH repetition). See rejection of “the method of claim 18” above.
Regarding claim 20,
Zhang discloses “The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a user equipment (UE), and wherein determining the particular PRACH repetition number N comprises obtaining the particular PRACH repetition number N using a message received from a base station” (See [0094] FIG. 5, in step 501, the UE may obtain configuration information, the configuration information may indicate a set of PRACH repetition numbers. The set of PRACH repetition numbers may include one or more PRACH repetition numbers. [0095] In some embodiments of the present application, obtaining the configuration information may refer to receiving the configuration information from a BS. [0098] After receiving the set of PRACH repetition numbers, in step 503, the UE may select a PRACH repetition number from the set of PRACH repetition numbers).
Regarding claim 21,
Zhang discloses “The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a base station, and wherein determining the particular PRACH repetition number N comprises configuring the particular PRACH repetition number N for transmission to a user equipment (UE)” (See [0094] FIG. 5, in step 501, the UE may obtain configuration information, the configuration information may indicate a set of PRACH repetition numbers. The set of PRACH repetition numbers may include one or more PRACH repetition numbers. [0095] In some embodiments of the present application, obtaining the configuration information may refer to receiving the configuration information from a BS. [0098] After receiving the set of PRACH repetition numbers, in step 503, the UE may select a PRACH repetition number from the set of PRACH repetition numbers).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 3-4, 7-9 and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 20250168894 A1) in view of LEI (US 20250113383 A1).
Regarding claim 3,
Zhang discloses “The apparatus of claim 1, the operations further comprising: obtaining one or more RO groups within the time period X, wherein at least one RO group is associated with the particular PRACH repetition number N” (See [0160] the UE may divide first K*floor(N/K) candidate ROs in the set of candidate ROs in the one time period into floor(N/K) groups of candidate ROs; then the UE may determine the set of ROs in the one time period to include one group of candidate ROs within the floor(N/K) groups of candidate ROs. [0144] wherein K is the selected PRACH repetition number).
Zhang does not explicitly disclose that the number of ROs in at least one RO group is the same as the PRACH repetition number.
However, LEI discloses “wherein the number of ROs in the at least one RO group is the same as the particular PRACH repetition number N” (See [0051] The number of ROs in the target RO group is N, and N is an integer greater than 0. A value of N is greater than or equal to the first target repetition number. Exemplarily, the number of ROs in the target RO group may be the same as a value of any one repetition number among at least one first repetition number. [0098] first target repetition number is also referred to as the number of PRACH repeated transmissions).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of LEI to provide a direct correspondence between the RO group size and the configured PRACH repetition number, thereby facilitating repeated PRACH transmissions and effectively realizing uplink coverage enhancement (LEI [0105]).
Regarding claim 4,
Zhang discloses “The apparatus of claim 1”, but does not explicitly disclose that the PRACH repetition number is the maximum, and obtaining a single RO group within the time period X, wherein the number of ROs in the single RO group is the maximum PRACH repetition number L.
However, LEI discloses “wherein the particular PRACH repetition number N is the maximum PRACH repetition number L, the operations further comprising: obtaining a single RO group within the time period X, wherein the number of ROs in the single RO group is the maximum PRACH repetition number L” (See [0145] the number of ROs in the target RO group is the same value as the maximum repetition number among the at least one first repetition number. [0098] first target repetition number is also referred to as the number of PRACH repeated transmissions. [0071] the UE may group N consecutive ROs in the time domain into an RO group to obtain the at least one RO group. In the case where the number of ROs in the target RO group is the same as a value of the first maximum repetition number among at least one first repetition number, in such RO grouping manner, the UE may be allowed to transmit Msg1 over an RO group by using a value of any one of the at least one first repetition number configured by the network).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of LEI to provide a direct correspondence between the RO group size and the configured PRACH repetition number, thereby facilitating repeated PRACH transmissions and effectively realizing uplink coverage enhancement (LEI [0105]).
Regarding claim 7,
Zhang in view of LEI discloses “The apparatus of claim 3, wherein when the single SSB-to-RO association pattern period P includes at least L ROs, K = 1” (See Zhang [0158] a total number of candidate ROs in each time period may be larger than or equal to the selected PRACH repetition number (i.e., N>=K). In such embodiments, the number of at least one time periods (i.e., M) is 1. That is, the at least one time period only includes one time period (i.e., M=1). Note: LEI discloses the selected PRACH repetition number corresponds to the maximum PRACH repetition number. Accordingly, Zhang when applied in view of LEI teaches that when the association period includes at least the maximum PRACH repetition number of ROs, the number of association pattern periods is 1.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Zhang with the teachings of LEI to facilitate repeated PRACH transmissions and effectively realizing uplink coverage enhancement (LEI [0105]).
Regarding claim 8,
Zhang in view of LEI discloses “The apparatus of claim 7, when K = 1, the number of RO groups within the time period X is
M
/
N
” (See Zhang [0160] the UE may divide first K*floor(N/K) candidate ROs in the set of candidate ROs in the one time period into floor(N/K) groups of candidate ROs; then the UE may determine the set of ROs in the one time period to include one group of candidate ROs within the floor(N/K) groups of candidate ROs).
Regarding claim 9,
Zhang in view of LEI discloses “The apparatus of claim 3, the operations further comprising: determining a first starting RO position in a first time period X, wherein the first starting RO position is aligned with a radio frame 0” (See Fig. 9, [0146] The indexing may start from a reference point (e.g., a system frame with a system frame number (SFN)=0)); “and determining a second starting RO position in a subsequent time period X, wherein the second starting RO position is the first starting RO position + K x association pattern period x C, where C is a natural number” (See Zhang Fig. 9, the first starting position is at T, and the second starting position is at T+2 or T+4, which is T+(K x P x C)).
Regarding claim 12,
Zhang in view of LEI discloses “The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the number of SSB-to-RO association pattern periods K is the same for any particular PRACH repetition number” (See Zhang [0158] a total number of candidate ROs in each time period may be larger than or equal to the selected PRACH repetition number (i.e., N>=K). In such embodiments, the number of at least one time periods (i.e., M) is 1. That is, the at least one time period only includes one time period (i.e., M=1). Note: When the number of ROs in an association period is larger than or equal to the number of PRACH repetitions, the number of association pattern periods is equal to one for any number of PRACH repetitions.
Regarding claim 13,
Zhang in view of LEI discloses “The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the number of SSB-to-RO association pattern periods K is associated with the particular PRACH repetition number N, wherein a different N corresponds to a different K” (See Zhang [0151] a total number of candidate ROs (i.e., a number of candidate ROs in a set of candidate ROs) in each time period may be smaller than the selected PRACH repetition number (i.e., N<K). In such embodiments, the number of at least one time periods (i.e., M) for PRACH repetition is larger than 1. That is, the at least one time period includes more than one time period (i.e., M>1). See Zhang [0144] the UE may determine the number of the at least one time period for PRACH repetition to be ceil(K/N), wherein K is the selected PRACH repetition number and N is a number of candidate ROs in the set of candidate ROs). Note: When the number of ROs in an association period is smaller than the number of PRACH repetitions, the number of association pattern periods is different corresponding to different PRACH repetition numbers based on the function ceil(K/N).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 20250168894 A1) in view of LEI (US 20250113383 A1) and further in view of Zhang et al. (US 20260206067 A1).
Regarding claim 14,
Zhang in view of LEI discloses “The apparatus of claim 3”, but does not explicitly disclose that ROs associated with the particular SSB in each RO group have the same frequency position.
However, Zhang ‘067 discloses “wherein ROs associated with the particular SSB in each RO group have the same frequency position” (See [0030] the number of RO groups in the at least one RO group is equal to the number of groups of SSBs, each RO group includes a corresponding set of ROs locating in the same frequency domain position, and a group of SSBs of the at least one group of SSBs is associated to a corresponding RO group of the at least one RO group).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Zhang and LEI, with the teachings of Zhang ‘067, and the motivation to do so would have been to facilitate efficient PRACH resource allocation by grouping ROs having the same frequency domain position.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 20250168894 A1) in view of LEI (US 20250113383 A1) and further in view of SU et al. (US 20260012979 A1).
Regarding claim 15,
Zhang in view of LEI discloses “The apparatus of claim 3, obtaining one or more ROs configured with Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)” (See Zhang [0074] In the frequency domain, the BS may configure FDMed ROs, for example, the parameter msg1-FDM may indicate a number of FDMed ROs in the frequency domain. [0110] The FDMed RO(s) associated with the same SSB in each time period may include one or more sets of FDMed RO(s) associated with the same SSB. [0111] the set of candidate ROs for each time period may include RO(s) with a same index in each time period. In such embodiments, the ROs with same index are those having same relative position in the FDMed ROs).
Zhang in view of LEI does not explicitly disclose that the number of ROs configured with FDM is the same at different time instances, and enabling frequency hopping within the ROs configured with FDM.
However, SU discloses “wherein the number of ROs configured with FDM and associated with the particular SSB is the same at different time instances; and enabling frequency hopping within the ROs configured with FDM” (See [0197] if there are multiple FDMed ROs associated with the selected SSB for at a time instance, a UE can use the same frequency resource or hop between the frequency domain PRACH resources across PRACH transmissions. Configuration of PRACH frequency hopping, including frequency hopping enabled/disabled, frequency hopping offset in the unit of PRB or RO, frequency hopping interval, which indicates how long a hop lasts, are configured in SIB1 or predetermined. See equation for RO start (i), where RO start (i) denotes the RO index in frequency domain for the i.sup.th PRACH transmission of an attempt and F denotes the number of FDMed ROs for the specific number of PRACH transmissions associated with the selected SSB. [0185] the index i may refer to time instances relative to the system frame structure). Note: For successive PRACH transmissions (indexed by i), frequency hopping is enabled among FDMed ROs associated with the selected SSB, while the configured number of FDMed ROs (F) remains the same.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Zhang and LEI, with the teachings of SU, and the motivation to do so would have been to improve the reliability of repeated PRACH transmissions through frequency diversity.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6, 10-11 and 17 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
MARCONE et al. (US 20250048440 A1) discloses that the PRACH transmission in the one RO of the RO group for PRACH repetitions occurring in the same time instance as the at least one other RO would be dropped and UE would transmit a lower number of PRACH repetitions [0052].
QIAO (US 20250358859 A1) discloses A number of times for the PRACH repetition of a first terminal UE1 is 4, and the UE1 determines the second to fifth ROs (RO #1-RO #4) in eight ROs corresponding to the maximum repetition number as the target ROs, and performs the PRACH repetition four times [0144].
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/SALMA AYAD/Examiner, Art Unit 2462 /YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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