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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
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.
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 nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 7, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thangarasa et al. US 20260164494 in view of Hasegasa et al. US 20240187903.
Regarding claim 1, A method of a user equipment (UE) (method performed by a wireless device, Figure 5, element 505, in a serving cell provided by a network node of a wireless communication network supporting small data transmission, para. 0008) for bounding a measurement window of a timing advance (TA) validation for a configured grant small data transmission (CG-SDT) (obtaining, at a first time, information about one or more pre-configured resources used for the small data transmission, the information including a value of a timing advance, determining a validity of a first measurement of the serving cell and of a second measurement of the serving cell by determining whether the first measurement was obtained within a first time range that is based on the first time, para. 0008);
comprising: determining a time T1 at which latest TA timer reset information for a TA timer is received at the UE from a base station (the wireless device obtains, at a first time T1, information about one or more pre-configured resources used for the SDT, para. 0033, the information may include a value of the timing advance, a SDT start position, information indicating whether the wireless device uses a timing advance-related timer, para. 0036);
calculating an outer bound for the measurement window relative to the time T1 by adjusting from the time T1 by the first outer bound adjustment amount (the wireless device determines a validity of the first measurement using a first time range based on the first time T1 and on a first set of one or more parameters, para. 0044, a time range, Figure 3, element 315, is referenced to time T1 which is the time that a value of the timing advance, and pre-configured resource information used for the small data transmission is received, para. 0045);
and locating the measurement window within the outer bound for the measurement window relative to the time T1 (the wireless device performs a first measurement, M1, of the serving cell using one or more reference signals that are transmitted by the serving cell, the first measurement is performed over a measurement period, para. 0038).
Thangarasa does not expressly disclose determining a velocity of the UE; determining a first outer bound adjustment amount using the velocity of the UE. Hasegasa discloses a wireless transmit receive unit send information in small data transmission using resources associated with SDT such as a configured grant SDT, para. 0546. Hasegasa discloses the WTRU may receive information indicating one or more validity conditions associated with the SRSp configuration, the WTRU may start a timer upon receiving information indicating SRSp configurations and use the configurations as long as the timer is valid within the configured duration and/or has not expired, para. 0555. Hasegasa discloses the WTRU may use the preconfigured SRSp configurations in a case where the WTRU speed is below/above a configured speed threshold value and the WTRU may use a preconfigured SRSp configuration in a case where any of the amount and the rate of movement of the WTRU increases/decreases by a threshold value, a timing advance validity for usage of SRSp configuration may be associated with a timing advance configuration information received by the WTRU from the network including a timing advance timer that is valid across one or more cells in which the WTRU may be mobile, para. 0558-0559. Before the filing of the invention it would have been obvious to modify Thangarasa to include Hasegasa’s timing advance validity with regards to mobility. One of of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for reduced latency, Title.
Regarding claim 3, The method of claim 1, wherein the first outer bound adjustment amount is further determined using a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle duration used by the UE (one or more samples of the reference signal(s) are obtained by the wireless device during some or all of the DRX cycles, Figure 3, elements 305-1 to 305-6, occurring within the respective measurement period, para. 0046).
Regarding claim 7, The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement window is to be used by the UE for reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement of one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) as part of the TA validation (the reference signals include a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), para. 0040, the first measurement includes Reference Symbol Received Power (RSRP), para. 0044).
Regarding claim 10, The method of claim 1, wherein the outer bound for the measurement window relative to the time T1 is calculated by adjusting from the time T1 by the first outer bound adjustment amount in a positive direction ((the wireless device determines a validity of the first measurement using a first time range based on the first time T1 and on a first set of one or more parameters, para. 0044, a time range, Figure 3, element 315, is referenced to time T1 which is the time that a value of the timing advance, para. 0045).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-20 are allowed.
Claims 4-5, 8-9, 11-13 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 14-20, prior art of record does not disclose bounding a measurement window of a timing advance validation for a configured grant small data transmission by determining a time T2 when the UE determines whether to perform the CG-SDT, determining a UE velocity and a first outer bound adjustment amount using the velocity of the UE; calculating an outer bound for the measurement window relative to the time T2 by adjusting the first outer bound adjustment amount in a negative direction by the time T2; and locating the measurement window within the outer bound for the measurement window in combination with the other limitations of the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and a selection is described below:
Christoffersson et al. US 20250097822 discloses a CG-SDT configuration will be sent to the UE in the RRCRelease message and will specify associations between CG resources and SSBs and the UE will initiate a CG-SDT procedure and select an SSB with SS-RSRP above a configured RSRP threshold.
Lin et al. US 20240147397 discloses receiving timing advance related configurations based on at least one of a beam in which the UE is currently camped, a reference signal which is currently detected by the UE, and a configured grant (CG) configuration which is currently applied at the UE; and applying the determined timing advance related configuration.
Laselva et al. US 20220225257 discloses receiving a network configuration comprising a timing advance command, acquiring measurement data of a serving cell relative to a first set of neighbor cells at a first time instance, and measurement data of the serving cell relative to a second set of neighbor cells at a second time instance, a timing advance validity check will be performed using the acquired measurement data from the first time instance and transmitting data based on a result of the timing advance validity check.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELANIE JAGANNATHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3163. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/MELANIE JAGANNATHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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