Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/845,582

Maintenance of Multiple TA in the Same Serving Cell for Multi-TRP Operation

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 10, 2024
Priority
Mar 10, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022080241
Examiner
AHMED, ATIQUE
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
8m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allowance Rate
390 granted / 482 resolved
+20.9% vs TC avg
Strong +15% interview lift
Without
With
+15.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
28 currently pending
Career history
507
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.3%
-35.7% vs TC avg
§103
68.8%
+28.8% vs TC avg
§102
10.4%
-29.6% vs TC avg
§112
14.1%
-25.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 482 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . 2. This office action is a response to an application filed on 09/24/2024 where claims 1-7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17-20, 22, 23,25, 28, 31 are pending. Claims 8, 9, 12, 14,16,21, 24,26-27, 29-30, 32-39 are cancelled. Information Disclosure Statement 3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/10/2024, 03/05/2025 has been considered by the examiner. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37CFR 1.97. Drawings 4. The drawings were received on 09/10/2024. These drawings are acceptable. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 5. 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, 2, 4, 5, 11, 17, 22, 23, 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dinan (US 20180176960 A1)hereinafter Dinan and further in view of Xu et al. (US 20210007138 A1)hereinafter Xu As to claim 1. Dinan teaches A processor of a user equipment (UE) configured to ([0026] Fig. 4, The wireless device 406 may include at least one communication interface 407, at least one processor 408, and at least one set of program code instructions 410 stored in non-transitory memory 409 and executable by the at least one processor 408. ) process, based on signaling received from a serving base station of a radio access network, ([0069] eNB may transmit at least one RRC message to configure PCell, SCell(s) and RACH, and TAG configuration parameters, ) an uplink (UL) timing advance configuration including a first time alignment timer (TAT) corresponding to a first transmission and reception point (TRP) and a second TAT corresponding to a second TRP in a multi-TRP network arrangement;([0069] fig. 8, MAC-MainConfig may include a timeAlignmentTimerDedicated IE to indicate time alignment timer value for the pTAG., MAC-MainConfig may further include an IE including a sequence of at least one (sTAG ID, and TAT value) to configure time alignment timer values for sTAGs) stop UL transmissions for at least the first TRP; ([0041] When the TAT associated with sTAG expires: a) SRS transmissions may be stopped on the corresponding SCells, b) SRS RRC configuration may be released, c) CSI reporting configuration for the corresponding SCells may be maintained, and/or d) the MAC in the UE may flush the uplink HARQ buffers of the corresponding SCells. ) and transmit the PRACH ([0262] a UE may determine a PRACH within the determined subframe in accordance with the requirements of the PRACH Mask Index. Then the UE may proceed to the transmission of the Random Access Preamble.) so that the network can determine and configure a new TAT for the first TRP. ([0043][0044] Fig. 6, Fig. 7, eNB transmits an activation command 600 to activate an SCell. A preamble 602 (Msg1) may be sent by a UE in response to the PDCCH order 601, NB may estimate the uplink timing from the random access preamble transmitted by the UE. The TA command may be derived by the eNB based on the estimation of the difference between the desired UL timing and the actual UL timing/time alignment timer) Dinan does not specifically teach detect an out of synchronization (OOS) condition for the first TRP based on the first TAT while the second TRP remains synchronized based on the second TAT, or receive a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order from the network mapped to the first TRP triggering a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission, generate, for transmission to the network, Xu teaches receive a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order from the network mapped to the first TRP triggering a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission;([0305][0404]Fig. 12 wireless device may receive a PDCCH (or a PDCCH order) from one of the multiple TRPs (e.g., from TRP0); UE may transmit a random access preamble via PRACH and Msg3 1240 via PUSCH on a same cell generate, for transmission to the network,([0403][0404] Fig. 32A, Fig.32B, wireless device may transmit the multiple preamble transmissions from the multiple panels to the TRP (connected to the base station).the wireless device may transmit the preamble transmission0 to the TRP from/via panel0 The wireless device may transmit the preamble transmission1 to the TRP from/via panel1) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Xu with the teaching of Dinan because Xu teaches that wireless device equipped with multiple panels, performing preamble transmission would improve the uplink transmission (e.g., the PUSCH, the PUCCH and/or the PRACH) reliability and coverage of a wireless device.(Xu [0362]) As to claim 2. The combination of Dinan and Xu specifically Dinan teaches wherein the first TRP is assigned to a first timing advance group (TAG) and the second TRP is assigned to a second TAG, ;([0069] . MAC-MainConfig may include a timeAlignmentTimerDedicated IE to indicate time alignment timer value for the pTAG., MAC-MainConfig may further include an IE including a sequence of at least one (sTAG ID, and TAT value) to configure time alignment timer values for sTAGs) wherein the first TAT is maintained for the first TAG, and the second TAT is maintained for the second TAG. ([0069] a first RRC message may configure TAT value for pTAG, a second RRC message may configure TAT value for sTAG1) As to claim 4. The combination of Dinan and Xu specifically Dinan teaches , wherein the first TRP and the second TRP are assigned to a same timing advance group (TAG) and the first and second TATs are maintained in the same TAG. ([0035] serving cells having an uplink to which the same time alignment (TA) applies may be grouped in a TA group (TAG). Serving cells in one TAG may use the same timing reference.) As to claim 5. The combination of Dinan and Xu specifically Dinan teaches wherein the timing advance configuration indicates a parameter mapping a given TAT to the first TRP or the second TRP within the same TAG. ([0075] TAG TAT may be a dedicated time alignment timer value and is transmitted by the base station to the wireless device. TAG TAT may be configured to cause configuration of time alignment timer value for each time alignment group.) As to claim 11 The combination of Dinan and Xu specifically Xu teaches wherein the UE receives the PDCCH order including a parameter mapping to the first TRP to trigger the PRACH transmission to the first TRP ;([0305][0404]Fig. 12 wireless device may receive a PDCCH (or a PDCCH order) from one of the multiple TRPs (e.g., from TRP0); UE may transmit a random access preamble via PRACH and Msg3 1240 via PUSCH on a same cell) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Xu with the teaching of Dinan because Xu teaches that wireless device equipped with multiple panels, performing preamble transmission would improve the uplink transmission (e.g., the PUSCH, the PUCCH and/or the PRACH) reliability and coverage of a wireless device.(Xu [0362]) As to claim 17 The combination of Dinan and Xu specifically Dinan teaches wherein the processor of the UE is further configured to: receive process a first timing advance (TA) command to start or restart the first TAT and a second timing advance command to start or restart the second TAT. ([0074] The base station may transmit a plurality of timing advance commands. Each timing advance command may comprise: a time adjustment value, and a cell group index. A time alignment timer TAT may start or may restart when the wireless device receives a timing advance command) As to claim 22. Dinan teaches A processor of a base station configured with a first transmission and reception point (TRP) and a second TRP in a multi-TRP network arrangement, wherein the processor is configured to ([0026][0069] Fig. 4, Fig. 8, base station 401, include at least one communication interface 402, at least one processor 403, and at least one set of program code instructions 405 stored in non-transitory memory 404 and executable by the at least one processor 403 configured with pTAG and sTAG); generate, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), an uplink (UL) timing advance configuration including a first time alignment timer (TAT) corresponding to the first TRP and a second TAT corresponding to the second TRP; ;([0069] Fig. 8 eNB may transmit at least one RRC message to configure PCell, SCell(s) and RACH, and TAG configuration parameters.; MAC-MainConfig may include a timeAlignmentTimerDedicated IE to indicate time alignment timer value for the pTAG., MAC-MainConfig may further include an IE including a sequence of at least one (sTAG ID, and TAT value) to configure time alignment timer values for sTAGs) detect an out of synchronization (OOS) condition for the first TRP while the second TRP remains synchronized; ([0135] Fig. 8 RACH on an SCell in an sTAG may be triggered when sTAG is out-of-sync, normally PCell is in sync; eNB may configure other suitable SCells if available ) in response to detecting the OOS condition ([0050] the base station determines that radio resources of a first SCell which is uplink unsynchronized) , generate a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) order,([0052] the eNB may, selectively and depending on a plurality of criteria, transmit a PDCCH order to the UE) determine a new timing advance (TA) based on a time delay from the UE PRACH transmission ([0044].[0053] base station may transmit a MAC timing advance command with a TAG index of the out-of-sync sTAG; The TA command may be derived by the eNB based on the estimation of the difference between the desired UL timing and the actual UL timing. ) generate, for transmission to the UE, a new timing advance configuration including the new TA. ([0057] [0234]the eNB may create a new TAG for the SCell based on the updated TA value. The TA value may be derived, through eNB measurement(s) of signal reception timing, a RA mechanism, or other standard or proprietary processes; new MAC CE format is introduced for transmitting TA commands) Dinan does not teach mapped to the first TRP, that triggers a UE physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission; process the UE PRACH transmission; determine a new timing advance (TA) based on a time delay from the UE PRACH transmission; and Xu teaches mapped to the first TRP, that triggers a UE physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission;([0305][0404]Fig. 12 wireless device may receive a PDCCH (or a PDCCH order) from one of the multiple TRPs (e.g., from TRP0); UE may transmit a random access preamble via PRACH and Msg3 1240 via PUSCH on a same cell process the UE PRACH transmission([0296] [0298] Fig. 12, a PDCCH order, a MAC entity, and/or a beam failure indication may initiate a random access procedure; he RACH configuration 1210 may comprise one or more parameters indicating at least one of following: available set of PRACH resources for a transmission of a random access preamble,) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Xu with the teaching of Dinan because Xu teaches that wireless device equipped with multiple panels, performing preamble transmission would improve the uplink transmission (e.g., the PUSCH, the PUCCH and/or the PRACH) reliability and coverage of a wireless device.(Xu [0362]) As to claim 23 The combination of Dinan and Xu specifically Dinan teaches wherein the first TRP is assigned to a first timing advance group (TAG) and the second TRP is assigned to a second TAG, ;([0069] . MAC-MainConfig may include a timeAlignmentTimerDedicated IE to indicate time alignment timer value for the pTAG., MAC-MainConfig may further include an IE including a sequence of at least one (sTAG ID, and TAT value) to configure time alignment timer values for sTAGs) wherein the first TAT is maintained for the first TAG and the second TAT is maintained for the second TAG. . ([0069] a first RRC message may configure TAT value for pTAG, a second RRC message may configure TAT value for sTAG1) As to claim 25. The combination of Dinan and Xu specifically Dinan teaches , wherein the first TRP and the second TRP are assigned to a same timing advance group (TAG) and the first and second TATs are maintained in the same TAG. ([0035] serving cells having an uplink to which the same time alignment (TA) applies may be grouped in a TA group (TAG). Serving cells in one TAG may use the same timing reference.) Claim(s) 3, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dinan, Xu and further in view of Jung et al. (US 20240276338 A1)hereinafter Jung As to claim 3 The combination of Dinan and Xu specifically Xu teaches transmits the PRACH to the first TRP only. ([0305][0357] Fig. 12,Fig. 20A, A UE may transmit a random access preamble via PRACH and Msg3 1240 via PUSCH on a same cell; the uplink transmission0 may be PUSCH0 transmitted from/via panel0 to TRP0. ) The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach wherein the UE detects the OOS condition for the first TRP and Jung teaches wherein the UE detects the OOS condition for the first TRP and ([0291] a TRP may be determined to be in state3 if the UE detects consecutive N3 out-of-sync states during T3 duration based on measurements of RLM RS associated with the TRP.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Jung with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Jung teaches that determining radio link monitoring RLM status would be useful to reduce the occurrence of RLF of a serving cell(Jung [0244]) As to claim 18 The combination of Dinan and Xu specifically Dinan teaches when the first TAT expires or when the first TAT has not started. ([0150] [0164] the wireless device may enter an out-of-sync status and when the TAT associated with the pTAG expires, all TATs may be considered as expired ) The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach wherein the UE detects the OOS condition for the first TRP and Jung teaches wherein the UE detects the OOS condition for the first TRP and ([0291] a TRP may be determined to be in state3 if the UE detects consecutive N3 out-of-sync states during T3 duration based on measurements of RLM RS associated with the TRP.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Jung with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Jung teaches that determining radio link monitoring RLM status would be useful to reduce the occurrence of RLF of a serving cell(Jung [0244]) Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dinan, Xu and further in view of Comsa et al. (US 20240188015 A1)hereinafter Comsa As to claim 6 The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach wherein the parameter comprises a closed loop power control index or a CORESETPoolIndex. Comsa teaches wherein the parameter comprises a closed loop power control index or a CORESETPoolIndex. ([0239] [296] the WTRU may maintain a first TAT for a first TAG with first TRP and a second TAT for a second TAG with second TRP; the WTRU receives a MAC CE TCI activation command on its serving cell including the TCI state(s) related to the intra cell TRP(s)) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Comsa with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Comsa teaches that monitoring PDCCH with the correct CORESET Pool Index association with the correct TCI would reduce the switching time latency such that the operation may be driven at the slot level granularity.(Comsa[0299]) Claim(s) 7, 10, 28, 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dinan, Xu and further in view of Guo et al. (US 20240224210 A1)hereinafter Guo As to claim 7. The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach, wherein, when the OOS condition is detected or indicated for the first TRP, the UE stops the UL transmissions for the first TRP until the new TAT is received and continues UL transmissions for the second TRP. Guo teaches wherein, when the OOS condition is detected or indicated for the first TRP, the UE stops the UL transmissions for the first TRP until the new TAT is received and continues UL transmissions for the second TRP. ([0054][0065][0066] a first TAG is in an out-of-sync state for first TRP, UE can receive different TAT configurations for different TRPs that are associated with the same TAG. Each TAT is applied to the respective TRP or uplink signals(s) of the respective TRP. when TAT associated with the TAG for the TRP without access (e.g., TRP-2) expires, UE clears resources and HARQ buffers and stops transmitting any uplink signals associated with the corresponding TAG.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Guo with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Guo teaches that time advance command that enables terminal device to apply time advance command to a transmission thereby enabling reliable uplink timing alignment with multiple transmission points (e.g., base stations, cells, antenna panels. (Guo [0006] 8-9. (Cancelled) As to claim 10 The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach wherein, when the OOS condition is detected or indicated for the first TRP, the UE stops the UL transmissions for both the first TRP and the second TRP until the new TAT is received for the first TRP and a further new TAT is received for the second TRP. Guo teaches when the OOS condition is detected or indicated for the first TRP, . ([0054][0066] a first TAG is in an out-of-sync state for first TRP) the UE stops the UL transmissions for both the first TRP and the second TRP until the new TAT is received for the first TRP and a further new TAT is received for the second TRP. ([0066] When the TAT associated with the TAG for the accessed TRP (e.g., TRP-1) and when TAT associated with the TAG for the TRP without access (e.g., TRP-2) expires) then UE clears resources/stop and UE can receive different TAT configurations for different TRPs that are associated with the same TAG; e-initiates random access procedures.), Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Guo with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Guo teaches that time advance command that enables terminal device to apply time advance command to a transmission thereby enabling reliable uplink timing alignment with multiple transmission points (e.g., base stations, cells, antenna panels. (Guo [0006] As to claim 28. The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach wherein the processor of the base station is further configured to: receive the UL transmissions for the second TRP while the first TRP is OOS with the UE when the UL transmissions for the first TRP are stopped until the new TAT is received. Guo teaches wherein the processor of the base station is further configured to: receive the UL transmissions for the second TRP while the first TRP is OOS with the UE when the UL transmissions for the first TRP are stopped until the new TAT is received. ([0054][0066] a first TAG is in an out-of-sync state for first TRP, UE can receive different TAT configurations for different TRPs that are associated with the same TAG. Each TAT is applied to the respective TRP or uplink signals(s) of the respective TRP. when TAT associated with the TAG for the TRP without access (e.g., TRP-2) expires, UE clears resources and HARQ buffers and stops transmitting any uplink signals associated with the corresponding TAG.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Guo with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Guo teaches that time advance command that enables terminal device to apply time advance command to a transmission thereby enabling reliable uplink timing alignment with multiple transmission points (e.g., base stations, cells, antenna panels. (Guo [0006] As to claim 31 The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach , wherein, when the OOS condition is detected or indicated for the first TRP, the UL transmissions are stopped for both the first TRP and the second TRP until the new TAT is received for the first TRP and a further new TAT is received for the second TRP. Guo teaches , wherein, when the OOS condition is detected or indicated for the first TRP, ([0054][0066] a first TAG is in an out-of-sync state for first TRP) the UL transmissions are stopped for both the first TRP and the second TRP until the new TAT is received for the first TRP and a further new TAT is received for the second TRP. ([0066] When the TAT associated with the TAG for the accessed TRP (e.g., TRP-1) and when TAT associated with the TAG for the TRP without access (e.g., TRP-2) expires) then UE clears resources/stop and UE can receive different TAT configurations for different TRPs that are associated with the same TAG; e-initiates random access procedures.), Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Guo with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Guo teaches that time advance command that enables terminal device to apply time advance command to a transmission thereby enabling reliable uplink timing alignment with multiple transmission points (e.g., base stations, cells, antenna panels. (Guo [0006] Claim(s) 13, 15, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dinan, Xu and further in view of MolavianJazi et al. (US 20220210844 A1)hereinafter Molavian As to claim 13. The combination of Dinan and Xu, specifically Xu teaches wherein the UE receives the PDCCH order including a parameter mapping to both the first TRP and the second TRP ([00405] The wireless device may receive a PDCCH (or a PDCCH order) from one of the multiple TRPs (e.g., from TRP0). The PDCCH (or the PDCCH order) may comprise a downlink assignment (or an uplink grant). The base station connected to the multiple TRPs (e.g., TRP0 and TRP1) may trigger, via the PDCCH (or the PDCCH order), ) The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach to trigger a first PRACH transmission to the first TRP and a second PRACH transmission to the second TRP. Molavian teaches to trigger a first PRACH transmission to the first TRP and a second PRACH transmission to the second TRP. ([0215] [0274] gNB signaling such as a PDCCH order, can initiate two concurrent RA procedures; order of RAR reception can be independent from the order of RA initiation or PRACH transmission. For example, a UE can start a first RA procedure or corresponding first PRACH transmission(s) to a first TRP earlier than a second RA procedure or corresponding second PRACH transmission(s) to a second TRP ) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Molavian with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Molavian teaches that PRACH transmission to TRPs would at improve link adaptation for a random access procedure based on CSI reporting by a UE using a PRACH transmission.(Molavian [0109]) 14. (Cancelled) As to claim 15. The combination of Dinan and Xu, does not teach wherein the UE receives the PDCCH order including a parameter mapping to either the first TRP, the second TRP, or both the first TRP and the second TRP to trigger the PRACH transmission to the first TRP, the second TRP, or both the first TRP and the second TRP. Molavian teaches wherein the UE receives the PDCCH order including a parameter mapping to either the first TRP, the second TRP, or both the first TRP and the second TRP to trigger the PRACH transmission to the first TRP, the second TRP, or both the first TRP and the second TRP. ([0215] [0274] gNB signaling such as a PDCCH order, can initiate two concurrent RA procedures; order of RAR reception can be independent from the order of RA initiation or PRACH transmission. For example, a UE can start a first RA procedure or corresponding first PRACH transmission(s) to a first TRP earlier than a second RA procedure or corresponding second PRACH transmission(s) to a second TRP ) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Molavian with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Molavian teaches that PRACH transmission to TRPs would at improve link adaptation for a random access procedure based on CSI reporting by a UE using a PRACH transmission.(Molavian [0109]) 16. (Cancelled) As to claim 19. The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach , wherein the processor of the UE is further configured to: determine that a first UL transmission to the first TRP and a second UL transmission to the second TRP overlap at least partially in time; and drop the first UL transmission or the second UL transmission. Molavian teaches wherein the processor of the UE is further configured to: determine that a first UL transmission to the first TRP and a second UL transmission to the second TRP overlap at least partially in time; ([0086] UEs that can simultaneously transmit from multiple panels can perform multiple concurrent RA procedures to TRPs , concurrent RA procedures can be overlapping in time and can be initiated by a UE at a same time or at different times.) and drop the first UL transmission or the second UL transmission. ([0087] dropping of overlapping UL transmissions to multiple TRPs, such as when two PRACH transmissions to two TRPs overlap in time) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Molavian with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Molavian teaches that PRACH transmission to TRPs would at improve link adaptation for a random access procedure based on CSI reporting by a UE using a PRACH transmission.(Molavian [0109]) Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dinan, Xu and further in view of Takeda et al. (US 20230030066 A1)hereinafter Takeda As to claim 20 The combination of Dinan and Xu does not teach wherein the processor of the UE is further configured to: determine that a first downlink (DL) reception from the first TRP and a second DL reception from the second TRP have a reception timing difference exceeding a maximum reception timing difference; and report the reception timing difference to the network. Takeda teaches wherein the processor of the UE is further configured to: determine that a first downlink (DL) reception from the first TRP and a second DL reception from the second TRP have a reception timing difference exceeding a maximum reception timing difference; ([0115][0136] UE 205 may identify the receive timing difference between two downlink cells (e.g., base stations, cells, TRPs, etc.) exceeds X microseconds) and report the reception timing difference to the network. ([0108] the report/message may be triggered by an event, such as UE 205 determining that a maximum transmit timing difference of two uplink carriers within a frequency band exceeds a certain value; message may be reported to either or both of the cell-groups) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Takeda with the teaching of Dinan and Xu because Takeda teaches that when downlink timing difference exceeding threshold base station would schedule or configure a downlink communication for UE to reduce timing difference thereby mitigating a performance degradation of the downlink reception. (Takeda [0111]) Conclusion 6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. MANOLAKOS; Alexandros et al. [US 20230035967 A1] UE POSITIONING SIGNAL TRANSMISSION DURING UNCONNECTED OR INACTIVE STATE Babaei; Alireza [US 20210352727 A1] Wireless Device Processes for a Cell with Consistent LBT Failure Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ATIQUE AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-6244. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 - 7:30 PM M-F Eastern. 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, Un Cho can be reached at 5712727919. 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. /ATIQUE AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 10, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 04, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
81%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+15.3%)
2y 9m (~8m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 482 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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