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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 3 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the group”, in line 3, should change to “a group”. 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.
Claims 1, and 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dinan (US 2020/0374822 A1, hereinafter “Dinan”).
Regarding independent claim 1
Dinan discloses a terminal (e.g., Fig. 4, 406) comprising:
a reception unit (Fig. 4, 407) configured to receive, in downlink, an indication of band switching in a transmission switching method in which the band switching is applicable to at least one antenna port among a plurality of antenna ports (e.g., Fig. 9, 600, [0153], SCell activation/deactivation enhancements may be considered for fast carrier switching, [0158]-[0160], [0226]-[0227], Fig. 5A/5C, antenna ports); and
a control unit (Fig. 4, 408) configured to perform, in a case where switching is performed to a band that belongs to a group with a different uplink timing advance, random access in the group that is a switching destination (e.g., Fig. 9, 602-603, RACH for the SCell belonging to a different timing advance group, [0112]-[0115], [0167]-[0168]).
Regarding claim 3
Dinan further discloses the terminal as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit performs an uplink transmission synchronization in the group that is a potential switching destination (e.g., Fig. 9, 602, [0114]).
Regarding independent claim 4
Dinan discloses a base station (e.g., Fig. 4, 401) comprising: a transmission unit (Fig. 4, 402) configured to transmit, to a terminal, an indication of band switching in a transmission switching method in which the band switching is applicable to at least one antenna port among a plurality of antenna ports; and a control unit configured to expect, in a case where switching is performed to a band that belongs to a group with a different uplink timing advance, that random access is performed by the terminal in the group that is a switching destination. (See rejection of similar features with respect to claim 1.)
Regarding independent claim 5
Dinan discloses a communication method performed by a terminal, the communication method comprising: receiving, in downlink, an indication of band switching in a transmission switching method in which the band switching is applicable to at least one antenna port among a plurality of antenna ports; and performing, in a case where switching is performed to a band that belongs to a group with a different uplink timing advance, random access in the group that is a switching destination. (See rejection of similar features with respect to claim 1.)
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.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dinan in view of Rastegardoost et al. (US 2024/0389129 A1, hereinafter “Rastegardoost”).
Regarding claim 2
Dinan is silent regarding the control unit performs switching back to a band combination before the switching after completion of a procedure of the random access.
Rastegardoost teaches a UE switch back to a band combination before the switching after a band switch (e.g., [0314], [0363], [0368], [0373]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the system of Dinan based on the teaching from Rastegardoost to include the feature the control unit performs switching back to a band combination before the switching after completion of a procedure of the random access, in order to enable flexible and more efficient utilization of available network resources.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Alvin ZHU whose telephone number is (571)270-1086. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 6am-9am and 2pm-7pm.
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, Gary Mui can be reached at 571-270-1420. 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.
/BO HUI A ZHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
Prosecution Insights