DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present U.S. non-provisional application is being examined under the first-inventor-to-file provisions of the AIA . The present U.S. non-provisional application, filed on October 24, 2024, is the U.S. national stage of an international PCT application, filed on April 21, 2023, and claims priority to a foreign application, filed on April 28, 2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on October 24, 2024 was filed before the mailing date of a first Office action in the present U.S. non-provisional application, in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
This Office action is responsive to the preliminary amendment under 37 CFR 1.115 on December 20, 2024. Claims 1-15 were canceled. Claims 16-30 were added. Claims 16-30 are pending for consideration in the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 102 that forms the basis for all anticipation rejections set forth in this Office action:
(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 16, 23 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Deng (US 2025/0106898 A1).
16. A communication apparatus (Deng, FIG. 1), comprising:
a receiver (Deng, FIG. 1, Id.), which, in operation, receives control information relating to repetitions of a physical random access channel (PRACH) (Deng, para. [0072], “In a second possible implementation, the number of PRACH repetitions is indicated by system information block 1 (SIB1). SIB1 is periodically transmitted from the base station to the UE by broadcasting. For example, the base station may transmit SIB1 that carries one of random access configurations, and the one random access configuration is indicated by PRACH configuration index…”), and
a transmitter (Deng, FIG. 1, Id.), which is operation, transmits the repetitions of the PRACH based on the control information (Deng, para. [0072], “…The one random access configuration includes a value representive of the number of PRACH repetitions. According to the number of PRACH repetitions, the UE transmits PRACH repetitions to the base station to reduce the possibility of failure of PRACH transmission, thereby achieving coverage enhancement.” Id.)
23. A communication method, comprising:
receiving control information relating to repetitions of a physical random access channel (PRACH) (Deng, para. [0072], Id.), and
transmitting the repetitions of the PRACH based on the control information (Deng, para. [0072], Id. cf. Claim 16).
24. An integrated circuit (Deng, FIG. 1, Id.), comprising:
reception circuitry (Deng, FIG. 1, Id.), which, in operation, controls a reception of control information relating to repetitions of a physical random access channel (PRACH) (Deng, para. [0072], Id.), and
transmission circuitry (Deng, FIG. 1, Id.), which, in operation, controls a transmission of the repetitions of the PRACH based on the control information (Deng, para. [0072], Id. cf. Claim 16).
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.
Claims 17-22 and 25-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Deng (US 2025/0106898 A1) in view of Kwak et al. (US 2022/0061097 A1).
17. The communication apparatus of claim 16, wherein a number of the repetitions of the PRACH is determined based on a Reference Signal Receive Power (RSRP) threshold (Kwak, paras. [0100], [0105], “In one example, a set of power measurement thresholds (e.g., RSRP measurement thresholds) may be associated with the plurality of PRACH CE levels. For example, a first power measurement threshold (Thr1), a second power measurement threshold (Thr2), and a third power measurement threshold (Thr3) may be associated with one or more of the first, second, third, and fourth PRACH CE levels. […] The PRACH resources may be associated with one or more PRACH CE levels. Depending on a particular PRACH resource, a number of PRACH CE levels may be defined. A particular PRACH CE level may be associated with a defined number of PRACH repetitions.”) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Kwak et al. for reasons of enabling definition of a number of PRACH CE levels (Kwak, paras. [0100], [0105], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of enabling definition of a number of PRACH CE levels.
18. The communication apparatus of claim 16, wherein a first number of the repetitions of the PRACH used for a first Reference Signal Receive Power (RSRP) is smaller than a second number of the repetitions of the PRACH used for a second RSRP, which is smaller than the first RSRP (Kwak, paras. [0100], [0105], Id.)
19. The communication apparatus of claim 16, wherein the transmitter transmits the repetitions of the PRACH over multiple slots, wherein a number of the repetitions of the PRACH in each of the multiple slots is the same (Deng, paras. [0080], [0102], “In a second possible implementation, the PRACH repetition pattern is based on frequency domain ROs, where the frequency domain ROs mean ROs which have the same time resource and different frequency resources. In some cases, an individual PRACH repetition pattern only includes the ROs having the same time resource. For instance, as shown in FIG. 4, 2 time domain ROs within a RACH slot and 4 FDM ROs are configured by SIB1, and the index of the ROs is 1 to 8. When the number of repetitions for PRACH is configured as 4 by the base station, then the UE repeats the PRACH with RO1, RO2, RO3, RO4…”)
20. The communication apparatus of claim 16, wherein the transmitter transmits the repetitions of the PRACH over multiple slots, wherein a starting position of the repetitions of the PRACH in each of the multiple slots corresponds to the same symbol index (Deng, paras. [0080], [0102], “…start symbol and length of PUSCH as well as the number of PUSCH repetitions…”)
21. The communication apparatus of claim 16, wherein the transmitter transmits the repetitions of the PRACH on a set of PRACH occasions (ROs) using same frequency resources (Deng, paras. [0080], [0102], Id.)
22. The communication apparatus of claim 21, wherein the set of PRACH occasions (ROs) and another set of ROs are assigned in different frequency resources (Deng, paras. [0080], [0102], Id.)
25. The integrated circuit of claim 24, wherein a number of the repetitions of the PRACH is determined based on a Reference Signal Receive Power (RSRP) threshold (Kwak, paras. [0100], [0105], Id. cf. Claim 17).
26. The integrated circuit of claim 24, wherein a first number of the repetitions of the PRACH used for a first Reference Signal Receive Power (RSRP) is smaller than a second number of the repetitions of the PRACH used for a second RSRP, which is smaller than the first RSRP (Kwak, paras. [0100], [0105], Id. cf. Claim 18).
27. The integrated circuit of claim 24, wherein the transmission circuitry controls the transmission of the repetitions of the PRACH over multiple slots, wherein a number of the repetitions of the PRACH in each of the multiple slots is the same (Deng, paras. [0080], [0102], Id. cf. Claim 19).
28. The integrated circuit of claim 24, wherein the transmission circuitry controls the transmission of the repetitions of the PRACH over multiple slots, wherein a starting position of the repetitions of the PRACH in each of the multiple slots corresponds to the same symbol index (Deng, paras. [0080], [0102], Id. cf. Claim 20).
29. The integrated circuit of claim 24, wherein the transmission circuitry controls the transmission of the repetitions of the PRACH on a set of PRACH occasions (ROs) using same frequency resources (Deng, paras. [0080], [0102], Id. cf. Claim 21).
30. The integrated circuit of claim 29, wherein the set of PRACH occasions (ROs) and another set of ROs are assigned in different frequency resources (Deng, paras. [0080], [0102], Id. cf. Claim 22).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112 that forms the basis for all new matter rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 17-22 and 25-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claims contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 17-22 and 25-30 were introduced as new dependent claims in a preliminary amendment on December 20, 2024 after the present application on October 24, 2024. Although the preliminary amendment is graciously provided with support indicated from the specification, the indicated support leaves the reader in doubt about possession of the dependent claims because paragraph [72] of the application as filed is the only indicated part that mentions a repetition (Specification, para. [72], “It will be appreciated that, instead of using a terminology of "a multi-PRACH transmission per CE level", there could be a multi-PRACH transmission per a number of repetitions of PRACH transmissions, or per one or more Reference Signal Receive Power (RSRP) threshold (e.g., as shown in RSRP threshold 1 818 and RSRP threshold 2 820), or per another criterion that may be configured by an associated gNB.” emphasis added.) however said description is not sufficient to convey possession of the claimed invention as a whole because it does not describe anything beyond a multi-PRACH transmission per a number of repetitions of PRACH transmissions, whereas the new dependent claims are more specific than the indicated support. Accordingly, the new dependent claims do not have sufficient support in the specification to a person having ordinary skill in the art.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112 that forms the basis for all indefiniteness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 16-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite because they fail to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 16, 23 and 24 were introduced as new independent claims in a preliminary amendment on December 20, 2024 after the present application on October 24, 2024. Although the preliminary amendment is graciously provided with support indicated from the specification, the indicated support leaves the reader in doubt about the scope of the claimed invention because paragraph [72] of the application as filed is the only indicated part that mentions a repetition. However, more appropriate support is found via FIG. 11A and paragraph [79] (Specification, para. [79], “There may be various ways for signalling for the indication. In an option 1, the indication may be by higher-layer parameters in master information block (MIB) and/or system information block (SIB). Fig. 11A shows an example illustration 1100 of higher-layer parameters indicating ROs for multi-PRACH transmissions according to embodiment E2. This is an example of higher-layer parameters indicating ROs for multi-PRACH-transmissions (see reference 1102), where PRACH duration depends on PreambleFormat (see reference 1104), starting position of each RO is defined by StartPositioninRACH slot (see reference 1106), and a number of PRACH transmissions is obtained by numberOfPRACHRepetitions (see reference 1108)…” emphasis added.) however it is not clear whether the claimed invention requires the numberOfPRACHRepetitions parameter. Accordingly, the new independent claims receiving “control information relating to repetitions of a physical random access channel (PRACH)” is not clear because it is not clear whether the claimed invention requires the numberOfPRACHRepetitions parameter or whether “relating to repetitions” has another unknown scope that can be argued from the specification. Claims 17-22 and 25-30 are dependent.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record (PTO-1449, PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the subject matter of the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Park (US 2023/0085104 A1) provides prior art disclosure considered as relevant to the subject matter of the claimed invention (Park, Abstract, “A method for wireless communication between a plurality of devices includes determining the number of PUSCH repetition transmissions, determining a PUSCH transmission resource, based on random access-related configuration information and the number of PUSCH repetition transmissions, and performing the PUSCH repetition transmission based on the PUSCH transmission resource.”)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Timothy J. Weidner whose telephone number is (571) 270-1825. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing by using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, the applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) form provided at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz R. Sheikh can be reached on (571) 272-3795. 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. In order 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 more 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.
/TIMOTHY J WEIDNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
Prosecution Insights