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
Claims 7 and 11 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 7 discloses “obtaining (505) transmissions from multiple UEs for (105) the same time The reference numeral is misplaced. It should likely read “from multiple UEs (105) for the same time”
Claim 11 discloses “allocating (509) the common CG-SDT resource to the UEs (101) in the group, wherein the configuration for the common CG-SDT resources is provided to all UEs (101)” Throughout the rest of the claims, the UE is designated as (105) and the network node is designated as (101). Claim 11 accidentally labels the UEs as the network node.
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)(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, 4, 7-12, 14, 17 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lei et al. (US 2023/0262631 A1), hereinafter “LEI”.
Regarding claim 1, LEI teaches, ‘A method performed by a network node (101) for handling Configured Grant-Small Data Transmissions, CG-SDT, resources in a communications system (100), the method comprising:’ (Paragraph [0124]: FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a scheduling entity 1100 employing a processing system according to some aspects. The scheduling entity 1100 is shown employing a processing system 1114. For example, the scheduling entity 1100 may be a base station (such as eNB, gNB), or other scheduling entity as illustrated in any one or more of FIGS. 1 and 2; Paragraph [0139]: In some examples, transmitting the CG-SDT configuration includes transmitting a common CG-SDT configuration information to a plurality of user equipment (UEs)).
‘providing (401, 501) a configuration for common CG-SDT resources to a User Equipment, UE (105), wherein the common CG-SDT resources are common to multiple UEs (105);’ (Paragraph [0132]: The processor 1104 may further include CG-SDT circuitry 1122 that may operate in conjunction with communications and processing circuitry 1120 to configure a CG-SDT transmission, including a TA validation… In some examples, the CG-SDT circuitry 1122, alone or in combination with communication and processing circuitry 1120, may be configured as a means to receive a configured grant small data transmission (CG-SDT) configuration request from a user equipment (UE) and transmit a CG-SDT configuration to the UE; Paragraph [0112]: The CG-SDT configuration may be triggered by the UE or the scheduling entity (gNB), and CG-SDT occasions of multiple UEs may be fully or partially overlapped. For two or more UEs, each UE may share time/frequency resources for CG-SDT transmission. UEs having the same capabilities, coverage enhancement, and/or UL traffic pattern
may be grouped and assigned to the shared CG-SDT; Paragraph [0139]: In some examples, transmitting the CG-SDT configuration includes transmitting a common CG-SDT configuration information to a plurality of user equipment (UEs). The common CG-SDT configuration information may be transmitted on a shared radio resource in a time or frequency domain, using one or multiple beams which have quasi-colocation (QCL) relationship with other DL broadcast beams);
‘and providing (402, 502), to the UE (105), information indicating which SDT resource the UE (105) should use, wherein the SDT resource is the common CG-SDT resources or other Mobile Originated-Small Data Transmissions, MO-SDT, resources.’ (Paragraph [0094]: NR Light devices are configured to perform two-step or four-step RACH procedures in an initial bandwidth part (BWP) or active BWP… More specifically, technologies and techniques are disclosed for reporting CSI measurement for short/small mobile originating (MO) data transfer by a scheduled entity in a RRC IDLE/INACTIVE state or a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode of RRC connected state; Paragraph [0100]: If TA validation fails, the UE may instead use early data transmission (EDT), if supported, or
a conventional connection establishment procedure; Paragraph [0103]: In other cases, the response to
transmission in the UL using CG-SDT can be provided via layer-2/3 signaling (e.g., an RRC message) not only for acknowledgment but also to transmit user data in the downlink, modify the CG-SDT configuration, and/or move the UE to connected state, if needed; Paragraph [0138]: In some examples, transmitting the CG-SDT configuration to UE includes transmitting CG-SDT configuration
parameters for the UE, downlink reference signals or channels used by the UE for TA validation and the TA validation criteria for the UE).
Regarding claims 4 and 17, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, ‘wherein the other MO-SDT resources comprises dedicated CG-SDT resources or Random Access- Small Data Transmission, RA-SDT, resources.’ (Paragraph [0105]: CG-SDT transmissions may be configured as dedicated CG-SDT or shared CG-SDT. In dedicated CG-SDT, UL time-frequency resources may be used for exclusive use by one UE at a time. Dedicated CG-SDT may be suitable for UEs transmitting periodically in the UL (e.g., sensors and meters) and can be used at any signal-to interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) regime (e.g., both CE mode A and B for LTE-M)).
Regarding claim 7, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, comprising: ‘providing (504), to the UE (105), information indicating which Demodulation Reference Signal, DMRS, resources to use for transmission, wherein the UE (105) should use different DMRS resources than other UEs (105);’ (Paragraph [0105]: In shared CG-SDT, the same UL time-frequency resources can be used simultaneously by a plurality of UEs. The overlapping transmissions can be distinguished using orthogonal DMRS sequences. This UL multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) configuration may be used for both periodic and pseudo-varying traffic patterns; Paragraph [0099]: (DMRS) configuration 822, power control parameters 824, a PDCCH search space and PDCCH configuration 826; Paragraph [0140]: In some examples, the CG-SDT configuration includes one or more of… (v) a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration);
‘and obtaining (505) transmissions from multiple UEs for (105) the same time and frequency allocation, wherein the transmissions from multiple UEs (105) are distinguishable by the network node (101) by that they use different DMRS resources.’ (Paragraph [0105]: In shared CG-SDT, the same UL time-frequency resources can be used simultaneously by a plurality of UEs. The overlapping transmissions can be distinguished using orthogonal DMRS sequences. This UL multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) configuration may be used for both periodic and pseudo-varying traffic patterns; Paragraph [0112]: For two or more UEs, each UE may share time/frequency resources for CG-SDT transmission; Paragraph [0174]: transmitting the common or a separate CG-SDT configuration information on a shared or partially overlapped radio resource in a time or frequency domain).
Regarding claim 8, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, ‘wherein the configuration for common CG-SDT resources comprises an indication of whether the common CG-SDT resource is shared or not.’ (Paragraph [0105]: CG-SDT transmissions may be configured as dedicated CG-SDT or shared CG-SDT. In dedicated CG-SDT, UL time-frequency resources may be used for exclusive use by one UE at a time… In shared CG-SDT, the same UL time-frequency resources can be used simultaneously by a plurality of UEs; Paragraph [0099]: (DMRS) configuration 822, power control parameters 824, a PDCCH search space and PDCCH configuration 826; Paragraph [0140]: In some examples, the CG-SDT configuration includes one or more of (v) a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration; Paragraph [0174]: transmitting the common or a separate CG-SDT configuration information on a shared or partially overlapped radio resource).
Regarding claim 9, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, comprising: ‘providing (506), to the UE (105), time information indicating how long time the UE (105) can use the common CG-SDT resources.’ (Paragraph [0098]: In some examples, a longer TA timer is provided to the UE 702 such that TA can be reused for the subsequent CG-SDT transmissions… The CG-SDT configuration may include comprising a TA validation criterion based on the signal quality measurements meeting configured thresholds. The UE validates the TA for CG-SDT transmission in accordance with one or more of the TA validation criteria, and executes the CG-SDT configuration for communication (e.g., via 712) with the wireless network; Paragraph [0099]: The CG-SDT resource configuration 802 includes one or more of periodic time-frequency resources 804, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) 806, a transport block size (TBS) 808, a number of PUSCH repetitions 810, a start position 812, a radio network temporary identifier (e.g., CG-SDT C-RNTI) 814, a TA validation criteria 816, a number of CG-SDT resource skips allowed 818, whether the CG-SDT resource configuration is valid for one or more number of occasions 820, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration 822; Paragraph [0102]: The configurable periodicity of CG-SDT resources (820) makes it suitable for periodic traffic. However, CG-SDT may also be configured (e.g., via 818) so that the UE may skip transmitting a certain number of CG-SDT occasions in a row (e.g., up to eight skips), after which the CG-SDT configuration may be implicitly released).
Regarding claim 10, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, comprising: ‘providing (507), to the UE (105), information indicating when the UE (105) is allowed to transmit a response to data received in a downlink, DL.’ (Paragraph [0103]: the response to transmission in the UL using CG-SDT can be provided via layer-2/3 signaling… not only for acknowledgment but also to transmit user data in the downlink; Paragraph [0074]: In an UL transmission, the scheduled entity (e.g., UE) may utilize one or more REs 306 to carry UL control information (UCI)… UCI may also include HARQ feedback; Paragraph [0071]: The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI) including… scheduling information, a grant, and/or an assignment of REs for DL and UL transmissions [Note: LEI teaches transmitting downlink data to the UE ([0103]) and configuring the UE to transmit HARQ feedback (i.e., a response) in the uplink ([0074]). By providing DCI that includes scheduling information and the assignment of Resource Elements (REs) for the UL transmission ([0071]), the network node inherently provides information indicating when (i.e., the scheduled time/resource) the UE is allowed to transmit its response to the downlink data]).
Regarding claim 11, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, comprising: ‘grouping (508) two or more UEs (105) based on their distance from the network node (101);’ (Paragraph [0109]: In this example, one or multiple beam indexes may be signaled to the UE 902, and one or more DL signals and their transmission power offsets can be signaled to the UE for RSRP measurements… Alternately or in addition, TA validation criteria may also be based on positioning information that includes measurements obtained from a serving cell and/or neighbor cells. Example of positioning information includes timing of arrival (ToA) measurements, angle of arrival (AoA) measurements, reference signal time difference (RSTD) and so forth; Paragraph [0112]: UEs having the same capabilities, coverage enhancement, and/or UL traffic pattern may be grouped and assigned to the shared CG-SDT);
‘and allocating (509) the common CG-SDT resource to the UEs (101) in the group, wherein the configuration for the common CG-SDT resources is provided to all UEs (101) in the group.’ (Paragraph [0112]: UEs having the same capabilities, coverage enhancement, and/or UL traffic pattern may be grouped and assigned to the shared CG-SDT; Paragraph [0139]: In some examples, transmitting the CG-SDT configuration includes transmitting a common CG-SDT configuration information to a plurality of user equipment (UEs). The common CG-SDT configuration information may be transmitted on a shared radio resource in a time or frequency domain, using one or multiple beams which have quasi-colocation (QCL) relationship with other DL broadcast beams).
Regarding claim 12, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, comprising: ‘providing (510), to the UE (105), information indicating if Timing Advance, TA, validation is needed before using the CG-SDT resource.’ (Paragraph [0098]: In some examples, a longer TA timer is provided to the UE 702 such that TA can be reused for the subsequent CG-SDT transmissions… The CG-SDT configuration may include comprising a TA validation criterion based on the signal quality measurements meeting configured thresholds. The UE validates the TA for CG-SDT transmission in accordance with one or more of the TA validation criteria, and executes the CG-SDT configuration for communication (e.g., via
712) with the wireless network; Paragraph [0099]: The CG-SDT resource configuration 802 includes one or more of periodic time-frequency resources 804, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) 806, a transport block size (TBS) 808, a number of PUSCH repetitions 810, a start position 812, a radio network temporary identifier (e.g., CG-SDT C-RNTI) 814, a TA validation criteria 816, a number of CG-SDT resource skips allowed 818, whether the CG-SDT resource configuration is valid for one or more number of occasions 820, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration 822; Paragraph [0100]: If TA validation fails, the UE may instead use early data transmission (EDT), if supported, or
a conventional connection establishment procedure; Paragraph [0106]: if the TA validation is successful, the UE can transmit UL data on CG-SDT).
Regarding claims 14 and 26, the claims include features identical to the subject matter mentioned in the rejection to claim 1. The claims are mere reformulation of claim 1 in order to define the corresponding user equipment and network node, and the rejection to claim 1 are applied hereto.
For claim 14, LEI teaches, ‘A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (105) for handling Configured Grant-Small Data Transmissions, CG-SDT, resources in a communications system (100), the method comprising:’ (Paragraph [0113]: FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a UE (scheduled entity) 1000 employing a processing system 1014 according to some aspects. For example, the scheduled entity 1000 may be a user equipment (UE) as illustrated in any one or more of FIGS. 1, 2, 6, 7 and/or 9; Paragraph [0122]: The processor 1004 may further include CG-SDT circuitry 1022 configured to process CG-SDT signaling and TA validation from the scheduling entity to enable grant-free processing and procedures; Paragraph [0144]: receive a CG-SDT configuration comprising a timing advance (TA) validation criteria (FIG. 13: 1306- Validate the CG-SDT in accordance with one or more of the TA validation criteria and execute the CG-SDT)):
For claim 26, LEI teaches, ‘A network node (101) for handling Configured Grant-Small Data Transmissions, CG-SDT, resources,’ (Paragraph [0124]: FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for a scheduling entity 1100 employing a processing system according to some aspects. The scheduling entity 1100 is shown employing a processing system 1114. For example, the scheduling entity 1100 may be a base station (such as eNB, gNB), or other scheduling entity as illustrated in any one or more of FIGS. 1 and 2; Paragraph [0132]: The processor 1104 may further include CG-SDT circuitry 1122 that may operate in conjunction with communications and processing circuitry 1120 to configure a CG-SDT transmission, including a TA validation… In some examples, the CG-SDT circuitry 1122, alone or in combination with communication and processing circuitry 1120, may be configured as a means to receive a configured grant small data transmission (CG-SDT) configuration request from a user equipment (UE) and transmit a CG-SDT configuration to the UE),
the network node (101) being arranged to perform a method according to claim 1.
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.
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.
Claims 2-3, 5, 15-16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEI in view of Tseng et al. (US 2022/0408403 A1), hereinafter “TSENG”.
Regarding claims 2 and 15, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, LEI does not explicitly teach but TSENG teaches, ‘wherein the configuration for common CG-SDT resources is comprised in System Information, SI.’ (TSENG - Paragraph [0085]: In some implementations, the serving cell (e.g., the anchor cell of the UE) may further configure the UE to keep monitoring or not to monitor any CN paging messages during an SDT procedure… In some implementations, the serving cell may transmit the configuration via broadcasting system information or UE-specific DL RRC signaling (e.g., as part of an SDT configuration; Paragraphs [0123]-[0124]: In some implementations, a common UL-BWP (e.g., an area-specific/RAN-specific or a cell-specific ULBWP), which may be specific for SDT, may be configured to one or more UEs. In some such implementations, the common UL-BWP may include any combination of: a rach-ConfigCommon… a pusch-ConfigCommon… a pucch-ConfigCommon… and a msgA-ConfigCommon… In some implementations, the UE may receive the configuration of a common UL-BWP for an SDT procedure via broadcasting cell-specific control signaling (e.g., broadcasting system information) or a UE-specific DL control signaling (e.g., an RRCReconfiguration message or an RRCRelease message)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of TSENG with LEI because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of TSENG into LEI is that TSENG provides resource allocation and access control for Small Data Transmission (SDT) procedures, teaching that common UL resource configurations and SDT parameters can be broadcast directly to UEs via System Information (SI). Broadcasting cell-common CG-SDT configurations in System Information allows the network node to configure a pool of shared SDT resources for an arbitrary number of UEs simultaneously without sending individual, dedicated RRC messages to every UE. UEs in RRC_INACTIVE or RRC_IDLE states (including UEs that have reselected to a new cell) can immediately acquire the common CG-SDT resources directly from broadcast SI without needing to establish an active RRC connection first (See Paragraphs, [0055], [0085], [0123]-[0124], TSENG).
Regarding claims 3 and 16, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, LEI does not explicitly teach but TSENG teaches, ‘wherein the configuration for common CG-SDT resources is comprised in a Radio Resource Control, RRC, Release message.’ (TSENG - Paragraph [0085]: In some implementations, the serving cell may transmit the configuration via broadcasting system information or UE-specific DL RRC signaling (e.g., as part of an SDT configuration in an RRCReconfiguration message or an RRCRelease message); Paragraph [0124]: In some implementations, the UE may receive the configuration of a common UL-BWP for an SDT procedure via broadcasting cell-specific control signaling (e.g., broadcasting system information) or a UE-specific DL control signaling (e.g., an RRCReconfiguration message or an RRCRelease message); Paragraph [0188]: In some such implementations, the UE may receive SDT configuration via DL UE-specific signaling (e.g., an
RRCReconfiguration message and/or an RRCRelease message) from the serving RAN).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of TSENG with LEI because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of TSENG into LEI is that TSENG modifies the common CG-SDT resource configuration of LEI to include the configuration in an RRC Release message. The motivation would have been to provide the UE with the necessary parameters for subsequent inactive transmissions at the exact moment it transitions to the inactive state, ensuring the UE can “receive SDT configuration via DL UE-specific signaling (e.g., … an RRCRelease message) from the serving RAN… to implement SDT after the UE moves to an RRC_INACTIVE state” (See Paragraph, [0188], TSENG).
Regarding claims 5 and 18, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, LEI does not explicitly teach but TSENG teaches, ‘wherein the information indicating which SDT resource the UE (105) should use is comprised in a paging message.’ (TSENG – Paragraph [0005]: In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a user equipment (UE) to monitor paging messages is provided. The method monitors, while the UE is in an Idle mode, a physical paging channel (PPCH) for receiving paging messages associated with the UE from a serving radio access network (RAN)… The method then determines whether the one or more paging messages are received during a small data transmission (SDT) procedure; Paragraph [0013]: In another implementation of the first aspect, the one or more paging messages comprise at least one paging message that includes access type information associated with the SDT procedure, and determining whether to terminate the SDT procedure or not comprises determining whether to terminate the SDT procedure or not based on the access type information in the at least one paging message; Paragraph [0054]: In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technical specifications, a UE in an Idle mode (e.g., an RRC Inactive state or an RRC Idle state in NR/E-UTRA protocols) may need to monitor paging occasions (PO) for paging messages delivered from a serving RAN and/or a serving CN; Paragraph [0056]: The paging message may include a paging record list, which may include at least one UE ID (e.g., 5G-S-TMSI or I-RNTI) to inform at least
one UE to connect with the serving network).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of TSENG with LEI because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of TSENG into LEI is that TSENG modifies the SDT resource indication of LEI to include the information in a paging message. The motivation would have been to dynamically trigger an SDT procedure for an idle or inactive UE, ensuring the network can utilize a paging message that includes access type information associated with the SDT procedure (See Paragraph, [0013], TSENG).
Claims 6, 13 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEI in view of Tsai et al. (US 2021/0410180 A1), hereinafter “TSAI”.
Regarding claims 6 and 19, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, comprising: LEI does not explicitly teach but TSAI teaches, ‘providing (503), to the UE (105), a configuration for other CG-SDT resources.’ (TSAI – Paragraph [0212]: The UE may be configured with multiple configured grant configurations (e.g., with different CG indexes), which may be used for small data transmission in RRC_INACTIVE); Paragraph [0107]: The method includes receiving an RRC release message from a BS, the RRC release message indicating an SDT configuration including a CG configuration and a timer; Paragraph [0178]: Type 1 and Type 2 are configured by RRC per Serving Cell and per BWP. Multiple configurations can be active simultaneously in the same BWP).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of TSAI with LEI because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of TSAI into LEI is that TSAI provides Small Data Transmission (SDT) in cellular networks when a UE is in an RRC_INACTIVE state, teaching that a UE can be configured with multiple, distinct configured grant (CD-SDT) configurations (e.g., with different CG indexes). Provisioning a UE with multiple/other CG-SDT resource configurations ensures that the UE can seamlessly switch to another pre-configured CG-SDT resource without needing to initiate a full RRC connection establishment procedure while the UE remains in the RRC_INACTIVE state (See Paragraphs, [0107], [0178], [0212], TSAI).
Regarding claim 13, LEI teaches, The method according to claim 1, comprising: LEI does not explicitly teach but TASI teaches, ‘providing (510), to the UE (105), information indicating if the CG-SDT resource can be used if no acknowledgement is obtained from the network node (101).’ (TSAI – Paragraph [0189]: cg-RetransmissionTimer [defines the timer controlling when a UE is permitted or restricted from using CG resources for retransmissions]: The duration after a configured grant (re)transmission of a HARQ process when the UE shall not autonomously retransmit that HARQ process; Paragraph [0213]: The SDT configuration may include a configuration for response/feedback: After the UE performs a transmission (which may be an initial/new transmission and/or a retransmission) for data (e.g., a TB), the UE may need to receive a response/feedback… The small data transmission configuration may include the corresponding configurations, including a specific RNTI for monitoring the response/feedback, the PDCCH monitoring occasion (e.g., search space and/or CORESET), an offset, and/or a timer for monitoring the response/feedback, etc.; Paragraph [0226]: Based on the feedback from the NW 101, the UE 102 may perform the retransmission when the UE 102 receives the feedback with "NACK" information and/or when the UE 102 does not receive feedback with "ACK" information [Note: when no ACK feedback is received within the configured time duration, the UE is permitted to retransmit using a configured grant (CG) resource] from the NW 101 (e.g., the UE 102 does not receive the "ACK" information from the NW 101 within the time duration)… In one implementation, the UE 102 may perform the retransmission via configured grant 106; Paragraph [0262]: When the specific timer 310 expires, the UE 302 may consider the previous transmission successful (e.g., ACK) or unsuccessful (e.g., NACK); Paragraph [0267]: When the specific timer 310 expires, the UE 302 may trigger/initiate SR, RA, and/or BSR procedure. In one implementation, the UE 302 may initiate an RA procedure when the specific timer 310 expires; Paragraph [0302]: The UE may determine the transmission is unsuccessful (due to failure in receiving the feedback) when the timer expires… and therefore may attempt to use the RA procedure for SDT).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have known to combine the teachings of TSAI with LEI because both are in the same/similar field of endeavor. The advantage of incorporating the above limitation(s) of TSAI into LEI is that TSAI provides Small Data Transmission (SDT) in cellular networks when a UE is in an RRC_INACTIVE state, teaching that a UE can be configured with multiple, distinct configured grant (CD-SDT) configurations (e.g., with different CG indexes). Provisioning a UE with multiple/other CG-SDT resource configurations ensures that the UE can seamlessly switch to another pre-configured CG-SDT resource without needing to initiate a full RRC connection establishment procedure while the UE remains in the RRC_INACTIVE state (See Paragraphs, [0107], [0178], [0212], TSAI).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAESHIL J CHOI whose telephone number is (703)756-5409. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday ET.
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/HAESHIL JESSICA CHOI/Examiner, Art Unit 2479
/JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479
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