DETAILED ACTION
This Non-Final Office Action is in response to application number 18/867,967 filed on November 21st, 2024. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statements
The Information Disclosure Statements (IDS), submitted on November 21st 2024, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 102
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 1-4,12,19,23, 28-31,40 and 41 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (US 20250071817 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 40, Zhang et al. discloses a method for supporting a multi-Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission configuration across Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs), performed by a network side device, and comprising: sending a multi-PRACH transmission configuration to a terminal device, wherein the multi-PRACH transmission configuration is configured to indicate a SSB usage mode corresponding to a PRACH resource used by the terminal device to send, according to the multi-PRACH- transmission configuration, a plurality-of PRACH transmissions (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0108 discloses “In some embodiments of the present application, the configuration information may include a plurality of SSB patterns for PRACH repetitions. Each SSB pattern may include one or more SSBs. The number of SSBs in a SSB pattern may be same with the number of PRACH repetitions (also referred to as a PRACH repetition number). The configuration information may include SSB patterns for one or more PRACH repetition numbers. For example, the configuration information may include four SSB patterns, which are {0,1,2,3}, {4,5,6,7}, {0,2,4,6}, and {1,3,5,7}. The numbers included in the SSB pattern may be the indexes of the SSBs. For example, for the SSB pattern {0,1,2,3}, it includes SSB #0, SSB #1, SSB #2, and SSB #3. Each SSB pattern in these SSB patterns contains four SSBs and thus corresponds to a PRACH repetition number which is equal to 4. The SSBs in a SSB pattern may be the same or different, which correspond to PRACH repetitions with same beam and PRACH repetitions with different beams, respectively.” Additionally Paragraph 0018); and receiving a plurality of PRACHs- which are transmitted on the PRACH resource by the terminal device through the SSB usage mode (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0149 discloses “In the above embodiments, for an RO of the set of ROs, the preamble is transmitted using the beam corresponding to an SSB which is included in the determined SSB pattern and associated with the RO. This is enabled since the SSB pattern for PRACH repetition includes the SSB that is associated with the RO. For example, in is assumed that the determined SSB pattern for PRACH repetitions is SSB pattern {a,b}, then, for an RO associated with SSB #a, the UE may transmit the preamble by using the beam corresponding to SSB #a.”).
Regarding claim 2, Zhang et al. discloses the method according.to claim 1, wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises: sending a multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration to the terminal device (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0108 discloses “In some embodiments of the present application, the configuration information may include a plurality of SSB patterns for PRACH repetitions. Each SSB pattern may include one or more SSBs. The number of SSBs in a SSB pattern may be same with the number of PRACH repetitions (also referred to as a PRACH repetition number). The configuration information may include SSB patterns for one or more PRACH repetition numbers. For example, the configuration information may include four SSB patterns, which are {0,1,2,3}, {4,5,6,7}, {0,2,4,6}, and {1,3,5,7}. The numbers included in the SSB pattern may be the indexes of the SSBs. For example, for the SSB pattern {0,1,2,3}, it includes SSB #0, SSB #1, SSB #2, and SSB #3. Each SSB pattern in these SSB patterns contains four SSBs and thus corresponds to a PRACH repetition number which is equal to 4. The SSBs in a SSB pattern may be the same or different, which correspond to PRACH repetitions with same beam and PRACH repetitions with different beams, respectively.” Additionally, Paragraphs 0099, 105-107).
Regarding claim 3, Zhang et al discloses the method according to. claim 2, wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration to the terminal device comprises at least one of: sending a-first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration is that SSBs corresponding to the PRACH resource are the same; or sending a second multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration is that SSBs corresponding to the PRACH resource are different (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0108 discloses “…The SSBs in a SSB pattern may be the same or different, which correspond to PRACH repetitions with same beam and PRACH repetitions with different beams, respectively.” This addresses both conditions).
Regarding claim 4, Zhang et al. discloses the method according to claim 3, wherein sending the first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration to the terminal device comprises at least one of: sending to the terminal device a first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration in which cross-SSB is allowed (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraphs 0176-0177 disclose “ Another ordering scheme is differential SSB pattern ordering in each RO of the set of ROs. [0177] In some embodiments of the present application, the differential ordering scheme includes ordering SSB pattern(s) in a set of SSB patterns associated with a latter RO based on order(s) of SSB pattern(s) in a set of SSB patterns associated with former RO(s). In such embodiments, for an SSB pattern associated with both a former RO and the latter RO, the UE may determine an order of the SSB pattern (e.g., an index of the SSB pattern) in a set of SSB patterns associated with the latter RO to be the same as an order of the SSB pattern (e.g., an index of the SSB pattern) in a set of SSB patterns associated with former RO.” Across SSB = UE transmits PRACH repetitions across PRACH Occasions Ros that are mapped to different SSBs); or sending to the terminal device a first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration in which the cross-SSB is not allowed: and wherein sending the second multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration to the terminal device comprises at least one of :sending to the terminal device a second multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration in which an SSB gap between PRACH transmissions is allowed (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0148 discloses “In some other embodiments of the present application, after a time gap relative to a transmission of the preamble in a first RO of the set of ROs, the UE may start a RAR window. In the case that an RAR is received in the RAR window before the UE finishing transmitting the preamble in all ROs of the set of ROs, the UE may terminate transmitting the preamble in the remaining ROs.”): or sending to the terminal device a second multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration in which the SSB gap between the PRACH transmissions is not allowed.
Regarding claim 12, Zhang et al discloses the method according to claim [[7]] 6 wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device. comprises: sending the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device through a broadcast signaling or through a dedicated signaling; wherein the broadcast signaling comprises System Message Block 1 (SIB1) and wherein the dedicated signaling comprises at least one of: a RadioResource Control (RRC)Reconfiguration message: a RRCResume message: a RRCRelease message: or a RRCSetup message (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0107 discloses “In the exemplary method shown in FIG. 4, in step 401, the UE may receive configuration information from a BS (e.g., BS 101 as shown in FIG. 1). In some embodiments of the present application, the configuration information may be received from a broadcast signaling or a UE specific signaling from the BS.”).
Regarding claim19, Zhang et al. discloses the method according to claim 12, wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises: sending-a dedicated RACH configuration to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the dedicated RACH configuration (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0107 discloses “In the exemplary method shown in FIG. 4, in step 401, the UE may receive configuration information from a BS (e.g., BS 101 as shown in FIG. 1). In some embodiments of the present application, the configuration information may be received from a broadcast signaling or a UE specific signaling from the BS.”).
Regarding claim 23, Zhang et al. disclose the method according to claim [[15]] 12, Wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises: sending a RACH configuration of a feature combination to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the RACH configuration of the feature combination: and wherein the feature combination comprises a Coverage Enhancement feature, and the Coverage Enhancement feature is configured to indicate a Coverage Enhancement feature that supports a second multi-PRACH transmission (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0055 discloses “Embodiments of the present application provide technical solutions for PRACH repetitions, which solves the technical problems for implementing the PRACH repetitions, thereby improving the coverage of the PRACH.” Additionally, paragraph 0108).
Regarding claim 28, Zhang et al. disclose the method according to claim [[26]] 25; wherein the method further comprises: based on the PRACH capability information, configuring a multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration for the terminal device through a dedicated signaling (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0107 discloses “In the exemplary method shown in FIG. 4, in step 401, the UE may receive configuration information from a BS (e.g., BS 101 as shown in FIG. 1). In some embodiments of the present application, the configuration information may be received from a broadcast signaling or a UE specific signaling from the BS.”).
Regarding claim 29, Zhang et al. disclose a method for supporting a multi-PRACH transmission configuration across SSBs, performed by a terminal device, and comprising: transmitting to a network side device a plurality-of PRACHs on a PRACH resource through a SSB usage mode (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0149 discloses “In the above embodiments, for an RO of the set of ROs, the preamble is transmitted using the beam corresponding to an SSB which is included in the determined SSB pattern and associated with the RO. This is enabled since the SSB pattern for PRACH repetition includes the SSB that is associated with the RO. For example, in is assumed that the determined SSB pattern for PRACH repetitions is SSB pattern {a,b}, then, for an RO associated with SSB #a, the UE may transmit the preamble by using the beam corresponding to SSB #a.”).
Regarding claim 30, Zhang et al disclose the method according to claim 29, wherein transmitting to the network side device the, plurality of PRACHs on the PRACH resource through the SSB usage mode comprises at least one of: transmitting to the network side device the plurality of PRACHs on a PRACH resource corresponding to a first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration is that SSBs corresponding to the PRACH resource used for the multi-PRACH transmission are the same; or transmitting to the network side device the plurality of PRACHs on a PRACH resource corresponding to a second multi-PRACH transmission mode, configuration, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration is that time domain Random access Occasion (RO) resources used by the multi-PRACH transmission belong to the same SSB or different SSBs (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0108 discloses “…The SSBs in a SSB pattern may be the same or different, which correspond to PRACH repetitions with same beam and PRACH repetitions with different beams, respectively.” This addresses both conditions).
Regarding claim 31, Zhang et al. disclose the method according to claim 30, wherein transmitting to the network side device the plurality of PRACHs on the PRACH resource corresponding to the-first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration comprises at least one of: according to the first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration, transmitting to the network side device the, plurality of PRACHs through a PRACH resource corresponding to a first multi-PRACH transmission in which across-SSB is allowed (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraphs 0176-0177 disclose “ Another ordering scheme is differential SSB pattern ordering in each RO of the set of ROs. [0177] In some embodiments of the present application, the differential ordering scheme includes ordering SSB pattern(s) in a set of SSB patterns associated with a latter RO based on order(s) of SSB pattern(s) in a set of SSB patterns associated with former RO(s). In such embodiments, for an SSB pattern associated with both a former RO and the latter RO, the UE may determine an order of the SSB pattern (e.g., an index of the SSB pattern) in a set of SSB patterns associated with the latter RO to be the same as an order of the SSB pattern (e.g., an index of the SSB pattern) in a set of SSB patterns associated with former RO.” Across SSB = UE transmits PRACH repetitions across PRACH Occasions Ros that are mapped to different SSBs); or according to the first multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration, transmitting to the network side device the plurality of PRACHs through a PRACH resource corresponding to a first multi-PRACH transmission in which the across-SSB is not allowed: and wherein transmitting to the network side' device the plurality of PRACHs- on the PRACH resource corresponding to the second multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration comprises at least one of: according to the' second multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration, transmitting to the network side device the plurality of PRACHs on a PRACH resource corresponding to a second multi-PRACH transmission in which a 'SSB gap between PRACH transmissions is allowed (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0148 discloses “In some other embodiments of the present application, after a time gap relative to a transmission of the preamble in a first RO of the set of ROs, the UE may start a RAR window. In the case that an RAR is received in the RAR window before the UE finishing transmitting the preamble in all ROs of the set of ROs, the UE may terminate transmitting the preamble in the remaining ROs.”): or according to the second multi-PRACH transmission mode configuration, transmitting to the network side device the plurality of PRACHs on a PRACH resource' corresponding to a second multi-PRACH transmission in which the SSB gap between the PRACH transmissions is not allowed.
Regarding claim 41, Zhang et al. disclose a terminal device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication device to execute the method according to claim 29 (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0239-0241).
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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 6,15,17,20,25 and,27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 20250071817 A1) further in view of Shibaike et al. (US 20250338317 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Zhang et al. discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises: sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device, wherein the multi-PRACH transmission configuration comprises a first multi-PRACH transmission configuration based on a Contention-Free Random Access (CFRA) and a second multi-PRACH transmission configuration based on a Contention-Based Random Access (CBRA) (US 20250071817 A1 Zhang et al. Paragraph 0129 discloses “Referring to FIG. 6, it is assumed that the preambles for UEs without PRACH repetition are categorized into two kinds of preambles, one kind is contention-based (CB) preambles for preambles for UEs without PRACH repetition and the other kind is contention-free (CF) preambles for UEs without PRACH repetition. Then, a portion of CF preambles may be used for the plurality of preambles for PRACH repetitions (e.g., used as CB preambles for UEs with PRACH repetition), and the remaining portion of the CF preambles may be used for the CF preambles for UEs without PRACH repetition. In other words, the BS may configure a portion of CF preambles for UEs without PRACH repetition to be the plurality of preambles for PRACH repetitions, and the plurality of preambles may be used for the set of SSB patterns, e.g., including SSB pattern #0 and SSB pattern #1 in the example of FIG. 6.”:
Zhang et al. fails explicitly to disclose and wherein a trigger mode of the CFRA comprises at least one of: a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) trigger mode: a handover trigger mode: a beam failure recovery trigger mode: or a PScell-addition or change-trigger mode.
However, in an analogous art Shibaike et al. teaches and wherein a trigger mode of the CFRA comprises at least one of: a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) trigger mode: a handover trigger mode: a beam failure recovery trigger mode: or a PScell-addition or change-trigger mode. (US 20250338317 A1 Shibaike et al. Paragraphs 0084-0087 disclose “The type of RACH procedure triggered is different for different purposes such as whether PRACH repetition is applicable to a scenario. The type of RACH procedure may be at least one of the following: [0085] contention-free random access (CFRA), PDCCH ordered RA (RA initiated by a PDCCH order), CFRA for beam failure recovery (BFR), CFRA for system information (SI) request, CFRA for reconfiguration with sync, and the like [0086] contention-based random access (CBRA), RA triggered by MAC entity, RA triggered by RRC with event, CBRA for BFR, and the like [0087] Four-step RACH [0088] Two-step RACH.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang et al. to incorporate the teachings of Shibaike et al., wherein a trigger mode of the CFRA comprises at least one of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) trigger mode: a handover trigger mode: a beam failure recovery trigger mode: or a PScell-addition or change-trigger mode., in order ensure that connectivity is restored immediately with out delay or collision risk.
Regarding claim 15, Zhang et al. disclose the method according to claim 12.
Zhang et al. fail to explicitly disclose wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises sending a common Random Access Channel. (RACH) configuration to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the RACH configuration: and the RACH configuration comprises common RACH resources separately configured on individual Bandwidth Parts (BWPs).
However, in an analogous art Shibaike et al. teaches wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises: sending a common Random Access Channel. (RACH) configuration to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the RACH configuration (US 20250338317 A1 Shibaike et al. Paragraph 0369 discloses “The control section 110 may control transmission of first information (for example, a common RACH configuration/a general RACH configuration/a configuration related to PRACH repetition) for determining a plurality of groups including a plurality of resources for a physical random access channel and transmission of second information (for example, a configuration of a ramping step) for determining transmission power for each of the plurality of resources by using one or more counters. The transmitting/receiving section 120 may receive a plurality of repetitions of the physical random access channel in the plurality of resources.): and the RACH configuration comprises common RACH resources separately configured on individual Bandwidth Parts (BWPs) (Paragraph 0116 discloses “When a random access procedure is initiated on the serving cell, the MAC entity performs the following: [0117] set RA_TYPE to 4-stepRA if the random access procedure is initiated by the PDCCH order and ra-PreambleIndex explicitly provided by the PDCCH is not 0b000000, or if a random access procedure is initiated for a reconfiguration with synchronization and a contention-free random access resource of four-step RA type is explicitly provided by rach-ConfigDedicated to the BWP selected for the random access procedure.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang et al. to incorporate the teachings of Shibaike et al. wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises sending a common Random Access Channel. (RACH) configuration to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the RACH configuration: and the RACH configuration comprises common RACH resources separately configured on individual Bandwidth Parts (BWPs)., in order enable and achieve dedicated resource reservation, collision prevention, signaling efficiency and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 17, Zhang et al. discloses the method according to claim [[16]] 15.
Zhang et al. fail to explicitly disclose wherein sending the RACH configuration to the terminal device comprises one of: sending first RACH-ConfigCommon in an initial BWP configuration of SIB1 to the- terminal device, wherein the RACH configuration is carried in the first RACH- ConfigConmon; or sending second RACH-ConfigConimon of a BWP configuration of the RRCReconfiguration message to the terminal device, wherein the RACH configuration is carried in the second RACH-ConfigCommon.
However, in an analogous art Shibaike et al. teach wherein sending the RACH configuration to the terminal device comprises one of: sending first RACH-ConfigCommon in an initial BWP configuration of SIB1 to the- terminal device, wherein the RACH configuration is carried in the first RACH- ConfigConmon (US 20250338317 A1 Shibaike et al. Paragraph 0079) ; or sending second RACH-ConfigCommon of a BWP configuration of the RRCReconfiguration message to the terminal device, wherein the RACH configuration is carried in the second RACH-ConfigCommon.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang et al. to incorporate the teachings of Shibaike et al., wherein sending the RACH configuration to the terminal device comprises one of: sending first RACH-ConfigCommon in an initial BWP configuration of SIB1 to the- terminal device, wherein the RACH configuration is carried in the first RACH- ConfigConmon, in order enable and achieve dedicated resource reservation, collision prevention, signaling efficiency and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 20, Zhang et al. disclose the method according to claim 19.
Zhang et al, fail to explicitly disclose wherein sending the dedicated RACH configuration to the terminal device comprises one of: in response to a CBRA triggered by a beam failure recovery, sending BeamFailureRecoveryConfig to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration configured in the dedicated RACH configuration is carried in the BeamFailureRecoveryConfig; in response to a CBRA triggered by Pscell addition or change, sending RACH- ConfigDedicated to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration configured in the dedicated RACH configuration is carried in the RACH- ConfigDedicated: or in response to a CBRA triggered by-a handover, sending RACH-ConfigDedicated to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration configured - in the dedicated RACH configuration is carried in the RACH- ConfigDedicated.
However, in an analogous art Shibaike et al teaches wherein sending the dedicated RACH configuration to the terminal device comprises one of: in response to a CBRA triggered by a beam failure recovery, sending BeamFailureRecoveryConfig to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration configured in the dedicated RACH configuration is carried in the BeamFailureRecoveryConfig (US 20250338317 A1 Shibaike et al. Paragraphs 0084-0087 disclose “The type of RACH procedure triggered is different for different purposes such as whether PRACH repetition is applicable to a scenario. The type of RACH procedure may be at least one of the following: [0085] contention-free random access (CFRA), PDCCH ordered RA (RA initiated by a PDCCH order), CFRA for beam failure recovery (BFR), CFRA for system information (SI) request, CFRA for reconfiguration with sync, and the like [0086] contention-based random access (CBRA), RA triggered by MAC entity, RA triggered by RRC with event, CBRA for BFR, and the like [0087] Four-step RACH [0088] Two-step RACH.”); in response to a CBRA triggered by Pscell addition or change, sending RACH- ConfigDedicated to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration configured in the dedicated RACH configuration is carried in the RACH- ConfigDedicated: or in response to a CBRA triggered by-a handover, sending RACH-ConfigDedicated to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration configured - in the dedicated RACH configuration is carried in the RACH- ConfigDedicated.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang et al. and to incorporate the teachings of Shibaike et al., wherein sending the dedicated RACH configuration to the terminal device comprises one of: in response to a CBRA triggered by a beam failure recovery, sending BeamFailureRecoveryConfig to the terminal device, wherein the second multi-PRACH transmission configuration configured in the dedicated RACH configuration is carried in the BeamFailureRecoveryConfig, in order enable and achieve dedicated resource reservation, collision prevention, signaling efficiency and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 25, Zhang et al. disclose the method according to claim 1.
Zhang et al. fail to explicitly disclose further comprising: receiving PRACH capability information sent by the terminal device, wherein the PRACH capability information is configured to indicate capability information of the terminal device supporting multi-PRACH transmission: and wherein receiving the PRACH capability information sent by the terminal device comprises: receiving UECapabilityInformation sent by the terminal device, wherein the PRACH capability information is carried in the UECapabilitvInformation.
However, in an analogous art Shibaike et al teaches further comprising: receiving PRACH capability information sent by the terminal device, wherein the PRACH capability information is configured to indicate capability information of the terminal device supporting multi-PRACH transmission: and wherein receiving the PRACH capability information sent by the terminal device comprises: receiving UECapabilityInformation sent by the terminal device, wherein the PRACH capability information is carried in the UECapabilitvInformation (US 20250338317 A1 Shibaike et al. Paragraph 0296 dscloses “At least one operation of the above-described embodiment may be applied only to UEs that have reported a particular UE capability or support the particular UE capability.” Additionally, Paragraphs 0297-0308).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang et al. and to incorporate the teachings of Shibaike et al., further comprising: receiving PRACH capability information sent by the terminal device, wherein the PRACH capability information is configured to indicate capability information of the terminal device supporting multi-PRACH transmission: and wherein receiving the PRACH capability information sent by the terminal device comprises: receiving UECapabilityInformation sent by the terminal device, wherein the PRACH capability information is carried in the UECapabilitvInformation, in order to ensure that the UE is able to support Muti-PRACH before engaging the UE to send Mult PRACH configuration.
Regarding claim 27, Zhang et al. disclose the method according to claim 25.
Zhang et al. fail to explicitly disclose wherein the PRACH capability information comprises at least one of: PRACH capability information supporting sending of the multi-PRACH transmission on PRACH resources corresponding to the same beam; PRACH capability information supporting sending of the multi-PRACH transmission on PRACH resources corresponding to different beams; PRACH capability information supporting the multi-PRACH transmission cross the SSBs; or PRACH capability information supporting multi-PRACH transmission cross SSB gaps.
However, in an analogous art Zhang et al. teaches wherein the PRACH capability information comprises at least one of: PRACH capability information supporting sending of the multi-PRACH transmission on PRACH resources corresponding to the same beam; PRACH capability information supporting sending of the multi-PRACH transmission on PRACH resources corresponding to different beams; PRACH capability information supporting the multi-PRACH transmission cross the SSBs; or PRACH capability information supporting multi-PRACH transmission cross SSB gaps (US 20250338317 A1 Shibaike et al. Paragraph 0297-0308 disclose “The specific UE capability may indicate at least one of the following: [0298] Supporting specific processing/operations/control/information for at least one of the above embodiments [0299] Supporting a plurality of PRACH repetitions with the same beam [0300] Supporting a plurality of PRACH repetitions with different beams [0301] Supporting a plurality of PRACH transmissions with one Msg2 for a plurality of PRACH transmissions [0302] Supporting a plurality of PRACH transmissions with one Msg2 for each PRACH transmission [0303] Supporting individual preamble power ramping counters for a plurality of different beams for a plurality of PRACH transmissions [0304] Supporting a common preamble power ramping counter for a plurality of different beams for a plurality of PRACH transmissions [0305] Supporting preamble power ramping counters that are changed for each RO for a plurality of PRACH transmissions [0306] Supporting preamble power ramping counters that are changed for each RO group for a plurality of PRACH transmissions [0307] Supporting a new power increase step (ramping step) for a plurality of PRACH transmissions [0308] Supporting explicit path loss RS configuration for a plurality of PRACH transmissions.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang et al. and to incorporate the teachings of Shibaike et al., wherein the PRACH capability information comprises at least one of: PRACH capability information supporting sending of the multi-PRACH transmission on PRACH resources corresponding to the same beam; PRACH capability information supporting sending of the multi-PRACH transmission on PRACH resources corresponding to different beams; PRACH capability information supporting the multi-PRACH transmission cross the SSBs; or PRACH capability information supporting multi-PRACH transmission cross SSB gaps, in order to ensure that the UE is able to support Muti-PRACH before engaging the UE to send Mult PRACH configuration.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US 20250071817 A1) in view of Shibaike et al. (US 20250338317 A1) further in view of He (US 12010728 B2).
Regarding claim 8, Zhang et al. discloses. the method according to claim [7]] 6.
Zhang et al. fail to explicitly disclose wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises one of: in response to a CFRA triggered by a PDCCH, sending a PDCCH order to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the PDCCH order; response to a CFRA triggered by Pscell addition or change, sending RACH- ConfigDedicated to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in a CFRA configuration of the RACH-ConfigDedicated; in response to a CFRA triggered by a handover, sending RACH-ConfigDedicated to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in a CFRA configuration of the-RACH-ConfigDedicated: or in. response to a CFRA triggered' by a beam failure recovery, sending BeamFailureRecoveryConfig to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the BeamFailureRecoveryConfig.
However, in an analogous art He teaches wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises one of: in response to a CFRA triggered by a PDCCH, sending a PDCCH order to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the PDCCH order (US 12010728 B2 He Paragraph 48 discloses “For contention-free based random access procedure, the PRACH resource used by the terminal device to send a PRACH is assigned by the network device to the terminal device. The network device triggers the terminal device to initiate random access by sending a physical downlink control channel (Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH) order to the terminal device. Downlink control information (Downlink Control Information, DCI) in the PDCCH order includes information such as a random access preamble, an uplink indicator or a supplemental uplink indicator (Uplink/Supplement Uplink indicator, UL/SUL indicator), an SS/PBCH index, a PRACH mask index, and the like used by the terminal device for random access. After receiving the PDCCH order, the terminal device may determine a PRACH resource that can be used by the terminal device according to the detected SSB index (such as an SSB index of a SSB with the highest reference signal receiving power (Reference Signal Receiving Power, RSRP) and/or reference signal receiving quality (Reference Signal Receiving Quality, RSRQ)), and the aforementioned association relationship between the SSB index and the PRACH resource configured by the network device. In addition, the terminal device may further determine the actually used PRACH occasion according to the PRACH mask index in the PDCCH order.” Additionally paragraph 103.); response to a CFRA triggered by Pscell addition or change, sending RACH- ConfigDedicated to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in a CFRA configuration of the RACH-ConfigDedicated; in response to a CFRA triggered by a handover, sending RACH-ConfigDedicated to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in a CFRA configuration of the-RACH-ConfigDedicated: or in. response to a CFRA triggered' by a beam failure recovery, sending BeamFailureRecoveryConfig to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the BeamFailureRecoveryConfig.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Zhang et al. to incorporate the teachings of He, wherein sending the multi-PRACH transmission configuration to the terminal device comprises one of: in response to a CFRA triggered by a PDCCH, sending a PDCCH order to the terminal device, wherein the first multi-PRACH transmission configuration is carried in the PDCCH order, in order ensure that the configuration to implement multi-PRACH sent fast with priority to the UE..
Conclusion
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/Samuel Dilan Rutnam/
Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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