DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to an application filed on 09/26/2024, in which claims 1-20 are pending and ready for examination.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
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 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 (a) as being unpatentable over Spapis et al. (hereinafter, “Spapis”; 20240340718) in view of Damnjanovic et al.(hereinafter, “Damnjanovic”; 20240406812) and in further view of YOU et al. (hereinafter, “YOU”; WO2024092652). (For citation purpose, examiner has used English translation of WO2024092652.The original copy and the English translation describe the same innovation. The filing date of WO2024092652 is MAR/03/2022, therefore; it qualifies as a prior art under 35 U.S.C 103 (a)).
In response to claim 1,
Spapis teaches a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for a Layer1/Layer2 Triggered Mobility (LTM) operation, the method comprising (paragraph 85, UE is equated to a UE, paragraph 86 teaches using a Layer 1/Layer 2 operation):
receiving, from a source cell, an LTM cell switch command Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) comprising a Timing Advance Command (TAC) field (paragraph 83, primary cell is equated to serving cell, secondary cells are equated to a target cell, paragraph 86. Layer 1/layer 2 triggered mobily (LTM) is equated to cell switch command, this paragraph is interpreted as using LTM cell switch procedure with MAC CE, paragraph 86 is also interpreted as receiving by a UE an LTM cell switch command Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), paragraph 95, MSG2 is equated to a LTM cell switch command, paragraph 96, Timing advance (TA) is equated to timing advance command, paragraph 97,acquiring a timing advance TA value for a candidate target cell in a MAC CE explicitly teaches the MAC CE comprising a timing advance command (TAC));
determining whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE further comprises a Contention-Free Random Access (CFRA)-related field (paragraph 95,a CFRA procedure with preamble index and random access occasion are read as using CFRA related field, paragraph 114,handover procedure in the paragraph is interpreted as using a LTM cell switch command with the MAC CE, and using a CFRA resource that include a handover procedure for a target cell is interpreted as the LTM switch command MAC-CE comprises CFRA related field, paragraph 117, sending signal 110 to the UE explicitly teaches receiving or determining);
switching from the source cell to a target cell in response to receiving the LTM cell switch command MAC CE (paragraph 127-128, steps 624-625 teach this limitation);
Spapis does not teach explicitly about using in a case that the TAC field is set to an invalid value, performing a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell, wherein a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related and in a case that the TAC field is set to a valid value, skipping the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell.
Damnjanovic in view of Spapis teaches in a case that the TAC field is set to an invalid value, performing a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell (paragraph 40,not acquiring a timing advance (TA) by the UE is interpreted as not using the TA field or using the TA field to an invalid value, target cell is equated to a target cell, using a RACH-less CFRA for L1/L2 dynamic switching is interpreted as performing a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell),
in a case that the TAC field is set to a valid value, skipping the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell (paragraph 40,not acquiring a timing advance (TA) by the UE is also interpreted as not using or accessing a valid TAC value, target cell is equated to a target cell, using a RACH-less CFRA for L1/L2 dynamic switching is also interpreted as skipping the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell).
It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Spapis for performing a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell, in case a TAC field is set to an invalid value, and skipping the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell, in a case that the TAC field is set to a valid value as taught by Damnjanovic because it would allow using a LTM dynamic switch based on a switch configuration for meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access.
Spapis and Damnjanovic do not teach explicitly about wherein a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field.
YOU in view of Damnjanovic and Spapis teaches wherein a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field (paragraph 69, L1/L2 switching is interpreted as LTM cell switching, paragraph 101,using a MAC CE is interpreted as using the LTM cell switch command MAC CE, CBRA and CFRA are different types of random access procedure, candidate cell identifier, SSB indexes, preamble indexes, etc. are equated to CFRA related field, sending CFRA indications using the MAC CE is interpreted as the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field); and
It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Spapis and Damnjanovic for using a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field as taught by YOU because it would allow using a using a synchronize uplink and downlink LTM dynamic switch procedure in multiple candidate cells covering with new radio (NR) protocol.
In response to claims 3, 10 and 17,
Spapis and Damnjanovic do not teach explicitly about claims 3, 10 and 17.
YOU in view of Spapis and Damnjanovic teaches wherein the CFRA-related field comprises at least one of a preamble index, a mask index, and a Synchronization Signal/Physical Broadcast Channel (SS/PBCH) Block (SSB) index (paragraph 101, using CFRA indications those include preamble indexes explicitly teaches CFRA-related field comprises at least one of a preamble index).
It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Spapis and Damnjanovic for using a CFRA-related field comprises at least one of a preamble index as taught by YOU because it would allow using a using a synchronize uplink and downlink LTM dynamic switch procedure in multiple candidate cells covering with new radio (NR) protocol.
In response to claims 6, 13 and 20,
Spapis and Damnjanovic do not teach explicitly about claims 6, 13 and 20.
YOU in view of Spapis and Damnjanovic teaches wherein the LTM cell switch command MAC CE further comprises an indication field for indicating whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field (paragraph 69, L1/L2 switching is interpreted as LTM cell switching, paragraph 101,using a MAC CE is interpreted as using the LTM cell switch command MAC CE, CBRA and CFRA are different types of random access procedure, candidate cell identifier, SSB indexes, preamble indexes, etc. are equated to CFRA related field, sending CFRA indications using the MAC CE is interpreted as the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field).
It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Spapis and Damnjanovic for using wherein the LTM cell switch command MAC CE further comprises an indication field for indicating whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field as taught by YOU because it would allow using a using a synchronize uplink and downlink LTM dynamic switch procedure in multiple candidate cells covering with new radio (NR) protocol.
In response to claim 8,
Spapis teaches a User Equipment (UE) for a Layer1/Layer2 Triggered Mobility (LTM) operation, the UE comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one processor and storing one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (paragraph78 teaches this limitation),
cause the UE to: receive, from a source cell, an LTM cell switch command Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) comprising a Timing Advance Command (TAC) field; determine whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE further comprises a Contention-Free Random Access (CFRA)-related field; switch from the source cell to a target cell in response to receiving the LTM cell switch command MAC CE (these limitations are identical to claim 1, therefore, these limitations are rejected as claim 1);
Spapis does not teach explicitly about using in a case that the TAC field is set to an invalid value, performing a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell, wherein a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related and in a case that the TAC field is set to a valid value, skipping the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell.
Damnjanovic in view of Spapis teaches in a case that the TAC field is set to an invalid value, perform a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell, and in a case that the TAC field is set to a valid value, skip the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell (these limitations are identical to claim 1, therefore, these limitations are rejected as claim 1).
Spapis and Damnjanovic do not teach explicitly about wherein a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field.
YOU in view of Damnjanovic and Spapis teaches wherein a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field (paragraph 69, L1/L2 switching is interpreted as LTM cell switching, paragraph 101,using a MAC CE is interpreted as using the LTM cell switch command MAC CE, CBRA and CFRA are different types of random access procedure, candidate cell identifier, SSB indexes, preamble indexes, etc. are equated to CFRA related field, sending CFRA indications using the MAC CE is interpreted as the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field); and
It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Spapis and Damnjanovic for using a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field as taught by YOU because it would allow using a using a synchronize uplink and downlink LTM dynamic switch procedure in multiple candidate cells covering with new radio (NR) protocol.
In response to claim 15,
Spapis teaches a Base Station (BS) for a Layer1/Layer2 Triggered Mobility (LTM) operation, the BS comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one processor and storing one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (paragraph 78, a network apparatus is equated to a base station, paragraph 78 teaches this limitation),
cause the BS to: transmit, to a User Equipment (UE), via a source cell associated with the BS, an LTM cell switch command Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) comprising a Timing Advance Command (TAC) field (paragraph 86 is interpreted as transmitting by the base station an LTM cell switch command Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE),rest of these limitations are identical to claim 1, therefore, these limitation are rejected as claim 1),
wherein the UE: determines whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE further comprises a Contention-Free Random Access (CFRA)-related field, switches from the source cell to a target cell in response to receiving the LTM cell switch command MAC CE (these limitations are identical to claim 1, therefore, these limitations are rejected as claim 1),
Spapis does not teach explicitly about using in a case that the TAC field is set to an invalid value, performing a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell, wherein a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related and in a case that the TAC field is set to a valid value, skipping the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell.
Damnjanovic in view of Spapis teaches in a case that the TAC field is set to an invalid value, performing a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell (paragraph 40,not acquiring a timing advance (TA) by the UE is interpreted as not using the TA field or using the TA field to an invalid value, target cell is equated to a target cell, using a RACH-less CFRA for L1/L2 dynamic switching is interpreted as performing a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell),
in a case that the TAC field is set to a valid value, skipping the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell (paragraph 40,not acquiring a timing advance (TA) by the UE is also interpreted as not using or accessing a valid TAC value, target cell is equated to a target cell, using a RACH-less CFRA for L1/L2 dynamic switching is also interpreted as skipping the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell).
It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Spapis for performing a Random Access (RA) procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell, in case a TAC field is set to an invalid value, and skipping the RA procedure with the target cell upon switching to the target cell, in a case that the TAC field is set to a valid value as taught by Damnjanovic because it would allow using a LTM dynamic switch based on a switch configuration for meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access.
Spapis and Damnjanovic do not teach explicitly about wherein a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field.
YOU in view of Damnjanovic and Spapis teaches wherein a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field (paragraph 69, L1/L2 switching is interpreted as LTM cell switching, paragraph 101,using a MAC CE is interpreted as using the LTM cell switch command MAC CE, CBRA and CFRA are different types of random access procedure, candidate cell identifier, SSB indexes, preamble indexes, etc. are equated to CFRA related field, sending CFRA indications using the MAC CE is interpreted as the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field); and
It would have been obvious within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Spapis and Damnjanovic for using a type of the RA procedure depends on whether the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field as taught by YOU because it would allow using a using a synchronize uplink and downlink LTM dynamic switch procedure in multiple candidate cells covering with new radio (NR) protocol.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4-5, 7, 9, 11-12, 14, 16 and 18-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
As for claims 2, 9, and 16, these claims are rejected, because there is no prior art in the record that teaches claimed limitations “The type of the RA procedure is a CFRA type in a case that the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field, and the type of the RA procedure is a Contention-Based Random Access (CBRA) type in a case that the LTM cell switch command MAC CE does not comprise the CFRA-related field.”
The closest prior art in the record YOU et al.’s (WO2024092652) teaching in paragraph 69 about using L1/L2 switching is interpreted as LTM cell switching, his teaching in paragraph 101 about using a MAC CE is interpreted as using the LTM cell switch command MAC CE, CBRA and CFRA are different types of random access procedure, candidate cell identifier, SSB indexes, preamble indexes, etc. are equated to CFRA related field, sending CFRA indications using the MAC CE is interpreted as the LTM cell switch command MAC CE comprises the CFRA-related field. He fails to teach the cited limitations.
As for claims 4, 11 and 18, these claims are rejected, because there is no prior art in the record that teaches claimed limitations “Wherein the invalid value is ‘FFF’ in hexadecimal notation.”
The closest prior art in the record Spapis et al. (20240340718) teaches in paragraphs 95-95, 114 and in paragraph 126 about using TA values for switching to a target cell, but he fails to teach the cited limitations.
As for claims 5, 12 and 19, these claims are rejected, because there is no prior art in the record that teaches claimed limitations “wherein the valid value corresponds to an index of a Timing Advance (TA) value for the target cell.”
The closest prior art in the record Spapis et al. (20240340718) teaches in paragraphs 95-95, 114 and in paragraph 126 about using TA values for switching to a target cell, but he fails to teach the cited limitations.
As for claims 7 and 14, these claims are rejected, because there is no prior art in the record that teaches claimed limitations “wherein performing the RA procedure with the target cell comprises: monitoring a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format with Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) scrambled by a Random Access-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI), a Message B-RNTI (MsgB-RNTI), or a Temporary Cell-RNTI (TC-RNTI) in a search space on the target cell.”
The closest prior art in the record Spapis et al. (20240340718) teaches in paragraph 99 about using a CRNTI with a MAC-CE, but he fails to teach the cited limitations.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
20220046510…………………. paragraph 368.
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/ABUSAYEED M HAQUE/ Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/CHRISTOPHER M CRUTCHFIELD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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