DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1-20 have been examined.
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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20190045552 A1 to Blankenship et al. (hereinafter “Blankenship”).
As per claim 1, Blankenship discloses a terminal device (Blankenship [0249]), comprising a processor (Blankenship [0249]) and a memory (Blankenship [0249]), wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program (Blankenship [0249]), and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory (Blankenship [0249]) to cause the terminal device to perform: repeatedly transmitting a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to a network device in an initial access phase or before a radio resource control (RRC) connection is established (Blankenship [0043] This solution allows the number of PUCCH repetitions to be selected in a systematic and robust way before an RRC connection has been fully established. [0044] Indicating by RRC may pertain to the network (in particular a network node like an eNodeB) transmitting RRC signaling (e.g., a RRC message) comprising a configuration corresponding to the information indicated. [0045] Exemplarily, determination without regard to PRACH CE level is discussed in the following. [0046] RACH procedure starts with PRACH transmission from the CE. Several variants are possible for deriving “Number of PUCCH repetitions” for PUCCH associated with RACH Msg4, where it is not conditioned on the PRACH CE level chosen by the UE. [0047] An exemplary Option A based on actual number of repetitions of the PUSCH is discussed in the following. [0048] Use, as a reference point, the number of repetitions of the PUSCH carrying RACH Msg3. That is, “Number of PUCCH repetitions” is initially derived based on the “Number of Repetitions for Msg3 PUSCH” field in Random Access Response Grant. [0049] Pros: PUSCH and PUCCH both are UL transmission and part of the RACH procedure. In contrast, the downlink typically has different interference characteristics compared to the uplink, and the number of MPDCCH/PDSCH repetitions might not be very accurate in the uplink. [0050] Cons: Number of bits carried by PUSCH is much larger than that of PUCCH and the two channels use different channel coding, meaning that they have somewhat different link performance characteristics.).
As per claim 2, Blankenship discloses the terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform: transmitting a first request to the network device, wherein the first request is used to request a repetition of transmission of the first PUCCH (Blankenship [0043-0048,0072-0075] and [0108] A msg3 may considered a connection request message, in particular implemented as a RRC connection request message. It may comprise or refer to the C-RNTI and be transmitted on the UL-SCH, e.g. utilizing resources assigned by msg2. It may comprise a more detailed UE identity (e.g., Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity, TMSI, or Random Value) and/or a Connection establishment cause, why or for which purpose the terminal wants to access the network via the network node).
As per claim 3, Blankenship discloses the terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the transmitting a first request to the network device comprises: when a measurement result of a downlink reference signal of the terminal device is less than a first threshold, transmitting the first request to the network device (Blankenship [0043-0048,0072-0075, 0089-0090]).
As per claim 4, Blankenship discloses the terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the transmitting a first request to the network device comprises: transmitting a message 3 (Msg3) to the network device, wherein the Msg3 comprises the first request (Blankenship [0043-0048,0072-0075] and [0108] A msg3 may considered a connection request message, in particular implemented as a RRC connection request message. It may comprise or refer to the C-RNTI and be transmitted on the UL-SCH, e.g. utilizing resources assigned by msg2. It may comprise a more detailed UE identity (e.g., Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity, TMSI, or Random Value) and/or a Connection establishment cause, why or for which purpose the terminal wants to access the network via the network node).
As per claim 5, Blankenship discloses the terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform: receiving first indication information transmitted by the network device, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a number of repetitions of transmission of the first PUCCH (Blankenship [0043-0048,0072-0075, 0093-0095]).
As per claim 6, Blankenship discloses the terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the first indication information is further used to indicate a number of repetitions of transmission of a message 3 (Msg3) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0075,0108]).
As per claim 7, Blankenship discloses the terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the first indication information is carried in a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field (Blankenship [0043-0048,0052-0053,0063-0065]).
As per claim 8, Blankenship discloses the terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the number of repetitions of transmission of the first PUCCH from a set of candidate number of repetitions configured by a system information (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0079,0108]), or the first indication information is used to indicate the number of repetitions of transmission of the first PUCCH form a default set of candidate number of repetitions (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0079,0108]).
As per claim 9, Blankenship discloses the terminal device according to claim 8, wherein a number of values for the first indication information is greater than or equal to a number of the values in the set of candidate number of repetitions (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0079,0108]).
As per claim 10, Blankenship discloses the terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the repeatedly transmitting a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to a network device comprises: repeatedly transmitting the first PUCCH to the network device in N time units, wherein N represents a number of repetitions of transmission of the first PUCCH (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0079,0108]).
As per claim 11, Blankenship discloses a network device (Blankenship [0255-0257), comprising a processor (Blankenship [0249]) and a memory (Blankenship [0249]), wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program (Blankenship [0249]), and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory (Blankenship [0249]) to cause the network device to perform: repeatedly receiving a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmitted by a terminal device in an initial access phase or before a radio resource control (RRC) connection is established (Blankenship [0043] This solution allows the number of PUCCH repetitions to be selected in a systematic and robust way before an RRC connection has been fully established. [0044] Indicating by RRC may pertain to the network (in particular a network node like an eNodeB) transmitting RRC signaling (e.g., a RRC message) comprising a configuration corresponding to the information indicated. [0045] Exemplarily, determination without regard to PRACH CE level is discussed in the following. [0046] RACH procedure starts with PRACH transmission from the CE. Several variants are possible for deriving “Number of PUCCH repetitions” for PUCCH associated with RACH Msg4, where it is not conditioned on the PRACH CE level chosen by the UE. [0047] An exemplary Option A based on actual number of repetitions of the PUSCH is discussed in the following. [0048] Use, as a reference point, the number of repetitions of the PUSCH carrying RACH Msg3. That is, “Number of PUCCH repetitions” is initially derived based on the “Number of Repetitions for Msg3 PUSCH” field in Random Access Response Grant. [0049] Pros: PUSCH and PUCCH both are UL transmission and part of the RACH procedure. In contrast, the downlink typically has different interference characteristics compared to the uplink, and the number of MPDCCH/PDSCH repetitions might not be very accurate in the uplink. [0050] Cons: Number of bits carried by PUSCH is much larger than that of PUCCH and the two channels use different channel coding, meaning that they have somewhat different link performance characteristics.).
As per claim 12, Blankenship discloses the network device according to claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the network device to perform: receiving a first request transmitted by the terminal device, wherein the first request is used to request a repetition of transmission of the first PUCCH (Blankenship [0043-0048,0072-0075] and [0108] A msg3 may considered a connection request message, in particular implemented as a RRC connection request message. It may comprise or refer to the C-RNTI and be transmitted on the UL-SCH, e.g. utilizing resources assigned by msg2. It may comprise a more detailed UE identity (e.g., Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity, TMSI, or Random Value) and/or a Connection establishment cause, why or for which purpose the terminal wants to access the network via the network node).
As per claim 13, Blankenship discloses the network device according to claim 12, wherein the receiving a first request transmitted by the terminal device comprises: receiving the first request that is transmitted by the terminal device when a measurement result of a downlink reference signal is less than a first threshold (Blankenship [0043-0048,0072-0075, 0089-0090]).
As per claim 14, Blankenship discloses the network device according to claim 12, wherein the receiving a first request transmitted by the terminal device comprises: receiving a message 3 (Msg3) transmitted by the terminal device, wherein the Msg3 comprises the first request (Blankenship [0043-0048,0072-0075] and [0108] A msg3 may considered a connection request message, in particular implemented as a RRC connection request message. It may comprise or refer to the C-RNTI and be transmitted on the UL-SCH, e.g. utilizing resources assigned by msg2. It may comprise a more detailed UE identity (e.g., Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity, TMSI, or Random Value) and/or a Connection establishment cause, why or for which purpose the terminal wants to access the network via the network node).
As per claim 15, Blankenship discloses the network device according to claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory to cause the network device to perform: transmitting first indication information to the terminal device, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate a number of repetitions of transmission of the first PUCCH (Blankenship [0043-0048,0072-0075, 0093-0095]).
As per claim 16, Blankenship discloses the network device according to claim 15, wherein the first indication information is further used to indicate a number of repetitions of transmission of a message 3 (Msg3) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0075,0108]).
As per claim 17, Blankenship discloses the network device according to claim 15, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate the number of repetitions of transmission of the first PUCCH from a set of candidate number of repetitions configured by a system information (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0079,0108]), or the first indication information is used to indicate the number of repetitions of transmission of the first PUCCH from a default set of candidate number of repetitions (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0079,0108]).
As per claim 18, Blankenship discloses the network device according to claim 17, wherein a number of values for the first indication information is greater than or equal to a number of the values in the set of candidate number of repetitions (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0079,0108]).
As per claim 19, Blankenship discloses the network device according to claim 11, wherein the repeatedly receiving a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmitted by a terminal device comprises: repeatedly receiving, in N time units, the first PUCCH transmitted by the terminal device, wherein N represents a number of repetitions of transmission of the first PUCCH (Blankenship [0043-0048,0063-0065,0072-0079,0108]).
As per claim 20, Blankenship discloses a wireless communication method (Blankenship Abstract), the method being applicable to a terminal device, and comprising: repeatedly transmitting a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to a network device in an initial access phase or before a radio resource control (RRC) connection is established (Blankenship [0043] This solution allows the number of PUCCH repetitions to be selected in a systematic and robust way before an RRC connection has been fully established. [0044] Indicating by RRC may pertain to the network (in particular a network node like an eNodeB) transmitting RRC signaling (e.g., a RRC message) comprising a configuration corresponding to the information indicated. [0045] Exemplarily, determination without regard to PRACH CE level is discussed in the following. [0046] RACH procedure starts with PRACH transmission from the CE. Several variants are possible for deriving “Number of PUCCH repetitions” for PUCCH associated with RACH Msg4, where it is not conditioned on the PRACH CE level chosen by the UE. [0047] An exemplary Option A based on actual number of repetitions of the PUSCH is discussed in the following. [0048] Use, as a reference point, the number of repetitions of the PUSCH carrying RACH Msg3. That is, “Number of PUCCH repetitions” is initially derived based on the “Number of Repetitions for Msg3 PUSCH” field in Random Access Response Grant. [0049] Pros: PUSCH and PUCCH both are UL transmission and part of the RACH procedure. In contrast, the downlink typically has different interference characteristics compared to the uplink, and the number of MPDCCH/PDSCH repetitions might not be very accurate in the uplink. [0050] Cons: Number of bits carried by PUSCH is much larger than that of PUCCH and the two channels use different channel coding, meaning that they have somewhat different link performance characteristics.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FAIYAZKHAN GHAFOERKHAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7161. The examiner can normally be reached Flex.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz R Sheikh can be reached at (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. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
FAIYAZKHAN GHAFOERKHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2476
/FAIYAZKHAN GHAFOERKHAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
Prosecution Insights