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 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 1-6, 10-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rico Alvarino et al (US 2020/0252972) (hereinafter Rico).
Regarding claim 1, Rico discloses an apparatus configured for wireless communications, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being configured to cause the apparatus to:
send a first signal in one or more time-frequency resources associated with a random access channel (RACH) (see Rio, p. [0080], e.g., The base station 105 may detect and receive one or more of the RACH preamble transmissions), wherein the first signal is multiplexed using a first codeword, the one or more time-frequency resources and the first codeword defining a preamble signature (see Rico, p. [0080], e.g., the UE 115 may identify a single PRACH configuration that supports both using OCCs and not using OCCs. In other cases, the UE 115 may identify a PRACH configuration supporting OCCs and a second PRACH configuration not supporting OCCs, and the UE 115 may determine whether to transmit using an OCC or not).
receive a random access response (RAR) associated with the preamble signature (see Rico, p. [0080], e.g., The base station 105 may respond with a RACH preamble response message. The RACH preamble response message may be based on whether the UE 115 used an OCC, and/or which OCC the UE 115 used); and
communicate with a network entity in response to receiving the RAR (see Rico, p. [0081-0082], e.g., UE 115-a connects to base station 105-a, and p. [0088], e.g., a base station 105 and UE 115 may implement “enhanced” PRACH resource configurations).
Regarding claim 2, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the one or more time-frequency resources are arranged according to a frequency hopping pattern based at least in part on the first codeword, the first signal comprises a preamble signal and one or more repetitions associated with the preamble signal, and the first codeword is associated with an orthogonal cover code (see Rico, p. [0096], e.g., UE 115-a may perform frequency hopping in RACH preamble message 215 transmissions, and UE 115-a may restart the OCC when applying the OCC to the subframes following the hop).
Regarding claim 3, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein: the one or more repetitions comprise one or more preamble repetition units (PRUs); and the frequency hopping pattern indicates one or more subcarrier locations associated with each of the PRUs (see Rico, p. [0096-0097], e.g., UE 115-a may perform frequency hopping in RACH preamble message 215 transmissions, or for RACH preamble message 215 repetitions).
Regarding claim 4, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein to communicate with the network entity, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to: send a second signal multiplexed using a second codeword indicated via the RAR (see Rio, p. [0083], [0097], e.g., UE 115-a may select different OCCs, different preambles (e.g., cyclic shifts or cyclic prefixes 220), or both. In one example, UE 115-a and base station 105-a may include indications of a standard cyclic shift value for repeated transmissions of a RACH preamble message 215).
Regarding claim 5, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 4, wherein to receive the RAR, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to: receive a data block comprising a RAR header and a RAR payload associated with the RAR header, the first codeword being indicated via at least one of (i) a field in the RAR header (see Rio, p. [0092], e.g., base station 105-a may include a field in the RACH preamble response message to indicate an OCC used for the RACH preamble message 215 transmission)or (ii) one or more bits in the RAR payload, and the second codeword being indicated via a field in the RAR payload.
Regarding claim 6, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to receive a carrier-specific configuration indicating one or more codeword-based RACH settings associated with a carrier; and to send the first signal, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to send the first signal in accordance with the carrier-specific configuration, the carrier being associated with the one or more time-frequency resources (see Rio, p. [0111], e.g., Resource grid 500 may include resources reserved for transmission of data 520 and PRACH OCC resources 525 reserved for transmission of RACH messages. In some cases, the PRACH OCC resources 525 may be positioned within a certain frequency band 515).
Regarding claim 10, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to send a retransmission associated with the first signal in the RACH (see Rio, p. [0066], e.g., UEs 115 and base stations 105 may support retransmissions of data to increase the likelihood that data is received successfully), wherein the retransmission is multiplexed with a second codeword (see Rio, p. [0083], [0097], e.g., UE 115-a may select different OCCs, different preambles (e.g., cyclic shifts or cyclic prefixes 220), or both. In one example, UE 115-a and base station 105-a may include indications of a standard cyclic shift value for repeated transmissions of a RACH preamble message 215).
Regarding claim 11, Rico discloses an apparatus configured for wireless communications, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors being configured to cause the apparatus to:
obtain a first signal in one or more time-frequency resources associated with a random access channel (RACH) (see Rio, p. [0080], e.g., The base station 105 may detect and receive one or more of the RACH preamble transmissions), wherein the first signal is multiplexed using a first codeword, the one or more time-frequency resources and the first codeword defining a preamble signature (see Rico, p. [0080], e.g., the UE 115 may identify a single PRACH configuration that supports both using OCCs and not using OCCs. In other cases, the UE 115 may identify a PRACH configuration supporting OCCs and a second PRACH configuration not supporting OCCs, and the UE 115 may determine whether to transmit using an OCC or not).
send a random access response (RAR) associated with the preamble signature (see Rico, p. [0080], e.g., The base station 105 may respond with a RACH preamble response message. The RACH preamble response message may be based on whether the UE 115 used an OCC, and/or which OCC the UE 115 used); and communicate with a user equipment in response to sending the RAR (see Rico, p. [0081-0082], e.g., UE 115-a connects to base station 105-a, and p. [0088], e.g., a base station 105 and UE 115 may implement “enhanced” PRACH resource configurations).
Regarding claim 12, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 11, wherein: the one or more time-frequency resources are arranged according to a frequency hopping pattern based at least in part on the first codeword, the first signal comprises a preamble signal and one or more repetitions associated with the preamble signal, and the first codeword is associated with an orthogonal cover code (see Rico, p. [0096], e.g., UE 115-a may perform frequency hopping in RACH preamble message 215 transmissions, and UE 115-a may restart the OCC when applying the OCC to the subframes following the hop).
Regarding claim 13, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein: the one or more repetitions comprise one or more preamble repetition units (PRUs); and the frequency hopping pattern indicates one or more subcarrier locations associated with each of the PRUs (see Rico, p. [0096-0097], e.g., UE 115-a may perform frequency hopping in RACH preamble message 215 transmissions, or for RACH preamble message 215 repetitions).
Regarding claim 14, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 11, wherein to communicate with the user equipment, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain a second signal multiplexed using a second codeword indicated via the RAR (see Rio, p. [0083], [0097], e.g., UE 115-a may select different OCCs, different preambles (e.g., cyclic shifts or cyclic prefixes 220), or both. In one example, UE 115-a and base station 105-a may include indications of a standard cyclic shift value for repeated transmissions of a RACH preamble message 215).
Regarding claim 15, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 14, wherein to send the RAR, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to: send a data block comprising a RAR header and a RAR payload associated with the RAR header, the first codeword being indicated via at least one of (i) a field in the RAR header (see Rio, p. [0092], e.g., base station 105-a may include a field in the RACH preamble response message to indicate an OCC used for the RACH preamble message 215 transmission) or (ii) one or more bits in the RAR payload, and the second codeword being indicated via a field in the RAR payload.
Regarding claim 16, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 11, wherein: the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to send a carrier-specific configuration indicating one or more codeword-based RACH settings associated with a carrier; and to obtain the first signal, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to obtain the first signal in accordance with the carrier-specific configuration, the carrier being associated with the one or more time-frequency resources (see Rio, p. [0111], e.g., Resource grid 500 may include resources reserved for transmission of data 520 and PRACH OCC resources 525 reserved for transmission of RACH messages. In some cases, the PRACH OCC resources 525 may be positioned within a certain frequency band 515).
Regarding claim 19, Rico discloses the apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to obtain a retransmission associated with the first signal in the RACH (see Rio, p. [0066], e.g., UEs 115 and base stations 105 may support retransmissions of data to increase the likelihood that data is received successfully), wherein the retransmission is multiplexed with a second codeword (see Rio, p. [0083], [0097], e.g., UE 115-a may select different OCCs, different preambles (e.g., cyclic shifts or cyclic prefixes 220), or both. In one example, UE 115-a and base station 105-a may include indications of a standard cyclic shift value for repeated transmissions of a RACH preamble message 215).
Regarding claim 20, Rico discloses a method for wireless communications by an apparatus, comprising:
sending a first signal in one or more time-frequency resources associated with a random access channel (RACH) (see Rio, p. [0080], e.g., The base station 105 may detect and receive one or more of the RACH preamble transmissions), wherein the first signal is multiplexed using a first codeword, the one or more time-frequency resources and the first codeword defining a preamble signature (see Rico, p. [0080], e.g., the UE 115 may identify a single PRACH configuration that supports both using OCCs and not using OCCs. In other cases, the UE 115 may identify a PRACH configuration supporting OCCs and a second PRACH configuration not supporting OCCs, and the UE 115 may determine whether to transmit using an OCC or not).
receiving a random access response (RAR) associated with the preamble signature (see Rico, p. [0080], e.g., The base station 105 may respond with a RACH preamble response message. The RACH preamble response message may be based on whether the UE 115 used an OCC, and/or which OCC the UE 115 used); and
communicating with a network entity in response to receiving the RAR (see Rico, p. [0081-0082], e.g., UE 115-a connects to base station 105-a, and p. [0088], e.g., a base station 105 and UE 115 may implement “enhanced” PRACH resource configurations).
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 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rico in view of Chang et al (US 2019/0174378) (hereinafter Chang).
Regarding claim 7, Rico does not expressly disclose the apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to receive a common configuration indicating one or more first codeword-based RACH settings applying across a plurality of carriers; and to send the first signal, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to send the first signal in accordance with the common configuration.
Chang discloses the above recited limitations (see Chang, p. [0118], e.g., At step S220, the eNB sends the configuration information to a UE for the UE to perform random access, and p. [0120], e.g., The non-anchor carrier configuration information can be divided into non-anchor carrier common configuration information and non-anchor carrier dedicated configuration information. When a value of the indication information element is set to “true” or “setup” or “1”, the UE considers that a corresponding non-anchor carrier uses an uplink carrier and/or downlink carrier in the common configuration information, and p. [0128], e.g., the eNB configures common RACH-ConfigCommon-NB for an anchor carrier and all non-anchor carriers, and p. [0137], p. [0169]).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Chang’s teachings into Rico. The suggestion/motivation would have been to use the common configuration for defining general parameters of random access as suggested by Chang.
Regarding claim 17, the combined teaching of Rico and Chang disclose the apparatus of claim 11, wherein: the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to send a common configuration indicating one or more first codeword-based RACH settings applying across a plurality of carriers; and to obtain the first signal, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to obtain the first signal in accordance with the common configuration (see Chang, p. [0118], e.g., At step S220, the eNB sends the configuration information to a UE for the UE to perform random access, and p. [0120], e.g., The non-anchor carrier configuration information can be divided into non-anchor carrier common configuration information and non-anchor carrier dedicated configuration information. When a value of the indication information element is set to “true” or “setup” or “1”, the UE considers that a corresponding non-anchor carrier uses an uplink carrier and/or downlink carrier in the common configuration information, and p. [0128], e.g., the eNB configures common RACH-ConfigCommon-NB for an anchor carrier and all non-anchor carriers, and p. [0137], p. [0169]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9 and 18 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MINH TRANG T NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5248. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-6:00pm.
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/MINH TRANG T NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
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