DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 1-19 are pending.
Priority
The applicant’s claim for priority as a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2023/083607, filed March 24, 2023, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Applications No. 202210982583.7, filed August 16, 2022, and No. 202210379989.6, filed April 12, 2022, is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/03/2025, 05/30/2025, 07/07/2025, and 08/18/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 9, 10, 11, 17, and 18 objected to because of the following informalities:
claim 9 recites the limitation “sending, by the network device a terminal device” which should read “sending, by the network device to a terminal device” (emphasis added).
claim 10 recites the limitation “is comprised in a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message” which should read “is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message” (emphasis added).
claim 11 is dependent on claim 10, incorporates all limitations of claim 10, and is therefore objected to for the same reasons as claim 10.
claim 17 recites the limitation “is comprised in a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message” which should read “is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message” (emphasis added).
claim 18 is dependent on claim 17, incorporates all limitations of claim 17, and is therefore objected to for the same reasons as claim 17.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
Independent claims 1, 8, and 13 were considered under 35 USC § 101 but are not being rejected under 35 USC § 101. The recited steps recite subject matter associated with receiving or sending information in a handover command or a reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter as part of communications which must be performed by a device, and therefore the claims as a whole are interpreted to not fall under the mental processes group of abstract ideas.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al. (US 2023/0038191), hereinafter “He”, in view of Agiwal et al. (US 2021/0307060), hereinafter “Agiwal”.
Regarding claims 1, 13, He teaches:
A communication method or a communication apparatus, comprising:
a processor (see He, Fig. 2, par. [0046]: A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, may provide decoded data for the UE 120 to a data sink 260, and may provide decoded control information and system information to a controller/processor 280); and
a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the communication apparatus (see He, Fig. 2, par. [0051]: the memory 282 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions (e.g., code and/or program code) for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed (e.g., directly, or after compiling, converting, and/or interpreting) by one or more processors of the base station 110 and/or the UE 120, may cause the one or more processors, the UE 120, and/or the base station 110 to perform or direct operations of, for example, process 600 of FIG. 6, process 700 of FIG. 7, and/or other processes as described herein) to perform:
receiving, by a terminal device, a fifth indication information indicating at least one feature priority (see He, Fig. 5A, par. [0076]: in FIG. 5A, and by reference number 510, the base station 110 may transmit, and the UE 120 may receive, random access configuration information that indicates multiple RACH partitions that are each associated with a combination of one or more RACH features configured by the base station 110 and PRACH resources associated with the configured combinations of RACH features. For example, in some aspects, the multiple RACH partitions may be configured hierarchically based on one or more rules that define relative priorities and/or orders associated with different RACH features, and see par. [0086]: the one or more rules that define the relative priorities among different RACH features may be advertised or otherwise signaled in system information transmitted by the base station 110; in this case, RACH partitions configured based on priority rules corresponds to information indicating a feature priority); and
selecting, by the terminal device, at least one random access resource based on the at least one feature priority (see He, Fig. 5A, par. [0085]: as shown by reference number 530, the UE 120 may select a RACH partition, from the multiple RACH partitions configured by the base station 110. In some cases, the UE 120 may generally select the RACH partition based on the UE 120 satisfying one or more criteria for the combination of RACH features associated with the selected RACH partition, and see par. [0086]: in cases where the UE 120 satisfies the criteria for more than one RACH partition, the UE 120 may apply one or more rules that define relative priorities among different RACH features to select the RACH partition to be used to transmit a preamble; in this case, a RACH partition corresponds to a random access resource).
However, He does not teach:
wherein the fifth indication information indicating at least one feature priority of a target cell, the fifth indication information being comprised in at least one of a handover command or a reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter;
wherein the at least one feature priority of the target cell.
Agiwal, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the fifth indication information indicating at least one feature priority of a target cell (see Agiwal, par. [0148]: The UE initiates RA procedure and performs the RA procedure toward the target SpCell. During the RA procedure, the UE applies first RACH prioritization parameter set for RACH prioritization; in this case, using RACH prioritization parameter set during a RA procedure with the target cell corresponds to the feature priority being of a target cell), the fifth indication information being comprised in at least one of a handover command or a reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter (see Agiwal, par. [0127]: If this RA is initiated for handover; and if rach-ConfigDedicated is configured for the selected carrier; and if ra-Prioritization is configured in the rach-ConfigDedicated: the UE applies these parameters for RACH prioritization, and see par. [0147]: A second RACH prioritization parameter set is included in beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE in the received RRCReconfiguration message. The received RRC reconfiguration message includes UL BWP configuration for one or more UL BWPs. UL BWP configuration includes BFR configuration (i.e., beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE). This BFR configuration includes RACH prioritization parameters (i.e., ra-Prioritization));
wherein the at least one feature priority of the target cell (see Agiwal, par. [0148]: The UE initiates RA procedure and performs the RA procedure toward the target SpCell. During the RA procedure, the UE applies first RACH prioritization parameter set for RACH prioritization; in this case, using RACH prioritization parameter set during a RA procedure with the target cell corresponds to the feature priority being of a target cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the fifth indication information with feature priority of He with the feature priority of a target cell in a handover command or reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claims 2, 14, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method or communication apparatus. He further teaches:
wherein the at least one random access resource selected based on the at least one feature priority is used for random access process (see He, Fig. 5A, par. [0085]: as shown by reference number 530, the UE 120 may select a RACH partition, from the multiple RACH partitions configured by the base station 110. In some cases, the UE 120 may generally select the RACH partition based on the UE 120 satisfying one or more criteria for the combination of RACH features associated with the selected RACH partition, and see par. [0086]: in cases where the UE 120 satisfies the criteria for more than one RACH partition, the UE 120 may apply one or more rules that define relative priorities among different RACH features to select the RACH partition to be used to transmit a preamble)
He does not teach, but Agiwal teaches:
wherein the at least one random access resource selected based on the at least one feature priority of the target cell is used for the random access process of the target cell (see Agiwal, par. [0127]: If this RA is initiated for handover; and if rach-ConfigDedicated is configured for the selected carrier; and if ra-Prioritization is configured in the rach-ConfigDedicated: the UE applies these parameters for RACH prioritization, and see par. [0147]: A second RACH prioritization parameter set is included in beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE in the received RRCReconfiguration message. The received RRC reconfiguration message includes UL BWP configuration for one or more UL BWPs. UL BWP configuration includes BFR configuration (i.e., beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE). This BFR configuration includes RACH prioritization parameters (i.e., ra-Prioritization), and see par. [0148]: The UE initiates RA procedure and performs the RA procedure toward the target SpCell. During the RA procedure, the UE applies first RACH prioritization parameter set for RACH prioritization).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the random access resource for random access process of He with the random access process of a target cell of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claims 3, 15, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method or communication apparatus. He further teaches:
further comprising:
before receiving, by the terminal device, the fifth indication information, receiving, by the terminal device from a network device, a first system information block (SIB) comprising sixth indication information indicating at least one feature priority (see He, Fig. 4, par. [0065]: the base station 110 may transmit, and the UE 120 may receive, one or more SSBs and random access configuration information. In some aspects, the random access configuration information may be transmitted in and/or indicated by system information (e.g., in one or more SIBs) and/or an SSB, such as for contention-based random access, and see Fig. 5A, par. [0076]: in FIG. 5A, and by reference number 510, the base station 110 may transmit, and the UE 120 may receive, random access configuration information that indicates multiple RACH partitions that are each associated with a combination of one or more RACH features configured by the base station 110 and PRACH resources associated with the configured combinations of RACH features. For example, in some aspects, the multiple RACH partitions may be configured hierarchically based on one or more rules that define relative priorities and/or orders associated with different RACH features, and see par. [0086]: the one or more rules that define the relative priorities among different RACH features may be advertised or otherwise signaled in system information transmitted by the base station 110; in this case, multiple SIBs with random access configuration information including rules for priorities of features are received, corresponding to receiving a first SIB); and
selecting, by the terminal device, at least one random access resource based on the at least one feature priority (see He, Fig. 5A, par. [0085]: as shown by reference number 530, the UE 120 may select a RACH partition, from the multiple RACH partitions configured by the base station 110. In some cases, the UE 120 may generally select the RACH partition based on the UE 120 satisfying one or more criteria for the combination of RACH features associated with the selected RACH partition, and see par. [0086]: in cases where the UE 120 satisfies the criteria for more than one RACH partition, the UE 120 may apply one or more rules that define relative priorities among different RACH features to select the RACH partition to be used to transmit a preamble; in this case, a RACH partition corresponds to a random access resource)
He does not teach, but Agiwal teaches:
receiving a first SIB comprising sixth indication information indicating at least one feature priority of a source cell, the first SIB being a SIB corresponding to the source cell (see Agiwal, par. [0149]: the UE may receive SIB1 in the received RRCReconfiguration message from the source cell or the UE may receive the third RACH prioritization parameter set in the received RRCReconfiguration message from the source cell);
wherein the at least one feature priority of the source cell (see Agiwal, par. [0149]: the UE may receive SIB1 in the received RRCReconfiguration message from the source cell or the UE may receive the third RACH prioritization parameter set in the received RRCReconfiguration message from the source cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the sixth indication information with feature priority of He with the feature priority of a source cell of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claims 4, 16, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method or communication apparatus. He further teaches:
wherein the at least one random access resource selected based on the at least one feature priority is used for random access process (see He, Fig. 5A, par. [0085]: as shown by reference number 530, the UE 120 may select a RACH partition, from the multiple RACH partitions configured by the base station 110. In some cases, the UE 120 may generally select the RACH partition based on the UE 120 satisfying one or more criteria for the combination of RACH features associated with the selected RACH partition, and see par. [0086]: in cases where the UE 120 satisfies the criteria for more than one RACH partition, the UE 120 may apply one or more rules that define relative priorities among different RACH features to select the RACH partition to be used to transmit a preamble)
He does not teach, but Agiwal teaches:
wherein the at least one random access resource selected based on the at least one feature priority of the source cell is used for random access process of the source cell (see Agiwal, Fig. 1A, pars. [0082-0084]: if an RA procedure is initiated on a serving cell at operation 105, a UE selects the UL carrier, UL/DL BWP and RA type at operation 110. If RA type selected is 4-step RA, the UE identifies whether the RA procedure is initiated for handover at operation 115. If this RA procedure is initiated for handover, the UE identifies whether RACH prioritization parameters (i.e., ra-Prioritization) are configured in rach-ConfigDedicated for the selected carrier at operation 120. If rach-ConfigDedicated is configured for the selected carrier (or for the active UL BWP of selected carrier) and ra-Prioritization is configured in the rach-ConfigDedicated, the UE applies these parameters for RACH prioritization at operation 125; in this case, using RACH prioritization for RA on a serving cell corresponds to using the feature priority of the source cell for random access process).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the random access resource for random access process of He with the random access process of a source cell of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claims 5, 17, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method or communication apparatus.
He does not teach, but Agiwal teaches:
wherein the at least one of the handover command or the reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter is comprised in a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message (see Agiwal, par. [0127]: If this RA is initiated for handover; and if rach-ConfigDedicated is configured for the selected carrier; and if ra-Prioritization is configured in the rach-ConfigDedicated: the UE applies these parameters for RACH prioritization, and see par. [0147]: A second RACH prioritization parameter set is included in beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE in the received RRCReconfiguration message. The received RRC reconfiguration message includes UL BWP configuration for one or more UL BWPs. UL BWP configuration includes BFR configuration (i.e., beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE). This BFR configuration includes RACH prioritization parameters (i.e., ra-Prioritization)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method or communication apparatus of He with the handover command or reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter in a RRC reconfiguration message of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claims 6, 18, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method or communication apparatus.
He does not teach, but Agiwal teaches:
wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises a second SIB comprising the at least one feature priority of the target cell, and the second SIB is a SIB corresponding to the target cell (see Agiwal, par. [0071]: a UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message from a gNB. The RRC reconfiguration message includes ReconfigurationWithSync IE. ReconfigurationWithSync IE includes rach-ConfigDedicated IE. rach-ConfigDedicated IE optionally includes RACH prioritization parameters (i.e., ra-Prioritization) for SUL or NUL, and see par. [0149]: The UE receives SIB1 in the target cell and acquires a third RACH prioritization parameter set in ra-PrioritizationForAccessIdentity).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method or communication apparatus of He with the RRC reconfiguration message of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claims 7, 19, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method or communication apparatus. He further teaches:
wherein the at least one feature priority comprises one or more feature priorities of reduced capability (RedCap), network slicing, small data transmission (SDT) and coverage enhancement (see He, par. [0076]: the multiple RACH partitions may be configured hierarchically based on one or more rules that define relative priorities and/or orders associated with different RACH features. For example, as described herein, RACH features that may be associated with a configured RACH partition may include an uplink selection RACH feature (e.g., NUL versus SUL), a UE type RACH feature (e.g., RedCap versus non-RedCap), a network slicing RACH feature (e.g., where dedicated PRACH resources are allocated to a particular network slice or slice group), a RACH procedure type RACH feature (e.g., four-step RACH versus two-step RACH), a coverage enhancement RACH feature, an SDT RACH feature).
Regarding claim 8, He teaches:
A communication method, comprising:
determining, by a network device, at least one feature priority of a target cell (see He, Fig. 5C, par. [0089]: the UE 120 may select which RACH partition to use to transmit a preamble to initiate a RACH procedure based on a prioritized order of RACH features, which may assign a highest priority to uplink selection, a next highest priority to UE type, a next highest priority to network slicing, a next highest priority to a random access type, a next highest priority to coverage enhancement or SDT, and a lowest priority to preamble group A/B, and see par. [0089]: in FIG. 5C, the RACH partitions configured by the base station 110 may be organized hierarchically according to the one or more rules that define the relative priorities among different RACH features, where each path starting from a root of the hierarchical tree represents a configured RACH partition); and
sending, by the network device, a fifth indication information indicating the at least one feature priority (see He, Fig. 5A, par. [0076]: in FIG. 5A, and by reference number 510, the base station 110 may transmit, and the UE 120 may receive, random access configuration information that indicates multiple RACH partitions that are each associated with a combination of one or more RACH features configured by the base station 110 and PRACH resources associated with the configured combinations of RACH features. For example, in some aspects, the multiple RACH partitions may be configured hierarchically based on one or more rules that define relative priorities and/or orders associated with different RACH features, and see par. [0086]: the one or more rules that define the relative priorities among different RACH features may be advertised or otherwise signaled in system information transmitted by the base station 110; in this case, RACH partitions configured based on priority rules corresponds to information indicating a feature priority)
However, He does not teach:
sending, by the network device, a fifth indication information indicating the at least one feature priority of the target cell, the fifth indication information being comprised in at least one of a handover command or a reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter.
Agiwal, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the fifth indication information indicating the at least one feature priority of the target cell (see Agiwal, par. [0148]: The UE initiates RA procedure and performs the RA procedure toward the target SpCell. During the RA procedure, the UE applies first RACH prioritization parameter set for RACH prioritization; in this case, using RACH prioritization parameter set during a RA procedure with the target cell corresponds to the feature priority being of a target cell), the fifth indication information being comprised in at least one of a handover command or a reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter (see Agiwal, par. [0127]: If this RA is initiated for handover; and if rach-ConfigDedicated is configured for the selected carrier; and if ra-Prioritization is configured in the rach-ConfigDedicated: the UE applies these parameters for RACH prioritization, and see par. [0147]: A second RACH prioritization parameter set is included in beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE in the received RRCReconfiguration message. The received RRC reconfiguration message includes UL BWP configuration for one or more UL BWPs. UL BWP configuration includes BFR configuration (i.e., beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE). This BFR configuration includes RACH prioritization parameters (i.e., ra-Prioritization)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the fifth indication information with feature priority of He with the feature priority of a target cell in a handover command or reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method. He further teaches:
further comprising:
before sending, by the network device, the fifth indication information, sending, by the network device a terminal device, a first system information block (SIB) comprising sixth indication information indicating at least one feature priority (see He, Fig. 4, par. [0065]: the base station 110 may transmit, and the UE 120 may receive, one or more SSBs and random access configuration information. In some aspects, the random access configuration information may be transmitted in and/or indicated by system information (e.g., in one or more SIBs) and/or an SSB, such as for contention-based random access, and see Fig. 5A, par. [0076]: in FIG. 5A, and by reference number 510, the base station 110 may transmit, and the UE 120 may receive, random access configuration information that indicates multiple RACH partitions that are each associated with a combination of one or more RACH features configured by the base station 110 and PRACH resources associated with the configured combinations of RACH features. For example, in some aspects, the multiple RACH partitions may be configured hierarchically based on one or more rules that define relative priorities and/or orders associated with different RACH features, and see par. [0086]: the one or more rules that define the relative priorities among different RACH features may be advertised or otherwise signaled in system information transmitted by the base station 110; in this case, multiple SIBs with random access configuration information including rules for priorities of features are sent, corresponding to sending a first SIB)
He does not teach, but Agiwal teaches:
sending, by the network device a terminal device, a first system information block (SIB) comprising sixth indication information indicating at least one feature priority of a source cell, the first SIB being a SIB corresponding to the source cell (see Agiwal, par. [0070]: a UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message from a gNB, and see par. [0149]: the UE may receive SIB1 in the received RRCReconfiguration message from the source cell or the UE may receive the third RACH prioritization parameter set in the received RRCReconfiguration message from the source cell).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the sixth indication information with feature priority of He with the feature priority of a source cell of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method.
He does not teach, but Agiwal teaches:
wherein the at least one of the handover command or the reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter is comprised in a radio resource control RRC reconfiguration message (see Agiwal, par. [0127]: If this RA is initiated for handover; and if rach-ConfigDedicated is configured for the selected carrier; and if ra-Prioritization is configured in the rach-ConfigDedicated: the UE applies these parameters for RACH prioritization, and see par. [0147]: A second RACH prioritization parameter set is included in beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE in the received RRCReconfiguration message. The received RRC reconfiguration message includes UL BWP configuration for one or more UL BWPs. UL BWP configuration includes BFR configuration (i.e., beamFailureRecoveryConfig IE). This BFR configuration includes RACH prioritization parameters (i.e., ra-Prioritization)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method of He with the handover command or reconfiguration-with-synchronization parameter in a RRC reconfiguration message of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method.
He does not teach, but Agiwal teaches:
wherein the RRC reconfiguration message comprises a second SIB comprising at least one feature priority parameter of the target cell, and the second SIB is a SIB corresponding to the target cell (see Agiwal, par. [0071]: a UE receives an RRC reconfiguration message from a gNB. The RRC reconfiguration message includes ReconfigurationWithSync IE. ReconfigurationWithSync IE includes rach-ConfigDedicated IE. rach-ConfigDedicated IE optionally includes RACH prioritization parameters (i.e., ra-Prioritization) for SUL or NUL, and see par. [0149]: The UE receives SIB1 in the target cell and acquires a third RACH prioritization parameter set in ra-PrioritizationForAccessIdentity).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the communication method of He with the RRC reconfiguration message of Agiwal with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing signaling overhead (see Agiwal, par. [0067]).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of He in view of Agiwal teaches the communication method. He further teaches:
wherein the at least one feature priority comprises one or more feature priorities of reduced capability (RedCap), network slicing, small data transmission (SDT) and coverage enhancement (see He, par. [0076]: the multiple RACH partitions may be configured hierarchically based on one or more rules that define relative priorities and/or orders associated with different RACH features. For example, as described herein, RACH features that may be associated with a configured RACH partition may include an uplink selection RACH feature (e.g., NUL versus SUL), a UE type RACH feature (e.g., RedCap versus non-RedCap), a network slicing RACH feature (e.g., where dedicated PRACH resources are allocated to a particular network slice or slice group), a RACH procedure type RACH feature (e.g., four-step RACH versus two-step RACH), a coverage enhancement RACH feature, an SDT RACH feature).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Alfarhan et al. (US 2024/0381429) teaches a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) may receive configuration information that indicates associated random access channel occasions (ROs).
Henttonen et al. (US 2023/0127137) teaches systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for efficiently signalling feature combinations for RACH partitioning.
Liu et al. (US 2025/0151119) teaches a method for determining a trigger condition, performed by a terminal, includes: determining a feature for triggering a random access; selecting a random access channel (RACH) resource partition, and determining whether a selected RACH resource supports the feature.
Mo et al. (US 2024/0179684) teaches a random access resource selection method and apparatus, a random access resource configuration method and apparatus, a terminal, and a network side device.
F. Peng et al. ("A random access scheme based on dynamic allocation of PRACH resources for smart grid communication") teaches a random access mechanism based on dynamic allocation of Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) resources.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CALEB J BALLOWE whose telephone number is (571)270-0410. The examiner can normally be reached MON-FRI 7:30-5.
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, Nishant B. Divecha can be reached at (571) 270-3125. 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.
/C.J.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
