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 .
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.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wen (US 20250286660 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Wen discloses:
“A timing advance report sending method, comprising: sending, by a terminal device, a timing advance report to a network device by using an uplink resource; and” ([¶ 0116]: “In an operation 215, in response to the trigger event for the UL MAC-CE 135, the UE 110 may trigger the corresponding UL MAC-CE 135 and set the number of transmission, denoted as Ntx, to be 0 and start the transmission of the UL MAC-CE 135 in a HARQ process.”; [¶ 0124]: “For example, for a UL MAC-CE reporting timing advance (TA), which may assist UL scheduling in the NTN and may be referred to as a TA report MAC-CE…”
“when a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process associated with the uplink resource is configured with a HARQ mode B, after the terminal device sends the timing advance report, skipping canceling timing advance reporting, wherein the HARQ mode B does not support retransmission.” ([¶ 0117]: “As an option, in an operation 220, if the UL MAC-CE 135 is multiplexed/sent in the HARQ process of mode A (“Yes” prong of the operation 220), in an operation 225, the UE 110 may cancel the trigger event and refrain from further sending the UL MAC-CE 135 if the trigger event is cancelled. If the UL MAC-CE 135 is multiplexed/sent in the HARQ process of mode B (“No” prong of the operation 220), the UE 110 may continue the following operations.”)
Regarding claim 16, Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Wen further discloses “when the HARQ process associated with the uplink resource is configured with a HARQ mode A, after the terminal device sends the timing advance report, canceling timing advance reporting, wherein the HARQ mode A supports retransmission.” ([¶ 0117]: “As an option, in an operation 220, if the UL MAC-CE 135 is multiplexed/sent in the HARQ process of mode A (“Yes” prong of the operation 220), in an operation 225, the UE 110 may cancel the trigger event and refrain from further sending the UL MAC-CE 135 if the trigger event is cancelled. If the UL MAC-CE 135 is multiplexed/sent in the HARQ process of mode B (“No” prong of the operation 220), the UE 110 may continue the following operations.”)
Regarding claim 17, Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Wen further discloses “receiving, by the terminal device, fourth indication information from the network device, wherein the fourth indication information indicates to cancel timing advance reporting; and canceling, by the terminal device, timing advance reporting based on the fourth indication information.” ([¶ 0104]: “If receiving the DL MAC-CE 155, in the operation 170, the UE 110 may cancel the trigger event and refrain from further sending the UL MAC-CE 135 if the trigger event is cancelled.”)
Regarding claim 18, Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Wen further discloses “the fourth indication information is one or more of the following: downlink control information (DCI), a media access control control element (MAC CE), or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.” ([¶ 0104]: “If receiving the DL MAC-CE 155, in the operation 170, the UE 110 may cancel the trigger event and refrain from further sending the UL MAC-CE 135 if the trigger event is cancelled.”)
Regarding claim 19, Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Wen further discloses “wherein when the HARQ process associated with the uplink resource is configured with the HARQ mode A, the terminal device cancels timing advance reporting when any one of the following conditions is met: the terminal device sends the timing advance report to the network device by using the uplink resource; or the terminal device receives acknowledgment information from the network device, wherein the acknowledgment information is used to acknowledge the timing advance report.” ([¶ 0104]: “If receiving the DL MAC-CE 155, in the operation 170, the UE 110 may cancel the trigger event and refrain from further sending the UL MAC-CE 135 if the trigger event is cancelled.”; [¶ 0103]: “The DL MAC-CE 155 may function as an acknowledgment (ACK) feedback for the UL MAC-CE 135.”)
Regarding claim 20, Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Wen further discloses “receiving, by the terminal device, third indication information from the network device, and canceling timing advance reporting based on the third indication information; or receiving, by the terminal device, the third indication information from the network device within preset duration, and canceling timing advance reporting based on the third indication information, wherein the third indication information indicates to adjust a scheduling parameter.” ([¶ 0104]: “If receiving the DL MAC-CE 155, in the operation 170, the UE 110 may cancel the trigger event and refrain from further sending the UL MAC-CE 135 if the trigger event is cancelled.”)
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-11, and 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (US 20240373419 A1) in view of Wen (US 20250286660 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Jiang discloses:
“A method for sending a timing advance report, comprising: determining, by a terminal device, whether an available first resource is present…” ([¶ 0070]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may determine if there is a currently available resource in the case the TA reporting is triggered.”)
“…when the available first resource is present, sending, by the terminal device, the timing advance report to a network device by using the available first resource.” ([¶ 0071]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may perform the TA reporting in a case that there is available uplink resource for reporting the TA; and the terminal may trigger the scheduling request (SR) in a case that there is no available uplink resource for reporting the TA.”)
Jiang does not disclose “wherein the available first resource is associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process configured with a HARQ mode A, and the HARQ mode A supports retransmission.”
However, Wen discloses the missing feature “wherein the available first resource is associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process configured with a HARQ mode A, and the HARQ mode A supports retransmission.” ([¶ 0124]: “For example, for a UL MAC-CE reporting timing advance (TA), which may assist UL scheduling in the NTN and may be referred to as a TA report MAC-CE…”; [¶ 0099]: “The UL MAC-CE 135 may be multiplexed/transmitted in the UL grant scheduled HARQ process of either HARQ of mode A or HARQ of mode B.”; [¶ 0002]: “UE behavior in the HARQ mode A best supports reception of UL retransmission grant based on UL decoding result. For example, in the HARQ mode A, the HARQ retransmission may be scheduled by network side based on the HARQ transmission decoding result.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, having the teachings of Jiang and Wen, to modify the technique as disclosed by Jiang, to utilize HARQ mode A resources as disclosed by Wen. The motivation for doing so is that it improves flexibility. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Jiang with Wen to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding claim 3, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “wherein the terminal device determines that the available first resource is absent in any one of the following cases: an available uplink resource is absent; an uplink resource associated with the HARQ process configured with the HARQ mode A is absent; or an uplink resource associated with the HARQ process configured with the HARQ mode A is present, but the uplink resource is smaller than the resource occupied by the timing advance report and the packet header of the timing advance report.” ([¶ 0071]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may perform the TA reporting in a case that there is available uplink resource for reporting the TA; and the terminal may trigger the scheduling request (SR) in a case that there is no available uplink resource for reporting the TA.”)
Regarding claim 4, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “when the available first resource is absent, sending, by the terminal device, first indication information to the network device, wherein the first indication information is used to request an uplink resource, and the first indication information indicates that a to-be-reported timing advance is present, or the first indication information is used to request an uplink resource associated with the HARQ process configured with the HARQ mode A.” ([¶ 0071]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may perform the TA reporting in a case that there is available uplink resource for reporting the TA; and the terminal may trigger the scheduling request (SR) in a case that there is no available uplink resource for reporting the TA.” Wherein HARQ Mode A is taught by Wen as discussed in relation to the parent claim.)
Regarding claim 5, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “when the available first resource is absent, and a function of sending the first indication information is configured as enabled, sending, by the terminal device, the first indication information to the network device.” ([¶ 0074]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may determine to cancel the TA reporting and not trigger the SR in a case that there is no available uplink resource to report the TA. For example, the TA reporting may be cancelled in a case that the TA reporting is periodically reporting the TA.”)
Regarding claim 6, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “when the available first resource is absent, and a function of sending the first indication information is configured as enabled, sending, by the terminal device, the first indication information to the network device.” ([¶ 0071]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may perform the TA reporting in a case that there is available uplink resource for reporting the TA; and the terminal may trigger the scheduling request (SR) in a case that there is no available uplink resource for reporting the TA.”)
Regarding claim 7, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “wherein the method further comprises:
when the available first resource is absent, sending, by the terminal device, second indication information to the network device, wherein the second indication information indicates a reason why the available first resource is absent; and the reason why the available first resource is absent comprises one or more of the following: an available uplink resource is absent, an uplink resource associated with the HARQ process configured with the HARQ mode A is absent, or an uplink resource associated with the HARQ process configured with the HARQ mode A is present, but the uplink resource is smaller than the resource occupied by the timing advance report and the packet header of the timing advance report.” ([¶ 0071]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may perform the TA reporting in a case that there is available uplink resource for reporting the TA; and the terminal may trigger the scheduling request (SR) in a case that there is no available uplink resource for reporting the TA.”)
Regarding claim 8, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “obtaining, by the terminal device, the available first resource allocated by the network device; and sending, by the terminal device, the timing advance report to the network device by using the available first resource.” ([¶ 0212]: “The network configures a dedicated uplink resource for the UE to transmit the TA report. For example, the network configures a dedicated configured grant resource.”)
Regarding claim 9, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “wherein after the sending, by the terminal device, the timing advance report to the network device by using the available first resource, the terminal device cancels timing advance reporting when: the terminal device sends the timing advance report to the network device by using the available first resource; the terminal device receives acknowledgment information from the network device, wherein the acknowledgment information is used to acknowledge the timing advance report; the terminal device receives third indication information from the network device, wherein the third indication information indicates to adjust a scheduling parameter; or the terminal device receives the third indication information from the network device within preset duration.” ([¶ 0187]: “In one embodiment, once the UE transmits a TA report, all other triggered TA report are cancelled.”)
Regarding claim 10, Jiang discloses:
“A timing advance report sending method, comprising: receiving, by a network device, first indication information from a terminal device, wherein the first indication information indicates that a to-be-reported timing advance is present; and” ([¶ 0070]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may determine if there is a currently available resource in the case the TA reporting is triggered.”; [¶ 0071]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may perform the TA reporting in a case that there is available uplink resource for reporting the TA; and the terminal may trigger the scheduling request (SR) in a case that there is no available uplink resource for reporting the TA.”)
“sending, by the network device to the terminal device, information indicating a first resource….” ([¶ 0212]: “The network configures a dedicated uplink resource for the UE to transmit the TA report. For example, the network configures a dedicated configured grant resource.”)
Jiang does not disclose “wherein the available first resource is associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process configured with a HARQ mode A, and the HARQ mode A supports retransmission.”
However, Wen discloses the missing feature “wherein the available first resource is associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process configured with a HARQ mode A, and the HARQ mode A supports retransmission.” ([¶ 0124]: “For example, for a UL MAC-CE reporting timing advance (TA), which may assist UL scheduling in the NTN and may be referred to as a TA report MAC-CE…”; [¶ 0099]: “The UL MAC-CE 135 may be multiplexed/transmitted in the UL grant scheduled HARQ process of either HARQ of mode A or HARQ of mode B.”; [¶ 0002]: “UE behavior in the HARQ mode A best supports reception of UL retransmission grant based on UL decoding result. For example, in the HARQ mode A, the HARQ retransmission may be scheduled by network side based on the HARQ transmission decoding result.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, having the teachings of Jiang and Wen, to modify the technique as disclosed by Jiang, to utilize HARQ mode A resources as disclosed by Wen. The motivation for doing so is that it improves flexibility. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Jiang with Wen to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding claim 11, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “receiving, by the network device, a timing advance report from the terminal device by using the first resource.” ([¶ 0212]: “The network configures a dedicated uplink resource for the UE to transmit the TA report. For example, the network configures a dedicated configured grant resource.”)
Regarding claim 13, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “the first indication information is a scheduling request or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) signaling.” ([¶ 0071]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may perform the TA reporting in a case that there is available uplink resource for reporting the TA; and the terminal may trigger the scheduling request (SR) in a case that there is no available uplink resource for reporting the TA.”)
Regarding claim 14, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang further discloses “receiving, by the network device, second indication information from the terminal device, wherein the second indication information indicates a reason why an available first resource is absent; and the reason why the available first resource is absent comprises one or more of the following: an available uplink resource is absent, an uplink resource associated with the HARQ process configured with the HARQ mode A is absent, or an uplink resource associated with the HARQ process configured with the HARQ mode A is present, but the uplink resource is smaller than the resource occupied by the timing advance report and the packet header of the timing advance report.” ([¶ 0071]: “In one embodiment, the terminal may perform the TA reporting in a case that there is available uplink resource for reporting the TA; and the terminal may trigger the scheduling request (SR) in a case that there is no available uplink resource for reporting the TA.”)
Claim(s) 2 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang (US 20240373419 A1) in view of Wen (US 20250286660 A1) and further in view of Tripathi (US 20220070811 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang does not disclose “the available first resource is greater than or equal to a resource occupied by the timing advance report and a packet header of the timing advance report.”
However, Tripathi discloses the missing feature “the available first resource is greater than or equal to a resource occupied by the timing advance report and a packet header of the timing advance report.” ([¶ 0144]: “The TA report itself may be received by the gNB via PHY, MAC, or RRC signaling or along with the UL data in a suitable header.”; [¶ 0205]: “In an example approach, if the UE is unable to send the MAC CE in msgA, msg3, or msg5, the UE sends the MAC CE at the first opportunity where adequate uplink resources are available to send the MAC CE containing the TA report.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, having the teachings of Jiang and Tripathi, to modify the technique as disclosed by Jiang, to utilize enough resources for the report and a header as disclosed by Tripathi. The motivation for doing so is that a header allows for increased flexibility. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Jiang with Tripathi to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding claim 12, Jiang in view of Wen discloses all the features of the parent claim.
Jiang does not disclose “the first resource is greater than or equal to a resource occupied by the timing advance report and a packet header of the timing advance report.”
However, Tripathi discloses the missing feature “the first resource is greater than or equal to a resource occupied by the timing advance report and a packet header of the timing advance report.” ([¶ 0144]: “The TA report itself may be received by the gNB via PHY, MAC, or RRC signaling or along with the UL data in a suitable header.”; [¶ 0205]: “In an example approach, if the UE is unable to send the MAC CE in msgA, msg3, or msg5, the UE sends the MAC CE at the first opportunity where adequate uplink resources are available to send the MAC CE containing the TA report.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, having the teachings of Jiang and Tripathi, to modify the technique as disclosed by Jiang, to utilize enough resources for the report and a header as disclosed by Tripathi. The motivation for doing so is that a header allows for increased flexibility. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Jiang with Tripathi to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claim.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAAD KHAWAR whose telephone number is (571)272-7948. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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/SAAD KHAWAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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