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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: “the network device schedules an uplink resource of the first TRP…” lacks antecedent basis. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-4, 7, 12-15, 17-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being clearly anticipated by TAHERZADEH BOROUJENI et al. (US PG Pub. 2021/0185670) hereinafter Taherzadeh.
Regarding claim 1 and similarly claims 13 and 20, Taherzadeh discloses: A terminal device, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform a method of: ([0108, 0111])
in a case that a timing advance (TA) of a first transmitting and receiving point (TRP) is invalid, ([0080-0081] discloses differing RTTs/TAs across TRPs in multi-TRP operation, synchronization mismatch that TA-validity handling addresses)
performing one or more of following operations:
communicating with a second TRP based on a TA of the second TRP; ([0087] UE 120 may apply one or more TAs to a set of uplink transmissions to a set of TRPs 705 based at least in part on receiving the indication of the quantity of timing advances)
or restoring the TA of the first TRP to be valid, ([0079-0081] BS determining and (re)assigning TAs based on PRACH signal RTTs; general mechanism of TA determination/assignment)
wherein the TA of the second TRP is valid, and the first TRP and the second TRP belong to one serving cell of the terminal device. ([0082-0086] TRP 705-1 may group a plurality of TRPs 705 and may determine a single TA for the group of TRPs; discloses TRPs grouped/managed together (analogous to a shared serving cell) with individually valid TAs per group)
Regarding claim 2 and similar claim 14, Taherzadeh discloses: The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the restoring the TA of the first TRP to be valid comprises: restoring, by using a random access procedure, the TA of the first TRP to be valid. ([0082-0086] TRP 705-1 may group a plurality of TRPs 705 and may determine a single TA for the group of TRPs discloses TRPs grouped/managed together (analogous to a shared serving cell) with individually valid TAs per group.)
Regarding claim 3 and similarly claim 15, Taherzadeh discloses: The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the random access procedure is triggered by the terminal device. ([0083] – PRACH transmissions originate from UE 120, consistent with UE-initiated random access)
Regarding claim 4, Taherzadeh discloses: The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform a method of: after the TA of the first transmitting and TRP fails, performing one or more of following operations: flushing a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) buffer;
notifying radio resource control (RRC) to release an uplink resource;
maintaining a timing advance absolute value;
initiating a random access procedure; ([0079-0081] a random-access/PRACH-based TA establishment mechanism, other limitations are part of Markus grouping)
or retransmitting data in a HARQ buffer by using a TRP whose TA is valid.
Regarding claim 7, Taherzadeh discloses: The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein in a case that the TA of the first TRP is invalid and a third condition is met, the terminal device restores the TA of the first TRP, wherein the third condition comprises one or more of following:
the network device schedules an uplink resource of the first TRP for the terminal device; ([0079] BS determines a quantity of timing advances to apply to a multi-TRP transmission and transmits an indication to the UE network-side scheduling/reassignment of TA-related resources)
the serving cell supports retransmission; or
TAs of all TRPs within the serving cell are invalid. (other limitations are part of Markus grouping)
Regarding claim 12, Taherzadeh discloses: The terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the uplink resource comprises one or more of following：a PUCCH, an SRS, a cell group (CG), a PUSCH, or semi-persistent scheduling (SPS). ([0079] SRS/PRACH-type resources are discussed as part of the TA-determination process)
Regarding claim 17, Taherzadeh discloses: The network device according to claim 15, wherein the random access procedure is triggered by the network device sending a (PDCCH) command to the terminal device. ([0079], [0086], [0096] PDCCH message type 2 carrying the TA indication / quantity of TAs to the UE)
Regarding claim 18, Taherzadeh discloses: The network device according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to cause the network device to perform a method of:
instructing the terminal device to initiate a random access procedure for the first TRP. ([0079], [0086], [0096] BS transmits a “PDCCH message type 2” carrying the quantity of TAs / TA indication to the UE)
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.
Claims 5-6, 8-11, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TAHERZADEH BOROUJENI et al. (US PG Pub. 2021/0185670) hereinafter Taherzadeh, as applied above, in view of 3GPP TS 38.321 V 17.0.0 hereinafter 3GPP.
Regarding claim 5 Taherzadeh appears to be silent regarding wherein in a case that a second condition is met, the random access procedure is triggered by the terminal device, wherein the second condition comprises: second uplink data arrives at the terminal device.
However, 3GPP discloses: wherein in a case that a second condition is met, the random access procedure is triggered by the terminal device, wherein the second condition comprises: second uplink data arrives at the terminal device. (Clause 5.4.4 “Scheduling Request”: “if the MAC entity has no valid PUCCH resource configured for the pending SR: initiate a Random Access procedure”; Clause 5.4.5 BSR triggered by UL data arrival) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the per-transmit-receive-point (per-TRP) timing advance determination and signaling scheme for multi-TRP operation disclosed by Taherzadeh to include the timeAlignmentTimer-based timing-advance validity maintenance and the associated MAC-layer actions taken upon a timing advance becoming invalid of 3GPP. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because Taherzadeh establishes that, in multi-TRP operation, each TRP may be associated with a different round-trip time and therefore a different timing advance that the UE applies to maintain uplink synchronization, but does not itself specify how the UE tracks whether each such per-TRP timing advance remains valid over time or what the UE does once a timing advance is no longer valid; 3GPP supplies exactly this missing mechanism by disclosing that the MAC entity maintains a timeAlignmentTimer that controls how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned, and by prescribing the definite MAC-layer actions to be performed when a timeAlignmentTimer expires, including flushing HARQ buffers, notifying RRC to release PUCCH/SRS, clearing configured downlink assignments and uplink grants, and maintaining the NTA value — such that incorporating this well-understood timer-based validity framework into the per-TRP timing advances of Taherzadeh predictably yields a UE that can determine when a particular TRP’s timing advance has become invalid and respond accordingly, thereby preserving uplink synchronization and avoiding interference in the multi-TRP deployment, as suggested by 3GPP, Clause 5.2 - Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment.
Regarding claim 6, Taherzadeh appears to be silent regarding the limitations of claim 6, however 3GPP discloses: The terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the second uplink data comprises one or more of following: a logical channel or a data radio bearer (DRB) for transmitting the second uplink data is associated with the first TRP; to-be-transmitted data in a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and/or a radio link control (RLC) layer; to-be-transmitted data in HARQ buffer; data associated with a scheduling request (SR) or a buffer status report (BSR); or a to-be-transmitted physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). (Clause 5.4.5 discloses UL data availability determined per logical channel, matching the “logical channel/PDCP/RLC data” categories; SR/BSR-associated data is covered in Clauses 5.4.4-5.4.5; HARQ buffer contents are addressed in Clause 5.4.2) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the per-transmit-receive-point (per-TRP) timing advance determination and signaling scheme for multi-TRP operation disclosed by Taherzadeh to include the timeAlignmentTimer-based timing-advance validity maintenance and the associated MAC-layer actions taken upon a timing advance becoming invalid of 3GPP. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because Taherzadeh establishes that, in multi-TRP operation, each TRP may be associated with a different round-trip time and therefore a different timing advance that the UE applies to maintain uplink synchronization, but does not itself specify how the UE tracks whether each such per-TRP timing advance remains valid over time or what the UE does once a timing advance is no longer valid; 3GPP supplies exactly this missing mechanism by disclosing that the MAC entity maintains a timeAlignmentTimer that controls how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned, and by prescribing the definite MAC-layer actions to be performed when a timeAlignmentTimer expires, including flushing HARQ buffers, notifying RRC to release PUCCH/SRS, clearing configured downlink assignments and uplink grants, and maintaining the NTA value — such that incorporating this well-understood timer-based validity framework into the per-TRP timing advances of Taherzadeh predictably yields a UE that can determine when a particular TRP’s timing advance has become invalid and respond accordingly, thereby preserving uplink synchronization and avoiding interference in the multi-TRP deployment, as suggested by 3GPP, Clause 5.2 - Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment.
Regarding claim 8, Taherzadeh appears to be silent regarding the limitations of claim 8, however 3GPP discloses: The terminal device according to claim 7, wherein that the serving cell supports retransmission comprises one or more of following:
the serving cell is configured with physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) retransmission;
PUCCH transmission of the serving cell is associated with a plurality of pieces of spatial relation information; a sounding reference signal (SRS) of the serving cell is associated with a plurality of resource sets; or physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission or physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmission of the serving cell is associated with a plurality of transmission configuration indication TCI states. (MAC CEs for managing multiple PUCCH spatial relations (Clause 5.18.8 / 6.1.3.18, 6.1.3.25), multiple SRS resource sets (Clause 5.18.7 / 6.1.3.17), and multiple TCI states for PDCCH/PDSCH (Clauses 5.18.4-5.18.5 / 6.1.3.14, 6.1.3.24, 6.1.3.44))
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the per-transmit-receive-point (per-TRP) timing advance determination and signaling scheme for multi-TRP operation disclosed by Taherzadeh to include the timeAlignmentTimer-based timing-advance validity maintenance and the associated MAC-layer actions taken upon a timing advance becoming invalid of 3GPP. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because Taherzadeh establishes that, in multi-TRP operation, each TRP may be associated with a different round-trip time and therefore a different timing advance that the UE applies to maintain uplink synchronization, but does not itself specify how the UE tracks whether each such per-TRP timing advance remains valid over time or what the UE does once a timing advance is no longer valid; 3GPP supplies exactly this missing mechanism by disclosing that the MAC entity maintains a timeAlignmentTimer that controls how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned, and by prescribing the definite MAC-layer actions to be performed when a timeAlignmentTimer expires, including flushing HARQ buffers, notifying RRC to release PUCCH/SRS, clearing configured downlink assignments and uplink grants, and maintaining the NTA value — such that incorporating this well-understood timer-based validity framework into the per-TRP timing advances of Taherzadeh predictably yields a UE that can determine when a particular TRP’s timing advance has become invalid and respond accordingly, thereby preserving uplink synchronization and avoiding interference in the multi-TRP deployment, as suggested by 3GPP, Clause 5.2 - Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment.
Regarding claim 9, Taherzadeh appears to be silent regarding the limitations of claim 9, however 3GPP discloses: The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the communicating with a second TRP based on a TA of the second TRP comprises: sending first uplink data to the second TRP based on the TA of the second TRP, wherein an uplink resource of the second TRP and for transmitting the first uplink data comprises one or more of following: an uplink resource configured by using a configured grant type 1 of a configured grant; an activated uplink resource in an uplink resource configured by using a configured grant type 2 of a configured grant; an uplink resource scheduled based on a dynamic grant; or an uplink resource requested by using an SR, wherein an SR resource used by the SR is associated with the second TRP. (Clause 5.8.2 explicitly distinguishes “configured grant Type 1” (RRC-provided) and “configured grant Type 2” (PDCCH-activated), directly matching the first two resource types; Clause 5.4.1 discloses dynamically scheduled UL grants (third type); Clause 5.4.4 discloses SR-requested resources (fourth type))
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the per-transmit-receive-point (per-TRP) timing advance determination and signaling scheme for multi-TRP operation disclosed by Taherzadeh to include the timeAlignmentTimer-based timing-advance validity maintenance and the associated MAC-layer actions taken upon a timing advance becoming invalid of 3GPP. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because Taherzadeh establishes that, in multi-TRP operation, each TRP may be associated with a different round-trip time and therefore a different timing advance that the UE applies to maintain uplink synchronization, but does not itself specify how the UE tracks whether each such per-TRP timing advance remains valid over time or what the UE does once a timing advance is no longer valid; 3GPP supplies exactly this missing mechanism by disclosing that the MAC entity maintains a timeAlignmentTimer that controls how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned, and by prescribing the definite MAC-layer actions to be performed when a timeAlignmentTimer expires, including flushing HARQ buffers, notifying RRC to release PUCCH/SRS, clearing configured downlink assignments and uplink grants, and maintaining the NTA value — such that incorporating this well-understood timer-based validity framework into the per-TRP timing advances of Taherzadeh predictably yields a UE that can determine when a particular TRP’s timing advance has become invalid and respond accordingly, thereby preserving uplink synchronization and avoiding interference in the multi-TRP deployment, as suggested by 3GPP, Clause 5.2 - Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment.
Regarding claim 10, Taherzadeh appears to be silent regarding the limitations of claim 10, however 3GPP discloses: The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to cause the terminal device to perform a method of: sending, by a media access control (MAC) layer of the terminal device, first indication information to a lower layer of the MAC layer, wherein the first indication information is used to indicate that the TA of the first TRP is invalid. (MAC instructs/interacts with physical layer (Clause 5.1.3) and manages TA state (Clause 5.2)) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the per-transmit-receive-point (per-TRP) timing advance determination and signaling scheme for multi-TRP operation disclosed by Taherzadeh to include the timeAlignmentTimer-based timing-advance validity maintenance and the associated MAC-layer actions taken upon a timing advance becoming invalid of 3GPP. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because Taherzadeh establishes that, in multi-TRP operation, each TRP may be associated with a different round-trip time and therefore a different timing advance that the UE applies to maintain uplink synchronization, but does not itself specify how the UE tracks whether each such per-TRP timing advance remains valid over time or what the UE does once a timing advance is no longer valid; 3GPP supplies exactly this missing mechanism by disclosing that the MAC entity maintains a timeAlignmentTimer that controls how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned, and by prescribing the definite MAC-layer actions to be performed when a timeAlignmentTimer expires, including flushing HARQ buffers, notifying RRC to release PUCCH/SRS, clearing configured downlink assignments and uplink grants, and maintaining the NTA value — such that incorporating this well-understood timer-based validity framework into the per-TRP timing advances of Taherzadeh predictably yields a UE that can determine when a particular TRP’s timing advance has become invalid and respond accordingly, thereby preserving uplink synchronization and avoiding interference in the multi-TRP deployment, as suggested by 3GPP, Clause 5.2 - Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment.
Regarding claim 11, Taherzadeh appears to be silent regarding the limitations of claim 11, however 3GPP discloses: The terminal device according to claim 10, wherein the sending, by a MAC layer of the terminal device, first indication information to a lower layer of the MAC ((Clause 5.2 expressly has the MAC entity, on timing events, “indicate the preambleReceivedTargetPower and the amount of power ramping… to lower layers,” and the HARQ machinery repeatedly states the MAC entity shall “instruct the physical layer to…” and “indicate to lower layers the information regarding…” (e.g., Clause 5.9, Clause 5.18.x MAC-CE handling) comprises: in a case that the TA of the first TRP is invalid and an uplink resource of the first TRP is not released, (clause 5.2 defines timeAlignmentTimer as controlling “how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned,” and specifies extensive behavior “when a timeAlignmentTimer expires”; when the UE is no longer time-aligned (TA invalid))
sending, by the MAC layer, the first indication information to the lower layer of the MAC layer. (On timeAlignmentTimer expiry, Clause 5.2 distinguishes actions by group. For an STAG, the MAC entity clears grants only for the cells of that TAG — while for the PTAG it clears all. Critically, the spec also has scenarios where, on expiry, the MAC “maintain[s] NTA” and does not tear everything down, and the general principle that the MAC entity “shall not perform any uplink transmission… except the Random Access Preamble…” while a timer is not running; the resource/configuration context can persist (not be released) even though the TA is invalid)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the per-transmit-receive-point (per-TRP) timing advance determination and signaling scheme for multi-TRP operation disclosed by Taherzadeh to include the timeAlignmentTimer-based timing-advance validity maintenance and the associated MAC-layer actions taken upon a timing advance becoming invalid of 3GPP. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because Taherzadeh establishes that, in multi-TRP operation, each TRP may be associated with a different round-trip time and therefore a different timing advance that the UE applies to maintain uplink synchronization, but does not itself specify how the UE tracks whether each such per-TRP timing advance remains valid over time or what the UE does once a timing advance is no longer valid; 3GPP supplies exactly this missing mechanism by disclosing that the MAC entity maintains a timeAlignmentTimer that controls how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned, and by prescribing the definite MAC-layer actions to be performed when a timeAlignmentTimer expires, including flushing HARQ buffers, notifying RRC to release PUCCH/SRS, clearing configured downlink assignments and uplink grants, and maintaining the NTA value — such that incorporating this well-understood timer-based validity framework into the per-TRP timing advances of Taherzadeh predictably yields a UE that can determine when a particular TRP’s timing advance has become invalid and respond accordingly, thereby preserving uplink synchronization and avoiding interference in the multi-TRP deployment, as suggested by 3GPP, Clause 5.2 - Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment.
Regarding claim 16, Taherzadeh appears to be silent regarding the limitations of claim 16, however 3GPP discloses: The network device according to claim 15, wherein in a case that a first condition is met, the random access procedure is triggered by the network device, wherein the first condition comprises one or more of following: the network device has to-be-sent downlink information; (Clause 5.2 (Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment) establishes that when a timeAlignmentTimer expires, the UE is no longer uplink time-aligned and the network must re-establish alignment (via a Timing Advance Command, delivered through RA) before scheduling. Clause 5.1.1’s PDCCH order is the tool to (re)initiate that RA. In practice and by disclosed design, a network re-synchronizes a UE when it needs to transmit to (or schedule) that UE i.e., when it has downlink information/scheduling pending.)
Or the network device expects to communicate with the terminal device by using the first TRP. (Clause 5.1.1 and Clause 5.2 tie the RA procedure to acquiring/updating a Timing Advance so the cell can be treated as “uplink time aligned.” A network only issues a PDCCH order for a particular resource (SSB/beam/carrier) when it intends to communicate with the UE on that resource.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the per-transmit-receive-point (per-TRP) timing advance determination and signaling scheme for multi-TRP operation disclosed by Taherzadeh to include the timeAlignmentTimer-based timing-advance validity maintenance and the associated MAC-layer actions taken upon a timing advance becoming invalid of 3GPP. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because Taherzadeh establishes that, in multi-TRP operation, each TRP may be associated with a different round-trip time and therefore a different timing advance that the UE applies to maintain uplink synchronization, but does not itself specify how the UE tracks whether each such per-TRP timing advance remains valid over time or what the UE does once a timing advance is no longer valid; 3GPP supplies exactly this missing mechanism by disclosing that the MAC entity maintains a timeAlignmentTimer that controls how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned, and by prescribing the definite MAC-layer actions to be performed when a timeAlignmentTimer expires, including flushing HARQ buffers, notifying RRC to release PUCCH/SRS, clearing configured downlink assignments and uplink grants, and maintaining the NTA value — such that incorporating this well-understood timer-based validity framework into the per-TRP timing advances of Taherzadeh predictably yields a UE that can determine when a particular TRP’s timing advance has become invalid and respond accordingly, thereby preserving uplink synchronization and avoiding interference in the multi-TRP deployment, as suggested by 3GPP, Clause 5.2 - Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment.
Regarding claim 19, Taherzadeh appears to be silent regarding the limitations of claim 19, however 3GPP discloses: The network device according to claim 18, wherein the instructing the terminal device to initiate a random access procedure for the first TRP comprises: instructing, in an explicit manner, the terminal device to initiate a random access procedure for the first TRP, (Clause 5.1.1 states the Random Access procedure “is initiated by a PDCCH order, by the MAC entity itself, or by RRC.” A PDCCH order is, by definition, a network-originated instruction that causes the UE to initiate RA.)
and the explicit manner comprises one or more of following:
instructing by using resource indication information of a resource for the random access procedure, the terminal device to initiate the random access procedure for the first TRP, wherein indication information of the first TRP is carried in the resource indication information; (A PDCCH order carries, per Clause 5.1.1/5.1.2 and the RA-RNTI/PRACH mechanics, resource indication information: the ra-PreambleIndex, the ra-ssb-OccasionMaskIndex (which “defines PRACH occasion(s) associated with an SSB”), the SSB signalled by PDCCH, and the UL/SUL carrier indicator. Clause 5.1.4 further shows the UE, on a subsequent PDCCH order, must match “the same ra-PreambleIndex, ra-ssb-OccasionMaskIndex, and UL/SUL indicator.” Beam Failure Recovery (Clause 5.17) ties RA resources to specific candidate SSB/CSI-RS beams (candidateBeamRSList, ra-OccasionList), to a specific spatial direction / transmission point) or instructing, by using a trigger indication sent by the network, the terminal device to initiate the random access procedure for the first TRP, resource instruction information is carried in the trigger indication and indicates the first TRP. (The PDCCH order itself is the “trigger indication sent by the network,” and it carries “resource instruction information” (preamble index, SSB, PRACH mask, carrier)) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the per-transmit-receive-point (per-TRP) timing advance determination and signaling scheme for multi-TRP operation disclosed by Taherzadeh to include the timeAlignmentTimer-based timing-advance validity maintenance and the associated MAC-layer actions taken upon a timing advance becoming invalid of 3GPP. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because Taherzadeh establishes that, in multi-TRP operation, each TRP may be associated with a different round-trip time and therefore a different timing advance that the UE applies to maintain uplink synchronization, but does not itself specify how the UE tracks whether each such per-TRP timing advance remains valid over time or what the UE does once a timing advance is no longer valid; 3GPP supplies exactly this missing mechanism by disclosing that the MAC entity maintains a timeAlignmentTimer that controls how long the MAC entity considers the Serving Cells belonging to the associated TAG to be uplink time aligned, and by prescribing the definite MAC-layer actions to be performed when a timeAlignmentTimer expires, including flushing HARQ buffers, notifying RRC to release PUCCH/SRS, clearing configured downlink assignments and uplink grants, and maintaining the NTA value — such that incorporating this well-understood timer-based validity framework into the per-TRP timing advances of Taherzadeh predictably yields a UE that can determine when a particular TRP’s timing advance has become invalid and respond accordingly, thereby preserving uplink synchronization and avoiding interference in the multi-TRP deployment, as suggested by 3GPP, Clause 5.2 - Maintenance of Uplink Time Alignment.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Khoshnevisan — US 2020/0112414 A1: Discloses determining HARQ processes for multi-TRP operation and using CORESET/search-space to differentiate TRPs, with HARQ configuration bounded by UE capability.
Khoshnevisan — US 2021/0143869 A1: Discloses signaling a multi-TRP transmission scheme (SDM/FDM/TDM/repetition) to a UE via antenna-port selection or TDRA configuration.
Guo — US 2018/0198665 A1: Discloses a UE maintaining a separate timing-advance (TA) value per beam/TRP and, if some TA values become invalid, continuing transmission only on beams whose TA remains valid.
Haghighat — US 2021/0352629 A1: Discloses multi-TRP PUCCH (ACK/NACK) transmission management across multiple PDSCHs from multiple TRPs, selecting a common PUCCH slot based on K1 timing.
Gao — US 2022/0022232 A1: Discloses aligning bandwidth parts (BWPs) across multiple TRPs in multi-PDCCH-based multi-TRP transmission when one PDCCH indicates a BWP switch.
Zhang — US 2021/0297114 A1: Discloses multi-TRP enhancements including per-component-carrier reporting of multi-TRP capability and grouping of CORESETs (via CORESET Pool ID) for multi-DCI multi-TRP operation.
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NICHOLAS JENSEN
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
