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 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) 1-4, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Cao et al. – US 2023/0199857 (hereinafter Cao).
Re claim 15, Cao discloses:
“A control apparatus that controls at least one base station (para. 0062, 0074), comprising:
at least one memory (para. 0062, Fig. 12A, element 1216); and
at least one processor (Fig. 12A, element 1214) coupled to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured in such a way as to” (para. 0062, 0067-0069, 0074)
“divide at least one communication area of the at least one base station into a plurality of sub-areas (Fig. 2-3; para. 0030-0032), based on at least one of an index indicating a radio channel characteristic (para. 0031-0032; wherein the propagation delay corresponds to the claimed “channel characteristic”) and a coverage area of each of a plurality of beams of the at least one base station (para. 0034; wherein split beams coverage corresponds to the claimed “plurality of beams of the at least one base station”)”, and
“determine communication operation to be applied to a target terminal, based on information related to a sub-area associated to the target terminal (the UE)” para. 0035-0037; where Cao maps the sub-area indexes to corresponding PRACH occasion (RO), ect.)
Re claim 1, see corresponding apparatus claim 15.
Re claim 2, Cao further discloses “in a case where at least one communication area of the at least one base station is divided into the plurality of sub-areas, based on an index indicating the radio channel characteristic, information related to a sub-area associated to the target terminal is type information of a sub-area in which the target terminal is located, and
the determining includes determining communication operation associated with the type information of the sub-area as communication operation to be applied to the target terminal” (para. 0047-0048, 0051-0052, 0056-0057; wherein Cao maps the sub-area indexes to preamble indexes, frequency-resource indexes, time-resource indexes and PRACH-slot indexes; the sub-area indexes thus identifies the type/category of the sub-area, and its associated RO/preamble/resources represents a communication operation associated with that sub-area information.)
Re claim 3, Cao further discloses:
“in a case where at least one communication area of the at least one base station is divided into the plurality of sub-areas, based on a coverage area of each of a plurality of beams of the at least one base station, information related to a sub-area associated to the target terminal is an index indicating the radio channel characteristic in a sub-area in which the target terminal is located” (para. 0049-0053 wherein Cao measures a radio-channel characteristic for the UE and determines applicable sub-area), and
“the determining includes determining communication operation to be applied to the target terminal, based on the index indicating the radio channel characteristic in a sub-area in which the target terminal is located” (para. 0049-0053; wherein Cao measures the UE’s propagation delay and determines appropriate resource by comparing the measured propagation delay with the time threshold; or measuring frequency offset, comparing the measured frequency offset with ta frequency offset threshold, determining the applicable sub-area, and selecting the resource associated with that sub-area (para. 0054-0058).
Re claim 4, Cao further discloses “in the case where at least one communication area of the at least one base station is divided into the plurality of sub-areas, based on a coverage area of each of a plurality of beams of the at least one base station, information related to a sub-area associated to the target terminal is information indicating a beam to be connected to the target terminal, and
the determining includes determining communication operation associated with a beam connected to the target terminal as communication operation to be applied to the target terminal” in para. 0032, 0036, 0038, 0044-0048, 0050-0052, 0055-0057; wherein Cao discloses coverage area of beams/Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) and resources are associated with beam/sub-area combination; and maps the SSB resources to RACH occasions and sub-area indexes within those beam/SSB resource as operation.
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.
Claim(s) 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cao.
Re claim 8, Cao discloses:
“A method executed by a first radio terminal that communicates with at least one base station” (Fig. 1A, para. 0027), the method comprising:
“dividing a movement path of the first radio terminal into a plurality of sub-areas (Fig. 2-3; para. 0030-0032), based on at least one of an index indicating a radio channel characteristic (para. 0031-0032; wherein the propagation delay corresponds to the claimed “channel characteristic”), and a coverage area of each of a plurality of beams of the at least one base station” (para. 0034; wherein split beams coverage corresponds to the claimed “plurality of beams of the at least one base station”)”; and
“determining communication operation to be applied to the first radio terminal, based on information related to a sub-area associated to the first radio terminal” (para. 0047-0048, 0051-0052, 0056-0057; wherein Cao maps the sub-area indexes to preamble indexes, frequency-resource indexes, time-resource indexes and PRACH-slot indexes; the sub-area indexes thus identifies the type/category of the sub-area, and its associated RO/preamble/resources represents a communication operation associated with that sub-area information.)
Cao differs from the claimed invention in that it does explicitly disclose the above underlined claimed subject matter. That is, Cao discloses dividing the geographic coverage into sub-areas. The UEs with the same sub-area experience similar propagation delay and therefore use the same RO resource (Fig. 2-3, para. 0031-0032).
A person of ordinary skilled in the art at the time of the filing would have understood that as the UE moves through Cao’s sub-areas, the divided beam coverage necessarily has portions of its path lying in the respective sub-areas. Thus, Cao divides the geographic space through which the UE moves. Applying those existing geographic boundaries to the portion of that space constituting the UE’s path would amount to dividing the movement path into corresponding path segment/sub-area.
Re claim 9, Cao further discloses “in a case where the movement path of the first radio terminal is divided into the plurality of sub-areas, based on an index indicating the radio channel characteristic, information related to a sub-area associated to the first radio terminal is type information of a sub-area in which the first radio terminal is located, and
the determining includes determining communication operation associated with the type information of the sub-area as communication operation to be applied to the first radio terminal” in para. 0047-0048, 0051-0052, 0056-0057; wherein Cao maps the sub-area indexes to preamble indexes, frequency-resource indexes, time-resource indexes and PRACH-slot indexes; the sub-area indexes thus identifies the type/category of the sub-area, and its associated RO/preamble/resources represents a communication operation associated with that sub-area information.
Re claim 10, Cao further discloses “in a case where the movement path of the first radio terminal is divided into the plurality of sub-areas, based on a coverage area of each of a plurality of beams of the at least one base station, information related to a sub-area associated to the first radio terminal is an index indicating the radio channel characteristic in a sub-area in which the first radio terminal is located (para. 0049-0053 wherein Cao measures a radio-channel characteristic for the UE and determines applicable sub-area), and
the determining includes determining communication operation to be applied to the first radio terminal, based on the index indicating the radio channel characteristic in a sub-area in which the first radio terminal is located (para. 0049-0053; wherein Cao measures the UE’s propagation delay and determines appropriate resource by comparing the measured propagation delay with the time threshold; or measuring frequency offset, comparing the measured frequency offset with ta frequency offset threshold, determining the applicable sub-area, and selecting the resource associated with that sub-area (para. 0054-0058).
Re claim 11, Cao further implies “in a case where the movement path of the first radio terminal is divided into the plurality of sub-areas, based on a coverage area of each of a plurality of beams of the at least one base station, information related to a sub-area associated to the first radio terminal is information indicating a beam to be connected to the first radio terminal, and
the determining includes determining communication operation associated with a beam connected to the first radio terminal as communication operation to be applied to the first radio terminal” in para. 0032, 0036, 0038, 0044-0048, 0050-0052, 0055-0057; wherein Cao discloses coverage area of beams/Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) and resources are associated with beam/sub-area combination; and maps the SSB resources to RACH occasions and sub-area indexes within those beam/SSB resource as operation.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, 12-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Maggi et al. – US 2022/0256389
Song eta l. – US 2020/0266871
Sohn et al. – US 2017/0201974
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAC V HA whose telephone number is (571)272-3040. The examiner can normally be reached 7-3:30 M-F.
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, Sam Ahn can be reached at 571-272-3044. 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.
/DAC V HA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633
Prosecution Insights