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 .
DETAILED ACTION
a. Claims 1-24 in 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, 6, 9, 10, 13, 18, 21, and 22 are amended
- claims 12 and 24 are canceled
b. This is a final action on the merits based on Applicant’s claims submitted on 03/11/2026.
Response to Arguments
Regarding Independent claim 1 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102, Applicant's arguments, see “Amended claim 1 recites the limitations of in response to receiving the trigger, transmitting a UL signal to the LTM candidate cell during a UL resource occasion, wherein the UL resource occasion occurs during a period of time that is between receiving the trigger and a synchronization signal block (SSB) occasion from the LTM candidate cell that first occurs after the trigger. None of the references cited by the Examiner teaches or suggests these limitations. Therefore, no combination of the cited references can teach or suggest each and every limitation of amended claim 1.” on page 9, filed on 03/11/2026, with respect to , have been fully considered but are moot, over the limitations of “a synchronization signal block (SSB) occasion from the LTM candidate cell that first occurs after the trigger”. Said limitations are newly added to the amended Claims 1 and 13 and have been addressed in instant office action, as shown in section 35 USC 103 rejection below, with newly identified prior art teaching from newly found reference Guo et al. US Pub 2023/0388871, claiming foreign application priority 2022-07-18 (hereinafter “Guo”), in combination with previously applied reference Intel, thus rendering said Applicant’s arguments moot.
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 of this title, 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.
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 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.
Claims 1, 3-8, 10, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Intel NPL “Procedure descriptions of LTM”, 3GPP R2-2300400, Feb 27 – Mar 3, 2023 (hereinafter “Intel”), and in view of Guo et al. US Pub 2023/0388871, claiming foreign application priority 2022-07-18 (hereinafter “Guo”).
Regarding claim 1 (Currently Amended)
Intel discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) (“Step 4.1: The UE performs downlink synchronization for candidate cell(s) based on SSB.”) for Uplink (UL) access on a Layer 1/Layer 2 (L1/L2) triggered inter-cell mobility (LTM) candidate cell (“early DL/UL synchronization with candidate cells before the reception of cell switch command for LTM” on page 1, section 2.1), the method comprising:
receiving, from a network node (i.e. “source gNB” step 4.2), a LTM configuration (“step 2: RRC configuration (LTM candidate configuration) in Fig. 1) for at least one LTM candidate cell (TgNB1” in Fig. X);
receiving a trigger from the network node (“Step 4.2: Source gNB sends PDCCH order to trigger early preamble transmission. The PDCCH order includes the indication of candidate cell and/or RO of candidate cell.”); and
in response to receiving the trigger, transmitting a UL signal (i.e. “PRACH preamble”) to the LTM candidate cell (“Step 4.3: The UE transmits PRACH preamble towards a candidate cell according to the received PDCCH order. The candidate gNB estimates the TA value.”) during a UL resource occasion (“RO of candidate cell”, Step 4.2),
Intel does not specifically teach wherein the UL resource occasion occurs during a period of time that is between receiving the trigger and a synchronization signal block (SSB) occasion from the LTM candidate cell that first occurs after the trigger.
In an analogous art, Guo discloses wherein the UL resource occasion occurs during a period of time (“Option 6.3.1.1: reuse the common RACH configuration parameters within IE ReconfigurationWithSync+PDCCH order providing “the indication of candidate cell, preamble index, SSB index and the RACH occasion index”. In this situation, the rach-ConfigDedicated for CFRA may not be configured within IE ReconfigurationWithSync for a LTM candidate cell or overridden by PDCCH order, which means the common RACH configuration is provided by RRC, and dedicated preamble configuration for CFRA (and also the candidate cell triggered for early TA acquisition) may be provided by PDCCH order only” [0446] and furthermore “Option 6.4.2.1: When the source cells sends PDCCH order to trigger early TA acquisition, source sends UE ID indication to candidate cell (e.g., C-RNTI allocated by candidate cell), so this candidate cell can know which UE transmits this preamble and for which the early TA should be calculated (i.e. the PRACH preamble being transmitted before the first SSB occasion that occurs after the PDCCH order)” [0460]) that is between receiving the trigger and a synchronization signal block (SSB) occasion (“the PDCCH order itself may include some configuration of preamble, such as preamble index, SSB index, and/or the RACH occasion index. In the early TA acquisition case, the PDCCH order may also include the indication of candidate cell (e.g., a candidate configuration index of a candidate cell and/or the like).” [0442]) from the LTM candidate cell that first occurs after the trigger (see Figs. 42, 44; “Specifically, an example signalling procedure of early TA acquisition is provided herein, such as the 7-element example which includes: (1) configure the configuration of RACH resource for candidate cell(s) for early TA acquisition; (2) Based on UE measurements, source cell sends a PDCCH order when it wants to trigger early RACH towards a candidate cell; (3) UE initiates RACH towards the candidate target cell; (4) candidate cell receives the preamble and evaluates the TA value accordingly; (5) source cell gets required TA value from target cell and sends it to the UE over source cell (this could also be an ack for the RACH instead of RAR), or UE receives RAR including TA from target cell directly; (6) UE and network maintain the TA value until it needs to be updated (timer or distance based solutions); and (7) if TA update is triggered, then reuse steps 2 to 5, and/or UE receives TA command MAC CE for the candidate cell.” [0429]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Intel’s procedure for early TA acquisition, to include Guo’s method for LTM- related handover, in order to minimize LTM interruption (Guo [0003]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Guo’s method for LTM- related handover into Intel’s procedure for early TA acquisition since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 3
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1,
Intel further discloses wherein the trigger corresponds to at least one of a Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) (“The gNB decides to execute LTM cell switch to a target cell, and transmits a Cell switch command MAC CE triggering LTM cell switch by including the candidate configuration index of the target cell. The UE switches to the configuration of the LTM candidate target cell.” Step 6, Section 2.2), a Downlink Control Information (DCI) (“Introduce indication of candidate cell and/or RO of candidate cell in DCI” section 2.1), a Layer 1 (L1) signaling, a Layer 2, (L2) signaling, or a L1/L2 signaling (“Support TA acquisition of candidate cell(s) before cell switch command is received in L1/L2 based mobility.” Section 2.1)
Regarding claim 4
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the UL signal comprises one or more of:
Guo further discloses a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), preamble transmitted during a PRACH occasion of the LTM candidate cell in an LTM cell switch (“the UE 5402 releases dedicated preambles provided in rach-ConfigDedicated if configured; releases dedicated msgA PUSCH resources provided in rach-ConfigDedicated if configured; reverts back to the UE configuration used in the source PCell; and initiates the connection re-establishment procedure as specified in clause 5.3.7 of [TS38331]; else if T3xx of SCG expires, if MCG transmission is not suspended, the UE 5402 releases dedicated preambles provided in rach-ConfigDedicated, if configured, releases dedicated msgA PUSCH resources provided in rach-ConfigDedicated, if configured, and initiates the SCG failure information procedure as specified in clause 5.7.3 to report SCG LTM cell switch failure, upon which the RRC reconfiguration procedure ends; else, the UE 5402 initiates the connection re-establishment procedure as specified in clause 5.3.7 of [TS38331].” [0601]);
a PRACH preamble transmitted during a PRACH occasion of the LTM candidate cell in a time alignment (TA) establishment or TA update procedure (“If the value of the “Random Access Preamble index” is not all zeros, this field indicates the SS/PBCH that shall be used to determine the RACH occasion for the PRACH transmission”, Table 29);
a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmitted to the LTM candidate cell in an TA establishment or TA update procedure (“a C-Cell 130c is able to listen to an uplink Tx (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS) and/or the like) from a UE 5402 (while the UE 5402 is transmitting to the S-Cell 130s) and can maintain TA. In these examples, a TA command MAC CE for a C-Cell 130c can be used to adjust/update the TA value.” [0496]);
a control information transmitted on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) of the LTM candidate cell in a LTM cell switch procedure (“secondary PUCCH group config} for PUCCH cell switching” [Table 74]); and/or
UL data transmitted on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) of the LTM candidate cell in an LTM cell switch procedure (“else if T3xx of SCG expires, if MCG transmission is not suspended, the UE 5402 releases dedicated preambles provided in rach-ConfigDedicated, if configured, releases dedicated msgA PUSCH resources provided in rach-ConfigDedicated, if configured, and initiates the SCG failure information procedure as specified in clause 5.7.3 to report SCG LTM cell switch failure, upon which the RRC reconfiguration procedure ends” [0601]).
Regarding claim 5
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the UL resource occasion comprises one or more of:
Guo further discloses a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) occasion of the LTM candidate cell (“If the value of the “Random Access Preamble index” is not all zeros, this field indicates the SS/PBCH that shall be used to determine the RACH occasion for the PRACH transmission”, Table 29);
a Sounding Reference Signal resource or resource occasion of the LTM candidate cell that has been configured and/or assigned (“a C-Cell 130c is able to listen to an uplink Tx (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS) and/or the like) from a UE 5402 (while the UE 5402 is transmitting to the S-Cell 130s) and can maintain TA. In these examples, a TA command MAC CE for a C-Cell 130c can be used to adjust/update the TA value.” [0496]);
a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource or resource occasion of the LTM candidate cell that has been configured and/or assigned (“secondary PUCCH group config} for PUCCH cell switching” [Table 74]); and/or
a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resource or resource occasion of the LTM candidate cell that has been configured and/or assigned (“else if T3xx of SCG expires, if MCG transmission is not suspended, the UE 5402 releases dedicated preambles provided in rach-ConfigDedicated, if configured, releases dedicated msgA PUSCH resources provided in rach-ConfigDedicated, if configured, and initiates the SCG failure information procedure as specified in clause 5.7.3 to report SCG LTM cell switch failure, upon which the RRC reconfiguration procedure ends” [0601]).
Regarding claim 6 (Currently Amended)
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1,
Guo further discloses wherein the UE transmitting the UL signal (i.e. “preamble”) to the LTM candidate cell in a configured UL channel resource (“the UE 5402 releases dedicated preambles provided in rach-ConfigDedicated if configured; releases dedicated msgA PUSCH resources provided in rach-ConfigDedicated if configured” [0601]) in a time and frequency before the SSB occasion of the LTM candidate cell that first occurs after the trigger (“source cell informs candidate cell which SSB beam should be used for PRACH, then candidate cell allocates a preamble and informs source cell the preamble index. For the used PRACH occasion (the time and frequency resource a UE uses for preamble Tx), it could be determined by UE or indicated by source cell or candidate cell.” [0454]),
Regarding claim 7
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1,
Guo further discloses wherein prior to receiving the trigger, the UE receives a configuration from the serving cell with one or more LTM candidate cell configurations to be applied upon receiving an LTM cell switch command (“Currently there are only some high-level descriptions of the early timing advance (TA) acquisition of LTM, including: DL synchronization for candidate cell(s) based on at least SSB before cell switch command is supported; TA acquisition of candidate cell(s) before cell switch command is received is supported; a PDCCH order is triggered by source cell, then the UE sends preamble to a candidate cell; the indication of candidate cell and/or RO of candidate cell are included in PDCCH order; the configuration of RACH resource for candidate cell(s) is provided prior to the PDCCH order; and TA updating (e.g., re-acquisition of TA) for candidate cell can be triggered by NW.” [0428]).
Regarding claim 8
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1,
Guo discloses wherein prior to receiving the trigger, the UE receives a configuration for time alignment establishment or time alignment update with the LTM candidate cell (“Currently there are only some high-level descriptions of the early timing advance (TA) acquisition of LTM, including: DL synchronization for candidate cell(s) based on at least SSB before cell switch command is supported; TA acquisition of candidate cell(s) before cell switch command is received is supported; a PDCCH order is triggered by source cell, then the UE sends preamble to a candidate cell; the indication of candidate cell and/or RO of candidate cell are included in PDCCH order; the configuration of RACH resource for candidate cell(s) is provided prior to the PDCCH order; and TA updating (e.g., re-acquisition of TA) for candidate cell can be triggered by NW.” [0428]), wherein the configuration comprises one or more UL related parameters: such as a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble configuration (“a PRACH preamble (Msg1) according to the configuration received in PDCCH order” [0438]), a PRACH occasion (“one synchronization signal block (SSB) index could map to multiple PRACH occasions” [0452]), a PRACH frequency resource (“For the used PRACH occasion (the time and frequency resource a UE uses for preamble Tx), it could be determined by UE or indicated by source cell or candidate cell.” [0454]).
Regarding claim 10 (Currently Amended)
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1,
Guo further discloses wherein prior to receiving the trigger the UE performs a Downlink (DL) synchronization with the at least one of the LTM candidate cells (“FIG. 12 shows an example procedure of intra-DU HO based on L1/L2 signaling. Here, the S-Cell 130s configures the UE 5402 with a set of candidate target cells, and then triggers the HO based on L1/L2 signaling from the NW, for example, by sending a downlink control information (DCI) in PHY layer and/or a MAC CE in MAC layer.” [0107]).
Regarding claim 11
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising:
Guo further discloses providing user data (“the DU 5731 sends DL user data to the UE 5402 (step 15b)” [0243]; Fig. 26); and
forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node (“The UE 5402 sends UL user data to the DU 5731 (step 16a)” [0243] and Fig. 26).
Claims 2, 9, 13, 15, 21, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Intel, in view of Guo, and further in view of Park et al. US 2024/0259896, claiming provisional application 63482019 priority 2023-01-27 (hereinafter “Park”).
Regarding claim 2
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1,
Guo further discloses information element (IE) field, parameter (“the L1L2 Inter-DU Mobility Information IE is included in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message and contains the Access Target Cell ID IE” [0384]);
a trigger for a time alignment (TA) establishment or TA update procedure (“early timing advance (TA) acquisition of LTM” [0428]), wherein the trigger is received from the network node in a serving cell (i.e. “S-Cell 130s” in Figs. 12-13), instructing the UE (i.e. “UE 5402” in Figs. 12-13) to transmit a UL signal for the TA establishment or TA update procedure (“The present disclosure is related to early UL synchronization towards candidate cell, such as early TA acquisition of LTM. Specifically, an example signalling procedure of early TA acquisition is provided herein, such as the 7-element example which includes: (1) configure the configuration of RACH resource for candidate cell(s) for early TA acquisition; (2) Based on UE measurements, source cell sends a PDCCH order when it wants to trigger early RACH towards a candidate cell; (3) UE initiates RACH towards the candidate target cell; (4) candidate cell receives the preamble and evaluates the TA value accordingly; (5) source cell gets required TA value from target cell and sends it to the UE over source cell (this could also be an ack for the RACH instead of RAR), or UE receives RAR including TA from target cell directly; (6) UE and network maintain the TA value until it needs to be updated (timer or distance based solutions); and (7) if TA update is triggered, then reuse steps 2 to 5, and/or UE receives TA command MAC CE for the candidate cell.” [0429])
Intel and Guo do not specifically teach wherein the trigger comprises at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, MAC Control Element, MAC CE, or Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) order.
In an analogous art, Park discloses wherein the trigger comprises at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message (“The controller/processor 375 provides RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., MIB, SIBs), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release)” [0068]), Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) (“medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) based unified TCI update” [0083]), or Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) order (“A UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates in a PDCCH search space (e.g., common search space, UE-specific search space) during PDCCH monitoring occasions on the CORESET, where the PDCCH candidates have different DCI formats and different aggregation levels.” [0065]), wherein the trigger corresponds to one or more of:
a trigger, from the network node in a serving cell for an LTM cell switch procedure (“transmit an LTM command indicating an LTM HO to the UE to cause the UE to perform the LTM HO to change the serving cell from the first cell to the second cell in response to the LTM command and based on at least one of the partially active TCI states and the active TCI states.” [0007]), wherein the trigger corresponds to an LTM cell switch command that indicates the LTM candidate cell the UE is to access (“The UE 902 may perform LTM HO to switch the serving cell from the serving cell 904 to the candidate cell #1 906 based on the active TCI state SSB s1 and the partially active TCI state SSB c1,1.” [0109]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Intel’s procedure for early TA acquisition, as modified by Guo, to include Park’s method for performing LTM handover to change the serving cell, in order to effectively perform the LTM handover (Park [Abstract]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Park’s method for performing LTM handover to change the serving cell into Intel’s procedure for early TA acquisition since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 9 (Currently Amended)
Intel, as modified by Guo, previously discloses the method of claim 1,
Intel and Guo do not specifically wherein the UE is configured with multiple LTM candidate cells and when the UE receives the trigger to transmit a UL signal to an LTM candidate cell which is not in a first subset of the multiple LTM candidate cells, transmitting the UL signal to the LTM candidate cell that is not in the first subset, in a configured UL channel resource in a time and frequency after the next synchronization signal of the LTM candidate cell.
In an analogous art, Park discloses wherein the UE is configured with multiple LTM candidate cells and when the UE receives the trigger to transmit a UL signal to an LTM candidate cell which is not in a first subset of the multiple LTM candidate cells, transmitting the UL signal to the LTM candidate cell that is not in the first subset, in a configured UL channel resource in a time and frequency after the next SSB occasion of the LTM candidate cell (“A UE may be provided with a subset of L1/L2 mobility deactivated cells (candidate cell set) that the UE may autonomously choose to add to the L1/L2 mobility activated cell set. For example, the UE may add cells in the subset of L1/L2 mobility deactivated cells to the L1/L2 mobility activated cell set based on measurements (e.g., measured channel quality), loading, or the like. In some aspects, each of the RUs could have multi-component carrier (CC) (N CCs) support (where each CC is a cell). In some aspects, activation or deactivation may be performed for groups of carriers (cells). For PCell management, L1/L2 signaling may be used to set the PCell out of the configured options within the activated cell set. In some aspects, L3 mobility may be used for PCell change (L3 handover) when a new PCell is not from the activated cell set for L1/L2 mobility. As an example, RRC signaling may be used to update the set of cells for L1/L2 mobility at L3 handover. In some aspects, L1/L2 mobility configured cells may be associated with a PCell configuration without being the PCell. The PCell configuration may be activated and one of the L1/L2 mobility activated cells (e.g., in an L1/L2 mobility activated cell set) may be activated based on L1/L2 signaling to become a PCell. In some aspects, L1/L2 mobility deactivated cells (e.g., in an L1/L2 mobility deactivated cell set) may support L1 measurements to facilitate sufficient beam management, timing synchronization, power control, or the like. For L1/L2 mobility deactivated cells, measurement reporting may be done on an activated cell.” [0089]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Intel’s procedure for early TA acquisition, as modified by Guo, to include Park’s method for performing LTM handover to change the serving cell, in order to effectively perform the LTM handover (Park [Abstract]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Park’s method for performing LTM handover to change the serving cell into Intel’s procedure for early TA acquisition since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 13 (Currently Amended)
Park discloses a user equipment (e.g. “UE 350” in Fig. 3) for Uplink (UL) access on a Layer 1/Layer 2 (L1/L2) triggered inter-cell mobility (LTM) candidate cell, comprising:
processing circuitry (“the data and control signals are then provided to the controller/processor 359, which implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality” [0070]) configured to:
receive, from a network node, a LTM configuration for at least one LTM candidate cell;
receive a trigger from the network node;
in response to receiving the trigger, transmit a UL signal to the LTM candidate cell during a UL resource occasion, wherein the UL resource occasion occurs during a period of time that is between receiving the trigger and a synchronization signal block (SSB) occasion from the LTM candidate cell that first occurs after the trigger;
power supply circuitry (inherent part of TX/RX 354 circuitry and antenna circuitry 352; [0072]; Fig. 3) configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 13 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1. Therefore apparatus claim 13 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 14
The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the trigger comprises at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message, information element (IE) field, parameter, Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE), or Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) order, wherein the trigger corresponds to one or more of:
a trigger for a time alignment (TA) establishment or TA update procedure, wherein the trigger is received from the network node in a serving cell, instructing the UE to transmit a UL signal for the TA establishment or TA update procedure; and/or
a trigger, from the network node in a serving cell for an LTM cell switch procedure, wherein the trigger corresponds to an LTM cell switch command that indicates the LTM candidate cell the UE is to access.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 14 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 2. Therefore apparatus claim 14 corresponds to method claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 2 rejection above.
Regarding claim 15
The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the trigger corresponds to at least one of a Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE), a Downlink Control Information (DCI), a Layer 1 (L1) signaling, a Layer 2 (L2) signaling, or a L1/L2 signaling, and indicates at least one of the configured LTM candidate cells.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 15 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 3. Therefore apparatus claim 15 corresponds to method claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 3 rejection above.
Regarding claim 16
The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the UL signal comprises one or more of:
a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble transmitted during a PRACH occasion of the LTM candidate cell in an LTM cell switch;
a PRACH preamble transmitted during a PRACH occasion of the LTM candidate cell in a TA establishment/update procedure;
a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmitted to the LTM candidate cell in a time alignment (TA) establishment or TA update procedure;
a control information transmitted on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) of the LTM candidate cell in a LTM cell switch procedure; and/or
UL data transmitted on a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) of the LTM candidate cell in an LTM cell switch procedure.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 16 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 4. Therefore apparatus claim 16 corresponds to method claim 4 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 4 rejection above.
Regarding claim 17
The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the UL resource occasion comprises one or more of:
a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) occasion of the LTM candidate cell;
a Sounding Reference Signal resource or resource occasion of the LTM candidate cell that has been configured and/or assigned;
a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource or resource occasion of the LTM candidate cell that has been configured and/or assigned; and/or
a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) resource or resource occasion of the LTM candidate cell that has been configured and/or assigned.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 17 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 5. Therefore apparatus claim 17 corresponds to method claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 5 rejection above.
Regarding claim 18 (Currently Amended)
The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the UE transmitting the UL signal to the LTM candidate cell in a configured UL channel resource in a time and frequency before the SSB occasion of the LTM candidate cell that first occurs after the trigger, comprises the UE transmitting the UL signal in the first configured UL channel resource in a time and frequency after the reception of the trigger.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 18 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 6. Therefore apparatus claim 18 corresponds to method claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 6 rejection above.
Regarding claim 19
The user equipment of claim 13, wherein prior to receiving the trigger, the UE receives a configuration from the serving cell with one or more LTM candidate cell configurations to be applied upon receiving an LTM cell switch command.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 19 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 7. Therefore apparatus claim 19 corresponds to method claim 7 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 7 rejection above.
Regarding claim 20
The user equipment of claim 13, wherein prior to receiving the trigger, the UE receives a configuration for time alignment (TA) establishment or TA update with the LTM candidate cell, wherein the configuration comprises one or more UL related parameters: such as a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble configuration, a PRACH occasion, a PRACH frequency resource.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 20 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 8. Therefore apparatus claim 20 corresponds to method claim 8 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 8 rejection above.
Regarding claim 21 (Currently Amended)
The user equipment of claim 13, wherein the UE is configured with multiple LTM candidate cells and when the UE receives the trigger to transmit a UL signal to an LTM candidate cell which is not in a first subset of the multiple LTM candidate cells, transmitting the UL signal to the LTM candidate cell that is not in the first subset, in a configured UL channel resource in a time and frequency after the next SSB occasion of the LTM candidate cell.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 21 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 9. Therefore apparatus claim 21 corresponds to method claim 9 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 9 rejection above.
Regarding claim 22 (Currently Amended)
The user equipment of claim 13, wherein prior to receiving the trigger the UE performs a Downlink (DL) synchronization with the at least one of the LTM candidate cells.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 22 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 10. Therefore apparatus claim 22 corresponds to method claim 10 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 10 rejection above.
Regarding claim 23
The user equipment of claim 13, further comprising:
providing user data; and
forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 23 is drawn to the apparatus of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 11. Therefore apparatus claim 23 corresponds to method claim 11 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 11 rejection above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG M NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-8184. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00am - 6:30pm.
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, Derrick Ferris can be reached at 571-272-3123. 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.
/CHUONG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
Prosecution Insights