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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see response to 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections on page 3 lines 11-21, filed 4/3/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 14, 18, and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of U.S. Publication No. 20130128852 to Xue et al in view of U.S. Publication No. 20100202377 to Nishio et al. Refer to updated 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections of claims 14, 18, and 20.
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.
Claims 14, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 20130128852 to Xue et al in view of U.S. Publication No. 20100202377 to Nishio et al.
Referring to claim 14, Xue et al disclose in Figures 1-13 a method for wireless communications at a UE (UE), comprising:
Receiving (from BS) a first signal (PDCCH control signaling: resource allocation signal of Figure 10) in a control channel (PDCCH), the control channel comprising a PDCCH transmission, the first signal allocating a first group of RBs (BS allocates RBGs to UE and transmits a resource allocation signal of Figure 10 to UE indicating the allocated RBGs) … Sections 0003, 0061, 0083, 0090, 0104, 0114, and 0129: BS allocates RBGs to UE; BS then transmits a resource allocation signal of Figure 10 (claimed “first signal”) to UE on a PDCCH indicating the allocated RBGs. BS uses a different number of bits of the resource allocation bit field in PDCCH to indicate the allocated RBGs (claimed “a first group of RBs”) to UE. Section 0003 lines 20-22: “Allocation of each RBG can be indicated using one bit in a resource allocation field in PDCCH, that is, can be indicated in a bitmap manner” (claimed “a first group of RBs”). In the resource allocation signal of Figure 10 and Section 0146 lines 27-29: “each bit indicates whether or not one RB within one resource block group is allocated” (claimed “a first group of RBs”). Also, in the resource allocation signal of Figure 10 and Section 0146 lines 35-46: “each bit may indicate whether or not N resource blocks included in one resource block group are allocated, in which the N resource blocks can be N resource blocks consecutive in a frequency domain within one resource block group (i.e. N resource blocks with consecutive resource block serial numbers), or can be N resource blocks spaced at an equal frequency within one resource block group (i.e. N resource blocks with inconsecutive resource block serial numbers that are spaced at an equal interval)” (claimed “a first group of RBs”).
Receiving a second signal (PDCCH control signaling: resource allocation signal of Figure 10, which can be the same as the claimed “first signal”) in the control channel, the second signal allocating a second group of RBs (which can be the same as the claimed “first group of RBs”) …, the second group of RBs comprises the first group of RBs (the second group of RBs comprises the first group of RBs since the first group of RBs can be the same as the second group of RBs). The claims of the pending application do not differentiate between the claimed “first signal” and “second signal”, so the claimed “first signal” and “second signal” can be the same signal; and the claims of the pending application do not differentiate between the claimed “first group of RBs” and “second group of RBs”, so the claimed “first group of RBs” and “second group of RBs” can be the same group of RBs. However, Xue et al can also disclose that the claimed “first signal” and “second signal” are different, and that the claimed “first group of RBs” and “second group of RBs” are different. Section 0003 lines 20-22 discloses that “Allocation of each RBG can be indicated using one bit in a resource allocation field in PDCCH, that is, can be indicated in a bitmap manner”. So: the resource allocation signal of Figure 10 indicates the allocation of a plurality of different RBGs in a bitmap, which can include the claimed “first group of RBs” and “second group of RBs”, using a bit (claimed “first signal”) to indicate a first RBG and another bit (claimed “second signal”) to indicate another RBG. Sections 0082, 0104, 0147, 0152, 0174, and 0188: UEs can be allocated the same resource block group subsets with repeated resource allocation; so different RBGs can include the same RBs (claimed “the second group of RBs comprises the first group of RBs”).
Receiving (Section 0003) or transmitting (Sections 0003, 0004, and 0045) a transmission using the allocated first group of RBs and the second group of RBs. Section 0003 lines 13-15: “PDCCH control signalling schedules time-frequency resources used by a terminal for receiving or transmitting data.” BS receives uplink data from UE using the allocated RBs and BS transmits downlink data to UE using the allocated RBs, wherein the allocated RBs are a claimed “first group of RBs” and “second group of RBs”. . Refer to Sections 0036-0190.
Xue et al do not disclose … receiving a first signal in a control channel, the control channel comprising a PDCCH transmission, the first signal allocating a first group of RBs in a first plurality of symbols; receiving a second signal in the control channel, the second signal allocating a second group of RBs in a second plurality of symbols, the second group of RBs comprises the first group of RBs …
Nishio et al disclose in Figures 1-14 and Sections 0011, 0037, and 0046 wherein BS allocates data symbols for each RB. When allocating the data symbols, BS groups the plurality of RBs into a plurality of groups and allocates channels in RB group units; so, data symbols are allocated to the plurality of groups of RBs (claimed “allocating a first group of RBs in a first plurality of symbols” and claimed “allocating a second group of RBs in a second plurality of symbols”). For example, in a system with 14 RBs, mapping per RB requires 14 bits of control information but allocation in RB group units formed with 2 RBs requires 7 bits of control information. Refer to Section 0032-0139. Also, the claims of the pending application do not differentiate between the claimed “first plurality of symbols” and “second plurality of symbols”, so the claimed “first plurality of symbols” and “second plurality of symbols” can be the same plurality of symbols. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include … receiving a first signal in a control channel, the control channel comprising a PDCCH transmission, the first signal allocating a first group of RBs in a first plurality of symbols; receiving a second signal in the control channel, the second signal allocating a second group of RBs in a second plurality of symbols, the second group of RBs comprises the first group of RBs … One would have been motivated to do so since BS allocates data symbols to groups of RBs, thereby facilitating data transmission in the symbols of the RB groups.
Referring to claim 18, Xue et al disclose in Figures 1-13 further comprising transmitting a PUSCH transmission using the allocated first group of RBs or the second group of RBs. Section 0003 lines 13-15: “PDCCH control signalling schedules time-frequency resources used by a terminal for receiving or transmitting data.” BS receives uplink data from UE using the allocated RBs and BS transmits downlink data to UE using the allocated RBs, wherein the allocated RBs are a claimed “first group of RBs” or “second group of RBs”. Section 0003 lines 20-29: UE can transmit uplink data using the allocated RBs to BS on a PUSCH. Refer to Sections 0036-0190.
Referring to claim 20, Xue et al disclose in Figures 1-13 further comprising receiving a PDSCH transmission using the allocated first group of RBs or the second group of RBs. Section 0003 lines 13-15: “PDCCH control signalling schedules time-frequency resources used by a terminal for receiving or transmitting data.” BS receives uplink data from UE using the allocated RBs and BS transmits downlink data to UE using the allocated RBs, wherein the allocated RBs are a claimed “first group of RBs” or “second group of RBs”. Section 0003 lines 20-29: UE can receive downlink data using the allocated RBs from BS on a PDSCH. The use of a PDSCH for downlink data transmission using the allocated RBs is also disclosed in Sections 0004, 00041, 0045, 0104, 0114, and 129. Refer to Sections 0036-0190.
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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Publication No. 20120087331 to Seo et al disclose in Figures 1-15 a terminal determines the size of an RBG according to the number of RBs within the basic band in the overall bands which include the fundamental band and an aggregated segment band; the size of an RBG of the aggregated segment band is determined on the basis of the size of the RBG of the basic band. Refer to Sections 0014-0022 and 0038-0156.
U.S. Publication No. 20130244571 to Hong et al disclose in Figures 1-4 that BS allocates a specific number of resource blocks, each having 180 kHz, as the size of a resource block group used to transmit and receive data packets to and from UE according to the available bandwidth and allocates the number of resource blocks, corresponding to the determined size of the resource block group, to UE, according to CASE1-CASE4. Refer to Sections 0020-0051.
U.S. Publication No. 20140029537 to Golitschek Edler von Elbwart disclose in Figure 1-8 an RBG is the union of P adjacent RBs, where P can be established for any uplink system bandwidth supported by LTE. Refer to Sections 0001-0110 and 0121-0214.
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/Christine Ng/
Examiner, AU 2464
April 18, 2026
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