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 .
Response to Arguments
Prior art rejections under 35 USC 103
Applicant’s Argument: Applicant argues the cited portions of Sakhnini and Schober fails to teach, “Wherein the bandwidth part is a subset of contiguous common resource blocks within a carrier bandwidth.” The bandwidth part of the present claimed invention is not the available resource of a component carrier, but is instead a subset of available resources of a component carrier.
Examiner’s Response: Applicant's arguments filed 06/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Schober teaches “Wherein the bandwidth part is a subset of contiguous common resource blocks within a carrier bandwidth.” See ¶0061 “A NR gNB can operate different users on different BWPs (including bandwidth part) of a single NW carrier (carrier bandwidth).” These may be of different bandwidths and may overlap, thus it is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that this would encompass a BWP with a bandwidth less than the carrier bandwidth, therefore including available resources being a subset of resources within the carrier.
Applicant’s Argument: Applicant argues the cited portions of Sakhnini and Schober fails to teach all four of the following:
(1) Carrier bandwidth;
(2) BWP bandwidth (which is a subset of and not the same as carrier bandwidth);
(3) Subset of frequency resources (which is a subset of and not the same as BWP
bandwidth); and
(4) Resources allocated by DCI (which is a subset of and not the same as bandwidth
of a subset of frequency resources).
The combination of the cited Sakhnini and Schober references at least fail to teach or suggest all four of these elements and granular levels.
Examiner’s Response: Applicant's arguments filed 06/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant appears to be taking a narrower interpretation of the claimed invention than what is recited in the claims.
Regarding point 1, Sakhnini-Schober teaches a carrier bandwidth with a BWP bandwidth, see ¶0061 of Schober, with Figure 3 of Sakhnini, cited below. Further, it is well-known in the art that BWPs are subsets of resources within a carrier, as evidenced by Schober.
Regarding point 3, Sakhnini teaches resources within the BWP, being a reduced bandwidth part, ¶0060.
Regarding point 4, the claim does not specifically teach that the DCI resources are not the same as bandwidth of a subset of frequency resources. The DCI as claimed merely indicates “a first resource allocation within a window of the bandwidth part via a Resource Indicator Value (RIV)” which may comprise any number of resources, not necessarily with the restriction imposed by Applicant in point 4.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A
patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2, 7-8, 10-12, 17-18, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakhnini et al. (“Sakhnini”) (US 20210289533 A1, effective filing date of provisional application 62/988,112 filed March 11, 2020) in view of Schober et al. (“Schober”) (US 20190097771 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Sakhnini teaches:
A method of a User Equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a configuration of a bandwidth part from a base station [Figure 4, ¶0057 shows UE 120, receives configuration of CSI-RS which configures a frequency range with bandwidth and starting RB, frequency ranges corresponding to a bandwidth part as in Figure 3 ¶0050 where UE configured to communicate on range of resources on BWP, thus the CSI-RS configuration specifying bandwidth is considered “configuration of a bandwidth part”]; deriving a subset of frequency resources within the bandwidth part, wherein the subset of frequency resources comprises contiguous Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) and is different from the bandwidth part [¶0060, UE supports a reduced bandwidth less than a bandwidth of a component carrier (corresponding to “deriving, by the UE and separate from frequency resource allocation, a subset”), the reduced bandwidth shown in Figure 3 315 ¶0051 comprising a derived subset considered contiguous as shown Figure 3 and represented by “UE may be configured as a reduced capability UE (e.g., a reduced capability NR device) that is configured to support a relatively narrow frequency range” (Corresponding to contiguous), separate from frequency resource allocation as UE is configured to support this reduced frequency range]; receiving Downlink Control Information (DCI), from the base station, indicating resource allocation within a window of the bandwidth part [Figure 5, 510, corresponding to Figure 4 415, “base station may transmit an indication of a frequency allocation. In some aspects, the UE may receive the indication of the frequency allocation associated with a dynamic resource grant” see grant in Figure 3, grant block within 315, corresponding to “indicating resource allocation within a window of the bandwidth part” wherein ¶0094 “process 500 includes receiving one or more of the indications via one or more of DCI or a MAC CE.”], for a transmission within the subset of frequency resources [¶059 DCI for dynamic grant shown in 315 for transmission within subset of frequency resources i.e. within granted resources see “for one or more communications with a base station”].
Sakhnini teaches information on CSI-RS allocation but does not expressly teach via a bitmap however Schober teaches receiving Downlink Control Information (DCI), from the base station, indicating resource allocation via a Resource Indicator Value (RIV), indicating a starting position and a length of the resource allocation [¶0067, “a user equipment may determine a first resource allocation granularity, such as a RBG size or RBG size of NB BWP” and “The UE then receives a downlink control information (DCI) message indicating a resource allocation for either downlink or uplink, which includes a Resource indication value (RIV)” and see ¶0092, Figure 7, “(RIV) indicating an index of a starting resource […] and a number of contiguously allocated resources […] and a truncation indication for indicating whether the user equipment is to truncate the resource allocation […] determining, by the user equipment, the starting resource (starting position) and ending resource (length)” according to RIV thus the indicated number of contiguously allocated resources and the truncation indication effectively communicates the length of the subset ¶0098].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify that the indication is sent via RIV with starting position and length. Sakhnini teaches a resource grant indicated via DCI as in ¶0059, ¶0094, Figure 4-5, and it would have been obvious to specify that the resource grant is indicated using a RIV within a DCI as Schober teaches indicating resources for transmission within BWP using the RIV field allows to address issues of wasted resources in bandwidth parts ¶0065-66.
Sakhnini teaches a bandwidth part in Figure 3 as part of a carrier but does not expressly teach it is a subset of a carrier.
Schober teaches wherein the bandwidth part is a subset of contiguous common resource blocks within a carrier bandwidth [¶0061 “A NR gNB can operate different users on different BWPs (including bandwidth part) of a single NW carrier (carrier bandwidth)” and may be of varying BWs and may overlap/not overlap, thus bandwidth parts are subsets within contiguous resource blocks of a carrier bandwidth].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the bandwidth part is a subset of a carrier resource blocks as in Schober. Sakhnini teaches a carrier with bandwidth part in Figure 3 and it would have been obvious to specify it is within a carrier of common resource blocks as in Schober who teaches this allows for scheduling different users on different BWPs across one carrier ¶0061.
Regarding claim 2, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein resources allocated for the transmission are part of the subset of frequency resource(s) [Sakhnini ¶0055-60, ¶0051, Figure 3, 315, Grant resources allocated within narrow BW supported by UE].
Regarding claim 7, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein the UE is not allowed to be scheduled outside the subset of frequency resources [Sakhnini ¶0055 “the UE (e.g., a reduced capability UE) may not support communications via the entire BWP of the component carrier based at least in part on a configuration of the UE, one or more components of the UE, and/or the like”].
Regarding claim 8, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein maximum bandwidth of the UE is smaller than bandwidth of the bandwidth part [Sakhnini ¶0051 “the UE may be configured as a reduced capability UE (e.g., a reduced capability NR device) that is configured to support a relatively narrow frequency range (e.g., a frequency range with a range that is less than a range of the BWP of the component carrier)”].
Regarding claim 10. Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 1, wherein bandwidth of the subset of frequency resource(s) is fixed or pre-defined [Sakhnini ¶0051-55 UE reduced bandwidth for narrow BW within BWP considered fix / pre-defined].
Regarding claim 11, Sakhnini teaches:
A method of a base station, comprising: transmitting a configuration of a bandwidth part to a user equipment (UE) [Figure 4, ¶0057 shows UE 120, receives configuration of CSI-RS which configures a frequency range with bandwidth and starting RB, frequency ranges corresponding to a bandwidth part as in Figure 3 ¶0050 where UE configured to communicate on range of resources on BWP, thus the CSI-RS configuration specifying bandwidth is considered “configuration of a bandwidth part”]; deriving a subset of frequency resources within the bandwidth part, wherein the subset of frequency resources comprises contiguous Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) and is different from the bandwidth part [¶0060, UE supports a reduced bandwidth less than a bandwidth of a component carrier (corresponding to “deriving, by the UE and separate from frequency resource allocation, a subset”), the reduced bandwidth shown in Figure 3 315 ¶0051 comprising a derived subset considered contiguous as shown Figure 3 and represented by “UE may be configured as a reduced capability UE (e.g., a reduced capability NR device) that is configured to support a relatively narrow frequency range” (Corresponding to contiguous), separate from frequency resource allocation as UE is configured to support this reduced frequency range]; and indicating, to the UE via Downlink Control Information (DCI), a resource allocation within a window of the bandwidth part [Figure 5, 510, corresponding to Figure 4 415, “base station may transmit an indication of a frequency allocation. In some aspects, the UE may receive the indication of the frequency allocation associated with a dynamic resource grant” see grant in Figure 3, grant block within 315, corresponding to “indicating resource allocation within a window of the bandwidth part” wherein ¶0094 “process 500 includes receiving one or more of the indications via one or more of DCI or a MAC CE.”] for a transmission within the subset of contiguously allocated frequency resources [¶059 DCI for dynamic grant shown in 315 for transmission within subset of frequency resources i.e. within granted resources see “for one or more communications with a base station”].
Sakhnini teaches information on CSI-RS allocation but does not expressly teach via a bitmap however Schober teaches receiving Downlink Control Information (DCI), from the base station, indicating a first resource allocation via a Resource Indicator Value (RIV), indicating a starting position and a length of the first resource allocation [¶0067, “a user equipment may determine a first resource allocation granularity, such as a RBG size or RBG size of NB BWP” and “The UE then receives a downlink control information (DCI) message indicating a resource allocation for either downlink or uplink, which includes a Resource indication value (RIV)” and see ¶0092, Figure 7, “(RIV) indicating an index of a starting resource […] and a number of contiguously allocated resources […] and a truncation indication for indicating whether the user equipment is to truncate the resource allocation […] determining, by the user equipment, the starting resource (starting position) and and ending resource (length)” thus the indicated number of contiguously allocated resources and the truncation indication effectively communicates the length of the subset ¶0098].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify that the indication is sent via RIV with starting position and length. Sakhnini teaches a resource grant indicated via DCI as in ¶0059, ¶0094, Figure 4-5, and it would have been obvious to specify that the resource grant is indicated using a RIV within a DCI as Schober teaches indicating resources for transmission within BWP using the RIV field allows to address issues of wasted resources in bandwidth parts ¶0065-66.
Sakhnini teaches a bandwidth part in Figure 3 as part of a carrier but does not expressly teach it is a subset of a carrier.
Schober teaches wherein the bandwidth part is a subset of contiguous common resource blocks within a carrier bandwidth [¶0061 “A NR gNB can operate different users on different BWPs (including bandwidth part) of a single NW carrier (carrier bandwidth)” thus bandwidth parts are subsets within contiguous resource blocks of a carrier bandwidth].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the bandwidth part is a subset of a carrier resource blocks as in Schober. Sakhnini teaches a carrier with bandwidth part in Figure 3 and it would have been obvious to specify it is within a carrier of common resource blocks as in Schober who teaches this allows for scheduling different users on different BWPs across one carrier ¶0061.
Regarding claim 12, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 11, wherein resources allocated for the transmission are part of the subset of frequency resource(s) [Sakhnini ¶0055-60, ¶0051, Figure 3, 315, Grant resources allocated within narrow BW supported by UE].
Regarding claim 17, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 11, wherein the base station is not allowed to schedule the UE outside the subset of frequency resources [Sakhnini ¶0055 “the UE (e.g., a reduced capability UE) may not support communications via the entire BWP of the component carrier based at least in part on a configuration of the UE, one or more components of the UE, and/or the like” thus no resources may be scheduled for the UE outside the narrow bandwidth within the BWP].
Regarding claim 18, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 11, wherein maximum bandwidth of the UE is smaller than bandwidth of the bandwidth part [Sakhnini ¶0051 “the UE may be configured as a reduced capability UE (e.g., a reduced capability NR device) that is configured to support a relatively narrow frequency range (e.g., a frequency range with a range that is less than a range of the BWP of the component carrier)”].
Regarding claim 20, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 11, wherein bandwidth of the subset of frequency resource(s) is fixed or pre-defined [Sakhnini ¶0051-55 UE reduced bandwidth for narrow BW within BWP considered fix / pre-defined].
Claim(s) 4, 6, 9, 14, 16, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakhnini et al. (“Sakhnini”) (US 20210289533 A1, effective filing date of provisional application 62/988,112 filed March 11, 2020) in view of Schober et al. (“Schober”) (US 20190097771 A1) and Li et al. (“Li”) (US 20200008202 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 1.
Sakhnini teaches DCI but not a size of the field however Li teaches a size of a resource allocation field in the DCI is determined based on a bandwidth of the subset of frequency resource(s) [¶0057 shows that resource allocation field sizes can be determined to be a specific number of bits based on RBG size, and further ¶0111-112, the DCI includes available bits used to encode the RBs within the BWP assigned thus the bits is based on the size of the RB length or bandwidth,].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the configurable DCI size as in Li. Sakhnini teaches indicating via DCI however it would have been obvious to specify the DCI field size based on the allocated resources as in Li to address issues with limited DCI sizes where the number of available bits can be insufficient to signal and/or indicate to the UEs all of the relevant combinations of RB allocations in the active BWP, including various starting positions and lengths, and overcome inadequate resource assignments ¶0011.
Regarding claim 6, Sakhnini- Schober teaches The method of claim 1.
Sakhnini teaches indicating resources but not the bandwidth of the subset however Li teaches bandwidth of the subset of frequency resource(s) is indicated to the UE [¶0111-112, also ¶0086 indicate starting block and length of RBs within BWP considered subset bandwidth].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the bandwidth in the DCI as in Li. Sakhnini teaches indicating via DCI however it would have been obvious to specify the bandwidth as in Li to address issues with limited DCI sizes where the number of available bits can be insufficient to signal and/or indicate to the UEs all of the relevant combinations of RB allocations in the active BWP, including various starting positions and lengths, and overcome inadequate resource assignments ¶0011.
Regarding claim 9, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 1.
Sakhnini teaches reduced bandwidth part for CSI but not data however Li teaches the transmission is for a data channel [¶0111 “UE can transmit or receive data, to or from the network node, using the one or more assigned RBs within the active BWP”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the communication is data. Sakhnini teaches CSI information but it would have been obvious to replace this with data communication as in Li as it would have been a simple substitution of parts to replace the control information with data as in Li ¶0016 for facilitating reduced latency in the network, leading to improved end user performance or quality of experience.
Regarding claim 14, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 11.
Sakhnini teaches DCI but not a size of the field however Li teaches a size of a resource allocation field in the DCI is determined based on a bandwidth of the subset of frequency resource(s) [¶0057 shows that resource allocation field sizes can be determined to be a specific number of bits based on RBG size, and further ¶0111-112, the DCI includes available bits used to encode the RBs within the BWP assigned thus the bits is based on the size of the RB length or bandwidth,].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the configurable DCI size as in Li. Sakhnini teaches indicating via DCI however it would have been obvious to specify the DCI field size based on the allocated resources as in Li to address issues with limited DCI sizes where the number of available bits can be insufficient to signal and/or indicate to the UEs all of the relevant combinations of RB allocations in the active BWP, including various starting positions and lengths, and overcome inadequate resource assignments ¶0011.
Regarding claim 16, Sakhnini- Schober teaches The method of claim 11.
Sakhnini teaches indicating resources but not the bandwidth of the subset however Li teaches bandwidth of the subset of frequency resource(s) is indicated to the UE [¶0111-112, also ¶0086 indicate starting block and length of RBs within BWP considered subset bandwidth].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the bandwidth in the DCI as in Li. Sakhnini teaches indicating via DCI however it would have been obvious to specify the bandwidth as in Li to address issues with limited DCI sizes where the number of available bits can be insufficient to signal and/or indicate to the UEs all of the relevant combinations of RB allocations in the active BWP, including various starting positions and lengths, and overcome inadequate resource assignments ¶0011.
Regarding claim 19, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 11.
Sakhnini teaches reduced bandwidth part for CSI but not data however Li teaches the transmission is for a data channel [¶0111 “UE can transmit or receive data, to or from the network node, using the one or more assigned RBs within the active BWP”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify the communication is data. Sakhnini teaches CSI information but it would have been obvious to replace this with data communication as in Li as it would have been a simple substitution of parts to replace the control information with data as in Li ¶0016 for facilitating reduced latency in the network, leading to improved end user performance or quality of experience.
Claim(s) 5, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakhnini et al. (“Sakhnini”) (US 20210289533 A1, effective filing date of provisional application 62/988,112 filed March 11, 2020) in view of Schober et al. (“Schober”) (US 20190097771 A1) and Li et al. (“Li”) (US 20190296882 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 1.
Sakhnini teaches allocating the subset BWP but not expressly frequency allocation of the subset however Li teaches wherein frequency location of the subset of frequency resources is indicated to the UE [¶0083-84, UE receives a BWP switch that indicates one of BWP configurations via RRC, see Figure 11 ¶0081 showing the configurations such as 1120, thus indicating the BWP configuration corresponding to 1120 considered indicating frequency location of the subset, BWP 1120 being a subset of larger BWP 1116 see ¶0089, thus the configuration of narrow BWP being the subset may be indicated in the switch].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify indicating the BWP configuration corresponding to a frequency location of the subset as in Li. Sakhnini teaches configuring reduced bandwidth BWP and it would have been obvious to indicate frequency location information of the subset for reduced BW as in Li who teaches this allows for BWP adaptation and achieving higher flexibility and efficiency ¶0085 and ¶0089.
Regarding claim 15, Sakhnini- Schober teaches:
The method of claim 11.
Sakhnini teaches allocating the subset BWP but not expressly frequency allocation of the subset however Li teaches wherein frequency location of the subset of frequency resources is indicated to the UE [¶0083-84, UE receives a BWP switch that indicates one of BWP configurations via RRC, see Figure 11 ¶0081 showing the configurations such as 1120, thus indicating the BWP configuration corresponding to 1120 considered indicating frequency location of the subset, BWP 1120 being a subset of larger BWP 1116 see ¶0089, thus the configuration of narrow BWP being the subset may be indicated in the switch].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify indicating the BWP configuration corresponding to a frequency location of the subset as in Li. Sakhnini teaches configuring reduced bandwidth BWP and it would have been obvious to indicate frequency location information of the subset for reduced BW as in Li who teaches this allows for BWP adaptation and achieving higher flexibility and efficiency ¶0085 and ¶0089.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/JAY L VOGEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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