DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
RCE filed 3/5/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 1 and 6 have been amended. The previous rejections under 35 USC 112 are withdrawn in light of the present amendments.
Claim 3 has been cancelled. Claim 2 has been previously cancelled.
Claims 1 and 4-6 remain pending.
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 1 and 4-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamada et al. (US20120281576A1), hereafter Yamada, in view of McBeath et al. (US20130142142A1), hereafter McBeath.
Regarding claims 1 and 6,
Yamada discloses a communication method (Title; Fig. 13) by a user equipment (Fig. 4) comprising a receiver (Fig. 4, 203) configured to receive a downlink signal (from base station) and processor (Fig. 4, 204/208) that configures, among first, second and third component carriers (Figs. 7-12, CC#1-3), first and second monitoring configurations for the third component carrier, the first monitoring configuration to monitor a downlink control channel (Figs. 7-12, PDCCH Monitoring Set) in the third component carrier in response to deactivation of the first component carrier and the second monitoring configuration to monitor a downlink control channel in the third component carrier in response to deactivation of the second component carrier (Fig. 7-13; paragraph 129-138; PDCCH monitoring set is subset of downlink component carriers for monitoring PDCCH, dynamically changed with activation/deactivation of component carriers; paragraphs 129-144; predefined formats, identifiers, search spaces for monitoring PDCCH).
Yamada further discloses the first and second monitoring configurations specify different time and frequency resources within the third component carrier, as resources for monitoring the downlink control channel (Yamada: Fig. 7-8 and paragraphs 140-144 describe the first/second/third common SS as well as UE specific SS occupying different time/frequency resources in each of CC#1-3 of the PDCCH monitoring set).
Although it would be expected based on how the first and second monitoring configurations are defined above, to the extent that Yamada does not expressly disclose deactivating the first monitoring configuration and activating monitoring of the downlink control channel in the third component carrier in accordance with the second monitoring configuration in response to detecting the first component carrier is activated and the second component carrier is deactivated, further analogous prior art to McBeath (Title: sharing a control channel for carrier aggregation) more expressly discloses deactivating the first monitoring configuration and activating monitoring of the downlink control channel in the third component carrier in accordance with the second monitoring configuration in response to detecting the first component carrier is activated and the second component carrier is deactivated (paragraph 122; paired DL/UL carrier with different activation/deactivation status effects monitored PDCCH candidates; Fig. 4, 10, 17-19; DL/UL carriers independently activated/deactivated impacts the number of PDCCH candidates; Fig. 21, step 2145; UL carrier active but paired DL carrier not active results in identifying different CCE candidates for PDCCH monitoring). McBeath also at least suggests different time/frequency resources for monitoring the downlink control channel (paragraph 10, 89; Fig. 5-9; Fig. 21, step 2145-2150/2155; different CCE candidates based on active/inactive UL/DL paired carriers), similar to that shown in Yamada, above.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify Yamada by deactivating the first monitoring configuration and activating monitoring of the downlink control channel in the third component carrier in accordance with the second monitoring configuration in response to detecting the first component carrier is activated and the second component carrier is deactivated, as shown by McBeath, thereby increasing the total amount of PDCCH candidates as a function of the number of activated carriers.
Regarding claim 4,
The combination of Yamada and McBeath discloses, after the processor starts monitoring the downlink control channel on the third component carrier in accordance with the first monitoring configuration in response to deactivation of the first component carrier, the processor stops monitoring the downlink control channel on the third component carrier in accordance with the first monitoring configuration and starts monitoring the downlink control channel on the first component carrier, in response to reactivation of the first component carrier (paragraph 138; PDCCH monitoring set is subset of downlink component carriers for monitoring PDCCH, dynamically changed with activation/deactivation of a component carrier, where “dynamically” at least implicitly teaches further changing of the PDCCH monitoring set upon further changes including activation/deactivation of CCs).
Regarding claim 5,
The combination of Yamada and McBeath discloses the receiver receives a signal including information indicating a trigger (i.e. instruction) for activating monitoring of the downlink control channel, information indicating a trigger for deactivating monitoring of the downlink control channel, or a combination thereof (Fig. 13; paragraphs 148-149; instruction from base station received by mobile station to extend search space for monitoring PDCCH).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/5/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the Remarks on pg. 7 of the Amendment, Applicant contends Yamada and McBeath fail to teach the newly-amended limitations in which the first and second monitoring configurations specify different time and frequency resources within the third component carrier for monitoring the downlink control channel.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. As now clarified in the rejection, Yamada discloses different common search spaces and UE specific search spaces occupying different time/frequency resources in each of CC#1-3 of the PDCCH monitoring set, as shown in Fig. 7-8 and the corresponding paragrapshs. McBeath also at least suggests different time/frequency resources for monitoring the downlink control channel through disclosure in paragraphs 10, 89, Figs. 5-9, and Fig. 21, step 2145-2150/2155 in which different CCE candidates based on active/inactive UL/DL paired carriers, similar to that shown in Yamada. Therefore, the rejections based on the cited disclosure of Yamada in combination with McBeath meets a broadest reasonable interpretation of the pending claims, and the rejections are properly maintained.
Conclusion
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/GREGORY B SEFCHECK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
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