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 § 112
Claim 2 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation "the… LBT messages". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 03/05/26, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-5,7-19 and 21-22 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 Li (Pub No 20180192442) further in view of Wang (Pub No 20220210827) and newly cited Agiwal (Pub No 20210282187).
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) 1, 3-4, 11, 13-14, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Pub No 20180192442) further in view of Wang (Pub No 20220210827) and Agiwal (Pub No 20210282187).
Regarding claim 1,
Li teaches A method for communicating in a communication network according to a mode of operation, the method comprising:
configuring, by a user equipment (UE), the mode of operation to be used in the communicating with the communication network; and (interpreted as process of performing LBT by the UE according to the configuration information is described, see FBE-based LBT and LBE-based LBT, para [0188-0190])
communicating, by the UE, one or more messages with the communication network through a RAN based on the mode of operation, (interpreted as The UE starts to perform LBT after k moments after receiving the schedule signaling, see para [0164]) wherein the mode of operation is a Frame Based Equipment (FBE) mode of operation or a Load Based Equipment (LBE) mode of operation. (interpreted as When the uplink is FBE-based LBT, assuming that the moment when the base station transmits the uplink grant (UL grant), see para [0189]). See uplink configuration is an LBE-based LBT, see para [0190])
However, Li does not explicitly teach generating a data message to be transmitted; monitoring in response to generating the data to be transmitted, by the UE, channel occupancy time (COT) acquired information signaled from a Radio Access Network (RAN);
Li also does not teach performing LBT during the COT.
Wang teaches generating a data message to be transmitted; (interpreted as The UE triggers a corresponding SR based on the buffer level of the new data, see para [0111])
monitoring in response to generating the data to be transmitted, by the UE, channel occupancy time (COT) acquired information signaled from a Radio Access Network (RAN); (interpreted as In this alternative, the gNB can assign a shared COT for relevant UEs immediately upon reception of an SR. In the existing LTE LAA and NR licensed, a trigger of a PUCCH-SR only indicates availability of the new data for an LCH, see para [0111])
It would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the COT taught by Li with the sending of COT information as taught by Wang with the motivation being for devices in the network know the scheduling opportunities of the system and therefore mitigate interference.
However does not teach the COT information being a COT acquired indication.
Agiwal teaches COT information being a COT acquired indication.
(interpreted as UE (100) can be configured with monitoring time configuration (which includes time periodicity, offset and duration), where the UE (100) is expected to monitor for base station transmissions indicating information about the acquired COT, see para [0103]).
It would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the COT information taught by Li in view of Wang with the COT acquired indication as taught by Wang with the motivation being the base station acquiring the COT ahead of time for the UE to use for communication thereby reducing load on the UE.
Regarding claim 11,
Li teaches A user equipment (UE) comprising:
a memory that stores a mode of operation of the UE; (see para [0259])
a processor, coupled to the memory, configured to generate a data message to be transmitted; (para [0259-0262])
a transmitter configured to transmit a signal in a frame period (FP) of a communication network based on the mode of operation; (interpreted as the CCA detection is performed in the idle period of the next fixed frame period, see para [0186])
a receiver configured to:
receive a signal based on the mode of operation; and (interpreted as In step S202, a user equipment (UE) receives a configuration signaling transmitted by a base station. The configuration signaling carries a clear channel assessment (CCA) parameter of the UE and an uplink transmission parameter of the UE, see para [0084])
wherein the processor is further configured to carry out the mode of operation, (para [0110]) wherein the mode of operation is a Frame Based Equipment (FBE) mode of operation or a Load Based Equipment (LBE) mode of operation. (interpreted as When the uplink is FBE-based LBT, assuming that the moment when the base station transmits the uplink grant (UL grant), see para [0189]). See uplink configuration is an LBE-based LBT, see para [0190])
wherein the transmitter is further configured to communicate one or more listen before talk (LBT) messages during the COT with the communication network through the RAN based on the mode of operation, (interpreted as The UE starts to perform LBT after k moments after receiving the schedule signaling, see para [0164])
However, Li does not explicitly teach generating a data message to be transmitted; monitoring in response to generating the data to be transmitted, by the UE, channel occupancy time (COT) acquired information signaled from a Radio Access Network (RAN);
Li does not teach performing LBT during the COT.
Wang teaches generating a data message to be transmitted; (interpreted as The UE triggers a corresponding SR based on the buffer level of the new data, see para [0111])
monitoring in response to generating the data to be transmitted, by the UE, channel occupancy time (COT) acquired information signaled from a Radio Access Network (RAN); (interpreted as In this alternative, the gNB can assign a shared COT for relevant UEs immediately upon reception of an SR. In the existing LTE LAA and NR licensed, a trigger of a PUCCH-SR only indicates availability of the new data for an LCH, see para [0111])
LBT during the COT (interpreted as information that indicates the type(s) of LBT operations that can be used in the COT, e.g., one or more of the categories of LBT operations defined above, see para [0136])
It would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the COT taught by Li with the sending of COT information as taught by Wang with the motivation being for devices in the network know the scheduling opportunities of the system and therefore mitigate interference.
However does not teach the COT information being a COT acquired indication.
Agiwal teaches COT information being a COT acquired indication.
(interpreted as UE (100) can be configured with monitoring time configuration (which includes time periodicity, offset and duration), where the UE (100) is expected to monitor for base station transmissions indicating information about the acquired COT, see para [0103]).
It would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the COT information taught by Li in view of Wang with the COT acquired indication as taught by Wang with the motivation being the base station acquiring the COT ahead of time for the UE to use for communication thereby reducing load on the UE.
Regarding claim 3 and 13 and 16,
Li teaches The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the UE, from the RAN, an indication of the mode of operation to be used in the communication network; and performing, by the UE, a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration operation based on the mode of operation. (interpreted as configuration signaling involved in the present embodiment is a downlink control information (DCI) signaling and/or a radio resource control (RRC) signaling, see para [0120])
Regarding claim 4 and 14,
Li teaches The method of claim 3, wherein the indication can be via downlink control information (DCI) signaling or via a sequence based signaling. (interpreted as configuration signaling involved in the present embodiment is a downlink control information (DCI) signaling and/or a radio resource control (RRC) signaling, see para [0120])
Claim(s) 5, 7, 10, 15, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Pub No 20180192442) further in view of Wang (Pub No 20220210827), Agiwal (Pub No 20210282187) and Oh (Pub no 20210298072).
Regarding claim 5 and 15,
Li in view of Wang teaches The method of claim 3, however does not teach wherein the indication of the mode of operation is an explicit indication of the mode of operation.
Oh teaches wherein the indication of the mode of operation is an explicit indication of the mode of operation (interpreted as whether the channel access procedure of the base station is the frame-based channel access procedure or the traffic-based channel access procedure may be transmitted to the terminal via an additional field to the SB1 as below, see para [0159])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the FBE configuration taught by Li in view of Wang with the indication taught by Oh with the motivation being so the devices know what communication format to transmit/receive.
Regarding claim 7,
Li teaches The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving the indication of the mode of operation comprises receiving a configuration message, (interpreted as When the uplink is FBE-based LBT, assuming that the moment when the base station transmits the uplink grant (UL grant), see para [0189]). See uplink configuration is an LBE-based LBT, see Li para [0190])
However Li does not teach the configuration message comprising a bit specifying the indication of the mode of operation.
Oh teaches the configuration message comprising a bit specifying the indication of the mode of operation (interpreted as The base station may transmit, to the terminal, whether the channel access procedure of the base station is the frame-based channel access procedure or the traffic-based channel access procedure, via a higher layer signal. For example, the base station may transmit, to the terminal, a 1-bit field as in Method 1-2 by adding the 1-bit field to the higher layer signal including the unlicensed band transmission/reception-related configuration information, see para [0168])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the FBE configuration taught by Li in view of Wang with the bit taught by Oh with the motivation being to indicate information using bits so that parameters for communications can exchanged
Regarding claim 10,
Li in view of Wang teaches The method of claim 1, however does not teach wherein the mode of operation is indicated explicitly in a broadcast signal of the communication network by a master information block (MIB) or a system information block (SIB).
Oh teaches wherein the mode of operation is indicated explicitly in a broadcast signal of the communication network by a master information block (MIB) or a system information block (SIB). (interpreted as whether the channel access procedure of the base station is the frame-based channel access procedure or the traffic-based channel access procedure, via an MIB transmitted through a PBCH, see para [0155])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the FBE configuration taught by Li in view of Wang with the indication taught by Oh with the motivation being to transmit configuration information for setting up communications.
Regarding claim 19,
Li in view of Wang teaches The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, however does not teach wherein the handover command includes a bit specifying an explicit indication of the mode of operation to be used in a communication network.
However Li in view of Wang does not teach the configuration message comprising a bit specifying the indication of the mode of operation.
Oh teaches the configuration message comprising a bit specifying the indication of the mode of operation (interpreted as The base station may transmit, to the terminal, whether the channel access procedure of the base station is the frame-based channel access procedure or the traffic-based channel access procedure, via a higher layer signal. For example, the base station may transmit, to the terminal, a 1-bit field as in Method 1-2 by adding the 1-bit field to the higher layer signal including the unlicensed band transmission/reception-related configuration information, see para [0168])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the FBE configuration taught by Li in view of Wang with the bit taught by Oh with the motivation of using a known in the art format such as bits for indicating configuration information.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Pub No 20180192442) further in view of Wang (Pub No 20220210827), Agiwal (Pub No 20210282187) and Harada (Pub No 20190116005)
Regarding claim 8,
Li teaches The method of claim 3, wherein the receiving the indication of the mode of operation comprises receiving a RRC message that comprises the indication of the mode of operation (interpreted as the configuration signaling is a downlink control information (DCI) signaling and/or a radio resource control (RRC) signaling, see para [0018])
However Li in view of Wang does not teach RRC reconfiguration message;
Harada teaches RRC reconfiguration message; (interpreted as Moreover, the RRC signaling may be referred to as an RRC message, and for example may be an RRC connection setup (RRC Connection Setup) message, an RRC connection reconfiguration (RRC Connection Reconfiguration) message, or the like.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the FBE configuration taught by Li with the RRC reconfiguration by Harada since it would have been a simple substitution for one known element for another to perform the operating of the user equipment.
Claim(s) 9, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Pub No 20180192442) further in view of Wang (Pub No 20220210827), Agiwal (Pub No 20210282187).and Yang (Pub No 20180324604)
Regarding claim 9 and 12,
Li in view of Wang teaches The method of claim 1, however does not teach wherein the UE is configured by a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) to operate only in the mode of operation.
Yang teaches wherein the UE is configured by a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) to operate only in the mode of operation. (interpreted as the CCA detection pattern or the Muting pattern through a downlink control information (DCI) instruction; acquiring, by the transmission equipment, the CCA detection pattern or the Muting pattern by inserting a parameter configuration of a CCA pattern into a SIM card; or acquiring, by the transmission equipment, the CCA detection pattern or the Muting pattern in a predefined manner, see para 0047])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the FBE configuration taught by Li in view of Wang with the SIM by Yang with the motivation being to provide user specific communications using the sim.
Claim(s) 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Pub No 20180192442) further in view of Wang (Pub No 20220210827), Agiwal (Pub No 20210282187).and Wang (Pub 20220346147)
Regarding claim 17,
Li teaches A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions to cause a user equipment (UE), upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the UE, to perform one or more operations, the operations comprising: (para [0110])
transmitting a physical random access channel (PRACH) message to a radio access network (RAN); and (interpreted as the UE directly transmits a retransmitted uplink data or uplink data having a high priority. The uplink data having a high priority includes acknowledge (ACK) information or non-acknowledge (NACK) information, channel state feedback information (CSI), a channel sounding reference signal (SRS) and a physical random access channel (PRACH), see para [0091])
receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message from the RAN, and specifies an indication of a mode of operation of the UE, and wherein the mode of operation is a Frame Based Equipment (FBE) mode of operation or a Load Based Equipment (LBE) mode of operation. (interpreted as When the uplink is FBE-based LBT, assuming that the moment when the base station transmits the uplink grant (UL grant), see para [0189]). See uplink configuration is an LBE-based LBT, see para [0190])
communicating one or more listen before talk (LBT) with the communication network through a Radio Access Network (RAN) based on the mode of operation (interpreted as When the uplink is FBE-based LBT, assuming that the moment when the base station transmits the uplink grant (UL grant), see para [0189]). See uplink configuration is an LBE-based LBT, see para [0190])
However Li does not teach generating a data message to be transmitted;
Monitoring in response to generating the data to be transmitted, by the UE, channel occupancy time (COT) acquired information signaled from a Radio Access Network (RAN);
LBT during the COT.
Wang27 teaches Monitoring in response to generating the data to be transmitted, by the UE, channel occupancy time (COT) acquired information signaled from a Radio Access Network (RAN); (interpreted as In this alternative, the gNB can assign a shared COT for relevant UEs immediately upon reception of an SR. In the existing LTE LAA and NR licensed, a trigger of a PUCCH-SR only indicates availability of the new data for an LCH, see para [0111])
generating a data message to be transmitted; (interpreted as The UE triggers a corresponding SR based on the buffer level of the new data, see para [0111])
LBT during the COT (interpreted as information that indicates the type(s) of LBT operations that can be used in the COT, e.g., one or more of the categories of LBT operations defined above, see para [0136])
It would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the COT taught by Li with the sending of COT information as taught by Wang with the motivation being for devices in the network know the scheduling opportunities of the system and therefore mitigate interference.
However Li in view of Wang27 they do not teach the RRC reconfiguration message comprising a handover command;
Wang47 teaches the RRC reconfiguration message comprising a handover command; (interpreted as The first indication is sent via at least one of system information, paging message, Downlink Control Information DCI, Media Access Control Element MAC CE signaling, Radio Resource Control RRC signaling and handover command, see para [0027][0029])
It would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the RRC taught by Li in view of Wang27 with RRC handover as taught by Wang47 with the modification of providing configuration information for performing the communications.
Regarding claim 18,
Li teaches The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the receiving operation comprises receiving the indication by one of downlink control information (DCI) signaling or sequence based signaling. (interpreted as The first indication is sent via at least one of system information, paging message, Downlink Control Information DCI, Media Access Control Element MAC CE signaling, Radio Resource Control RRC signaling and handover command, see para [0027][0029])
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Pub No 20180192442) further in view of Wang (Pub No 20220210827), Agiwal (Pub No 20210282187) and Oh (Pub No 20210298072).
Regarding claim 19,
Li in view of Wang27 and Wang47 teaches The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, however does not teach wherein the handover command includes a bit specifying an explicit indication of the mode of operation to be used in a communication network.
However in view of Wang does not teach the configuration message comprising a bit specifying the indication of the mode of operation.
Oh teaches the configuration message comprising a bit specifying the indication of the mode of operation (interpreted as The base station may transmit, to the terminal, whether the channel access procedure of the base station is the frame-based channel access procedure or the traffic-based channel access procedure, via a higher layer signal. For example, the base station may transmit, to the terminal, a 1-bit field as in Method 1-2 by adding the 1-bit field to the higher layer signal including the unlicensed band transmission/reception-related configuration information, see para [0168])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the FBE configuration taught by Li in view of Wang27 and Wang47 with the bit taught by Oh with the motivation of using bits as the format for indication information between devices.
Claim(s) 2, 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over L Li (Pub No 20180192442) further in view of Wang (Pub No 20220210827), Agiwal (Pub No 20210282187) and Talarico (Pub No 20190159256)
Regarding claim 2,
Li in view of Wang teaches The method of claim 1, however does not teach wherein the communicating one or more LBT messages with the RAN further comprises communicating an uplink (UL) transmission over autonomous uplink (AUL) with the RAN.
Talarico teaches wherein the communicating one or more LBT messages with the RAN further comprises communicating an uplink (UL) transmission over autonomous uplink (AUL) with the RAN. (interpreted as A COT acquired by a UE using Cat-4 LBT for AUL transmission can be shared with the eNB, see para [0081])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the UL transmission taught by Li in view of Wang with the AUL transmission by Talarico with the motivation of using uplink as a channel for transmitting information.
Regarding claim 21,
Li in view of Wang teaches The user equipment of claim 11, however does not teach wherein to communicate one or more listen before talk (LBT) messages, the transmitter is further configured to communicate an uplink (UL) transmission over an autonomous uplink (AUL) with the RAN.
Talarico teaches wherein to communicate one or more listen before talk (LBT) messages, the transmitter is further configured to communicate an uplink (UL) transmission over an autonomous uplink (AUL) with the RAN. (interpreted as A COT acquired by a UE using Cat-4 LBT for AUL transmission can be shared with the eNB, see para [0081])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the UL transmission taught by Li in view of Wang with the AUL transmission by Talarico with the motivation of using uplink as a channel for transmitting information.
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li (Pub No 20180192442) further in view of Wang (Pub No 20220210827), Agiwal (Pub No 20210282187) and Wang (Pub 20220346147) and Talarico (Pub No 20190159256)
Regarding claim 22,
Li teaches The user equipment of claim 11, however does not teach wherein to communicate one or more listen before talk (LBT) messages, the transmitter is further configured to communicate an uplink (UL) transmission over an autonomous uplink (AUL) with the RAN.
Talarico teaches wherein to communicate one or more listen before talk (LBT) messages, the transmitter is further configured to communicate an uplink (UL) transmission over an autonomous uplink (AUL) with the RAN. (interpreted as A COT acquired by a UE using Cat-4 LBT for AUL transmission can be shared with the eNB, see para [0081])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the UL transmission taught by Li in view of Wang with the AUL transmission by Talarico with the motivation of using uplink as a channel for transmitting information.
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 BAO G NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7732. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10pm - 6:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached on 571-272-3155. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BAO G NGUYEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2461
/HUY D VU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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