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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 09/02/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed 09/02/2026 has been entered. Claims 1 and 3-4 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 3-4 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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, 3 and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oh et al. (US 20190327696 A1) in view of Nam (US 20190068348 A1) and further in view of Luo (US 20210329638 A1) and Tsai et al. (US 20190090227 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Oh teaches a terminal apparatus (terminal of Fig. 13), comprising:
reception circuitry configured to receive (receiver 1320) a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) comprising a transport block (a value of k may be transmitted in a state of being included in DCI which indicates or schedules the reception of the PDSCH transmitted in subframe n-k… k may be determined based on the HARQ-ACK processing capability of the terminal, that is, a minimum time required for the terminal to receive a PDSCH, Para 75-76); and
transmission circuitry configured to transmit (transmitter 1330), on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information corresponding to the transport block (HARQ ACK/NACK information of a PDSCH transmitted in subframe n-k may be transmitted in subframe n from the terminal to the base station through a PUCCH or a PUSCH, Para 75 and 76).
However, Oh does not teach wherein: the PDSCH is mapped to resources that are not allocated for one or more Synchronization Signal (SS)/Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks having a first index corresponding to (n-1) when an n bit of a higher layer parameter is set to one, n being a positive integer.
In an analogous art, Nam teaches wherein: the PDSCH is mapped to resources that are not allocated for one or more Synchronization Signal (SS)/Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks (the different rate matching behavior for SIB1 (or RMSI) PDSCH from SIBx (x>1) PDSCH, one bit indication can be introduced in the DCI with SI-RNTI, which schedules the PDSCH. The one bit indication informs UE how to perform rate matching for receiving the PDSCH between: the UE assumes that no SS/PBCH block is transmitted in the allocated resources; and/or the UE assumes SS/PBCH block transmission according to the signaling in RMSI, [0101]) having a first index corresponding to (n-1) when an n bit of a higher layer parameter is set to one, n being a positive integer ( when acquiring an SI message, the UE may determine the start of the SI-window for the concerned SI message as follows: for the concerned SI message, determine the number n which corresponds to the order of entry in the list of SI messages configured by schedulingInfoList in SystemInformationBlockType1; determine the integer value x=(n−1)*w, [0082]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission and reception of control information of Oh with the re-mapping of Nam to provide a methods to provide beamforming gain and support increased capacity, new waveform to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connections, and so on as suggested, Nam [0003].
However, Oh and Nam do not clearly teach the first index is determined by a remainder acquired by dividing a second index by a value indicated by a PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH blocks; and the second index is determined based on at least a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH block.
In an analogous art, Luo teaches the first index is determined by a remainder acquired by dividing a second index by a value indicated by a PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH blocks (For example, the sequence initialization for scrambling DMRS (e.g., PBCH DMRS) may be based on the cell ID of the base station 704 and on the 3 LSBs of the SS block index. Specifically, the initialization for the PBCH DMRS may be c.sub.init=2.sup.11 (f.sub.SSB+1).Math.(└N.sub.ID/4┘+1)+2.sup.6.Math.(f.sub.SSB+1)+mod(N.sub.ID, 4), where I.sub.SSB is the SS block index, and where for max length L=4, I.sub.SSB=I.sub.SSB+4HF where HF=0 in the first half frame of a radio frame and HF=1 in the second half frame of a radio frame, and for max length L=8, and max L=64, f.sub.SSB=I.sub.SSB, [0062]);
and the second index is determined based on at least a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH block (the sequence initialization for scrambling DMRS (e.g., PBCH DMRS) may be based on the cell ID of the base station 704 and on the 3 LSBs of the SS block index. Specifically, the initialization for the PBCH DMRS may be c.sub.init=2.sup.11 (f.sub.SSB+1).Math.(└N.sub.ID/4┘+1)+2.sup.6.Math.(f.sub.SSB+1)+mod(N.sub.ID, 4), [0062].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission and reception of control information of Oh and Nam with the SS/PBCH of Luo to provide a methods and a system that scramble/descramble information based on at least a portion of an SS block index, where the SS block index indexes a particular SS block within an SS burst within an SS burst set. The information may be scrambled before being transmitted or may be descrambled after being received as suggested, Luo [0006].
However, Oh, Nam and Luo do not clearly teach the one or more SS/PBCH blocks having a same first index are determined to be quasi co-located with respect to at least one large scale property.
In an analogous art, Tsai teaches the one or more SS/PBCH blocks having a same first index are determined to be quasi co-located with respect to at least one large scale property (The UE may assume that SS/PBCH blocks transmitted with the same block time index within a SS/PBCH burst set periodicity are quasi co-located with respect to Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and spatial Rx parameters).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission and reception of control information of Oh, Nam and Luo with the SS/PBCH structure of Tsai to provide a methods and a system for better beam determination in a wireless communication system as suggested, Tsai [0002].
Regarding claim 3, Oh teaches a method performed by a terminal apparatus (method of Fig. 10 using terminal of Fig. 13), the method comprising:
receiving a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) comprising a transport block (a value of k may be transmitted in a state of being included in DCI which indicates or schedules the reception of the PDSCH transmitted in subframe n-k… k may be determined based on the HARQ-ACK processing capability of the terminal, that is, a minimum time required for the terminal to receive a PDSCH, Para 75-76); and
transmitting, on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information corresponding to the transport block (HARQ ACK/NACK information of a PDSCH transmitted in subframe n-k may be transmitted in subframe n from the terminal to the base station through a PUCCH or a PUSCH, Para 75 and 76).
However, Oh does not teach wherein: the PDSCH is mapped to resources that are not allocated for one or more Synchronization Signal (SS)/Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks having a first index corresponding to (n-1) when an n bit of a higher layer parameter is set to one, n being a positive integer.
In an analogous art, Nam teaches wherein: the PDSCH is mapped to resources that are not allocated for one or more Synchronization Signal (SS)/Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks (the different rate matching behavior for SIB1 (or RMSI) PDSCH from SIBx (x>1) PDSCH, one bit indication can be introduced in the DCI with SI-RNTI, which schedules the PDSCH. The one bit indication informs UE how to perform rate matching for receiving the PDSCH between: the UE assumes that no SS/PBCH block is transmitted in the allocated resources; and/or the UE assumes SS/PBCH block transmission according to the signaling in RMSI, [0101]) having a first index corresponding to (n-1) when an n bit of a higher layer parameter is set to one, n being a positive integer ( when acquiring an SI message, the UE may determine the start of the SI-window for the concerned SI message as follows: for the concerned SI message, determine the number n which corresponds to the order of entry in the list of SI messages configured by schedulingInfoList in SystemInformationBlockType1; determine the integer value x=(n−1)*w, [0082]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission and reception of control information of Oh with the re-mapping of Nam to provide a methods to provide beamforming gain and support increased capacity, new waveform to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connections, and so on as suggested, Nam [0003].
However, Oh and Nam do not teach the first index is determined by a remainder acquired by dividing a second index by a value indicated by a PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH blocks;
and the second index is determined based on at least a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH block.
In an analogous art, Luo teaches the first index is determined by a remainder acquired by dividing a second index by a value indicated by a PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH blocks (For example, the sequence initialization for scrambling DMRS (e.g., PBCH DMRS) may be based on the cell ID of the base station 704 and on the 3 LSBs of the SS block index. Specifically, the initialization for the PBCH DMRS may be c.sub.init=2.sup.11 (f.sub.SSB+1).Math.(└N.sub.ID/4┘+1)+2.sup.6.Math.(f.sub.SSB+1)+mod(N.sub.ID, 4), where I.sub.SSB is the SS block index, and where for max length L=4, I.sub.SSB=I.sub.SSB+4HF where HF=0 in the first half frame of a radio frame and HF=1 in the second half frame of a radio frame, and for max length L=8, and max L=64, f.sub.SSB=I.sub.SSB, [0062]);
and the second index is determined based on at least a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH block (the sequence initialization for scrambling DMRS (e.g., PBCH DMRS) may be based on the cell ID of the base station 704 and on the 3 LSBs of the SS block index. Specifically, the initialization for the PBCH DMRS may be c.sub.init=2.sup.11 (f.sub.SSB+1).Math.(└N.sub.ID/4┘+1)+2.sup.6.Math.(f.sub.SSB+1)+mod(N.sub.ID, 4), [0062].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission and reception of control information of Oh and Nam with the SS/PBCH of Luo to provide a methods and a system that scramble/descramble information based on at least a portion of an SS block index, where the SS block index indexes a particular SS block within an SS burst within an SS burst set. The information may be scrambled before being transmitted or may be descrambled after being received as suggested, Luo [0006].
However, Oh, Nam and Luo do not clearly teach the one or more SS/PBCH blocks having a same first index are determined to be quasi co-located with respect to at least one large scale property.
In an analogous art, Tsai teaches the one or more SS/PBCH blocks having a same first index are determined to be quasi co-located with respect to at least one large scale property (The UE may assume that SS/PBCH blocks transmitted with the same block time index within a SS/PBCH burst set periodicity are quasi co-located with respect to Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and spatial Rx parameters).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission and reception of control information of Oh, Nam and Luo with the SS/PBCH structure of Tsai to provide a methods and a system for better beam determination in a wireless communication system as suggested, Tsai [0002].
Regarding claim 4, Oh teaches a method performed by a base station apparatus (base station of Fig. 12), the method comprising:
transmitting a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) comprising a transport block (a value of k may be transmitted in a state of being included in DCI which indicates or schedules the reception of the PDSCH transmitted in subframe n-k… k may be determined based on the HARQ-ACK processing capability of the terminal, that is, a minimum time required for the terminal to receive a PDSCH, Para 75-76); and
receiving, on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information corresponding to the transport block (HARQ ACK/NACK information of a PDSCH transmitted in subframe n-k may be transmitted in subframe n from the terminal to the base station through a PUCCH or a PUSCH, Para 75 and 76).
However, Oh does not teach wherein: the PDSCH is mapped to resources that are not allocated for one or more Synchronization Signal (SS)/Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks having a first index corresponding to (n-1) when an n bit of a higher layer parameter is set to one, n being a positive integer.
In an analogous art, Nam teaches wherein: the PDSCH is mapped to resources that are not allocated for one or more Synchronization Signal (SS)/Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks (the different rate matching behavior for SIB1 (or RMSI) PDSCH from SIBx (x>1) PDSCH, one bit indication can be introduced in the DCI with SI-RNTI, which schedules the PDSCH. The one bit indication informs UE how to perform rate matching for receiving the PDSCH between: the UE assumes that no SS/PBCH block is transmitted in the allocated resources; and/or the UE assumes SS/PBCH block transmission according to the signaling in RMSI, [0101]) having a first index corresponding to (n-1) when an n bit of a higher layer parameter is set to one, n being a positive integer ( when acquiring an SI message, the UE may determine the start of the SI-window for the concerned SI message as follows: for the concerned SI message, determine the number n which corresponds to the order of entry in the list of SI messages configured by schedulingInfoList in SystemInformationBlockType1; determine the integer value x=(n−1)*w, [0082]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission and reception of control information of Oh with the re-mapping of Nam to provide a methods to provide beamforming gain and support increased capacity, new waveform to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connections, and so on as suggested, Nam [0003].
However, Oh does not teach the first index is determined by a remainder acquired by dividing a second index by a value indicated by a PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH blocks;
and the second index is determined based on at least a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH block.
In an analogous art, Luo teaches the first index is determined by a remainder acquired by dividing a second index by a value indicated by a PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH blocks (For example, the sequence initialization for scrambling DMRS (e.g., PBCH DMRS) may be based on the cell ID of the base station 704 and on the 3 LSBs of the SS block index. Specifically, the initialization for the PBCH DMRS may be c.sub.init=2.sup.11 (f.sub.SSB+1).Math.(└N.sub.ID/4┘+1)+2.sup.6.Math.(f.sub.SSB+1)+mod(N.sub.ID, 4), where I.sub.SSB is the SS block index, and where for max length L=4, I.sub.SSB=I.sub.SSB+4HF where HF=0 in the first half frame of a radio frame and HF=1 in the second half frame of a radio frame, and for max length L=8, and max L=64, f.sub.SSB=I.sub.SSB, [0062]);
and the second index is determined based on at least a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) of the PBCH in each of the one or more SS/PBCH block (the sequence initialization for scrambling DMRS (e.g., PBCH DMRS) may be based on the cell ID of the base station 704 and on the 3 LSBs of the SS block index. Specifically, the initialization for the PBCH DMRS may be c.sub.init=2.sup.11 (f.sub.SSB+1).Math.(└N.sub.ID/4┘+1)+2.sup.6.Math.(f.sub.SSB+1)+mod(N.sub.ID, 4), [0062].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission and reception of control information of Oh with the SS/PBCH of Luo to provide a methods and a system that scramble/descramble information based on at least a portion of an SS block index, where the SS block index indexes a particular SS block within an SS burst within an SS burst set. The information may be scrambled before being transmitted or may be descrambled after being received as suggested, Luo [0006].
However, Oh, Nam and Luo do not clearly teach the one or more SS/PBCH blocks having a same first index are determined to be quasi co-located with respect to at least one large scale property.
In an analogous art, Tsai teaches the one or more SS/PBCH blocks having a same first index are determined to be quasi co-located with respect to at least one large scale property (The UE may assume that SS/PBCH blocks transmitted with the same block time index within a SS/PBCH burst set periodicity are quasi co-located with respect to Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and spatial Rx parameters).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the transmission and reception of control information of Oh, Nam and Luo with the SS/PBCH structure of Tsai to provide a methods and a system for better beam determination in a wireless communication system as suggested, Tsai [0002].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Park et al. (US 20190246442 A1): A wireless device receives a radio resource control message from a first base station. The radio resource control message comprises bandwidth part (BWP) configuration parameters of a plurality of BWPs of a first cell. The BWP configuration parameters comprise: an index of a BWP of the plurality of BWPs; and a field indicating a bandwidth of the BWP. The wireless device receives transport blocks via one or more of the plurality of BWPs based on the BWP configuration parameters. The wireless device detects, during a time that the BWP is active, a connection failure with the first base station. The wireless device transmits a radio link failure report indicating the connection failure. The radio link failure report comprises: a cell identifier of the first cell; and the index of the BWP.
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/NICOLE M LOUIS-FILS/Examiner, Art Unit 2641
/CHARLES N APPIAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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