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 .
DETAILED ACTION
a. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/22/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 3, 5-13, 15, 17-25, 27, 29, and 30 in the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, are being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
- claims 1, 11, 13, 18, 23, 25, and 30 are amended
b. This is a first action on the merits based on Applicant’s claims submitted on 07/09/2026.
Response to Arguments
Regarding Independent claims 1, 13, 25, and 30 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant's first arguments, see “However, the indication of an interval between SPS PDSCH and HARQ information, as in Chen, does not teach or suggest receiving "an indication of a plurality of candidate slot offsets for a second control channel," as recited in amended independent claim 1.” on page 15, filed on 07/09/2026, with respect to CMCC NPL “Discussion on group scheduling mechanisms”, 3GPP R1-2102900, April 12-20, 2021 (hereinafter “CMCC”), in view of Chen US Pub 2022/0159691, claiming domestic priority 2019-08-15 (hereinafter “Chen”), have been fully considered but not persuasive.
CMCC discloses receiving an indication of a plurality of candidate slot offsets for a second control channel (“Proposal 19. For RRC_CONNECTED UEs, only the group-common PDCCHs belong to broadcast service reported in MBS Interest Indication procedure are counted in the monitored CSS PDCCH candidates
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in a slot or span.” On page 12, Section 6).
Regarding Independent claims 1, 13, 25, and 30 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant's second arguments, see “Additionally, transmitting a NACK in response to failing to decode an SPS PDSCH, as in Chen, does not teach or suggest receiving "based at least in part on non-receipt, at the UE of an initial activation message associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, downlink control information associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration," as recited in amended independent claim 1.” on page 13, filed on 07/09/2026, with respect to CMCC NPL “Discussion on group scheduling mechanisms”, 3GPP R1-2102900, April 12-20, 2021 (hereinafter “CMCC”), in view of Chen US Pub 2022/0159691, claiming domestic priority 2019-08-15 (hereinafter “Chen”), have been fully considered but not persuasive.
CMCC discloses receiving based at least in part on non-receipt (i.e. “missed activation”, “miss-detection issue”), at the UE of an initial activation message associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, downlink control information (i.e. PDCCH) associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration (“For activation/deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH for MBS in RRC_CONNECTED state,
• At least group-common PDCCH is supported
o FFS: Whether and how to address the missed activation and deactivation
• FFS: Whether UE-specific PDCCH is supported for activation/deactivation” and furthermore “ACK/NACK based HARQ feedback has been supported for PTM transmission scheme 1, gNB can find some UE(s) miss detect the activation group-common PDCCH if a sequence of NACK is reported, and then UE-specific PDCCH can be used as activation PDCCH to re-active these UEs again. In addition, HARQ-ACK feedback for group-common PDCCH/UE-specific PDCCH for deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH can also be introduced similar as Rel-15/16 unicast SPS deactivation PDCCH to address the miss-detection issue.” On page 5, section 2.3).
Regarding Independent claims 1, 13, 25, and 30 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant's third arguments, see “Further, a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field, as in Chen, does not teach or suggest "downlink control information that indicates the feedback process identifier," in which the "feedback process identifier identifies a downlink feedback process for the group- common downlink shared channel," as recited in amended independent claim 1.” on page 13, filed on 07/09/2026, with respect to CMCC NPL “Discussion on group scheduling mechanisms”, 3GPP R1-2102900, April 12-20, 2021 (hereinafter “CMCC”), in view of Chen US Pub 2022/0159691, claiming domestic priority 2019-08-15 (hereinafter “Chen”), have been fully considered but not persuasive.
CMCC discloses the feedback process identifier identifies a downlink feedback process for the group- common downlink shared channel (“ACK/NACK based HARQ feedback has been supported for PTM transmission scheme 1, gNB can find some UE(s) miss detect the activation group-common PDCCH if a sequence of NACK is reported, and then UE-specific PDCCH can be used as activation PDCCH to re-active these UEs again. In addition, HARQ-ACK feedback for group-common PDCCH/UE-specific PDCCH for deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH can also be introduced similar as Rel-15/16 unicast SPS deactivation PDCCH to address the miss-detection issue.” On page 5, section 2.3; and furthermore “Additionally, gNB can indicate the HARQ process number in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH to avoid the HARQ process collision, even PTP can be used as retransmission scheme when PTM used as initial transmission. As for SPS, the HARQ process is related to the SFN, slot number, periodicity and so on, there is also no difference between multiple unicast SPS supported in Rel-16 and multiple multicast SPS, gNB can also handle the HARQ process collision issue with suitable configuration. Therefore, it can be totally up to gNB’s implementation to indicate the HARQ process number in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH without additional spec restriction e.g., semi-static allocating HARQ process for multicast and unicast” on page 8, section 3.3).
The CMCC reference, as combined with the Chen’s reference, discloses each and every limitation of the present claims 1, 13, 25, and 30, and therefore render the claims 1, 13, 25, and 30 obvious. The Examiner respectfully disagrees with the applicant’s arguments that the Examiner fails to establish a prima facie case of obviousness MPEP § 2141. See section Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 below for complete details.
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 of this title, 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.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claims 1, 3, 5-10, 12-13, 15, 17-22, 24-25, 27, and 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CMCC NPL “Discussion on group scheduling mechanisms”, 3GPP R1-2102900, April 12-20, 2021 (hereinafter “CMCC”), in view of Chen US Pub 2022/0159691, claiming domestic priority 2019-08-15 (hereinafter “Chen”).
Regarding claim 1 (Currently Amended)
CMCC discloses an apparatus for wireless communications (“detailed group scheduling mechanisms design for RRC_CONNECTED UEs” on page 1, Introduction) at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receive control signaling identifying a semi-persistent scheduling configuration (“activation/deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH” On page 5, section 2.3) indicating resources for a first control channel (i.e. “PDSCH”) and resources for a group-common downlink shared channel (i.e. “SPS group common PDSCH”, on page 5, section 2.3) corresponding to the first control channel (“PDSCH” On page 5, section 2.3), wherein the group-common downlink shared channel corresponds to a feedback process identifier that identifies a downlink feedback process for the group-common downlink shared channel (“ACK/NACK based HARQ feedback has been supported for PTM transmission scheme 1, gNB can find some UE(s) miss detect the activation group-common PDCCH if a sequence of NACK is reported, and then UE-specific PDCCH can be used as activation PDCCH to re-active these UEs again. In addition, HARQ-ACK feedback for group-common PDCCH/UE-specific PDCCH for deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH can also be introduced similar as Rel-15/16 unicast SPS deactivation PDCCH to address the miss-detection issue.” On page 5, section 2.3 and furthermore “Additionally, gNB can indicate the HARQ process number in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH to avoid the HARQ process collision, even PTP can be used as retransmission scheme when PTM used as initial transmission. As for SPS, the HARQ process is related to the SFN, slot number, periodicity and so on, there is also no difference between multiple unicast SPS supported in Rel-16 and multiple multicast SPS, gNB can also handle the HARQ process collision issue with suitable configuration. Therefore, it can be totally up to gNB’s implementation to indicate the HARQ process number in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH without additional spec restriction e.g., semi-static allocating HARQ process for multicast and unicast” on page 8, section 3.3);
receive an indication of a plurality of candidate slot offsets (i.e. “CSS PDCCH candidates
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”) for a second control channel different from the first control channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration (“Proposal 19. For RRC_CONNECTED UEs, only the group-common PDCCHs belong to broadcast service reported in MBS Interest Indication procedure are counted in the monitored CSS PDCCH candidates
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in a slot or span.” On page 12, Section 6);
receive, via resources for the second control channel (e.g. “UE-specific PDCCH”), and based at least in part on non-receipt (i.e. “missed activation”, “miss-detection issue”), at the UE, of an initial activation message associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, downlink control information associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration (“For activation/deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH for MBS in RRC_CONNECTED state,
• At least group-common PDCCH is supported
o FFS: Whether and how to address the missed activation and deactivation
• FFS: Whether UE-specific PDCCH is supported for activation/deactivation” and furthermore “ACK/NACK based HARQ feedback has been supported for PTM transmission scheme 1, gNB can find some UE(s) miss detect the activation group-common PDCCH if a sequence of NACK is reported, and then UE-specific PDCCH can be used as activation PDCCH to re-active these UEs again. In addition, HARQ-ACK feedback for group-common PDCCH/UE-specific PDCCH for deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH can also be introduced similar as Rel-15/16 unicast SPS deactivation PDCCH to address the miss-detection issue.” On page 5, section 2.3); and
monitor for signals on the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration (“it was agreed to at least support TDM/FDM between one unicast PDSCH and one group-common PDSCH in a slot” and Cases 1-5 on page 9, section 5) based at least in part on the feedback process identifier (detect/miss detect the activation group-common PDCCH if a sequence of NACK is reported (“ACK/NACK based HARQ feedback has been supported for PTM transmission scheme 1, gNB can find some UE(s) miss detect the activation group-common PDCCH if a sequence of NACK is reported, and then UE-specific PDCCH can be used as activation PDCCH to re-active these UEs again. In addition, HARQ-ACK feedback for group-common PDCCH/UE-specific PDCCH for deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH can also be introduced similar as Rel-15/16 unicast SPS deactivation PDCCH to address the miss-detection issue.” On page 5, section 2.3 and furthermore (“Additionally, gNB can indicate the HARQ process number in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH to avoid the HARQ process collision, even PTP can be used as retransmission scheme when PTM used as initial transmission. As for SPS, the HARQ process is related to the SFN, slot number, periodicity and so on, there is also no difference between multiple unicast SPS supported in Rel-16 and multiple multicast SPS, gNB can also handle the HARQ process collision issue with suitable configuration. Therefore, it can be totally up to gNB’s implementation to indicate the HARQ process number in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH without additional spec restriction e.g., semi-static allocating HARQ process for multicast and unicast” On page 8, section 3.3).
CMCC does not specifically teach a user equipment (UE), comprising at least one processor; memory coupled with the at least one processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the at least one processor; receive an indication of a plurality of slot offsets for a second control channel different from the first control channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration;
receive, via resources for the second control channel, during a slot that corresponds to a periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, and based at least in part on non-receipt, at the UE and during a previous slot that corresponds to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, of an initial activation message associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, downlink control information associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration and that indicates the feedback process identifier that corresponds to the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, wherein the indication of the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the previous slot corresponding to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, wherein the downlink control information indicates a slot offset from the plurality of slot offsets, and wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the slot offset.
In an analogous art, Chen discloses a user equipment (UE) (“terminal 900” in Fig. 9; [0250]), comprising at least one processor (“central processing unit 901” in Fig. 9; [0250]); memory (“memory 902” in Fig. 9; [0250]) coupled with the at least one processor; and instructions (“The memory 902 may be, for example, one or more of a buffer memory, a flash memory, a hard drive, a mobile medium, a volatile memory, a nonvolatile memory, or other suitable devices, which may store various data, etc., and furthermore, store programs executing related information. And the central processing unit 901 may execute programs stored in the memory 902, so as to realize information storage or processing, etc.” [0255]) stored in the memory and executable by the at least one processor;
receive an indication of a plurality of slot offsets for a second control channel different from the first control channel (i.e. “SPS PDSCH#m in a slot n-K.sub.m, and SPS PDSCH#m”) of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration (“the terminal equipment is configured to receive SPS PDSCH#m in a slot n-K.sub.m, and SPS PDSCH#m is activated, that is, the SPS configuration to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds is in an active state in the slot n-K.sub.m, n refers to a slot for transmitting feedback information to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds, and K.sub.m refers to a time-domain offset (PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-feedback timing value) between the PDSCH of SPS PDSCH#m and corresponding HARQ feedback, i.e. a slot interval between a slot where the SPS PDSCH#m reception is located and a slot where the corresponding HARQ-ACK information is located.” [0063]);
receive, via resources for the second control channel (“decodes the SPS PDSCH at a corresponding time-frequency position”), during a slot that corresponds to a periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, and based at least in part on non-receipt, at the UE and during a previous slot that corresponds to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, of an initial activation message associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration (“the SPS PDSCH reception refers to that the terminal equipment monitors or receives a corresponding PDSCH according to SPS activated DCI and corresponding SPS configuration information. When the terminal equipment successfully decodes the SPS PDSCH at a corresponding time-frequency position, it feeds back ACK, and if the terminal equipment does not successfully decode the SPS PDSCH at the corresponding time-frequency position, it feeds back NACK. Here, the SPS activated DCI (i.e. DCI used for activating the SPS) refers to SPS activated DCI most close in the time domain for corresponding SPS configuration, that is, there is no other SPS activated DCI (belonging to the same SPS configuration) between the SPS activated DCI and its corresponding SPS PDSCH. In addition, the SPS activated DCI may be, for example, a DCI format scrambled by a CS-RNTI. For example, a new data indicator field in the SPS activated DCI used to enable a transport block is “0”, that is, “a new data indicator field for the enabled transport block is set to ‘0’”.” [0071]), downlink control information (i.e. “DCI”) associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration and that indicates the feedback process identifier that corresponds to the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration (“For the semi-persistent scheduling, the DCI used to activate the SPS contains a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field, which is used to indicate an offset k between each PDSCH and a PUCCH resource carrying a corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit, as shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore, in addition to the PDSCH directly indicated by the active DCI, if there exists only the HARQ feedback to which the PDSCH (without corresponding PDCCH) corresponds in a corresponding slot, the UE determines the PUCCH resource carrying corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit according to IE n1PUCCH-AN in the SPS configuration.” [0056]), wherein the indication of the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the previous slot corresponding to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, wherein the downlink control information indicates a slot offset from the plurality of slot offsets, and wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the slot offset (“One implementation is that the terminal equipment is configured to receive SPS PDSCH#m in a slot n-K.sub.m, and SPS PDSCH#m is activated, that is, the SPS configuration to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds is in an active state in the slot n-K.sub.m, n refers to a slot for transmitting feedback information to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds, and K.sub.m refers to a time-domain offset (PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-feedback timing value) between the PDSCH of SPS PDSCH#m and corresponding HARQ feedback, i.e. a slot interval between a slot where the SPS PDSCH#m reception is located and a slot where the corresponding HARQ-ACK information is located. It should be noted that transmission times of HARQ-ACK information to which all SPS PDSCH receptions in the first set correspond are in the same slot (i.e. slot n).” [0063]);
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify CMCC’s method of activation/deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH, to include Chen’s method for handling feedback information corresponding to semi-persistent scheduling configuration, in order to efficiently performing SPS transmission and reception (Chen [0005]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Chen’s method for handling feedback information corresponding to semi-persistent scheduling configuration into CMCC’s method of activation/deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 3
CMCC, as modified by Chen, previously discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least processor to cause the apparatus to:
CMCC further discloses receive an indication of a slot offset for the second control channel (i.e. “HARQ process”); and
receive the downlink control information (i.e. “DCI”) on the resources for the second control channel (i.e. “PDCCH”) in the slot (“As for SPS, the HARQ process is related to the SFN, slot number, periodicity and so on, there is also no difference between multiple unicast SPS supported in Rel-16 and multiple multicast SPS, gNB can also handle the HARQ process collision issue with suitable configuration.” on page 8, section 3.3).
Chen further discloses wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the slot offset for the second control channel (“one implementation is that the terminal equipment is configured to receive SPS PDSCH#m in a slot n-K.sub.m, and SPS PDSCH#m is activated, that is, the SPS configuration to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds is in an active state in the slot n-K.sub.m, n refers to a slot for transmitting feedback information to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds, and K.sub.m refers to a time-domain offset (PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-feedback timing value) between the PDSCH of SPS PDSCH#m and corresponding HARQ feedback, i.e. a slot interval between a slot where the SPS PDSCH#m reception is located and a slot where the corresponding HARQ-ACK information is located.” [0063]).
Regarding claim 5
CMCC, as modified by Chen, previously discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least processor to cause the apparatus to:
CMCC further discloses receive an indication of a feedback process identifier offset (i.e. 16 possible HARQ processes) for the second control channel (“Additionally, gNB can indicate the HARQ process number in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH to avoid the HARQ process collision, even PTP can be used as retransmission scheme when PTM used as initial transmission.” On page 8, section 3.3 and furthermore “we think the PDSCH carrying system information is out of the maximum 16 HARQ processes in Rel-15/16, that is the unicast service can occupy total 16 HARQ processes.” On page 8, section 4.1); and
receive the downlink control information (i.e. “DCI”) on the resources for the second control channel (i.e. “PDCCH”) in the slot,
Chen further discloses wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the slot offset for the second control channel (“one implementation is that the terminal equipment is configured to receive SPS PDSCH#m in a slot n-K.sub.m, and SPS PDSCH#m is activated, that is, the SPS configuration to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds is in an active state in the slot n-K.sub.m, n refers to a slot for transmitting feedback information to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds, and K.sub.m refers to a time-domain offset (PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-feedback timing value) between the PDSCH of SPS PDSCH#m and corresponding HARQ feedback, i.e. a slot interval between a slot where the SPS PDSCH#m reception is located and a slot where the corresponding HARQ-ACK information is located.” [0063]).
Regarding claim 6
CMCC, as modified by Chen, previously discloses the apparatus of claim 5, wherein the instructions to receive the indication of the feedback process identifier are executable by the at least processor to cause the apparatus to:
CMCC further discloses receive an indication of a plurality of feedback process identifier offsets (i.e. “HARQ process number”) for the second control channel (“Additionally, gNB can indicate the HARQ process number in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH to avoid the HARQ process collision, even PTP can be used as retransmission scheme when PTM used as initial transmission. As for SPS, the HARQ process is related to the SFN, slot number, periodicity and so on, there is also no difference between multiple unicast SPS supported in Rel-16 and multiple multicast SPS, gNB can also handle the HARQ process collision issue with suitable configuration. Therefore, it can be totally up to gNB’s implementation to indicate the HARQ process number in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH without additional spec restriction e.g., semi-static allocating HARQ process for multicast and unicast” On page 8, section 3.3).
Chen further discloses wherein the downlink control information indicates the feedback process identifier offset from the plurality of feedback process identifier offsets (“For the semi-persistent scheduling, the DCI used to activate the SPS contains a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field, which is used to indicate an offset k between each PDSCH and a PUCCH resource carrying a corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit, as shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore, in addition to the PDSCH directly indicated by the active DCI, if there exists only the HARQ feedback to which the PDSCH (without corresponding PDCCH) corresponds in a corresponding slot, the UE determines the PUCCH resource carrying corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit according to IE n1PUCCH-AN in the SPS configuration. [0056]).
Regarding claim 7
CMCC, as modified by Chen, previously discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions to receive the downlink control information are executable by the at least processor to cause the apparatus to:
Chen further discloses receive the feedback process identifier in the second control channel, wherein the downlink control information comprises the feedback process identifier (“For the semi-persistent scheduling, the DCI used to activate the SPS contains a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field, which is used to indicate an offset k between each PDSCH and a PUCCH resource carrying a corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit, as shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore, in addition to the PDSCH directly indicated by the active DCI, if there exists only the HARQ feedback to which the PDSCH (without corresponding PDCCH) corresponds in a corresponding slot, the UE determines the PUCCH resource carrying corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit according to IE n1PUCCH-AN in the SPS configuration. [0056]).
Regarding claim 8
CMCC, as modified by Chen, previously discloses the apparatus of claim 7,
CMCC further discloses wherein the second control channel (i.e. “group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH”) comprises an explicit indication of the feedback process identifier (“Therefore, it can be totally up to gNB’s implementation to indicate the HARQ process number (i.e. “explicit feedback process identifier”) in group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH without additional spec restriction e.g., semi-static allocating HARQ process for multicast and unicast” on page 8, section 3.3).
Regarding claim 9
CMCC, as modified by Chen, previously discloses the apparatus of claim 1,
CMCC further discloses wherein the first control channel is a first group-common control channel (“it was agreed to at least support TDM/FDM between one unicast PDSCH and one group-common PDSCH in a slot” on page 9, section 5).
Regarding claim 10
CMCC, as modified by Chen, previously discloses the apparatus of claim 1,
CMCC further discloses wherein the second control channel is a second group-common control channel, a UE-specific control channel, or any combination thereof (“group-common PDCCH and UE-specific PDCCH” on page 8, section 3.3).
Regarding claim 12
CMCC, as modified by Chen, previously discloses the apparatus of claim 1,
Chen further discloses wherein the feedback process identifier is determined based at least in part on a feedback process identifier field in the downlink control information, a semi-persistent scheduling index, a slot associated with the resources for the second control channel (“one implementation is that the terminal equipment is configured to receive SPS PDSCH#m in a slot n-K.sub.m, and SPS PDSCH#m is activated, that is, the SPS configuration to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds is in an active state in the slot n-K.sub.m, n refers to a slot for transmitting feedback information to which SPS PDSCH#m corresponds, and K.sub.m refers to a time-domain offset (PDSCH-to-HARQ-ACK-feedback timing value) between the PDSCH of SPS PDSCH#m and corresponding HARQ feedback, i.e. a slot interval between a slot where the SPS PDSCH#m reception is located and a slot where the corresponding HARQ-ACK information is located. It should be noted that transmission times of HARQ-ACK information to which all SPS PDSCH receptions in the first set correspond are in the same slot (i.e. slot n).” [0063]), a radio network temporary identifier associated with the downlink control information (“In addition, the SPS activated DCI may be, for example, a DCI format scrambled by a CS-RNTI.” [0071]), or any combination thereof.
Regarding claim 13 (Currently Amended)
Chen discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a base station (“network device 1000” in Fig. 10; [0258]), comprising:
at least one processor (“central processing unit (CPU) 1001” in Fig. 10; [0258]);
memory (“memory 1002,” in Fig. 10; [0258]) coupled with the at least one processor; and
instructions stored in the memory (“The memory 1002 may store various data, and furthermore, it may store a program for data processing, and execute the program under control of the central processing unit 1001, so as to receive various information transmitted by a terminal equipment, and transmit various information to the terminal equipment.” [0258]) and executable by at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit control signaling identifying a semi-persistent scheduling configuration indicating resources for a first control channel and resources for a group-common downlink shared channel corresponding to the first control channel, wherein the group-common downlink shared channel corresponds to a feedback process identifier that identifies a downlink feedback process for the group-common downlink shared channel;
transmit an indication of a plurality of candidate slot offsets for a second control channel different from the first control channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration;
transmit, via resources for the second control channel, during a slot that corresponds to a periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, and based at least in part on non-receipt, during a previous slot that corresponds to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, of an initial activation message associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, downlink control information associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration and that indicates the feedback process identifier that corresponds to the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, wherein the indication of the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the previous slot corresponding to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, wherein the downlink control information indicates a slot offset from the plurality of candidate slot offsets, and wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the slot offset; and
transmit signals on the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 13 are reciprocal to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 1. Therefore apparatus claim 13 corresponds to apparatus claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 15
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit an indication of a slot offset for the second control channel; and
transmit the downlink control information on the resources for the second control channel in the slot corresponding to the slot offset, wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the slot offset for the second control channel.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 15 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 3. Therefore, apparatus claim 15 corresponds to apparatus claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 3 rejection above.
Regarding claim 17
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit an indication of a feedback process identifier offset for the second control channel; and
transmit the downlink control information on the resources for the second control channel in the slot, wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the feedback process identifier offset for the second control channel.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 17 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 5. Therefore, apparatus claim 17 corresponds to apparatus claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 5 rejection above.
Regarding claim 18 (Currently Amended)
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions to transmit the downlink control information are executable by the at least processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit an indication of a plurality of feedback process identifier offsets for the second control channel, wherein the downlink control information indicates the feedback process identifier offset from the plurality of feedback process identifier offsets.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 18 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 6. Therefore, apparatus claim 18 corresponds to apparatus claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 6 rejection above.
Regarding claim 19
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions to transmit the downlink control information are executable by the at least processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit the feedback process identifier in the second control channel, wherein the downlink control information comprises the feedback process identifier.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 19 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 7. Therefore, apparatus claim 19 corresponds to apparatus claim 7 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 7 rejection above.
Regarding claim 20
The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the second control channel comprises an explicit indication of the feedback process identifier.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 20 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 8. Therefore, apparatus claim 20 corresponds to apparatus claim 8 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 8 rejection above.
Regarding claim 21
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first control channel is a first group-common control channel.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 21 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 9. Therefore, apparatus claim 21 corresponds to apparatus claim 9 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 9 rejection above.
Regarding claim 22
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second control channel is a second group-common control channel, a UE-specific control channel, or any combination thereof.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 22 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 10. Therefore, apparatus claim 22 corresponds to apparatus claim 10 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 10 rejection above.
Regarding claim 24
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the feedback process identifier is indicated based at least in part on a redundancy version field in the downlink control information, a feedback process identifier field in the downlink control information, a reserved field in the downlink control information, a dedicated field associated with the feedback process identifier of the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, a semi-persistent scheduling index, a slot associated with the resources for the second control channel, a radio network temporary identifier associated with the downlink control information, or any combination thereof.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 24 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 12. Therefore, apparatus claim 24 corresponds to apparatus claim 12 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 12 rejection above.
Regarding claim 25 (Currently Amended)
A method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving control signaling identifying a semi-persistent scheduling configuration indicating resources for a first control channel and resources for a group-common downlink shared channel corresponding to the first control channel, wherein the group-common downlink shared channel corresponds to a feedback process identifier that identifies a downlink feedback process for the group-common downlink shared channel;
receiving an indication of a plurality of candidate slot offsets for a second control channel different from the first control channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration;
receiving, via resources for the second control channel, during a slot that corresponds to a periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, and based at least in part on non-receipt, at the UE and during a previous slot that corresponds to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, of an initial activation message associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, downlink control information associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration and that indicates the feedback process identifier that corresponds to the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, wherein the indication of the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the previous slot corresponding to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, wherein the downlink control information indicates a slot offset from the plurality of candidate slot offsets, and wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the slot offset; and
monitoring for signals on the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration based at least in part on the feedback process identifier.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 25 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 1. Therefore, method claim 25 corresponds to apparatus claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 27
Further comprising:
receiving an indication of a slot offset for the second control channel; and
receiving the downlink control information on the resources for the second control channel in the slot corresponding to the slot offset, wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the slot offset for the second control channel.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 27 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 3. Therefore method claim 27 corresponds to apparatus claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 3 rejection above.
Regarding claim 29
Further comprising:
receiving an indication of a feedback process identifier offset for the second control channel; and
receiving the downlink control information on the resources for the second control channel in the slot, wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the feedback process identifier offset for the second control channel.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 29 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 5. Therefore method claim 29 corresponds to apparatus claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 5 rejection above.
Regarding claim 30 (Currently Amended)
A method for wireless communications at a base station, comprising:
transmitting control signaling identifying a semi-persistent scheduling configuration indicating resources for a first control channel and resources for a group-common downlink shared channel corresponding to the first control channel, wherein the group-common downlink shared channel corresponds to a feedback process identifier that identifies a downlink feedback process for the group-common downlink shared channel;
transmitting an indication of a plurality of candidate slot offsets for a second control channel different from the first control channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration;
transmitting, via resources for the second control channel, during a slot that corresponds to a periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, and based at least in part on non-receipt, during a previous slot that corresponds to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, of an initial activation message associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, downlink control information associated with the semi-persistent scheduling configuration and that indicates the feedback process identifier that corresponds to the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, wherein the indication of the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the previous slot corresponding to the periodicity of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration, wherein the downlink control information indicates a slot offset from the plurality of candidate slot offsets, and wherein the feedback process identifier is based at least in part on the slot and the slot offset; and
transmitting signals on the group-common downlink shared channel of the semi-persistent scheduling configuration.
The scope and subject matter of method claim 30 is drawn to the method of using the corresponding apparatus claimed in claim 13. Therefore, method claim 30 corresponds to apparatus claim 13 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 13 rejection above.
Claims 11 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CMCC, in view of Chen, and further in view of Lunttila et al. US Pub 2021/0044391 (hereinafter “Lunttila”).
Regarding claim 11 (Currently Amended)
CMCC, as modified by Chen, previously discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least processor to cause the apparatus to:
Chen further discloses wherein the downlink control information (i.e. DCI) indicates the plurality of feedback process identifiers (“downlink control information (DCI) indicating the corresponding PDSCH includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field, which is used to indicate an offset k between the PDSCH and a PUCCH resource carrying a corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit (referred to as an HARQ bit in brief), as shown in FIG. 1. That is, when the PDSCH is in a slot n, its corresponding ACK or NACK feedback is transmitted in a slot n+k. And furthermore, the DCI also includes a PUCCH resource indicator field, which is used to indicate a PUCCH resource carrying a corresponding HARQ-ACK information bit.” [0055]);
CMCC and Chen do not specifically teach receive additional control signaling indicating a second plurality of offset values, determine the feedback process identifier based at least in part on the indicated offset value.
In an analogous art, Lunttila discloses receive control signaling indicating a second plurality of offset values (i.e. “multi-TTI DCI”), wherein the downlink control signaling indicates an offset value from the second plurality of offset values (“the UE reinterprets the HARQ process ID in the multi-TTI UL grant as a time offset, relative to the first slot of the multi-TTI DCI, pointing at the subframe, slot, half-slot or symbol of the first CG-PUSCH transmission in the UL CG burst to be retransmitted.” [0157]); and
determine the feedback process identifier (i.e. “HARQ process ID”) based at least in part on the indicated offset value (“UE transmits the first PUSCH within the scheduled M PUSCH transmissions using the HARQ process ID indicated in step 3. Linkage method #1: the HARQ-ID (this may be anything in the range h.sub.1, h.sub.2, . . . h.sub.N) in the multi-TTI UL grant identifies the HARQ ID of the first retransmitted CG-PUSCH transmission. Linkage method #2: the UE reinterprets the HARQ process ID in the multi-TTI UL grant as a time offset, relative to the first slot of the multi-TTI DCI, pointing at the subframe, slot, half-slot or symbol of the first CG-PUSCH transmission in the UL CG burst to be retransmitted. E.g. HARQ ID #0 in the multi-TTI UL grant may correspond to a CG-PUSCH that was transmitted in a slot “x” that was two slots before the slot in which the multi-TTI UL grant was received (i.e. x=2), HARQ ID #1 corresponds to x=3, HARQ ID #2 corresponds to x=4, and so forth. This may provide an alternative link between multi-TTI DCI and CG burst” [0155-0157]).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify CMCC’s method of activation/deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH, as modified by Chen, to include Lunttila’s method for scheduling retransmissions for a burst of configured grant transmissions using multi-TTI uplink grants, in order to efficiently performing wireless signal transmission/reception procedures using slot offsets (Lunttila [Abstract]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Lunttila’s method for scheduling retransmissions for a burst of configured grant transmissions using multi-TTI uplink grants into CMCC’s method of activation/deactivation of SPS group-common PDSCH since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 23 (Currently Amended)
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit additional control signaling indicating a second plurality of offset values, wherein the downlink control information indicates an offset value from the second plurality of offset values; and
determine the feedback process identifier based at least in part on the indicated offset value.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 23 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 11. Therefore, apparatus claim 23 corresponds to apparatus claim 11 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 11 rejection above.
Conclusion
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/CHUONG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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