DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
This action is responsive to the RCE filed on 12/9/25.
Claim(s) 7, 9-11 is/are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 7, 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. 2013/0188653 A1 in view of Liang, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. 2022/0256600 A1, and Li, US 2020/0100284 A1, and further in view of Gou, US 2020/0366420 A1.
As to claim 7, Kim teaches a base station comprising:
a transmitter configured to repeat a process of decreasing a randomly determined counter value within a contention window size for channel sensing and to transmit a signal after the counter value becomes 0 (Kim, figure 5; page 5, paragraph 57; i.e., [0057] If the back-off counter value becomes O by repeating the abovementioned process, the target node transmits data. In more detail, in operation 413, the target node determines whether the back-off counter value is equal to 0. If the back-off counter value is equal to 0, in operation 415, the object network transmits the data related to the neighboring networks. If the back-off counter value is not equal to 0);
But Kim failed to teach the claim limitation wherein a receiver configured to receive Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG), from a terminal that has received the signal; a processor configured to set the contention window size to a predetermined minimum value when a ratio of a number of ACKs to a number of the HARQ-ACK feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG) is equal to or greater than a threshold, and extend or maintain the contention window size in other cases; wherein the threshold is determined in accordance with a priority access class of the channel.
However, Liang teaches the limitation wherein a processor configured to set the contention window size to a predetermined minimum value when a ratio of a number of ACKs to a number of the HARQ-ACK feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG) is equal to or greater than a threshold, and extend or maintain the contention window size in other cases (Liang, page 6, paragraph 62; page 6, paragraph 63; i.e., [0062] The network device 110 may receive a first number of feedbacks for the first number of reference transmissions and determine a feedback ratio of the first number to a total number of reference transmissions in the set of reference transmissions. If the feedback ratio exceeds a threshold feedback ratio, the network device 110 may determine the reception states of the first number of reference transmissions based on the first number of feedbacks which have been received; [0063] At a certain time, the network device 110 may have received Nl HARQ-ACK feedbacks for Nl reference PDSCH transmissions. Then the feedback ratio may be determined as Nl/NO. If the feedback ratio Nl/NO exceeds the threshold feedback ratio, the network device 110 may adjust the size of the contention window for the burst 605 based on the Nl HARQ-ACK feedbacks which have been received by the network device 110).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Kim to substitute transmission information from Liang for transmission state from Kim to better coexistence of transmitting points on unlicensed band (Sun, page 1, paragraph 3).
However, Li teaches the limitation wherein the threshold is determined in accordance with a priority access class of the channel (Li, page 20, paragraph 289; page 21, paragraph 302; i.e., [0289] In one instance, the CW size is incremented to the next available value of the corresponding channel access priority class if the fraction of NACK' ed received TBs exceeds a certain threshold ri (0<=ri<l), otherwise the CW size is set to the minimum CW size of the corresponding channel access priority class; wherein when a TB is grouped into multiple CBGs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Kim-Liang to substitute session management from Li to provide massive machine type communication (mMTC), each corresponding to a different coverage requirement and frequency bands with different propagation losses is desirable (Li, page 1, paragraph 11).
However, Gou teaches the limitation wherein a receiver configured to receive Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG), from a terminal that has received the signal (Gou, page 13, paragraph 290; i.e., [0290] Step S14, the UE receives a CBG retransmitted by the base station ( or the UE receives a TB retransmitted by the base station), if the UE determines that the CBG indication in the DCI is inconsistent with the CBG level HARQACK fed back by the UE to the base station).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Kim-Liang to substitute CBG level from Gou to save the energy consumption and the coverage is improved (Gou, page 1, paragraph 6).
As to claim 9, Kim teaches a terminal comprising:
a receiver configured to receive a signal, wherein repeats a process of decreasing a randomly determined counter value within a contention window size for channel sensing and transmits the signal after the counter value becomes 0 (Kim, figure 5; page 5, paragraph 57; i.e., [0057] If the back-off counter value becomes O by repeating the abovementioned process, the target node transmits data. In more detail, in operation 413, the target node determines whether the back-off counter value is equal to 0. If the back-off counter value is equal to 0, in operation 415, the object network transmits the data related to the neighboring networks. If the back-off counter value is not equal to 0);
But Kim failed to teach the claim limitation wherein a transmitter configured to transmit Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG), for a signal received from a base station; the base station sets the contention window size to a predetermined minimum value when a ratio of a number of ACKs to a number of the HARQ-ACK feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG) is equal to or greater than a threshold, and extends or maintains the contention window size in other cases; wherein the threshold is determined in accordance with a priority access class of the channel.
However, Liang teaches the limitation wherein the base station sets the contention window size to a predetermined minimum value when a ratio of a number of ACKs to a number of the HARQ-ACK feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG) is equal to or greater than a threshold, and extends or maintains the contention window size in other cases (Liang, page 6, paragraph 62; page 6, paragraph 63; i.e., [0062] the size of the contention window may be adjusted until a threshold ratio of HARQ-ACK feedbacks corresponding to the reference transmissions in the set of reference transmissions have been received. The network device 110 may receive a first number of feedbacks for the first number of reference transmissions and determine a feedback ratio of the first number to a total number of reference transmissions in the set of reference transmissions. If the feedback ratio exceeds a threshold feedback ratio, the network device 110 may determine the reception states of the first number of reference transmissions based on the first number of feedbacks which have been received).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Kim to substitute transmission information from Liang for transmission state from Kim to better coexistence of transmitting points on unlicensed band (Sun, page 1, paragraph 3).
However, Li teaches the limitation wherein the threshold is determined in accordance with a priority access class of the channel (Li, page 20, paragraph 289; page 21, paragraph 302; i.e., [0289] In one instance, the CW size is incremented to the next available value of the corresponding channel access priority class if the fraction of NACK' ed received TBs exceeds a certain threshold ri (0<=ri<l), otherwise the CW size is set to the minimum CW size of the corresponding channel access priority class; wherein when a TB is grouped into multiple CBGs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Kim-Liang to substitute session management from Li to provide massive machine type communication (mMTC), each corresponding to a different coverage requirement and frequency bands with different propagation losses is desirable (Li, page 1, paragraph 11).
However, Gou teaches the limitation wherein a transmitter configured to transmit Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG), for a signal received from a base station (Gou, page 5, paragraph 104; page 13, paragraph 290; i.e., [0104] the number of CBGs scheduled in the initial transmission and receives the CBG level HARQ-ACK fed back by the UE, after that, the base station determines a CBG to be retransmitted according to the received CBG level HARQ-ACK and performs retransmission; [0290] Step S14, the UE receives a CBG retransmitted by the base station ( or the UE receives a TB retransmitted by the base station), if the UE determines that the CBG indication in the DCI is inconsistent with the CBG level HARQACK fed back by the UE to the base station).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Kim-Liang to substitute CBG level from Gou to save the energy consumption and the coverage is improved (Gou, page 1, paragraph 6).
Claim(s) 10 is/are directed to a system claim and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 7. Therefore, claim(s) 10 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 7.
Claim(s) 11 is/are directed to a system claim and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 9. Therefore, claim(s) 11 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 9.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 7, 9-11 has/have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. Applicant’s arguments include the failure of previously applied art to expressly disclose “a transmitter configured to transmit Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG), for a signal received from a base station” (see Applicant’s response, 12/9/25, page 7). It is evident from the detailed mappings found in the above rejection(s) that Gou disclosed this functionality (see Gou, page 5, paragraph 104; page 13, paragraph 290). Further, it is clear from the numerous teachings (previously and currently cited) that the provision for “a transmitter configured to transmit Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedbacks for a Code Block Group (CBG), for a signal received from a base station” was widely implemented in the networking art. Thus, Applicant’s arguments drawn toward distinction of the claimed invention and the prior art teachings on this point are not considered persuasive.
Listing of Relevant Arts
Lei, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20230026357 A1 discloses UE or BS may receive the HARQ-ACK.
Gao, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20200404666 A1 discloses HARQ-ACK feedback on CBG.
Contact Information
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
THUONG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3864. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:00-6:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached on 571-270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THUONG NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416