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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/7/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to claims filed on 1/7/2026.
Claims 1-7 and 9-11 have been cancelled.
Claims 8 and 12-15 remain pending in the application.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 8 and 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over R1-1908101 (3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #98); in view of Xiao et al. (WO2021/030980); and in further view of Liu et al. (US 2021/0298029 A1).
Regarding claims 8 and 13; R1-1908101 discloses receiving system information (a UE receives SIB1 indicating channel bandwidth; see page 3); using, when a channel bandwidth indicated by the system information is not supported, a maximum bandwidth of a bandwidth of an initial Bandwidth Part (BWP) and a supported maximum bandwidth (when a UE does not support the channel bandwidth indicated in SIB1, the UE will continue the initial access procedure; in an example of {SS/PBCH, PDCCH} SCS of (30, 30) kHZ with CORESET #0 size of 48RBs; a supported maximum bandwidth is 51RB; the initial BWP can be any values in the range of [48, 51]; when 51 RB is used, it is a maximum bandwidth of a bandwidth of an initial BWP and a supported maximum bandwidth; see response 4 of page 3, response 5 of page 4 and Table 1).
R1-1908101 discloses when a channel bandwidth indicated by the system information is not supported, the UE may continue the initial access procedure.
R1-1908101 does not explicitly disclose applying initial DL BWP for downlink communication and initial UL BWP for uplink communication.
Xiao discloses wherein the processor applies, as a frequency bandwidth for performing uplink communication, a bandwidth of an initial Uplink BWP, and, as a frequency bandwidth for performing downlink communication, a bandwidth of an initial Downlink BWP (before a dedicated BWP configuration information is received, the initial UL BWP may be used by the terminal device to send data to and the initial DL BWP may be used by the terminal to receive data; see paragraph [0117]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of R1-1908101 and Xian to apply an initial DL BWP for downlink communication and an initial UL BWP for uplink communication before a dedicated BWP configuration information is received (see paragraph [0117] of Xiao).
The combination of R1-1908101 and Xian discloses receiving system information.
The combination of R1-1908101 and Xian does not explicitly disclose deriving a number of RBs of CORESET#0 based on a master information received.
Liu discloses receiving master information (a base station transmits MIB to a terminal apparatus; see paragraph [0042] and Fig. 1) and wherein the processor derives a number of resource blocks of CORESET#0 based on a set of most significant bits of an information element included in the master information (the frequency resources (number of consecutive resource blocks) of COREST#0 can be implicitly determined according to information included in the PDCCH-ConfigSIB1; the controlResourceSetZero corresponds to 4 bits of the most significant bits in the PDCCH-ConfigSIB1 included in the MIB; see paragraph [0152]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of R1-1908101, Xian and Liu to derive a number of resource blocks of CORESET#0 based on an IE included in the MIB to efficiently perform communication in a wireless communication system (see paragraph [0005] of Liu).
Specifically for claim 13; Xiao discloses a terminal (a terminal device; see paragraph [0241]) comprising: a receiver (transceiver unit; see Fig. 9); and a processor (processor; see Fig. 9).
Regarding claim 12; R1-1908101 discloses when a channel bandwidth indicated by the system information is not supported, the UE may continue the initial access procedure.
R1-1908101 does not explicitly discloses applying initial DL BWP for downlink communication and initial UL BWP for uplink communication during the initial access procedure.
Xiao discloses wherein, when an RRC connection with a base station is not set up after receiving, by the receiver, the system information, the processor uses, as the frequency bandwidth for performing uplink communication, the bandwidth of the initial Uplink BWP, and as the frequency bandwidth for performing the downlink communication the bandwidth of the initial Downlink BWP (the initial active downlink BWP and initial active uplink BWP may be used for initial access; initial access is when an RRC connection with a base station is not setup; see paragraph [0117]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of R1-1908101 and Xian to apply an initial DL BWP for downlink communication and an initial UL BWP for uplink communication before an RRC connection is setup to perform initial access (see paragraph [0117] of Xiao).
Regarding claim 14; R1-1908101 discloses transmits system information (a UE receives SIB1 indicating channel bandwidth; see page 3); receives, when a channel bandwidth indicated by the system information is not supported, a signal on a maximum bandwidth of a bandwidth of an initial Bandwidth Part (BWP) and a supported maximum bandwidth (when a UE does not support the channel bandwidth indicated in SIB1, the UE will continue the initial access procedure; in an example of {SS/PBCH, PDCCH} SCS of (30, 30) kHZ with CORESET #0 size of 48RBs; a supported maximum bandwidth is 51RB; the initial BWP can be any values in the range of [48, 51]; when 51 RB is used, it is a maximum bandwidth of a bandwidth of an initial BWP and a supported maximum bandwidth; see response 4 of page 3, response 5 of page 4 and Table 1).
R1-1908101 discloses when a channel bandwidth indicated by the system information is not supported, the UE may continue the initial access procedure.
R1-1908101 does not explicitly discloses applying initial DL BWP for downlink communication and initial UL BWP for uplink communication.
Xiao discloses a base station (a base station; see paragraph [0241]) comprising: a transmitter (transceiver unit; see Fig. 9); and a receiver (transceiver unit; see Fig. 9); wherein the terminal applies,, as a frequency bandwidth for performing uplink communication, a bandwidth of an initial Uplink BWP, and, as a frequency bandwidth for performing downlink communication, a bandwidth of an initial Downlink BWP (before a dedicated BWP configuration information is received, the initial UL BWP may be used by the terminal device to send data to and the initial DL BWP may be used by the terminal to receive data; see paragraph [0117]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of R1-1908101 and Xian to apply an initial DL BWP for downlink communication and an initial UL BWP for uplink communication before a dedicated BWP configuration information is received (see paragraph [0117] of Xiao).
The combination of R1-1908101 and Xian discloses a base station transmits system information to a terminal.
The combination of R1-1908101 and Xian does not explicitly disclose the terminal deriving a number of RBs of CORESET#0 based on a master information received.
Liu discloses transmits master information (a base station transmits MIB to a terminal apparatus; see paragraph [0042] and Fig. 1) and wherein the terminal derives a number of resource blocks of CORESET#0 based on a set of most significant bits of an information element included in the master information (the frequency resources (number of consecutive resource blocks) of COREST#0 can be implicitly determined according to information included in the PDCCH-ConfigSIB1; the controlResourceSetZero corresponds to 4 bits of the most significant bits in the PDCCH-ConfigSIB1 included in the MIB; see paragraph [0152]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of R1-1908101, Xian and Liu to derive a number of resource blocks of CORESET#0 based on an IE included in the MIB to efficiently perform communication in a wireless communication system (see paragraph [0005] of Liu).
Regarding claim 15; R1-1908101 discloses a terminal receives system information; and uses, when a channel bandwidth indicated by the system information is not supported a maximum bandwidth of a bandwidth of an initial Bandwidth Part (BWP) and a supported maximum bandwidth (when a UE does not support the channel bandwidth indicated in SIB1, the UE will continue the initial access procedure; in an example of {SS/PBCH, PDCCH} SCS of (30, 30) kHZ with CORESET #0 size of 48RBs; a supported maximum bandwidth is 51RB; the initial BWP can be any values in the range of [48, 51]; when 51 RB is used, it is a maximum bandwidth of a bandwidth of an initial BWP and a supported maximum bandwidth; see response 4 of page 3, response 5 of page 4 and Table 1); a base station transmits system information (a UE receives SIB1 indicating channel bandwidth; see page 3); receives, from the terminal that does not support the channel bandwidth indicated by the system information transmitted by the transmitter, a signal on a maximum bandwidth of a bandwidth of an initial Bandwidth Part (BWP) and a supported maximum bandwidth (when a UE does not support the channel bandwidth indicated in SIB1, the UE will continue the initial access procedure; in an example of {SS/PBCH, PDCCH} SCS of (30, 30) kHZ with CORESET #0 size of 48RBs; a supported maximum bandwidth is 51RB; the initial BWP can be any values in the range of [48, 51]; when 51 RB is used, it is a maximum bandwidth of a bandwidth of an initial BWP and a supported maximum bandwidth; see response 4 of page 3, response 5 of page 4 and Table 1).
R1-1908101 discloses when a channel bandwidth indicated by the system information is not supported, the UE may continue the initial access procedure.
R1-1908101 does not explicitly discloses applying initial DL BWP for downlink communication and initial UL BWP for uplink communication.
Xiao discloses a communication system comprising: a terminal; and a base station (a wireless communication system includes a UE and a base station; see Fig. 1A), wherein the terminal includes a receiver (transceiver unit; see paragraph [0241] and Fig. 9); and a processor (processor; see Fig. 9); wherein the processor applies, as a frequency bandwidth for performing uplink communication, a bandwidth of an initial Uplink BWP, and, as a frequency bandwidth for performing downlink communication, a bandwidth of an initial Downlink BWP (before a dedicated BWP configuration information is received, the initial UL BWP may be used by the terminal device to send data to and the initial DL BWP may be used by the terminal to receive data; see paragraph [0117]); and wherein the base station (a base station; see paragraph [0241]) includes a transmitter (transceiver unit; see Fig. 9); and a receiver (transceiver unit; see Fig. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of R1-1908101 and Xian to apply an initial DL BWP for downlink communication and an initial UL BWP for uplink communication before a dedicated BWP configuration information is received (see paragraph [0117] of Xiao).
The combination of R1-1908101 and Xian discloses receiving system information.
The combination of R1-1908101 and Xian does not explicitly disclose deriving a number of RBs of CORESET#0 based on a master information received.
Liu discloses receiving master information (a base station transmits MIB to a terminal apparatus; see paragraph [0042] and Fig. 1) and wherein the processor derives a number of resource blocks of CORESET#0 based on a set of most significant bits of an information element included in the master information (the frequency resources (number of consecutive resource blocks) of COREST#0 can be implicitly determined according to information included in the PDCCH-ConfigSIB1; the controlResourceSetZero corresponds to 4 bits of the most significant bits in the PDCCH-ConfigSIB1 included in the MIB; see paragraph [0152]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of R1-1908101, Xian and Liu to derive a number of resource blocks of CORESET#0 based on an IE included in the MIB to efficiently perform communication in a wireless communication system (see paragraph [0005] of Liu).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 8 have been considered but are moot in view
of a new reference Liu et al. (US 2021/0298029 A1) being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to NING LI whose telephone number is (571)270-0624. The examiner can normally be reached Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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/N.L/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/MANSOUR OVEISSI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415