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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/30/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-2, 8, 11-12, 18 and 21-26 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 11 and 21-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAMAMOTO et al. (US 2022/0287057 A1) in view of Lin (US 2020/0296716 A1)
YAMAMOTO et al. discloses the following features.
Regarding claim 1, YAMAMOTO et al teaches, A method for transmitting uplink information, comprising: determining whether a time domain resource of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a time domain resource of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) overlap in a time domain,[ (0395) When a transmission resource (e.g., PUCCH) for an SR and a transmission resource (e.g., PUSCH) for uplink data overlap one another in the time domain] and responsive to that there is an overlap between the time domain resource of the PUCCH and the time domain resource of the PUSCH,[ (0395) When a transmission resource (e.g., PUCCH) for an SR and a transmission resource (e.g., PUSCH) for uplink data overlap one another in the time domain]
determining a transmission manner for at least one of the PUCCH or the PUSCH according to a priority parameter; [(0395) determines, for example, the priority of the triggered SR in the PHY layer and the PUSCH priority based on terminal operation 1, and compares the SR priority and the PUSCH priority in the PHY layer based on terminal operation 2, (0398) and transmits the other of the PUSCH and SR (transmission resource PUCCH) which has a higher priority]
wherein the priority parameter comprises: an information priority of the PUCCH; or the information priority of the PUCCH and an information priority of the PUSCH [ (0398) and transmits the other of the PUSCH and SR (transmission parameter for PUCCH) which has a higher priority].
Regarding claim 11, YAMAMOTO et al teaches, A device for transmitting information, comprising a processor [(0458) device or system having a function of communication, which is referred to as a communication apparatus. The communication apparatus may comprise a transceiver and processing/control circuitry] at least one network interface and a memory for storing a computer program capable of being executed on the processor, wherein the processor is configured to: determine whether a time domain resource of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a time domain resource of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) overlap in a time domain; [ (0395) When a transmission resource (e.g., PUCCH) for an SR and a transmission resource (e.g., PUSCH) for uplink data overlap one another in the time domain] responsive to that there is an overlap between the time domain resource of the PUCCH and the time domain resource of the PUSCH [ (0395) When a transmission resource (e.g., PUCCH) for an SR and a transmission resource (e.g., PUSCH) for uplink data overlap one another in the time domain],
determine a transmission manner for at least one of the PUCCH or the PUSCH according to a priority parameter; [(0395) determines, for example, the priority of the triggered SR in the PHY layer and the PUSCH priority based on terminal operation 1, and compares the SR priority and the PUSCH priority in the PHY layer based on terminal operation 2, (0398) and transmits the other of the PUSCH and SR (transmission resource PUCCH) which has a higher priority]
wherein the priority parameter comprises: an information priority of the PUCCH; or the information priority of the PUCCH and an information priority of the PUSCH
[ (0398) and transmits the other of the PUSCH and SR (transmission parameter for PUCCH) which has a higher priority].
YAMAMOTO et al. does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 1 and 11, wherein determining the transmission manner for at least one of the PUCCH or the PUSCH according to the information priority comprises: determining an UCI sorting according to the information priority of the PUCCH; and multiplexing UCIs in the PUCCH into the PUSCH according to the UCI sorting, wherein a sorting rule for the UCI sorting comprises: sorting firstly according to an information priority, and sorting according to an UCI type for a same information priority, wherein sorting according to the information priority comprises: sorting an UCI with a high information priority in front, wherein a number of resource elements occupied by the UCI is obtained according to a code rate compensation factor β_offset, and the code rate compensation factor β_offset is associated with a service type of a service corresponding to the UCI; wherein code rate compensation factors β_offset corresponding to different types of UCIs with a service type are independent; Regarding claims 21 and 24, wherein a sorting rule for the UCI sorting is determined through one of following manners: being predetermined by a terminal device and a network device; being determined according to a sorting configuration of the network device; regarding claims 22 and 25, wherein part or all of the UCI types are distinguished with the information priority; regarding claims 23 and 26, wherein the information priority comprises a priority of a service corresponding to the UCI.
Lin discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 1 and 11, wherein determining the transmission manner for at least one of the PUCCH or the PUSCH according to the information priority (see “resource allocation of UCI messages in a PUSCH resource in which URLLC UCI messages are prioritized” recited in paragraph [0103]; and see “the UE may multiplex the PUCCH (e.g., UCI message) in the PUSCH” recited in paragraph [0060]) comprises: determining an UCI sorting according to the information priority of the PUCCH (see “In a first method, URLLC UCI may be allocated first regardless of a type of UCI. The priority order of UCI messages may be URLLC HARQ-ACK/SR>URLLC CSI>eMBB HARQ-ACK/SR>eMBB CSI” recited in paragraph [0102]); and multiplexing UCIs in the PUCCH into the PUSCH according to the UCI sorting, wherein a sorting rule for the UCI sorting comprises: sorting firstly according to an information priority, and sorting according to an UCI type for a same information priority, wherein sorting according to the information priority comprises: sorting an UCI with a high information priority in front (see “In a first method, URLLC UCI may be allocated first regardless of a type of UCI. The priority order of UCI messages may be URLLC HARQ-ACK/SR>URLLC CSI>eMBB HARQ-ACK/SR>eMBB CSI” recited in paragraph [0102]).
Regarding claims 21 and 24, wherein a sorting rule for the UCI sorting is determined through one of following manners: being predetermined by a terminal device and a network device; being determined according to a sorting configuration of the network device (see “the UE may multiplex the PUCCH (e.g., UCI message) in the PUSCH based on a beta offset value” recited in paragraph [0060]; Figs. 4-5 and corresponding texts in the specification [0064]-[0102], wherein the BS sends RRC configuration and DCI to the UE, wherein the UE multiplex a UCI message based on the value determined from the DCI ([0065]); Fig. 5 shows how the UCIs are sorted and multiplexed on the PUSCH based on the received beta offset values).
Regarding claims 22 and 25, wherein part or all of the UCI types are distinguished with the information priority (see “In a first method, URLLC UCI may be allocated first regardless of a type of UCI” recited in paragraph [0102]; wherein URLLC is considered as the claimed information priority with priority over eMBB).
Regarding claims 23 and 26, wherein the information priority comprises a priority of a service corresponding to the UCI (see “In a first method, URLLC UCI may be allocated first regardless of a type of UCI” recited in paragraph [0102]; wherein URLLC is considered as the claimed information priority with priority over eMBB).
Fakoorian discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 1 and 11, wherein a number of resource elements occupied by the UCI is obtained according to a code rate compensation factor β_offset (see “The beta offset may be an example of a parameter which represents the number of resource elements used to represent coded bits (e.g., how many resource elements (REs) are used to represent a UCI payload)” recited in paragraph [0078]), and the code rate compensation factor β_offset is associated with a service type of a service corresponding to the UCI (see “For multiplexing UCI on PUSCH, wireless devices may support dynamic beta offset indications, semi-static beta offset indications, or both. One table of beta offset values may be used for HARQ-ACK in NR systems. Another table of beta offset values may be used for both CSI part 1 and CSI part 2 in NR systems” recited in paragraph [0089]); wherein code rate compensation factors β_offset corresponding to different types of UCIs with a same service type are independent (see “For multiplexing UCI on PUSCH, wireless devices may support dynamic beta offset indications, semi-static beta offset indications, or both. One table of beta offset values may be used for HARQ-ACK in NR systems. Another table of beta offset values may be used for both CSI part 1 and CSI part 2 in NR systems” recited in paragraph [0089], wherein independent tables are used for the different types of UCIs with the same service type).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of YAMAMOTO et al. using features, as taught by Lin and Fakoorian, in order to multiplex encoded UCI resources corresponding to multiple service types within a PUSCH transmission (see paragraph [0101] of Lin); and in order to allow for a tradeoff between the reliability of the UCI and the PUSCH (see paragraph [0078] of Fakoorian).
Claims 2 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAMAMOTO et al., Lin and Fakoorian as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of LI et al. (US 20220039127 A1)
Regarding Claim 2 and 12, YAMAMOTO et al, Lin and Fakoorian discloses the features above.
YAMAMOTO et al fails to disclose,
wherein the information priority of the PUCCH or the information priority of the PUSCH is indicated through any one of following manners: being explicitly indicated by Downlink Control Information (DCI).
However, LI et al discloses, wherein the information priority of the PUCCH or the information priority of the PUSCH is indicated through any one of following manners: being explicitly indicated by Downlink Control Information (DCI); [(0097) The first DCI includes first indication information; the first indication information is one of a configuration ID and a priority of a first downlink data channel].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of YAMAMOTO et al, Lin and Fakoorian with the method and system to include the concept of LI et al. in order to implement separate transmission between data of different service flows and different quality of service (QoS) requirements, and helping ensure stability and reliability of service transmission (0015).
Claims 8, 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAMAMOTO et al., Lin and Fakoorian as applied to claim 1 and 11 above and further in view of LI et al. (US 20220039127 A1) and SEO et al. (US 20130114461 A1).
Regarding claim 8 and 18, YAMAMOTO et al, Lin and Fakoorian discloses the features above.
YAMAMOTO et al. fails to disclose, wherein when the PUCCH and the PUSCH satisfy a multiplexing transmission condition.
However, LI et al discloses, [(0031) where the time-frequency resource of the first uplink channel and the time-frequency resource of the second uplink channel overlap in time domain, and first information of the first uplink channel is the same as first information of the second uplink channel (that’s how satisfying multiplexing transmission condition),
LI et al fails to disclose, the UCIs in the PUCCH are multiplexed into the PUSCH according to the UCI sorting.
However, SEO et al disclose, [(0111) The UE piggybacks ([0005] This is said that the control information is piggybacked (or multiplexed) and transmitted) and sends UCI, having a threshold or lower, based on the order (Sorting) of priority according to the type of UCI on the PUSCH of the selected UL CC].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of YAMAMOTO et al, Lin and Fakoorian with the method and system to include the concept of LI et al. and SEO in order to implement separate transmission between data of different service flows and different quality of service (QoS) requirements, and helping ensure stability and reliability of service transmission (0015, LI) and in order to send the UCI through the PUSCH of the selected uplink component carrier to lower a probability that an error may occur [(0009 and 0010), SEO].
Claims 27-28 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YAMAMOTO et al., Lin and Fakoorian as applied to claim 1 and 11 above and further in view of Guo (US 2020/0351867)
YAMAMOTO et al., Lin and Fakoorian disclose the features as shown above.
Lin also discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 27-28, wherein the information priority is determined according to at least one of following attribute parameters: a service type (see “In a first method, URLLC UCI may be allocated first regardless of a type of UCI. The priority order of UCI messages may be URLLC HARQ-ACK/SR>URLLC CSI>eMBB HARQ-ACK/SR>eMBB CSI” recited in paragraph [0102], wherein priority order being strictly based on the service type),
YAMAMOTO et al. does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 27-28, wherein there is one type of attribute parameter, the information priority of the PUCCH or the information priority of the PUSCH is according to a level of the one type of attribute parameter; wherein there are a plurality of types of attribute parameters, levels corresponding to different attribute parameters are determined, and a plurality of level quantization results are weighted and summed to obtain the information priority of the PUCCH or the information priority of the PUSCH; or the levels corresponding to different attribute parameters are determined, and a highest level is determined as the information priority of the PUCCH or the information priority of the PUSCH.
Guo discloses the following features.
Regarding claims 27-28, wherein the information priority is determined according to at least one of following attribute parameters: a reliability requirement of a service (see “In this way, it is ensured that the first UCI having a high reliability requirement is first sent, and then the second UCI is sent, so that the reliability of the URLLC service is ensured” recited in paragraph [0040]) or a transmission delay requirement of the service (see “For first UCI of ACK/NACK, RI, and CQI/PMI types, a latency requirement of the ACK/NACK is the highest, and the CQI/PMI needs to be determined by using the RI. Therefore, a relationship among the transmission priorities of the three is: ACK/NACK>RI>CQI/PMI. The greater-than sign indicates a higher priority” recited in paragraph [0219]);
wherein there is one type of attribute parameter, the information priority of the PUCCH or the information priority of the PUSCH is according to a level of the one type of attribute parameter (see “For first UCI of ACK/NACK, RI, and CQI/PMI types, a latency requirement of the ACK/NACK is the highest, and the CQI/PMI needs to be determined by using the RI. Therefore, a relationship among the transmission priorities of the three is: ACK/NACK>RI>CQI/PMI. The greater-than sign indicates a higher priority” recited in paragraph [0219]);
wherein there are a plurality of types of attribute parameters, levels corresponding to different attribute parameters are determined, and a plurality of level quantization results are weighted and summed to obtain the information priority of the PUCCH or the information priority of the PUSCH; or the levels corresponding to different attribute parameters are determined (see “reliability requirement” recited in paragraph [0146] for Solution 1 that corresponds to Embodiment 1 as shown in paragraph [0147], wherein Embodiment 1 of Guo is further discussed in paragraphs [0204]-[0234], which further includes the determination of a “latency requirement” in paragraph [0219]), and a highest level is determined as the information priority of the PUCCH or the information priority of the PUSCH (see “For first UCI of ACK/NACK, RI, and CQI/PMI types, a latency requirement of the ACK/NACK is the highest, and the CQI/PMI needs to be determined by using the RI. Therefore, a relationship among the transmission priorities of the three is: ACK/NACK>RI>CQI/PMI. The greater-than sign indicates a higher priority” recited in paragraph [0219]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the current application to modify the system of YAMAMOTO et al., Lin and Fakoorian using features, as taught by Guo, in order to better ensure high reliability of a URLLC service (see paragraph [0008] of Guo).
Conclusion
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/JUTAI KAO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473