DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Request for Continued Examination filed 4/28/2026. Claims 1-28 are currently pending in the application. Due to the claim amendments, the previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) have been withdrawn.
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding independent claim 1, this claim has been amended to include a new limitation indicating that the received configuration is received “on a resource of a first radio access technology (RAT) or a resource of a second RAT”. Applicant argues that the previously cited art does not teach this amended limitation. Specifically, Applicant argues that the cited portions of Sun et al. teaches a scheduling entity that may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguration, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities, and may transmit subframe structure information to a set of one or more scheduled entities. Applicant argues that Sun et al. does not however teach “receive, on a resource of a first radio access technology (RAT) or a resource of a second RAT, a configuration for multiplexing communications of the first radio access technology (RAT) and communications of the second RAT in a shared frequency division duplexing (FDD) spectrum”, as recited in amended claim 1. The Examiner respectfully disagrees with this interpretation of Sun et al.
Sun et al. teaches that it scheduling entity may be a base station that allocates resources for communication among some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell (See paragraph 55 and Figure 2 of Sun et al.). Thus, the scheduling entity of Sun et al. is a base station within either the NR RAT, i.e. the first RAT, or the legacy LTE RAT, i.e. the second RAT. The flowchart of Figure 14 of Sun et al. illustrates a process for facilitating coexistence between the NR RAT and the legacy LTE RAT (See paragraphs 147-149 and Figure 14 of Sun et al.). This process is performed by the scheduling entity, i.e. a base station within one of the RATs. Sun et al. also discloses that the subframe structure information used for multiplexing the NR RAT and legacy LTE RAT carriers may be indicated by the scheduling entity using a system information block (SIB) (See paragraph 89 and paragraph 151 of Sun et al.). Since the SIB transmitted by a base station is well known in the art to be transmitted via a resources of the RAT corresponding to the base station, the transmission of subframe structure information used for multiplexing the NR RAT and legacy LTE RAT carriers via the SIB is equivalent to the claimed “on a resource of a first radio access technology (RAT) or a resource of a second RAT”. Therefore, the rejection of claim 1 based on the teachings of Sun et al. is maintained.
Regarding independent claims 7, 13, and 23, Applicant’s remarks make similar arguments as the arguments made with respect to claim 1 regarding the amended limitations of these claims. Thus, the rejections of these claims based on the teachings of Sun et al. are also maintained for the same reasons as described above regarding claim 1.
Please see the rejections below for further detail.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. in view of Ge et al. (U.S. Publication US 2022/0104298 A1) and in further view of Ahmadi (U.S. Publication US 2013/0279376 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Sun et al. discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors individually or collectively configured to cause the UE to perform a method (See paragraphs 112-113 and Figure 7 of Sun et al. for reference to a scheduled entity that may be a user equipment and comprises a memory and processor coupled to the memory used to implement to processes of the UE). Sun et al. also discloses receiving, on a resource of a first radio access technology (RAT) or a resource of a second RAT, a configuration for multiplexing communications of the first radio access technology (RAT) and communications of the second RAT in a shared frequency division duplexing (FDD) spectrum (See paragraph 55, paragraph 69, paragraph 89, paragraph 147-151, and Figures 2 and 14 of Sun et al. for reference to receiving from a scheduling entity, that may be a base station of a NR RAT or LTE RAT, subframe structure information from multiplexing communications of the NR RAT and the LTE RAT and including the configuration of the current subframe to a set of one or more scheduled entities, wherein the configuration is received within a SIB of the base station scheduling entity that comprises a resource of the RAT corresponding to the base station, and for reference to the scheduling entity allocating resources for communication among devices including scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and release resources for one of more scheduled entities, wherein the scheduled resources may include carriers shared between NR RAT slots and legacy RAT subframes utilizing FDD). Sun et al. further discloses transmitting an uplink (UL) channel of a first radio access technology (RAT) in a first set of radio resources mapped via frequency multiplexing to a carrier for a second RAT, wherein the carrier for the second RAT is used for transmission of the second RAT in frequency division duplex (FDD) operation; and receiving a DL channel of the first RAT in a second set of radio resources mapped to the carrier for the second RAT (See paragraphs 69-73, paragraphs 136-140, and Figures 5 and 12 of Sun et al. for reference to embodiments wherein the UE operates in a NR RAT, which is a first RAT, to communicate both UL and DL bursts in resources within subframes of a FDD LTE radio frame, which is a radio frame mapped for a second RAT, used for DL communication of MBSFN transmission, including an embodiment wherein the NR RAT UL carrier is transmitted in radio resources mapped via frequency multiplexing, i.e. by dividing a carrier into a first bandwidth 1206a and a second bandwidth 1206b, to the LTE RAT). Although Sun et al. does disclose UL and DL bursts of a NR RAT being mapped to a carrier of an LTE RAT, Sun et al. does not specifically disclose the carrier of the LTE RAT being an UL carrier. However, Ge et al., in the field of communications, discloses spectrum sharing between multiple RATs including LTE and NR RATs, wherein both UL and DL transmission of a NR RAT are mapped within carriers of both UL and DL transmissions an LTE RATs (See paragraphs 319-325 and Figure 12 of Ge et al.). Providing both UL and DL spectrum sharing by mapping NR resources within resources used for UL and DL LTE resources has the advantage of providing for flexible coexistence and spectrum usage for multiple different RATs. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Ge et al., to combine providing both UL and DL spectrum sharing by mapping NR resources within resources used for UL and DL LTE resources, as suggested by Ge et al., with the motivation being to provide for flexible coexistence and spectrum usage for multiple different RATs. Further, although Sun et al. does describe some embodiments wherein a guard period or guard interval is used between UL and DL bursts (See paragraph 64, paragraph 66, and Figures 3-4 of Sun et al.), Sun et al. does not specifically disclose wherein the first set of radio resources are separated from the second set of radio resources by a guard band. However, Ahmadi, in the field of communications, discloses a spectrum sharing arrangement between multiple RATs (See paragraphs 41-42 and Figures 1-2 of Ahmadi), wherein a guard band may be necessary to provide frequency separation between downlink and uplink bands of an eNodeB of a RAT in order to prevent interference between the downlink and uplink bands (See paragraph 80 of Ahmadi). Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Ahmadi, to combine using a guard band between downlink and uplink bands of a RAT, as suggested by Ahmadi, within the system and method of Sun et al., with the motivation being to prevent interference between the downlink and uplink bands by providing sufficient frequency separation between the bands.
With respect to claim 2, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the configuration, via system information, DL control information, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a radio resource control message, (See paragraphs 151-152 of Sun et al. for reference to a scheduling entity, i.e. a base station, transmitting subframe structure information including the configuration of the current subframe to a scheduled entity, i.e. a UE, using a system information block). Sun et al. also discloses wherein the first RAT is operating in half-duplex FDD (HD- FDD), full-duplex FDD (FD-FDD), time division duplex (TDD), subband FDD, in-band full duplex, or a combination thereof, and wherein the second RAT is operating in HD- FDD, FD-FDD, subband FDD, or a combination thereof (See paragraphs 69-73 of Sun et al. for reference to the carrier utilized for both LTE and NR may be a TDD carrier or an FDD carrier, such that both the first NR RAT and the second LTE RAT may operate according to TDD or FDD).
With respect to claim 3, Sun et al. discloses wherein the DL channel of the first RAT is configured within a DL bandwidth part (BWP) and mapped to an edge of the UL carrier or a DL carrier for the second RAT, and wherein the UL channel of the first RAT is configured within an UL BWP and mapped to an edge of the DL carrier or the UL carrier for the second RAT (See paragraphs 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to both the DL bursts and the UL bursts of the NR RAT being mapped within a DL part of an LTE radio frame and with a DL burst of the NR RAT being mapped to the left edge of the LTE radio frame and an UL burst of the NR RAT being mapped to a right edge of the LTE radio frame).
With respect to claim 4, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to map resources for the DL channel and the UL channel of the first RAT to an UL carrier or the DL carrier for the second RAT additionally via rate matching, puncturing, spatial multiplexing, time multiplexing, subband full duplexing, in-band full duplexing, or a combination thereof (See paragraphs 73-74 of Sun et al. for reference to mapping the DL and UL resources of the NR RAT within the resources of the LTE RAT using a configurable subframe for NR slots such that the NR slots have an effective duration that prevents transmission during at least a portion of the control region of the LTE subframe, thereby rate matching by multiplexing in time and frequency the UL and DL bursts of the NR RAT within the resources of the LTE RAT).
With respect to claim 5, as shown above in the rejection of claim 1, Sun et al. discloses, wherein a size of the guard band or the guard time is based at least in part on one or more of a pattern of resource multiplexing, a frequency range, a duplex mode, a numerology, or UE capabilities associated with the first and the second RAT (See paragraph 66 of Sun et al. for reference to using a separation that may be a guard period between UL and DL communications of the RATs, wherein the guard period has a size needed to provide time for the capabilities of the UE to switchover between DL communication and UL communication with the RATs). Further, as also shown above in the rejection of claim 1, Ahmadi renders obvious the use of a guard band between first and second sets of radio resources (See paragraph 80 of Ahmadi). Thus, this claim is rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claim 1.
With respect to claim 6, Sun et al. discloses wherein the first RAT and the second RAT share the first set of radio resources or the second set of radio resources on one or more of UL carriers or DL carriers for the second RAT when the second RAT operates in half-duplex FDD (HD-FDD), full-duplex FDD (FD-FDD), sub-band FDD, or a combination thereof (See paragraphs 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to the NR RAT and the LTE RAT sharing the radio when the LTE RAT operates in a FDD mode to transmit DL MBSFN subframes, i.e. half-duplex FDD). Sun et al. also discloses wherein a common reference signal, a broadcast channel, or random access channel for the first RAT and the second RAT are configured on the first set of radio resources or the second set of radio resources shared between the first and the second RAT (See paragraph 63, paragraph 68, and paragraph 71 of Sun et al. for reference to configuring random access channel, RACH, resources, multi-broadcast single-frequency network resources, and reference signal resources on the resources shared between the NR RAT and the LTE RAT).
Claims 7-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (U.S. Publication US 2018/0279303 A1) in view of Ahmadi.
With respect to claim 7, Sun et al. discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors individually or collectively configured to cause the UE to perform a method (See paragraphs 112-113 and Figure 7 of Sun et al. for reference to a scheduled entity that may be a user equipment and comprises a memory and processor coupled to the memory used to implement to processes of the UE). Sun et al. also discloses receiving, on a resource of a first radio access technology (RAT) or a resource of a second RAT, a configuration for multiplexing communications of the first radio access technology (RAT) and communications of the second RAT in a shared frequency division duplexing (FDD) spectrum (See paragraph 55, paragraph 69, paragraph 89, paragraph 147-151, and Figures 2 and 14 of Sun et al. for reference to receiving from a scheduling entity, that may be a base station of a NR RAT or LTE RAT, subframe structure information from multiplexing communications of the NR RAT and the LTE RAT and including the configuration of the current subframe to a set of one or more scheduled entities, wherein the configuration is received within a SIB of the base station scheduling entity that comprises a resource of the RAT corresponding to the base station, and for reference to the scheduling entity allocating resources for communication among devices including scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and release resources for one of more scheduled entities, wherein the scheduled resources may include carriers shared between NR RAT slots and legacy RAT subframes utilizing FDD). Sun et al. further discloses transmitting an uplink (UL) channel of a first radio access technology (RAT) in a first set of radio resources mapped via frequency multiplexing to a downlink (DL) carrier for a second RAT, wherein the DL carrier for the second RAT is used for DL reception of the second RAT in frequency division duplex (FDD) operation; and receiving a DL channel of the first RAT in a second set of radio resources mapped to the DL carrier for the second RAT (See paragraphs 69-73, paragraphs 136-140, and Figures 5 and 12 of Sun et al. for reference to embodiments wherein the UE operates in a NT RAT, which is a first RAT, to communicate both UL and DL bursts in resources within subframes of a FDD LTE radio frame, which is a radio frame mapped for a second RAT, used for DL communication of MBSFN transmission, including an embodiment wherein the NR RAT UL carrier is transmitted in radio resources mapped via frequency multiplexing, i.e. by dividing a carrier into a first bandwidth 1206a and a second bandwidth 1206b, to the LTE RAT). Although Sun et al. does describe some embodiments wherein a guard period or guard interval is used between UL and DL bursts (See paragraph 64, paragraph 66, and Figures 3-4 of Sun et al.), Sun et al. does not specifically disclose wherein the first set of radio resources are separated from the second set of radio resources by a guard band. However, Ahmadi, in the field of communications, discloses a spectrum sharing arrangement between multiple RATs (See paragraphs 41-42 and Figures 1-2 of Ahmadi), wherein a guard band may be necessary to provide frequency separation between downlink and uplink bands of an eNodeB of a RAT in order to prevent interference between the downlink and uplink bands (See paragraph 80 of Ahmadi). Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Ahmadi, to combine using a guard band between downlink and uplink bands of a RAT, as suggested by Ahmadi, within the system and method of Sun et al., with the motivation being to prevent interference between the downlink and uplink bands by providing sufficient frequency separation between the bands.
With respect to claim 8, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the configuration, via system information, DL control information, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a radio resource control message (See paragraphs 151-152 of Sun et al. for reference to a scheduling entity, i.e. a base station, transmitting subframe structure information including the configuration of the current subframe to a scheduled entity, i.e. a UE, using a system information block). Sun et al. also discloses wherein the first RAT is operating in half-duplex FDD (HD- FDD), full-duplex FDD (FD-FDD), time division duplex (TDD), subband FDD, in-band full duplex, or a combination thereof, and wherein the second RAT is operating in HD- FDD, FD-FDD, subband FDD, or a combination thereof (See paragraphs 69-73 of Sun et al. for reference to the carrier utilized for both LTE and NR may be a TDD carrier or an FDD carrier, such that both the first NR RAT and the second LTE RAT may operate according to TDD or FDD).
With respect to claim 9, Sun et al. discloses wherein the DL channel of the first RAT is configured within a DL bandwidth part (BWP) and mapped to an edge of a UL carrier or the DL carrier for the second RAT, and wherein the UL channel of the first RAT is configured within a UL BWP and mapped to an edge of the DL carrier or the UL carrier for the second RAT (See paragraphs 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to both the DL bursts and the UL bursts of the NR RAT being mapped within a DL part of an LTE radio frame and with a DL burst of the NR RAT being mapped to the left edge of the LTE radio frame and an UL burst of the NR RAT being mapped to a right edge of the LTE radio frame).
With respect to claim 10, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to map resources for the DL channel and the UL channel of the first RAT to a UL carrier or the DL carrier for the second RAT additionally via rate matching, puncturing, spatial multiplexing, time multiplexing, subband full duplexing, in-band full duplexing, or a combination thereof (See paragraphs 73-74 of Sun et al. for reference to mapping the DL and UL resources of the NR RAT within the resources of the LTE RAT using a configurable subframe for NR slots such that the NR slots have an effective duration that prevents transmission during at least a portion of the control region of the LTE subframe, thereby rate matching by multiplexing in time and frequency the UL and DL bursts of the NR RAT within the resources of the LTE RAT).
With respect to claim 11, as shown above in the rejection of claim 7, Sun et al. discloses, wherein a size of the guard band or the guard time is based at least in part on one or more of a pattern of resource multiplexing, a frequency range, a duplex mode, a numerology, or UE capabilities associated with the first and the second RAT (See paragraph 66 of Sun et al. for reference to using a separation that may be a guard period between UL and DL communications of the RATs, wherein the guard period has a size needed to provide time for the capabilities of the UE to switchover between DL communication and UL communication with the RATs). Further, as also shown above in the rejection of claim 7, Ahmadi renders obvious the use of a guard band between first and second sets of radio resources (See paragraph 80 of Ahmadi). Thus, this claim is rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claim 7.
With respect to claim 12, Sun et al. discloses wherein the first RAT and the second RAT share the first set of radio resources or the second set of radio resources on one or more of UL carriers or DL carriers for the second RAT when the second RAT operates in half-duplex FDD (HD-FDD), full-duplex FDD (FD-FDD), sub-band FDD, or a combination thereof (See paragraphs 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to the NR RAT and the LTE RAT sharing the radio when the LTE RAT operates in a FDD mode to transmit DL MBSFN subframes, i.e. half-duplex FDD). Sun et al. also discloses wherein a common reference signal, a broadcast channel, or random access channel for the first RAT and the second RAT are configured on the first set of radio resources or the second set of radio resources shared between the first and the second RAT (See paragraph 63, paragraph 68, and paragraph 71 of Sun et al. for reference to configuring random access channel, RACH, resources, multi-broadcast single-frequency network resources, and reference signal resources on the resources shared between the NR RAT and the LTE RAT).
Claims 13-26 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (U.S. Publication US 2018/0279303 A1) in view of Papasakellariou (U.S. Publication US 2018/0070369 A1).
With respect to claim 13, Sun et al. discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors individually or collectively configured to cause the UE to perform a method (See paragraphs 112-113 and Figure 7 of Sun et al. for reference to a scheduled entity that may be a user equipment and comprises a memory and processor coupled to the memory used to implement to processes of the UE). Sun et al. also discloses communicating using a first radio access technology (RAT) on an uplink (UL) channel or a downlink (DL) channel in a first set of radio resources on an UL carrier or a DL carrier for a second RAT (See paragraphs 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to embodiments wherein the UE operates in a NT RAT, which is a first RAT, to communicate both UL and DL bursts in resources within subframes of a FDD LTE radio frame, which is a radio frame mapped for a second RAT, used for DL communication of MBSFN transmission). Sun et al. also discloses receiving, on a resource of the first RAT or a resource of the second RAT, a configuration for multiplexing communications of the first RAT and communications of the second RAT on the UL carrier or DL carrier for the second RAT (See paragraph 55, paragraph 69, paragraph 89, paragraph 147-151, and Figures 2 and 14 of Sun et al. for reference to a scheduling entity, that may be a base station of a NR RAT or LTE RAT, transmitting subframe structure information from multiplexing communications of the NR RAT and the LTE RAT and including the configuration of the current subframe to a set of one or more scheduled entities, wherein the configuration is transmitted within a SIB of the base station scheduling entity that comprises a resource of the RAT corresponding to the base station, and wherein the scheduled resources may include carriers shared between NR RAT slots and legacy RAT subframes utilizing FDD). Sun et al. further discloses multiplex communications of the first RAT and communications of the second RAT on the UL carrier or the DL carrier for the second RAT using frequency division multiplexing (FDM) and one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM), spatial division multiplexing (SDM), subband full duplexing, in-band full duplexing, or a combination thereof, wherein the first RAT is operating in half- duplex frequency division duplex (HD-FDD), full-duplex FDD (FD-FDD), time division duplex (TDD), subband FDD, in-band full duplex, or a combination thereof, and wherein the second RAT is operating in HD-FDD, FD-FDD, subband FDD, or a combination thereof (See paragraph 49, paragraphs 69-73, and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to the air interface the radio access network my utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of various devices including FDM, TDM, CDM, OFDM, SCM, or other suitable multiplexing schemes, such that both FDM and TDM may be used for multiplexing the NR RAT and LTE RAT communications in both time and frequency, i.e. TDM and FDM, as shown in Figure 5, and for reference to the carrier utilized for both LTE and NR may be a TDD carrier or an FDD carrier, such that both the first NR RAT and the second LTE RAT may operate according to TDD or FDD). Although Sun et al. does describe some embodiments wherein a guard period or guard interval is used between UL and DL bursts (See paragraph 64, paragraph 66, and Figures 3-4 of Sun et al.), Sun et al. does not specifically disclose wherein the first set of radio resources are separated from a second set of radio resources, associated with communications of the second RAT, by a guard band or a guard time. However, Papasakellariou, in the field of communications, discloses a system and method of providing coexistence of different radio access technologies on a same carrier wherein guard bands are used between LTE cell and NR cell bandwidths when a different numerology is used between the LTE cell and the NR cell (See paragraph 130 of Papasakellariou). Using such a guard band has the advantage of preventing interference between LTE cell and NR cell bandwidths when different numerologies are used in the different RATs. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Papasakellariou, to combine using a guard band between sets of resources of different RATs, as suggested by Papasakellariou, within the system and method of Sun et al., with the motivation being to prevent interference between LTE cell and NR cell bandwidths when different numerologies are used in the different RATs.
With respect to claim 14, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive a configuration for the multiplexing via system information, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), DL control information, or a radio resource control message (See paragraphs 151-152 of Sun et al. for reference to a scheduling entity, i.e. a base station, transmitting subframe structure information including the configuration of the current subframe to a scheduled entity, i.e. a UE, using a system information block).
With respect to claim 15, Sun et al. discloses wherein the DL channel is configured within a DL bandwidth part (BWP) and mapped to an edge of the UL carrier or the DL carrier for the second RAT, and wherein the UL channel of the first RAT is configured within a UL BWP and mapped to an edge of the DL carrier or the UL carrier for the second RAT (See paragraphs 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to both the DL bursts and the UL bursts of the NR RAT being mapped within a DL part of an LTE radio frame and with a DL burst of the NR RAT being mapped to the left edge of the LTE radio frame and an UL burst of the NR RAT being mapped to a right edge of the LTE radio frame).
With respect to claim 16, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to map resources for the DL channel and the UL channel of the first RAT to the UL carrier or the DL carrier for the second RAT via rate matching, puncturing, spatial multiplexing, time multiplexing, frequency multiplexing, subband full duplexing, in-band full duplexing, or a combination thereof to avoid collision with UL channels or DL channels of the second RAT (See paragraphs 73-74 of Sun et al. for reference to mapping the DL and UL resources of the NR RAT within the resources of the LTE RAT using a configurable subframe for NR slots such that the NR slots have an effective duration that prevents transmission during at least a portion of the control region of the LTE subframe, thereby rate matching by multiplexing in time and frequency the UL and DL bursts of the NR RAT within the resources of the LTE RAT).
With respect to claim 17, as shown above in the rejection of claim 13, Sun et al. discloses, wherein a size of the guard band or the guard time is based at least in part on one or more of a pattern of resource multiplexing, a frequency range, a duplex mode, a numerology, or UE capabilities associated with the first and the second RAT (See paragraph 66 of Sun et al. for reference to using a separation that may be a guard period between UL and DL communications of the RATs, wherein the guard period has a size needed to provide time for the capabilities of the UE to switchover between DL communication and UL communication with the RATs). Further, as also shown above in the rejection of claim 13, Papasakellariou renders obvious the use of a guard band between bandwidth of a LTE cell and a NR cell when different numerologies are used in the different RATs (See paragraph 130 of Papasakellariou). Thus, this claim is rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claim 13.
With respect to claim 18, Sun et al. discloses wherein the first set of radio resources includes a frequency division duplex subband (See paragraph 72 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to the carrier utilized for both LTE and NR may be a TDD carrier or an FDD carrier, such that both the first NR RAT and the second LTE RAT may operate according to FDD).
With respect to claim 19, Sun et al. discloses wherein the first RAT and the second RAT dynamically share the first set of radio resources on one or more of UL carriers or DL carriers for the second RAT when the second RAT operates in HD-FDD, FD-FDD, subband FDD, or a combination thereof (See paragraphs 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to the carrier utilized for both LTE and NR being dynamically shared and may be a TDD carrier or an FDD carrier, such that both the first NR RAT and the second LTE RAT may operate according to FDD).
With respect to claim 20, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors, to multiplex the communications of the first RAT and the communications of the second RAT, are configured to use TDM to transmit or receive the communications of the second RAT and the communications of the first RAT (See paragraph 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to multiplexing the NR RAT and LTE RAT communications in both time and frequency, i.e. TDM and FDM, as shown in Figure 5).
With respect to claim 21, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors, to multiplex the communications of the first RAT and the communications of the second RAT, are configured to use FDM to transmit or receive the communications of the first RAT on the UL carrier or the DL carrier concurrently with transmitting or receiving the communications of the second RAT (See paragraph 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to multiplexing the NR RAT and LTE RAT communications in both time and frequency concurrently, i.e. TDM and FDM, as shown in Figure 5).
With respect to claim 22, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors, to multiplex the communications of the first RAT and the communications of the second RAT, are configured to use FDM to transmit the communications of the first RAT on the UL carrier or the DL carrier concurrently with receiving the communications of the first RAT (See paragraph 69-73 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to multiplexing the NR RAT and LTE RAT communications in both time and frequency concurrently, i.e. TDM and FDM, as shown in Figure 5).
With respect to claim 23, Sun et al. discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more processors individually or collectively configured to cause the UE to perform a method (See paragraphs 112-113 and Figure 7 of Sun et al. for reference to a scheduled entity that may be a user equipment and comprises a memory and processor coupled to the memory used to implement to processes of the UE). Sun et al. also discloses receive a configuration that reallocates, to a first radio access technology (RAT), uplink (UL) resources or downlink (DL) resources reserved for a second RAT on an UL carrier or a DL carrier for the second RAT (See paragraph 55, paragraph 69, paragraph 89, paragraph 147-151, and Figures 2 and 14 of Sun et al. for reference to the UE receiving configuration information from a scheduling entity, that may be a base station of a NR RAT or LTE RAT, configuring communications of the NR RAT and the LTE RAT, wherein the configuration is received within a SIB of the base station scheduling entity that comprises a resource of the RAT corresponding to the base station, wherein the information reconfigures resources to allow the UE that operates in a NT RAT, which is a first RAT, to communicate both UL and DL bursts in resources within subframes of a LTE radio frame, which is a radio frame mapped for a second RAT, used for DL communication of MBSFN transmission).
Sun et al. further discloses multiplexing, based at least in part on the configuration, communications of the first RAT and communications of the second RAT in a shared spectrum using frequency division multiplexing (FDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), spatial division multiplexing (SDM), subband full duplexing, in-band full duplexing, or a combination thereof (See paragraph 49, paragraphs 69-73, and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to the air interface the radio access network my utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication of various devices including FDM, TDM, CDM, OFDM, SCM, or other suitable multiplexing schemes, such that both FDM and TDM may be used for multiplexing the NR RAT and LTE RAT communications in both time and frequency, i.e. TDM and FDM, as shown in Figure 5, and for reference to the carrier utilized for both LTE and NR may be a TDD carrier or an FDD carrier, such that both the first NR RAT and the second LTE RAT may operate according to TDD or FDD). Although Sun et al. does describe some embodiments wherein a guard period or guard interval is used between UL and DL bursts (See paragraph 64, paragraph 66, and Figures 3-4 of Sun et al.), Sun et al. does not specifically disclose wherein communications of the first RAT are separated from communications of the second RAT by a guard band or a guard time. However, Papasakellariou, in the field of communications, discloses a system and method of providing coexistence of different radio access technologies on a same carrier wherein guard bands are used between LTE cell and NR cell bandwidths when a different numerology is used between the LTE cell and the NR cell (See paragraph 130 of Papasakellariou). Using such a guard band has the advantage of preventing interference between LTE cell and NR cell bandwidths when different numerologies are used in the different RATs. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Papasakellariou, to combine using a guard band between sets of resources of different RATs, as suggested by Papasakellariou, within the system and method of Sun et al., with the motivation being to prevent interference between LTE cell and NR cell bandwidths when different numerologies are used in the different RATs.
With respect to claim 24, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors, to receive the configuration, are configured to receive the configuration via system information, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), or a radio resource control (RRC), message, and wherein the configuration is semi-static (See paragraphs 151-152 of Sun et al. for reference to a scheduling entity, i.e. a base station, transmitting subframe structure information including the configuration of the current subframe to a scheduled entity, i.e. a UE, using a system information block, such that the configuration is semi-static until a different configuration is indicated via SIB).
With respect to claim 25, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors, to reallocate UL resources or DL resources to the first RAT, are configured to reallocate UL resources or DL resources to the first RAT via FDM, TDM, SDM, subband full duplexing, in-band full duplexing, or a combination thereof (See paragraph 55, paragraph 69-73, paragraphs 151-152 and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to, according to the reconfiguration of the subframe, multiplexing the NR RAT and LTE RAT communications in both time and frequency, i.e. TDM and FDM, as shown in Figure 5).
With respect to claim 26, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors, to reallocate UL resources or DL resources to the first RAT, are configured to reallocate UL resources or DL resources to the first RAT via rate matching (See paragraphs 73-74 of Sun et al. for reference to mapping the DL and UL resources of the NR RAT within the resources of the LTE RAT using a configurable subframe for NR slots such that the NR slots have an effective duration that prevents transmission during at least a portion of the control region of the LTE subframe, thereby rate matching by multiplexing in time and frequency the UL and DL bursts of the NR RAT within the resources of the LTE RAT).
With respect to claim 28, Sun et al. discloses wherein the one or more processors, to reallocate UL resources or DL resources to the first RAT, are configured to reallocate UL resources or DL resources to the first RAT in radio resources of one or more of a frequency division duplex carrier for the second RAT or a time division duplex carrier for the second RAT (See paragraphs 69-73 of Sun et al. for reference to the carrier utilized for both LTE and NR may be a TDD carrier or an FDD carrier, such that the reconfiguration of the subframe may result in both the first NR RAT and the second LTE RAT may operate according to TDD or FDD).
Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. in view of Papasakellariou and in further view of Ramasamy et al. (U.S. Publication US 2019/0215765 A1).
With respect to claim 27, although, as shown above in the rejection of claim 23, Sun et al. does disclose reallocating UL resources or DL resources to the first RAT (See paragraph 55, paragraphs 69-73, paragraphs 151-152, and Figure 5 of Sun et al. for reference to the UE receiving configuration information reconfiguring resources to allow the UE that operates in a NT RAT, which is a first RAT, to communicate both UL and DL bursts in resources within subframes of a LTE radio frame, which is a radio frame mapped for a second RAT, used for DL communication of MBSFN transmission), Sun et al. does not specifically disclose reallocating UL resources or DL resources to the first RAT in association with carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, and wherein transmit or receive antennas of the UE are shared between the first and the second RAT. However, Ramasamy et al., in the field of communications, discloses resources of a plurality of radio access technologies mapped using a shared communication frequency band and performing a carrier aggregation operation wherein a plurality of antennas are shared between the RATs using the carrier aggregation operation (See the abstract of Ramasamy et al.). Sharing antennas between communications of different RATs using a carrier aggregation operation has the advantage of allowing a device to communicate in multiple different RATs to increase potential bandwidth of the device. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Ramasamy et al., to combine sharing antennas between communications of different RATs using a carrier aggregation operation, as suggested by Ramasamy et al., with the motivation being to allow a device to communicate in multiple different RATs to increase potential bandwidth of the device.
Conclusion
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/JASON E MATTIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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