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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment, filed on 10/29/2025, has been entered and carefully considered.
Claims 1 and 11 have been amended and Claims 1-7, 9, 11-15, 17, 19-23, 25 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 10/29/2025, with respect to claim 1, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that amended claim 1 is not anticipated by Saber et al. (US 2021/02105217) because claim 1 now recites “setting at least one value of at least one time parameter based on a network state corresponding to an activated function in the 5G mobile network”. Applicant further asserts that Saber allegedly fails to disclose setting a time parameter based on a network state corresponding to an activated function.
The examiner respectfully disagrees.
Under BRI: ‘network state” broadly encompasses any network condition, configuration, or operating scenario affecting signal processing, including overlapping PDSCH transmissions.
“activated function” broadly encompasses any enabled processing function or operational mode performed by the UE, including overlapping PDSCH handling and HARQ processing.
“time parameter” broadly encompasses any timing value, delay or processing duration used by the UE to determine PDSCH or HARQ timing”.
First, Saber discloses determining a processing delay for HARQ-ACK based on the overlap in time between a first and PDSCH (see Abstract, Figs. 1-3). The overlapping PDSCH condition constitutes a network state, as it reflects how multiple downlink transmission are scheduled in time.
Saber further discloses that the UE adjusts HARQ-ACK timing based on this overlap condition. The delay applied to HARQ-ACK processing is a time parameter that is set based on the overlapping PDSCH condition.
Thus, Saber discloses “setting at least one value of at least one time parameter based on a network state.
Second, Applicant argument improperly narrows “activated function” to only specific higher-layer features such as MBs or CRS-IC. Claim 1, however, does not recite MBS, CRS-IC , or any specific function. Under BRI, an “activated function” reasonably includes overlapping PDSCH processing, which is explicitly performed by the UE in Saber when overlapping transmission occurs. When overlapping PDSCH are present, the UE activates corresponding processing logic to determine decoding order, processing delay, and HARQ-ACK timing. This constitutes an activated function within the meaning of the claim.
For the reasons stated above, the Examiner believe the 102 rejection should be maintained.
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 10/29/2025, with respect to 11-12 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 103 rejection of Claims 11-12 has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 5, 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Saber et al (US 2021/0105217).
Regarding claim 1, Saber discloses that an operating method of a user equipment communicating with a base station in a fifth-generation (5G) mobile network, the operating method comprising:
setting at least one value of at least one time parameter based on a network state corresponding to at least one activated function in the 5G mobile network ([0039], “when the two PDSCHs overlap, their processing time capability N1 should be further relaxed”; [0040], “This can be done by increasing the UE processing time of the second PDSCH by d OFDM symbols”, it’s noted that the at least one time parameter is d symbols, the activated function in the 5G network is the support of overlapping PDSCHs; it’s further noted that a network state correspond to overlapping PDSCH condition under BRI);
determining a processing time for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) from the base station based on the at least one value of at least one time parameter ([0040], determine the amount of delay to apply for the processing time);
determining a capability of the user equipment by comparing the processing time with a reference time ([0039], “In a normal scenario where a PDSCH does not overlap with any other PDSCH, its ACK is expected to be transmitted by the UE no earlier than N.sub.1 symbols from the end of the last symbol of the PDSCH, where N.sub.1 is the PDSCH processing time capability”, [0040], “This can be done by increasing the UE processing time of the second PDSCH by d OFDM symbols. Such an increase may not be needed for a UE which processes both PDSCHs as such a UE is considered to be “advanced” and does not need extra processing time. The systems and methods determine the amount of delay d to apply for the processing time of the second PDSCH. With a relaxation amount d, the first uplink symbol of the PUCCH which carries HARQ-ACK information of the second PDSCH starts no earlier the symbol which comes N.sub.1+d symbols after the last symbol of the corresponding PDSCH”, it’s noted that based on whether the processing time at the UE is need to relaxed or not, the capability is determined); and
transmitting information including the capability of the user equipment to the base station ([0035], “The indication is via a UE capability signaling”).
Regarding claim 5, Saber further teaches that the at least one time parameter is set to at least one predetermined value corresponding to a function supported by the 5G mobile network ([0040]).
Regarding claim 7, Saber further teaches that the reference time is a first reference time different from a second reference time when the activated function is inactivated ([0039], the reference time would be N1 when there is no overlapped PDSCH; [0040], the reference time would be N1+d symbols when there is overlapped PDSCH).
Regarding claim 9, Saber further teaches that the processing time includes a time required for a processing operation corresponding to the activated function ([0040], the reference time would be N1+d symbols when there is overlapped PDSCH).
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 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saber et al in view of Takeda et al (US 2022/0124654).
Regarding claim 2, Saber teaches all of the limitations except that the at least one activated function includes at least one of multicast and broadcast services (MBS). Takeda teaches that the at least one activated function includes at least one of multicast and broadcast services (MBS) ([0073], “The UE may be capable of receiving the UE group/multicast PDSCH and a unicast PDSCH at overlapping times in the same serving cell”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teaching of Takeda in the system disclosed by Saber. The combination is simply substituting one unicast PDSCHs disclosed in Saber with an groupcast/multicast PDSCH. The combination would further improve transmission efficiency by allowing groupcast/multicast PDSCH.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-15, 17, 19-23 and 25 are allowed.
Claims 3-4 and 6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SIMING LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-3859. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30am-5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached at 571-272-3123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SIMING LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411