DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/08/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment, filed on 12/08/2025, has been entered and carefully considered.
Claims 1, 6, 11, 23, 28 have been amended and Claims 1-12, 23-26, 28-31 and 40 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 12/08/2025, 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.
Applicant amended the independent claims significantly, which necessitates the new ground rejection.
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, 3, 9-11, 23 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yang et al (US 2019/0230697 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Yang teaches a first network node for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one processor; and memory coupled with the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
receive, from a second network node, downlink control information via based on monitoring at least one of a first physical downlink control channel candidate or a second physical downlink control channel candidate that are linked for physical downlink control channel repetition, wherein the second physical downlink control channel candidate ends later in time than the first physical downlink control channel candidate (Fig. 8, step 802; also see [0081], “monitoring for control information (e.g., downlink control information (DCI) in each of a plurality of PDCCHs during a different one of a plurality of time intervals (e.g., a slot or mini-slot)”. In certain aspects, the PDCCHs may contain the same control information …”); and
transmit, to the second network node, a feedback message that indicates feedback information for the downlink control information, wherein an earliest time for transmission of the feedback message is a threshold number of time units after the second physical downlink control channel candidate (Fig. 8, step 804; “soft-combine the plurality of PDCCHs to decode the control information”, it’s noted that in order to perform soft-combining the plurality of PDCCHs, the soft-combining must happen after the receiving the DCI at the second PDCCH candidate. Thus, the processing time for the soft-combining and decoding could be viewed as a threshold number of time units; also see [0092], “If the UE decodes the PDCCH but fails to decode the PDSCH, then the UE may feedback a negative acknowledgement (NACK) indicating that the PDSCH was not successfully decoded”, it’s noted that transmitting the NACK indicates PDSCH was not successfully decoded, but the PDCCH (downlink control information) was successfully decoded. Thus, it’s considered as a feedback message for the DCI as well).
Regarding claim 3, Yang further teaches that the second physical downlink control channel candidate spans a time period that ends ending in a first time unit (Fig. 8, step 802; also see [0081], “monitoring for control information (e.g., downlink control information (DCI) in each of a plurality of PDCCHs during a different one of a plurality of time intervals (e.g., a slot or mini-slot)”. In certain aspects, the PDCCHs may contain the same control information …”), and wherein, to transmit the feedback message, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the feedback message at least the threshold number of time units after the first time unit (Fig. 8, step 804; “soft-combine the plurality of PDCCHs to decode the control information”, it’s noted that in order to perform soft-combining the plurality of PDCCHs, the soft-combining must happen after the receiving the DCI at the second PDCCH candidate. Thus, the processing time for the soft-combining and decoding could be viewed as a threshold number of time units; also see [0092], “If the UE decodes the PDCCH but fails to decode the PDSCH, then the UE may feedback a negative acknowledgement (NACK) indicating that the PDSCH was not successfully decoded”, it’s noted that transmitting the NACK indicates PDSCH was not successfully decoded, but the PDCCH (downlink control information) was successfully decoded. Thus, it’s considered as a feedback message for the DCI as well).
Regarding claim 9, Yang further teaches that the at least one processor is configured to: decode at least one of the first physical downlink control channel candidate or the second physical downlink control channel candidate, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the downlink control information based on the decoding (Yang, Fig. 8; also see [0081], “soft-combining the plurality of PDCCHs to decode the control information”).
Regarding claim 10, Yang further teaches that the at least one processor is configured to: soft combine a signal associated with the first physical downlink control channel candidate with a signal associated with the second physical downlink control channel candidate; and decode the soft-combined signal, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the downlink control information based on the decoding (Yang, Fig. 8; also see [0081], “soft-combining the plurality of PDCCHs to decode the control information”).
Regarding claim 11, Yang further teaches that the at least one processor is configured to: decode at least one of the first physical downlink control channel candidate or the second physical downlink control channel candidate (Yang, Fig. 8, step 804, 806; [0081]), wherein, to transmit the feedback message, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the feedback message via using a set of time and frequency resources based on the decoding, wherein the set of time and frequency resources is at least the threshold number of time units after the second physical downlink control channel candidate (Yang, Fig. 8, step 804; “soft-combine the plurality of PDCCHs to decode the control information”, it’s noted that in order to perform soft-combining the plurality of PDCCHs, the soft-combining must happen after the receiving the DCI at the second PDCCH candidate. Thus, the processing time for the soft-combining and decoding could be viewed as a threshold number of time units; also see [0092], “If the UE decodes the PDCCH but fails to decode the PDSCH, then the UE may feedback a negative acknowledgement (NACK) indicating that the PDSCH was not successfully decoded”, it’s noted that transmitting the NACK indicates PDSCH was not successfully decoded, but the PDCCH (downlink control information) was successfully decoded. Thus, it’s considered as a feedback message for the DCI as well).
Regarding claim 23, Yang teaches a first network node for wireless communication: at least one processor; and memory coupled with the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
transmit, to a second network node, downlink control information using a first physical downlink control channel candidate and a second physical downlink control channel candidate that are linked for physical downlink control channel repetition, wherein the second physical downlink control channel candidate ends later in time than the first physical downlink control channel candidate (Fig. 8, step 802; also see [0081], “monitoring for control information (e.g., downlink control information (DCI) in each of a plurality of PDCCHs during a different one of a plurality of time intervals (e.g., a slot or mini-slot)”. In certain aspects, the PDCCHs may contain the same control information …”); and receive, from the second network node, a feedback message indicating feedback information for in response to the downlink control information, wherein an earliest time for transmission of the feedback message is at least a threshold number of time units after the second physical downlink control channel candidate (Fig. 8, step 804; “soft-combine the plurality of PDCCHs to decode the control information”, it’s noted that in order to perform soft-combining the plurality of PDCCHs, the soft-combining must happen after the receiving the DCI at the second PDCCH candidate. Thus, the processing time for the soft-combining and decoding could be viewed as a threshold number of time units; also see [0092], “If the UE decodes the PDCCH but fails to decode the PDSCH, then the UE may feedback a negative acknowledgement (NACK) indicating that the PDSCH was not successfully decoded”, it’s noted that transmitting the NACK indicates PDSCH was not successfully decoded, but the PDCCH (downlink control information) was successfully decoded. Thus, it’s considered as a feedback message for the DCI as well).
Regarding claim 25, Yang further teaches that the second physical downlink control channel candidate spans a time period ending in a first time unit (Fig. 8, step 802; also see [0081], “monitoring for control information (e.g., downlink control information (DCI) in each of a plurality of PDCCHs during a different one of a plurality of time intervals (e.g., a slot or mini-slot)”. In certain aspects, the PDCCHs may contain the same control information …”), and wherein, to receive the feedback message, the at least one processor is configured to receive the feedback message at least the threshold number of time units after the first time unit (Fig. 8, step 804; “soft-combine the plurality of PDCCHs to decode the control information”, it’s noted that in order to perform soft-combining the plurality of PDCCHs, the soft-combining must happen after the receiving the DCI at the second PDCCH candidate. Thus, the processing time for the soft-combining and decoding could be viewed as a threshold number of time units; also see [0092], “If the UE decodes the PDCCH but fails to decode the PDSCH, then the UE may feedback a negative acknowledgement (NACK) indicating that the PDSCH was not successfully decoded”, it’s noted that transmitting the NACK indicates PDSCH was not successfully decoded, but the PDCCH (downlink control information) was successfully decoded. Thus, it’s considered as a feedback message for the DCI as well).
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, 24, 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (US 2019/0230697 A1), in view of Li et al (US 2021/0168776 A1).
Regarding claim 2 and 40, Yang teaches all of the limitations except that the downlink control information is not configured to schedule a physical downlink shared channel transmission.
Li teaches that the downlink control information is not configured to schedule a physical downlink shared channel transmission ([0009], “when the one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is triggered by the DCI format and the FDRA field is the special value, the SCell dormancy switching is not triggered by the DCI format and the PDSCH transmission is not scheduled”).
Before the effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the first network node of Yang in view of Li to configure downlink control information (DCI) that does not schedule a PDSCH transmission, because Li teaches transmitting control signaling independent of data scheduling (e.g., for ACK/NACK timing repetition handling, or control-only procedures). Incorporating this feature into the system of Yang would have predictably improved flexibility in control signaling, reduced unnecessary resource allocation, and enabled efficient handling of feedback timing without requiring a concurrent data transmission.
Regarding claim 24, Yang teaches all of the limitations as applied above, Yang further teaches that: identify a set of resources for feedback transmission during a time unit at least the threshold number of time units after the second physical downlink control channel candidate (Fig. 8, step 804 and 806: it’s noted that in order to perform soft-combining the plurality of PDCCHs, the soft-combining must happen after the receiving the DCI at the second PDCCH candidate. Thus, the processing time for the soft-combining and decoding could be viewed as a threshold number of time units).
Yang doesn’t explicitly teach that the downlink control information not scheduling a physical downlink shared channel.
Li teaches that the downlink control information is not configured to schedule a physical downlink shared channel transmission ([0009], “when the one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback is triggered by the DCI format and the FDRA field is the special value, the SCell dormancy switching is not triggered by the DCI format and the PDSCH transmission is not scheduled”).
Before the effective filing of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the first network node of Yang in view of Li to configure downlink control information (DCI) that does not schedule a PDSCH transmission, because Li teaches transmitting control signaling independent of data scheduling (e.g., for ACK/NACK timing repetition handling, or control-only procedures). Incorporating this feature into the system of Yang would have predictably improved flexibility in control signaling, reduced unnecessary resource allocation, and enabled efficient handling of feedback timing without requiring a concurrent data transmission.
Claims 4-5, 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (US 2019/0230697 A1), in view of Li et al (US 2021/0168776 A1), further in view of Cirik et al (US 2023/0199773).
Regarding claim 4, the aforementioned references teaches all of the limitations except that the at least one processor is configured to: receive a configuration of a first search space set and a second search space set, wherein the first search space set includes the downlink control information and the second search space set includes a repetition of the downlink control information, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the downlink control information based on the first search space set including the downlink control information and the second search space set including the repetition of the downlink control information .
Cirik teaches that receive a configuration of a first search space set and a second search space set, wherein the first search space set includes the downlink control information and the second search space set includes a repetition of the downlink control information ([0466]-[0467], “The one or more configuration parameters may indicate a first coreset. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate a second coreset. The first coreset and the second coreset may be mapped/linked/associated for control channel repetition (e.g., PDCCH repetition, DCI repetition, PDCCH/DCI aggregation, and the like). The one or more configuration parameters may indicate, for the control channel repetition, a mapping/linkage/association between the first coreset and the second coreset”; [0468], “The first coreset and the second coreset being mapped/linked/associated for the control channel repetition may comprise, for example, a first search space set of the first coreset and a second search space set of the second coreset being mapped/linked/associated for the control channel repetition”), and wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the downlink control information based on the first search space set including the downlink control information and the second search space set including the repetition of the downlink control information ([0471], “The wireless device may monitor, for a plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs (or for repetition of a downlink control signal/channel), the first coreset and the second coreset. Each downlink control signal/channel of the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs may be same as the downlink control signal/channel. Each downlink control signal/channel of the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs may be same as the downlink control signal/channel, for example, based on the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs being transmitted by the base station for repetition of the downlink control signal/channel. Each downlink control signal/channel of the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs may be same as the downlink control signal/channel, for example, based on monitoring, for the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs, the first coreset and the second coreset for repetition of the downlink control signal/channel”).
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 Cirik in the system disclosed by Yang in view of Li to apply the multiple search space set configuration taught by Cirik to the control information repetition scheme of the primary reference in order to improve detection reliability, increase scheduling robustness, and provide flexibility in monitoring control information across different time/frequency resources.
Regarding claim 5, the aforementioned references further teaches that the at least one processor is configured to: identify at least a first monitoring occasion in the first search space set to monitor for the first physical downlink control channel candidate and a second monitoring occasion in the second search space set to monitor for the second physical downlink control channel candidate based on the first search space set including the downlink control information and the second search space set including the repetition of the downlink control information (Cirik, [0466], [0467], “The one or more configuration parameters may indicate a first coreset. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate a second coreset. The first coreset and the second coreset may be mapped/linked/associated for control channel repetition (e.g., PDCCH repetition, DCI repetition, PDCCH/DCI aggregation, and the like)”, and [0469], “The first coreset and the second coreset being mapped/linked/associated for the control channel repetition may comprise, for example, at least one first search space set of the first coreset and at least one second search space set of the second coreset being mapped/linked/associated for the control channel repetition”, also see Fig. 24); and
wherein, to receive the downlink control information, the at least one processor is configured to: monitor at least one of the first monitoring occasion or the second monitoring occasion (Cirik, [0471], “The wireless device may monitor, for a plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs (or for repetition of a downlink control signal/channel), the first coreset and the second coreset).
Regarding claim 26, the aforementioned references teaches all of the limitations except that the at least one processor is configured to: transmit a configuration of a first search space set and a second search space set, wherein the first search space set includes the downlink control information and the second search space set includes a repetition of the downlink control information, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit the downlink control information based on the first search space set including the downlink control information and the second search space set including the repetition of the downlink control information .
Cirik teaches that transmit a configuration of a first search space set and a second search space set, wherein the first search space set includes the downlink control information and the second search space set includes a repetition of the downlink control information ([0466]-[0467], “The one or more configuration parameters may indicate a first coreset. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate a second coreset. The first coreset and the second coreset may be mapped/linked/associated for control channel repetition (e.g., PDCCH repetition, DCI repetition, PDCCH/DCI aggregation, and the like). The one or more configuration parameters may indicate, for the control channel repetition, a mapping/linkage/association between the first coreset and the second coreset”; [0468], “The first coreset and the second coreset being mapped/linked/associated for the control channel repetition may comprise, for example, a first search space set of the first coreset and a second search space set of the second coreset being mapped/linked/associated for the control channel repetition”), and wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit the downlink control information based on the first search space set including the downlink control information and the second search space set including the repetition of the downlink control information ([0471], “The wireless device may monitor, for a plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs (or for repetition of a downlink control signal/channel), the first coreset and the second coreset. Each downlink control signal/channel of the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs may be same as the downlink control signal/channel. Each downlink control signal/channel of the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs may be same as the downlink control signal/channel, for example, based on the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs being transmitted by the base station for repetition of the downlink control signal/channel. Each downlink control signal/channel of the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs may be same as the downlink control signal/channel, for example, based on monitoring, for the plurality of DCIs/PDCCHs, the first coreset and the second coreset for repetition of the downlink control signal/channel”).
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 Cirik in the system disclosed by Yang in view of Li to apply the multiple search space set configuration taught by Cirik to the control information repetition scheme of the primary reference in order to improve detection reliability, increase scheduling robustness, and provide flexibility in monitoring control information across different time/frequency resources.
Claims 7-8, 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (US 2019/0230697 A1), in view of in view of Cirik et al (US 2023/0199773), further in view of Li et al (US 2021/0168776 A1).
Regarding claim 7, 29, Yang teaches all of the limitations as applied above, wherein the wherein the downlink control information
Yang doesn’t explicitly teach that calculate the threshold number of time units based on the downlink control information, wherein, to transmit the feedback message, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the feedback message at least the calculated threshold number of time units after the second physical downlink control channel candidate.
Cirik teaches that calculate the threshold number of time units based on the downlink control information, wherein, to transmit the feedback message, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the feedback message at least the calculated threshold number of time units after the second physical downlink control channel candidate (Cirik, Fig. 24, [0462], “The wireless device may determine the symbol, for example, based on the processing time. The symbol may be a first/next/earliest/starting uplink symbol starting after the processing time after the end of a last/ending/latest symbol of the downlink signal”; [0460], “The wireless device may determine a processing time (e.g., PDSCH processing time T.sub.proc,1). The wireless device may determine the processing time, for example, based on the one or more symbols of the coreset that the wireless device receives the DCI”, also see Fig. 24; it’s noted that the processing time correspond to the threshold number of time units).
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 Cirik in the system of Yang to incorporate Cirik’s processing -time-based timing calculation in order to determine the minimum (“threshold”) number of time units that must elapse after the later repeated PDCCH candidate before transmitting feedback, ensuring the UE has sufficient time to decode/process the control information and prepare the feedback.
The aforementioned references fail to disclose the downlink control information is associated with secondary cell dormancy without scheduling the physical downlink shared channel.
Li disclose the downlink control information is associated with secondary cell dormancy without scheduling the physical downlink shared channel ([0009], “SCell dormancy switching is indicated without scheduling the PDSCH transmission”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teaching of Li in the system of Yang in view of Cirik. The combination is merely a simple substitution of a general DCI with a specific DCI type such as DCI associated with a request for one-shot feedback without scheduling a physical downlink shared channel. The combination would enable the expand the invention to variety of different types of DCIs.
Regarding claim 8, 30, The first network node of claim 1, wherein the downlink control information
Yang doesn’t explicitly teach that calculate the threshold number of time units based on the downlink control information, wherein, to transmit the feedback message, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the feedback message at least the calculated threshold number of time units after the second physical downlink control channel candidate.
Cirik teaches that calculate the threshold number of time units based on the downlink control information, wherein, to transmit the feedback message, the at least one processor is configured to transmit the feedback message at least the calculated threshold number of time units after the second physical downlink control channel candidate (Cirik, Fig. 24, [0462], “The wireless device may determine the symbol, for example, based on the processing time. The symbol may be a first/next/earliest/starting uplink symbol starting after the processing time after the end of a last/ending/latest symbol of the downlink signal”; [0460], “The wireless device may determine a processing time (e.g., PDSCH processing time T.sub.proc,1). The wireless device may determine the processing time, for example, based on the one or more symbols of the coreset that the wireless device receives the DCI”, also see Fig. 24; it’s noted that the processing time correspond to the threshold number of time units).
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 Cirik in the system of Yang to incorporate Cirik’s processing -time-based timing calculation in order to determine the minimum (“threshold”) number of time units that must elapse after the later repeated PDCCH candidate before transmitting feedback, ensuring the UE has sufficient time to decode/process the control information and prepare the feedback.
The aforementioned references fail to disclose the downlink control information is associated with a request for one-shot feedback.
Li discloses the downlink control information is associated with a request for one-shot feedback without scheduling the physical downlink shared channel ([0056], “The DCI format 1_1 triggering one-shot feedback may or may not schedule a PDSCH or not schedule a PDSCH.”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the teaching of Li in the system of Yang in view of Cirik. The combination is merely a simple substitution of a general DCI with a specific DCI type such as DCI associated with a request for one-shot feedback without scheduling a physical downlink shared channel. The combination would enable the expand the invention to variety of different types of DCIs.
Claims 12, 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (US 2019/0230697 A1), in view of Cirik et al (US 2023/0199773).
Regarding claim 12, 31, the aforementioned references teach all of the limitations except that the threshold number of time units is based on a subcarrier spacing configuration. Cirik teaches the above limitation (Cirik, [0433], “The wireless device may determine the processing time, for example, based on a subcarrier spacing (e.g., p) of the downlink BWP that the wireless device receives the at least one downlink control signal/channel (or the downlink control signal/channel) scheduling the downlink signal”, it’s noted that the processing time correspond to the threshold number of time units) and a processing capability (Cirik, [0433], “The wireless device may determine the processing time, for example, based on a capability of the wireless device”, the capability is related to processing capability).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6, 28 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
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/SIMING LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411