DETAILED ACTION
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 has amended claims 1, 2 and 10 and the amendments are accepted.
Claims 2, 5 and 6 have been canceled.
Claims, 1, 9 and-10 are now pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 9 and 10 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claims 1, 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pat. Pub. US20220312377 to Kazuki Takeda (hereinafter “Takeda”) in view of US Pat. Pub. 20220225384 to Kazuki Takeda, Le Liu, Ayan Sengupta, and Alberto Rico Salvarino (hereinafter Takeda II) further in view of US Pat. Pub. US20240057088 to Yuki Matsumura et al. (hereinafter Matsumura).
Regarding claim 1, Takeda in view of Takeda II teaches A method of performing, by a user equipment (EU), a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process for a multicast broadcast service (MBS), (Takeda Figure 5, paras. [0139] - [0142] UE 115 receives a multicast data message in a HARQ process) the method comprising:
receiving first downlink control information (DCI) on a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH(Takeda para. [0099] UE 115 receives UE-specific PDCCH) the first DCI indicating a first data indicator (NDI) and a first transmission scheme (TS), the first DCI scheduling a first downlink data reception on a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to a HARQ process;(Takeda para. [0125] teaches a DCI having an NDI field. Takeda para. [0122] teaches a “new field or bits may be introduced to the DCI” … “The field or bit(s) may indicate, for example, whether or not the transmission is for multicast retransmission according to a PTP transmission scheme configuration for the associated HARQ process. Based on the field or bit(s), the UE 115 may identify one of the three possibilities for the transmission” which Examiner interprets as a TS.)
after receiving the first DCI, receiving second DCI on a second PDCCH, the second DCI indicating a second NDI and a second TS, the second DCI scheduling a second downlink data reception on a second PDSCH corresponding to the HARQ process; (Takeda para. [0132] teaches “after receiving the first DCI for message 405-a, the UE 115 may receive a second DCI....The second DCI may also have an NDI value that is untoggled from the NDI value of the first DCI, such that the second DCI may indicate that the other message 405 is a PTM retransmission (e.g., multicast retransmission) of the message 405-a (e.g., of the initial multicast data message).” Takeda para. [0140] teaches “the second DCI may schedule a new multicast message 505-c for the HARQ process according to a PTM transmission scheme configuration”) as stated with respect to para. [0132] of Takeda (above), the NDI may indicate the transmission scheme). Takeda para. [0122] teaches that the DCI may also include a TS indicating a transmission scheme (see above). Takeda para. [0098] teaches a HARQ process over a PDSCH).
and
Takeda does NOT teach determining, based on the first TS and the second TS whether to use the first NDI and the second NDI for determining whether the second downlink data reception corresponds to an initial transmission or a retransmission of the first downlink data reception (
In the analogous art of 3GPP LTE wireless communications, Takeda II teaches determining, based on the first TS and the second TS whether to use the first NDI and the second NDI for determining whether the second downlink data reception corresponds to an initial transmission or a retransmission of the first downlink data reception. (Takeda II teaches in paras. [0122]-[0123]
TABLE 4
Example of Codepoint Mapping Configuration
DCI Field
Multicast
Non-Multicast
Codepoint
Configuration
Configuration
00
Value 1
Value 1
01
Value 2
Value 2
10
Value 3
Value 3
11
Value 4
Value 4
“Unlike Tables 1, 2, and 3 as described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, Table 4 may include specific values for the multicast configurations and for the non-multicast configurations mapped to each DCI codepoint. For example, rather than having no values defined or having a “unicast value” or “no value” configured for the multicast configurations mapped to the DCI codepoints ‘10’ and ‘11,’ base station 105-b may configure specific values. Accordingly, for a DCI format that schedules an initial transmission of the shared data transmission 320 (e.g., NDI 325 is toggled), the UEs 115 may interpret the DCI codepoints based on the multicast configuration values. Alternatively, for a DCI format that schedules a retransmission of the shared data transmission 320 (e.g., NDI 325 is not toggled), the UEs 115 may interpret the DCI codepoints based on the non-multicast configurations.
For example, base station 105-b may transmit the DCI 315 to schedule the shared data transmission 320 according to a multicast configuration or a non-multicast configuration based on a DCI codepoint included in the DCI 315 being mapped to a corresponding value for a multicast configuration or a non-multicast configuration. To indicate which of the multicast configuration values or non-multicast configuration values the UEs 115 should apply for receiving the shared data transmission 320, base station 105-b may include the NDI 325 in the DCI 315 to indicate whether the shared data transmission 320 is an initial transmission of a multicast data or a retransmission of that multicast data. If the NDI 325 indicates the shared data transmission 320 is the initial transmission, the UEs 115 may use the multicast configuration values to apply for receiving the shared data transmission 320. Alternatively, if the NDI 325 indicates the shared data transmission 320 is a retransmission, the UEs 115 may use the non-multicast configuration values to apply for receiving the shared data transmission 320.” Therefore, if a NDI is toggled or not is considered AFTER a determination of the transmission scheme.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Takeda and Takeda II to teach using a transmission scheme to determine which NDI (toggled or not) to determine whether a transmission is a retransmission. Each of Takeda and Takeda II are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Takeda and Takeda II to determine which NDI to consider to avoid wasting processing power and battery life by receiving and decoding the same information more than once as taught in Takeda II para. [0051].
in response to determining that the second TS indicates a first point to multipoint (PTM) transmission scheme and the first TS indicates a second PTM transmission scheme, (Takeda, paras. [0099]-[0100] teach switching between two types of PTM transmission schemes and the issue presented. Paras [0117]-[[0122] describe solutions, including para. .[0122] which describes introducing a new field that indicates a transmission scheme)
determining that the second downlink data reception corresponds to the initial transmission of the first downlink data reception without using the first NDI and the second NDI, (Takeda para. [0120]-[0122] teaches a TS value for determining different transmission schemes including PTM: “For retransmission of the multicast data according to a PTM transmission scheme configuration, HPID# 0 may be assigned, for example, to retransmit the multicast data to multiple UEs 115 of a group.” Takeda para. [0122] also introduces a field in the DCI that makes the NDI moot by identifying if a data message is a multicast retransmission, new unicast transmission or unicast retransmission. Examiner notes that introducing a new field that makes the NDI moot is “without using the first NDI and the second NDI” and within the meaning of a claim that uses open-ended style claiming with “comprising”.)
Takeda does NOT teach wherein the first PTM transmission scheme is a group-common PDCCH based group scheduling scheme, and the second PTM transmission scheme is a UE-specific PDCCH based group scheduling scheme.
In the same field of endeavor, Matsumura teaches wherein the first PTM transmission scheme is a group-common PDCCH based group scheduling scheme, and the second PTM transmission scheme is a UE-specific PDCCH based group scheduling scheme. (Matsumura teaches in paras. [0042]-[0043] “It is studied that TM transmission scheme 1 uses a group-common PDCCH to schedule a group-common PDSCH for a plurality of RRC connected UEs in the same MBS group, the group common PDCCH is with CRC scrambled by a group-common RNTI, and that the group-common PDSCH is scrambled by using the same group-common RNTI. It is studied that PTM transmission scheme 2 uses a UE-specific PDCCH for scheduling a group-common PDSCH for each of a plurality of RRC connected UEs in the same MBS group, that the UE-specific PDCCH is with CRC scrambled by a UE-specific RNTI (for example, a C-RNTI), and that the group-common PDSCH is scrambled by using a group-common RNTI.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective date of the invention, to have combined Takeda with Matsumura to teach the first PTM transmission scheme is a group-common PDCCH based group scheduling scheme, and the second PTM transmission scheme is a UE-specific PDCCH based group scheduling scheme. Each of Takeda and Matsumura are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Takeda with Matsumura in order to appropriately receive multicast downlink data as taught in Matsumura para [0010].
Regarding claim 10, Takeda in view of Takeda II and Matsumura teach A user equipment (UE), (Takeda Figure 5, paras. [0139] - [0142] UE 115 receives a multicast data message in a HARQ process) comprising:
one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing one or more computer-executable instructions; (Takeda para. [0202])
and at least one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, (Takeda para. [0202] processor 1140) and configured to execute the one or more computer-executable instructions to cause the UE to:
receive first downlink control information (DCI) on a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), (Takeda para. [0099] UE 115 receives UE-specific PDCCH) the first DCI comprising a new data indicator (NDI) and a first transmission scheme (TS), the first DCI scheduling a first downlink data reception on a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponding to a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process; (Takeda para. [0132] teaches “The second DCI may also have an NDI value that is untoggled from the NDI value of the first DCI, such that the second DCI may indicate that the other message 405 is a PTM retransmission (e.g., multicast retransmission) of the message 405-a (e.g., of the initial multicast data message).” Takeda para. [0140] teaches “the second DCI may schedule a new multicast message 505-c for the HARQ process according to a PTM transmission scheme configuration”) as stated with respect to para. [0132] of Takeda (above), the NDI may indicate the transmission scheme). Takeda para. [0122] teaches that the DCI may also include a TS field indicating a transmission scheme (see above). Takeda para. [0098] teaches a HARQ process over a PDSCH)
after receiving the first DCI, receive second DCI on a second PDCCH the second DCI comprising a second NDI and a second TS, the second DCI scheduling a second downlink data reception on a second PDSCH corresponding to the HARQ process; (Takeda para. [0132] teaches “after receiving the first DCI for message 405-a, the UE 115 may receive a second DCI....Takeda para. [0132] teaches “The second DCI may also have an NDI value that is untoggled from the NDI value of the first DCI, such that the second DCI may indicate that the other message 405 is a PTM retransmission (e.g., multicast retransmission) of the message 405-a (e.g., of the initial multicast data message).” Takeda para. [0140] teaches “the second DCI may schedule a new multicast message 505-c for the HARQ process according to a PTM transmission scheme configuration”) as stated with respect to para. [0132] of Takeda (above), the NDI may indicate the transmission scheme). Takeda para. [0122] teaches that the DCI may also include a TS field indicating a transmission scheme (see above). Takeda para. [0098] teaches a HARQ process over a PDSCH)
and
Takeda does NOT teach determine, based on the first TS and the second TS, whether to use the first NDI and the second NDI for determining whether the second downlink data reception corresponds to an initial transmission or a retransmission of the first downlink data reception.
In the analogous art of 3GPP LTE wireless communications, Takeda II teaches determine, based on the first TS and the second TS whether to use the first NDI and the second NDI for determining whether the second downlink data reception corresponds to an initial transmission or a retransmission of the first downlink data reception. Takeda II teaches in paras. [0122]-[0123]
TABLE 4
Example of Codepoint Mapping Configuration
DCI Field
Multicast
Non-Multicast
Codepoint
Configuration
Configuration
00
Value 1
Value 1
01
Value 2
Value 2
10
Value 3
Value 3
11
Value 4
Value 4
“Unlike Tables 1, 2, and 3 as described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, Table 4 may include specific values for the multicast configurations and for the non-multicast configurations mapped to each DCI codepoint. For example, rather than having no values defined or having a “unicast value” or “no value” configured for the multicast configurations mapped to the DCI codepoints ‘10’ and ‘11,’ base station 105-b may configure specific values. Accordingly, for a DCI format that schedules an initial transmission of the shared data transmission 320 (e.g., NDI 325 is toggled), the UEs 115 may interpret the DCI codepoints based on the multicast configuration values. Alternatively, for a DCI format that schedules a retransmission of the shared data transmission 320 (e.g., NDI 325 is not toggled), the UEs 115 may interpret the DCI codepoints based on the non-multicast configurations.
For example, base station 105-b may transmit the DCI 315 to schedule the shared data transmission 320 according to a multicast configuration or a non-multicast configuration based on a DCI codepoint included in the DCI 315 being mapped to a corresponding value for a multicast configuration or a non-multicast configuration. To indicate which of the multicast configuration values or non-multicast configuration values the UEs 115 should apply for receiving the shared data transmission 320, base station 105-b may include the NDI 325 in the DCI 315 to indicate whether the shared data transmission 320 is an initial transmission of a multicast data or a retransmission of that multicast data. If the NDI 325 indicates the shared data transmission 320 is the initial transmission, the UEs 115 may use the multicast configuration values to apply for receiving the shared data transmission 320. Alternatively, if the NDI 325 indicates the shared data transmission 320 is a retransmission, the UEs 115 may use the non-multicast configuration values to apply for receiving the shared data transmission 320.” Therefore, if a NDI is toggled or not is considered AFTER a determination of the transmission scheme.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Takeda and Takeda II to teach using a transmission scheme to determine which NDI (toggled or not) to determine whether a transmission is a retransmission. Each of Takeda and Takeda II are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Takeda and Takeda II to determine which NDI to consider to avoid wasting processing power and battery life by receiving and decoding the same information more than once as taught in Takeda II para. [0051].
in response to determining that the second TS indicates a first point to multipoint (PTM) transmission scheme and the first TS indicates a second PTM transmission scheme, (Takeda, paras. [0099]-[0100] teach switching between two types of PTM transmission schemes and the issue presented. Para. .[0122] describes introducing a new field that indicates a transmission scheme) determining that the second downlink data reception corresponds to the initial transmission of the first downlink data reception without using the first NDI and the second NDI, (Takeda para. [0120]-[0122] teaches a TS value for determining different transmission schemes including PTM: “For retransmission of the multicast data according to a PTM transmission scheme configuration, HPID# 0 may be assigned, for example, to retransmit the multicast data to multiple UEs 115 of a group.” Takeda para. [0122] also introduces a field in the DCI that makes the NDI moot by identifying if a data message is a multicast retransmission, new unicast transmission or unicast retransmission. Examiner notes that introducing a new field that makes the NDI moot is “without using the first NDI and the second NDI” and within the meaning of a claim that uses open-ended style claiming with “comprising”.)
Takeda does NOT teach wherein the first PTM transmission scheme is a group-common PDCCH based group scheduling scheme, and the second PTM transmission scheme is a UE-specific PDCCH based group scheduling scheme.
In the same field of endeavor, Matsumura teaches wherein the first PTM transmission scheme is a group-common PDCCH based group scheduling scheme, and the second PTM transmission scheme is a UE-specific PDCCH based group scheduling scheme. (Matsumura teaches in paras. [0042]-[0043] “It is studied that TM transmission scheme 1 uses a group-common PDCCH to schedule a group-common PDSCH for a plurality of RRC connected UEs in the same MBS group, the group common PDCCH is with CRC scrambled by a group-common RNTI, and that the group-common PDSCH is scrambled by using the same group-common RNTI. It is studied that PTM transmission scheme 2 uses a UE-specific PDCCH for scheduling a group-common PDSCH for each of a plurality of RRC connected UEs in the same MBS group, that the UE-specific PDCCH is with CRC scrambled by a UE-specific RNTI (for example, a C-RNTI), and that the group-common PDSCH is scrambled by using a group-common RNTI.”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective date of the invention, to have combined Takeda with Matsumura to teach the first PTM transmission scheme is a group-common PDCCH based group scheduling scheme, and the second PTM transmission scheme is a UE-specific PDCCH based group scheduling scheme. Each of Takeda and Matsumura are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Takeda with Matsumura in order to appropriately receive multicast downlink data as taught in Matsumura para [0010].
Regarding claim 9, Takeda teaches The method of claim 1, further comprising
decoding data from the second downlink data reception in response to determining the second downlink data reception corresponds to the initial transmission of the first downlink data reception; and (Takeda Fig. 8 illustrates a communications manager 820 that in para. [0173]-[0174] teaches receives first grant scheduling transmissions and retransmissions of PTM transmissions including “indicating feedback” and “transmitting feedback” which necessarily requires decoding)
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON whose telephone number is (703)756-1068. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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, Charles Jiang can be reached on 571-270-7191. 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.
/MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2412 /CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412