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
The amendment filed 3/16/2026 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, Claims 1 and 18 have been amended.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11-18, and 20 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues the cited references fail to teach or suggest “a plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI, including the monitoring occasion, are located in downlink symbols,” as recited in claim 1. Arguing that cited prior art Bae merely discusses (i) a general PDCCH monitoring configuration, and (ii) a UE that monitors PDCCH candidates in only PDCCH monitoring occasions defined by parameters (i.e., a monitoring periodicity, offset, and pattern within a slot), but does not contemplate any monitoring occasions that are actually for uplink cancelation indication (UL CI) and that those monitoring occasions are located in downlink symbols. Instead, the cited passages of Bae simply disclose generic PDCCH monitoring occasions for monitoring PDCCH candidates (defined by certain parameters), without any consideration for monitoring occasions in downlink symbols that are for UL CI and located in downlink symbols. Therefore, Bae fails to teach or suggest the subject matter of claim 1 recited above. (Remarks Pg. 7)
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Looking to the following paragraphs of Bae: ¶0202 “The present disclosure proposes method(s) for configuring the PDCCH MO appropriate for the UE by the BS and/or condition(s) for monitoring the UL CI by a given UE.”, ¶0211-¶0212 “the UE may receive RRC configuration information from the BS. For example, the UE may receive RRC configuration information including specific parameter(s) related to a MO and a resource configured for transmission/reception of the UL CI described in implementations A1 to A9. SearchSpace IE: A parameter for configuring to a UE whether a UL CI is able to received in a MO. For example, the SearchSpace IE may include a parameter related to whether the UL CI is likely to be received in the MO indicated/configured by the SearchSpace IE, and the UE may recognize the MO in which the UL CI is likely to be received through the SearchSpace IE transmitted through the RRC configuration.”, and ¶0228 “referring to FIG. 2, the one or more processors 102 may monitor a MO that is determined to be valid by the UE among a plurality of MOs.”, the reference discloses a plurality of PDCCH monitoring occasions (reads on monitoring occasions in DL symbols), where the UL CI can be received in the monitoring occasion if indicated by a parameter received through RRC signaling. Therefore, Bai’s disclosure reads on the limitation “a plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI, including the monitoring occasion, are located in downlink symbols”, as currently recited.
Applicant argues the cited references fail to teach or suggest “the monitoring occasion is both (i) a latest one of the plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI that ends no later than the predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource, and (ii) located in a downlink symbol as indicated by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated from Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling,” as recited in claim 1. Arguing that cited prior art Bae merely generally discuss (i) a determination of whether a given monitoring occasion is valid for UL CI monitoring under certain condition(s), (ii) a higher-layer configuration of a DL or UL allocation pattern and determination of a slot format, and (iii) that a UE considers a TDD configuration (i.e., via a TDD-UL-DL configuration) when identifying monitoring occasions in which reception is possible and when determining a UL CI monitoring occasion. However, at no point does Bae demonstrate a particular monitoring occasion that is both (i) a latest one of monitoring occasions for UL CI and (ii) is located in a downlink symbol as indicated by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated from RRC signaling. Moreover, Bae's disclosure does not establish a necessary linkage between determination/selection of a monitoring occasion and its location in a downlink symbol as configured by specific RRC parameters, and the Office Action does not provide any actual evidence to suggest otherwise. Thus, Bae fails to teach or suggest the aforementioned subject matter of claim 1. (Remarks Pg 7-8)
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Looking to the following paragraphs of Bae: ¶0256 “Referring to FIG. 11, it may be determined that the MO2 is valid for UL CI monitoring for UL transmission #x and the MO1 and the MO2 are not valid for UL CI monitoring for the UL transmission #x. This method may be useful when the UE cancels UL transmission using the indicated resource region or a part of the transmission.”, and ¶0259-¶0261 “<Implementation A1-2> (Condition 2) When a certain UL CI MO (or start or end of a MO) is spaced apart from a prescheduled specific UL radio resource (or start or end of a radio resource) by a predetermined time (N symbols), the UE may determine that the UL CI MO is a MO that satisfies the condition 2. The condition 2 may be useful to ensure a processing time required for decoding, information interpretation, and/or UL transmission cancellation process in a process of receiving a UL CI in a MO by the UE.”, as well as Fig. 11 shown below, the reference discloses a monitoring occasion (MO2) that is described and illustrated as the latest valid monitoring occasion for UL CI that occurs before a predetermined duration to ensure enough processing time for cancellation of the uplink transmission #x. Therefore, the reference reads on the limitation of “the monitoring occasion is both (i) a latest one of the plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI that ends no later than the predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource,”.
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Further, looking to the following paragraphs of Bae: ¶0219 “the UE may determine a reference UL resource as a resource region to be indicated by one UL CI based on the received parameter (e.g., SearchSpace IE or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon IE). For example, the UE may recognize a MO that satisfies the condition 1 or 2 described in implementations A1-1 and A1-2 among allocated MOs as a valid MO for monitoring a CI.”, and ¶0229 “the following UL CI MO may be determined using the following method. [0231] Option 1: A UL CI MO that is the closest to (i.e., the first one in time after) a corresponding UL CI MO among UL CI MOs in which reception is possible in consideration of a TDD configuration (e.g., TDD-UL-DL-Configdedicated and TDD-UL-DL-Configcommon) and a slot format indication, received by the UE, may be determined as the next UL CI MO.”, the reference discloses determining a valid monitoring occasion for UL CI located in PDCCH (downlink symbol) in consideration of (indicated by) TDD configuration using TDD-UL-DL-Configdedicated and TDD-UL-DL-Configcommon. Therefore, the reference read on the limitation of “and (ii) located in a downlink symbol as indicated by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated from Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.” This is reflected in the updated Office Action below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 7, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Andersson et al. (US 2024/0064730 A1), hereinafter Andersson, in view of Bae et al. (US 2024/0073887 A1), hereinafter Bae.
Re. Claim 1, Andersson teaches:
A method (Fig 8. & ¶0022 The present disclosure relates to methods for reducing the monitoring time for UL cancelation indication), comprising: determining, by a wireless communication device, a monitoring occasion for monitoring uplink cancelation indication (UL CI) indicating that uplink transmission on an uplink resource is canceled, (Fig 8. & ¶0022 The present disclosure relates to methods for reducing the monitoring time for UL cancelation indication. More specifically the method includes determination of a start and end of the time interval during which the UE should monitor UL cancelation indication, based on the UE processing time and the configuration of UL cancelation. & ¶0096 a method performed by a wireless device for monitoring UL cancelation indications includes one or more of: determining a time interval during which the wireless device should monitor UL cancelation indications (step 800))
wherein an end position of the monitoring occasion is no later than a predetermined time interval before a start position of the uplink transmission; (Fig. 6 [shown below; Time between UL transmission and CI is a predetermined time interval before start position of the UL transmission) & ¶0082 In one version of the above embodiment, the time interval during which the UE monitors the UL cancelation indication only includes the monitoring occasions where the gap between the end symbol of UL cancelation indication and the start of the UL transmission is larger than the UE processing time for UL cancelation indication.)
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and monitoring, by the wireless communication device, the UL CI in at least the monitoring occasion. (Fig. 6 CI to monitor [i.e. is the monitoring of the ULCI in at least the monitoring occasion ending no later than a predetermined time interval before a start position of the uplink transmission])
Yet, Anderson does not explicitly teach: wherein: a plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI including the monitoring occasion, are located in downlink symbols; and the monitoring occasion is both (i) a latest one of the plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI that ends no later than the predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource, and (ii) located in a downlink symbol as indicated by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated from Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
However, in the analogous art, Bae teaches such limitations:
wherein: a plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI, including the monitoring occasion, are located in downlink symbols; (¶0052 In the present disclosure, the PDCCH refers to a set of time-frequency resource elements (REs) that carry downlink control information (DCI) [i.e. PDCCH (downlink) time-frequency resource elements are equivalent to downlink symbols] & ¶0182-¶0183 A set of PDCCH candidates in the configured CORESET(s) is monitored according to corresponding search space sets. The search space set is determined based on the following parameters provided by the BS to the UE. [0187] monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot: a PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot, indicating first symbol(s) of the CORESET within a slot for PDCCH monitoring. [i.e. CORESET symbol(s) are inherently located in downlink time-frequency resources (downlink symbols), therefore the PDCCH monitoring (monitoring occasions) are in downlink symbols] [0188] nrofCandidates: a number of PDCCH candidates per CCE aggregation level. ¶0190-¶0191 The parameter monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot may indicate the first symbol(s) for PDCCH monitoring in the slots configured for PDCCH monitoring (e.g., see monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset and duration). A UE monitors PDCCH candidates in PDCCH monitoring occasions only. The UE determines a monitoring occasion on an active DL BWP from the PDCCH monitoring periodicity, the PDCCH monitoring offset, and the PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot. In some implementations, for search space set s, the UE determines that a PDCCH monitoring occasion(s) existing in a slot [i.e. plurality of PDCCH monitoring occasions, configured in a slot, PDCCH monitoring occasions would inherently be in downlink symbols as discussed above] & ¶0202 “The present disclosure proposes method(s) for configuring the PDCCH MO (monitoring occasion) appropriate for the UE by the BS and/or condition(s) for monitoring the UL CI by a given UE.”, ¶0211-¶0212 “the UE may receive RRC configuration information from the BS. For example, the UE may receive RRC configuration information including specific parameter(s) related to a MO and a resource configured for transmission/reception of the UL CI described in implementations A1 to A9. SearchSpace IE: A parameter for configuring to a UE whether a UL CI is able to received in a MO. For example, the SearchSpace IE may include a parameter related to whether the UL CI is likely to be received in the MO indicated/configured by the SearchSpace IE, and the UE may recognize the MO in which the UL CI is likely to be received through the SearchSpace IE transmitted through the RRC configuration.”, and ¶0228 “referring to FIG. 2, the one or more processors 102 may monitor a MO that is determined to be valid by the UE among a plurality of MOs.”)
and the monitoring occasion is both (i) a latest one of the plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI that ends no later than the predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource, (¶0256 Referring to FIG. 11, it may be determined that the MO2 is valid for UL CI monitoring for UL transmission #x and the MO1 and the MO2 are not valid for UL CI monitoring for the UL transmission #x. This method may be useful when the UE cancels UL transmission using the indicated resource region or a part of the transmission. & ¶0259-¶0261 <Implementation A1-2> (Condition 2) When a certain UL CI MO (or start or end of a MO) is spaced apart from a prescheduled specific UL radio resource (or start or end of a radio resource) by a predetermined time (N symbols), the UE may determine that the UL CI MO is a MO that satisfies the condition 2. [i.e. MO2 (the monitoring occasion) is a latest one, of a plurality of MOs, that ends no later than a predetermined time interval before a start position of an uplink resource] The condition 2 may be useful to ensure a processing time required for decoding, information interpretation, and/or UL transmission cancellation process in a process of receiving a UL CI in a MO by the UE. When the condition 2 is considered, the predetermined N may be determined according to at least one of the following. Processing capability related to a UL CI of the corresponding UE;)
and (ii) located in a downlink symbol as indicated by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated from Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. (¶0082 the BS may configure a pattern for UL and DL allocation for the serving cell through higher layer (e.g., RRC) signaling. & ¶0089 If the UE is provided with a configuration for the TDD DL-UL pattern, i.e., a TDD UL-DL configuration (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, or tdd-UL-DLConfigurationDedicated), through higher layer signaling, the UE sets a slot format per slot over a number of slots based on the configuration. & ¶0201-¶0202 the eMBB UE needs to detect the UL CI in the PDCCH. [i.e. as discussed above, these UL CI in the PDCCH are in downlink symbols] The UL CI needs to be detected by the eMBB UE before UL transmission of the URLLC UE begins, and thus the eMBB UE may stop UL transmission thereof to successfully reduce interference on URLLC transmission. According to a service such as URLLC, transmission may begin within a short time after scheduling, and thus a monitoring occasion (MO) frequency of the PDCCH for carrying UL CI needs to be frequent enough in order for the eMBB UE to detect the UL CI within a corresponding time. However, DCI normally transferred to the eMBB UE may not need to be indicated at such a short interval, and thus frequent PDCCH monitoring may generally consume unnecessary power and waste computational capability for the eMBB UE. To overcome the problem, it may be necessary to configure a PDCCH MO for an uplink cancelation indication (UL CI) appropriate for the eMBB UE and to limit the UE to monitor the UL CI only under a specific condition. The present disclosure proposes method(s) for configuring the PDCCH MO appropriate for the UE by the BS and/or condition(s) for monitoring the UL CI by a given UE. & ¶0219 the UE may determine a reference UL resource as a resource region to be indicated by one UL CI based on the received parameter (e.g., SearchSpace IE or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon IE). For example, the UE may recognize a MO that satisfies the condition 1 or 2 described in implementations A1-1 and A1-2 among allocated MOs as a valid MO for monitoring a CI. & ¶0229 the following UL CI MO may be determined using the following method. [0231] Option 1: A UL CI MO that is the closest to (i.e., the first one in time after) a corresponding UL CI MO among UL CI MOs in which reception is possible in consideration of a TDD configuration (e.g., TDD-UL-DL-Configdedicated and TDD-UL-DL-Configcommon) and a slot format indication, received by the UE, may be determined as the next UL CI MO. [i.e. the determined monitoring occasion is in consideration of TDD configuration parameters TDD-UL-DL-Configdedicated and TDD-UL-DL-Configcommon, which reads on the monitoring occasion being located in the PDCCH (downlink symbol) as indicated by TDD configuration using TDD-UL-DL-Configdedicated and TDD-UL-DL-Configcommon])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Anderson’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Bae’s teaching of the monitoring occasion both satisfying a condition of being the latest one ending no later than the predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource and located in DL symbol(s) configured by RRC signaling, because it would enable the device to reduce the number of monitoring occasions that the device needs to monitor, which reduces power consumption. (see Bae ¶0199 & ¶0217)
Re. Claim 7, Andersson combined with Bae teaches claim 1.
Andersson further teaches:
wherein the predetermined time interval corresponds to a time interval needed by the wireless communication device to process the UL CI. (Fig. 6 (Time between UL transmission and CI – shown above) & ¶0082 In another version of the above embodiment, the time interval during which the UE monitors the UL cancelation indication only includes monitoring the occasions where the gap between the end symbol of the UL cancelation indication and the end of the UL transmission is larger than the UE processing time for the UL cancelation indication.)
Re. Claim 18, Andersson teaches:
A wireless communication device, comprising: at least one processor (Fig. 13-14 & ¶0104 FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 1300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the wireless communication device 1300 includes one or more processors 1302)
configured to: determine a monitoring occasion for monitoring uplink cancelation indication (UL CI) indicating that uplink transmission on an uplink resource is canceled, (Fig 8. & ¶0022 The present disclosure relates to methods for reducing the monitoring time for UL cancelation indication. More specifically the method includes determination of a start and end of the time interval during which the UE should monitor UL cancelation indication, based on the UE processing time and the configuration of UL cancelation. & ¶0096 a method performed by a wireless device for monitoring UL cancelation indications includes one or more of: determining a time interval during which the wireless device should monitor UL cancelation indications (step 800))
wherein an end position of the monitoring occasion is no later than a predetermined time interval before a start position of the uplink transmission; (Fig. 6 [shown above; Time between UL transmission and CI is a predetermined time interval before start position of the UL transmission) & ¶0082 In one version of the above embodiment, the time interval during which the UE monitors the UL cancelation indication only includes the monitoring occasions where the gap between the end symbol of UL cancelation indication and the start of the UL transmission is larger than the UE processing time for UL cancelation indication.)
monitor the UL CI in at least the monitoring occasion. (Fig. 6 CI to monitor [i.e. is the monitoring of the ULCI in at least the monitoring occasion ending no later than a predetermined time interval before a start position of the uplink transmission])
Yet, Anderson does not explicitly teach: wherein: a plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI including the monitoring occasion, are located in downlink symbols; and the monitoring occasion is both (i) a latest one of the plurality of monitoring occasions that ends no later than the predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource, and (ii) located in a downlink symbol as indicated by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated from Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
However, in the analogous art, Bae teaches such limitations:
wherein: a plurality of monitoring occasions for the UL CI, including the monitoring occasion, are located in downlink symbols; (¶0052 In the present disclosure, the PDCCH refers to a set of time-frequency resource elements (REs) that carry downlink control information (DCI) [i.e. PDCCH (downlink) time-frequency resource elements are equivalent to downlink symbols] & ¶0182-¶0183 A set of PDCCH candidates in the configured CORESET(s) is monitored according to corresponding search space sets. The search space set is determined based on the following parameters provided by the BS to the UE. [0187] monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot: a PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot, indicating first symbol(s) of the CORESET within a slot for PDCCH monitoring. [i.e. CORESET symbol(s) are inherently located in downlink time-frequency resources (downlink symbols), therefore the PDCCH monitoring (monitoring occasions) are in downlink symbols] [0188] nrofCandidates: a number of PDCCH candidates per CCE aggregation level. ¶0190-¶0191 The parameter monitoringSymbolsWithinSlot may indicate the first symbol(s) for PDCCH monitoring in the slots configured for PDCCH monitoring (e.g., see monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset and duration). A UE monitors PDCCH candidates in PDCCH monitoring occasions only. The UE determines a monitoring occasion on an active DL BWP from the PDCCH monitoring periodicity, the PDCCH monitoring offset, and the PDCCH monitoring pattern within a slot. In some implementations, for search space set s, the UE determines that a PDCCH monitoring occasion(s) existing in a slot [i.e. plurality of PDCCH monitoring occasions, configured in a slot, PDCCH monitoring occasions would inherently be in downlink symbols as discussed above] & ¶0202 “The present disclosure proposes method(s) for configuring the PDCCH MO (monitoring occasion) appropriate for the UE by the BS and/or condition(s) for monitoring the UL CI by a given UE.”, ¶0211-¶0212 “the UE may receive RRC configuration information from the BS. For example, the UE may receive RRC configuration information including specific parameter(s) related to a MO and a resource configured for transmission/reception of the UL CI described in implementations A1 to A9. SearchSpace IE: A parameter for configuring to a UE whether a UL CI is able to received in a MO. For example, the SearchSpace IE may include a parameter related to whether the UL CI is likely to be received in the MO indicated/configured by the SearchSpace IE, and the UE may recognize the MO in which the UL CI is likely to be received through the SearchSpace IE transmitted through the RRC configuration.”, and ¶0228 “referring to FIG. 2, the one or more processors 102 may monitor a MO that is determined to be valid by the UE among a plurality of MOs.”)
and the monitoring occasion is both (i) a latest one of the plurality of monitoring occasions that ends no later than the predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource, (¶0256 Referring to FIG. 11, it may be determined that the MO2 is valid for UL CI monitoring for UL transmission #x and the MO1 and the MO2 are not valid for UL CI monitoring for the UL transmission #x. This method may be useful when the UE cancels UL transmission using the indicated resource region or a part of the transmission. & ¶0259-¶0261 <Implementation A1-2> (Condition 2) When a certain UL CI MO (or start or end of a MO) is spaced apart from a prescheduled specific UL radio resource (or start or end of a radio resource) by a predetermined time (N symbols), the UE may determine that the UL CI MO is a MO that satisfies the condition 2. [i.e. MO2 (the monitoring occasion) is a latest one, of a plurality of MOs, that ends no later than a predetermined time interval before a start position of an uplink resource] The condition 2 may be useful to ensure a processing time required for decoding, information interpretation, and/or UL transmission cancellation process in a process of receiving a UL CI in a MO by the UE. When the condition 2 is considered, the predetermined N may be determined according to at least one of the following. Processing capability related to a UL CI of the corresponding UE;)
and (ii) located in a downlink symbol as indicated by TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated from Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. (¶0082 the BS may configure a pattern for UL and DL allocation for the serving cell through higher layer (e.g., RRC) signaling. & ¶0089 If the UE is provided with a configuration for the TDD DL-UL pattern, i.e., a TDD UL-DL configuration (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon, or tdd-UL-DLConfigurationDedicated), through higher layer signaling, the UE sets a slot format per slot over a number of slots based on the configuration. & ¶0201-¶0202 the eMBB UE needs to detect the UL CI in the PDCCH. [i.e. as discussed above, these UL CI in the PDCCH are in downlink symbols] The UL CI needs to be detected by the eMBB UE before UL transmission of the URLLC UE begins, and thus the eMBB UE may stop UL transmission thereof to successfully reduce interference on URLLC transmission. According to a service such as URLLC, transmission may begin within a short time after scheduling, and thus a monitoring occasion (MO) frequency of the PDCCH for carrying UL CI needs to be frequent enough in order for the eMBB UE to detect the UL CI within a corresponding time. However, DCI normally transferred to the eMBB UE may not need to be indicated at such a short interval, and thus frequent PDCCH monitoring may generally consume unnecessary power and waste computational capability for the eMBB UE. To overcome the problem, it may be necessary to configure a PDCCH MO for an uplink cancelation indication (UL CI) appropriate for the eMBB UE and to limit the UE to monitor the UL CI only under a specific condition. The present disclosure proposes method(s) for configuring the PDCCH MO appropriate for the UE by the BS and/or condition(s) for monitoring the UL CI by a given UE. & ¶0219 the UE may determine a reference UL resource as a resource region to be indicated by one UL CI based on the received parameter (e.g., SearchSpace IE or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon IE). For example, the UE may recognize a MO that satisfies the condition 1 or 2 described in implementations A1-1 and A1-2 among allocated MOs as a valid MO for monitoring a CI. & ¶0229 the following UL CI MO may be determined using the following method. [0231] Option 1: A UL CI MO that is the closest to (i.e., the first one in time after) a corresponding UL CI MO among UL CI MOs in which reception is possible in consideration of a TDD configuration (e.g., TDD-UL-DL-Configdedicated and TDD-UL-DL-Configcommon) and a slot format indication, received by the UE, may be determined as the next UL CI MO. [i.e. the determined monitoring occasion is in consideration of TDD configuration parameters TDD-UL-DL-Configdedicated and TDD-UL-DL-Configcommon, which reads on the monitoring occasion being located in the PDCCH (downlink symbol) as indicated by TDD configuration using TDD-UL-DL-Configdedicated and TDD-UL-DL-Configcommon])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Anderson’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Bae’s teaching of the monitoring occasion both satisfying a condition of being the latest one ending no later than the predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource and located in DL symbol(s) configured by RRC signaling, because it would enable the device to reduce the number of monitoring occasions that the device needs to monitor, which reduces power consumption. (see Bae ¶0199 & ¶0217)
Re. Claim 20, Andersson combined with Bae teaches claim 18.
Andersson further teaches:
wherein the predetermined time interval corresponds to a time interval needed by the wireless communication device to process the UL CI. (Fig. 6 (Time between UL transmission and CI) & ¶0082 In another version of the above embodiment, the time interval during which the UE monitors the UL cancelation indication only includes monitoring the occasions where the gap between the end symbol of the UL cancelation indication and the end of the UL transmission is larger than the UE processing time for the UL cancelation indication.)
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andersson combined with Bae, and in further view of Fakoorian et al. (US 2020/0351897 A1), hereinafter Fakoorian.
Re. Claim 3, Andersson combined with Bae teaches claim 1.
Andersson further teaches:
the plurality of wireless communication devices comprises the wireless communication device. (Fig. 3 (312-4 and 312-5, multiple UE connected to same cell))
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: wherein the RRC signaling comprises a cell-specific parameter that configures a same slot format for a plurality of wireless communication devices in a same cell;
However, in the analogous art, Fakoorian teaches such a limitation:
wherein the RRC signaling comprises a cell-specific parameter that configures a same slot format for a plurality of wireless communication devices in a same cell; (¶0124 The base station 105-a or other network entity may determine one of the patterns of resources for ULCIs, and signal a configuration to UEs 115 (e.g., via downlink control signaling, via RRC configuration) so the UEs 115 can properly interpret ULCIs received from the base station 105-a & ¶0118 ULCIs may be signaled by the base station 105-a to UEs [i.e. plurality of wireless communication devices] 115 (e.g., one or both of the UEs 115-a or 115-b, a group of UEs) according to various techniques. For example, a UE 115 may be configured to monitor for ULCIs according to various signaling by the base station 105-a, such as various types of downlink control signaling, physical channel signaling, cell-specific signaling, [i.e. utilizing cell-specific parameters/signaling] and others. & ¶0119 ULCIs may be configured or conveyed in a group-common physical downlink control channel (GC-PDCCH) or otherwise conveyed in group-common DCI (GC-DCI), or DCI format 2_1, which may support signaling ULCIs that are relevant to sets of one or more UEs 115, [i.e. group-common signaling would configure the slot format using the same format for a plurality of devices] & ¶0120 uplink cancellation may include various configurations by way of RRC configuration or other connection establishment between the base station 105-a and UEs 115.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson and Bae’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Fakoorian’s teaching of the RRC signaling comprising a cell-specific parameter that configures slot format for a plurality of devices, because it would enable the device to support. (see Fakoorian ¶0117-¶0118)
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andersson combined with Bae, and in further view of Park et al. (US 2021/0029646 A1), hereinafter Park.
Re. Claim 5, Andersson combined with Bae teaches claim 1.
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: wherein the RRC signaling comprises a UE-specific parameter that configures a slot format for the wireless communication device.
However, in the analogous art Park teaches such a limitation:
wherein the RRC signaling comprises a UE-specific parameter that configures a slot format for the wireless communication device. (¶0062 The base station may inform a slot format by instructing, using the SFI, the index of a table configured through UE-specific RRC signaling. [i.e. slot format configuration utilizing UE-specific RRC signaling].)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson and Bae’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Park’s teaching of the RRC signaling comprising a UE-specific parameter that configures slot format for a plurality of devices, because it would enable the device to utilize information received from the base station to determine a slot format. (see Park ¶0061-¶0062)
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andersson combined with Bae, and in further view of Choi et al. (US 2022/0116968 A1), hereinafter Choi.
Re. Claim 9, Andersson combined with Bae teaches claim 1.
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: wherein the UL CI indicates canceled transmissions on all flexible slots and uplink slots within a slot configuration period.
However, in the analogous art, Choi teaches such a limitation:
wherein the UL CI indicates canceled transmissions on all flexible slots and uplink slots within a slot configuration period. (¶0309 if all the indicated symbols are UL symbols, the terminal transmits PUSCH, and if at least one of the indicated symbols is a DL symbol or G consecutive flexible symbol(s) immediately subsequent to the DL symbol, the terminal does not transmit PUSCH in the corresponding slot [i.e. UL CI will subsequently indicate canceled transmission on all slots within the slot configuration period whether they are flexible or uplink]. That is, in each slot indicated by the base station for PUSCH transmission, if the symbol in which PUSCH is to be transmitted is a UL symbol, the terminal transmits PUSCH, and if at least one of the symbols in which PUSCH is to be transmitted overlaps a DL symbol or at least one of G consecutive flexible symbol(s) immediately subsequent to the DL symbol, the terminal does not transmit PUSCH and cancels PUSCH transmission. That is, PUSCH is not transmitted if overlapped with any one of G symbols that can be used as a gap with a DL symbol, and transmission of PUSCH is cancelled.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson and Bae’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Choi’s teaching of UL CI indicating transmissions being cancelled on all flexible and uplink slots, because it would allow the device to selectively transmit PUSCH based on the type or direction of the symbol. (see Choi ¶0309)
Claims 11 and 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Andersson combined with Bae, and further in view of Chatterjee et al. (US 2019/0342944 A1), hereinafter referred to as Chatterjee.
Re. Claim 11, Andersson combined with Bae teaches claim 1.
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: wherein the monitoring occasion is configured to be in a flexible symbol according to Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
However, in the analogous art, Chatterjee teaches such a limitation:
wherein the monitoring occasion is configured to be in a flexible symbol according to Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. (¶0089 some UEs may support PDCCH monitoring for any monitoring occasions that fall in unknown or flexible symbols configured by semi-static RRC signaling, depending on UE capabilities.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson and Bae’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Chatterjee’s teaching of the monitoring occasion configured to be in a flexible symbol according to RRC signaling, because it would allow the device to preserve maximal scheduling flexibility and provide lower latency. (see Chatterjee ¶0089)
Re. Claim 13, Andersson combined with Bae teaches claim 1.
Andersson further teaches:
wherein determining the monitoring occasion comprises: receiving, by the wireless communication device from a base station, a scheduling downlink control information (DCI); (Fig. 7 & ¶0094 since UL transmission considered for cancelation is a dynamically scheduled PUSCH, the UE can consider monitoring only CI in the occasions after PDCCH containing Downlink Channel Information (DCI) scheduling the PUSCH.)
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: and determining, by the wireless communication device, whether at least one of a plurality of available monitoring occasions is in a semi-static downlink symbol that is after decoding of the scheduling DCI.
However, in the analogous art, Chatterjee discloses such a limitation:
and determining, by the wireless communication device, whether at least one of a plurality of available monitoring occasions is in a semi-static downlink symbol that is after decoding of the scheduling DCI. (¶0049 for periodically occurring reserved physical resources, certain instances of such reserved physical resources may be released via either UE-specific or group-common DCI carried by PDCCH. Such a PDCCH may be monitored in the time-frequency resources defined with respect to the instances of the reserved physical resources themselves that were released. As an example, the UE may be configured to interpret a certain instance of reserved physical resources as being released upon successful detection of the DCI [i.e. successful detection is equivalent to after decoding] carrying the release indication in a PDCCH monitoring occasion that bears a relationship to the particular instance of the reserved physical resources (e.g., the latest monitoring occasion before the start of the particular instance of reserved physical resources). & ¶0087 the UE may be required to monitor for PDCCH in flexible resources or symbols configured via semi-static RRC signaling if configured with PDCCH monitoring occasions in such symbols.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson and Bae’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Chatterjee’s teaching of determining whether there is at least one monitoring occasion in a semi-static downlink symbol after decoding of the DCI, because it would allow the device to proceed and cancel the reserved physical resources for uplink transmission for corresponding monitoring occasions before the start of said UL transmission. (see Chatterjee ¶0049)
Re. Claim 14, Andersson combined with Bae and Chatterjee teaches claim 13.
Chatterjee further teaches:
wherein in response to determining that at least one of the plurality of available monitoring occasions is in the semi-static downlink symbol that is after the decoding of the scheduling DCI, (¶0049 the UE may be configured to interpret a certain instance of reserved physical resources as being released upon successful detection of the DCI [i.e. successful detection is equivalent to after decoding] carrying the release indication in a PDCCH monitoring occasion [i.e. at least one of the monitoring occasions] & ¶0087 the UE may be required to monitor for PDCCH in flexible resources or symbols configured via semi-static RRC signaling if configured with PDCCH monitoring occasions in such symbols.)
the monitoring occasion is the latest one of the at least one of the plurality of monitoring occasions in the semi-static downlink symbol that ends no later than the predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource. (¶0049 for periodically occurring reserved physical resources, certain instances of such reserved physical resources may be released via either UE-specific or group-common DCI carried by PDCCH. Such a PDCCH may be monitored in the time-frequency resources defined with respect to the instances of the reserved physical resources themselves that were released. As an example, the UE may be configured to interpret a certain instance of reserved physical resources as being released upon successful detection of the DCI carrying the release indication in a PDCCH monitoring occasion that bears a relationship to the particular instance of the reserved physical resources (e.g., the latest monitoring occasion before the start of the particular instance of reserved physical resources) [i.e. monitoring occasion is the latest one ending no later than a predetermined time before the start of UL resources]. & ¶0087 In one embodiment, the UE may be required to monitor for PDCCH in flexible resources or symbols configured via semi-static RRC signaling if configured with PDCCH monitoring occasions in such symbols [i.e. monitoring occasion in semi-static symbols; which would be DL symbols for PDCCH monitoring].)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson and Bae’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Chatterjee’s teaching of determining whether there is at least one monitoring occasion in a semi-static downlink symbol after decoding of the DCI, because it would allow the device to proceed and cancel the reserved physical resources for uplink transmission for corresponding monitoring occasions before the start of said UL transmission. (see Chatterjee ¶0049)
Re. Claim 15, Andersson combined with Bae and Chatterjee teaches claim 13.
Andersson further teaches:
wherein in response to determining that none of the plurality of available monitoring occasions is in the (Fig. 6 & ¶0084 Assume that the time gap between the end of the third CI monitoring occasion and the start of the UL transmission is smaller than the specified UE processing time for UL cancelation indication. Therefore, UE does not have sufficient time to process the CI to be applied to the UL transmission. In this case, the UE can skip monitoring in the third occasion. FIG. 6 illustrates multiple possible monitoring occasions of a UL cancelation indication, according to some embodiments of the current disclosure. Some of these occasions (first and fourth occasions) are not relevant for the UE to monitor as they cannot point to the resource overlapping with the UE's UL transmission. In addition, the time gap between the end of the third occasion and the start of the UL transmission is shorter than the UE processing time for the UL cancelation indication [i.e. this monitoring occasion is after decoding of DCI but with not enough time before UL to be considered an available monitoring occasion].. Thus, the third occasion is excluded from monitoring and only the second occasion is monitored. [i.e. scenario where none of the monitoring occasions are after the decoding of the DCI, only before])
the monitoring occasion is the latest one of the plurality of available monitoring occasions that ends no later than a predetermined time interval before the start position of the uplink resource. (Fig. 7 (shown above) & ¶0094 In addition, the UE only monitors CI for cancelation of the dynamically scheduled PUSCH after some M symbols after the end of the PDCCH, where M is defined as a function of UE PDCCH processing time. Assume that the time between the end of PDCCH and the third occasion for CI is larger than M. Therefore, the UE monitors only the third occasions for CI and skips the second occasion [i.e. monitoring occasion is latest one that ends no later than a predetermined interval before UL transmission, as shown in Fig. 7].)
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: in response to determining that none of the plurality of available monitoring occasions is in the semi-static downlink symbol
However, in the analogous art, Chatterjee teaches such a limitation:
in response to determining that none of the plurality of available monitoring occasions is in the semi-static downlink symbol. (¶0087 In one embodiment, the UE may be required to monitor for PDCCH in flexible resources or symbols configured via semi-static RRC signaling if configured with PDCCH monitoring occasions in such symbols [i.e. monitoring for semi-static DL symbols if configured with monitoring occasions])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson and Bae’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Chatterjee’s teaching of the symbols being semi-statically configured, because it would allow the device to configure the communication signals between itself and UEs as uplink, downlink, or flexible. (see Chatterjee ¶0070)
Re. Claim 16, Andersson combined with Bae and Chatterjee teaches claim 13.
Andersson further teaches:
wherein in response to determining that none of the plurality of available monitoring occasions is in the (Fig. 6 & ¶0084 Assume that the time gap between the end of the third CI monitoring occasion and the start of the UL transmission is smaller than the specified UE processing time for UL cancelation indication. Therefore, UE does not have sufficient time to process the CI to be applied to the UL transmission. In this case, the UE can skip monitoring in the third occasion. FIG. 6 illustrates multiple possible monitoring occasions of a UL cancelation indication, according to some embodiments of the current disclosure. Some of these occasions (first and fourth occasions) are not relevant for the UE to monitor as they cannot point to the resource overlapping with the UE's UL transmission. In addition, the time gap between the end of the third occasion and the start of the UL transmission is shorter than the UE processing time for the UL cancelation indication [i.e. this monitoring occasion is after decoding of DCI but with not enough time before UL to be considered an available monitoring occasion]. Thus, the third occasion is excluded from monitoring and only the second occasion is monitored. [i.e. scenario where none of the monitoring occasions are after the decoding of the DCI, only before])
the monitoring occasion is the earliest one of the plurality of available monitoring occasions that starts after the decoding of the scheduling DCI. (Fig. 7 (shown above) & ¶0094 For example, following up from FIG. 5 where UE only needs to monitor the second and third monitoring occasions of the cancelation indication, in FIG. 7, since UL transmission considered for cancelation is a dynamically scheduled PUSCH, the UE can consider monitoring only CI in the occasions after PDCCH containing Downlink Channel Information (DCI) scheduling the PUSCH. In this case, only the third monitoring occasion for CI is monitored by the UE [i.e. monitoring occasion is earliest one available after decoding of the DCI, as shown in Fig. 7]. Predetermined time interval: Fig. 6 (Time between UL transmission and CI) & ¶0082 In another version of the above embodiment, the time interval during which the UE monitors the UL cancelation indication only includes monitoring the occasions where the gap between the end symbol of the UL cancelation indication and the end of the UL transmission is larger than the UE processing time for the UL cancelation indication.)
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: in response to determining that none of the plurality of available monitoring occasions is in the semi-static downlink symbol
However, in the analogous art, Chatterjee teaches such a limitation:
in response to determining that none of the plurality of available monitoring occasions is in the semi-static downlink symbol. (¶0087 In one embodiment, the UE may be required to monitor for PDCCH in flexible resources or symbols configured via semi-static RRC signaling if configured with PDCCH monitoring occasions in such symbols [i.e. monitoring for semi-static DL symbols if configured with monitoring occasions])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson and Bae’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Chatterjee’s teaching of the symbols being semi-statically configured, because it would allow the device to configure the communication signals between itself and UEs as uplink, downlink, or flexible. (see Chatterjee ¶0070)
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andersson combined with Bae and Chatterjee, in further view of Fakoorian, and also further in view of Koorapaty et al. (US 2024/0089983 A1) hereinafter Koorapaty.
Re. Claim 12, Andersson combined with Bae and Chatterjee teach claim 11.
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: and the wireless communication device does not expect to be scheduled uplink transmission in the flexible symbol corresponding to the monitoring occasion.
However, in the analogous art, Fakoorian teaches such a limitation:
and the wireless communication device does not expect to be scheduled uplink transmission in the flexible symbol corresponding to the monitoring occasion. (¶0140 the UE 115 may interpret the bitfield of a ULCI [i.e. possible transmissions to be cancelled by ULCI, as shown in Fig. 4B] to instead be mapped only to those symbol durations that are configured as uplink [i.e. device only expects ULCI to be cancelling transmissions that are configured as uplink, therefore would not expect to be scheduled any UL in a flexible symbol, allowing monitoring of flexible symbols for DCI] symbol durations, or mapped only to those symbol durations that are configured as uplink or flexible symbol durations [i.e. this other scenario does include flexible symbols] (e.g., skipping over those symbol durations that are configured as downlink symbol durations).)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson, Bae, and Chatterjee’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Fakoorian’s teaching of the device not expecting to be scheduled uplink transmission in a flexible symbol corresponding to a monitoring occasion, because it would reduce signaling overhead by not wasting ULCI bits on indications for resources allocated to downlink transmissions. (see Fakoorian ¶0140)
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: wherein the wireless communication device does not expect the flexible symbol corresponding to the monitoring occasion to be configured as an uplink symbol;
However, in the analogous art, Koorapaty teaches such a limitation:
wherein the wireless communication device does not expect the flexible symbol corresponding to the monitoring occasion to be configured as an uplink symbol; (¶0142 a parameter is configured via higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling), where the parameter determines whether configured UL transmissions are allowed or not in symbols which are indicated as being flexible (‘F’) by a semi-static TDD configuration [i.e. parameter configured to not allow UL in flexible symbols, therefore the device would not expect to be scheduled uplink transmission in such symbol after determination is made and configured])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson, Bae, Chatterjee, and Fakoorian’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Koorapaty’s teaching of determining whether UL transmissions are allowed in flexible symbols or not, because it allows the device to control and know if flexible symbols will not be configured as uplink symbols. (see Koorapaty ¶0164)
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Andersson combined with Bae, and further in view of Taherzadeh Boroujeni et al. (US 2022/0217736 A1), hereinafter Taherzadeh.
Re. Claim 17, Andersson combined with Bae teaches claim 1.
Yet, the combined references do not explicitly teach: further comprising receiving, by the wireless communication from a base station, enabling indicator indicating whether one of a plurality of mechanisms is used to determine the monitoring occasion, wherein the enabling indicator is transmitted via a RRC signaling.
However, in the analogous art, Taherzadeh explicitly discloses such a limitation:
further comprising receiving, by the wireless communication from a base station, enabling indicator indicating whether one of a plurality of mechanisms is used to determine the monitoring occasion, wherein the enabling indicator is transmitted via a RRC signaling. (¶0231 For both Type 1 and Type 2 configured grant scheduling for the eMBB CG WTRU, the information may be signaled as part of the RRC configuration signaling, Type 1 & ¶0232 In one example, the eMBB DG WTRU, or set of eMBB DG WTRUs, may receive a monitoring activation/deactivation signal at configured or pre-defined times indicating the resources in which cancellation monitoring should be activated or deactivated. The eMBB CG WTRU, or set of eMBB CG WTRUs, may monitor for cancellation when the URLLC resources are active.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Andersson and Bae’s invention of a system and method for monitoring ULCI to include Taherzadeh’s teaching of receiving via RRC signaling a monitoring activation signal, because it would allow the cancellation monitoring configuration/activation to be separate from the transmission configuration/activation. (see Taherzadeh ¶0231)
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.
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/G.A.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
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