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 .
Summary
This action is in reply to Applicant’s Amendments and Remarks filed on 07/10/2025.
Claims are 1, 4-9 and 11-13 pending.
Claims 2-3, 10 and 14-15 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 07/10/2025 with respect to claims 1, 4-9 and 11-13 have been considered but they are not persuasive.
Double Patenting
Regarding Applicant’s argument with respect to Double Patenting, the Examiner respectfully presents that the rejection is still applicable as being obviously unpatentable over claims 1-10 of US Patent US 12245321 B2 in view of Zhou (US 20200037248 A1) and Kim (US 11558167 B2, Col 36 lines 15-45), as presented below in Section 6.
Therefore claims 1 and 11-13, and dependent claims 4-9 being dependent on claim 1, are rejected.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 1, 4-9 and 11-13 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-10 of US Patent US 12245321 B2 in view of Zhou (US 20200037248 A1, Fig. 12, [0277, 0281, 0284, 0299, 0300, 0412]) and with further in view of Kim (US 11558167 B2, Col 2 Line 62 – Col 3 Line 7, Col 13 Lines 50-60, Col 14 Line 62 – Col 15 Line 5, Col 36 lines 15-45).
Please refer to the table below comparing the instant application with US 12245321 B2.
Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claimed limitations are similar in scope with obvious wording variations.
Current Application 17765939
US 12245321 B2
1. (Currently Amended) A method, comprising:
transmitting, by a user equipment (UE) to a base station, a random access (RA) preamble;
receiving, by the UE from the base station, a random access response (RAR);
receiving, by the UE from the base station, default bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information related to a default downlink BWP;
receiving, by the UE from the base station, dormant BWP configuration information related to a downlink BWP to be used as a dormant BWP among at least one downlink BWP configured for the UE;
receiving, by the UE from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including dormancy information related to the dormant BWP through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH);
transmitting, by the UE to the base station, Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI; and
stopping, by the UE, PDCCH monitoring on the dormant BWP,
wherein the dormant BWP configuration information contains an identifier (ID) of the downlink BWP to be used as the dormant BWP, and
wherein a value of the dormant BWP configuration information is different from an ID of the default downlink BWP which is a downlink BWP to be used upon expiry of a BWP inactivity timer.
(Original) The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one downlink BWP is a BWP for a secondary cell (SCell).
(Original) The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one downlink BWP includes the dormant BWP.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one downlink BWP includes the default downlink BWP.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration information by a user equipment (UE) to which a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell) are configured;
performing, by the UE, a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring based on the DRX configuration information;
receiving, from the base station by the UE, dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information, wherein the dormant BWP configuration information is information about a downlink BWP to be used as a dormant BWP among at least one downlink BWP on the SCell configured for the UE;
receiving, from the base station by the UE, downlink control information (DCI) informing an activation of the dormant BWP;
transmitting Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI to the base station in a specific resource by the UE; and
stopping a second PDCCH monitoring in the dormant BWP on the SCell by the UE,
wherein the specific resource is informed by the DCI, and
wherein a BWP inactivity timer is not used for transitioning from the dormant BWP, which is activated, to a default BWP.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the default BWP is a downlink BWP on the SCell.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the default BWP is a BWP to which the UE transitions based on the BWP inactivity timer expiring.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the dormant BWP is a BWP different from the default BWP.
Zhou (Fig. 12 Msg 1 1220, Msg 2 1230, [0299, 0300]) teaching transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to a base station;
receiving a random access response (RAR) from the base station
Zhou [0281] In an example, for a PCell, a base station may semi-statistically configure a UE with default DL BWP with among configured DL BWPs.
[0284] In an example, if a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default DL BWP among configured DL BWPs and a timer value, UE procedures on a secondary cell may be same as on a primary cell using the timer value for the secondary cell and the default DL BWP for the secondary cell.
Kim (Col 2 Line 62 – Col 3 Line 7)
(10) receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including information on an identifier to indicate a secondary cell (Scell), information on at least one bandwidth part (BWP) of the Scell, and information including first information on a first BWP to be used as dormant BWP among the at least one BWP and second information on a second BWP to be activated as non-dormant BWP from dormant BWP; receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including a bitmap associated with a BWP activation of the Scell
(Col 13 Lines 50-60)
(120) In the RRC connection configuration, a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for one cell (a PCell, a PSCell, an SPCell, or an SCell). A plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for a downlink in the one cell, and a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured separately for an uplink.
(121) The plurality of bandwidth parts may be indicated and configured by a bandwidth part identifier (a BWP identifier) so as to be used as an initial bandwidth part (an initial BWP), a default bandwidth part (a default BWP), or a first active bandwidth part (a first active BWP).
(Col 14 Line 62 – Col 15 Line 5)
(125) A default bandwidth part (default BWP) may be configured to be different for each of terminals (UE-specific) and may be designated and indicated from among a plurality of bandwidth parts by a bandwidth part identifier. The default bandwidth part may be configured only for a downlink. The default bandwidth part may be used as a bandwidth part to fall back after a certain period of time from an active bandwidth part from among a plurality of downlink bandwidth parts. For example, a bandwidth part inactive timer (BWP inactivity timer) may be configured for each of cells or each of bandwidth parts via an RRC message.
(Col 36 lines 15-45) teaching indication of switching of the bandwidth part may be performed by DCI of a PDCCH. For downlink bandwidth part switching indication, a downlink transmission resource (a transmission resource 1K-35 for a current or next bandwidth part after a terminal switches a bandwidth part) may be always accompanied and assigned. However, data is not transmitted or received in a dormant bandwidth part (a first bandwidth part) for which switching is indicated …….terminal transmits HARQ ACK or NACK corresponding to the downlink transmission resource or the data to a base station to indicate whether or not a bandwidth part is successfully switched.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein based on the dormant BWP being activated and the BWP inactivity timer being running, the UE stops the BWP inactivity timer.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein based on the dormant BWP being activated and based on running of the BWP inactivity timer, the UE stops the BWP inactivity timer.
5. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1,wherein based on the BWP inactivity timer being released, the UE stops the BWP inactivity timer without transitioning to the default downlink BWP.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE stops the BWP inactivity timer without a transition to the default BWP, based on a release of the BWP inactivity timer.
9. The method of claim 1. wherein the UE continues to perform channel state information (CSI) measurement on the dormant BWP.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE continues to perform channel state information (CSI) measurement on the dormant BWP.
.
11. (Currently Amended) A user equipment (UE) comprising:
at least one transceiver;
at least one memory; and
at least one processor being operatively connected to the at least one memory and the at least one transceiver,
wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to a base station;
receiving a random access response (RAR) from the base station;
receiving default bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information related to a default downlink BWP from the base station;
receiving, from the base station, dormant BWP configuration information related to a downlink BWP to be used as a dormant BWP among at least one downlink BWP configured for the UE;
receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including dormancy information related to the dormant BWP through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH);
transmitting Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI to the base station; and
stopping PDCCH monitoring on the dormant BWP,
wherein the dormant BWP configuration information contains an identifier (ID) of the downlink BWP to be used as the dormant BWP, and
wherein a value of the dormant BWP configuration information is different from an ID of the default downlink BWP which is a downlink BWP to be used upon expiry of a BWP inactivity timer.
9. A user equipment (UE) comprising: at least one transceiver;
at least one memory; and
at least one processor being operatively connected to the at least one memory and the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a base station, discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration information by the UE to which a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary cell (SCell) are configured; performing, by the UE, a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring based on the DRX configuration information;
receiving, from the base station by the UE, dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information, wherein the dormant BWP configuration information is information about a downlink BWP to be used as a dormant BWP among at least one downlink BWP on the SCell configured for the UE;
receiving, from the base station by the UE, downlink control information (DCI) informing an activation of the dormant BWP;
transmitting Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI to the base station in a specific resource by the UE; and
stopping a second PDCCH monitoring in the dormant BWP on the SCell by the UE,
wherein the specific resource is informed by the DCI, and
wherein a BWP inactivity timer is not used for transitioning from the dormant BWP, which is activated, to a default BWP.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the default BWP is a downlink BWP on the SCell.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the default BWP is a BWP to which the UE transitions based on the BWP inactivity timer expiring.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the dormant BWP is a BWP different from the default BWP.
Zhou (Fig. 12 Msg 1 1220, Msg 2 1230, [0299, 0300]) teaching transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to a base station;
receiving a random access response (RAR) from the base station
Zhou [0281] In an example, for a PCell, a base station may semi-statistically configure a UE with default DL BWP with among configured DL BWPs.
[0284] In an example, if a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default DL BWP among configured DL BWPs and a timer value, UE procedures on a secondary cell may be same as on a primary cell using the timer value for the secondary cell and the default DL BWP for the secondary cell.
Kim (Col 2 Line 62 – Col 3 Line 7)
(10) receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including information on an identifier to indicate a secondary cell (Scell), information on at least one bandwidth part (BWP) of the Scell, and information including first information on a first BWP to be used as dormant BWP among the at least one BWP and second information on a second BWP to be activated as non-dormant BWP from dormant BWP; receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including a bitmap associated with a BWP activation of the Scell
(Col 13 Lines 50-60)
(120) In the RRC connection configuration, a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for one cell (a PCell, a PSCell, an SPCell, or an SCell). A plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for a downlink in the one cell, and a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured separately for an uplink.
(121) The plurality of bandwidth parts may be indicated and configured by a bandwidth part identifier (a BWP identifier) so as to be used as an initial bandwidth part (an initial BWP), a default bandwidth part (a default BWP), or a first active bandwidth part (a first active BWP).
(Col 14 Line 62 – Col 15 Line 5)
(125) A default bandwidth part (default BWP) may be configured to be different for each of terminals (UE-specific) and may be designated and indicated from among a plurality of bandwidth parts by a bandwidth part identifier. The default bandwidth part may be configured only for a downlink. The default bandwidth part may be used as a bandwidth part to fall back after a certain period of time from an active bandwidth part from among a plurality of downlink bandwidth parts. For example, a bandwidth part inactive timer (BWP inactivity timer) may be configured for each of cells or each of bandwidth parts via an RRC message.
(Col 36 lines 15-45) teaching indication of switching of the bandwidth part may be performed by DCI of a PDCCH. For downlink bandwidth part switching indication, a downlink transmission resource (a transmission resource 1K-35 for a current or next bandwidth part after a terminal switches a bandwidth part) may be always accompanied and assigned. However, data is not transmitted or received in a dormant bandwidth part (a first bandwidth part) for which switching is indicated …….terminal transmits HARQ ACK or NACK corresponding to the downlink transmission resource or the data to a base station to indicate whether or not a bandwidth part is successfully switched.
12. (Currently Amended) An apparatus comprising:
at least one memory; and
at least one processor being operatively connected to the at least one memory,
wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to a base station;
receiving a random access response (RAR) from the base station;
receiving default bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information related to a default downlink BWP from the base station;
receiving, from the base station, dormant BWP configuration information related to a downlink BWP to be used as a dormant BWP among at least one downlink BWP configured for the apparatus;
receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including dormancy information related to the dormant BWP through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH);
transmitting Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI to the base station; and
stopping PDCCH monitoring on the dormant BWP,
wherein the dormant BWP configuration information contains an identifier (ID) of the downlink BWP to be used as the dormant BWP, and
wherein a value of the dormant BWP configuration information is different from an ID of the default downlink BWP which is a downlink BWP to be used upon expiry of a BWP inactivity timer.
10. An apparatus comprising:
at least one memory; and
at least one processor being operatively connected to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
controlling at least one transceiver to receive, from a base station, discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration information; performing a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring based on the DRX configuration information;
controlling the at least one transceiver to receive, from the base station, dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information, wherein the dormant BWP configuration information is information about a downlink BWP to be used as a dormant BWP among at least one downlink BWP on a secondary (SCell) configured for the UE;
controlling the transceiver to receive, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) informing an activation of the dormant BWP;
transmitting Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI to the base station in a specific resource; and
stopping a second PDCCH monitoring in the dormant BWP on the SCell,
wherein the specific resource is informed by the DCI, and
wherein a BWP inactivity timer is not used for transitioning from the dormant BWP, which is activated, to a default BWP.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the default BWP is a downlink BWP on the SCell.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the default BWP is a BWP to which the UE transitions based on the BWP inactivity timer expiring.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the dormant BWP is a BWP different from the default BWP.
Zhou (Fig. 12 Msg 1 1220, Msg 2 1230, [0299, 0300]) teaching transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to a base station;
receiving a random access response (RAR) from the base station
Zhou [0281] In an example, for a PCell, a base station may semi-statistically configure a UE with default DL BWP with among configured DL BWPs.
[0284] In an example, if a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default DL BWP among configured DL BWPs and a timer value, UE procedures on a secondary cell may be same as on a primary cell using the timer value for the secondary cell and the default DL BWP for the secondary cell.
Kim (Col 2 Line 62 – Col 3 Line 7)
(10) receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including information on an identifier to indicate a secondary cell (Scell), information on at least one bandwidth part (BWP) of the Scell, and information including first information on a first BWP to be used as dormant BWP among the at least one BWP and second information on a second BWP to be activated as non-dormant BWP from dormant BWP; receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including a bitmap associated with a BWP activation of the Scell
(Col 13 Lines 50-60)
(120) In the RRC connection configuration, a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for one cell (a PCell, a PSCell, an SPCell, or an SCell). A plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for a downlink in the one cell, and a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured separately for an uplink.
(121) The plurality of bandwidth parts may be indicated and configured by a bandwidth part identifier (a BWP identifier) so as to be used as an initial bandwidth part (an initial BWP), a default bandwidth part (a default BWP), or a first active bandwidth part (a first active BWP).
(Col 14 Line 62 – Col 15 Line 5)
(125) A default bandwidth part (default BWP) may be configured to be different for each of terminals (UE-specific) and may be designated and indicated from among a plurality of bandwidth parts by a bandwidth part identifier. The default bandwidth part may be configured only for a downlink. The default bandwidth part may be used as a bandwidth part to fall back after a certain period of time from an active bandwidth part from among a plurality of downlink bandwidth parts. For example, a bandwidth part inactive timer (BWP inactivity timer) may be configured for each of cells or each of bandwidth parts via an RRC message.
Kim (Col 36 lines 15-45) teaching indication of switching of the bandwidth part may be performed by DCI of a PDCCH. For downlink bandwidth part switching indication, a downlink transmission resource (a transmission resource 1K-35 for a current or next bandwidth part after a terminal switches a bandwidth part) may be always accompanied and assigned. However, data is not transmitted or received in a dormant bandwidth part (a first bandwidth part) for which switching is indicated …….terminal transmits HARQ ACK or NACK corresponding to the downlink transmission resource or the data to a base station to indicate whether or not a bandwidth part is successfully switched.
13. (Currently Amended) At least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, control a user equipment (UE) to:
transmit a random access (RA) preamble to a base station;
receive a random access response (RAR) from the base station;
receiving default bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information related to a default downlink BWP from the base station;
receive, from the base station, dormant BWP configuration information related to
a downlink BWP to be used as a dormant BWP among at least one downlink BWP configured for the UE;
receive, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including dormancy information related to
the dormant BWP through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH);
transmit Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI to the base station;
stop PDCCH monitoring on the dormant BWP,
wherein the dormant BWP configuration information contains an identifier (ID) of the downlink BWP to be used as the dormant BWP, and
wherein a value of the dormant BWP configuration information is different from an ID of the default downlink BWP which is a downlink BWP to be used upon expiry of a BWP inactivity timer.
10. An apparatus comprising:
at least one memory; and
at least one processor being operatively connected to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
controlling at least one transceiver to receive, from a base station, discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration information; performing a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring based on the DRX configuration information;
controlling the at least one transceiver to receive, from the base station, dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information, wherein the dormant BWP configuration information is information about a downlink BWP to be used as a dormant BWP among at least one downlink BWP on a secondary (SCell) configured for the UE;
controlling the transceiver to receive, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) informing an activation of the dormant BWP;
transmitting Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI to the base station in a specific resource; and
stopping a second PDCCH monitoring in the dormant BWP on the SCell,
wherein the specific resource is informed by the DCI, and
wherein a BWP inactivity timer is not used for transitioning from the dormant BWP, which is activated, to a default BWP.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the default BWP is a downlink BWP on the SCell.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the default BWP is a BWP to which the UE transitions based on the BWP inactivity timer expiring.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the dormant BWP is a BWP different from the default BWP.
Zhou (Fig. 12 Msg 1 1220, Msg 2 1230, [0294, 0299, 0300]) teaching transmitting a random access (RA) preamble to a base station;
receiving a random access response (RAR) from the base station
Zhou [0281] In an example, for a PCell, a base station may semi-statistically configure a UE with default DL BWP with among configured DL BWPs.
[0284] In an example, if a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default DL BWP among configured DL BWPs and a timer value, UE procedures on a secondary cell may be same as on a primary cell using the timer value for the secondary cell and the default DL BWP for the secondary cell.
Kim (Col 2 Line 62 – Col 3 Line 7)
(10) receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including information on an identifier to indicate a secondary cell (Scell), information on at least one bandwidth part (BWP) of the Scell, and information including first information on a first BWP to be used as dormant BWP among the at least one BWP and second information on a second BWP to be activated as non-dormant BWP from dormant BWP; receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including a bitmap associated with a BWP activation of the Scell
(Col 13 Lines 50-60)
(120) In the RRC connection configuration, a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for one cell (a PCell, a PSCell, an SPCell, or an SCell). A plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for a downlink in the one cell, and a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured separately for an uplink.
(121) The plurality of bandwidth parts may be indicated and configured by a bandwidth part identifier (a BWP identifier) so as to be used as an initial bandwidth part (an initial BWP), a default bandwidth part (a default BWP), or a first active bandwidth part (a first active BWP).
(Col 14 Line 62 – Col 15 Line 5)
(125) A default bandwidth part (default BWP) may be configured to be different for each of terminals (UE-specific) and may be designated and indicated from among a plurality of bandwidth parts by a bandwidth part identifier. The default bandwidth part may be configured only for a downlink. The default bandwidth part may be used as a bandwidth part to fall back after a certain period of time from an active bandwidth part from among a plurality of downlink bandwidth parts. For example, a bandwidth part inactive timer (BWP inactivity timer) may be configured for each of cells or each of bandwidth parts via an RRC message.
Kim (Col 36 lines 15-45) teaching indication of switching of the bandwidth part may be performed by DCI of a PDCCH. For downlink bandwidth part switching indication, a downlink transmission resource (a transmission resource 1K-35 for a current or next bandwidth part after a terminal switches a bandwidth part) may be always accompanied and assigned. However, data is not transmitted or received in a dormant bandwidth part (a first bandwidth part) for which switching is indicated …….terminal transmits HARQ ACK or NACK corresponding to the downlink transmission resource or the data to a base station to indicate whether or not a bandwidth part is successfully switched.
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.
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 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al. (US 20220167358 A1 with priority of PCT/CN2019/079343, of record, hereinafter ‘CHENG’) in view of Zhou et al. (US 20200037248 A1 with priority of us-provisional-application US 62702587, of record, hereinafter ‘Zhou’) and with further in view of Kim et al. (US 11558167 B2, of record, hereinafter ‘KIM’).
Regarding claim 1, CHENG teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (Fig. 8), the method comprising:
receiving, from the base station, dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information, wherein the dormant BWP configuration information is information regarding a downlink BWP to be used as a dormant BWP among at least one downlink BWP configured for the UE ([0091] In the above aspects, UE 115-a may switch to the dormant BWP on an SCell for performing CQI measurements, beam management, AGC maintenance, or MIB reading such that the UE 115-a may be ready for communicating with base station 105-a on the SCell sooner after activation. In these examples, UE 115-a may not transmit or receive data transmissions on the dormant BWP on the SCell…... In some cases, the dormant BWP for an SCell (e.g., the BWP configured without PDSCH or PDCCH) may be configured via RRC signaling.);
receiving, by the UE from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including dormancy information related to the dormant BWP through a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (
Fig. 7, Fig. 8, [0084] if configured. A DCI may be used to control entering or leaving the dormant BWP for one or more SCells or one or more SCell groups.
[0088] UE 115-a may receive DCI from base station 105-a (e.g., on PCell 705) indicating that UE 115-a is to switch to the dormant BWP. Thus, the DCI may be used to control entering or leaving the dormant BWP for one or more SCells or one or more SCell groups.);
transmitting, by the UE to the base station, Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for DCI ([0065] the device may provide HARQ feedback in a specific slot for data received in a previous symbol in the slot.
[0076] when the UE 115 transitions the SCell to an activated state (e.g., at time n), the UE 115 may be ready for communicating with the base station 105 8 ms (e.g., at time n+8) after activation (e.g., the base station 105 may start scheduling the UE 115 for communications immediately after activation).
[0090] If the base station 105-a explicitly transmits DCI on PCell 705 indicating that UE 115-a is to switch to the first active BWP (e.g., cross carrier BWP switching), the DCI may indicate the SCell and the first active BWP to which UE 115-a is to switch (e.g., PCell 705 performs cross carrier scheduling).
Fig. 8, [0094] In the example of FIG. 8, the UE 115-a may communicate with the base station 105-a (e.g., receive PDCCHs and PDSCHs) on an SCell on a dedicated or active BWP.
[0098] A dormant BWP on an SCell may allow a UE 115 to perform continuous CQI estimation and reporting even when no PDCCH or PDSCH is monitored, so that a network can schedule the UE 115 for communications at time n+8 upon SCell activation form an SCell dormant state.
(It is obvious that UE gets a DCI to switch from dormant BWP to active BWP to get scheduled for data/PDSCH, see Fig 8, and provide feedback for the PDSCH at time slot n+8 corresponding to DCI activation to active BWP indicating at slot n)); and
stopping, by the UE, PDCCH monitoring on the dormant BWP (
[0084] if the active BWP (e.g., of the activated SCell) is a dormant BWP, the UE 115-a may stop monitoring the PDCCH).
CHENG does not expressly disclose a method for performing an initial access procedure by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising;
transmitting, by a user equipment (UE) to a base station, a random access (RA) preamble to a base station;
receiving, by the UE from the base station, a random access response (RAR) from the base station; and
receiving, by the UE from the base station, default bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information related to a default downlink BWP;
transmitting, by the UE to the base station, Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI; and
wherein the dormant BWP configuration information contains an identifier (ID) of the downlink BWP to be used as the dormant BWP, and
wherein a value of the dormant BWP configuration information is different from an ID of the default downlink BWP which is a downlink BWP to be used upon expiry of a BWP inactivity timer.
In an analogous art, ZHOU teaches a method for performing an initial access procedure by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (Fig. 12, Wireless Device 110 and Base Station 120, [0293] FIG. 12 is an example diagram of a random access procedure.), the method comprising;
transmitting, by a user equipment (UE) to a base station, a random access (RA) preamble to a base station (
Fig. 12 Msg 1 1220,
[0294] a contention based random access procedure may comprise, one or more Msg 1 1220 transmissions, ns, one or more Msg2 1230 transmissions …..
[0299] A UE may perform one or more Msg1 1220 transmissions by transmitting the selected random access preamble.);
receiving a random access response (RAR) from the base station (
Fig. 12 Msg 2 1230, [0300] In an example, a UE may receive, from a base station, a random access response, Msg 2 1230.
Supported in US 62702587 ([00137-00138])); and
receiving, by the UE from the base station, default bandwidth part (BWP) configuration information related to a default downlink BWP (
[0281] In an example, for a PCell, a base station may semi-statistically configure a UE with default DL BWP with among configured DL BWPs.
[0284] In an example, if a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default DL BWP among configured DL BWPs and a timer value, UE procedures on a secondary cell may be same as on a primary cell using the timer value for the secondary cell and the default DL BWP for the secondary cell.
[0396] In an example, if a UE is configured for a secondary cell with higher layer parameter Default-DL-BWP indicating a default DL BWP among the configured DL BWPs and the UE is configured with higher layer parameter bwp-InactivityTimer indicating a timer value, the UE procedures on the secondary cell may be same as on the primary cell using the timer value for the secondary cell and the default DL BWP for the secondary cell.);
transmitting, by the UE to the base station, Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI (
Fig. 26, discloses after 1st BWP switches to dormant state sends CSI report to gNB in dormant state which indicates an ACK for successful switching to a dormant BWP by the 1st BWP);
wherein the dormant BWP configuration information contains an identifier (ID) of the downlink BWP to be used as the dormant BWP (
[0398] In an example, in an LTE/LTE_A system, a base station and/or a wireless device may maintain an SCell in an active state, a dormant state, or an inactive state. In an NR system, a base station and/or a wireless device may maintain an SCell in an active state or an inactive state. In an example, when an SCell is in an active state, at most one BWP of one or more BWPs of the SCell may be in active state. When an SCell is in an inactive state, all the one or more BWPs of the SCell may be in an inactive state. In an example, transitioning an SCell into a dormant state may reduce power consumption of a wireless device and/or provide up-to-date channel information feedback of an SCell to a base station. The up-to-date channel information feedback of the SCell may allow the base station to have a quick and accurate channel adaptive scheduling for the SCell once the SCell is activated.
[0399] In an example, a gNB may transmit one or more messages, comprising configuration parameters of one or more cells, to a UE (e.g., a wireless device). The one or more messages may comprise one or more RRC messages (e.g., an RRC connection reconfiguration message, an RRC connection reestablishment message, or an RRC connection setup message). A first cell of the one or more cells may be a PCell (or a PSCell). A second cell of the one or more cells may be an SCell when carrier aggregation or dual connectivity is configured.
[0400] In an example, the configuration parameters, associated with at least one of the one or more cells, may indicate a first value of a first scell timer (e.g., sCellDeactivationTimer), a second value of a second scell timer (e.g., sCellHibernationTimer), and/or a third value of a third scell timer (e.g., dormantSCellDeactivationTimer). In an example, the at least one cell may comprise a plurality of downlink BWPs, where each of the plurality of downlink BWPs may be associated with a BWP ID (e.g., a BWP specific ID) and one or more first parameters.
[0402] In an example, each of the plurality of the downlink BWPs may be in one of an active state and an inactive state, when a wireless device and/or a gNB does not support a BWP in a dormant state.
[0405] In an example, configuration parameters of an SCell may indicate at least one of: an initial active DL (and/or UL) BWP; a default (DL and/or UL) BWP; a first active DL (and/or UL) BWP, of a plurality of DL (and/or UL) BWPs of the SCell. In an example, each of the plurality of DL (and/or UL) BWPs may be associated with a DL (and/or UL) BWP ID)); and
wherein a value of the dormant BWP configuration information is different from an ID of the default downlink BWP which is a downlink BWP to be used upon expiry of a BWP inactivity timer (
Fig. 24, BWP 0 (default BWP) associated with bwp-InactivityTimer,
[0389] In an example, the BWP switching may be controlled by a BWP inactivity timer (e.g., bwp-InactivityTimer) .... FIG. 24 shows an example of BWP switching on an SCell.
[0396] In an example, if a UE is configured for a secondary cell with higher layer parameter Default-DL-BWP indicating a default DL BWP among the configured DL BWPs and the UE is configured with higher layer parameter bwp-InactivityTimer indicating a timer value.
[0405] In an example, configuration parameters of an SCell may indicate at least one of: an initial active DL (and/or UL) BWP; a default (DL and/or UL) BWP; a first active DL (and/or UL) BWP, of a plurality of DL (and/or UL) BWPs of the SCell. In an example, each of the plurality of DL (and/or UL) BWPs may be associated with a DL (and/or UL) BWP ID.).
Fig. 25, Default BWP is BWP 0, and BWP 1, BWP 2 having different IDS and BWP 2 is transitioning to a dormant BWP,
[0414] FIG. 25 shows an example of BWP operations in one or more SCell states. In an example, when configured with multiple BWPs for an SCell, a gNB may transmit one or more RRC messages comprising parameters indicating a default BWP (e.g., BWP 0), an initial active BWP (e.g., BWP 1), a first active BWP (e.g., BWP 2), and/or designated BWP(s) for the SCell in dormant state. The default BWP may be the same as the initial active BWP. The initial active BWP may be the same as the first active BWP. The designated BWP(s) may be the same as the default BWP, the initial active BWP, and/or the first active BWP.
Fig. 26, [0419] FIG. 26 shows an example of improved BWP inactivity timer management in a power saving operation. In an example, a wireless device may start a BWP inactivity timer in response to receiving a first DCI indicating resource allocation on a first BWP of a cell. The wireless device may transmit or receive data packets during a time period when the BWP inactivity timer is running. The wireless device may receive a second DCI indicating switching the cell into a dormant state (or a power saving state). In response to switching the cell into the dormant state, the wireless device may stope the BWP inactivity timer. The wireless device may transmit CSI report for the first BWP when the cell is in the dormant state. By implementing example embodiments, the wireless device, based on stopping the BWP timer, may reduce unnecessary BWP switching to a default BWP when the UE operates in a dormant SCell.
(In Fig. 26, [0414, 0419] there is BWP 0, the default BWP with ID 0; other BWPs 1…M are not default BWP, and 1st BWP having different ID becomes a dormant BWP different than a default BWP which is associated with a inactivity timer.
Further, it is obvious that configuration information for a default DL BWP includes an ID with bwp-InactivityTimer indicating a timer value and configuration information for dormant BWP corresponding ID and parameter for dormantSCellDeactivationTimer, and they are distinct indicating corresponding default BWP with an associated timer function or dormant BWP with an associated timer to be used during dormant state)).
Supported in US 62702587 (Fig. 24, Fig. 25, Fig. 26, [00166, 00256, 00265, 00267, 00268])).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of switching between active BWP an dormant BWP or configured with default, dormant , active and inactive BWPs for receiving scheduling and resource information through DCI for data reception and feedback transmission of ZHOU to the system of BWP switching for power saving of CHENG in order to take the advantage of a method for improving BWP management when power saving is supported improving latency of data transmission between a gNB and a wireless device (ZHOU: [0321, 0412]).
CHENG and ZHOU do not explicitly disclose transmitting, by the UE to the base station, Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI (when the HARQ-ACK is a feedback according in standard) .
In an analogous art, KIM teaches transmitting, by the UE to the base station, Hybrid Automatic Repeat and reQuest-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information for the DCI (
Col 2 Line 62 – Col 3 Line 7:
receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including information on an identifier to indicate a secondary cell (Scell), information on at least one bandwidth part (BWP) of the Scell, and information including first information on a first BWP to be used as dormant BWP among the at least one BWP and second information on a second BWP to be activated as non-dormant BWP from dormant BWP; receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including a bitmap associated with a BWP activation of the Scell
Col 13 Lines 50-60:
In the RRC connection configuration, a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for one cell (a PCell, a PSCell, an SPCell, or an SCell). A plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured for a downlink in the one cell, and a plurality of bandwidth parts may be configured separately for an uplink.
The plurality of bandwidth parts may be indicated and configured by a bandwidth part identifier (a BWP identifier) so as to be used as an initial bandwidth part (an initial BWP), a default bandwidth part (a default BWP), or a first active bandwidth part (a first active BWP).
Col 14 Line 62 – Col 15 Line 5:
A default bandwidth part (default BWP) may be configured to be different for each of terminals (UE-specific) and may be designated and indicated from among a plurality of bandwidth parts by a bandwidth part identifier. The default bandwidth part may be configured only for a downlink. The default bandwidth part may be used as a bandwidth part to fall back after a certain period of time from an active bandwidth part from among a plurality of downlink bandwidth parts. For example, a bandwidth part inactive timer (BWP inactivity timer) may be configured for each of cells or each of bandwidth parts via an RRC message.
Col 36 lines 15-45:
indication of switching of the bandwidth part may be performed by DCI of a PDCCH. For downlink bandwidth part switching indication, a downlink transmission resource (a transmission resource 1K-35 for a current or next bandwidth part after a terminal switches a bandwidth part) may be always accompanied and assigned. However, data is not transmitted or received in a dormant bandwidth part (a first bandwidth part) for which switching is indicated …….terminal transmits HARQ ACK or NACK corresponding to the downlink transmission resource or the data to a base station to indicate whether or not a bandwidth part is successfully switched.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of switching to dormant BWP as indicated by DCI of KIM to the system of BWP switching for power saving of CHENG and ZHOU in order to take the advantage of a method for developing an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system to meet the demand for wireless data traffic (KIM: Col 1 Lines 28-31).
Regarding claim 4, CHENG, in view of ZHOU and KIM, teaches the method of claim 1, wherein based on the dormant BWP being activated and the BWP inactivity timer being running (See Fig.8 and Table 2 disclosing DCI to switch to dormant BWP, or bwp-InactivityTimer (used to configure dormant BWP as default BWP)).
CHENG does not explicitly disclose wherein based on the dormant BWP being activated and the BWP inactivity timer being running, the UE stops the BWP inactivity timer.
ZHOU teaches wherein based on the dormant BWP being activated and the BWP inactivity timer being running, the UE stops the BWP inactivity timer ([0412] the UE may keep a BWP inactivity timer running after transitioning the cell into dormant state. Keeping the BWP inactivity timer running may result in switching to a default BWP in response to an expiry of the BWP inactivity timer…..may result in misalignment between a base station and the UE regarding a state of BWP.
Fig. 26, [0419] The wireless device may receive a second DCI indicating switching the cell into a dormant state (or a power saving state). In response to switching the cell into the dormant state, the wireless device may stope the BWP inactivity timer.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of switching from dormant BWP to active BWP for receiving scheduling and resource information through DCI for data reception an