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 Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/28/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 4-6 of the Applicant’s Response, Applicant: “Huawei does not disclose or suggest that performing multiplexing scheduling based on pre- scheduling information after receiving an activation signaling…That is, in Jo, a soft resource is only a set of consecutive soft resource symbols, rather than multiplexing resource information between a first hop and a second hop. Based on the above feature (b), wherein the multiplexing resource information comprises at least one of the following: a time length for using multiplexing scheduling; or a frequency range for using multiplexing scheduling. Therefore, the technical solution of Jo differs from that of the present application.“.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant’s argument. Huawei discloses multi-hop scheduling where the parent IAB node schedules the backhaul link via BH-PDCCH; then the IAB node (child of parent) schedules the access link via AC-PDCCH. Huawei discloses “Such multiplexing is feasible only when the backhaul link transmission with its “parent” node does not occupy all the available radio resource” (Section 2.2, figure 4). The “all available radio resource” teaches the limitation “determining pre-scheduling information between a first hop and a second hop”; otherwise, the IAB node would not be able to determine whether the parent IAB node has occupied all the available resources. Lee discloses activating/deactivating all radio resources for wireless transmission dynamically or semi-persistently (paragraphs 117-118). Jo discloses activating certain resources within a pre-scheduled set of resources for parent IAB node/backhaul use or for child/access use. Jo discloses both pre-scheduling information (paragraphs 365-371, 388) and activation signaling sent by the second node, i.e. parent node (paragraphs 351-355). Jo discloses the dynamic activation of soft resources within the pre-scheduling information, i.e. the available resources, is enabled for a period of time (paragraphs 357-358). Huawei in combination with Lee and Jo teaches the limitation “feature (a): receiving activation signaling sent by a second IAB node; and after activating multiplexing scheduling between the first hop and the second hop based on the activation signaling, performing multiplexing scheduling based on the pre-scheduling information; wherein the multiplexing resource information comprises at least one of the following: a time length for using multiplexing scheduling; or a frequency range for using multiplexing scheduling.”.
In view of the above discussions the rejection of claims 1-6, 8-15, and 17-20 still stands.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 8-9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huawei et al. (“Physical layer enhancement on IAB”, R1-1803695, 4/2018) (“Huawei”) in view of Lee et al. (US 2024/0121787) (“Lee”) in view of Jo et al. (US 2021/0367660) (“Jo”).
For claims 1, 15, 19, and 20; Huawei discloses: determining pre-scheduling information between a first hop and a second hop (section 2.2: achieve flexible multiplexing between the two links, coordination of backhaul scheduling and access scheduling is needed and access scheduling is needed); (section 2.2: IAB node acquires its backhaul slot/beam allocation first from its “parent” node and then decides whether and how to multiplex the backhaul link together with its access link or other backhaul links); and after activating multiplexing scheduling between the first hop and the second hop based on the activation signaling, performing multiplexing scheduling based on the pre-scheduling information (section 2.2: performing FDM/SDM between parent and child BH hops after receiving a control signal from the parent node), wherein the first IAB node is used to schedule data transmission on the first hop (section 2.2: IAB node acquires its backhaul slot/beam allocation first from its “parent” node and then decides whether and how to multiplex the backhaul link together with its access link or other backhaul links), and the second IAB node is a parent IAB node of the first IAB node (figure 3) and is used to schedule data transmission on the second hop (section 2.2: IAB node acquires its backhaul slot/beam allocation first from its “parent” node); wherein the multiplexing resource information comprises at least one of the following: a time length for using multiplexing scheduling; a frequency range for using multiplexing scheduling; and a starting time point of multiplexing scheduling (section 2.2: Observation 5: Symbol level timing alignment between backhaul and access link is preferable to enable the FDM/SDM resource sharing).
Huawei does not expressly disclose, but Lee from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein before the sending activation signaling to a first IAB node, the method further comprises: sending pre-scheduling information to the first IAB node, wherein the pre-scheduling (paragraph 117-118: PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI can either signal and activate the configured downlink assignment, or deactivate it); receiving activation signaling sent by a second node (paragraph 117-118: PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI can either signal and activate the configured downlink assignment, or deactivate it). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the RRC/PDCCH signaling as described by Lee in the backhaul system as described by Huawei. The motivation is to improve scheduling overhead.
Huawei does not expressly disclose, but Jo from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein the multiplexing resource information comprises at least one of the following: a time length for using multiplexing scheduling; or a frequency range for using multiplexing scheduling (paragraph 358: a soft resource may be activated for N periods. Here, N may be indicated through an activation signal or may be defined in advance through separate RRC signaling). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the scheduling as described by Jo in the backhaul system as described by Huawei. The motivation is to improve interference mitigation.
For claims 2; Huawei discloses: wherein the determining pre-scheduling information between a first hop and a second hop comprises: obtaining the pre-scheduling information determined by the second IAB node (section 2.2: IAB node acquires its backhaul slot/beam allocation first from its “parent” node).
For claims 3 and 17; Huawei discloses: wherein the pre-scheduling information is carried by one of the following: a physical downlink control channel PDCCH; a medium access control element MAC CE; and a backhaul adaptation protocol BAP control protocol data unit PDU (section 2.2, fig. 4: the scheduling acquisition time for backhaul transmission from its “parent” node (i.e. BH-PDCCH) should be ahead of the scheduling time for access link(i.e. AC-PDCCH), as shown in Figure 4).
For claims 6; Huawei discloses: wherein the pre-scheduling information comprises multiplexing resource information and a multiplexing manner (section 2.2: to achieve flexible multiplexing between the two links, coordination of backhaul scheduling and access scheduling is needed. Specifically, IAB node acquires its backhaul slot/beam allocation first from its “parent” node and then decides whether and how to multiplex the backhaul link together with its access link or other backhaul links).
For claims 8; Huawei discloses: wherein in a case that the multiplexing resource information comprises the starting time point of multiplexing scheduling, the starting time point of multiplexing scheduling is determined based on one of the following: a receiving time of a PDCCH, a MAC CE, or a BAP control PDU; a sending time of an acknowledgement signal corresponding to reception of the PDCCH, the MAC CE, or the BAP control PDU; and indication information carried by the PDCCH, the MAC CE, or the BAP control PDU (section 2.2, fig. 4: the scheduling acquisition time for backhaul transmission from its “parent” node (i.e. BH-PDCCH) should be ahead of the scheduling time for access link(i.e. AC-PDCCH), as shown in Figure 4).
For claims 9; Huawei discloses: wherein the multiplexing manner comprises one of the following: transmit or receive multiplexing based on spatial division multiplexing SDM; transmit or receive multiplexing based on frequency division multiplexing FDM; and transmit and receive multiplexing based on co-frequency co-time full duplex CCFD (section 2.2: If FDM or SDM multiplexing between access and backhaul links is used, symbol level timing alignment between access and backhaul link is critical to enable orthogonality between the two links).
For claims 11; Huawei discloses: wherein the activation signaling is carried by one of the following: a physical downlink control channel PDCCH; a medium access control control element MAC CE; and a BAP control PDU (section 2.2, fig. 4: the scheduling acquisition time for backhaul transmission from its “parent” node (i.e. BH-PDCCH) should be ahead of the scheduling time for access link(i.e. AC-PDCCH), as shown in Figure 4).
For claims 12; Huawei discloses the subject matter in claim 1 as described above in the office action.
Huawei does not expressly disclose, but Lee from similar fields of endeavor teaches: receiving deactivation signaling sent by the node, wherein the deactivation signaling is used to indicate deactivating the multiplexing scheduling (paragraph 117-118: PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI can either signal and activate the configured downlink assignment, or deactivate it). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Lee in the backhaul system as described by Huawei. The motivation is to improve scheduling overhead.
For claims 13; Huawei discloses the subject matter in claim 12 as described above in the office action.
Huawei does not expressly disclose, but Lee from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein the deactivation signaling is carried by one of the following: a physical downlink control channel PDCCH; a medium access control control element MAC CE; and a BAP control PDU (paragraph 117-118: PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI can either signal and activate the configured downlink assignment, or deactivate it). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Lee in the backhaul system as described by Huawei. The motivation is to improve scheduling overhead.
For claims 18; Huawei discloses the subject matter in claim 15 as described above in the office action.
Huawei does not expressly disclose, but Lee from similar fields of endeavor teaches: sending deactivation signaling to the first IAB node, wherein the deactivation signaling is used to indicate deactivating the multiplexing scheduling; or sending, to the first IAB node, target scheduling information of the second IAB node on the second hop, wherein the target scheduling information is used by the first IAB node to determine whether to deactivate the multiplexing scheduling (paragraph 117-118: PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI can either signal and activate the configured downlink assignment, or deactivate it). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Lee in the backhaul system as described by Huawei. The motivation is to improve scheduling overhead.
Claim(s) 4 and 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huawei in view of Lee in view of Jo as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Abedini et al. (US 2020/0084819) (“Abedini”).
For claims 4; Huawei discloses the subject matter in claim 1 as described above in the office action.
Huawei does not expressly disclose, but Abedini from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein the determining pre-scheduling information between a first hop and a second hop comprises: obtaining the pre-scheduling information configured by a centralized unit CU (paragraph 9-10: the configuration of the transition state may be received from a parent node of the relay node (e.g., via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), RRC signaling, master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB), remaining minimum system information (RMSI), other system information (OSI), etc.) and/or may be received from a central entity of the network, such as the IAB-donor's CU (e.g., via RRC signaling, upper layer signaling over an F1-application protocol (AP) interface, etc.)). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Abedini in the backhaul system as described by Huawei. The motivation is to improve scheduling by using standard backhaul protocols.
For claims 5; Huawei discloses the subject matter in claim 4 as described above in the office action.
Huawei does not expressly disclose, but Abedini from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein the pre-scheduling information is carried by one of the following: radio resource control RRC signaling or FLAP signaling (paragraph 9-10: the configuration of the transition state may be received from a parent node of the relay node (e.g., via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE), RRC signaling, master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB), remaining minimum system information (RMSI), other system information (OSI), etc.) and/or may be received from a central entity of the network, such as the IAB-donor's CU (e.g., via RRC signaling, upper layer signaling over an F1-application protocol (AP) interface, etc.)). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Abedini in the backhaul system as described by Huawei. The motivation is to improve scheduling by using standard backhaul protocols.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huawei in view of Lee in view of Jo as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of Qualcomm (“Enhancements to support NR backhaul links”, R1-1813417, 11/2018).
For claims 10; Huawei discloses the subject matter in claim 2 as described above in the office action.
Huawei does not expressly disclose, but Qualcomm from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein the pre-scheduling information further comprises power control information (section 6: the IAB-node can control the TX power on its access and child BH links). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Qualcomm in the backhaul system as described by Huawei. The motivation is to improve scheduling by using standard backhaul protocols.
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huawei in view of Lee in view of Jo as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Park et al. (US 2019/0104539) (“Park”).
For claims 14; Huawei discloses the subject matter in claim 1 as described above in the office action.
Huawei does not expressly disclose, but Park from similar fields of endeavor teaches: determining, based on received target scheduling information of the second IAB node on the second hop, whether to deactivate the multiplexing scheduling; or wherein the multiplexing scheduling is deactivated after bandwidth part BWP switching (paragraph 149: the SPS or grant-free resource regions 802 and 804 included in the BWP 820 are automatically disabled via L1 signaling indicating the BWP switching from the BWP 820 to the BWP 824 without any signaling indicating deactivation/release of the corresponding resource regions). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Park in the backhaul system as described by Huawei. The motivation is to improve scheduling overhead.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Harada et al. (US 2021/0392505); Harada discloses the base station may schedule RMSI PDSCH in a gap between SSBs in a case of using multiplexing pattern 3 of the NR-U target frequency.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JOHN D BLANTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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