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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on September 3, 2025 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on May 30, 2025 and August 20, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on September 3, 2025 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, claims 19, 21, 24-25, 27, 29 and 32- 33 have been amended.
Claims 19-25 and 27-33 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on September 3, 2025 regarding claims 19 and 27 have been fully considered but the arguments are essentially directed towards the newly introduced limitations and they are addressed in this Office Action, below.
Moreover, below are the Examiner’s response to Applicant arguments.
Regarding claim 19, the applicant argues none of 3gpp, Kini and Wang discloses, teaches or suggests that "each of the two or more DCIs i) is received through each of two or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), ii) is used for scheduling physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception on a corresponding cell among a plurality of cells, iii) includes a downlink assignment index (DAI) information and iv) is of a DCI format among a plurality of DCI formats, ... a reception method of a PDSCH in the at least one first cell is identified as a CBG-based PDSCH reception or a transport block(TB)based PDSCH reception based on the DCI format of a DCI corresponding to the PDSCH among the two or more DCis, ... the DAI information is separately applied for each of the first HARQ-ACK bit sequence and the second HARQ-ACK bit sequence based on a corresponding reception method” as recited in claim 19 (emphasis added). Otherwise, the Applicant respectfully asks the Examiner to quote exact language of 3gpp, Kini and Wang specifically teaching that. (pg. 8, 9)
The Examiner’s response to the above argument for the two or more DCIs, Kini ¶0107/0108 discloses DCI formats 1_1 and 1_0 for plurality of PDSCHs scheduling and 3gpp [§3, pg. 2] discloses “UE monitors two DCI formats; one is for TB-level scheduling, and the other is for CBG-level scheduling.” The combination of 3gpp, Kini and Wang further teaches as explained below with the exact language citations:
i) Kini ¶0107 discloses “Each PDCCH may carry a message known as DCI. …. Depending on the information content, DCI may have different DCI message formats as shown in Table 1 below.
PNG
media_image1.png
107
345
media_image1.png
Greyscale
ii) Kini ¶0157 discloses “… a WTRU may need to provide aggregated HARQ feedback for multiple TBs. For example, multiple slots for DL transmission may need to be acknowledged by a single HARQ-ACK feedback slot. The multiple PDSCHs may be considered as scheduled across multiple component carriers (CCs), multiple cells”
iii) 3gpp [§2, pg. 1] “in order to realize the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, it is agreed to include counter DAI and total DAI in each scheduling DCI, and the values of these fields are given taking into account the scheduled TBs over time/frequency. … For dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, use of counter-DAI and total-DAI could be the starting point”.
iv) Kini ¶108 discloses “For example, DCI format 1_1 used for scheduling of PDSCH in one cell may include a field indicating a code block group (CBG) based (re)transmission for at least one transport block (TB). … On the other hand, DCI format 1_0 used for the scheduling of PDSCH in one DL cell, may not include the field indicating a CBG-based (re)transmission. In this scenario, scheduling the PDSCH with the DCI format 1_0 may be regarded as …. single-bit HARQ feedback for TB-based (re)transmission.” ¶0107, Table 1 shows plurality of formats. 3gpp [§3, pg. 2, Proposal 2] discloses “In each scheduled TB, HARQ-ACK codebook could vary dynamically”; 3gpp Fig. 1 illustrates “For NR, HARQ-ACK multiplexing for multiple TBs over multiple carriers/times is necessary. It is important to make sure that gNB and UE have the common understanding on how and which HARQ-ACK bits are multiplexed with what order (see §2, pg. 1), with caption “Fig. 1. HARQ-ACK codebook determination for dynamic selection of TB-level and CBG-level per CC”.
Wang Fig. 6, ¶0104-0108 further illustrates forming the HARQ-Ack codebook from 2 CBG and 1 TB based on separate DAIs. Wang do not explicitly mention about DAI based on a corresponding reception method. New reference Kim (US 20190150181 A1) is added to teach this explicitly.
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.
Claims 19-25 and 27-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (NTT Docomo: "HARQ-Ack mulitiplexing", 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 NR Ad-Hoc#2, R1-1711116, Qingdao, P.R. China 27th – 30th June 2017, cited in IDS EU search report submitted on February 21, 2023), hereinafter 3gpp, in view of Kini et al. (US 20200059327 A1, as provided by the IDS submitted on July 18, 2022), hereinafter Kini, in view of Wang et al. (US 2020/0084789 A1), hereinafter Wang and further in view of Kim et al. (US 20190150181 A1, as provided by the IDS submitted on August 20, 2025), hereinafter Kim.
Regarding Claim 19, 3gpp discloses A user equipment configured to operate in a wireless communication system (3gpp section 2: UE and gNB have the common understanding on how and which HARQ-ACK bits are multiplexed with what order, indicates UE configured to operate in a wireless communication system),
wherein each of the two or more DCIs
iii) includes a downlink assignment index (DAI) information (3gpp section 2. in order to realize the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, it is agreed to include counter DAI and total DAI in each scheduling DCI, and the values of these fields are given taking into account the scheduled TBs over time/frequency. … For dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, use of counter-DAI and total-DAI could be the starting point. [§3, pg. 2] discloses UE monitors two DCI formats; one is for TB-level scheduling, and the other is for CBG-level scheduling.)
transmit hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information including (3gpp section 2. For NR, HARQ-ACK multiplexing for multiple TBs over multiple carriers/times is necessary to determine the HARQ-ACK codebook. It is important to make sure that gNB and UE have the common understanding on how and which HARQ-ACK bits are multiplexed with what order. 3gpp section 3. the number of HARQ-ACK bit(s) per scheduled data (Transport block as scheduled with DCI) varies according to condition(s). If the UE detects a DCI format (for a given TB) for TB-level scheduling, the UE generates only HARQ-ACK bit for TB; If the UE detects a DCI format (for a given TB) for CBG-level scheduling, the UE generates HARQ-ACK bits for CBG and Figure 1 illustrates an aggregated HARQ-ACK codebook with dynamic selection of TB-level and CBG-level per CC (per schedule) (Section 3. Proposal 2. The set of TBs scheduled could vary dynamically and in each scheduled TB, HARQ-ACK codebook could vary dynamically) and all HARQ-ACK bits (in the multiplexed codebook) are transmitted via a single PUCCH)
a first HARQ-ACK bit sequence for the TB-based PDSCH reception and a second HARQ-ACK bit sequence for the CBG-based PDSCH reception, (3gpp [§2, pg. 1] discloses for NR, HARQ-ACK multiplexing for multiple TBs over multiple carriers/times is necessary. gNB and UE need to have the common understanding on how and which HARQ-ACK bits are multiplexed with what order. Figure 1 illustrates HARQ-ACK codebooks for TB-level and CBG-level per CC in sequence (first and second as example) among the set of TBs and all HARQ-ACK bit sequences are transmitted via a single PUCCH. )
3gpp does not specifically disclose the following limitations:
A user equipment configured to operate in a wireless communication system, comprising: a communication module; and a processor configured to control the communication module, wherein the processor is configured to:
receive two or more downlink control information (DCIs) from a base station,
wherein each of the two or more DCIs
i) is received through each of two or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs),
ii) is used for scheduling physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception on a corresponding cell among a plurality of cells,
and iv) is of a DCI format among a plurality of DCI formats,
wherein at least one first cell of the plurality of cells is configured with a code block group (CBG)-based PDSCH transmission, and
wherein a reception method of a PDSCH in the at least one first cell is identified as a CBG-based PDSCH reception or a transport block{TB)-based PDSCH reception based on the DCI format of a DCI corresponding to the PDSCH among the two or more DCIs, and
Kini, however, teaches the following limitations:
A user equipment configured to operate in a wireless communication system comprising: a communication module; and a processor configured to control the communication module, wherein the processor is configured to: (Kini,[0035] FIG. 1B is a system diagram illustrating an example WTRU (wireless transmit/receive unit, equivalent to user equipment) 102. As shown in FIG. 1B, the WTRU 102 may include a processor 118, a transceiver 120, a transmit/receive element 122, equivalent to the communication module)
receive two or more downlink control information (DCIs) from a base station, (Kini, [0108] DCI format 1_1 used for scheduling of PDSCH in one cell including a field indicating CBG based transport block and DCI format 1_0 used for the scheduling of PDSCH in one DL cell not including CBG based decoding and [0157] The multiple PDSCHs may be considered as scheduled across multiple component carriers (CCs), multiple cells, multiple slots/mini-slots/sub-slots/non-slots, multiple bandwidth parts (BWPs), or the like, indicates multiple DCIs reception example by the UE.)
wherein each of the two or more DCIs
i) is received through each of two or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), (Kini [0107] Each PDCCH may carry a message known as DCI. Depending on the information content, DCI may have different DCI message formats as shown in Table 1. [0108] DCI format 1_1 used for scheduling of PDSCH in one cell including a field indicating CBG based transport block and DCI format 1_0 used for the scheduling of PDSCH in one DL cell not including CBG based decoding, indicates each of the two or more DCIs carried over two or more PDCCH)
ii) is used for scheduling physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception on a corresponding cell among a plurality of cells,([0108] DCI format 1_1 used for scheduling of PDSCH in one cell indicating CBG and DCI format 1_0 used for the scheduling of PDSCH in one DL cell indicating TB-based. [0157] The multiple PDSCHs may be considered as scheduled across multiple cells)
and iv) is of a DCI format among a plurality of DCI formats, (Kini [0107] discloses multiple DCI formats in Table 1 to choose from. ¶0108 DCI format 1_1 used for CBG and DCI format 1_0 TB-based PDSCH scheduling)
wherein at least one first cell of the plurality of cells is configured with a code block group (CBG)-based PDSCH transmission, and (Kini, [0108] DCI format 1_1 used for scheduling of PDSCH in one cell including a field indicating CBG based transport block. [0157] The multiple PDSCHs may be considered as scheduled across multiple cells, indicates one first cell of the plurality of cells is configured with CBG-based TB.)
wherein a reception method of a PDSCH in the at least one first cell is identified as a CBG-based PDSCH reception or a transport block(TB)-based PDSCH reception based on the DCI format of a DCI corresponding to the PDSCH among the two or more DCIs, and (Kini ¶0157 discloses a WTRU may need to provide aggregated HARQ feedback for multiple TBs. The multiple PDSCHs may be considered as scheduled across multiple component carriers (CCs), multiple cells. [0108] DCI format 1_1 used in one cell indicating CBG based transport block and DCI format 1_0 used in one DL cell indicates TB based transport block, indicates different DCIs for the corresponding cell (¶0107 Table1 shows two or more DCI formats))
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of 3gpp with the multi-bit HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled across multiple component carriers (CCs), multiple cells, or the like, that needs to be acknowledged by a single HARQ feedback message as taught by Kini. Doing so allows enabling dynamic HARQ that can be applied to broader scenarios. (Kini [0157]).
Though [3gpp section 2] discloses in order to realize the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, it is agreed to include counter DAI and total DAI in each scheduling DCI, and the values of these fields are given taking into account the scheduled TBs, 3gpp and Kini do not explicitly disclose:
wherein the DAI information is separately applied for each of the first HARQ-ACK bit sequence and the second HARQ-ACK bit sequence based on a corresponding reception method.
Wang, however, discloses:
wherein the DAI information is separately applied for each of the first HARQ-ACK bit sequence and the second HARQ-ACK bit sequence based on a corresponding reception method. (Wang in Fig. 6, [0104-0108] provides example generation of HARQ-Ack codebook for downlink unit comprising CBG bases schedule (DAI1=1), followed by TB based scheduling (DAI1=5), followed by CBG based scheduling (DAI1=7). The combined HARQ-Ack codebook (equivalent to HARQ-Ack bit sequence) illustrates separately adding the HARQ-Ack (A=Ack, N=Nack and R=dummy) and applied the received DAI values separately for setting the order of the bit sequences. In the Fig, DAI1 is first type/counter DAI and DAI2 is second type/total DAI. Wang also described use of DAI with missed PDCCH, for example, assuming that the UE fails to receive the PDCCH of carrier 2, but it receives the PDCCHs of carrier 1 and carrier 3. Then, when it receives the first type of DAI of carrier 3, the UE may find it missed the PDCCH of carrier 2. The application of DAI to track PDSCH of different type of transport blocks naturally implies the separation when the sequences are logically distinct).
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of 3gpp and Kini with the feature to ensure correct feedback of HARQ-ACK utilizing the counter DAI and total DAI information in the received DCI as taught by Wang. Doing so allows effectively reduce the HARQ-ACK feedback overhead. (Wang ¶0037)
Though Wang in Fig. 6, ¶0104-0108 illustrates forming the HARQ-Ack codebook from 2 CBG and 1 TB based on separate DAIs, 3gpp, Kini and Wang do not explicitly describe DAI based on the corresponding reception method :
wherein the DAI information is separately applied for each of the first HARQ-ACK bit sequence and the second HARQ-ACK bit sequence based on a corresponding reception method.
Kim, however, discloses:
wherein the DAI information is separately applied for each of the first HARQ-ACK bit sequence and the second HARQ-ACK bit sequence based on a corresponding reception method. (Kim ¶0023 a first downlink assignment index (DAI) included in the first DCI and a second DAI included in the second DCI may be counted individually. ¶0024 Also, the first DAI may be DAI in a unit of CBG, and the second DAI may be DAI in a unit of TB.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of 3gpp, Kini and Wang to enable DAI in the DCI based on the corresponding reception method as taught by Kim. Doing so allows a dynamic codebook method to increase efficiency of HARQ-ACK transmission. (Kim ¶0185)
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of 3gpp, Kini, Wang, and Kim disclose claim 19. Kini further discloses:
wherein at least one second cell of the plurality of cells is configured with a TB-based transmission. (Kini, [0108] DCI format 1_0 used for the scheduling of PDSCH in one DL cell not including CBG based decoding. If the WTRU receives a PDSCH that is scheduled by a PDCCH with DCI format 1_0, the WTRU may generate HARQ feedback information only for the transport block in the PDSCH, indicates one cell for TB-based. [0157] The multiple PDSCHs may be considered as scheduled across multiple cells, indicates one second cell of the plurality of cells is configured with TB-based TB.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of 3gpp, Wang and Kim with the multi-bit HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled across multiple component carriers (CCs), multiple cells, or the like, that needs to be acknowledged by a single HARQ feedback message as taught by Kini. Doing so allows enabling dynamic HARQ that can be applied to broader scenarios. (Kini [0157]).
Regarding Claim 21, the combination of 3gpp, Kini, Wang, and Kim disclose claim 19. 3gpp and Kini further disclose:
wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the PDSCH in the corresponding cell among the plurality of cells based on the DCI, and (Kini [0157] The multiple PDSCHs may be considered as scheduled across multiple cells, indicates the plurality of cells are scheduled. [0107, 0108] Each PDCCH may carry a DCI, DCI format 1_1 used for scheduling of PDSCH in one cell indicating CBG and DCI format 1_0 used for the scheduling of PDSCH in one DL cel indicating single-bit HARQ feedback for TB-based (re)transmission)
generate the HARQ-ACK information for the plurality of cells based on the reception method of the PDSCH of the corresponding cell. (Kini [0108] DCI format 1_1 explicitly indicates that the WTRU respond with multi-bit HARQ feedback for CBG (or CB) based retransmission. On the other hand, scheduling the PDSCH with the DCI format 1_0 may be regarded as an implicit indication that the WTRU to respond with single-bit HARQ feedback for TB-based (re)transmission. 3GPP, in Fig. 1, discloses an aggregated HARQ-Ack for a set of TBs with dynamic DCI formats.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of 3gpp, Wang and Kim with the multi-bit HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled across multiple component carriers (CCs), multiple cells, or the like, that needs to be acknowledged by a single HARQ feedback message as taught by Kini. Doing so allows enabling dynamic HARQ that can be applied to broader scenarios. (Kini [0157]).
Regarding claim 22, the combination of 3gpp, Kini, Wang, and Kim, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 19. Kini further discloses the following limitations:
the user equipment of claim 19, wherein the HARQ-ACK information is generated by appending the second HARQ-ACK bit sequence to the first HARQ-ACK bit sequence, (3GPP Section 3, Fig. 1 illustrates the HARQ-Ack bit arrangements including HARQ-ACK bit sequence for TB-level/based PDSCH followed by HARQ-ACK bit sequence for CBG-level/based PDSCH.) and
wherein the first HARQ-ACK bit sequence is located before the second HARQ- ACK bit sequence. (3GPP Section 3, Fig. 1 illustrates the HARQ-Ack bit arrangements including HARQ-ACK bit sequence for TB-level/based PDSCH before the HARQ-ACK bit sequence for CBG-level/based PDSCH.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of 3gpp, Wang and Kim with the multi-bit HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled across multiple component carriers (CCs), multiple cells, or the like, that needs to be acknowledged by a single HARQ feedback message as taught by Kini. Doing so allows enabling dynamic HARQ that can be applied to broader scenarios. (Kini [0157]).
Regarding Claim 23, the combination of 3gpp, Kini, Wang, and Kim, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 20. 3gpp and Kini further discloses the following limitations:
wherein each HARQ-ACK bit of the first HARQ-ACK bit sequence for the TB-based PDSCH reception is generated for each transport block, (3GPP Section 3, Fig. 1 illustrates the HARQ-Ack bit for each transport block including the TB-level/based in the order of reception)
wherein the second HARQ-ACK bit sequence for the CBG-based PDSCH reception comprises 'N' HARQ-ACK bits, and (3GPP Section 3, Fig. 1 illustrates the HARQ-Ack bit for each transport block including the CBG-level/based in the order of reception, indicating “N” HARQ-ACK bits. Kini [0114], Fig. 2 illustrates that the NACK feedback bit 0 is repeated N times as the N is the maximum number of CBGs/CBs, in the Transport Block (TB)))
wherein 'N' is related to a number of CBGs configured for the user equipment. (Kini [0114], Fig. 2 illustrates the N is the maximum number of CBGs/CBs, in the Transport Block (TB). [0118], Fig. 5, For example, if a received TB includes 8 CBGs but the maximum number of CBGs configured by the higher layer parameter is 10, the WTRU may generate 10 HARQ information bits for multi-bit HARQ feedback.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of 3gpp, Wang and Kim with the multi-bit HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled across multiple component carriers (CCs), multiple cells, or the like, that needs to be acknowledged by a single HARQ feedback message as taught by Kini. Doing so allows enabling dynamic HARQ that can be applied to broader scenarios. (Kini [0157]).
Regarding Claim 24, the combination of 3gpp, Kini, Wang, and Kim, as shown in the rejection above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 23. 3gpp and Kini further discloses the following limitations:
wherein the second HARQ-ACK bits bit sequence includes 'M' ACK bits and 'N-M' NACKs bits when the CBG-based PDSCH reception is performed in the at least one first cell among the plurality of cells, and (Kini, [0108] DCI format 1_1 used for scheduling of PDSCH in one cell including a field indicating CBG based transport block. [0118], Fig. 5, explained with example on the maximum number of CBGs per TB (as N in the claim) and on the number of received CBGs per TB (as the M in the claim). For example, if a received TB includes 8 CBGs (M) but the maximum number of CBGs configured by the higher layer parameter is 10 (N), the WTRU may generate 10 HARQ information bits for multi-bit HARQ feedback. In this case, the first 8 bits may be determined by the result of decoding CBG (or TB), and the last 2 bits may be added or inserted based on dummy bits (e.g., ACK or NACK bits). The payload size of multi-bit HARQ feedback may be determined by the configured number of CBGs. For example, the payload size of multi-bit HARQ feedback may be the same with the maximum number of CBGs. The last 2 bits here indicates the N-M in the claim))
‘M’ related to the number of CBGs transmitted in the at least one first cell configured for the CBG-based PDSCH reception is less than 'N'. (Kini, [0118], Fig. 5, discloses an example, if a received TB includes 8 CBGs (M) but the maximum number of CBGs configured by the higher layer parameter is 10 (N), the WTRU may generate 10 HARQ information bits for multi-bit HARQ feedback. In this case, the first 8 bits (M) may be determined by the result of decoding CBG (or TB), and the last 2 bits may be added or inserted based on dummy bits (e.g., ACK or NACK bits), indicates M is less than N.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of 3gpp, Wang and Kim with the multi-bit HARQ feedback for multiple PDSCHs scheduled across multiple component carriers (CCs), multiple cells, or the like, that needs to be acknowledged by a single HARQ feedback message as taught by Kini. Doing so allows enabling dynamic HARQ that can be applied to broader scenarios. (Kini [0157]).
Regarding Claim 25, the combination of 3gpp, Kini, Wang, and Kim as shown in the rejection above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 19. 3gpp and Wang further discloses the following limitations:
wherein the DAI information includes a counter DAI and a total DAI, (Wang Fig. 2, [0095] a downlink assignment index (DAI) may be included in the DCI. the DAI may include a first type of DAI ([0096] same as counter DAI) and/or a second type of DAI ([0114] same as total DAI). Fig. 6 shows carrier 3 CBG based transport block, TBd, includes DAI1=7, DAI2=9, where DAI1 denotes first type of DAI and DAI2 denotes a second type of DAI)
wherein the counter DAI is used to identify an accumulated number of PDSCHs scheduled, and (Wang, [0096] The first type of DAI, also known as counter DAI, indicates one of the following: [0097] (1) a sum of the number of CBGs scheduled in the HARQ-ACK feedback bundlingwindow up to the currently scheduled downlink time unit (e.g., downlink time unit Ti) and the currentcarrier (e.g., the currentcarrier Ci), or a sum of the number of HARQ-ACK bits to be fed back)
wherein the total DAI is used to identify the total number of PDSCHs scheduled. (Wang, [0027] the second type of DAI ([0114] The second type of DAI, also called total DAI) indicates one of the following: a total number of bits of HARQ-ACK codebook; a total number of scheduled CBGs of all scheduled carriers from a first downlink time unit among all scheduled downlink time units to the current downlink time unit in the HARQ-ACK feedback bundlingwindow; and a total number of the maximum numbers of CBGs of all scheduled carriers from a first downlink time unit among all scheduled downlink time units to the current downlink time unit in the HARQ-ACK feedback bundlingwindow.)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of 3gpp, Kini and Kim with the feature to ensure correct feedback of HARQ-ACK utilizing the counter DAI and total DAI information in the received DCI as taught by Wang. Doing so allows effectively reduce the HARQ-ACK feedback overhead. (Wang ¶0037)
Regarding Claims 27-33 are directed to method claims and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claims 19-25. Therefore, claims 27-33 are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claims 19-25.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED NIAMUL HUDA KHAN whose telephone number is (703)756-1689. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8AM-5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rebecca Song can be reached at 571-270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/M.N.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
