DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1 (claims 1-16), directed to a UE that performs a CCA procedure before transmitting a PUSCH, in the reply filed on 10 June 2025 is acknowledged.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. In particular, this Application is the national stage application of an international application that claims a domestic benefit to a US provisional application filed on 30 July 2020.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement, submitted on 2 Oct 2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 because a fee was paid. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-16 are objected to because the most recent claim amendment fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1). For example, the amendments to claim 1 fail to find “clear support or antecedent basis in the description.” 37 CFR 1.75(d)(1). In particular, the most recent amendment recites, in part, “in response to a timing misalignment.” The term, timing misalignment, fails to find antecedent basis in the description. Based on the Reply’s cited written description support for the most recent claim amendment (Reply, 6 (citing Spec., ¶¶108-111)), this claim element appears directed to when different slot granularities are used by New Radio and Clear Channel Assessment and the slot boundaries of each “do[] not coincide.” Spec., ¶111.
Appropriate correction is required.
Response to Arguments
The amendments in the Rule 111 reply overcome the 101 and 112(d) rejections provided in the Non-final Rejection.
Regarding the obviousness rejection of claim 1, the Reply alleges the combination of Zhang and Myung fails to teach the most recent amendment. Reply, 8. In particular, the Reply finds “Zhang’s reservation signal is described generically, without reference to the technical problem of non-aligned CCA and symbol boundaries or the resulting risk of channel contention.” Ibid. As noted in the claim objections above, the most recent claim amendment fails to find antecedent basis in the disclosure. Specifically, the concept of encoding a reservation signal “in response to a timing misalignment” is not found in the disclosure. As best the Examiner understands the claimed invention, a reservation signal is transmitted when the end of CCA does not coincide with a slot or symbol boundary. Spec., ¶111. The Examiner contends Zhang teaches this concept. Zhang teaches an LBT ending in the middle of symbol #1. Zhang, figure 3b (see start point). Because LBT does not end at a symbol boundary, it is “misaligned” with the timing of each symbol. In response to the “misalignment,” Zhang, similar to the described invention, transmits a reservation signal from the middle of symbol #1 to the beginning of symbol #2, which is an uplink transmission. Zhang, ¶130.
Regarding claim 2, the Reply finds the combination of Zhang and Myung fails to “refrain ‘for at least 5 µs’ as a fixed minimum.” Reply, 9. The Examiner believes the Reply is too narrowly interpreting the claimed invention of claim 2. If Myung refrains from transmitting for a period of time greater than 5 microseconds, then it refrains for a period of “at least 5 µs.” Even if Myung is found not to refrain for exactly 5 microseconds, it can still render obvious the claimed invention by refraining for a value greater than 5 microseconds.
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.
Claims 1-5, 8, 10-14, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20180352537) in view of Myung (US 2023/0319874) or, in the alternative, Zhang in view of Myung (both of record) and further in view of Ganesan (US 2023015565).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Zhang teaches an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) and a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by a UE, configured for operation in a 5G NR system, the apparatus (Zhang, figure 10A), comprising . . . the processing circuitry is configured to:
perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) procedure to assess occupancy of a communication channel in the unlicensed spectrum (Zhang, ¶104 – electronic device [ED] performs LBT operation to may a clear channel assessment before accessing the unlicensed spectrum; Zhang, ¶3 – ED is a user equipment);
encode a reservation signal for transmission on the communication channel, when the CCA procedure is successful and a timing misalignment between completion of the CCA procedure and a nearest slot or symbol boundary for an uplink (UL) transmission opportunity, the reservation signal occupying a time interval between completion of the CCA procedure and a starting symbol of an uplink (UL) transmission opportunity (Zhang, ¶130 and figure 3B – ED transmits a reservation signal after a successful LBT and before OFDM symbol #2 [OS#2], which is for an uplink transmission and includes the nearest symbol boundary after LBT ends; Examiner’s response to amendment – the start point in figure 3B is “located between OFDM symbol boundaries,” which is an “misalignment” in comparison to the embodiment in figure 3A, where “the start point is at the OFDM symbol boundary”); and
encode a data . . . for transmission to a base station during the UL transmission opportunity and following the transmission of the reservation signal (Zhang, ¶121 – ED transmits an uplink transmission, which includes the activation signal after transmitting reservation signal, as shown in figure 3B); and
a memory coupled to the processing circuitry (Zhang, figure 10A) and configured to store the data PUSCH. Zhang, ¶205 (memory [1408] stores data generated by the ED).
Zhang does not explicitly teach (1) a “UE for operating in an unlicensed spectrum at a carrier frequency of above 52.6 GHz” or (2) the uplink transmission including a “physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).” However, Myung is analogous art that also addresses a UE transmitting a cyclic prefix to occupy a channel. Myung, ¶314. Most importantly, Myung teaches (1) a UE operating in an unlicensed band from 52.6 GHz to 100 GHz. Myung, ¶¶210-211 (FR4). Myung also teaches (2) the UE transmitting UL data in a PUSCH. Id. at ¶¶112-113. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to implement the LBT operation, taught by Zhang, when transmitted a PUSCH in FR4, as taught by Myung, in order to perform a channel access mechanism similar to Wi-Fi as required for accessing unlicensed spectrum, regardless of its frequency range. Id. at ¶¶223, 212.
In the alternative, the combination of Zhang and Myung does not explicitly teach the transmission of a reservation signal “in response to a timing misalignment.” However, Ganesan teaches an LBT that “does not coincide with a slot boundary” and then the transmission of a reservation signal until the next slot boundary is reached. Ganesan, ¶77. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to transmit a reservation signal prior to an uplink transmission, as taught by the combination of Zhang and Myung, when the LBT does not coincide with a slot boundary, as taught by Ganesan, in order to ensure the channel is reserved until the slot boundary is reached and data transmission begins. Ganesan, ¶77.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Zhang and Myung or the combination of Zhang, Myung, and Ganesan also teaches refraining from transmitting on the communication channel for at least a duration of 5 us, when the CCA procedure is unsuccessful. Myung, ¶213 (CCA slot duration is set to 5 microseconds and a device refrains from transmission for 8 microseconds plus m*5, where m is a random integer between 0 and 127).
Regarding claims 3 and 12, the combination of Zhang and Myung or the combination of Zhang, Myung, and Ganesan also teaches wherein the reservation signal comprises a cyclic prefix. Zhang, ¶¶18, 121.
Regarding claims 4 and 13, the combination of Zhang and Myung or the combination of Zhang, Myung, and Ganesan also teaches wherein the cyclic prefix corresponds to a prefix of a first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol allocated to a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission or a PUSCH transmission during the UL transmission opportunity. Zhang, ¶130 (reservation signal is an CP extension of the next OFDM symbol); Zhang, figure 3B (next OFDM symbol is an uplink transmission in the second OS interval [OS #2]).
Regarding claims 5 and 14, the combination of Zhang and Myung or the combination of Zhang, Myung, and Ganesan teaches the apparatus of claim 4 and medium of claim 13 and “the time interval . . . preceding the first OFDM symbol allocated to the PUCCH transmission or the PUSCH transmission.” Zhang, ¶130 and figure 3B (reservation signal occupies the time interval between the start point and the first OFDM symbol of the uplink transmission that starts in OS #2). The combination of Zhang and Myung does not explicitly teach “a duration of the time interval equals a duration of a symbol.” Instead, as shown in figure 3B, the reservation signal appears to have a duration of half of a symbol instead of an entire symbol as required by the claimed invention. However, Zhang also teaches the start point being “any OFDM symbol boundaries within the slot/subframe.” Zhang, ¶118. As a result, the use of a reservation signal that is a full symbol in duration (i.e. that begins at the symbol boundary instead of the midpoint as shown in figure 3B) is an obvious variant of a reservation signal that is half a symbol in duration. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use a reservation signal, taught by the combination of Zhang and Myung, that last for an entire symbol in order to prevent other devices from accessing the time-frequency resources allocated to the ED, when the time between the end of a successful LBT and the transmission of the activation signal is the duration of one symbol. Zhang, ¶121.
Regarding claims 8 and 16, the combination of Zhang and Myung or the combination of Zhang, Myung, and Ganesan teaches the apparatus of claim 1 and medium of claim 11, and determining the CCA procedure is successful . . . ; and encode the reservation signal for transmission on the communication channel, the reservation signal occupying a . . .time interval between completion of the CCA procedure and a starting symbol of a . . . UL transmission opportunity. Zhang, ¶130 and figure 3B (ED transmits a reservation signal after a successful LBT and before OFDM symbol #2, which is for an uplink transmission); see rejection of claim 1.
The combination of Zhang and Myung does not explicitly teach passing a CCA procedure “after the UL transmission opportunity,” a reservation signal occupying a “second” time interval that is between the CCA procedure and the starting symbol of a “subsequent” UL transmission opportunity. In other words, only one iteration of a CCA-based process for transmitting in the uplink is shown in figure 3B of Zhang and the claimed invention requires a second, subsequent iteration. However, executing a second iteration of the process shown in figure 3B is an obvious variant of the invention of Zhang. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to execute a second CCA procedure after the first UL transmission opportunity, taught by the combination of Zhang and Myung, in order to enable the UE to transmit additional data when needed.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Zhang and Myung or the combination of Zhang, Myung, and Ganesan also teaches a transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry; and one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry. Zhang, figure 10A.
Claims 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20180352537) in view of Myung (US 2023/0319874) and further in view of Drugge (US 20160242039).
Regarding claims 6 and 15, the combination of Zhang and Myung teaches the apparatus of claim 1 and medium of claim 11, but does not explicitly teach “wherein the reservation signal comprises a UL data transmission with a random payload.” However, Drugge teaches a reservation signal that can be random data. Drugge, ¶84. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to random data, as taught by Drugge, as the reservation signal, taught by the combination of Zhang and Myung, in order to reserve the channel by occupying it with an invalid transmission that prevents other devices from transmitting on the channel. Id. at ¶¶84-85.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20180352537) in view of Myung (US 2023/0319874) and further in view of Damnjanovic (US 20190394790).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Zhang and Myung teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach “wherein the reservation signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission.” However, Damnjanovic teaches a UE generating a coexistence SRS signal as a channel reservation signal. Damnjanovic, ¶83. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to use an SRS, as taught by Damnjanovic, as the reservation signal, taught by the combination of Zhang and Myung, in order to leverage existing NR signals for reserving the channel, such that other operators can monitor its occupancy. Id. at ¶¶76, 78.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20180352537) in view of Myung (US 2023/0319874) and further in view of Rosa (US 20230254894).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Zhang and Myung teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: determine the UL transmission opportunity is within a channel occupancy time (COT) of the base station; and encode the data PUSCH for transmission to the base station during the UL transmission opportunity without performing an additional CCA procedure after the CCA procedure. However, Rosa teaches a gNB that shares its COT with its responding UEs and if the responding UE’s transmissions occur within the gNB’s COT, the no LBT needs to be executed by the responding UEs. Rosa, ¶53. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to skip the executing of an LBT procedure, as taught by Rosa, for the uplink transmission, taught by the combination of Zhang and Myung, in order to not waste resources of the COT when the gNB has already acquired access to the channel. Rosa, ¶48.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN S LAMONT whose telephone number is (571)270-7514. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am to 3pm EST.
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/Benjamin Lamont/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461