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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 09/26/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The following is a non-final office action in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 09/08/2025 for response of the office action mailed on 07/11/2025. Claims 1, 8-10, 13, 15-16 and 18 have been amended. Claims 1-21 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claims 1-21 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Argument for amended Claim 1: In other words, the Office does not cite any reference to reject the other two alternatives that direct to "monitoring indication information of a third physical control channel' and "sending indication information of the second physical control channel." Respectively. Thus, the cited references fail to disclose the following features of amended claim 1: “monitoring indication information of a third physical control channel comprising a search space identifier (ID) of the third physical control channel” or “sending indication information of the second physical control channel comprising spatial information of the second physical control channel.”
Response: In response to the following arguments, Examiner respectfully disagrees with the Applicant. Due to the amended features in Claim 1, the Office no longer relies on Beale and instead introduces Li in combination with Lee to cover or disclose the features of amended independent Claim 1. Li discloses "sending indication information of the second physical control channel comprising spatial information of the second physical control channel” in Fig. 13 and ¶0163. ¶0163 discloses control information in the form of DCI/MAC-CE/RRC which carries UE-specific indication information that selectively indicates a particular physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) configuration that includes spatial information for that channel. This response further applies to dependent claims that rely on Claim 1, 8 and/or 18.
Argument for previously presented Claim 8 into amended Claim 1: In other words, the Office does not cite any reference to reject the second alternative operation that directs to “stopping monitoring the first physical control channel within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured by the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information.” Thus, the cited references fail to disclose the following features of amended claim 1: “stopping monitoring the first physical control channel within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured by the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information.”
Response: In response to the following arguments, Examiner respectfully disagrees with the Applicant. Due to the amended features in Claim 1, the Office no longer relies on Beale and instead introduces Turtinen to cover or disclose the features of amended independent Claim 1 in combination with Lee and Li. Lee teaches an RTS/CTS handshaking procedure used to further minimize the effect of collision from other nodes and to solve a hidden node problem (¶0039, Lee). ¶0066-¶0067 further defines a duration/interval time for RTS/CTS, where other nodes would detect a busy medium and not attempt to transmit during the duration/interval time. Therefore, Lee establishes an interval where other nodes would not interfere during a specific time frame, signaled by CTS. Turtinen teaches skipping (stopping) monitoring of a downlink physical control channel for a configured time interval (Fig. 2), where the skipping period is indicated explicitly or could be configured by the second device for the first device through higher layer signaling, which may include a time duration (¶0047, Turtinen). Turtinen shows how a UE can stop monitoring a control channel instead of deferring transmission, and this period of skipping and not monitoring is network configurable and bounded by a specific time duration. Therefore, with Lee disclosing transmitting CTS information on a control channel, where the CTS establishes a specific duration where other devices defer communication to avoid collision and Turtinen disclosing that a wireless device may skip or stop monitoring a physical control channel such as a downlink control channel during a skipping period configured by the network, the combination of Lee and Turtinen would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skilled in the art to configure a wireless device of Turtinen to stop monitoring a first physical control channel during a CTS-defined duration, taught by Lee as a predictable use of implementing skipping techniques for control channels to further reduce interference and/or resources during a CTS-defined interval. This response further applies to dependent claims that rely on Claim 1, 8 and/or 18.
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.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The 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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1-3, 5-8, 10-15, and 17-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2016/0227578), Lee hereinafter, and Li et al. (US 2022/0376856), Li hereinafter, and further in view of Turtinen et al. (US 2022/0295563), Turtinen hereinafter.
Re. Claim 1, Lee teaches a transmission acknowledgment method, performed by a first terminal (Fig. 5-7), wherein the method comprises:
monitoring a first physical control channel based on monitoring configuration information of the first physical control channel; (Fig. 5-7, 10 & ¶0061 - Where the LAA RTS is included in the LAA burst frame, it can be either stand-alone or part of LAA control message, e.g. the LAA preamble 308. The stand-alone LAA RTS within the LAA burst frame 300 can be transmitted before or after the channel reservation message 306 and/or LAA control messages, e.g. LAA preamble 306 or (E)PDCCH 312 containing downlink scheduling and control information of the scheduled UE(s) whose CTS is successfully received, but before data transmission. Please also see ¶0055 and ¶0062);
obtaining first control information transmitted by a transmission node on the first physical control channel, wherein the first control information comprises Request To Send (RTS) information for a plurality of target terminal devices, and the plurality of target terminal devices comprise the first terminal; (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0055 - the eNB transmits an LAA RTS signal 522. …the RTS 522 includes identifiers for UE1, UE2 and UEN… via unlicensed spectrum to the UEs to which it has data to send. The RTS can be sent by unicast (serially where more than one UE is identified), by multicast or by broadcast. Please also see ¶0061-¶0062);
and sending Clear To Send (CTS) information on a second physical control channel based on the RTS information, (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0056 - Upon successful reception of LAA RTS, the UE (data destination) transmits LAA CTS to the eNB via unlicensed spectrum, but only if the unlicensed spectrum is idle and UE identifier or UE index is included in LAA RTS);
and wherein after sending the CTS information on the second physical control channel, (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0066 - An interval time required for appropriate message spacing, e.g. between RTS and CTS and/or CTS and (E)PDCCH/Data, can be predefined in the specification… ¶0090 - The eNB sends the (E)PDCCH(s), via unlicensed band (or licensed band if cross carrier scheduling is used), containing downlink scheduling and control information of the UEs which send LAA CTS in response to LAA RTS. ¶0092 - However, both UE #1 712 and UE #N 718 establish locally that the relevant unlicensed spectrum is clear and they each return a respective CTS 732, 734. Please also see ¶0067);
Yet, Lee does not explicitly teach wherein the first control information comprises User Equipment (UE)-specific indication domain that comprises at least one of the following: monitoring indication information of a third physical control channel comprising a search space identifier (lD) of the third physical control channel, wherein the third physical control channel is used to schedule data from the transmission node to the first terminal: or sending indication information of the second physical control channel comprising spatial information of the second physical control channel, the method further comprises: stopping monitoring the first physical control channel within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured be the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information.
However, in the analogous art, Li explicitly teaches wherein the first control information comprises User Equipment (UE)-specific indication domain that comprises at least one of the following: (¶0163 - UE-specific physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission and may be composed by radio resource control (RRC), medium access control -control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI) … UE-specific physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission and may be composed by RRC, MAC-CE, or DCI);
monitoring indication information of a third physical control channel comprising a search space identifier (lD) of the third physical control channel, wherein the third physical control channel is used to schedule data from the transmission node to the first terminal: or
sending indication information of the second physical control channel comprising spatial information of the second physical control channel, (Fig. 13 & ¶0163 - In certain aspects, the BS 110 may transmit, to UE-2, an indication of quasi-colocation (QCL) information, the QCL information indicating first spatial relation information to use for transmissions via the one or more full-duplex interference resources and second spatial relation information to use for transmission via one or more half-duplex interference resources … For example, the indication of QCL information may be in accordance with first spatial relation information for a UE-specific physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission …);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Li to the teaching of Lee. The motivation would be because certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for signaling the interference RSs for quasi-colocation (QCL) information from the BS to the UEs (¶0076, Li).
Yet, Lee and Li do not explicitly teach the method further comprises: stopping monitoring the first physical control channel within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured be the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information.
However, in the analogous art, Turtinen teaches the method further comprises: stopping monitoring the first physical control channel within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured be the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information (Fig. 2 & ¶0047 - As shown, in a scheduling period 210, the second device 120 schedules the first device 110 continuously. If the second device 120 will not schedule the first device 110 for a while, at the end of the scheduling period 210, the second device 120 may transmit to the first device 110 a skipping command indicating the first device 110 to skip monitoring a DL control channel for a time period 220 … The skipping period 220 may be indicated explicitly in the skipping command from the second device or could be configured upfront by the second device, e.g. via RRC signaling. For example, the skipping period 220 may include the number of monitoring occasions or time duration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Turtinen to the teachings of Lee and Li. The motivation would be because there is an ongoing initiative of 3GPP related to power savings of terminal devices in NR (such as power saving study item 3GPP RP-181463 and 3GPP TR 38.840). As part of the study, PDCCH monitoring skipping has been introduced (¶0045, Turtinen).
Re. Claim 2, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 1.
Lee further teaches the first control information further comprises common indication domain, and wherein the common indication domain comprises at least one of the following:
first indication information used to indicate duration of a channel occupancy time;
second indication information used to indicate Quasi-CoLocation (QCL), wherein the QCL is QCL used by the transmission node for obtaining a channel on a shared spectrum; or
third indication information used to indicate the target terminal devices having a request for transmission (Fig. 8 & ¶0094 - if the LTE LAA carrier is found to be free at process element 810, then at process element 820, the eNB proceeds to transmit an RTS signal to one or more target (destination) UEs (in this case to 1 to N UEs where N is an integer of 1 or more) via unlicensed spectrum of the carrier that it determined to be free. Thereafter, at process element 832, the eNB awaits receipt of a CTS signal in response to the RTS signal. Fig 8 & ¶0095 - …the eNB transmits scheduling and control information to establish the LTE LAA downlink connection with the particular UEs that responded to the RTS signal. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”).
Re. Claim 3, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 2.
Lee further teaches the third indication information comprises one of the following:
a list of identity information of the target terminal devices, wherein the identity information of the target terminal devices comprises Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTI) of the target terminal devices or identifiers of the target terminal devices in a terminal device group; or (Fig. 5-8 & ¶0065 - UE identifiers can be multiplexed in a form of C-RNTI (Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier) or bitmap. The C-RNTI is a UE identifier that is unique within a given cell. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “one of the following”);
a bitmap, wherein each bit in the bitmap is used to indicate whether a corresponding terminal device or a corresponding group of terminal devices is in the target terminal devices.
Re. Claim 5, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 1.
Lee further teaches after the obtaining first control information transmitted by a transmission node on the first physical control channel, the method further comprises:
obtaining RTS information corresponding to the first terminal from the first control information based on a first start location, wherein the first start location is a start location of the RTS information in the first control information (Fig. 6 & ¶0071 - FIG. 6A schematically illustrates an IEEE 802.11 RTS Frame 610 comprising: a 2 byte frame control field 612; a 2 bytes duration field 614; a 6 byte receiver (destination) address field 616; a 6 byte transmitter (destination) address field 618; and a 4 byte Cyclic Redundancy Check field 620. The receiver address 616 gives the recipient of the next frame and the transmitter address 618 gives the source of the RTS frame).
Re. Claim 6, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 5.
Lee further teaches the RTS information comprises at least one of the following:
first indication information used to indicate duration of a channel occupancy time;
second indication information used to indicate Quasi-CoLocation (QCL), wherein the QCL is QCL used by the transmission node for obtaining a channel on a shared spectrum;
fourth indication information used to indicate whether the first terminal needs to return the CTS;
resource indication information of the second physical control channel; (Fig. 6 & ¶0071 - FIG. 6A schematically illustrates an IEEE 802.11 RTS Frame 610 comprising: a 2 byte frame control field 612; a 2 bytes duration field 614; a 6 byte receiver (destination) address field 616; a 6 byte transmitter (destination) address field 618; and a 4 byte Cyclic Redundancy Check field 620. The duration filed 614 contains a value corresponding to a time in microseconds given by a total of the transmission duration of the next frame plus time for a CTS frame, an ACK frame and three SIFS (one each for: (i) RTS frame… Please also see ¶0069. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”);
monitoring indication information of a third physical control channel, wherein the third physical control channel is used to schedule data from the transmission node to the first terminal; or
sending indication information of the second physical control channel.
Re. Claim 7, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 1.
Lee further teaches the sending CTS information on a second physical control channel based on the RTS information comprises:
sending the CTS information corresponding to the RTS information on the second physical control channel when at least one of the following is confirmed to be satisfied:
that there is a request for transmission is determined based on the first control information; or that there is no interference is determined; (Fig. 5-9 & ¶0056 - Upon successful reception of LAA RTS, the UE (data destination) transmits LAA CTS to the eNB via unlicensed spectrum…);
wherein that there is no interference is determined comprises at least one of the following: the first control information is decoded successfully;
after one or more times of energy-detection-based channel sensing, a channel sensing result indicates that a channel is idle; or (Fig. 5-9 & ¶0056 - …but only if the unlicensed spectrum is idle and UE identifier or UE index is included in LAA RTS. Fig. 5-9 & ¶0097 - However, if the carrier is idle or has energy levels below a threshold then it sends a CTS signal to the eNB in response at process element 940. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “or”);
with interference estimation based on the first control information, that signal quality satisfies a pre-specified requirement is determined.
Re. Claim 8, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 1.
Lee further teaches after sending the CTS information on the second physical control channel, the method further comprises: monitoring the data scheduled by the third physical control channel; (Fig. 5-8 & ¶0057 - The eNB transmits downlink scheduling and control information on a (E)PDCCH connection 524 and data via a PDSCH 526, all via unlicensed spectrum to the UEs (i.e. UE1 and UEN in this example) who sent CTS. ¶0095 - Upon successful receipt of a CTS signal, at process element 840, the eNB transmits scheduling and control information to establish the LTE LAA downlink connection with the particular UEs that responded to the RTS signal).
Re. Claim 10, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 8.
Lee further teaches a time domain monitoring location of the third physical control channel is determined by using at least one of the following:
an absolute time domain monitoring location of a configured target search space, wherein the configured target search space is a search space in which the third physical control channel is located;
a relative time domain monitoring location of the configured target search space relative to the first physical control channel or the second physical control channel; or (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0102 - LAA CTS from the multiple UEs specified in the LAA RTS are multiplexed in the frequency and/or time domain, e.g. FDM, TDM, CDM or combination of these schemes. Fig. 5-7 & ¶0092 - Although the two CTS signals 732, 734 are transmitted from different UEs, the LAA control signaling provides that they are mapped onto the physical layer such that they are multiplexed 736 in the frequency and/or time domain using at least one of FDM, TDM and CDM. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”);
a relative time domain monitoring location of the configured target search space, indicated by the first physical control channel, relative to the first physical control channel or the second physical control channel.
Re. Claim 11, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 1.
Lee further teaches before the monitoring a first physical control channel, the method further comprises at least one of the following:
receiving the monitoring configuration information of the first physical control channel; or (Fig. 5-7, 10 & ¶0062 - The LAA RTS can include parameters such as UE identifiers, channel reservation duration, the interval time required between RTS and CTS and/or CTS and (E)PDCCH/Data, and transmit power and/or modulation for CTS. Fig. 5-7, 10 & ¶0065 - UE identifiers can be multiplexed in a form of C-RNTI (Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier) or bitmap. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”);
receiving configuration information of the second physical control channel.
Re. Claim 12, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 11.
Lee further teaches the monitoring configuration information comprises at least one of the following:
an RTS-specific Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTI); (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0065 - UE identifiers can be multiplexed in a form of C-RNTI (Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier) or bitmap. The C-RNTI is a UE identifier that is unique within a given cell. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”);
start locations of RTS information, in the first control information, of each target terminal device;
a size of the first control information;
a target search space, wherein the target search space corresponds to a format of the first control information; or
fifth indication information, wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate whether the target search space is only used for transmission on the first physical control channel.
Re. Claim 13, Lee teaches an information transmission method, performed by a transmission node, (Fig. 5-7) wherein the method comprises:
transmitting first control information at a monitoring location of a first physical control channel, wherein the first control information comprises Request To Send (RTS) information for a plurality of target terminal devices; (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0055 - When the unlicensed spectrum is idle or an energy level present over the unlicensed spectrum is below a threshold, the eNB transmits an LAA RTS signal 522. The RTS can be sent by unicast (serially where more than one UE is identified), by multicast or by broadcast);
receiving Clear To Send (CTS) information returned by at least one target terminal device from the plurality of target terminal devices on a second physical control channel; and (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0056 - Upon successful reception of LAA RTS, the UE (data destination) transmits LAA CTS to the eNB via unlicensed spectrum, but only if the unlicensed spectrum is idle and UE identifier or UE index is included in LAA RTS);
scheduling a third physical control channel in a search space corresponding to the at least one target terminal device for data transmission to the at least one target terminal device, (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0057 - The eNB transmits downlink scheduling and control information on a (E)PDCCH connection 524 and data via a PDSCH 526, all via unlicensed spectrum to the UEs (i.e. UE1 and UEN in this example) who sent CTS. Fig 5-7 & ¶0090 - The scheduling and control information can include identifiers of the scheduled UEs, modulation and coding schemes (MCS), resource allocation (e.g., PRB assignment), etc.).
and wherein the first physical control channel is monitored based on monitoring configuration information of the first physical control channel, (Fig. 5-7, 10 & ¶0061 - Where the LAA RTS is included in the LAA burst frame, it can be either stand-alone or part of LAA control message, e.g. the LAA preamble 308. The stand-alone LAA RTS within the LAA burst frame 300 can be transmitted before or after the channel reservation message 306 and/or LAA control messages, e.g. LAA preamble 306 or (E)PDCCH 312 containing downlink scheduling and control information of the scheduled UE(s) whose CTS is successfully received, but before data transmission. Please also see ¶0055 and ¶0062);
Yet, Lee does not explicitly teach wherein the first control information comprises User Equipment (UE)-specific indication domain that comprises at least one of the following: monitoring indication information of the third physical control channel comprising a search space identifier (lD) of the third physical control channel, wherein the third physical control channel is used to schedule data from the transmission node to the at least one target terminal device; or sending indication information of the second physical control channel comprising spatial information of the second physical control channel, and the monitoring of the first physical control channel is stopped within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured by the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information.
However, in the analogous art, Li explicitly teaches wherein the first control information comprises User Equipment (UE)-specific indication domain that comprises at least one of the following: (¶0163 - UE-specific physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission and may be composed by radio resource control (RRC), medium access control -control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI) … UE-specific physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission and may be composed by RRC, MAC-CE, or DCI);
monitoring indication information of the third physical control channel comprising a search space identifier (lD) of the third physical control channel, wherein the third physical control channel is used to schedule data from the transmission node to the at least one target terminal device;
or sending indication information of the second physical control channel comprising spatial information of the second physical control channel, (Fig. 13 & ¶0163 - In certain aspects, the BS 110 may transmit, to UE-2, an indication of quasi-colocation (QCL) information, the QCL information indicating first spatial relation information to use for transmissions via the one or more full-duplex interference resources and second spatial relation information to use for transmission via one or more half-duplex interference resources … For example, the indication of QCL information may be in accordance with first spatial relation information for a UE-specific physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission …);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Li to the teaching of Lee. The motivation would be because certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for signaling the interference RSs for quasi-colocation (QCL) information from the BS to the UEs (¶0076, Li).
Yet, Lee and Li do not explicitly teach and the monitoring of the first physical control channel is stopped within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured by the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information.
However, in the analogous art, Turtinen explicitly teaches and the monitoring of the first physical control channel is stopped within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured by the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information (Fig. 2 & ¶0047 - As shown, in a scheduling period 210, the second device 120 schedules the first device 110 continuously. If the second device 120 will not schedule the first device 110 for a while, at the end of the scheduling period 210, the second device 120 may transmit to the first device 110 a skipping command indicating the first device 110 to skip monitoring a DL control channel for a time period 220 … The skipping period 220 may be indicated explicitly in the skipping command from the second device or could be configured upfront by the second device, e.g. via RRC signaling. For example, the skipping period 220 may include the number of monitoring occasions or time duration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Turtinen to the teachings of Lee and Li. The motivation would be because there is an ongoing initiative of 3GPP related to power savings of terminal devices in NR (such as power saving study item 3GPP RP-181463 and 3GPP TR 38.840). As part of the study, PDCCH monitoring skipping has been introduced (¶0045, Turtinen).
Re. Claim 14, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 13.
Lee further teaches before the transmitting first control information, the method further comprises: performing Listen Before Talk (LBT) to determine whether a channel is idle (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0058/¶0059 - The eNB can perform CCA and/or ECCA to check the medium status. The minimum duration to perform CCA can be configured to follow the “Listen Before Talk” requirement if applicable, e.g. 20 microseconds. Listen Before Talk is one way of dealing with co-existence when implementing LTE-U).
Re. Claim 15, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 13.
Lee further teaches before the transmitting first control information, the method further comprises at least one of the following:
sending the monitoring configuration information of the first physical control channel to the at least one target terminal device; or (Fig. 5-7, 10 & ¶0062 - The LAA RTS can include parameters such as UE identifiers, channel reservation duration, the interval time required between RTS and CTS and/or CTS and (E)PDCCH/Data, and transmit power and/or modulation for CTS. Fig. 5-7, 10 & ¶0065 - UE identifiers can be multiplexed in a form of C-RNTI (Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier) or bitmap. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”);
sending configuration information of the second physical control channel to the at least one target terminal device.
Re. Claim 17, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 13.
Lee further teaches the second physical control channel comprises at least one of the following: a CTS Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or a CTS Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) (Fig. 5-7, 12-14 & ¶0092 - FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a signal flow for the downlink CTS/RTS spectrum reservation communication of FIG. 5. Please see CTS signals 732 and 734 transmitted from different UEs to the eNB 710. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”).
Re. Claim 18, Lee teaches a terminal device, comprising:
a memory storing computer-readable instructions (Fig. 15-18);
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the computer-readable instructions, wherein the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: (Fig. 15-18 & ¶0159 - Processors 1740 may be operable to carry out the above described methods, using suitable instructions or programs…The instructions may be stored in system memory 1710… or additionally or alternatively may be stored in (NVM)/storage 1730, as NVM instruction portion 1735. LTE LAA spectrum reservation module 1715 may include program instructions to cause reservation of unlicensed spectrum via exchange of RTS/CTS signals on an unlicensed carrier);
monitoring a first physical control channel based on monitoring configuration information of the first physical control channel (Fig. 5-7, 10 & ¶0061 - Where the LAA RTS is included in the LAA burst frame, it can be either stand-alone or part of LAA control message, e.g. the LAA preamble 308. The stand-alone LAA RTS within the LAA burst frame 300 can be transmitted before or after the channel reservation message 306 and/or LAA control messages, e.g. LAA preamble 306 or (E)PDCCH 312 containing downlink scheduling and control information of the scheduled UE(s) whose CTS is successfully received, but before data transmission. Please also see ¶0055 and ¶0062);
obtaining first control information transmitted by a transmission node on the first physical control channel, wherein the first control information comprises Request To Send (RTS) information for a plurality of target terminal devices, and the plurality of target terminal devices comprise the terminal device (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0055 - the eNB transmits an LAA RTS signal 522. …the RTS 522 includes identifiers for UE1, UE2 and UEN… via unlicensed spectrum to the UEs to which it has data to send. The RTS can be sent by unicast (serially where more than one UE is identified), by multicast or by broadcast. Please also see ¶0061-¶0062);
sending Clear To Send (CTS) information on a second physical control channel based on the RTS information (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0056 - Upon successful reception of LAA RTS, the UE (data destination) transmits LAA CTS to the eNB via unlicensed spectrum, but only if the unlicensed spectrum is idle and UE identifier or UE index is included in LAA RTS).
and wherein after sending the CTS information on the second physical control channel (Fig. 5-7 & ¶0066 - An interval time required for appropriate message spacing, e.g. between RTS and CTS and/or CTS and (E)PDCCH/Data, can be predefined in the specification… ¶0090 - The eNB sends the (E)PDCCH(s), via unlicensed band (or licensed band if cross carrier scheduling is used), containing downlink scheduling and control information of the UEs which send LAA CTS in response to LAA RTS. ¶0092 - However, both UE #1 712 and UE #N 718 establish locally that the relevant unlicensed spectrum is clear and they each return a respective CTS 732, 734. Please also see ¶0067);
Yet, Lee does not explicitly teach wherein the first control information comprises User Equipment (UE)-specific indication domain that comprises at least one of the following: monitoring indication information of a third physical control channel comprising a search space identifier (lD) of the third physical control channel, wherein the third physical control channel is used to schedule data from the transmission node to the terminal device: or sending indication information of the second physical control channel comprising spatial information of the second physical control channel, the operations further comprise: stopping monitoring the first physical control channel within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured be the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information.
However, in the analogous art, Li explicitly teaches wherein the first control information comprises User Equipment (UE)-specific indication domain that comprises at least one of the following: (¶0163 - UE-specific physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission and may be composed by radio resource control (RRC), medium access control -control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI) … UE-specific physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission and may be composed by RRC, MAC-CE, or DCI);
monitoring indication information of a third physical control channel comprising a search space identifier (lD) of the third physical control channel, wherein the third physical control channel is used to schedule data from the transmission node to the terminal device: or
sending indication information of the second physical control channel comprising spatial information of the second physical control channel, (Fig. 13 & ¶0163 - In certain aspects, the BS 110 may transmit, to UE-2, an indication of quasi-colocation (QCL) information, the QCL information indicating first spatial relation information to use for transmissions via the one or more full-duplex interference resources and second spatial relation information to use for transmission via one or more half-duplex interference resources … For example, the indication of QCL information may be in accordance with first spatial relation information for a UE-specific physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission …);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Li to the teaching of Lee. The motivation would be because certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for signaling the interference RSs for quasi-colocation (QCL) information from the BS to the UEs (¶0076, Li).
Yet, Lee and Li do not explicitly teach the operations further comprise: stopping monitoring the first physical control channel within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured be the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information.
However, in the analogous art, Turtinen teaches the operations further comprise: stopping monitoring the first physical control channel within a first time interval, wherein the first time interval is predefined, configured be the transmission node, or indicated by the first control information (Fig. 2 & ¶0047 - As shown, in a scheduling period 210, the second device 120 schedules the first device 110 continuously. If the second device 120 will not schedule the first device 110 for a while, at the end of the scheduling period 210, the second device 120 may transmit to the first device 110 a skipping command indicating the first device 110 to skip monitoring a DL control channel for a time period 220 … The skipping period 220 may be indicated explicitly in the skipping command from the second device or could be configured upfront by the second device, e.g. via RRC signaling. For example, the skipping period 220 may include the number of monitoring occasions or time duration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Turtinen to the teachings of Lee and Li. The motivation would be because there is an ongoing initiative of 3GPP related to power savings of terminal devices in NR (such as power saving study item 3GPP RP-181463 and 3GPP TR 38.840). As part of the study, PDCCH monitoring skipping has been introduced (¶0045, Turtinen).
Re. Claim 19, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 18.
Lee further teaches the first control information further comprises common indication domain, and wherein the common indication domain comprises at least one of the following:
first indication information used to indicate duration of a channel occupancy time;
second indication information used to indicate Quasi-CoLocation (QCL), wherein the QCL is QCL used by the transmission node for obtaining a channel on a shared spectrum; or
third indication information used to indicate the target terminal devices having a request for transmission; (Fig. 8 & ¶0094 - if the LTE LAA carrier is found to be free at process element 810, then at process element 820, the eNB proceeds to transmit an RTS signal to one or more target (destination) UEs (in this case to 1 to N UEs where N is an integer of 1 or more) via unlicensed spectrum of the carrier that it determined to be free. Thereafter, at process element 832, the eNB awaits receipt of a CTS signal in response to the RTS signal. Fig 8 & ¶0095 - …the eNB transmits scheduling and control information to establish the LTE LAA downlink connection with the particular UEs that responded to the RTS signal. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”).
Re. Claim 20, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 19.
Lee further teaches the third indication information comprises one of the following:
a list of identity information of the target terminal devices, wherein the identity information of the target terminal devices comprises Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTI) of the target terminal devices or identifiers of the target terminal devices in a terminal device group; or (Fig. 5-7, 10 & ¶0062 - The LAA RTS can include parameters such as UE identifiers, channel reservation duration, the interval time required between RTS and CTS and/or CTS and (E)PDCCH/Data, and transmit power and/or modulation for CTS. Fig. 5-7, 10 & ¶0065 - UE identifiers can be multiplexed in a form of C-RNTI (Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier) or bitmap. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “one of the following”);
a bitmap, wherein each bit in the bitmap is used to indicate whether a corresponding terminal device or a corresponding group of terminal devices is in the target terminal devices.
Re. Claim 21, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 13.
Lee further teaches a transmission node, comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein when the computer program is executed by the processor, the method according to claim 13 is implemented (Fig. 17 & ¶0167 - The system 1700 of FIG. 17… may alternatively be implemented in a picocell, femtocell or relay node… Fig. 17 & ¶0159 - LTE LAA spectrum reservation module 1715 may include program instructions to cause reservation of unlicensed spectrum via exchange of RTS/CTS signals on an unlicensed carrier, for example, enabling a one to many point connection to be established on LTE LAA via multiplexing of CTS signals and/or RTS signals from a plurality of UEs).
Claims 4 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Li and Turtinen, and further in view of You (US 2017/0202019), You hereinafter.
Re. Claim 4, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 2.
Yet, Lee and Li and Turtinen do not explicitly teach wherein the first physical control channel comprises at least one of the following: an RTS Group Common Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-GC-PDCCH); an RTS Common Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-C-PDCCH); or an RTS UE-Specific Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-UE-Specific PDCCH), wherein the common indication domain is carried on the RTS-GC-PDCCH or the RTS-C-PDCCH, or the UE-specific indication domain is carried on the RTS-UE-Specific PDCCH, or, both the common indication domain and the UE-Specific indication domain are carried on the RTS-GC-PDCCH or the RTS-C-PDCCH.
However, in the analogous art, You explicitly discloses wherein the first physical control channel comprises at least one of the following:
an RTS Group Common Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-GC-PDCCH);
an RTS Common Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-C-PDCCH); or
an RTS UE-Specific Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-UE-Specific PDCCH), (Fig. 5, 8 & ¶0114 - The PDCCH monitoring DL CC set may be configured to be UE-specific, UE group-specific, or cell-specific);
wherein the common indication domain is carried on the RTS-GC-PDCCH or the RTS-C-PDCCH, or the UE-specific indication domain is carried on the RTS-UE-Specific PDCCH (Fig. 5, 8 & ¶0111 - A UE may monitor or receive a control channel (PDCCH) and a data channel (PDSCH) of an activated cell in order to identify resources (which may be a frequency or time) assigned thereto. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”), or, both the common indication domain and the UE-Specific indication domain are carried on the RTS-GC-PDCCH or the RTS-C-PDCCH.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of You to the teachings of Lee and Li and Turtinen. The motivation would be because in a wireless communication system using both the licensed band and the unlicensed band, there are merits that the hidden node problem will be solved, by transmitting and receiving the data frame on the RTS and/or CTS frame in a stable and efficient manner (¶0022, You).
Re. Claim 16, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 13.
Yet, Lee and Li and Turtinen do not explicitly teach the first physical control channel comprises at least one of the following: an RTS Group Common Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-GC-PDCCH); an RTS Common Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-C-PDCCH); or an RTS UE-Specific Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-UE-Specific PDCCH).
However, in the analogous art, You explicitly discloses the first physical control channel comprises at least one of the following:
an RTS Group Common Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-GC-PDCCH);
an RTS Common Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-C-PDCCH); or
an RTS UE-Specific Physical Downlink Control Channel (RTS-UE-Specific PDCCH) (Fig. 5, 8 & ¶0114 - The PDCCH monitoring DL CC set may be configured to be UE-specific, UE group-specific, or cell-specific. Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of the following”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of You to the teachings of Lee and Li and Turtinen. The motivation would be because in a wireless communication system using both the licensed band and the unlicensed band, there are merits that the hidden node problem will be solved, by transmitting and receiving the data frame on the RTS and/or CTS frame in a stable and efficient manner (¶0022, You).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Li and Turtinen, and further in view of Ozturk et al. (US 2020/0344718), Ozturk hereinafter.
Re. Claim 9, Lee and Li and Turtinen teach Claim 8.
Yet, Lee and Li and Turtinen do not explicitly teach stopping monitoring the third physical control channel outside the duration of the channel occupancy time indicated by the first control information.
However, in the analogous art, Ozturk explicitly discloses stopping monitoring the third physical control channel outside the duration of the channel occupancy time indicated by the first control information (Fig. 5, 14 & ¶0047 - a UE may determine that a base station has gained access to the wireless channel by detecting a channel occupancy time (COT) for the base station, and may determine when to stop monitoring for paging information based on the COT. Fig. 5, 14 & ¶0048 - For instance, a UE in connected mode may detect a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) during or after a first PO. The UE may determine, based on the C-RNTI that the base station has gained access to the wireless channel, and may stop monitoring subsequent POs based on the determination. Fig. 5, 14 & ¶0085 - In some examples of a licensed or unlicensed wireless channel, the UE 115 may receive an explicit indication that paging is over and may determine a time to stop monitoring the wireless channel based on the explicit indication. The UE 115 may ignore a remainder of the plurality of POs based on the determined time to stop monitoring the wireless channel).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Ozturk to the teachings of Lee and Li and Turtinen. The motivation would be because the UE may inefficiently expend power to monitor multiple POs or extended POs, therefore system efficiency may be further improved by configuring the base station to send pending paging information in earlier POs such that a UE may efficiently determine when to stop monitoring for paging information instead of continuing to monitor indefinitely across multiple POs or extended POs (Ozturk, ¶0046).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Murayama et al. (US 2021/0029552) – Please see Abstract, ¶0032-¶0037 and Fig. 1-16.
Xie et al. (US 2016/0037502) – Please see Abstract, ¶0001-¶0093 and Fig. 1-5.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALYSSA WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7673. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8-5pm. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached on (571) 270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALYSSA WILLIAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2465B
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465