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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 December 09, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on December 09, 2025 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, claims 1, 6, 11 have been amended. Claims 2, 7 and 12 have been canceled.
Claims 1, 4-6, 9-11, and 14-15 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on December 09, 2025 regarding claim 1 has been fully considered but the arguments are essentially directed towards the newly introduced limitations and they are addressed in this Office Action, below.
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 1, 6, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WONG et al. (US 20250080301 A1), hereinafter Wong, in view of Takeda et al. (WO 2019159244 A1), hereinafter Takeda, and further in view of JI et al. (US 20230023719 A1), hereinafter Ji.
Regarding Claim 1, Wong discloses A method (¶0046 discloses method for handling HARQ feedback) by a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 3, UE 14), the method comprising:
receiving, in a slot n, downlink control information (DCI) for indicating retransmission of a first hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook scheduled to be transmitted in a slot m; (Wong in Fig. 15 discloses receiving DCI #6 triggering an e-Type 3 CB (in sub-slot m+8) indicates that the cancelled HARQ-ACKs are to be transmitted (retransmission for the first HARQ-ACK for each of PDSCH #1, PDSCH #2 and PDSCH #3 that were cancelled) in PUCCH #3 as represented by arrow 1522 (in sub-slot m+9/slot n+4). [Fig. 15, ¶0164])
determining a slot n+k for retransmission of the first HARQ-ACK codebook based on the DCI; (Wong discloses the cancelled HARQ-ACKs (first codebook) are to be transmitted in PUCCH #3 as represented by arrow 1522 based on the DCI #6, with a time offset (indicates n+k) from the received DCI. [Fig. 15, ¶0164].)
determining a second HARQ-ACK codebook, including the first HARQ-ACK codebook, to be transmitted in the slot n+k; and . (Wong in Fig. 15 discloses receiving DCI #5 (in sub-slot m+7) indicates that HARQ-ACK for PDSCH #5 (initial/non-cancelled HARQ-Ack) is to be carried by HP PUCCH #3 as represented by arrow 1520 (in sub-slot m+9/slot n+4). [Fig. 15, ¶0163]. 1524 in Fig. 15 discloses the HARQ-ACK codebooks (CB.sub.3 over CB.sub.1, CB.sub.2 and CB.sub.3) includes both cancelled (first) and non-cancelled (second) HARQ-ACKs. [¶0159, 0164], in the same (n+k) slot.
Though Wong teaches cancelled HARQ-ACKs being retransmitted (para. [0164]) and overlapping of PUCCHs in slot n+k (see Fig. 15) where one PUCCH is dropped, Wong does not explicitly disclose:
based on a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with the second HARQ-ACK codebook overlapping in time with a second PUCCH with an other uplink control information (UCI) in the slot n+k,
dropping transmission of the second PUCCH and performing transmission of the first PUCCH in the slot n+k,
Takeda, however, discloses:
based on a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with the second HARQ-ACK codebook overlapping in time with a second PUCCH with an other uplink control information (UCI) in the slot n+k, (Takeda discloses when the transmission timing of the ACK for the MAC CE and the transmission timing of the SP-CSI report overlap
(collision), the UE performs transmission based on at least one of the following assumptions (1) to (3) [pg. 4])
dropping transmission of the second PUCCH and performing transmission of the first PUCCH in the slot n+k, (Takeda if simultaneous transmission of CSI report and HARQ-ACK is disabled (disabled or not configured (Not configured)), the SP-CSI report is dropped. In this case, the PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK is used for ACK transmission to the MAC CE [pg. 4, 3rd para from the bottom]. This indicates when a single occasion of HARQ-ACK (e.g. retransmission) overlaps with the repetition UCI, the single occasion of HARQ-ACK is transmitted and the repetition UCI is dropped).
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 methods of Wong with transmitting HARQ-Ack overlap with CSI as taught by Takeda. Doing so allows high data rate, low delay, etc. (Takeda, pg. 1)
Although Wong teaches PUCCH #2 collides with PUCCH #1 in sub-slot m+7 and PUCCH #1 is dropped since PUCCH #1 has a lower L1 priority than PUCCH #2 and also teaches a retransmission PUCCH #3 (Fig. 15, ¶0164), but Wong, and Takeda are silent on repetition HARQ-Ack in other UCI when overlapped with retransmitted HARQ-Ack:
wherein the second PUCCH is a PUCCH with repetitions and a transmission of the PUCCH with the repetitions starts in a slot earlier than the slot n+k.
Ji, however, discloses:
wherein the second PUCCH is a PUCCH with repetitions and a transmission of the PUCCH with the repetitions starts in a slot earlier than the slot n+k. (Ji discloses a case in which PUCCH #1 is repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as indicated by reference numerals 10-50 and 10-51 (starting in earlier slot#n-2))
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 methods of Wong, and Takeda with the feature that includes PUCCH repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as taught by Ji in order to support service which satisfies various requirements considered for ultra reliability low latency communication. (Ji ¶0057)
Regarding Claims 6, Wong discloses A user equipment (UE) (UE 14 (FIG. 3)) comprising: at least one transceiver (transmitter 49, receiver 48 (FIG. 3)); at least one processor (controller 44 (FIG. 3)); and at least one computer memory (memory ([0040])) operably connectable to the at least one processor and configured to store instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations. The operations do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim 1. Therefore, claims 6 is also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim 1.
Regarding Claim 11, Wong discloses A base station (BS) (TRP 10 (Fig 3)) comprising:
at least one transceiver; (a wireless transmitter 30, a wireless receiver 32 (Fig. 3))
at least one processor; and (controllers 34, as a microprocessor (Fig. 3, ¶0040))
at least one computer memory operably connected to the at least one processor and configured to store instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: (controllers 34, may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc., configured to carry out instructions which are stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-volatile memory. (Fig. 3, ¶0040))
transmitting, in a slot n, downlink control information (DCI) for indicating retransmission of a first hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook scheduled to be transmitted in a slot m; (Wong in Fig. 15 discloses gNB sends DCI #6 triggering an e-Type 3 CB (in sub-slot m+8) indicates that the cancelled HARQ-ACKs are to be transmitted (retransmission for the first HARQ-ACK for each of PDSCH #1, PDSCH #2 and PDSCH #3 that were cancelled) in PUCCH #3 as represented by arrow 1522 (in sub-slot m+9/slot n+4). [Fig. 15, ¶0164])
determining a slot n+k for retransmission of the first HARQ-ACK codebook based on the DCI; and (Wong discloses the cancelled HARQ-ACKs (first codebook) are to be transmitted in PUCCH #3 as represented by arrow 1522 based on the DCI #6, with a time offset (indicates n+k) from the received DCI. [Fig. 15, ¶0164].)
Though Wong teaches cancelled HARQ-ACKs being retransmitted (para. [0164]) and overlapping of PUCCHs in slot n+k (see Fig. 15) where one PUCCH is dropped, Wong does not explicitly disclose:
based on a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a second HARQ-ACK codebook including the first HARQ-ACK codebook overlapping in time with a second PUCCH with an other uplink control information (UCI) in the slot n+k, dropping reception of the second PUCCH and receiving the first PUCCH from a user equipment (UE) in the slot n+k
Takeda, however, discloses:
based on a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a second HARQ-ACK codebook including the first HARQ-ACK codebook overlapping in time with a second PUCCH with an other uplink control information (UCI) in the slot n+k, (Takeda When the transmission timing of the ACK for the MAC CE and the transmission timing of the SP-CSI report overlap (collision) in the user terminal, the gNB receives the reception based on at least one of the following assumptions (1) to (3): You may control [pg. 4]).
dropping reception of the second PUCCH and receiving the first PUCCH from a user equipment (UE) in the slot n+k (Takeda When the transmission timing of the ACK for the MAC CE and the transmission timing of the SP-CSI report overlap (collision) in the user terminal, the gNB receives the reception based on: (3) When the simultaneous transmission of CSI report and HARQ-ACK is set to disabled for the user terminal, the SP-CSI report is dropped. pgs. 4 last two para., 5 first three para.)
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 methods of Wong with transmitting HARQ-Ack overlap with CSI as taught by Takeda. Doing so allows high data rate, low delay, etc. (Takeda, pg. 1)
Although Wong teaches PUCCH #2 collides with PUCCH #1 in sub-slot m+7 and PUCCH #1 is dropped since PUCCH #1 has a lower L1 priority than PUCCH #2 and also teaches a retransmission PUCCH #3 (Fig. 15, ¶0164), but Wong, and Takeda are silent on repetition HARQ-Ack in other UCI when overlapped with retransmitted HARQ-Ack:
wherein the second PUCCH is a PUCCH with repetitions and a transmission of the PUCCH with the repetitions starts in a slot earlier than the slot n+k.
Ji, however, discloses:
wherein the second PUCCH is a PUCCH with repetitions and a transmission of the PUCCH with the repetitions starts in a slot earlier than the slot n+k. (Ji discloses a case in which PUCCH #1 is repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as indicated by reference numerals 10-50 and 10-51 (starting in earlier slot#n-2) and PUCCH #2 is also repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as indicated by reference numerals 10-60 and 10-61 corresponds to the case in which PUCCH #1 and PUCCH #2 overlap by one or more symbols in one slot 10-70 (slot#n-1), indicating the overlapping slot n+k in the claim. [Fig. 10, ¶0241]))
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 methods of Wong, and Takeda with the feature that includes PUCCH repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as taught by Ji in order to support service which satisfies various requirements considered for ultra reliability low latency communication. (Ji ¶0057)
Claims 4, 5, 9, 10, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WONG et al. (US 20250080301 A1), hereinafter Wong, in view of Takeda et al. (WO 2019159244 A1), hereinafter Takeda, in view of JI et al. (US 20230023719 A1), hereinafter Ji, and further in view of Yang et al. (US20220329362A1), hereinafter Yang.
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Wong, Takeda, and Ji disclose all of the limitations of claim 1. The combination of Wong, Takeda, and Ji do not specifically disclose the “deferred” in:
wherein the second HARQ-ACK codebook includes first HARQ-ACK information of which transmission is deferred to the slot n+k from an earlier slot than the slot n+k.
Yang, however, discloses:
wherein the second HARQ-ACK codebook includes first HARQ-ACK information of which transmission is deferred to the slot n+k from an earlier slot than the slot n+k. (Yang discloses in Fig. 5A that the UE 115 may determine to perform the deferral procedure before the HARQ-ACK codebook generation. In the Fig. 5A, 310a (PUCCH for HARQ-ACK codebook) is deferred from original slot 3 (indicates earlier than n+k) to later slot 4 (to slot n+k). After performing the deferral procedure, UE 115 may perform the HARQ-ACK codebook generation procedure. UE 115 may multiplex the HARQ feedback for both first PDSCH 360 and second PDSCH 361 in a same HARQ-ACK codebook to be used in the PUCCH to be repeated in slot 4, indicates including the deferred HARQ-Ack. [Fig. 5A, ¶0089, 0090]
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 methods of Wong, Takeda, and Ji with supporting transmissions repetition, deferral and retransmission relating to PUCCH transmission procedure as taught by Yang. Doing so enables increasing reliability of communications. (Yang ¶0061)
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Wong, Takeda, Ji, and Yang discloses all of the limitations of claim 4. Ji further discloses:
wherein, based on the UE intending to transmit, in the slot m, a third PUCCH with second HARQ-ACK information of a first priority scheduled to be transmitted over more slots than one slot (Ji discloses PUCCH #2 for HARQ-ACK is repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as indicated by reference numerals 10-31 and 10-41 [Fig. 10, Case 2-1. ¶0239]. Ji discloses the UCI priorities are HARQ-ACK >SR >CSI sequentially from the highest order. [¶0242].)
a fourth PUCCH with third HARQ-ACK information of a same priority as the first priority, HARQ-ACK information for a PUCCH that starts transmission in an earlier slot among the third PUCCH and (Ji discloses PUCCH #1 for HARQ-ACK is repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as indicated by reference numerals 10-30 and 10-40, and it started earlier than the PUCCH #2. [Fig. 10, case 2-1. ¶0239]. Case 2-2 shows the PUCC #1 starting slot can be in earlier slot (see 10-50 and 10-60). [See ¶0241] This PUCC #1 is also same priority as the UCI priorities are HARQ-ACK >SR >CSI sequentially from the highest order. [¶0242].)
the fourth PUCCH is included in the first HARQ-ACK codebook. (Ji discloses HARQ-ACK information corresponding to PDSCH #1 and PDSCH #2 are multiplexed and transmitted to the corresponding PUCCH through an HARQ-ACK codebook. [Fig. 10, ¶0239])
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 methods of Wong, Takeda, and Yang with the feature that includes PUCCH repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as taught by Ji in order to support service which satisfies various requirements considered for ultra reliability low latency communication. (Ji ¶0057)
Regarding Claim 9, Claim 9 is directed to apparatus claims (disclosed in claim 6) and it does not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claims 4. Therefore, claims 9 is also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim 4.
Regarding Claim 10, Claim 10 is directed to apparatus claims (disclosed in claim 6) and it does not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claims 5. Therefore, claims 10 is also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim 5.
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Wong, Takeda, and Ji discloses all of the limitations of claim 11. The combination of Wong, Takeda, and Ji do not specifically disclose the “deferred” in:
wherein the second HARQ-ACK codebook includes first HARQ-ACK information of which transmission is deferred to the slot n+k from an earlier slot than the slot n+k.
Yang, however, discloses:
wherein the second HARQ-ACK codebook includes first HARQ-ACK information of which transmission is deferred to the slot n+k from an earlier slot than the slot n+k. (Yang discloses in Fig. 5A that the UE 115 may determine to perform the deferral procedure before the HARQ-ACK codebook generation. In the Fig. 5A, 310a (PUCCH for HARQ-ACK codebook) is deferred from original slot 3 (indicates earlier than n+k) to later slot 4 (to slot n+k). After performing the deferral procedure, UE 115 may perform the HARQ-ACK codebook generation procedure. UE 115 may multiplex the HARQ feedback for both first PDSCH 360 and second PDSCH 361 in a same HARQ-ACK codebook to be used in the PUCCH to be repeated in slot 4 (indicates including the deferred HARQ-Ack) for reception at base station 105. [Fig. 5A, ¶0089, 0090]
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 methods of Wong, Takeda, and Ji with supporting transmissions repetition, deferral and retransmission relating to PUCCH transmission procedure as taught by Yang. Doing so enables increasing reliability of communications. (Yang ¶0061)
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Wong, Takeda, Ji, and Yang discloses all of the limitations of claim 14. Ji further discloses:
wherein, based on a third PUCCH with second HARQ-ACK information of a first priority scheduled to be transmitted over more slots than one slot overlapping with a fourth PUCCH with third HARQ-ACK information of a same priority as the first priority in the slot m, (Ji discloses PUCCH #2 for HARQ-ACK is repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as indicated by reference numerals 10-31 and 10-41 [Fig. 10, Case 2-1. ¶0239]. Ji discloses the UCI priorities are HARQ-ACK >SR >CSI sequentially from the highest order. [¶0242]. Ji discloses PUCCH #1 for HARQ-ACK is repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as indicated by reference numerals 10-30 and 10-40, and it started earlier than the PUCCH #2. [Fig. 10, case 2-1. ¶0239]. Case 2-2 shows the PUCC #1 starting slot can be in earlier slot (see 10-50 and 10-60). [See ¶0241] This PUCC #1 is also same priority as the UCI priorities are HARQ-ACK >SR >CSI sequentially from the highest order. [¶0242])
HARQ-ACK information for a PUCCH that starts transmission in an earlier slot among the third PUCCH and the fourth PUCCH is included in the first HARQ-ACK codebook. (Ji discloses HARQ-ACK information corresponding to PDSCH #1 (starts in earlier slot) and PDSCH #2 are multiplexed and transmitted to the corresponding PUCCH through an HARQ-ACK codebook. [Fig. 10, ¶0239])
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 methods of Wong, Takeda, and Yang with the feature that includes PUCCH repeatedly transmitted over a plurality of slots as taught by Ji in order to support service which satisfies various requirements considered for ultra reliability low latency communication. (Ji ¶0057)
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.
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/M.N.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417