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 .
Response to Amendment/Remarks
This communication is considered fully responsive to the amendment filed on 01/26/2026.
Claims 1-2, 5-22 are pending and are examined in this office action.
Claims 1-6, 8-11, 16-20, , have been amended.
No New claim has been added and claims 3-4 have been canceled previously .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 01/26/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) under 35 USC § 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of KANG et al. (US 20230052430 A1hereinafter as “KANG).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 1-2, 5-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHANG et al. (US 20190174438 A1; hereinafter as “ZHANG”) in view of KANG et al. (US 20230052430 A1hereinafter as “KANG”, which has a priority dated March 6, 2020).
Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to ZHANG unless otherwise mentioned.
Regarding claim 1, ZHANG teaches, a downlink reception triggering method (see fig. 2, 4, 5 ), performed by a termina (UE: [0068],
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wherein the method (Fig. 2, Fig. 4) comprises:
sending a first uplink signal, wherein the first uplink signal is used to trigger a first downlink reception, an association relationship between the first uplink signal and the first downlink reception comprises a first association relationship, and the first association relationship is an association relationship between the first uplink signal and the first downlink reception in frequency domain (see fig. 2, steps 201, UE sends uplink (UL) signal to trigger DL signals that are then transmitted by the BS to the UE in the time-frequency resource that are “associated” to the UL time-frequency resource as indicated by the UE. UE trigger UL signal trigger to start DL reception, also fig. 2 element 201, 202, fig, 4. Steps 403-405; “ Step 201: A base station receives at least one first uplink trigger signal in a first time-frequency resource group in a first radio frame. A form of the trigger signal is similar to a form of a PRACH signal in LTE.”: [0051]; “ ” Step 202: The base station determines, based on a time-frequency resource of the at least one first uplink trigger signal, a time-frequency resource used for sending first system information, where a start location of the time-frequency resource of the first system information in time domain has a first time offset relative to a frame header location of a radio frame in which the first system information is located: [0055]; [0050]-[0056]; “If the second indication information received by the user equipment includes the trigger signal sequence information, that the user equipment generates an uplink trigger signal based on the trigger signal resource of the serving cell includes obtaining, by the user equipment, a trigger signal sequence based on the second indication information, and generating, by the user equipment, the uplink trigger signal based on the trigger signal sequence. The trigger signal sequence information includes a sequence used for generating the trigger signal, and further includes information such as a basic parameter or an instruction of the sequence used for generating the trigger signal.
[0078] Further, before the user equipment sends the generated trigger signal to the base station in step 403, the user equipment further needs to determine whether to send the uplink trigger signal. A specific process is as follows.
[0079] The user equipment detects, on a start location of a subframe in which the determined time-frequency resource of the uplink trigger signal is located, whether there is first indication information. If a sending instruction for sending the trigger signal is detected, the user equipment sends the uplink trigger signal on a determined time-frequency resource location of the trigger signal. If no first indication information for sending the trigger signal is detected, the user equipment does not send the trigger signal. The first indication information may include downlink control indication information and indication information that is used to indicate a current subframe type. Before sending the uplink trigger signal, the user equipment determines whether the base station can receive the uplink trigger signal and send system information. ….”: also [0075]-[0082].
While ZHANG teaches, “ the first association relationship is an association relationship between the first uplink signal and the first downlink reception in frequency domain” ;
ZHANG does not expressively disclose:
wherein the first uplink signal comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used to trigger M first downlink receptions in N downlink receptions,
the N downlink receptions are configured by a network side device
or stipulated by a protocol, and both N and M are integers greater than 1;
after the first uplink signal is sent, receiving first Downlink Control Information (DCI); and
using the first DCI to trigger K first downlink receptions in the M first downlink receptions that are triggered by the first indication information, wherein K is an integer greater than 1.
KANG, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
wherein the first uplink signal comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used to trigger M first downlink receptions in N downlink receptions (see fig. 15 where UE sends Information related to BEAM SWITCHING TIME (==first up link signal in claim ) to eNB/ Network device: “in S1510, a terminal may report beam switching time related information to a base station.” Aforesaid “beam switching time may include time required for processing of a terminal from an occasion that a terminal receives DCI until performing downlink signal reception or uplink signal transmission scheduled or triggered by the DCI.”: : [0321]-[0324], see fig. 12 where Total receptions is Reception “ON” (==M in claim ) and Reception “OFF” combined, so “ON” Plus “OFF” is “N” value and “ON” in “M” value ONLY: Reception trigger to Base Station with Reception is “ON” only. : [0116]; Terminal sends BeamSwitchTiming (BST) to base station “BST may be reported to a base station by being selected among {14, 28, 48, 224, 336} symbols. (==M )”: [0306]-[0308]; “N” value is total Reception “ON” and “OFF” together ),
the N downlink receptions are configured by a network side device ( Both Reception “ON” and Reception “OFF” are configured by base station /network side : “ DCI (downlink control signal ) may include triggering/scheduling related information on a downlink signal/channel such as aperiodic CSI-RS triggering, PDSCH scheduling, etc. and may include triggering/scheduling related information on an uplink signal/channel such as aperiodic SRS transmission, PUSCH scheduling, etc.
In S1530, a terminal may perform downlink signal/channel reception or uplink signal/channel transmission corresponding to the DCI by using a spatial parameter set based on a predetermined threshold and beam switching time.”: [0326]-[0327] );
or stipulated by a protocol, and both N and M are integers greater than 1 (NOTE: This is an “OR” function and does not need to be addressed, although this reference has this feature);
after the first uplink signal is sent, receiving first Downlink Control Information (DCI) (DCI after UE reports to base station BEAM SWITCHING TIME as shown in fig. 15 element S1520 “In S1520, a terminal may receive downlink control information (DCI) from a base station.” : [325]); and
using the first DCI to trigger K first downlink receptions in the M first downlink receptions that are triggered by the first indication information, wherein K is an integer greater than 1 (see fig. 15 element S1530, “ In S1530, a terminal may perform downlink signal/channel reception or uplink signal/channel transmission corresponding to the DCI by using a spatial parameter (==K value ) set based on a predetermined threshold and beam switching time.”: [0327]-[0331]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of ZHANG to include the above recited limitations as taught by KANG. The suggestion/motivation would be to improve d mobile broadband communication compared to the existing radio access technology (RAT): (KANG; [0077]).
Regarding claim 2, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 1, further comprising: triggering, according to at least one of a frequency range of the first uplink signal, a type of the first uplink signal, a logical channel on which the first uplink signal is located, and a service priority of the first uplink signal, the first downlink reception associated with the first uplink signal (fig. 2, fig. 4, fig. 5: frequency resource group : [0051]-[0052]).
Regarding claim 5, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 1, wherein the first indication information comprises at least one of an identifier of the first downlink reception or a frequency domain configuration parameter of the first downlink reception (see fig. 2, 4, fig. 5: ;[0050]-[0083]).
Regarding claim 6, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 5 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 5, wherein the frequency domain configuration parameter of the first downlink reception comprises at least one of the following: a frequency domain location of the first downlink reception; a first timer of the first downlink reception, wherein a BandWidth Part (BWP) in which the first downlink reception is located remains unchanged during running of the first timer;a carrier; a BWP; a COntrol REsource SET (CORESET); a search space group; a search space; a parameter set; a bandwidth of BWP; a Virtual Resource Block (VRB) to Physical Resource Block (PRB) resource mapping manner; a bundle size of PRB; a frequency domain resource allocation type; the number of transmit antennas or transmit channels; the number of downlink Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) layers; simultaneously activated downlink component carriers; a maximum supported downlink transmission rate;
a quasi-co-located type D of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH); an antenna port of the PDCCH; an antenna port of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH); Multiple Transmission and Reception Point (MTRP) transmission; or a size of Precoding Resource block Group (PRG) ([0084]) .
Regarding claim 7, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 6 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 6, wherein the frequency domain location of the first downlink reception is indicated by a bitmap; or the frequency domain location of the first downlink reception is indicated by a frequency domain start location and a frequency domain duration length (see fig. 3: “Specifically, a process in which the base station determines, based on the trigger signal received in the first time-frequency resource group, the time-frequency resource group used for sending the system information is as follows. As shown in FIG. 3, the first time-frequency resource group includes subframes 0 to 3, and the base station receives the at least one uplink trigger signal in the first time-frequency resource group, and if a start location of a time-frequency resource corresponding to the at least one uplink trigger signal in time domain is in subframe 2, the base station determines that the time-frequency resource group used for sending the system information is the time-frequency resource group including subframes 4 to 8. In other words, a time offset between the subframe of the start location and a last subframe in the time-frequency resource group determined by the base station for sending the system information is a fixed time offset. In this embodiment, the time offset is six subframes. ”: [0058]-[0059]).
Regarding claim 8, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 6 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 6, wherein the first timer starts after a Random Access Channel (RACH) process ends; or the first timer starts after the terminal receives an acknowledgment message of the network side device ( “If no system information is detected by the user equipment on the time-frequency resource location, the user equipment repeatedly performs step 403, to continue to send the uplink trigger signal on a subsequent time-frequency resource of the trigger signal, or the user equipment starts a timer, and repeats step 403 after the timer expires. ”:[0084]).
Regarding claim 9, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 6 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 6, further comprising: when the terminal sends a second uplink signal during running of the first timer of the first downlink reception, and the second uplink signal is used to trigger a second downlink reception, starting or restarting the first timer after sending the second uplink signal; or when the terminal receives a first message sent by the network side device, starting or restarting the first timer, wherein the first message comprises a BWP switching instruction ([0084]-[0090]).
Regarding claim 10, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 6 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 6, further comprising at least one of the following: when the terminal triggers a third downlink reception by using a third uplink signal, stopping the first timer after the third downlink reception takes effect; or when a second message sent by the network side device is received, and the second message is used to instruct to stop the first timer, stopping the first timer ([0084]-[0090]).
Regarding claim 11, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 6 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 6, wherein when the first timer times out, the method further comprises: switching the BWP in which the first downlink reception is located to a first BWP; or deactivating the BWP in which the first downlink reception is located ([0084]-[0090]).
Regarding claim 12, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 1, further comprising: switching a BandWidth Part (BWP) in which the first uplink signal is located to an uplink BWP corresponding to the BWP to which the first downlink reception is switched ([0084]-[0090]).
Regarding claim 13, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 12 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 12, further comprising: sending second indication information to a network side device on the BWP to which the first uplink signal is switched, wherein the second indication information is used to indicate that switching occurs in the uplink BWP ([0084]-[0090]).
Regarding claim 14, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 1, wherein the association relationship further comprises a second association relationship, and the second association relationship is an association relationship between the first uplink signal and the first downlink reception in time domain (see fig. 2, fig. 3, fig. 4: “As shown in FIG. 3, the base station receives, on a time-frequency resource of subframe 2, an uplink trigger signal sent by user equipment, and determines, based on a time-frequency resource of the trigger signal on a user equipment side, a time-frequency resource group including subframe 4 to subframe 8, that is, the candidate time-frequency resource group of the first system information, to send the system information. A radio frame on a base station side includes 10 subframes subframes 0 to 9. The base station determines, based on a quantity of resource locations on which the trigger signal is received in the first time-frequency resource group and/or based on a subframe type of a time-frequency resource group used for sending the trigger signal, a time-frequency resource used for sending the system information in the time-frequency resource group. ”:[0057]).
Regarding claim 15, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a third message sent by a network side device, wherein the third message is used to instruct the terminal to stop receiving at least one downlink reception in the first downlink reception (see fig. 5: S514: “ S514. The user equipment sends the uplink trigger signal again based on the changed initial format or the increased transmit power, to ensure that the base station can receive the uplink trigger signal and send the system information. ”:[0103]-[0109]).
Regarding claim 16, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 1, when the terminal sends a second uplink signal within duration of the first downlink reception, and the second uplink signal is used to trigger a second downlink reception, the method further comprises: concurrently performing the first downlink reception and the second downlink reception; or performing only the second downlink reception (see fig. 2-5).
Regarding claim 17, ZHANG in view of KANG teaches the invention of claim 16 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method according to claim 16, wherein when that the first downlink reception and the second downlink reception are concurrently performed, in a case that one or more resource conflicts occur on the first downlink reception and the second downlink reception, the method further comprises: performing the second downlink reception on a conflicted resource, and abandoning the first downlink reception; or performing the first downlink reception on a conflicted resource, and abandoning the second downlink reception; or on a conflicted resource, determining a to-be-performed downlink reception from the first downlink reception and the second downlink reception according to at least one of types of the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal, logical channels on which the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal are located, and service priorities of the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal (see fig. 2-5).
Regarding claim 18, ZHANG teaches A downlink reception triggering method, performed by a network side device, wherein the method comprises:
receiving a first uplink signal sent by a terminal, wherein the first uplink signal is used to trigger a first downlink reception, an association relationship between the first uplink signal and the first downlink reception comprises a first association relationship, and the first association relationship is an association relationship between the first uplink signal and the first downlink reception in frequency domain (see fig. 2, steps 201, UE sends UL signal to trigger DL signals that are then transmitted by the BS to the UE in the time-freqency resource that are “associated” to the UL time-frequency resource as indicated by the UE. UE trigger UL signal trigger to start DL reception, also fi4. Steps 403-405; “ Step 201: A base station receives at least one first uplink trigger signal in a first time-frequency resource group in a first radio frame. A form of the trigger signal is similar to a form of a PRACH signal in LTE.”: [0051]; “ ” Step 202: The base station determines, based on a time-frequency resource of the at least one first uplink trigger signal, a time-frequency resource used for sending first system information, where a start location of the time-frequency resource of the first system information in time domain has a first time offset relative to a frame header location of a radio frame in which the first system information is located: [0055]; [0050]-[0056]; also [0075]-[0082]; and
wherein the first uplink signal comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used to trigger M first downlink receptions in N downlink receptions, the N downlink receptions are configured by a network side device or stipulated by a protocol, and both N and M are integers greater than 1 and
after the first uplink signal is received, sending first Downlink Control Information (DCI), wherein the first DCI is used to trigger K first downlink receptions in the M first downlink receptions that are triggered by the first indication information, wherein K is an integer greater than 1. (Regarding claim 18, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 1).
Regarding claim 19, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 20, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 21, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 5.
Regarding claim 22, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 6.
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 M MOSTAZIR RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4785. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00pm PST.
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/M Mostazir Rahman/Examiner, Art Unit 2411
/DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411