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 .
This office action is in response to remarks filed 04/14/2026.
Claims 1, 5-16, and 20-24 are pending. Claims 1 and 13-16 have been amended. No claims were added or cancelled.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/14/2026 has been entered.
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 (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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 5, 7, 9-16, and 20, 22, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable by Alvarino et al. (US 20210028890 A1, hereinafter “Alvarino”), in view of Stare et al. (US 20230019024 A1, hereinafter “Stare”).
RE Claim 14, 1, Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
A wireless communication device (¶0067, Fig. 2), comprising:
at least one processor (¶0067, Fig.2) configured to:
receive, via the receiver from the network (¶0070, Fig. 2), a first TB via unicast (Third mode corresponds to an initial unicast transmission and multicast transmission. ¶0035; UE stores whether the transport block, TB, corresponds to a unicast or multicast transmission. ¶0049);
receive, via the receiver from the network (¶0070, Fig. 2), the indication information indicating that the first TB received via the unicast is same as a second TB transmitted by the network via multicast (Network transmits multicast data to UE. UE received only a portion of the multicast data. UE transmits NACK on the multicast channel. Network transmits the portion of the multicast data not received by the UE on a unicast channel, not a multicast channel, according to the HARQ process in response to the NACK. ¶0120, Fig. 7; The grant received by the UE is associated with a C-RNTI indicating a HARQ process identifier for unicast data including the HARQ process wherein the HARQ process identifier for unicast data is associated with at least one HARQ process for multicast data. ¶0121; Therefore, the multicast TB portion not received via multicast transmission is the same as received via unicast TB transmission.), wherein the indication information comprises a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Processing Number (HPN), the HPN is used in a multicast downlink control channel, the multicast downlink control channel is used to schedule the second TB (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048); and
receive, via a receiver from a network, a unicast downlink control channel used to schedule a first Transport Block (TB) in a unicast downlink shared channel (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048; In an additional aspect, retransmissions may be performed with group RNTI (G-RNTI), but the DCI may be mapped onto the UE-specific search space (USS) (e.g., instead of common search space). Size would follow USS. The HARQ/NDI may be shared with the G-RNTI CSS DCI. In this case, by base station 102 implementation, the PDCCH can be unicast (e.g., sent in USS) but multiple PDCCH for different UEs may point to the same PDSCH.”, ¶0054;), wherein the unicast downlink control channel comprises indication information and a multicast indication field (The base stations may keep track of the UEs that are receiving multicast data, and subsequently dynamically reuse the multicast/broadcast HARQ processes when they are not being used for unicast. A New Data Indicator, NDI, used when switching between unicast and multicast/broadcast. ¶0049; In an additional aspect, retransmissions may be performed with group RNTI (G-RNTI), but the DCI may be mapped onto the UE-specific search space (USS) (e.g., instead of common search space). Size would follow USS. The HARQ/NDI may be shared with the G-RNTI CSS DCI. In this case, by base station 102 implementation, the PDCCH can be unicast (e.g., sent in USS) but multiple PDCCH for different UEs may point to the same PDSCH.”, ¶0054; NDI based on associating the at least one HARQ process, identifier ID, from the unicast data transmission (e.g., unicast HARQ processes) to the second multicast data transmission. ¶0091), the multicast indication field indicates to the wireless communication device that the unicast downlink control channel is used to schedule a multicast TB or a unicast TB (The base stations may keep track of the UEs that are receiving multicast data, and subsequently dynamically reuse the multicast/broadcast HARQ processes when they are not being used for unicast. A New Data Indicator, NDI, used when switching between unicast and multicast/broadcast. ¶0049; In a further implementation, unicast retransmissions may be supported following initial multicast transmissions (e.g., second mode). In such implementation, an association of multicast HARQ processes with unicast HARQ processes may be made. In one aspect, a unicast grant may be received with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), including an association between the unicast HARQ process and multicast HARQ process. ¶0051; In an additional aspect, retransmissions may be performed with group RNTI (G-RNTI), but the DCI may be mapped onto the UE-specific search space (USS) (e.g., instead of common search space). Size would follow USS. The HARQ/NDI may be shared with the G-RNTI CSS DCI. In this case, by base station 102 implementation, the PDCCH can be unicast (e.g., sent in USS) but multiple PDCCH for different UEs may point to the same PDSCH.”, ¶0054; NDI based on associating the at least one HARQ process, identifier ID, from the unicast data transmission (e.g., unicast HARQ processes) to the second multicast data transmission. ¶0091);
Alvarino does not explicitly disclose:
determine, in response to receiving (i) the indication information and (ii) the first TB, to refrain from providing Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) feedback to the network, wherein the NACK feedback indicates to the network that the wireless communication device has failed to correctly receive the second TB via the multicast.
However, Stare discloses:
determine, in response to receiving (i) the indication information and (ii) the first TB (In other embodiments, a DCI for scheduling a multicast or unicast transmission can include a new field, e.g., HARQ_config, to indicate an HARQ configuration (e.g., whether HARQ feedback is required and type, if required) for the related PDSCH transmission. For an exemplary two-bit DCI field, the following four HARQ configurations can be associated with the respective four DCI values: 0. No ACK/NACK→HARQ_config 32 00 in DCI; 1. Only ACK→HARQ_config=01 in DCI; 2. Only NACK→HARQ_config=10 in DCI; 3. Both ACK and NACK→HARQ_config=11 in DCI. ¶¶0130-0134; For example, consider the case of multicast transmission and unicast retransmission. The original transmission uses the group-specific MC-RNTI, the process number for the specific HARQ process, and the new-data indicator field signaling that this is the original transmission. Once unicast retransmission is triggered (e.g., by NACK or pre-configuration), it will use the UE-specific C-RNTI, the same HARQ process number used for the original multicast original transmission, and a new-data indicator field signaling that this is a retransmission. With this information, so the receiver UE can perform the soft-combining of such multicast transmissions and unicast retransmissions. ¶0147), to refrain from providing Negative Acknowledgement (NACK)feedback to the network (In general, a gNB and served UEs can be configured with different HARQ configurations depending on different settings such as network conditions, number of users within a group, required quality of service, etc. These configurations define the usage of HARQ feedback, as well as the usage and/or type of retransmissions (e.g., original transmission in multicast and re-transmission in unicast). ¶0120; In some embodiments, the selectively transmitting operations of block 750 can include the operations of sub-block 751, where the UE can refrain from transmitting HARQ feedback in response to each of the following: [0158] the determined HARQ feedback mode is HARQ feedback should not be transmitted; [0159] the attempt to decode is successful and the determined HARQ feedback mode is only negative acknowledgements (NACK) should be transmitted; and [0160] the attempt to decode is unsuccessful and the determined HARQ feedback mode is only positive acknowledgements (ACK) should be transmitted. ¶0157-0160, Fig. 7:751), wherein the NACK feedback indicates to the network that the wireless communication device has failed to correctly receive the second TB via the multicast (In some embodiments, the selectively transmitting operations of block 750 can include the operations of sub-block 751, where the UE can refrain from transmitting HARQ feedback in response to each of the following: [0158] the determined HARQ feedback mode is HARQ feedback should not be transmitted; [0159] the attempt to decode is successful and the determined HARQ feedback mode is only negative acknowledgements (NACK) should be transmitted; and [0160] the attempt to decode is unsuccessful and the determined HARQ feedback mode is only positive acknowledgements (ACK) should be transmitted. ¶0157-0160, Fig. 7:750)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date
of the claimed invention to combine the method of Alvarino, transmission of multicast data over unicast channels, with the teachings of Stare, use of an indicator received from a network device to establish a condition to determine whether or not to transmit HARQ feedback by the UE for unicast and multicast transmitted by the network device.
The motivation in doing so would be to manage transmission of HARQ feedback to reduce signaling overheard to reduce use of transmission resources to improve network efficiency (Alvarino ¶¶0035, 0039, 0040;Stare: Abstract, ¶¶0001, 0019-0021, 0035, 0039-0040, 0044-0045, 0052, 0119-0124, 0125-0126, 0132, Fig. 7).
RE Claim 5, Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
The method, wherein the indication information is received from the network via signaling on a unicast downlink shared channel scheduled by a unicast downlink control channel (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048).
RE Claim 7, Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
The method, wherein the indication information is received from the network in a unicast downlink control channel used to schedule the first TB in a unicast downlink shared channel (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048).
RE Claim 9, Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
The method, wherein
the multicast downlink control channel is defined to use a first value range of HPNs (A subset of the number of HARQ processes for unicast may be allocated for multicast, a first range. ¶¶0111, 0089);
a unicast downlink control channel is defined to use a second value range of HPNs (A subset of the number of HARQ processes for unicast, a second range, may be allocated for multicast, a first range. ¶¶0111, 0089); and
the first value range is a subset of the second value range (A subset of the number of HARQ processes for unicast, second value, may be allocated for multicast, first value is a subset of the second. ¶¶0111, 0089).
RE Claim 10, Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
The method, wherein each value of a first portion of the second value range of HPNs is used to schedule a unicast downlink physical channel carrying a multicast TB (Transmit unicast data including a portion of the multicast data that was not received previously according to HARQ process. ¶0109. Grant indicating HARQ process identifier for unicast transmission where the HARQ process identifier for unicast is associated with a HARQ process for multicast data, the portion not received. ¶0110, Fig. 6); and
each value of a second portion of the second value range of HPNs is used to schedule a unicast downlink physical channel carrying a unicast TB (Transmit unicast data including a portion of the multicast data that was not received previously according to HARQ process. ¶0109. Grant indicating HARQ process identifier for unicast transmission where the HARQ process identifier for unicast is associated with a HARQ process for multicast data, the portion not received. ¶0110, Fig. 6); and
the first portion of the second value range corresponds to the first value range (A subset of the number of HARQ processes for unicast, second value, may be allocated for multicast, first value is a subset of the second. ¶¶0111, 0089).
RE Claim 11, Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
The method, wherein
the multicast downlink control channel is defined to use a first value range of HPNs in multicast mode (A subset of the number of HARQ processes for unicast may be allocated for multicast, a first range. ¶¶0111, 0089);
a unicast downlink control channel is defined to use a second value range of HPNs in unicast mode (A subset of the number of HARQ processes for unicast, a second range, may be allocated for multicast, a first range. ¶¶0111, 0089); and
the first value range and the second value range are different (The number of HARQ processes for unicast, second value range, may be configured (e.g. 16), and then separately the number of HARQ processes for multicast, first value range, may be configured (e.g. 4). ¶0048).
RE Claim 12, Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
The method, wherein each value of the second value range of HPNs is used to schedule a unicast downlink physical channel carrying a unicast TB (Transmit unicast data including a portion of the multicast data that was not received previously according to HARQ process. ¶0109. Grant indicating HARQ process identifier for unicast transmission where the HARQ process identifier for unicast is associated with a HARQ process for multicast data, the portion not received. ¶0110, Fig. 6);
each value of a remaining value range of HPNs is used to schedule a unicast downlink physical channel carrying a multicast TB (The HARQ processes for multicast may be taken from the unicast. ¶0048);
the second value range and the remaining value range are different (The number of HARQ processes for unicast, second value range, may be configured (e.g. 16), and then separately the number of HARQ processes for multicast, first value range, may be configured (e.g. 4). ¶0048); and
the remaining value range corresponds to the first value range (The HARQ processes for multicast, first value remaining, may be taken from the unicast. ¶0048).
RE Claim 13, Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
The method, wherein the HPN is used in a multicast downlink control channel for scheduling the second TB (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048)
RE Claim 15, 16, Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
A network node (Wireless communication system including base station, network node. ¶0046, Fig. 1; ¶0078, Fig. 3), comprising:
at least one processor (¶0078, Fig. 3) configured to:
transmit, via the transmitter to the first wireless communication device (¶0078, Fig. 3), the first TB via unicast and indication information (Network transmits multicast data to UE. UE received only a portion of the multicast data. UE transmits NACK on the multicast channel. Network transmits the portion of the multicast data not received by the UE on a unicast channel, not a multicast channel, according to the HARQ process in response to the NACK. ¶0120, Fig. 7; The grant received by the UE is associated with a C-RNTI indicating a HARQ process identifier for unicast data including the HARQ process wherein the HARQ process identifier for unicast data is associated with at least one HARQ process for multicast data. ¶0121; Therefore, the multicast TB portion not received via multicast transmission is the same as received via unicast TB transmission.); and
transmit, via the transmitter to a plurality of wireless communication devices (Transmit to plurality of UEs. ¶0082, Fig. 4; Plurality of UEs. ¶0046, Fig. 1), a second TB via multicast (Transmit multicast data to plurality of UEs. ¶0082, Fig. 4), wherein the plurality of wireless communication devices comprises the first wireless communication device (Transmit to plurality of UEs. ¶0082, Fig. 4; Plurality of UEs. ¶0046, Fig. 1) , and the indication information indicates that the first TB transmitted via the unicast is same as the second TB transmitted by the network via the multicast (Network transmits multicast data to UE. UE received only a portion of the multicast data. UE transmits NACK on the multicast channel. Network transmits the portion of the multicast data not received by the UE on a unicast channel, not a multicast channel, according to the HARQ process in response to the NACK. ¶0120, Fig. 7; The grant received by the UE is associated with a C-RNTI indicating a HARQ process identifier for unicast data including the HARQ process wherein the HARQ process identifier for unicast data is associated with at least one HARQ process for multicast data. ¶0121; Therefore, the multicast TB portion not received via multicast transmission is the same as received via unicast TB transmission.), wherein the indication information comprises a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) Processing Number (HPN), the HPN is used in a multicast downlink control channel, the multicast downlink control channel is used to schedule the second TB (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048),
transmit, via a transmitter to a first wireless communication device, a unicast downlink control channel used to schedule a first Transport Block (TB) in a unicast downlink shared channel (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048; In an additional aspect, retransmissions may be performed with group RNTI (G-RNTI), but the DCI may be mapped onto the UE-specific search space (USS) (e.g., instead of common search space). Size would follow USS. The HARQ/NDI may be shared with the G-RNTI CSS DCI. In this case, by base station 102 implementation, the PDCCH can be unicast (e.g., sent in USS) but multiple PDCCH for different UEs may point to the same PDSCH.”, ¶0054;), wherein the unicast downlink control channel comprises indication information and a multicast indication field(The base stations may keep track of the UEs that are receiving multicast data, and subsequently dynamically reuse the multicast/broadcast HARQ processes when they are not being used for unicast. A New Data Indicator, NDI, used when switching between unicast and multicast/broadcast. ¶0049; In an additional aspect, retransmissions may be performed with group RNTI (G-RNTI), but the DCI may be mapped onto the UE-specific search space (USS) (e.g., instead of common search space). Size would follow USS. The HARQ/NDI may be shared with the G-RNTI CSS DCI. In this case, by base station 102 implementation, the PDCCH can be unicast (e.g., sent in USS) but multiple PDCCH for different UEs may point to the same PDSCH.”, ¶0054; NDI based on associating the at least one HARQ process, identifier ID, from the unicast data transmission (e.g., unicast HARQ processes) to the second multicast data transmission. ¶0091), the multicast indication field indicates to the first wireless communication device that the unicast downlink control channel is used to schedule a multicast TB or a unicast TB (The base stations may keep track of the UEs that are receiving multicast data, and subsequently dynamically reuse the multicast/broadcast HARQ processes when they are not being used for unicast. A New Data Indicator, NDI, used when switching between unicast and multicast/broadcast. ¶0049; In a further implementation, unicast retransmissions may be supported following initial multicast transmissions (e.g., second mode). In such implementation, an association of multicast HARQ processes with unicast HARQ processes may be made. In one aspect, a unicast grant may be received with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), including an association between the unicast HARQ process and multicast HARQ process. ¶0051; In an additional aspect, retransmissions may be performed with group RNTI (G-RNTI), but the DCI may be mapped onto the UE-specific search space (USS) (e.g., instead of common search space). Size would follow USS. The HARQ/NDI may be shared with the G-RNTI CSS DCI. In this case, by base station 102 implementation, the PDCCH can be unicast (e.g., sent in USS) but multiple PDCCH for different UEs may point to the same PDSCH.”, ¶0054; NDI based on associating the at least one HARQ process, identifier ID, from the unicast data transmission (e.g., unicast HARQ processes) to the second multicast data transmission. ¶0091);
Alvarino does not explicitly disclose:
wherein based on the first wireless communication device receiving (i) the indication information and (ii) the first TB, the first wireless communication device determines to refrain from providing Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) feedback to the network, wherein the NACK feedback indicates to the network that the first wireless communication device has failed to correctly receive the second TB via the multicast
However, Stare discloses:
wherein based on the first wireless communication device receiving (i) the indication information and (ii) the first TB (In other embodiments, a DCI for scheduling a multicast or unicast transmission can include a new field, e.g., HARQ_config, to indicate an HARQ configuration (e.g., whether HARQ feedback is required and type, if required) for the related PDSCH transmission. For an exemplary two-bit DCI field, the following four HARQ configurations can be associated with the respective four DCI values: 0. No ACK/NACK→HARQ_config 32 00 in DCI; 1. Only ACK→HARQ_config=01 in DCI; 2. Only NACK→HARQ_config=10 in DCI; 3. Both ACK and NACK→HARQ_config=11 in DCI. ¶¶0130-0134; For example, consider the case of multicast transmission and unicast retransmission. The original transmission uses the group-specific MC-RNTI, the process number for the specific HARQ process, and the new-data indicator field signaling that this is the original transmission. Once unicast retransmission is triggered (e.g., by NACK or pre-configuration), it will use the UE-specific C-RNTI, the same HARQ process number used for the original multicast original transmission, and a new-data indicator field signaling that this is a retransmission. With this information, so the receiver UE can perform the soft-combining of such multicast transmissions and unicast retransmissions. ¶0147), the first wireless communication device determines to refrain from providing Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) feedback to the network (In general, a gNB and served UEs can be configured with different HARQ configurations depending on different settings such as network conditions, number of users within a group, required quality of service, etc. These configurations define the usage of HARQ feedback, as well as the usage and/or type of retransmissions (e.g., original transmission in multicast and re-transmission in unicast). ¶0120; In some embodiments, the selectively transmitting operations of block 750 can include the operations of sub-block 751, where the UE can refrain from transmitting HARQ feedback in response to each of the following: [0158] the determined HARQ feedback mode is HARQ feedback should not be transmitted; [0159] the attempt to decode is successful and the determined HARQ feedback mode is only negative acknowledgements (NACK) should be transmitted; and [0160] the attempt to decode is unsuccessful and the determined HARQ feedback mode is only positive acknowledgements (ACK) should be transmitted. ¶0157-0160, Fig. 7:751), wherein the NACK feedback indicates to the network that the first wireless communication device has failed to correctly receive the second TB via the multicast (In some embodiments, the selectively transmitting operations of block 750 can include the operations of sub-block 751, where the UE can refrain from transmitting HARQ feedback in response to each of the following: [0158] the determined HARQ feedback mode is HARQ feedback should not be transmitted; [0159] the attempt to decode is successful and the determined HARQ feedback mode is only negative acknowledgements (NACK) should be transmitted; and [0160] the attempt to decode is unsuccessful and the determined HARQ feedback mode is only positive acknowledgements (ACK) should be transmitted. ¶0157-0160, Fig. 7:750)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date
of the claimed invention to combine the method of Alvarino, transmission of multicast data over unicast channels, with the teachings of Stare, use of an indicator received from a network device to establish a condition to determine whether or not to transmit HARQ feedback by the UE for unicast and multicast transmitted by the network device.
The motivation in doing so would be to manage transmission of HARQ feedback to reduce signaling overheard to reduce use of transmission resources to improve network efficiency (Alvarino ¶¶0035, 0039, 0040; Stare: Abstract, ¶¶0001, 0019-0021, 0035, 0039-0040, 0044-0045, 0052, 0119-0124, 0125-0126, 0132, Fig. 7).
RE Claim 20 Alvarino discloses a wireless device or method:
The method, wherein the indication information is received from the network via signaling on a unicast downlink shared channel scheduled by a unicast downlink control channel (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048).
RE Claim 22, Alvarino discloses:
The method, wherein the indication information is transmitted by the network to the first wireless communication device in a unicast downlink control channel used to schedule the first TB in a unicast downlink shared channel (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048).
RE Claim 24,
The method, wherein a unicast downlink control channel is used by the network to schedule the first TB in a unicast downlink shared channel (Network entity supports both multicast and unicast transmissions. ¶0039; UE separately stores NDI, new data indicator of DCI of PDCCH, for unicast and multicast. ¶0050; Arrangement of a number of HARQ processes used for multicast or unicast with respect to NDI and HARQ identifier ID, same as a HARQ process number. ¶0047; A disjoint set of HARQ processes provided such that UE is able to track both multicast and unicast HARQ process. ¶0048);
the unicast downlink control channel comprises the indication information and a multicast indication field (The base stations may keep track of the UEs that are receiving multicast data, and subsequently dynamically reuse the multicast/broadcast HARQ processes when they are not being used for unicast. A New Data Indicator, NDI, used when switching between unicast and multicast/broadcast. ¶0049; NDI based on associating the at least one HARQ process, identifier ID, from the unicast data transmission (e.g., unicast HARQ processes) to the second multicast data transmission. ¶0091); and
the multicast indication field indicates to the first wireless communication device that the unicast downlink control channel is used to schedule a multicast TB or a unicast TB (The base stations may keep track of the UEs that are receiving multicast data, and subsequently dynamically reuse the multicast/broadcast HARQ processes when they are not being used for unicast. A New Data Indicator, NDI, used when switching between unicast and multicast/broadcast. ¶0049; NDI based on associating the at least one HARQ process, identifier ID, from the unicast data transmission (e.g., unicast HARQ processes) to the second multicast data transmission. ¶0091).
Claims 6, 8, 21 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alvarino, in view of Stare, and further in view of 3GPP 38.213, (3GPP TS 38.213 V16.1.0 (2020-03) 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for control, hereinafter “3GPP 38.213”).
RE Claim 6, Alvarino and Stare do not explicitly disclose:
The method, wherein a time interval between an ending point of the unicast downlink shared channel and a starting point of a feedback resource corresponding to the second TB is greater than a threshold.
However, 3GPP 38.213 discloses:
The method, wherein a time interval between an ending point of the unicast downlink shared channel and a starting point of a feedback resource corresponding to the second TB is greater than a threshold (PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field, provided in DCI from network, based on PDSCH reception in slot n and corresponding HARQ-ACK information offset, k. PUCCH transmission for HARQ for the associated PDSCH TBs received within slot n + k. Therefore the threshold is n + k. where UE must transmit HARQ. Section 9.2.3 at paragraph 2, pg. 76).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date
of the claimed invention to combine the method of Alvarino, transmission of multicast data over unicast channels, with the teachings of Stare, use of an indicator received from a network device to establish a condition to determine whether or not to transmit HARQ feedback by the UE for unicast and multicast transmitted by the network device with the teachings of 3GPP 38.213, dynamic scheduling of PDSCH slot and associated HARQ vis PUCCH slot.
The motivation in doing so would be adjust timing of data transmissions and associated HARQ feedback dynamically based on multicast data sent over unicast channel to improve network efficiency.
RE Claim 8, Alvarino and Stare do not explicitly disclose:
The method, wherein a time interval between an ending point of a Control Resource Set (CORESET) for the unicast downlink control channel and a starting point of a feedback resource corresponding to the second TB is greater than a threshold.
However, 3GPP 38.213 discloses:
The method, wherein a time interval between an ending point of a Control Resource Set (CORESET) for the unicast downlink control channel and a starting point of a feedback resource corresponding to the second TB is greater than a threshold (PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field, provided in DCI from network via CORESET and PDCCH, based on PDSCH reception in slot n and corresponding HARQ-ACK information offset, k. PUCCH transmission for HARQ for the associated PDSCH TBs received within slot n + k. Therefore the threshold is n + k. where UE must transmit HARQ. Section 9.2.3 at paragraphs 2, 5, pg. 76).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date
of the claimed invention to combine the method of Alvarino, transmission of multicast data over unicast channels, with the teachings of Stare, use of an indicator received from a network device to establish a condition to determine whether or not to transmit HARQ feedback by the UE for unicast and multicast transmitted by the network device with the teachings of 3GPP 38.213, dynamic scheduling of PDSCH slot and associated HARQ vis PUCCH slot.
The motivation in doing so would be adjust timing of data transmissions and associated HARQ feedback dynamically based on multicast data sent over unicast channel to improve network efficiency.
RE Claim 21, Alvarino and Stare do not explicitly disclose:
The method, wherein a time interval between an ending point of the unicast downlink shared channel and a starting point of a feedback resource corresponding to the second TB is greater than a threshold.
However, 3GPP 23.213 discloses:
The method, wherein a time interval between an ending point of the unicast downlink shared channel and a starting point of a feedback resource corresponding to the second TB is greater than a threshold (PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field, provided in DCI from network, based on PDSCH reception in slot n and corresponding HARQ-ACK information offset, k. PUCCH transmission for HARQ for the associated PDSCH TBs received within slot n + k. Therefore the threshold is n + k. where UE must transmit HARQ. Section 9.2.3 at paragraph 2, pg. 76).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date
of the claimed invention to combine the method of Alvarino, transmission of multicast data over unicast channels, , with the teachings of Stare, use of an indicator received from a network device to establish a condition to determine whether or not to transmit HARQ feedback by the UE for unicast and multicast transmitted by the network device, with the teachings of 3GPP 38.213, dynamic scheduling of PDSCH slot and associated HARQ vis PUCCH slot.
The motivation in doing so would be adjust timing of data transmissions and associated HARQ feedback dynamically based on multicast data sent over unicast channel to improve network efficiency.
RE Claim 23, Alvarino and Stare do not explicitly disclose:
The method, wherein a time interval between an ending point of a Control Resource Set (CORESET), for the unicast downlink control channel and a starting point of a feedback resource corresponding to the second TB is greater than a threshold (PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field, provided in DCI from network via CORESET and PDCCH, based on PDSCH reception in slot n and corresponding HARQ-ACK information offset, k. PUCCH transmission for HARQ for the associated PDSCH TBs received within slot n + k. Therefore the threshold is n + k. where UE must transmit HARQ. Section 9.2.3 at paragraphs 2, 5, pg. 76).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date
of the claimed invention to combine the method of Alvarino, transmission of multicast data over unicast channels, with the teachings of Stare, HARQ process feedback timing schedules for unicast and multicast with HARQ process number, with the teachings of Stare, use of an indicator received from a network device to establish a condition to determine whether or not to transmit HARQ feedback by the UE for unicast and multicast transmitted by the network device with the teachings of 3GPP 38.213, dynamic scheduling of PDSCH slot and associated HARQ vis PUCCH slot.
The motivation in doing so would be adjust timing of data transmissions and associated HARQ feedback dynamically based on multicast data sent over unicast channel to improve network efficiency..
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04/14/2026 regarding amended claims 1, 14, 15 and 16 incorporating portions of claim 13 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s first argument is directed amended claim 1 which incorporates the limitations previously recited in claim 13. Applicant submits in reference to Alvarino that “the reference merely describes a retransmission approach in which a network entity "transmit[s] multicast data to a plurality of UEs" and, after "receiv[ing], on an uplink communication channel, a NACK from at least one UE," "transmit[s] unicast data including at least a portion of the multicast data according to a HARQ process to the at least one UE" at [0039].” Applicant refers to additional paragraphs of Alvarino at [0120, 0047, 0048, 0049, 0050, 0090]. Applicant submits in reference to Alvarino that “Such passages merely concern NDI usage and HARQ process association in a mixed unicast or multicast retransmission context.” In addition, applicant argues that “Alvarino, at most, mentions that retransmitted unicast data may include "at least a portion of the multicast data" at [0039], which concerns the content of a retransmission, not control channel signaling indicating TB sameness or a multicast indication field in a unicast downlink control channel.” Applicant further submits that “Nowhere does Alvarino ever teach or suggest a unicast downlink control channel comprising indication information and a multicast indication field, where the multicast indication field indicates that the unicast downlink control channel is used to schedule a multicast TB or a unicast TB. Nor does Alvarino ever teach that the indication information on the unicast downlink control channel indicates that a first TB is the same as a second TB.”, applicant emphasis.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The limitations, as written, and under BRI do not preclude retransmission of a multicast TB over a unicast TB, i.e. the same TB data. Examiner refers to the additional limitation of claim 1 that recites “the indication information indicating that the first TB received via the unicast is same as a second TB transmitted by the network via multicast”. Examiner interprets the limitation as the second TB ‘transmitted’ via multicast may occur in time before the same TB is received via unicast, an example of retransmission. Alvarino discloses that a multicast data not received by the UE is retransmitted by unicast with a HARQ process identifier associated for the same data sent by multicast and unicast.
Alvarino further discloses “In a further implementation, unicast retransmissions may be supported following initial multicast transmissions (e.g., second mode). In such implementation, an association of multicast HARQ processes with unicast HARQ processes may be made. In one aspect, a unicast grant may be received with a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), including an association between the unicast HARQ process and multicast HARQ process. For example, if the UE 104 is configured with M=3 HARQ processes for unicast, and N=2 HARQ processes for multicast, the first M−N=1 may be dedicated to unicast, and the remaining N can be used for multicast retransmissions. In another example, broadcast HARQ processes {0,1} may correspond to unicast HARQ processes {10, 11} in one UE and {7, 8} in a different UE.”, ¶0051. In addition, Alvarino discloses “In an additional aspect, retransmissions may be performed with group RNTI (G-RNTI), but the DCI may be mapped onto the UE-specific search space (USS) (e.g., instead of common search space). Size would follow USS. The HARQ/NDI may be shared with the G-RNTI CSS DCI. In this case, by base station 102 implementation, the PDCCH can be unicast (e.g., sent in USS) but multiple PDCCH for different UEs may point to the same PDSCH.”, ¶0054. Therefore, Alvarino discloses a downlink control channel DCI with the associated HARQ for retransmission of a multicast data over a unicast channel.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 14, 15, and 16 regarding limitation “determine, in response to receiving (i) the indication information and (ii) the first TB, to refrain from providing Negative Acknowledgement (NACK)feedback to the network, wherein the NACK feedback indicates to the network that the wireless communication device has failed to correctly receive the second TB via the multicast” 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
US 20220360951 A1 Yu et al.
“COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS”
“In at least one embodiment, the first indication information includes a signal quality parameter threshold, and the terminal device determines, based on the signal quality parameter threshold, whether the feedback information is to be sent. Specifically, after receiving the first indication information, the terminal device sends the first feedback information to the network device in response to determining that a value of a signal quality parameter corresponding to the first multicast service being less than or equal to the threshold. Otherwise, the terminal device does not send the first feedback information.”, ¶0013.
US 20200245398 A1 Yang
“Data Transmission Method And Apparatus”
“In this embodiment of this application, that the unicast transmission path assists the multicast transmission path in data transmission means that the multicast transmission path and the unicast transmission path are simultaneously used to send the data to the terminal, and the data sent to the terminal on the unicast transmission path is the same as the data sent to the terminal on the multicast transmission path. A data transmission module that simultaneously starts the unicast transmission path and the multicast transmission path to send data to the terminal is also referred to as a dual-stream mode for data transmission. The data is mainly sent to the terminal by using the multicast transmission path, and the multicast transmission path is a primary transmission path. Only when reception quality of the data received by the terminal on the multicast transmission path cannot satisfy a service requirement of the terminal, the unicast transmission path is simultaneously started to send the data to the terminal, and the unicast transmission path is a secondary transmission path. Therefore, the unicast transmission path is referred to as a path for assisting the multicast transmission path in transmitting the data to the terminal.”, ¶0100.
WO 2021109037 A1 Junwei, Wang
“HYBRID AUTOMATIC REPEAT REQUEST (HARQ) FEEDBACK METHOD AND COMMUNICATION APPARATUS”
“Provided are a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: receiving first downlink data, wherein the first downlink data is broadcast/multicast data; and sending HARQ feedback information of the first downlink data on a unicast feedback channel. A terminal device sending HARQ feedback information of broadcast/multicast data on a unicast feedback channel can reduce resource waste caused by sending the HARQ feedback information of the broadcast/multicast data on a separate feedback channel. Moreover, since each terminal device sends HARQ feedback information on a unicast feedback channel of the terminal device, a network device can recognize which terminal device sends multiple pieces of received HARQ feedback information respectively, such that the network device can adaptively adjust an MC order of retransmitted data according to a channel condition of the terminal device.”
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/PAUL A. LANGER/Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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