DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 15 July 2026. Claims 1-20 are now pending in the present application. This office action is made Final.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being by Fakoorian et al. (hereinafter Fakoorian) (US 11,540,310 B2).
Regarding claims 9, 1, and 17, Fakoorian discloses an operating method of a user equipment (UE) (e.g., 115) in a communication system (e.g., 100) { (see Figs. 1-2) }, the operating method comprising:
receiving group resource control (GRC) configuration information including at least one piece of group resource control assignment (GRCA) set information including at least one piece of GRCA information from a base station (e.g., 105) { (see col. 12, lines 13-25; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7), where the system transmits via BS (105) control signaling for UE (see col. 16, lines 14-19) };
receiving GRCA activation control information including one or more pieces of activated GRCA information selected from one or more pieces of activated GRCA set and one or more pieces of group scheduling indicator (GSI) information indicating the selected one or more pieces of activated GRCA information from the base station { (see col. 12, lines 39-46,13-25; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7), where the system provides group scheduling (see col. 12, lines 58-60), and the system can activate a configuration (see col. 11, line 64 - col. 12, line 1; col. 12, lines 26-29; col. 7, lines 8-17) }; and
receiving group scheduling information including any one piece of GSI information selected from the one or more pieces of GSI information from the base station (e.g., 105) { (see col. 12, lines 13-25; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7), where the system transmits via BS (105) control signaling for UE (see col. 16, lines 14-19) }.
Regarding claims 10 and 2, Fakoorian discloses the operating method of claim 9, wherein the GRCA information includes group scheduling resource (GSR) information, wherein the GSR information includes at least one of modulation and coding scheme (MCS) information necessary for scheduling, resource assignment information of time and frequency domains, and resource mapping information { (see col. 24, lines 59-65; col. 12, lines 39-46,13-25; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7) }.
Regarding claims 11 and 4, Fakoorian discloses the operating method of claim 9, wherein the GRCA activation control information received from the base station includes at least one of activation or deactivation indication information, serving cell identifier (ID) information, bandwidth part (BWP) ID information, GRCA set ID information, activated GRCA number information, and group scheduling resource (GSR) information { (see col. 23, lines 13-21; col. 12, lines 39-46,13-25; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7), where the system provides group scheduling (see col. 12, lines 58-60) }.
Regarding claims 12, 5, and 18, Fakoorian discloses the operating method of claim 9, wherein the GRC configuration information includes a group scheduling radio network temporary identifier (GS-RNTI) for a UE group (e.g., 215), and wherein the group scheduling information is received through control information which is scrambled using the GS-RNTI { (see col. 23, lines 38-56,13-21; col. 12, lines 39-46,13-25; col. 14, lines 55-58,2-7; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7) }.
Regarding claims 13, 6, and 19, Fakoorian discloses the operating method of claim 9, further comprising: acquiring any one piece of GSI information from the group scheduling information; specifying GSI information corresponding to the UE in the acquired GSI information with reference to the GRCA activation control information; and acquiring GRCA information corresponding to the UE in accordance with the specified GSI information with reference to the GRC configuration information { (see col. 23, lines 13-21; col. 12, lines 39-46,13-25; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7) , where the system provides group scheduling (see col. 12, lines 58-60) }.
Regarding claims 14, 7, and 20, Fakoorian discloses the operating method of claim 13, further comprising: checking group scheduling resource (GSR) information of the GRCA information corresponding to the UE; and when the group scheduling information is downlink group scheduling information, receiving downlink data on the basis of the checked GSR information { (see col. 12, lines 39-46,13-25; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7), where the system provides group scheduling (see col. 12, lines 58-60) }.
Regarding claims 15 and 8, Fakoorian discloses the operating method of claim 13, further comprising: checking group scheduling resource (GSR) information of the GRCA information corresponding to the UE; when the group scheduling information is uplink group scheduling information, preparing uplink data; and transmitting the prepared uplink data to the base station on the basis of the checked GSR information { (see col. 12, lines 39-46,13-25, 58-60; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7) }.
Regarding claims 16 and 3, Fakoorian discloses the operating method of claim 9, further comprising transmitting a report signal including at least one of beam measurement information (BMI), channel state information (CSI), and data buffer state information (BSI) to the base station, wherein the one or more pieces of activated GRCA information selected from the one or more pieces of activated GRCA set are generated on the basis of the report signal, or the one piece of GSI information selected from the one or more pieces of GSI information is generated on the basis of the report signal { (see col. 20, line 62 - col. 21, lines 11; col. 12, lines 39-46,13-25, 58-60; Figs. 1-2, 4, & 7), where the system provides group scheduling (see col. 12, lines 58-60), and the system can activate a configuration (see col. 11, line 64 - col. 12, line 1; col. 12, lines 26-29; col. 7, lines 8-17) }.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection necessitated by the amended language, new limitations, and/or new claims.
In response to applicant’s arguments, the Examiner respectfully disagrees as the applied reference(s) provide more than adequate support and to further clarify (see the above claims for relevant citations and comments in this section).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Gupta et al. (US 2019/0356409 A1) discloses MCS update in group control channel.
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 WILLIE J DANIEL JR whose telephone number is (571)272-7907. The examiner can normally be reached on 9 - 6.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gary Mui can be reached on 571-270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WILLIE J DANIEL JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
WJD,Jr
29 September 2026
Prosecution Insights