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 .
Status of the Claims
This applications claims priority to International Patent Application PCT/CN2020/083870 filed April 9, 2020.
Claims 79-102 were rejected. Claims 83-86 and 91 have been cancelled.
Currently, claims 79-82, 87-90, 92-98 are pending.
Claims 79 and 87 are independent.
Claims 79 and 87 have been amended and claim 103 has been added.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed February 2, 2026 are accepted. New claim 103 is supported in the original specification and accepted
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 79 and 87 and new claim 103 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.
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 79-82, 87-90, 92-94, 97 and 103 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pat. Pub. 20210195641 to Yisheng Xue et al. (hereinafter Xue) claiming priority from US Prov. Pat. App. 62/950,501 in view of 3GPP TS 37.213 v16.1.0 (2020-03) (hereinafter TS 37.213).
Regarding claim 79, Xue teaches A method comprising by a user equipment (Fig. 2, UE 204)
determining a duration of a gap between an uplink transmission of the user equipment and a downlink transmission of a base station, wherein the downlink transmission is before the uplink transmission (Xue para. [0062] teaches UE 204 making a determination of a type or category of LBT procedure “based on a duration of a gap between the DL transmission and the scheduled UL transmission”)
in a channel occupancy time of the base station, and wherein the uplink transmission falls within the channel occupancy time; (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (para. [0066] in the provisional application ) teaches that a bases station may reserve a COT, transmit an uplink (UL) grant via downlink transmission for “scheduling the UE 204 within the COT.”)
determining a channel access type for the uplink transmission according to the duration of the gap; (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (and para. [0066] in the provisional application) “The UE 204 may make this determination based on a duration of a gap between the DL transmission and the scheduled UL transmission. In some examples, the UE 204 may perform a category 1 (CAT1 LBT) if the gap is less than 16µs. In some other examples, the UE 204 may perform a category 2 (CAT2) LBT procedure if the gap is more than 16µs but does not exceed 25µs.”)
and
performing the uplink transmission in accordance with the determined channel access type, wherein the channel access type is determined to be a first type in a case in which the duration of the gap is less than or equal to a first value and a duration of the uplink transmission is less than a second value, wherein the second value is less than the channel occupancy time of the base station, (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (and para. [0066] in the provisional) “the UE 204 may perform a category 1 (CAT1 LBT) if the gap is less than 16µs. In some other examples, the UE 204 may perform a category 2 (CAT2) LBT procedure if the gap is more than 16µs but does not exceed 25µs.” Examiner interprets the first value as 16µs. The duration of the second value is the duration of the uplink transmission which is less than the COT provided for both the downlink and the uplink transmission for which the base station reserved a COT for “scheduling the UE 204 within the COT.”)
and
Xue does NOT teach wherein the first type is for an immediate transmission without listen before talk (LBT) for up to a certain period.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, TS 37.213 teaches wherein the first type is for an immediate transmission without listen before talk (LBT) for up to a certain period. (TS 37.213 teaches in Section 4.2.1.2.3, TS 37.213 teaches in Section 4.2.1.2.3, the Type 2C UL channel access procedure includes “If a UE is indicated to perform Type 2C UL channel access procedures for a UL transmission, the UE does not sense the channel before the transmission. The duration of the corresponding UL transmission is at most 584 µs.” The second value is an uplink value and that the “UE does not sense the channel before the transmission up to the 584 µs” which is a certain period for uplink transmissions in Type 2C channel access and “does not sense the channel” is “without listen before talk (LBT).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Xue with TS 37.213 to teach an immediate transmission up to a certain period. Each Xue and TS 37.213 are in the field of wireless communications. One would be motivated to combine the Xue with TS 37.213 in order to follow the 3GPP standard for channel access procedures and follow the established characteristics of the physical layer procedures for shared spectrum channel as taught in TS 37.213 page 5.
Regarding claim 80, Xue teaches The method of claim 79 further comprising by the user equipment:
receiving information for determining the duration of the gap, the information including a structure of the channel occupancy time. (Xue teaches in para. [0061]- [0062] (para. [0066] in provisional) that the UE receives an uplink UL grant via a PDCCH for scheduling the UE 204 with the channel occupancy time that is shared with the UE by the base station. Therefore the length of the COT which Examiner interprets as a structure, is provided to the UE.).
Regarding claim 81, Xue teaches The method of claim 79 further comprising, by the user equipment:
receiving information for determining the duration of the gap, the information including at least one of channel access type for at least one uplink transmission, gap duration for the at least one uplink transmission, a slot format indicator, channel occupancy time duration indicator, and cyclic prefix extension length for the at least one uplink transmission. (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (para. [0066] in provisional) that the UE receives an uplink grant. Xue para. [0069] teaches that the uplink grant “may include information about a gap 414 and a type or category LBT (e.g., CAT1 or CAT2 LBT) to be performed within the gap 414).
Regarding claim 82, Xue teaches The method of claim 80 wherein the information is carried on a group common physical downlink control channel. (Xue para. [0069] (para. [0073] in provisional) teaches that the UL grant control information may be included in a DCI for a specific UE or a group common DCI message (e.g. GC-PDCCH) for a group of UEs.)
Regarding claim 87, Xue in view of TS 37.213 teaches A user equipment comprising: at least one processor; (Xue Fig.2 UE 204)
and at least one memory including computer program code, (Xue teaches a memory 1125 in Fig. 11 as a wireless device )
the at least one memory and the computer program code (Xue para. [0126] teaches that the memory may hold computer-executable software) being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to perform:
determining a duration of a gap between an uplink transmission of the user equipment and a downlink transmission of a base station before the uplink transmission and in a channel occupancy time of the base station in a case where the uplink transmission falls within the channel occupancy time (Xue para. [0062] ] (para. [0066] in the provisional application) teaches UE 204 making a determination of a type or category of LBT procedure “based on a duration of a gap between the DL transmission and the scheduled UL transmission”. Xue teaches in para. [0062] (para. [0066] in the provisional application ) teaches that a bases station may reserve a COT, transmit an uplink (UL) grant via downlink transmission for “scheduling the UE 204 within the COT.”)
determining a channel access type for the uplink transmission according to the duration of the gap (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (and para. [0066] in the provisional application) “The UE 204 may make this determination based on a duration of a gap between the DL transmission and the scheduled UL transmission. In some examples, the UE 204 may perform a category 1 (CAT1 LBT) if the gap is less than 16µs. In some other examples, the UE 204 may perform a category 2 (CAT2) LBT procedure if the gap is more than 16µs but does not exceed 25µs.”)
and
performing the uplink transmission in accordance with the determined channel access type, wherein the channel access type is determined to be a first type in a case in which the duration of the gap is less than or equal to a first value and a duration of the uplink transmission is less than a second value, (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (and para. [0066] in the provisional) “the UE 204 may perform a category 1 (CAT1 LBT) if the gap is less than 16µs. In some other examples, the UE 204 may perform a category 2 (CAT2) LBT procedure if the gap is more than 16µs but does not exceed 25µs.” Examiner interprets the first value as 16µs. The duration of the second value is the duration of the uplink transmission which is less than the COT provided for both the downlink and the uplink transmission for which the base station reserved a COT for “scheduling the UE 204 within the COT.”)
and
Xue does NOT teach wherein the first type is for an immediate transmission without listen before talk (LBT) for up to a certain period.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, TS 37.213 teaches wherein the first type is for an immediate transmission without listen before talk (LBT) for up to a certain period. (TS 37.213 teaches in Section 4.2.1.2.3, TS 37.213 teaches in Section 4.2.1.2.3, the Type 2C UL channel access procedure includes “If a UE is indicated to perform Type 2C UL channel access procedures for a UL transmission, the UE does not sense the channel before the transmission. The duration of the corresponding UL transmission is at most 584 µs.” The second value is an uplink value and that the “UE does not sense the channel before the transmission up to the 584 µs” which is a certain period for uplink transmissions in Type 2C channel access and “does not sense the channel” is “without listen before talk (LBT).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Xue with TS 37.213 to teach an immediate transmission up to a certain period. Each Xue and TS 37.213 are in the field of wireless communications. One would be motivated to combine the Xue with TS 37.213 in order to follow the 3GPP standard for channel access procedures and follow the established characteristics of the physical layer procedures for shared spectrum channel as taught in TS 37.213 page 5.
Regarding claim 88, Xue teaches The user equipment of claim 87 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to further perform receiving information for determining the duration of the gap, the information including a structure of the channel occupancy time. (Xue teaches in para. [0068] – [0069] (and para. [0073] in the provisional) that the UL grant may include control information indicating the duration of the COT 409 as well as the end of the PDSCH transmission as well as “the channel occupancy slot 416” to be used by the UEs. “The channel occupancy slot 416 may have a similar duration as the gap 414” which provides a structure of the channel occupancy time.)
Regarding claim 89, Xue teaches The user equipment of claim 87 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to further perform receiving information for determining the duration of the gap, the information including at least one of channel access type for at least one uplink transmission, gap duration for the at least one uplink transmission, a slot format indicator, channel occupancy time duration indicator, and cyclic prefix extension length for the at least one uplink transmission. (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (and para. [0066] in the provisional) that the UE receives an uplink grant. Xue para. [0069] teaches that the uplink grant “may include information about a gap 414 and a type or category LBT (e.g., CAT1 or CAT2 LBT) to be performed within the gap 414).
Regarding claim 90, Xue teaches The user equipment of claim 88 wherein the information is carried on a group common physical downlink control channel. (Xue para. [0069] (and para. [0072]-[0073] in the provisional) teaches that the UL grant control information may be included in a DCI for a specific UE or a group common DCI message (e.g. GC-PDCCH) for a group of UEs.)
Regarding claim 92, Xue teaches The user equipment of claim 87 wherein the channel access type is determined to be a second type in a case where the duration of the gap is equal to a third value. (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (and para. [0066] in the provisional) that the “UE 204 may perform a category 2 (CAT2) LBT procedure if the gap is more than 16 μs but does not exceed 25 μs.” Therefore a third value would be between 16 μs but does not exceed 25 μs.)
Regarding claim 93, Xue teaches The apparatus of claim 87 wherein the channel access type is determined to be a fourth type in a case where the uplink transmission falls outside of the channel occupancy time. (Xue teaches in para. [0061] (and para. [0065] in the provisional) that when a BS 105 is not sharing a channel occupancy time, the UE 115 may transmit UL communication signals to the BS 105 via PUSCH and/or PUCCH according to the UL scheduling grant. Examiner interprets the default channel access type as a fourth type of channel access that is not part of the shared COT.)
Regarding claim 94, Xue does NOT teach The user equipment of claim 93 wherein the fourth type is Type 1.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications standards TS 37.213 teaches wherein the fourth type is Type 1. (TS 37.213 teaches in Section 4.2.1, page 14, Channel access procedures for uplink transmissions that a UE “shall use Type 1 channel access procedures for transmitting transmissions including PUSCH transmission unless stated otherwise in this clause.” Examiner interprets Type 1 channel access as a default transmission type since it includes autonomous transmissions.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Xue with TS 37.213 to teach Type 1 transmissions for uplink. Each Xue and TS 37.213 are in the field of wireless communications. One would be motivated to combine the Xue with TS 37.213 in order to follow the 3GPP standard for channel access procedures and follow the established characteristics of the physical layer procedures for shared spectrum channel as taught in TS 37.213 page 5.
Regarding claim 97, Xue teaches The user equipment of claim 87 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to further perform receiving, via a radio resource control signaling, information on a configuration for time and frequency resources for the uplink transmission. (Xue teaches in para. [0045] (and para. [0049] in the provisional) that the BS may signal via scheduling grant an RRC message.)
Regarding claim 103, Xue in view of TS 37.213 teaches A user equipment (UE 204 Fig. 2) comprising:
at least one processor; (Xue teaches in para. [0118] and Fig. 11, processor 1120) and
at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, (Xue para. [0127] software 1130 and memory 1125 executing code) cause the user equipment to perform:
determining a duration of a gap between an uplink transmission of the user equipment and a downlink transmission of a base station, wherein the downlink transmission is before the uplink transmission and in a channel occupancy time of the base station, and wherein the uplink transmission falls within the channel occupancy time; (Xue para. [0062] ] (para. [0066] in the provisional application) teaches UE 204 making a determination of a type or category of LBT procedure “based on a duration of a gap between the DL transmission and the scheduled UL transmission”. Xue teaches in para. [0062] (para. [0066] in the provisional application ) teaches that a bases station may reserve a COT, transmit an uplink (UL) grant via downlink transmission for “scheduling the UE 204 within the COT.”
determining a channel access type for the uplink transmission according to the duration of the gap; (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (and para. [0066] in the provisional application) “The UE 204 may make this determination based on a duration of a gap between the DL transmission and the scheduled UL transmission. In some examples, the UE 204 may perform a category 1 (CAT1 LBT) if the gap is less than 16µs. In some other examples, the UE 204 may perform a category 2 (CAT2) LBT procedure if the gap is more than 16µs but does not exceed 25µs.”)
and
performing the uplink transmission in accordance with the determined channel access type, wherein the channel access type is determined to be a first type in a case in which the duration of the gap is less than or equal to a first value and a duration of the uplink transmission is less than a second value, wherein the first value is about 16µs, , (Xue teaches in para. [0062] (and para. [0066] in the provisional) “the UE 204 may perform a category 1 (CAT1 LBT) if the gap is less than 16µs. In some other examples, the UE 204 may perform a category 2 (CAT2) LBT procedure if the gap is more than 16µs but does not exceed 25µs.” Examiner interprets the first value as 16µs. The duration of the second value is the duration of the uplink transmission which is less than the COT provided for both the downlink and the uplink transmission for which the base station reserved a COT for “scheduling the UE 204 within the COT.”)
and
Xue does NOT teach the second value is about 0.584 ms,
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, TS 37.213 teaches the second value is about 0.584 ms. (TS 37.213 teaches in Section 4.2.1.2.3, the Type 2C UL channel access procedure includes “If a UE is indicated to perform Type 2C UL channel access procedures for a UL transmission, the UE does not sense the channel before the transmission. The duration of the corresponding UL transmission is at most 584 µs.” The second value is an uplink value.)
and
wherein the first type is for an immediate transmission without listen before talk (LBT) for up to a certain period. (TS 37.213 teaches in Section 4.2.1.2.3, quoted above, that the “UE does not sense the channel before the transmission up to the 584 µs” which is a certain period for uplink transmissions in Type 2C channel access.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Xue with TS 37.213 to teach an immediate transmission up to a certain period. Each Xue and TS 37.213 are in the field of wireless communications. One would be motivated to combine the Xue with TS 37.213 in order to follow the 3GPP standard for channel access procedures and follow the established characteristics of the physical layer procedures for shared spectrum channel as taught in TS 37.213 page 5.
Claim 98 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue in view of TS 37.213 further in view in view of HUAWEI, HISILICON, "Coexistence and channel access for NR unlicensed band operations", 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #98bis, R1-1910045, Chongqing, China, October 14-20, 2019 (hereinafter R1) (provided in Applicant's IDS).
Regarding claim 98, Xue does NOT teach The user equipment of claim 87 wherein the uplink transmission is a periodic or a semi- persistent uplink transmission.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications standards R1 teaches wherein the uplink transmission is a periodic or a semi-persistent uplink transmission. (R1 page 14-15 and Figure 7 and Section 2.6 “FBE-based channel access” teaches that uplink transmissions can be via frame based equipment (FBE) wherein “the transmit/receive structure has a periodic timing with a declared periodicity”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the R1 with Xue to teach the periodic or semi-persistent uplink transmissions. Each of Xue and R1 are in the field of wireless communications. One would be motivated to combine the R1 with Xue to enhance LBT mechanisms by specifying LBT type for physical signals/channels as taught in R1 lines 25-28 (bottom paragraph).
Claims 95 and 96 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue in view of TS 37.213 further in view of Pat. Pub. 20220394762 to Kapil Bhattad et al. (hereinafter Bhattad).
Regarding claim 95, Xue does NOT teach The user equipment of claim 87 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user equipment to further perform extending a cyclic prefix of the uplink transmission to reduce the duration of the gap in a case where the duration of the gap is determined to be more than a fifth value and less than a sum of the fifth value and a duration of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing symbol.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Bhattad teaches The user equipment of claim 87 wherein the at least one memory (Bhattad para. [0007]) and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor), (Bhattad para. [0007]) cause the user equipment to further perform extending a cyclic prefix of the uplink transmission to reduce the duration of the gap in a case where the duration of the gap is determined to be more than a fifth value and less than a sum of the fifth value and a duration of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing symbol. (Examiner interprets “a fifth value” as equivalent to “a value” since claim 87 from which claim 95 depends has no first, second, third, or fourth value recited. Bhattad Fig. 2 and para. [0102] teach a CPE to reduce a gap wherein a value (e.g. LBT) is smaller than the gap and the gap is less than the sum of an LBT and OFDM symbol:
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to have combined Bhattad with Xue to teach dropping the uplink transmission in a case where the duration of the gap is determined to be less than or equal to a one value and a duration of the uplink transmission of another value. Each of Bhattad and Xue are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the Xue with Bhattad to provide additional and/or alternative techniques for uplinks taught in Bhattad para. [0004].
Regarding claim 96, Xue does NOT teach The user equipment of claim 87 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform dropping the uplink transmission in a case where the duration of the gap is determined to be less than or equal to a sixth value and a duration of the uplink transmission is more than a seventh value.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Bhattad teaches The user equipment of claim 87 wherein the at least one memory (Bhattad para. [0007]) and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, (Bhattad para. [0007]) cause the apparatus (900) to further perform dropping the uplink transmission in a case where the duration of the gap is determined to be less than or equal to a sixth value and a duration of the uplink transmission is more than a seventh value. (Examiner interprets “a sixth value” as equivalent to “a value” and a seventh value as a second value since claim 87 from which claim 95 depends has no first, second, third, fourth or fifth value recited. Bhattad para. [0123] teaches UE 115-b may determine to not transmit to avoid interfering transmission. As shown, UE 115-b in Fig. 7A has a shorter gap than UE 115-c.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to have combined Bhattad with Xue to teach dropping the uplink transmission in a case where the duration of the gap is determined to be less than or equal to a one value and a duration of the uplink transmission of another value. Each of Bhattad and Xue are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine the Xue with Bhattad to provide additional and/or alternative techniques for uplinks taught in Bhattad para. [0004].
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 MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON whose telephone number is (703)756-1068. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Jiang can be reached at 571-270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2412
/CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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