Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/23/2025 has been entered.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Applications No. GR 2020/0100367, filed on 06/24/2020 and GR 2020/0100372 filed on 06/24/2020.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/08/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 3-14,20, 22-29 and 31-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Sun et al. (2018/0255584), hereinafter Sun, in view of Park et al. (2020/0170038), hereinafter Park and Fehrenbach et al. (2022/0263630), hereinafter Fehrenbach.
Re. Claim 1, 20, 35 and 36, Sun teaches a first device, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories, and configured to cause the first device to perform a method consisting of a plurality of subchannels (¶0062 - a first wireless device wishing to transmit or receive data using frequency domain channel 305-b may monitor the CR subband 310 to determine if data subband 315 of frequency domain channel 305-b is available. Based on the determination, the first wireless device may transmit a CR signal 320-a on CR subband 310 to reserve the data subband 315); transmit a reservation signal during an entire duration of a time period over one or more subchannels of the plurality of subchannels of the unlicensed frequency band (¶0062 - After or concurrently with transmission of the CR signal 320-a, the first wireless device may transmit or receive data 325-a via data subband 315), wherein: the reservation signal is configured to reserve the unlicensed frequency band during the time period for wireless communications by a plurality of devices (¶0006 - the CR subband may have a pre-configured frequency domain location and be common across wireless devices in the wireless communication system), and to transmit the reservation signal during the entire duration of the time period (Fig. 3, ¶0030 - a wireless communications system may allocate a subband of a frequency domain channel as a dedicated CR subband and use the remaining subband of the frequency domain channel as a data subband, & ¶0063 - The first wireless device may again monitor the CR subband 310 and transmit CR signal 320-c to reserve the data subband 315), the one or more processors are configured to cause the first device to transmit of the reservation signal over less than all of the plurality of subchannels (¶0061 - Based on the monitoring, a wireless device may transmit a CR signal on the CR subband 310 to reserve frequency domain channel 305-a or frequency domain channel 305-b, &¶0063 - The first wireless device may again monitor the CR subband 310 and transmit CR signal 320-c to reserve the data subband 315. Examiner interprets that the monitoring of a single subband here indicates that the transmission and reservation is happening only for the one subband, less than all of the plurality).
Yet, Sun does not expressly teach, sensing that an unlicensed frequency band is idle, and transmitting when the unlicensed frequency band is sensed as idle transmitting.
However, Park explicitly teaches sensing that an unlicensed frequency band is idle (¶0007 - Transmitting, when an idle state of the unlicensed band is detected as a result of performing the first CCA), and transmitting when the unlicensed frequency band is sensed as idle transmitting (¶0007 - Transmitting, when an idle state of the unlicensed band is detected as a result of performing the first CCA).
Yet, the combination of Sun and Park does not expressly teach the time period comprises a first slot of a plurality of slots of a time window.
However Fehrenbach explicitly teaches the time period comprises a first slot of a plurality of slots of a time window (Fig. 3(a), ¶0156 - The communication over the frequency band SB comprises a plurality of time windows or slots. FIG. 3(a) illustrates four slots of the communication, namely slot 0, slot 1, slot 2 and slot 3. In the depicted embodiment, each of the slots includes control information, for example DCIs, for one or more UEs that are served, for example, by a base station. Examiner interprets that this presentation of various windows or slots in a grid array over frequency and time is analogous to the grid disclosed in Fig. 7 of the present application. When applied with the reservation method described above, the organizational grid in Fig. 3(a) used presently could allow for the organization of different reservations in different time slots across the entire window);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Park and Fehrenbach to the teaching of Sun. The motivation for such would be as Park provides that a transmission occurs in response to a frequency band being sensed as being idle (¶0007, Park) and as Fehrenbach provides an organization of multiple time slots with multiple reservation points across an entire time window (Fig. 3(a), Fehrenbach). All of the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements, as claimed by known methods, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention.
Re. Claim 3 and 22, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first device to transmit, for each slot of the plurality of slots other than the first slot, at least one of a corresponding data signal OR a corresponding reservation signal during the entire duration of the slot over one or more corresponding subchannels of the plurality of subchannels (Fig. 3, & ¶0062 - After or concurrently with transmission of the CR signal 320-a, the first wireless device may transmit or receive data 325-a via data subband 315. Additionally, Examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features needs to be mapped because of the presence of “Or”).
Re. Claim 4 and 24, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun further teaches the one or more processors are configured to cause the first device to transmit the reservation signal over a first subset of frequency resources of the less than all of the plurality of subchannels for the time period (¶0062 - a first wireless device wishing to transmit or receive data using frequency domain channel 305-b may monitor the CR subband 310 to determine if data subband 315 of frequency domain channel 305-b is available. Based on the determination, the first wireless device may transmit a CR signal 320-a on CR subband 310 to reserve the data subband 315); the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first device to transmit, over a second subset of frequency resources of the less than all of the plurality of subchannels, a second reservation signal within a second slot of the plurality of slots (¶0010 - transmit a CR signal using resources of the first frequency subband, the CR signal indicating a reservation of the second frequency subband based on the determined availability of the second frequency subband); and the first subset of frequency resources corresponds to a different set of frequencies than the second subset of frequency resources (Fig. 3, & ¶0061 - frequency domain channels 305-a and 305-b may span different bandwidths of the frequency band).
Re. Claim 5 and 24, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun further teaches the one or more processors are configured to cause the first device to transmit the reservation signal over a subset of frequency resources of the less than all of the plurality of subchannels for the time period (Fig. 3); and the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first device to transmit, over the subset of frequency resources of the less than all of the plurality of subchannels (Fig. 3, & ¶0062 - After or concurrently with transmission of the CR signal 320-a, the first wireless device may transmit or receive data 325-a via data subband 315), a second reservation signal within a second slot of the plurality of slots (Fig. 3, 320-a, 320-b, 320-c, Examiner notes that there are multiple time slots holding reservation signals shown in Fig. 3 which would cover the claimed language).
Re. Claim 6 and 25, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun further teaches the one or more processors are configured to cause the first device to transmit the reservation signal over a first subset of frequency resources of the less than all of the plurality of subchannels during the at least the portion of the time period (Fig. 3 & ¶0062 - a first wireless device wishing to transmit or receive data using frequency domain channel 305-b may monitor the CR subband 310 to determine if data subband 315 of frequency domain channel 305-b is available. Based on the determination, the first wireless device may transmit a CR signal 320-a on CR subband 310 to reserve the data subband 315); the first subset of frequency resources consists of at least one resource element (RE) in each subchannel of the less than all of the plurality of subchannels (¶0004 - Some contention-based procedures allocate one or more time intervals of a set of resources for transmission of a reservation signal by a wireless device attempting to reserve at least a portion of the set of resources).
Re. Claim 7 and 26, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 6 and 25.
Additionally Sun further teaches over a second subset of frequency resources of the less than all of the plurality of subchannels during the time period (Fig. 3 & ¶0062 - a first wireless device wishing to transmit or receive data using frequency domain channel 305-b may monitor the CR subband 310 to determine if data subband 315 of frequency domain channel 305-b is available. Based on the determination, the first wireless device may transmit a CR signal 320-a on CR subband 310 to reserve the data subband 315); and the second subset of frequency resources is separate from the first subset of frequency resources (Fig. 3, & ¶0061 - frequency domain channels 305-a and 305-b may span different bandwidths of the frequency band).
Yet, the combination of Sun and Fehrenbach does not expressly teach the one or more processors are
However, Park expressly teaches the one or more processors are (¶0102 - The DM-RS may be transmitted through resource elements when data on a PDSCH is required to be demodulated).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Park to the teaching of Sun and Fehrenbach. The motivation for such would be as Park provides a means for transmitting a DMRS (¶0102, Park). All of the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements, as claimed by known methods, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention.
Re. Claim 8 and 27, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 7 and 26.
Yet, Sun does not expressly teach wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first device to apply an orthogonal cover code to the DMRS.
However, Park explicitly teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first device to apply an orthogonal cover code to the DMRS (Fig. 11, & ¶0167 - The control signals of the plurality of terminals may be multiplexed on the same RB by using the OCC).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Park to the teaching of Sun. The motivation for such would be as Park provides a means for applying a orthogonal cover code to the DMRS (¶0167, Park). All of the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements, as claimed by known methods, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention.
Re. Claim 9 and 28, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first device to store an indication of a characteristic of the reservation signal prior to transmission of the reservation signal (¶0062 - a first wireless device wishing to transmit or receive data using frequency domain channel 305-b may monitor the CR subband 310 to determine if data subband 315 of frequency domain channel 305-b is available. Based on the determination, the first wireless device may transmit a CR signal 320-a on CR subband 310 to reserve the data subband 315).
Re. Claim 10 and 29, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun further teaches wherein the reservation signal indicates to one or more other wireless devices that the frequency band is busy during the time period (¶0062 - Based on the determination, the first wireless device may transmit a CR signal 320-a on CR subband 310 to reserve the data subband 315. After or concurrently with transmission of the CR signal 320-a, the first wireless device may transmit or receive data 325-a via data subband 315. In some examples, CR signal 320-a may identify the data subband 315 and a duration that the data subband 315 is reserved so that a second device monitoring the CR subband 310 may be able to determine that data subband 315 is reserved).
Re. Claim 11 and 31, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Yet, the combination of Sun and Fehrenbach does not expressly teach wherein the reservation signal comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS).
However, Park explicitly teaches wherein the reservation signal comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (¶0100 - The DM-RS is used for data demodulation only for a specific UE. Information for demodulation and channel measurement may be provided using such reference signals).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Park to the teaching of Sun and Fehrenbach. The motivation for such would be as Park provides that a reservation signal can be a DMRS (¶0100, Park). All of the claimed elements were known in the prior art and one skilled in the art could have combined the elements, as claimed by known methods, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention.
Re. Claim 12 and 32, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first device to dynamically select the one or more subchannels from the plurality of subchannels prior to transmission of the reservation signal (¶0050 - The wireless communications system 200 may allocate a subband of a frequency domain channel as a dedicated CR subband).
Re. Claim 13 and 33, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun further teaches wherein one of the plurality of subchannels is reserved for transmission of only reservation signals (¶0050 - The wireless communications system 200 may allocate a subband of a frequency domain channel as a dedicated CR subband).
Re. Claim 14 and 34, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun further teaches wherein, the one or more processors are configured to cause the first device to: transmit the reservation signal when the first device does not have data to transmit during the time period (Fig. 3, Fig. 4A, & ¶0066 - The base station 105 may transmit a CR-T signal 415-a on the CR subband 405-a and in some cases, may simultaneously transmit a pre-grant 420-a on the data channel 410-a);
Re. Claims 37 and 38, Sun, Park, and Fehrenbach teach Claims 1 and 20.
Additionally, Sun teaches when the first device has data to transmit during a second time period, the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first device to transmit a data signal during an entire duration of the second time period over the one or more subchannels of the plurality of subchannels of the unlicensed frequency band (Fig. 3, ¶0030 - a wireless communications system may allocate a subband of a frequency domain channel as a dedicated CR subband and use the remaining subband of the frequency domain channel as a data subband, & ¶0063 - The first wireless device may again monitor the CR subband 310 and transmit CR signal 320-c to reserve the data subband 315. Examiner interprets that the same process used for the first time period can be used for the second time period. In the above cited reference, the reservation is made for the entirety of the subband and as such it can be understood that this can be applied to the disclosure of Fehrenbach as outlined in Claims 1 and 20 to reserve the entire time slot in the window).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 20, 35, and 36 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection. As per the interview held on 12/22/2025, Examiner understands that the aim of this amendment is to illustrate Fig. 7 within the independent claims, and as a result of said interview, both Examiner and Applicant agreed that the amendment overcame the present rejection. After further search and consideration given the language of the amended claim, Examiner has provided Fehrenbach Fig. 3(a) to illustrate a “time period compris[ing] a first slot of a plurality of slots of a time window”. Fehrenbach discloses a means of scheduling different coresets for wireless communication within the disclosed structure of Fig. 3(a) and as such, Examiner interprets that a person having ordinary skill in the art would be able to see this means of scheduling and implement the method for scheduling reservation signals in a similar way. As such, Examiner upholds the rejection on independent claims 1, 20, 35, and 36 as well as all claims that depend therein. Additionally, a new rejection has been provided for new claims 37 and 38.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bordreau et al. (2019/0253210) - ¶0018-0030
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NOAH JAMES SUGDEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7406. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs 9:00-6:00 ET, Fri 9:00-1:00 ET.
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, Khaled Kassim can be reached at (571) 270-3770. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/N.J.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475