Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s Amendments and Arguments filed 06/27/2025 have been considered for examination. Claims 1-20 are pending in the instant application.
With regard to the claim rejection under 112(b), Applicant’s arguments filed 06/27/2025 (see page 13 of Remarks) in view of the amendments have been fully considered and are persuasive. Thus, the claim rejection under 112(b) has been withdrawn.
With regard to the 103 rejections, Applicant’s arguments filed 06/27/2025 (see pages 14-17 of Remarks) in view of the amendments have been fully considered but are not persuasive at least in view of the reasons set forth below. Further, Examiner notes that Applicant’s amendments necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in the instant Office Action.
Regarding claim 1, 13, and 15, Applicant argued:
Amended independent claims 1 (also claims 13 and 15) recites, in part: "receiving, from a base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, … the uplink control information including the decoding statistical information for the downlink transmission." (Emphasis added.). Claim 1 recites that a terminal (i) receives RRC signaling that sets a time window for generating decoding statistical information, (ii) statistically generates decoding statistical information within the time window, and (iii) transmits the UCI including the generated information when HARQ feedback is deactivated. Claim 1 explains that the base station is to indirectly grasp the decoding status of the terminal even when HARQ feedback is not available, by receiving UCI including decoding statistical information generated over the time window set by the base station as recited in Claim 1. Claim 1 recites that a new uplink control information (UCI) that provides alternative feedback is transmitted from the terminal to the base station under downlink transmission environments where HARQ feedback is deactivated (e.g., in high-latency networks such as non-terrestrial networks (NTNs)).
While Yunjung discloses that a wireless device is configured to use a first portion of the control information for receiving data although a second portion of the control information is not successfully received and decoded, Yunjung however fails to disclose the proposed amendment as recited in Claim 1
Cheng merely discloses that a UE receives a command that indicates disabling an UL-HARQ feedback, receives a first PDSCH associated with the first HARQ process, and receives a second PDSCH associated with the first HARQ process before an end of an expected transmission of the UL HARQ feedback for the first HARQ process. Merely disclosing the HARQ process with the PDSCH as cited in Cheng does not teach or suggest the proposed amendment as recited in Claim 1.
For at least these reasons, Claims 1, 13, and 15 and their respective dependent claims are allowable.
In response to Applicant’s argument, Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Regarding the original claim 1, “A method for transmitting uplink control information … suggestion information for downlink scheduling, or channel quality related information,” in the previous office action, combination of Yunjung and Cheng fully discloses the original claim 1. However, in the argument, Applicant provides the amended claim1 and in similar, the amended claim 13 and 15 and argued that the emphasis part of the claim 1, “receiving, from a base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, … the uplink control information including the decoding statistical information for the downlink transmission,” is failed to be disclosed by combination of Yunjung and Cheng.
With the amendments, the scope of the previous claim has been changed and the detail rejection can be made in the below. However, although Yunjung does not explicitly disclose this amended claim, Cheng discloses this amended claim, based on the Fig. 2 and Paragraphs [0065]-[0072], [0167]-[0188], and [0075]. Cheng, in Fig. 2 and in Paragraphs [0065]-[0072], teaches that to transmit the uplink control information such as CQI (Channel Quality Indicator) and CSI (Channel State Information), as shown in Fig. 2, the configuration is made by the base station and transmit to the terminal through RRC signaling. For NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network), with the given measured window (time window), the short length measurement of Channel State Information (CSI) is performed and based on this CSI, the long term CQI is predicted with the measured block error rate (BLER) and the target BLER. The determined predicted CQI is transmitted with the other information such as PMI (precoding matrix indicator) and RI (Rank Indicator) to the base station through the CSI report. The short length measurement with the measurement window can generate statistically the decoding statistical information (BLER). For NTN with long RTT (Round Trip Time), when the downlink HARQ feedback is deactivated, the terminal can transmit the CSI report with the CQI made by the high BLER target. Further detail description can be found in the new rejection in the below.
Therefore, Cheng teaches the amended part, “receiving, from a base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, … the uplink control information including the decoding statistical information for the downlink transmission,”. For the same reasoning, the amended claims 13 and 15 are disclosed by Cheng.
Further, regrading claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 15, 16, and 18, Examiner notes that these claims contain contingent limitations. For method claims with contingent limitations, the broadest reasonable interpretation includes methods where the condition is met and where the condition isn't met. The limitations starting with "when a downlink … ,” in the claim 1, "when a predefined … ,” in the claim 2, "when a downlink … ,” in the claim 4, "when a downlink … ,” and "when the indicator … ,” in the claim 7, "when a downlink … ,” in the claim 13, "when a downlink … ,” in the claim 15, "when a predefined … ,” in the claim 16, "when the downlink … ,” in the claim 18 are contingent limitations. The claims have been interpreted to not require the conditions stated to be met. See MPEP 2111.04 subsection 11.
However, since the amended claim has changed the scope of Application, Examiner notes that Applicant’s amendments necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in the instant Office Action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1, 4-7, 10, 11, 13, and 15 are rejected under U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Cheng, Chienchun et. al. (Int. Pub. No: WO 2021018221 A1, hereinafter, “Cheng”).
Regarding claim 1, Cheng teaches that a method of a terminal for transmitting uplink control information, the method comprising: (Cheng, in Fig. 2 and in Paragraphs [0065]-[0072], teaches that in Paragraph [0065], one of the uplink control information to control the downlink transmission is the AMC (Adaptive Modulation and Coding) procedure. The AMC procedure includes the CQI (Channel Quality Index) reporting and MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) scheduling. For the CQI reporting, if a channel state information (CSI) report is configured (e.g., CSI parameters and a CQI table are configured), the UE may report a CQI index as an MCS recommendation based on CSI measurement configured by the CSI parameters. For MCS scheduling, the UE may be configured with an MCS table via an RRC message, and dynamic AMC may be achieved by a dynamic downlink control information (DCI) indication from a serving gNB. Fig. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating an example AMC procedure. In actions 212-218, the BS 204 (e.g., a gNB) may determine a CQI table from the three CQI tables associated with different spectral efficiency requirements and block error rate (BLER) targets and may configure the CQI table via an RRC message (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig IE) to the UE 202. The UE 202 may compute CQI based on the configured CQI table associated with a single BLER target and may select the highest CQI index with a transport block error probability not exceeding the BLER and may report the resulted CQI via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In action 220, the BS 204 may determine one of the three MCS tables specified in the NR specifications to schedule a PDSCH, based on the received CQI report. The BS 204 may configure the determined MCS table via an RRC message (e.g., PDSCH-Config IE) to the UE 202 and may determine an MCS index from the configured MCS table. The BS 204 may configure the determined MCS index to the UE 202 via a PDCCH with DCI associated with the scheduled PDSCH. The UE 202 may determine an MCS based on the received MCS index and the configured MCS table. The MCS information is used for decoding and demodulating data from the scheduled PDSCH. To accommodate NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network), the feature of disabling HARQ for long RTT delay may require a more robust and dynamic AMC control. Therefore, it is clear that the terminal may be transmitted the uplink control information such as CQI information and MCS information.) receiving, from a base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, configuration information on a length of a time window for statistically generating the uplink control information; based on the configuration information on the length of the time window, generating decoding statistical information for a downlink transmission; and (Cheng, in Paragraphs [0167]-[0188], teaches that the case 5 explains the method for long-term CQI prediction to report the CSI (Channel State Information) for the NTN communication. For the New Radio, UE may derive for each CQI value reported in an uplink slot: If a UE IS configured with higher layer parameter timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements in CSI ReportConjig, the UE may derive the channel measurements for computing CSI reported in an uplink slot based on only the most recent, no later than the CSI reference resource, the occasion of NZP CSI-RS (Non-Zero Power Channel State Information Reference Signal) associated with the CSI resource setting. However, regarding a need of long-term CQI prediction to accommodate to the long RTT for most of NTN scenarios, it may be necessary to have a clear boundary in time either for long-term CSI measurement or CQI prediction. For this, the predicted interval may be needed if the CQI prediction in derived by UE. As shown in Case 5-2, UE is provided with a prediction window in time by higher layer message (RRC configuration message) and CSI report may be calculated for the indicated prediction window. If a UE configured with higher layer parameter is timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements with a new higher layer parameter Measurement-Window, the UE may derive the channel measurements for computing CSI based on only the NZP CSI-RS within the configured measurement window, no later than the CSI reference resource, associated with the CSI resource setting. The new higher layer parameter Measurement-Window may be set to 's11', 's12', 's14', where all values are in a number of slots, or set to 'ms10', 'ms20', 'ms40', where all values are in a number of milliseconds. If the UE is configured with a CSI-ReportConfig with the higher layer parameter reportQuantity set to a new value 'cri (CSI-RS resource indicator)-RI (Rand Indicator)-PMI (Precoding Matrix Indicator)-CQI-PCQI (Predicted CQI), the UE may report a PCQI index for the entire reporting band, or per sub-band, depending on CQI configuration. If the UE is configured to report the PCQI index, the UE may derive the channel and the interference measurements for computing CSI within the configured measurement window, which may be no later than the CSI reference resource, associated with the CSI resource setting. a UE may perform CSI reporting that includes the PCQI (Predicted CQI) using PUSCH or PUCCH, if configured by higher layers for CSI reporting settings (using RRC signaling). Therefore, based on the measurement window (time window), the predicted CQI is calculated by using the predicted CSI, the SINR associated with the predicted CSI, and the target BLER (as taught in Fig 2, the CQI or PCQI is calculated based on the target BLER or calculated BLER: the decoding statistical information) and then, the CSI report (including CQI and PCQI) is generated statistically.) when a downlink hybrid automatic repeat and request (HARO) feedback function is disabled, transmitting, to the base station, the uplink control information including the decoding statistical information for the downlink transmission (Cheng, in Paragraph [0075], teaches that it may be necessary to have a flexible BLER configuration in NTN because of two reasons. First, a new BLER target may be needed if the URLLC table is going to be reused. This is because the original BLER target of 10-5 may be impossible to achieve regarding a very limited link budget in NTN, particularly for uplink. In one implementation, a higher BLER target, e.g., 10-1 or 10-2, may be configured to a UE regardless of which CQI table being used. Second, when HARQ switches off (HARQ is disabled), a higher BLER target may be needed to guarantee the first transmission. Without configurable BLERs, RRC reconfiguration signalling of another CQI table may be needed, which is time consuming and resource inefficient considering the long RTT. Here, as mentioned in the above, the CQI information for the CSI reporting is statistically generated based on the target BLER by comparing with the measured BLER. Based on this observation, it is clear that when a downlink HARO feedback function is disabled, the terminal transmits to the base station the uplink control information including the decoding statistical information for the downlink transmission such as the CQI in the CSI reporting.
Although Cheng teaches all of claim 1, Examiner notes that this claim contains contingent limitations. For method claims with contingent limitations, the broadest reasonable interpretation includes methods where the condition is met and where the condition isn't met. The limitation starting with "when a downlink hybrid ... " is contingent limitation. The claim has been interpreted to not require the conditions stated to be met. See MPEP 2111.04 subsection 11.)
Regarding claim 4, Cheng teaches the features defined in the claim 1, -refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cheng further teaches that when the downlink HARQ feedback function is disabled, transmitting the uplink control information to the base station by default (Cheng, in Paragraph [0075], teaches that it may be necessary to have a flexible BLER configuration in NTN because of two reasons. First, a new BLER target may be needed if the URLLC table is going to be reused. This is because the original BLER target of 10-5 may be impossible to achieve regarding a very limited link budget in NTN, particularly for uplink. In one implementation, a higher BLER target, e.g., 10-1 or 10-2, may be configured to a UE regardless of which CQI table being used. Second, when HARQ switches off (HARQ is disabled), a higher BLER target may be needed to guarantee the first transmission. Without configurable BLERs, RRC reconfiguration signalling of another CQI table may be needed, which is time consuming and resource inefficient considering the long RTT. Based on this observation, it is clear that when the downlink HARQ feedback function is disabled, the uplink control information can be transmitted to the base station by default by giving the configuration with the higher BLER target.
Although Cheng teaches all of claim 4, Examiner notes that this claim contains contingent limitations. For method claims with contingent limitations, the broadest reasonable interpretation includes methods where the condition is met and where the condition isn't met. The limitation starting with "when the downlink HARQ ... " is contingent limitation. The claim has been interpreted to not require the conditions stated to be met. See MPEP 2111.04 subsection 11.)
Regarding claim 5, Cheng teaches the features defined in the claim 1, -refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cheng further teaches that further comprising: receiving signaling for configuring to disable the downlink HARQ feedback function; (Cheng, in Paragraph [0086], teaches that If the UE is configured with a higher layer parameter NTN-HARQ set to be 'disabled' or the UE receives an indication for disabling HARQ, the UE may disable all or partial HARQ processes configured on the serving cell, and the transport block error probability corresponding to the CQI index may not exceed a value of KNTN, where KNTN is a per-defined or pre-determined parameter. Therefore, it is clear that the terminal (UE) may receive the signaling for configuring to disable downlink HARQ feedback function.) and disabling the downlink HARQ feedback function based on the signaling for configuring to disable the downlink HARQ feedback function (Cheng, in Paragraph [0086], teaches that If the UE is configured with a higher layer parameter NTN-HARQ set to be 'disabled' or the UE receives an indication for disabling HARQ, the UE may disable all or partial HARQ processes configured on the serving cell, and the transport block error probability corresponding to the CQI index may not exceed a value of KNTN, where KNTN is a per-defined or pre-determined parameter. Therefore, it is clear that based on the indication of higher layer message, the downlink HARQ can be disabled.)
Regarding claim 6, Cheng teaches the features defined in the claim 5, -refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cheng further teaches wherein the disabling of the downlink HARQ feedback function comprises: disabling a feedback function of a downlink HARQ process corresponding to a first parameter based on the first parameter, and (Cheng, in Paragraphs [0086], teaches that if the UE is configured with a higher layer parameter NTN-HARQ set to be 'disabled' or the UE receives an indication for disabling HARQ, the UE may disable all or partial HARQ processes configured on the serving cell. Therefore, it is clear that the terminal (UE) may receive the signaling for configuring to disable downlink HARQ feedback function.) wherein the first parameter comprises at least one of HARQ process numbers, (Cheng, in Table 1 and in Paragraph [0058], teaches that the required HARQ numbers to support NTN in Table 1 are based on a 1ms slot duration for 15 kHz reference subcarrier spacing (SCS). For larger SCS (e.g., 2kx 15 kHz), the minimum required number of the HARQ processes may be scaled by 2k, where k is a positive integer.). a downlink control information (DCI) transmission format used for the downlink transmission, (Cheng, in Table 3 and in Paragraph [0095], teaches that for Msg2, if the UE detects the DCI format l _ O with CRC scrambled by the corresponding RA (Random Access)-RNTI and a transport block in a corresponding PDSCH within a time window specified in the 3GPP NR specs, the UE passes the transport block to higher layers.) a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) type used for the downlink transmission, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) search space used for the downlink transmission, or a scheduling type used for the downlink transmission (Cheng, in Paragraph [0084], teaches that If the UE is configured with the new NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network)-Te-RNTI or a new NTN-CS-RNTI, for the PDSCH scheduled by a PDCCH with DCI with CRC scrambled by the NTN-RNTI, the transport block error probability corresponding to the CQI index may not exceed a value of KNTN, where KNTN is pre-defined/pre-determined/pre-configured.) Based on this observation, it is clear that the first parameters may be consists of one of the parameters mentioned above.)
Regarding claim 7, Cheng teaches the features defined in the claim 5, -refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cheng further teaches that wherein when the downlink HARQ feedback function is disabled, (Cheng, in Paragraphs [0086], teaches that if the UE is configured with a higher layer parameter NTN-HARQ set to be 'disabled' or the UE receives an indication for disabling HARQ, the UE may disable all or partial HARQ processes configured on the serving cell. Therefore, it is clear that the terminal (UE) may receive the signaling for configuring to disable downlink HARQ feedback function.) an indicator for indicating first information related to the downlink HARQ feedback function included in downlink control information (DCI) is removed or the indicator is used for indicating second information different from the first information, wherein when the indicator for indicating the first information related to the downlink HARQ feedback function included in the DCI is used for indicating the second information different from the first information, and (Cheng, in Paragraph [0083], teaches that the new NTN-RNTI may be an identity used by NR connected to 5GC in scheduling at cell level, referring to as a unique UE identification used for indicating the current connection is under satellites, associated with enabling NTN specific features, e.g., the NTN specific rule of MCS table selection, or indicating NTN specific information, e.g., satellite ephemeris data. Therefore, it is clear that an indicator for indicating first information related to the downlink HARQ feedback function included in downlink control information (DCI) is removed or the indicator is used for indicating second information different from the first information.) the second information comprises at least one of related parameters of slot aggregation transmission of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by a current DCI, (Cheng, in Paragraph [00143], teaches that UE assisted HARQ-feedback-less retransmission may provide side information for the network (NW) to schedule multiple transmissions with the same TB (Transport block). This may be accomplished by associating the UE assistance information with higher layer parameters such as DCI related to aggregation factors of PDSCH.) a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table used by the PDSCH transmission scheduled by the current DCI, (Cheng, in Paragraph [0065], teaches that for MCS scheduling, the UE may be configured with an MCS table via an RRC message, and dynamic AMC may be achieved by a dynamic downlink control information (DCI) indication from a serving gNB. It can be used for CSI reporting including the CQI reporting.) a channel quality indication CQI table used by the terminal for channel state information (CSI) reporting this time, (Cheng, in Table 2, teaches that if UE is configured with a new NTN-RNTI, and if an aperiodic CSI report is requested by DCI with CRC scrambled by the NTN-RNTI a semi-persistent CSI report is activated by a DCI format O _ l with CRC scrambled by the NTN-RNTI, the CQI table can be configures with different BLER rate for CSI report.) and enabling or disabling of a current HARQ feedback event (Cheng, in Paragraphs [0086], teaches that If the UE is configured with a higher layer parameter NTN-HARQ set to be 'disabled' or the UE receives an indication for disabling HARQ such as DCI, the UE may disable all or partial HARQ processes configured on the serving cell.). In this observation, it is clear that the second information related to DCI can be composed of one of the parameters mentioned above.
Although Cheng teaches all of claim 7, Examiner notes that this claim contains contingent limitations. For method claims with contingent limitations, the broadest reasonable interpretation includes methods where the condition is met and where the condition isn't met. The limitations starting with "when the downlink HARQ ... " and “when the indicator for …” are contingent limitations. The claim has been interpreted to not require the conditions stated to be met. See MPEP 2111.04 subsection 11.)
Regarding claim 10, Cheng teaches the features defined in the claim 1, -refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cheng further teaches that wherein the uplink control information further includes suggestion information for downlink scheduling, and (Cheng, in Paragraph [0065], teaches that the AMC procedure includes two major parts, channel quality index (CQI) reporting and modulation and coding scheme (MCS) scheduling. For the CQI reporting, if a channel state information (CSI) report is configured (e.g., CSI parameters and a CQI table are configured), the UE may report a CQI index as an MCS recommendation based on CSI measurement configured by the CSI parameters. For MCS scheduling, the UE may be configured with an MCS table via an RRC message, and dynamic AMC may be achieved by a dynamic downlink control information (DCI) indication from a serving gNB. Therefore, it is clear that the uplink control information further includes suggestion information for downlink scheduling (MCS scheduling) or channel quality related information (CQI or CSI).) wherein the suggestion information for the downlink scheduling comprises at least one of a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) value of PDSCH, a minimum MCS value, a maximum MCS value, a MCS offset, a MCS table, (Cheng, in Fig. 2 and in Paragraphs [0065] and [0066], teaches that Fig. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating an example AMC procedure according to an example implementation of the present disclosure. In action 212, the BS 204 (e.g., a gNB) may determine a CQI table from the three CQI tables specified in the NR specifications (e.g., 3GPP TS Release 15/16). These three tables represent MCS suggestions from the UE side, associated with different spectral efficiency requirements and block error rate (BLER) targets. In action 214, the BS may configure the CQI table via an RRC message (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig IE) to the UE 202.) times of physical downlink shared channel PDSCH retransmissions, minimum times of the PDSCH retransmissions, maximum times of the PDSCH retransmissions, (Cheng, in Paragraph [00147], teaches that when HARQ of PDSCH is disabled, the HARQ-ACK information bits, if present, may be interpreted in a new way. In one implementation, a HARQ-ACK information bit value of 0 may indicate a suggestion for decreasing the configured number of retransmissions (NACK-for-Less), e.g., from 4 repetitions to 2 repetitions. A HARQ-ACK information bit value of 1 may indicate a suggestion for increasing the configured number of retransmissions (ACK-for-More), e.g., from 2 repetitions to 4, repetitions. This suggestion for retransmissions may be used per TB, per HARQ process, per cell, per logical channel, or per UE, depending on the implementation.) a number of PDSCH aggregation slots, a minimum number of the PDSCH aggregation slots, a maximum number of the PDSCH aggregation slots, (Cheng, in Paragarph [00139], teaches that to support NTN, if HARQ is disabled, the BLER (Block Error Rate) target may need to be improved firstly to guarantee the reliability of the first transmission. Alternatively, this may be done by setting repetition based on slot aggregation with RV cycling or HARQ-less repetitions, which is also known as blind repetitions specified in Rel-15 LTE Higher-Reliability and Low-Latency Communication (HRLLC)). times of PDSCH repeated transmissions, a minimum times of PDSCH repeated transmissions, a maximum times of PDSCH repeated transmissions, (Cheng, in Paragraph [00143], teaches that UE assisted HARQ-feedback-less retransmission may provide side information for the network (NW) to schedule multiple transmissions with the same TB (Transport Block) of PDSCH. This may be accomplished by associating the UE assistance information with higher layer parameters related to aggregation factors of PDSCH.) enabling or disabling of a downlink HARQ feedback function, a number of HARQ processes with the downlink HARQ feedback function enabled or disabled, which are suggested by the terminal for the base station. (Cheng, in Paragraph [00148], teaches that When HARQ is enabled or disabled, each HARQ process associated with a HARQ process ID may include more than one HARQ-ACK information bits, based on some new predefined conditions, e.g., indicated by NW, carried by an UCI transmission or by multiple UCI transmissions.). Based on this observation, it is clear that the suggestion information for the downlink scheduling may comprise at least one of the parameters mentioned above.)
Regarding claim 11, Cheng teaches the features defined in the claim 1, -refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cheng further teaches that wherein the uplink control information further includes channel quality related information, and (Cheng, in Paragraph [0065], teaches that the AMC procedure includes two major parts, channel quality index (CQI) reporting and modulation and coding scheme (MCS) scheduling. For the CQI reporting, if a channel state information (CSI) report is configured (e.g., CSI parameters and a CQI table are configured), the UE may report a CQI index as an MCS recommendation based on CSI measurement configured by the CSI parameters. For MCS scheduling, the UE may be configured with an MCS table via an RRC message, and dynamic AMC may be achieved by a dynamic downlink control information (DCI) indication from a serving gNB. Therefore, it is clear that the uplink control information further includes suggestion information for downlink scheduling (MCS scheduling) or channel quality related information (CQI or CSI).) wherein the channel quality related information comprises at least one of long-term channel quality indication CQI, a CQI offset, or a CQI table suggested by the terminal (Cheng, in Paragraphs [00168] and [00169], teaches that for reporting CQI, a UE may derive for each CQI value reported in an uplink slot based on the following: If a UE is not configured with higher layer parameter timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements, the UE may derive the channel measurements for computing CSI value reported in an uplink slot based on only the NZP (Non Zero Power) CSI-RS (Channel State Information -Reference Signal), no later than the CSI reference resource associated with the CSI resource setting. If a UE is configured with higher layer parameter timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements in CSI-ReportConfig, the UE may derive the channel measurements for computing CSI reported in an uplink slot based on only the most recent, no later than the CSI reference resource, the occasion of NZP CSI-RS associated with the CSI resource setting. However, regarding a need of long-term CQI prediction to accommodate to the long RTT for most of NTN scenarios, it may be necessary to have a clear boundary in time either for long-term CSI measurement or CQI prediction. For current CQI computing, either derived based on an unrestricted observation interval in time or based on only the most recent NZP CSI-RS, there is no clear interval in the time specified as a predicted interval or a long-term measurement interval for prediction. Therefore, it is clear that the channel quality related information comprises at least one of the parameters mentioned above.)
Regarding claim 13, Cheng teaches that a method of a base station for receiving uplink control information, the method comprising: (Cheng, in Fig. 2 and in Paragraphs [0065]-[0072], teaches that in Paragraph [0065], one of the uplink control information to control the downlink transmission is the AMC (Adaptive Modulation and Coding) procedure. The AMC procedure includes the CQI (Channel Quality Index) reporting and MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) scheduling. For the CQI reporting, if a channel state information (CSI) report is configured (e.g., CSI parameters and a CQI table are configured), the UE may report a CQI index as an MCS recommendation based on CSI measurement configured by the CSI parameters. For MCS scheduling, the UE may be configured with an MCS table via an RRC message, and dynamic AMC may be achieved by a dynamic downlink control information (DCI) indication from a serving gNB. Fig. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating an example AMC procedure. In actions 212-218, the BS 204 (e.g., a gNB) may determine a CQI table from the three CQI tables associated with different spectral efficiency requirements and block error rate (BLER) targets and may configure the CQI table via an RRC message (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig IE) to the UE 202. The UE 202 may compute CQI based on the configured CQI table associated with a single BLER target and may select the highest CQI index with a transport block error probability not exceeding the BLER and may report the resulted CQI via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). In action 220, the BS 204 may determine one of the three MCS tables specified in the NR specifications to schedule a PDSCH, based on the received CQI report. The BS 204 may configure the determined MCS table via an RRC message (e.g., PDSCH-Config IE) to the UE 202 and may determine an MCS index from the configured MCS table. The BS 204 may configure the determined MCS index to the UE 202 via a PDCCH with DCI associated with the scheduled PDSCH. The UE 202 may determine an MCS based on the received MCS index and the configured MCS table. The MCS information is used for decoding and demodulating data from the scheduled PDSCH. To accommodate NTN (Non-Terrestrial Network), the feature of disabling HARQ for long RTT delay may require a more robust and dynamic AMC control. Therefore, it is clear that the base station may be received the uplink control information such as CQI information and MCS information.) transmitting, to a terminal via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, configuration information on a length of a time window for statistically generating the uplink control information, wherein, based on the configuration information on the length of the time window, generating decoding statistical information for a downlink transmission; and (Cheng, in [0167]-[0188], teaches that the case 5 explains the method for long-term CQI prediction to report the CSI (Channel State Information) for the NTN communication. For the New Radio, UE may derive for each CQI value reported in an uplink slot: If a UE IS configured with higher layer parameter timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements in CSI ReportConjig, the UE may derive the channel measurements for computing CSI reported in an uplink slot based on only the most recent, no later than the CSI reference resource, the occasion of NZP CSI-RS (Non-Zero Power Channel State Information Reference Signal) associated with the CSI resource setting. However, regarding a need of long-term CQI prediction to accommodate to the long RTT for most of NTN scenarios, it may be necessary to have a clear boundary in time either for long-term CSI measurement or CQI prediction. For this, the predicted interval may be needed if the CQI prediction in derived by UE. As shown in Case 5-2, UE is provided with a prediction window in time by higher layer message (RRC configuration message) and CSI report may be calculated for the indicated prediction window. If a UE configured with higher layer parameter is timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements with a new higher layer parameter Measurement-Window, the UE may derive the channel measurements for computing CSI based on only the NZP CSI-RS within the configured measurement window, no later than the CSI reference resource, associated with the CSI resource setting. The new higher layer parameter Measurement-Window may be set to 's11', 's12', 's14', where all values are in a number of slots, or set to 'ms10', 'ms20', 'ms40', where all values are in a number of milliseconds. If the UE is configured with a CSI-ReportConfig with the higher layer parameter reportQuantity set to a new value 'cri (CSI-RS resource indicator)-RI (Rand Indicator)-PMI (Precoding Matrix Indicator)-CQI-PCQI (Predicted CQI), the UE may report a PCQI index for the entire reporting band, or per sub-band, depending on CQI configuration. If the UE is configured to report the PCQI index, the UE may derive the channel and the interference measurements for computing CSI within the configured measurement window, which may be no later than the CSI reference resource, associated with the CSI resource setting. a UE may perform CSI reporting that includes the PCQI (Predicted CQI) using PUSCH or PUCCH, if configured by higher layers for CSI reporting settings (using RRC signaling). Therefore, based on the configuration information by RRC signaling on the measurement window (time window), the predicted CQI is calculated by using the predicted CSI, the SINR associated with the predicted CSI, and the target BLER (as taught in Fig 2, the CQI or PCQI is calculated based on the target BLER or calculated BLER: the decoding statistical information) and then, the CSI report (including CQI and PCQI) is generated statistically.) when a downlink hybrid automatic repeat and request (HARO) feedback function is disabled, transmitting, to the base station, the uplink control information including the decoding statistical information for the downlink transmission (Cheng, in Paragraph [0075], teaches that it may be necessary to have a flexible BLER configuration in NTN because of two reasons. First, a new BLER target may be needed if the URLLC table is going to be reused. This is because the original BLER target of 10-5 may be impossible to achieve regarding a very limited link budget in NTN, particularly for uplink. In one implementation, a higher BLER target, e.g., 10-1 or 10-2, may be configured to a UE regardless of which CQI table being used. Second, when HARQ switches off (HARQ is disabled), a higher BLER target may be needed to guarantee the first transmission. Without configurable BLERs, RRC reconfiguration signaling of another CQI table may be needed, which is time consuming and resource inefficient considering the long RTT. Here, as mentioned in the above, the CQI information for the CSI reporting is statistically generated based on the target BLER by comparing with the measured BLER. Based on this observation, it is clear that when a downlink HARO feedback function is disabled, the terminal transmits to the base station the uplink control information including the decoding statistical information for the downlink transmission such as the CQI in the CSI reporting.
Although Cheng teaches all of claim 13, Examiner notes that this claim contains contingent limitations. For method claims with contingent limitations, the broadest reasonable interpretation includes methods where the condition is met and where the condition isn't met. The limitation starting with "when a downlink hybrid ... " is contingent limitation. The claim has been interpreted to not require the conditions stated to be met. See MPEP 2111.04 subsection 11.)
Regarding claim 14, Cheng teaches the features defined in the claim 13, -refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cheng further teaches that wherein the decoding statistical information for downlink transmission comprises at least one of a decoding success ratio, a decoding failure ratio, cumulative times of decoding successes, or cumulative times of decoding failures of the downlink transmission (Cheng, in Fig. 2 and in Paragraphs [0066]-[0067], teaches that Fig. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating an example AMC procedure according to an example implementation of the present disclosure. In action 212, the BS 204 (e.g., a gNB) may determine a CQI table from the three CQI tables specified in the NR specifications. These three tables represent MCS suggestions from the UE side, associated with different spectral efficiency requirements and block error rate (BLER) targets. In action 214, the BS may configure the CQI table via an RRC message (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig IE) to the UE 202. In action 216, the UE 202 may compute CQI based on the configured CQI table. The CQI table is associated with a single BLER target. The UE 202 may select the highest CQI index with a transport block error probability not exceeding the BLER (using the decoding statistical information of the downlink transmission based on block error rate). In action 218, the UE 202 may report the resulted CQI via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). Therefore, it is clear that the decoding statistical information for downlink transmission can be one of a decoding success ratio, a decoding failure ratio, cumulative times of decoding successes, or cumulative times of decoding failures of the downlink transmission, for an example block error rate of the transport blocks.) wherein the uplink control information further includes at least one of: suggestion information for downlink scheduling or channel quality related information (Cheng, in Paragraph [0065], teaches that the AMC procedure includes two major parts, channel quality index (CQI) reporting and modulation and coding scheme (MCS) scheduling. For the CQI reporting, if a channel state information (CSI) report is configured (e.g., CSI parameters and a CQI table are configured), the UE may report a CQI index as an MCS recommendation based on CSI measurement configured by the CSI parameters. For MCS scheduling, the UE may be configured with an MCS table via an RRC message, and dynamic AMC may be achieved by a dynamic downlink control information (DCI) indication from a serving gNB. Therefore, it is clear that the uplink control information further includes suggestion information for downlink scheduling (MCS scheduling) or channel quality related information (CQI or CSI).) wherein the suggestion information for the downlink scheduling comprises at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) value of PDSCH, a minimum MCS value, a maximum MCS value, a MCS offset, a MCS table, (Cheng, in Fig. 2 and in Paragraphs [0065] and [0066], teaches that Fig. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating an example AMC procedure according to an example implementation of the present disclosure. In action 212, the BS 204 (e.g., a gNB) may determine a CQI table from the three CQI tables specified in the NR specifications (e.g., 3GPP TS Release 15/16). These three tables represent MCS suggestions from the UE side, associated with different spectral efficiency requirements and block error rate (BLER) targets. In action 214, the BS may configure the CQI table via an RRC message (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig IE) to the UE 202.) times of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) retransmissions, minimum times of the PDSCH retransmissions, maximum times of the PDSCH retransmissions, (Cheng, in Paragraph [00147], teaches that when HARQ of PDSCH is disabled, the HARQ-ACK information bits, if present, may be interpreted in a new way. In one implementation, a HARQ-ACK information bit value of 0 may indicate a suggestion for decreasing the configured number of retransmissions (NACK-for-Less), e.g., from 4 repetitions to 2 repetitions. A HARQ-ACK information bit value of 1 may indicate a suggestion for increasing the configured number of retransmissions (ACK-for-More), e.g., from 2 repetitions to 4, repetitions. This suggestion for retransmissions may be used per TB, per HARQ process, per cell, per logical channel, or per UE, depending on the implementation.) a number of PDSCH aggregation slots, a minimum number of the PDSCH aggregation slots, a maximum number of the PDSCH aggregation slots, (Cheng, in Paragarph [00139], teaches that to support NTN, if HARQ is disabled, the BLER (Block Error Rate) target may need to be improved firstly to guarantee the reliability of the first transmission. Alternatively, this may be done by setting repetition based on slot aggregation with RV cycling or HARQ-less repetitions, which is also known as blind repetitions specified in Rel-15 LTE Higher-Reliability and Low-Latency Communication (HRLLC)). times of PDSCH repeated transmissions, a minimum times of PDSCH repeated transmissions, a maximum times of PDSCH repeated transmissions, (Cheng, in Paragraph [00143], teaches that UE assisted HARQ-feedback-less retransmission may provide side information for the network (NW) to schedule multiple transmissions with the same TB (Transport Block) of PDSCH. This may be accomplished by associating the UE assistance information with higher layer parameters related to aggregation factors of PDSCH.) enabling or disabling of a downlink HARQ feedback function, a number of HARQ processes with the downlink HARQ feedback function enabled or disabled, which are suggested by the terminal for the base station. (Cheng, in Paragraph [00148], teaches that When HARQ is enabled or disabled, each HARQ process associated with a HARQ process ID may include more than one HARQ-ACK information bits, based on some new predefined conditions, e.g., indicated by NW, carried by an UCI transmission or by multiple UCI transmissions). Based on this observation, it is clear that the suggestion information for the downlink scheduling may comprise at least one of the parameters mentioned above.) and the channel quality related information comprises at least one of long-term channel quality indication CQI, a CQI offset, or a CQI table suggested by the terminal (Cheng, in Paragraphs [00168] and [00169], teaches that for reporting CQI, a UE may derive for each CQI value reported in an uplink slot based on the following: If a UE is not configured with higher layer parameter timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements, the UE may derive the channel measurements for computing CSI value reported in an uplink slot based on only the NZP (Non Zero Power) CSI-RS (Channel State Informatio -Reference Signal), no later than the CSI reference resource associated with the CSI resource setting. If a UE is configured with higher layer parameter timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements in CSI-ReportConjig, the UE may derive the channel measurements for computing CSI reported in an uplink slot based on only the most recent, no later than the CSI reference resource, the occasion of NZP CSI-RS associated with the CSI resource setting. However, regarding a need of long-term CQI prediction to accommodate to the long RTT for most of NTN scenarios, it may be necessary to have a clear boundary in time either for long-term CSI measurement or CQI prediction. For current CQI computing, either derived based on an unrestricted observation interval in time or based on only the most recent NZP CSI-RS, there is no clear interval in the time specified as a predicted interval or a long-term measurement interval for prediction. Therefore, it is clear that the channel quality related information comprises at least one of the parameters mentioned above.)
Regarding claim 15, Cheng teaches that a terminal for transmitting uplink control information, the terminal user equipment comprising: at least one transceiver; and at least one processor operably coupled to the transceiver, configured to at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the terminal to: (Cheng, in Fig. 2 and 7 and in Paragraphs [00314]-[00317], teaches that in Fig. 7, the node 700 may be a UE or a BS for wireless communication that performs various functions as shown in Fig. 2. the node 700 may include a transceiver 720, a processor 728, a memory 734, one or more presentation components 738, and at least one antenna 736. in Fig. 7, the memory 734 may store computer-readable, computer-executable instructions 732 (e.g., software codes) that are configured to cause the processor 728 to perform various functions as shown in Fig. 2. Therefore, it is clear that a terminal for transmitting uplink control information is comprising: one transceiver, one processor operably coupled to the transceiver, configured to one memory, communicatively coupled to one processor, storing instructions executable by the one processor to cause the terminal to perform.) receive, from a base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, configuration information on a length of a time window for statistically generating the uplink control information; based on the configuration information on the length of the time window, generating decoding statistical information for a downlink transmission; and (Cheng, in Fig. 2 and in Paragraphs [0167]-[0188], teaches that the case 5 explains the method for long-term CQI prediction to report the CSI (Channel State Information) for the NTN communication. For the New Radio, UE may derive for each CQI value reported in an uplink slot: If a UE IS configured with higher layer parameter timeRestrictionForChannelMeasurements in CSI ReportConjig, the UE may derive the channel measurements for computing CSI reported in an uplink slot based on only the most recent, no later than the CSI