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 . Claims 1 and 5-7 are currently pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, and 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 5 have been amended to recite the limitation “second DCI format, which is received after the first DCI format, indicates secondary cell (SCell) dormancy, and includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field with an applicable value, in a case that: the first DCI format is used for scheduling the PDSCH, and the first DCI format includes another PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field providing an inapplicable value”. The Applicant indicated that support for the new limitation can be found in the originally filed application, for example, in paragraph [0375]. However, it appears that this paragraph does not support “second DCI format, which is received after the first DCI format, indicates secondary cell (SCell) dormancy” within the context of “in a case that: the first DCI format is used for scheduling the PDSCH, and the first DCI format includes another PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field providing an inapplicable value”. The paragraph appears to only suggest in a case that the terminal apparatus 1 detects DCI format 1 indicating SCell dormancy and is provided with pdsch-HARQ-ACK-Codebook = dynamic, the terminal apparatus 1 may generate HARQ-ACK information bits for that DCI format. The value of the HARQ-ACK information bit may be ACK. Thus, this paragraph does not discuss the embodiment with two DCI formats in the limitation as claimed.
Claims 6-7 are rejected based on the virtue of their dependency on the rejected base claims 1 and 5.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 and 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 20230043308 A1) in view of Yang et al. (US 20220303064 A1) and Xu et al. (US 20210176012 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Li et al. disclose a terminal apparatus comprising: a receiver configured to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for receiving a first downlink control information (DCI) format (paragraphs [0055-0056]; a UE receives the PDSCH-1 518 scheduled by the DCI-1 510 that the UE detects in a first PDCCH monitoring occasion and includes K1 -1 of NNK1 from dl-DataToUL-ACK); and a transmitter configured to: transmit a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) corresponding to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the PDCCH, and determine one or more physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for transmitting the HARQ-ACK corresponding to the PDSCH based on a second DCI format, which is received after the first DCI format and includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field with an applicable value (paragraph [0056]; The UE may multiplex the corresponding HARQ-ACK information 518 for the PDSCH-1 in a PUCCH transmission in a slot that is indicated by a value of a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field in the second DCI) (paragraph [0056]; The DCI-2 520 may include one bit of one-shot HARQ-ACK request field with value 1, and the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field of an applicable value (e.g., K1-2=2)) (fig. 5A; DCI-2 is received after DCI-1), in a case the first DCI format is used for scheduling the PDSCH (paragraph [0056]; the PDSCH-1 518 is scheduled by the DCI-1 510), and the first DCI format includes another PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field providing an inapplicable value (paragraph [0055]; first DCI (DCI-1, 510) for a first PDSCH (PDSCH-1, 518) may have a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator bit field (K1-1) of non-applicable value (or non-number value, or NNK1, or −1)); and determine a PUCCH resource for another HARQ-ACK in response to receiving a PDSCH in a case that transmission of HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH is enabled (paragraph [0056]; PUCCH is determined by a value of a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field in the second DCI for a second PDSCH) (paragraph [0065]; one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback enabled by pdsch-HARQ-ACK-OneShotFeedback-r16. The UE may receive a DCI including a one-shot HARQ-ACK request bit field value of 1). However, Li et al. may not explicitly suggest the PDSCH is semi-persistent scheduled and determining a PUCCH resource for the HARQ-ACK, in response to receiving the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PDSCH, in a case that transmission of HARQ-ACK information for the SPS PDSCH is enabled. Yang et al. from the same or similar field of endeavor suggest determining a PUCCH resource for another HARQ-ACK in response to receiving a PDSCH in a case that transmission of HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH is enabled (paragraphs [0535-0536]; a PUCCH resource for A/N feedback transmission corresponding to the initial PDSCH reception may be allowed/enabled through DCI indicating SPS activation. An A/N timing through DCI indicating SPS activation may be allowed when the Type-2a (and/or Type-3) A/N codebook or the Type-2 (and/or Type-3) A/N codebook is configured for a UE). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate in Li et al.’s method/system the step of utilizing SPS and determining the PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK transmission when it is allowed/enabled as suggested by Yang et al. The motivation would have been to improve decoding performance and to reduce unnecessary PDSCH retransmission overhead (paragraph [0489]). However, Li et al. and Yang et al. may not suggest the second DCI format indicates secondary cell (SCell) dormancy. Xu et al. from the same or similar field of endeavor suggest second DCI format indicates secondary cell (SCell) dormancy and includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field (paragraphs [0070] [0064]; second/subsequent DCI that does not schedule downlink data and include SCell dormancy indication in one or more unused fields of the second DCI. The subsequent DCI (the DCI that does not schedule data) may include both the SCell dormancy indication and the HARQ feedback indication in the usable bits of the one or more unused fields). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate in Li et al. and Yang et al.’s method/system where second DCI format indicates secondary cell (SCell) dormancy as suggested by Xu et al. The motivation would have been to apply consistent behavior to receive and decode a set of one or more DCIs that include an SCell dormancy indication and a HARQ feedback indication (paragraph [0009]).
Regarding claim 5, Li et al. disclose a communication method comprising: monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for receiving a first downlink control information (DCI) format (paragraphs [0055-0056]; a UE receives the PDSCH-1 518 scheduled by the DCI-1 510 that the UE detects in a first PDCCH monitoring occasion and includes K1 -1 of NNK1 from dl-DataToUL-ACK); and transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) corresponding to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the PDCCH, and determining one or more physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources for transmitting the HARQ-ACK corresponding to the PDSCH based on a second DCI format, which is received after the first DCI format and includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field with an applicable value (paragraph [0056]; The UE may multiplex the corresponding HARQ-ACK information 518 for the PDSCH-1 in a PUCCH transmission in a slot that is indicated by a value of a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field in the second DCI) (paragraph [0056]; ) The DCI-2 520 may include one bit of one-shot HARQ-ACK request field with value 1, and the PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field of an applicable value (e.g., K1-2=2)) (fig. 5A; DCI-2 is received after DCI-1), in a case the first DCI format is used for scheduling the PDSCH (paragraph [0056]; the PDSCH-1 518 is scheduled by the DCI-1 510), and the first DCI format includes another PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field providing an inapplicable value (paragraph [0055]; first DCI (DCI-1, 510) for a first PDSCH (PDSCH-1, 518) may have a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator bit field (K1-1) of non-applicable value (or non-number value, or NNK1, or −1)). and determine a PUCCH resource for another HARO-ACK in response to receiving a PDSCH in a case that transmission of HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH is enabled (paragraph [0056]; PUCCH is determined by a value of a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field in the second DCI for a second PDSCH) (paragraph [0065]; one-shot HARQ-ACK feedback enabled by pdsch-HARQ-ACK-OneShotFeedback-r16. The UE may receive a DCI including a one-shot HARQ-ACK request bit field value of 1). However, Li et al. may not explicitly suggest the PDSCH is semi-persistent scheduled and determining a PUCCH resource for the HARQ-ACK, in response to receiving the semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PDSCH, in a case that transmission of HARQ-ACK information for the SPS PDSCH is enabled. Yang et al. from the same or similar field of endeavor suggest determining a PUCCH resource for another HARQ-ACK in response to receiving a PDSCH in a case that transmission of HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH is enabled (paragraphs [0535-0536]; a PUCCH resource for A/N feedback transmission corresponding to the initial PDSCH reception may be allowed/enabled through DCI indicating SPS activation. An A/N timing through DCI indicating SPS activation may be allowed when the Type-2a (and/or Type-3) A/N codebook or the Type-2 (and/or Type-3) A/N codebook is configured for a UE). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate in Li et al.’s method/system the step of utilizing SPS and determining the PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK transmission when it is allowed/enabled as suggested by Yang et al. The motivation would have been to improve decoding performance and to reduce unnecessary PDSCH retransmission overhead (paragraph [0489]). However, Li et al. and Yang et al. may not suggest the second DCI format indicates secondary cell (SCell) dormancy. Xu et al. from the same or similar field of endeavor suggest second DCI format indicates secondary cell (SCell) dormancy and includes a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field (paragraphs [0070] [0064]; second/subsequent DCI that does not schedule downlink data and include SCell dormancy indication in one or more unused fields of the second DCI. The subsequent DCI (the DCI that does not schedule data) may include both the SCell dormancy indication and the HARQ feedback indication in the usable bits of the one or more unused fields). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate in Li et al. and Yang et al.’s method/system where second DCI format indicates secondary cell (SCell) dormancy as suggested by Xu et al. The motivation would have been to apply consistent behavior to receive and decode a set of one or more DCIs that include an SCell dormancy indication and a HARQ feedback indication (paragraph [0009]).
Regarding claim 6, Li et al. wherein the transmitter is further configured to determine another PUCCH resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK in a case that a pdsch-HARQ-ACK-OneShotFeedback is provided, and the second DCI format includes a One-shot HARQ-ACK request field with value 1 (paragraph [0056]; HARQ-ACK information 518 for the PDSCH-1 in a PUCCH in a slot that is indicated by a value of a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field in the second DCI) (paragraph [0049]; the UE receives the second DCI corresponding to the second PDSCH. The second DCI include a second K with an applicable value and a one-shot request field with a positive value of 1). Yang et al. further suggest transmitting the HARQ-ACK in a type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook (paragraph [0537]; DCI indicating A/N feedback transmission based on the Type-3 codebook and/or DCI indicating SPS activation and/or DCI indicating SPS release and/or a specific cell (e.g., Scell), in relation to DCI indicating switching to a specific (e.g., dormant) BWP).
Regarding claim 7, Li et al. wherein the transmitter is further configured to determine another PUCCH resource for transmitting the HARQ-ACK in a case that a pdsch-HARQ-ACK-OneShotFeedback is provided, and the second DCI format includes a One-shot HARQ-ACK request field with value 1 (paragraph [0056]; HARQ-ACK information 518 for the PDSCH-1 in a PUCCH in a slot that is indicated by a value of a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field in the second DCI) (paragraph [0049]; the UE receives the second DCI corresponding to the second PDSCH. The second DCI include a second K with an applicable value and a one-shot request field with a positive value of 1). Yang et al. further suggest transmitting the HARQ-ACK in a type 3 HARQ-ACK codebook (paragraph [0537]; DCI indicating A/N feedback transmission based on the Type-3 codebook and/or DCI indicating SPS activation and/or DCI indicating SPS release and/or a specific cell (e.g., Scell), in relation to DCI indicating switching to a specific (e.g., dormant) BWP).
Response to Remarks/Arguments
Applicant's remarks/arguments filed 07/07/2026 with respect to claim(s) 1 and 5 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
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 HOANG-CHUONG Q VU whose telephone number is (571)270-3945. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday (9:30-5:30 PM EST.).
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HOANG-CHUONG Q. VU
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2476
/HOANG-CHUONG Q VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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