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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed October 24, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Takeda and Harada collectively teach exactly the claimed CIF–carrier-identifier framework, even though they use LTE/NR-standard, configuration-based terminology rather than the applicant’s preferred phrasing. Takeda teaches that a base station determines correspondences between CIF bit values and indexed component carriers used in cross-carrier scheduling, where the CIF in DCI identifies which carrier(s) are scheduled and the UE determines the target carrier based on those indices. Harada explicitly extends this by teaching higher-layer signaling that defines and signals correspondences between CIF codepoints and scheduled carrier identifiers, including configurations where a PDCCH on a secondary cell schedules a primary cell or primary secondary cell (SpCell). Together, these references show that the SpCell and SCells are logically numbered and identified via CIF-to-carrier mappings configured by the base station, and that DCI transmitted on an SCell PDCCH includes a CIF indicating the carrier identifier of the scheduled SpCell. The applicant’s reliance on “bitmap reuse” or “per-cell CIF tables” reflects an implementation detail that does not negate the disclosed determination of CIF-to-carrier correspondences or the identification of a specific target cell by CIF, and thus does not overcome the §103 rejection.
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 1-2, 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harada et al. (US 20230044495 A1) in view of Takeda et al. (US 20180115965 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Harada et al. teaches a cross-carrier scheduling method, comprising: determining, by a base station, correspondences between bit values of a carrier indicator field and carrier identifiers (Paragraph 49, 153, Harada explicitly teaches determining correspondences between CIF bit values (codepoints) and carrier identifiers designated for scheduling) of a special primary cell (SpCell) for communication between the base station and a terminal and at least one secondary cell (SCell) for communication between the base station and the terminal (Paragraph 33, 37, expressly teaches a system including a primary cell or primary secondary cell and one or more secondary cells used for communication with the terminal), wherein the SpCell comprises a primary cell (PCell) or a primary secondary cell (PSCell) (Paragraph 37, explicitly identifies the scheduled cell as either a PCell or a PSCell, directly matching the SpCell definition), and the SpCell and the at least one SCell are numbered together to determine carrier identifiers respectively corresponding to the SpCell and the at least one SCell (Paragraph 46, 49, 50, teaches grouping and indexing the scheduling cell and scheduled cells together via higher-layer configuration to establish carrier identifiers used by CIF codepoints); wherein the target DCI indicates a target cell that is scheduled by a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carried on the first SCell (Paragraph 37, 39, explicitly teaches that a PDCCH carried on an SCell schedules another cell via DCI), and wherein the target cell is the SpCell (Paragraph 37, explicitly teaches that the scheduled target cell may be the primary cell or primary secondary cell).
Harada et al. does not explicitly teach transmitting, by the base station, target downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to a first SCell to the terminal, wherein the first SCell is any one of the at least one SCell, wherein the target DCI comprises a carrier indicator field which indicates a carrier identifier of the target cell.
However, Takeda et al. teaches transmitting, by the base station, target downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to a first SCell to the terminal (Paragraph 29, 69, teaches the base station transmitting DCI via PDCCH on a component carrier, including secondary carriers, to the terminal), wherein the first SCell is any one of the at least one SCell (Paragraph 25, teaches that any configured component carrier may participate in cross-carrier scheduling, encompassing any SCell), wherein the target DCI comprises a carrier indicator field which indicates a carrier identifier of the target cell (Paragraph 39, 41, teaches that DCI includes a CIF that identifies the scheduled target carrier).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide transmitting, by the base station, target downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to a first SCell to the terminal, wherein the first SCell is any one of the at least one SCell, wherein the target DCI comprises a carrier indicator field which indicates a carrier identifier of the target cell as taught by Takeda et al. in the system of Harada et al., so that it would enable complete and standards-compliant cross-carrier scheduling by explicitly signaling, via DCI on any configured SCell, the carrier identifier of the target scheduled cell already defined and indexed in Harada’s multi-cell scheduling framework.
Regarding claim 2, Harada et al. teaches the target DCI further comprises a target information field, and the target information field and the carrier indicator field jointly indicate the carrier identifier of the target cell (Paragraph 40, 46, 49, 50, 96, 97, teaches that DCI includes a carrier indicator field whose codepoint is interpreted together with additional signaled information (such as higher-layer–configured carrier groupings or scheduled-cell indices) so that multiple fields jointly resolve and indicate the carrier identifier of the target scheduled cell).
Regarding claim 5, Harada et al. teaches the target DCI indicates at least one of a format of or one or more resources of a data transmission corresponding to the target cell that is scheduled by the PDCCH carried on the first SCell (Paragraph 37, 39, 40, 47, The passage teaches that DCI carried on a PDCCH of a scheduling SCell includes fields (e.g., CIF) that identify the target cell(s) and schedule PDSCH/PUSCH resources for data transmission on those target cells).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 6-10, 21-28, 30-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Harada et al. (US 20230044495 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Harada et al. teaches a cross-carrier scheduling method, comprising: receiving, by a terminal, target downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to a first secondary cell (SCell) and transmitted by a base station (Paragraph 37, 39, 52, The terminal is expressly described as receiving DCI transmitted by the base station via PDCCH associated with a serving cell used for cross-carrier scheduling, including secondary cells), wherein the first SCell is any one of at least one SCell for communication between the base station and the terminal (Paragraph 33, 39, discloses multiple secondary cells used for communication between the base station and terminal under carrier aggregation), wherein the target DCI comprises a carrier indicator field which indicates a carrier identifier of a target cell (Paragraph 40, 46, The CIF is explicitly used to designate which carrier (cell) is the scheduling target, i.e., the carrier identifier of the target cell), wherein correspondences occur between bit values of the carrier indicator field and carrier identifiers of a special primary cell (SpCell) for communication between the base station and the terminal and the at least one SCell (Paragraph 46, 48, teaches explicit bit-to-carrier correspondences in CIF that map bit values to specific carriers, including the scheduling carrier and other serving cells), wherein the SpCell comprises a primary cell (PCell) or a primary secondary cell (PSCell) (Paragraph 35, 37, explicitly identifies both PCell and PSCell as primary serving cells used in cross-carrier scheduling contexts), and wherein the SpCell and the at least one SCell are numbered together to determine the carrier identifiers corresponding to the SpCell and the at least one SCell (Paragraph 46, teaches numbering carriers together (CC#1, CC#2, etc.) to define carrier identifiers used by CIF for both primary and secondary cells); and determining, by the terminal and based on the target DCI, the target cell that is scheduled (Paragraph 52, 94, The terminal determines which cell or cells are scheduled by interpreting the CIF carried in the received DCI), wherein the target cell is the SpCell (Paragraph 48, 53, explicitly teaches CIF values that schedule the scheduling cell itself (the primary serving cell), satisfying determination of the SpCell as the target cell).
Regarding claim 7, Harada et al. teaches the target DCI further comprises a target information field, and the target information field and the carrier indicator field jointly indicate the carrier identifier of the target cell; and wherein determining, based on the target DCI, the target cell that is scheduled comprises: taking the SpCell as the target cell in response to determining that a bit value of the target information field is equal to a first preset value and a bit value of the carrier indicator field is equal to a second preset value (Paragraph 40, 46, 48, 49, 53, teaches that DCI includes a CIF whose bit value, interpreted together with higher-layer configured correspondence information, determines the scheduled carrier, including selecting the scheduling cell itself (SpCell) when a specific preset CIF value is present).
Regarding claim 8, Harada et al. teaches based on the target DCI, the target cell that is scheduled comprises: determining a target carrier identifier corresponding to a bit value of the carrier indicator field in the target DCI in accordance with the correspondences between the bit values of the carrier indicator field and the carrier identifiers of the SpCell and the at least one SCell; and determining the target cell based on the target carrier identifier (Paragraph 40, 46–49, 52, 96–97, The passage teaches that a DCI includes a carrier indicator field whose bit value is interpreted using configured correspondences to identify a specific carrier identifier (serving cell/component carrier), and the terminal then determines the scheduled target cell(s) based on that identified carrier identifier).
Regarding claim 9, Harada et al. teaches determining, by the terminal, the correspondences according to a predefined configuration; or receiving the correspondences transmitted by the base station through a target signaling (Paragraph 30, 38, 49, 78, 96, The terminal either determines correspondences from preconfigured information or receives and applies correspondences explicitly signaled by the base station via higher-layer signaling).
Regarding claim 10, Harada et al. teaches after determining the target cell that is scheduled, the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal, at least one of a format of or one or more resources of a data transmission corresponding to the target cell based on an indication of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carried on the first SCell (Paragraph 37, 39, 40, 46, 49, 52, 55, 66, The terminal receives PDCCH on a first SCell carrying DCI with an indication (e.g., CIF and related fields) that identifies the scheduled target cell(s) and, via the indicated CIF/BWP mappings, determines the corresponding data transmission parameters—including which resources (cells/BWPs) and associated transmission format/resources—for the target cell).
Regarding claim 21, Harada et al. teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program is configured to execute the cross-carrier scheduling method according to claim 1 (Paragraph 85, 87–89, 95, The passage discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program code that, when executed by a processor, performs the disclosed cross-carrier scheduling operations using DCI).
Regarding claim 22, Harada et al. teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program is configured to execute the cross-carrier scheduling method according to claim 6 (Paragraph 85, 87, 88, 94–95, The passages disclose a computer-readable storage medium storing program code that, when executed by a processor, implements the described cross-carrier scheduling operations).
Regarding claim 23, Harada et al. teaches a communication device, comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories for storing instructions executable by the one or more processors; wherein the one or more processors are configured to perform the cross-carrier scheduling method according to claim 1 (Paragraph 76, 78, 79, 85, 88, The terminal is disclosed as a communication device in which processor-executable instructions stored in memory cause one or more processors (control unit) to perform cross-carrier scheduling operations).
Regarding claim 24, Harada et al. teaches a communication device, comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories for storing instructions executable by the one or more processors; wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive target downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to a first secondary cell (SCell) and transmitted by a base station (Paragraph 37, 39, 66, The terminal receives DCI transmitted by the base station via a secondary cell PDCCH that schedules another serving cell), wherein the first SCell is any one of at least one SCell for communication between the base station and the communication device (Paragraph 33, 36, The system explicitly supports communication using one or more SCells between the base station and the terminal), wherein the target DCI comprises a carrier indicator field which indicates a carrier identifier of a target cell (Paragraph 40, 46, 47, The DCI includes a CIF that directly identifies which carrier (cell) is scheduled), wherein correspondences occur between bit values of the carrier indicator field and carrier identifiers of a special primary cell (SpCell) for communication between the base station and the communication device and the at least one SCell (Paragraph 46, 48, 49, Explicit mappings are defined between CIF bit values and carrier identifiers including scheduling and scheduled cells), wherein the SpCell comprises a primary cell (PCell) or a primary secondary cell (PSCell) (Paragraph 37, 33, 117, The disclosure explicitly recognizes both PCell and PSCell as primary-type cells participating in scheduling), and wherein the SpCell and the at least one SCell are numbered together to determine the carrier identifiers corresponding to the SpCell and the at least one SCell (Paragraoh 46, 48, 50, Carrier identifiers are jointly numbered and indexed across scheduling and scheduled cells using shared CC numbering); and determine, based on the target DCI, the target cell that is scheduled, wherein the target cell is the SpCell (Paragraph 53, 48, 96, The terminal determines from the DCI that the scheduled target cell is the scheduling (primary) cell itself).
Regarding claim 25, Harada et al. teaches the target DCI further comprises a target information field, and the target information field and the carrier indicator field jointly indicate the carrier identifier of the target cell; and wherein in response to determining, based on the target DCI, the target cell that is scheduled, the one or more processors are further configured to: take the SpCell as the target cell in response to determining that a bit value of the target information field is equal to a first preset value and a bit value of the carrier indicator field is equal to a second preset value (Paragraph 40, 46, 48, 53, 63, DCI includes a CIF whose bit value, interpreted per configuration, identifies the scheduled carrier, and when the CIF equals a preset value for self-carrier scheduling, the scheduling cell itself (SpCell) is taken as the target cell).
Regarding claim 26, Harada et al. teaches in response to determining, based on the target DCI, the target cell that is scheduled, the one or more processors are further configured to: determine a target carrier identifier corresponding to a bit value of the carrier indicator field in the target DCI in accordance with the correspondences between the bit values of the carrier indicator field and the carrier identifiers of the SpCell and the at least one SCell; and determine the target cell based on the target carrier identifier (Paragraph 40, 46–49, 96, teaches that, after receiving DCI including a carrier indicator field, the terminal determines a target carrier identifier by mapping the CIF bit value to corresponding serving cell identifiers (including the scheduling cell and secondary cells) using configured correspondences, and then determines the scheduled target cell based on that identified carrier).
Regarding claim 27, Harada et al. teaches the one or more processors are further configured to: determine the correspondences according to a predefined configuration; or receiving the correspondences transmitted by the base station through a target signaling (Paragraph 30, 49, 78, 96, The terminal determines carrier correspondences from predefined higher-layer configuration and/or receives those correspondences explicitly signaled by the base station via higher-layer signaling).
Regarding claim 28, Harada et al. teaches after determining the target cell that is scheduled, the one or more processors are further configured to: determine at least one of a format of or one or more resources of a data transmission corresponding to the target cell based on an indication of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carried on the first SCell (Paragraph 37, 39, 40, 55, 66, The passage teaches that PDCCH on a scheduling SCell carries DCI (including CIF and BWP fields) that identifies the target cell and determines the corresponding PDSCH/PUSCH format and resource allocation for data transmission).
Regarding claim 30, Harada et al. teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program is configured to execute the cross-carrier scheduling method according to claim 7 (Paragraph 83, 85, 87, 88, 66, 67, 94, 95, 100, teaches a computer-readable storage medium storing program code which, when executed by a processor, causes execution of the disclosed cross-carrier scheduling operations).
Regarding claim 31, Harada et al. teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program is configured to execute the cross-carrier scheduling method according to claim 8 (Paragraph 83, 85, 87, 88, 66, 67, 94, 95, 100, teaches a computer-readable storage medium storing program code which, when executed by a processor, causes execution of the disclosed cross-carrier scheduling operations).
Regarding claim 32, Harada et al. teaches transmitting the correspondences to the terminal through a target signaling (Paragraph 38, 49, 94, The passage teaches that the base station provides, to the terminal via explicit signaling (e.g., RRC/system information and DCI), information that signals correspondences between indicator codepoints (such as CIF values) and scheduled carrier groups).
Regarding claim 33, Harada et al. teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program is configured to execute the cross-carrier scheduling method according to claim 10 (Paragraph 83, 85, 87, 88, 66, 67, 94, 95, 100, teaches a computer-readable storage medium storing program code which, when executed by a processor, causes execution of the disclosed cross-carrier scheduling operations).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cirik et al. (US 20230232423 A1)
Park et al. (US 20230300849 A1)
Yoshimura et al. (US 20220353900 A1)
Ye et al. (US 20220329386 A1)
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 ANDREW SHAJI KURIAN whose telephone number is (703)756-1878. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Ngo can be reached at (571) 272-3139. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW SHAJI KURIAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/RICKY Q NGO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2464