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 with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-4, 8-15, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over AIBA; TATSUSHI et al. US PGPUB 20220346086 A1, in view of HUANG; Yi et al. US PGPUB 20220086826 A1, supported by provisional application 63/079,285, filed on 9/16/2020 (hereinafter ‘285).
Regarding claim 1, Aiba teaches A method, comprising:
receiving, by a processor of an apparatus implemented in a user equipment (UE), a signal from a network; ([0007] In one example, a communication method of a user equipment comprising: receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising information used for configuring a simultaneous transmission of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the information being configured for a special cell, the information being associated with an index of an uplink bandwidth part (UL BWP), and performing the simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and the PUSCH based on the information, the transmission of the PUCCH being performed on an UL BWP of the special cell, the transmission of the PUSCH being performed on an UL BWP identified by the index of the UL BWP associated with the information.) and
performing, by the processor, simultaneous physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions over different cells of the network responsive to receiving the signal, ([0120] Additionally or alternatively, the simultaneous transmission(s) of the PUCCH and the PUSCH on a different serving cell(s) may be supported.)
wherein the performing of the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions comprises:
enabling the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions responsive to in an event that the a PUCCH and the a PUSCH having have different physical (PHY)-level priorities; ([0166] Additionally or alternatively, in a case that the simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and PUSCH is configured for a serving cell(s)… the UE 102 may perform on the serving cell(s) (and/or the UL BWP(s)), the simultaneous transmission of the low priority PUSCH (e.g., and/or the low priority UCI) and the high priority UCI (e.g., the high priority PUCCH).) and
multiplexing the PUCCH and PUSCH responsive to in an event that the PUCCH and the PUSCH have a same PHY-level priority on a same cell. ([0166] Namely, the UE 102 may perform multiplexing the low priority UCI with the low priority uplink data on the PUSCH.) and
wherein the enabling and the multiplexing are determined by the UE according to at least one PHY-level priority associated with the PUCCH and the PUSCH. ([0166] see above).
Alba does not teach wherein the performing of the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions with different priorities is disabled responsive to an absence of a radio resource control (RRC) parameter, and wherein the performing of the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions with different priorities is enabled responsive to a presence of the RRC parameter.
However, Huang teaches wherein the performing of the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions with different priorities is disabled responsive to an absence of a radio resource control (RRC) parameter, ([0088] The base station 502 may transmit the configuration 514 using RRC signaling, through a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE), or through DCI.
Supported by ‘285, [0082] page 21 ) and
wherein the performing of the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions with different priorities is enabled responsive to a presence of the RRC parameter. ([0090] In some examples, the configuration 514 may include a two-bit indicator. For example, a first value (e.g., “00”) may configure the UE 504 to apply a multiplex-based transmission mode, a second value (e.g., “01”) may configure the UE 504 to apply a priority-based transmission mode, and a third value (e.g., “10”) may configure the UE 504 to apply a simultaneous overlapping uplink transmission mode.
Supported by ‘285 [0084] from page 21-22)
In order to improve communication performance by applying an overlapping uplink transmission mode ([0101])
Alba and Huang are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Alba with the RRC configuration parameter in Huang in order to improve communication performance.
Regarding claim 2. Aiba and Huang teach The method of claim 1, and Alba teaches wherein the signal comprises a higher-layer parameter configured per PUCCH group. (([0007] In one example, a communication method of a user equipment comprising: receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message comprising information used for configuring a simultaneous transmission of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the information being configured for a special cell, the information being associated with an index of an uplink bandwidth part (UL BWP), and performing the simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and the PUSCH based on the information, the transmission of the PUCCH being performed on an UL BWP of the special cell, the transmission of the PUSCH being performed on an UL BWP identified by the index of the UL BWP associated with the information.
[0075] Additionally or alternatively, the gNB 160 may transmit, by using the RRC message, information used for configuring a cell group(s) (e.g., a cell group(s) associated with the dual connectivity operation (e.g., the MCG(s) and/or the SCG(s))).)
Regarding claim 3. Aiba and Huang teach The method of claim 1, and Alba teaches wherein the signal comprises a higher-layer parameter configured per cell group. ([0075] Additionally or alternatively, the gNB 160 may transmit, by using the RRC message, information used for configuring a cell group(s) (e.g., a cell group(s) associated with the dual connectivity operation (e.g., the MCG(s) and/or the SCG(s))).)
Regarding claim 4, Aiba and Huang teach The method of claim 1, and Alba teaches wherein the signal comprises a higher-layer parameter used to enable and disable the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions of different priorities. ([0121] Additionally or alternatively, the gNB 160 may transmit, by using the RRC message, third information used for indicating (e.g., configuring) the simultaneous transmission(s) of the PUCCH and the PUSCH is configured (e.g., indicated, and/or allowed).)
Regarding claim 8. Aiba and Huang teach The method of claim 1, and Alba teaches wherein the performing of the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions comprises performing the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions between a PUCCH and a PUSCH of different priorities. ([0166] Additionally or alternatively, in a case that the simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and PUSCH is configured for a serving cell(s)… the UE 102 may perform on the serving cell(s) (and/or the UL BWP(s)), the simultaneous transmission of the low priority PUSCH (e.g., and/or the low priority UCI) and the high priority UCI (e.g., the high priority PUCCH).)
Regarding claim 9. Aiba and Huang teach The method of claim 8, and Alba teaches wherein the signal enables the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions (([0121] Additionally or alternatively, the gNB 160 may transmit, by using the RRC message, third information used for indicating (e.g., configuring) the simultaneous transmission(s) of the PUCCH and the PUSCH is configured (e.g., indicated, and/or allowed).)) responsive to the PUCCH and the PUSCH having different physical layer (PHY)-level priorities. ([0166] Additionally or alternatively, in a case that the simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and PUSCH is configured for a serving cell(s)… the UE 102 may perform on the serving cell(s) (and/or the UL BWP(s)), the simultaneous transmission of the low priority PUSCH (e.g., and/or the low priority UCI) and the high priority UCI (e.g., the high priority PUCCH).)
Regarding claim 10. Aiba and Huang teach The method of claim 8, and Alba teaches wherein the performing of the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions comprise performing simultaneous transmissions of: a high-priority PUCCH (HP-PUCCH) and alow-priority PUSCH (LP-PUSCH), or alow-priority PUCCH (LP-PUCCH) and a high-priority PUSCH (HP-PUSCH). ([0166] Additionally or alternatively, in a case that the simultaneous transmission of the PUCCH and PUSCH is configured for a serving cell(s)… the UE 102 may perform on the serving cell(s) (and/or the UL BWP(s)), the simultaneous transmission of the low priority PUSCH (e.g., and/or the low priority UCI) and the high priority UCI (e.g., the high priority PUCCH).)
Regarding claim 11. Aiba and Huang teach The method of claim 1, and Alba teaches wherein the performing of the simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions comprise performing simultaneous transmissions of Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) and enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB) over different cells. ([0031] The 5th generation communication systems, dubbed NR (New Radio technologies) by 3GPP, envision the use of time/frequency/space resources to allow for services, such as eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broad-Band) transmission, URLLC (Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communication) transmission, and eMTC (massive Machine Type Communication) transmission. And, in NR, transmissions for different services may be specified (e.g., configured) for one or more bandwidth parts (BWPs) in a serving cell and/or for one or more serving cells. A user equipment (UE) may perform a reception(s) of a downlink signal(s) and/or a transmission(s) of an uplink signal(s) in the BWP(s) of the serving cell(s).)
Regarding claim 12-15 and 17-20 Aiba and Huang teach An apparatus implementable in a user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with a network; (Alba Fig. 7, Transceiver 718) and a processor coupled to the transceiver (Alba Fig. 7, Processor 703 and configured to perform operations comprising the steps in claim 1-5 and 8-11.. They are rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aiba and Huang as applied to claims 6 above, and further in view of Cirik; Ali et al. US PGPUB 20210029650 A1.
Regarding claim 7. Aiba and Huang teach The method of claim 1, but they don’t teach wherein the RRC parameter is configured separately for inter-band and intra-band simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions.
However, Cirik teaches
wherein the RRC parameter is configured separately for inter-band and intra-band simultaneous PUCCH and PUSCH transmissions. ([0112] FIG. 10A shows example CA configurations based on CCs. As shown in FIG. 10A, three types of CA configurations may comprise an intraband (contiguous) configuration 1002, an intraband (non-contiguous) configuration 1004, and/or an interband configuration 1006.)
in order to reduce uplink overhead/retransmissions and interference ([0247])
Aiba and Cirik are analogous art in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person with ordinary skill in the art to modify the method in Aiba with the technique of inter- and intra-band transmission in Cirik in order to reduce uplink overhead/retransmissions and interference.
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 ZHAOHUI YANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7527. The examiner can normally be reached 9 AM to 5 PM M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Marcus Smith can be reached at 571 270-1096. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZHAOHUI YANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2468
/MARCUS SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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