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 claims 22-38 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 § 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.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by El Hamss et al. (US 2023/0072340).
With regard to claim 30, Hamss teaches: A base station (BS) for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory (paragraphs 06 and 191); and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the BS to (paragraphs 06 and 191):
transmit control information for an uplink transmission associated with a first uplink transmission beam to a user equipment (UE) (paragraphs134-139 multiple LBT configurations:
[0135] A WTRU may receive an indication of an LBT configuration that may be used by a gNB to initiate a COT. For example, an LBT configuration may be in a COT structure indication message. An indication may be provided, for example, by one or more of the following: a reference signal or an index of an RS; an (e.g., explicit) identification of the beam(s) used for LBT; a resource that may be used to transmit the indication of the LBT configuration; and/or a timing of the COT.
[0136] A WTRU may receive an indication of an LBT configuration via a reference signal or an index of an RS. For example, a WTRU may receive a link (e.g. a QCL) to a reference signal. A gNB may include a link (e.g. a QCL) to a reference signal.
[0137] A WTRU may receive an indication of a LBT configuration via an (e.g., explicit) identification of the beam(s) that may be used for LBT. For example, the beam(s) used for LBT may be assigned indices. A gNB may provide the beam indices of the beams on which LBT was performed or succeeded.
);
transmit downlink control information (DCI) with a downlink transmission beam, wherein the DCI includes an indicator of an uplink reception beam (paragraphs 98, 140-141 and 158)
[0140] A WTRU may select an LBT configuration (e.g. to transmit during the gNB-initiated COT) based on the LBT configuration that may be used by the gNB to initiate the COT. A WTRU may receive an indication to update the LBT configuration (e.g., by receiving an update to the COT structure indication, and/or by receiving dynamic signaling instructing the WTRU to update the LBT configuration).
[0141] A WTRU may receive an indication of an LBT configuration in a scheduling DCI. For example, a scheduling DCI may include multiple (e.g., two) indices (e.g. two TCI states), such as a first state associated with an LBT configuration (e.g., the LBT configuration that may be used to initiate the COT, and/or the LBT configuration that may be used by the WTRU to perform the scheduled transmission) and a second state associated with the scheduled transmission.
); and
receive the uplink transmission using the uplink reception beam corresponding to the downlink transmission beam and indicated by the indication of the DCI when the uplink transmission is within a duration in a time domain and a location in a frequency domain of a Channel Occupancy (CO) initiated by the BS (paragraphs 144, 166, 168, 173 and 188:
[0144] A WTRU may perform multiple LBT processes (e.g., each using different beams), for example, prior to acquiring a COT. A WTRU may perform associated transmissions during the same COT, for example, based on (e.g., upon) successful channel acquisition over one or more beams.
[0166] Channel access methods may be (re)selected. A WTRU may be (pre-)configured with multiple channel access methods. A WTRU may be configured to select a first channel access method to be applied for one or more uplink transmissions. …
[0168] A WTRU may detect persistent interference based on not receiving a HARQ-ACK feedback for a transmitted UL TB. A WTRU may be configured to receive a downlink feedback indicator (DFI) for uplink transmission(s). …
[0188] At 712, a WTRU may access the channel via the second channel access method and transmit the second uplink transmission on the channel. The second channel access method may comprise the channel being sensed for a second duration using a second beam and/or the channel being sensed for a third duration using a third beam. The second beam may be an omni-directional beam and the third beam may be a directional beam, or vice versa.
).
Examiner note: Support for LBT configuration, multiple LBT processes and uplink transmission on beams is the provisional application 63/061436 filed on 8/05/2020 (see pages 24-31).
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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 22-29 and 31-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over El Hamss et al. (US 2023/0072340) in view of Chen et al. (US 2021/0297290).
With regard to claim 22, Hamss teaches: A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory (see figure 1B: paragraphs 35-36 and 191); and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to (see figure 1B: paragraphs 35-36 and 191):
receive control information for an uplink transmission associated with a first uplink transmission beam (paragraphs134-139 multiple LBT configurations);
determine a second uplink transmission beam is associated with the CO based on an indicator in first downlink control information (DCI) or based on a downlink reception beam for receiving the first DCI (paragraphs 159, 162, and 187-188:
[0159] A WTRU may, for example, maintain a (e.g., single) spatial COT (e.g., at any given moment). The WTRU may receive an indication that the LBT configuration has changed. The WTRU may assume that the previous COT has ended, and the next COT (e.g., a new COT, an updated COT, a different COT, an alternate COT, or the like) has begun. The WTRU may restart a COT timer. The determination to restart a COT timer may depend on the LBT configurations used at the beginning of the COT and the updated LBT configuration. The WTRU may assume the original COT continues with a narrower beam, for example, if a second LBT configuration indicates that the beam is a subset of the beam used previously. The WTRU may assume a second COT has begun, for example, if the second LBT configuration indicates that the second beam does not overlap the beam used previously. The WTRU may expect an (e.g., explicit) indication (e.g., of whether a second COT has begun or if the current COT continues), for example, if the second LBT configuration beam partially overlaps the beam used previously.
[0160] Channel access failures may occur. A UL LBT failure may indicate (e.g., imply) that a WTRU was not able to acquire the channel for an uplink transmission attempt after a CCA portion of an LBT procedure. A failure may be determined, for example, (i) based on receiving a “notification of LBT failure” and/or (ii) by the WTRU, e.g., among other determination methods. UL LBT success may indicate (e.g., imply) the opposite of what is indicated by UL LBT failure.
[0162] A WTRU may maintain multiple UL LBT failure counters and/or timers (e.g. one per LBT configuration or per beam). A UL LBT failure on a first LBT configuration on a first beam may be declared. A WTRU may (e.g., attempt to) transmit using a second LBT configuration on a second beam (e.g., a beam or LBT configuration having not yet declared UL LBT). A WTRU may determine that one or more (e.g., some or all) LBT configurations (e.g., or beams) declared UL LBT failure. The WTRU may indicate the determination to the gNB. The WTRU may (e.g., successfully) transmit on at least one beam (e.g. using at least one LBT configuration). The WTRU may reset UL failure counters for (e.g., at least) the beam successfully transmitted on (e.g., and one or more other (all) beams).
) ;
switch from a first listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to a second LBT procedure when the second uplink transmission beam is within the duration in the time domain and within the location in the frequency domain of the CO (paragraphs 159-162, and 187-188:
[0161] A WTRU may change a channel access beam, a beam ID, and/or a characteristic associated with a selected beam for channel access, for example, after x LBT failures, where x>=1. A WTRU may be (pre)configured or (pre)defined to change the UL beam used for channel sensing for the next LBT attempt (e.g., after x LBT failures). A WTRU may be configured with a beam switching pattern or a beam characteristic switching pattern to cycle through (e.g., after each LBT failure). A WTRU may select a different beamwidth for the same beam for CCA after an LBT failure. For example, a WTRU may use a narrower beamwidth and/or a directional LBT after a failing LBT attempt using a wider beamwidth (e.g., omni-directional LBT). A WTRU may determine an interference direction from which to observe interference from another WTRU and/or from which to determine that another WTRU may (e.g., will) interfere on from the gNB's perspective. A WTRU may change a channel access beam, a beam ID, and/or a characteristic associated with the selected beam for channel access, e.g., to avoid the interference direction learned/experienced in a previous LBT attempt (e.g., from a previous a wider beam used or from an omni-directional LBT).
);
perform the second LBT procedure (paragraphs 159-162, and 187-188); and
transmit the uplink transmission using the second uplink transmission beam when the uplink transmission is within the duration in the time domain and the location in the frequency domain of the CO initiated by the BS and after performing the second LBT procedure (paragraphs 159, 162, 173 and 187-188).
Although Hamss teaches mobile devices can switch to second LBT when the first LBT fails ( paragraph 162), it does not explicitly state the LBT process was not within the first CO. Thus, Hamss does not teach the step of determine the uplink transmission is not within a duration in a time domain and a location in a frequency domain of a Channel Occupancy (CO) initiated by a base station (BS).
Similar to Hamss, Chen teaches a plurality of LBT procedure for uplink transmission (see figure 5). Chen explicitly teaches determining to step to uplink transmission is not in CO of the network (base station) (see figure 4, step 406: paragraphs 54-64).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the claim invention to determine the uplink transmission is not within a duration in a time domain and a location in a frequency domain of a Channel Occupancy (CO) initiated by a base station (BS) as taught by Chen in the first LBT procedure of Hamss in order to improve network performance and coverage (Chen: paragraphs 03-04).
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With regard to claim 31, Hamss teaches: A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory (see figure 1B: paragraphs 35-36 and 191); and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to (see figure 1B: paragraphs 35-36 and 191):
receive control information for a downlink transmission associated with a first downlink transmission beam (paragraphs134-139 multiple LBT configurations)
indicate a second downlink transmission beam associated with a Channel Occupancy (CO) initiated by the UE with an indicator in
[0156] A WTRU may indicate to the gNB the LBT configuration used for a transmission, for example, in a gNB-initiated COT or in a WTRU-initiated COT. In examples (e.g., for a UL transmission in a gNB-initiated COT), the WTRU may receive an indication from the gNB of the LBT configuration used to initiate the COT. The WTRU may not be successful on the same LBT configuration (e.g., or an associated LBT configuration). For example, the WTRU may be successful (e.g., only) on an LBT configuration with a narrower beam than the beam that may be used by the gNB to initiate the COT. The WTRU may send an indication to the gNB of the LBT configuration the WTRU used to acquire the COT. An indication may be transmitted as part of a scheduled transmission (e.g. as UCI) or may be transmitted as an independent signal.
,
wherein the indicator in the
[0152] A WTRU may use different LBT parameters for each of multiple beams, for example, if/when the WTRU performs LBT on multiple beams for an associated transmission. LBT parameters may include, for example, one or more of the following: (i) an ED threshold; (ii) a CWS; and/or (iii) an LBT type.
[0153] LBT parameters may include, for example, an ED threshold. For example, a WTRU may use a higher ED threshold for a beam aligned with the associated transmission and may use a lower ED threshold for a beam in the opposite direction, which may enable the WTRU to be more sensitive to interference that may have a negative impact at the receiver.
[0154] LBT parameters may include, for example, a CWS. For example, a WTRU may use a smaller CWS for a beam aligned with an associated transmission and may use a larger CWS for a beam in the opposite direction.
[0157] A WTRU may maintain multiple COTs. A COT may be defined by a set of time, frequency, and/or spatial resources. A WTRU may maintain multiple COTs simultaneously on the same set of resource blocks (RBs) (e.g. in the same LBT subband(s)). For example, a WTRU may maintain a first COT using a first LBT configuration and a second COT using a second LBT configuration. Maintenance of the first and second COTs may be valid, for example, if the beams of the first and second LBT configuration do not overlap. The WTRU may maintain a COT timer per LBT configuration (e.g. per spatial COT).
);
and
receive the downlink transmission using a downlink reception beam corresponding to the second downlink transmission beam when the downlink transmission is within a duration in a time domain and a location in a frequency domain of the CO initiated by the UE (paragraphs 156-159 and 165: multiple PDCCH groups)
[0158] Multiple PDCCH monitoring groups may be maintained, for example, if/when the WTRU maintains multiple spatial COTs. For example, a (e.g., each) beam may be associated with multiple (e.g., two or more) PDCCH monitoring groups. A WTRU may determine what PDCCH monitoring group to use for a beam, for example, depending on whether a COT is active for the beam. Monitoring restrictions may be based on the set of active spatial COTs. ).
Although Hamss teaches mobile devices can indicate CO initiated by the UE, it does not explicitly state UCI is for configured grant uplink control information. Thus, Hamss does not teach the step of having an indicator in configured grant uplink control information (CG-UCI).
Similar to Hamss, Chen teaches a plurality of LBT procedure for uplink transmission (see figure 5). Chen explicitly teaches uplink transmission happens in configured grant (CG) transmission occasion (paragraphs 35). Thus, control information for CG uplink transmission includes CG-UCI (paragraphs 46 and 120)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the claim invention to have an indicator in configured grant uplink control information (CG-UCI) as taught by Chen in the UCI of Hamss in order to improve network performance and coverage (Chen: paragraphs 03-04).
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With regard to claim 23, Hamss teaches: wherein the first uplink transmission beam is indicated by second DCI or higher layer signaling (paragraphs 97-99, and 158).
With regard to claim 24, Hamss teaches: wherein the indicator indicates the second uplink transmission beam (paragraphs 156-159 and 173).
With regard to claim 25, Chen also teaches: wherein the indictor includes a state indicating the second uplink transmission beam corresponding to a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (see figure 5 and figure 6: paragraphs 71-79).
With regard to claim 26, Hamss teaches: further comprising: performing a first category of channel access procedures before transmitting the uplink transmission using the second uplink transmission beam (paragraphs 175-179).
With regard to claim 27, Hamss teaches: wherein the second uplink transmission beam corresponds to the downlink reception beam (paragraphs 88-92 and 156-160)
With regard to claim 28, Hamss teaches: wherein the indictor includes a state indicating that the UE is not allowed to share the CO initiated by the BS (paragraphs 156-159 and 173).
With regard to claim 29, Hamss teaches: wherein the first uplink transmission beam and the second uplink transmission beam are identical (paragraph 149)
With regard to claim 32, Hamss teaches: wherein the first downlink transmission beam is indicated by downlink control information (DCI) or by higher layer signaling (paragraphs 97-99, and 158).
With regard to claim 33, Hamss teaches: wherein the indicator indicates the second downlink transmission beam (paragraphs 156-159 and 173).
With regard to claim 34, Hamss teaches: wherein the indicator indicates that the BS is not allowed to share the CO initiated by the UE (paragraphs 156-159 and 173).
With regard to claim 35, teaches: wherein the indicator includes a state for indicating the second downlink transmission beam which corresponds to a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state (paragraphs 92 and 141).
With regard to claim 36, Hamss teaches: wherein the indicator includes a state for indicating that the BS is not allowed to share the CO initiated by the UE (paragraphs 156-159 and 173).
With regard to claim 37, Hamss teaches: wherein the indicator includes an index of a row of a table, wherein the row of the table at least indicates the second downlink transmission beam (paragraphs 79-82 and 135-136)
With regard to claim 38, Hamss teaches: wherein the first LBT procedure is an LBT Cat4 procedure and the second LBT procedure is an LBT Cat2 procedure (paragraph 155
[0155] LBT parameters may include, for example, an LBT Type. For example, a WTRU may use an LBT type using multiple CCAs (e.g., LBT Type 4) in a first direction and a one-shot LBT type (e.g., LBT Type 2) in a second direction.)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hu et al. (US 2022/0046702, see figure 11)
Yerramalli et al. (US 2019/0104416, see figure 10)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS R SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-1096. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 AM -5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Deborah J Reynolds can be reached at (571) 272-0734. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARCUS SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2468
