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 Amendment
Amendments filed on 06/30/2026 are entered for prosecution. Claims 15-16, 18, 20-21 and 23-27 remain pending in the application. The amendments change the scopes of the previously presented claims. New grounds of rejections are applied to the amended claims and the current Office Action is made FINAL as necessitated by the claim amendments.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 15-16, 18, 20-21 and 23-27 in a reply filed 06/30/2026 (hereinafter, Remarks) regarding newly added limitations have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Interpretation
Regarding claims 15 and 25-27:
The broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) of “the PUCCH is transmitted based on a non- zero physical resource block (PRB) offset to a first PUCCH resource configured for the SR without the HARQ-ACK” recited in claims 15 and 25-27 is based on the applicant’s Remarks “the present invention does not apply an offset to a HARQ-ACK resource or a dedicated multiplexing resource. Instead, as explicitly recited in the amended claims, the present invention shifts the anchor back to the SR-only resource (i.e., the first PUCCH resource configured for the SR without the HARQ-ACK), and applies the PRB offset from that specific SR-only anchor” (Page 8, Emphasis added).
FRÖBERG discloses ([0134] The present disclosure also teaches enhanced methods for multiplexing SR and HARQ-ACK where SR is to be transmitted with PUCCH format 0 and one or two HARQ-ACK bit(s) to be transmitted with PUCCH format 1 from a UE, where the two PUCCH transmissions would overlap in time) a modified PUCCH resource located at the same PRB of the PUCCH for SR wherein the modified PUCCH resource is further determined by using the same PRB parameters as the PUCCH for HARQ-ACK ([0149] if the configured starting PRBs for PUCCH format 0 for SR and PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK are not equal, the modified PUCCH resource is determined to be a PUCCH format 1 with the same starting symbol index, initial cyclic shift, number of symbols, and time domain Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) as those of the PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information. The modified PUCCH resource is located on a PRB different from the original PRB of PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK. As a preferred embodiment, the modified PUCCH resource is located on the original PRB of PUCCH format 0 for SR. An illustrating example is given in FIG. 6 based on an example of overlapped PUCCH resources of SR and HARQ-ACK as in FIG. 5), hence the modified PUCCH resource is using the SR-only resource as an anchor resource with non-zero PRB offset (e.g., using the same parameters as the PUCCH for HARQ-ACK) relative to the SR PUCCH resource. Therefore, the modified PUCCH resource of FRÖBERG is considered “the first PUCCH resource configured for the SR without the HARQ-ACK” recited in claims 15 and 25-27.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 15-16, 18, 20-21 and 23-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fröberg Olsson et al. (US 20230164774 A1, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/008,419, filed Apr. 10, 2020, hereinafter, FRÖBERG).
Regarding claim 15, FRÖBERG discloses:
A method performed by a user equipment (UE) (Abstract - Systems and methods are disclosed herein that relate to prioritization of Scheduling Requests (SRs) and Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback information. In one embodiment, a method performed by a wireless communication device for prioritization between a Scheduling Request (SR) occasion and Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information scheduled on overlapping Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources), the method comprising:
multiplexing, in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) (Abstract - multiplexing a SR occasion on a first PUCCH resource and HARQ-ACK information on a second PUCCH resource, the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource at least partially overlapping in time), a first uplink control information (UCI) ([0003] PUCCH format 0 and PUCCH format 1 are used when the number of UCI bits is 1 or 2, which only happens when the UCI consists of HARQ-ACK and/or SR) for a scheduling request (SR) with a first priority index and a second UCI for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) with a second priority index which is lower than the first priority index ([0166] 3. Different Priority; [0167] In the following embodiments, SR and HARQ-ACK have different priority levels and the above-mentioned rules are used based on the priorities of SR and HARQ-ACK; [0169] In another exemplifying embodiment, if SR has higher priority (hence SR has the first priority index (e.g., 1) and HARQ-ACK has a second priority index (e.g., 0)), then one of the rules in Section 1 or 2 (e.g., 2.2 Modified PUCCH Resource in case of Positive SR) is used; [0008] In Release 16, it was agreed that a 2-level priority index indication can be configured such that HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI can be indicated high or low priority... A priority index 0 is regarded as low priority, and a priority index 1 is regarded as high priority (i.e., more important)); and
transmitting the PUCCH (Fig. 5-6; [0146] 2.2. Modified PUCCH Resource in Case of Positive SR; [0134] The present disclosure also teaches enhanced methods for multiplexing SR and HARQ-ACK where SR is to be transmitted with PUCCH format 0 and one or two HARQ-ACK bit(s) to be transmitted with PUCCH format 1 from a UE, where the two PUCCH transmissions would overlap in time),
wherein the HARQ-ACK does not exceed 2-bit,
wherein, based on that the SR is a positive SR ([0150] FIG. 5 illustrates an example where a UE would transmit positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource), the PUCCH is transmitted based on a non- zero physical resource block (PRB) offset to a first PUCCH resource ([0151] FIG. 6, which is based on FIG. 5, illustrates a modified PUCCH resource that is determined to be a PUCCH format 1 with the same starting symbol index, initial cyclic shift, number of symbols, and time domain OCC as those of the PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information (e.g., the modified PUCCH resource has a non-zero PRB offset relative to the SR PUCCH resource)) configured for the SR without the HARQ-ACK ([0149] if the configured starting PRBs for PUCCH format 0 for SR and PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK are not equal, the modified PUCCH resource is determined to be a PUCCH format 1 with the same starting symbol index, initial cyclic shift, number of symbols, and time domain Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) as those of the PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information. The modified PUCCH resource is located on a PRB different from the original PRB of PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK. As a preferred embodiment, the modified PUCCH resource is located on the original PRB of PUCCH format 0 for SR (hence the modified PUCCH resource is using the SR-only resource as an anchor resource). An illustrating example is given in FIG. 6 based on an example of overlapped PUCCH resources of SR and HARQ-ACK as in FIG. 5), and
wherein, based on that the SR is a negative SR, the PUCCH is transmitted based on a second PUCCH resource configured for the HARQ-ACK ([0148] If a UE would not transmit a positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and would transmit at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource, the UE transmits a PUCCH in the resource using PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information. The (non-modified) PUCCH resource used for the PUCCH transmission indicates a negative SR).
Regarding claim 16, FRÖBERG further discloses wherein:
a cyclic shift (CS) for the PUCCH is determined based on a sum of a first value and a second value, the first value is an initial CS value ([0009] Both PUCCH format 0 and PUCCH format 1 use sequences for the PUCCH transmission. The information is carried by the cyclic shift of the sequences transmitted on the PUCCH resource. Therefore, both PUCCH format 0 and PUCCH format 1 are configured with an initialCyclic shift which is used to determine the cyclic shift; [0014] m.sub.0 is given by 3GPP TS 38.213 for PUCCH format 0 and 1 while for PUCCH format 3 and 4 is defined in subclause 6.4.1.3.3.1 of 3GPP TS 38.211, [0015] m.sub.cs=0 except for PUCCH format 0 when it depends on the information to be transmitted according to subclause 9.2 of 3GPP TS 38.213; [0017] When a UE sends a positive SR and at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 0, then the UE transmits the PUCCH in the PUCCH resource using PUCCH format 0 in the PRB(s) for HARQ-ACK information, but with different m.sub.cs than if HARQ-ACK was sent alone. If SR-only is transmitted, the PUCCH is transmitted on the PUCCH resource for SR with m.sub.cs=0),
the second value is selected from among {0, 6} for 1-bit HARQ-ACK (Table 9.2.3-3), and
the second value is selected from among {0, 3, 6, 9} for 2-bit HARQ-ACK (Table 9.2.3-4).
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(Table 9.2.3-3 and Table 9.2.3-4 according to 3GPP TS 38.213)
Regarding claim 18, FRÖBERG further discloses wherein:
a cyclic shift (CS) for the PUCCH is determined based on 'm0' representing an initial CS value and 'mcs' representing a sequence CS value ([0009]; [0014]; [0015]; [0017];), and
'mcs' is determined based on the second UCI for the HARQ-ACK (e.g., HARQ-ACK bit(s) relative to the ‘mcs’ according to Table 9.2.3-3 and Table 9.2.3-4).
Regarding claim 20, FRÖBERG further discloses wherein:
the first UCI is configured with PUCCH format 0 ([0150] FIG. 5 illustrates an example where a UE would transmit positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource); and
'mcs' is selected from a candidate mcs value set selected based on a size of the second UCI for the HARQ-ACK (e.g., Sequence Cyclic shift set (1bit or 2bit) in relation to whether the HARQ-ACK is 0/1 according to Table 9.2.3-3 and Table 9.2.3-4).
Regarding claim 21, FRÖBERG further discloses wherein:
based on that the HARQ-ACK has 1 -bit, one of {0, 6} is selected as 'mcs', orbased on that the HARQ-ACK has 2-bit, one of {0, 3, 6, 9} is selected as 'mcs' (Table 9.2.3-3 and Table 9.2.3-4 according to 3GPP TS 38.213).
Regarding claim 23, FRÖBERG further discloses wherein:
the second UCI for the HARQ-ACK is configured with PUCCH format 0 or PUCCH format 1 ([0150] FIG. 5 illustrates an example where a UE would transmit positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource).
Regarding claim 24, FRÖBERG further discloses:
A non-transitory processor-readable recording medium having recorded thereon instructions for executing the method of claim 15 ([0179] In some embodiments, a computer program including instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to carry out the functionality of the wireless communication device 1700 according to any of the embodiments described herein is provided. In some embodiments, a carrier comprising the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as memory)).
Regarding claim 25, FRÖBERG discloses:
A device (Fig. 17) comprising:
a memory configured to store instructions; and
a processor configured to perform operations by executing the instructions, wherein the operations of the processor ([0179] In some embodiments, a computer program including instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to carry out the functionality of the wireless communication device 1700 according to any of the embodiments described herein is provided. In some embodiments, a carrier comprising the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as memory)) include:
multiplexing (Abstract - Systems and methods are disclosed herein that relate to prioritization of Scheduling Requests (SRs) and Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback information. In one embodiment... multiplexing a SR occasion on a first PUCCH resource and HARQ-ACK information on a second PUCCH resource, the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource at least partially overlapping in time), in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a first uplink control information (UCI) ([0003] PUCCH format 0 and PUCCH format 1 are used when the number of UCI bits is 1 or 2, which only happens when the UCI consists of HARQ-ACK and/or SR) for a scheduling request (SR) with a first priority index and a second UCI for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) with a second priority index which is lower than the first priority index ([0166] 3. Different Priority; [0167] In the following embodiments, SR and HARQ-ACK have different priority levels and the above-mentioned rules are used based on the priorities of SR and HARQ-ACK; [0169] In another exemplifying embodiment, if SR has higher priority (hence SR has the first priority index (e.g., 1) and HARQ-ACK has a second priority index (e.g., 0)), then one of the rules in Section 1 or 2 (e.g., 2.2 Modified PUCCH Resource in case of Positive SR) is used; [0008] In Release 16, it was agreed that a 2-level priority index indication can be configured such that HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI can be indicated high or low priority... A priority index 0 is regarded as low priority, and a priority index 1 is regarded as high priority (i.e., more important)); and
transmitting the PUCCH (Fig. 5-6; [0146] 2.2. Modified PUCCH Resource in Case of Positive SR; [0134] The present disclosure also teaches enhanced methods for multiplexing SR and HARQ-ACK where SR is to be transmitted with PUCCH format 0 and one or two HARQ-ACK bit(s) to be transmitted with PUCCH format 1 from a UE, where the two PUCCH transmissions would overlap in time),
wherein the HARQ-ACK does not exceed 2-bit,
wherein, based on that the SR is a positive SR ([0150] FIG. 5 illustrates an example where a UE would transmit positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource), the PUCCH is received based on a non-zero physical resource block (PRB) offset to a first PUCCH resource ([0151] FIG. 6, which is based on FIG. 5, illustrates a modified PUCCH resource that is determined to be a PUCCH format 1 with the same starting symbol index, initial cyclic shift, number of symbols, and time domain OCC as those of the PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information (e.g., the modified PUCCH resource has a non-zero PRB offset relative to the SR PUCCH resource)) configured for the SR without the HARQ-ACK ([0149] if the configured starting PRBs for PUCCH format 0 for SR and PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK are not equal, the modified PUCCH resource is determined to be a PUCCH format 1 with the same starting symbol index, initial cyclic shift, number of symbols, and time domain Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) as those of the PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information. The modified PUCCH resource is located on a PRB different from the original PRB of PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK. As a preferred embodiment, the modified PUCCH resource is located on the original PRB of PUCCH format 0 for SR (hence the modified PUCCH resource is using the SR-only resource as an anchor resource). An illustrating example is given in FIG. 6 based on an example of overlapped PUCCH resources of SR and HARQ-ACK as in FIG. 5), and
wherein, based on that the SR is a negative SR, the PUCCH is received based on a second PUCCH resource configured for the HARQ-ACK ([0148] If a UE would not transmit a positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and would transmit at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource, the UE transmits a PUCCH in the resource using PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information. The (non-modified) PUCCH resource used for the PUCCH transmission indicates a negative SR).
Regarding claim 26, FRÖBERG discloses:
A method performed by a base station (BS), the method ([0040] Embodiments of a method performed by a base station are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a base station for prioritization between a SR occasion and HARQ-ACK information scheduled on overlapping PUCCH resources comprises receiving a PUCCH transmission on a PUCCH resource, the PUCCH transmission comprising a SR for a SR occasion configured on a first PUCCH resource, HARQ-ACK information scheduled on a second PUCCH resource, or information that represents both the SR and the HARQ-ACK information, in accordance with a prioritization or multiplexing scheme) comprising:
receiving a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) ([0040] Embodiments of a method performed by a base station are also disclosed... comprises receiving a PUCCH transmission on a PUCCH resource... The PUCCH resource is either: (a) the first PUCCH resource configured for the SR occasion, (b) the second PUCCH resource configured for the HARQ-ACK information, or (c) a modified PUCCH resource. The first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource at least partially overlap in time); and
obtaining, based on the PUCCH (Fig. 5-6; [0040] the PUCCH transmission comprising a SR for a SR occasion configured on a first PUCCH resource, HARQ-ACK information scheduled on a second PUCCH resource; [0146] 2.2. Modified PUCCH Resource in Case of Positive SR; [0134] The present disclosure also teaches enhanced methods for multiplexing SR and HARQ-ACK where SR is to be transmitted with PUCCH format 0 and one or two HARQ-ACK bit(s) to be transmitted with PUCCH format 1 from a UE, where the two PUCCH transmissions would overlap in time), a first uplink control information (UCI) ([0003] PUCCH format 0 and PUCCH format 1 are used when the number of UCI bits is 1 or 2, which only happens when the UCI consists of HARQ-ACK and/or SR) for a scheduling request (SR) with a first priority index and a second UCI for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) with a second priority index which is lower than the first priority index ([0166] 3. Different Priority; [0167] In the following embodiments, SR and HARQ-ACK have different priority levels and the above-mentioned rules are used based on the priorities of SR and HARQ-ACK; [0169] In another exemplifying embodiment, if SR has higher priority (hence SR has the first priority index (e.g., 1) and HARQ-ACK has a second priority index (e.g., 0)), then one of the rules in Section 1 or 2 (e.g., 2.2 Modified PUCCH Resource in case of Positive SR) is used; [0008] In Release 16, it was agreed that a 2-level priority index indication can be configured such that HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI can be indicated high or low priority... A priority index 0 is regarded as low priority, and a priority index 1 is regarded as high priority (i.e., more important)),
wherein the HARQ-ACK does not exceed 2-bit ([0150] FIG. 5 illustrates an example where a UE would transmit positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource),
wherein, based on that the SR is a positive SR ([0150] FIG. 5 illustrates an example where a UE would transmit positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource), the PUCCH is transmitted based on a non- zero physical resource block (PRB) offset to a first PUCCH resource ([0151] FIG. 6, which is based on FIG. 5, illustrates a modified PUCCH resource that is determined to be a PUCCH format 1 with the same starting symbol index, initial cyclic shift, number of symbols, and time domain OCC as those of the PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information (e.g., the modified PUCCH resource has a non-zero PRB offset relative to the SR PUCCH resource)) configured for the SR without the HARQ-ACK ([0149] if the configured starting PRBs for PUCCH format 0 for SR and PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK are not equal, the modified PUCCH resource is determined to be a PUCCH format 1 with the same starting symbol index, initial cyclic shift, number of symbols, and time domain Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) as those of the PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information. The modified PUCCH resource is located on a PRB different from the original PRB of PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK. As a preferred embodiment, the modified PUCCH resource is located on the original PRB of PUCCH format 0 for SR (hence the modified PUCCH resource is using the SR-only resource as an anchor resource). An illustrating example is given in FIG. 6 based on an example of overlapped PUCCH resources of SR and HARQ-ACK as in FIG. 5), and
wherein, based on that the SR is a negative SR, the PUCCH is transmitted based on a second PUCCH resource configured for the HARQ-ACK ([0148] If a UE would not transmit a positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and would transmit at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource, the UE transmits a PUCCH in the resource using PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information. The (non-modified) PUCCH resource used for the PUCCH transmission indicates a negative SR).
Regarding claim 27, FRÖBERG discloses:
A base station (BS) (Fig. 14) comprising:
a transceiver; and
a processor configured to control the transceiver ([0172] FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a radio access node 1400 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure... a base station 102 or 106 or a network node that implements all or part of the functionality of the base station 102 or gNB described herein... includes a control system 1402 that includes one or more processors 1404... that each includes one or more transmitters 1412 and one or more receivers 1414 coupled to one or more antennas 1416... the function(s) are implemented in software that is stored, e.g., in the memory 1406 and executed by the one or more processors 1404) to:
receive a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) ([0040] Embodiments of a method performed by a base station are also disclosed... comprises receiving a PUCCH transmission on a PUCCH resource... The PUCCH resource is either: (a) the first PUCCH resource configured for the SR occasion, (b) the second PUCCH resource configured for the HARQ-ACK information, or (c) a modified PUCCH resource. The first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource at least partially overlap in time), and
obtain, based on the PUCCH (Fig. 5-6; [0040] the PUCCH transmission comprising a SR for a SR occasion configured on a first PUCCH resource, HARQ-ACK information scheduled on a second PUCCH resource; [0146] 2.2. Modified PUCCH Resource in Case of Positive SR; [0134] The present disclosure also teaches enhanced methods for multiplexing SR and HARQ-ACK where SR is to be transmitted with PUCCH format 0 and one or two HARQ-ACK bit(s) to be transmitted with PUCCH format 1 from a UE, where the two PUCCH transmissions would overlap in time), a first uplink control information (UCI) ([0003] PUCCH format 0 and PUCCH format 1 are used when the number of UCI bits is 1 or 2, which only happens when the UCI consists of HARQ-ACK and/or SR) for a scheduling request (SR) with a first priority index and a second UCI for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) with a second priority index which is lower than the first priority index ([0166] 3. Different Priority; [0167] In the following embodiments, SR and HARQ-ACK have different priority levels and the above-mentioned rules are used based on the priorities of SR and HARQ-ACK; [0169] In another exemplifying embodiment, if SR has higher priority (hence SR has the first priority index (e.g., 1) and HARQ-ACK has a second priority index (e.g., 0)), then one of the rules in Section 1 or 2 (e.g., 2.2 Modified PUCCH Resource in case of Positive SR) is used; [0008] In Release 16, it was agreed that a 2-level priority index indication can be configured such that HARQ-ACK, SR, and CSI can be indicated high or low priority... A priority index 0 is regarded as low priority, and a priority index 1 is regarded as high priority (i.e., more important)),
wherein the HARQ-ACK does not exceed 2-bit ([0150] FIG. 5 illustrates an example where a UE would transmit positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource),
wherein, based on that the SR is a positive SR ([0150] FIG. 5 illustrates an example where a UE would transmit positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource), the PUCCH is received based on a non- zero physical resource block (PRB) offset to a first PUCCH resource ([0151] FIG. 6, which is based on FIG. 5, illustrates a modified PUCCH resource that is determined to be a PUCCH format 1 with the same starting symbol index, initial cyclic shift, number of symbols, and time domain OCC as those of the PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information (e.g., the modified PUCCH resource has a non-zero PRB offset relative to the SR PUCCH resource)) configured for the SR without the HARQ-ACK ([0149] if the configured starting PRBs for PUCCH format 0 for SR and PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK are not equal, the modified PUCCH resource is determined to be a PUCCH format 1 with the same starting symbol index, initial cyclic shift, number of symbols, and time domain Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) as those of the PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information. The modified PUCCH resource is located on a PRB different from the original PRB of PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK. As a preferred embodiment, the modified PUCCH resource is located on the original PRB of PUCCH format 0 for SR (hence the modified PUCCH resource is using the SR-only resource as an anchor resource). An illustrating example is given in FIG. 6 based on an example of overlapped PUCCH resources of SR and HARQ-ACK as in FIG. 5), and
wherein, based on that the SR is a negative SR, the PUCCH is transmitted based on a second PUCCH resource configured for the HARQ-ACK ([0148] If a UE would not transmit a positive SR in a resource using PUCCH format 0 and would transmit at most two HARQ-ACK information bits in a resource using PUCCH format 1 in a slot which would overlap in time with the SR resource, the UE transmits a PUCCH in the resource using PUCCH format 1 for HARQ-ACK information. The (non-modified) PUCCH resource used for the PUCCH transmission indicates a negative SR).
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 THERESA NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2386. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9AM - 5PM EST.
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/THERESA NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2418
/Moo Jeong/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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