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
This office action is in reply to Applicant’s request for continued examination dated 01/15/2026. Claims 1, 7, 10 and 16 were amended. Claims 1- 20 remains pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
To teach the amendment, a new reference Grant et al. (USPGPub 2023/0262472), Grant hereinafter in combination with existing references are now relied upon to teach the claims.
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.
In 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 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 factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 - 3, 6, 7, 10 - 12, 15, 16, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang et al. (WO 2015196483 A1), Liang hereinafter, in view of Grant et al. (U.S. PGPub 2023/0262472), Grant hereinafter. (The references to Liang below are to the attached machine translated file).
Regarding claim 1, Liang teaches a base station, comprising: (lines 120 to 121 - The UE acquires a primary information block MIB and a system information block SIB sent by the primary base station, where the MIB or the SIB carries a duplex mode of the PCC;)
a transceiver configured to wirelessly communicate with a user equipment (UE); and (lines 351 to 352 - And a transmitter, configured to send, to the UE, a duplex mode of the PCC configured by the processor for the UE and a duplex mode of the SCC.)
a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to: (lines 351 to 352 - And a transmitter, configured to send, to the UE, a duplex mode of the PCC configured by the processor for the UE and a duplex mode of the SCC.)
determine a mode of communication for a cell associated with the base station, the mode of communication comprising one of a full-duplex mode or a half-duplex mode; (lines 162 to 165 - The base station configures a duplex mode of the primary unit carrier PCC and a duplex mode of the secondary unit carrier SCC for the user equipment UE, where the duplex mode of the PCC includes a frequency division duplex FDD mode, a time division duplex TDD mode, a full duplex mode, and One of the half duplex modes, the duplex mode of the SCC includes one of the FDD mode, the TDD mode, the full duplex mode, and the half duplex mode; ... )
transmit, using the transceiver, the system information to the UE (lines 354 to 355 -The transmitter is specifically configured to send a primary information block MIB and a system information block SIB to the UE, where the MIB or the SIB carries a duplex mode of the PCC.).
Yet, Liang does not expressly teach generate system information to enable initial access by the UE to the cell, wherein the portion of the system information is generated by repurposing existing parameters of the system information to indicate the mode of communication of the cell; wherein the portion of the system information is generated by repurposing existing parameters of the system information to indicate the mode of communication for the cell;
and wherein the repurposing of an existing parameter changes a purpose of the existing parameter.
However, in the analogous art, Grant explicitly discloses wherein the portion of the system information is generated by repurposing existing parameters of the system information to indicate the mode of communication of the cell; wherein the portion of the system information is generated by repurposing existing parameters of the system information to indicate the mode of communication for the cell; (paragraph 0290 - ... so the subCarrierSpacingCommon field can be repurposed to indicate the QCL relation parameter associated with FR2 instead of indicating the subcarrier spacing. [0291] Note that the signaling comprising the subCarrierSpacingCommon field may further include other fields comprising one or more bits for purposes other than determining the QCL relation parameter, such as one or more other fields of a MIB (e.g., systemFrameNumber, dmrs-TypeA-Position, pdcch-ConfigSIB1, PDCCH-ConfigSIB1, cellBarred, intraFreqReselection, etc.). MIB stands for Master information Block which is system information according to paragraphs 0009 and 0011.
and wherein the repurposing of an existing parameter changes a purpose of the existing parameter; (paragraph 0291 - Note that the signaling comprising the subCarrierSpacingCommon field may further include other fields comprising one or more bits for purposes other than determining the QCL relation parameter, such as one or more other fields of a MIB (e.g., systemFrameNumber, dmrs-TypeA-Position, pdcch-ConfigSIB1, PDCCH-ConfigSIB1, cellBarred, intraFreqReselection, etc.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Liang’s Communication method, apparatus and system to include Grants's repurposing of fields of a MIB for ease of implementation.
Regarding claim 10, Liang teaches a method, comprising: receiving system information broadcast periodically by a cell in a wireless network, wherein the system information enables initial access by a user equipment (UE) to the wireless network; (lines 109 to 110 and 450 to 457 - The user equipment UE acquires a duplex mode of the primary unit carrier PCC, and the duplex mode of the PCC includes one of a frequency division duplex FDD mode, a time division duplex TDD mode, a full duplex mode, and a half duplex mode; ... Before the UE communicates with the primary base station, the UE needs to acquire the duplex mode of the PCC and the duplex mode of the SCC, and the duplex mode of the PCC may include one of the FDD mode, the TDD mode, the full duplex mode, and the half duplex mode. The duplex mode of the SCC includes one of an FDD mode, a TDD mode, a full duplex mode, and a half duplex mode. Specifically, the UE may receive the main information block (English: Master Inf or Matting Block, MIB), system information block (English: System Information Blocks, abbreviation: SIB) or radio resource control (English: Radio Resource). Control, abbreviation: RRC) Signaling and obtaining the duplex mode of the PCC.) determining whether to camp on the cell based on the determined mode of communication associated with the cell. (line 393 to 397 - present invention adds a full-duplex mode and a half-duplex mode based on the FDD mode and the TDD mode defined by the LTE system, and the UE can acquire the base station as the PCC and the S CC respectively. Configured One of the FDD mode, the TDD mode, the full-duplex mode, and the half-duplex mode. Therefore, the base station can configure different duplex modes for different unit carriers that the UE camps, so as to satisfy the camping on different unit carriers.)
determining, based on a portion of the system information, a mode of communication associated with the cell, the mode of communication comprising one of a full-duplex mode or a half-duplex mode; (lines 109 to 110 and 450 to 457 - The user equipment UE acquires a duplex mode of the primary unit carrier PCC, and the duplex mode of the PCC includes one of a frequency division duplex FDD mode, a time division duplex TDD mode, a full duplex mode, and a half duplex mode; ... Before the UE communicates with the primary base station, the UE needs to acquire the duplex mode of the PCC and the duplex mode of the SCC, and the duplex mode of the PCC may include one of the FDD mode, the TDD mode, the full duplex mode, and the half duplex mode. The duplex mode of the SCC includes one of an FDD mode, a TDD mode, a full duplex mode, and a half duplex mode. Specifically, the UE may receive the main information block (English: Master Inf or Matting Block, MIB), system information block (English: System Information Blocks, abbreviation: SIB) or radio resource control (English: Radio Resource). Control, abbreviation: RRC) Signaling and obtaining the duplex mode of the PCC.)
Yet, Liang does not expressly teach wherein the portion of the system information is generated by repurposing existing parameters of the system information to indicate the mode of communication of the cell and wherein the repurposing of an existing parameter changes a purpose of the existing parameter.
However, in the analogous art, Grant explicitly discloses wherein the portion of the system information is generated by repurposing existing parameters of the system information to indicate the mode of communication of the cell and (paragraph 0290 - ... so the subCarrierSpacingCommon field can be repurposed to indicate the QCL relation parameter associated with FR2 instead of indicating the subcarrier spacing. [0291] Note that the signaling comprising the subCarrierSpacingCommon field may further include other fields comprising one or more bits for purposes other than determining the QCL relation parameter, such as one or more other fields of a MIB (e.g., systemFrameNumber, dmrs-TypeA-Position, pdcch-ConfigSIB1, PDCCH-ConfigSIB1, cellBarred, intraFreqReselection, etc.). MIB stands for Master information Block which is system information according to paragraphs 0009 and 0011.
and wherein the repurposing of an existing parameter changes a purpose of the existing parameter; (paragraph 0291 - Note that the signaling comprising the subCarrierSpacingCommon field may further include other fields comprising one or more bits for purposes other than determining the QCL relation parameter, such as one or more other fields of a MIB (e.g., systemFrameNumber, dmrs-TypeA-Position, pdcch-ConfigSIB1, PDCCH-ConfigSIB1, cellBarred, intraFreqReselection, etc.)
The motivation regarding to the obviousness of claim 1 is also applied to claim 10.
Regarding Claims 2 and 11, Liang in view of Grant teaches claims 1 and 10.
Liang further teaches wherein the portion of the system information comprises: a Master Information Block (MIB) configured to indicate the mode of communication associated with the cell; or (lines 120 to 121 - The UE acquires a primary information block MIB and a system information block SIB sent by the primary base station, where the MIB or the SIB carries a duplex mode of the PCC;) a System Information Block (SIB) configured to indicate the mode of communication associated with the cell. (lines 120 to 121 - The UE acquires a primary information block MIB and a system information block SIB sent by the primary base station, where the MIB or the SIB carries a duplex mode of the PCC;)
Regarding Claims 3 and 12, Liang in view of Grant teaches claims 2 and 11.
Liang further teaches wherein the SIB is a SIB type 1 (SIB1) or an Other System Information (OSI). (line 731 to 734 - Further, embodiments of the present invention may define two new duplex mode functions in S I B-1, which may be used to characterize full-duplex mode and half-duplex mode, respectively. If the initial duplex mode acquired by the UE in the foregoing S302 is the FDD mode, the UE may obtain the full-duplex mode or the half-duplex mode by reading the duplex mode function in the SIB-1, ... )
Regarding Claims 6 and 15, Liang in view of Grant teaches claims 1 and 10.
Liang further teaches wherein the portion of the system information comprises a System Information Block (SIB), and wherein the SIB comprises: (line 120 to 121 - The UE acquires a primary information block MIB and a system information block SIB sent by the primary base station, where the MIB or the SIB carries a duplex mode of the PCC;) a SIB type 1 (SIB1) configured to indicate whether the cell is operating in the full-duplex mode or the half-duplex mode; or (line 745 to 757 - Illustratively, the duplex mode functions defined in SIB-1 that can be used to characterize full-duplex mode and half-duplex mode, respectively, are: (1) A duplex mode function for the full-duplex mode, that is, Fu 11 _ Dup 1 ex - Conf iguration, which can be: Cell access related information; … (2) A duplex mode function for semi-duplex mode, that is, Half-Duplex-Configuration, which can be: Cell access related information; …. ) Other System Information (OSI) configured to indicate whether the cell is operating in the full-duplex mode or the half-duplex mode (Alternative).
Regarding Claim 19, Liang in view of Grant teaches claim 10.
Liang further teaches further comprising: refraining from, based on the determined mode of communication associated with the cell, camping on the cell; and (line 824 to 825 - It should be noted that, in the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, if the UE does not obtain the duplex mode of the PCC from the SIB, the MIB, or the RRC signaling, the UE may use the initial duplex mode as the duplex mode of the PCC. Communicating with the primary base station; if the UE does not acquire the duplex mode of the SCC from the RRC signaling, the UE may communicate the initial duplex mode with the secondary base station as the SCC duplex mode.) performing a cell re-selection procedure. (line 824 to 825 - It should be noted that, in the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, if the UE does not obtain the duplex mode of the PCC from the SIB, the MIB, or the RRC signaling, the UE may use the initial duplex mode as the duplex mode of the PCC. Communicating with the primary base station; if the UE does not acquire the duplex mode of the SCC from the RRC signaling, the UE may communicate the initial duplex mode with the secondary base station as the SCC duplex mode.)
Regarding Claim 20, Liang in view of Grant teaches claim 10.
Liang further teaches further comprising establishing, based on the determined mode of communication associated with the cell, a connection with the cell to enable the UE to camp on the cell. (line 393 to 397 - present invention adds a full-duplex mode and a half-duplex mode based on the FDD mode and the TDD mode defined by the LTE system, and the UE can acquire the base station as the PCC and the S CC respectively. Configured One of the FDD mode, the TDD mode, the full-duplex mode, and the half-duplex mode. Therefore, the base station can configure different duplex modes for different unit carriers that the UE camps, so as to satisfy the camping on different unit carriers.)
Claims 4, 5, 13 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang et al. (WO 2015196483 A1), Liang hereinafter, in view of Grant et al. (U.S. PGPub 2023/0262472), Grant hereinafter and further in view of Boixadera et al. (U.S. PGPub 2013/0128782), Boixadera hereinafter.
Regarding Claims 4 and 13, Liang in view of Grant teaches claims 1 and 10.
Liang further teaches wherein the portion of the system information comprises a Master Information Block (MIB), and wherein the MIB includes: (lines 122 to 125 - The UE acquires a duplex mode of the PCC from the MIB or the SIB. In combination with the first possible implementation of the first aspect, in the second possible implementation In the mode, the UE acquires the duplex mode of the PCC from the MIB, including: the UE acquiring a value of a preset bit in the MIB, where the value of the bit is used to indicate the PCC Duplex mode )
Yet, Liang in view of Grant does not expressly teach an intraFrequencyReselection bit repurposed to indicate whether the cell is operating in the full-duplex mode or the half-duplex mode; or based on the cell operating in Frequency Range 1 FR1 licensed band, a reserved bit in a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) payload repurposed to indicate whether the cell is operating in the full-duplex mode or the half-duplex mode.
However, in the analogous art, Boixadera explicitly discloses an intraFrequencyReselection bit repurposed to indicate whether the cell is operating in the full-duplex mode or the half-duplex mode; or (Alternative)
based on the cell operating in Frequency Range 1 FR1 licensed band, a reserved bit in a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) payload repurposed to indicate whether the cell is operating in the full-duplex mode or the half-duplex mode (paragraph 0053 - In a second embodiment, one or more of the currently available spare bits is used in the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the Master Information Block (MIB) to broadcast to all the UEs for indicating that the base station group does support the Half Duplex operation. ... Note that the signaling of support of HD-FDD duplex mode of operation using at least one spare bit in the MIB can be performed by setting the at least one bit to a specific value, which is known by the UE for identifying the HD-FDD support. It would also be possible to apply a mask to the MIB message in order to indicate HD-FDD support and detection of this mask could be performed by the UE by looking at the values of the spare bits.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Liang’s Communication method, apparatus and system to include Boixadera's use of spare bit in PBCH to indicate half duplex mode for ease of implementation.
Regarding Claims 5 and 14, Liang in view of Grant and further in view of Boixadera teaches claims 4 and 13.
Boixadera further teaches 5. (Currently Amended) The base station of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to: generate one of the intraFrequencyReselection bit, or the reserved bit in the PBCH payload for inclusion in the MIB to indicate the mode of communication associated with the cell (paragraph 0053 - In a second embodiment, one or more of the currently available spare bits is used in the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the Master Information Block (MIB) to broadcast to all the UEs for indicating that the base station group does support the Half Duplex operation. ... Note that the signaling of support of HD-FDD duplex mode of operation using at least one spare bit in the MIB can be performed by setting the at least one bit to a specific value, which is known by the UE for identifying the HD-FDD support. It would also be possible to apply a mask to the MIB message in order to indicate HD-FDD support and detection of this mask could be performed by the UE by looking at the values of the spare bits.)
Claims 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang et al. (WO 2015196483 A1), Liang hereinafter, in view of Grant et al. (U.S. PGPub 2023/0262472), Grant hereinafter and further in view of Nagano et al. (U.S. PGPub 2024/0015641), Nagano hereinafter.
Regarding Claim 8 and 17, Liang in view of Grant teaches claims 7 and 16.
Yet, Liang in view of Grant does not expressly teach wherein the parameter in cellSelectionInfo field is one of: a first offset with respect to an existing cell selection receive value (Srxlev) associated with an average inference observed by the UE operating in the full-duplex mode; or a second offset with respect to an existing cell selection quality value (Squal); or a third offset applied to both Srxlev and Sqaul.
However, in the analogous art, Nagano explicitly discloses wherein the parameter in cellSelectionInfo field is one of: a first offset with respect to an existing cell selection receive value (Srxlev) associated with an average inference observed by the UE operating in the full-duplex mode; or (paragraph 0057 - … SIB1 includes information (e.g., “cellSelectionInfo”) related to cell selection, and the information may include information related to at least one of Q.sub.rxlevmin, Q.sub.rxlevminoffset, Qoffset.sub.temp, Q.sub.qualmin, and Q.sub.qualminoffset. SIB2 includes information (e.g., “intraFreqCellReselectionInfo”) related to intra-frequency cell reselection, and the information may include information related to at least one of Q.sub.rxlevmin, Q.sub.rxlevminoffset, Qoffset.sub.temp, Q.sub.qualmin, and Q.sub.qualminoffset. ... ) a second offset with respect to an existing cell selection quality value (Squal); or (paragraph 0057 - … SIB1 includes information (e.g., “cellSelectionInfo”) related to cell selection, and the information may include information related to at least one of Q.sub.rxlevmin, Q.sub.rxlevminoffset, Qoffset.sub.temp, Q.sub.qualmin, and Q.sub.qualminoffset. SIB2 includes information (e.g., “intraFreqCellReselectionInfo”) related to intra-frequency cell reselection, and the information may include information related to at least one of Q.sub.rxlevmin, Q.sub.rxlevminoffset, Qoffset.sub.temp, Q.sub.qualmin, and Q.sub.qualminoffset. ... ) a third offset applied to both Srxlev and Sqaul.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Liang’s Communication method, apparatus and system to include Yi's frequency duplex and full duplex mode because it improves spectrum efficiency (paragraph 0062 Yi).
Claims 9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang et al. (WO 2015196483 A1), Liang hereinafter, in view of Grant et al. (U.S. PGPub 2023/0262472), Grant hereinafter and further in view of Yi (U.S. PGPub 2019/0110291), Yi hereinafter.
Regarding Claim 9 and 18, Liang in view of Grant teaches claims 6 and 15.
Yet, Liang in view of Grant does not expressly teach wherein the OSI comprises a new SIB or an existing SIB other than SIB1 configured to have an indication of supporting a frequency duplex operation when the cell is operating in full-duplex mode.
However, in the analogous art, Yi explicitly discloses wherein the OSI comprises a new SIB or an existing SIB other than SIB1 configured to have an indication of supporting a frequency duplex operation when the cell is operating in full-duplex mode.
(paragraph 0064 - However, in scenarios shown in FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b, the base station sends a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) to the user equipment by using broadcast signaling (for example, a MIB (master information block) message, a SIB (system information block) message, and RRC (radio resource control) signaling), so that the user equipment determines an initial full duplex mode (the initial full duplex mode is the FDD mode or a TDD mode) according to the PSS and SSS. Then the user equipment obtains, according to the PSS and the SSS, a PCI (physical cell identifier) of a cell in which the UE is located, and obtains, by using the PCI, the MIB and the SIB sent by the base station to the cell. The MIB and the SIB carry a PCC (primary component carrier) full duplex mode configured by the base station for the UE, and the PCC full duplex mode includes either of the full duplex mode and the half duplex mode. ... )
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Liang’s Communication method, apparatus and system to include Nagano's duplex mode parameters because Nagano's invention helps to prevent reduction in coverage ([0065 Nagano).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This includes:
U.S. PGPUB 2023/0361957 which describes sounding reference signal delay (paragraph 0052 discloses repurposing of a bit in DCI)
U.S. PGPUB 2022/0400451 which describes keep-alive signal for network energy saving (paragraph 0101 discloses repurposing of MIB fields.)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAWRENCE AYODELE OLUBODUN whose telephone number is (571)270-5462. The examiner can normally be reached 8.00am - 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas A. Jensen can be reached at 571-270-5443. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.L.O./Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472