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
Applicant’s amendment filed on 03/26/2026 has been entered. Independent Claims 1, 19, and 20 have been amended. No dependent claims have been amended. No claims have been cancelled. No claims are new and have been entered. Claims 1-20 are still pending in this application.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/26/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 11/20/2025 on pages 11-12 of applicant’s remark regarding Claims 1, 19, and 20 under 35 USC § 103, 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 specified challenged in the argument.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoon (Pub. No.: US 20210045105 A1, hereafter “Yoon”), in view of Yang (Pub. No.: US 20220201605 A1, hereafter “Yang’605”), in view of Salem (Pub. No.: US 20200313807 A1, hereafter “Salem”), further in view of Yang (Pub. No.: US 20220150832 A1, hereafter “Yang”), and even further in view of Zhang (Pub. No.: US 20200245395 A1, hereafter “Zhang”).
Regarding Claim 1, Claim 19, and Claim 20
Yoon teaches a Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium comprising
performed by a terminal (Yoon ¶0233: UE), comprising:
determining (Yoon ¶0233: resource determination), according to first information, whether the first indication information is valid (Yoon ¶0233: detected DCI formats; Yoon teaches resource determining based off a detected DCI, see ¶0233), wherein the first information comprises at least one of the following: a value (Yoon ¶0233: value) of a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest HARQ-ACK feedback information bit (Yoon ¶0233: HARQ-ACK) of the first DCI (Yoon ¶0233: detected DCI formats; Yoon teaches an associated value based off of a HARQ from a DCI, see ¶0233);
Yoon does not explicitly teach
receiving a first Downlink Control Indication (DCI), wherein the first DCI is associated with first indication information, and the first indication information is an indication related to energy saving, wherein that the first DCI is associated with first information comprises: the first DCI carries the first indication information, or the first indication information is implicitly triggered by receiving the first DCI;
However, Yang’605teaches
receiving (Yang’605 Fig. 2: 201) a first Downlink Control Indication (DCI) (Yang’605 ¶0080-¶0081: DCI), wherein the first DCI (Yang’605 ¶0078: DCI in at least two formats) is associated with first indication information (Yang’605 ¶0080: DRX adjustment), and the first indication information (Yang’605 ¶0080: DRX adjustment) is an indication related to energy saving (Yang’605 ¶0080: DRX adjustment of power saving information), wherein that the first DCI is associated with first information comprises: the first DCI carries the first indication information (Yang’605 ¶0080: DRX adjustment), or the first indication information is implicitly triggered by receiving the first DCI (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Yang’605 teaches one DCI format of a plurality of DCI formats that adjusts the DRX of the UE for the purposes of power saving information, see Fig. 2 and ¶0078-¶0080);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, to include an element that teaches one DCI format of a plurality of DCI formats that adjusts the DRX of the UE for the purposes of power saving information, as taught by Yang’605 in Fig. 2 and ¶0078-¶0080, to improve the communication standard and allow a different type of DCI communication combining a known system with another known system to yield a predictable result of improving the power saving scheme and reduce DRX communication.
Yoon does not explicitly teach
a Downlink Feedback Indication (DFI) of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) scheduled by the first DCI; whether a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or the PUSCH scheduled by the first DCI is correctly decoded;
However, Salem teaches
a Downlink Feedback Indication (DFI) (Salem ¶0146: DFI bitmap) of a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) (Salem ¶0146: combines with the PUSCH) scheduled by the first DCI (Salem ¶0146: configured through activation DCI; Salem teaches a DFI bitmap for a PUSCH with a DCI, see ¶0146);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, further by way of Salem, to include an element that teaches a DFI bitmap for a PUSCH with a DCI, as taught by Salem in ¶0146, to reduce excess overhead, latency, and channel access attempts/contention.
Yoon in view of Salem does not explicitly teach
whether a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or the PUSCH scheduled by the first DCI is correctly decoded; whether a retransmission timer associated with the PDSCH or the PUSCH scheduled by the first DCI is started or restarted; or whether a first timer expires, wherein the first timer is started or restarted after sending of the PUSCH scheduled by the first DCI is completed.
However, Yang teaches
whether a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or the PUSCH (Yang ¶0393: scheduling a single PUSCH) scheduled by the first DCI (Yang ¶0393: DCI) is correctly decoded (Yang ¶0393: receiving DCI; Yang teaches a PUSCH scheduled from a received DCI); whether a retransmission timer (Yang ¶0393: inactivity timer configured by a DRX operation, e.g. a timer for communication) associated with the PDSCH (Yang ¶0393: PDSCH) or the PUSCH (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) scheduled by the first DCI is started (Yang ¶0393: DCI scheduling) or restarted (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Yang teaches a timer for communication associated with PDSCH scheduled by the DCI, see ¶0393); or whether a first timer expires (Yang ¶0391: enters sleep state when On Duration ends), wherein the first timer is started (Yang ¶0381: inactivity timer, e.g. DRX operation as shown in ¶0391) or restarted (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) after sending of the PUSCH scheduled by the first DCI is completed (Yang ¶0391: UE may perform PUSCH scheduling; Yang teaches monitoring PUSCH scheduling during DRX operations while a timer is active, see ¶0381 and ¶0393).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, further by way of Salem, and even further by Yang to include an element that teaches monitoring PUSCH scheduling during DRX operations while a timer is active and a RTT timer the UE is in an awake state, as taught by Yang in ¶0387, ¶0390, ¶0391 and ¶0393, to increase flexibility of the system by allowing communication during active DRX times.
Yoon in view of Salem, and further in view of Yang does not explicitly teach
entering an energy saving mode at a validation moment when the first indication information is determined to be valid,
However, Zhang teaches
entering (Zhang ¶0353: deactivate) an energy saving mode (Zhang ¶0353: DRX configuration set) at a validation moment (Zhang ¶0353: gNB configures the UE through DCI signaling) when the first indication information is determined to be valid (Zhang ¶0353: DCI bit value of 0; Zhang teaches deactivating the DRX through a DCI signaling from the base station to a UE when configured, see ¶0353),
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, and even further in view of Yang by way of Zhang, to include an element that teaches deactivating the DRX through a DCI signaling from the base station to a UE when configured, as taught by Zhang in ¶0353, to improve battery life by reducing the inherent listening functions of a UE and improve beam recovery operations in the context that the base station is not able to verify the situation.
Claim 19 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Yoon teaches
A terminal, comprising a processor (Yoon Fig. 20: 2010); a memory having a computer program or an instruction stored thereon (Yoon Fig. 20: 2030; Yoon teaches a UE with a processor coupled to memory with instructions, see Fig. 20)
Claim 20 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Yoon teaches
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program (Yoon Fig. 20: 2030) or an instruction that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to (Yoon Fig. 20: 2010; Yoon teaches a UE with a processor coupled to memory with instructions, see Fig. 20)
Regarding Claim 2
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 1. Yoon further teaches
when the first DCI is a DCI for non-scheduled data (Yoon ¶0158: semi-persistent scheduling), and the value of the HARQ-ACK feedback information (Yoon ¶0158: HARQ-ACK) bit of the first DCI is an Acknowledgement (ACK) (Yoon ¶0158: ACK), determining (Yoon ¶0157: defined method) that the first indication information is valid (Yoon ¶0157: transmitted according to a defined method; Yoon teaches semi-persistent scheduling for a HARQ-ACK for a determination method, see ¶0157-¶0158),
wherein the first information further comprises at least one of the following: a value of a HARQ-ACK feedback information bit of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI (Yoon ¶0233: value of a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field), or a validation delay of the first indication information (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Yoon teaches a value in the indicator field in a DCI, see ¶0233).
Regarding Claim 3
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 2. Yoon further teaches
determining that the first indication information is valid after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first DCI is completed (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or determining that the first indication information is valid after a first validation delay of the first indication information (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or determining that the first indication information is valid (Yoon ¶0233: indexed in ascending order) at an (n+K)th time unit (Yoon ¶0233: N3 (2048+114)×k2-µTc), wherein reception of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) (Yoon ¶0233: PDCCH monitoring occasion indexes) of the first DCI is completed at an nth time unit (Yoon ¶0233: occasion indexes), wherein K (Yoon ¶0233: 114) is an integer greater than or equal to 0 (Yoon ¶0233: 114; Yoon teaches a communication index within a N3 (2048+114)×k2-µTc format, see ¶0233).
Regarding Claim 4
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 3. Yoon further teaches
wherein a value of K is determined by using at least one of the following: K1, wherein a value of K1 is a time interval between a completion position of a time unit in which the PDCCH for the first DCI is received and a start position of a time unit in which a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) for feeding back the HARQ-ACK feedback of the first DCI is located (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or a Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) configuration (Yoon ¶0233: µ corresponds to SCS configuration) of the PUCCH (Yoon ¶0233: PDCCH) carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback (Yoon ¶0233: HARQ-ACK) of the first DCI (Yoon ¶0233: DCI; Yoon teaches the K value determination corresponds to an SCS configuration, see ¶0233).
Regarding Claim 5
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 3. Yang further teaches
wherein the first validation delay comprises: a time interval between completing reception of the PDCCH on which the first DCI is located and a validation moment of the first indication information (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or a time interval between the HARQ-ACK feedback (Yang ¶0390: drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL) of the first DCI (Yang ¶0393: DCI scheduling) and a validation moment of the first indication information (Yang ¶0390: PDCCH occasion; Yang teaches the HARQ feedback being related to an RTT timer, with a DCI for the PDCCH occasion, see ¶0390-¶0393).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, further by way of Salem, and even further by Yang to include an element that teaches the HARQ feedback being related to an RTT timer, with a DCI for the PDCCH occasion, as taught by Yang in ¶0390-¶0393, to increase flexibility of the system by allowing communication during active DRX times.
Regarding Claim 6
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 1. Yoon Further teaches
determining (Yoon ¶0233: UE determines), according to first information (Yoon ¶0233: DCI), whether the first indication information is valid comprises: when that the first DCI is a DCI for scheduled data (Yoon ¶0233: set of PUCCH resources), and the value of the HARQ-ACK feedback information bit (Yoon ¶0233: HARQ-ACK) of the PDSCH scheduled (Yoon ¶0233: PDCCH reception) by the first DCI is an ACK (Yoon ¶0233: ACK), determining that the first indication information is valid (Yoon ¶0233: determining a set; Yoon teaches the UE determining, based off of the DCI, a set of PUCCH resources from a HARQ-ACK, and determining a functional set of SCS configurations, see ¶0233).
Regarding Claim 7
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 1. Yoon Further teaches
wherein determining that the first indication information is valid comprises: determining that the first indication information is valid after a HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH is completed (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or determining that the first indication information is valid (Yoon ¶0232: PUCCH transmission resource may be determined) after a second validation delay (Yoon ¶0232: processing time condition of the terminal) of the first indication information (Yoon ¶0232: DCI; Yoon teaches a processing time condition of the terminal for determination from the DCI, see ¶0232); or determining (Yoon ¶0234: determining a PUCCH transmission resource) that the first indication information is valid at an (n+K)th time unit (Yoon ¶0233: N3 (2048+114)×k2-µTc), wherein reception of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI is completed at an nth time unit (Yoon ¶0233: 114), wherein K is an integer greater than or equal to 0 (Yoon ¶0233: 114; Yoon teaches a valid resource unit for a (2048+114)×k2-µTc time location, see ¶0233-¶0234).
Regarding Claim 8
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 7. Yoon Further teaches
wherein a value of K is determined by using at least one of the following: K2, wherein a value of K2 is a time interval between a completion position of a time unit in which the PDSCH for the first DCI is received and a start position of a time unit in which a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) for feeding back the HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH is located (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or a Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) configuration (Yoon ¶0233: SCS) of the PUCCH (Yoon ¶0233: PUCCH resource) carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback (Yoon ¶0233: HARQ-ACK) of the PDSCH (Yoon ¶0233: PUDSCH; Yoon teaches an SCS being used to generate spacing, see ¶0233).
Regarding Claim 9
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 7. Yoon Further teaches
the second validation delay comprises: a time interval between completing reception of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI and a validation moment of the first indication information (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or a time interval (Yoon ¶0232: processing time condition) between the HARQ-ACK feedback (Yoon ¶0232: HARQ-ACK) of the PDSCH (Yoon ¶0233: PDSCH) scheduled by the first DCI (Yoon ¶0232: DCI) and a validation moment of the first indication information (Yoon ¶0232: DCI indicating; Yoon teaches a time condition from the HARQ-ACK related to the PDSCH and DCI, see ¶0232).
Regarding Claim 10
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 1. Yang Further teaches
determining (Yang ¶0393: performed by a UE), according to first information, whether the first indication information is valid comprises: when the first DCI (Yang ¶0393: DCI) is a DCI for scheduled data (Yang ¶0393: DCI scheduling), and the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI is correctly decoded (Yang ¶0393: received), determining that the first indication information is valid (Yang ¶0395: determining size; Yang teaches the UE receiving a DCI for scheduling data, and using that information for further usages, see ¶0393-¶0395).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, further by way of Salem, and even further by Yang to include an element that teaches the UE receiving a DCI for scheduling data, and using that information for further usages, as taught by Yang in ¶0393 and ¶0395, to increase flexibility of the system by allowing communication during active DRX times.
Regarding Claim 11
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 10. Yang Further teaches
wherein determining that the first indication information is valid comprises: determining that the first indication information is valid after the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI is correctly decoded (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or determining that the first indication information is valid (Yang ¶0395: determining size) after a third validation delay (Yang ¶0393: inactivity timer) of the first indication information (Yang ¶0393: DCI; Yang teaches determining the payload size after the timer, see ¶0393-¶0395).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, further, further by way of Salem, and further by Yang to include an element that teaches determining the payload size after the timer, as taught by Yang in ¶0393 and ¶0395, to increase flexibility of the system by allowing communication during active DRX times.
Regarding Claim 12
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 11. Yang Further teaches
wherein the third validation delay comprises: a time interval between implementing correct decoding of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI and a validation moment of the first indication information (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or a time interval (Yang ¶0390: drx-OnDurationTimer) between the HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI (Yang ¶0390: drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL) and a validation moment of the first indication information (Yang ¶0393: staying in the awake state for inactivity timer; Yang teaches an on interval for an wake state for validation within drx-OnDurationTimer and drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, see ¶0390-¶0393).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, further by way of Salem, and even further by Yang to include an element that teaches an on interval for an wake state for validation within drx-OnDurationTimer and drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, as taught by Yang in ¶0390 and ¶0393, to increase flexibility of the system by allowing communication during active DRX times.
Regarding Claim 13
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 1. Yoon Further teaches
wherein the determining, according to first information (Yoon ¶0233: DCI), whether the first indication information is valid comprises: when all HARQ-ACK feedback bits carried (Yoon ¶0233: HARQ-ACK) in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) (Yoon ¶0233: PUCCH) on which a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first DCI (Yoon ¶0233: DCI contains the HARQ-ACK which contains the PUCCH) or a HARQ-ACK feedback (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) of the PDSCH (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) scheduled by the first DCI (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) is located are ACKs (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), determining that the first indication information is valid (Yoon ¶0233: detected) at an (m+K)th time unit (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or an (n+K)th time unit (Yoon ¶0233: N3 (2048+114)×k2-µTc) or after a fourth validation delay of the first indication information (Yoon ¶0233: N3 (2048+114)×k2-µTc; Yoon teaches the DCI HARQ-ACK PUCCH contains a detected element after N3 (2048+114)×k2-µTc time units, see ¶0233), wherein reception of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI is completed at an mth time unit (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or reception of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) of the first DCI is completed at an nth time unit (Yoon ¶0233: 2048), wherein K is an integer greater than or equal to 0 (Yoon ¶0233: 114; Yoon teaches the time unit containing another time unit, and an integer greater than 0, see ¶0233).
Regarding Claim 14
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 13. Yoon Further teaches
wherein a value of K is determined by using at least one of the following: K3, wherein a value of K3 is a time interval between a completion position of a time unit in which the PDSCH for the first DCI is received and a start position of a time unit in which a PUCCH for feeding back the HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH is located (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or a value of K3 is a time interval between (Yoon ¶0232: between) the first DCI (Yoon ¶0232: DCI) and feeding back the HARQ-ACK feedback (Yoon ¶0233: HARQ-ACK) of the first DCI (Yoon ¶0232: DCI; Yoon teaches a value is defined by the time between two DCIs, see ¶0232); and a Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) configuration (Yoon ¶0233: SCS) of the PUCCH carrying the HARQ-ACK feedback (Yoon ¶0233: HARQ-ACK) of the PDSCH (Yoon ¶0233: PDSCH) or the HARQ-ACK feedback of the first DCI (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Yoon teaches a SCS being defined between a HARQ-ACK and a PDSCH, see ¶0233).
Regarding Claim 15
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 13. Yoon Further teaches
wherein the fourth validation delay comprises: a time interval between completing reception of the PDSCH (Yoon ¶0233: PDSCH) scheduled by the first DCI (Yoon ¶0233: DCI) and a validation moment of the first indication information (Yoon ¶0233: N3 (2048+114)×k2-µTc); or a time interval between completing reception of the PDCCH of the first DCI and a validation moment of the first indication information (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or a time interval between the HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI and a validation moment of the first indication information (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or a time interval between the HARQ-ACK feedback of the first DCI and a validation moment of the first indication information (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Yoon teaches a time interval between the PDSCH from the first DCI defined by N3 (2048+114)×k2-µTc, see ¶0233).
Regarding Claim 16
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 1. Salem Further teaches
wherein the determining, according to first information (Salem ¶0146: DCI), whether the first indication information is valid comprises: when the first DCI schedules (Salem ¶0146: DCI) the PUSCH (Salem ¶0146: PUSCH) and a first condition is met (Salem ¶0146: activation), determining that the first indication information is valid (Salem ¶0146: valid), wherein the first condition comprises one of the following: a first timer of the PUSCH expires (Salem ¶0146: delay), and reception of the DFI (Salem ¶0146: minimum DFI) indicates that the PUSCH is correctly received (Salem ¶0146: been received; Salem teaches a DCI schedules a PUSCH wherein the activation is valid, there is a delay, and a minimum DFI to verify that it’s been received, see ¶0146).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, further by way of Salem, to include an element that teaches a DCI schedules a PUSCH wherein the activation is valid, there is a delay, and a minimum DFI to verify that it’s been received, as taught by Salem in ¶0146, to reduce excess overhead, latency, and channel access attempts/contention.
Regarding Claim 17
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 1. Salem Further teaches
when a second condition (Salem ¶0121: minimum DFI delay) is met, determining that the first indication information is invalid (Salem ¶0121: failed to decode), wherein the second condition comprises at least one of the following: the value of the HARQ-ACK feedback information bit (Salem ¶0121: HARQ processes) of the first DCI (Salem ¶0121: TB) is a Negative Acknowledgement (NACK) (Salem ¶0121: NACK); the value of the HARQ-ACK feedback information bit of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI is a NACK (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI is incorrectly decoded (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); the retransmission timer associated with the PDSCH or the PUSCH scheduled by the first DCI is started or restarted (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); at least one of all HARQ-ACK feedback bits carried on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) on which a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first DCI is located is a NACK (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); at least one of all HARQ-ACK feedback bits carried on a PUCCH on which a HARQ- ACK feedback of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI is located is a NACK (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); the first DCI schedules the PUSCH and a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for scheduling retransmission of the PUSCH is received during running of a first timer of the PUSCH (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or the first DCI schedules the PUSCH and reception of the DFI indicating that the PUSCH is incorrectly received (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or in a case that a third condition is met, determining, through configuration of a network side or stipulation of a protocol, that the first indication information is valid or invalid, wherein the third condition comprises at least one of the following: a HARQ-ACK feedback of the first DCI fails to be sent (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); a HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH scheduled by the first DCI fails to be sent (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or the DFI of the PUSCH scheduled by the first DCI fails to be received (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Salem teaches a system wherein failing to decode from a HARQ process, a NACK is sent in response, see ¶0121).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Yoon by way of Yang’605, further by way of Salem, to include an element that teaches a system wherein failing to decode from a HARQ process, a NACK is sent in response, as taught by Salem in ¶0121, to reduce excess overhead, latency, and channel access attempts/contention.
Regarding Claim 18
Yoon in view of Yang’605, further in view of Salem, even further in view of Yang, and even then, further in view of Zhang teaches the Method, Terminal, and Storage Medium as explained above in Claim 1. Yoon Further teaches
wherein the first indication information (Yoon ¶0065: DCI formats, used to generate feedback timing indicator, see ¶0233) is used to indicate at least one of the following: Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) monitoring skipping (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), search space group switching (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), BWP switching (Yoon ¶0068: BWP), or a minimum scheduling time interval (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), wherein the scheduling time interval is a time interval between reception of a PDSCH and reception of a PDSCH or a PUSCH scheduled by the PDCCH (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Yoon teaches a DCI generating a feedback timing indicator used for a BWP indicator, see ¶0065-¶0068 and ¶0233).
Conclusion
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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