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 .
DETAILED ACTION
In the amendment filed June 15, 2026, claims 1, 4-7, 10-13, 16, 17, and 20 have been amended, claims 2, 8, 14 and 18 cancelled, claims 1, 3-7, 9-13, 15-17, and 19-20 are currently pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Regarding 35 U.S.C. 103 applicant’s arguments, see page 8 Section II paragraphs 2 - page 11 paragraphs 1-2, filed June 15, 2026, with respect to claims 1, 3-7, 9-13, 15, 17, and 19 have been fully considered and are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-7, 9-13, 15, 17, and 19 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.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Hence a new ground of rejection is made in view of LENOVO et al. (LENOVO ET AL: "On reliability improvement for RRC-CONNECTED UEs", 3GPP DRAFT; R1-2107161 no. E-meeting; 20210816 - 20210827, 6 August 2021 (2021-08-06).
Notice re prior art available under both pre-AIA and AIA
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 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.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1, 3, 7, 9, 13, 15, 17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LENOVO et al. (LENOVO ET AL: "On reliability improvement for RRC-CONNECTED UEs", 3GPP DRAFT; R1-2107161 no. E-meeting; 20210816 - 20210827, 6 August 2021 (2021-08-06), in view of Gou et al. (EP3855660A1), and further in view of Huawei (Maintenance on DL signals and channels for NR Unlicensed, R1-2104272).
As per claim 1, Lenovo disclose A method performed by a user equipment (UE) (see chap 1, 2, chap 2.5-2.6, UE) in a communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station (see chap 1, 2, chap 2.5-2.6, gNB) via a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see chap 1, 2, chap 2.5, UE receiving both unicast PDSCHs and multicast PDSCHs, via a radio resource control (RRC) signaling from gNB), information on a list of timing values associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ- ACK) (see chap.2.5 "K1 set and TDRA table are configured for unicast and multicast");
receiving a PDSCH from the base station (see chap.2.5 "the UE receiving both unicast PDSCHs and multicast PDSCHs");
determining a set of slot timing values based on the information on the list of timing values; and
transmitting, to the base station, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) including a Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook associated with the PDSCH based on the set of slot timing values (see chap.2.5 "Type-1 HARO-ACK codebook for unicast is determined according to the configured K1 set for unicast"),
Lenovo however does not explicitly disclose wherein, in case that the list of timing values includes an inapplicable value for a case where a feedback timing is not explicitly indicated, the inapplicable value is excluded from the set of slot timing values.
Gou however disclose wherein, in case that a list of timing values includes an inapplicable value for a case where a feedback timing is not explicitly indicated, the inapplicable value is excluded from the set of slot timing values (see para. 0114, "the UE removes unqualified k1 values from the k1 value set and forms no HARD-ACK codebook bits for the unqualified k1 values").
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein, in case that a list of timing values includes an inapplicable value for a case where a feedback timing is not explicitly indicated, the inapplicable value is excluded from the set of slot timing values, as taught by Gou, in the system of Lenovo, so as to remove unqualified k1 values from the k1 value set, see Gou, paragraph 0114.
The combination of Lenovo and Gou however does not explicitly disclose wherein the inapplicable value in the list of timing values corresponds to a value of -1.
Huawei however disclose wherein an inapplicable value in a list of timing values corresponds to a value of -1 (see page 1, "The inapplicable value (k1 =-1) for HARD-ACK feedback is introduced in NR-U", and K1 is the number of slots for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK indicated by PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing indicator field in the DCI format scheduling the PDSCH / an inapplicable value in a list of timing values).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein an inapplicable value in a list of timing values corresponds to a value of -1, as taught by Huawei, in the system of Lenovo and Gou, so as to indicate to a UE the PUCCH resource for HARQ feedback is not allocated and will be provided in the following DCI, see Huawei, page1.
As per claim 3, the combination of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei disclose the method of claim 1.
Lenovo further disclose wherein the Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook included in the PUCCH transmitted in slot n is based on n-k, where k is a slot timing value from the set of slot timing values (see chap. 1, page 2, For TDM-ed unicast and multicast, for Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook construction for ACK/NACK-based unicast and multicast to be multiplexed in the same PUCCH resource, determining PDSCH reception candidate occasions is transmitted in slot n and based on n-k, where k is a slot timing value from the set of slot timing values, see also chap.2.5 "Type-1 HARO-ACK codebook for unicast is determined according to the configured K1 set for unicast").
As per claim 7 (a method performed by a base station see chap 1, 2, chap 2.5-2.6, gNB), claim 7 is rejected the same way as claim 1.
As per claim 9, claim 9 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As per claim 13, claim 13 is rejected the same way as claim 1. Gou further disclose A user equipment (UE) (see Fig.19, Fig.20, Terminal) in a communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver ( Fig.19, Fig.20, Terminal with a transceiver transmitting and receiving from a base station); and at least one processor (see Fig.20, Processor 2) .
As per claim 15, claim 15 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As per claim 17, claim 17 is rejected the same way as claim 1. Gou further disclose A base station (see Fig.21, Base Station) in a communication system, the base station comprising: a transceiver (Fig.210, Base Station with a transceiver transmitting and receiving from a base station); and at least one processor (see Fig.20, Processor 2) .
As per claim 19, claim 19 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
Claims 4-6 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LENOVO et al. (LENOVO ET AL: "On reliability improvement for RRC-CONNECTED UEs", 3GPP DRAFT; R1-2107161 no. E-meeting; 20210816 - 20210827, 6 August 2021 (2021-08-06), in view of Gou et al. (EP3855660A1), in view of Huawei (Maintenance on DL signals and channels for NR Unlicensed, R1-2104272) and further in view of Rastegardoost (US Pub. No.:2024/0072975).
As per claim 4, the combination of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei disclose the method of claim 1.
The combination of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei however does not explicitly disclose wherein, in case that the UE is configured to monitor physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1 and is not configured to monitor PDCCH for DCI format 1_2, the list of timing values is configured based on one of a first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1, and wherein two of the first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 includes the inapplicable value.
Rastegardoost however disclose wherein, in case that the UE is configured to monitor physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1 and is not configured to monitor PDCCH for DCI format 1_2, the list of timing values is configured based on one of a first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1, and wherein two of the first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 includes the inapplicable value (see para. 0293-0302, the wireless device may determine a HARQ feedback timing indicator value indicated by a scheduling DCI based on the list of timing values configured by the configurations parameters. The list of PDSCH to HARQ-ACK timings may comprise a first value (e.g., −1), the first value may be inapplicable/non-numerical, the first value indicates that the HARQ-ACK timing is not explicitly included/indicated by the DCI at the time of scheduling the PDSCH, the list of timing values is configured based on one of a first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1, and wherein two of the first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 includes the inapplicable value, see also para. 0304-0308).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein, in case that the UE is configured to monitor physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1 and is not configured to monitor PDCCH for DCI format 1_2, the list of timing values is configured based on one of a first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1, and wherein two of the first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 includes the inapplicable value, as taught by Rastegardoost, in the system of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei, so as to adopt a flexible scheme, capable of dynamically controlling the ACK/NACK transmission timing, a DL scheduling DCI comprise a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing field to control/indicate the transmission timing of an ACK/NACK corresponding to a data scheduled by the DL scheduling DCI in an uplink transmission (e.g., PUCCH). The PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing field in the DCI may be used as an index of one or more indexes of K1 values in a pre-defined and/or RRC-configured table (e.g., a HARQ timing table). The K1 value may provide information of a gap/interval/offset between a second time to transmit the HARQ ACK/NACK relative to a first time of the reception of data (e.g., physical DL shared channel (PDSCH)), see Rastegardoost, para. 0223.
As per claim 5, the combination of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei disclose the method of claim 1.
The combination of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei however does not explicitly disclose wherein, in case that the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH for DCI format 1_2 and is not configured to monitor PDCCH for downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1, the list of timing values is configured based on one of a second set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_2.
Rastegardoost however disclose wherein, in case that the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH for DCI format 1_2 and is not configured to monitor PDCCH for downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1, the list of timing values is configured based on one of a second set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_2 (see para. 0293-0302, the wireless device determines a HARQ feedback timing indicator value indicated by a scheduling DCI based on the list of timing values configured by the configurations parameters. The list of PDSCH to HARQ-ACK timings may comprise a first value (e.g., −1), the first value may be inapplicable/non-numerical, the first value indicates that the HARQ-ACK timing is not explicitly included/indicated by the DCI at the time of scheduling the PDSCH, the list of timing values is configured based on one of a second set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_2, see also para. 0304-0308).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein, in case that the UE is configured to monitor physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1 and is not configured to monitor PDCCH for DCI format 1_2, the list of timing values is configured based on one of a first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1, and wherein two of the first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 includes the inapplicable value, as taught by Rastegardoost, in the system of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei, so as to adopt a flexible scheme, capable of dynamically controlling the ACK/NACK transmission timing, a DL scheduling DCI comprise a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing field to control/indicate the transmission timing of an ACK/NACK corresponding to a data scheduled by the DL scheduling DCI in an uplink transmission (e.g., PUCCH). The PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing field in the DCI may be used as an index of one or more indexes of K1 values in a pre-defined and/or RRC-configured table (e.g., a HARQ timing table). The K1 value may provide information of a gap/interval/offset between a second time to transmit the HARQ ACK/NACK relative to a first time of the reception of data (e.g., physical DL shared channel (PDSCH)), see Rastegardoost, para. 0223.
As per claim 6, the combination of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei disclose the method of claim 1.
The combination of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei however does not explicitly wherein, in case that the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH for downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1 and DCI format 1_2, the list of timing values is configured based on a union of one of a first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 and one of a second set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_2, and wherein two of the first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 includes the inapplicable value.
Rastegardoost however disclose wherein, in case that the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH for downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1 and DCI format 1_2, the list of timing values is configured based on a union of one of a first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 and one of a second set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_2, and wherein two of the first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 includes the inapplicable value (see para. 0293-0302, the wireless device determines a HARQ feedback timing indicator value indicated by a scheduling DCI based on the list of timing values configured by the configurations parameters, the list of PDSCH to HARQ-ACK timings comprises a first value (e.g., −1), the first value is an inapplicable/non-numerical, the first value indicates that the HARQ-ACK timing is not explicitly included/indicated by the DCI at the time of scheduling the PDSCH, the list of timing values is configured based on a union of one of a first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 and one of a second set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_2, and wherein two of the first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 includes the inapplicable value, see also para. 0304-0308).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of wherein, in case that the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH for downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1 and DCI format 1_2, the list of timing values is configured based on a union of one of a first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 and one of a second set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_2, and wherein two of the first set of configurations associated with the DCI format 1_1 includes the inapplicable value, as taught by Rastegardoost, in the system of Lenovo, Gou and Huawei, so as to adopt a flexible scheme, capable of dynamically controlling the ACK/NACK transmission timing, a DL scheduling DCI comprise a PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing field to control/indicate the transmission timing of an ACK/NACK corresponding to a data scheduled by the DL scheduling DCI in an uplink transmission (e.g., PUCCH). The PDSCH-to-HARQ_feedback timing field in the DCI may be used as an index of one or more indexes of K1 values in a pre-defined and/or RRC-configured table (e.g., a HARQ timing table). The K1 value may provide information of a gap/interval/offset between a second time to transmit the HARQ ACK/NACK relative to a first time of the reception of data (e.g., physical DL shared channel (PDSCH)), see Rastegardoost, para. 0223.
As per claim 10, claim 10 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As per claim 11, claim 11 is rejected the same way as claim 5.
As per claim 12, claim 12 is rejected the same way as claim 6.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16 and 20 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 any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sun et al. (Pub. No.: US 2022/0103300 A1) – see Fig. 5, paragraphs [0037, and [0100] an inapplicable timing value for K1, such as a non-numerical timing value for K1 (NNNK1), Fig. 6, paragraphs [0038], and [0103]-[0105], Fig. 9, paragraphs [0041], and [0118]-[0119] disclose inapplicable value/inapplicable timing value. Paragraphs [0009], [0013], [0019], [0021], [0025], and [0028] disclose first timing value is an applicable value.
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 LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR whose telephone number is (571)272-1335. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7 am - 4 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian Moore can be reached on 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
Prosecution Insights