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
Applicant’s submission filed 04/09/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 13, 19, and 26 have been amended. Claims 1-30 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 13, 19, and 26 have been considered but are not persuasive.
Applicant argues (pg. 8-9), with respect to claims 1, 13, 19, and 26, that Sun does not teach a configuration that indicates a time-varying bandwidth comprising a bandwidth that changes across symbols. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
As can be seen in Sun, Fig. 6, and in consideration that each slot is composed of symbols (Sun, ¶0053, ¶0073, ¶0077), the control region of each slot has a different bandwidth than the data region of the same slot, indicating that the bandwidth changes between the last symbol of the control region and the first symbol of the data region. The bandwidth can be seen to change again between the last symbol of the data region of one slot and the control region of the following slot. Therefore, Sun does disclose a bandwidth that changes across symbols. Furthermore, FIG. 6 shows time-frequency resources on a carrier utilizing OFDM with a mixed numerology and with flexible bandwidth that is used to schedule UEs (Sun, ¶0016, ¶0075). UE searches for the mixed numerology carrier for synchronization signal (SS), and once SS is detected, UE reads certain control information carried on the SS including configuration information for common control channel (Sun, FIG. 10, ¶0099), which indicates that the configuration including resources shown in FIG. 6 is received.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 5-6, 8-11, 13, 15-17, 19-21, 23-24, 26, and 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei et al. (US 2022/0007395), Lei hereinafter, in view of Sun et al. (US 2018/0152964), Sun hereinafter.
Re. Claim 1. Lei teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (Lei, 0010: According to another example, a method of wireless communication at a user equipment in a wireless communication network is disclosed.), the method comprising:
receiving an indicator that indicates a configuration associated with a bandwidth part (BWP) (Lei, ¶0010: The method includes receiving, from a base station, a slot format indicator within downlink control information or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE). Lei, ¶0010: The slot format indicator can indicate a slot format of a slot having a carrier bandwidth, and the slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission),
the configuration indicates a first sub-band of the BWP (Lei, ¶0010: The slot format indicator can indicate a slot format of a slot having a carrier bandwidth, and the slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, a sub-band full-duplex slot including at least the BWP configured for simultaneous uplink transmission and downlink transmission, or a flexible slot including at least one flexible symbol configurable as a half-duplex symbol or a sub-band full-duplex symbol.),
the BWP is associated with sub-band full-duplex communication (Lei, ¶0010: The slot format indicator can indicate a slot format of a slot having a carrier bandwidth, and the slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, a sub-band full-duplex slot including at least the BWP configured for simultaneous uplink transmission and downlink transmission, or a flexible slot including at least one flexible symbol configurable as a half-duplex symbol or a sub-band full-duplex symbol.); and
based on the BWP being allocated to the UE and the configuration, communicating using the first sub-band (Lei, ¶0010: The method further includes communicating with the base station in the slot based on the slot format.).
Yet, Lei does not explicitly teach the configuration indicates a time-varying bandwidth and a first sub-band of the BWP, wherein the time-varying bandwidth comprises a bandwidth that changes across symbols;
However, in the related art, Sun teaches the configuration indicates a time-varying bandwidth and a first sub-band of the BWP (Sun, ¶0077: Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another.),
wherein the time-varying bandwidth comprises a bandwidth that changes across symbols (Sun, ¶0077: Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another. Sun, ¶0053: In the example shown in FIG. 3, one subframe 302 includes four slots 310, as an illustrative example. In some examples, a slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP.
¶0073: As illustrated, each numerology includes a set of slots, and each slot includes a common DL control region and a data region, as described above in relation to the slot 310 illustrated in FIG. 3.
PNG
media_image1.png
598
949
media_image1.png
Greyscale
¶0077: As illustrated in FIG. 6, the data region of any given slot may have a different bandwidth than the control region of that same slot. Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another.
[As can be seen in Fig. 6 and in consideration that each slot is composed of symbols, the control region of each slot has a different bandwidth than the data region of the same slot, indicating that the bandwidth changes between the last symbol of the control region and the first symbol of the data region. The bandwidth can be seen to change again between the last symbol of the data region of one slot and the control region of the following slot.]);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei with mixed numerology carrier of Sun. The resulting invention could provide improved flexibility for different numerologies to dynamically share resources (Sun, 0078).
Re. Claim 2, Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Lei further teaches the configuration indicates the first sub-band is associated with a first slot or a first symbol of a period of the BWP and a second sub-band is associated with a second slot or a second symbol of the period of the BWP (Lei, ¶0075: In some examples, an RB may be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. ¶0076: In a given implementation, the subframe 302 may have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 308. And ¶0077: Each 1 ms subframe 302 may consist of one or multiple adjacent slots.);
the first sub-band and the second sub-band are different sub-bands (Lei, ¶0092: For sub-band FDD communication, as shown in FIG. 4C, the carrier bandwidth 402 (or active BWPs) may be divided into sub-bands 410a and 410b. Each sub-band 410a and 410b may be allocated for communication in a single direction. For example, sub-band 410a may be allocated for downlink transmissions, while sub-band 410b may be allocated for uplink transmissions.), the first slot and the second slot are different slots, or a combination thereof;
the first sub-band is associated with an uplink portion of the BWP or a downlink portion of the BWP (Lei, ¶0071: In other examples, full-duplex communication may be implemented within unpaired spectrum (e.g., within a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions in different directions occur within different sub-bands of the carrier bandwidth.); or a combination thereof.
Re. Claim 3, Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Lei further teaches wherein the configuration indicates a sub-band pattern As yet another example, if the SFI indicates that the slot is a sub-band full-duplex slot, the base station 602 may be configured to transmit DL control and/or DL data to the UE 604 within one or more DL sub-bands of the slot and the UE 604 may be configured to transmit UL control and/or UL data to the base station 602 within one or more UL sub-bands of the slot.),
a periodicity , a number of cycles or a combination thereof (Lei, ¶0121: For example, the base station may transmit a configuration of monitoring occasion(s) associated with reception by the UEs of the repetitions of the SFI via, for example, RRC signaling.).
Yet, Li does not explicitly teach wherein the configuration indicates a sub-band pattern of the time-varying bandwidth, a periodicity of time-varying bandwidth, a number of cycles of time-varying bandwidth, or a combination thereof.
However, in the related art, Sun teaches wherein the configuration indicates a sub-band pattern of the time-varying bandwidth, a periodicity of time-varying bandwidth, a number of cycles of time-varying bandwidth, or a combination thereof (Sun, ¶0077: As illustrated in FIG. 6, the data region of any given slot may have a different bandwidth than the control region of that same slot. Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei with mixed numerology carrier of Sun. The resulting invention could provide improved flexibility for different numerologies to dynamically share resources (Sun, ¶0078).
Re. Claim 5 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Lei further teaches receiving signaling that indicates to use the configuration (¶0004: The network may configure each slot as a downlink slot (e.g., all symbols are dedicated for downlink communication), an uplink slot (e.g., all symbols are dedicated for uplink communication), or a flexible slot.); and
using, based on the signaling, the configuration semi-statically for communicating (Lei, ¶0004: The slot format of each slot in a cell may be static or may be configured in a semi-static or dynamic manner.).
Re. Claim 6 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Lei further teaches receiving a downlink control information (DCI) grant that indicates the configuration (Lei, ¶0004: For example, the flexible symbols in a slot may be dynamically reconfigured using a slot format indicator (SFI) transmitted via downlink control information (DCI) within a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).); and
using, based on the DCI grant, the configuration for communicating (Lei, ¶0010: The method further includes communicating with the base station in the slot based on the slot format.).
Re. Claim 8 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Lei further teaches the configuration indicates that the first sub-band includes a non-contiguous sub-band allocation during a slot of the BWP (Lei, ¶0092: For sub-band FDD communication, as shown in FIG. 4C, the carrier bandwidth 402 (or active BWPs) may be divided into sub-bands 410a and 410b. … The downlink resources 406 may further be separated from the uplink resources 408 in the frequency domain by a guard band 412 to isolate the uplink and downlink transmissions in frequency.).
Re. Claim 9 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 8.
Lei further teaches the configuration indicates the non-contiguous sub-band allocation using a physical resource block scheme (Lei, ¶0092: In the example shown in FIG. SB, in slot 512a, the [base station] antenna array 500 is first configured for downlink (DL) communication (e.g., DL burst 516 and DL data portion 518). The DL burst 516 may include DL control transmitted within the first few symbols of the slot 512a. The DL control 516 may include, for example, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying DCI that may be related to the slot 512a or a previous or subsequent slot. In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The UE-specific DCI may include, for example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., ACK/NACK), scheduling information for scheduling a downlink data transmission and/or uplink transmission in the slot 512a or a subsequent slot (e.g., slot 512b, 512c, and/or 512d), and other suitable information.).
Re. Claim 10 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Lei further teaches the configuration is received from a cell, and the configuration is specific to a default configuration for the cell (Lei, ¶0095: In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The common DCI may include, for example, common control information broadcast to a group of UEs or all UEs in the cell.).
Re. Claim 11 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Lei further teaches the configuration is specific to the UE (Lei, ¶0095: In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The UE-specific DCI may include, for example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., ACK/NACK), scheduling information for scheduling a downlink data transmission and/or uplink transmission in the slot 512a or a subsequent slot (e.g., slot 512b, 512c, and/or 512d), and other suitable information.).
Re. Claim 13 Lei teaches a user equipment (UE) comprising (Lei, ¶0011: Another example provides a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network.):
a memory storing processor-readable code; and at least one processor coupled to the memory (Lei, ¶0011: The UE includes a wireless transceiver configured for communicating with a base station over at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of a carrier bandwidth, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless transceiver and the memory.), the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to (Lei, ¶0011: The processor and the memory can be configured to receive, from the base station, a slot format indicator within down-link control information or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE).),
the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to:
receive a configuration associated with a bandwidth part (BWP) (Lei, ¶0107: the base station transmits a slot format indicator indicating the slot format to the UE; the SFI indicates the particular configuration of the flexible symbols within the slot), the configuration a first sub-band of the BWP, the BWP is associated with sub-band full-duplex communication (Lei, ¶0011: The slot format indicator can indicate a slot format of a slot, and the slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, a sub-band full-duplex slot including at least the BWP configured for simultaneous uplink transmission and downlink transmission, or a flexible slot including at least one flexible symbol configurable as a half-duplex symbol or a sub-band full-duplex symbol.); and
based on the BWP being allocated to the UE and the configuration, communicate via the first sub-band (Lei, ¶0011: The processor and the memory can further be configured to communicate with the base station in the slot based on the slot format via the wireless transceiver.).
Yet, Lei does not explicitly teach the configuration indicates a time-varying bandwidth and a first sub-band of the BWP, wherein the time-varying bandwidth comprises a bandwidth that changes across symbols;
However, in the related art, Sun teaches the configuration indicates a time-varying bandwidth and a first sub-band of the BWP (Sun, ¶0077: Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another.),
wherein the time-varying bandwidth comprises a bandwidth that changes across symbols (Sun, ¶0077: Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another. Sun, ¶0053: In the example shown in FIG. 3, one subframe 302 includes four slots 310, as an illustrative example. In some examples, a slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP.
¶0073: As illustrated, each numerology includes a set of slots, and each slot includes a common DL control region and a data region, as described above in relation to the slot 310 illustrated in FIG. 3.
¶0077: As illustrated in FIG. 6, the data region of any given slot may have a different bandwidth than the control region of that same slot. Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another.
[As can be seen in Fig. 6 and in consideration that each slot is composed of symbols, the control region of each slot has a different bandwidth than the data region of the same slot, indicating that the bandwidth changes between the last symbol of the control region and the first symbol of the data region. The bandwidth can be seen to change again between the last symbol of the data region of one slot and the control region of the following slot.]);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei with mixed numerology carrier of Sun. The resulting invention could provide improved flexibility for different numerologies to dynamically share resources (Sun, 0078).
Re. Claim 15 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 13.
Lei further teaches wherein the configuration indicates that the first sub-band includes a non-contiguous sub-band allocation during a slot of the BWP (Lei, ¶0092: For sub-band FDD communication, as shown in FIG. 4C, the carrier bandwidth 402 (or active BWPs) may be divided into sub-bands 410a and 410b. … The downlink resources 406 may further be separated from the uplink resources 408 in the frequency domain by a guard band 412 to isolate the uplink and downlink transmissions in frequency.).
Re. Claim 16 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 15.
Lei further teaches the configuration indicates the non-contiguous sub-band allocation using a physical resource block scheme (Lei, ¶0092: In the example shown in FIG. SB, in slot 512a, the [base station] antenna array 500 is first configured for downlink (DL) communication (e.g., DL burst 516 and DL data portion 518). The DL burst 516 may include DL control transmitted within the first few symbols of the slot 512a. The DL control 516 may include, for example, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying DCI that may be related to the slot 512a or a previous or subsequent slot. In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The UE-specific DCI may include, for example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., ACK/NACK), scheduling information for scheduling a downlink data transmission and/or uplink transmission in the slot 512a or a subsequent slot (e.g., slot 512b, 512c, and/or 512d), and other suitable information.).
Re. Claim 17 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 13.
Lei further teaches the configuration is specific to the UE (Lei, ¶0092: In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The UE-specific DCI may include, for example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., ACK/NACK), scheduling information for scheduling a downlink data transmission and/or uplink transmission in the slot 512a or a subsequent slot (e.g., slot 512b, 512c, and/or 512d), and other suitable information.) or
a default configuration for a cell (Lei, ¶0095: In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The common DCI may include, for example, common control information broadcast to a group of UEs or all UEs in the cell.).
Re. Claim 19 Lei teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a base station (Lei, ¶0006: In one example, a method of wireless communication at a base station in a wireless communication network is disclosed.), the method comprising:
transmitting an indicator that indicates a configuration associated with a bandwidth part (BWP) (Lei, ¶0006: The method further includes transmitting a slot format indicator indicating the slot format of the slot to a plurality of user equipment (UEs) within downlink control information or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE).),
the configuration indicates a first sub-band of the BWP, the BWP is associated with sub-band full-duplex communication (Lei, ¶0006: The slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a band-width part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, a sub-band full-duplex slot including at least the BWP configured for simultaneous uplink transmission and downlink transmission, or a flexible slot including at least one flexible symbol configurable as a half-duplex symbol or a sub-band full-duplex symbol.); and
based on the BWP being allocated to a user equipment (UE) and the configuration, communicating using the first sub-band (Lei, ¶0010: The [UE] method further includes communicating with the base station in the slot based on the slot format.).
Yet, Lei does not explicitly teach the configuration indicates a time-varying bandwidth and a first sub-band of the BWP, wherein the time-varying bandwidth comprises a bandwidth that changes across symbols;
However, in the related art, Sun teaches the configuration indicates a time-varying bandwidth and a first sub-band of the BWP (Sun, ¶0077: Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another.),
wherein the time-varying bandwidth comprises a bandwidth that changes across symbols (Sun, ¶0077: Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another. Sun, ¶0053: In the example shown in FIG. 3, one subframe 302 includes four slots 310, as an illustrative example. In some examples, a slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP.
¶0073: As illustrated, each numerology includes a set of slots, and each slot includes a common DL control region and a data region, as described above in relation to the slot 310 illustrated in FIG. 3.
¶0077: As illustrated in FIG. 6, the data region of any given slot may have a different bandwidth than the control region of that same slot. Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another.
[As can be seen in Fig. 6 and in consideration that each slot is composed of symbols, the control region of each slot has a different bandwidth than the data region of the same slot, indicating that the bandwidth changes between the last symbol of the control region and the first symbol of the data region. The bandwidth can be seen to change again between the last symbol of the data region of one slot and the control region of the following slot.]);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei with mixed numerology carrier of Sun. The resulting invention could provide improved flexibility for different numerologies to dynamically share resources (Sun, 0078).
Re. Claim 20 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 19.
Lei further teaches the configuration indicates a sub-band pattern (Lei, ¶0108: As yet another example, if the SFI indicates that the slot is a sub-band full-duplex slot, the base station 602 may be configured to transmit DL control and/or DL data to the UE 604 within one or more DL sub-bands of the slot and the UE 604 may be configured to transmit UL control and/or UL data to the base station 602 within one or more UL sub-bands of the slot.), a periodicity, a number of cycles, or a combination thereof;
the configuration indicates the first sub-band is associated with a first slot or a first symbol of a period of the BWP and a second sub-band is associated with a second slot or a second symbol of the period of the BWP (Lei, ¶0075: In some examples, an RB may be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. ¶0076: In a given implementation, the subframe 302 may have a bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RBs 308. And ¶0077: Each 1 ms subframe 302 may consist of one or multiple adjacent slots.);
the first sub-band and the second sub-band are different sub-bands (Lei, ¶0092: For sub-band FDD communication, as shown in FIG. 4C, the carrier bandwidth 402 (or active BWPs) may be divided into sub-bands 410a and 410b. Each sub-band 410a and 410b may be allocated for communication in a single direction. For example, sub-band 410a may be allocated for downlink transmissions, while sub-band 410b may be allocated for uplink transmissions.), the first slot and the second slot are different slots, or a combination thereof;
the first sub-band is associated with an uplink portion of the BWP or a downlink portion of the BWP (Lei, ¶0071: In other examples, full-duplex communication may be implemented within unpaired spectrum (e.g., within a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions in different directions occur within different sub-bands of the carrier bandwidth.); or a combination thereof.
Re. Claim 21 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 19.
Lei further teaches determining one or more configurations for the BWP (Lei, ¶0196: At block 1602, the base station may select a slot format of a slot.); and
transmitting radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates the one or more configurations (Lei, ¶0121: For example, the base station may transmit a configuration of monitoring occasion(s) associated with reception by the UEs of the repetitions of the SFI via, for example, RRC signaling.).
Re. Claim 23 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 19.
Lei further teaches the configuration indicates that the first sub-band includes a non-contiguous sub-band allocation during a slot of the BWP (Lei, ¶0092: For sub-band FDD communication, as shown in FIG. 4C, the carrier bandwidth 402 (or active BWPs) may be divided into sub-bands 410a and 410b. … The downlink resources 406 may further be separated from the uplink resources 408 in the frequency domain by a guard band 412 to isolate the uplink and downlink transmissions in frequency.); and
the configuration indicates the non-contiguous sub-band allocation using a physical resource block scheme (Lei, ¶0092: In the example shown in FIG. SB, in slot 512a, the [base station] antenna array 500 is first configured for downlink (DL) communication (e.g., DL burst 516 and DL data portion 518). The DL burst 516 may include DL control transmitted within the first few symbols of the slot 512a. The DL control 516 may include, for example, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying DCI that may be related to the slot 512a or a previous or subsequent slot. In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The UE-specific DCI may include, for example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., ACK/NACK), scheduling information for scheduling a downlink data transmission and/or uplink transmission in the slot 512a or a subsequent slot (e.g., slot 512b, 512c, and/or 512d), and other suitable information.).
Re. Claim 24 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 19.
Lei further teaches the configuration is specific to the UE (Lei, ¶0092: In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The UE-specific DCI may include, for example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., ACK/NACK), scheduling information for scheduling a downlink data transmission and/or uplink transmission in the slot 512a or a subsequent slot (e.g., slot 512b, 512c, and/or 512d), and other suitable information.) or
a default configuration for a cell associated with the base station (Lei, ¶0095: In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The common DCI may include, for example, common control information broadcast to a group of UEs or all UEs in the cell.).
Re. Claim 26 Lei teaches a base station (Lei, ¶0007: Another example provides a base station in a wireless communication network.) comprising:
a memory storing processor-readable code; and at least one processor coupled to the memory (Lei, ¶0007: The base station includes a wireless transceiver configured for communicating with a plurality of user equipment (UEs) over a carrier bandwidth, a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the wireless transceiver and the memory.),
the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code (Lei, ¶0007: The processor and the memory can be configured to select a slot format of a slot having a carrier bandwidth.) to cause the at least one processor to:
transmit a configuration associated with a bandwidth part (BWP) (Lei, ¶0007: The processor and the memory can further be configured to transmit a slot format indicator indicating the slot format of the slot to a plurality of user equipment (UEs) via the wireless transceiver within downlink control information or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE).),
the configuration a first sub-band of the BWP, the BWP is associated with sub-band full-duplex communication (Lei, ¶0011: The slot format indicator can indicate a slot format of a slot, and the slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, a sub-band full-duplex slot including at least the BWP configured for simultaneous uplink transmission and downlink transmission, or a flexible slot including at least one flexible symbol configurable as a half-duplex symbol or a sub-band full-duplex symbol.); and
based on the BWP being allocated to the UE and the configuration, communicate via the first sub-band (Lei, ¶0011: The processor and the memory can further be configured to communicate with the base station in the slot based on the slot format via the wireless transceiver.).
Yet, Lei does not explicitly teach the configuration indicates a time-varying bandwidth and a first sub-band of the BWP, wherein the time-varying bandwidth comprises a bandwidth that changes across symbols;
However, in the related art, Sun teaches the configuration indicates a time-varying bandwidth and a first sub-band of the BWP (Sun, ¶0077: Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another.),
wherein the time-varying bandwidth comprises a bandwidth that changes across symbols (Sun, ¶0077: Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another. Sun, ¶0053: In the example shown in FIG. 3, one subframe 302 includes four slots 310, as an illustrative example. In some examples, a slot may be defined according to a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP.
¶0073: As illustrated, each numerology includes a set of slots, and each slot includes a common DL control region and a data region, as described above in relation to the slot 310 illustrated in FIG. 3.
¶0077: As illustrated in FIG. 6, the data region of any given slot may have a different bandwidth than the control region of that same slot. Moreover, the bandwidth of the data regions in different slots may differ, and may vary from one slot to another.
[As can be seen in Fig. 6 and in consideration that each slot is composed of symbols, the control region of each slot has a different bandwidth than the data region of the same slot, indicating that the bandwidth changes between the last symbol of the control region and the first symbol of the data region. The bandwidth can be seen to change again between the last symbol of the data region of one slot and the control region of the following slot.]);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei with mixed numerology carrier of Sun. The resulting invention could provide improved flexibility for different numerologies to dynamically share resources (Sun, 0078).
Re. Claim 28, Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 26.
Lei further teaches wherein: the configuration indicates that the first sub-band includes a non-contiguous sub-band allocation during a slot of the BWP (Lei, ¶0092: For sub-band FDD communication, as shown in FIG. 4C, the carrier bandwidth 402 (or active BWPs) may be divided into sub-bands 410a and 410b. … The downlink resources 406 may further be separated from the uplink resources 408 in the frequency domain by a guard band 412 to isolate the uplink and downlink transmissions in frequency.); and
the configuration indicates the non-contiguous sub-band allocation using a physical resource block scheme (Lei, ¶0092: In the example shown in FIG. SB, in slot 512a, the [base station] antenna array 500 is first configured for downlink (DL) communication (e.g., DL burst 516 and DL data portion 518). The DL burst 516 may include DL control transmitted within the first few symbols of the slot 512a. The DL control 516 may include, for example, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying DCI that may be related to the slot 512a or a previous or subsequent slot. In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The UE-specific DCI may include, for example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., ACK/NACK), scheduling information for scheduling a downlink data transmission and/or uplink transmission in the slot 512a or a subsequent slot (e.g., slot 512b, 512c, and/or 512d), and other suitable information.).
Re. Claim 29 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 26.
Lei further teaches the configuration is specific to the UE (Lei, ¶0092: In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The UE-specific DCI may include, for example, HARQ feedback information (e.g., ACK/NACK), scheduling information for scheduling a downlink data transmission and/or uplink transmission in the slot 512a or a subsequent slot (e.g., slot 512b, 512c, and/or 512d), and other suitable information.) or
a default configuration for a cell associated with the base station (Lei, ¶0095: In an example, the DCI may include common DCI or UE-specific DCI. … The common DCI may include, for example, common control information broadcast to a group of UEs or all UEs in the cell.).
Claims 4, 7, 12, 14, 18, 22, 25, 27, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei in view of Sun as applied to claims 1, 13, 19, 21, and 26 above, and further in view of Abotabl et al. (US 2022/0014342), Abotabl hereinafter.
Re. Claim 4 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Yet, neither Lei nor Sun explicitly teaches receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates one or more configurations associated with the BWP, the one or more configurations including the configuration.
However, in the related art, Abotabl teaches receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates one or more configurations associated with the BWP (Abotabl, ¶0122: In some implementations, UE receives the one or more configurations in a RRC message from a primary cell or a primary secondary cell.),
the one or more configurations including the configuration (Abotabl, ¶0117: In block 1302, the UE receives one or more configurations for a dormant downlink BWP and an uplink BWP.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei as modified by the teaching of Sun with the dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for full-duplex operation of Abotabl. The resulting invention would enable a user equipment to monitor for self-interference (Abotabl, ¶0043).
Re. Claim 7 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Lei further teaches receiving signaling that indicates to use the configuration (Lei, ¶0004: The network may configure each slot as a downlink slot (e.g., all symbols are dedicated for downlink communication), an uplink slot (e.g., all symbols are dedicated for uplink communication), or a flexible slot.);
using, based on the signaling, the configuration semi-statically for communicating (Lei, ¶0004: The slot format of each slot in a cell may be static or may be configured in a semi-static or dynamic manner.)
Yet, neither Lei nor Sun explicitly teaches receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates a plurality of configurations associated with the BWP, the plurality of configurations including the configuration and another configuration; receiving a downlink control information (DCI) grant that indicates the other configuration; changing, based on the DCI grant, from using the configuration to using the other configuration for communicating.
However, in the related art, Abotabl teaches receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling (Abotabl, ¶0122: In some implementations, UE receives the one or more configurations in a RRC message from a primary cell or a primary secondary cell.)
that indicates a plurality of configurations associated with the BWP (Abotabl, ¶0117: In block 1302, the UE receives one or more configurations for a dormant downlink BWP and an uplink BWP.),
the plurality of configurations including the configuration and another configuration (Abotabl, ¶0117: The dormant downlink BWP and the uplink BWP may include or correspond to the first BWP 806 or the second BWP 813.);
receiving a downlink control information (DCI) grant that indicates the other configuration (Abotabl, ¶0124: In some implementations, after receiving the downlink signal and transmitting the uplink signal, the UE may receive a switching message including DCI.); and
changing, based on the DCI grant, from using the configuration to using the other configuration for communicating (Abotabl, ¶0124: In some implementations, the UE may switch the UE from using the dormant downlink BWP to using the non-dormant downlink BWP based on the switch message.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei as modified by the teaching of Sun with the dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for full-duplex operation of Abotabl. The resulting invention would enable a user equipment to monitor for self-interference (Abotabl, ¶0043).
Re. Claim 12 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 1.
Lei further teaches each configuration is associated with a slot format of the BWP (Lei, ¶0010: The slot format indicator can indicate a slot format of a slot having a carrier bandwidth, and the slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, a sub-band full-duplex slot including at least the BWP configured for simultaneous uplink transmission and downlink transmission, or a flexible slot including at least one flexible symbol configurable as a half-duplex symbol or a sub-band full-duplex symbol.).
Yet, neither Lei nor Sun explicitly teaches receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates multiple configurations.
However, in the related art, Abotabl teaches receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates multiple configurations (Abotabl, ¶0122: In some implementations, UE receives the one or more configurations in a RRC message from a primary cell or a primary secondary cell.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei as modified by the teaching of Sun with the dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for full-duplex operation of Abotabl. The resulting invention would enable a user equipment to monitor for self-interference (Abotabl, ¶0043).
Re. Claim 14 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 13.
Lei further teaches receive signaling that indicates to use the configuration (Lei, ¶0227: At block 2104, the UE may communicate with the base station in the slot based on the slot format.).
However, neither Lei nor Sun explicitly teaches the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to: receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates one or more configurations associated with the BWP, the one or more configurations including the configuration; receive a downlink control information (DCI) grant that indicates another configuration of the one or more configurations; and use, based on the DCI grant, the other configuration for communication with a base station.
However, in the related art, Abotabl teaches the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to:
receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling (Abotabl, ¶0122: In some implementations, UE receives the one or more configurations in a RRC message from a primary cell or a primary secondary cell.)
that indicates one or more configurations associated with the BWP (Abotabl, ¶0117: In block 1302, the UE receives one or more configurations for a dormant downlink BWP and an uplink BWP.),
the one or more configurations including the configuration (Abotabl, ¶0117: The dormant downlink BWP and the uplink BWP may include or correspond to the first BWP 806 or the second BWP 813.);
receive a downlink control information (DCI) grant that indicates another configuration of the one or more configurations (Abotabl, ¶0124: In some implementations, after receiving the downlink signal and transmitting the uplink signal, the UE may receive a switching message including DCI.); and
use, based on the DCI grant, the other configuration for communication with a base station (Abotabl, ¶0124: In some implementations, the UE may switch the UE from using the dormant downlink BWP to using the non-dormant downlink BWP based on the switch message.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei as modified by the teaching of Sun with the dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for full-duplex operation of Abotabl. The resulting invention would enable a user equipment to monitor for self-interference (Abotabl, ¶0043).
Re. Claim 18 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 13.
Lei further teaches the each configuration is associated with a slot format of the BWP (Lei, ¶0010: The slot format indicator can indicate a slot format of a slot having a carrier bandwidth, and the slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, a sub-band full-duplex slot including at least the BWP configured for simultaneous uplink transmission and downlink transmission, or a flexible slot including at least one flexible symbol configurable as a half-duplex symbol or a sub-band full-duplex symbol.).
Yet, neither Lei nor Sun explicitly teaches the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to: receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates multiple configurations.
However, in the related art, Abotabl teaches the at least one processor configured to execute the processor readable code to cause the at least one processor to:
receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates multiple configurations (Abotabl, ¶0122: In some implementations, UE receives the one or more configurations in a RRC message from a primary cell or a primary secondary cell.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei as modified by the teaching of Sun with the dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for full-duplex operation of Abotabl. The resulting invention would enable a user equipment to monitor for self-interference (Abotabl, ¶0043).
Re. Claim 22 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 21.
Yet, neither Lei nor Sun explicitly teaches transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) grant that indicates another configuration of the one or more configurations; and communicating with the UE using the other configuration.
However, in the related art, Abotabl teaches transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) grant that indicates another configuration of the one or more configurations (Abotabl, ¶0124: In some implementations, after receiving the downlink signal and transmitting the uplink signal, the UE may receive a switching message including DCI.); and
communicating with the UE using the other configuration (Abotabl, ¶0124: In some implementations, the UE may switch the UE from using the dormant downlink BWP to using the non-dormant downlink BWP based on the switch message.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei as modified by the teaching of Sun with the dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for full-duplex operation of Abotabl. The resulting invention would enable a user equipment to monitor for self-interference (Abotabl, ¶0043).
Re. Claim 25 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 19.
Lei further teaches each configuration is associated with a slot format of the BWP (Lei, ¶0010: The slot format indicator can indicate a slot format of a slot having a carrier bandwidth, and the slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, a sub-band full-duplex slot including at least the BWP configured for simultaneous uplink transmission and downlink transmission, or a flexible slot including at least one flexible symbol configurable as a half-duplex symbol or a sub-band full-duplex symbol.).
Yet, nether Lei nor Sun explicitly teaches transmitting radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates multiple configurations.
However, in the related art, Abotabl teaches transmitting radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates multiple configurations (Abotabl, ¶0122: In some implementations, UE receives the one or more configurations in a RRC message from a primary cell or a primary secondary cell.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei as modified by the teaching of Sun with the dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for full-duplex operation of Abotabl. The resulting invention would enable a user equipment to monitor for self-interference (Abotabl, ¶0043).
Re. Claim 27 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 26.
Lei further teaches the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to:
determine one or more configurations for the BWP (Lei, ¶0004: The network may configure each slot as a downlink slot (e.g., all symbols are dedicated for downlink communication), an uplink slot (e.g., all symbols are dedicated for uplink communication), or a flexible slot.);
Yet, neither Lei nor Sun explicitly teaches the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to: transmit resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates the one or more configurations transmit a downlink control information (DCI) grant that indicates another configuration of the one or more configuration; and communicate with the UE using the other configuration.
However, in the related art, Abotabl teaches the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to:
transmit resource control (RRC) signaling (Abotabl, ¶0122: In some implementations, UE receives the one or more configurations in a RRC message from a primary cell or a primary secondary cell.)
that indicates the one or more configurations (Abotabl, ¶0117: The dormant downlink BWP and the uplink BWP may include or correspond to the first BWP 806 or the second BWP 813.);
transmit a downlink control information (DCI) grant that indicates another configuration of the one or more configuration (Abotabl, ¶0124: In some implementations, after receiving the downlink signal and transmitting the uplink signal, the UE may receive a switching message including DCI.); and
communicate with the UE using the other configuration (Abotabl, ¶0124: In some implementations, the UE may switch the UE from using the dormant downlink BWP to using the non-dormant downlink BWP based on the switch message.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei as modified by the teaching of Sun with the dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for full-duplex operation of Abotabl. The resulting invention would enable a user equipment to monitor for self-interference (Abotabl, ¶0043).
Re. Claim 30 Lei in view of Sun teaches claim 26.
Lei further teaches the each configuration is associated with a slot format of the BWP (Lei, ¶0010: The slot format indicator can indicate a slot format of a slot having a carrier bandwidth, and the slot format can include one of a half-duplex slot including at least a bandwidth part (BWP) of the carrier bandwidth configured for uplink transmission or downlink transmission, a sub-band full-duplex slot including at least the BWP configured for simultaneous uplink transmission and downlink transmission, or a flexible slot including at least one flexible symbol configurable as a half-duplex symbol or a sub-band full-duplex symbol.).
Yet, Lei does not explicitly teach the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to: transmit radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates multiple configurations.
However, in the related art, Abotabl teaches the at least one processor configured to execute the processor readable code to cause the at least one processor to:
transmit radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates multiple configurations (Abotabl, ¶0122: In some implementations, UE receives the one or more configurations in a RRC message from a primary cell or a primary secondary cell.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the invention of Lei as modified by the teaching of Sun with the dormant bandwidth part (BWP) configuration for full-duplex operation of Abotabl. The resulting invention would enable a user equipment to monitor for self-interference (Abotabl, ¶0043).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 CASON H MORSE whose telephone number is (571)270-5235. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-6:00 Mon.-Thurs., Fri. varies.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rebecca Song can be reached at (571) 270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/C.H.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
Prosecution Insights