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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 6, 7, 10, 15, 16, 19, and 20 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 10, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2023/0247633) (“Liu”) in view of Wu et al. (US 2023/0239869) (“Wu”).
For claims 1, 10, 19, and 20; Liu discloses: when a network schedules multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) services, the DCI is a common DCI or a UE-specific DCI for carrying scheduling information (paragraph 57: A multicast PDSCH may be scheduled by both DCI carried on UE-specific PDCCH and DCI carried on group common PDCCH.); wherein the UE-specific DCI is scrambled by the first RNTI that is a cell wireless network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) (paragraph 34, 57: the UE receives first downlink control information (e.g., DCI) on a first downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH), which is UE-specific, in a first frequency resource (e.g., a first BWP). In some embodiments, the DCI and the PDCCH is characterized as UE-specific given that a UE-specific RNTI (e.g., C-RNTI) is scrambling with the CRC of the first DCI…This first downlink control information schedules a first TB. The UE then receives this first TB on a second downlink channel (e.g., PDSCH), which is common to many different UEs, in a second frequency resource (e.g., a second BWP). This first TB is received by many different UEs. In some embodiments, the first TB and the second downlink channel is common to the different UEs given that a group common RNTI (e.g., G-RNTI) is used for initialize the scrambling sequence of the second downlink channel) wherein the common DCI is scrambled by the second RNTI that is a common RNTI (paragraph 34, 57: the UE receives first downlink control information (e.g., DCI) on a first downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH), which is UE-specific, in a first frequency resource (e.g., a first BWP). In some embodiments, the DCI and the PDCCH is characterized as UE-specific given that a UE-specific RNTI (e.g., C-RNTI) is scrambling with the CRC of the first DCI…This first downlink control information schedules a first TB. The UE then receives this first TB on a second downlink channel (e.g., PDSCH), which is common to many different UEs, in a second frequency resource (e.g., a second BWP). This first TB is received by many different UEs. In some embodiments, the first TB and the second downlink channel is common to the different UEs given that a group common RNTI (e.g., G-RNTI) is used for initialize the scrambling sequence of the second downlink channel…multicast PDSCH may be scheduled by both DCI carried on UE-specific PDCCH and DCI carried on group common PDCCH.).
Liu does not expressly disclose, but Wu from similar fields of endeavor teaches: receiving downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI is used to indicate activation or deactivation of uplink feedback, wherein a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) used for scrambling the DCI is used to indicate activation or deactivation of uplink feedback (paragraph 224, 282-283: the terminal may disable the downlink HARQ feedback function according to the RNTI type used for downlink transmission. When the base station can configure the downlink HARQ feedback function to be disabled for a specific RNTI type, the terminal can decide whether to feed back the corresponding HARQ-ACK according to the RNTI type used for the received downlink transmission…the base station can configure the enabling or disabling of downlink HARQ feedback function for a specific RNTI type. For example, the base station may configure the enabling or disabling of the downlink HARQ feedback function only for one or several RNTI types. For another example, the base station may respectively configure the enabling or disabling of the HARQ feedback function for different RNTI types), wherein, when the RNTI used for scrambling the DCI is a first RNTI, the DCI is used to indicate activation of uplink feedback; or, when the RNTI used for scrambling the DCI is a second RNTI, the DCI is used to indicate deactivation of uplink feedback (paragraph 224, 282-283: the terminal may disable the downlink HARQ feedback function according to the RNTI type used for downlink transmission. When the base station can configure the downlink HARQ feedback function to be disabled for a specific RNTI type, the terminal can decide whether to feed back the corresponding HARQ-ACK according to the RNTI type used for the received downlink transmission…the base station can configure the enabling or disabling of downlink HARQ feedback function for a specific RNTI type. For example, the base station may configure the enabling or disabling of the downlink HARQ feedback function only for one or several RNTI types. For another example, the base station may respectively configure the enabling or disabling of the HARQ feedback function for different RNTI types). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the HARQ method as described by Wu in the feedback configuration as described by Liu. The motivation is to improve overhead and interference in UL signaling.
Liu teaches scheduling MBMS PDSCH transmissions using both C-RNTI (UE-specific DCI) and G-RNTI (common DCI) (p57). Wu discloses enabling/disabling HARQ based on the type of RNTI that is used to schedule a PDSCH transmission where the type of RNTI for enabling and disabling is arbitrarily configured beforehand (p224, p282-283) Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to configure the C-RNTI and G-RNTI as described by Liu as HARQ enable and disable as described by Wu, respectively. The motivation is to design choice when implementing the HARQ method.
Claim(s) 6, 7, 15, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Wu as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Xing et al. (US 2022/0200744) (“Xing”).
For claim 6 and 15; Liu discloses the subject matter in claim 1 as described above in the office action.
Liu does not expressly disclose, but Xing from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein a format of the DCI is used to indicate activation or deactivation of uplink feedback (paragraph 184: different DCI formats are defined for the situation where the HARQ mechanism is to be activated and the situation where the HARQ mechanism is to be deactivated). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Xing in the feedback configuration as described by Liu. The motivation is to improve dynamic feedback.
For claim 7 and 16; Liu discloses the subject matter in claim 6 as described above in the office action.
Liu does not expressly disclose, but Xing from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein when the format of the DCI is a first format, the DCI is used to indicate activation of uplink feedback; or, when the format of the DCI is a second format, the DCI is used to indicate deactivation of uplink feedback (paragraph 184: different DCI formats are defined for the situation where the HARQ mechanism is to be activated and the situation where the HARQ mechanism is to be deactivated). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Xing in the feedback configuration as described by Liu. The motivation is to improve dynamic feedback.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Pelletier et al. (US 2023/0027089); Pelletier discloses plurality of HARQ layers may be activated or deactivated by received downlink control information (DCI). In addition, the WTRU may transmit HARQ feedback to the node on the radio access network. In the method, the non-unicast downlink transmission method may be a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS).
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 JOHN D BLANTON whose telephone number is (571)270-3933. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-6pm EST, Mon-Thu.
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/JOHN D BLANTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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