DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Amendment filed 11/26/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 14, 18, 22-44, and 46 have been amended.
Claims 1-46 remain pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/31/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 6-15, 17-23, 27-36, and 39-46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talarico et al. (US20210007129A1), hereafter Talarico, in view of Babaei et al. (USP11451344B2), hereafter Babaei.
Regarding claims 1, 2, and 45,
Talarico discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Fig. 10) storing code for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 9), the code comprising instructions executable by at least one processor (paragraph 217-221) to perform a method (Fig. 4) comprising operating in accordance with an uplink carrier aggregation configuration on a primary cell and a secondary cell (paragraph 4, 19, 148-151) and receiving a grant for an uplink shared channel transmission mapped to the primary cell on a first set of uplink slots (Fig. 2; paragraph 37-38, 149; UE configured with PCell and SCell, UE receives UL grants on configured SCells).
Talarico further shows generating uplink control information mapped to the secondary cell (Fig. 1, paragraph 7, 34; CG-UCI), wherein the uplink shared channel transmission is scheduled to overlap with the uplink control information (Fig. 4, step 404; Fig. 5, step 504; paragraphs 47, 55, 76; CG-PUSCH overlaps with PUCCH) and modifying a cell mapping for the transmission of the uplink control information based at least in part on the uplink transmission switching, the modifying comprising dropping transmission of the UCI on the SCell (Fig. 4, step 408; Fig. 5, step 508; paragraphs 47, 55, 76, 244; UCI dropped according to priority rules when CG-PUSCH and PUCCH overlap).
Talarico does not expressly show uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information.
Babaei discloses analogous prior art describing HARQ feedback (Title) in relation to Carrier Aggregation and PCell/SCell switching and overlap considerations (Fig. 23-25; Col. 9, lines 1-45; Col. 24-25, lines 60-65 describing overlap of subslots between PCell/SCell) in which uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information (Fig. 16-22, 26-34, 36-38, 41 and associated disclosure, describing various scenarios under which determination to transmit/drop of UCI/HARQ based on switching timing scheduled to occur prior to the indicated UCI/HARQ timing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to implement the priority modifying/dropping in Talarico when the uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information, as in Babaei, thereby efficiently controlling whether to transmit or drop uplink control information such as HARQ feedback based on priority rules when switching between primary and secondary cells.
Regarding claims 22, 23, and 43,
Talarico discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communications (Fig. 9) comprising at least one processor (CPUs 904); memory (memory 904G; paragraph 196) coupled with the at least one processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the at least one processor (Fig. 10; paragraph 217-221) to cause the UE to operate in accordance with an uplink carrier aggregation configuration on a primary cell and a secondary cell (paragraph 4, 19, 148-151) and means to receive a grant for an uplink shared channel transmission mapped to the primary cell on a first set of uplink slots (Fig. 2; paragraph 37-38, 149; UE configured with PCell and SCell, UE receives UL grants on configured SCells).
Talarico further shows means to generate uplink control information mapped to the secondary cell (Fig. 1, paragraph 7, 34; CG-UCI), wherein the uplink shared channel transmission is scheduled to overlap with the uplink control information (Fig. 4, step 404; paragraphs 47, 55, 76; CG-PUSCH overlaps with PUCCH) and means to modify a cell mapping for the transmission of the uplink control information based at least in part on the uplink transmission switching, the modifying comprising dropping transmission of the UCI on the SCell (Fig. 4, step 408; paragraphs 47, 55, 76, 244; UCI dropped according to priority rules when CG-PUSCH and PUCCH overlap).
Talarico does not expressly show uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information.
Babaei discloses analogous prior art describing HARQ feedback (Title) in relation to Carrier Aggregation and PCell/SCell switching and overlap considerations (Fig. 23-25; Col. 9, lines 1-45; Col. 24-25, lines 60-65 describing overlap of subslots between PCell/SCell) in which uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information (Fig. 16-22, 26-34, 36-38, 41 and associated disclosure, describing various scenarios under which determination to transmit/drop of UCI/HARQ based on switching timing scheduled to occur prior to the indicated UCI/HARQ timing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to implement the priority modifying/dropping in Talarico when the uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information, as in Babaei, thereby efficiently controlling whether to transmit or drop uplink control information such as HARQ feedback based on priority rules when switching between primary and secondary cells.
Regarding claims 14, 17, and 46,
Talarico discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (Fig. 10) storing code for wireless communications at a network entity (gNB; Fig. 6, 611a-b; Fig. 7) comprising instructions executable by at least one processor (Fig. 10; paragraph 217-221) to perform a method (Fig. 5) comprising transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a grant for an uplink shared channel transmission mapped to a primary cell on a first set of uplink slots (Fig. 1, paragraph 7, 34; CG-UCI), wherein the uplink shared channel transmission is scheduled to overlap with an uplink control information (Fig. 5, step 504; paragraphs 47, 55, 76; CG-PUSCH overlaps with PUCCH) and receiving, from the UE, the uplink control information in accordance with a modified cell mapping of the UE based at least in part on the uplink transmission switching, the modifying comprising dropping the grant for the PUSCH transmission on the PCell (Fig. 5, step 508; paragraphs 47, 55, 76, 244; CG-PUSCH is dropped according to priority rules when CG-PUSCH and PUCCH overlap).
Talarico does not expressly show uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information.
Babaei discloses analogous prior art describing HARQ feedback (Title) in relation to Carrier Aggregation and PCell/SCell switching and overlap considerations (Fig. 23-25; Col. 9, lines 1-45; Col. 24-25, lines 60-65 describing overlap of subslots between PCell/SCell) in which uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information (Fig. 16-22, 26-34, 36-38, 41 and associated disclosure, describing various scenarios under which determination to transmit/drop of UCI/HARQ based on switching timing scheduled to occur prior to the indicated UCI/HARQ timing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to implement the priority modifying/dropping in Talarico when the uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information, as in Babaei, thereby efficiently controlling whether to transmit or drop uplink control information such as HARQ feedback based on priority rules when switching between primary and secondary cells.
Regarding claims 35, 38, and 44,
Talarico discloses a network entity for wireless communications (gNB; Fig. 6, 611a-b; Fig. 7) comprising at least one processor (CPUs 904); memory (memory 904G; paragraph 196) coupled with the at least one processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the at least one processor (Fig. 10; paragraph 217-221) to cause the apparatus to transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a grant for an uplink shared channel transmission mapped to a primary cell on a first set of uplink slots (Fig. 1, paragraph 7, 34; CG-UCI), wherein the uplink shared channel transmission is scheduled to overlap with an uplink control information (Fig. 5, step 504; paragraphs 47, 55, 76; CG-PUSCH overlaps with PUCCH) and means to receive, from the UE, the uplink control information in accordance with a modified cell mapping of the UE based at least in part on the uplink transmission switching, the modifying comprising dropping the grant for the PUSCH transmission on the PCell (Fig. 5, step 508; paragraphs 47, 55, 76, 244; CG-PUSCH is dropped according to priority rules when CG-PUSCH and PUCCH overlap).
Talarico does not expressly show uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information.
Babaei discloses analogous prior art describing HARQ feedback (Title) in relation to Carrier Aggregation and PCell/SCell switching and overlap considerations (Fig. 23-25; Col. 9, lines 1-45; Col. 24-25, lines 60-65 describing overlap of subslots between PCell/SCell) in which uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information (Fig. 16-22, 26-34, 36-38, 41 and associated disclosure, describing various scenarios under which determination to transmit/drop of UCI/HARQ based on switching timing scheduled to occur prior to the indicated UCI/HARQ timing).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to implement the priority modifying/dropping in Talarico when the uplink transmission switching is scheduled to occur from the primary cell to the secondary cell prior to a transmission of the uplink control information, as in Babaei, thereby efficiently controlling whether to transmit or drop uplink control information such as HARQ feedback based on priority rules when switching between primary and secondary cells.
Regarding claims 6, 7, 27, and 28,
Talarico does not expressly disclose, but Babaei does disclose mapping the transmission of the uplink control information of the secondary cell from a first uplink slot of the secondary cell to a second/subsequent available uplink slot of the secondary cell based at least in part on the uplink transmission switching (Fig. 20-23; determine a subslot of 2nd BWP/SCell for UCI/HARQ feedback based on switching timing < indicated HARQ timing and durations of 1st subslot and 2nd/subsequent subslot). See motivation above.
Regarding claims 8, 17, 29, and 38,
The combination of Talarico and Babaei discloses the uplink transmission switching further comprises dropping the grant for uplink shared channel transmission on the first set of uplink slots of the primary cell (Talarico: paragraph 47, 55, 76, 244; either CG-UCI on CG-PUSCH or legacy UCIs are dropped based on rules; Babaei: Col. 43-44; dropping UCI/HARQ on PUSCH). See motivation above.
Regarding claims 9, 10, 18, 30, 31, and 39,
The combination of Talarico and Babaei discloses the uplink carrier aggregation configuration is an inter-band carrier aggregation configuration supporting dual uplink transmission on one or more component carriers associated with the primary cell and the secondary cell (Talarico: paragraph 19, 148-149; various carrier aggregation configurations for dual connectivity are described; Babaei: Col. 9; dual connectivity using PCell and SCell). See motivation above.
Regarding claims 11, 19, 32, and 40,
The combination of Talarico and Babaei discloses the uplink control information of the secondary cell is multiplexed with the uplink shared channel transmission of the primary cell (Talarico: paragraph 36; UCI multiplexed with CG-UCI on the CG-PUSCH).
Regarding claims 12, 20, 33, and 41,
The combination of Talarico and Babaei discloses the primary cell is associated with a first carrier frequency and the secondary cell is associated with a second carrier frequency that is different from the first carrier frequency (Talarico: paragraphs 148-149; Babaei: Fig. 8, Col 19; different frequency/bandwidth for first/second BWPs/PCell/SCell). See motivation above.
Regarding claims 13, 21, 34, and 42,
The combination of Talarico and Babaei discloses the primary cell and the secondary cell are associated with a common cell group (Talarico: paragraph 47, 69, 76, 244; CG-PUSCH overlaps with PUCCH within a PUCCH group; Babaei: Col. 21, 25; group common search space for PCell/Scell; master cell group/secondary cell group). See motivation above.
Regarding claims 15 and 36,
Talarico does not expressly disclose, but Babaei does disclose receiving the transmission of the uplink control information on a second set of uplink slots of the primary cell different from the first set of uplink slots in accordance with the modified cell mapping of the UE (Fig. 20-23; determine a subslot of 2nd BWP/SCell for UCI/HARQ feedback based on switching timing < indicated HARQ timing and durations of 1st subslot and 2nd/subsequent subslot). See motivation above.
Claims 3-5, 16, 24-26, and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talarico and Babaei as applied above, and further in view of Lei et al. (US20230388088A1), hereafter Lei.
Regarding claims 3 and 24,
The combination of Talarico and Babaei discloses modifying/dropping, as shown above, but does not expressly dropping the transmission of the uplink control information for consecutive uplink slots.
Lei discloses analogous prior art using for 5G downlink and uplink transmission over unlicensed spectrum (Title; Background) including dropping the transmission of the uplink control information for consecutive uplink slots (paragraph 42, 121; multi-slot scheduling feature for PUSCH includes a case of dropping uplink code block transmissions for consecutive slots).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify Talarico and Babaei by dropping the transmission of the uplink control information for consecutive uplink slots, as shown by Lei, thereby reducing resource waste and lowering transmission latency.
Regarding claims 4, 5, 16, 25, 26, and 37,
The combination of Talarico and Babaei discloses modifying the cell mapping for the transmission of the uplink control information further comprises mapping the transmission of the uplink control information on the secondary cell to a second uplink slot of the primary cell different from the first uplink slot based at least in part on the uplink transmission switching (Babaei: Fig. 23-25, 35; shows mapping the UCI/HARQ transmission to a second sub-slot of a different cell/BWP; see motivation above) but does not expressly show a set of consecutive slots.
Lei discloses analogous prior art using for 5G downlink and uplink transmission over unlicensed spectrum (Title; Background) including modifying consecutive uplink slots of the uplink control information for (paragraph 42, 121; multi-slot scheduling feature for PUSCH includes modifying uplink code block transmissions over consecutive slots).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify Tarlarico and Babaei by mapping a set of consecutive slots, as shown by Lei, for the modified mapping between primary and secondary cells shown in Talarico and Babaei, thus reducing resource waste and lowering transmission latency.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/26/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the Remarks on pg. 12-13 of the Amendment, Applicant contends the relied upon disclosure of Babaei in remedying Talarico’s lack of expressly showing uplink switching scheduled to occur from primary cell to secondary cell prior to transmission of UCI is improper because Babaei only shows switching from a first BWP to a second BWP of the same cell, rather than switching between primary and secondary cells.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant’s argument cites to only a specific portion of Babaei related to switching between BWPs of the same cell, and fails to acknowledge the other cited disclosures (i.e. Col. 9, lines 1-45; Col. 24-25, lines 60-65 describing that the illustrated first/second BWPs of the cited Figures are different cells, primary (PCell) and secondary (SCell) cells) that does show overlap between PCell and SCell, as claimed, and determining whether to transmit or drop UCI/HARQ based on switching timing scheduling to occur prior to the indicated UCI/HARQ timing. Furthermore, primary reference to Talarico also clearly relates to switching between different PCell and SCell such that the combination of Talarico with Babaei would result in PCell/SCell switching scheduled to occur prior to transmission of the UCI, as claimed. Therefore, the rejections based on the combination of Talarico and Babaei are properly maintained.
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 GREGORY B SEFCHECK whose telephone number is (571)272-3098. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6AM-4PM.
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/GREGORY B SEFCHECK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
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