DETAILED ACTION
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3 June 2025 has been entered. Claims 1, 14, 27, and 40 are currently amended; claims 2-13, 19-22, 28-39, 45-48, 51, and 52 are cancelled; claims 15-18, 23-26, 41-44, 49, and 50 are previously presented; no claims have been added. Claims 1, 14-18, 23-27, 40-44, 49, and 50 are pending and ready for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11 May 2026 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.
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, 14-17, 24, 26, 27, 40-43, and 50 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bagheri et al. (US 2020/0107319 A1), hereafter referred Bagheri in view of CN 111345092 A. A machine translation of CN 111345092 A is provided and is hereafter referred LG.
Regarding claim 1, Bagheri teaches a method implemented by a network node in a communication network, the method comprising:
triggering one or more aperiodic channel state information (A-CSI) reports from a user equipment (UE) through downlink control information (DCI) (Bagheri, [0035]-[0037]; the UE can be expected to receive aperiodic CSI-RS transmitted in the slot before the OFDM symbols carrying a repeated PDCCH with a triggering DCI, such as the A-CSI report request, in the slot); and
providing to the UE information about a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmitting the triggered one or more A-CSI reports (Bagheri, [0033]-[0035]; the DL DCI triggers the A-CSI report for URLLC or the DL DCI triggers the CSI report to transmitted on the PUCCH resources allocated to URLLC operation);
wherein a PUCCH resource set configuration separate from a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) resource set configuration is used for the A-CSI and wherein parameters corresponding to the separate PUCCH resource set configuration for the A-CSI have different values than those for the HARQ-ACK (Bagheri, [0038]-[0041]; the PUCCH resource for transmitting the triggered CSI report can be different than PUCCH resources that can be used for HARQ-ACK transmission corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH via the DL DCI).
Bagheri does not expressly teach wherein the parameters include a transmit power control (TPC) parameter.
However, LG teaches wherein the parameters include a transmit power control (TPC) parameter (LG, p. 42, paragraphs 4-9; individually indicating TPC (PUCCH) by applied, where the UE transmitted via a PUCCH A-CSI can be separately configured through the TPC field for the PUCCH).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Bagheri to include the above recited limitations as taught by LG in order to enable dynamic indication of UL power control related information as part of the independent configurations for the selected PUCCH resources in the A-CSI and HARQ-ACK (LG, paragraph 5 of p. 21 and p. 42).
Regarding claim 14, Ang teaches a network node in a communication network, comprising:
a processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor and adapted to store instructions which, when executed by the processor, (Bagheri, Fig. 7, [0083]-[0085]; an apparatus, such as the UE 110, the network entity 120, can include a controller, a memory coupled to the controller and the memory may store the software that the controller runs) cause the network node to:
trigger one or more aperiodic channel state information (A-CSI) reports from a user equipment (UE) through downlink control information (DCI) (Bagheri, [0035]-[0037]; the UE can be expected to receive aperiodic CSI-RS transmitted in the slot before the OFDM symbols carrying a repeated PDCCH with a triggering DCI, such as the A-CSI report request, in the slot); and
provide to the UE information about a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmitting the triggered one or more A-CSI reports (Bagheri, [0033]-[0035]; the DL DCI triggers the A-CSI report for URLLC or the DL DCI triggers the CSI report to transmitted on the PUCCH resources allocated to URLLC operation);
wherein a PUCCH resource set configuration separate from a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) resource set configuration is used for the A-CSI and wherein parameters corresponding to the separate PUCCH resource set configuration for the A-CSI have different values than those for the HARQ-ACK (Bagheri, [0038]-[0041]; the PUCCH resource for transmitting the triggered CSI report can be different than PUCCH resources that can be used for HARQ-ACK transmission corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH via the DL DCI).
Bagheri does not expressly teach wherein the parameters include a transmit power control (TPC) parameter.
However, LG teaches wherein the parameters include a transmit power control (TPC) parameter (LG, p. 42, paragraphs 4-9; individually indicating TPC (PUCCH) by applied, where the UE transmitted via a PUCCH A-CSI can be separately configured through the TPC field for the PUCCH).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Bagheri to include the above recited limitations as taught by LG in order to enable dynamic indication of UL power control related information as part of the independent configurations for the selected PUCCH resources in the A-CSI and HARQ-ACK (LG, paragraph 5 of p. 21 and p. 42).
Regarding claim 27, Ang teaches a method implemented by a user equipment (UE) in a communication network, the method comprising:
receiving, from a network node, a triggering signal for sending one or more aperiodic channel state information (A-CSI) reports to the network node (Bagheri, [0035]-[0037]; the UE can be expected to receive aperiodic CSI-RS transmitted in the slot before the OFDM symbols carrying a repeated PDCCH with a triggering DCI, such as the A-CSI report request, in the slot);
receiving, from a network node, information about a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmitting the one or more A-CSI reports to the network node (Bagheri, [0033]-[0035]; the DL DCI triggers the A-CSI report for URLLC or the DL DCI triggers the CSI report to transmitted on the PUCCH resources allocated to URLLC operation); and
transmitting the one or more triggered A-CSI reports to the network node over the received PUCCH resources (Bagheri, [0033]-[0035]; the DL DCI triggers the A-CSI report for URLLC or the DL DCI triggers the CSI report to transmitted on the PUCCH resources allocated to URLLC operation);
wherein a PUCCH resource set configuration separate from a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) resource set configuration is used for the A-CSI and wherein parameters corresponding to the separate PUCCH resource set configuration for the A-CSI have different values than those for the HARQ-ACK (Bagheri, [0038]-[0041]; the PUCCH resource for transmitting the triggered CSI report can be different than PUCCH resources that can be used for HARQ-ACK transmission corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH via the DL DCI).
Bagheri does not expressly teach wherein the parameters include a transmit power control (TPC) parameter.
However, LG teaches wherein the parameters include a transmit power control (TPC) parameter (LG, p. 42, paragraphs 4-9; individually indicating TPC (PUCCH) by applied, where the UE transmitted via a PUCCH A-CSI can be separately configured through the TPC field for the PUCCH).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Bagheri to include the above recited limitations as taught by LG in order to enable dynamic indication of UL power control related information as part of the independent configurations for the selected PUCCH resources in the A-CSI and HARQ-ACK (LG, paragraph 5 of p. 21 and p. 42).
Regarding claim 40, Bagheri teaches a user equipment in a communication network, comprising:
a processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor and adapted to store instructions which, when executed by the processor, (Bagheri, Fig. 7, [0083]-[0085]; an apparatus, such as the UE 110, the network entity 120, can include a controller, a memory coupled to the controller and the memory may store the software that the controller runs) cause the user equipment (UE) to:
receive, from a network node, a triggering signal for sending one or more aperiodic channel state information (A-CSI) reports to the network node (Bagheri, [0035]-[0037]; the UE can be expected to receive aperiodic CSI-RS transmitted in the slot before the OFDM symbols carrying a repeated PDCCH with a triggering DCI, such as the A-CSI report request, in the slot);
receive, from a network node, information about a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for transmitting the one or more A-CSI reports to the network node (Bagheri, [0033]-[0035]; the DL DCI triggers the A-CSI report for URLLC or the DL DCI triggers the CSI report to transmitted on the PUCCH resources allocated to URLLC operation);
and transmit the one or more triggered A-CSI reports to the network node over the received PUCCH resources (Bagheri, [0033]-[0035]; the DL DCI triggers the A-CSI report for URLLC or the DL DCI triggers the CSI report to transmitted on the PUCCH resources allocated to URLLC operation);
wherein a PUCCH resource set configuration separate from a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) resource set configuration is used for the A-CSI and wherein parameters corresponding to the separate PUCCH resource set configuration for the A-CSI have different values than those for the HARQ-ACK (Bagheri, [0038]-[0041]; the PUCCH resource for transmitting the triggered CSI report can be different than PUCCH resources that can be used for HARQ-ACK transmission corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH via the DL DCI).
Bagheri does not expressly teach wherein the parameters include a transmit power control (TPC) parameter.
However, LG teaches wherein the parameters include a transmit power control (TPC) parameter (LG, p. 42, paragraphs 4-9; individually indicating TPC (PUCCH) by applied, where the UE transmitted via a PUCCH A-CSI can be separately configured through the TPC field for the PUCCH).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Bagheri to include the above recited limitations as taught by LG in order to enable dynamic indication of UL power control related information as part of the independent configurations for the selected PUCCH resources in the A-CSI and HARQ-ACK (LG, paragraph 5 of p. 21 and p. 42).
Regarding claims 15 and 42, Bagheri in view of LG teaches the network node of claim 14 and the user equipment of claim 40 above. Further, Bagheri teaches wherein the PUCCH resource is provided independently of channel state information (CSI) report configurations for the one or more A-CSI reports (Bagheri, [0039]; the network can configure PUCCH resources by higher layer signaling and the UE upon reception of DL DCI can determine the PUCCH resource for transmitting the triggered CSI report, where the PUCCH resource can be different than PUCCH resources that can be used for HARQ-ACK transmission corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH via the DL DCI).
Regarding claims 16 and 43, Bagheri in view of LG teaches the network node of claim 14 and the user equipment of claim 40 above. Further, Bagheri teaches wherein the PUCCH resource is provided as part of CSI report configurations for the one or more A-CSI reports (Bagheri, [0018]-[0022]; A-CSI triggering can be done via DL assignment to save control resources in DL heavy traffic scenarios, where mechanisms to determine resources for CSI report computation and CSI report transmission including PUCCH resource determination).
Regarding claim 17, Bagheri in view of LG teaches the network node of claim 14 above. Further, Bagheri teaches wherein it is determined whether the triggered A-CSI is multiplexed with a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) based on a HARQ-ACK response and a CSI report in the downlink DCI prior to a mapping of the triggered A-CSI to the PUCCH resources (Bagheri, [0039]-[0040]; the PUCCH resource for transmitting the triggered CSI report can be the same as the PUCCH resources that can be used for HARQ-ACK transmission, such that the CSI and HARQ-ACK can be multiplexed such that the reliability of the corresponding UCI communications can be maintained. For example, separate coding for CSI and HARQ-ACK can be multiplexed on REs corresponding to the PUCCH resource).
Regarding claims 24 and 50, Bagheri in view of LG teaches the network node of claim 14 and the user equipment of claim 40 above. Bagheri does not expressly teach wherein a parameter indicating a slot offset of the PUCCH resources is configured.
However, LG teaches wherein a parameter indicating a slot offset of the PUCCH resources is configured (LG, p. 29, paragraph 5, the DCI field can be indicative of a transmission time between HARQ-ACK and the A-CSI time axis offset (e.g. time offset) value of the field).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Bagheri to include the above recited limitations as taught by LG in order to support dynamic DL/UL configuration with transmission time slots (LG, p. 3, paragraph 3).
Regarding claim 26, Bagheri in view of LG teaches the network node of claim 14 above. Further, Bagheri teaches wherein the A-CSI triggered by the downlink DCI is configured to repeat across slots (Bagheri, [0036]-[0042]; the DL DCI can include an additional CSI-RS offset term that is applied to the CSI-RS offset, where the triggering offset can enable indication of the same slot containing the aperiodic CSI-RS in the repeated PDCCH in different slots).
Regarding claim 41, Bagheri in view of LG teaches the user equipment of claim 40 above. Further, Bagheri teaches wherein the receiving of the triggering signal and the receiving of the PUCCH resources are performed simultaneously (Bagheri, [0033]-[0035]; the DL DCI triggers the A-CSI report for URLLC or the DL DCI triggers the CSI report to transmitted on the PUCCH resources allocated to URLLC operation).
Claims 18, 23, 44, and 49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bagheri in view of LG as applied to claims 14 and 40 above, and further in view of Tsai (US 2020/0221445 A1).
Regarding claims 18 and 44, Bagheri in view of LG teaches the network node of claim 14 and the user equipment of claim 40 above. Bagheri in view of LG does not expressly teach wherein a PUCCH resource set of a plurality of PUCCH resource sets supports a maximum payload size of more than 2 bits.
However, Tsai teaches wherein a PUCCH resource set of a plurality of PUCH resource sets supports a maximum payload size of more than 2 bits (Tsai, Fig. 4, [0045]; a maximum UCI payload size (e.g. 2 bits, 10 bits, or 40 bits)).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Bagheri in view of LG to include the above recited limitations as taught by Tsai in order to provide multiple PUCCH resources for a UCI report (Tsai, [0009]).
Regarding claims 23 and 49, Bagheri in view of LG teaches the network node of claim 14 and the user equipment of claim 40 above. Bagheri in view of LG does not expressly teach wherein a maximum number of PUCCH resource sets is greater than 4.
However, Tsai teaches wherein a maximum number of PUCCH resource sets is greater than 4 (Tsai, Fig. 4, [0045]; the PUCCH resource set configuration 400 can indicate a number of PUCCH resource sets, labeled with #1, #2, and so on).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Bagheri in view of LG to include the above recited limitations as taught by Tsai in order to provide multiple PUCCH resources for a UCI report (Tsai, [0009]).
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bagheri in view of LG as applied to claim24 above, and further in view of Pelletier et al. (US 2017/0367058 A1), hereafter referred Pelletier.
Regarding claim 25, Bagheri in view of LG teaches the network node of claim 24 above. Bagheri in view of LG does not expressly teach wherein the slot offset provides a slot for the transmission of the PUCCH relative to slot timing of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for the downlink DCI.
However, Pelletier teaches wherein the slot offset provides a slot for the transmission of the PUCCH relative to slot timing of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for the downlink DCI (Pelletier, [0216]-[0218]; the WTRU may transmit HARQ feedback on PUCCH using an offset determined from the received control signaling, where the timing is based on the location of the received DCI on the PDCCH).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the invention to create the invention of Bagheri in view of LG to include the above recited limitations as taught by Pelletier in order to reduce transmission latency (Pelletier, [0002]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892, where the examiner respectfully believes the independent claims are also anticipated by LG.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RODRICK MAK whose telephone number is (571)270-0284. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30 am - 5:30 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached at 571-270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/R.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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