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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 41-46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 1029(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xiong et al. (US Publication 2020/0077470 A1).
In regards to claim 41, Xiong teaches, an apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising: at least one processor; and memory coupled with the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the base station to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a first downlink data transmission over a set of resources in a first time period (see figure 9 and paragraph 92; assuming a UE receives a PDSCH in a slot N); and transmit, to the UE, a second downlink data transmission in a second time period that is after the first time period, the second downlink data transmission including a downlink pre-emption indication referring to a subset of resources of the set of resources (see figure 9 and paragraph 92; a preemption indication in a slot N+1 together with a subsequent PDSCH retransmission; see paragraph 95; Regarding indicated information, which channel will carry the pre-emption indication and what is actually signaled in the pre-emption indication may be provided. In various embodiments, two approaches may be used: indication of pre-empted physical resources).
In regards to claim 42, Xiong teaches, wherein the instructions arc further executable by the at least one processor to cause the base station to: multiplex the downlink pre-emption indication with data of the second downlink data transmission; and encode the downlink pre-emption indication separately from the data of the second downlink data transmission (see figure 9, slot n+1 where the pre-emption is with the data).
In regards to claim 43, Xiong teaches, wherein the instructions to multiplex the downlink pre-emption indication are executable by the at least one processor to cause the base station to: multiplex the downlink pre-emption indication based at least in part on quadrature phase shift keying (see paragraph 78; It has been observed that there may be cases when taking into account a pre-emption event in decoding an initial transmission may end up restoring a whole transport block, even without retransmissions in cases of low-to-medium data rates for Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK)).
In regards to claim 44, Xiong teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the base station to: receive, from the UE, an uplink data transmission over a second set of resources in a third time period that at least partially overlaps in time with a monitoring occasion for downlink control information including an instance of the downlink pre-emption indication, wherein transmitting the second downlink data transmission including the downlink pre-emption indication is based at least in part on receiving the uplink data transmission in the third time
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period that at least partially overlaps in time with the monitoring occasion for the downlink control information including the instance of the downlink pre-emption indication (see paragraph 76; In FIG. 7, a UCI 710 and a UCE 720 associated with mini-slot operation may be transmitted on PUSCH channels of a slot 730 and a slot 740, when these channels with different length in the time domain are scheduled in a same slot. As an example, these UCI may be carried starting at a first symbol of overlapping regions (e.g., between these mini-slots and slots), and may be mapped in an order first of increasing frequency and then time, starting from the lowest frequency of PUSCH channel).
In regards to claim 45, Xiong teaches, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the base station to: transmit, to the UE, the downlink control information including the instance of the downlink pre-emption indication over a third set of resources that at least partially overlaps with the second set of resources in the third time period, wherein the downlink pre-emption indication in the second downlink data transmission comprises a retransmission of the downlink pre- emption indication (see paragraph 76; In FIG. 7, a UCI 710 and a UCE 720 associated with mini-slot operation may be transmitted on PUSCH channels of a slot 730 and a slot 740, when these channels with different length in the time domain are scheduled in a same slot. As an example, these UCI may be carried starting at a first symbol of overlapping regions (e.g., between these mini-slots and slots), and may be mapped in an order first of increasing frequency and then time, starting from the lowest frequency of PUSCH channel).
In regards to claim 46, Xiong teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the base station to: transmit, to the UE, downlink control information scheduling the second downlink data transmission, wherein the downlink control information comprises an indication of a presence of the downlink pre-emption indication in the second downlink data transmission, wherein transmitting the second downlink data transmission including the downlink pre-emption indication is based at least in part on transmitting the indication of the presence of the downlink pre-emption indication in the second downlink data transmission (see figure 9 and paragraph 92; a preemption indication in a slot N+1 together with a subsequent PDSCH retransmission).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 24-40 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The claims are allowable in view of the remarks and amendments made on 1/28/2026.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 41 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant essentially argues on page 14 of the remarks “Xiong discusses that the preemption indication is received after PDSCH, but Xiong does not mention that the preemption indication is "referring to a subset of resources of the set of resources," as claimed. Indeed, Xiong merely describes that the preemption indication is received in slot N+1, but does not provide detail about the preemption indication, much less any suggestion that it is "referring to a subset of resources of the set of resources," as claimed. The mere existence of a preemption indication does not disclose "a downlink pre-emption indication referring to a subset of resources of the set of resources," as claimed. Thus, Xiong does not disclose at least "a downlink pre-emption indication referring to a subset of resources of the set of resources," as recited in independent claim 41.”
However the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Xiong teaches in paragraph 95 “Regarding indicated information, which channel will carry the pre-emption indication and what is actually signaled in the pre-emption indication may be provided. In various embodiments, two approaches may be used: indication of pre-empted physical resources”.
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 JAY P PATEL whose telephone number is (571)272-3086. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6.
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/JAY P PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466