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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-3, 5-7, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17-20, 22, 24, 26, 29, 33, 36 are pending.
Claim Objections
Claim 22 objected to because of the following informalities: The claim appears to depend on claim 21, which is a cancelled claim. For purpose of examination the claim will be treated to depend from claim 18.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 5, 13, 22 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Specifically, the claim(s) recites the limitation "the DCI", which appears to lack sufficient antecedent basis.
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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Claim 1, 5, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 22, 33, 36 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2019/0373635) in view of Do et al. (US 2023/0328775).
For claim 1, Yang teaches: A mode indication method, performed by a terminal device (see at least 0629-634, fig. 1, 21-22, UE and BS may comprise processor/memory for communication), comprising: receiving first indication information sent by a network device through a first signaling, the first indication information being used to indicate a channel access mode of the terminal device in a first unlicensed frequency band (see at least Abstract, 0379, UE may acquire information to determine whether to perform an LBT mechanism before transmission. See at least 0358, unlicensed spectrum may be used),
wherein the channel access mode comprises: a listen before talk (LBT) mode or a no listen before talk (No-LBT) mode (see at least Abstract, UE may either perform an LBT or a non-LBT processing before transmitting, comprising an LBT mode and a non LBT mode),
wherein an LBT mode indication field is an optional configuration field; when there is the LBT mode indication field, the first indication information is used to indicate the channel access mode of the terminal device in the first unlicensed frequency band is the LBT mode, and when there is no LBT mode indication field, the first indication information is used to indicate the channel access mode of the terminal device in the first unlicensed frequency band is the No-LBT mode (see at least Abstract, if the LBT indication is carried in the information, LBT process may be performed. If the LBT indication is not carried in the information, non-LBT process is performed).
Yang does not explicitly teach: …wherein in a case that the first indication information about the channel access mode is specific for a cell, the first signaling comprises: system information, or: …field in the system information. Do from an analogous art teaches (see at least 0108, LBT mode may be transmitted as part of system information e.g. SIB1 (comprising cell specific signaling)). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Do to the system of Yang, so the LBT indication may be carried in cell-specific SIB, as suggested by Do. The motivation would have been to enhance channel access configuration by adapting a well known signaling for carrying LBT indication (Do 0108).
For claim 5, Yang, Do teaches claim 1, Yang further teaches: wherein in a case that the channel access mode is the No-LBT mode, a field related to a channel access type in the DCI is 0 bit (see at least Abstract, if the LBT indication is not carried in the information (thus being an absent/non-existent field with no bits), non-LBT process is performed).
For claim 12, Yang, Do teaches claim 1, Yang further teaches: wherein in a case that the first indication information about the channel access mode is specific for the terminal, the first signaling comprises: a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see at least 0379, information comprising the LBT indication may be indicated through RRC (comprising UE specific signaling)).
For claim 13, Yang, Do teaches claim 12, Yang further teaches: wherein the first indication information is carried in a bandwidth part uplink dedicated field and/or a bandwidth part downlink dedicated field in the RRC signaling; and/or, wherein in a case that the channel access mode is the No-LBT mode, a field related to a channel access type in the DCI is 0 bit (see at least Abstract, 0379, information comprising the LBT indication may be indicated through DCI or RRC; if the LBT indication is not carried in the information (thus being an absent/non-existent field with no bits), non-LBT process is performed).
For claim 15, Yang, Do teaches claim 1, Do further teaches: wherein the first unlicensed frequency band is an unlicensed frequency band where a frequency is higher than 52.6GHz (see at least 0008-0012, 52.6-71GHz bands may be used as part of unlicensed spectrum); and/or, wherein the channel access mode is for an uplink bandwidth part and/or a downlink bandwidth part (see at least 0116, LBT mode may be configured for bandwidth parts). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Do to the system of claim 1, so the unlicensed band is higher than 52.6GHz e.g. 57-71GHz, and the LBT modes may apply to a bandwidth part, as suggested by Do. The motivation would have been to enhance communication by adapting well known higher frequencies for communications and applying LBT modes for bandwidth parts as appropriate (Do 0008-0012, 0116).
For claim 17, Yang, Do teaches claim 1, Do further teaches: wherein after the receiving the first indication information sent by the network device, the method further comprises: determining, in a case that a channel access mode indication specific for the cell and a channel access mode indication specific for the terminal device are obtained, the channel access mode where the terminal device is located according to the first indication information corresponding to the channel access mode indication specific for the terminal device (see at least 0105, if UE receives LBT mode indication in both UE-specific DCI and group common (cell-specific) PDCCH, the UE-specific DCI LBT mode may overwrite the GC-PDCCH LBT mode). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Do to the system of claim 1, so if UE receives LBT mode signaling via both UE-specific DCI and cell-specific GC-PDCCH, the UE may prioritize/use the UE-specific LBT mode, as suggested by Do. The motivation would have been to enhance channel access by adapting an appropriate LBT mode explicitly dedicated to that specific UE (Do 0105).
For claim 18, Yang teaches: A mode indication method, performed by a network device (see at least 0629-634, fig. 1, 21-22, UE and BS may comprise processor/memory for communication), comprising: sending, through a first signaling, first indication information to a terminal device, the first indication information being used to indicate a channel access mode of the terminal device in a first unlicensed frequency band (see at least Abstract, 0379, UE may acquire information to determine whether to perform an LBT mechanism before transmission. See at least 0358, unlicensed spectrum may be used),
wherein the channel access mode comprises: a listen before talk (LBT) mode or a no listen before talk (No-LBT) mode (see at least Abstract, UE may either perform an LBT or a non-LBT processing before transmitting, comprising an LBT mode and a non LBT mode),
wherein an LBT mode indication field is an optional configuration field; when there is the LBT mode indication field, the first indication information is used to indicate the channel access mode of the terminal device in the first unlicensed frequency band is the LBT mode, and when there is no LBT mode indication field, the first indication information is used to indicate the channel access mode of the terminal device in the first unlicensed frequency band is the No-LBT mode (see at least Abstract, if the LBT indication is carried in the information, LBT process may be performed. If the LBT indication is not carried in the information, non-LBT process is performed).
Yang does not explicitly teach: …wherein in a case that the first indication information about the channel access mode is specific for a cell, the first signaling comprises: system information, or: …field in the system information. Do from an analogous art teaches (see at least 0108, LBT mode may be transmitted as part of system information e.g. SIB1 (comprising cell specific signaling)). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Do to the system of Yang, so the LBT indication may be carried in cell-specific SIB, as suggested by Do. The motivation would have been to enhance channel access configuration by adapting a well known signaling for carrying LBT indication (Do 0108).
Claim 22 recites a method substantially similar to the method of claim 5 and is rejected under similar reasoning.
Claim 33 recites an apparatus substantially similar to the method of claim 1 and is rejected under similar reasoning.
Claim 36 recites an apparatus substantially similar to the method of claim 18 and is rejected under similar reasoning.
Claim 2, 3, 7, 19, 20, 24 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2019/0373635) in view of Do et al. (US 2023/0328775) in view of Li et al. (US 2020/0281018).
For claim 2, Yang, Do teaches claim 1, Do further teaches DCI may comprise LBT mode (see at least 0102, 0109) but not explicitly: wherein the first signaling further comprises at least one of the following: scheduling signaling of system information, master information block, and paging scheduling signaling. Li from an analogous art teaches (see at least 0198, DCI may schedule RMSI or SIB1). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Li to the system of claim 1, so the signaling may comprise downlink signaling e.g. DCI scheduling system information e.g. SIB1, as suggested by Li. The motivation would have been to enhance configuration by signaling various downlink control data along with LBT indication (Li 0198).
For claim 3, Yang, Do, Li teaches claim 2, Li further teaches: wherein in a case that the first signaling comprises the scheduling signaling of the system information, M bit of a reserved bit in the scheduling signaling is used to carry the first indication information, wherein M is an integer greater than or equal to 1 (see at least 0291, DCI may comprise LBT type indication, thus some bit(s) must be used for carrying this indication); and/or, wherein the scheduling signaling of the system information comprises: downlink control information (DCI) scrambled by system information radio network temporary identifier (SI-RNTI) (see at least 0197, DCI may be scrambled by SI-RNTI). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Li to the system of claim 2, so the DCI scheduling SIB may comprise one or more bits for LBT indication, and/or the DCI is scrambled by an SI-RNTI, as suggested by Li. The motivation would have been to enhance configuration by scrambling and signaling various downlink control data along with LBT indication (Li 0197-0198, 0291).
For claim 7, Yang, Do, Li teaches claim 2, Do further teaches: wherein N bit in the system information is used to carry the first indication information, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 1 (see at least 0108, LBT mode may be transmitted as part of system information e.g. SIB1, thus at least some bits may be used). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Do to the system of claim 2, so the LBT indication may be carried in cell-specific SIB bits, as suggested by Do. The motivation would have been to enhance channel access configuration by adapting a well known signaling for carrying LBT indication (Do 0108).
Claim 19 recites a method substantially similar to the method of claim 2 and is rejected under similar reasoning.
Claim 20 recites a method substantially similar to the method of claim 3 and is rejected under similar reasoning.
Claim 24 recites a method substantially similar to the method of claim 7 and is rejected under similar reasoning.
Claim 9, 26 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2019/0373635) in view of Do et al. (US 2023/0328775) in view of Li et al. (US 2020/0281018) in view of Li et al. (US 2021/0084683) (hereinafter Li ‘683).
For claim 9, Yang, Do, Li teaches claim 2, but not explicitly: wherein in a case that the first signaling comprises the paging scheduling signaling, K bit of a reserved bit in the paging scheduling signaling is used to carry the first indication information, wherein K is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and/or, wherein the paging scheduling signaling comprises: downlink control information (DCI) scrambled by a paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI). Li ‘683 from an analogous art teaches (see at least 0156, paging may be scheduled by a PDCCH with DCI scrambled by a P-RNTI. See at least 0218, DCI may comprise LBT type indication, thus some bit(s) must be used for carrying this indication). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Li ‘683 to the system of claim 2, so the signaling may comprise downlink signaling e.g. DCI scheduling paging and comprising one or more bits for LBT indication, and/or the DCI is scrambled by P-RNTI, as suggested by Li ‘683. The motivation would have been to enhance configuration by signaling various downlink control data along with LBT indication (Li ‘683 0156).
Claim 26 recites a method substantially similar to the method of claim 9 and is rejected under similar reasoning.
Claim 29 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. (US 2019/0373635) in view of Do et al. (US 2023/0328775) in view of Cui et al. (US 2020/0236677).
For claim 29, Yang, Do teaches claim 18, Yang further teaches: wherein in a case that the first indication information about the channel access mode is specific for the terminal, the first signaling comprises: radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see at least 0379, information comprising the LBT indication may be indicated through RRC (comprising UE specific signaling)) but not explicitly: wherein the first indication information is carried in a bandwidth part uplink dedicated field and/or a bandwidth part downlink dedicated field in the RRC signaling: and/or, wherein a level targeted by the channel access mode is determined by a field carrying the RRC signaling; wherein the level targeted by the channel access mode comprises at least one of the following: terminal device level; uplink bandwidth part level; downlink bandwidth part level. Cui from an analogous art teaches (see at least 0148, base station may indicate LBT type on a corresponding uplink BWP through higher layer signaling e.g. RRC). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate Cui to the system of claim 18, so the signaling may comprise RRC signaling indicating an LBT type for a specific bandwidth part level e.g. uplink BWP, as suggested by Cui. The motivation would have been to enhance configuration by applying an LBT configuration to specific BWPs as appropriate (Cui 0148).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
For claim 6 the prior art fails to teach/suggest: wherein in a case that the first signaling comprises the master information block, 1 bit in a reserved field in the master information block is used to carry the first indication information. The closest prior art Do et al. (US 2023/0328775) discloses a system information comprising LBT indication (0108) but not the limitations of the claim(s).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wang et al. (US 2022/0346147) discloses a method and device operating in unlicensed spectrum.
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/Siren Wei/
Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2467