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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/27/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 2, 10, 12, 14, 38, 39, 43 & 45-56 are pending and presented for examination.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. PCT/CN2021/072162, filed on 1/15/2021.
Response to Amendment
Claims 5-7, 11, 13, 16, 17, 20, 40-42 & 44 have been cancelled.
Claims 1, 10, 12, 14, 38 & 43 have been amended.
The rejections to claims 1, 2, 10, 12, 14, 38, 39, 43 under 35 USC 103 in the previous office action Final rejection dated 1/27/2026 have been withdrawn based on amendments to claims 1, 10, 12, 14, 38 & 43. However, after further consideration, new grounds of rejections have been made to these claims under 35 USC 103 based on new references Chae et al. (US 2021/0336756)(herein after “Chae”) and Kurita et al. (US 2024/0260009)(herein after “Kurita”).
Claims 45-56 have been added and are presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see “Remarks”, filed 4/27/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1, 2, 10, 12, 14, 38, 39 & 43 under 35 USC 103 made in the prior record Final rejection dated 1/27/2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, these rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejections are made under 35 USC 103 in view of new reference Chae.
Regarding claim 1, applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new grounds of rejections do not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Applicant's amendments necessitated the new grounds of rejections presented in this Office action. Hence new grounds of rejections under 35 USC 103 are further made in view of new reference Chae.
Regarding claim 38, applicant submits that this claim traverses the rejection of this claim under 35 USC 103 made in the Final Rejection dated 1/27/2026 due to similar amendments and arguments as made for claim 1. Examiner agrees and withdraws rejections of claim 38 under 35 USC 103 made in the Final Rejection dated 1/27/2026. However, for the same reasons as discussed above, examiner introduces a new ground of rejection of claim 38 under 35 USC 103 based on new references Chae and Kurita.
Regarding claims 2, 10, 12, 14, 39 & 43, applicant submits that these claims traverse the rejections of these claims under 35 USC 103 made in the Final Rejection dated 1/27/2026 due to amendments and arguments made for claims 1 & 38 and due to their dependency on claims 1 or 38. Examiner agrees and withdraws rejections of claims 2, 10, 12, 14, 39 & 43 under 35 USC 103 made in the Final Rejection dated 1/27/2026. However, for the same reasons as discussed above, examiner introduces new grounds of rejections of claims 2, 10, 12, 14, 39 & 43 under 35 USC 103 based on new references Chae & Kurita.
Claim Interpretation
Several of the claims in the present application recite Markush groups in the format of “at least one of A, B or C”. For the purpose of this review, the examiner is interpreting these Markush claims as a single element selection from a closed group of elements consisting of alternatives A, B or C. See MPEP §2173.05(h) for details.
Claim 1 recites “an indication of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table, the TDRA table containing multiple entries, each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB)”. [0044]-[0045] of the current application specification discloses a TDRA table with multiple entries, but only the last entry comprises “a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB)”, while the other entries are related to mapping types, K-offsets, etc. and do not comprise “a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB)”. Thus, in the table shown in the current application specification in [0044], each entry does not comprise a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB). However, the current application specification indicates the “totalSlotforTB” field can be introduced in a TDRA table, and thus the examiner is interpreting this limitation in claim 1 as a TDRA table that includes at least 2 entries that are both based on the new field “totalSlotforTB” (e.g. for 2 different TBs) and only contains entries based on the new field “totalSlotforTB” (i.e. does not contain K-offset entries or mapping type entries, etc. that do not comprise at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block).
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 56 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.
Regarding claim 56, this claim recites “The method of claim 56, wherein …”, which improperly depends on itself and fails to provide a proper antecedent basis for the claim, creating a recursive loop making it impossible to determine the scope of the claimed invention. For the purpose of this review, examiner is interpreting this claim as “The method of claim 55, wherein …”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 10, 38, 39, 43, 50, 51 & 54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al. (US 2020/0029315)(herein after “Lin”) in view of Sun et al. (US 2022/0272732)(herein after “Sun”) and further in view of Lei et al. (US 2024/0205911)(herein after “Lei”) and Chae et al. (US 2021/0336756)(herein after “Chae”).
Regarding claims 1 & 50, Lin discloses a method comprising, or a user device comprising at least one processor (Fig 3A & [0067] disclose a UE 116 with a main processor 340]); and
at least one memory including computer program code (Fig 3A & [0067] disclose memory 360 with a basic OS program 361.);
the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the user device to, or the method at a user device to:
receive, from a network device, an indication of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table, the TDRA table containing multiple entries (Fig 3A & [0070] disclose the main processor 340 may execute the basic OS program 361 stored in memory 360 to control overall operations of the UE including the reception of forward channel signals. Fig 15 & [0167] disclose a UE receiving a configuration for a time domain resource allocation (TDRA). [0159] discloses that fields K1 and K2 may be absent from the TDRA table, indicating that a TDRA table may contain at least two entries K0 and K2. [0133] discloses the UE may receive an adaptation request (AR) from a gNB (e.g. receiving, from a network device, the TDRA configuration)); and
transmit the TB to the network device ([0133] discloses that when the UE receives an AR from a gNB, the UE can apply the indicated transmission parameters (i.e. transmit the TB to the gNB using the indicated transmission parameters.).
Lin fails to disclose each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB), wherein the TDRA table is configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling;
However, Sun teaches each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB) ([0222] discloses a new parameter n, added to each row (i.e. each entry) of a TDRA table, and used to indicate a number of time units occupied by one TB, wherein a UE determines a number of slots occupied by a TB according to the number n.), wherein the TDRA table is configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling ([0064] discloses that the TDRA table may be configured by radio resource control (RRC).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have a UE, or a method for a UE to, receive a TDRA table, from a network device, the TDRA table containing multiple entries; and transmit the TB to the network device, as disclosed by Lin, with each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB), wherein the TDRA table is configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling, as taught by Sun. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE, or a method for a UE to, receive RRC signaling from a gNB configuring a TDRA table, wherein each TDRA table entry comprises the value n indicating a duration of a transmission for the transport block, so that the UE can use the value n in the TDRA table to determine a number of slots for a TB in situations where more than one slot is used to transmit a TB in order to improve coverage, improve reliability or reduce signaling overhead for large data payloads.
Lin fails to disclose but Lei further teaches causing the UE to receive, from the network device, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a value indicating an entry of the TDRA table (Fig 6, [0090] & [0095] disclose a UE receiving a DCI for scheduling a TB, wherein a DCI format (i.e. a DCI comprising a value) indicates an entry from a TDRA list (i.e. table). [0006] discloses that the received DCI may be transmitted by a base station (i.e. received from a network device).); and
determine a number of UL slots for transmission of the TB based on the entry of the TDRA table ([0005] & [0095] discloses that the DCI format may indicate an entry from a TDRA indicating that the UE has a TB scheduled on a super slot that includes a plurality of consecutive slots. [0042] discloses that the TB may be carried by a PUSCH on the super slot (i.e. the determined number of slots for transmission of the TB would be a number of UL slots).);
wherein the transmission of the TB to the network device is over the number of UL slots ([0042] discloses that the single TB may be transmitted on the super slot by the UE on a PUSCH (i.e. on the number of UL slots).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have a UE, or a method for a UE to, receive a TDRA table, from a network device, the TDRA table containing multiple entries with each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB); and transmit the TB to the network device, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun, and cause the UE to receive, from the network device, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a value indicating an entry of the TDRA table; determine a number of UL slots for transmission of the TB based on the entry of the TDRA table; and wherein the transmission of the TB to the network device is over the number of UL slots, as further taught by Lei. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE, or a method for a UE to, receive RRC signaling configuring a TDRA table, from a base station or gNB, wherein each TDRA table entry comprises the value n indicating a duration of a transmission for the transport block (TB) in an UL PUSCH, and receive a DCI format indicating an entry in the TDRA table for transmitting the TB in the UL PUSCH on a superslot, and transmit the TB in the UL PUSCH on the superslot indicated by the entry in the TDRA table provided by the DCI in order to improve coverage, improve reliability or reduce signaling overhead for scheduling of large data payloads on a superslot.
Lin fails to disclose but Chae further teaches of a UE device to receive, from the network device, an uplink (UL)-downlink(DL) configuration comprising a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon information element (IE) (Fig 20 & [0254] disclose a base station transmitting to a wireless device (i.e. a UE receiving from a network device) a configuration message comprising a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE.); and
wherein the determining of the number of UL slots for transmission of the TB is based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE (Fig 20 & [0254] disclose that the base station may transmit to the wireless device a second configuration message indicating a number of UL slots based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE. Such a second configuration message could be interpreted as the DCI message indicating an entry from the TDRA table, as taught by Lei, based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have a UE, or a method for a UE to, receive a TDRA table, from a network device, the TDRA table containing multiple entries with each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB); transmit the TB to the network device; cause the UE to receive, from the network device, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a value indicating an entry of the TDRA table; determine a number of UL slots for transmission of the TB based on the entry of the TDRA table; and wherein the transmission of the TB to the network device is over the number of UL slots, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei, and have the UE device receive, from the network device, an uplink (UL)-downlink(DL) configuration comprising a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon information element (IE); and wherein the determining of the number of UL slots for transmission of the TB is based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE, as further taught by Chae. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE, or a method for a UE to, receive RRC signaling configuring a TDRA table through a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE, from a base station or gNB, wherein each TDRA table entry comprises the value n indicating a duration of a transmission for the transport block (TB) in an UL PUSCH, and receive a DCI format indicating an entry in the TDRA table for transmitting the TB in the UL PUSCH on a superslot, and transmit the TB in the UL PUSCH on the superslot indicated by the entry in the TDRA table provided by the DCI, based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE, in order to improve coverage, improve reliability or reduce signaling overhead for scheduling of large data payloads on a superslot.
Regarding claims 2 & 51, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae disclose the user device of claim 1 and the method of claim 50.
Lin discloses wherein the number of slots comprises at least one of a number of consecutive slots or a number of valid slots ([0165] discloses transmitting a Transport Block (TB) over L0>=1 consecutive slots.).
Regarding claims 10 & 54, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Rahman discloses the user device of claim 1 and the method of claim 50.
Lin discloses wherein the user device is further caused to: receiving, from the network device, an indication of a starting slot of the number of slot (Figs 15 & [0159] & [0167] discloses a UE receiving a TDRA table from a gNB indicating a slot offset, represented by K2, between a last symbol of a CORSET of a DCI for scheduling a PUSCH and the PUSCH transmission. [0006]-[0007] & [0165] discloses a UE receiving from a base station an adaptation request (AR) indicating a slot aggregation factor L0 for transmitting a Transport Block (TB) over L0>=1 consecutive slots. [0160]-[0162] discloses indicating a minimum slot offset for K2, represented by Y, from a set of candidate values of Y provided to the UE through higher layer signaling. Thus, through the UE receiving the TDRA, AR and higher layer signaling from a base station, the UE is provided an indication of a starting slot for PUCCH transmission of a TB (i.e. a starting slot that is Y slots after a last symbol of a CORSET of a DCI) of the number of slots.).
Regarding claim 38, Lin discloses an apparatus comprising processing circuitry (Fig 3A & [0067] disclose a UE 116 (i.e. an apparatus) with RX processing circuity 325 and TX processing circuitry 315.) configured to:
receive, from a network device, an indication of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) table, the TDRA table containing multiple entries. (Fig 15 & [0167] disclose a UE receiving a configuration for a time domain resource allocation (TDRA). [0159] discloses that fields K1 and K2 may be absent from the TDRA table, indicating that a TDRA table may contain at least two entries K0 and K2. [0133] discloses the UE may receive an adaptation request (AR) from a gNB (e.g. receiving, from a network device, the TDRA configuration).); and
generate, for transmission to the network device, the TB ([0133] discloses that when the UE receives an AR from a gNB, the UE can apply the indicated transmission parameters (i.e. generate the TB for transmission to the gNB using the indicated transmission parameters.).
Lin fails to disclose each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB), wherein the TDRA table is configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling.
However, Sun teaches each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB) ([0222] discloses a new parameter n, added to each row (i.e. each entry) of a TDRA table, and used to indicate a number of time units occupied by one TB, wherein a UE determines a number of slots occupied by a TB according to the number n.), wherein the TDRA table is configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling ([0064] discloses that the TDRA table may be configured by radio resource control (RRC).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have an apparatus such as a UE receive a TDRA table, from a network device, the TDRA table containing multiple entries; and generate, for transmission to the network device, the TB as disclosed by Lin, with each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB), wherein the TDRA table is configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling, as taught by Sun. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE receive RRC signaling from a gNB configuring a TDRA table, wherein each TDRA table entry comprises the value n indicating a duration of a transmission for the transport block, so that the UE can use the value n in the TDRA table to determine a number of slots for a TB in situations where more than one slot is used to generate and transmit a TB in order to improve coverage, improve reliability or reduce signaling overhead for large data payloads.
Lin fails to disclose causing the apparatus to receive, from the network device, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a value indicating an entry of the TDRA table; and wherein the generation of the TB, for transmission to the network device, is over a plurality of slots, wherein the plurality of slots is selected based on the entry of the TDRA table and the DCI.
However, Lei further teaches causing the apparatus to receive, from the network device, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a value indicating an entry of the TDRA table (Fig 6, [0090] & [0095] disclose a UE receiving a DCI for scheduling a TB, wherein a DCI format (i.e. a DCI comprising a value) indicates an entry from a TDRA list (i.e. table). [0006] discloses that the received DCI may be transmitted by a base station (i.e. received from a network device).); and
wherein the generation of the TB, for transmission to the network device, is over a plurality of slots, the TB, wherein the plurality of slots is selected based on the entry of the TDRA table and the DCI ([0005] & [0095] discloses that the DCI format may indicate an entry from a TDRA indicating that the UE has a TB scheduled on a super slot that includes a plurality of consecutive slots. [0042] discloses that the single TB may be generated and transmitted on the super slot (i.e. over the plurality of consecutive slots), selected by the DCI format entry indication in the TDRA table, by the UE. [0005]-[0006] discloses that the communications (i.e. transmission of the TB) may be performed between a UE and a base station. Thus, the TB transmitted by the UE would be to a base station (i.e. a network device).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have an apparatus such as a UE receive a TDRA table, from a network device, the TDRA table containing multiple entries with each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB); and generate, for transmission to the network device, the TB, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun, wherein the UE is caused to receive, from the network device, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a value indicating an entry of the TDRA table; and wherein the generation of the TB, for transmission to the network device, is over a plurality of slots, wherein the plurality of slots is selected based on the entry of the TDRA table and the DCI, as further taught by Lei. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE receive RRC signaling configuring a TDRA table, from a base station or gNB, wherein each TDRA table entry comprises the value n indicating a duration of a transmission for the transport block, and receive a DCI format indicating an entry in the TDRA table for transmitting a TB on a superslot, consisting of a number of consecutive slots, and generate and transmit the TB on the superslot indicated by the entry in the TDRA table provided by the DCI in order to improve coverage, improve reliability or reduce signaling overhead for scheduling of large data payloads on a superslot.
Lin fails to disclose but Lei further teaches causing the UE to receive, from the network device, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a value indicating an entry of the TDRA table (Fig 6, [0090] & [0095] disclose a UE receiving a DCI for scheduling a TB, wherein a DCI format (i.e. a DCI comprising a value) indicates an entry from a TDRA list (i.e. table). [0006] discloses that the received DCI may be transmitted by a base station (i.e. received from a network device).); and
determine a number of UL slots for transmission of the TB based on the entry of the TDRA table ([0005] & [0095] discloses that the DCI format may indicate an entry from a TDRA indicating that the UE has a TB scheduled on a super slot that includes a plurality of consecutive slots. [0042] discloses that the TB may be carried by a PUSCH on the super slot (i.e. the determined number of slots for transmission of the TB would be a number of UL slots).);
wherein the generation, for transmission to the network device, of the TB is over the number of UL slots ([0042] discloses that the single TB may be generated and transmitted on the super slot by the UE on a PUSCH (i.e. on the number of UL slots).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have an apparatus such as a UE receive a TDRA table, from a network device, the TDRA table containing multiple entries with each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB); and generate, for transmission to the network device, the TB, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun, and cause the apparatus to receive, from the network device, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a value indicating an entry of the TDRA table; determine a number of UL slots for transmission of the TB based on the entry of the TDRA table; and wherein the generation, for transmission to the network device, of the TB to is over the number of UL slots, as further taught by Lei. The motivation to do so would be to have an apparatus such as a UE receive RRC signaling configuring a TDRA table, from a base station or gNB, wherein each TDRA table entry comprises the value n indicating a duration of a transmission for the transport block (TB) in an UL PUSCH, and receive a DCI format indicating an entry in the TDRA table for transmitting the TB in the UL PUSCH on a superslot, and transmit the TB in the UL PUSCH on the superslot indicated by the entry in the TDRA table provided by the DCI in order to improve coverage, improve reliability or reduce signaling overhead for scheduling of large data payloads on a superslot.
Lin fails to disclose but Chae further teaches of an apparatus to receive, from the network device, an uplink (UL)-downlink(DL) configuration comprising a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon information element (IE) (Fig 20 & [0254] disclose a base station transmitting to a wireless device (i.e. an apparatus such as a UE receiving from a network device) a configuration message comprising a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE.); and
wherein the determining of the number of UL slots for transmission of the TB is based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE (Fig 20 & [0254] disclose that the base station may transmit to the wireless device a second configuration message indicating a number of UL slots based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE. Such a second configuration message could be interpreted as the DCI message indicating an entry from the TDRA table, as taught by Lei, based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have a an apparatus receive a TDRA table, from a network device, the TDRA table containing multiple entries with each entry comprising at least a number of slots indicating a duration of a transmission for a transport block (TB); generate, for transmission to the network device, the TB; cause the apparatus to receive, from the network device, downlink control information (DCI) comprising a value indicating an entry of the TDRA table; determine a number of UL slots for transmission of the TB based on the entry of the TDRA table; and wherein the transmission of the TB to the network device is over the number of UL slots, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei, and have the apparatus receive, from the network device, an uplink (UL)-downlink(DL) configuration comprising a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon information element (IE); and wherein the determining of the number of UL slots for transmission of the TB is based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE, as further taught by Chae. The motivation to do so would be to have an apparatus such as a UE receive RRC signaling configuring a TDRA table through a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE, from a base station or gNB, wherein each TDRA table entry comprises the value n indicating a duration of a transmission for the transport block (TB) in an UL PUSCH, and receive a DCI format indicating an entry in the TDRA table for transmitting the TB in the UL PUSCH on a superslot, and generate, for transmission to the base station or gNB, the TB in the UL PUSCH on the superslot indicated by the entry in the TDRA table provided by the DCI, based on the tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE, in order to improve coverage, improve reliability or reduce signaling overhead for scheduling of large data payloads on a superslot.
Regarding claim 39, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae disclose the apparatus of claim 38.
Lin discloses wherein the number of slots comprises at least one of a number of consecutive slots or a number of valid slots ([0165] discloses transmitting a Transport Block (TB) over L0>=1 consecutive slots.).).
Regarding claim 43, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae disclose the apparatus of claim 38.
Lin discloses wherein the processing circuitry is further caused to: receiving, from the network device, an indication of a starting slot of the number of UL slots (Figs 15 & [0159] & [0167] discloses a UE receiving, through the UE’s processing circuitry, a TDRA table from a gNB indicating a slot offset, represented by K2, between a last symbol of a CORSET of a DCI for scheduling a PUSCH and the PUSCH transmission. [0006]-[0007] & [0165] discloses a UE receiving, through the UE’s processing circuitry, from a base station an adaptation request (AR) indicating a slot aggregation factor L0 for transmitting a Transport Block (TB) over L0>=1 consecutive slots. [0160]-[0162] discloses indicating a minimum slot offset for K2, represented by Y, from a set of candidate values of Y provided to the UE through higher layer signaling. Thus, through the UE receiving, through the UE’s processing circuitry, the TDRA, AR and higher layer signaling from a base station, the UE is provided an indication of a starting slot, of a number of UL slots, for PUCCH transmission of a TB (i.e. a starting slot that is Y slots after a last symbol of a CORSET of a DCI).).
Claims 12, 14, 45, 47, 52, 55 & 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al. (US 2020/0029315)(herein after “Lin”) in view of Sun et al. (US 2022/0272732)(herein after “Sun”) and Lei et al. (US 2024/0205911)(herein after “Lei”) and Chae et al. (US 2021/0336756)(herein after “Chae”), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Rahman et al. (US 2015/0351117)(herein after “Rahman”).
Regarding claim 12, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae disclose the user device of claim 1.
Lin discloses wherein the user device is caused to transmit the TB ([0133] discloses that when the UE receives an AR from a gNB, the UE can apply the indicated transmission parameters (i.e. transmit the TB to the gNB over the indicated number of slots in the AR.).
Lin fails to disclose wherein the TB is transmitted in the number of UL slots by: determining, in the number of UL slots, a plurality of resources for the transmission of the TB; and transmitting, to the network device, the TBs in the number of UL slots using the plurality of resources.
However, Rahman further teaches wherein the user device is caused to transmit in the number of UL slots by: determining, in the number of UL slots, a plurality of resources for the transmission ([0015] discloses a UE will transmit according to scheduling grants for uplink subframes (i.e. UL slots for a UE to transmit a TB). Fig 1, Fig 3 & [0007] disclose allocation of a plurality of uplink subframes (i.e. UL slots for a UE to transmit a TB) and associated uplink resources for the uplink subframes.); and transmitting, to the network device, in the number of slots using the plurality of resources ([0015] discloses a UE will transmit according to scheduling grants for uplink subframes (i.e. UE will transmit over the number of scheduled uplink slots using the plurality of uplink resources associated with the uplink slots.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the user device of claim 1, wherein the user device is caused to transmit the TB, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae, wherein the TB is transmitted in the number of UL slots by: determining, in the number of UL slots, a plurality of resources for the transmission of the TB; and transmitting, to the network device, the TBs in the number of UL slots using the plurality of resources, as further taught by Rahman. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE operating in TDD mode be capable of determining when uplink subframes are available for transmitting a TB, so that the UE can transmit the TB on resources associated with the available uplink subframes, and not generate harmful interference to other UEs, by only transmitting a TB during periods of time when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring.
Regarding claim 14, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae and Rahman disclose the user device of claim 12.
Lin fails to disclose wherein the user device is caused to determine the plurality of resources in the number of UL slots by: determining, based on different resource patterns received, the plurality of resources for the number of UL slots.
However Rahman further teaches wherein the user device is caused to determine the plurality of resources in the number of UL slots by: determining, based on different resource patterns received, the plurality of resources for the number of UL slots (Fig 1, Fig 3 & [0007] disclose allocation of a plurality of uplink subframes (i.e. UL slots for a UE to transmit a TB) and associated uplink resources for the uplink subframes that represent different resource patterns for configurations 0 through 6, which a UE uses to determine a plurality of uplink slots for transmission (i.e. UL slots for transmitting a TB).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the user device of claim 12, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae and Rahman, wherein the user device is caused to determine the plurality of resources in the number of UL slots by: determining, based on different resource patterns received, the plurality of resources for the number of UL slots, as further taught by Rahman. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE operating in TDD mode be capable of receiving different subframe resource patterns semi-statically, through which the UE can semi-statically determine uplink subframe patterns available for transmitting a TB, so that the UE can transmit the TB on resources associated with the currently available uplink subframes resource pattern, and not generate harmful interference to other UEs, by only transmitting a TB during periods of time when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring.
Regarding claim 45, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae disclose the user device of claim 2.
Lin fails to disclose but Rahman further teaches wherein the number of valid slots comprise at least one of a set of valid uplink slots and a set of valid flexible slots (Fig 1 & [0003] disclose a plurality of subframes (i.e. slots) for Downlink (D) transmissions, Uplink (U) transmissions and Special (S) (i.e. flexible) transmissions. Uplink-Downlink Configuration 0 in Table 1 discloses a number of valid slots comprising, in subframes 2-4 & 7-9, a set of valid UL slots and in subframes 1 & 6, a set of valid S slots (i.e. flexible slots).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the user device of claim 2, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae, wherein the number of valid slots comprise at least one of a set of valid uplink slots and a set of valid flexible slots, as further taught by Rahman. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE operating in TDD mode be capable of transmitting a TB on a valid UL subframe, based on a gNB indicating an UL-DL configuration, by only transmitting a TB during periods of time when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring so that the UE does not generate harmful interference to other UEs.
Regarding claim 47, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae disclose the apparatus of claim 39.
Lin fails to disclose but Rahman further teaches wherein the number of slots comprise at least one of a set of valid uplink slots and a set of valid flexible slots(Fig 1 & [0003] disclose a plurality of subframes (i.e. slots) for Downlink (D) transmissions, Uplink (U) transmissions and Special (S) (i.e. flexible) transmissions. Uplink-Downlink Configuration 0 in Table 1 discloses a number of slots comprising, in subframes 2-4 & 7-9, a set of valid UL slots and in subframes 1 & 6, a set of valid S slots (i.e. flexible slots).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the apparatus of claim 39, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae, wherein the number of valid slots comprise at least one of a set of valid uplink slots and a set of valid flexible slots, as further taught by Rahman. The motivation to do so would be to have an apparatus such as a UE operating in TDD mode be capable of transmitting a TB on a valid UL subframe, based on a gNB indicating an UL-DL configuration, by only transmitting a TB during periods of time when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring so that the UE does not generate harmful interference to other UEs.
Regarding claim 52, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae disclose the method of claim 51.
Lin fails to disclose but Rahman further teaches wherein the number of slots comprise a set of valid uplink slots and a set of valid flexible slots (Fig 1 & [0003] disclose a plurality of subframes (i.e. slots) for Downlink (D) transmissions, Uplink (U) transmissions and Special (S) (i.e. flexible) transmissions. Uplink-Downlink Configuration 0 in Table 1 discloses a number of slots comprising, in subframes 2-4 & 7-9, a set of valid UL slots and in subframes 1 & 6, a set of valid S slots (i.e. flexible slots).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the method of claim 51, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae, wherein the number of slots comprise a set of valid uplink slots and a set of valid flexible slots, as further taught by Rahman. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for a UE operating in TDD mode to be capable of transmitting a TB on a valid UL subframe, based on a gNB indicating an UL-DL configuration, by only transmitting a TB during periods of time when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring so that the UE does not generate harmful interference to other UEs.
Regarding claim 55, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae disclose the method of claim 50.
Lin discloses wherein the user device is caused to transmit the TB by: transmission of the TB; and transmitting, to the network device, the TBs ([0133] discloses that when the UE receives an AR from a gNB, the UE can apply the indicated transmission parameters (i.e. transmit the TB to the gNB using the indicated transmission parameters.)
Lin fails to disclose but Rahman further teaches wherein the transmission of the TB is in the number of slots by: determining, in the number of slots, a plurality of resources for the transmission (Fig 1, Fig 3 & [0007] disclose allocation of a plurality of uplink subframes (i.e. a number of slots for a UE to transmit a TB) and associated uplink resources for the uplink subframes that represent a resource pattern, which a UE uses to determine a number of slots for transmission (i.e. a number of slots for transmitting a TB). For example, configuration 0 in Fig. 3 discloses a repeating resource pattern consisting of DL resources #0 followed by DwPTS, GP & UpPTS resources, followed by UL resources #2, #3 & #4 over 10 slots for transmission (i.e. of a TB).); and
wherein the transmission is in the number of slots using the plurality of resources (Fig 1, Fig 3 and [0007] & [0014] disclose transmission (i.e. of a TB) is over a plurality of uplink subframes (i.e. a number of valid slots for a UE to transmit a TB) using associated uplink resources for the uplink subframes that represent a resource pattern. For example, configuration 0 in Fig. 3 discloses a repeating resource pattern consisting of DL resources #0 followed by DwPTS, GP & UpPTS resources, followed by UL resources #2, #3 & #4 over 10 slots for transmission (i.e. of a TB).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the method of claim 50, wherein the user device is caused to transmit the TB by: transmission of the TB; and transmitting, to the network device, the TBs, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae, wherein the transmission of the TB is in the number of slots by: determining, in the number of slots, a plurality of resources for the transmission; and wherein the transmission is in the number of slots using the plurality of resources, as further taught by Rahman. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for a UE operating in TDD mode to be capable of determining when to transmit a TB on an UL subframe, by receiving a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon IE in an RRC message from an NG-RAN that indicates a resource pattern that includes UL slots, so that the UE does not generate harmful interference to other UEs by only transmits a TB on resources in slots when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring.
Regarding claim 56, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae disclose the method of claim 56.
Lin fails to disclose but Rahman further teaches wherein the user device is caused to determine the plurality of resources in the number of slots by: determining, based on different resource patterns received, the plurality of resources for the number of slots (Fig 1, Fig 3 & [0007] disclose allocation of a plurality of uplink subframes (i.e. UL slots for a UE to transmit a TB) and associated uplink resources for the uplink subframes that represent different resource patterns for configurations 0 through 6, which a UE uses to determine a plurality of uplink slots for transmission (i.e. slots for transmitting a TB).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the method of claim 55, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae and Rahman, wherein the user device is caused to determine the plurality of resources in the number of slots by: determining, based on different resource patterns received, the plurality of resources for the number of slots, as further taught by Rahman. The motivation to do so would be to have a method for a UE, operating in TDD mode, to be capable of receiving different subframe resource patterns semi-statically, through which the UE can semi-statically determine uplink subframe patterns available for transmitting a TB, so that the UE can transmit the TB on resources associated with the currently available uplink subframes resource pattern, and not generate harmful interference to other UEs, by only transmitting a TB during periods of time when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring.
Claims 46, 48, 49, 53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin et al. (US 2020/0029315)(herein after “Lin”) in view of Sun et al. (US 2022/0272732)(herein after “Sun”) and Lei et al. (US 2024/0205911)(herein after “Lei”) and Chae et al. (US 2021/0336756)(herein after “Chae”) and Rahman et al. (US 2015/0351117)(herein after “Rahman”), as applied to claims 45 & 46, and further in view of Kurita et al. (US 2024/0260009)(herein after “Kurita”).
Regarding claims 46, 48 & 53, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae and Rahman disclose the user device of claim 45, the apparatus of claim 47 and the method of claim 52.
Lin fails to disclose but Rahman further teaches wherein the user device, or a method for a user device, or the processing circuitry, is further caused to: receive, from the network device, an indication of a valid flexible slot configuration ([0014] discloses system information indicating UL, DL and FLEX subframe configurations (i.e. valid flexible slot configurations) may be semi-statically provided (i.e. received by a UE) through a specific RNTI on a PDCCH.); and
determine the set of valid flexible slots based on the valid flexible slot configuration ([0014]-[0015] discloses a UE determining, based on receiving an UL, DL and FLEX subframe configuration in an RNTI on a PDCCH, a set of flexible subframes (i.e. valid flexible slots) that the UE treats like DL subframes unless the UE has been instructed to transmit in a particular FLEX subframe.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the user device of claim 45, or the apparatus of claim 47, or the method of claim 52, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae and Rahman, wherein the user device, or the method for the user device, or the processing circuitry, is further caused to: receive, from the network device, an indication of a valid flexible slot configuration; and determine the set of valid flexible slots based on the valid flexible slot configuration, as further taught by Rahman. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE, or a method for a UE, or an apparatus such as a UE, operating in TDD mode be capable of determining when to transmit a TB on a flexible subframe, by monitoring PDCCHs for flexible subframes, so that the UE does not generate harmful interference to other UEs, and only transmits a TB during periods of time when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring.
Lin fails to disclose but Kurita further teaches wherein the indication comprises a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated information element (IE) (Fig 6, [0107] & [0110] discloses a UE receiving a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated IE in an RRC message from an NG-RAN that indicates a TDD pattern that includes S slots (i.e. valid flexible slots).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the user device of claim 45, or the apparatus of claim 47, or the method of claim 52, wherein the user device, or the method for the user device, or the processing circuitry, is further caused to: receive, from the network device, an indication of a valid flexible slot configuration; and determine the set of valid flexible slots based on the valid flexible slot configuration, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae and Rahman, wherein the indication comprises a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated information element (IE), as further taught by Kurita. The motivation to do so would be to have a UE, or a method for a UE, or an apparatus such as a UE, operating in TDD mode be capable of determining when to transmit a TB on a flexible subframe, by receiving a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated IE in an RRC message from an NG-RAN that indicates a TDD pattern that includes S slots, so that the UE does not generate harmful interference to other UEs, and only transmits a TB during periods of time when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring.
Regarding claim 49, Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae and Rahman and Kurita disclose the apparatus of claim 48.
Lin discloses wherein the processing circuitry is caused to transmit the TB by: transmit, to the network device, the TBs ([0133] discloses that when the UE receives an AR from a gNB, the UE can apply the indicated transmission parameters (i.e. transmit the TB to the gNB using the indicated transmission parameters.);
Lin fails to disclose but Rahman further teaches wherein the transmission of the TB is in the number of slots by: determine, in the number of slots, a plurality of resources for the transmission of the TB (Fig 1, Fig 3 & [0007] disclose allocation of a plurality of uplink subframes (i.e. a number of slots for a UE to transmit a TB) and associated uplink resources for the uplink subframes that represent a resource pattern, which a UE uses to determine a number of slots for transmission (i.e. a number of slots for transmitting a TB). For example, configuration 0 in Fig. 3 discloses a repeating resource pattern consisting of DL resources #0 followed by DwPTS, GP & UpPTS resources, followed by UL resources #2, #3 & #4 over 10 slots for transmission (i.e. of a TB).);
determine, based on a resource pattern received, the plurality of resources for the number of slots (Fig 1, Fig 3 and [0007] & [0014] disclose determination of a plurality of uplink subframes (i.e. a number of slots for a UE to transmit a TB) and associated uplink resources for the uplink subframes that represent a resource pattern, which are used to determine a number of slots for transmission (i.e. a number of slots for transmitting a TB). For example, configuration 0 in Fig. 3 discloses a repeating resource pattern consisting of DL resources #0 followed by DwPTS, GP & UpPTS resources, followed by UL resources #2, #3 & #4 over 10 slots for transmission (i.e. of a TB).); and
wherein the transmission, to the network device, of the TBs is in the number of valid slots using the plurality of resources based on the resource pattern (Fig 1, Fig 3 and [0007] & [0014] disclose transmission (i.e. of a TB) is over a plurality of uplink subframes (i.e. a number of valid slots for a UE to transmit a TB) using associated uplink resources for the uplink subframes that represent a resource pattern. For example, configuration 0 in Fig. 3 discloses a repeating resource pattern consisting of DL resources #0 followed by DwPTS, GP & UpPTS resources, followed by UL resources #2, #3 & #4 over 10 slots for transmission (i.e. of a TB).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone having ordinary skill in the art prior to the claimed invention to have the apparatus of claim 48, wherein the processing circuitry is caused to transmit the TB by: transmit, to the network device, the TBs, as disclosed by Lin in view of Sun and Lei and Chae and Rahman and Kurita, wherein the transmission of the TB is in the number of slots by: determine, in the number of slots, a plurality of resources for the transmission of the TB; determine, based on a resource pattern received, the plurality of resources for the number of slots; and wherein the transmission, to the network device, of the TBs is in the number of valid slots using the plurality of resources based on the resource pattern, as further taught by Rahman. The motivation to do so would be to have an apparatus such as a UE, operating in TDD mode be capable of determining when to transmit a TB on an UL subframe, by receiving a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated IE in an RRC message from an NG-RAN that indicates a resource pattern that includes UL slots, so that the UE does not generate harmful interference to other UEs by only transmits a TB on resources in slots when downlink transmissions from the gNB are not occurring.
Conclusion
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Ding et al. (US 2022/0264470) discloses a Transmit Power Control Method, Related Device, and System.
Hosseinian et al. (US 2021/0352606) discloses Methods for Timing Advance Indication and Timing Relationships Indication for Non-Terrestrial Networks.
Park et al. (US 2021/0314953) discloses a Transmission Configuration and Timing for Wireless Communications.
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/JAMES P SEYMOUR/Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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