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
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 14-19, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kurita et al. (US 2023/0345555 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 14, and 16, Kurita discloses:
a integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (par.[0004] describes an IAB node) for wireless communication (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications network), comprising:
at least one memory (fig.15 depicts a memory element 1002); and
at least one processor (fig.15 element 1001) coupled with the at least one memory (fig.15 depicts the memory 1002 and 1001) and configured to cause the IAB node (par.[0004] describes the IAB node) to:
receiving configuration (par.[0010] which recites, in part, “configured to receive resource information indicating a type of resource allocated to a radio link with a lower node from a network,”) for a plurality of resource block groups (par.[0069 – 0071] which describe the time and frequency resources, which may be resource block groups in the time and frequency domain), the configuration comprising an indication that the plurality of resource block groups is soft (par.[0048 – 0049] which describes the designation assigned to resources, such as, “Hard”, “Soft”, or N/A, par.[0123 – 0125]) and an availability combination associated with the plurality of resource block groups (par.[0008] describes an availability combination wherein resource configuration comprises soft resources, hard resources, or N/A. That is, the availability combination comprises a plurality of resources and the availability of the resource as soft or hard, wherein as discussed in par.[0048 – 0049] the resources can be indicated as HARD, which is always available or SOFT, which may be available, and a control message field associated therewith which will be discussed below. The disclosure also teaches that the direction UL/DL or Flexible is indicated);
receiving an availability indication control message associated with the availability combination (par.[0113] which describes the explicit indication in the DCI format 2_5 or par.[0157] DCI format X), the availability indication control message comprising an availability indication field associated with the plurality of resource block groups (par.[0109] which recites, in part, “when the DU resource (symbol) is Soft, dynamic indication (IA or INA) can be made explicitly and implicitly.”, and par.[0113] which recites, in part, “and indicates that the symbol is available by a field value of an Availability Indicator (AI) index (explicit indication)”. That is, the field in the DCI indicate whether the indicated combination of resources are available or not when the resources are indicated as soft., par.[0126]); and
determine that physical resource blocks in the plurality of resource block groups are available based on the availability indication field (par.[0157] which recites, in part, “Specifically, for each DU serving cell, the field of the frequency availability indicator included in the DCI format X may indicate the IA/INA of the soft frequency resource.” Par.[0155] which recites, in part, “the availability of the soft frequency resource (IA or INA, hereinafter abbreviated as IA/INA as appropriate) is explicitly indicated by the DCI of a new format”, par.[0169] describes the granularity of the soft frequency resource as a RB or RBG).
Regarding claims 2 and 17, Kurita discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the IAB node to receive:
configurations for a plurality of physical resource block in a frequency domain (par.[0221] describes the RBG indicated by RRC signaling); and
configurations for the plurality of resource block groups, each resource block group comprising a first number of physical resource blocks (par.[0221 and 0223] which describes the RBG according the RBG size which details the number of RB in the RBG).
Regarding claims 3 and 18, Kurita discloses:
wherein the availability indication field is a bit in a bitmap of the availability indication control message (par.[0167 – 0168] which describes the bitmap in the control message, wherein 1 indicates an availability and a 0 indicates no availability).
Regarding claims 4 and 19, Kurita discloses:
wherein the availability indication control message is a downlink control information message (par.[0113] which describes the DCI format 2_5, or DCI format X, par.[0130]).
Regarding claims 15, Kurita discloses:
a integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (par.[0004] describes an IAB node) for wireless communication (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications network), comprising:
at least one memory (fig.15 depicts a memory element 1002); and
at least one processor (fig.15 element 1001) coupled with the at least one memory (fig.15 depicts the memory 1002 and 1001) and configured to cause the IAB node (par.[0004] describes the IAB node) to:
determine an availability of physical resource blocks in a plurality of resource block groups in a plurality of physical resource block groups (fig.5 depicts the CU/DU split wherein element 50 is a central unit which corresponds to the DU or 100A or 100B. In element S10 the CU transmits the DU resource configuration wherein the available resources are configured and configuration transmitted to the further nodes, par.[0148 – 0150]);
transmitting configuration (par.[0010] which recites, in part, “configured to receive resource information indicating a type of resource allocated to a radio link with a lower node from a network,”) for a plurality of resource block groups (par.[0069 – 0071] which describe the time and frequency resources, which may be resource block groups in the time and frequency domain), the configuration comprising an indication that the plurality of resource block groups is soft (par.[0048 – 0049] which describes the designation assigned to resources, such as, “Hard”, “Soft”, or N/A, par.[0123 – 0125]) and an availability combination associated with the plurality of resource block groups (par.[0008] describes an availability combination wherein resource configuration comprises soft resources, hard resources, or N/A. That is, the availability combination comprises a plurality of resources and the availability of the resource as soft or hard, wherein as discussed in par.[0048 – 0049] the resources can be indicated as HARD, which is always available or SOFT, which may be available, and a control message field associated therewith which will be discussed below. The disclosure also teaches that the direction UL/DL or Flexible is indicated);
transmitting an availability indication control message associated with the availability combination (par.[0113] which describes the explicit indication in the DCI format 2_5 or par.[0157] DCI format X), the availability indication control message comprising an availability indication field associated with the plurality of resource block groups (par.[0109] which recites, in part, “when the DU resource (symbol) is Soft, dynamic indication (IA or INA) can be made explicitly and implicitly.”, and par.[0113] which recites, in part, “and indicates that the symbol is available by a field value of an Availability Indicator (AI) index (explicit indication)”. That is, the field in the DCI indicate whether the indicated combination of resources are available or not when the resources are indicated as soft., par.[0126]); and
determine that physical resource blocks in the plurality of resource block groups are available based on the availability indication field (par.[0157] which recites, in part, “Specifically, for each DU serving cell, the field of the frequency availability indicator included in the DCI format X may indicate the IA/INA of the soft frequency resource.” Par.[0155] which recites, in part, “the availability of the soft frequency resource (IA or INA, hereinafter abbreviated as IA/INA as appropriate) is explicitly indicated by the DCI of a new format”, par.[0169] describes the granularity of the soft frequency resource as a RB or RBG).
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.
Claim(s) 5-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurita as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of You et al. (US 2024/0015705 A1).
Regarding claim 5, the disclosure of Kurita teaches:
wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the IAB node to:
receive a first control message indicating that a first resource is conditionally available by a first entity, the first resource comprising a soft resource (see rejection of claim 1 above with regard to soft resource).
The disclosure of Kurita does not teach:
perform a downlink transmission by the first resource in response to determining that the downlink transmission does not change an uplink transmission on a second resource at a second entity, the second resource overlapping the first resource in a time domain; and
omit a downlink transmission on the first resource in response to determining that the downlink transmission changes an uplink transmission on the second resource at the second entity, the second resource overlapping the first resource in a time domain.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Luo teaches:
perform a downlink transmission by the first resource in response to determining that the downlink transmission does not change an uplink transmission on a second resource at a second entity, the second resource overlapping the first resource in a time domain (par.[0424] describes dropping an uplink or a downlink resource when the uplink and downlink resource overlap, otherwise the uplink and/or downlink transmission may be performed); and
omit a downlink transmission on the first resource in response to determining that the downlink transmission changes an uplink transmission on the second resource at the second entity, the second resource overlapping the first resource in a time domain (par.[0424] the dropping of either the uplink and/or downlink based on the uplink and/or downlink overlapping).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Kurita for signaling resource availability with the disclosure of You for preventing interference. The motivation/suggestion would have been to reduce interference on the uplink and or downlink.
Regarding claim 8, You discloses:
the first entity is a DU, and a second entity is a mobile terminal (fig.24 depicts an IAB node, with a DU and MT functionality).
Regarding claim 9, You discloses:
wherein the determining is based at least in part on one or more of a multiplexing capability of the network node, a duplexing capability of the network node, a capability of time-domain multiplexing between the first entity and the second entity, and a number of antenna panels of the network node (par.[0113] which describes the time needed to switch from a uplink to downlink, par.[0425 – 0426]).
Claim(s) 6-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurita and You as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of NTT DoCoMo “Mechanisms for Resource Multiplexing among Backhaul and Access Links”, October 2019, R1-1911166.
Regarding claim 6, the disclosure Kurita and You and in particular You describes dropping an uplink or downlink transmission when there is overlap, but does not disclose:
Transmitting a second control message to a second network node, the second network node comprising a serving node of the network node, the second control message indicating whether the downlink transmission was omitted.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of NTT teaches:
Transmitting a second control message to a second network node, the second network node comprising a serving node of the network node, the second control message indicating whether the downlink transmission was omitted (Sec 2.2 Semi-Static Resource Configuration, which recites, in part, “In Alt.1-1, T_g2 needs to be indicated to the parent node so that the parent node can handle the conflict by avoiding scheduling MT on the overlapping resources”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings discussed in Kurita and You, with the disclosure of NTT. The motivation/suggestion would have been to prevent interference do to resource conflict.
Regarding claim 7, NTT discloses:
wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the IAB node to transmit a message to a third network node, the third network node comprising a configuration entity, the message indicating whether the downlink transmission was omitted (rejected for the same reasons as give for claim 6).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurita as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wei et al. (US 2022/0174630 A1).
Regarding claim 10, the disclosure of Kurita teaches transmission of resource availability, but does not disclose:
wherein the determining is based at least in part on one or more of a beamforming constraint, a power imbalance constraint, a total power constraint, an interference constraint, and a timing alignment constraint.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Wei teaches:
wherein the determining is based at least in part on one or more of a beamforming constraint, a power imbalance constraint, a total power constraint, an interference constraint, and a timing alignment constraint (par.[0178 and 0195]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Kurita with the disclosure of Wei. The motivation/suggestion would have been to provide a mechanism for a node to reliably transmit and receive on uplink and downlink.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-13 and 20, are 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
You et al. (US 2021/0127453 A1) “Method and Apparatus for Determining Availability of Resource in Wireless Communication System”
Ghanbarinejad et al. (US 2023/0164793 A1) “Resource Attribute Configuration”
Huang et al. (US 2023/0337005 A1) “Resource Coordination Among Multiple Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) Parent Nodes”
Novlan (US 2022/0132499 A1) “Resource Coordination Including for Full-Duplex Integrated Access and Backhaul”
Luo et al. (US 2021/0212070 A1) “System and Method for Providing Guard Symbols in Networks with Integrated Access and Backhaul”
Ying et al. (CN 112868263 A) “Semi-Static Resource Allocation for New Radio Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) Networks”
Luo et al. (US 2021/0298036 A1) “Interference-Aware Scheduling During Transition Instance in an Integrated Access and Backhaul Network”
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JAMAAL HENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2411
/JAMAAL HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411