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 § 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) 1 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2019/0342061 A1) in view of Krishnamurthy et al. (US 2011/0110251 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, the disclosure of Kim teaches:
a wireless base station (par.[0002 – 0003] describe a wireless base station) comprising:
an electronic processor (fig.12 wherein the base station may be the transmitting device or receiving device, which comprises a processor); and
a transceiver (fig.12 the RF Unit, par.[0013] describe the RF unit) coupled to the electronic processor (fig.12 and par.[0013] describes the processor controlling the RF unit);
wherein the electronic processor (the aforecited processor) is configured to:
transmit, via the transceiver, a first network message including a transmit power level for the wireless base station (par.[0120] describes transmitting a Downlink Reference Signal (DL RS) to a UE, wherein the DL RS is an indication of transmit power, wherein the UE when receiving the reference signal may perceive an indication of the base station transmit power) and an identifier for the wireless base station;
receive, via the transceiver, a second network message from an end node, the second network message including (par.[0120] which describes the transmission of a RSRP measurement from a UE to the base station. The RSRP is the radio frequency signal characteristic of the end node);
select a logical interference coordination zone for the end node based on the radiofrequency characteristic for the end node (par.[0120] which recites, in part, “That is, UEs having RSRP of a predetermined level or more may be grouped into one group and UEs having RSRP of the next level may be grouped into another group. For example, UEs corresponding to RSRP≥X1 may belong to UE group #1, UEs corresponding to X2≤RSRP<X1 may belong to UE group #2, and UEs corresponding to X3≤RSRP<X2 may belong to UE group #3.”. The grouping of UE’s interpreted as logical interference coordination zone, the different groups comprising different power offsets for interference cancellation/coordination, par.[0121]);
select a frequency time resource for the end node based on the logical interference coordination zone (par.[0068] describes reception of downlink information which comprises resource allocation for a UE group, and par.[0119]); and
transmit, via the transceiver, a third network message including the frequency time resource (par.[0068] which describes the control information which is sent to the UEs of the UE group which comprises the resource information).
While the disclosure of Kim substantially discloses the claimed invention it does not disclose:
a first network message including an identifier for the wireless base station; and
receive, via the transceiver, a second network message from an end node, the second network message including the identifier of the wireless base station.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Krishnamurthy teaches:
a first network message including an identifier for the wireless base station (par.[0039] which recites, in part, “The serving macro cell and the HeNB can map the cell identity (eg. PCID) and load indicator to a subset of resources: f(PCID, load-indicator).fwdarw.resources.”); and
receive, via the transceiver, a second network message from an end node, the second network message including the identifier of the wireless base station (fig.4 the base station receives a measurement from the UE with the base station identifier).
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 Kim with the disclosure of Krishnamurthy. The motivation/suggestion would have been to properly allocate resources to groups of UE while mitigating interference.
Regarding claims 2 and 12, the disclosure of Kim teaches:
wherein the frequency time resource is defined by a start time, a stop time, and a radiofrequency (fig.2 depicts a UL/DL time slot which has a duration); and
wherein the frequency time resource is one of an uplink timeslot, a downlink timeslot, and a peer link timeslot (fig.2 the UL/DL time slot).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, the disclosure of Kim and Krishnamurthy teaches:
receive, via the transceiver, a fourth network message from the end node, the fourth network message including the identifier and an updated radiofrequency signal characteristic for the end node;
select an updated logical interference coordination zone for the end node based on the updated radiofrequency characteristic for the end node;
select an updated frequency time resource for the end node based on the updated logical interference coordination zone; and
transmit, via the transceiver, a fifth network message to the end node, the fifth network message including the updated frequency time resource (as discussed above the disclosure of Kim teaches the grouping of end-nodes and further assigns resources to the end-nodes based on the grouping. This method can be performed as needed thus the disclosure of Kim and Krishnamurthy teaches the claimed subject matter).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, the disclosure of Kim and Krishnamurthy teaches:
determine the logical interference coordination zone for the end node by selecting a conservative logical interference coordination zone for the end node;
receive, via the transceiver, a fourth network message from the end node, the fourth network message including the identifier and an updated radiofrequency signal characteristic for the end node;
responsive to receiving the fourth network message, select an updated logical interference coordination zone for the end node based on the updated radiofrequency characteristic for the end node;
select an updated frequency time resource for the end node based on the updated logical interference coordination zone; and
transmit, via the transceiver, a fifth network message to the end node, the fifth network message including the updated frequency time resource (as discussed above with regard to claim(s) 1 and 11 the base station can use measurement from a UE to create place a UE into a group of stations. This method may be performed repeatedly as needed as discussed with regard to claims 1 and 11. The different UE groups are allocated different resources, thus, when a UE is moved to a different group, the UE is capable of utilizing a different resource from the first group).
Claim(s) 10 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2019/0342061 A1) in view of Krishnamurthy et al. (US 2011/0110251 A1), in view of Rose et al. (US 2014/0301245 A1).
Regarding claims 10 and 20, the disclosure of Kim and Krishnamurthy teaches the method of claim(s) 1 and 11, but may not explicitly disclose:
wherein the electronic processor is further configured to:
select the frequency time resource for the end node based further on at least one selected from the group consisting of a radio bearer service type, a quality of service type, a current network load, a current channel load, a victim receiver characteristic, an ack quantity, a retry quantity, a channel busy quantity, a spectrum usage policy, and a user preemption policy.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Rose discloses:
wherein the electronic processor is further configured to:
select the frequency time resource for the end node based further on at least one selected from the group consisting of a radio bearer service type, a quality of service type, a current network load, a current channel load, a victim receiver characteristic, an ack quantity, a retry quantity, a channel busy quantity, a spectrum usage policy, and a user preemption policy s.
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 Kim and Krishnamurthy with the disclosure of Rose. The motivation/suggestion would have been to ensure the quality of service for communication between the network devices.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5-9 and 15-19 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:
Bahk et al. (US 2010/0189065 A1) “Scheduling Method for Wireless Communication System”
Yeh et al. (US 2010/0272218 A1) “Method and Apparatus for Coordinated MIMO Signal Transmission Among Multiple Cells in Wireless OFDM Systems”
Li et al. (US 2015/0085805 A1) “Radio Communication Method, Base Station and User Equipment”
Chiang (US 2015/0133129 A1) “Fractional Frequency Reuse Schemes Assigned to Clusters of Radio Nodes in an LTE Radio Access Network”
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 JAMAAL HENSON whose telephone number is (571)272-5339. The examiner can normally be reached M-Thu: 7:30 am - 6:30 pm.
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JAMAAL HENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2411
/JAMAAL HENSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411