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 .
Priorities and Examiner Remarks
This application is a National Stage entry of PCT/CN2021/139733 (international filing date: 12/20/2021), which claims foreign priority to PCT/CN2020/142372 (filed
12/31/2020).
Objections
Claims 93-94 are objected to because of the following informalities, and appropriate correction is required.
Claims 93 and 94, each of these claims currently depends from canceled claim 82. Please review and correct if they should depend from base claim 79.
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 86 is 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 86 line 1-2, the phrase “an SSB in the set of SSBs” is unclear and ambiguous as to whether it is referred to the same “an SSB in the set of SSBs” as in claim 82 line 1. If indeed so, it is suggested that --- an SSB in the set of SSBs --- be changed to --- the SSB in the set of SSBs ---.
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, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 79-81, 85, and 87-98 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHIN et al. (US 20220210860 A1, hereinafter CHIN), in view of Tsai et al. (US 20220210798 A1, hereinafter Tsai)
Regarding claim 79, CHIN teaches a method for configured grant (CG) based transmission at a user equipment, the method comprising (in general, see fig. 4 and corresponding paragraphs 181-188, in view of fig. 2 and its corresponding paragraphs):
determining one or more synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel blocks (SSBs) (CHIN, see at least para. 182 along with para. 141-142, “...SSBs
421, 422, 423, 424 may be provided by the network to the UE 400...”, note that in step 220 of fig. 2 the network may provide a CG configuration to the UE)
determining one or more physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources mapped to the determined one or more SSBs according to mapping information on mappings between a set of SSBs and a set of PUSCH resources (CHIN, see at least para. 182 along with para. 153-155, “...an association between the CG resources 411, 412, 413, 414 and SSBs 421, 422, 423, 424 may be provided by the network to the UE 400...”, note that UE is configured with a valid PUSCH(s) for performing CG-based procedure);
and
transmitting to a network node data of the CG based transmission by utilizing the determined one or more PUSCH resources (CHIN, see at least para. 184 along with para. 153, “...Taking the association between the CG resource 411 and the SSB 421 in FIG. 4 as an example, when the network receives UL data on, for example, the CG resource 411, from the UE 400, the network may know that the DL response may be sent on the (DL) SSB 421 based on the association...”).
CHIN does not explicitly teach wherein in the mappings between the set of SSBs and the set of PUSCH resources, an SSB in the set of SSBs is mapped to a PUSCH resource in the set of PUSCH resources according to demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration of PUSCH transmission, the set of PUSCH resources comprise DMRS resources configured for the CG based transmission, different SSBs in the set of SSBs are mapped to different DMRS resources, and the DMRS resources comprise one or more DMRS ports, and/or one or more DMRS sequences.
Tsai teaches wherein in the mappings between the set of SSBs and the set of PUSCH resources, an SSB in the set of SSBs is mapped to a PUSCH resource in the set of PUSCH resources according to demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration of PUSCH transmission (Tsai, see at least para. 124-126 along with at least para. 139, “...In some implementations, each consecutive number of N SSB indexes may be mapped to valid CG resource/occasions (e.g., a PUSCH occasion) and associated DM-RS resources...”, note that “...a UE may be provided by a SSB set with a number of SS/PBCH block indexes to map to a number of valid CG/PUSCH occasions for PUSCH transmissions over an association period. ... A CG/PUSCH occasion for a PUSCH transmission may be defined by a time resource and/or a frequency resource and/or may be associated with a DM-RS provided by cg-DMRS-Configuration for the configuration of PUSCH transmissions...”),
the set of PUSCH resources comprise DMRS resources configured for the CG based transmission (Tsai, see at least para. 124-126 along with at least para. 148, “...for mapping N SS/PBCH block indexes, from the number of SS/PBCH block indexes, to valid PUSCH occasions and/or the associated DM-RS resources may be the smallest value in the set determined by the PUSCH configuration period such that N SS/PBCH block indexes are mapped at least once to valid PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources within the association period...”),
different SSBs in the set of SSBs are mapped to different DMRS resources (Tsai, see at least para. 124-126 along with at least para. 148, for one non-limiting example, “...N SS/PBCH block indexes are mapped at least once to valid PUSCH occasions and associated DM-RS resources within the association period...”),
and
the DMRS resources comprise one or more DMRS ports, and/or one or more DMRS sequences (Tsai, see at least para. 126, “...in increasing order of DM-RS resource indexes within a PUSCH occasion, where a DMRS resource index may be determined first in an ascending order of a DM-RS port index and second in an ascending order of a DM-RS sequence index...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 80, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches receiving from a network node a message indicating the mapping information, wherein the message indicates a PUSCH resource associated with an SSB. (CHIN, see at least para. 142-143 and 150, e.g. CG configuration may include association between SSB and CG resources)
Regarding claim 81, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches obtaining configuration of a number of SSBs to be mapped to a PUSCH resource; obtaining configuration of a number of PUSCH resources available for the CG based transmission; and deriving one or more PUSCH resources associated with each SSB of the number of SSBs according to a predefined mapping rule. (CHIN, see at least para. 182 along with para. 143 and 150, “...According to the association as illustrated in FIG. 4, the CG resource 411 is associated with the SSB 421, the CG resource 412 is associated with the SSB 422, the CG resource 413 is associated with the SSB 423, and the CG resource 414 is associated with the SSB 424...”)
Regarding claim 85, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches at least one SSB in the set of SSBs is mapped to multiple DMRS ports. (Tsai, see at least para. 124-126, “...In some implementations, each consecutive number of N SSB indexes may be mapped to valid CG resource/occasions (e.g., a PUSCH occasion) and associated DM-RS resources. First, in increasing order of DM-RS resource indexes within a PUSCH occasion, where a DMRS resource index may be determined first in an ascending order of a DM-RS port index and second in an ascending order of a DM-RS sequence index...”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 87, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches the set of PUSCH resources comprises multiple PUSCH occasions in a CG period, and one or more different SSBs in the set of SSBs is mapped to one or more different PUSCH occasions in the CG period. (Tsai, see at least para. 135 of fig. 6A along with para. 131, “... For example, SSB1 ma associated with/mapping to the combination of CG index 0, frequency index 0, and time index 0, SSB2 is associated with/mapping to the combination of CG index 1, frequency index 0, and time index 0, and so on...”, note that the indexes of CG resource/occasion may be indexes for CG period)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 88, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches multiple SSBs in the set of SSBs are mapped to the one or more different PUSCH occasions by associating the one or more different PUSCH occasions to the multiple SSBs in the set of SSBs in an order of consecutive PUSCH occasion indexes. (Tsai, see at least para. 135 of fig. 6A along with para. 131, “... For example, SSB1 ma associated with/mapping to the combination of CG index 0, frequency index 0, and time index 0, SSB2 is associated with/mapping to the combination of CG index 1, frequency index 0, and time index 0, and so on...”, note that the indexes of CG resource/occasion may be indexes for CG period)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 89, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches different groups of PUSCH occasions are taken from the multiple PUSCH occasions in at least one of the following orders: an order of frequency resource indexes of the different groups of PUSCH occasions, and an order of the different groups of PUSCH occasions in time domain. (Tsai, see at least para. 134 of fig. 5, “... a CG resource/occasion may include 2 CG indexes (e.g., CG index 0 and CG index 1). A Time resource/occasion (index) may include 4 CG resource/occasions on frequency domain (e.g., from frequency index 0 to frequency index 3 as an increasing order of frequency resource indexes)...”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 90, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches more than one SSBs in the set of SSBs are mapped to one or more same PUSCH occasions in the CG period. (Tsai, see at least para. 135 of fig. 6A along with para. 131, for one non-limiting example, SSB1 and SSB3 associated with CG index 0)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 91, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches multiple SSBs in the set of SSBs are mapped to multiple DMRS resources by associating the multiple DMRS resources to the multiple SSB in the set of SSBs in an order of consecutive DMRS resource indexes. (Tsai, see at least para. 124-126, “...In some implementations, each consecutive number of N SSB indexes may be mapped to valid CG resource/occasions (e.g., a PUSCH occasion) and associated DM-RS resources. First, in increasing order of DM-RS resource indexes within a PUSCH occasion, where a DMRS resource index may be determined first in an ascending order of a DM-RS port index and second in an ascending order of a DM-RS sequence index...”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 92, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches the order of consecutive DMRS resource indexes is determined according to DMRS resource indexes within a PUSCH occasion, frequency resource indexes of PUSCH occasions, and indexes of PUSCH occasions in time domain. (Tsai, see at least para. 124-126 along with para. 139 and fig. 5, note that “...a UE may be provided by a SSB set with a number of SS/PBCH block indexes to map to a number of valid CG/PUSCH occasions for PUSCH transmissions over an association period. ... A CG/PUSCH occasion for a PUSCH transmission may be defined by a time resource and/or a frequency resource and/or may be associated with a DM-RS provided by cg-DMRS-Configuration for the configuration of PUSCH transmissions...”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 93, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches
the set of PUSCH resources comprise PUSCH resources in multiple HARQ processes, and an SSB in the set of SSBs is mapped to one or more HARQ processes of the multiple HARQ processes (Tsai, see at least para. 185-187 along with fig. 6B, for one non-limiting example, “...Based on the current HARQ process ID determination method, if the UE selects different beams/SSBs for a SDT via CG, the UE may derive different HARQ process IDs for transmission...”),
or
the set of PUSCH resources comprise multiple PUSCH resources in a HARQ process, and different SSBs in the set of SSBs are mapped to different PUSCH resources in the HARQ process.
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 94, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches
the set of PUSCH resources comprises PUSCH resources configured by multiple CG configuration, and one or more different SSB indexes are mapped to PUSCH resources configured by different CG configuration,
the set of PUSCH resources comprises PUSCH resources configured by multiple CG configuration, and the set of SSBs are mapped to PUSCH resources configured by each CG configuration,
or
the set of PUSCH resources are configured by one CG configuration. one or multiple CG configuration. (CHIN, see at least para. 143 and 150 along with para. 182, e.g. CG configuration may include association between SSB and CG resources)
Regarding claim 95, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches the set of PUSCH resources comprises PUSCH occasions and/or DMRS resources, and the method further comprises invalidating a PUSCH resource that fulfills at least one of the following conditions: the PUSCH resource is not mapped to any SSBs, or the PUSCH resource collides with a downlink symbol or slot, wherein the invalidated PUSCH resource is not used for mapping to the set of SSBs. (Tsai, see at least para. 147, for one non-limiting example, “...If after an integer number of SS/PBCH block indexes to PUSCH occasions mapping cycles within the association period there is a set of CG resource/occasions that are not mapped to N SS/PBCH block indexes, no SS/PBCH block indexes are mapped to the set of CG resource/occasion. ... CG resource/occasion not associated with SS/PBCH block indexes after an integer number of association periods, if any, are not used for UL transmissions...”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 96, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches multiple SSB indexes are mapped to one or more same PUSCH resources in the set of PUSCH resources. (Tsai, see at least para. 135 of fig. 6A, for one non-limiting example, SSB1 and SSB3 associated with CG index 0)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Tsai into the method of CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding claim 97, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches the CG based transmission is a CG-based small data transmission. (CHIN, see at least para. 187, “...when initiating a CG-based SDT procedure and/or before transmitting small data via a CG resource...”)
Regarding claim 98, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 79 except this claim is in apparatus claim format.
To be more specific, CHIN also teaches a same or similar apparatus comprising processor, transceiver, and memory (CHIN, see at least fig. 6), which are well known in the art and commonly used for providing and enabling robust and reliable data communication hardware and software.
Claim 84 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHIN in view of Tsai, as applied to claim 79 above, and further in view of QIAN et al. (US 20200214044 A1, hereinafter QIAN)
Regarding claim 84, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches
different SSBs in the set of SSBs are mapped to different PUSCH resources in the set of PUSCH resources according to DMRS configuration of transmission of a physical uplink channel (CHIN, see at least para.187 along with para. 218, “...The UE (e.g., 400) may perform (DL) SSB-based measurement in the RRC_INACTIVE state and select an (DL) SSB (e.g., 423) with RSRP above a threshold (e.g., threshold DL measurement) amongst the associated (DL) SSBs (e.g., 421, 422, 423, 424) when initiating a CG-based SDT procedure and/or before transmitting small data via a CG resource. The UE (e.g., 400) may transmit the UL data via a CG resource (e.g., 413) which is associated with the selected (DL) SSB (e.g., 423)...”),
and
the DMRS configuration comprises at least one of the following parameters: a DMRS sequence scrambling identifier (ID), a number of the DMRS sequence scrambling ID, or a DMRS port ID (Tsai, see at least para. 124-126, “...In some implementations, each consecutive number of N SSB indexes may be mapped to valid CG resource/occasions (e.g., a PUSCH occasion) and associated DM-RS resources. First, in increasing order of DM-RS resource indexes within a PUSCH occasion, where a DMRS resource index may be determined first in an ascending order of a DM-RS port index and second in an ascending order of a DM-RS sequence index...”)
CHIN in view of Tsai does not explicitly teach when transform precoding is disabled.
QIAN teaches when transform precoding is disabled (QIAN, see at least para. 165-166, “...The user equipment may determine the waveform applied or whether the transform precoding is enabled or not according to some measurement results of the channel. One possible way is that the user equipment may select a synchronization signal block according to the measurement result of the synchronization signal block. At the same time, the user equipment compares a reference signal received power (RSRP) obtained by measuring the synchronization signal block with a pre-configured or predefined first threshold. If the RSRP is greater than the first threshold, the second waveform such as OFDM will be applied, or the transform precoding will not be enabled...”, note that in other words, when transform precoding is disabled, RSRP is greater than a threshold).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate QIAN into the method of CHIN in view of Tsai to effective resource allocations based on measurements.
Claim 86 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHIN in view of Tsai, as applied to claim 79 above, and further in view of Zhou et al. (US 20200314860 A1, hereinafter Zhou)
Regarding claim 86, CHIN in view of Tsai teaches an SSB in the set of SSBs is mapped to a PUSCH resource in the set of PUSCH resources (CHIN, see at least fig. 4).
CHIN in view of Tsai does not explicitly teach according to at least one of the following: an SRS resource index, precoding information, or information on a number of layers
Zhou teaches according to at least one of the following: an SRS resource index, precoding information, or information on a number of layers (Zhou, see at least para. 402, “...the wireless device may transmit an uplink transport block (TB) via the PUSCH resources with a spatial domain transmission filter based on an SRS indicated by the SRS resource indicator. In an example, if a reference signal resource index of the spatial relation information configuration of the SRS comprises an SSB index, the wireless device may transmit the uplink TB with a same spatial domain transmission filter used for reception of an SSB identified by the SSB index...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Zhou into the method of CHIN in view of Tsai to improve transmission robustness, increase uplink spectrum efficiency, reduce uplink interference, etc..
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/20/2026 have been fully considered. Regarding independent claims 79 and 98, since applicant's amendment necessitated new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action, previous Office action's rejections are moot. Accordingly, corresponding dependent claims have also been rejected in this Office action.
Applicant's arguments filed 01/20/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Examiner provides response in following sections.
Regarding independent claim 79, applicant argues that (applicant’s emphasis included, if any):
“Moreover, with respect to Tsai, the Office does not even allege that Tsai teaches "an SSB in the set of SSBs is mapped to a PUSCH resource according to demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration of PUSCH transmission." Instead, the Office merely alleges that Tsai teaches "demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration of PUSCH transmission."
It is for this reason that even if one combined the teachings of Tsai and Chen, one would not arrive at the claimed invention because neither Chen nor Tsai discloses or teaches the critical limitation in question - - i.e., "an SSB in the set of SSBs is mapped to a PUSCH resource according to demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration of PUSCH transmission."
In short, because the combination of Chen and Tsai would not result in the claimed invention, the rejection should be withdrawn for at least this reason.” (Remarks, page 10)
Examiner respectfully disagrees. To be more specific, Tsai in at least para. 124-126 discloses, in part, each consecutive number of N SSB indexes may be mapped to valid CG resource/occasions (e.g., a PUSCH occasion) and associated DM-RS resources. Tsai further in at least para. 139 discloses, in part, CG/PUSCH occasion for a PUSCH transmission may be defined by a time resource and/or a frequency resource and/or may be associated with a DM-RS provided by cg-DMRS-Configuration for the configuration of PUSCH transmissions. Hence, Tsai (or Chin-Tsai) indeed teaches or suggests the argued features of “...an SSB in the set of SSBs is mapped to a PUSCH resource in the set of PUSCH resources according to demodulation reference signal (DMRS) configuration of PUSCH transmission...”, recited in claim 79.
Further, applicant argues that (applicant’s emphasis included, if any):
“Moreover, the Office alleges that combining Chen and Tsai would somehow "improv[e] efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction." (See Office Action at page 10). The Office, however, does not provide any evidence or technical reasoning that supports the Office's assertion that the combination of Chen and Tsai would improve efficiency and reduce overhead. The Office is reminded that Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit states, "[r]ejections on obviousness grounds cannot be sustained by mere conclusory statements " (TQ Delta, LLC V. Cisco Systems, Inc., 942 F.3d 1352, 1359 (Fed. Cir. 2019)).
In this case, the Examiner offers no explanation or evidence as to how combining Chen and Tsai would necessarily lead to improved efficiency and reduced overhead. In short, because a person having ordinary skill in the art would have no motivation to combine Chen and Tsai, the rejection should be withdrawn for at least this further, independent reason.” (Remarks, page 10)
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Tsai in at least para. 311 discloses, in part, CG Resource Overhead Reduction by configure UEs with a SSB resource list (e.g., via SSB set), a CG configuration, and/or the association/mapping between SSBs and CG resources/occasion of the CG configuration. In addition, Tsai discloses that its current disclosure may provide methods to improve the efficiency of CG resource usage. Hence, a person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to incorporate Tsai into CHIN for improving efficiency of CG resource usage and overhead reduction.
Regarding independent claim 98, while no arguments presented, the traversal grounds would have been same or similar as those presented in claim 79 above. Therefore, in view of the response above, examiner also respectfully disagrees and has maintained the rejection as presented.
Accordingly, all pending dependent claims of the independent claims 79, and 98, in view of the response above, the examiner has maintained the rejection as presented and believes all rejections are proper and should be sustained.
Conclusion
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 YEE F LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7577. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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/YEE F LAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465