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 .
Response to Amendment
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant’s submission of amendment with remarks/arguments, dated December 9, 2025. Claims 1-11 and 15 have been amended.
Upon entering the amendment, claims 1-11 and 15 remain pending. This communication is considered fully responsive and sets forth below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office Action.
4. Claims 1-8, 11, and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2022/0159568) in view of Moon et al. (US 2025/0081288).
Regarding claim 1, Kim et al. teach the method comprising:
receiving, by a user equipment (UE), from a base station, configuration information related to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration and configuration information for a specific duration (paragraphs [0152] lines 1-13, [0152] lines 1-2 & [0168] lines 1-2; Examiner’s Notes: UE, e.g., UE 701 depicted in FIG. 7 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “user equipment (UE);”
base station, e.g., gNB 700 depicted in FIG. 7 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “a base station;”
the time parameter/interval regards to the time domain resource allocation in the prior art teaches the limitation of “a specific duration;”
in fact, receiving, by UE 701, from gNB 700, assistance information, e.g., SPS configuration information and the configuration information for the time parameter/interval, as illustrated in step 702 in FIG. 7 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “receiving, by a user equipment (UE), from a base station, configuration information related to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration and configuration information for a specific duration” in the instant application);
receiving, by the UE, from the base station, downlink control information for activating the SPS configuration (paragraph [0213] lines 1-7; Examiner’s Notes: the DCI regards to activating/scheduling SPS configurations/transmission in the prior art teaches the limitation of “downlink control information (DCI) for activating the SPS configuration;”
in fact, receiving, by UE 701, from base station, e.g., gNB 700 in FIG. 7, the DCI regards to activating/scheduling SPS configuration/transmission in the prior art teaches the limitation of “receiving, by the UE, from the base station, downlink control information for activating the SPS configuration” in the instant application); and
based on an indication related to the specific duration included in downlink control information from the base station, receiving, by the UE, from the base station, an SPS PDSCH only in the specific duration (paragraph [0201] lines 1-20; Examiner’s Notes: the time interval operating in the active mode 801 depicted in FIG. 8 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “the specific duration;”
in fact, receiving the SPS PDSCH in time interval operating in the active mode 801, according to the time interval indicated in the DCI from the gNB/base station as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “based on an indication related to the specific duration included in downlink control information from the base station, receiving, by the UE, from the base station, an SPS PDSCH only in the specific duration” in the instant application),
Kim et al. teach the method without explicitly teaching wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE.
Moon et al. from the same or similar field of endeavor teach implementing fairness of the method, wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE (paragraph [0212] lines 1-18; Examiner’s Notes: the base station determining whether or not to transmit the PDSCH in the SPS PDSCH resource in the prior art teaches the limitation of “the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE;”
In fact, the base station determining not to transmit the PDSCH in the SPS PDSCH resource in the period outside the active time in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE” in the instant application).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in art to implement the method of Moon et al. in the system of Kim et al.
The motivation for implementing wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE, is to further enhance the mechanism of a method for transmitting/receiving a control channel for sensitive traffic, wherein a terminal receives DRX configuration information from a base station, confirms a DRX active time and a DRX inactive time on the basis of the DRX configuration information, and receives a downlink signal set from the base station in the DRX active time.
Regarding claim 2, Kim et al. further teach the method, wherein the configuration information related to the specific duration includes a start time of the specific duration (paragraph [0201] lines 1-20; Examiner’s Notes: the time information, e.g., the time interval operating in the active mode, including the beginning time and the duration of the active mode 801 as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the configuration information related to the specific duration includes a start time of the specific duration” in the instant application).
Regarding claim 3, Kim et al. further teach the method, wherein the specific duration is configured periodically (paragraph [0200] lines 1-6; Examiner’s Notes: repeating the time interval operating in the active mode 801 at a specific periodicity 804 as illustrated in FIG. 8 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the specific interval is configured periodically” in the instant application).
Regarding claim 4, Kim et al. further teach the method, wherein the configuration information related to the specific duration is transmitted through radio resource control (RRC) signaling (paragraph [0206] lines 1-15; Examiner’s Notes: transmitting, through RRC signaling, the configuration indicating operation information, e.g., active time duration for active mode 801 illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the configuration information related to the specific duration is transmitted through radio resource control (RRC) signaling” in the instant application).
Regarding claim 5, Kim et al. further teach the method, wherein the configuration information related to the specific duration is valid only for a predetermined time duration immediately after the configuration information related to the specific duration is received or immediately after an acknowledgment (ACK) related to the information on the specific duration is transmitted (paragraph [0200] lines 1-6; Examiner’s Notes: the time interval operating in the active mode 801 depicted in FIG. 8 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “a predetermined time duration;”
in fact, the specific time interval information indicating/activating the time interval operating in the active mode 801 after receiving the time interval information as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the configuration information related to the specific duration is valid only for a predetermined time duration immediately after the configuration information related to the specific duration is received” in the instant application;
consequently, the specific time interval information indicating/activating the time interval operating in the active mode 801 after receiving the time interval information as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the configuration information related to the specific duration is valid only for a predetermined time duration immediately after the configuration information related to the specific duration is received or immediately after an acknowledgment (ACK) related to the information on the specific duration is transmitted” in the instant application as well).
Regarding claim 6, Kim et al. further teach the method, wherein the specific duration is not included in discontinuous reception (DRX) active time (paragraphs [0162] lines 1-4 & [0201] lines 1-20; Examiner’s Notes: the DRX time, e.g., activity/onDuration time, not including the time interval operating in the active mode 801 as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the specific duration is not included in discontinuous reception (DRX) active time” in the instant application).
Regarding claim 7, Kim et al. further teach the method, wherein the SPS PDSCH is received only from an SPS PDSCH resource for the SPS configuration included in the DRX active time (paragraphs [0162] lines 1-4 & [0201] lines 9-20; Examiner’s Notes: receiving the SPS PDSCH regards to the resource included in the DRX activity/onDuration time, e.g., the time interval operating in active mode 801, as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the SPS PDSCH is received only from an SPS PDSCH resource for the SPS configuration included in the DRX active time” in the instant application).
Regarding claim 8, Kim et al. further teach the method, wherein the first SPS PDSCH resource of every SPS period for the SPS configuration is always included in the DRX active time (paragraphs [0162] lines 1-4 & [0201] lines 1-20; Examiner’s Notes: the time interval operating in active mode 801 in periodicity 804, as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “every SPS period;”
In fact, the DRX active time indicating/including each time interval operating in active mode 801 in periodicity 804 regards to the SPS PDSCH resource/configurations, as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the first SPS PDSCH resource of every SPS period for the SPS configuration is always included in the DRX active time” in the instant application).
Regarding claim 11, Kim et al. teach the user equipment (UE) (paragraphs [0185] lines 1-4 & [0224] lines 1-10; Examiner’s Notes: both UE 701 depicted in FIG. 7 and UE in FIG. 10 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “user equipment (UE)” in the instant application), the UE comprising:
at least one transceiver for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal (paragraph [0224] lines 1-10; Examiner’s Notes: transceiver 1001 in UE in FIG. 10 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “one transceiver” in the instant application); and
at least one processor for controlling the at least one transceiver (paragraph [0224] lines 1-10; Examiner’s Notes: processor 1003 in UE in FIG. 10 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “one processor” in the instant application), wherein the at least one processor configured to:
receive, from a base station, configuration information related to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration and configuration information for a specific duration (paragraphs [0152] lines 1-13, [0152] lines 1-2 & [0168] lines 1-2; Examiner’s Notes: UE, e.g., UE 701 depicted in FIG. 7 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “user equipment (UE);”
base station, e.g., gNB 700 depicted in FIG. 7 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “a base station;”
the time parameter/interval regards to the time domain resource allocation in the prior art teaches the limitation of “a specific duration;”
in fact, receiving, by UE 701, from gNB 700, assistance information, e.g., SPS configuration information and the configuration information for the time parameter/interval, as illustrated in step 702 in FIG. 7 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “receive, from a base station, configuration information related to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration and configuration information for a specific duration” in the instant application);
receive, from the base station, downlink control information for activating the SPS configuration (paragraph [0213] lines 1-7; Examiner’s Notes: the DCI regards to activating/scheduling SPS configurations/transmission in the prior art teaches the limitation of “downlink control information (DCI) for activating the SPS configuration;”
in fact, receiving, by UE 701, from base station, e.g., gNB 700 in FIG. 7, the DCI regards to activating/scheduling SPS configuration/transmission in the prior art teaches the limitation of “receive, from the base station, downlink control information for activating the SPS configuration” in the instant application); and
based on an indication related to the specific duration included in downlink control information from the base station, receive, from the base station, an SPS PDSCH only in the specific duration (paragraph [0201] lines 1-20; Examiner’s Notes: the time interval operating in the active mode 801 depicted in FIG. 8 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “the specific duration;”
in fact, receiving the SPS PDSCH in time interval operating in the active mode 801, according to the time interval indicated in the DCI from the gNB/base station as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “based on an indication related to the specific duration included in downlink control information from the base station, receive, from the base station, an SPS PDSCH only in the specific duration” in the instant application),
Kim et al. teach the UE without explicitly teaching wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE.
Moon et al. from the same or similar field of endeavor teach implementing fairness of the method, wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE (paragraph [0212] lines 1-18; Examiner’s Notes: the base station determining whether or not to transmit the PDSCH in the SPS PDSCH resource in the prior art teaches the limitation of “the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE;”
In fact, the base station determining not to transmit the PDSCH in the SPS PDSCH resource in the period outside the active time in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE” in the instant application).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in art to implement the method of Moon et al. in the system of Kim et al.
The motivation for implementing wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE, is to further enhance the mechanism of a method for transmitting/receiving a control channel for sensitive traffic, wherein a terminal receives DRX configuration information from a base station, confirms a DRX active time and a DRX inactive time on the basis of the DRX configuration information, and receives a downlink signal set from the base station in the DRX active time.
Regarding claim 15, Kim et al. teach the base station (paragraphs [0185] lines 1-4 & [0228] lines 1-10; Examiner’s Notes: both base station 700 depicted in FIG. 7 and base station in FIG. 11 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “base station” in the instant application), the base station comprising:
at least one transceiver for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal (paragraph [0228] lines 1-10; Examiner’s Notes: transceiver 1101 in UE in FIG. 11 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “one transceiver” in the instant application); and
at least one processor for controlling the at least one transceiver (paragraph [0228] lines 1-10; Examiner’s Notes: processor 1103 in UE in FIG. 11 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “one processor” in the instant application), wherein the at least one processor configured to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), configuration information related to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration and configuration information for a specific duration (paragraphs [0152] lines 1-13, [0152] lines 1-2 & [0168] lines 1-2; Examiner’s Notes: UE, e.g., UE 701 depicted in FIG. 7 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “user equipment (UE);”
base station, e.g., gNB 700 depicted in FIG. 7 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “a base station;”
the time parameter/interval regards to the time domain resource allocation in the prior art teaches the limitation of “a specific duration;”
in fact, receiving, by UE 701, from gNB 700, assistance information, e.g., SPS configuration information and the configuration information for the time parameter/interval, as illustrated in step 702 in FIG. 7 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “transmit, to a user equipment (UE), configuration information related to semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration and configuration information for a specific duration” in the instant application);
transmit, to the UE, downlink control information for activating the SPS configuration (paragraph [0213] lines 1-7; Examiner’s Notes: the DCI regards to activating/scheduling SPS configurations/transmission in the prior art teaches the limitation of “downlink control information for activating the SPS configuration;”
in fact, transmit, to the UE, e.g., UE 701 in FIG. 7, the DCI regards to activating/scheduling SPS configurations/transmission in the prior art teaches the limitation of “transmit, to the UE, downlink control information for activating the SPS configuration” in the instant application); and
based on an indication related to the specific duration included in downlink control information to the UE, transmit, to the UE, an SPS PDSCH only in the specific duration (paragraph [0201] lines 1-20; Examiner’s Notes: the time interval operating in the active mode 801 depicted in FIG. 8 of the prior art teaches the limitation of “the specific duration;”
in fact, transmitting the SPS PDSCH in time interval operating in the active mode 801, according to the time interval indicated in the DCI from the gNB/base station as illustrated in FIG. 8 in the prior art teaches the limitation of “based on an indication related to the specific duration included in downlink control information from the base station, receive, from the base station, an SPS PDSCH only in the specific duration” in the instant application),
Kim et al. teach the method without explicitly teaching wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE.
Moon et al. from the same or similar field of endeavor teach implementing fairness of the method, wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE (paragraph [0212] lines 1-18; Examiner’s Notes: the base station determining whether or not to transmit the PDSCH in the SPS PDSCH resource in the prior art teaches the limitation of “the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE;”
In fact, the base station determining not to transmit the PDSCH in the SPS PDSCH resource in the period outside the active time in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE” in the instant application).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in art to implement the method of Moon et al. in the system of Kim et al.
The motivation for implementing wherein while outside of the specific duration the base station will not transmit SPS PDSCH to the UE, is to further enhance the mechanism of a method for transmitting/receiving a control channel for sensitive traffic, wherein a terminal receives DRX configuration information from a base station, confirms a DRX active time and a DRX inactive time on the basis of the DRX configuration information, and receives a downlink signal set from the base station in the DRX active time.
5. Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2022/0159568) in view of Moon et al. (US 2025/0081288) as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Bagheri et al. (US 2024/0381373).
Regarding claim 9, Kim et al. teach the method, wherein a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information is allocated for each of the one or more SPS configurations (paragraph [0201] lines 1-20; Examiner’s Notes: the HARQ-ACK information/transmission in the prior art teaches the limitation of “hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information;”
in fact, allocating/scheduling the PDCCH resource for the HARQ-ACK information/transmission regards to the SPS configurations in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-acknowledgement (ACK) information is allocated for each of the one or more SPS configurations” in the instant application).
Kim et al. and Moon et al. teach the method without explicitly teaching transmitting the HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH resources included in the DRX active time.
Bagheri et al. from the same or similar field of endeavor teach implementing fairness of the method, wherein the HARQ-ACK information is transmitted only in a PUCCH resources included in the DRX active time (paragraph [0056] lines 1-17; Examiner’s Notes: the DRX active time regards to the PDCCH transmission/resources in the prior art teaches the limitation of “a PUCCH resources included in the DRX active time;”
In fact, transmitting the HARQ-ACK in the PDCCH resources in the DRX active time in the prior art teaches the limitation of “wherein the HARQ-ACK information is transmitted only in a PUCCH resources included in the DRX active time” in the instant application).
Thus, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in art to implement the method of Bagheri et al. in the system of Kim et al. and Moon et al.
The motivation for implementing transmitting the HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH resources included in the DRX active time, is to further enhance the mechanism of a method for determining a resource based on a resource assignment, wherein the method includes receiving, at a UE, a first DL transmission in a first resource, in response to receiving the first DL transmission, determining: a second resource based on a first DCI that assigns resources for the first DL transmission, a cut-off time, wherein a set of DL transmissions determined prior to the cut-off time and after the first DL transmission are considered elements of a set of potential subsequent DL occasions, and a third resource for transmitting an acknowledgment corresponding to the first DL transmission based on the second resource and the set of potential subsequent DL occasions, and the method includes transmitting the acknowledgment in the third resource.
. Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claim 10 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim 1, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claim(s).
Regarding claim 10, the prior art in single or in combination fails to teach "wherein HARQ-ACK information for a PUCCH resource not included in the DRX active time is multiplexed and transmitted in a next available PUCCH resource” in combination with other limitation of the claim(s).
Response to Remarks/Arguments
7. Claim 112(b) Rejection: Applicants amended the claim limitations that obviate the basis of the previous rejection. Therefore, the previous rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) is withdrawn.
8. Claims Art Rejections: Applicants’ amendment with arguments filed December 9, 2025 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Conclusion
9. 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 extension fee 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 WEI ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)270-5672. The examiner can normally be reached from 8:00AM to 5:00PM Monday through Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor JAE Y. LEE can be reached on 57127231826. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WEI ZHAO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473