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
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 9-10, 12 and 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yu et al., WO 2021/018051 A1 (Yu, hereinafter).
Here is how the reference teaches the claims.
Regarding claim 1, Yu discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) configured to communicate via a non-terrestrial network (Yu, paragraph [0006], the UE operating in an access network of the GEO satellite may experience a one-way propagation time up to 270 ms. With an access network of the LEO satellite with 600 km orbit, the one-way propagation delay changes continuously between 2 ms and 7 ms … for latency-sensitive applications/services, a mechanism to disable the HARQ operation ( or called HARQ-less operation) is provided. Also see paragraph [0003], Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) refer to networks, or segments of networks, using an airborne or spaceborne vehicle for transmission, and was studied in 3GPP since Rel-16 timeline. Spaceborne vehicles are referred to as satellites, including Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites, Medium Earth Orbiting (MEO) satellites, Geostationary Earth Orbiting (GEO) satellites as well as Highly Elliptical Orbiting (HEO) satellites), the method comprising:
receiving, from a network node (Yu, paragraph [0009], The method comprises receiving
a dynamic scheduling configuration for HARQ feedback operation, from a base station), a signalling including information indicating whether Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback is required for a set of occasions for candidate Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) receptions corresponding to the signalling (Yu, paragraph [0009], receiving, from the base station, a scheduling signaling for a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception with a first HARQ state feedback for the first PDSCH reception being disabled, and generating a HARQ codebook excluding the first HARQ state for the first PDSCH reception, for the HARQ feedback operation); and
transmitting or omitting the HARQ feedback for the set of the occasions based on the information (Yu, paragraph [0011], receiving a dynamic scheduling configuration for HARQ feedback operation, from a base station, receiving, from the base station, a scheduling signaling for a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception with a first HARQ state feedback for the first PDSCH reception being disabled, and generating a HARQ codebook excluding the first HARQ state for the first PDSCH reception, for the HARQ feedback operation).
Regarding claim 2, Yu discloses wherein the information is included in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) (Yu, paragraph [0030], To control HARQ operation dynamically, physical layer signaling (e.g., DCI/PDCCH) may be used where a UE is indicated to perform HARQ-less operation for PDSCH transmission(s) corresponding to the physical layer signaling).
Regarding claim 4, Yu discloses wherein the information is included in a Medium Access Control (MAC) header (Yu, paragraph [0089], Method I: semi-static HARQ codebook does not support per-transmission indication of HARQ-less operation. In one example, if a HARQ codebook is configured as semi-static HARQ codebook and the UE receives the HARQ-less PDSCH reception via a DCI or MAC CE, the UE may automatically change the semi-static HARQ codebook to the dynamic HARQ codebook).
Regarding claim 9, Yu discloses a method performed by a network node configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) via a non-terrestrial network (Yu, paragraph [0006], the UE operating in an access network of the GEO satellite may experience a one-way propagation time up to 270 ms. With an access network of the LEO satellite with 600 km orbit, the one-way propagation delay changes continuously between 2 ms and 7 ms … for latency-sensitive applications/services, a mechanism to disable the HARQ operation ( or called HARQ-less operation) is provided. Also see paragraph [0004], According to the 3GPP Rel-16 NTN Study Item scope, evaluative works may focus on the service link (e.g., radio link between a satellite and a user equipment (UE)) design, aiming for identifying potential impacts and required enhancements on a design baseline of the terrestrial network (TN)), the method comprising:
transmitting, to the UE (Yu, paragraph [0009], The method comprises receiving
a dynamic scheduling configuration for HARQ feedback operation, from a base station), a signalling including information indicating whether Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback is required for a set of occasions for candidate Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions corresponding to the signalling (Yu, paragraph [0009], receiving, from the base station, a scheduling signaling for a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception with a first HARQ state feedback for the first PDSCH reception being disabled, and generating a HARQ codebook excluding the first HARQ state for the first PDSCH reception, for the HARQ feedback operation); and
receiving or omitting the HARQ feedback for the set of the occasions based on the information (Yu, paragraph [0011], receiving a dynamic scheduling configuration for HARQ feedback operation, from a base station, receiving, from the base station, a scheduling signaling for a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception with a first HARQ state feedback for the first PDSCH reception being disabled, and generating a HARQ codebook excluding the first HARQ state for the first PDSCH reception, for the HARQ feedback operation).
Regarding claim 10, Yu discloses wherein the information is included in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) (Yu, paragraph [0030], To control HARQ operation dynamically, physical layer signaling (e.g., DCI/PDCCH) may be used where a UE is indicated to perform HARQ-less operation for PDSCH transmission(s) corresponding to the physical layer signaling).
Regarding claim 12, Yu discloses wherein the information is included in a Medium Access Control (MAC) header (Yu, paragraph [0089], Method I: semi-static HARQ codebook does not support per-transmission indication of HARQ-less operation. In one example, if a HARQ codebook is configured as semi-static HARQ codebook and the UE receives the HARQ-less PDSCH reception via a DCI or MAC CE, the UE may automatically change the semi-static HARQ codebook to the dynamic HARQ codebook).
Regarding claim 15, Yu discloses wherein the network node includes a base station or a gateway (Yu, paragraph [0023], A radio communication network architecture (e.g., a long term evolution (LTE) system, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, an LTE-A Pro system, or an New Radio (NR) system typically includes at least one base station (BS), at least one UE, and one or more optional network elements that provide connection with a network).
Regarding claim 16, Yu discloses wherein the information indicates that only disabled HARQ processes are used for transmission during each occasion for the occasions (Yu, paragraph [0032], In action 102, the UE receives a dynamic scheduling configuration for HARQ feedback operation, from the BS. In action 104, the UE receives a scheduling signaling indicating a PDSCH reception with a HARQ state feedback being disabled, from the BS).
Regarding claim 17, Yu discloses a user equipment (UE) configured to communicate via a non-terrestrial network (Yu, Fig. 1 and paragraph [0061], the UE operating in an access network of the GEO satellite may experience a one-way propagation time up to 270 ms. With an access network of the LEO satellite with 600 km orbit, the one-way propagation delay changes continuously between 2 ms and 7 ms … for latency-sensitive applications/services, a mechanism to disable the HARQ operation ( or called HARQ-less operation) is provided. Also see paragraph [0003], Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) refer to networks, or segments of networks, using an airborne or spaceborne vehicle for transmission, and was studied in 3GPP since Rel-16 timeline. Spaceborne vehicles are referred to as satellites, including Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites, Medium Earth Orbiting (MEO) satellites, Geostationary Earth Orbiting (GEO) satellites as well as Highly Elliptical Orbiting (HEO) satellites), the UE comprising:
a memory storing instructions (Yu, Fig. 2 and paragraph [0095], As illustrated in FIG. 2, the node 200 may include a transceiver 220, a processor 226, memory 228, one or more presentation components 234, and at least one antenna 236); and
at least one processor configured to process the instructions (Yu, paragraph [0099], As illustrated in FIG. 2, the memory 228 may store computer-readable, computer-executable instructions 232 (e.g., software codes) that are configured to cause the processor 226 (e.g., processing circuitry) to perform various disclosed functions) to:
receive, from a network node (Yu, paragraph [0009], The method comprises receiving
a dynamic scheduling configuration for HARQ feedback operation, from a base station), a signalling including information indicating whether Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback is required for a set of occasions for candidate Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) receptions corresponding to the signalling (Yu, paragraph [0009], receiving, from the base station, a scheduling signaling for a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception with a first HARQ state feedback for the first PDSCH reception being disabled, and generating a HARQ codebook excluding the first HARQ state for the first PDSCH reception, for the HARQ feedback operation); and
transmit or omit the HARQ feedback for the set of the occasions based on the information (Yu, paragraph [0011], receiving a dynamic scheduling configuration for HARQ feedback operation, from a base station, receiving, from the base station, a scheduling signaling for a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception with a first HARQ state feedback for the first PDSCH reception being disabled, and generating a HARQ codebook excluding the first HARQ state for the first PDSCH reception, for the HARQ feedback operation).
Regarding claim 18, Yu discloses a network node configured to communicate with a user equipment (UE) via a non-terrestrial network (Yu, paragraph [0006], the UE operating in an access network of the GEO satellite may experience a one-way propagation time up to 270 ms. With an access network of the LEO satellite with 600 km orbit, the one-way propagation delay changes continuously between 2 ms and 7 ms … for latency-sensitive applications/services, a mechanism to disable the HARQ operation ( or called HARQ-less operation) is provided. Also see paragraph [0004], According to the 3GPP Rel-16 NTN Study Item scope, evaluative works may focus on the service link (e.g., radio link between a satellite and a user equipment (UE)) design, aiming for identifying potential impacts and required enhancements on a design baseline of the terrestrial network (TN)), the network node comprising:
a memory storing instructions (Yu, paragraph [0021], The software implementation may comprise computer executable instructions stored on computer readable medium such as memory or other type of storage devices); and
at least one processor configured to process the instructions (Yu, paragraph [0012], The BS comprises a processor, for executing computer-executable instructions, and a non-transitory machine-readable medium, coupled to the processor, for storing the computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions instruct the processor to transmit a dynamic scheduling configuration for a HARQ feedback, to a user equipment (UE)) to:
transmit, to the UE (Yu, paragraph [0009], The method comprises receiving
a dynamic scheduling configuration for HARQ feedback operation, from a base station), a signalling including information indicating whether Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) feedback is required for a set of occasions for candidate Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions corresponding to the signalling (Yu, paragraph [0009], receiving, from the base station, a scheduling signaling for a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception with a first HARQ state feedback for the first PDSCH reception being disabled, and generating a HARQ codebook excluding the first HARQ state for the first PDSCH reception, for the HARQ feedback operation); and receive or omit the HARQ feedback for the set of the occasions based on the information (Yu, paragraph [0011], receiving a dynamic scheduling configuration for HARQ feedback operation, from a base station, receiving, from the base station, a scheduling signaling for a first physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception with a first HARQ state feedback for the first PDSCH reception being disabled, and generating a HARQ codebook excluding the first HARQ state for the first PDSCH reception, for the HARQ feedback operation).
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 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.
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.
Claim(s) 3 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al., WO 2021/018051 A1 (Yu, hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of disclosed prior art Si et al., US 2021/0029679 A1 (Si hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 3 and 11, Yu discloses the method according to claim 2 and the method according to claim 10. Yu, does not explicitly disclose wherein the information is included in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) Resource Indicator (PRI) field of the DCI. In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Si discloses a method related to managing HARQ feedback for downlink synchronization that comprises wherein the information is included in a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) Resource Indicator (PRI) field of the DCI (Si, paragraph [0184], For yet another example, a value ( e.g. a reserved value) of an existing field of PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI format can be utilized to indicate a HARQ feedback is disabled (e.g. by setting the field to a non-numerical value)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yu by using the features, as taught by Si, in order to meet the high growth in mobile data traffic and support new applications and deployments, and improvements in radio interface efficiency (see Si, abstract and paragraph [0003]).
Claim(s) 5 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al., WO 2021/018051 A1 (Yu, hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Ye et al., US 2022/0109529 A1 (Ye hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 5 and 13, Yu discloses the method according to claim 1 and the method according to claim 9. Yu, does not explicitly disclose wherein the HARQ feedback includes a Type-1 HARQ feedback. In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Ye discloses a method related to HARQ information disabling in a communication system that comprises wherein the HARQ feedback includes a Type-1 HARQ feedback (Ye, paragraph [0075], A Type-I HARQ-ACK codebook that considers all possible PDSCH receptions that can have corresponding HARQACK information multiplexed in a same PUCCH transmission would include HARQ-ACK information for HARQ processes with disabled HARQ-ACK information reporting).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yu by using the features, as taught by Ye, in order to support new radio access technology (RAT) to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements (see Ye, abstract and paragraph [0003]).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al., WO 2021/018051 A1 (Yu, hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Ye et al., US 2022/0029733 A1 (Ye’733 hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claim 6, Yu discloses the method according to claim 1. Yu, does not explicitly disclose wherein in a case where the information indicates that the HARQ feedback is not required for the set of the occasions, the omitting the HARQ feedback for the set of the occasions is performed. In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Ye’733 discloses a method related to a wireless communication system with large propagation delay that comprises wherein in a case where the information indicates that the HARQ feedback is not required for the set of the occasions (Ye’733, paragraph [0202], In one example, HARQ disabling refers to the disabling of HARQ-ACK feedback for the PDSCH … When HARQ is disabled, the UE may receive another PDSCH ( distinct from a prior PDSCH) for a given HARQ process without the need to wait after the end of the transmission of HARQ-ACK feedback for that HARQ process), the omitting the HARQ feedback for the set of the occasions is performed (Ye’733, paragraph [0202], In one example, UE can skip the transmission of HARQ-ACK feedback for that HARQ process if HARQ is disabled).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yu by using the features, as taught by Ye’733, in order to support deployment of 5G communication systems, 6G communications systems, or communications using terahertz (THz) bands (see Ye’733, paragraphs [0002] and [0005]).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al., WO 2021/018051 A1 (Yu, hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of disclosed prior art Khan et al., WO 2021/024121 A1 (Khan hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claim 7, Yu discloses the method according to claim 1. Yu, does not explicitly disclose further comprising:
detecting a missed Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) or a missed DCI; and
ignoring the missed DTX or the missed DCI in a case where the information indicates that the HARQ feedback is not required for the set of the occasions. In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Khan discloses a method related to a wireless device that comprises further comprising:
detecting a missed Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) or a missed DCI (Khan, page 28, line 18, Still other embodiments herein concern efficient use of unused DCI fields); and
ignoring the missed DTX or the missed DCI in a case where the information indicates that the HARQ feedback is not required for the set of the occasions (Khan, page 28. Lines 18-22, When a PDSCH corresponding to a Feedback-less HARQ process is scheduled by a DCI, one or more DCI fields may not be useful. For instance, since there is no ACK/NACK feedback for a PDSCH corresponding to a feedback-less HARQ process, DCI fields such as DAI, RV (redundancy version), PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing, and PRI are not useful).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yu by using the features, as taught by Khan, in order to support techniques for improving error control procedures (e.g., hybrid ARQ) for data transmissions, such as in non-terrestrial networks where such transmissions can experience relatively long propagation delays (see Khan, abstract and page 1, lines 5-7).
Claim(s) 8 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al., WO 2021/018051 A1 (Yu, hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Cheng et al., US 2021/0105761 A1 (Cheng hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 8 and 14, Yu discloses the method according to claim 1 and the method according to claim 9. Yu, does not explicitly disclose wherein in a case where the UE is configured to communicate using a Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS), the method further comprises:
in a case where the information indicates that the HARQ feedback is not required for at least one of the set of the occasions included in a slot having a slot index, transmitting HARQ feedback for SPS transmission in a slot having the slot index. In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Cheng discloses a wireless communication system that comprises wherein in a case where the UE is configured to communicate using a Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) (Cheng, paragraph [0127], If the UE detects a DCI format 1_0 or a DCI format 1_1 scheduling a PDSCH reception), the method further comprises:
in a case where the information indicates that the HARQ feedback is not required for at least one of the set of the occasions included in a slot having a slot index, transmitting HARQ feedback for SPS transmission in a slot having the slot index (Cheng, paragraph [0127], If the UE detects a DCI format 1_0 or a DCI format 1_1 scheduling a PDSCH reception ending in slot n or if the UE detects a DCI format 1_0 indicating an SPS PDSCH release through a PDCCH reception ending in slot n, the UE provides corresponding HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH transmission within slot n'+k+Koffeet, where k is a number of slots and is indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field in the DCI format, if present, or provided by dl-DataToUL-ACK).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Yu by using the features, as taught by Cheng, in order to support transmission timing enhancement for different numerologies in Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) (see Cheng, paragraph [0002]).
Conclusion
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/OBAIDUL HUQ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473 Dated: 10/15/2025