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 .
1. Claims 1-8 and 11-18 are pending. Claims 9-10 and 19-20 are cancelled.
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.
2. Claim(s) 1-4, 6, 11-14 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiong et al, US 2020/0022175 (as cited in the IDS dated 09/28/2023) hereafter Xiong in view of Hao US 2022/0386337 hereafter Hao and further in view of Cao et al, US 2022/0247525 hereafter Cao.
As for claim 1, Xiong discloses
A method, comprising:
receiving, by a processor of an apparatus, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a first component carrier (CC) (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0034], Receiving the indication may include a scheduling indication within control information in a PDCCH in one CC);
receiving, by the processor, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on the first CC scheduled by the PDCCH (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0034], Receiving the HARQ-ACK feedback being for a data transmission within a PDSCH corresponding to the control information in the PDCCH…[0093]… scheduling information in the form of slot indices in control information of a PDCCH on a first CC, the scheduling information concerning a data transmission of a PDSCH or of a PUSCH in a second CC distinct from and having a different numerology with respect to the first CC.);
determining, by the processor, a second CC to transmit a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) according to a configuration for PUCCH carrier switching (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0135], when a UE is configured with multiple CCs for HARQ-ACK feedback, dynamic CC switching for the transmission of PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback may be employed for cross-carrier HARQ operation. In particular, one field in the DCI or Medium Access Control Element (MAC-CE) may be used to indicate which CC may be used for the transmission of PUCCH carrying HARQ feedback);
determining, by the processor, a slot offset subsequent to the PDSCH reception according to a first numerology of the first CC or a second numerology of the second CC (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0125]-[0126], [0129], a timing difference between the DL data transmission on SCell in one CC and the transmission on another CC of the HARQ-ACK feedback on PCell or PUCCH SCell with different numerologies or TTI durations from SCell may be determined by a combination of higher layer signaling and dynamic indication in the DCI of the PDCCH preceding the DL data transmission on SCell.); and
transmitting, by the processor, the PUCCH corresponding to the PDSCH on the second CC according to the slot offset (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0125], [0129], [0135], [0141], [0194], The HARQ-ACK signal transmitted on the PUCCH (on another/second CC) and associated with the data signal on the PDSCH according to the timing different)
Xiong does not explicitly disclose wherein the first CC and the second CC are configured with the same or different sub-slot PUCCH durations.
However, Hao discloses wherein the first CC and the second CC are configured with the same or different sub-slot PUCCH durations (Hao, Fig. 4, [0108], In some cases, CC1 430 has a larger subcarrier spacing (SCS) than CC2 435, so that the slot duration of CC1 430 is smaller than the slot durations of CC2 435. In some cases, CC1 430 has the same SCS as CC2 435, so that the slots of CC1 430 and CC2 435 may be the same or similar duration.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Xiong with Hao to provide decreased power consumption at a UE (Hao, [0059]).
The combination of Xiong and Hao does not explicitly disclose wherein the PUCCH carrier switching is enabled or disabled in intra-band carrier aggregation (CA) or CA with supplementary uplink (SUL).
However, Cao discloses wherein the PUCCH carrier switching is enabled or disabled in intra-band carrier aggregation (CA) or CA with supplementary uplink (SUL) (Cao, [0049], carrier aggregation (CA) and supplementary uplink (SUL) the current 3GPP standards only support one PUCCH which cannot be dynamically switched between carriers (disabled)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the combination of the teachings of Xiong and Hao with Cao to provide improved utilization of time and frequency resources (Cao, [0005]).
As for claims 2 and 12, Xiong discloses the slot offset is determined also according to a slot or sub-slot partitioning configuration of the first CC or the second CC (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0128], [0131], 30 kHz and 120 kHz subcarrier spacings are used in CC #1 and CC #2).
As for claims 3 and 13, Xiong discloses the PUCCH carrier switching is enabled by a radio resource control (RRC) configuration (Xiong, [0093], The PUCCH is configured by RRC signaling).
As for claims 4 and 14, Xiong discloses the PUCCH carrier switching is enabled per PUCCH cell group (Xiong, [0138], where PUCCH on the PCell is used to carry UCI of PCell and SCells within the primary PUCCH group and PUCCH on PUCCH SCell is used to carry UCI of SCells of the secondary PUCCH group.)
As for claims 6 and 16, Xiong discloses the configuration comprises a data field indicating the second CC to transmit the PUCCH (Xiong, [0034], [0084], a PDSCH numerology at CC #1 may be used to indicate a timing of a HARQ-ACK carried in a PUCCH at CC #2 by indicating the symbols carrying the PUCCH at CC #2 in terms of corresponding symbol #'s in CC #1 (that is, in accordance with the subcarrier spacing of CC #1).
As for claim 11, Xiong discloses
An apparatus, comprising: a transceiver which, during operation, wirelessly communicates with a network node of a wireless network; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver such that, during operation, the processor performs operations comprising:
receiving, by a processor of an apparatus, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a first component carrier (CC) (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0034], Receiving the indication may include a scheduling indication within control information in a PDCCH in one CC);
receiving, by the processor, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on the first CC scheduled by the PDCCH (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0034], Receiving the HARQ-ACK feedback being for a data transmission within a PDSCH corresponding to the control information in the PDCCH…[0093]… scheduling information in the form of slot indices in control information of a PDCCH on a first CC, the scheduling information concerning a data transmission of a PDSCH or of a PUSCH in a second CC distinct from and having a different numerology with respect to the first CC.);
determining, by the processor, a second CC to transmit a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) according to a configuration for PUCCH carrier switching (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0135], when a UE is configured with multiple CCs for HARQ-ACK feedback, dynamic CC switching for the transmission of PUCCH carrying HARQ-ACK feedback may be employed for cross-carrier HARQ operation. In particular, one field in the DCI or Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) may be used to indicate which CC may be used for the transmission of PUCCH carrying HARQ feedback);
determining, by the processor, a slot offset subsequent to the PDSCH reception according to a first numerology of the first CC or a second numerology of the second CC (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0125]-[0126], [0129], a timing difference between the DL data transmission on SCell in one CC and the transmission on another CC of the HARQ-ACK feedback on PCell or PUCCH SCell with different numerologies or TTI durations from SCell may be determined by a combination of higher layer signaling and dynamic indication in the DCI of the PDCCH preceding the DL data transmission on SCell.); and
transmitting, by the processor, the PUCCH corresponding to the PDSCH on the second CC according to the slot offset (Xiong, Fig. 13, Fig. 14, [0125], [0129], [0135], [0141], [0194], The HARQ-ACK signal transmitted on the PUCCH (on another/second CC) and associated with the data signal on the PDSCH according to the timing different)
Xiong does not explicitly disclose wherein the first CC and the second CC are configured with the same or different sub-slot PUCCH durations.
However, Hao discloses wherein the first CC and the second CC are configured with the same or different sub-slot PUCCH durations (Hao, Fig. 4, [0108], In some cases, CC1 430 has a larger subcarrier spacing (SCS) than CC2 435, so that the slot duration of CC1 430 is smaller than the slot durations of CC2 435. In some cases, CC1 430 has the same SCS as CC2 435, so that the slots of CC1 430 and CC2 435 may be the same or similar duration.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Xiong with Hao to provide decreased power consumption at a UE (Hao, [0059]).
The combination of Xiong and Hao does not explicitly disclose wherein the PUCCH carrier switching is enabled or disabled in intra-band carrier aggregation (CA) or CA with supplementary uplink (SUL).
However, Cao discloses wherein the PUCCH carrier switching is enabled or disabled in intra-band carrier aggregation (CA) or CA with supplementary uplink (SUL) (Cao, [0049], carrier aggregation (CA) and supplementary uplink (SUL) the current 3GPP standards only support one PUCCH which cannot be dynamically switched between carriers (disabled)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the combination of the teachings of Xiong and Hao with Cao to provide improved utilization of time and frequency resources (Cao, [0005]).
3. Claim(s) 5, 7-8, 15 and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiong et al, US 2020/0022175 (as cited in the IDS dated 09/28/2023) in view of Hao US 2022/0386337 and further in view of Cao et al, US 2022/0247525 as applied to claims 1 and 11 above, and further in view of Kittichokechai et al, US 2024/0188083 hereafter Kittichokechai.
As for claims 5 and 15, the combination of Xiong, Hao and Cao does not explicitly disclose the configuration is received in a downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1 or 1_2.
However, Kittichokechai discloses the configuration is received in a downlink control information (DCI) format 1_1 or 1_2 ([0198], When dynamic carrier switching is applied for HARQ-ACK such that the HARQ-ACK is to be transmitted on a dynamically-selected carrier c, the “TPC command for scheduled PUCCH” field in the scheduling DCI format is applied to the PUCCH on carrier c. Here the scheduling DCI refers to a DL DCI format that schedules a PDSCH, which is to be acknowledged by the HARQ-ACK. The DL DCI format include at least DCI format 1_1 and 1_2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the combination of the teachings of Xiong, Hao and Cao with Kittichokechai to improve the data rate, latency, and/or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime ([0118).
As for claims 7 and 17, the combination of Xiong, Hao and Cao does not explicitly disclose presence of the data field in the DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 is configured by RRC signaling.
However, Kittichokechai discloses presence of the data field in the DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 is configured by RRC signaling ([0007], [0198], [0217], an activation DCI for indicating one of a plurality of sequences for PUCCH carrier indices to select, the plurality of sequences being configured via radio resource control, RRC, signaling. The wireless device is configured by higher layer signaling to monitor for DCIs in different resources with different periodicities, etc. DCI formats 1_0, 1_1, and 1_2 are used for scheduling DL data. RRC signaling is higher layer signaling.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the combination of the teachings of Xiong, Hao and Cao with Kittichokechai to improve the data rate, latency, and/or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime ([0118).
As for claims 8 and 18, the combination of Xiong, Hao and Cao does not explicitly disclose transmitting semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), and the method further comprises: deferring the transmitting to be performed on another carrier.
However, Kittichokechai discloses transmitting semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), and the method further comprises: deferring the transmitting to be performed on another carrier ([0031]-[0033], [0037], [0041], allowing SPS HARQ-ACK, which would otherwise be dropped, to be deferred to a next available UL slot).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the combination of the teachings of Xiong, Hao and Cao with Kittichokechai to improve the data rate, latency, and/or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime ([0118).
Conclusion
4. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Yi et al, US 2021/0360616 discloses [0123] FIG. 10A shows example CA configurations based on CCs. As shown in FIG. 10A, three types of CA configurations may comprise an intraband (contiguous) configuration 1002, an intraband (non-contiguous) configuration 1004, and/or an interband configuration 1006. [0345] first duration of the first PUCCH resource may be different from a second duration of the second PUCCH resource.
5. 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.
6. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENEE HOLLAND whose telephone number is (571)270-7196. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, IAN MOORE can be reached at (571)272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JENEE HOLLAND
Examiner
Art Unit 2469
/JENEE HOLLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469