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
This action is in response to the application filed on April 13, 2026
Claims 1 – 15,17,18 and 21-23 are under examination.
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 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 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.
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.
Claims 1 – 15,17,18 and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US 2020/0337001 A1) in view of He et al. (US 20230269712-A1).
As per claim 1 Yang teaches an information configuration method, performed by a terminal, comprising:
acquiring at least one of first synchronization signal block (SSB) configuration information or a first system message (Paragraph 0016 a first synchronization signal block (SSB) in a broadband carrier of a first cell, wherein the broadband carrier of the first cell includes multiple SSBs including the first SSB.); and
determining second SSB configuration information based on at least one of the first SSB configuration information or the first system message (Paragraph 0017, 0019 second SSB according to the configuration information, includes: triggering, by the terminal device, to determine the second SSB according to the configuration information, according to the second indication information, the second system information is used for triggering some or all of terminal devices residing on the frequency point of the first SSB to respond to the configuration information, each SSB other than the first SSB in the multiple SSBs; and broadcasting, by the network device, second system information on the first SSB, wherein the second system information includes configuration information indicating the terminal device to stop residing on the frequency point of the first SSB and indicating to reselect an SSB in the multiple SSBs for residing.),
wherein the second SSB configuration information comprises configuration information of one or more second SSB transmission parameters (Paragraph 0008, 0082, 0084 the second SSB according to the configuration information, includes: triggering, by the terminal device, to determine the second SSB according to the configuration information, according to the second indication information. Second indication information included in the paging message, the terminal device may trigger to determine the second SSB according to the configuration information, so that the terminal device can be flexibly controlled to redistribute the load on all SSBs.), and
wherein a first SSB is capable of being monitored by all types of terminals (Paragraph 0012, 0016, 0061 system information broadcast by the network device from the first SSB, the second system information includes configuration information indicating the terminal device to stop residing on the frequency point of the first SSB and to reselect an SSB in the multiple SSBs for residing. Determining, by the terminal device, wherein at least one terminal device resides on a frequency point of a first synchronization signal block (SSB) in a broadband carrier of a first cell, wherein the broadband carrier of the first cell includes multiple SSBs including the first SSB), and
Yang does not explicitly disclose a second SSB is capable of being monitored by a reduced capability (Redcap) terminal
However, He from an analogous art similarly teaches a second SSB is capable of being monitored by a reduced capability (Redcap) terminal (Paragraph 0194, 0195, 0198 Support for reduced capability NR devices, e.g. devices featuring lower-end capabilities for certain features and parameters, has gained importance at least partially in the context of industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearable devices.. The initial downlink/uplink bandwidth part (DL/UL BWP) may be configured up to the entire component carrier (CC) bandwidth, which is larger than the limited (e.g. 20 MHz on frequency range 1; FR1) capability of redcap devices. From the perspective of scheduling complexity and resource utilization it may be beneficial to have the same initial operating DL and UL BWP parameters for redcap UE. A redcap UE to perform initial uplink communications over an Ainitial uplink bandwidth part (BWP) shared with other UEs, with the initial uplink BWP having a higher bandwidth than the BW supported by the redcap UE with respect to the other UEs. Offsets may be configured in a SIB to create a set of respective redcap-specific initial uplink BWPs, based on the maximum BW supported by the device and the different frequency offsets. );
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to include the teaching of He. Because a set of initial uplink BWPs specific to redcap devices may be configured in a SIB, where the respective BWs of the BWPs of the set of initial uplink BWPs are no greater than the maximum BW supported by redcap devices. (See He Paragraph 0010).
As per claim 2 Yang-He teaches the information configuration method according to claim 1, wherein the second SSB configuration information comprises at least one of: a frequency domain resource of a second SSB; a time domain resource of the second SSB; or a beam for transmitting the second SSB (Paragraph 0010, 0084 The second SSB according to the configuration information, includes: stopping, by the terminal device, residing on the frequency point of the first SSB, and randomly selecting the second SSB in the multiple SSBs. ).
As per claim 3 Yang-He teaches the information configuration method according to claim 1, wherein determining the second SSB configuration information based on at least one of the first SSB configuration information or the first system message comprises: determining an offset value relative to a baseline reference frequency domain position based on the first system message, and determining a frequency domain position of a second SSB based on the offset value (Paragraph 0017, 0058, A terminal device resides on the SSB1; RMSI corresponding to the SSB1 includes first indication information indicating a frequency point position of the SSB2 relative to the SSB1, a frequency point position of the SSB3 relative to the SSB1, or indicating absolute frequency point positions of the SSB2 and SSB3. wherein the second system information includes configuration information indicating the terminal device to stop residing on the frequency point of the first SSB and indicating to reselect an SSB in the multiple SSBs for residing. ).
Yang does not explicitly disclose determining an offset value relative to a baseline reference frequency domain position based on the first
However, Lee from an analogous art similarly teaches determining an offset value relative to a baseline reference frequency domain position based on the first (Paragraph 0194, 0195, 0198 Support for reduced capability NR devices, e.g. devices featuring lower-end capabilities for certain features and parameters, has gained importance at least partially in the context of industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearable devices.. The initial downlink/uplink bandwidth part (DL/UL BWP) may be configured up to the entire component carrier (CC) bandwidth, which is larger than the limited (e.g. 20 MHz on frequency range 1; FR1) capability of redcap devices. From the perspective of scheduling complexity and resource utilization it may be beneficial to have the same initial operating DL and UL BWP parameters for redcap UE. A redcap UE to perform initial uplink communications over an> Ainitial uplink bandwidth part (BWP) shared with other UEs, with the initial uplink BWP having a higher bandwidth than the BW supported by the redcap UE with respect to the other UEs. Offsets may be configured in a SIB to create a set of respective redcap-specific initial uplink BWPs, based on the maximum BW supported by the device and the different frequency offsets );
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to include the teaching of He. Because a set of initial uplink BWPs specific to redcap devices may be configured in a SIB, where the respective BWs of the BWPs of the set of initial uplink BWPs are no greater than the maximum BW supported by redcap devices. (See He Paragraph 0010).
As per claim 4 Yang-He teaches the information configuration method according to claim 1, wherein the first system message comprises a frequency domain position of an initial downlink bandwidth part (BWP) corresponding to the second SSB; and determining the second SSB configuration information based on at least one of the first SSB configuration information or the first system message comprises: determining a frequency domain position of the second SSB according to the frequency domain position of the initial downlink BWP (Paragraph 0003, 0006 a second SSB according to the configuration information, and residing on a frequency point of the second SSB according to a frequency point position of the second SSB indicated by the first indication information, wherein the second SSB is any one of the multiple SSBs, the terminal device always transmits data according to the maximum channel bandwidth of low frequency carriers or high frequency carriers, it is bound to cause great energy loss. Therefore, multiple Synchronous Signal Block (SSB) configurations are defined on the entire broadband carrier of the 5G NR broadband cell. After searching for an SSB, the terminal device acquires system broadcast information and resides on the SSB.).
Yang does not explicitly disclose downlink bandwidth part (BWP)
However, He from an analogous art similarly teaches downlink bandwidth part (BWP) (Paragraph 0194, 0195, 0198 Support for reduced capability NR devices, e.g. devices featuring lower-end capabilities for certain features and parameters, has gained importance at least partially in the context of industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearable devices.. The initial downlink/uplink bandwidth part (DL/UL BWP) may be configured up to the entire component carrier (CC) bandwidth, which is larger than the limited (e.g. 20 MHz on frequency range 1; FR1) capability of redcap devices. From the perspective of scheduling complexity and resource utilization it may be beneficial to have the same initial operating DL and UL BWP parameters for redcap UE. A redcap UE to perform initial uplink communications over an> Ainitial uplink bandwidth part (BWP) shared with other UEs, with the initial uplink BWP having a higher bandwidth than the BW supported by the redcap UE with respect to the other UEs. Offsets may be configured in a SIB to create a set of respective redcap-specific initial uplink BWPs, based on the maximum BW supported by the device and the different frequency offsets. );
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to include the teaching of He. Because a set of initial uplink BWPs specific to redcap devices may be configured in a SIB, where the respective BWs of the BWPs of the set of initial uplink BWPs are no greater than the maximum BW supported by redcap devices. (See He Paragraph 0010).
As per claim 5 Yang-He teaches the information configuration method according to claim 1, wherein determining the second SSB configuration information based on at least one of the first SSB configuration information or the first system message comprises: determining a mapping relationship between partial transmission parameters of the second SSB and partial transmission parameters of the first SSB, and determining the partial transmission parameters of the second SSB based on transmission parameters of the first SSB and the mapping relationship (Paragraph 0011, 0024 the second SSB according to the configuration information, includes: the terminal device stops residing on the frequency point of the first SSB and determines the second SSB according to the correspondence relationship. Determining, by the terminal device, the second SSB according to the configuration information, includes: determining, by the terminal device, the second SSB).
Yang does not explicitly disclose downlink bandwidth part (BWP)
However, He from an analogous art similarly teaches downlink bandwidth part (BWP) (Paragraph 0194, 0195, 0198 Support for reduced capability NR devices, e.g. devices featuring lower-end capabilities for certain features and parameters, has gained importance at least partially in the context of industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearable devices.. The initial downlink/uplink bandwidth part (DL/UL BWP) may be configured up to the entire component carrier (CC) bandwidth, which is larger than the limited (e.g. 20 MHz on frequency range 1; FR1) capability of redcap devices. From the perspective of scheduling complexity and resource utilization it may be beneficial to have the same initial operating DL and UL BWP parameters for redcap UE. A redcap UE to perform initial uplink communications over an> Ainitial uplink bandwidth part (BWP) shared with other UEs, with the initial uplink BWP having a higher bandwidth than the BW supported by the redcap UE with respect to the other UEs. Offsets may be configured in a SIB to create a set of respective redcap-specific initial uplink BWPs, based on the maximum BW supported by the device and the different frequency offsets. );
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to include the teaching of He. Because a set of initial uplink BWPs specific to redcap devices may be configured in a SIB, where the respective BWs of the BWPs of the set of initial uplink BWPs are no greater than the maximum BW supported by redcap devices. (See He Paragraph 0010).
As per claim 6 Yang-He teaches the information configuration method according to claim 5, wherein the partial transmission parameters of the second SSB comprises at least one of: a time domain position for transmitting the second SSB; a transmission period of the second SSB; a number of SSBs contained in one SSB burst for the second SSB; or beam information used by the second SSB (Paragraph 0012, 0021 the second SSB according to the configuration information, includes: generating randomly, by the terminal device, a random number, and determining the second SSB according to the random number and the load threshold of each SSB in the multiple SSBs. ).
Yang does not explicitly disclose downlink bandwidth part (BWP)
However, He from an analogous art similarly teaches downlink bandwidth part (BWP) (Paragraph 0194, 0195, 0198 Support for reduced capability NR devices, e.g. devices featuring lower-end capabilities for certain features and parameters, has gained importance at least partially in the context of industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearable devices.. The initial downlink/uplink bandwidth part (DL/UL BWP) may be configured up to the entire component carrier (CC) bandwidth, which is larger than the limited (e.g. 20 MHz on frequency range 1; FR1) capability of redcap devices. From the perspective of scheduling complexity and resource utilization it may be beneficial to have the same initial operating DL and UL BWP parameters for redcap UE. A redcap UE to perform initial uplink communications over an> Ainitial uplink bandwidth part (BWP) shared with other UEs, with the initial uplink BWP having a higher bandwidth than the BW supported by the redcap UE with respect to the other UEs. Offsets may be configured in a SIB to create a set of respective redcap-specific initial uplink BWPs, based on the maximum BW supported by the device and the different frequency offsets. );
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to include the teaching of He. Because a set of initial uplink BWPs specific to redcap devices may be configured in a SIB, where the respective BWs of the BWPs of the set of initial uplink BWPs are no greater than the maximum BW supported by redcap devices. (See He Paragraph 0010).
As per claim 7 Yang-He teaches the information configuration method according to claim 5, wherein the mapping relationship comprises the partial transmission parameters of the second SSB are same as the partial transmission parameters of the first SSB (Paragraph 0013, 0021, 0025 the second SSB according to the configuration information, includes: determining, by the terminal device, the second SSB. ).
Yang does not explicitly disclose downlink bandwidth part (BWP)
However, He from an analogous art similarly teaches downlink bandwidth part (BWP) (Paragraph 0194, 0195, 0198 Support for reduced capability NR devices, e.g. devices featuring lower-end capabilities for certain features and parameters, has gained importance at least partially in the context of industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearable devices.. The initial downlink/uplink bandwidth part (DL/UL BWP) may be configured up to the entire component carrier (CC) bandwidth, which is larger than the limited (e.g. 20 MHz on frequency range 1; FR1) capability of redcap devices. From the perspective of scheduling complexity and resource utilization it may be beneficial to have the same initial operating DL and UL BWP parameters for redcap UE. A redcap UE to perform initial uplink communications over an> Ainitial uplink bandwidth part (BWP) shared with other UEs, with the initial uplink BWP having a higher bandwidth than the BW supported by the redcap UE with respect to the other UEs. Offsets may be configured in a SIB to create a set of respective redcap-specific initial uplink BWPs, based on the maximum BW supported by the device and the different frequency offsets. );
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to include the teaching of He. Because a set of initial uplink BWPs specific to redcap devices may be configured in a SIB, where the respective BWs of the BWPs of the set of initial uplink BWPs are no greater than the maximum BW supported by redcap devices. (See He Paragraph 0010).
As per claim 8 Yang-He teaches the information configuration method according to claim 7, wherein determining the second SSB configuration information based on at least one of the first SSB configuration information or the first system message further comprises: determining, based on the first system message, remaining transmission parameters except the partial transmission parameters determined based on the first SSB configuration information (Paragraph 0026, 0061, 0082 the terminal device acquires second system information broadcast by the network device from the first SSB, the second system information includes configuration information indicating the terminal device to stop residing on the frequency point of the first SSB and to reselect an SSB in the multiple SSBs for residing. ).
Yang does not explicitly disclose downlink bandwidth part (BWP)
However, He from an analogous art similarly teaches downlink bandwidth part (BWP) (Paragraph 0194, 0195, 0198 Support for reduced capability NR devices, e.g. devices featuring lower-end capabilities for certain features and parameters, has gained importance at least partially in the context of industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearable devices.. The initial downlink/uplink bandwidth part (DL/UL BWP) may be configured up to the entire component carrier (CC) bandwidth, which is larger than the limited (e.g. 20 MHz on frequency range 1; FR1) capability of redcap devices. From the perspective of scheduling complexity and resource utilization it may be beneficial to have the same initial operating DL and UL BWP parameters for redcap UE. A redcap UE to perform initial uplink communications over an> Ainitial uplink bandwidth part (BWP) shared with other UEs, with the initial uplink BWP having a higher bandwidth than the BW supported by the redcap UE with respect to the other UEs. Offsets may be configured in a SIB to create a set of respective redcap-specific initial uplink BWPs, based on the maximum BW supported by the device and the different frequency offsets. );
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to include the teaching of He. Because a set of initial uplink BWPs specific to redcap devices may be configured in a SIB, where the respective BWs of the BWPs of the set of initial uplink BWPs are no greater than the maximum BW supported by redcap devices. (See He Paragraph 0010).
As per claim 9 Yang-He teaches the information configuration method according to claim 1, wherein determining the second SSB configuration information based on at least one of the first SSB configuration information or the first system message comprises: acquiring an initial downlink bandwidth part (BWP) corresponding to a second SSB based on the first system message; acquiring a second system message within the initial downlink BWP; and determining the second SSB configuration information based on the second system message (Paragraph 0091, 0106 determines the second SSB according to the configuration information, the communication unit 410 is further configured to acquire a paging message sent by the network device from the first SSB, wherein the paging message includes second indication information for triggering the terminal device to respond to the configuration information, the network device sends a paging message to the terminal device on the first SSB, wherein the paging message includes second indication information for triggering a first terminal device to respond to the configuration information, and the first terminal device belongs to the at least one terminal device ).
Yang does not explicitly disclose downlink bandwidth part (BWP)
However, He from an analogous art similarly teaches downlink bandwidth part (BWP) (Paragraph 0194, 0195, 0198 Support for reduced capability NR devices, e.g. devices featuring lower-end capabilities for certain features and parameters, has gained importance at least partially in the context of industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance, and wearable devices.. The initial downlink/uplink bandwidth part (DL/UL BWP) may be configured up to the entire component carrier (CC) bandwidth, which is larger than the limited (e.g. 20 MHz on frequency range 1; FR1) capability of redcap devices. From the perspective of scheduling complexity and resource utilization it may be beneficial to have the same initial operating DL and UL BWP parameters for redcap UE. A redcap UE to perform initial uplink communications over an> Ainitial uplink bandwidth part (BWP) shared with other UEs, with the initial uplink BWP having a higher bandwidth than the BW supported by the redcap UE with respect to the other UEs. Offsets may be configured in a SIB to create a set of respective redcap-specific initial uplink BWPs, based on the maximum BW supported by the device and the different frequency offsets. );
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yang to include the teaching of He. Because a set of initial uplink BWPs specific to redcap devices may be configured in a SIB, where the respective BWs of the BWPs of the set of initial uplink BWPs are no greater than the maximum BW supported by redcap devices. (See He Paragraph 0010).
Claims 10 – 15,17,18 and 21-23 are the configuration method claims corresponding to the method claims 1 – 9 that have been rejected above. Applicant attention is directed to the rejection of claims 1 – 9. Claims 10 – 15,17,18 and 21-23 are rejected under the same rational as claims 10 – 12.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended claims 1, 10 and 21 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Examiner’s Note
Examiner is open for discussion if the applicant’s representative need further clarifications.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL
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.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Asad Nawaz can be reached on 571-272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SYED ALI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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