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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-12, 14-16,18 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) in view of Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) and further in view of Lei (US 20180242353 A1).
Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) discloses a communication system comprising the following features: regarding claims 1, 16, 18, A method for communicating in a mobile telecommunications network, the network comprising at least a first network node (gNB (network node) for use in a 5G NR mobile telecommunications network, see paragraphs [0004], [0203]) configured to communicate via a wireless interface with a second network node (The gNB (network node) communicates with one or more UEs (second network node) via a wireless interface. See paragraphs, [0004], [0203], [0212]), wherein the wireless interface comprises a first frequency band in which access to resources in the frequency band is a contention-based access (The wireless interface operates in an unlicensed spectrum (first frequency band) where access is contention-based (LBT/CCA), see paragraphs, [0004], [0203]), the method comprising: transmitting, by the first network node and in a first transmission portion of a first frame, a grant message to the second network node, the grant message scheduling a first transmission (gNB transmits a grant (e.g., DCI or PDCCH) to the UE in a DL portion of a fixed frame period (FFP), scheduling a UL transmission to occur in a later portion of the FFP; see paragraph 189, “ the gNB operates as an initiating device”; see paragraph [0187] For a responding device that received a transmission grant from an associated initiating device, it can proceed with transmissions on the current operating channel; see paragraph 215, “wherein a transmission within a FFP always can start with a DL burst and ends with an UL burst”); performing, by the first network node, a first contention-based access procedure in respect of the later transmission portion (before the scheduled UL transmission, the gNB (or UE, depending on direction) performs a contention-based access LBT/CCA procedure, see paragraph [0028] “… a next generation NodeB (gNB) includes circuitry configured to perform clear channel assessment (CCA) using either Category-1 (CAT-1) or CAT-2 listen-before-talk (LBT) on an unlicensed spectrum. Responsive to the CCA succeeding, downlink (DL) transmissions are started within a fixed frame period (FFP) in accordance with a frame based equipment (FBE) framework for NR on the unlicensed spectrum”); if the first contention-based access procedure is successful, the first network node providing an indication in downlink control information (DCI) that the later transmission portion was successfully acquired (see paragraph [0221] “…wherein DCI can contain an additional bit field to indicate whether the LBT has succeeded or not”); monitoring, by the second network node and based on the received grant, the indication; and determining, by the second network node and based on whether the indication was detected, whether the first network node successfully acquired the later transmission portion and, based on the determination (see paragraph 193, “a UE can need to always access whether a FFP is valid or not, where a valid FFP is defined as an FFP for which a gNB has been able to succeed the LBT procedure. In one implementation, DCI can contain an additional bit field to indicate whether the LBT has succeeded or not”), the second network node: determining whether to transmit the first transmission; and if it is determined to transmit the first transmission, transmitting the first transmission (see paragraph 193, “ a UE assesses whether an FFP is valid or not, and it is allowed to perform UL transmission, by performing presence detection on at least slot N-1 and N-2, where slot N is the first slot of the UL burst”).
Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) briefly disclose the claimed idle period in paragraph 192, but does not disclose the following features: regarding claims 1, 16, 18, wherein the first network node is configured with a first frame configuration and wherein the second network node is configured with a second frame configuration, the first frame configuration defining first frames having a transmission portion and an idle portion and the second frame configuration defining second frames having a transmission portion and an idle portion.
Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) discloses a communication system comprising the following features: regarding claims 1, 16, 18, wherein the first network node is configured with a first frame configuration and wherein the second network node is configured with a second frame configuration, the first frame configuration defining first frames having a transmission portion and an idle portion and the second frame configuration defining second frames having a transmission portion and an idle portion (see paragraph 43, “Some regulation regarding FFP mandate that when an initiating device, the gNB, acquires a FFP, it should leave an idle period at the end of the FFP where there are no transmissions”; paragraph 231, “CG transmissions are allowed in FBE, and a UE follows the same FFP and starting position as that used an configured by the gNB. In one embodiment, a CG UE can operate both as responding and as an initiating device”).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) by the teachings of Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1); it would have been a predictable use of known frame-based scheduling and regulatory-compliant frame structures to improve coexistence and efficiency in unlicensed spectrum.
Moreover, regarding claims 1, 16, 18, Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) in view of Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) do not disclose, but Lei (US 20180242353 A1) discloses: wherein the grant message (FIG. 4 UL grant message 466) indicates that the first transmission will be transmitted in a later transmission portion of another frame (FIG. 4, second frame 404) of the first frames (FIG. 4, frame configuration 400), wherein the another frame (FIG. 4, second frame 404) is a future frame relative to the first frame (FIG. 4, first frame 402; see also [0087] “the UL grant message 466 is transmitted at least 4 ms before the starting frame of a corresponding frame period. From a single remote unit 102 perspective, the UL grant message 466 can be transmitted only once for each frame period. Accordingly, the UL grant message 466 is transmitted prior to the first frame 402, however, the UL grant message 466 grants UL transmissions for the second frame 404…”). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) and Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) by the teachings of Lei (US 20180242353 A1), in order to provide advance scheduling, allow timely UE preparation, and support efficient uplink resource allocation.
Regarding claim 2, Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) discloses: the first network node is one of a base station (see paragraph 35, “These access nodes can be referred to as base station (BS)”), a terminal, a relay node, a CU unit and a DU unit; and/or the second network node is one of a base station, a terminal, a relay node, a CU unit and a DU unit.
Regarding claim 3, Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) wherein the first network node is a base station (see paragraph 35, “These access nodes can be referred to as base station (BS)”) and the second network node is a terminal (see paragraph 44, “WLAN employs a contention-based channel access mechanism, called CSMA/CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE 101, AP 106, or the like) intends to transmit”).
Regarding claim 9, Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) discloses: comprising the second network node upon determining that the indication was not detected, determining not to transmit the first transmission (see paragraph 193, “In case a UE, assesses that an FFP is not valid, it drops the corresponding UL transmission”).
Regarding claim 10, Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) discloses: wherein a monitoring mode is configured for the second network node using control signalling, the monitoring mode determining whether the second network node is configured to monitor the indication (see paragraph 232, “wherein the group-common PDCCH can contain indication of the configured grant presence throughout a one bit field (or multiple bits), and it can serve as a grant for the configured grant transmissions: for example, “1” indicates the presence of the configured grant inside the FFP, and “0” its absence, or vice versa. The group-common PDCCH can be transmitted in the beginning of the FFP if CCA is successful. The configured grant configuration can be separately provided to the UE by UE-specific RRC signaling. Additional configuration of configured grant can be provided to the UE together with the above indication by using the group-common PDCCH”).
Regarding claim 12, Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) discloses: wherein the control signalling comprises one or more of RRC signalling, system information and the downlink control information (DCI) signalling (see paragraph 147, RRC, system information; see paragraph 193, DCI).
Regarding claim 14, Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) discloses: wherein providing the indication comprises providing the indication by transmitting in resources in the later transmission portion ([0195] “the group-common PDCCH can contain indication of the PRACH presence …. The group-common PDCCH can be transmitted in the beginning of the FFP if CCA is successful”).
Regarding claim 15, Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) discloses: wherein the resources are used for one or more of: transmitting downlink control information to at least the second network node and relating to a transmission other than the first transmission; transmitting broadcast information; transmitting broadcast system information; transmitting a synchronisation signal; and transmitting a reference signal (see paragraph 147, “The main services and functions of the RRC 755 can include broadcast of system information (e.g., included in MIBs or SIBs related to the NAS), broadcast of system information related to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE 101 and RAN 110…”).
Claims 4, 6, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) in view of Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) and Lei (US 20180242353 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Salah et al. (US 20220132569 A1).
Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) and Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) disclose the claimed limitations above, but they do not disclose: regarding claim 4, wherein transmitting the first transmission comprises identifying, based on the determination, a transmission portion to transmit the first transmission, the identified transmission portion being one of the later transmission portion of the first frames and a second transmission portion of the second frames; and transmitting the first transmission according to the identified transmission portion; regarding claim 6, upon determining that the indication was not detected, determining whether the first transmission overlaps with an idle period of the second frames; and if the first transmission overlaps with an idle period of the second frames, determining not to transmit the first transmission; regarding claim 11, wherein determining, when the indication is not detected, whether to transmit the first transmission comprises determining, based on a configuration received via control signalling, whether to transmit the first transmission in a second transmission portion of the second frame or to cancel the first transmission; regarding claim 14, wherein providing the indication comprises providing the indication by transmitting in resources in the later transmission portion.
Salah et al. (US 20220132569 A1) discloses a communication system comprising: regarding claim 4, wherein transmitting the first transmission comprises identifying, based on the determination, a transmission portion to transmit the first transmission, the identified transmission portion being one of the later transmission portion of the first frames and a second transmission portion of the second frames; and transmitting the first transmission according to the identified transmission portion (see paragraph 7, “the UE need to determine whether the gNB has initiated a COT in the FFP. This means the UE needs to monitor the channel to detect any DL transmission in the FFP, and this would increase power consumption at the UE. In case of a dynamic grant (DG), COT initiation within a FFP can be indicated to the UE by explicit signaling. In case of a configured grant (CG), the UE implicitly determines whether a COT in the FFP is initiated by monitoring the channel to detect any DL transmission in the FFP, and the gNB should transmit a DL signal (if there is nothing to schedule) to allow UEs to transmit in CG.”); regarding claim 6, upon determining that the indication was not detected, determining whether the first transmission overlaps with an idle period of the second frames; and if the first transmission overlaps with an idle period of the second frames, determining not to transmit the first transmission (See paragraph 51, “In some implementations, the UE-initiated COT carrying the PRACH transmission may be automatically shared with the network without any indication from the UE to the network”; “a PRACH resource used in performing the PRACH transmission may not be allowed to overlap with an idle period of the network even when the PRACH resource is within the UE-initiated COT”); regarding claim 11, wherein determining, when the indication is not detected, whether to transmit the first transmission comprises determining, based on a configuration received via control signalling, whether to transmit the first transmission in a second transmission portion of the second frame or to cancel the first transmission (see paragraph 36, “Accordingly, UE COT initiation may be enabled or disabled per configuration (e.g., CG configuration, SR configuration, PUCCH-config configuration).”).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1), Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) and Lei (US 20180242353 A1) by the teachings of Salah et al. (US 20220132569 A1); a modification would predictably improve system robustness and efficiency.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) in view of Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) and Lei (US 20180242353 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Awadin et al. (WO2021067719A1).
Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1) and Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) disclose the claimed limitations above, but they do not disclose: regarding claim 7, further comprising the second network node: upon determining that the indication was not detected, selecting a second transmission portion of the second frames for the transmitting the first transmission; and if it is determined to transmit the first transmission: performing a second contention-based access procedure in respect of the second transmission portion, the second transmission portion comprising the resources for the first transmission; and if the second contention-based access procedure is successful, transmitting the first transmission, wherein transmitting the first transmission comprises transmitting the first transmission in the second transmission portion.
Awadin et al. (WO2021067719A1) discloses a communication system: regarding claim 7, further comprising the second network node: upon determining that the indication was not detected, selecting a second transmission portion of the second frames for the transmitting the first transmission (UE initiates its own COT/FFP after failing to access gNB-initiated COT, see paragraphs [00142]–[00147], [00168]); and if it is determined to transmit the first transmission: performing a second contention-based access procedure in respect of the second transmission portion (UE performs LBT/CCA before transmitting in new COT/FFP, see paragraphs [0041], [00144], [00145], [00168]), the second transmission portion comprising the resources for the first transmission; and if the second contention-based access procedure is successful, transmitting the first transmission, wherein transmitting the first transmission comprises transmitting the first transmission in the second transmission portion (UE transmits after successful LBT/CCA in new COT/FFP, see paragraphs [0041], [00144], [00145], [00168]).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing
date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Talarico et al. (US 20210014891 A1), Talarico et al. (US 20200396767 A1) and Lei (US 20180242353 A1) by the teachings of Awadin et al (WO2021067719A1); it would have been a predictable and routine way to ensure robust uplink transmission opportunities in the event of initial access failure.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 8 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/KWANG B YAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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