DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to the application filed 31 January 2024, as a national stage entry of PCT/JP2022/025382 filed 24 June 2022 and claiming benefit from JP 2021-128920 filed 5 August 2021, wherein claims 8-12 are pending and ready for examination.
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 .
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 31 January 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed as JP 2021-128920 on 5 August 2021. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: “Terminal, Base Station, and Communication Method for Determining the Timing of Using Frequency Position and Bandwidth Information for Initial Downlink BWP”.
Claim Objections
Claims 8-12 are objected to because of the following informalities: Independent claims 8, 10, and 12 recite an abbreviation without properly defining it within the body of the claims. The abbreviation in question is CORESET which is used in line 3 of these claims. The dependent claims 9 and 11 fail to rectify the situation. Appropriate correction is required.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gao et al. (US 2021/0329669 A1), hereafter referred Gao.
Regarding claim 8, Gao teaches a user equipment (UE), comprising:
reception circuitry configured to receive a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a CORESET0, and to receive system information block 1 (SIB1) scheduled by the PDCCH (Gao, Fig. 1, [0131]-[0133]; the terminal device may communicate with the network device using an air interface technology of the communication system, where the communication includes uplink or downlink scheduling control information is transmitted on a PDCCH, which includes a time-frequency location of a commonControlResourceSet which uses the initial downlink bandwidth part as a reference. One configuration manner defining the initial downlink bandwidth part is by using a CORESET #0 as well as in a system information block 1 (SIB1)); and
control circuitry, wherein
the SIB1 includes a parameter indicating a first frequency location and a first bandwidth to specify a frequency location and a bandwidth of initial downlink BWP (Gao, [0133]-[0134]; the initial DL BWP configured in SIB1 comprises a size and a frequency domain location of the initial downlink bandwidth part), and
the control circuitry specifies, using information included in the SIB1, a timing to use the first frequency location and the first bandwidth as the frequency location and the bandwidth of the initial downlink BWP (Gao, Fig. 11, [0219]-[0223]; In the B2th case, the first downlink bandwidth part is configured based on the SIB1, the second start common resource block of the first downlink bandwidth part is determined based on a second start physical resource block of the first bandwidth part and a third offset, where the terminal device may determine a first start common resource location of the first control resource set based on the second start common resource block of the first downlink bandwidth part configure din the SIB1).
Regarding claim 10, Gao teaches a base station apparatus, comprising:
transmission circuitry configured to transmit a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a CORESET0, and to transmit system information block 1 (SIB1) scheduled by the PDCCH (Gao, Fig. 1, [0131]-[0133]; the terminal device may communicate with the network device using an air interface technology of the communication system, where the communication includes uplink or downlink scheduling control information is transmitted on a PDCCH, which includes a time-frequency location of a commonControlResourceSet which uses the initial downlink bandwidth part as a reference. One configuration manner defining the initial downlink bandwidth part is by using a CORESET #0 as well as in a system information block 1 (SIB1)); and
control circuitry, wherein
the SIB1 includes a parameter indicating a first frequency location and a first bandwidth to specify a frequency location and a bandwidth of initial downlink BWP (Gao, [0133]-[0134]; the initial DL BWP configured in SIB1 comprises a size and a frequency domain location of the initial downlink bandwidth part), and
the control circuitry specifies, using information included in the SIB1, a timing to use the first frequency location and the first bandwidth as the frequency location and the bandwidth of the initial downlink BWP (Gao, Fig. 11, [0219]-[0223]; In the B2th case, the first downlink bandwidth part is configured based on the SIB1, the second start common resource block of the first downlink bandwidth part is determined based on a second start physical resource block of the first bandwidth part and a third offset, where the terminal device may determine a first start common resource location of the first control resource set based on the second start common resource block of the first downlink bandwidth part configure din the SIB1).
Regarding claim 12, Gao teaches a communication method for a user equipment (UE), the communication method comprising:
receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a CORESET0, and to receive system information block 1 (SIB1) scheduled by the PDCCH (Gao, Fig. 1, [0131]-[0133]; the terminal device may communicate with the network device using an air interface technology of the communication system, where the communication includes uplink or downlink scheduling control information is transmitted on a PDCCH, which includes a time-frequency location of a commonControlResourceSet which uses the initial downlink bandwidth part as a reference. One configuration manner defining the initial downlink bandwidth part is by using a CORESET #0 as well as in a system information block 1 (SIB1)), wherein
the SIB1 includes a parameter indicating a first frequency location and a first bandwidth to specify a frequency location and a bandwidth of initial downlink BWP (Gao, [0133]-[0134]; the initial DL BWP configured in SIB1 comprises a size and a frequency domain location of the initial downlink bandwidth part); and
specifying, using information included in the SIB1, a timing to use the first frequency location and the first bandwidth as the frequency location and the bandwidth of the initial downlink BWP (Gao, Fig. 11, [0219]-[0223]; In the B2th case, the first downlink bandwidth part is configured based on the SIB1, the second start common resource block of the first downlink bandwidth part is determined based on a second start physical resource block of the first bandwidth part and a third offset, where the terminal device may determine a first start common resource location of the first control resource set based on the second start common resource block of the first downlink bandwidth part configure din the SIB1).
Regarding claims 9 and 11, Gao teaches the UE according to claim 8 and the base station apparatus according to claim 10 above. Further, Gao teaches wherein the control circuitry determines, using information included in the SIB1, whether to apply the first frequency location and the first bandwidth as the frequency location and the bandwidth of the initial downlink BWP after an RRC connection is established or as the frequency location and the bandwidth of the initial downlink BWP at an initial access before the RRC connection is established (Gao, [0312]-[0321]; the configuration message of the first control resource set may be configured before or after the successful initial access of the terminal device, where the network device configures the newly configured DL BWP for the terminal device by using higher layer signaling, for example RRC signaling).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
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/R.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416