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 1-15 are pending. Claims 16-20 are cancelled.
Priority
2. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The Information Disclosure Statements dated 01/31/2024, 04/01/2024, 01/03/2025 and 03/26/2025 are acknowledged by the Examiner.
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.
4. Claim(s) 1-2, 6-7 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZTE, Sanechips, "Discussion on the PDCCH monitoring enhancements for 52.6 to 71 GHz," 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #104bis-e, R1-2103488, e-Meeting, April 12-20, 2021, 6 pages (as cited in the IDS dated 04/01/2024) hereafter R1-2103488 in view of Panasonic, "PDCCH monitoring enhancement for NR from 52.6GHz to 71GHz," 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 #104bis-e, R1-2102809, e-Meeting, April 12t-20, 2021, 4 pages (as cited in the IDS dated 04/01/2024) hereafter R1-2102809.
As for claim 1, R1-2103488 discloses:
A method of monitoring a control signal by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
configuring a combination of X and Y for monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a serving cell, where X denotes a number of consecutive slots included in a slot group and Y denotes a number of consecutive slots within X slots (page 3 paragraphs 2-3, configuring a combination of X and Y for monitoring a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on a serving cell, where X denotes a number of consecutive slots included in a slot group and Y denotes a number of consecutive slots within X slots), wherein the slot group is repeated consecutively and non-overlapping (page 2, fourth sentence form the bottom, …slot groups are consecutive and non-overlapping and slot groups are consecutive and non-overlapping); and
monitoring the PDCCH on the serving cell based on the combination of X and Y (section 1, section 2.1, Performing pdcch-Monitoring using X, Y),
(ii) a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of 480 kHz being configured for the serving cell, a combination of X = 4 (Fig. 1, section 1, page 2 last paragraph, page 3 second to last paragraph, SCS of 480 kHz and X=4) and Y = 1 is used (page 3 second paragraph, PDCCH monitoring can be restricted to always be on the first slot within the slot group, i.e. Y=1 slot), and
(ii) an SCS of 960 kHz being configured for the serving cell, a combination of X = 8 (section 1, page 2 last paragraph, page 3 second to last paragraph, section 2.3, SCS of 960 kHz and X=8) and Y = 1 is used (page 3 second paragraph, PDCCH monitoring can be restricted to always be on the first slot within the slot group, i.e. Y=1 slot).
R1-2103488 does not explicitly disclose wherein based on (i) information related to PDCCH monitoring capability for the serving cell being not provided.
However, R1-2102809 discloses wherein based on (i) information related to PDCCH monitoring capability for the serving cell being not provided (R1-2102809, section 2.3 on page 2 last paragraph, Using a method which does not provide a way for the UE to indicate the reduced PDCCH monitoring capability. The UE has to prepare to monitor every slot of X).
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 R1-2103488 with wherein based on (i) information related to PDCCH monitoring capability for the serving cell being not provided as taught by R1-2102809 to maximize the flexibility from the network side (R1-2102809, section 2.3 on page 2 last paragraph).
As for claims 2, 7 and 12, R1-2103488 discloses (ii) a specific SCS above a threshold being configured for the serving cell (section 1, page 2 last paragraph, page 3 second to last paragraph, section 2.3, SCS of 960 kHz. The Examiner interprets 960 kHz to be “above a threshold”/above 480 kHz ), the combination of X and Y is configured such that X has a maximum value available for the specific SCS and Y has a minimum value available for the specific SCS (page 3 second paragraph, PDCCH monitoring can be restricted to always be on the first slot within the slot group, i.e. Y=1 slot. Even in the scenario when X is at the maximum then Y is still at the minimum of Y=1).
R1-2103488 does not explicitly disclose wherein based on (i) information related to PDCCH monitoring capability for the serving cell being not provided.
However, R1-2102809 discloses wherein based on (i) information related to PDCCH monitoring capability for the serving cell being not provided (R1-2102809, section 2.3 on page 2 last paragraph, Using a method which does not provide a way for the UE to indicate the reduced PDCCH monitoring capability. The UE has to prepare to monitor every slot of X).
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 R1-2103488 with wherein based on (i) information related to PDCCH monitoring capability for the serving cell being not provided as taught by R1-2102809 to maximize the flexibility from the network side (R1-2102809, section 2.3 on page 2 last paragraph).
As for claims 6 and 11, these claims are analyzed and rejected for the same reasons as claim 1 because the corresponding method claim 1 can be used to practice the apparatus of claims 6 and 11.
5. Claim(s) 3, 8 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over R1-2103488 in view of R1-2102809 as applied to claims 1, 6 and 11 above, and further in view of Chatterjee et al, US 2024/0155636 hereafter Chatterjee
As for claims 3, 8 and 13, the combination of R1-2103488 and R1-2102809 does not explicitly disclose based on (i) the information related to the PDCCH monitoring capability being provided in relation to a plurality of combinations of X and Y and (ii) a configuration of a search space set being related to at least two combinations among the plurality of combinations of X and Y, the PDCCH is monitored based on a specific combination of X and Y related to largest values of M and C among the at least two combinations, wherein M denotes a maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates in a group of X slots (i) per combination of X and Y (ii) per serving cell, and wherein C denotes a maximum number of non-overlapped control channel elements (CCEs) in the group of X slots (i) per combination of X and Y (ii) per serving cell.
However, Chatterjee discloses based on (i) the information related to the PDCCH monitoring capability being provided in relation to a plurality of combinations of X and Y and (ii) a configuration of a search space set being related to at least two combinations among the plurality of combinations of X and Y, the PDCCH is monitored based on a specific combination of X and Y related to largest values of M and C among the at least two combinations, wherein M denotes a maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates in a group of X slots (i) per combination of X and Y (ii) per serving cell, and wherein C denotes a maximum number of non-overlapped control channel elements (CCEs) in the group of X slots (i) per combination of X and Y (ii) per serving cell (Chatterjee, [0027], [0030], When the UE has a capability to support multi-slot PDCCH monitoring for multiple combinations that include various numbers (Y) of consecutive MO slots within slot groups of a same size (i.e., the same value of X for different values of Y), the UE may determine a maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates and non-overlapping CCEs to monitor based on the number (X) of consecutive MO slots of a slot group.)
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 R1-2103488 and R1-2102809 with based on (i) the information related to the PDCCH monitoring capability being provided in relation to a plurality of combinations of X and Y and (ii) a configuration of a search space set being related to at least two combinations among the plurality of combinations of X and Y, the PDCCH is monitored based on a specific combination of X and Y related to largest values of M and C among the at least two combinations, wherein M denotes a maximum number of monitored PDCCH candidates in a group of X slots (i) per combination of X and Y (ii) per serving cell, and wherein C denotes a maximum number of non-overlapped control channel elements (CCEs) in the group of X slots (i) per combination of X and Y (ii) per serving cell as taught by Chatterjee to provide improved techniques for PDCCH detection for higher-carrier frequency operations (Chatterjee, [0004]).
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 4-5, 9-10 and 14-15 is 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
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Xue et al, US2012/0082130 discloses [0082] …For each PDCCH aggregation level, the transmitting equipment may allocate a search space to a control channel that has each signaling length within the control channel region 20 on the downlink carrier A. It is assumed that N=2, two signaling lengths X and Y of the PDCCH exist on one downlink component carrier A, and one signaling length X of the PDCCH exists on the downlink component carrier B, so the downlink component carrier A and the downlink component carrier B have the same signaling length X.
8. 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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JENEE HOLLAND
Examiner
Art Unit 2469
/JENEE HOLLAND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469