Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
2. Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities:
“A non-SBFD symbol" in claim 9 (line 8) should be replaced with - - the non-SBFD symbol - - to be consistent with the first citation of “a non-SBFD symbol” in claim 9 (line 5).
“An SBFD symbol" in claim 9 (line 8) should be replaced with - - the SBFD symbol - - to be consistent with the first citation of “a subband full duplex (SBFD) symbol” in claim 9 (line 4).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. Claims 1-16, 18, 21-26, and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seok ‘538 (US 2025/0294538, “Seok ‘538”), in view of Shen ‘981 (US 2021/0376981, “Shen ‘981”).
Regarding claims 1 and 29, Seok ‘538 discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (FIG. 11, para 107 and 109; UE), comprising:
a memory (FIG. 11, para 107 and 109; memory); and one or more processors (FIG. 11, para 107 and 109; processor), coupled to the memory, configured to:
perform a first communication in a first type of symbol or slot; and perform a second communication in a second type of symbol or slot (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; UE transmits in an UL symbol and receives in a DL symbol; thus, UE performs an UL communication in an UL symbol and a DL communication in a DL symbol),
a guard period or gap being defined between the first type of symbol or slot and the second type of symbol or slot, or the guard period or gap being defined within a slot corresponding to the first type of symbol or slot or the second type of symbol or slot (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; some of the symbols of different types D/U/F are transmitted/received using the same time-domain and the same frequency-domain resources; other symbols are transmitted/received using the same time-domain resources and different subbands in the frequency-domain resources in UE’s carrier bandwidth; a gap is required for DL/UL symbol switching, between a D symbol and an U symbol; thus, a gap is defined within a slot corresponding to a D symbol and an U symbol), and
the guard period or gap being defined based at least in part on a type switch boundary and a guard period or gap location (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a gap is required for DL/UL symbol switching, between a D symbol and an U symbol; thus, the gap is defined base on the DL/UL switch boundary and the gap location relative to the D and U symbols).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Although Seok ‘538 discloses the guard period or gap being defined based at least in part on a type switch boundary and a guard period or gap location, Seok ‘538 does not specifically disclose the guard period or gap being defined based at least in part on a reference symbol type switch boundary and a guard period or gap location.
Shen ‘981 teaches the guard period or gap being defined based at least in part on a reference symbol type switch boundary and a guard period or gap location (FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), para 82 and 102; a reference signal is sent in an uplink-downlink switching period, where the uplink-downlink switching period includes a guard period; as seen in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), the uplink-downlink switching period includes a reference signal boundary between the reference signal and the guard period).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Seok ‘538’s apparatus at a UE that perform communications with types of symbols, to include Shen ‘981’s reference signal that is sent in an uplink-downlink switching period. The motivation for doing so would have been to resolve a problem of sending and receiving a RIM-RS (Shen ‘981, para 4-5).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 2, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 1, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein:
the first type of symbol or slot is a subband full-duplex (SBFD) symbol or slot, and the second type of symbol or slot is a non-SBFD downlink, uplink, or flexible symbol or slot (FIGS. 25 and 26, para 211 and 214; in the slot structures on the right side of FIGS. 25 and 26, the first symbol is a D symbol that occupies the full bandwidth, and the third symbol is a U symbol that occupies the full bandwidth; the middle symbol period includes D, U, and F symbols that occupy different bands within the full bandwidth; thus, the slot includes first types of symbols that are the full-bandwidth D/U symbols, and second types of symbol that are D/F/U symbols occupying different bands in the full bandwidth; therefore, the slot includes non-SBFD symbols and SBFD symbols); or
the first type of symbol or slot is the non-SBFD downlink, uplink, or flexible symbol or slot, and the second type of symbol or slot is the SBFD symbol or slot.
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 3, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 1, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the reference symbol type switch boundary corresponds to a slot boundary of the first type of symbol or slot, or the second type of symbol or slot, based at least in part on an implicit rule for the guard period or gap (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a slot consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; a gap is required for DL/UL symbol switching, between a D symbol and an U symbol; thus, the gap for DL/UL symbol switching is placed between the D symbol and the U symbol within the slot; therefore, the DL/UL symbol switching boundary is a boundary within the slot that corresponds to the DL symbol and the UL symbol, implicitly based on the gap placed for DL/UL symbol switching).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 4, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 3, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap starts at an end of the reference symbol type switch boundary (FIGS. 25 and 26, para 211 and 214; a first portion of a gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the non-SBFD D symbol, and the second, remaining portion of the gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the SBFD U symbol; thus, as seen in FIGS. 25 and 26, the second portion of the gap for symbol switching from the non-SBFD D symbol to the SBFD U symbol starts at the end of the boundary for switching from the non-SBFD D symbol to the SBFD U symbol)
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 5, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 3, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap ends at a start of the reference symbol type switch boundary (FIGS. 25 and 26, para 211 and 214; a first portion of a gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the non-SBFD D symbol, and the second, remaining portion of the gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the SBFD U symbol; thus, as seen in FIGS. 25 and 26, the first portion of the gap for symbol switching from the non-SBFD D symbol to the SBFD U symbol ends at the start of the boundary for switching from the non-SBFD D symbol to the SBFD U symbol).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 6, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 3, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap is across the reference symbol type switch boundary (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a gap is required for DL/UL symbol switching, between a D symbol and an U symbol; as seen in FIGS. 25 and 26, the overall gap is across the DL/UL switching boundary).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 7, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 3, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap is within a subband full duplex (SBFD) slot or in a non-SBFD slot (FIGS. 25 and 26, para 211 and 214; a portion of a gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the non-SBFD D symbol, and the remaining portion of the gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the SBFD U symbol).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 8, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 3, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap starts at an end of the reference symbol type switch boundary, or
that the guard period or gap ends at a start of the reference symbol type switch boundary, depending on a symbol type combination (FIGS. 25 and 26, para 211 and 214; a first portion of a gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the non-SBFD D symbol, and the second, remaining portion of the gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the SBFD U symbol; thus, as seen in FIGS. 25 and 26, the first portion of the gap for symbol switching from the non-SBFD D symbol to the SBFD U symbol ends at the start of the boundary for switching from the non-SBFD D symbol to the SBFD U symbol, depending on the combination of the non-SBFD D symbol and the SBFD D/F/U symbols).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 9, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 8, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein:
the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap starts from the end of the reference symbol type switch boundary, based at least in part on the symbol type combination corresponding to a subband full duplex (SBFD) symbol followed by a non-SBFD symbol; or
the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap ends at the start of the reference symbol type switch boundary, based at least in part on the symbol type combination corresponding to a non-SBFD symbol followed by an SBFD symbol (FIGS. 25 and 26, para 211 and 214; a first portion of a gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the non-SBFD D symbol, and the second, remaining portion of the gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is within the SBFD U symbol; thus, as seen in FIGS. 25 and 26, the first portion of the gap for symbol switching from the non-SBFD D symbol to the SBFD U symbol ends at the start of the boundary for switching from the non-SBFD D symbol and the SBFD U symbol, depending on the combination of the non-SBFD D symbol and the SBFD D/F/U symbols where the non-SBFD D symbol is followed by the SBFD D/F/U symbols).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 10, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 3, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein a gap duration associated with the guard period or gap is predefined in a specification, or is indicated by a network node based at least in part on a UE capability, based at least in part on the reference symbol type switch boundary corresponding to the slot boundary (FIGS. 1, 25, and 26, Table 3, para 47, 129-132, 211, and 214; a subframe includes multiple consecutive slots; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; in case of format 54, as seen in Table 3, the slot starts with a F symbol and ends with a D symbol; the F symbol is dynamically indicated to be an U symbol, in which case a slot A ends with a D symbol, and its subsequent slot B starts with an U symbol; a gap that is required for DL/UL switches is defined between the D symbol and the U symbol; the number of symbols in the overall switching gap is predefined; thus, the gap duration is predefined based on the slot boundary that is the D-to-U switching boundary).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 11, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 3, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the guard period or gap is associated with a UE common time pattern or a UE dedicated time pattern (FIG. 25, para 211; the gap for symbol switching from a non-SBFD D symbol to a SBFD U symbol is associated with a UE-specific time pattern of the symbols; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art), and
the guard period or gap being defined in terms of a quantity of symbols or slots or a quantity of milliseconds depending on a subcarrier spacing, based at least in part on the reference symbol type switch boundary corresponding to the slot boundary (FIGS. 25 and 26, para 211 and 214; the number of symbols in the overall switching gap is predefined; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Regarding claim 12, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 1, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the reference symbol type switch boundary corresponds to a slot boundary of the first type of symbol or slot, or a slot boundary of the second type of symbol or slot, based at least in part on explicit signaling from a network node (FIG. 1, Table 3, para 47 and 129-132; a subframe includes multiple consecutive slots; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; in case of format 54, as seen in Table 3, the slot starts with a F symbol and ends with a D symbol; the F symbol is dynamically indicated to be an U symbol, in which case a slot A ends with a D symbol, and its subsequent slot B starts with an U symbol; the slot format is signaled to the UE from the base station, via downlink control information (DCI); thus, the switching boundary between different types of symbols corresponds to the slot boundary between different type of symbols, based on signaling from the base station).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 13, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 12, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein
the explicit signaling indicates a periodic subband full duplex (SBFD) time pattern or a semi-persistent SBFD time pattern (FIGS. 17 and 18, para 126 and 166-167; UE receives semi-statically information to configure the semi-static downlink, uplink, and flexible subbands in a slot; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art),
the periodic SBFD time pattern or the semi-persistent SBFD time pattern indicating whether a symbol or slot is a gap symbol or slot (FIG. 25, para 211; the base station configures for the UE the number of symbols in the gap; thus, the base station configures the gap symbols; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Regarding claim 14, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 12, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the explicit signaling indicates the guard period or gap location in an aperiodic pattern (FIG. 25, para 211; UE receives dynamic indication of a subband format for a symbol, turning the semi-static symbol into multiple a dynamic U symbol, D symbol, and F symbol in separate subbands; a gap is placed between semi-static and dynamic symbols; thus, the dynamic signaling indicates gap location in the dynamic symbol pattern; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art),
the explicit signaling indicating one or more of:
a guard period or gap starting symbol location,
a guard period or gap length (FIGS. 25 and 26, para 211 and 214; the number of symbols in the overall switching gap is configured by the base station; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art),
a time window starting symbol location, or
a bitmap for symbols in a time window for the guard period or gap.
Regarding claim 15, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 1, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the reference symbol type switch boundary is within the slot (Table 3, para 129-132; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; thus, boundaries between different types of symbols are within the slot).
Regarding claim 16, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 15, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the guard period or gap is in terms of a quantity of symbols less than a slot duration (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a slot consists of symbols of different types; the base station configures the number of symbols of the overall switching gap between U and D symbols; thus, the gap is in terms of the number of symbols less than the slot duration; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art),
a guard period or gap start time and a guard period or gap end time being in any symbol boundary within the slot (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; the gap between U and D symbols in the slot is on the boundary between the U and D symbols; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Regarding claim 18, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 15, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the reference symbol type switch boundary is within the slot, based at least in part on an implicit rule for the guard period or gap (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a slot consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; a gap is required for DL/UL symbol switching, between a D symbol and an U symbol; thus, the gap for DL/UL symbol switching is placed between the D symbol and the U symbol within the slot; therefore, the DL/UL symbol switching boundary is a boundary within the slot that corresponds to the DL symbol and the UL symbol, implicitly based on the rule for the gap to be placed for DL/UL symbol switching; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Regarding claim 21, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 18, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap starts from a first slot after an end of the reference symbol type switch boundary, or that the guard period or gap ends at an end of a last slot before a start of the reference symbol type switch boundary, depending on a symbol type combination (FIGS. 1, 25, and 26, Table 3, para 47, 129-132, 211, and 214; a subframe includes multiple consecutive slots; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; in case of format 54, as seen in Table 3, the slot starts with a F symbol and ends with a D symbol; the F symbol is dynamically indicated to be an U symbol, in which case a slot A ends with a D symbol, and its subsequent slot B starts with an U symbol; a gap that is required for DL/UL switches is defined between the D symbol and the U symbol; thus, the gap is defined to start from slot B that is a first slot after the boundary between the D symbol at the end of slot A and the U symbol at the start of slot B).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 22, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 15, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein a gap duration associated with the guard period or gap is predefined in a specification, or is indicated by a network node based at least in part on a UE capability, based at least in part on the reference symbol type switch boundary being within the slot (FIGS. 1, 25, and 26, Table 3, para 47, 129-132, 211, and 214; a subframe includes multiple consecutive slots; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; in case of format 53, as seen in Table 3, the boundary between a D symbol to a F symbol is within the slot; the F symbol is dynamically indicated to be an U symbol; a gap that is required for DL/UL switches is defined between the D symbol and the U symbol; the number of symbols in the overall switching gap is predefined; thus, the gap duration is predefined based on the D-to-U switching boundary being within the slot).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claim 23, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 15, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the guard period or gap is associated with a UE common time pattern or a UE dedicated time pattern (FIG. 25, para 211; the gap for DL/UL switching is associated with a symbol pattern that includes as UE-specific flexible symbol; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art), and
the guard period or gap being defined in terms of a quantity of symbols or slots or a quantity of milliseconds depending on a subcarrier spacing, based at least in part on the reference symbol type switch boundary being within the slot (FIGS. 1, 25, and 26, Table 3, para 47, 129-132, 211, and 214; a subframe includes multiple consecutive slots; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; in case of format 53, as seen in Table 3, the boundary between a D symbol to a F symbol is within the slot; the F symbol is dynamically indicated to be an U symbol; a gap that is required for DL/UL switches is defined between the D symbol and the U symbol; the number of symbols in the overall switching gap is predefined; thus, the gap duration is defined in terms of the number of symbols based on the D-to-U switching boundary being within the slot; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Regarding claim 24, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 15, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the reference symbol type switch boundary is within the slot, based at least in part on explicit signaling from a network node (Table 3, para 129-132; a slot format consists of consecutive symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; symbols are dynamically configured via signaling from the base station; thus, the boundary between different types of symbols is within the slot, based on the signaling from the base station).
Regarding claim 25, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 24, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein:
the explicit signaling indicates a slot format indicator (SFI) or a time division duplexing (TDD) slot format pattern having a slot format as a gap slot, and indicating a corresponding slot format index per slot in a period of slots (FIG. 1, Table 3, para 129-132; base station signaling to the UE indicates a SFI, which includes a corresponding slot index in a period of consecutive slots; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art); or
the explicit signaling indicates the guard period or gap location in an aperiodic pattern, the explicit signaling indicating one or more of: a guard period or gap starting symbol location, a guard period or gap length, a time window starting symbol location, or a bitmap for symbols in a time window for the guard period or gap.
Regarding claim 26, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 1, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein:
the guard period or gap is defined in a specification (FIGS. 25 and 26, para 211 and 214; the number of symbols in the overall switching gap is predefined; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art), indicated by a network node, or requested by the UE; or
the guard period or gap is a common value or is associated with different values, depending on a switching of two types of symbols or slots and a transmit-receive direction.
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Regarding claims 28 and 30, Seok ‘538 discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node (FIG. 11, para 107 and 118; base station), comprising:
a memory (FIG. 11, para 107 and 118; memory); and one or more processors (FIG. 11, para 107 and 118; processor), coupled to the memory, configured to:
perform a first communication in a first type of symbol or slot; and perform a second communication in a second type of symbol or slot (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; as a base station transmits in an DL symbol and receives in a UL symbol, a base station performs an UL communication in an UL symbol and a DL communication in a DL symbol),
a guard period or gap being defined between the first type of symbol or slot and the second type of symbol or slot, or the guard period or gap being defined within a slot corresponding to the first type of symbol or slot or the second type of symbol or slot (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a slot format consists of symbols of different types, the types being downlink D/DL, uplink U/UL, and flexible F symbols; some of the symbols of different types D/U/F are transmitted/received using the same time-domain and the same frequency-domain resources; other symbols are transmitted/received using the same time-domain resources and different subbands in the frequency-domain resources in UE’s carrier bandwidth; a gap is required for DL/UL symbol switching, between a D symbol and an U symbol; thus, a gap is defined within a slot corresponding to a D symbol and an U symbol), and
the guard period or gap being defined based at least in part on a type switch boundary and a guard period or gap location (FIGS. 25 and 26, Table 3, para 10, 129-132, 211, and 214; a gap is required for DL/UL symbol switching, between a D symbol and an U symbol; thus, the gap is defined base on the DL/UL switch boundary and the gap location relative to the D and U symbols).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
Although Seok ‘538 discloses the guard period or gap being defined based at least in part on a type switch boundary and a guard period or gap location, Seok ‘538 does not specifically disclose the guard period or gap being defined based at least in part on a reference symbol type switch boundary and a guard period or gap location.
Shen ‘981 teaches the guard period or gap being defined based at least in part on a reference symbol type switch boundary and a guard period or gap location (FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), para 82 and 102; a reference signal is sent in an uplink-downlink switching period, where the uplink-downlink switching period includes a guard period; as seen in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), the uplink-downlink switching period includes a reference signal boundary between the reference signal and the guard period).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Seok ‘538’s apparatus at a network node that perform communications with types of symbols, to include Shen ‘981’s reference signal that is sent in an uplink-downlink switching period. The motivation for doing so would have been to resolve a problem of sending and receiving a RIM-RS (Shen ‘981, para 4-5).
Examiner notes the use of alternative language. For rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art.
5. Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seok ‘538, in view of Shen ‘981, and further in view of Choi ‘866 (US 2008/0270866, “Choi ‘866”).
Regarding claim 17, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 15, as outlined above.
However, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 does not specifically disclose wherein the guard period or gap is in terms of a quantity of slots larger than a slot duration, a guard period or gap start time and a guard period or gap end time corresponding to a slot boundary.
Choi ‘866 teaches wherein the guard period or gap is in terms of a quantity of slots larger than a slot duration, a guard period or gap start time and a guard period or gap end time corresponding to a slot boundary (FIG. 3, para 55-56;a transmission time period consists of 24 radio frames; each radio frame consists of 15 time slots; a radio frame includes a gap that consists of 14 slots; thus, the gap duration is 14 slots, and the gap starts and ends at slot boundaries; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined apparatus of Seok ‘538 and Shen ‘981, to include Choi ‘866’s radio frame includes a gap that consists of 14 slots. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve transmission of data in the downlink and uplink direction (Choi ‘866, para 13 and 16).
6. Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seok ‘538, in view of Shen ‘981, in view of Choi ‘866, and further in view of Lee ‘590 (US 2022/0279590, “Lee ‘590”).
Regarding claim 19, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 and Choi ‘866 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 18, as outlined above.
However, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 and Choi ‘866 does not specifically disclose wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap starts from a first slot after an end of the reference symbol type switch boundary.
Lee ‘590 teaches wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap starts from a first slot after an end of the reference symbol type switch boundary (para 218; a gap of a duration of multiple slots located between two consecutive slots; thus, the gap starts from the first slot of the gap after the boundary between a slot and the first slot of the gap; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined apparatus of Seok ‘538, Shen ‘981, and Choi ‘866, to include Lee ‘590’s gap of a duration of multiple slots located between two consecutive slots. The motivation for doing so would have been to address a need for methods for calculating a RNTI for a random access procedure in consideration of a subcarrier spacing procedure (Lee ‘590, para 4).
Regarding claim 20, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 and Choi ‘866 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 18, as outlined above.
However, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 and Choi ‘866 does not specifically disclose wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap ends at an end of a last slot before a start of the reference symbol type switch boundary.
Lee ‘590 teaches wherein the guard period or gap location defines that the guard period or gap ends at an end of a last slot before a start of the reference symbol type switch boundary (para 218; a gap of a duration of multiple slots located between two consecutive slots; thus, the gap ends at an end of a last slot previous to the gap, before the boundary between the last slot and the first slot of the gap; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined apparatus of Seok ‘538, Shen ‘981, and Choi ‘866, to include Lee ‘590’s gap of a duration of multiple slots located between two consecutive slots. The motivation for doing so would have been to address a need for methods for calculating a RNTI for a random access procedure in consideration of a subcarrier spacing procedure (Lee ‘590, para 4).
7. Claim 27 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seok ‘538, in view of Shen ‘981, and further in view of Choi ‘376 (US 2025/0287376, “Choi ‘376”).
Regarding claim 27, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses all the limitations with respect to claim 1, as outlined above.
Further, Seok ‘538 teaches wherein the UE is a subband full duplex (SBFD)-aware UE (FIG. 25, para 211; UE applies dynamically indicated subband format).
Although Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 discloses wherein the UE is a subband full duplex (SBFD)-aware UE, Seok ‘538 in combination with Shen ‘981 does not specifically disclose the UE is not expected to perform communications in the guard period or gap.
Choi ‘376 teaches is not expected to perform communications in the guard period or gap (para 9 and 148; UE omits UL transmission in an uplink transmission switching (UTS) gap; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined apparatus of Seok ‘538 and Shen ‘981, to include Choi ‘376’s UE omits UL transmission in an uplink transmission switching (UTS) gap. The motivation for doing so would have been to support a UE having a limited number of transmission chains to effectively perform uplink transmission (Choi ‘376, para 6-7).
Conclusion
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/NEVENA ZECEVIC SANDHU/Examiner, Art Unit 2474
/Michael Thier/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2474