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 .
This action is response to the application filed on 04/06/2023. Claims 1-20 are pending and herein considered.
Oath/Declaration
The receipt of oath/declaration is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 04/06/2023. These drawings are reviewed and accepted by the Examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on 05/15/2023, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CRR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
7. Claims 7 and 17 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 7, line 2, typo error for the word “seperately” which should be “separately”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 17, line 2, typo error for the word “seperately” which should be “separately”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 11-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Abotabl et al. (U.S 2021/0352667).
For claim 1:
Abotabl discloses one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) comprising instructions that, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of an electronic device (see Abotabl, at least Figure 1), are to cause the electronic device to:
identify that the electronic device is to transmit a signal in one or more slots of a plurality of symbols or slots (see Abotabl, at least paragraph [0116]; a scheduled entity 106 may determine a slot format for one or more slots. The indication or configuration message may identify a UL portion of a slot (e.g., a first frequency portion) and at least one DL portion of the slot (e.g., a second frequency portion). That is, a slot format indication or configuration message may identify at least one portion of a slot as being for UL communication and at least one other portion as being for DL communication and the scheduled entity 106 may determine a slot format for at least one slot on an SBFD carrier. A slot configured according to the slot format may include at least one first frequency portion and at least one other frequency portion.
identify one or more symbols or slots of the plurality of symbols or slots that are unavailable for transmission of the signal based on an identification that (see Abotabl, at least paragraph [0010]; a user equipment (UE) may add the UL portion of the carrier to a set of resources indicated as not available (i.e., unavailable) for DL transmission. In such instances, the UE may receive a DL resource allocation (e.g., a grant message) that overlaps (fully or partially) with the UL portion (in frequency), also see [0118]; [0120]):
a symbol related to transmission of the signal in respective symbols or slots of the one or more symbols or slots overlaps a non-overlapped sub-band frequency-division (NOSB-FD) symbol in the respective symbols or slots of the one or more symbols or slots (see Abotabl, at least paragraph [0126]-[0128]; performing some processing to isolate such resource elements (REs) in the overlapping portions and remove the information related to the overlapping portion from any further processing. In another example, the scheduled entity 106 may disregard information related to such overlapping portions in frequency based on a purely passive mechanism whereby the scheduled entity 106 allocates processing resources for processing information related to non-overlapping portions, while intentionally passing over any resource elements determined to be related to an overlapping portion ; and
one or more physical resource blocks (PRBs) related to transmission of the signal in the respective symbols or slots of the one or more symbols or slots overlaps a frequency region related to transmission of the NOSB-FD symbol in the respective symbols or slots of the one or more symbols or slots (see Abotabl, at least Figure 9; 12; paragraph [0108]-[0109]; a type 1 downlink (DL) frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) on an SBFD carrier, at least a portion of the allocated physical resource blocks (PRBs) for DL communication overlaps with resources that a slot format sets aside for UL communication); and
transmit the signal in one or more symbols or slots of the plurality of symbols or slots that are not identified as unavailable for transmission of the signal (see Abotabl, at least paragraph [0013]; determining that the overlapping portion comprises resources unavailable for DL transmission).
For claims 2 and 12:
Abotabl further discloses wherein the NOSB-FD symbol is a symbol capable of simultaneous uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) transmission (see Abotabl, at least paragraph [0082]; a wireless link (e.g., wireless communication system 100), a full-duplex channel generally relies on physical isolation of a transmitter and receiver, and suitable interference cancellation technologies. In some examples, a scheduling entity 108 may provide for improved isolation between simultaneous transmission and reception operations. In an example, the scheduling entity 108 may utilize two separate, physically isolated antenna panels for UL communication and DL communication, respectively).
For claims 3 and 13:
Abotabl further discloses wherein the frequency region related to the NOSB-FD symbol is a downlink (DL) subband or a guard band related to the NOSB-FD symbol (see Abotabl, at least Figure 6; sub-band Full-Duplex, guard band).
For claims 4 and 14:
Abotabl further discloses wherein at least one PRB related to transmission of the signal in the respective symbols or slots of the one or more symbols or slots overlaps with the frequency region related to the NOSB-FD symbol in the respective symbols or slots of the one or more symbols or slots (see Abotabl, at least paragraph [0108]-[0109]; a type 1 downlink (DL) frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) on an SBFD carrier, at least a portion of the allocated physical resource blocks (PRBs) for DL communication overlaps with resources that a slot format sets aside for UL communication).
For claim 5 and 15:
Abotabl further discloses wherein all PRBs related to transmission of the signal in the respective symbols or slots of the one or more symbols or slots overlaps with the frequency region related to the NOSB-FD symbol in the respective symbols or slots of the one or more symbols or slots (see Abotabl, at least paragraph [0108]-[0109]; the overlapping portion where the DL resource allocation (e.g., the allocated PRBs) overlaps with the UL portion set aside for UL communication may include a partial overlap or a full overlap in frequency where, in the overlapping portion, at least a portion of the DL resource allocation overlaps with at least a portion of the UL portion.
For claims 6 and 16:
Abotabl further discloses wherein the signal is a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, or a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, or a PRACH transmission (see Abotabl, at least paragraph [0069]; one of the slots 310 illustrates the slot 310 including a control region 312 and a data region 314. In general, the control region 312 may carry control channels (e.g., a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and/or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)), and the data region 314 may carry data channels (e.g., a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and/or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)). Of course, a slot may contain all DL, all UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion and [0106]; f the starting RB of the type 1 DL resource allocation is below the PUSCH (in frequency), and the number of consecutive RBs of the type 1 DL resource allocation is enough to extend across this PUSCH, then a conflict may exist at an overlapping portion of a given slot (e.g., a partial overlap or a full overlap).
For claim 11:
For claim 11, claim 11 is directed to an electronic device which has similar scope as claim 1. Therefore, claim 11 remains un-patentable for the same reasons.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-10, 17-19 and 20 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, set forth in this Office action.
Conclusion
The prior arts made or record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosures. NPL-CMCC, "Discussion on evolution of duplex operation", RP-211997, 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #93-e, (06 September 2021), 8 pages, discloses Subband non-overlapping duplex operation (dividing DL and UL into non-overlapping subbands) could be one of the potential solutions to provide UL coverage improvement, UL capacity improvement and latency reduction.
LG ELECTRONICS, "On the scope of Rel-18 study for full duplex operation", RP-211810, 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #93-e, (06 September 2021), 8 pgs, discloses a method for Duplex operation, where at least subband non-overlapping and subband overlapping full duplex operation should be studied for comprehensive analysis.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAN HUONG TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-5829. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri (7:30AM-5:00PM).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, RICKY NGO can be reached on 571-272-3139. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Lan-Huong Truong/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit: 2464
08/09/2025
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