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 paper is responsive to an RCE filed January 2, 2026 for the patent application having a priority date of October 21, 2020.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on November 26, 2025 was filed after the mailing date of the final office action on November 3, 2025.
The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Status
Claims currently pending are 1, 3, 5-6, 11-13, 15, 17-18 and 21-28.
Claims 1, 5, 6, 11-13, 17 and 18 have been amended.
Claims 2, 4, 7-8, 14, 16 and 19-20 have been canceled.
Claims 21-28 have been added.
Response to Amendment
The amendments to the claims filed on 1/2/2026 have been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 5, 6, 11-13, 17 and 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.
Matsumura Fig. 6 captures the state of the art prior to the effective date of Applicant’s invention:
PNG
media_image1.png
498
980
media_image1.png
Greyscale
As shown in Fig. 6, Matsumura teaches TCI state, receiving a DCI, transmission HARQ-ACK on PUCCH, and that the common beam is updated to TCI #2 at a time “update timing” after PUCCH (see dash lines). The dashed lines “update timing” illustrates the time the TCI state is updated to state #2. Thus, a “time unit” is shown in Fig. 6 and further taught in Matsumura para. [0261] which teaches applying TCI state after one or more channels (update timing) wherein the TCI state information is configured/indicated by the RRC/MAC CE. Applicant’s specification para. [0095] teaches that a Q time unit includes “(e.g., a time slot and/or other time instances)” which Examiner interprets as taught by the “update timing” of Matsumura.
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.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 11-13, 15, 17 and 21-23 and 25-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pat. Pub. 20230389038 to Yuki Matsumura et al. (hereinafter Matsumura) in view of US. Pat. Pub..
Regarding claim 1, Matsumura in view of Wang teaches A method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless communication device from a wireless communication node, a downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least a TCI state without scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception, (Matsumura teaches in para. [0055] a DCI indicating a TCI state without scheduling a PDSCH reception as a default state)
wherein a redundancy version (RV) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s and a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s ; (Matsumura para. [0164] teaches a special DCI with redundancy version field set to all “1”, in para. [0170] and MCS field set to all “1”s in para. [0168]).
....
and
transmitting, by the wireless communication device to the wireless communication node, a PUCCH transmission that carries the HARQ-ACK information.(Matsumura teaches in para. [0090] “UE transmits HARQ-ACK information responding to the PDSCH in a PUCCH”)
wherein the TCI state is applied to a downlink or uplink signal Q time units after transmitting the PUCCH transmission carrying the HARQ-ACK information, where Q is determined according to a radio resource control (RRC) signaling. (Matsumura para. [0116]-[0117] teaches “In the common beam/unified TCI state framework, a plurality of TCI states (pool) may be activated by the MAC CE/RRC, one unified TCI state may be selected by the DCI, and the selected DCI may be applied to a plurality or all of UL/DL channels/RSs at or after a timing A. The beam assumption for at least one of the PDSCH, the PUCCH/PUSCH carrying the HARQ-ACK information of the PDSCH scheduled/triggered by the DL DCI indicating update of the common beam for the PDSCH...” Further, timing A, “update timing” is illustrated in Matsumura Fig. 6:
PNG
media_image1.png
498
980
media_image1.png
Greyscale
As shown in Fig. 6, update timing is updated as shown in the dashed lines “update timing” at which time the TCI state is updated to state #2. Thus, a “time unit” is shown in Fig. 6 and further taught in para. [0261] which teaches applying TCI state after one or more channels (update timing) wherein the TCI state information is configured/indicated by the RRC/MAC CE. Applicant’s specification para. [0095] teaches that a Q time unit includes “(e.g., a time slot and/or other time instances)” which Examiner interprets as taught by the “update timing” of Matsumura.)
Matsumura does NOT teach determining, by the wireless communication device, a location of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the DCI in a HARQ- ACK codebook having a mode configured as "semi-static", and physical uplink control (PUCCH) resource, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information is determined according to a time domain resource parameter associated with a virtual PDSCH reception, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the DCI is the same as a location of a HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the virtual PDSCH reception and is determined using the time domain resource parameter associated with the virtual PDSCH reception;
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Wang teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, a location of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the DCI in a HARQ- ACK codebook having a mode configured as "semi-static", and physical uplink control (PUCCH) resource, (Wang teaches in para. [0006] that the PUCCH carries the HARQ-ACK and Wang para. [0098] teaches determining a HARQ-ACK codebook by feeding back HARQ-ACKs of Nec carriers based on whether the DCI contains the C-DAI field for DCI type 1 and DCI type 2, which is semi-static. Wang para. [0034] teaches “the number of bits of the generated HARQ-ACK codebook changes semi-statically”.) wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information is determined according to a time domain resource parameter associated with a virtual PDSCH reception, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the DCI is the same as a location of a HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the virtual PDSCH reception and is determined using the time domain resource parameter associated with the virtual PDSCH reception; (Wang para. [0096] teaches “Specifically, in the DCI, the delay K0 from a slot where the DCI is located to a slot where the virtual PDSCH is located and the delay K1 from the slot where the virtual PDSCH is located to a slot where the HARQ-ACK is located are indicated, so that the slot for feeding back the HARQ-ACK of the SPS Release is determined. By this method, the HARQ-ACK of the SPS Release can occupy the HARQ-ACK occasion of the virtual PDSCH, so that the HARQ-ACK occasion can be determined by a method the same as that of other dynamic PDSCHs, for example, by one of the following five embodiments of the present invention,” .:Wang teaches the time domain resource parameter “K1” and “K0” is associated with the virtual PDSCH to locate the HARQ-ACK.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura and Wang to teach a HARQ-ACK code book and a virtual PDSCH. Each of Matsumura and Wang are in the field of HARQ-ACK communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Wang with Matsumura in order to support feedback of HARQ-ACK information and flexibly utilize frequency spectrum resources as taught in Wang para. [0015].
Regarding claim 3, Matsumura teaches The method of claim 1, comprising:
generating, by the wireless communication device, an acknowledgment (ACK) value for the HARQ-ACK information if the wireless communication device detects the DCI. (Matsumura para. [0087] teaches “It is preferable to update the common beam after the UE transmits feedback for the DCI indicating the update of the common beam. From an effect on specifications, it is preferable that a timeline for the update of the common beam is defined, and the common beam is updated after the UE transmits the feedback. If the DCI indicating the update of the common beam is a DL assignment, the feedback may be transmission of ACK or NACK of PDSCH. If the DCI indicating the update of the common beam is a UL grant, the feedback may be PUSCH transmission.” Also, Para. [0117] teaches “The beam assumption for at least one of the PDSCH, the PUCCH/PUSCH carrying the HARQ-ACK information of the PDSCH scheduled/triggered by the DL DCI indicating update of the common beam for the PDSCH, the PUSCH scheduled/triggered by the UL DCI indicating update of the common beam, and the SRS triggered by the UL/DL DCI indicating update of the common beam may be any of the following Aspects 1-1 and 1-2.”).
Regarding claim 5, Matsumura does NOT teach The method of claim 1, wherein a mode of the HARQ-ACK codebook is configured as "semi-static".
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Wang teaches wherein a mode of the HARQ-ACK codebook is configured as "semi-static". (Wang para. [0098] teaches determining a HARQ-ACK codebook by feeding back HARQ-ACK s of Nec carriers based on whether the DCI contains the C-DAI field for DCI type 1 and DCI type 2, which is semi-static. Wang para. [0034] teaches “the number of bits of the generated HARQ-ACK codebook changes semi-statically”.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura and Wang to teach semi-static codebooks. Each of Matsumura and Wang are in the field of wireless communications and address HARQ-ACK information. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Matsumura and Wang in order to support feedback of HARQ-ACK information and flexibly utilize frequency spectrum resources as taught in Wang para. [0015].
Regarding claim 9, Matsumura teaches The method of claim 1, comprising: receiving, by the wireless communication device from the wireless communication node, radio resource control (RRC) signaling to configure a parameter corresponding to the DCI, wherein the parameter comprises:
a specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI). (Matsumura teaches in para. [0147] “New DCI may be used for performing the common beam indication even if there is no PDSCH/PUSCH. The DCI may have a redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by a new RNTI radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).” The DCI is taught as configured through RRC signaling in para. [0153].)
Regarding claim 10, Matsumura teaches The method of claim 1, wherein a frequency domain resource assignment field in the DCI is set to a specific value all "1"s or all "0"s. (Matsumura para. [0164]-[0165] teaches “In the special DCI format..... A value of a frequency domain resource allocation field is set to all 0 or all 1.”)
Regarding claim 11, Matsumura in view of Wang teaches A wireless communication device, (Matsumura Fig. 22) comprising:
at least one processor (Matsumura Fig. 22, elements 2211 and 2212)
configured to:
receive, via a transceiver (Matsumura Fig. 22, element 230) from a wireless communication node, a downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least a TCI state without scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception, (Matsumura teaches in para. [0055] a DCI indicating a TCI state without scheduling a PDSCH reception as a default state) wherein a redundancy version (RV) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s and a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s; (Matsumura para. [0164] teaches a special DCI with redundancy version field set to all “1”, in para. [0170] and MCS field set to all “1”s in para. [0168]).
.... and
transmit, via the transceiver to the wireless communication node, a PUCCH transmission that carries the HARQ-ACK information,(Matsumura teaches in para. [0090] “UE transmits HARQ-ACK information responding to the PDSCH in a PUCCH”. ) wherein the TCI state is applied to a downlink or uplink signal Q time units after transmitting the PUCCH transmission carrying the HARQ-ACK information, where Q is determined according to a radio resource control (RRC) signaling. (Matsumura para. [0116]-[0117] teaches “In the common beam/unified TCI state framework, a plurality of TCI states (pool) may be activated by the MAC CE/RRC, one unified TCI state may be selected by the DCI, and the selected DCI may be applied to a plurality or all of UL/DL channels/RSs at or after a timing A. The beam assumption for at least one of the PDSCH, the PUCCH/PUSCH carrying the HARQ-ACK information of the PDSCH scheduled/triggered by the DL DCI indicating update of the common beam for the PDSCH...” Further, timing A, “update timing” is illustrated in Matsumura Fig. 6:
PNG
media_image1.png
498
980
media_image1.png
Greyscale
As shown in Fig. 6, update timing is updated as shown in the dashed lines “update timing” at which time the TCI state is updated to state #2. Thus, a “time unit” is shown in Fig. 6 and further taught in para. [0261] which teaches applying TCI state after one or more channels (update timing) wherein the TCI state information is configured/indicated by the RRC/MAC CE. Applicant’s specification para. [0095] teaches that a Q time unit includes “(e.g., a time slot and/or other time instances)” which Examiner interprets as taught by the “update timing” of Matsumura.)
Matsumura does NOT teach determine a location of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the DCI in a HARQ-ACK codebook and a first physical uplink control (PUCCH) resource, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information is determined according to a time domain resource parameter associated with a virtual PDSCH reception, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the DCI is the same as a location of a HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the virtual PDSCH reception and is determined using the time domain resource parameter associated with the virtual PDSCH reception.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G Wireless Communications, Wang teaches determine a location of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the DCI in a HARQ-ACK codebook and a first physical uplink control (PUCCH) resource, (Wang teaches in para. [0006] that the PUCCH carries the HARQ-ACK and Wang para. [0098] teaches determining a HARQ-ACK codebook by feeding back HARQ-ACKs of Nec carriers based on whether the DCI contains the C-DAI field for DCI type 1 and DCI type 2, which is semi-static. Wang para. [0034] teaches “the number of bits of the generated HARQ-ACK codebook changes semi-statically”.) wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information is determined according to a time domain resource parameter associated with a virtual PDSCH reception, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the DCI is the same as a location of a HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the virtual PDSCH reception and is determined using the time domain resource parameter associated with the virtual PDSCH reception. (Wang para. [0096] teaches “Specifically, in the DCI, the delay K0 from a slot where the DCI is located to a slot where the virtual PDSCH is located and the delay K1 from the slot where the virtual PDSCH is located to a slot where the HARQ-ACK is located are indicated, so that the slot for feeding back the HARQ-ACK of the SPS Release is determined. By this method, the HARQ-ACK of the SPS Release can occupy the HARQ-ACK occasion of the virtual PDSCH, so that the HARQ-ACK occasion can be determined by a method the same as that of other dynamic PDSCHs, for example, by one of the following five embodiments of the present invention,” Wang teaches the time domain resource parameter “K1” and “K0” is associated with the virtual PDSCH to locate the HARQ-ACK.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura and Wang to teach a HARQ-ACK code book and a virtual PDSCH. Each of Matsumura and Wang are in the field of HARQ-ACK communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Wang with Matsumura in order to support feedback of HARQ-ACK information and flexibly utilize frequency spectrum resources as taught in Wang para. [0015].
Regarding claim 12, Matsumura in view of Wang teaches A wireless communication node, (Matsumura Fig. 20 base stations 10 and 11) comprising:
at least one processor (Matsumura para. [0286] processor 1001 in a base station) configured to:
transmit, via a transceiver (Matsumura Fig. 21, elements 120/ 130) to a wireless communication device, a downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least a TCI state without scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception, wherein a redundancy version (RV) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s and a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s, (Matsumura teaches in para. [0055] a DCI indicating a TCI state without scheduling a PDSCH reception as a default state) wherein a redundancy version (RV) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s and a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s; (Matsumura para. [0164] teaches a special DCI with redundancy version field set to all “1”, in para. [0170] and MCS field set to all “1”s in para. [0168])
... and
receive, via the transceiver from the wireless communication node, a PUCCH transmission that carries the HARQ-ACK information. (Matsumura teaches in para. [0090] “UE transmits HARQ-ACK information responding to the PDSCH in a PUCCH”. )
wherein the TCI state is applied to a downlink or uplink signal Q time units after transmitting the PUCCH transmission carrying the HARQ-ACK information, where Q is determined according to a radio resource control (RRC) signaling. (Matsumura para. [0116]-[0117] teaches “In the common beam/unified TCI state framework, a plurality of TCI states (pool) may be activated by the MAC CE/RRC, one unified TCI state may be selected by the DCI, and the selected DCI may be applied to a plurality or all of UL/DL channels/RSs at or after a timing A. The beam assumption for at least one of the PDSCH, the PUCCH/PUSCH carrying the HARQ-ACK information of the PDSCH scheduled/triggered by the DL DCI indicating update of the common beam for the PDSCH...” Further, timing A, “update timing” is illustrated in Matsumura Fig. 6:
PNG
media_image1.png
498
980
media_image1.png
Greyscale
As shown in Fig. 6, update timing is updated as shown in the dashed lines “update timing” at which time the TCI state is updated to state #2. Thus, a “time unit” is shown in Fig. 6 and further taught in para. [0261] which teaches applying TCI state after one or more channels (update timing) wherein the TCI state information is configured/indicated by the RRC/MAC CE. Applicant’s specification para. [0095] teaches that a Q time unit includes “(e.g., a time slot and/or other time instances)” which Examiner interprets as taught by the “update timing” of Matsumura.)
Matsumura does NOT teach wherein the wireless communication device determines a location of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the DCI in a HARQ-ACK codebook and a physical uplink control (PUCCH) resource, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information is determined according to a time domain resource parameter associated with a virtual PDSCH reception, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the DCI is the same as a location of a HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the virtual PDSCH reception and is determined using the time domain resource parameter associated with the virtual PDSCH reception,
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Wang teaches wherein the wireless communication device determines a location of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the DCI in a HARQ-ACK codebook and a physical uplink control (PUCCH) resource, (Wang teaches in para. [0006] that the PUCCH carries the HARQ-ACK and Wang para. [0098] teaches determining a HARQ-ACK codebook by feeding back HARQ-ACKs of Nec carriers based on whether the DCI contains the C-DAI field for DCI type 1 and DCI type 2) wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information is determined according to a time domain resource parameter associated with a virtual PDSCH reception, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the DCI is the same as a location of a HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the virtual PDSCH reception and is determined using the time domain resource parameter associated with the virtual PDSCH reception, (Wang para. [0096] teaches “Specifically, in the DCI, the delay K0 from a slot where the DCI is located to a slot where the virtual PDSCH is located and the delay K1 from the slot where the virtual PDSCH is located to a slot where the HARQ-ACK is located are indicated, so that the slot for feeding back the HARQ-ACK of the SPS Release is determined. By this method, the HARQ-ACK of the SPS Release can occupy the HARQ-ACK occasion of the virtual PDSCH, so that the HARQ-ACK occasion can be determined by a method the same as that of other dynamic PDSCHs, for example, by one of the following five embodiments of the present invention,” .:Wang teaches the time domain resource parameter “K1” and “K0” is associated with the virtual PDSCH to locate the HARQ-ACK.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura and Wang to teach a HARQ-ACK code book and a virtual PDSCH. Each of Matsumura and Wang are in the field of HARQ-ACK communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Wang with Matsumura in order to support feedback of HARQ-ACK information and flexibly utilize frequency spectrum resources as taught in Wang para. [0015].
Regarding claim 13, Matsumura in view of Wang teaches A method comprising:
transmitting, by a wireless communication node to a wireless communication device, a downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least a TCI state without scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception, (Matsumura teaches in para. [0055] a DCI indicating a TCI state without scheduling a PDSCH reception as a default state)
wherein a redundancy version (RV) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s and a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field in the DCI is set to all "1"s; (Matsumura para. [0164] teaches a special DCI with redundancy version field set to all “1”, in para. [0170] and MCS field set to all “1”s in para. [0168])
... and
receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, a PUCCH transmission that carries the HARQ-ACK information. (Matsumura teaches in para. [0090] “UE transmits HARQ-ACK information responding to the PDSCH in a PUCCH”. ) wherein the TCI state is applied to a downlink or uplink signal Q time units after transmitting the PUCCH transmission carrying the HARQ-ACK information, where Q is determined according to a radio resource control (RRC) signaling. (Matsumura para. [0116]-[0117] teaches “In the common beam/unified TCI state framework, a plurality of TCI states (pool) may be activated by the MAC CE/RRC, one unified TCI state may be selected by the DCI, and the selected DCI may be applied to a plurality or all of UL/DL channels/RSs at or after a timing A. The beam assumption for at least one of the PDSCH, the PUCCH/PUSCH carrying the HARQ-ACK information of the PDSCH scheduled/triggered by the DL DCI indicating update of the common beam for the PDSCH...” Further, timing A, “update timing” is illustrated in Matsumura Fig. 6:
PNG
media_image1.png
498
980
media_image1.png
Greyscale
As shown in Fig. 6, update timing is updated as shown in the dashed lines “update timing” at which time the TCI state is updated to state #2. Thus, a “time unit” is shown in Fig. 6 and further taught in para. [0261] which teaches applying TCI state after one or more channels (update timing) wherein the TCI state information is configured/indicated by the RRC/MAC CE. Applicant’s specification para. [0095] teaches that a Q time unit includes “(e.g., a time slot and/or other time instances)” which Examiner interprets as taught by the “update timing” of Matsumura.)
Matsumura does NOT teach wherein the wireless communication device determines a location of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the DCI in a HARQ-ACK codebook and a first physical uplink control (PUCCH) resource, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information is determined according to a time domain resource parameter associated with a virtual PDSCH reception, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the DCI is the same as a location of a HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the virtual PDSCH reception and is determined using the time domain resource parameter associated with the virtual PDSCH reception.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G Wireless Communications, Wang teaches wherein the wireless communication device determines a location of hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the DCI in a HARQ-ACK codebook and a first physical uplink control (PUCCH) resource, (Wang teaches in para. [0006] that the PUCCH carries the HARQ-ACK and Wang para. [0098] teaches determining a HARQ-ACK codebook by feeding back HARQ-ACKs of Nec carriers based on whether the DCI contains the C-DAI field for DCI type 1 and DCI type 2) wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information is determined according to a time domain resource parameter associated with a virtual PDSCH reception, wherein the location of the HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the DCI is the same as a location of a HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the virtual PDSCH reception and is determined using the time domain resource parameter associated with the virtual PDSCH reception, (Wang para. [0096] teaches “Specifically, in the DCI, the delay K0 from a slot where the DCI is located to a slot where the virtual PDSCH is located and the delay K1 from the slot where the virtual PDSCH is located to a slot where the HARQ-ACK is located are indicated, so that the slot for feeding back the HARQ-ACK of the SPS Release is determined. By this method, the HARQ-ACK of the SPS Release can occupy the HARQ-ACK occasion of the virtual PDSCH, so that the HARQ-ACK occasion can be determined by a method the same as that of other dynamic PDSCHs, for example, by one of the following five embodiments of the present invention,” .:Wang teaches the time domain resource parameter “K1” and “K0” is associated with the virtual PDSCH to locate the HARQ-ACK.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura and Wang to teach a HARQ-ACK code book and a virtual PDSCH. Each of Matsumura and Wang are in the field of HARQ-ACK communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Wang with Matsumura in order to support feedback of HARQ-ACK information and flexibly utilize frequency spectrum resources as taught in Wang para. [0015].
Regarding claim 15, Matsumura teaches The wireless communication device method of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is configured to generate an acknowledgment (ACK) value for the HARQ-ACK information if the wireless communication device detects the DCI. (Matsumura para. [0087] teaches “If the DCI indicating the update of the common beam is a DL assignment, the feedback may be transmission of ACK or NACK of PDSCH. note that Matsumura para 105 teaches “In the present disclosure, HARQ-ACK information, ACK, and NACK may be interchangeably interpreted.”)
Regarding claim 17, Matsumura does NOT teach The wireless communication device method of claim 11, wherein a mode of the HARQ-ACK codebook is configured as "semi-static".
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Wang teaches wherein a mode of the HARQ-ACK codebook is configured as "semi-static". (Wang para. [0098] teaches determining a HARQ-ACK codebook by feeding back HARQ-ACK s of Nec carriers based on whether the DCI contains the C-DAI field for DCI type 1 and DCI type 2, which is semi-static. Wang para. [0034] teaches “the number of bits of the generated HARQ-ACK codebook changes semi-statically”.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura and Wang to teach semi-static codebooks. Each of Matsumura and Wang are in the field of wireless communications and address HARQ-ACK information. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Matsumura and Wang in order to support feedback of HARQ-ACK information and flexibly utilize frequency spectrum resources as taught in Wang para. [0015].
Regarding claim 21, Matsumura teaches The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive, via the transceiver from the wireless communication node (Matsumura Fig. 21, elements 120/ 130), radio resource control (RRC) signaling (Matsumura para. [0186] teaches new RRC signaling for UE-specific DCI) to configure a parameter corresponding to the DCI, wherein the parameter comprises:
a specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI). (Matsumura teaches a “new RNTI” “the new RNTI may be a X-RNTI (special RNTI)” in paras. [0154]-[0160] received over RRC to distinguish a UE operation based on UE specific DCI.)
Regarding claim 22, Matsumura teaches The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein: a frequency domain resource assignment field in the DCI is set to all "1"s or all "0"s. (Matsumura teaches in paras. [0165] to [0177] different fields including frequency domain resource assignment fields in a special DCI format are set to all “1”s or all “0”s and “A value of a frequency domain resource allocation field is set to all 0 or all 1”).
Regarding claim 23, Matsumura teaches The wireless communication node of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive, via the receiver from the wireless communication device, an acknowledgment (ACK) value for the HARQ-ACK information if the wireless communication device detects the DCI. (Matsumura para. [0087] teaches “If the DCI indicating the update of the common beam is a DL assignment, the feedback may be transmission of ACK or NACK of PDSCH.” Matsumura para. [0105] teaches “In the present disclosure, HARQ-ACK information, ACK, and NACK may be interchangeably interpreted.”)
Regarding claim 25, Matsumura teaches The wireless communication node of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
transmit, via the transceiver (Matsumura Fig. 21, elements 120/ 130) to the wireless communication device, radio resource control (RRC) signaling to configure a parameter (Matsumura para. [0186] teaches new RRC signaling for UE-specific DCI) corresponding to the DCI, wherein the parameter comprises:
a specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI). ). (Matsumura teaches a “new RNTI” “the new RNTI may be a X-RNTI (special RNTI)” in paras. [0154]-[0160] received over RRC to distinguish a UE operation based on UE specific DCI.)
Regarding claim 26, Matsumura teaches The wireless communication node of claim 12, wherein:
a frequency domain resource assignment field in the DCI is set to all "1"s or all "0"s. (Matsumura teaches in paras. [0165] to [0177] different fields including frequency domain resource assignment fields in a special DCI format are set to all “1”s or all “0”s. “A value of a frequency domain resource allocation field is set to all 0 or all 1”).
Regarding claim 27, Matsumura teaches The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving, by the wireless communication node from the wireless communication device, an acknowledgment (ACK) value for the HARQ-ACK information if the wireless communication device detects the DCI. (Matsumura teaches in para. [0087] –[0090] that the UE transmits an ACK as feedback after detecting a DCI. Para. [0090] teaches transmitting the HARQ-ACK information responsive to the DCI.)
Claims 6, 18, 24 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura in view of Wang further in view of 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #92, R1-1801989, Athens, Greece, February 26th- March 2nd 2018, Samsung, “Corrections on CA operation” (hereinafter R1-1801989).
Regarding claim 6, Matsumura does NOT teach The method of claim 5, wherein the time domain resource parameter is indicated from a set of time domain resource parameters for a PDSCH.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G Wireless Communication Standards, R1-1801989 teaches wherein the time domain resource parameter is indicated from a set of time domain resource parameters. (R1-1801989 teaches “The time domain resource of PDSCH is dynamically indicated by DCI from an RRC configured table pdsch-symbolAllocation, where each row of the table includes the slot offset K0, the start symbol S and duration L within a slot, and the PDSCH mapping type (slot or non-slot.)”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura with R1-1801989. Each of Matsumura and R1-1801989 are in the field of wireless communications and HARQ-ACK. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Matsumura with R1-1801989 to determine parameters that impact the semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook as taught on page 3, proposal 1 of R1-1801989.
Regarding claim 18, Matsumura does NOT teach The wireless communication device method of claim 17, wherein the time domain resource parameter is indicated from a set of time domain resource parameters for a downlink signal PDSCH.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G Wireless Communication Standards, R1-1801989 teaches wherein the time domain resource parameter is indicated from a set of time domain resource parameters. (R1-1801989 teaches “The time domain resource of PDSCH is dynamically indicated by DCI from an RRC configured table pdsch-symbolAllocation, where each row of the table includes the slot offset K0, the start symbol S and duration L within a slot, and the PDSCH mapping type (slot or non-slot.)”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura with R1-1801989. Each of Matsumura and R1-1801989 are in the field of wireless communications and HARQ-ACK. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Matsumura with R1-1801989 to determine parameters that impact the semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook as taught on page 3, proposal 1 of R1-1801989.
Regarding claim 24, Matsumura does NOT teach The wireless communication node of claim 12, wherein the time domain resource parameter is indicated from a set of time domain resource parameters for a PDSCH.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G Wireless Communication Standards, R1-1801989 teaches wherein the time domain resource parameter is indicated from a set of time domain resource parameters for a PDSCH. (R1-1801989 teaches “The time domain resource of PDSCH is dynamically indicated by DCI from an RRC configured table pdsch-symbolAllocation, where each row of the table includes the slot offset K0, the start symbol S and duration L within a slot, and the PDSCH mapping type (slot or non-slot.)”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura with R1-1801989. Each of Matsumura and R1-1801989 are in the field of wireless communications and HARQ-ACK. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Matsumura with R1-1801989 to determine parameters that impact the semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook as taught on page 3, proposal 1 of R1-1801989.
Regarding claim 28 Matsumura does NOT teach The method of claim 13, wherein the time domain resource parameter is indicated from a set of time domain resource parameters for a PDSCH.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G Wireless Communication Standards, R1-1801989 teaches wherein the time domain resource parameter is indicated from a set of time domain resource parameters for a PDSCH. (R1-1801989 teaches “The time domain resource of PDSCH is dynamically indicated by DCI from an RRC configured table pdsch-symbolAllocation, where each row of the table includes the slot offset K0, the start symbol S and duration L within a slot, and the PDSCH mapping type (slot or non-slot.)”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Matsumura with R1-1801989. Each of Matsumura and R1-1801989 are in the field of wireless communications and HARQ-ACK. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Matsumura with R1-1801989 to determine parameters that impact the semi-static HARQ-ACK codebook as taught on page 3, proposal 1 of R1-1801989.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON whose telephone number is (703)756-1068. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CHARLES JIANG can be reached at 571-270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2412
/CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412