DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to applicant’s response filed under 37 C.F.R. §1.111 in response to a non-final office action. Claims 1-2, 4-8, 16-19, 21-25, and 33-36 have been amended; Claims 10 and 28 have been cancelled. Claims 1-9, 11-26, and 28-36 are subject to examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/10/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive for the following reasons:
Applicant’s Argument:
The Applicant argues in substance that “even if Wang, Huang, and Miao were combined, there is no teaching or motivation that would lead [one] skilled in the art to use a single configuration that simultaneously indicates distinct transmission directions for two separate, non-overlapping frequency segmentations, nor to overwrite the transmission direction only when the transmission direction is DL and/or flexible.”
Examiner’s Response:
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. As a result of the amendments to the claims, the Examiner has reformatted the rejection. However, Wang teaches “a single configuration that simultaneously indicates distinct transmission directions for two separate, non-overlapping frequency segmentations”. For example, Wang teaches at paragraph [0068] that “The frequency domain resource is divided into M frequency domain regions at a predefined granularity. The second type of cell common UL/DL information indicates the uplink/downlink attribute of the slot/symbol in each of the M frequency domain regions respectively ... the base station indicates the starting point and continuous frequency domain resources of each frequency domain region, and indicates the uplink/downlink attribute of each frequency domain region.” Wang further gives an example in [0069] where “it is assumed that the carrier bandwidth in the carrier where the serving cell C is located is 106 PRBs, the Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) is 15KHz, and the carrier is divided into M = 4 frequency domain regions, wherein region 1 is the 1st to 27th PRBs, region 2 is the 28th to 54th PRBs ... The second type of cell common UL/DL information indicates the uplink/downlink attributes of the four frequency domain regions of each slot/symbol in the period P = 10ms respectively, as shown in FIG. 3a.” That is, Wang teaches a single configuration simultaneously indicating distinct transmission directions for two separate, non-overlapping frequency segmentations.
Miao clearly teaches “overwriting the transmission direction only when the transmission direction is flexible” at paragraph [0044]: “a transmission direction provided in the fourth resource transmission direction configuration information ... may cover only the F transmission direction of the resource indicated in the third resource transmission direction configuration information.” By this rationale, Wang in view of Miao teaches “a single configuration that simultaneously indicates distinct transmission directions for two separate, non-overlapping frequency segmentations, nor to overwrite the transmission direction only when the transmission direction is DL and/or flexible.”
Regarding all other arguments presented by the applicant, the arguments are substantially the same as those which have already been addressed above and in the interest of brevity, the examiner directs the applicant to those responses above.
As a result of the amendments to the claims, the Examiner has reformatted the rejection. See updated rejection below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1-9, 11-26, and 28-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claims 1, 18, 35, and 36, the claims each recite the limitations “if the second transmission direction provided by the second configuration is DL, the third transmission direction provided by the second configuration is only UL,” and “if the second transmission direction provided by the second configuration is UL, the third transmission direction provided by the second configuration is only DL.” However, these limitations are not found or reasonably described in the specification and therefore constitutes new matter. The specification does not describe a scenario in which the transmission direction for the second frequency segmentation (third transmission direction) depends on the transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation (second transmission direction).
Regarding Claims 2-9, 11-17, 19-26, and 28-34, the claims each depend on independent claims 1 or 18 and therefore inherit the 35 U.S.C. 112 issues of the independent claims.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 4-9, 16-17, 21-25, and 33-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 4-8, 16-17, 21-25, and 33-34 each recite the limitation “the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation.” This limitation renders the claims indefinite because it is unclear whether the “the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation” recited in this limitation corresponds to the “a fourth transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation” or “a third transmission direction for the second frequency segmentation” previously recited in independent claims 1 and 18. For the purpose of examination, “the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation” will be interpreted as “a fourth transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation”.
Regarding Claim 9, the claim depends on claim 8, and therefore inherits the 35 U.S.C. 112 issues of claim 8.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 4-5 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends.
Regarding claims 4 and 21, the claims are merely restating the penultimate paragraph of independent claims 1 and 8, respectively.
Regarding claims 5 and 22, the claims are merely restating the final paragraph of independent claims 1 and 8, respectively.
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
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.
Claims 1-6, 11-13, 16-23, 28-30, and 33-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (WO 2021/080164 A1, hereinafter “Wang”) in view of Miao et al. (US 2024/0349074 A1, hereinafter “Miao”.
Regarding Claim 1, Wang teaches a transmission direction setting method, adapted for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a first configuration to indicate a first transmission direction for a frequency range within a time period, wherein the first transmission direction of a beginning part of the time period is downlink (DL) the first transmission direction of a middle part of the time period is flexible, and first transmission direction of a later part of the time period is uplink (UL) (Wang: FIG. 2 illustrates the uplink/downlink attribute of time-frequency resources indicated by the first type of cell common UL/DL information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure ... the uplink/downlink attributes of all frequency domain resources in the bandwidth of the cell within the slot/symbol are the same, see paragraph [0063] and Fig. 2); *Note: Fig. 2 clearly shows the sequence of DL, flexible, and UL directions within a given time period.
receiving a second configuration to indicate a second transmission direction and a third transmission direction for a first frequency segmentation and a second frequency segmentation, respectively, during a consecutive time duration within the time period, wherein the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation consist of one resource block (RB) or a set of consecutive RBs, respectively, the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation are parts of the frequency range, an overlap between the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation is absent in the frequency domain, the second transmission direction and the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation provided by the second configuration correspond to a single transmission direction during the consecutive time duration, respectively (Wang: The second type of cell common UL/DL information includes information on the uplink/downlink attributes in both the time dimension and in the frequency domain dimension, and may indicate which frequency domain resources of which slots/symbols are uplink transmission resources, downlink transmission resources or flexible transmission resources, see paragraph [0065]; the carrier is divided into M = 4 frequency domain regions, wherein region 1 is the 1st to 27th PRBs, region 2 is the 28th to 54th PRBs ... The second type of cell common UL/DL information indicates the uplink/downlink attributes of the four frequency domain regions of each slot/symbol in the period P = 10ms respectively, as shown in FIG. 3a, see paragraph [0068]); *Note: Fig. 3b (slots 2-5, outlined in red, below) shows a second configuration overwriting the first configuration (Fig. 2) to set single transmission directions for two non-overlapping
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frequency segmentations during a consecutive time duration.
determining a fourth transmission direction and a fifth transmission direction during the consecutive time duration within the time period for the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation according to the second configuration (Wang: the uplink/downlink attribute of at least a part of the frequency domain regions in the downlink or uplink or flexible slots/symbols determined according to the first type of cell common UL/DL information may be overwritten by the second type of cell common UL/DL information, see paragraph [0078]), comprising: *Note: Since the fourth and fifth transmission directions are always the same as the second and third transmission directions, the second configuration contains the fourth and fifth transmission directions.
if the second transmission direction provided by the second configuration is UL, the third transmission direction provided by the second configuration is only DL, the fourth transmission direction is determined as UL according to the second transmission direction, and the fifth transmission direction is determined as DL according to the third transmission direction (Wang: see Fig. 3b slots 2-5, above, showing “frequency domain region 1” as uplink and “frequency domain region 2” as downlink).
Wang does not explicitly teach the second configuration indicating a consecutive time duration within the time period only when the first transmission direction of the consecutive time duration within the time period provided by the first configuration is flexible, and the second configuration provides only one consecutive time duration within the time period; and
determining a transmission direction according to the second configuration only when the first transmission direction is flexible.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Miao teaches the second configuration indicating a consecutive time duration within the time period only when the first transmission direction of the consecutive time duration within the time period provided by the first configuration is flexible, and the second configuration provides only one consecutive time duration within the time period (Miao: a transmission direction provided in the fourth resource transmission direction configuration information ... may cover only the F transmission direction of the resource indicated in the third resource transmission direction configuration information, see paragraph [0044]); and
determining a transmission direction according to the second configuration only when the first transmission direction is flexible (Miao: for the time resource, if the transmission direction provided in the first resource transmission direction configuration information is F and the transmission direction provided in the second resource transmission direction configuration information is DL or UL, F is correspondingly overwritten to DL or UL, see paragraph [0054]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wang to include the features as taught by Miao above in order to enable dynamic configuration of the transmission direction of the resource (Miao: see paragraph [0053]).
Regarding Claim 2, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first frequency segmentation occupies a range from a first RB to a second RB, the first RB and the second RB are with reference to common resource block (CRB) grid, and the second configuration comprises at least one of an RB index of the first RB and an RB index of the second RB (Wang: the second type of cell common UL/DL information may be used to indicate a starting point and continuous frequency domain resources of each frequency domain region, see paragraph [0064]; the carrier is divided into M = 4 frequency domain regions, wherein region 1 is the 1st to 27th PRBs, see paragraph [0068]);
the second frequency segmentation occupies a range from a third RB to a fourth RB, the third RB and the fourth RB are with reference to common resource block (CRB) grid, and the second configuration further comprises at least one of an RB index of the third RB and an RB index of the fourth RB (Wang: the carrier is divided into M = 4 frequency domain regions, wherein ... region 2 is the 28th to 54th PRBs, see paragraph [0068]).
Regarding Claim 3, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency range is a serving cell or a bandwidth part (BWP) of the serving cell (Wang: The UE can ... determine the uplink/downlink attribute of each time-frequency resource of the serving cell or BWP through the UE-specific UL/DL information, see paragraph [0088]).
Regarding Claim 4, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Miao further teaches determining the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation as DL, when the first transmission direction is flexible and the second transmission direction is downlink (DL) (Miao: if the transmission direction provided in the first resource transmission direction configuration information is F and the transmission direction provided in the second resource transmission direction configuration information is DL or UL, F is correspondingly overwritten to DL or UL, see paragraph [0054]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Miao is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 5, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Miao further teaches determining the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation as the UL, when the first transmission direction is flexible and the second transmission direction is the UL (Miao: if the transmission direction provided in the first resource transmission direction configuration information is F and the transmission direction provided in the second resource transmission direction configuration information is DL or UL, F is correspondingly overwritten to DL or UL, see paragraph [0054],).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Miao is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 6, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Miao further teaches determining the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation as flexible, when the first transmission direction is the flexible and the second transmission direction is the flexible (Miao: the transmission direction provided in the second resource transmission direction configuration information may cover the F transmission direction provided in the first resource transmission direction configuration information, see paragraph [0054]; the transmission direction of the resource includes ... flexible (F), see paragraph [0032]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Miao is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 11, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first configuration is a higher layer configuration (Wang: The base station may indicate UL/DL slot periodically, for example, indicate periodic slot configuration through higher-layer signaling, see paragraph [0054]).
Regarding Claim 12, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the second configuration is a higher layer configuration (Wang: The base station may indicate UL/DL slot periodically, for example, indicate periodic slot configuration through higher-layer signaling, see paragraph [0054]).
Regarding Claim 13, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the second configuration is a downlink control information (DCI) (Wang: The base station may dynamically indicate UL/DL information through ... a physical layer signaling (e.g., DCI), see paragraph [0109]).
Regarding Claim 16, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 6, further comprising: disabling receiving a DL signal when the transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation is determined as the flexible and a duplex mode is configured (Wang: In the FDD system, the base station can configure the different time resources of the uplink carrier in a pair of uplink and downlink carriers as uplink transmission slots/symbols or flexible slots/symbols, see paragraph [0007]; Preferably, the uplink/downlink attributes of different frequency domain resources within one BWP cannot be conflicting [both uplink and downlink]. For example, each frequency domain resource includes uplink transmission and flexible transmission, see paragraph [0108]).
Regarding Claim 17, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 6, further comprising: disabling transmitting an UL signal when the transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation is determined as the flexible and a duplex mode is configured (Wang: In the FDD system, the base station ... can configure the different time resources of the downlink carrier as downlink transmission slots/symbols or flexible slots/symbols, see paragraph [0007]; Preferably, the uplink/downlink attributes of different frequency domain resources within one BWP cannot be conflicting [both uplink and downlink]. For example, each frequency domain resource … includes downlink transmission and flexible transmission, see paragraph [0108]).
Regarding Claim 18, Wang teaches a user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver, used for transmitting or receiving signals (Wang: A user equipment, UE, for signal transmission, the UE comprising: a transceiver, see Claim 15);
a memory, used for storing a program code (Wang: a memory … and a computer program which is stored on the memory, see paragraph [0245]); and
a processor, coupled to the transceiver and the memory (Wang: at least one processor coupled to the memory and transceiver, see Claim 15), and configured for executing the program code to: receive, through the transceiver, a first configuration ... (Wang: When the computer program is executed the signal transmission method for UE according to the present disclosure is implemented, see paragraph [0245]).
Regarding all other limitations of claim 18, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 1, and therefore claim 18 is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claims 19-23, the limitations of the claims are substantially the same as the limitations of claims 2-6, and claims 19-23 are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claims 28-30, the limitations of the claims are substantially the same as the limitations of claims 11-13, and claims 28-30 are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claims 33-34, the limitations of the claims are substantially the same as the limitations of claims 16-17, and claims 33-34 are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claim 35, Wang teaches a transmission direction setting method, adapted for a network device, the method comprising: transmitting a first configuration to indicate a first transmission direction for a frequency range within a time period, wherein the first transmission direction of a beginning part of the time period is downlink (DL) the first transmission direction of a middle part of the time period is flexible, and first transmission direction of a later part of the time period is uplink (UL) (Wang: in step S101, information for determining an uplink/downlink attribute of each frequency domain resource in each slot/symbol transmitted by the base station, see paragraph [0058]; The first type of cell common UL/DL information may be used to indicate the period and which slots/symbols in the period are uplink slots/symbols, downlink slots/symbols, or flexible slots/symbols, see paragraph [0061]; FIG. 2 illustrates the uplink/downlink attribute of time-frequency resources indicated by the first type of cell common UL/DL information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure ... the uplink/downlink attributes of all frequency domain resources in the bandwidth of the cell within the slot/symbol are the same, see paragraph [0063] and Fig. 2);
transmitting a second configuration to indicate a second transmission direction and a third transmission direction for a first frequency segmentation and a second frequency segmentation, respectively, during a consecutive time duration within the time period, wherein the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation consist of one resource block (RB) or a set of consecutive RBs, respectively, the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation are parts of the frequency range, an overlap between the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation is absent in the frequency domain, the second transmission direction and the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation provided by the second configuration correspond to a single transmission direction during the consecutive time duration, respectively (Wang: The second type of cell common UL/DL information includes information on the uplink/downlink attributes in both the time dimension and in the frequency domain dimension, and may indicate which frequency domain resources of which slots/symbols are uplink transmission resources, downlink transmission resources or flexible transmission resources, see paragraph [0065]; the carrier is divided into M = 4 frequency domain regions, wherein region 1 is the 1st to 27th PRBs, region 2 is the 28th to 54th PRBs ... The second type of cell common UL/DL information indicates the uplink/downlink attributes of the four frequency domain regions of each slot/symbol in the period P = 10ms respectively, as shown in FIG. 3a, see paragraph [0068]);
determining a fourth transmission direction and a fifth transmission direction during the consecutive time duration within the time period for the first frequency segmentation and the second frequency segmentation according to the second configuration (Wang: the uplink/downlink attribute of at least a part of the frequency domain regions in the downlink or uplink or flexible slots/symbols determined according to the first type of cell common UL/DL information may be overwritten by the second type of cell common UL/DL information, see paragraph [0078]), comprising:
if the second transmission direction provided by the second configuration is UL, the third transmission direction provided by the second configuration is only DL, the fourth transmission direction is determined as UL according to the second transmission direction, and the fifth transmission direction is determined as DL according to the third transmission direction (Wang: see Fig. 3b slots 2-5, above, showing “frequency domain region 1” as uplink and “frequency domain region 2” as downlink).
Wang does not explicitly teach the second configuration indicating a consecutive time duration within the time period only when the first transmission direction of the consecutive time duration within the time period provided by the first configuration is flexible, and the second configuration provides only one consecutive time duration within the time period; and
determining a transmission direction according to the second configuration only when the first transmission direction is flexible.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Miao teaches the second configuration indicating a consecutive time duration within the time period only when the first transmission direction of the consecutive time duration within the time period provided by the first configuration is flexible, and the second configuration provides only one consecutive time duration within the time period (Miao: a transmission direction provided in the fourth resource transmission direction configuration information ... may cover only the F transmission direction of the resource indicated in the third resource transmission direction configuration information, see paragraph [0044]); and
determining a transmission direction according to the second configuration only when the first transmission direction is flexible (Miao: for the time resource, if the transmission direction provided in the first resource transmission direction configuration information is F and the transmission direction provided in the second resource transmission direction configuration information is DL or UL, F is correspondingly overwritten to DL or UL, see paragraph [0054]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wang to include the features as taught by Miao above in order to enable dynamic configuration of the transmission direction of the resource (Miao: see paragraph [0053]).
Regarding Claim 36, Wang teaches a teaches a network device, comprising: a transceiver, used for transmitting or receiving signals (Wang: the base station transmits both of the first type of cell common UL/DL information and the second type of cell common UL/DL information, see paragraph [0083]);
a memory, used for storing a program code (Wang: The computer readable storage medium can be included in any device, see paragraph [0242]); and
a processor, coupled to the transceiver and the memory, and configured for executing the program code to: transmit, through the transceiver, a first configuration ... (Wang: in step S101, information for determining an uplink/downlink attribute of each frequency domain resource in each slot/symbol transmitted by the base station, see paragraph [0058]).
Regarding all other limitations of claim 36, the limitations are substantially the same as the limitations of claim 35, and therefore claim 36 is rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 7-9, 14-15, 24-26, and 31-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang-Miao in view of Kim et al. (US 2018/0309513 A1, hereinafter “Kim”).
Regarding Claim 7, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation as the second transmission direction, when the first transmission direction is the flexible (see Claims 4-5 analysis).
Wang does not explicitly teach determining a transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation as blank.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches determining a transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation as blank (Kim: In NR, the slot format indicator (SFI) indicates whether the slot is downlink (DL), uplink (UL), side link (SL), blank (reserved), etc., see paragraph [0115]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wang-Miao to include the features as taught by Kim above in order to ensure forward compatibility with future communications standards (Kim: see paragraph [0133]).
Regarding Claim 8, Wang-Miao-Kim teaches the method according to claim 7.
Kim further teaches muting a DL reception and/or a UL transmission within the first frequency segmentation when the third transmission direction for the first frequency segmentation is determined as the blank (Kim: a legacy UE device may power down its transmitter and receiver during a blank region of the slots, see paragraph [0133]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Kim is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 7.
Regarding Claim 9, Wang-Miao-Kim teaches the method according to claim 8.
Kim further teaches receiving a blank pattern, wherein the blank pattern indicates whether one of a set of time periods is determined as the blank (Kim: receiving, by the radio of the UE device, a second SFI in a second slot of the radio frame; and in response to determining that the second SFI indicates that at least a portion of the second slot is blank, see paragraph [0188]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Kim is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 7.
Regarding Claim 14, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 13, but does not explicitly teach configuring a slot format table, wherein the slot format table comprises a plurality of transmission directions for a symbol, and a number of the plurality of transmission directions is associated with a number of frequency segmentations.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches configuring a slot format table, wherein the slot format table comprises a plurality of transmission directions for a symbol (Kim: the SFI may refer to a value (e.g., an index of a UE table configured for or provided to the UE). The value may indicate one or more sets of directions for symbols, each set corresponding to a slot, see paragraph [0191]), and a number of the plurality of transmission directions is associated with a number of frequency segmentations (Kim: In order to provide the SFI values in an efficient way, the possibilities of the directions of each symbol in a slot may be enumerated, see paragraph [0192]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Wang-Miao to include the features as taught by Kim above in order to provide SFI values in an efficient way (Kim: see paragraph [0192]).
Regarding Claim 15, Wang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 13, but does not explicitly teach configuring a slot format combination table, wherein at least two values within the slot format combination table are used for a slot, and a number of the at least two values is associated with a number of frequency segmentations.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches configuring a slot format combination table (Kim: the SFI may refer to a value (e.g., an index of a UE table configured for or provided to the UE), see paragraph [0191]), wherein at least two values within the slot format combination table are used for a slot, and a number of the at least two values is associated with a number of frequency segmentations (Kim: In some embodiments, each entry in UE (e.g., a user-specific) table could have a sequence of SFI index values which is for one or more of slots, see paragraph [0203]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Kim is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 14.
Regarding Claims 24-26, the limitations of the claims are substantially the same as the limitations of claims 7-9, and claims 24-26 are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding Claims 31-32, the limitations of the claims are substantially the same as the limitations of claims 14-15, and claims 31-32 are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gaal et al. (US 2021/0321416 A1) teaches a first configuration to indicate a first transmission direction for a frequency range within a time period, wherein the first transmission direction of a beginning part of the time period is downlink, the first transmission direction of a middle part of the time period is flexible, and first transmission direction of a later part of the time period is uplink. Gaal also teaches reconfiguring downlink/flexible slots to uplink slots (see paragraphs [0070]-[0072] and Fig. 5). Peng et al. (US 2024/0187083 A1) teaches selectively overwriting downlink or flexible time units configurations, while leaving the other time units unchanged (see paragraphs [0096]-[0101]).
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHILLIP J EGAN KEARNS whose telephone number is 571-272-4869. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6 MST.
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/P.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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