Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/21/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 5, 18, 22, 35, and 36 have been amended. Claims 1-36 are subject to examination.
Acknowledgement is made to the Applicant’s amendment to claims 1, 18, 35, and 36 to obviate the previous 112(a) rejection to claims 1-36. The previous 112(a) rejection to claims 1-36 is hereby withdrawn.
Acknowledgement is made to the Applicant’s amendment to claims 1 and 18 to obviate the previous 112(b) rejection to claims 6, 16, 17, 23, 33, and 34. The previous 112(b) rejection to claims 6, 16, 17, 23, 33, and 34 is hereby withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/21/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive for the following reasons:
Applicant’s Argument:
The Applicant argues in substance that the cited art “is silent that when the transmission direction provided by the first resource transmission direction configuration information is DL, the second transmission [direction] provided by the second configuration, which is UL, can cover DL.”
Examiner’s Response:
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. As a result of the amendments to the claims, the Examiner has reformatted the rejection. However, Miao teaches “determining the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as UL when the first transmission direction is DL and the second transmission direction is the UL”. For example, Miao teaches at paragraph [0054] “if the transmission direction provided in the first resource transmission direction configuration information is DL and the transmission direction provided in the second resource transmission direction configuration information is UL or F, DL is correspondingly overwritten to UL or F”. By this rationale, Miao teaches the amended limitations. See updated rejection below.
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.
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, 10-13, 16-23, 27-30, 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 Huang et al. (US 2021/0377938 A1, hereinafter “Huang”), and further 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 for a frequency segmentation during 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/or DL, wherein the frequency segmentation is a part of the frequency range, the second transmission direction for the frequency segmentation provided by the second configuration corresponds to a single transmission direction during the consecutive time duration, and the second configuration provides only one consecutive time duration within the time period (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] and Fig. 3a) *Note: Fig. 3a “frequency domain region 1” shows a second transmission direction as uplink for slots provided by the first configuration (Fig. 2) as downlink and/or flexible, and the second transmission direction being uplink for the duration of the “only one” consecutive time duration (slots 2-7); and
determining a third transmission direction during the consecutive time duration within the time period for the frequency segmentation according to the second transmission direction (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]).
Wang does not explicitly teach the frequency segmentation consists of one resource block (RB) or a set of consecutive RBs; and
determining the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as UL when the first transmission direction is DL and the second transmission direction is the UL.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Huang teaches, wherein the frequency segmentation consists of one resource block (RB) or a set of consecutive RBs (Huang: At block 1504, the UE receives a control message (e.g., DCI) that includes a Type 1 resource allocation for a given transmission direction ... For example, the control message ... may indicate values for RBstart and LRBs. The values for RBstart and LRBs may define a set of consecutive, contiguous resource blocks (a “contiguous length”) beginning at an RB index defined by RBstart and including a number of resource blocks defined by LRBs that are allocated for the given transmission direction, see paragraph [0132]).
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 Huang above in order to reduce overhead for resource allocation (Huang: see paragraph [0098]).
Wang-Huang does not explicitly teach determining the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as UL when the first transmission direction is DL and the second transmission direction is the UL.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Miao teaches determining the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as UL when the first transmission direction is DL and the second transmission direction is the UL (Miao: if the transmission direction provided in the first resource transmission direction configuration information is DL and the transmission direction provided in the second resource transmission direction configuration information is UL or F, DL is correspondingly overwritten to UL or F, 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-Huang 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]).
*Examiner’s Note: “a frequency segmentation” that is “part of the frequency range” can broadly be interpreted as comprising the entire frequency range, in which case, Miao teaches many of the limitations of the independent claims. Additionally, there is no substantial distinction between the “third transmission direction” and the “second transmission direction”, so it is assumed that the third direction always takes the value of the second direction.
Regarding Claim 2, Wang-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Huang further teaches, wherein the 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 an RB index of the first RB (Huang: For example, the control message ... may indicate values for RBstart and LRBs. The values for RBstart and LRBs may define a set of consecutive, contiguous resource blocks (a “contiguous length”) beginning at an RB index defined by RBstart and including a number of resource blocks defined by LRBs that are allocated for the given transmission direction, see paragraph [0132]).
The rationale and motivation for adding the teaching of Huang is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 1.
Regarding Claim 3, Wang-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Wang further teaches 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-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Miao further teaches determining the third transmission direction for the 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 ... F is correspondingly overwritten to DL, 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-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Miao further teaches determining the third transmission direction for the 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 ... UL, F is correspondingly overwritten to ... 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-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Miao further teaches determining the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as flexible, when the first transmission direction is the DL and the second transmission direction is the flexible (Miao: if the transmission direction provided in the first resource transmission direction configuration information is DL and the transmission direction provided in the second resource transmission direction configuration information is ... F, DL is correspondingly overwritten to ... F, 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 10, Wang-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Wang further teaches, wherein the second configuration further indicates a fourth transmission direction for another frequency segmentation during the consecutive time duration within the time period, an overlap between the frequency segmentation and the another frequency segmentation is absent in frequency domain, and the method further comprises: determining a fifth transmission direction for the another frequency segmentation according to the fourth transmission direction (Wang: 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, see paragraph [0068] and Fig. 3b). *Note: the red box added to Fig. 3b, shown below, highlights the scenario where there are M=2 non-overlapping frequency segmentations during the consecutive time period.
PNG
media_image1.png
176
751
media_image1.png
Greyscale
[AltContent: rect]
Regarding Claim 11, Wang-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Wang further teaches, 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-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Wang further teaches, 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-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1.
Wang further teaches, 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-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 6.
Wang further teaches, disabling receiving a DL signal when the transmission direction for the 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-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 6.
Wang further teaches, disabling transmitting an UL signal when the transmission direction for the 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 27-30, the limitations of the claims are substantially the same as the limitations of claims 10-13, and claims 27-30 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 for a frequency segmentation during 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/or DL, wherein the frequency segmentation is a part of a frequency range, the second transmission direction for the frequency segmentation provided by the second configuration corresponds to a single transmission direction during the consecutive time duration, and the second configuration provides only one consecutive time duration within the time period (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] and Fig. 3a) *Note: Fig. 3a “frequency domain region 1” shows a second transmission direction as uplink for slots provided by the first configuration (Fig. 2) as downlink and/or flexible, and the second transmission direction being uplink for the duration of the “only one” consecutive time duration (slots 2-7); and
determining a third transmission direction during the consecutive time duration within the time period for the frequency segmentation according to the second transmission direction (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]).
Wang does not explicitly teach the frequency segmentation consists of one resource block (RB) or a set of consecutive RBs; and
determining the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as UL when the first transmission direction is DL and the second transmission direction is the UL.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Huang teaches, wherein the frequency segmentation consists of one resource block (RB) or a set of consecutive RBs (Huang: At block 1504, the UE receives a control message (e.g., DCI) that includes a Type 1 resource allocation for a given transmission direction ... For example, the control message ... may indicate values for RBstart and LRBs. The values for RBstart and LRBs may define a set of consecutive, contiguous resource blocks (a “contiguous length”) beginning at an RB index defined by RBstart and including a number of resource blocks defined by LRBs that are allocated for the given transmission direction, see paragraph [0132]).
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 Huang above in order to reduce overhead for resource allocation (Huang: see paragraph [0098]).
Wang-Huang does not explicitly teach determining the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as UL when the first transmission direction is DL and the second transmission direction is the UL.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Miao teaches determining the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as UL when the first transmission direction is DL and the second transmission direction is the UL (Miao: if the transmission direction provided in the first resource transmission direction configuration information is DL and the transmission direction provided in the second resource transmission direction configuration information is UL or F, DL is correspondingly overwritten to UL or F, 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-Huang 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-Huang-Miao in view of Kim et al. (JP 2020-518173 A, hereinafter “Kim”).
Regarding Claim 7, Wang-Huang-Miao teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as [UL/DL], when the first transmission direction is the flexible and the second transmission direction is the [UL/DL] (see Claims 4-5 analysis).
Wang does not explicitly teach determining a transmission direction for the frequency segmentation as blank.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Kim teaches determining a transmission direction for the 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 p. 9 highlights).
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-Huang-Miao to include the features as taught by Kim above in order to ensure forward compatibility with future communications standards (Kim: see p. 11 highlight #1).
Regarding Claim 8, Wang-Huang-Miao-Kim teaches the method according to claim 7.
Kim further teaches muting a DL reception and/or a UL transmission within the frequency segmentation when the third transmission direction for the frequency segmentation is determined as the blank (Kim: legacy UE devices may power down transmitters and receivers during blank areas of slots, see p. 11 highlight #2).
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-Huang-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 the second slot of the radio frame and the second SFI indicating that at least a portion of the second slot is blank, see p. 16 highlight #1).
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-Huang-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: SFI may refer to a value (eg, a UE table index configured for ... a UE). The values can indicate one or more sets in the direction of the symbols, each set corresponding to a slot, see p. 16 highlight #2), and a number of the plurality of transmission directions is associated with a number of frequency segmentations (Kim: To provide the SFI value in an efficient way, the directional possibilities of each symbol in the slot can be enumerated, see p. 16 highlight #3).
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-Huang-Miao to include the features as taught by Kim above in order to provide SFI values in an efficient way (Kim: see p. 16 highlight #3).
Regarding Claim 15, Wang-Huang-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: SFI may refer to a value (eg, a UE table index configured for ... a UE), see p. 16 highlight #2), 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 the UE (eg, user-specific) table may have a sequence of SFI index values for any one or more of the slots, see p. 18 highlights).
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]).
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-Th 10-6 EST.
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, NOEL BEHARRY can be reached at 571-270-5630. 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.
/P.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/SHARMIN CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416