DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to communications filed on February 6, 2026. Claims 1, 3, 14, 15, 17, 29, and 30 have been amended. Claims 1-30 are pending in the application.
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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 February 6, 2026 has been entered.
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, 3-6, 14, 15, 17-20, and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pedersen et al. (US 2022/0140959) in view of Ibrahim et al. (WO 2022/056822).
Regarding Claim 1, Pedersen teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories (“Processors 711 and 721 and memories 712 and 722 or a subset thereof, may be configured to provide means corresponding to the various blocks of FIGS. 3-6” – See [0066]; “The memory and the computer program instructions may be configured, with the processor for the particular device, to cause a hardware apparatus such as user equipment to perform any of the processes described” – See [0068]), configured to:
receive an indication that indicates whether an inter-UE cross-link interference (CLI) measurement resource is associated with a wideband based report configuration or subband based report configuration (“At 301, NE 310 may transmit at least one message to UE 320. In some example embodiments, the at least one message may include at least one CLI measurement framework object, such as CLImeasObject, which may be configured to add a new CLImeasObject” – See [0033]; “at least one measurement framework object, such as CLImeasObject. If the reporting is a function of the UE experienced interference, the measurement framework object may include information on whether the interference is based on simple RSSI and/or UE L1 interference measurements based on, for example, at least one CSI interference measurement (CSI-IM) resource and/or non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resource for interference measurements” – See [0036]; “the at least one CLI measurement framework object may be associated with RRC signaling according to 3GPP TS 38.331 (RRC signaling). For example, RRC signaling may define at least one PHY/MAC procedure for CLI reporting. Such information may define whether the UE shall use implicit or explicit signaling of UE CLI measurements/information back to the network, as well as whether UE CLI measurements should be wideband or per subband” – See [0038]; The UE receives an indication of CLI measurement resources and an indication of whether the measurement is a wideband or a subband measurement); and
perform an inter-UE CLI measurement on a wideband or on a subband based at least in part on the indication (“UE CLI measurements come in the form of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or sounding reference signal (SRS)-reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements” – See [0030]; “UEs in subbands where they experience harmful UE-2-UE CLI conditions” – See [0032]; “At 303, in response to receiving the at least one RRC-based CLI measurement framework object, UE 320 may determine whether fulfilment of the triggering criteria of the at least one received UE CLI measurement object has occurred. At 305, UE 320 may transmit at least one UE CLI measurement to NE 310, for example, as part of at least one RRC message” – See [0040]; “At 307, in response to receiving and analysing the at least one UE CLI measurement, NE 310 may take at least one action. For example, NE 310 may take at least one action to resolve inter-UE CLI problems” – See [0041]; The UE performs the inter-UE CLI measurement either as wideband or subband based on the indication).
Pedersen does not explicitly teach that the UE is configured with another indication to select between wideband CLI measurements and subband CLI measurements based at least in part on another configuration, and wherein the selection between the wideband CLI measurements and the subband CLI measurements is based at least in part on a symbol type associated with the inter-UE CLI measurement resource.
However, Ibrahim teaches that the UE is configured with another indication to select between wideband CLI measurements and subband CLI measurements based at least in part on another configuration, and wherein the selection between the wideband CLI measurements and the subband CLI measurements is based at least in part on a symbol type associated with the inter-UE CLI measurement resource (“the CSI-IM resources are defined with respect to a sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) configuration on which the UE is configured to receive on two downlink sub-bands separated by an uplink sub-band” – See [0006]; “The CSI-IM configuration may indicate a CSI-IM resource set for each slot” – See [0174]; “Each slot may include 7 or 14 symbols” – See [0118]; “The base station 102 may configure the victim UE 104b to measure a narrow-band CLI on each of the sub-bands 812, 814. For example, the victim UE 104b may measure the CSI-IM resources 830 to generate a first CLI RSSI 840 and may measure the CSI-IM resources 832 to generate a second CLI RSSI 842” – See [0144]; “The base station 102 may configure the victim UE 104b to measure CSI-IM resources 860 to generate a single wide-band CLI RSSI 870. The single wide-band CLI RSSI 870 may provide a general level of CLI and generate less overhead than the a first CLI RSSI 840 and the second CLI RSSI 842” – See [0145]; See also Figs. 8A and 8B; The UE is configured with another indication to perform either wideband or subband CLI measurements based on another configuration (e.g., the specific structure of the CSI-IM resources). When the CSI-IM resources include multiple separate resources (e.g., 830 and 832) which include separate DL subbands spanning the SBFD symbol, subband CLI measurement/reporting is performed. When the CSI-IM resources include a single resource (e.g., 860) which includes DL and UL subbands spanning the entire bandwidth of the SBFD symbol, wideband CLI measurement/reporting is performed).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pedersen such that the UE is configured with another indication to select between wideband CLI measurements and subband CLI measurements based at least in part on another configuration, and wherein the selection between the wideband CLI measurements and the subband CLI measurements is based at least in part on a symbol type associated with the inter-UE CLI measurement resource. Motivation for doing so would be to provide full duplex wireless communication where multiple UEs simultaneously transmit and receive on different subbands, wherein a victim UE can report crosslink interference from an aggressor UE. Furthermore, the selection between wideband and subband allows balancing between reporting CLI for individual subbands versus generating less overhead by providing a general level of CLI with the wideband reporting (See, Ibrahim [0096], [0097], [0144], and [0145]).
Regarding Claim 3, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. As shown above with respect to claim 1, Pedersen teaches that the UE is a first UE.
Ibrahim further teaches that the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with subband full duplex (SBFD) symbols of an SBFD operation, and the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with an in-band blocker measurement to measure a CLI reference signal in an uplink subband transmitted from a second UE on the SBFD symbols (“The first UE may transmit a PUSCH transmission on a UL sub-band 820 and may be considered an aggressor UE. The second UE (UE2) may receive a downlink transmission such as a PDSCH on a DL BWP 810, which may include one or more DL sub-bands 812, 814. The second UE may be considered a victim UE” – See [0144]; “In some implementations, the CSI-IM resources are defined with respect to a SBFD configuration on which the UE is configured to receive on two downlink sub-bands separated by an uplink sub-band” – See [0041]; “one or more of the aggressor UEs 104a may include a sounding reference signal (SRS) component 198 configured to transmit a SRS, which may be used by the victim UE 104b for CLI measurements” – See [0103]; The inter-UE CLI measurement is performed in SBFD symbols as shown in Figs. 8A and 8B. The inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with measuring interference (in-band blocker measurement) from an aggressor UE (second UE) to measure the SRS (CLI reference signal) transmitted by the aggressor UE in the uplink band).
Regarding Claim 4, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Ibrahim further teaches that the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with subband full duplex (SBFD) symbols configured on flexible symbols; or the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with a partially or fully overlapping full duplex operation (“(SBFD), where uplink and downlink resources may overlap in time using different frequencies” – See [0139]; See also Figs. 8A and 8B; The CLI measurement is associated an SBFD operation wherein the full-duplex communication is performed with UL and DL resources fully overlapping in time using different frequencies).
Regarding Claim 5, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Ibrahim further teaches that the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with at least one of a downlink subband of a subband full duplex (SBFD) slot or symbol, a second downlink subband of the SBFD slot or symbol, or an uplink subband of the SBFD slot or symbol, and the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with an inter-subband leakage measurement on the downlink subband or an in-band blocker measurement on the uplink subband (“The first UE may transmit a PUSCH transmission on a UL sub-band 820 and may be considered an aggressor UE. The second UE (UE2) may receive a downlink transmission such as a PDSCH on a DL BWP 810, which may include one or more DL sub-bands 812, 814. The second UE may be considered a victim UE” – See [0144]; “In some implementations, the CSI-IM resources are defined with respect to a SBFD configuration on which the UE is configured to receive on two downlink sub-bands separated by an uplink sub-band” – See [0041]; “one or more of the aggressor UEs 104a may include a sounding reference signal (SRS) component 198 configured to transmit a SRS, which may be used by the victim UE 104b for CLI measurements” – See [0103]; See also Figs. 8A and 8B; The inter-UE CLI measurement in the SBFD operation is associated with a downlink subband (e.g., 812 or 814) of the SBFD slot and uplink subband 820 of the SBFD slot. The SBFD operation includes UE2 (first UE) measuring inter-UE CLI on resources 830/832 or 860, wherein the measurement is an in-band blocker measurement that measures the CLI in uplink subband 820 from UE1 (second UE)).
Regarding Claim 6, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Pedersen further teaches that the one or more processors are configured to receive a configuration of wideband based inter-UE CLI resources and subband based inter-UE CLI resources (“the at least one CLI measurement framework object may be associated with RRC signaling according to 3GPP TS 38.331 (RRC signaling). For example, RRC signaling may define at least one PHY/MAC procedure for CLI reporting. Such information may define whether the UE shall use implicit or explicit signaling of UE CLI measurements/information back to the network, as well as whether UE CLI measurements should be wideband or per subband” – See [0038]; The configuration can include wideband resources and subband resources).
Regarding Claim 14, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Pedersen further teaches that the inter-UE CLI measurement is one of a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement or a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement, based at least in part on whether the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with the wideband or the subband (“In some example embodiments, the at least one message may configure UE 420 to measure CLI (such as RSSI or SRS-RSRP) and/or UE interference measurements, such as those based on CSI-IM resource or NZP CSI-RS resources for interference measurement. For example, such measurements may be configured to be wideband or frequency selective, such as per sub-band” – See [0042]; “In some example embodiments, if at least one UE CLI and/or UE interference measurement is configured to be measured per subband, the at least one CLI alert message may be expressed as at least one vector of Boolean values, where each element may correspond to at least one of the subbands” – See [0045]; If the measurement is associated with the subband, the UE performs the inter-UE CLI RSRP or RSSI measurement and reporting per subband).
Ibrahim further teaches that the UE is configured with wideband and subband inter-UE CLI resources (“The base station 102 may configure the victim UE 104b to measure a narrow-band CLI on each of the sub-bands 812, 814. For example, the victim UE 104b may measure the CSI-IM resources 830 to generate a first CLI RSSI 840 and may measure the CSI-IM resources 832 to generate a second CLI RSSI 842” – See [0144]; “The base station 102 may configure the victim UE 104b to measure CSI-IM resources 860 to generate a single wide-band CLI RSSI 870. The single wide-band CLI RSSI 870 may provide a general level of CLI and generate less overhead than the a first CLI RSSI 840 and the second CLI RSSI 842” – See [0145]; “the configuration of CLI reporting may indicate the narrow-band CLI report, the wide-band CLI report, or a combination thereof” – See [0146]; In order to report both the wideband and subband CLI, the UE is configured with wideband resources 860 and subband resources 830/832).
Claims 15, 29, and 30 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 1.
Claim 17 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 3.
Claim 18 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 4.
Claim 19 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 5.
Claim 20 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 6.
Claim 28 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 14.
Claims 2 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pedersen et al. (US 2022/0140959) in view of Ibrahim et al. (WO 2022/056822) and further in view of Ghozlan et al. (US 2022/0123847).
Regarding Claim 2, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Pedersen and Ibrahim do not explicitly teach that the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with a dynamic time division duplexing (TDD) operation.
However, Ghozlan teaches that the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with a dynamic time division duplexing (TDD) operation (“In NR, two types of cross-link interference (CLI) arise under dynamic TDD operation: UE-to-UE interference and TRP-to-TRP interference. Some wireless systems may use a UE-to-UE reference signal for CLI (CLI-RS) measurement” – See [0003]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pedersen such that the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with a dynamic time division duplexing (TDD) operation since the dynamic TDD operation causes the inter-UE CLI (See Ghozlan, [0003]). Accordingly, the CLI that arises naturally from the dynamic TDD operation and can measured and dealt with.
Claim 16 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 2.
Claims 7-10, 12, 13, 21-24, 26 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pedersen et al. (US 2022/0140959) in view of Ibrahim et al. (WO 2022/056822) and further in view of Kurita et al. (WO 2024/171397, see attached translation).
Regarding Claim 7, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim teaches the apparatus of Claim 6. Pedersen and Ibrahim do not explicitly teach that the wideband based inter-UE CLI resources are configured with a first configuration identifier and the subband based inter-UE CLI resources are configured with a second configuration identifier, and the one or more processors are configured to receive an indication of the first configuration identifier or the second configuration identifier for the inter-UE CLI measurement.
However Kurita teaches that the wideband based inter-UE CLI resources are configured with a first configuration identifier and the subband based inter-UE CLI resources are configured with a second configuration identifier, and the one or more processors are configured to receive an indication of the first configuration identifier or the second configuration identifier for the inter-UE CLI measurement (“In option 2-1, the granularity of the CLI reporting frequency is set by an existing higher layer parameter (reportFreqConfiguration). Specifically, when CSI reporting is configured to report CSI contents including CLI measurement results, an existing higher layer parameter (reportFreqConfiguration) indicates the reporting granularity in the frequency domain. The frequency granularity includes whether the CLI reporting is wide-band or sub-band” – See pp. 10-11; See also Fig. 9; As shown in Fig. 9, the wideband resources are configured with the identifier “widebandCLI” (first configuration identifier) and the subband resources are configured with the identifier “subbandCLI” (second configuration identifier). The indication of the identifier is received in a reportFreqConfiguration parameter for the inter-UE CLI measurement).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pedersen such that the wideband based inter-UE CLI resources are configured with a first configuration identifier and the subband based inter-UE CLI resources are configured with a second configuration identifier, and the one or more processors are configured to receive an indication of the first configuration identifier or the second configuration identifier for the inter-UE CLI measurement. Motivation for doing so would be to use existing higher layer parameters for transmitting the indication to the UE (See Kurita, p. 10).
Regarding Claim 8, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim teaches the apparatus of Claim 6. Pedersen and Ibrahim do not explicitly teach that the wideband based inter-UE CLI resources and the subband based inter-UE CLI resources are configured with a configuration identifier, and the one or more processors are configured to determine, based at least in part on an implicit rule and the configuration identifier, whether to perform the inter-UE CLI measurement on the wideband or on a subband of a subband full duplex (SBFD) slot or symbol.
However, Kurita teaches that the wideband based inter-UE CLI resources and the subband based inter-UE CLI resources are configured with a configuration identifier, and the one or more processors are configured to determine, based at least in part on an implicit rule and the configuration identifier, whether to perform the inter-UE CLI measurement on the wideband or on a subband of a subband full duplex (SBFD) slot or symbol (“as shown in the lower part of Figure 6, in Release 18, gNB100 sets or designates "DL" for symbols of one frequency resource (e.g., sub-band(s)) and sets or designates "UL" for symbols of other frequency resources (e.g., sub-band(s)). Such a method may be referred to as SBFD (Sub-Band non-overlapping Full Duplex). By adopting SBFD, CLI may occur in which the UL signal of UE200 served by a first cell interferes with the DL signal of UE200 served by a second cell adjacent to the first cell. In such a case, UE200 served by the second cell (UE200 that is subject to interference) measures the CLI and transmits a CLI report” – See p. 7; “In option 2-1, the granularity of the CLI reporting frequency is set by an existing higher layer parameter (reportFreqConfiguration). Specifically, when CSI reporting is configured to report CSI contents including CLI measurement results, an existing higher layer parameter (reportFreqConfiguration) indicates the reporting granularity in the frequency domain. The frequency granularity includes whether the CLI reporting is wide-band or sub-band” – See pp. 10-11; See also Fig. 9; As shown in Fig. 9, the wideband resources are configured with the identifier “widebandCLI” (first configuration identifier) and the subband resources are configured with the identifier “subbandCLI” (second configuration identifier). The determination of whether to perform the wideband or subband measurement is based on an implicit rule that the identifier included in the field “cli-FormatIndicator” specifies the measurement type).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pedersen such that the wideband based inter-UE CLI resources and the subband based inter-UE CLI resources are configured with a configuration identifier, and the one or more processors are configured to determine, based at least in part on an implicit rule and the configuration identifier, whether to perform the inter-UE CLI measurement on the wideband or on a subband of a subband full duplex (SBFD) slot or symbol for the same reasons as those given with respect to Claim 7.
Regarding Claim 9, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim and Kurita teaches the apparatus of Claim 8. Pedersen further teaches that the wideband based inter-UE CLI resources and the subband based inter-UE CLI resources are CLI reference signal received power (RSRP) or received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement resources (“UE CLI measurements come in the form of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or sounding reference signal (SRS)-reference signal received power (RSRP)” – See [0030]).
Regarding Claim 10, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim and Kurita teaches the apparatus of Claim 9. Kurita further teaches that the inter-UE CLI measurement is on one or two downlink subbands of the SBFD slot or symbol based at least in part on the CLI RSRP or RSSI measurement resources being associated with the SBFD slot or symbol, and the SBFD slot or symbol is configured as downlink, uplink, and downlink subbands (“as shown in the lower part of Figure 6, in Release 18, gNB100 sets or designates "DL" for symbols of one frequency resource (e.g., sub-band(s)) and sets or designates "UL" for symbols of other frequency resources (e.g., sub-band(s)). Such a method may be referred to as SBFD (Sub-Band non-overlapping Full Duplex). By adopting SBFD, CLI may occur in which the UL signal of UE200 served by a first cell interferes with the DL signal of UE200 served by a second cell adjacent to the first cell. In such a case, UE200 served by the second cell (UE200 that is subject to interference) measures the CLI and transmits a CLI report” – See p. 7; “For example, when CSI reporting is configured to report only CLI measurement results (e.g., CLI-RSSI and/or SRS-RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power))” – See p. 8; See also Fig. 6; The inter-UE CLI measurement is on downlink subbands of the SBFD slot, wherein the SBFD slot is configured as a first DL subband on top, a UL subband below the first DL subband, and a second DL subband below the UL subband).
Regarding Claim 12, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim and Kurita teaches the apparatus of Claim 9. Pedersen further teaches that in accordance with the implicit rule, the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with the wideband based at least in part on the CLI RSRP or RSSI measurement resources being associated with misaligned dynamic time division duplexing (TDD) symbols (“certain example embodiments described herein may have various benefits and/or advantages to overcome the disadvantages described above. Certain example embodiments described below may offer semi-dynamic information of the UE CLI experience to the network with limited complexity. For example, the network may use such information for per-cell scheduling decisions, as well as for semi-dynamic coordination between cells (or gNBs). For example, this information may enable alignment of radio frame configurations to reduce impact from UE-2-UE CLI” – See [0031]; “Such information may define whether the UE shall use implicit or explicit signaling of UE CLI measurements/information back to the network, as well as whether UE CLI measurements should be wideband or per subband” – See [0038]; The inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with the wideband based on an implicit rule, wherein TDD symbols are misaligned).
Regarding Claim 13, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim and Kurita teaches the apparatus of Claim 9. Pedersen further teaches that the CLI RSRP or RSSI measurement resources are based at least in part on an explicit configuration; or the CLI RSRP or RSSI measurement resources are based at least in part on a wideband CLI resource configuration, and RSRP or RSSI measurement resources on an uplink subband of the SBFD slot or symbol are skipped and RSRP or RSSI measurement resources on one or two downlink subbands of the SBFD slot or symbol are measured (“At 301, NE 310 may transmit at least one message to UE 320. In some example embodiments, the at least one message may include at least one CLI measurement framework object, such as CLImeasObject, which may be configured to add a new CLImeasObject” – See [0033]; “at least one measurement framework object, such as CLImeasObject. If the reporting is a function of the UE experienced interference, the measurement framework object may include information on whether the interference is based on simple RSSI and/or UE L1 interference measurements based on, for example, at least one CSI interference measurement (CSI-IM) resource and/or non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resource for interference measurements” – See [0036]; The CLI measurement resources are explicitly configured in the CLImeasObject).
Claim 21 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 7.
Claim 22 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 8.
Claim 23 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 9.
Claim 24 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 10.
Claim 26 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 12.
Claim 27 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 13.
Claims 11 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pedersen et al. (US 2022/0140959) in view of Ibrahim et al. (WO 2022/056822) and Kurita et al. (WO 2024/171397, see attached translation) and further in view of Moon et al. (WO 2024/063605, see attached translation).
Regarding Claim 11, Pedersen in view of Ibrahim and Kurita teaches the apparatus of Claim 9. Kurita further teaches that in accordance with the implicit rule, the inter-UE CLI measurement is associated with the wideband or the subband of the SBFD slot or symbol based at least in part on the CLI RSRP or RSSI measurement resources being associated with the SBFD slot or symbol (“as shown in the lower part of Figure 6, in Release 18, gNB100 sets or designates "DL" for symbols of one frequency resource (e.g., sub-band(s)) and sets or designates "UL" for symbols of other frequency resources (e.g., sub-band(s)). Such a method may be referred to as SBFD (Sub-Band non-overlapping Full Duplex). By adopting SBFD, CLI may occur in which the UL signal of UE200 served by a first cell interferes with the DL signal of UE200 served by a second cell adjacent to the first cell. In such a case, UE200 served by the second cell (UE200 that is subject to interference) measures the CLI and transmits a CLI report” – See p. 7; “For example, when CSI reporting is configured to report only CLI measurement results (e.g., CLI-RSSI and/or SRS-RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power))” – See p. 8; See also Fig. 6; The inter-UE CLI measurement is on downlink subbands of the SBFD).
Pedersen, Ibrahim, and Kurita do not explicitly teach that the SBFD slot or symbol is configured as flexible, uplink, and flexible subbands.
However, Moon teaches that the SBFD slot or symbol is configured as flexible, uplink, and flexible subbands (“the second section may form an SBFD section with a FUF subband pattern” – See p. 27; See also Fig. 7; The FUF pattern is a flexible-uplink-flexible pattern).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Pedersen such that the SBFD slot or symbol is configured as flexible, uplink, and flexible subbands. Motivation for doing so would be to allow dynamic TDD operation to be performed using the flexible subbands (See Moon, p. 28).
Claim 25 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 11.
Response to Arguments
On page 12 of the remarks, Applicant argues in substance that Pedersen and Ibrahim do not teach “wherein the selection between the wideband CLI measurements and the subband CLI measurements is based at least in part on a symbol type associated with the inter-UE CLI measurement resource,” as recited in independent claims 1, 15, 29, and 20. Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot based on the new grounds of rejection. In response to the amended limitations, the Examiner relies upon the newly-cited Ibrahim et al. (WO 2022/056822).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Scott M Sciacca whose telephone number is (571)270-1919. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday, 7:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. 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, Joseph Avellino can be reached at (571) 272-3905. 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.
/SCOTT M SCIACCA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
Prosecution Insights