DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election of Claims 1-12 in the reply filed on 6 October 2025 is acknowledged. While the reply indicates that the election is made with traverse, Applicant did not distinctly and specifically point out the supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Therefore, the election has been treated as an election without traverse (MPEP § 818.01(a)).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 31 May 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: language “configuation” in paragraph 0011 should be amended to read “configuration”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim language “configuation” in lines 1 and 2 should be amended to read “configuration”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The term “more restrictive” in the claim is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “more restrictive” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. Paragraph 0011 of the specification contains the same language as the claim, but does not describe how quality of service would be considered “more restrictive.” Further, while paragraph 0131 discuss quality of service performance targets, the specification does not indicate how one target would be “more restrictive” than another. As such, the claim is considered indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-4 and 6-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication 2023/0124671), hereinafter Lee, in view of Kim et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication 2023/0041310), hereinafter Kim.
Regarding Claim 1, Lee discloses a method, comprising:
transmitting, by a radio access network node to at least one user equipment, a bandwidth part configuration, corresponding to a bandwidth part, comprising at least one resource indication associated with at least one resource corresponding to at least one bandwidth part resource set that is available to be assigned (Figures 6A and 6B and paragraphs 0102-0105 – the network sends an RRC configuration message including a BWP configuration to the device; Figure 7B, step 711 and paragraph 0110 – the network transmits an RRC configuration message including information about at least one BWP available to the device);
determining, by the radio access network node, to grant the at least one resource to the at least one user equipment (Figures 6A and 6B and paragraphs 0102-0105 – the network sends an RRC configuration message including a BWP configuration to the device and completes registration in order for the device to use a selected BWP; Figure 7B, step 711 and paragraph 0110 – the network transmits an RRC configuration message including information about at least one BWP available to the device);
transmitting, by the radio access network node to the at least one user equipment, a bandwidth part resource assignment indication indicative that the radio access network node has granted a grant, to the at least one user equipment, of the at least one resource (Figures 6A and 6B and paragraphs 0102-0105 – the network sends an RRC configuration message including a BWP configuration to the device and completes registration in order for the device to use a selected BWP; Figure 7B, step 711 and paragraph 0110 – the network transmits an RRC configuration message including information about at least one BWP available to the device); and
communicating, by the radio access network node with the at least one user equipment, traffic according to usage of the at least one resource (Figure 6A, step 605 and Figure 7A, step 703 / Figure 7B, step 713 – the device performs communication with the network using the selected BWP).
However, Lee does not disclose the radio access node comprising a processor. In an analogous art, Kim discloses this. Specifically, Kim discloses a network comprising base stations (see elements 200 in Figure 1), where a base station (second device) comprises a processor (Figure 4, processor 202 and described in paragraph 0097). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Lee and Kim. One would have been motivated to do so in order to support 5G and enhanced mobile broadband usage scenarios, which require always-on connectivity and lower end-to-end latency (see paragraph 0052 of Kim).
Regarding Claim 2, Lee discloses the bandwidth part resource assignment indication is a first bandwidth part resource assignment indication (Figures 6A and 6B and paragraphs 0102-0105 – the network sends an RRC configuration message including a BWP configuration to the device and completes registration in order for the device to use a selected BWP; Figure 7B, step 711 and paragraph 0110 – the network transmits an RRC configuration message including information about at least one BWP available to the device), and wherein the method further comprises:
determining, by the radio access network node, to revoke the grant of the at least one resource to the at least one user equipment (paragraphs 0103 and 0111 – the network determines the need to change the BWP (e.g., in response to a request from the device); and
transmitting, by the radio access network node to the at least one user equipment, a second bandwidth part resource assignment indication indicative that the radio access network node has revoked the grant of the at least one resource to the at least one user equipment (paragraphs 0103 and 0111 (Figure 7B, step 717) – the network transmits DCI indicating a change from the first BWP to second BWP).
Regarding Claim 3, Lee discloses the at least one user equipment comprises a first user equipment (Figure 3 and paragraph 0089 – the BWP configurations are for a UE),
wherein the grant is a first grant (Figures 6A and 6B and paragraphs 0102-0105 – the network sends an RRC configuration message including a BWP configuration to the device and completes registration in order for the device to use a selected BWP; Figure 7B, step 711 and paragraph 0110 – the network transmits an RRC configuration message including information about at least one BWP available to the device),
wherein the traffic is first traffic communicated according to a first usage of the at least one resource (Figure 6A, step 605 and Figure 7B, step 713 – the device performs communication with the network using the selected BWP), and wherein the method further comprises:
determining, by the radio access network node, to grant a second grant of the at least one resource to a second user equipment of the at least one user equipment (paragraphs 0103 and 0111 – the network determines the need to change the BWP (e.g., in response to a request from the device);
transmitting, by the radio access network node to the second user equipment, a third bandwidth part resource assignment indication indicative that the radio access network node has granted the second grant of the at least one resource to the second user equipment (Figures 6A-6B – the network transmits a DCI to the device that changes from the first BWP to the second BWP (as shown at steps 607 and 618 (also shown at Figure 7B, step 717)); and
communicating, by the radio access network node with the second user equipment, second traffic according to a second usage of the at least one resource (Figure 6A, step 609 – the device uses the second BWP after receiving the DCI from the network (shown as BWP n2 (619) in Figure 6B); Figure 7A, step 709 – the device performs communication with the network using the second BWP based on reception of the DCI).
Regarding Claim 4, Lee discloses the second bandwidth part resource assignment indication and the third bandwidth part resource assignment indication are a same bandwidth part resource assignment indication (Figures 6A-6B – the network transmits a DCI to the device that changes from the first BWP to the second BWP (as shown at steps 607 and 618 (also shown at Figure 7B, step 717), thereby including indications related to “revoking” the first BWP and granting the second BWP).
Regarding Claim 6, Lee discloses the at least one resource indication comprises at least one resource sharing information element (paragraph 0091 at Table 2 - the BWP configuration comprises common BWP configuration (including CORESET) and dedicated BWP configuration).
Regarding Claim 7, Lee discloses the at least one resource sharing information element comprises information representative of at least one of: a frequency resource size, a frequency offset, a time offset, or a time period (paragraph 0095 at Table 3 – the CORESET includes information representative of duration, therefore meeting the claimed alternative limitation).
Regarding Claim 8, Lee discloses the bandwidth part configuration comprises at least one index being associated with at least one resource sharing information element, and wherein the bandwidth part resource assignment indication comprises the at least one index (paragraph 0091 at Table 2 - the BWP configuration comprises common BWP configuration (including CORESET) and dedicated BWP configuration).
Regarding Claim 9, Lee discloses the at least one resource indication comprises at least one index being associated with at least one resource sharing information element, and wherein the bandwidth part resource assignment indication comprises the at least one resource sharing information element (paragraph 0091 at Table 2 - the BWP configuration comprises common BWP configuration (including CORESET) and dedicated BWP configuration).
Regarding Claim 10, Lee discloses the bandwidth part configuration comprises multiple resource indications, of the at least one resource indication, being associated with different bandwidth part resource pattern indices corresponding to different bandwidth part resource patterns, and wherein the bandwidth part resource assignment indication comprises at least one of the different bandwidth part resource pattern indices (paragraph 0091 at Table 2 - the BWP configuration comprises common BWP configuration (including CORESET) and dedicated BWP configuration and part of a BWP list, as well as IDs for firstActiveDownlinkBWP and default DownlinkBWP).
Claims 5 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Kim as applied to claims 1 and 2 above, and further in view of Islam et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication US 2023/0051415), hereinafter Islam.
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Lee and Kim discloses all of the limitations of Claim 2, as described above. Lee further discloses the at least one user equipment comprises a first user equipment (Figure 3 and paragraph 0089 – the BWP configurations are for a UE). However, the aforementioned references do not disclose avoiding, by the radio access network node, transmitting, to a second user equipment of the at least one user equipment that is configured to use a different bandwidth part than the bandwidth part that comprises the bandwidth part resource set, the second bandwidth part resource assignment indication. In analogous art, Islam discloses this. Specifically, Islam discloses a radio unit (RU) functioning as a repeater for BWP allocations to UEs (see Figure 5). In this environment, the RU uses distinct BWPs to communicate with respective UEs (BWP2 for UE1 and BWP3 for UE2), thereby “avoiding” transmitting to a UE configured to use a different bandwidth part than another UE (paragraph 0033). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Lee/Kim with Islam. One would have been motivated to do so in order to in order to reduce UE BWP switching delay (see paragraph 0003 of Islam).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Lee and Kim discloses all of the limitations of Claim 1, as described above. Lee further discloses the bandwidth part configuration is a dynamic bandwidth part configuration, wherein the bandwidth part resource set is a dynamic bandwidth part resource set, wherein a first group of user equipment comprises the at least one user equipment (Figures 6A-6B – the network transmits a DCI to the device that changes from the first BWP to the second BWP (as shown at steps 607 and 618 (also shown at Figure 7B, step 717), thereby including a dynamic BWP configuration). However, the combination of Lee and Kim does not disclose a second group of user equipment comprises at least one different user equipment that is not part of the first group of user equipment, wherein the transmitting the dynamic bandwidth part configuration comprises transmitting the dynamic bandwidth part configuration to the first group of user equipment, and wherein the method further comprises: transmitting, by the radio access network node to the second group of user equipment, a static bandwidth part configuration that corresponds to the bandwidth part, wherein the static bandwidth part configuration comprises configuration information indicative, to the second group of user equipment, a static bandwidth part resource set, usable by the second group of user equipment, of the bandwidth part that is different from the dynamic bandwidth part resource set. In an analogous art, Islam discloses a separate group of user equipment (Figure 5, wherein UE1 and UE2 are assigned different resources) and the radio unit performs BWP switching on a semi-static or dynamic manner depending on whether the UEs have a corresponding semi-static/dynamic BWP switching schedule (paragraph 0036). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Lee/Kim with Islam. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce UE BWP switching delay (see paragraph 0003 of Islam).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Kim and Islam as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Priyanto et al (United States Pre-Grant Publication US 20240397469), hereinafter Priyanto. The combination of Lee, Kim and Islam discloses the limitations of Claim 11, as described above. However, the aforementioned references do not disclose the first group of user equipment corresponds to a first quality-of-service, wherein the second group of user equipment corresponds to a second quality-of-service, and wherein the second quality-of-service is more restrictive than the first quality-of-service. In an analogous art, Priyanto discloses this. Specifically, Priyanto discloses using different BWPs based on payload size and traffic/signal type (paragraph 0057). For example traffic/signal types, different BWPs can support various transmission types, such as a narrow BWP for a low speed data traffic (e.g. mMTC use case), and a wider BWP for a high-speed data traffic (e.g., eMBB use case) (described in paragraphs 0057-0058). Thus, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Lee/Kim/Islam with Priyanto. One would have been motivated to do so in order to provide lower latency for UE positioning measurement result reporting (paragraph 0007 of Priyanto).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. 3GPP TS 38.321 V17.0.0 (3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 17)) is directed to BWP configuration messaging.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW W. CHRISS whose telephone number is (571)272-1774. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm ET.
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/ANDREW W CHRISS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472