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 .
Claims 15, 16, 18-26 and 28-34 are pending in this office action.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/09/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. See rejection below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 15, 16, 18-22, 24-26, 28-32 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Abedini et al (US 2021/0185749 A1).
Regarding claim 15, Abedini teaches a method, comprising:
reporting, by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, first information to a donor node of the IAB node, wherein the first information indicates a first condition, and the first condition is a condition under which a mobile termination (MT) of the IAB node and a distributed unit (DU) of the IAB node work synchronously (Abedini: Fig. 8:810; [0104]-[0105] IAB node 410-1 reports it capability of synchronous communication between MT and DU to the parent IAB node 410-2); and wherein the first condition comprises an available frequency domain resource of the MT of the IAB node (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0059], [0064], [0070], [0072], the capabilities comprising transmission parameters, the transmission parameters including frequency resources); and
under the first condition, synchronously communicating with a lower-level node of the IAB node or a terminal device, by the DU of the IAB node, and communicating with an upper- level node of the IAB node, by the MT of the IAB node (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0104]-[0107]).
Regarding claim 22, Abedini teaches a method, comprising:
reporting, by an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, multiplexing capability information and a first condition to a donor node of the IAB node, wherein the multiplexing capability information comprises supported, not supported or limited (Abedini: Fig. 8:810; [0104]-[0105] IAB node 410-1 reports it capability of synchronous communication between MT and DU to the parent IAB node 410-2); and the first condition comprises an available frequency domain resource of the MT of the IAB node when the MT of the IAB node and the DU of the IAB node work synchronously (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0059], [0064], [0070], [0072], the capabilities comprising transmission parameters, the transmission parameters including frequency resources);
wherein the supported indicates that the MT and the DU of the IAB node unconditionally support synchronous receiving or synchronous sending (Abedini: Fig. 8:810; [0104]-[0105] IAB node 410-1 reports it capability of synchronous communication between MT and DU to the parent IAB node 410-2); the not supported indicates that the MT and the DU of the IAB node do not support synchronous receiving or synchronous sending; and the limited indicates that the MT and the DU of the IAB node support synchronous receiving or synchronous sending under the first condition (these limitations are not required to be performed since Examine relies only of the supported capability).
Regarding claim 25, Abedini teaches an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
reporting first information to a donor node of the apparatus, wherein the first information indicates a first condition, and the first condition is a condition under which a mobile termination (MT) of the apparatus and a distributed unit (DU) of the apparatus work synchronously (Abedini: Fig. 8:810; [0104]-[0105] IAB node 410-1 reports it capability of synchronous communication between MT and DU to the parent IAB node 410-2); and wherein the first condition comprises an available frequency domain resource of the MT of the apparatus (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0059], [0064], [0070], [0072], the capabilities comprising transmission parameters, the transmission parameters including frequency resources); and
under the first condition, synchronously communicating with a lower-level node of the apparatus or a terminal device and communicating with an upper-level node of the apparatus (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0104]-[0107]).
Regarding claim 32, Abedini teaches an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
reporting multiplexing capability information and a first condition to a donor node of the apparatus, wherein the multiplexing capability information comprises supported, not supported or limited, and wherein: the supported indicates a mobile termination (MT) and a distributed unit (DU) of the apparatus unconditionally support synchronous receiving or synchronous sending (Abedini: Fig. 8:810; [0104]-[0105] IAB node 410-1 reports it capability of synchronous communication between MT and DU to the parent IAB node 410-2); and the first condition comprises an available frequency domain resource of the MT of the IAB node when the MT of the apparatus and the DU of the apparatus work synchronously (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0059], [0064], [0070], [0072], the capabilities comprising transmission parameters, the transmission parameters including frequency resources);
the not supported indicates that the MT and the DU of the apparatus do not support synchronous receiving or synchronous sending; and the limited indicates that the MT and the DU of the apparatus support synchronous receiving or synchronous sending under the first condition (these limitations are not required to be performed since Examine relies only of the supported capability).
Regarding claims 16 and 26, Abedini teaches reporting, by the IAB node, first indication information to the donor node of the IAB node, wherein the first indication information indicates whether the first condition needs to be met when the MT of the IAB node and the DU of the IAB node work synchronously (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0104]-[0107]).
Regarding claims 18 and 28, Abedini teaches wherein the first condition indicating the available frequency domain resource comprises any one or more of the following: a start physical resource block (PRB) of the available frequency domain resource; an end PRB of the available frequency domain resource; an absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN) of the available frequency domain resource; or a quantity of resource blocks (RBs) of the available frequency domain resource (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0109], [0124], frequency domain resources scheduled).
Regarding claims 19 and 29, Abedini teaches wherein the first condition comprises: an expected transmit power of a DU of an upper-level node when the MT of the IAB node and the DU of the IAB node work synchronously (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0064], [0069]-[0070]).
Regarding claims 20 and 30, Abedini teaches wherein the first condition comprises: an expected transmit power of the MT of the IAB node when the MT of the IAB node and the DU of the IAB node work synchronously (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0064], [0069]-[0070]).
Regarding claims 21 and 31, Abedini teaches wherein the first condition comprises: an expected transmit power of a DU of an upper-level node when the MT of the IAB node and the DU of the IAB node work synchronously; and an expected transmit power of the MT of the IAB node when the MT of the IAB node and the DU of the IAB node work synchronously (Abedini: Fig. 8; [0064], [0069]-[0070]).
Regarding claims 24 and 34, Abedini teaches wherein the multiplexing capability information comprises the limited (these limitations are not required to be performed since Examine relies only of the supported capability).
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 23 and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini et al (US 2021/0185749 A1) in view of Peng et al (US 2023/0140165 A1).
Regarding claims 23 and 33, Abedini does not explicitly disclose wherein the first condition is the MT and the DU of the IAB node are in a frequency division multiplexing mode.
Peng teaches wherein the first condition is the MT and the DU of the IAB node are in a frequency division multiplexing mode (Peng: [0004]);
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Abedini wherein the first condition is the MT and the DU of the IAB node are in a frequency division multiplexing mode as disclosed by to provide a system for timing offset value indication (Peng: Abstract).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/KODZOVI ACOLATSE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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