DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA (or AIA ) first to invent provisions.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 October 13, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
- Claims 1-2, 5-7, 10-11, 14-15, 19-20 and 22-23 are pending.
- Claims 1-2, 5-7, 10-11, 14-15, 19-20 and 22-23 are rejected.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 10, 19 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (Pub. No. US 2021/0218504 A1; hereinafter Wang) in view of Dinan et al. (Pub. No. US 2018/0049217 A1; hereinafter Dinan)
Regarding claims 1 and 19, Wang teaches a wireless communication comprising: a processor (See ¶0209, processor) configured to: receive via a communication unit, (See ¶0209, transmitted and received via the transceiver) by a wireless communication terminal from a wireless communication node, a Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) activation via Downlink Control Information (DCI) format; (2021/0218504See 0061, If a UE is provided more than one configurations for an SPS PDSCH, a value of the HARQ process number field in a DCI format indicates an activation for a corresponding SPS configuration with a same value as provided by SPSConfig-index) receiving, by the wireless communication terminal from the wireless communication node, an SPS downlink transmission corresponding to the SPS activation;(2021/0218504See 0017, the first DL channel is a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) configured by one of one or more SPS configurations) and transmitting, by the wireless communication terminal to the wireless communication node, acknowledge information in response to a part of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes for the SPS downlink transmission, (sEE 0050, For reporting a HARQ-ACK for an SPS PDSCH of multiple SPS configurations on a PUCCH configured for an SPS HARQ-ACK) based on at least one of one or more configurations or signaling indicated in the DCI format(2021/0218504See 0061, If a UE is provided more than one configurations for an SPS PDSCH, a value of the HARQ process number field in a DCI format indicates an activation for a corresponding SPS configuration with a same value as provided by SPSConfig-index) when the wireless communication terminal is provided with a single configuration for the SPS downlink transmission, the HARQ process number in the DCI format is set to '0' (Table 1-1, Special fields for single DL SPS scheduling activation PDCCH validation when a UE is provided a single SPS configuration in the active DL BWP of the scheduled cell DCI Format DCI Format 1_0 or 1_2 1_1 HARQ process set to all ‘0’s) and wherein when the wireless communication terminal is provided with more than one configuration for the SPS downlink transmission, (2021/0218504See 0061, If a UE is provided more than one configurations for an SPS PDSCH, a value of the HARQ process number field in a DCI format indicates an activation for a corresponding SPS configuration with a same value as provided by SPSConfig-index) the HARQ process number in the DCI format indicates an activation for a SPS downlink transmission configuration with a same value as provided by an SPS configuration index. (2021/0218504See 0061, If a UE is provided more than one configurations for an SPS PDSCH, a value of the HARQ process number field in a DCI format indicates an activation for a corresponding SPS configuration with a same value as provided by SPSConfig-index)
However, Wang fails to disclose the wireless communication node transmits an HARQ process number in the SPS activation and receives the acknowledge information in response to the part of the HARQ processes corresponding to the HARQ process number; the wireless communication terminal is configured to transmit the acknowledge information in response to an HARQ process for a first SPS downlink transmission prior to a second SPS downlink transmission for a Transport Block (TB).
Dinan disclose the wireless communication node transmits an HARQ process number in the SPS activation (See ¶0261, The wireless device may receive a first DCI activating the first SPS. The wireless device may determine a first HARQ process ID corresponding to a first transmission associated with the first SPS.) and receives the acknowledge information in response to the part of the HARQ processes corresponding to the HARQ process number, (2018/0049217-See ¶0310, At 3650, a first transport block (TB) of the first SPS associated with the first HARQ process identifier may be transmitted employing the first resource assignment.) the wireless communication terminal is configured to transmit the acknowledge information in response to an HARQ process for a first SPS downlink transmission prior to a second SPS downlink transmission for a Transport Block (TB). (2018/0049217-See ¶0310, At 3650, a first transport block (TB) of the first SPS associated with the first HARQ process identifier may be transmitted employing the first resource assignment. A second HARQ process identifier may be determined at 3660, at least based on a second offset value. The second offset value may be different from the first offset value. At 3670, a second TB of the second SPS associated with the second HARQ process identifier may be transmitted employing the second resource assignment)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify transmitting harq feedback using configuration information to include more than one sps is transmitted. The motivation to combine is improve SPS configuration and activation/release mechanisms in a base station and wireless device when multiple SPSs are configured (See ¶0188).
Regarding claims 10 and 22, Wang disclose a wireless communication node comprising: a processor configured to: (See ¶0209, processor) transmit, via a communication unit (See ¶0209, transceiver) to a wireless communication terminal, a Semi- Persistent Scheduling (SPS) activation via Downlink Control Information (DCI) format; (2021/0218504See 0061, If a UE is provided more than one configurations for an SPS PDSCH, a value of the HARQ process number field in a DCI format indicates an activation for a corresponding SPS configuration with a same value as provided by SPSConfig-index) transmit, via the communication unit to the wireless communication terminal, an SPS downlink transmission corresponding to the SPS activation; (2021/0218504See 0061, If a UE is provided more than one configurations for an SPS PDSCH, a value of the HARQ process number field in a DCI format indicates an activation for a corresponding SPS configuration with a same value as provided by SPSConfig-index) and receive, via the communication unit from the wireless communication terminal, acknowledge information in response to a part of hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)processes for the SPS downlink transmission,(sEE 0050, For reporting a HARQ-ACK for an SPS PDSCH of multiple SPS configurations on a PUCCH configured for an SPS HARQ-ACK) based on one of one or more configurations indicated in the DCI format, (2021/0218504See 0061, If a UE is provided more than one configurations for an SPS PDSCH, a value of the HARQ process number field in a DCI format indicates an activation for a corresponding SPS configuration with a same value as provided by SPSConfig-index) wherein when the wireless communication terminal is provided with a single configuration for the SPS downlink transmission, the HARQ process number in the DCI format is set to '0', (Table 1-1, Special fields for single DL SPS scheduling activation PDCCH validation when a UE is provided a single SPS configuration in the active DL BWP of the scheduled cell DCI Format DCI Format 1_0 or 1_2 1_1 HARQ process set to all ‘0’s) and wherein when the wireless communication terminal is provided with more than one configuration for the SPS downlink transmission, (2021/0218504See 0061, If a UE is provided more than one configurations for an SPS PDSCH, a value of the HARQ process number field in a DCI format indicates an activation for a corresponding SPS configuration with a same value as provided by SPSConfig-index) the HARQ process number in the DCI format indicates an activation for a SPS downlink transmission configuration with a same value as provided by an SPS configuration index.(2021/0218504See 0061, If a UE is provided more than one configurations for an SPS PDSCH, a value of the HARQ process number field in a DCI format indicates an activation for a corresponding SPS configuration with a same value as provided by SPSConfig-index)
However, Park in view of Zhou fails to disclose the wireless communication node transmits an HARQ process number in the SPS activation and receives the acknowledge information in response to the part of the HARQ processes corresponding to the HARQ process number; the wireless communication terminal is configured to transmit the acknowledge information in response to the part of the HARQ processes according to an HARQ process number in the SPS activation.
Dinan disclose the wireless communication node transmits an HARQ process number in the SPS activation (See ¶0261, The wireless device may receive a first DCI activating the first SPS. The wireless device may determine a first HARQ process ID corresponding to a first transmission associated with the first SPS.) and receives the acknowledge information in response to the part of the HARQ processes corresponding to the HARQ process number, (2018/0049217-See ¶0310, At 3650, a first transport block (TB) of the first SPS associated with the first HARQ process identifier may be transmitted employing the first resource assignment.) the wireless communication terminal is configured to transmit the acknowledge information in response to an HARQ process for a first SPS downlink transmission prior to a second SPS downlink transmission for a Transport Block (TB). (2018/0049217-See ¶0310, At 3650, a first transport block (TB) of the first SPS associated with the first HARQ process identifier may be transmitted employing the first resource assignment. A second HARQ process identifier may be determined at 3660, at least based on a second offset value. The second offset value may be different from the first offset value. At 3670, a second TB of the second SPS associated with the second HARQ process identifier may be transmitted employing the second resource assignment)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify transmitting harq feedback using configuration information to include more than one sps is transmitted. The motivation to combine is improve SPS configuration and activation/release mechanisms in a base station and wireless device when multiple SPSs are configured (See ¶0188).
Claim(s) 2, 11, 20 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Dinan and further in view of Park et al. (Pub. No. US 2023/0319822 A1; hereinafter Park).
Regarding claims 2 and 20, Wang in view of Dinan fails to disclose he wireless communication terminal is configured to refrain from transmitting the acknowledge information in response to another part of the HARQ processes for the SPS downlink transmission.
Park further teaches the wireless communication terminal is configured to refrain from transmitting the acknowledge information in response to another part of the HARQ processes for the SPS downlink transmission. (See Park, Fig. 18 and ¶0343 - In contrast, when the second SPS configuration is configured by the SPS configuration information (i.e., the SPS configuration in which the HARQ feedback for the HARQ process is configured to be disabled), the UE may not transmit the ACK/NACK information for the received PDSCH.)
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 method and system disclosed by Wang to include disabling the HARQ process for SPS downlink transmission. The motivation to combine is HARQ disabling, the following cases may further be considered in order to improve reliability (See ¶0263).
Regarding claims 11 and 23, Wang in view of Dinan fails to disclose wireless communication node does not receive the acknowledge information in response to another part of the HARQ processes for the SPS downlink transmission.
Park further teaches the wireless communication node does not receive the acknowledge information in response to another part of the HARQ processes for the SPS downlink transmission. (See Park, Fig. 19 and ¶356 - In contrast, when the second SPS configuration is configured for the UE by the SPS configuration information (i.e., the SPS configuration in which the HARQ feedback for the HARQ process is configured to be disabled), the NTN may determine that reception of the ACK/NACK information for the received PDSCH is not needed.)
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 method and system disclosed by Wang to include disabling the HARQ process for SPS downlink transmission. The motivation to combine is HARQ disabling, the following cases may further be considered in order to improve reliability (See ¶0263).
Claims 5 and 14, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view Dinan and further in view of Cheng et al. (US 2022/0330298 A1), Cheng hereinafter.
Regarding claim 5, Wang in view of Dinan teaches all the limitations of claim 1.
Wang in view of Dinan does not explicitly disclose wherein the wireless communication terminal is configured to transmit the acknowledge information for the part of the HARQ processes according to a predefined configuration.
However, in the analogous art, Cheng teaches wherein the wireless communication terminal is configured to transmit the acknowledge information for the part of the HARQ processes according to a predefined configuration. (See Cheng, ¶0101 - In some implementations, regardless of whether a UE is configured with no HARQ feedback, the UE may still provide the HARQ feedback if one of the following conditions (1) to (4) is satisfied: ¶0105 - (4) the UE is expected to provide HARQ-ACK information in response to an SPS PDSCH activation after N′ symbols from the last symbol of a PDCCH providing the SPS PDSCH activation, where N′ may be predefined or configured by higher layers or the network.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined Wang in view of Dinan invention of selectively sending acknowledgments with Cheng’s invention of activating acknowledgment feedback based on a predefined configuration, because HARQ may be inefficient for a time-urgent service in non-terrestrial networks, therefore it is beneficial to selectively configure specific HARQ processes. (See Cheng, ¶0043)
Regarding claim 14, Wang in view of Dinan teaches all the limitations of claim 10.
Wang in view of Dinan does not explicitly disclose wherein the wireless communication node receives the acknowledge information for the part of the HARQ processes according to a predefined configuration.
However, in the analogous art, Cheng teaches wherein the wireless communication node receives the acknowledge information for the part of the HARQ processes according to a predefined configuration. (See Cheng, ¶0101 - In some implementations, regardless of whether a UE is configured with no HARQ feedback, the UE may still provide the HARQ feedback if one of the following conditions (1) to (4) is satisfied: ¶0105 - (4) the UE is expected to provide HARQ-ACK information in response to an SPS PDSCH activation after N′ symbols from the last symbol of a PDCCH providing the SPS PDSCH activation, where N′ may be predefined or configured by higher layers or the network.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined Wang in view of Dinan invention of selectively sending acknowledgments with Cheng’s invention of activating acknowledgment feedback based on a predefined configuration, because HARQ may be inefficient for a time-urgent service in non-terrestrial networks, therefore it is beneficial to selectively configure specific HARQ processes. (See Cheng, ¶0043)
Claims 6-7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wan in view of Dinan and further in view of Ye et al. (US 2022/0109529 A1), Ye hereinafter.
Regarding claim 6, Wang in view of Dinan teaches all the limitations of claim 1.
Wang in view of Dinan does not explicitly disclose wherein the wireless communication terminal is configured to transmit the acknowledge information every Nack of HARQ processes for a Transport block (TB) with Nack being an integer.
However, in the analogous art, Ye teaches wherein the wireless communication terminal is configured to transmit the acknowledge information every Nack of HARQ processes for a Transport block (TB) with Nack being an integer. (See Ye, Fig. 7 and ¶0085 - At operation 708, the UE transmits a PUCCH or a PUSCH with a HARQ-ACK codebook. The contents of the HARQ-ACK codebook depend on whether HARQ-ACK information is enabled or disabled for HARQ processes of corresponding TBs as is subsequently described in the “enhancement for HARQ-ACK codebook” section. ¶0108 - In another example, if there are N HARQ processes and the bitmap size is M<N, the first N−[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap can indicate reporting of HARQ-ACK information for the first [N/M]∙[N−/M] ∙M) HARQ processes, and the last M−N+[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap can indicate reporting of HARQ-ACK information for the last N−[N/M]∙(N−[N/M] ∙M) HARQ processes. For example, for the first N−[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap, each of these bits can be used to indicate the disabling or enabling of HARQ-ACK information for every [N/M] HARQ-ACK processes.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined Wang in view of Dinan invention of selectively sending acknowledgments with Ye’s invention of acknowledging every N/M HARQ processes, because HARQs have long round-trip times in non-terrestrial networks leading to HARQ stalling without these enhancements. (See Ye, ¶0072)
Regarding claim 7, Wang in view of Dinan and Ye teaches all the limitations of claims 1 and 6.
Wang in view of Dinan does not explicitly disclose wherein at least one of: the wireless communication terminal is configured to receive a value of Nack from the wireless communication node in an SPS configuration; a value of Nack is determined according to a number of the HARQ processes for the TB.; or a value of Nack is determined according to a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) aggregation factor provided by the wireless communication node.
However, in the analogous art Ye teaches wherein at least one of: the wireless communication terminal is configured to receive a value of Nack from the wireless communication node in an SPS configuration; a value of Nack is determined according to a number of the HARQ processes for the TB. (See Ye, ¶0108 - In another example, if there are N HARQ processes and the bitmap size is M<N, the first N−[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap can indicate reporting of HARQ-ACK information for the first [N/M]∙[N−/M] ∙M) HARQ processes, and the last M−N+[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap can indicate reporting of HARQ-ACK information for the last N−[N/M]∙(N−[N/M] ∙M) HARQ processes. For example, for the first N−[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap, each of these bits can be used to indicate the disabling or enabling of HARQ-ACK information for every [N/M] HARQ-ACK processes.); or a value of Nack is determined according to a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) aggregation factor provided by the wireless communication node.
Please note that the examiner interprets that only one of the given limitations needs to be mapped in order for this rejection to hold, due to the presence of “wherein one of” and “or” in the claim language.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined Park in view of Zhou invention of selectively sending acknowledgments with Ye’s invention of acknowledging every N/M HARQ processes, because HARQs have long round-trip times in non-terrestrial networks leading to HARQ stalling without these enhancements. (See Ye, ¶0072)
Regarding claim 15, Wang in view of Dinan teaches all the limitations of claim 10.
Wang in view of Dinan fails to explicitly disclose wherein the wireless communication node receives the acknowledge information every Nack of HARQ processes for a Transport block (TB) with Nack being an integer, and wherein at least one of: the wireless communication node transmits a value of Nack to the wireless communication terminal in an SPS configuration; a value of Nack is determined according to a number of the HARQ processes for the TB; or a value of Nack is determined according to a Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH, aggregation factor transmitted from the wireless communication node to the wireless communication terminal.
However, in the analogous art, Ye teaches wherein the wireless communication node receives the acknowledge information every Nack of HARQ processes for a Transport block (TB) with Nack being an integer (See Ye, Fig. 7 and ¶0085 - At operation 708, the UE transmits a PUCCH or a PUSCH with a HARQ-ACK codebook. The contents of the HARQ-ACK codebook depend on whether HARQ-ACK information is enabled or disabled for HARQ processes of corresponding TBs as is subsequently described in the “enhancement for HARQ-ACK codebook” section. ¶0108 - In another example, if there are N HARQ processes and the bitmap size is M<N, the first N−[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap can indicate reporting of HARQ-ACK information for the first [N/M]∙[N−/M] ∙M) HARQ processes, and the last M−N+[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap can indicate reporting of HARQ-ACK information for the last N−[N/M]∙(N−[N/M] ∙M) HARQ processes. For example, for the first N−[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap, each of these bits can be used to indicate the disabling or enabling of HARQ-ACK information for every [N/M] HARQ-ACK processes.), and wherein at least one of: the wireless communication node transmits a value of Nack to the wireless communication terminal in an SPS configuration; a value of Nack is determined according to a number of the HARQ processes for the TB (See Ye, ¶0108 - In another example, if there are N HARQ processes and the bitmap size is M<N, the first N−[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap can indicate reporting of HARQ-ACK information for the first [N/M]∙[N−/M] ∙M) HARQ processes, and the last M−N+[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap can indicate reporting of HARQ-ACK information for the last N−[N/M]∙(N−[N/M] ∙M) HARQ processes. For example, for the first N−[N/M]∙M bits of the bitmap, each of these bits can be used to indicate the disabling or enabling of HARQ-ACK information for every [N/M] HARQ-ACK processes.); or a value of Nack is determined according to a Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH, aggregation factor transmitted from the wireless communication node to the wireless communication terminal.
Please note that the examiner interprets that only one of the limitations given after “wherein one of” needs to be mapped in order for this rejection to hold, due to the presence of “wherein one of” and “or” in the claim language.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined Wang in view of Dinan invention of selectively sending acknowledgments with Ye’s invention of acknowledging every N/M HARQ processes, because HARQs have long round-trip times in non-terrestrial networks leading to HARQ stalling without these enhancements. (See Ye, ¶0072)
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect toward claim(s) 1, 10, 19 and 22 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/Tejis Daya/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472