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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 03/19/2026 has been entered. Independent Claims 1, 19, and 20 have been amended. Dependent claims 4, 5, and 15-18 have been amended. No claims have been cancelled. No claims have been entered. Claims 1-20 are still pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to objections of the disclosure have been considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the objections are withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments/amendments with respect to Claim Objections have been considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the Objections are withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 03/19/2026 on pages 19-20 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 1, 19, and 20 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Majmundar does not have access and backhaul links equivalent to the two beam directions. However, one of ordinary skill in the art of electrical communication would understand that one of the major breakthroughs in 5G communications is for beamforming communication, e.g. beam direction, which is suggested by Majmundar by the phrase “beam-based operation” in ¶0022. The use of Majmundar’s embodiments within a 5G environment is also expected, as explained in ¶0019. Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of having access and backhaul links equivalent to the two beam directions from the teachings of Majmundar. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 03/19/2026 on pages 21-22 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 1, 19, and 20 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Majmundar’198 does not have access and backhaul links equivalent to the two beam directions. However, ¶0033 further describes the backhaul link CSI information, e.g. CQI, being used for uplink and downlink information across multiple IAB nodes, and the argument for transit beam direction, e.g. beamforming, is not within the claim language. Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of having access and backhaul links equivalent to the two beam directions from the teachings of Majmundar’198. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 19, and 20, under 35 USC § 103, 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 specified challenged in the argument.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 8-16, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Majmundar (Pub. No.: US 20190372887 A1, hereafter “Majmundar”) in view of Majmundar (Pub. No.: US 20200351198 A1, hereafter “Majmundar’198”), further in view of Park (Pub. No.: US 20200252847 A1, hereafter “Park”).
Regarding Claim 1, Claim 19, and Claim 20
Majmundar teaches a method, device, and storage medium
An integrated access backhaul (IAB) (Majmundar Fig. 1: 114) indication method, comprising: in a case of beam multiplexing (Majmundar ¶0022: multiplex access) between a distributed unit (DU) of a first IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 108, IAB Node Donor) and a mobile termination (MT) of the first IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 102, UE), performing, by a first IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 114), at least one of: reporting a first signaling (Majmundar Fig. 1: RLC3, e.g. new route’s protocol stack copies by the 104 node from the 114 node, see ¶0028) to a parent IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 104; Majmundar teaches multiplexing communication from an IAB node to another node for a UE); wherein the first signaling comprises at least one of: a first transmit beam direction (Majmundar ¶0022: backhaul links in beam-based operation, and the old route’s RLC state machine from the old protocol stack, see ¶0028) or a second transmit beam direction (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); the first transmit beam direction being a downlink transmit beam direction of DU of the parent IAB node (Majmundar ¶0022-¶0023: downlink from a donor node multiplexed across beam-based operations in a 5G network, examiners note, beamforming is a core feature in 5G networks which includes direction), and the second transmit beam direction being an uplink transmit beam direction of MT of the first IAB node (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Majmundar teaches information being sent for the use in downlink communication); the first signaling being effective for at least one of: a target multiplexing mode (Majmundar ¶0022: multiplex access), a target time (Majmundar ¶0022: backhaul links in time), or a target frequency domain resource (Majmundar ¶0022: backhaul links in frequency; Majmundar teaches the IAB node giving information used for multiplex access, a link in time and frequency); the target multiplexing mode being a multiplexing mode (Majmundar ¶0022: multiplex access) corresponding to the DU of the parent IAB (Majmundar Fig. 1: 104) node and the MT of the first IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 114; Majmundar teaches multiplex access related for the UE and relay node);
Majmundar does not explicitly teach
the first interference being an interference of uplink and downlink transmissions of DU of the first IAB node on the reception of the MT of the first IAB node; the amount of interference variation being an amount of interference variation of the uplink and downlink transmissions of the DU of the first IAB node on the reception of the MT of the first IAB node; and the communication channel quality being a communication channel quality from the DU of the parent IAB node to the MT of the first IAB node during the uplink and downlink transmissions of the DU of the first IAB node
However, Majmundar’198 teaches
and the communication channel quality (Majmundar’198 ¶0033: CQI of backhaul link L3) being a communication channel quality from the DU of the parent IAB node (Majmundar’198 Fig. 5: 404, parent distributed unit) to the MT of the first IAB node (Majmundar’198 Fig. 5: 406, donor distributed unit) during the uplink (Majmundar’198 ¶0035: uplink control PDU) and downlink transmissions (Majmundar’198 ¶0035: data PDU) of the DU of the first IAB node (Majmundar’198 Fig. 5: Link 3, see ¶0033 for L3 reference signal using an SINR based on a CQI backhaul link; Majmundar’198 teaches a CQI being used for an SINR in a link between backhaul IAB nodes)
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar by way of Majmundar’198, to include an element that teaches a CQI being used for an SINR in a link between backhaul IAB nodes, as taught by Majmundar’198 in Fig. 5 and ¶0033-¶0035, to improve contextual information relating to fallback backhaul systems in generating a more reliable communication network for the user.
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198 does not explicitly teach
the target time being a time applied to the first transmit beam direction or the second transmit beam direction, and the target frequency domain resource being a frequency range applied to the first transmit beam direction or the second transmit beam direction.
However, Park teaches
the target time (Park ¶0359-¶0360: timing alignment across IAB nodes) being a time applied (Park ¶0362: IAB CLI mitigation) to the first transmit beam direction (Park ¶0362: beamforming based measurement) or the second transmit beam direction (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), and the target frequency domain resource (Park ¶0362: FDM/SDM reception) being a frequency range applied to the first transmit beam direction (Park ¶0362: FDM/SDM reception between access and backhaul links) or the second transmit beam direction (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Park teaches a CLI measurement for mitigation including a beamform based measurement and FDM reception for UE reception).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198 by way of Park, to include an element that teaches a CLI measurement for mitigation including a beamform based measurement and FDM reception for UE reception, see ¶0360, as taught by Park in ¶0359-¶0362, to better improve backhaul links across the cell network and allow more consistent communication and allowing different network elements communicate with UEs in a similar methodology, reducing switching cause and improving the quality of service for the user.
Claim 19 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Majmundar teaches
A communication device (Majmundar Fig. 10: 1001), being a first integrated access backhaul (IAB) node and comprising a processor (Majmundar Fig. 10: 1004), a memory (Majmundar Fig. 10: 1006), and a program or an instruction (Majmundar Fig. 10: 1032) stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the program or the instruction, when executed by the processor, causes the first IAB node to perform (Majmundar Fig. 10: 1030; Majmundar teaches a device with a processor coupled to memory containing instructions to manipulate the device):
Claim 20 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Majmundar teaches
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (Majmundar Fig. 10: 1006), storing a program or an instruction (Majmundar Fig. 10: 1032), wherein the program or the instruction, when executed by a processor of a first integrated access backhaul (IAB) node (Majmundar Fig. 10: 1002), causes the first IAB node to perform (Majmundar Fig. 10: 1030; Majmundar teaches a medium containing a program to manipulate a IAB node):
Regarding Claim 2
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar further teaches
wherein the target multiplexing mode comprises at least one of: a transceivisng mode (Majmundar ¶0019: applicable for any RAT or multi-RAT system) in which the DU and the MT perform time division multiplexing (Majmundar ¶0019: LTE TDD); a mode in which the DU and the MT perform frequency division multiplexing (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); a mode in which the DU and the MT perform space division multiplexing (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); a mode in which a transmission of the DU and a transmission of the MT are performed synchronously (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); a mode in which a reception of the DU and a reception of the MT are performed synchronously (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); a mode in which the transmission of the DU and the reception of the MT are performed synchronously (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or a mode in which the reception of the DU and the transmission of the MT are performed synchronously (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Majmundar teaches multiplexing backhaul links through TDD).
Regarding Claim 3
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar further teaches
wherein reporting the first signaling to the parent IAB node, comprises: reporting the first signaling to the parent IAB node with respect to at least one of the target multiplexing mode (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), the target time (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or the target frequency domain resource (Majmundar ¶0022: multiplex access and backhaul links in frequency); wherein a separate field in the first signaling carries indication information of at least one of the target multiplexing mode (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), the target time (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the target frequency domain resource (Majmundar ¶0022: multiplex access and backhaul links in frequency; Majmundar teaches setting multiplex backhaul links in the frequency domain).
Regarding Claim 4
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar further teaches
wherein the method further comprises: in the case of beam multiplexing between the DU of the first IAB node and the MT of the first IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 112, blockage, a new route is desired, not necessarily due to whole failure, but also sufficiently degraded, see ¶0024), obtaining, by the first IAB node, target indication information (Majmundar ¶0025: forming a new route; Majmundar teaches in the case of a blockage, causing a new route to be formed); wherein the target indication information is used for indicating a reference signal (RS) measurement (Majmundar Fig. 3: 304) being for the target multiplexing mode when resources for measuring a RS are configured (Majmundar ¶0032: RLC retransmissions cross a threshold; Majmundar teaches the radio link control being used for retransmission with a threshold); if a time and/or a frequency at which a resource for the RS measurement (Majmundar Fig. 3: 304, RLC ReTX) is located corresponds to the target multiplexing mode (Majmundar ¶0032: monitor the level/rate of RLC retransmissions, e.g. using transmissions modes, see ¶0019), reporting for the RS measurement is for the target multiplexing mode (Majmundar ¶0032: RLC layer sends a message to the adaption layer above the RCL layer in the IAB node’s protocol stack to trigger a change; Majmundar teaches a measurement relating to the retransmissions mode and reporting the measurements).
Regarding Claim 5
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar’198 teaches
wherein target information (Majmundar’198 ¶0033: metric) associated with the first transmit beam direction (Majmundar’198 ¶0033: backhaul link L1 or L3) and/or the second transmit beam direction is reported for the target multiplexing mode (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Majmundar’198 teaches a metric associated with a backhaul link L1 or L3); and the target information comprises at least one of: a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), a rank indication (RI) (Majmundar’198 ¶0033: RI), a channel quality indicator (CQI) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), a layer 1 (L1) control signaling (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), a reference signal receiving power (RSRP) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or a codebook indication (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Majmundar’198 teaches an RI data piece factoring into the metric).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar by way of Majmundar’198, to include an element that teaches a metric associated with a backhaul link L1 or L3 and an RI data piece factoring into the metric, as taught by Majmundar’198 in ¶0033, to improve contextual information relating to fallback backhaul systems in generating a more reliable communication network for the user.
Regarding Claim 8
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar further teaches
wherein the first transmit beam direction (Majmundar Fig. 1: Route C) and/or the second transmit beam direction (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) is any one of: a beam used/scheduled by the DU of the parent IAB node (Majmundar ¶0022: backhaul links in a beam-based operation); a beam preferentially used/preferentially scheduled by the DU of the parent IAB node (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); a beam that is unusable/unschedulable by the DU of the parent IAB node (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); and a beam low-priority used/low-priority scheduled by the DU of the parent IAB node (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Majmundar teaches the beam is being used by the serving node).
Regarding Claim 9
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar’198 further teaches
wherein the first IAB node supports reporting of a beam-related power control related parameter (Majmundar’198 ¶0033: RSRP; Majmundar’198 teaches a received power measurement to be used in the metric).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar by way of Majmundar’198, to include an element that teaches a received power measurement to be used in the metric, as taught by Majmundar’198 in ¶0033, to improve contextual information relating to fallback backhaul systems in generating a more reliable communication network for the user.
Regarding Claim 10
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 9. Majmundar’198 further teaches
wherein for a downlink power control of the DU of the parent IAB node (Majmundar’198 ¶0033: RSRP), power control parameters for the first transmit beam direction are reported (Majmundar’198 ¶0038: sending the modified quality data to a second node device); or the first IAB node supports that at least one downlink power control stream is used to report the power control parameters (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), and each downlink power control stream corresponds to one beam direction (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Majmundar’198 teaches the power measurement being sent to a different device).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar by way of Majmundar’198, to include an element that teaches the power measurement being sent to a different device, as taught by Majmundar’198 in ¶0033-¶0038, to improve contextual information relating to fallback backhaul systems in generating a more reliable communication network for the user.
Regarding Claim 11
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar further teaches
wherein the first transmit beam direction (Fig. 3: 308) and/or the second transmit beam direction (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) to be scheduled by the DU of the parent IAB node (Fig. 4: 406) is notified by the parent IAB node to the first IAB node in advance (Fig. 4: 408; Majmundar teaches the route change is established before the route is populated).
Regarding Claim 12
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 11. Majmundar further teaches
wherein the first transmit beam direction and/or the second transmit beam direction is a beam for at least one of the target multiplexing mode (Majmundar ¶0022: multiplex access), the target time (Majmundar ¶0022: backhaul links in time) or the target frequency domain resource (Majmundar ¶0022: backhaul links in frequency; Majmundar teaches the IAB node giving information used for multiplex access, a link in time and frequency).
Regarding Claim 13
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 11. Majmundar further teaches
wherein the first transmit beam direction and/or the second transmit beam direction is notified to the first IAB node through a higher layer signaling (Majmundar ¶0023: control plane), a physical layer signaling (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), a radio resource control (RRC) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), media access control control element (MAC CE) (Majmundar ¶0023: MAC), or downlink control information (DCI) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) by the parent IAB node (Majmundar ¶0023: IAB donor node; Majmundar teaches a MAC element in the control plane in an IAB node).
Regarding Claim 14
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 11. Majmundar further teaches
wherein a target transmit beam direction indicated in a semi-static/dynamic grant (Majmundar ¶0028: dynamic route changes) is kept same as a target transmit beam direction to be scheduled by the DU of the parent IAB node (Majmundar ¶0023: copies transmitted in the new route); and the target transmit beam direction comprises at least one of: the first transmit beam direction (Majmundar Fig. 1: between 104 and 114) or the second transmit beam direction (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Majmundar teaches a dynamic route change that includes information for the new route between two IAB nodes).
Regarding Claim 15
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar further teaches
in the case of beam multiplexing between the DU of the first IAB node and the MT of the first IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 112, blockage, a new route is desired, not necissarlly due to whole failure, but also sufficiently degraded, see ¶0024), obtaining, by the first IAB node, target indication information (Majmundar ¶0025: forming a new route; Majmundar teaches in the case of a blockage, causing a new route to be formed); wherein the target indication information is used for indicating uplink (Majmundar ¶0022: uplink) or downlink beam information (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) of the DU of the parent IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 104; Majmundar teaches uplink information towards the parent IAB node); the target indication information is obtained in advance by the first IAB node (Fig. 4: 408) based on a time interval between a scheduling signaling and a scheduling resource (Fig. 4: 406; Majmundar teaches an establishing route before populating said route); and the target indication information is used for indicating a downlink transmit beam direction of the parent IAB node on the scheduling resource (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or an uplink transmit beam direction (Majmundar ¶0022: uplink) of the MT of the first IAB node on the scheduling resource (Fig. 4: 406; Majmundar teaches the uplink information being relevant to establishing a route); wherein after the first IAB node adjusts the time interval (Majmundar ¶0037: once established) between the scheduling signaling (Majmundar ¶0037: establishing a new RLC instance) and the scheduling resource (Majmundar ¶0037: populates the RLC), an indication range of the time interval (Majmundar ¶0037: once established) between the scheduling signaling (Majmundar Fig. 4: 406) and the scheduling resource is a preset indication range (Majmundar Fig. 4: 408; Majmundar teaches a time between establishing a link and populating the new link).
Regarding Claim 16
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar teaches
in the case of beam multiplexing between the DU of the first IAB node and the MT of the first IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 112, blockage, a new route is desired, not necessarily due to whole failure, but also sufficiently degraded, see ¶0024), obtaining, by the first IAB node, target indication information (Majmundar ¶0025: forming a new route; Majmundar teaches in the case of a blockage, causing a new route to be formed);
wherein the target indication information is used for indicating a first condition (Majmundar Fig. 1: 112, blockage, a new route is desired, not necissarlly due to whole failure, but also sufficiently degraded, see ¶0024); the first condition is used for the first IAB node to control an interference (Majmundar Fig. 1: New Route C, caused by blockage 112) to a reception of the MT of the first IAB node (Majmundar Fig. 1: 114; Majmundar teaches the blockage condition being used for changing the route), the first condition comprising at least one of: a first interference being less than or equal to a first preset threshold (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), an amount of interference variation being less than or equal to a preset offset threshold (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or a communication channel quality satisfying a preset transmission condition (Majmundar Fig. 3: 304, RLC transmissions cross a certain threshold as evaluated in operation 304, see ¶0032; Majmundar teaches checking if the connection deteriorates against a threshold);
the first interference is an interference of uplink and downlink transmissions of DU of the first IAB node on the reception of the MT of the first IAB node (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); the amount of interference variation is an amount of interference variation of the uplink and downlink transmissions of the DU of the first IAB node on the reception of the MT of the first IAB node (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); the communication channel quality is a communication channel quality from the DU of the parent IAB node to the MT (Majmundar ¶0032: downlink failure) of the first IAB node during the uplink and downlink transmissions of the DU of the first IAB node (Majmundar ¶0032: route change trigger request; Majmundar teaches the channel quality being a downlink failure metric);
Majmundar’198 further teaches
the preset transmission condition comprises at least one of: the communication channel quality satisfying a minimum channel quality indicator (CQI) requirement (Majmundar’198 ¶0033: CQI), the communication channel quality satisfying a minimum modulation and coding scheme (MCS) demodulation requirement (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the communication channel quality satisfying a minimum rate requirement (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Majmundar’198 teaches a CQI in the metric for scheduling).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar by way of Majmundar’198, to include an element that teaches a CQI in the metric for scheduling, as taught by Majmundar’198 in ¶0033, to improve contextual information relating to fallback backhaul systems in generating a more reliable communication network for the user.
Claim(s) 6 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Majmundar (Pub. No.: US 20190372887 A1, hereafter “Majmundar”) in view of Majmundar (Pub. No.: US 20200351198 A1, hereafter “Majmundar’198”), further in view of Park (Pub. No.: US 20200252847 A1, hereafter “Park”), and even further in view of Liu (Pub. No.: US 20220038970 A1, hereafter “Liu”).
Regarding Claim 6
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 1. Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park does not explicitly teach
wherein when a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource of an IAB MT is configured, the SRS resource is indicated for at least one of the target multiplexing mode, the target time or the target frequency domain resource.
However, Liu teaches
wherein when a sounding reference signal (SRS) (Liu ¶0250: SRS) resource of an IAB MT is configured (Liu ¶0250: IAB system adopts), the SRS resource is indicated for at least one of the target multiplexing mode (Liu ¶0250: TDD), the target time (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or the target frequency domain resource (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Liu teaches an SRS being sent to an IAB system to use a TDD mode).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park, by way of Liu, to include an element that teaches an SRS being sent to an IAB system to use a TDD mode, as taught by Liu in ¶0250, to improve the spatial domain by improving narrow directional beams to withstand large path loss in the high-frequency channel.
Regarding Claim 7
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park, and further in view of Liu, teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 6. Liu further teaches
wherein when the SRS resource is configured, configuration information of the SRS resource carries indication information of at least one of the target multiplexing mode (Liu ¶0250: TDD), the target time (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or the target frequency domain resource (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); or if the SRS resource is configured (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) at a time corresponding to the target multiplexing mode (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), the SRS resource is an SRS resource for the target multiplexing mode (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Liu teaches an SRS being used to set the multiplexing mode as TDD).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park, by way of Liu, to include an element that teaches an SRS being sent to an IAB system to use a TDD mode, as taught by Liu in ¶0250, to improve the spatial domain by improving narrow directional beams to withstand large path loss in the high-frequency channel.
Claim(s) 17 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Majmundar (Pub. No.: US 20190372887 A1, hereafter “Majmundar”) in view of Majmundar (Pub. No.: US 20200351198 A1, hereafter “Majmundar’198”), further in view of Park (Pub. No.: US 20200252847 A1, hereafter “Park”), and even further in view of Abedini (Pub. No.: US 20210359829 A1, hereafter “Abedini”).
Regarding Claim 17
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 16. Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198 does not explicitly teach
wherein the first condition is specific to the target multiplexing mode and/or the target time; wherein the first condition is configured based on a subframe, a slot and a symbol.
However, Abedini teaches
wherein the first condition (Abedini ¶0079: manage interference more effectively) is specific to the target multiplexing mode (Abedini ¶0079: transmission of TDD configurations between nodes, e.g. IAB network nodes) and/or the target time (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Abedini teaches a transmission of TDD configurations between IAB network nodes for managing interference); wherein the first condition is configured based on a subframe (Abedini ¶0079: subframe), a slot (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) and a symbol (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Abedini teaches the configuration is being sent as a subframe).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park, by way of Abedini, to include an element that teaches a transmission of TDD configurations between IAB network nodes for managing interference and the configuration is being sent as a subframe, as taught by Abedini in ¶0079, to improve request intended time division duplex configurations.
Regarding Claim 18
Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park teaches a method, device, and storage medium as explained above in Claim 16. Abedini teaches
wherein the uplink (Abedini ¶0079: uplink) and downlink transmissions (Abedini ¶0079: downlink) of the DU (Abedini ¶0079: IAB) of the first IAB node are not limited by the first condition in a case where the DU of the first IAB node determines that the MT does not perform data reception (Abedini ¶0079: TDD confirmations are provide by request rather than periodically; Abedini teaches the TDD configurations are based on a request for uplink and downlink slots).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Majmundar in view of Majmundar’198, further in view of Park, by way of Abedini, to include an element that teaches a transmission of TDD configurations between IAB network nodes for managing interference and the configuration is being sent as a subframe, as taught by Abedini in ¶0079, to improve request intended time division duplex configurations.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER whose telephone number is (703)756-4763. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 4:00pm.
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, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached on (571) 270-1215. 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.
/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
Prosecution Insights