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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is response to Application 18/379,637 filed on 10/12/2023 in which claims 1-20 are presented for examination. Examiner contacted Applicant on February 26, 2026 about a restriction and Applicant elected claims 1-6 and 13-16 for further examination.
Election/Restrictions
Restriction to one of the following inventions is required under 35 U.S.C. 121:
I. Claims 1-6 and 13-16, drawn to a method for PBCH transmission with a certain number of resource blocks
II. Claims 7-12 and 17-20, drawn to method for PDCCH transmission with resource blocks for a control resource set
The inventions are distinct, each from the other because of the following reasons:
2. Inventions I and II are directed to related processes. The related inventions are distinct if: (1) the inventions as claimed are either not capable of use together or can have a materially different design, mode of operation, function, or effect; (2) the inventions do not overlap in scope, i.e., are mutually exclusive; and (3) the inventions as claimed are not obvious variants. See MPEP § 806.05(j). In the instant case, the inventions as claimed Invention I is directed to methods for PBCH transmission with a certain number of resource blocks while Invention II is directed to PDCCH transmission with resource blocks for a control resource set. Furthermore, the inventions as claimed do not encompass overlapping subject matter and there is nothing of record to show them to be obvious variants.
3. The examiner has required restriction between product or apparatus claims and process claims. Where applicant elects claims directed to the product/apparatus, and all product/apparatus claims are subsequently found allowable, withdrawn process claims that include all the limitations of the allowable product/apparatus claims should be considered for rejoinder. All claims directed to a nonelected process invention must include all the limitations of an allowable product/apparatus claim for that process invention to be rejoined.
In the event of rejoinder, the requirement for restriction between the product/apparatus claims and the rejoined process claims will be withdrawn, and the rejoined process claims will be fully examined for patentability in accordance with 37 CFR 1.104. Thus, to be allowable, the rejoined claims must meet all criteria for patentability including the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 101, 102, 103 and 112. Until all claims to the elected product/apparatus are found allowable, an otherwise proper restriction requirement between product/apparatus claims and process claims may be maintained. Withdrawn process claims that are not commensurate in scope with an allowable product/apparatus claim will not be rejoined. See MPEP § 821.04. Additionally, in order for rejoinder to occur, applicant is advised that the process claims should be amended during prosecution to require the limitations of the product/apparatus claims. Failure to do so may result in no rejoinder. Further, note that the prohibition against double patenting rejections of 35 U.S.C. 121 does not apply where the restriction requirement is withdrawn by the examiner before the patent issues. See MPEP § 804.01.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-6 and 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Si et al. (US 2024/0146457 A1).
1. Regarding claim 1, Si teaches a method, comprising:
selecting, by a processor of an apparatus, a first number (N) of resource
blocks (RBs) from a second number (X) of RBs on a physical broadcast channel
(PBCH) in an event that the apparatus is operating in a frequency band with a
transmission bandwidth less than a threshold (Paragraphs [0067] and [0069] 3 MHz channel bandwidth smaller than 5 MHz); and
performing, by the processor, a PBCH transmission to a user equipment
(UE) based on the first number of RBs (Paragraphs [0067] and [0069] 5 MHz; 20 RBs).
2. Regarding claim 2, Si teaches, further comprising:
puncturing, by the processor, a third number (Y) of RBs for the PBCH
transmission, wherein Y = X – N (Fig. 5A and 5B X=8; 20-12).
3. Regarding claim 3, Si teaches, wherein the third number of RBs comprise
first Y/2 RBs and last Y/2 RBs in the second number of RBs (Fig. 5A and 5B block structure with 12 RBs).
4. Regarding claim 4, Si teaches, wherein the PBCH transmission
comprises a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary
synchronization signal (SSS), and the PSS and the SSS are not punctured (Fig. 5A and 5B block structure with 12 RBs).
5. Regarding claim 5, Si teaches, wherein the second number of RBs
comprise 20 RBs and the threshold is 5 mega-hertz (MHz) (Paragraphs [0067] and [0069] 3 MHz channel bandwidth smaller than 5 MHz; 20 RBs).
6. Regarding claim 6, Si teaches, wherein the first number of RBs comprise
12 RBs and the transmission bandwidth is 3 MHz (Paragraphs [0067] and [0069] 3 MHz channel bandwidth smaller than 5 MHz; 20 RBs).
7. Regarding claim 13, Si teaches a method, comprising:
detecting, by a processor of an apparatus, a synchronization raster point
associated with a cell of a transmission bandwidth on a frequency band (Paragraphs [0181] to [0187] synchronization raster entries);
determining, by the processor, a first number of resource blocks (RBs)
for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) in an event that the transmission
bandwidth of the frequency band is less than a threshold (Fig. 5A and 5B Paragraphs [0067] and [0069] 3 MHz channel bandwidth smaller than 5 MHz); and
performing, by the processor, a PBCH reception from a base station (BS)
based on the first number of RBs (Paragraphs [0067] and [0069] 5 MHz; 20 RBs).
8. Regarding claim 14, Si teaches, wherein the first number of RBs
comprise 12 RBs and the transmission bandwidth is 3 mega-hertz (MHz) (Paragraphs [0067] and [0069] 3 MHz channel bandwidth smaller than 5 MHz; 20 RBs).
9. Regarding claim 15, Si teaches further comprising:
determining, by the processor, a second number of RBs for the PBCH in
an event that the transmission bandwidth of the frequency band is greater than
or equal to the threshold; and
performing, by the processor, the PBCH reception from the BS based on
the second number of RBs (Paragraphs [0067] and [0069] 3 MHz channel bandwidth smaller than 5 MHz; 20 RBs).
10. Regarding claim 16, Si teaches, wherein the second number of RBs
comprise 20 RBs and the threshold is 5 mega-hertz (MHz) (Paragraphs [0067] and [0069] 3 MHz channel bandwidth smaller than 5 MHz; 20 RBs).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure:
Lee et al. (US 2015/0071203 A1) Paragraph [0193]
Liu et al. (US 2022/0248474 A1) Paragraph [0117]
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
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, Faruk Hamza can be reached at (571)272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DIANE L LO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466