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 1-5, 9-16, 20-26 are pending.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5, 9-14, 16, 20-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NPL “Summary #4 of AI 8.4.3 for HARQ for NTN” (hereinafter referred to as ZTE) in view of Wu (US# 2023/0231661).
RE Claim 1¸ ZTE discloses A Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) transmission method (See ZTE Sections 1, 4), comprising:
determining, by a network-side device, a first time when a second Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) process corresponding to a second PDSCH scheduled by the network-side device is the same as a first HARQ process corresponding to a first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – determining timing when it comes to consecutive scheduling of PDSCH with the same HARQ process), wherein the first PDSCH is a PDSCH scheduled by the network-side device before scheduling of the second PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – first PDSCH is scheduled before second PDSCH (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” bullet point)), the first time is related to first information, and the first information indicates whether a terminal feeds back a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK) for the first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – based on whether HARQ feedback is enabled/disabled, if disabled, HARQ-ACK is not fed back for PDSCH etc… (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” and “For the process timing:” bullet points)); and
transmitting, by the network-side device, the second PDSCH at a time point not earlier than the first time (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – transmitting consecutive PDSCHs wherein second PDSCH is not earlier than first PDSCH (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” and “For the process timing:” bullet points)),
wherein determining, by the network-side device, the first time comprises:
determining, by the network-side device, the first time based on content of the first information (See ZTE Section 5; “Agreement” – enabling/disabling on HARQ feedback for downlink transmission should be at least configurable per HARQ process via UE specific RRC signaling).
ZTE does not specifically disclose
when the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back a HARO-ACK for the first PDSCH, determining the first time according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprises:
the first time being determined based on a position of T1 time after an end position of the first PDSCH, wherein the T1 time is related to a terminal capability.
However, Wu teaches of
wherein determining, by the network-side device, the first time comprises:
determining, by the network-side device, the first time based on content of the first information (See Wu [0104], [0106], [0113], [0216] – determining timing for second PDSCH using 1st HARQ process),
when the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back a HARO-ACK for the first PDSCH (See Wu [0011]-[0012], [0113], [0276] – first HARQ process is configured as disabled with a disabling parameter), determining the first time according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprises:
the first time being determined based on a position of T1 time after an end position of the first PDSCH (See Wu [0104], [0106] - the symbol L1 is defined as a next uplink symbol after an end position of a last symbol of the PDSCH carrying the target transport block), wherein the T1 time is related to a terminal capability (See Wu [0104], [0106] – based on UE PDSCH processing time).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the PDSCH transmission system, as disclosed in ZTE, when the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back a HARO-ACK for the first PDSCH, determining the first time according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprises:
the first time being determined based on a position of T1 time after an end position of the first PDSCH, wherein the T1 time is related to a terminal capability, as taught in Wu. One is motivated as such in order to ensure that a problem of out of order of a processing timing of a terminal device will not occur (See Wu Background; Summary).
RE Claim 2¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a PDSCH transmission method, as set forth in claim 1 above,
wherein an indicating manner of the first information comprises at least one of the following:
being indicated by higher-layer signaling (See ZTE Section 5; “Agreement” – enabling/disabling on HARQ feedback for downlink transmission should be at least configurable per HARQ process via UE specific RRC signaling (i.e. higher layer signaling)); or being indicated by Downlink Control Information (DCI) (See Wu [0086], [0096], [0158]-[0159], [0248] – using DCI).
RE Claim 3¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a PDSCH transmission method, as set forth in claim 2 above, wherein the determining, by the network-side device, the first time based on the content of the first information comprises:
when the first information is indicated by the higher-layer signaling and the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back the HARQ-ACK for the first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 5; “Agreement” – enabling/disabling on HARQ feedback for downlink transmission should be at least configurable per HARQ process via UE specific RRC signaling (i.e. higher layer signaling)), determining, by the network-side device, the first time according the predefined rule (See Wu [0104], [0106] - the symbol L1 is defined as a next uplink symbol after an end position of a last symbol of the PDSCH carrying the target transport block; based on UE PDSCH processing time).
RE Claim 5¸ ZTE, modified by WU, discloses a PDSCH transmission method, as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein the determining the first time based on the content of the first information further comprises:
when the first information indicates that the terminal feeds back the HARQ-ACK for the first PDSCH, determining the first time based on an end position of the HARQ-ACK for the first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – if HARQ-ACK is enabled, HARQ process is only available once the HARQ-ACK information of previous scheduling for a given HARQ process is received (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” and “For the process timing:” bullet points)).
RE Claim 9¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a PDSCH transmission method, as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein:
the T1 time is determined based on a PDSCH processing time (See Wu [0104], [0106] – based on PDSCH processing time);
the T1 time is determined based on a subcarrier spacing of PDSCH (See Wu [0093], [0253], [0257] – PDSCH decoding time based on SCS of PDSCH).
RE Claim 10¸ ZTE discloses A Physical Downlink Shared CHannel (PDSCH) reception method, comprising:
receiving, by a terminal, a second PDSCH when a second Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) process corresponding to the second PDSCH is the same as a first HARQ process corresponding to a first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” –timing when it comes to consecutive scheduling of PDSCH with the same HARQ process) and a transmit time of the second PDSCH is not earlier than a first time (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – receiving consecutive PDSCHs wherein second PDSCH is not earlier than first PDSCH (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” and “For the process timing:” bullet points)),
wherein the first PDSCH is a PDSCH scheduled by a network-side device before scheduling of the second PDSCH, wherein the first time is related to first information (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – first PDSCH is scheduled before second PDSCH (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” bullet point)), and
wherein the first information indicates whether the terminal feeds back a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK) for the first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – based on whether HARQ feedback is enabled/disabled, if disabled, HARQ-ACK is not fed back for PDSCH etc… (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” and “For the process timing:” bullet points)), and
wherein the first time is determined based on content of the first information (See ZTE Section 5; “Agreement” – enabling/disabling on HARQ feedback for downlink transmission should be at least configurable per HARQ process via UE specific RRC signaling).
ZTE does not specifically disclose
when the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back a HARO-ACK for the first PDSCH, determining the first time according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprises:
the first time being determined based on a position of T1 time after an end position of the first PDSCH, wherein the T1 time is related to a terminal capability.
However, Wu teaches of
wherein determining, by the network-side device, the first time comprises:
determining, by the network-side device, the first time based on content of the first information (See Wu [0104], [0106], [0113], [0216] – determining timing for second PDSCH using 1st HARQ process),
when the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back a HARO-ACK for the first PDSCH (See Wu [0011]-[0012], [0113], [0276] – first HARQ process is configured as disabled with a disabling parameter), determining the first time according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprises:
the first time being determined based on a position of T1 time after an end position of the first PDSCH (See Wu [0104], [0106] - the symbol L1 is defined as a next uplink symbol after an end position of a last symbol of the PDSCH carrying the target transport block), wherein the T1 time is related to a terminal capability (See Wu [0104], [0106] – based on UE PDSCH processing time).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the PDSCH transmission system, as disclosed in ZTE, when the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back a HARO-ACK for the first PDSCH, determining the first time according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprises:
the first time being determined based on a position of T1 time after an end position of the first PDSCH, wherein the T1 time is related to a terminal capability, as taught in Wu. One is motivated as such in order to ensure that a problem of out of order of a processing timing of a terminal device will not occur (See Wu Background; Summary).
RE Claim 11, ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a PDSCH reception method, as set forth in claim 10 above, further comprising:
not expecting the terminal to receive the second PDSCH prior to the first time when the second HARQ process corresponding to the second PDSCH scheduled by the network-side device is the same as the first HARQ process corresponding to the first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – receiving consecutive PDSCHs wherein second PDSCH is not earlier than first PDSCH for same HARQ process (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” and “For the process timing:” bullet points)).
RE Claim 12¸ ZTE discloses A network-side device (See ZTE Sections 1, 4), comprising:
A memory storing computer-readable instructions (See ZTE Sections 1, 4 – network devices have memory), and
a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the computer-readable instructions, wherein the computer-readable instructions (See ZTE Sections 1, 4 – network devices have processors), when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
determining a first time when a second Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) process corresponding to a second PDSCH scheduled by the network-side device is the same as a first HARQ process corresponding to a first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – determining timing when it comes to consecutive scheduling of PDSCH with the same HARQ process), wherein the first PDSCH is a PDSCH scheduled by the network-side device before scheduling of the second PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – first PDSCH is scheduled before second PDSCH (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” bullet point)), the first time is related to first information, and the first information indicates whether a terminal feeds back a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest ACKnowledgement (HARQ-ACK) for the first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – based on whether HARQ feedback is enabled/disabled, if disabled, HARQ-ACK is not fed back for PDSCH etc… (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” and “For the process timing:” bullet points)); and
transmitting the second PDSCH at a time point not earlier than the first time (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – transmitting consecutive PDSCHs wherein second PDSCH is not earlier than first PDSCH (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” and “For the process timing:” bullet points)),
wherein determining, by the network-side device, the first time comprises:
determining, by the network-side device, the first time based on content of the first information (See ZTE Section 5; “Agreement” – enabling/disabling on HARQ feedback for downlink transmission should be at least configurable per HARQ process via UE specific RRC signaling).
ZTE does not specifically disclose
when the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back a HARO-ACK for the first PDSCH, determining the first time according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprises:
the first time being determined based on a position of T1 time after an end position of the first PDSCH, wherein the T1 time is related to a terminal capability.
However, Wu teaches of
wherein determining, by the network-side device, the first time comprises:
determining, by the network-side device, the first time based on content of the first information (See Wu [0104], [0106], [0113], [0216] – determining timing for second PDSCH using 1st HARQ process),
when the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back a HARO-ACK for the first PDSCH (See Wu [0011]-[0012], [0113], [0276] – first HARQ process is configured as disabled with a disabling parameter), determining the first time according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprises:
the first time being determined based on a position of T1 time after an end position of the first PDSCH (See Wu [0104], [0106] - the symbol L1 is defined as a next uplink symbol after an end position of a last symbol of the PDSCH carrying the target transport block), wherein the T1 time is related to a terminal capability (See Wu [0104], [0106] – based on UE PDSCH processing time).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the PDSCH transmission system, as disclosed in ZTE, when the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back a HARO-ACK for the first PDSCH, determining the first time according to a predefined rule, wherein the predefined rule comprises:
the first time being determined based on a position of T1 time after an end position of the first PDSCH, wherein the T1 time is related to a terminal capability, as taught in Wu. One is motivated as such in order to ensure that a problem of out of order of a processing timing of a terminal device will not occur (See Wu Background; Summary).
RE Claim 13¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a network-side device, as set forth in claim 12 above, wherein an indicating manner of the first information comprises at least one of the following:
being indicated by higher-layer signaling (See ZTE Section 5; “Agreement” – enabling/disabling on HARQ feedback for downlink transmission should be at least configurable per HARQ process via UE specific RRC signaling (i.e. higher layer signaling)); or being indicated by Downlink Control Information (DCI) (See Wu [0086], [0096], [0158]-[0159], [0248] – using DCI).
RE Claim 14¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a network-side device, as set forth in claim 13 above, wherein the determining the first time the content of the first information comprises:
when the first information is indicated by the higher-layer signaling and the first information indicates that the terminal does not feed back the HARQ-ACK for the first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 5; “Agreement” – enabling/disabling on HARQ feedback for downlink transmission should be at least configurable per HARQ process via UE specific RRC signaling (i.e. higher layer signaling)), determining the first time according to a predefined rule (See Wu [0104], [0106] - the symbol L1 is defined as a next uplink symbol after an end position of a last symbol of the PDSCH carrying the target transport block; based on UE PDSCH processing time).
RE Claim 16¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a network-side device, as set forth in claim 12 above, wherein the determining the first time based on the content of the first information comprises:
when the first information indicates that the terminal feeds back the HARQ-ACK for the first PDSCH, determining the first time based on an end position of the HARQ-ACK for the first PDSCH (See ZTE Section 4; “PDSCH” – if HARQ-ACK is enabled, HARQ process is only available once the HARQ-ACK information of previous scheduling for a given HARQ process is received (i.e. “For the PDSCH scheduling:” and “For the process timing:” bullet points)).
RE Claim 20¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a network-side device, as set forth in claim 12 above, wherein:
the T1 time is determined based on a PDSCH processing time (See Wu [0104], [0106] – based on PDSCH processing time);
the T1 time is determined based on a subcarrier spacing of PDSCH (See Wu [0093], [0253], [0257] – PDSCH decoding time based on SCS of PDSCH).
RE Claim 21¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a PDSCH transmission method, as set forth in claim 5 above, wherein determining, by the network-side device, the first time further comprises:
determining the first time according to a feedback timing indication in first DCI, wherein the first DCI is DCI for scheduling the first PDSCH (See Wu [0086] - a terminal device should transmit corresponding HARQ-ACK information on a PUCCH resource within a time slot n+K.sub.1, wherein K.sub.1 is the quantity of time slots and is indicated through a PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator information field in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format).
RE Claim 22¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a PDSCH transmission method, as set forth in claim 21 above, wherein the determining the first time according to a feedback timing indication in first DCI comprises:
determining, according to the feedback timing indication in the first DCI, a time unit for feeding back the HARQ-ACK (See Wu [0086] - PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator information field in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format; Transmission timing of transmitting HARQ-ACK on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)); and
determining a target position of the time unit for feeding back the HARQ-ACK as the first time (See Wu [0086] - Transmission timing of transmitting HARQ-ACK on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH): for a time slot of PUCCH transmission).
RE Claim 23¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a PDSCH transmission method, as set forth in claim 22 above, wherein the target position comprises: an end position of a Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH) or Physical Uplink Shared CHannel (PUSCH) for transmitting the HARQ-ACK (See Wu [0252] - an end position of a third time length is determined according to an end position of a last symbol of a PUCCH resource).
RE Claim 24¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a network-side device, as set forth in claim 16 above, wherein determining, by the network-side device, the first time further comprises:
determining the first time according to a feedback timing indication in first DCI, wherein the first DCI is DCI for scheduling the first PDSCH (See Wu [0086] - a terminal device should transmit corresponding HARQ-ACK information on a PUCCH resource within a time slot n+K.sub.1, wherein K.sub.1 is the quantity of time slots and is indicated through a PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator information field in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format).
RE Claim 25¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a network-side device, as set forth in claim 24 above, wherein the determining the first time according to a feedback timing indication in first DCI comprises:
determining, according to the feedback timing indication in the first DCI, a time unit for feeding back the HARQ-ACK (See Wu [0086] - PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator information field in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) format; Transmission timing of transmitting HARQ-ACK on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)); and
determining a target position of the time unit for feeding back the HARQ-ACK as the first time (See Wu [0086] - Transmission timing of transmitting HARQ-ACK on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH): for a time slot of PUCCH transmission).
RE Claim 26¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a network-side device, as set forth in claim 25 above, wherein the target position comprises:
an end position of a Physical Uplink Control CHannel (PUCCH) or Physical Uplink Shared CHannel (PUSCH) for transmitting the HARQ-ACK (See Wu [0252] - an end position of a third time length is determined according to an end position of a last symbol of a PUCCH resource).
Claims 4, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NPL “Summary #4 of AI 8.4.3 for HARQ for NTN” (hereinafter referred to as ZTE) in view of Wu (US# 2023/0231661) and Guo et al. (US# 2024/0214126 hereinafter referred to as Guo).
RE Claim 4¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a PDSCH transmission method, as set forth in claim 2 above. ZTE, modified by Wu, does not specifically disclose wherein the determining, by the network-side device, the first time based on the content of the first information comprises:
when the first information is indicated by the DCI, determining, by the network-side device, the first time according to the predefined rule.
However, Guo teaches of wherein the determining, by the network-side device, the first time based on the content of the first information comprises:
when the first information is indicated by the DCI, determining, by the network-side device (See Guo [0076]-[0077] – DCI enabling/disabling HARQ-ACK), the first time according to the predefined rule (See Guo [0106] – predefined rules for first time).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the PDSCH transmission system, as disclosed in ZTE, modified by Wu, wherein the determining, by the network-side device, the first time based on the content of the first information comprises:
when the first information is indicated by the DCI, determining, by the network-side device, the first time according to the predefined rule, as taught in Guo. One is motivated as such in order to help reduce overhead (See Guo [0034], [0075]).
RE Claim 15¸ ZTE, modified by Wu, discloses a network-side device, as set forth in claim 13 above. ZTE, modified by Wu, does not specifically disclose wherein the determining the first time based on the content of the first information comprises:
when the first information is indicated by the DCI, determining the first time according to the predefined rule.
However, Guo teaches of wherein the determining the first time based on the content of the first information comprises:
when the first information is indicated by the DCI (See Guo [0076]-[0077] – DCI enabling/disabling HARQ-ACK), the first time according to the predefined rule (See Guo [0106] – predefined rules for first time).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the PDSCH transmission system, as disclosed in ZTE, modified by Wu, wherein the determining the first time based on the content of the first information comprises:
when the first information is indicated by the DCI, determining the first time according to the predefined rule, as taught in Guo. One is motivated as such in order to help reduce overhead (See Guo [0034], [0075]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of new grounds of rejection, necessitated by amendment (See Claims above, Wu reference).
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 Steve R Young whose telephone number is (571)270-7518. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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/STEVE R YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
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