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 .
Priority
This application is a continuation of PCT/CN2022/103657 filed on 7/4/2022.
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CHINA 202110781022.6 filed on 7/9/2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 12/23/2024 and 1/13/2025. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objections
Claims, 3, 4, 9, and 11 are objected because of the following informalities:
In claims 3, 4, and 9, it is suggested to replace “by a first node” (in line 4 of claim 3, in line 4 of claim 4, and in line 4 of claim 9) with “by the first node” for correction of a typographical error and for clarity.
In claim 11, it is suggested to replace “;” (semi-colon) in line 11 with “,” (comma) for correction of a typographical error and for clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bae et al. (WO 2020/145773 A1, hereinafter Bae).
Note that US patent family (US Publication No. 2022/0131652 A1) is used for English translation of Bae and mapping to the claim limitations.
Regarding claim 1:
Bae teaches a communication method, wherein the method comprises:
sending, by a first node (e.g., Bae: Fig. 2, First Device 100; Fig. 14, Network (BS)), a message (e.g., TB) on at least one of M first time domain resources (see, Bae: para. [0206] and para. [0211], wherein the network configures grants and schedules resources in specific time slots.; para. [0216], “a BS may configure repeated PUSCH/PDSCH transmissions in K consecutive slots for a UE”); and
receiving, by the first node, a message (e.g., TB) on at least one of N second time domain resources (see, Bae: para. [0206] and para. [0211], wherein the network configures grants and schedules resources in specific time slots.; para. [0216], “the UE may repeat a TB transmission/reception in the K consecutive slots.”),
wherein the first time domain resource is used by the first node to send a message (see, Bae: see, Bae: para. [0211], “After DL assignment is configured for SPS, the UE may consider sequentially that N-th DL assignment occurs in a slot satisfying: (numberOfSlotsPerFrame*SFN+slot number in the frame)=[(numberOfSlotsPerFrame*SFNstatt time+slotstatt time)+N*periodicity*numberOfSlotsPerFrame/10] modulo (1024* numberOfSlotsPerFrame), where SFN.sub.start time and slot.sub.start time represent an SFN and a slot, respectively, of first transmission of the PDSCH after configured DL assignment is (re-)initialized, and numberOfSlotsPerFrame and numberOfSymbolsPerSlot indicate the number of consecutive slots per frame and consecutive OFDM symbols per slot, respectively (refer to Table 2 and Table 3).”.),
wherein the second time domain resource is used by the first node to receive a message (see, Bae: para. [0206], “An actual UL grant is provided to the UE by the PDCCH (addressed to the CS-RNTI). After the UL grant is configured for configured grant Type 2, the UE may consider that the UL grant recurs in association with each symbol satisfying: [(SFN*numberOfSlotsPerFrame*numberOfSymbolsPerSlot)+(slot number in the frame*numberOfSymbolsPerSlot)+symbol number in the slot]=[(SFNstatt time*numberOfSlotsPerFrame*numberOfSymbolsPerSlot+slotstarttime*numberOfSymbolsPerSlot+symbolstarttime)+N*periodicity] modulo (1024 * numberOfSlotsPerFrame*numberOfSymbolsPerSlot), for all N>=0, where SFNstatt time, slotstart time, and symbolstarttime represent an SFN, a slot, and a symbol, respectively, of the first transmission opportunity of the PUSCH after the configured grant is (re-)initialized, and numberOfSlotsPerFrame and numberOfSymbolsPerSlot indicate the number of consecutive slots per frame and consecutive OFDM symbols per slot, respectively (refer to Table 2 and Table 3).”. Also, see para. [0216-0218], wherein structured transmission opportunities and consecutive time domain resources are disclosed.),
wherein the M first time domain resources and the N second time domain resources belong to a first transmission opportunity (see, Bae: para. [0217-0218], “in the case of a PUSCH/PDSCH transmission based on a configured grant, a resource allocation for one TB is always determined within one period of the configured grant. … When repeated transmissions are performed based on the configured grant, use of the same resource allocation in consecutive slots for the repeated transmissions is preferable in terms of sufficient reliability.”),
wherein a time domain resource in the first transmission opportunity is for message transmission on a first frequency hopping channel, (see, Bae: para. [0153]; para. [0158]; and para. [0216], When a plurality of PUSCHs/PDSCHs are transmitted in one slot, frequency hopping for changing frequency resources between PUSCH/PDSCH transmissions may be additionally considered to secure reliability through frequency diversity.”. Also, see para. [0341-0342] [0391]) and
wherein M is an integer greater than 0, N is an integer greater than 0, and M+N>2 (see, Bae: para. [0009-0016]; para. [0206]; para. [0211]; and para. [0270] disclose the communication by sending and receiving messages within specific time slots, ensuring that the time slots for sending and receiving are part of the same transmission session and using a frequency that changes over time. Multiple time domain resources such as slots are ensured for either sending or receiving.).
Regarding claim 2:
As discussed above, Bae teaches all limitations in claim 1.
Bae further teaches wherein the first transmission opportunity successively comprises the M first time domain resources and the N second time domain resources (see, Bae: para. [0153-0157] [0190-0191] [0195] [0218] [0220] [0224] [0284] disclose sending and receiving time slots happening one after another in the same transmission session and before the device starts sending messages, it first uses additional time slots for receiving message, all within the same transmission session.).
Regarding claim 3:
As discussed above, Bae teaches all limitations in claim 1.
Bae further teaches wherein the first transmission opportunity further comprises K second time domain resources, and K is an integer greater than 0; and wherein before the sending, by a first node, a message on at least one of M first time domain resources, the method further comprises: receiving, by the first node, a message on at least one of the K second time domain resources (see, Bae: para. [0153-0157] [0190-0191] [0195] [0218] [0220] [0224] [0284] disclose sending and receiving time slots happening one after another in the same transmission session and before the device starts sending messages, it first uses additional time slots for receiving message, all within the same transmission session.).
Regarding claim 4:
As discussed above, Bae teaches all limitations in claim 1.
Bae further teaches wherein M is greater than 1, and wherein the M first time domain resources are consecutive time domain resources in the first transmission opportunity; and wherein the sending, by a first node, a message on at least one of M first time domain resources comprises: sending, by the first node, messages on a plurality of first time domain resources (see, Bae: para. [0206], “… where SFNstatt time, slotstart time, and symbolstarttime represent an SFN, a slot, and a symbol, respectively, of the first transmission opportunity of the PUSCH after the configured grant is (re-)initialized, and numberOfSlotsPerFrame and numberOfSymbolsPerSlot indicate the number of consecutive slots per frame and consecutive OFDM symbols per slot …”; para. [0211] and para. [0217] discloses that the device uses more than one consecutive time slot for sending messages, sending multiple messages during this period.).
Regarding claim 5:
As discussed above, Bae teaches all limitations in claim 1.
Bae further teaches wherein N is greater than 1, and wherein the N second time domain resources are consecutive time domain resources in the first transmission opportunity; and wherein the receiving, by the first node, a message on at least one of N second time domain resources comprises: receiving, by the first node, messages on a plurality of second time domain resources (see, Bae: para. [0206], “… where SFNstatt time, slotstart time, and symbolstarttime represent an SFN, a slot, and a symbol, respectively, of the first transmission opportunity of the PUSCH after the configured grant is (re-)initialized, and numberOfSlotsPerFrame and numberOfSymbolsPerSlot indicate the number of consecutive slots per frame and consecutive OFDM symbols per slot …”; para. [0211] and para. [0217] discloses that the device uses more than one consecutive time slot for sending messages, sending multiple messages during this period.).
Regarding claim 6:
Claim 6 is directed towards the communication method of another node (e.g., Bae: Fig. 2, Second Device 200; Fig. 14, UE(s)) communicating with a node of claim 1 (e.g., Bae: Fig. 2, First Device 100; Fig. 14, Network (BS)) that is limited to perform the similar features of claim 1 from the perspective of the another node. Therefore, claim 6 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 7:
Claim 7 is directed towards the communication method of claim 6 that is further limited to similar features to claim 2 from the perspective of the first node of claim 6. Therefore, claim 7 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 8:
Claim 8 is directed towards the communication method of claim 6 that is further limited to similar features to claim 3 from the perspective of the first node of claim 6. Therefore, claim 8 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 9:
Claim 9 is directed towards the communication method of claim 6 that is further limited to similar features to claim 4 from the perspective of the first node of claim 6. Therefore, claim 9 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 10:
Claim 10 is directed towards the communication method of claim 6 that is further limited to similar features to claim 5 from the perspective of the first node of claim 6. Therefore, claim 10 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 5 above.
Regarding claim 11:
Claim 11 is directed towards a communication apparatus (see, Bae: Fig. 2, First Device 100) configured to operate as a first node on a network, wherein the communication apparatus comprises: at least one processor (see, Bae: Fig. 2, Processor(s) 102); and a non-transitory computer-readable medium (see, Bae: Fig. 2, Memory(s) 104) including computer executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, facilitate carrying out the method of claim 1 with no additional limitations. Therefore, claim 11 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 12:
Claim 12 is directed towards the communication apparatus according to claim 11 that is further limited to similar features to claim 2. Therefore, claim 12 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 13:
Claim 13 is directed towards the communication apparatus according to claim 11 that is further limited to similar features to claim 3. Therefore, claim 13 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 14:
Claim 14 is directed towards the communication apparatus according to claim 11 that is further limited to similar features to claim 4. Therefore, claim 1$ is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 15:
Claim 15 is directed towards the communication apparatus according to claim 11 that is further limited to similar features to claim 5. Therefore, claim 15 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 5 above.
Regarding claim 16:
Claim 16 is directed towards a communication apparatus (see, Bae: Fig. 2, Second Device 200) configured to operate as a first node on a network, wherein the apparatus comprises: at least one processor (see, Bae: Fig. 2, Processor(s) 202); and a non-transitory computer-readable medium (see, Bae: Fig. 2, Memory(s) 204) including computer executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, facilitate carrying out the method of claim 6 with no additional limitations. Therefore, claim 16 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 6 above.
Regarding claim 17:
Claim 17 is directed towards the communication apparatus according to claim 16 that is further limited to similar features to claim 7. Therefore, claim 17 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 7 above.
Regarding claim 18:
Claim 18 is directed towards the communication apparatus according to claim 16 that is further limited to similar features to claim 8. Therefore, claim 18 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 8 above.
Regarding claim 19:
Claim 19 is directed towards the communication apparatus according to claim 16 that is further limited to similar features to claim 9. Therefore, claim 19 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 9 above.
Regarding claim 20:
Claim 20 is directed towards the communication apparatus according to claim 16 that is further limited to similar features to claim 10. Therefore, claim 20 is rejected by applying the similar rationale used to reject claim 10 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JI-HAE YEA whose telephone number is (571) 270-3310. The examiner can normally be reached on MON-FRI, 7am-3pm, ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SUJOY K KUNDU can be reached on (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JI-HAE YEA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471