DETAILED ACTION
Status of Case
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) amendment filed on 6/4/2026.
Claims 1-9 and 11-22 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 6/4/2026 with respect to the pending claims have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) filed on 2/4/2026 and 3/24/2026 have been considered by Examiner.
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.
Claims 1-5, 10-11, 18-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tiirola (USPAN 2023/0007626) in view of Si (EP 3787214A1) and Baker (WO 2023/274491 A1).
Consider claims 1, 19, and 21, Tiirola discloses an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform (see figures 11a and 11b, wherein disclosed is said apparatus comprising a processor and memory), and a corresponding method (see figure 8, reproduced below for convenience, wherein disclosed is said method), and a corresponding non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor (see paragraphs 72-73: computer-readable medium):
determining a control resource set zero configuration table to be applicable based on a synchronization raster of a narrowband new radio where a synchronization signal block has been detected (see paragraphs 24 and 27: a narrowband NR system is disclosed, where puncturing of the PBC channel is needed; see paragraph 33: where a configuration table of the punctured and non-punctured resources is configured; see paragraphs 37-38: where the determination of the actual BW and subsequently the part of the table to be applicable is based on the synch raster points and offsets from the band edges);
receiving and demodulating a physical broadcast channel according to a puncturing assumption (see paragraphs 35-39: where initial puncturing hypothesis/assumptions are used in order to receive the PBCH);
determining information related to at least one of information of punctured or non-punctured resource blocks, or interleaving information (see paragraph 33, wherein disclosed is said determining); and
using the determined information to determine the control resource set zero for the narrowband new radio (see paragraphs 35-38, wherein disclosed is using said determined information).
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Tiirola does not specifically disclose obtaining, from a master information block indicated in the received physical broadcast channel, a row index pointing into the control resource set zero configuration table.
Si discloses obtaining, from a master information block indicated in the received physical broadcast channel, a row index pointing into the control resource set zero configuration table (see Table 1 and paragraph 117: “For one sub-example, an example configuration table in MIB [master information block] for both SCS of SS/PBCH block and CORESET #0 as 30 kHz is TABLE 1 with row index 0 and 2 only, for SS/PBCH block located on the synchronization raster (or within a range from the synchronization raster entry)”).
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 invention of Tiirola and combine it with the noted teachings of Si. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for RMSI reception from neighboring cells (see paragraph 1 of Si).
Tiirola does not specifically disclose interleaving information.
Baker discloses interleaving information (see paragraph 48: “the 5 subsets of frequency positions may be interleaved”), and Baker also discloses a synchronization raster point of a narrowband new radio where a synchronization signal block has been detected (see paragraph 48: Fig. 6 shows another example where different frequency locations on the new synchronization raster indicate different modifications to the system information. Referring to Fig. 6, the new synchronization raster may include 5 subsets of frequency positions, i.e. a first subset represented by dotted lines, a second subset represented by dashed lines, a third subset represented by thick solid lines, a fourth subset represented by thin solid lines, and a fifth subset represented by dot-dashed lines), and Baker also discloses determining information related to information of punctured or non-punctured resource blocks (see paragraph 48: “For example, if the SS centre frequency is located at a frequency position in the first subset, puncturing may be applied symmetrically at both edges; if the SS centre frequency is located at a frequency position in the second subset, puncturing may be applied at the lower edge; if the SS centre frequency is located at a frequency position in the third subset, puncturing may be applied at the upper edges; if the SS centre frequency is located at a frequency position in the fourth subset, puncturing may be applied 25% at the lower edge and 75% at the upper edge; if the SS centre frequency is located at a frequency position in the fifth subset, puncturing may be applied 75% at the lower edge and 25% at the upper edge. The 5 subsets of frequency positions may also, or alternatively, correspond to different modifications to number of punctured subcarrier(s), payload size, payload content, channel coding, and/or resource mapping of the system information.”).
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 invention of Tiirola and combine it with the noted teachings of Baker. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method of supporting narrowband system information modification indications based on synchronization raster positions (see paragraph 1 of Baker).
Consider claim 2, Tiirola discloses that the narrowband new radio is on a sub-5 MHz bandwidth (see paragraph 25: operation of 5G NR in the 5 MHz channel for which it was originally designed).
Consider claim 3, Tiirola discloses that the information of punctured resource blocks comprises a puncturing pattern defined by whether resource blocks are punctured from one or two ends of a frequency band, or a number of resource blocks to be punctured (see paragraph 25: ).
Consider claim 4, Tiirola discloses that the information of non-punctured resource blocks is indicated via a number of transmitted resource blocks counted from a lowest resource block or a highest resource block of the control resource set zero (see paragraphs 33 and 36-39 and figures 6-8, wherein disclosed is said information of non-punctured resource blocks).
Consider claim 5, Tiirola discloses that the interleaving information indicates interleaved or non-interleaved control channel elements or resource element groups (the “interleaving information” was not one of the choices relied upon).
Consider claim 10, Tiirola discloses demodulating the physical broadcast channel according to the puncturing assumption (see paragraphs 36-39, wherein disclosed is said demodulating).
Consider claim 11, Tiirola discloses performing a physical downlink control channel blind detection on the determined control resource set zero (see paragraphs 36-39, wherein disclosed is said performing).
Consider claims 18, 20, and 22, Tiirola discloses an apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform (see figures 11a and 11b, wherein disclosed is said apparatus comprising a processor and memory), and a corresponding method (see figure 8, reproduced below for convenience, wherein disclosed is said method), and a corresponding non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor (see paragraphs 72-73: computer-readable medium):
transmitting a synchronization signal block on a synchronization raster of a narrowband new radio detected (see paragraphs 24 and 27: a narrowband NR system is disclosed, where puncturing of the PBC channel is needed; see paragraph 33: where a configuration table of the punctured and non-punctured resources is configured; see paragraphs 37-38: where the determination of the actual BW and subsequently the part of the table to be applicable is based on the synch raster points and offsets from the band edges); and
transmitting a physical broadcast channel according to a puncturing assumption (see paragraphs 35-39: where initial puncturing hypothesis/assumptions are used in order to receive the PBCH), and determining at least one of information of punctured or non-punctured resource blocks, or interleaving information (see paragraph 33, wherein disclosed is said determining).
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Tiirola does not specifically disclose obtaining, from a master information block indicated in the received physical broadcast channel, a row index pointing into the control resource set zero configuration table.
Si discloses obtaining, from a master information block indicated in the received physical broadcast channel, a row index pointing into the control resource set zero configuration table (see Table 1 and paragraph 117: “For one sub-example, an example configuration table in MIB [master information block] for both SCS of SS/PBCH block and CORESET #0 as 30 kHz is TABLE 1 with row index 0 and 2 only, for SS/PBCH block located on the synchronization raster (or within a range from the synchronization raster entry)”).
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 invention of Tiirola and combine it with the noted teachings of Si. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for RMSI reception from neighboring cells (see paragraph 1 of Si).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9 and 12-17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jamal Javaid whose telephone number is 571-270-5137 and email address is Jamal.Javaid@uspto.gov.
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, Charles Jiang, can be reached on 571-270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMAL JAVAID/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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