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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/11/2024 has been placed in record and considered by the examiner.
NOTICE for all US Patent Applications filed on or after March 16, 2013
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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of AIA 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 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 1-3, 6-9, 11-12, 15-16 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as anticipated by Sharp et al. (R1-2107800 “Transport block processing over multi-slot PUSCH”, of IDS, hereinafter ‘SHARP’).
Regarding claim 1, SHARP teaches a method for data transmission (
Title: Transport block processing over multi-slot PUSCH
Page 1: 1.1. time domain resource for TBoMS
ln RAN1 # 105-e meeting, the following agreement was made for time domain resource of TBoMS
Agreement:
Time domain resource determination for TBoMS can be performed only via PUSCH repetition Type A like TDRA.
Proposal 1: Repetition type A-like TDRA employs counting on the basis of available slots.
Pages 1-2, 1.2. Rate matching aspects
In RAN1#105-e meeting, the following agreements were made for rate-matching of TBoMS.
Working assumption
A transmission occasion for TBoMS (TOT) is constituted of at least one slot or multiple consecutive physical slots for UL transmission
Agreement:
• The structure of TBoMS will be according to only one of these two options (to be down-selected in RAN1#106-e)
Option 3, if a design based on single RV is adopted.
Option 4, if a design based on different RVs is adopted.
• The single RV is not constrained to have only the same coded bits in each slot or in each TOT
Agreement:
The following three options for rate-matching for TBoMS are considered for down-selection during RAN1 #106-e, where only one option will be selected:
• Option a: Rate-matching is performed per slot;
• Option b: Rate matching is performed continuously across all the allocated slot(s) per TOT;
• Option c: Rate matching is performed continuously across all the allocated slots/TOTs for TBoMS
Note: “rate-matching is performed per X” means that the time unit for the bit selection and bit interleaving is X.
Note2: the above 3 options imply that the UL resource in the time unit may or may not be consecutive (depending on the given option)), comprising:
acquiring coded bits corresponding to each of at least one code block (CB) (
Page 3:
Once the HARQ process in the MAC entity provided an instruction of uplink transmission, the PHY layer calculates a transport block size for the uplink transmission. As agreed at the last meeting, in the transport block size calculation procedure, an intermediate value Ninfo will be scaled up by K to get an appropriate effective code rate for a TBoMS. Then, a transport block with the determined size is delivered to the encoding unit from the higher layer. In the encoding unit, CRC attachment, CB segmentation and LDPC encoding are performed.
After LDPC encoding is performed on a given code block r, the output sequence d0, d1, d2, …, dN-1 is input to the circular buffer. Even when the unit X is a slot or a TOT, the circular buffer should be kept in the memory until the end of the TBoMS transmission. Otherwise, multiple LDPC encodings are required for the same code block.
In the bit-selection procedure, the size Er of the rate matching output sequence for the code block r is calculated by referring the size G of the available bits for a transmission where the size G is equal to the number of resource elements for RE for a PUSCH multiplied by the modulation order and the number of layers.);
performing bit selection on the coded bits corresponding to each of the at least one CB based on at least one bit selection parameter, to obtain transmission bits corresponding to each of the at least one CB (
Page 3:
…. a transport block with the determined size is delivered to the encoding unit from the higher layer. In the encoding unit, CRC attachment, CB segmentation and LDPC encoding are performed.
In the bit-selection procedure, the size Er of the rate matching output sequence for the code block r is calculated by referring the size G of the available bits for a transmission where the size G is equal to the number of resource elements for RE for a PUSCH multiplied by the modulation order and the number of layers…..
Proposal 3: Bit-selection should be defined as a slot or a TOT. The size G should be defined by REs available for transmission of UL-SCH in a slot or a TOT.); and
transmitting a first transport block (TB) in n time units, wherein the first TB is obtained based on the transmission bits corresponding to each of the at least one CB, and n is a positive integer (
Page 3:
…. a transport block with the determined size is delivered to the encoding unit from the higher layer. In the encoding unit, CRC attachment, CB segmentation and LDPC encoding are performed.
……
In the bit-selection procedure, the size Er of the rate matching output sequence for the code block r is calculated by referring the size G of the available bits for a transmission ….
After performing the bit-selection procedure, bit-interleaving and code block concatenation procedure is performed for the output sequence. Finally, the resulting sequence is multiplexed with UCI.
Proposal 2: UCI is multiplexed in a slot or a TOT overlapping with a PUCCH for reporting the UCI.
Page 6, 4. Repetition of TBoMS
As discussed in Section 2.2, in Rel-16 repetition framework, N uplink grants are generated by the HARQ entity for a single scheduling of repetition.......
For TBoMS, the above MAC layer concept shouldn’t be broken unless strong need be. Therefore, the unit of the encoding procedure (i.e., unit X) should correspond to an instruction of the uplink transmission in the HARQ process. Therefore, in our view, TBoMS should be viewed as repetition in unit of X. With the proposal above, we can say,
Proposal 10: TBoMS is viewed as repetition in unit of a slot or a TOT.).
Regarding claim 8, SHARP teaches a terminal device, comprising a processor and a transceiver connected to the processor (
Page 1: 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #106-e
Page 4: UE,
2nd Paragraph, UE needs to update the size G.
(Construed that 3GPP UE or terminal device comprising a processor and a transceiver connected to the processor is well known in the art)).
Further claim 8 is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1, and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 1.
Regarding claim 17, SHARP teaches a chip, comprising at least one of: a programmable logic circuit, or a program instruction; the chip executed on a terminal device to implement a method for data transmission (
Page 1: 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #106-e
Title: Transport block processing over multi-slot PUSCH
Page 4: UE,
2nd Paragraph, UE needs to update the size G.
(Construed that 3GPP UE or terminal device comprising a processor or a chip comprising at least one of: a programmable logic circuit, or a program instruction; the chip executed on a terminal device to implement a method for data transmission is well known in the art)).
Further claim 17 is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1, and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 1.
Regarding claim 2, SHARP teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining, for a second time unit of the n time units, multiplexed resources in the second time unit, and transmitting uplink control information (UCI) on the multiplexed resources in the second time unit (
Pages 1, 1.2. Rate matching aspects
In RAN1#105-e meeting, the following agreements were made for rate-matching of TBoMS.
Working assumption
A transmission occasion for TBoMS (TOT) is constituted of at least one slot or multiple consecutive physical slots for UL transmission
Page 3:
After performing the bit-selection procedure, bit-interleaving and code block concatenation procedure is performed for the output sequence. Finally, the resulting sequence is multiplexed with UCI.
Page 4:
Proposal 2: UCI is multiplexed in a slot or a TOT overlapping with a PUCCH for reporting the UCI.).
Regarding claim 3, SHARP teaches the method of claim 2, wherein after determining the multiplexed resources in the second time unit, the method further comprises:
determining resources occupied by a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in the second time unit based on resources other than the multiplexed resources in the second time unit (
Page 1: 1.1. time domain resource for TBoMS
In RAN1#105-e meeting, several agreements were made for TBoMS. We discuss structure and procedure for TBoMS.
Agreement:
Time domain resource determination for TBoMS can be performed only via PUSCH repetition Type A like TDRA.
Pages 1, 1.2. Rate matching aspects
In RAN1#105-e meeting, the following agreements were made for rate-matching of TBoMS.
Working assumption
A transmission occasion for TBoMS (TOT) is constituted of at least one slot or multiple consecutive physical slots for UL transmission
Page 4:
Proposal 2: UCI is multiplexed in a slot or a TOT overlapping with a PUCCH for reporting the UCI).
Regarding claim 6, SHARP teaches the method of claim 2, wherein transmission resources for the first TB are punched by the multiplexed resources (
Page 3:
After performing the bit-selection procedure, bit-interleaving and code block concatenation procedure is performed for the output sequence. Finally, the resulting sequence is multiplexed with UCI.
Page 4:
when the UCI mapping starts at the starting OFDM symbol in TOT#0, the UE needs to update the size G. That leads to redo of bit-selection procedure for the TBoMS. Therefore, a unit for UCI multiplexing shouldn’t include any gap for uplink transmission.
Proposal 2: UCI is multiplexed in a slot or a TOT overlapping with a PUCCH for reporting the UCI.).
Regarding claim 7, SHARP teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the n time units are determined based on a semi-static frame structure and an aggregation factor (
Page 5-6: 3. Signaling details
In RAN1#105-e meeting, the following agreement was made for signaling of TBoMS.
Agreement:
Number of slots allocated for TBoMS is determined by using a row index of a TDRA list, configured via RRC.
As agreed above, the number of slots for a TBoMS is indicated through a TDRA list where the TDRA list is configured via RRC. ….. for configured scheduling of a TBoMS, the number of slots can be indicated through a value provided by RRC.
(Construed that n number of slots are determined based on an aggregation factor indicated by an index corresponding to RRC configured TDRA list and slot or frame format since scheduling is also done by RRC indicating preconfigured or semi-static frame format known to both network and UE for determining the scheduled time domain resources).
Regarding claim 9, SHARP teaches the terminal device of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to:
perform, for a first CB in the at least one CB, bit selection on coded bits corresponding to the first CB based on the at least one bit selection parameter in the n time units in combination, to obtain transmission bits corresponding to the first CB (
Page 3:
Once the HARQ process in the MAC entity provided an instruction of uplink transmission, the PHY layer calculates a transport block size for the uplink transmission. As agreed at the last meeting, in the transport block size calculation procedure, an intermediate value Ninfo will be scaled up by K to get an appropriate effective code rate for a TBoMS. Then, a transport block with the determined size is delivered to the encoding unit from the higher layer. In the encoding unit, CRC attachment, CB segmentation and LDPC encoding are performed.
After LDPC encoding is performed on a given code block r, the output sequence d0, d1, d2, …, dN-1 is input to the circular buffer. Even when the unit X is a slot or a TOT, the circular buffer should be kept in the memory until the end of the TBoMS transmission. Otherwise, multiple LDPC encodings are required for the same code block.
In the bit-selection procedure, the size Er of the rate matching output sequence for the code block r is calculated by referring the size G of the available bits for a transmission where the size G is equal to the number of resource elements for RE for a PUSCH multiplied by the modulation order and the number of layers.
After determination of the size Er, the bit sequence of the size Er is read from the circular buffer.
After performing the bit-selection procedure, bit-interleaving and code block concatenation procedure is performed for the output sequence.).
Regarding claim 11, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 2.
Regarding claim 12, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 3.
Regarding claim 15, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 6.
Regarding claim 16, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 7.
Regarding claim 18, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 2.
Regarding claim 19, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 3.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 4-5, 13-14 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 being unpatentable over Sharp et al. (R1-2107800 “Transport block processing over multi-slot PUSCH”, of IDS, hereinafter ‘SHARP’) in view of You et al. (US 20250089054 A1 with priority of KR 10-2021-0060841, hereinafter ‘YOU’).
Regarding claim 4, SHARP teaches the method of claim 2.
SHARP does not explicitly discloses wherein determining the multiplexed resources in the second time unit comprises:
determining a number of resource elements (REs) of the multiplexed resources in the second time unit based on a number of REs occupied by data transmission in the second time unit and a first calculation factor.
In an analogous art, YOU teaches wherein determining the multiplexed resources in the second time unit (
[0004] Meanwhile, uplink control information (UCI) may be transmitted through PUSCH in some cases. …… when UCI is multiplexed and transmitted on the TBoMS PUSCH.)
comprises:
determining a number of resource elements (REs) of the multiplexed resources in the second time unit based on a number of REs occupied by data transmission in the second time unit and a first calculation factor (
[0146] Hereinafter, in the case of performing PUSCH TB mapping to multiple slots (multi-slot TB mapping) to improve coverage of the UE, a method of determining the number of UCI REs when multiplexing UCI to PUSCH and transmitting is proposed.
[0147] Hereinafter, PUSCH repetitions (TB repetitions) will be described on the assumption that PUSCH repetition type A is applied. In addition, it is assumed that the PUSCH is transmitted by applying multi-slot TB mapping, in which one PUSCH TB is mapped to a plurality of slot resources and transmitted. For convenience, this PUSCH is referred to as a TB processing over multi-slot (TBoMS) PUSCH.
[0152] In the prior art, when transmission time resources of PUSCH and PUCCH without repetition overlap in a specific slot, UCI is piggybacked on PUSCH and transmitted. However, when PUSCH TB is mapped over multiple slots, predicting PUCCH transmission in which overlap will occur during a slot resource period in which PUSCH TB is transmitted in advance and rate-matching for code blocks (CBs) transmitted through the PUSCH should be performed.
PNG
media_image1.png
200
400
media_image1.png
Greyscale
……
PNG
media_image2.png
200
400
media_image2.png
Greyscale
).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of transmitting uplink control information in a wireless communication system of YOU to the system of Transport block processing over multi-slot PUSCH of SHARP in order to take the advantage of a technique for correctly determining the number of UCI REs when multiplexing UCI to PUSCH and transmitting while improving coverage of the UE for efficient communication (YOU: [0005, 0012, 0146]).
Regarding claim 6, SHARP teaches the method of claim 2.
SHARP does not explicitly discloses wherein a timing sequence of the multiplexed resources in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) is determined by a last time unit of the n time units.
YOU teaches wherein a timing sequence of the multiplexed resources in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) is determined by a last time unit of the n time units (
[0097] In the PUCCH, Uplink Control Information (UCI), for example, ACK/NACK (Positive Acknowledgement/Negative Acknowledgement) information with respect to DL data ….. may be transmitted.
[0152] when transmission time resources of PUSCH and PUCCH without repetition overlap in a specific slot, UCI is piggybacked on PUSCH and transmitted. However, when PUSCH TB is mapped over multiple slots, predicting PUCCH transmission in which overlap will occur during a slot resource period in which PUSCH TB is transmitted in advance and rate-matching for code blocks (CBs) transmitted through the PUSCH should be performed.
Fig. 12, [0154] Referring to FIG. 12, a TB of PUSCH may be mapped through Z=4 slots and transmitted repeatedly K=2 times in total. In this case, when the UE has already started transmission on PUSCH transmission occasion #0, PUCCH transmission may be scheduled in the last slot of transmission occasion #0. In this case, the UE cannot perform PUCCH piggyback to the PUSCH.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of transmitting uplink control information in a wireless communication system of YOU to the system of Transport block processing over multi-slot PUSCH of SHARP in order to take the advantage of a technique for correctly determining the number of UCI REs when multiplexing UCI to PUSCH and transmitting while improving coverage of the UE for efficient communication (YOU: [0005, 0012, 0146]).
Regarding claim 13, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 4.
Regarding claim 14, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 5.
Regarding claim 20, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 4.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 being unpatentable over Sharp et al. (R1-2107800 “Transport block processing over multi-slot PUSCH”, of IDS, hereinafter ‘SHARP’) in view of Karmoose et al. (US 20220045789 A1, hereinafter ‘KARMOOSE’).
Regarding claim 10, SHARP teaches the terminal device of claim 9, wherein the at least one bit selection parameter comprises at least one of: a number of first resource elements (REs), a modulation order, or a length ratio (
Page 3:
….. a transport block with the determined size is delivered to the encoding unit from the higher layer. In the encoding unit, CRC attachment, CB segmentation and LDPC encoding are performed.
……
In the bit-selection procedure, the size Er of the rate matching output sequence for the code block r is calculated by referring the size G of the available bits for a transmission where the size G is equal to the number of resource elements for RE for a PUSCH multiplied by the modulation order and the number of layers.
After determination of the size Er, the bit sequence of the size Er is read from the circular buffer.
After performing the bit-selection procedure, bit-interleaving and code block concatenation procedure is performed for the output sequence
Please note, the element ‘length ratio’ is not addressed since the requirement is in alternative form.);
wherein the number of first REs is a number of all REs occupied by a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) in the n time units (
Page 3:
…. where the size G is equal to the number of resource elements for RE for a PUSCH multiplied by the modulation order and the number of layers….
Page 4:
As discussed above, all encoding procedures relate to each other. If UCI multiplexing is performed on a slot or a TOT, other procedures like bit-selection and RE mapping should be performed on a slot or a TOT.).
SHARP does not explicitly disclose the length ratio is a ratio of a number of bits before coding corresponding to the first CB to a number of bits before coding corresponding to all CBs in the first TB.
In an analogous art, KARMOOSE teaches the length ratio is a ratio of a number of bits before coding corresponding to the first CB to a number of bits before coding corresponding to all CBs in the first TB (
[0208] The RM operation 1804 may be changed according to the subject matter disclosed herein as follows. Initially, the RM operation 1804 may be provided with a set of K slots in which the coded bits are going to be allocated, and the number of coded bits available for each slot, labeled E.sub.s.sup.i for the ith slot in which i=1, . . . , K. The total number of coded bits available is G=Σ.sub.i E.sub.s.sup.i, and the ratio of each CB may be determined from G as G/P=G′. For each CB, a pointer is kept of which particular bit is to be allocated in the RM procedure. The pointers may be called s.sup.j for j=1, . . . , P. All of the pointers are initialized to the bit corresponding to the RV index. Li is denoted as the length of the encoder output for the jth CB (which should all be the same). ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of mapping a transport block across slots that have been allocated for uplink transmission in a wireless physical shared channel of KARMOOSE to the system of Transport block processing over multi-slot PUSCH of SHARP in order to take the advantage of a technique for a smart RM determination operations that allows for better decoding performance of affected CBs (KARMOOSE: [0002, 0330]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Yamamoto et al. (US 20250097908 A1), describing COMMUNICATION DEVICE, AND COMMUNICATION METHOD
Sridharan et al. (US 20220330232 A1), describing RATE MATCHING FOR MULTI-SLOT UPLINK SHARED CHANNEL TRANSMISSION
Yi et al. (US 20220303988 A1), describing COMMUNICATION DEVICE, AND COMMUNICATION METHOD
Li et al. (US 20210337428 A1), describing Transport Block Size Determining Method And Apparatus
NTT DOCOMO, INC., (R1- 2107873), describing TB processing over multi-slot PUSCH
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAH M RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8951. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30AM-5:30PM PST.
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, UN C CHO can be reached at 571-272-7919. 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.
/SHAH M RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413