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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/28/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 are pending.
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, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Matsumura et al. (US 2020/0288456 A1) hereinafter “Matsumura”.
Regarding claim 1:
Matsumura discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) (e.g., Fig. 9, 20), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station (e.g., Fig. 9, 12), remaining minimum system information (RMSI) including information (e.g., [0043], [0068], parameters notified from the NW to the UE, broadcast information) indicating a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource set, the PUCCH resource set having an associated PUCCH format, a first symbol, a number of symbols, and a se of Cyclic Shift (CS) indices (UCI length and CS candidate set, e.g., see [0115], Fig. 7A and 7B, symbol indices and symbol duration, see [0132], Fig. 8A and 8B);
receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) using at least one control channel element (CCE) ([e.g., [0067], CCE index of a PDCCH, [0153], DCI is conveyed on PDCCH); and
determining a physical resource block (PRB) index based on a number of the CS indices and an index of a first CCE of the at least one CCE (e.g., [0067], determining an actual PRB index using parameters including a CS candidate set index (a CS candidate set index corresponds to a number of CS indices, see Fig. 6, each set includes 4 CS indices) and a CCE index of a PDCCH (a CCE index b can be construed as being “a first CCE of at least one CCE” by the broadest reasonable interpretation)).
Regarding claim 2:
Matsumura further discloses wherein the receiving the RMSI is performed before the UE is configured with a dedicated PUCCH resource (e.g., [0043], [0065], [0068], [0152], UE is not configured with dedicated PUCCH resource before receiving parameters from the network in system information to determine a PUCCH resource).
Regarding claims 4-5:
Claims 4-5 are directed to a method performed by a base station including features similar to the features recited by claims 1-2. The same reference and rationales set forth with respect to claims 1-2 also apply.
Regarding claim 7:
Matsumura discloses a user equipment (UE) comprising: at least one memory (e.g., Fig. 14, 1002 and 1003) storing instructions; and at least one processor (Fig. 14, 1001) configured to process the instructions to: receive, from a base station, remaining minimum system information (RMSI) including first information indicating a Physical Uplink Control Chanel (PUCCH) resource set, the PUCCH resource set having an associated PUCCH format, a first symbol, a number of symbols, and a set of Cyclic Shift (CS) indices; receive, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) using at least one control channel element (CCE); and determine a physical resource block (PRB) index based on a number of the CS indices and an index of a first CCE of the at least one CCE. (See rejection for similar features in rejection of claim 1.)
Regarding claim 8:
Matsumura discloses a base station comprising: at least one memory (e.g., Fig. 14, 1002 and 1003) storing instructions; and at least one processor (Fig. 14, 1001) configured to process the instructions to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), remaining minimum system information (RMSI) including first information indicating a Physical Uplink Control Chanel (PUCCH) resource set, the PUCCH resource set having an associated PUCCH format, a first symbol, a number of symbols, and a set of Cyclic Shift (CS) indices; transmit, to the UE, in downlink control information (DCI) using at least one control channel element (CCE), wherein a number of the CS indices and an index of a first CCE of the at least one CCE is used by the UE to determine a physical resource block (PRB) index. (See rejection for similar features in rejection of claim 4.)
Response to Arguments
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 over Hooli and Matsumura
Applicant’s arguments filed on 05/08/2026 with respect to independent claims 1, 4, 7, and 8 as amended have been considered but are moot in view of a new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
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/BO HUI A ZHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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