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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 5 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. The claim limitation “the second time length is equal to a non-positive integer in ms” is not supported in the specification. The specification states “[0341] In Embodiment 9, the first time length in the present application is equal to a positive integer in millisecond(s) (ms), while the second time length in the present application is equal to a non-positive integer in ms.
[0342] In one embodiment, the second time length is equal to 1/30s.
[0343] In one embodiment, the second time length is equal to 1/60s.
[0344] In one embodiment, the second time length is equal to 1/120s.
[0345] In one embodiment, the second time length is equal to 0.9765625 ms.
[0346] In one embodiment, the positive integer in millisecond(s) (ms) is a positive integral multiple of 1 ms. “ However the values provided in the specification are all positive numbers. Therefore the subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 7-9, 14-15, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pedersen (Pub No 20240205891)
Regarding claim 1 and 8 and 14,
Pedersen teaches a first node for wireless communications, characterized in comprising:
a first transceiver, receiving first information, or, transmitting first information; and (interpreted as cause the apparatus at least to transmit, to a user equipment, a semi-persistent scheduling configuration including an indication of at least a number of transport blocks per semi-persistent scheduling cycle. The number of transport blocks may be more than one, see para [0003])
a first receiver, receiving a first signaling, and performing reception of a target downlink assignment in each time unit in a second time unit set; (interpreted as activate the configured downlink assignment, see para [0043])
wherein the first signaling is used for activating a first semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), and the target downlink assignment corresponding to each time unit in the second time unit set is a downlink assignment for the first SPS; (interpreted as a periodicity of any integer of a slot (N*14), where the minimum periodicity in may be, e.g., 10 ms: 4) separate configuration (RRC-based) and activation or deactivation (e.g., PDCCH addressed to a configured scheduling radio network temporary identifier (CS-RNTI) can either signal and activate the configured downlink assignment, see para [0043]. Also see the time-offsets may be indicated in the SPS-Config IE, e.g., as a sequence of integer[x, y, z, . . . ] where x may indicate the offset between the first and second TB (in symbols, slots, or any other predefined or configurable resolution), see para [0057])
the first signaling is used to determine at least one of a first time unit set or the second time unit set, the first time unit set consisting of multiple time units sequentially arranged in time domain; (interpreted as N may represent the total number of TBs in each SPS burst (e.g., 3 in the examples in FIGS. 2 and 3), and TB_n may represent the actual TB of the burst (e.g., increasing sequentially from 1 to N for each burst), see para [0058])
a time interval between start times of any two adjacent time units in the first time unit set is equal to the first time length, the first time length being no smaller than a duration of one slot; (interpreted as In some embodiments, the configuration may further include an indication that the non-contiguous resources may be separated by different time offsets or constant time offsets, see para [0073])
the second time unit set is a proper subset of the first time unit set; the first information is used to determine which time units in the first time unit set belong to the second time unit set. (interpreted as The identifiers may be determined based on the number of TBs, a slot index of a first TB in a current SPS cycle, a TB of a SPS cycle, and/or one or more other parameters, as described elsewhere herein, see para [0048])
Regarding claim 2 and 9 and 15,
Pedersen teaches the first node according to claim 1, characterized in that there are three time units in the second time unit set: the three time units are adjacent in the second time unit set, and, a time interval between start times of the first two time units among the three time units is unequal to a time interval between start times of the last two time units among the three time units. (interpreted as In a variant, the configuration may further include an indication that the transport blocks include non-contiguous resources in a time domain. In a variant, the configuration may further include an indication that the non-contiguous resources are separated by different time offsets or constant time offsets, see para [0006])
Regarding claim 7 and 20,
Pedersen teaches the first node according to claim 1, characterized in that a given time unit is one time unit in the second time unit set, and at least one of {a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) used, a number of frequency-domain resources occupied, a number of time-domain resources occupied} by the target downlink assignment corresponding to the given time unit is related to a time-domain position of the given time unit. (interpreted as Some joint DCI-RRC signaling may also be possible, where, e.g., 2 bits in the DCI may be used to dynamically indicate one of multiple possible combinations of time-offsets and/or number of TBs. Regarding other parameters of the TB, such as time-domain duration, frequency-domain resources, modulation and carrier scheme (MCS), etc., these parameters may be the same for each of the TBs in the SPS burst. For example, the parameters may be based on information is indicated in the DCI (re-)activating the SPS configuration, see para [0057])
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.
Claim(s) 3-5, 10-12, 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pedersen (Pub No 20240205891) further in view of Chien (Pub No 20230112147).
Regarding claim 3 and 10 and 16,
Pedersen teaches the first node according to claim 1, however does not teach characterized in that the first information is used for configuring a first bitmap, the first bitmap comprising multiple bits, the first bitmap being used to determine the second time unit set from the first time unit set.
Chien teaches characterized in that the first information is used for configuring a first bitmap, the first bitmap comprising multiple bits, the first bitmap being used to determine the second time unit set from the first time unit set. (interpreted as gNB 20 may use a bitmap to indicate the actual SPS PDSCH transmission locations within the pre-determined period of time, such as a slot or sub-slot, using semi-static or UE-specific RRC configuration, see para [0186]. the UE 10 determines to select the one or more SPS PDSCHs which are actually transmitted on the plurality of periodic SPS PDSCH resources based on an SPS PDSCH location indication in an RRC configuration or DCI indication, see para [0058])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the SPS PDSCH as taught by Pederson with the selecting of the SPS PDSCH as taught by Chien with the motivation being to assign different resources to different users.
Regarding claim 4 and 11 and 17,
Pedersen teaches The first node according to claim 1, however does not teach characterized in that the first information is used for indicating a second time length, the second time length being different from the first time length; the second time length is used to determine at least a latter one of the first time length and the second time unit set.
Chien teaches characterized in that the first information is used for indicating a second time length, the second time length being different from the first time length; the second time length is used to determine at least a latter one of the first time length and the second time unit set. (interpreted as gNB 20 may use a bitmap to indicate the actual SPS PDSCH transmission locations within the pre-determined period of time, such as a slot or sub-slot, using semi-static or UE-specific RRC configuration, see para [0186]. the UE 10 determines to select the one or more SPS PDSCHs which are actually transmitted on the plurality of periodic SPS PDSCH resources based on an SPS PDSCH location indication in an RRC configuration or DCI indication, see para [0058])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the SPS PDSCH as taught by Pederson with the selecting of the SPS PDSCH as taught by Chien with the motivation being to assign different resources to different users.
Regarding claim 5 and 12 and 18,
Pedersen teaches the first node according to claim 4, characterized in that the first time length is equal to a positive integer in millisecond(s) (ms), while the second time length is equal to a non-positive integer in ms. (interpreted as 3) a periodicity of any integer of a slot (N*14), where the minimum periodicity in may be, e.g., 10 ms, see para [0043])
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6 and 13 and 19 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.
Regarding claim 6 and 13 and 19,
Pedersen teaches the first node according to claim 1, characterized in that the first signaling is used to determine an index of a first starting time unit; an index of a time unit in the first time unit set is equal to a result yielded by a sum of the index of the first starting time unit and a first value modulo a second value, where the first value is related to the first time length, and the second value is linear with a number of consecutive slots per frame.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAO G NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7732. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10pm - 6:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached at 571-272-3155. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BAO G NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2461
/HUY D VU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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