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 Objection
2. Claim 12 is objected for claim language “…..wherein the k is indicated by an information filed used to ……...” Examiner suggests the applicant to amend the claims as “…..information field………”.
Claim Interpretation Under 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
3. Claim 20 invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (or herein pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) based on the following guidance.
Claim limitations “a network device” has been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because it uses a non-structural term “device” coupled with functional language “to transmit” without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the function. Furthermore, the non-structural term is not preceded by a structural modifier.
Since this claim limitation invokes 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claim 20 is interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
A review of the specification shows that the following appears to be the corresponding structure described in the specification for the 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph limitation:
a network device corresponds to 101 of fig. 1 (Para 0045). If applicant wishes to provide further explanation or dispute the examiner’s interpretation of the corresponding structure, applicant must identify the corresponding structure with reference to the specification by page and line number, and to the drawing, if any, by reference characters in response to this Office action.
If applicant does not wish to have the claim limitation treated under 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may amend the claim so that it will clearly not invoke 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, or present a sufficient showing that the claim recites sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function to preclude application of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
For more information, see Supplementary Examination Guidelines for Determining Compliance with 35 U.S.C. § 112 and for Treatment of Related Issues in Patent Applications, 76 FR 7162, 7167 (Feb. 9, 2011).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 20claimed 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.
4. Claims 1, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schober et al. (US 2021/0153185, hereinafter Schober) in view of 3GPP (“NR: Physical layer procedures for control” #GPP TS 38.213 version 15.3.0 Release 15 (2018-10), hereinafter 3GPP).
Regarding claim 1, Schober discloses an information feeding back apparatus, applicable to a terminal equipment (para 0065 and 0125; UE will process and transmit HARQ-ACK), the apparatus comprising:
a receiver configured to receive downlink control information (DCI) (para 0011; DCI) used to schedule (para 0053; 0101; UE monitors PDCCH and receives DCI scheduling PDSCH transmission in the candidate occasions) at least one physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (para 0112-0114; UE monitors for scheduled transmissions in each PDSCH occasion in multiple groups of one or more CORESET (s) where the group of one or more CORESET (s) is formed by CORESETs associated with a single TRP (e.g. by QCL));
a processor (para 0053; 0140; a processor) configured to:
determine a candidate PDSCH reception occasion set according to a slot offset between a PDSCH and a PDCCH (para 0045; 0053; 0108; A UE determine the slot occasions for candidate PDSCH reception M for PDSCHs to be ACKed in slot n as those PDSCH occasions that could have been scheduled to report HARQ feedback in slot n based on configured K1 values. K0 indicates a time offset from the end of scheduling PDCCH to the start of PDSCH in units of a slot. Separate pruning for different transmission types based on k0 value), and
determine HARQ-ACK information bits of an HARQ-ACK codebook according to the candidate PDSCH reception occasion set (para 0102; the codebook is determined such that SLIV pruning is performed only among PDSCHs candidate occasion sets associated with the same DMRS type), the HARQ-ACK codebook including HARQ-ACK information bits to which the at least one physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponds (para 0048; 0125; The code book size depends on the number of candidate occasions - a UE will feedback 1 bit per each TRP per each of 5 PDSCH occasions identified above, i.e. total feedback per slot will be 10 bits);
a transmitter configured to transmit the HARQ-ACK codebook in an uplink slot with an index being n+k, and k is the number of slots (para 0053; .A UE and a gNB determine the slot occasions for candidate PDSCH reception M for PDSCHs to be ACKed in slot n as those PDSCH occasions that could have been scheduled to report HARQ feedback in slot n based on configured K1 values. In an example in FIG. 1 for TDD, 30 kHz, and a periodicity of 5 slots, gNB configures UE with four values of K1={1,2,3,4}. Therefore, there are four slot occasions for candidate PDSCH reception. So, feedback timing follows K1 e.g., K1 = {1, 2, 3, 4} which leads to feedback in corresponding UL slots n+k1).
Schober does not explicitly disclose wherein slot n is a last uplink slot overlapped with an end slot of the at least one physical downlink shared channel.
In an analogous art, 3GPP discloses wherein slot n is a last uplink slot overlapped with an end slot of the at least one physical downlink shared channel (Section 9.2.3; for a SPS PDSCH reception ending in slot n, the UE transmits the PUCCH in slot n n+ k where k is provided by the PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field in DCI format 1_0 or, if present, in DCI format 1_1 activating the SPS PDSCH reception. If the UE detects a DCI format 1_1 that does not include a PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field and schedules a PDSCH reception or activates a SPS PDSCH reception ending in slot, the UE provides corresponding HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH transmission within slot n k n + where k is provided by higher layer parameter dl-DataToUL ACK. With reference to slots for PUCCH transmissions, if the UE detects a DCI format 1_0 or a DCI format 1_1 scheduling a PDSCH reception ending in slot n or if the UE detects a DCI format 1_0 indicating a SPS PDSCH release through a PDCCH reception ending in slot , the UE provides corresponding HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH transmission within slot n+ k , where k is a number of slots and is indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing indicator field in the DCI format, if present, or provided by higher layer parameter dl-DataToUL-ACK. If the PDSCH subcarrier spacing is equal to or larger than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing or, in case of SPS PDSCH release if the PDCCH subcarrier spacing is equal to or larger than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing, k = 0 corresponds to the slot of the PUCCH transmission that overlaps with the slot of the PDSCH reception or of the PDCCH reception in case of SPS PDSCH release. If the PDSCH subcarrier spacing is smaller than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing or, in case of SPS PDSCH release if the PDCCH subcarrier spacing is smaller than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing, k = corresponds to the slot of the PUCCH transmission that ends at a same time as the slot of the PDSCH reception or of the PDCCH reception in case of SPS PDSCH release).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober’s method/system by having 3GPP’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communication system.
Regarding claim 17, Schober discloses wherein the codebook is transmitted via a PUCCH or a PUSCH (para 0053; codebook is transmitted on PUCCH).
Regarding claim 18, Schober discloses wherein the plurality of PDSCHs in the PDSCH time domain resource allocation configurations used to schedule a plurality of PDSCHs are located in at least two consecutive slots (fig. 1; PDSCHs are scheduled in consecutive slots) or at least two nonconsecutive slots (para 0111-0113).
Regarding claim 19, Schober discloses an information receive apparatus, applicable to a network device (para 0065 and 0125; UE will process and transmit HARQ-ACK to a base station), the apparatus comprising:
a transmitter configured to transmit downlink control information (DCI) (para 0011; DCI) used to schedule (para 0053; 0101; UE monitors PDCCH and receives DCI scheduling PDSCH transmission in the candidate occasions) at least one physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to a terminal equipment (para 0112-0114; UE monitors for scheduled transmissions in each PDSCH occasion in multiple groups of one or more CORESET (s) where the group of one or more CORESET (s) is formed by CORESETs associated with a single TRP (e.g. by QCL)); and
a receiver configured to receive an HARQ-ACK codebook in an uplink slot with an index being n+k transmitted by the terminal equipment, and k is the number of slots (para 0053; A UE and a gNB determine the slot occasions for candidate PDSCH reception M for PDSCHs to be ACKed in slot n as those PDSCH occasions that could have been scheduled to report HARQ feedback in slot n based on configured K1 values. In an example in FIG. 1 for TDD, 30 kHz, and a periodicity of 5 slots, gNB configures UE with four values of K1={1,2,3,4}. Therefore, there are four slot occasions for candidate PDSCH reception. So, feedback timing follows K1 e.g., K1 = {1, 2, 3, 4} which leads to feedback in corresponding UL slots n+k1); the HARQ -ACK codebook including HARQ-ACK information bits to which the at least one physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponds (para 0048; 0125; The code book size depends on the number of candidate occasions - a UE will feedback 1 bit per each TRP per each of 5 PDSCH occasions identified above, i.e. total feedback per slot will be 10 bits), the HARQ-ACK information bits of the HARQ-ACK codebook being determined according to a candidate PDSCH reception occasion set (para 0102; the codebook is determined such that SLIV pruning is performed only among PDSCHs candidate occasion sets associated with the same DMRS type); the candidate PDSCH reception occasion set being determined according to a slot offset between a PDSCH and a PDCCH (para 0045; 0053; 0108; A UE determine the slot occasions for candidate PDSCH reception M for PDSCHs to be ACKed in slot n as those PDSCH occasions that could have been scheduled to report HARQ feedback in slot n based on configured K1 values. K0 indicates a time offset from the end of scheduling PDCCH to the start of PDSCH in units of a slot. Separate pruning for different transmission types based on k0 value).
Schober does not explicitly disclose wherein n is a last uplink slot overlapped with an end slot of the at least one physical downlink shared channel.
In an analogous art, 3GPP discloses wherein n is a last uplink slot overlapped with an end slot of the at least one physical downlink shared channel (Section 9.2.3; for a SPS PDSCH reception ending in slot n, the UE transmits the PUCCH in slot n n+ k where k is provided by the PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field in DCI format 1_0 or, if present, in DCI format 1_1 activating the SPS PDSCH reception. If the UE detects a DCI format 1_1 that does not include a PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field and schedules a PDSCH reception or activates a SPS PDSCH reception ending in slot, the UE provides corresponding HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH transmission within slot n k n + where k is provided by higher layer parameter dl-DataToUL ACK. With reference to slots for PUCCH transmissions, if the UE detects a DCI format 1_0 or a DCI format 1_1 scheduling a PDSCH reception ending in slot n or if the UE detects a DCI format 1_0 indicating a SPS PDSCH release through a PDCCH reception ending in slot , the UE provides corresponding HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH transmission within slot n+ k , where k is a number of slots and is indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing indicator field in the DCI format, if present, or provided by higher layer parameter dl-DataToUL-ACK. If the PDSCH subcarrier spacing is equal to or larger than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing or, in case of SPS PDSCH release if the PDCCH subcarrier spacing is equal to or larger than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing, k = 0 corresponds to the slot of the PUCCH transmission that overlaps with the slot of the PDSCH reception or of the PDCCH reception in case of SPS PDSCH release. If the PDSCH subcarrier spacing is smaller than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing or, in case of SPS PDSCH release if the PDCCH subcarrier spacing is smaller than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing, k = corresponds to the slot of the PUCCH transmission that ends at a same time as the slot of the PDSCH reception or of the PDCCH reception in case of SPS PDSCH release). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober’s method/system by having 3GPP’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communication system.
Regarding claim 20, A communication system (para 0053) comprising: a network device (para 0053; gNB) configured to transmit downlink control information (DCI) (para 0011; DCI) used to schedule (para 0053; 0101; UE monitors PDCCH and receives DCI scheduling PDSCH transmission in the candidate occasions) at least one physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (para 0112-0114; UE monitors for scheduled transmissions in each PDSCH occasion in multiple groups of one or more CORESET (s) where the group of one or more CORESET (s) is formed by CORESETs associated with a single TRP (e.g. by QCL)); and
a terminal (para 0053; UE) configured to:
receive the DCI (para 0011), determine a candidate PDSCH reception occasion set according to a slot offset between a PDSCH and a PDCCH (para 0045; 0053; 0108; A UE determine the slot occasions for candidate PDSCH reception M for PDSCHs to be ACKed in slot n as those PDSCH occasions that could have been scheduled to report HARQ feedback in slot n based on configured K1 values. K0 indicates a time offset from the end of scheduling PDCCH to the start of PDSCH in units of a slot. Separate pruning for different transmission types based on k0 value), determine HARQ-ACK information bits of an HARQ-ACK codebook according to the candidate PDSCH reception occasion set (para 0102; the codebook is determined such that SLIV pruning is performed only among PDSCHs candidate occasion sets associated with the same DMRS type), the HARQ-ACK codebook including HARQ-ACK information bits to which the at least one physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) corresponds (para 0048; 0125; The code book size depends on the number of candidate occasions - a UE will feedback 1 bit per each TRP per each of 5 PDSCH occasions identified above, i.e. total feedback per slot will be 10 bits), and transmit the HARQ-ACK codebook in an uplink slot with an index being n+k, and k is the number of slots (para 0053; .A UE and a gNB determine the slot occasions for candidate PDSCH reception M for PDSCHs to be ACKed in slot n as those PDSCH occasions that could have been scheduled to report HARQ feedback in slot n based on configured K1 values. In an example in FIG. 1 for TDD, 30 kHz, and a periodicity of 5 slots, gNB configures UE with four values of K1={1,2,3,4}. Therefore, there are four slot occasions for candidate PDSCH reception. So, feedback timing follows K1 e.g., K1 = {1, 2, 3, 4} which leads to feedback in corresponding UL slots n+k1).
Schober does not explicitly disclose wherein slot n is a last uplink slot overlapped with an end slot of the at least one physical downlink shared channel.
In an analogous art, 3GPP discloses wherein slot n is a last uplink slot overlapped with an end slot of the at least one physical downlink shared channel (Section 9.2.3; for a SPS PDSCH reception ending in slot n, the UE transmits the PUCCH in slot n n+ k where k is provided by the PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field in DCI format 1_0 or, if present, in DCI format 1_1 activating the SPS PDSCH reception. If the UE detects a DCI format 1_1 that does not include a PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field and schedules a PDSCH reception or activates a SPS PDSCH reception ending in slot, the UE provides corresponding HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH transmission within slot n k n + where k is provided by higher layer parameter dl-DataToUL ACK. With reference to slots for PUCCH transmissions, if the UE detects a DCI format 1_0 or a DCI format 1_1 scheduling a PDSCH reception ending in slot n or if the UE detects a DCI format 1_0 indicating a SPS PDSCH release through a PDCCH reception ending in slot , the UE provides corresponding HARQ-ACK information in a PUCCH transmission within slot n+ k , where k is a number of slots and is indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing indicator field in the DCI format, if present, or provided by higher layer parameter dl-DataToUL-ACK. If the PDSCH subcarrier spacing is equal to or larger than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing or, in case of SPS PDSCH release if the PDCCH subcarrier spacing is equal to or larger than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing, k = 0 corresponds to the slot of the PUCCH transmission that overlaps with the slot of the PDSCH reception or of the PDCCH reception in case of SPS PDSCH release. If the PDSCH subcarrier spacing is smaller than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing or, in case of SPS PDSCH release if the PDCCH subcarrier spacing is smaller than the PUCCH subcarrier spacing, k = corresponds to the slot of the PUCCH transmission that ends at a same time as the slot of the PDSCH reception or of the PDCCH reception in case of SPS PDSCH release). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober’s method/system by having 3GPP’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communication system.
5. Claims 2-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schober/3GPP in view of Lee et al. (WO 2020/204526, hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claim 2, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein a TDRA (Time Domain Resource Allocation) table applied by the DCI being used to support one DCI scheduling a plurality of PDSCHs.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein a TDRA (Time Domain Resource Allocation) table (page 59, para 01; TDRA table) applied by the DCI being used to support one DCI scheduling a plurality of PDSCHs (page 0065 & 0066, last paras; If only one HARQ-ACK bit is considered for a joint release DCI, the UE may transmit the HARQ-ACK information based on a HARQ-ACK bit location corresponding to a PDSCH occasion indicated by TDRA in corresponding activation DCI for a DL SPS resource which is selected in consideration of at least one of the following items among a plurality of DL SPS resources (based on a plurality of (respective) DL SPS configurations) released by the joint release DCI). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 3, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the TDRA table includes at least one row of PDSCH TDRA configuration for supporting one DCI scheduling a plurality of PDSCHs.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the TDRA table includes at least one row of PDSCH TDRA configuration for supporting one DCI scheduling a plurality of PDSCHs (page 39; last para; page 40; para 02; The TDRA field provides a value m for a row index m+1 to an allocation table for the PDSCH…plurality of DL SPS resources (based on a plurality of (respective) DL SPS configurations) released by the joint release DCI). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 4, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the PDSCH TDRA configuration includes at least one slot offset, start and length indicator (SLIV) and PDSCH mapping type.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the PDSCH TDRA configuration includes at least one slot offset, start and length indicator (SLIV) and PDSCH mapping type (page 40; para 02; slot offset, SLIV, PDSCH mapping type). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 5, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the TDRA table further includes or does not include a PDSCH TDRA configuration for supporting one DCI scheduling one PDSCH.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the TDRA table further includes or does not include a PDSCH TDRA (page 59; para 01-02; TDRA table includes a PDSCH configuration) configuration for supporting one DCI scheduling one PDSCH (page 07; para 02; page 39, last para; The scheduling DCI includes a frequency domain resource assignment (FDRA) field that provides assignment information on resource blocks used for PDSCH). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 6, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the TDRA table is configured by first indication information for DL BWP (per DL BWP), the first indication information corresponding to a column of a first list.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the TDRA table is configured by first indication information for DL BWP (per DL BWP) (page 59, para 01; slot offsetets associated with the DL BWP and for PDSCH reception based on the set of table row indices R provided by K0, start and length indicators SLIV, and row indexes (hereinafter, TDRA table row index) defining PDSCH mapping types, serving cell c, active DL BWP), the first indication information corresponding to a column of a first list (page 59; para 01; TDRA table has columns and rows). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 7, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the first list is used to determine the TDRA table applied by the DCI.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the first list is used to determine the TDRA table applied by the DCI (page 39; last para; the DCI carried by the PDCCH to schedule the PDSCH or PUSCH includes a time domain resource assignment (TDRA) field, and the TDRA field is a row to an allocation table for PDSCH or PUSCH). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 8, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the first indication information is included in a PDSCH configuration (PDSCH-Config).
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the first indication information is included in a PDSCH configuration (PDSCH-Config) (page 59; para 01; page 78; last para – configuration index). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 9, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the processor determines a first allocation table, wherein the first allocation table includes rows of the TDRA table.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the processor determines a first allocation table, wherein the first allocation table includes rows of the TDRA table (page 39; last para; the TDRA field is a row to an allocation table). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 10, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the first allocation table includes union of PDSCH time-domain resource allocation configuration in TDRA tables of DCI formats of PDCCH that should be monitored in a serving cell c configured for the terminal equipment.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the first allocation table includes union of PDSCH time-domain resource allocation configuration in TDRA tables of DCI formats of PDCCH that should be monitored in a serving cell c configured for the terminal equipment (page 29; last para; schedule resources for PDSCH of another serving cell; page 50; para 01). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 11, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the processor determines a candidate PDSCH reception occasion set according to the slot offset between a PDSCH and a PDCCH, which includes: when at least one row in the first allocation table includes a plurality of start and length indicators (SLIVs), determining slot timing values set according to the slot offset, and the processor determines the candidate PDSCH reception occasion set according to the slot timing values set.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the processor determines a candidate PDSCH reception occasion set according to the slot offset between a PDSCH and a PDCCH (page 40, para 02; slot offset), which includes: when at least one row in the first allocation table includes a plurality of start and length indicators (SLIVs) (page 40, para 02; page 59, para 01; SLIVs), determining slot timing values set according to the slot offset (page 40, para 02; and page 44; last para; slot offsets are used to determine slot timings), and the processor determines the candidate PDSCH reception occasion set according to the slot timing values set (page 59; para 02; page 67; para 03 and page 68, para 01 – candidate PDSCH). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Regarding claim 12, Schober/3GPP does not explicitly disclose wherein the k is indicated by an information filed used to indicate HARQ-ACK information feedback timing in the DCI and/or second configuration information configured by higher-layer signaling.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein the k is indicated by an information filed used to indicate HARQ-ACK information feedback timing in the DCI and/or second configuration information configured by higher-layer signaling (page 27; para 01; page 37; para 02; configuration information form higher layer signaling e,g. RRC signaling). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Schober/3GPP’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to reduce latency and improve reliability of a communication system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-16 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 and addressing all the objections stated above.
Regarding claim 13, none of the prior art of record disclose or render obvious the claimed limitations including “wherein the candidate PDSCH reception occasion set includes a second number (A) of candidate PDSCH reception occasions, the HARQ-ACK codebook includes HARQ-ACK information bits to which the second number (A) of candidate PDSCH reception occasions correspond, the second number being a natural number, wherein the second number (A) of candidate PDSCH reception occasions correspond to a same serving cell” when considered as a whole along with other claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 14, none of the prior art of record disclose or render obvious the claimed limitations including “wherein the number of HARQ-ACK information bits to which candidate PDSCH reception occasions correspond of a serving cell is related to a HARQ spatial bundling parameter(harq-ACK-SpatialBundlingPUCCHI) configured for the cell, a coding block group (CBG) configuration parameter (PDSCH-CodeBlockGroupTransmission) and a supported maximum codeword parameter (maxNrofCodeWordsScheduledByDCI)” when considered as a whole along with other claimed limitations.
Claims 15-16 have been objected because of their dependency on claim 13.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMINA CHOUDHRY whose telephone number is (571)270-7102. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday (7:30 a.m. to 5.00p.m.).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached on (571)272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAMINA F CHOUDHRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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