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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicants' communication filed on 2/2/2024. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-20 are currently presented in the instant application.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, 9-13,18-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 20220182899 (hereinafter referred to as Li) in view of US Patent Application Publication 20240348381 (hereinafter referred to as Liu).
Consider claim 1, Li discloses a feedback method, comprising:
in a case that a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) cell group corresponding to a terminal comprises M PUCCH cells available for transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), and M is an integer greater than 1, performing, by the terminal, a first operation (see at least ¶ [0050], “…a target uplink serving cell in a plurality of uplink serving cells respectively configured with PUCCH resources…” and see at least ¶ [0051], “…Send a PUCCH on the target uplink serving cell…” and further see at least ¶ [0064], “…the plurality of uplink serving cells respectively configured with the PUCCH resources may be allocated to different PUCCH groups. In this way, dynamic switching between uplink serving cells sending a PUCCH (that is, uplink serving cells on which PUCCHs are located) may be implemented between different PUCCH groups…”); and
sending, by the terminal, a first HARQ-ACK based on the first operation (see at least ¶ [0051], “…Send a PUCCH on the target uplink serving cell…” and see at least ¶ [0076], “…the first HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a first HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the first PUCCH group…” and see at least ¶ [0081], “…the UE feeds back a corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback on the PCell…”), wherein the first operation comprises at least one of the following:
determining a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH cells;
determining valid PUCCH cell(s) corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK among the M PUCCH cells (see at least ¶ [0076], “…the first HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a first HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the first PUCCH group, and the second HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a second HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the second PUCCH group…”); or
determining target PUCCH cell(s) corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK among the M PUCCH cells (see at least ¶ [0052], “…a UE may effectively send a PUCCH in time on the target uplink serving cell…” and see at least ¶ [0058], “…the UE may determine, … a target serving cell that can effectively send a PUCCH in time in a plurality of uplink serving cells respectively configured with PUCCH resources. …the UE may perform, according to switching indication signaling from the network device, dynamic switching between different uplink serving cells configured with PUCCH resources to determine a target serving cell…” and see at least ¶ [0074], “…each of downlink serving cells corresponding to different PUCCH groups is sent on the target uplink serving cell, where the UCI may include hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback information…” and further see at least ¶ [0081], “…the UE feeds back a corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback on the PCell. If a HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH scheduled on the CC 16 to CC 31/PDCCH for releasing the SPS PDSCH received by the UE before the PDCCH indicating switching is fed back after the scheduled PDCCH of the switching indication signaling, and a time interval is less than X OFDM symbols/slots, the UE may not send the HARQ-ACK…”).
Li disclose all the subject matters of the claimed invention concept. However, Li does not particularly disclose a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH. In an analogous field of endeavor, attention is directed to Liu, which teaches a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH (see Liu, at least ¶ [0197], “…a valid second PUCCH resource is determined, and the above HARQ-ACK is sent through the second PUCCH resource. A slot where the second PUCCH resource is located is a slot after the initial slot…” and see at least ¶ [0251], “…a time-domain resource allocation (TDRA) table based on a protocol agreement, and … determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value; or acquiring a slot offset value corresponding to the first PUCCH resource based on a protocol agreement, and determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value.…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious a finding that one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have combined the elements as claimed by the know method, and that in combination. Each element merely performs the same function as it does separately; Li disclosed invention, and have a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH, as taught by Liu, thereby, to provide a method for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback is provided, as discussed by Liu, (see at least ¶ [0005]).
Consider claim 10, Li discloses a feedback method, comprising:
in a case that a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) cell group corresponding to a terminal comprises M PUCCH cells available for transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), and M is an integer greater than 1, performing, by a network side device, a first operation (see at least ¶ [0050], “…a target uplink serving cell in a plurality of uplink serving cells respectively configured with PUCCH resources…” and see at least ¶ [0051], “…Send a PUCCH on the target uplink serving cell…” and further see at least ¶ [0064], “…the plurality of uplink serving cells respectively configured with the PUCCH resources may be allocated to different PUCCH groups. In this way, dynamic switching between uplink serving cells sending a PUCCH (that is, uplink serving cells on which PUCCHs are located) may be implemented between different PUCCH groups…”); and
receiving, by the network side device, a first HARQ-ACK based on the first operation (see at least ¶ [0051], “…Send a PUCCH on the target uplink serving cell…” and see at least ¶ [0076], “…the first HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a first HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the first PUCCH group…” and see at least ¶ [0081], “…the UE feeds back a corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback on the PCell…”), wherein the first operation comprises at least one of the following:
determining a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH cells;
determining valid PUCCH cell(s) corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK among the M PUCCH cells (see at least ¶ [0076], “…the first HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a first HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the first PUCCH group, and the second HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a second HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the second PUCCH group…”); or
determining target PUCCH cell(s) corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK among the M PUCCH cells (see at least ¶ [0052], “…a UE may effectively send a PUCCH in time on the target uplink serving cell…” and see at least ¶ [0058], “…the UE may determine, … a target serving cell that can effectively send a PUCCH in time in a plurality of uplink serving cells respectively configured with PUCCH resources. …the UE may perform, according to switching indication signaling from the network device, dynamic switching between different uplink serving cells configured with PUCCH resources to determine a target serving cell…” and see at least ¶ [0074], “…each of downlink serving cells corresponding to different PUCCH groups is sent on the target uplink serving cell, where the UCI may include hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback information…” and further see at least ¶ [0081], “…the UE feeds back a corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback on the PCell. If a HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH scheduled on the CC 16 to CC 31/PDCCH for releasing the SPS PDSCH received by the UE before the PDCCH indicating switching is fed back after the scheduled PDCCH of the switching indication signaling, and a time interval is less than X OFDM symbols/slots, the UE may not send the HARQ-ACK…”).
Li disclose all the subject matters of the claimed invention concept. However, Li does not particularly disclose a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH. In an analogous field of endeavor, attention is directed to Liu, which teaches a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH (see Liu, at least ¶ [0197], “…a valid second PUCCH resource is determined, and the above HARQ-ACK is sent through the second PUCCH resource. A slot where the second PUCCH resource is located is a slot after the initial slot…” and see at least ¶ [0251], “…a time-domain resource allocation (TDRA) table based on a protocol agreement, and … determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value; or acquiring a slot offset value corresponding to the first PUCCH resource based on a protocol agreement, and determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value.…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious a finding that one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have combined the elements as claimed by the know method, and that in combination. Each element merely performs the same function as it does separately; Li disclosed invention, and have a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH, as taught by Liu, thereby, to provide a method for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback is provided, as discussed by Liu, (see at least ¶ [0005]).
Consider claim 19, Li discloses a terminal (see at least ¶ [0237], Fig. 11, “…UE 500…”), comprising a processor (see at least ¶ [0237], “…processor 501…”), a memory (see at least ¶ [0237], “…memory 502…”), and a program or an instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor (see at least ¶ [0242], “…the UE 500 further includes a computer program stored in the memory 502 and executable by the processor 501, where the computer program, when executed by the processor 501…”), wherein when the program or the instruction is executed by the processor, following steps are implemented:
in a case that a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) cell group corresponding to a terminal comprises M PUCCH cells available for transmitting a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK), and M is an integer greater than 1, performing a first operation (see at least ¶ [0050], “…a target uplink serving cell in a plurality of uplink serving cells respectively configured with PUCCH resources…” and see at least ¶ [0051], “…Send a PUCCH on the target uplink serving cell…” and further see at least ¶ [0064], “…the plurality of uplink serving cells respectively configured with the PUCCH resources may be allocated to different PUCCH groups. In this way, dynamic switching between uplink serving cells sending a PUCCH (that is, uplink serving cells on which PUCCHs are located) may be implemented between different PUCCH groups…”); and
sending a first HARQ-ACK based on the first operation (see at least ¶ [0051], “…Send a PUCCH on the target uplink serving cell…” and see at least ¶ [0076], “…the first HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a first HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the first PUCCH group…” and see at least ¶ [0081], “…the UE feeds back a corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback on the PCell…”), wherein the first operation comprises at least one of the following:
determining a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH cells;
determining valid PUCCH cell(s) corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK among the M PUCCH cells (see at least ¶ [0076], “…the first HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a first HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the first PUCCH group, and the second HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a second HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the second PUCCH group…”); or
determining target PUCCH cell(s) corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK among the M PUCCH cells (see at least ¶ [0052], “…a UE may effectively send a PUCCH in time on the target uplink serving cell…” and see at least ¶ [0058], “…the UE may determine, … a target serving cell that can effectively send a PUCCH in time in a plurality of uplink serving cells respectively configured with PUCCH resources. …the UE may perform, according to switching indication signaling from the network device, dynamic switching between different uplink serving cells configured with PUCCH resources to determine a target serving cell…” and see at least ¶ [0074], “…each of downlink serving cells corresponding to different PUCCH groups is sent on the target uplink serving cell, where the UCI may include hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback information…” and further see at least ¶ [0081], “…the UE feeds back a corresponding HARQ-ACK feedback on the PCell. If a HARQ-ACK feedback of the PDSCH scheduled on the CC 16 to CC 31/PDCCH for releasing the SPS PDSCH received by the UE before the PDCCH indicating switching is fed back after the scheduled PDCCH of the switching indication signaling, and a time interval is less than X OFDM symbols/slots, the UE may not send the HARQ-ACK…”).
Li disclose all the subject matters of the claimed invention concept. However, Li does not particularly disclose a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH. In an analogous field of endeavor, attention is directed to Liu, which teaches a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH (see Liu, at least ¶ [0197], “…a valid second PUCCH resource is determined, and the above HARQ-ACK is sent through the second PUCCH resource. A slot where the second PUCCH resource is located is a slot after the initial slot…” and see at least ¶ [0251], “…a time-domain resource allocation (TDRA) table based on a protocol agreement, and … determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value; or acquiring a slot offset value corresponding to the first PUCCH resource based on a protocol agreement, and determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value.…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious a finding that one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have combined the elements as claimed by the know method, and that in combination. Each element merely performs the same function as it does separately; Li disclosed invention, and have a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH, as taught by Liu, thereby, to provide a method for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback is provided, as discussed by Liu, (see at least ¶ [0005]).
Consider claim 2, 11 (depends on at least claims 1, 10), Li in view of Liu discloses the limitations of claims 1, 10 as applied to claim rejection 1, 10 above and further discloses:
Li disclose all the subject matters of the claimed invention concept. However, Li does not particularly disclose wherein in a case that the first object corresponding to the first time domain feedback offset set is configured uniformly for the M PUCCH cells, the first object corresponding to the first time domain feedback offset set is determined based on a reference object, and the reference object is a reference numerology or a reference SCS. In an analogous field of endeavor, attention is directed to Liu, which teaches wherein in a case that the first object corresponding to the first time domain feedback offset set is configured uniformly for the M PUCCH cells, the first object corresponding to the first time domain feedback offset set is determined based on a reference object, and the reference object is a reference numerology or a reference SCS (see Liu, at least ¶ [0085], “…a time-domain resource allocation (TDRA) table is expanded based on a protocol agreement, and a corresponding slot offset value is acquired from the TDRA table, and the slot offset value is determined as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value …” and see at least ¶ [0197], “…a valid second PUCCH resource is determined, and the above HARQ-ACK is sent through the second PUCCH resource. A slot where the second PUCCH resource is located is a slot after the initial slot and no later than the last delay feedback slot…”); and
a first object corresponding to the first time domain feedback offset set is configured uniformly or separately for the M PUCCH cells, wherein the first object is a numerology or a subcarrier spacing (SCS) (see Liu, at least ¶ [0251], “…a corresponding slot offset value from the TDRA table, and determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value; or acquiring a slot offset value corresponding to the first PUCCH resource based on a protocol agreement, and determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value.…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious a finding that one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have combined the elements as claimed by the know method, and that in combination. Each element merely performs the same function as it does separately; Li disclosed invention, and have wherein the time domain feedback offset sets corresponding to the M PUCCH cells are uniformly configured as a first time domain feedback offset set; and a first object corresponding to the first time domain feedback offset set is configured uniformly or separately for the M PUCCH cells, wherein the first object is a numerology or a subcarrier spacing (SCS), as taught by Liu, thereby, to provide a method for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback is provided, as discussed by Liu, (see at least ¶ [0005]).
Consider claim 3, 12 (depends on at least claims 1, 11), Li in view of Liu discloses the limitations of claims 1, 11 as applied to claim rejection 1, 11 above and further discloses:
Li disclose all the subject matters of the claimed invention concept. However, Li does not particularly disclose a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH. In an analogous field of endeavor, attention is directed to Liu, which teaches a time domain feedback offset set corresponding to each of the M PUCCH (see Liu, at least ¶ [0197], “…a valid second PUCCH resource is determined, and the above HARQ-ACK is sent through the second PUCCH resource. A slot where the second PUCCH resource is located is a slot after the initial slot…” and see at least ¶ [0251], “…a time-domain resource allocation (TDRA) table based on a protocol agreement, and … determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value; or acquiring a slot offset value corresponding to the first PUCCH resource based on a protocol agreement, and determining the slot offset value as the maximum delay feedback slot offset value.…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious a finding that one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have combined the elements as claimed by the know method, and that in combination. Each element merely performs the same function as it does separately; Li disclosed invention, and have wherein in a case that the first object corresponding to the first time domain feedback offset set is configured uniformly for the M PUCCH cells, the first object corresponding to the first time domain feedback offset set is determined based on a reference object, and the reference object is a reference numerology or a reference SCS, as taught by Liu, thereby, to provide a method for hybrid automatic repeat request feedback is provided, as discussed by Liu, (see at least ¶ [0005]).
Consider claim 4, 13 (depends on at least claims 1, 12), Li in view of Liu discloses the limitations of claims 1, 12 as applied to claim rejection 1, 12 above and further discloses:
Li teaches wherein the reference object meets one of the following: the reference object is a first object corresponding to a first cell, and the first cell is a primary cell, a primary secondary cell, or a PUCCH secondary cell corresponding to the first PUCCH cell group; the reference object is configured by higher layer signaling; the reference object is a first object with a maximum index corresponding to the M PUCCH cells; the reference object is a first object with a minimum index corresponding to the M PUCCH cells; or in a case that a PUCCH cell is switched semi-statically based on a time domain pattern, the reference object is a first object corresponding to the time domain pattern (see at least ¶ [0071], “…a PUCCH resource corresponding to one uplink serving cell is in an active state or available state at a same time. That is to say, each PUCCH group includes at least one uplink serving cell configured with a PUCCH resource…” and see at least ¶ [0071], “…on the target uplink serving cell, first UCI corresponding to each downlink serving cell corresponding to the first PUCCH group and second UCI corresponding to each downlink serving cell corresponding to the second PUCCH group…”).
Consider claim 4, 13 (depends on at least claims 1, 12), Li in view of Liu discloses the limitations of claims 1, 12 as applied to claim rejection 1, 12 above and further discloses:
Li teaches wherein the determining target PUCCH cell(s) corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK among the M PUCCH cells comprises at least one of the following: in a case that the M PUCCH cells comprise only one valid PUCCH cell corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK, determining the valid PUCCH cell as the target PUCCH cell; in a case that the M PUCCH cells comprise at least two valid PUCCH cells corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK, selecting, based on a first rule, one valid PUCCH cell from the at least two valid PUCCH cells as the target PUCCH cell; selecting the target PUCCH cell from the M PUCCH cells based on a second DCI, wherein the second DCI indicates the target PUCCH cell; or determining all or a part of valid PUCCH cells corresponding to the first HARQ-ACK among the M PUCCH cells as target PUCCH cells (see at least ¶ [0076], “…the first HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a first HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the first PUCCH group, and the second HARQ-ACK feedback information by using a second HARQ-ACK codebook constructed in the second PUCCH group…”).
Consider claim 20 (depends on at least claim 10), Li in view of Liu discloses the limitations of claim 10 as applied to claim rejection 10 above and further discloses:
Li teaches a network side device (see at least ¶ [0249], “…network device 600…”), comprising a processor, a memory (see at least ¶ [0249], “…the network device 600 includes: a processor 601, a transceiver 602, a memory 603…”), and a program or an instruction stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein when the program or the instruction is executed by the processor (see at least ¶ [0250], “…network device 600 further includes a computer program stored in the memory 603 and executable by the processor 601, where the computer program, when executed by the processor 601…”), steps of the feedback method according to claim 10 are implemented.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8, 14-17 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG A NGO whose telephone number is (571)270-7264. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 5:30AM-3:30PM.
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/CHUONG A NGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645