DETAILED ACTION
The following is a final office action in response to applicant’s remarks/arguments 6/05/2026 for
response of the office action mailed on 3/06/2026. Claims 1, 5-6, and 10 have been amended. Claims 2-3, 7-8, 11-15, and 18 have been canceled. Claims 19-22 have been added. Claims 1, 4-6, 9-10, 16-17, and 19-22 remain pending in the application.
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 .
Response to Amendment
The Amendment filed on 6/05/2026 has been entered.
Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have overcome each and every objection and 112(b) rejection
previously set forth in the Non-Final Rejection mailed on 3/06/2026.
Response to Remarks/Arguments
Applicant’s remarks/arguments (page 10-16), filed on 6/05/2026, with respect to claim 1 have been
fully considered but are not persuasive.
Regarding remarks in page 12 for independent claim 1, applicant asserts that the "offset time" and the claimed "second duration" serve fundamentally different purposes: Rathonyi's "offset time" controls when the UE begins monitoring the DL control channel, whereas the claimed "second duration" represents an estimated minimum round-trip time for retransmission scheduling after acknowledgment information is reported. Further, Rathonyi does not disclose the claimed conditional relationship between the first duration and the second duration. Claim 1, as amended, requires "when a time unit corresponding to an end of the first duration is not later than a time unit corresponding to an end of the second duration.".
Examiner respectfully disagrees with the applicant. Rathonyi et al. (US 2020/0396790 Al) discloses (Synchronous HARQ provides the exact timing on when the HARQ feedback (e.g., ACK 435 and/or NACK 430) and the re-transmission is scheduled. A new grant on DL control channel 410 (e.g., PDCCH) could also be given at the same sub-frame as NACK 430 is sent on the Physical Hybrid Indicator Channel (PRICH) and then the re-transmission is called "adaptive. The N+4 offsets between uplink transmission 420 and NACK 430 is shown as elements 220b in fig. 4 teaches “second duration” in the claimed limitation, Rathonyi: Fig. 4, [0017]-[0018].
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after performing the associated UL transmission 910 (the UL transmission on either of SRB/DRB in the example of FIG. 9A), the UE starts second timer 935. The duration of second timer 935 may be or comprise an offset period. For example, second timer 935 may be a HARQ-RTT timer that comprises an offset period. When second timer 935 expires, the UE starts third timer 930 corresponding to the "active time" described above. In certain embodiments, third timer 930 may be one of a drx-InactivityTimer and a DRX retransmission timer. During "active time" 930 (e.g., during the duration of third timer 930), the UE monitors DL control channel 915 (NB-PDCCH in the example of FIG. 9A). UE receives a second message 940 that is either a second DCI-0 message or a NACK message on DL control channel 915 before the expiration of "active time" 930 (e.g., before the expiration of third timer 930). In scenarios in which second message 940 is a NACK message. Second message 940 provides an indication of a HARQ UL re-transmission 945 for the UE. In the example of FIG. 9A, by adding second timer (offset timer) 935 and third timer (active timer) teaches “second duration” in the claimed limitation, Rathonyi: Fig. 9A, [0104]-[0105]).
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Regarding remarks in page 13 for independent claim 1, applicant asserts that Shah teaches standard
DRX behavior: after the HARQ RTT timer expires, the UE starts monitoring PDCCH for retransmission DCI. This is the opposite of the claimed "skipping monitoring" behavior, which requires that monitoring be skipped in the next time unit after the second duration ends when the specific condition (the end of the first duration is not later than the end of the second duration and the acknowledgment information is NACK) is satisfied.
SHAH et al. (US 2022/0264616 Al) discloses (drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL (per DL HARQ process except for the broadcast process): the minimum duration before a DL assignment for HARQ retransmission is expected by the MAC entity, Shah: [0136]. The drx-RetransmissionTimerDL and -UL define the maximum duration until a DL retransmission is received and the maximum duration until a grant for UL retransmission is received, respectively. Discontinuous Reception with HARQ Feedback, Shah: [0147]. During a period where no transmission of DCI for a retransmission of the data can be expected due to the RTD, the UE enters a sleep mode where the PDCCH is not monitored, in order to reduce the power consumption.Shah: [0156]. UE start the drxInactivityTimer once DCI for a new transmission is received. As long as the drx-InactivityTimer has not expired, UE monitors the channel for reception of the DL data. When the DL data is received and cannot be decoded successfully, UE transmits NACK to gNB and starts the drx-HARQ-RTTTimerDL(sleep) in order to account for the RTD. As long as drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL has not expired, the UE does not monitor PDCCH in order to reduce power consumption. a discontinuous reception, DRX, cycle is configured, wherein the transceiver, in operation, monitors the PDCCH in active times and does not monitor the PDCCH in OFF periods. FIG. 9 illustrates a process of retransmission of DL data when a DRX cycle is configured. Shah: Fig. 9, [0173]-[0176], [0358]).
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Regarding remarks in page 14 for independent claim 1, applicant asserts that there is no teaching in Rathonyi of monitoring for retransmission scheduling control information in K consecutive time units positioned specifically before and adjacent to the end of a cycle, nor is there any teaching of prolonging any duration to shift the retransmission monitoring window to such a position at the end of a cycle. Shah does not teach or suggest monitoring in K consecutive time units at the end of a cycle, nor does Shah teach prolonging any duration to delay retransmission monitoring to a specific window before the end of a cycle.
SHAH et al. discloses (UE can go into sleep mode and only needs to be awake periodically for a short amount of time every DRX cycle to monitor the DL control channel. Synchronous HARQ provides the exact timing on when the HARQ feedback (e.g., ACK 435 and/or NACK 430) and the re-transmission is scheduled. the second instance of SRB/DRB data 855 on NB-PDSCH 820 is received and the HARQ feedback is sent (ACK 850 in the example of FIG. SA). second DCI-1 message 845 is a second indication of a DL transmission 855 for the UE (i.e., a HARQ re-transmission of the DL transmission 835), and the UE performs the UL transmission 850 associated with the indicated DL HARQ re-transmission (namely, the sending of ACK message 850), Rathonyi: Fig. 4, [0017]-[0018], [0098]. an "active time" that determines how long the UE should be awake to monitor the DL control channel before going into DRX; and an "offset time" that determines when to start the "active time." If a new control message is received on the DL control channel during the "active time," the "active time" is stopped (i.e., the UE does not need to be awake to monitor the DL control channel). Then, the activity indicated by the control message (DLassignment or UL-grant) is performed, and new "active time" and "offset time" parameters are used. In some cases, the "offset time" is set relative to an UL transmission that was triggered by receiving a control message on the DL control channel, Rathonyi: [0058], [0072]-[0076]).
Regarding remarks in page 14 for independent claim 1, applicant asserts that the Examiner's motivation to combine Rathonyi and Shah-that "a mechanism to minimize the time the UE spends monitoring the PDCCH is used, which is called the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) functionality to reduce the battery consumption in the UE" is a generic statement about DRX functionality in general. This generic motivation does not explain why a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify Rathonyi's NB-IoT DRX system to arrive at the specific combination of features recited in amended claim 1, particularly the prolonging of the second duration to shift retransmission monitoring to K consecutive time units at the end of the first cycle.
The updated motivation would be (One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because a mechanism to minimize the time the UE spends monitoring the PDCCH is used, which is called the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) functionality to reduce the battery consumption in the UE. The present disclosure provides techniques which may facilitate for the monitoring duration being adjusted in the framework of blind retransmissions without feedback. In particular, the present disclosure provides a procedure in a configured DRX cycle for reducing the power consumption of a transceiver device while at the same time ensuring reception of retransmissions (Shah: [0126], [0182]).
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 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, 4-6, 9-10, 16-17, and 19-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rathonyi et al. (US 2020/0396790 Al, hereinafter “Rathonyi”) in view of SHAH et al. (US 2022/0264616 Al, hereinafter “Shah”).
Regarding claim 1, Rathonyi discloses:
A method comprising:
receiving first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information comprises a first duration, a second duration, and a first cycle, the first duration is less than the first cycle, the first duration starts at a start moment of the first cycle (UE can go into sleep mode and only needs to be awake periodically for a short amount of time every DRX cycle to monitor the DL control channel. UE receives UL grant 405 on DL control channel 410 while OnDuration Timer 410 is running. receiving a message including information about a duration of at least one of the second and third timers. the first timer may be an onDurationTimer of a discontinuous reception cycle. two main parameters are used: an "active time" that determines for how long a time the UE should be awake to monitor the DL control channel before going into DRX; and an "offset time" that determines when to start the "active time.". information about the values of the two parameters ("active time" and "offset time") is provided per transmission as part of the DLassignment/UL-grant message sent on the DL control channel, and may vary in-between every DL-assignment/ULgrant, Rathonyi: Fig. 1, [0011], [0027]-[0028], [0074]-[0078]), and
the second duration indicates an estimated minimum duration from a first moment at which a first communication apparatus reports acknowledgment information to a time at which the first communication apparatus receives retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (Synchronous HARQ provides the exact timing on when the HARQ feedback (e.g., ACK 435 and/or NACK 430) and the re-transmission is scheduled. A new grant on DL control channel 410 (e.g., PDCCH) could also be given at the same sub-frame as NACK 430 is sent on the Physical Hybrid Indicator Channel (PRICH) and then the re-transmission is called "adaptive. The N+4 offsets between uplink transmission 420 and NACK 430 is shown as elements 220b. after performing the associated UL transmission 910 (the UL transmission on either of SRB/DRB in the example of FIG. 9A), the UE starts second timer 935. The duration of second timer 935 may be or comprise an offset period. For example, second timer 935 may be a HARQ-RTT timer that comprises an offset period. When second timer 935 expires, the UE starts third timer 930 corresponding to the "active time" described above. In certain embodiments, third timer 930 may be one of a drx-InactivityTimer and a DRX retransmission timer. During "active time" 930 ( e.g., during the duration of third timer 930), the UE monitors DL control channel 915 (NB-PDCCH in the example of FIG. 9A). UE receives a second message 940 that is either a second DCI-0 message or a NACK message on DL control channel 915 before the expiration of "active time" 930 (e.g., before the expiration of third timer 930). In scenarios in which second message 940 is a NACK message, Second message 940 provides an indication of a HARQ UL re-transmission 945 for the UE, Rathonyi: Fig. 4, Fig. 9A, [0017]-[0018], [0074]-[0076], [0104]-[0105]), or
in response to a time unit corresponding to an end of the first duration being not later than a time unit corresponding to an end of the second duration, and the acknowledgment information is a negative acknowledgment (NACK) (the UE receives a second message 940 that is either a second DCI-0 message or a NACK message on DL control channel 915 before the expiration of "active time". In scenarios in which second message 940 is a NACK message, it could be an UL grant with the new data indicator (NDI) not toggled in case adaptive HARQ retransmission is used (i.e., an implicit NACK is used), Rathonyi: [0105]),
monitoring, in K consecutive time units that are before a time unit corresponding to an end of the first cycle and that are adjacent to the time unit corresponding to the end of the first cycle, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (UE can go into sleep mode and only needs to be awake periodically for a short amount of time every DRX cycle to monitor the DL control channel. Synchronous HARQ provides the exact timing on when the HARQ feedback ( e.g., ACK 435 and/or NACK 430) and the re-transmission is scheduled. the second instance of SRB/DRB data 855 on NB-PDSCH 820 is received and the HARQ feedback is sent (ACK 850 in the example of FIG. SA). second DCI-1 message 845 is a second indication of a DL transmission 855 for the UE (i.e., a HARQ re-transmission of the DL transmission 835), and the UE performs the UL transmission 850 associated with the indicated DL HARQ re-transmission (namely, the sending of ACK message 850), Rathonyi: Fig. 4, [0017]-[0018], [0098]); and
prolonging the second duration from an end location in the first cycle to a start moment of the K consecutive time units before and adjacent to the time unit corresponding to the end of the first cycle (an "active time" that determines how long the UE should be awake to monitor the DL control channel before going into DRX; and an "offset time" that determines when to start the "active time." If a new control message is received on the DL control channel during the "active time," the "active time" is stopped (i.e., the UE does not need to be awake to monitor the DL control channel). Then, the activity indicated by the control message (DLassignment or UL-grant) is performed, and new "active time" and "offset time" parameters are used. In some cases, the "offset time" is set relative to an UL transmission that was triggered by receiving a control message on the DL control channel, Rathonyi: [0058], [0072]-[0076]).
Rathonyi does not explicitly disclose:
skipping monitoring, in a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Shah teaches:
skipping monitoring, in a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (UE start the drxInactivityTimer once DCI for a new transmission is received. As long as the drx-InactivityTimer has not expired, UE monitors the channel for reception of the DL data. When the DL data is received and cannot be decoded successfully, UE transmits NACK to gNB and starts the drx-HARQ-RTTTimerDL in order to account for the RTD. As long as drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL has not expired, the UE does not monitor PDCCH in order to reduce power consumption. a discontinuous reception, DRX, cycle is configured, wherein the transceiver, in operation, monitors the PDCCH in active times and does not monitor the PDCCH in OFF periods. Shah: Fig. 9, [0173]-[0176], [0358]).
Therefore, 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 Rathonyi in view of Shah in order to further modify skipping monitoring, in a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information from the teachings of Shah.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because a mechanism to minimize the time the UE spends monitoring the PDCCH is used, which is called the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) functionality to reduce the battery consumption in the UE. The present disclosure provides techniques which may facilitate for the monitoring duration being adjusted in the framework of blind retransmissions without feedback. In particular, the present disclosure provides a procedure in a configured DRX cycle for reducing the power consumption of a transceiver device while at the same time ensuring reception of retransmissions (Shah: [0126], [0182]).
Regarding claim 6, Rathonyi discloses:
An apparatus comprising (operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed, Rathonyi: [0180]):
a memory, configured to store computer instructions (memory 1330 stores the instructions executed by processing circuitry, Rathonyi: [0126]); and
a processor, configured to execute the computer instructions stored in memory, so that the processor is configured to (Processing circuitry may include any suitable combination of hardware and software implemented in one or more modules to execute instructions and manipulate data. module may be implemented using one or more processors, such as processing circuitry, Rathonyi: [0132], [0149]):
receive first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information comprises a first duration, a second duration, and a first cycle, the first duration is less than the first cycle, the first duration starts at a start moment of the first cycle (UE can go into sleep mode and only needs to be awake periodically for a short amount of time every DRX cycle to monitor the DL control channel. UE receives UL grant 405 on DL control channel 410 while OnDuration Timer 410 is running. receiving a message including information about a duration of at least one of the second and third timers. the first timer may be an onDurationTimer of a discontinuous reception cycle. two main parameters are used: an "active time" that determines for how long a time the UE should be awake to monitor the DL control channel before going into DRX; and an "offset time" that determines when to start the "active time.". information about the values of the two parameters ("active time" and "offset time") is provided per transmission as part of the DLassignment/UL-grant message sent on the DL control channel, and may vary in-between every DL-assignment/ULgrant, Rathonyi: Fig. 1, [0011], [0027]-[0028], [0074]-[0078]), and
the second duration indicates an estimated minimum duration from a first moment at which a first communication apparatus reports acknowledgment information to a time at which the first communication apparatus receives retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (Synchronous HARQ provides the exact timing on when the HARQ feedback (e.g., ACK 435 and/or NACK 430) and the re-transmission is scheduled. A new grant on DL control channel 410 (e.g., PDCCH) could also be given at the same sub-frame as NACK 430 is sent on the Physical Hybrid Indicator Channel (PRICH) and then the re-transmission is called "adaptive. The N+4 offsets between uplink transmission 420 and NACK 430 is shown as elements 220b. after performing the associated UL transmission 910 (the UL transmission on either of SRB/DRB in the example of FIG. 9A), the UE starts second timer 935. The duration of second timer 935 may be or comprise an offset period. For example, second timer 935 may be a HARQ-RTT timer that comprises an offset period. When second timer 935 expires, the UE starts third timer 930 corresponding to the "active time" described above. In certain embodiments, third timer 930 may be one of a drx-InactivityTimer and a DRX retransmission timer. During "active time" 930 ( e.g., during the duration of third timer 930), the UE monitors DL control channel 915 (NB-PDCCH in the example of FIG. 9A). UE receives a second message 940 that is either a second DCI-0 message or a NACK message on DL control channel 915 before the expiration of "active time" 930 (e.g., before the expiration of third timer 930). In scenarios in which second message 940 is a NACK message, Second message 940 provides an indication of a HARQ UL re-transmission 945 for the UE, Rathonyi: Fig. 4, Fig. 9A, [0017]-[0018], [0074]-[0076], [0104]-[0105]), or
in response to a time unit corresponding to an end of the first duration is not later than a time unit corresponding to an end of the second duration, and the acknowledgment information is a negative acknowledgment (NACK) (the UE receives a second message 940 that is either a second DCI-0 message or a NACK message on DL control channel 915 before the expiration of "active time". In scenarios in which second message 940 is a NACK message, it could be an UL grant with the new data indicator (NDI) not toggled in case adaptive HARQ retransmission is used (i.e., an implicit NACK is used), Rathonyi: [0105]),
monitor, in K consecutive time units that are before a time unit corresponding to an end of the first cycle and that are adjacent to the time unit corresponding to the end of the first cycle, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (UE can go into sleep mode and only needs to be awake periodically for a short amount of time every DRX cycle to monitor the DL control channel. Synchronous HARQ provides the exact timing on when the HARQ feedback ( e.g., ACK 435 and/or NACK 430) and the re-transmission is scheduled. the second instance of SRB/DRB data 855 on NB-PDSCH 820 is received and the HARQ feedback is sent (ACK 850 in the example of FIG. SA). second DCI-1 message 845 is a second indication of a DL transmission 855 for the UE (i.e., a HARQ re-transmission of the DL transmission 835), and the UE performs the UL transmission 850 associated with the indicated DL HARQ re-transmission (namely, the sending of ACK message 850), Rathonyi: Fig. 4, [0017]-[0018], [0098]); and
prolong the second duration from an end location in the first cycle to a start moment of the K consecutive time units before and adjacent to the time unit corresponding to the end of the first cycle (an "active time" that determines how long the UE should be awake to monitor the DL control channel before going into DRX; and an "offset time" that determines when to start the "active time." If a new control message is received on the DL control channel during the "active time," the "active time" is stopped (i.e., the UE does not need to be awake to monitor the DL control channel). Then, the activity indicated by the control message (DLassignment or UL-grant) is performed, and new "active time" and "offset time" parameters are used. In some cases, the "offset time" is set relative to an UL transmission that was triggered by receiving a control message on the DL control channel, Rathonyi: [0058], [0072]-[0076]).
Rathonyi does not explicitly disclose:
skip monitoring, in a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Shah teaches:
skip monitoring, in a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (UE start the drxInactivityTimer once DCI for a new transmission is received. As long as the drx-InactivityTimer has not expired, UE monitors the channel for reception of the DL data. When the DL data is received and cannot be decoded successfully, UE transmits NACK to gNB and starts the drx-HARQ-RTTTimerDL in order to account for the RTD. As long as drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL has not expired, the UE does not monitor PDCCH in order to reduce power consumption. a discontinuous reception, DRX, cycle is configured, wherein the transceiver, in operation, monitors the PDCCH in active times and does not monitor the PDCCH in OFF periods. Shah: Fig. 9, [0173]-[0176], [0358]).
Therefore, 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 Rathonyi in view of Shah in order to further modify skipping monitoring, in a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information from the teachings of Shah.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because a mechanism to minimize the time the UE spends monitoring the PDCCH is used, which is called the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) functionality to reduce the battery consumption in the UE. The present disclosure provides techniques which may facilitate for the monitoring duration being adjusted in the framework of blind retransmissions without feedback. In particular, the present disclosure provides a procedure in a configured DRX cycle for reducing the power consumption of a transceiver device while at the same time ensuring reception of retransmissions (Shah: [0126], [0182]).
Regarding claim 19, Rathonyi discloses:
An apparatus comprising (operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed, Rathonyi: [0180]):
a memory, configured to store computer instructions (Network node 515 may include one or more of transceiver 1410, processing circuitry 1420, memory 1430. memory 1430 stores the instructions executed by processing circuitry 1420, Rathonyi: [0131]); and
a processor, configured to execute the computer instructions stored in memory, so that the processor is configured to (Processing circuitry may include any suitable combination of hardware and software implemented in one or more modules to execute instructions and manipulate data. module may be implemented using one or more processors, such as processing circuitry, Rathonyi: [0132], [0149]):
send first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information comprises a first duration, a second duration, and a first cycle, the first duration is less than the first cycle, the first duration starts at a start moment of the first cycle (the indication of the downlink or uplink transmission for the UE may comprise a downlink scheduling assignment, and the uplink transmission associated with the indicated downlink transmission may comprise an acknowledgement message. the indication of the downlink or uplink transmission for the UE may comprise information about a duration of at least one of the second and third timers. UE receives UL grant 405 on DL control channel 410 while OnDuration Timer 410 is running. receiving a message including information about a duration of at least one of the second and third timers. the first timer may be an onDurationTimer of a discontinuous reception cycle. two main parameters are used: an "active time" that determines for how long a time the UE should be awake to monitor the DL control channel before going into DRX; and an "offset time" that determines when to start the "active time.". information about the values of the two parameters ("active time" and "offset time") is provided per transmission as part of the DLassignment/UL-grant message sent on the DL control channel, and may vary in-between every DL-assignment/ULgrant, Rathonyi: Fig. 1, [0011], [0027]-[0028], [0074]-[0078]), and
the second duration indicates a minimum duration from a first moment at which a second communication apparatus receives acknowledgment information to a time at which the second communication apparatus sends retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (Synchronous HARQ provides the exact timing on when the HARQ feedback (e.g., ACK 435 and/or NACK 430) and the re-transmission is scheduled. A new grant on DL control channel 410 (e.g., PDCCH) could also be given at the same sub-frame as NACK 430 is sent on the Physical Hybrid Indicator Channel (PRICH) and then the re-transmission is called "adaptive. The N+4 offsets between uplink transmission 420 and NACK 430 is shown as elements 220b. after performing the associated UL transmission 910 (the UL transmission on either of SRB/DRB in the example of FIG. 9A), the UE starts second timer 935. The duration of second timer 935 may be or comprise an offset period. For example, second timer 935 may be a HARQ-RTT timer that comprises an offset period. When second timer 935 expires, the UE starts third timer 930 corresponding to the "active time" described above. In certain embodiments, third timer 930 may be one of a drx-InactivityTimer and a DRX retransmission timer. During "active time" 930 ( e.g., during the duration of third timer 930), the UE monitors DL control channel 915 (NB-PDCCH in the example of FIG. 9A). UE receives a second message 940 that is either a second DCI-0 message or a NACK message on DL control channel 915 before the expiration of "active time" 930 (e.g., before the expiration of third timer 930). In scenarios in which second message 940 is a NACK message, Second message 940 provides an indication of a HARQ UL re-transmission 945 for the UE, Rathonyi: Fig. 4, Fig. 9A, [0017]-[0018], [0074]-[0076], [0104]-[0105]), or
in response to a time unit corresponding to an end of the first duration being not later than a time unit corresponding to an end of the second duration, and the acknowledgment information is a negative acknowledgment, NACK (the UE receives a second message 940 that is either a second DCI-0 message or a NACK message on DL control channel 915 before the expiration of "active time". In scenarios in which second message 940 is a NACK message, it could be an UL grant with the new data indicator (NDI) not toggled in case adaptive HARQ retransmission is used (i.e., an implicit NACK is used), Rathonyi: [0105]),
send, in K consecutive time units that are before a time unit corresponding to an end of the first cycle and that are adjacent to the time unit corresponding to the end of the first cycle, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (UE can go into sleep mode and only needs to be awake periodically for a short amount of time every DRX cycle to monitor the DL control channel. Synchronous HARQ provides the exact timing on when the HARQ feedback ( e.g., ACK 435 and/or NACK 430) and the re-transmission is scheduled. the second instance of SRB/DRB data 855 on NB-PDSCH 820 is received and the HARQ feedback is sent (ACK 850 in the example of FIG. SA). second DCI-1 message 845 is a second indication of a DL transmission 855 for the UE (i.e., a HARQ re-transmission of the DL transmission 835), and the UE performs the UL transmission 850 associated with the indicated DL HARQ re-transmission (namely, the sending of ACK message 850), Rathonyi: Fig. 4, [0017]-[0018], [0098]).
Rathonyi does not explicitly disclose:
skip sending, in a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information; and
However, in the same field of endeavor, Shah teaches:
skip sending, in a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (UE start the drxInactivityTimer once DCI for a new transmission is received. As long as the drx-InactivityTimer has not expired, UE monitors the channel for reception of the DL data. When the DL data is received and cannot be decoded successfully, UE transmits NACK to gNB and starts the drx-HARQ-RTTTimerDL in order to account for the RTD. As long as drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL has not expired, the UE does not monitor PDCCH in order to reduce power consumption. a discontinuous reception, DRX, cycle is configured, wherein the transceiver, in operation, monitors the PDCCH in active times and does not monitor the PDCCH in OFF periods. Shah: Fig. 9, [0173]-[0176], [0358]); and
Therefore, 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 Rathonyi in view of Shah in order to further modify skipping monitoring, in a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration, the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information from the teachings of Shah.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because a mechanism to minimize the time the UE spends monitoring the PDCCH is used, which is called the Discontinuous Reception (DRX) functionality to reduce the battery consumption in the UE. The present disclosure provides techniques which may facilitate for the monitoring duration being adjusted in the framework of blind retransmissions without feedback. In particular, the present disclosure provides a procedure in a configured DRX cycle for reducing the power consumption of a transceiver device while at the same time ensuring reception of retransmissions (Shah: [0126], [0182]).
Regarding claims 4, 9, and 20, Rathonyi in view of Shah teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1, 6, and 19 above.
Rathonyi further discloses:
wherein the first configuration information is further used to configure a third duration, and the third duration indicates a maximum duration from a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration to the time at which the first communication apparatus receives the retransmission scheduling control information corresponding to the acknowledgment information (when the second timer expires, start a third timer, wherein the UE monitors the downlink control channel for the duration of the third timer. the UE may receive a message including information about a duration of at least one of the second and third timers. When second timer expires, the UE starts third timer corresponding to the "active time" described above. In certain embodiments, third timer may be one of a drx-InactivityTimer and a DRX retransmission timer. During "active time" (e.g., during the duration of third timer), the UE monitors DL control channel, Rathonyi: [0029], [0060], [0089]-[0090], [0097]).
Regarding claims 5, 10, and 21, Rathonyi in view of Shah teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1, 6, and 19 above.
Rathonyi further discloses:
wherein the K consecutive time units are determined based on a quantity of HARQ processes whose acknowledgment information is a NACK and for which the time unit corresponding to the end of the first duration is not later than the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration (UE can go into sleep mode and only needs to be awake periodically for a short amount of time every DRX cycle to monitor the DL control channel. Synchronous HARQ provides the exact timing on when the HARQ feedback (e.g., ACK 435 and/or NACK 430) and the re-transmission is scheduled. the second instance of SRB/DRB data 855 on NB-PDSCH 820 is received and the HARQ feedback is sent (ACK 850 in the example of FIG. SA). second DCI-1 message 845 is a second indication of a DL transmission 855 for the UE (i.e., a HARQ re-transmission of the DL transmission 835), and the UE performs the UL transmission 850 associated with the indicated DL HARQ re-transmission (namely, the sending of ACK message 850), Rathonyi: Fig. 4, [0017]-[0018], [0098]); and/or
determined based on a decoding capability of the first communication apparatus (This feedback message is typically either a "binary" decoding result or a scheduling grant/assignment message. In cases where the feedback is a "binary" decoding result, the feedback may be in the form of an acknowledgement (ACK) indicating that data block decoding was successful, or a negative acknowledgement (NACK) indicating that data block decoding was unsuccessful, Rathonyi: [0007]); and/or
Regarding claims 16, 17, and 22, Rathonyi in view of Shah teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1, 6, and 19 above.
Rathonyi further discloses:
wherein the first configuration information is further used to configure a third duration, and the third duration indicates a maximum duration from a next time unit of the time unit corresponding to the end of the second duration to a time at which the first communication apparatus receives a scheduling grant of the uplink/sidelink data (when the second timer expires, start a third timer, wherein the UE monitors the downlink control channel for the duration of the third timer. the UE may receive a message including information about a duration of at least one of the second and third timers. When second timer expires, the UE starts third timer corresponding to the "active time" described above. In certain embodiments, third timer may be one of a drx-InactivityTimer and a DRX retransmission timer. During "active time" (e.g., during the duration of third timer), the UE monitors DL control channel. the size (e.g., duration) of "offset time" and "active time" (or the duration of second timer and parameters may change between each scheduled transmission (e.g., DL assignment or UL grant), allowing the parameters to be dynamically changed for every transmission, Rathonyi: [0029], [0060], [0082]-[0084], [0089]-[0090], [0097]).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/S.C.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/MOHAMMED S CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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