DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to communications filed on February 8, 2024. Claims 1-20 are 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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed on 4/18/2025 has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 19 recites the limitation “the first network entity” in line 6. However, there is no previous recitation of a “first network entity.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. In order to overcome this rejection, the Examiner suggests amending the claim to recite “configure a repeater associated with the network entity to translate downlink transmissions from the
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 19 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yan et al. (WO 2023/011208, see attached translation).
Regarding Claim 19, Yan teaches a network entity comprising: memory storing computer executable code; and at least one processor coupled with the memory configured to the execute computer executable code (“As shown in FIG. 13, a possible schematic diagram of a base station 1300 is provided, including: an antenna 1310, a signal transceiving unit 1320, a processor 1330, and a memory 1340, wherein the memory 1340 is configured to store computer program code or instructions, and the processor 1330 is configured to execute the program or the instructions” – See [0322]) and cause the network entity to:
configure a repeater associated with the network entity to translate downlink transmissions from the first network entity to a first frequency band and to a first synchronization raster (“The base station sends the indication information of the frequency shift value to the relay device” – See [0179]; “The base station sends indication information of the frequency parameter to the relay device, and the relay device performs frequency shifting on the first signal based on the frequency parameter, to ensure that the frequency-shifted first signal is located on the GSCN. Because the UE receives the first signal on the GSCN, the success rate of receiving the first signal by the UE may be improved” – See [0151]; “In NR, a synchronization raster is defined, the synchronization raster corresponding to a frequency location at which the SSB may be transmitted, and prior to the UE accessing the network, the UE may search for the SSB based on the synchronization raster” – See [0157]; The base station (network entity) configures a relay (repeater) to translate downlink transmissions from the base station to a first frequency band and to a first synchronization raster based on the frequency shift value); and
output a synchronization signal (SS) burst on a second frequency band using a second synchronization raster (“The relay device receives the first signal from the base station” – See [0186]; “The first signal may be a downlink signal to be sent by the base station, for example, an SSB” – See [0195]; See also Fig. 9a; The base station outputs an SSB on f1 (second frequency band using a second synchronization raster), wherein the relay transmits the SSB on f2 (first frequency band and first synchronization raster) to the UE based on the frequency shift value),
wherein the SS burst includes an SS block (SSB) and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying a master information block (MIB) indicating an initial control resource set (CORESET) (“It can be learned from the foregoing descriptions of the communication term that the first part of the SSB is explained, and the SSB may be composed of a PSS, an SSS, a PBCH, a DMRS, and the like. The content of the PBCH bearer is referred to as a master information block (MIB), and the MIB may indicate main information such as a search space (that is, a search space 0) and a control resource set (control resource set 0) of a system information block (SIB 1)” – See [0198]; The SS burst includes an SSB, a PBCH, and an MIB indicating an initial control resource set for SIB1).
Regarding Claim 20, Yan teaches a repeater comprising: memory storing computer executable code; and at least one processor coupled with the memory configured to the execute computer executable code (“According to a twelfth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, where the apparatus includes a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program or an instruction, and the processor is coupled to the memory; and when the processor executes the computer program or the instruction, the apparatus is enabled to perform the method according to the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or the seventh aspect” – See [0120]; “the communication apparatus 1200 May further include a memory 1230, an instruction for storing the processor 1210 or input data required by the storage processor 1210 to run the instruction, or data generated after the processor 1210 runs the instruction” – See [0319]) and cause the repeater to:
receive a synchronization signal (SS) burst from a network entity on a first frequency band with a first synchronization raster (“The relay device receives the first signal from the base station” – See [0186]; “The first signal may be a downlink signal to be sent by the base station, for example, an SSB” – See [0195]; “In NR, a synchronization raster is defined, the synchronization raster corresponding to a frequency location at which the SSB may be transmitted, and prior to the UE accessing the network, the UE may search for the SSB based on the synchronization raster” – See [0157]; See also Fig. 9a; The relay (repeater) receives an SSB on f1 (first frequency band with a first synchronization raster) from a base station (network entity)),
wherein the SS burst includes an SS block (SSB) and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying a master information block (MIB) indicating an initial control resource set (CORESET) (“It can be learned from the foregoing descriptions of the communication term that the first part of the SSB is explained, and the SSB may be composed of a PSS, an SSS, a PBCH, a DMRS, and the like. The content of the PBCH bearer is referred to as a master information block (MIB), and the MIB may indicate main information such as a search space (that is, a search space 0) and a control resource set (control resource set 0) of a system information block (SIB 1)” – See [0198]; The SS burst includes an SSB, a PBCH, and an MIB indicating an initial control resource set for SIB1); and
forward the SS burst to a user equipment (UE) on a second frequency band with a second synchronization raster (“The base station sends indication information of the frequency parameter to the relay device, and the relay device performs frequency shifting on the first signal based on the frequency parameter, to ensure that the frequency-shifted first signal is located on the GSCN. Because the UE receives the first signal on the GSCN, the success rate of receiving the first signal by the UE may be improved” – See [0151]; See also Fig. 9a; The relay frequency shifts the SSB received from the base station to f2 (second frequency band with a second synchronization raster) and forwards the SSB to a UE).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (WO 2023/011208, see attached translation) in view of Akl et al. (US 2022/0061002).
Regarding Claim 1, Yan teaches a user equipment (UE) comprising: memory storing computer executable code; and at least one processor coupled with the memory configured to the execute computer executable code (“the radio access network 100 … may further include at least one terminal (for example, 120a -120 j in FIG. 1)” – See [0141]; “the apparatus includes a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a computer program or an instruction, and the processor is coupled to the memory; and when the processor executes the computer program or the instruction, the apparatus is enabled to perform the method” – See [0117]; The terminal/UE includes a processor that executes program code stored in a memory to perform the steps) and cause the UE to:
receiving a synchronization signal (SS) burst from a repeater on a first frequency band with a first synchronization raster, wherein the SS burst includes an SS block (SSB) and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying a master information block (MIB) indicating an initial control resource set (CORESET) (“The base station sends indication information of the frequency parameter to the relay device, and the relay device performs frequency shifting on the first signal based on the frequency parameter, to ensure that the frequency-shifted first signal is located on the GSCN. Because the UE receives the first signal on the GSCN, the success rate of receiving the first signal by the UE may be improved” – See [0151]; “In NR, a synchronization raster is defined, the synchronization raster corresponding to a frequency location at which the SSB may be transmitted, and prior to the UE accessing the network, the UE may search for the SSB based on the synchronization raster” – See [0157]; “It can be learned from the foregoing descriptions of the communication term that the first part of the SSB is explained, and the SSB may be composed of a PSS, an SSS, a PBCH, a DMRS, and the like. The content of the PBCH bearer is referred to as a master information block (MIB), and the MIB may indicate main information such as a search space (that is, a search space 0) and a control resource set (control resource set 0) of a system information block (SIB 1)” – See [0198]; “Similarly, taking the first frequency range as 0-3000 MHz as an example, the frequency position of the SSB after the frequency shift of the relay device satisfies the following formula 4, the GSCN of the SSB after the frequency shift satisfies the following formula 5, and the GSCN of the SSB after the frequency shift is 2 to 7498” – See [0217]; The UE receives an SS burst from a relay (repeater) on a first frequency band/raster. The SS burst includes an SSB, a PBCH, and an MIB indicating an initial control resource set for SIB1); and
wherein the serving cell uses a second synchronization raster associated with a second frequency band (As shown above, the relay/repeater performs a frequency shift of the SSB on the GSCN received from the base station/serving cell to a different frequency/GSCN. The UE receives the SSB from the relay device on a first frequency/raster after the relay frequency shifts the SSB from the base station from a second frequency/raster to the first frequency/raster. Thus, the base station uses a second raster for transmission of the SSB between the base station and the relay).
Yan discloses that the SS burst is a cell defining SSB (“In new radio (NR), two SSBs are defined, one is a cell definition (CD) SSB, and is briefly referred to as a CD-SSB” – See [0155]; “Since the UE can access the network smoothly only according to the cell access SSB, that is, the CD-SSB. Therefore, unless otherwise specified, the SSB in this application refers to a CD-SSB” – See [0195]). As shown above, Yan also teaches that the SS burst is received from the repeater by the UE on a first synchronization raster. Yan does not explicitly teach determining the SS burst is associated with a serving cell based on the first synchronization raster.
However, Akl teaches a cell defining SSB that the UE determines is associated with a serving cell (““CD-SSB” may refer to an SSB that is associated with and/or encodes a cell identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an NR cell global identity (NCGI), or another type of cell identifier) of an individual serving cell of a base station, and is therefore cell-defining for the serving cell. CD-SSBs may be transmitted for various purposes, such as discovery of the serving cell for random access, for cell re-selection and handover decision making, and/or the like” – See [0060]; The UE receives the SS burst uses it for discovery of the serving cell. Thus, the UE determines that the SS burst is associated with a serving cell).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yan to determine that that the SS burst is associated with a serving cell after it is received via the first synchronization raster. Motivation for doing so would be to enable discovery of the serving cell for performing random access (See Akl, [0060]).
Regarding Claim 2, Yan in view of Akl teaches the UE of Claim 1. Yan further teaches that the first frequency band and the first synchronization raster are associated with an access link between the UE and the repeater (As shown in Fig. 9a, the first frequency band/synchronization raster (e.g., f2) is associated with an access link between the relay/repeater and the UE).
Regarding Claim 3, Yan in view of Akl teaches the UE of Claim 1. Yan further teaches that the first frequency band and the second frequency band are in a same frequency range (FR) in a licensed spectrum (“the terminal may communicate by using the licensed spectrum” – See [0146]; “When the frequency of the first signal before the frequency shift and the frequency of the frequency-shifted first signal belong to the same frequency range” – See [0011]; The first and second frequency bands are in the same frequency range in a licensed spectrum).
Regarding Claim 4, Yan in view of Akl teaches the UE of Claim 1. Yan further teaches that the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to receive a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission, in the CORESET indicated in the MIB, from the repeater on the first frequency band with the first synchronization raster, the PDCCH transmission scheduling an initial system information block (SIB) (“the frequency shift value is associated with a bandwidth of a control resource set of a common search space (CSS) of a type 0 physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)” – See [0107]; “the MIB may indicate main information such as a search space (that is, a search space 0) and a control resource set (control resource set 0) of a system information block (SIB 1)” – See [0198]; The UE receives the PDCCH in the control resource set (CORESET) indicated in the MIB, wherein the PDCCH transmission schedules an SIB1 (initial SIB)).
Akl further teaches that the SIB is carried in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (“transmit system information, such as system information blocks (SIBs) on a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) in certain slots” – See [0059]).
Claims 5-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (WO 2023/011208, see attached translation) in view of Akl et al. (US 2022/0061002) and further in view of MolavianJazi et al. (US 2023/0283348).
Regarding Claim 5, Yan in view of Akl teaches the UE of Claim 4. Yan and Akl do not explicitly teach that the initial SIB indicates one or more frequency bands for downlink, one or more frequency bands for uplink, and at least one of: one or more additional frequency bands for uplink or one or more additional frequency bands for downlink; and the additional frequency bands are associated with an access link between the UE and the repeater.
However, MolavianJazi teaches that the initial SIB indicates one or more frequency bands for downlink, one or more frequency bands for uplink, and at least one of: one or more additional frequency bands for uplink or one or more additional frequency bands for downlink; and the additional frequency bands are associated with an access link between the UE and the repeater (“a second initial DL/UL BWP that is different from the initial DL/UL BWP indicated by SIB1 for initial access of UEs. The second initial DL/UL BWP can be provided by higher layer signaling such as the SIB1, the SIB1 extension, or the new SIBx” – See [0195]; “one or more of the transceivers 210 may be used for an NCR radio unit (NCR-RU) entity or NCR forwarding (NCR-Fwd) entity as a DL connection for signaling over an access link with a UE” – See [0062]; The initial SIB indicates an initial DL/UL BWP (one or more frequency bands for downlink and one or more frequency bands for uplink) a second initial DL/UL BWP (one or more additional frequency bands for uplink and one or more additional frequency bands for downlink), wherein the additional frequency bands are associated with an NCR (repeater) that provides an access link between the NCR and the UE).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yan such that the initial SIB indicates one or more frequency bands for downlink, one or more frequency bands for uplink, and at least one of: one or more additional frequency bands for uplink or one or more additional frequency bands for downlink; and the additional frequency bands are associated with an access link between the UE and the repeater. Motivation for doing so would be to provide different bands that can be used respectively by the UE and the repeater (See MolavianJazi, [0521]).
Regarding Claim 6, Yan in view of Akl and MolavianJazi teaches the UE of Claim 5. MolavianJazi further teaches that the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to transmit one or more uplink transmissions for the serving cell via one of the one or more additional frequency bands for uplink (“The transceiver of the NCR-Fwd entity is configured to receive a RF signal on the access link” – See [0006]; The repeater receives uplink transmissions from the UE via the configured DL/UL BWP (one or more additional frequency bands for uplink)).
Regarding Claim 7, Yan in view of Akl and MolavianJazi teaches the UE of Claim 5. Yan further teaches that the at least one processor is further configured to cause the UE to: receive one or more transmissions from the repeater on one of the one or more additional frequency bands for downlink over the first synchronization raster (“In NR, a synchronization raster is defined, the synchronization raster corresponding to a frequency location at which the SSB may be transmitted, and prior to the UE accessing the network, the UE may search for the SSB based on the synchronization raster” – See [0157]; The UE receives an SSB from the repeater on the first synchronization raster via the one or more additional frequency bands).
Akl further teaches determining the one or more transmissions are associated with the serving cell (““CD-SSB” may refer to an SSB that is associated with and/or encodes a cell identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an NR cell global identity (NCGI), or another type of cell identifier) of an individual serving cell of a base station, and is therefore cell-defining for the serving cell. CD-SSBs may be transmitted for various purposes, such as discovery of the serving cell for random access, for cell re-selection and handover decision making, and/or the like” – See [0060]; The UE receives the SS burst uses it for discovery of the serving cell. Thus, the UE determines that the SS burst is associated with a serving cell).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-18 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 Scott M Sciacca whose telephone number is (571)270-1919. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday, 7:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. EST.
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/SCOTT M SCIACCA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478