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 .
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-18, 27, and 28 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 4/2/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On page 7 of the Applicant’s Response, Applicant: “Claim 1 has been amended to recite a " partition corresponding to a group index based on the block of k HARQ-ACK bits that identifies a group of possible binary sequences of length k." As agreed during the interview, such a feature does not appear to be taught or suggested by the cited references. Accordingly, an indication of allowability of claim 1 is respectfully requested.“.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant’s argument. Huang discloses bundling a subset of bits within an original harq codebook. The subset of bits are logically ANDed to each other to derive a single bit. The single bit represents one of: all bits in the set are ACK or at least one of the bits in the set is NACK (paragraph 67-68). The bundled bit reads on the limitation group index; the two results of bundling, all ACK/at least one NACK, reads on the limitation identifies a group of possible sequences of length k.
In view of the above discussions the rejection of claims 1, 3-9, 19-26, 29, and 30 still stands.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-9, 19-26, 29, and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (US 2021/0351876) (“Huang”).
For claims 1, 19, 29, and 30; Huang discloses: receiving, from a network device, a plurality of transmissions (paragraph 67: (e.g., upon receipt of each TB or after receiving all TBs), the UE performs the integrity checking of each TB to generate the corresponding A/N bit as ACK or NACK); generating an original hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook based on whether each of the plurality of transmission is successfully decoded (paragraph 67: over the course of receiving the K TBs (or failing to receive them) and performing the integrity checks, the UE generates an original HARQ-ACK codebook of size≥K); converting a block of k HARQ-ACK bits from the original HARQ-ACK codebook into a partition corresponding to a group index based on the block of k HARQ-ACK bits that identifies a group of possible binary sequences of length k (paragraph 68: The UE 402 then reduces the bits in each set 422 to one bundled bit 432 representing the set, such as by applying a binary AND function to the values of the bits in the set 422—as a result, the bundled bit 432 has a value of ACK only if all of the bits in the set 422 had a value of ACK, otherwise the value of the bundled bit is NACK), a plurality of partitions for a plurality of blocks corresponding to quantized HARQ-ACK bits (paragraph 67: the UE can read the bundling rules to determine how to partition the unbundled bits into bundled sets, and then can begin the integrity checks; as each A/N bit is generated, the UE can check whether the checks are complete for all TBs in any of the bundled sets, and if so, the UE can perform the “bundling”); and transmitting the quantized HARQ-ACK bits to the network device (paragraph 71: The UE 402 stores the constrained codebook 430 in the allocated PUCCH resources as UCI, and transmits the UCI back to the base station 404 via the PUCCH).
For claims 3; Huang discloses: in which the converting comprises generating a sequence of bundled HARQ-ACK bits, each bundled HARQ-ACK bit of the sequence comprising a logical AND operation of the block of k HARQ-ACK bits from the original HARQ-ACK codebook (paragraph 68: The UE 402 then reduces the bits in each set 422 to one bundled bit 432 representing the set, such as by applying a binary AND function to the values of the bits in the set 422—as a result, the bundled bit 432 has a value of ACK only if all of the bits in the set 422 had a value of ACK, otherwise the value of the bundled bit is NACK).
For claims 4 and 21; Huang discloses: receiving, from the network device, signaling indicating whether either partitioning or bundling is to be performed (paragraph 88-92: the BS discerns between a legacy UE and a reduced-capability UE on the network… the BS determines (e.g., using a control encoding circuit 540) bundling rules to be used for identifying which A/N bits will not be bundled, how many bundles to make, how to partition A/N bits between sets of bundled and unbundled bits, etc… the BS transmits control information containing or otherwise indicating the bundling rules to the UE. Any suitable means of transmitting the control information may be used including using RRC signaling).
For claims 5 and 22; Huang discloses: receiving, from the network device, signaling enabling or disabling partitioning and bundling, the signaling comprising radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a media access control-control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI) (paragraph 88-92: the BS discerns between a legacy UE and a reduced-capability UE on the network… the BS determines (e.g., using a control encoding circuit 540) bundling rules to be used for identifying which A/N bits will not be bundled, how many bundles to make, how to partition A/N bits between sets of bundled and unbundled bits, etc… the BS transmits control information containing or otherwise indicating the bundling rules to the UE. Any suitable means of transmitting the control information may be used including using RRC signaling).
For claims 6 and 23; Huang discloses: transmitting a UE capability signal indicating UE support of bundling and/or partitioning (paragraph 88: the BS discerns between a legacy UE and a reduced-capability UE on the network. For example, a connected UE that sends a SR, a UE capability information message, or any other suitable message to the scheduling entity may also send identifying information that the scheduling entity uses to identify a UE device type as a reduced capability UE… If the UE is a reduced capability UE, the BS proceeds to block 706. Otherwise, the BS proceeds to block 780, as described below (i.e., the BS proceeds by transmitting standard control information rather control information intended for a RedCap UE)).
For claims 7 and 24; Huang discloses: receiving a configuration for a quantity of the k HARQ-ACK bits (paragraph 90: the BS determines (e.g., using a control encoding circuit 540) bundling rules to be used for identifying which A/N bits will not be bundled, how many bundles to make, how to partition A/N bits between sets of bundled and unbundled bits, etc.).
For claims 8 and 25; Huang discloses: quantity of the k HARQ-ACK bits is a fixed number (paragraph 64: Non-limiting examples of bundling rules include, but are not limited to: setting the maximum codebook size N; setting the number of bits to bundle).
For claims 9 and 26; Huang discloses: quantity of the k HARQ-ACK bits is based on a payload size N of the original HARQ-ACK codebook (paragraph 67, 71: [N−M bundled bits, M unbundled bits] (0≤M≤N−1), size N, if K>N).
For claim 20; Huang discloses: in which each partition corresponds to a group index (paragraph 68: The UE 402 then reduces the bits in each set 422 to one bundled bit 432 representing the set, such as by applying a binary AND function to the values of the bits in the set 422—as a result, the bundled bit 432 has a value of ACK only if all of the bits in the set 422 had a value of ACK, otherwise the value of the bundled bit is NACK).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Yang et al. (US 2020/0052831); Yang discloses the BS may request the UE to partition the individual HARQ ACKs/NACKs within a reporting period in the groups, bundle the individual HARQ ACKs/NACKs within one group, and feedback the bundled result (e.g., a single bit indication) for each group.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN D BLANTON whose telephone number is (571)270-3933. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-6pm EST, Mon-Thu.
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/JOHN D BLANTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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