DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Applicant's arguments filed 1/06/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive as the following rejections.
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)(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 1, 3-4, 6-7 and 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhou (US Pub. 2023/0049868).
Regarding claims 1 and 7, Zhou discloses a communication apparatus comprising: a receiver configured to receive, from a base station, by using a radio resource control (RRC) message, information for configuring a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) (par.0122 “RRC layer with one or more downlink BWPs”) and an identifier indicating a downlink BWP to be activated (par.0179 “at least one BWP may be configured as the first active BWP…BWP 1……BWP 0”); and a controller, wherein:
the information for configuring the downlink BWP includes information indicating a dedicated parameter used for the downlink BWP (par.0176 “RRC messages….dedicated parameters), information indicating an absolute radio frequency channel number of a synchronization signal and a physical broadcast channel block (SSB) in the downlink BWP (par.0177 “Physical RACH….reference signals may be SS/PBCH”), and information applied to a measurement based on the SSB in the downlink BWP (0179 “measure an RSRP of one or more reference signals…SSBs….is configured by an RRC message”); and
a controller (fig. 15 element 1518) configured to perform the measurement of a serving cell according to the information indicating the absolute radio frequency channel number of the SSB (par.0180 “RACH parameters to configure…..one or more reference signals….SSBs”) and the information applied to the measurement based on the SSB (par.0179 “measure an RSRP of one or more….SSBs”), which are included in the information for configuring the downlink BWP, in a case where transmission of the SSB in the downlink BWP is indicated by using the information indicating the absolute radio frequency channel number of the SSB and where the downlink BWP is indicated to be active (par.0124 “downlink BWPs ….on a primary secondary cell PSCell, in active downlink BWP”, par.0125 “PDCCH or PDSCH in a downlink BWP according to a configured numerology…..for the downlink BWP) by the identifier indicating the downlink BWP to be activated (par.0179 “at least one BWP may be configured as the first active BWP…BWP 1……BWP 0”).
Regarding claims 3, 6 and 9, Zhou discloses the controller is configured to control, by using a path loss estimation value, transmission power of uplink transmission on an active uplink BWP, the path loss estimation value being calculated based on received power of the measurement (par.0181 “The UE may select an initial preamble transmit power based on a pathloss measurement……the uplink transmit power if the UE determines a references signal…SSB”).
Regarding claim 4, Zhou discloses everything as claim 1 above. More specifically, Zhou discloses a base station comprising a receiver (fig.15 element 1512).
Regarding claims 10-12, Zhou discloses the information for configuring the downlink BWP includes information indicating a frequency domain location and bandwidth of the downlink BWP (par.0130-0131 “configured BWPs may occur based on RRC signaling, DCI…..a BWP 902 with a bandwidth of 40 MHZ…..BWP 804…..10 MHZ….BWP 906…..20 MHZ and a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHZ”, fig.2 demonstrates BWPs in a frequency domain location y-axis).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Examiner Tu Nguyen whose telephone number is (571)272-7883. The examiner can normally be reached on 8AM-5PM Eastern Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Rafael Perez-Gutierrez can be reached on 571-272-791515. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300 or mailed to:
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Hand-delivered responses should be brought to
Customer Service Window
Randolph Building
401 Delany Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TU X NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642
Prosecution Insights