DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Papasakellariou (U.S. 2022/0278809). Papasakellariou teaches all of the limitations of the specified claims with the reasoning that follows.
Regarding claim 1, “an uplink control information transmission method, wherein the method comprises: receiving, by a terminal device, a plurality of pieces of data from a network device, wherein the plurality of pieces of data comprise one or more pieces of multicast data and one or more pieces of unicast data, and first hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the multicast data and second HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the unicast data have a same priority and are to be fed back in a same time unit” is anticipated by a UE that receives a number of PDSCHs (plurality of pieces of data) scheduled by DCI formats with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI and determines a number of corresponding HARQ-ACK information bits to multiplex in a PUCCH transmission as shown in step 820 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141]; where the UE is configured to receive both unicast PDSCH (unicast data) and multicast PDSCH (multicast data) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0112]; where the DCI formats indicate a priority for the HARQ-ACK information via a last DCI format among DCI formats indicating a same priority as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE can multiplex the HARQ-ACK codebooks in a same PUCCH transmission (same time unit) as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0118].
Lastly, “determining, by the terminal device, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource based on second PUCCH configuration information, wherein first PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the multicast data, the second PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the unicast data; and sending, by the terminal device, uplink control information to the network device on the PUCCH resource, wherein the uplink control information comprises the first HARQ-ACK information and the second HARQ-ACK information” is anticipated by the UE 116 that receives a configuration for a set of PUCCH resources to use for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information in response to PDSCH receptions scheduled by DCI formats with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI, where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource to use for a PUCCH transmission with multiplexed unicast and multicast HARQ-ACK information (first, second HARQ-ACK information) as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0127]; and where the UE is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 2, “wherein the method further comprises: obtaining, by the terminal device, the first PUCCH configuration information and the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer with a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 3, “wherein the determining, by the terminal device, a PUCCH resource based on second PUCCH configuration information comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the PUCCH resource based on the second PUCCH configuration information and a physical uplink control channel resource indicator (PRI) that is in last downlink control information (DCI} corresponding to the unicast data, wherein the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured in the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Regarding claim 4, “wherein the determining, by the terminal device, a PUCCH resource based on second PUCCH configuration information comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the PUCCH resource based on a physical uplink control channel resource indicator (PRI) in last downlink control information (DCI} corresponding to the plurality of pieces of data and PUCCH configuration information corresponding to the last DCI, wherein the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured in the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Regarding claim 5, “wherein the determining, by the terminal device, a PUCCH resource based on second PUCCH configuration information comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, first indication information from the network device, wherein the first indication information indicates the terminal device to determine the PUCCH resource based on the second PUCCH configuration information; and determining, by the terminal device, the PUCCH resource based on the second PUCCH configuration information and a physical uplink control channel resource indicator (PRI) that is in last downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to the unicast data, wherein the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured in the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters (indication information) for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Regarding claim 6, “wherein the uplink control information is obtained by appending a second HARQ-ACK codebook to a first HARQ-ACK codebook; and the first HARQ-ACK codebook is generated based on the first HARQ-ACK information, and the second HARQ-ACK codebook is generated based on the second HARQ-ACK information” is anticipated by the UE 116 of Figure 1 that determines separate HARQ-ACK codebooks for unicast PDSCH receptions and for multicast PDSCH receptions, and then jointly or separately encodes and multiplexes (appends) the HARQ-ACK codebooks in a same PUCCH transmission as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 7, “An uplink control information transmission method, wherein the method comprises: sending, by a network device, a plurality of pieces of data to a terminal device, wherein the plurality of pieces of data comprise multicast data and unicast data, and first hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the multicast data and second HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the unicast data have a same priority and are to be fed back in a same time unit” is anticipated by a UE that receives a number of PDSCHs (plurality of pieces of data) scheduled by DCI formats with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI from a base station (network device) 102, 103 of Figure 1 and determines a number of corresponding HARQ-ACK information bits to multiplex in a PUCCH transmission as shown in step 820 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141]; where the UE is configured to receive both unicast PDSCH (unicast data) and multicast PDSCH (multicast data) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0112]; where the DCI formats indicate a priority for the HARQ-ACK information via a last DCI format among DCI formats indicating a same priority as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE can multiplex the HARQ-ACK codebooks in a same PUCCH transmission (same time unit) as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0118].
Lastly, “determining, by the network device, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource, wherein the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured in second PUCCH configuration information, first PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the multicast data, the second PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the unicast data; and receiving, by the network device, uplink control information from the terminal device on the PUCCH resource, wherein the uplink control information comprises the first HARQ-ACK information and the second HARQ-ACK information” is anticipated by the UE 116 that receives a configuration for a set of PUCCH resources to use for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information in response to PDSCH receptions scheduled by DCI formats with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI from a base station (network device) 102, 103, where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH (to the base station 102, 103) using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource to use for a PUCCH transmission with multiplexed unicast and multicast HARQ-ACK information (first, second HARQ-ACK information) as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0127]; and where the UE is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 8, “sending, by the network device, the first PUCCH configuration information and the second PUCCH configuration information to the terminal device” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer (via base station 102, 103) with a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 9, “sending, by the network device, a physical uplink control channel resource indicator (PRI) in DCI corresponding to a last piece of unicast data, wherein the PRI indicates the PUCCH resource, and the PUCCH resource is a resource in a PUCCH resource set configured in the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer (via base station 102, 103) a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Regarding claim 10, “sending, by the network device, a physical uplink control channel resource indicator PRI in last downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to the plurality of pieces of data, wherein the PRI indicates the PUCCH resource, and the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured in the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Regarding claim 11, “sending, by the network device, first indication information to the terminal device, wherein the first indication information indicates that the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured by using the first PUCCH configuration information or indicates that the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured by using the second PUCCH configuration information; and sending, by the network device, a physical uplink control channel resource indicator PRI in last DCI corresponding to the one or more pieces of unicast data, wherein the PRI indicates the PUCCH resource” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer (via a base station 102, 103) a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters (indication information) for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Regarding claim 12, “wherein the uplink control information is obtained by appending a second HARQ-ACK codebook to a first HARQ-ACK codebook; and the first HARQ-ACK codebook is generated based on the first HARQ-ACK information, and the second HARQ-ACK codebook is generated based on the second HARQ-ACK information” is anticipated by the UE 116 of Figure 1 that determines separate HARQ-ACK codebooks for unicast PDSCH receptions and for multicast PDSCH receptions, and then jointly or separately encodes and multiplexes (appends) the HARQ-ACK codebooks in a same PUCCH transmission as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 13, “an apparatus, comprising: a memory storing instructions; and at least one processor in communication with the memory, the at least one processor configured, upon execution of the instructions, to perform the following steps: receiving a plurality of pieces of data from a network device, wherein the plurality of pieces of data comprise multicast data and unicast data, and first hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the one or more pieces of multicast data and second HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the one or more pieces of unicast data have a same priority and are to be fed back in a same time unit” is anticipated by a UE that receives a number of PDSCHs (plurality of pieces of data) scheduled by DCI formats with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI and determines a number of corresponding HARQ-ACK information bits to multiplex in a PUCCH transmission as shown in step 820 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141]; where the UE is configured to receive both unicast PDSCH (unicast data) and multicast PDSCH (multicast data) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0112]; where the DCI formats indicate a priority for the HARQ-ACK information via a last DCI format among DCI formats indicating a same priority as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; where the UE can multiplex the HARQ-ACK codebooks in a same PUCCH transmission (same time unit) as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0118]; and where the UE 116 of Figure 3 includes a memory 360 coupled to a processor 340.
Lastly, “determining a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource based on second PUCCH configuration information, wherein first PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the multicast data, the second PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the unicast data; and sending uplink control information to the network device on the PUCCH resource, wherein the uplink control information comprises the first HARQ-ACK information and the second HARQ-ACK information” is anticipated by is anticipated by the UE 116 that receives a configuration for a set of PUCCH resources to use for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information in response to PDSCH receptions scheduled by DCI formats with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI, where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource to use for a PUCCH transmission with multiplexed unicast and multicast HARQ-ACK information (first, second HARQ-ACK information) as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0127]; and where the UE is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 14, “obtaining the first PUCCH configuration information and the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer with a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 15, “determining the PUCCH resource based on the second PUCCH configuration information and a physical uplink control channel resource indicator (PRI) that is in last downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to the unicast data, wherein the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured in the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Regarding claim 16, “determining the PUCCH resource based on a physical uplink control channel resource indicator (PRI) in last downlink control information (DCI) corresponding to the plurality of pieces of data and PUCCH configuration information corresponding to the last DCI, wherein the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured in the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Regarding claim 17, “receiving first indication information from the network device, wherein the first indication information indicates a terminal device to determine the PUCCH resource based on the second PUCCH configuration information; and determining, by the terminal device, the PUCCH resource based on the second PUCCH configuration information and a physical uplink control channel resource indicator PRI that is in last downlink control information DCI corresponding to the one or more pieces of unicast data, wherein the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured in the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters (indication information) for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Regarding claim 18, “wherein the uplink control information is obtained by appending a second HARQ-ACK codebook to a first HARQ-ACK codebook; and the first HARQ-ACK codebook is generated based on the first HARQ-ACK information, and the second HARQ-ACK codebook is generated based on the second HARQ-ACK information” is anticipated by the UE 116 of Figure 1 that determines separate HARQ-ACK codebooks for unicast PDSCH receptions and for multicast PDSCH receptions, and then jointly or separately encodes and multiplexes (appends) the HARQ-ACK codebooks in a same PUCCH transmission as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 19, “an apparatus, comprising: a memory storing instructions; and at least one processor in communication with the memory, the at least one processor configured, upon execution of the instructions, to perform the following steps: sending a plurality of pieces of data to a terminal device, wherein the plurality of pieces of data comprise multicast data and unicast data, and first hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment (HARQ-ACK) information corresponding to the multicast data and second HARQ-ACK information corresponding to the unicast data have a same priority and are to be fed back in a same time unit” is anticipated by a UE that receives a number of PDSCHs (plurality of pieces of data) scheduled by DCI formats with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI from a base station (apparatus) 102, 103 of Figure 1 and determines a number of corresponding HARQ-ACK information bits to multiplex in a PUCCH transmission as shown in step 820 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141]; where the UE is configured to receive both unicast PDSCH (unicast data) and multicast PDSCH (multicast data) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0112]; where the DCI formats indicate a priority for the HARQ-ACK information via a last DCI format among DCI formats indicating a same priority as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE can multiplex the HARQ-ACK codebooks in a same PUCCH transmission (same time unit) as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0118]; and where the base station 102 of Figure 2 includes a memory 230 coupled to a processor 225.
Lastly, “determining a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource, wherein the PUCCH resource belongs to a PUCCH resource set configured in second PUCCH configuration information, first PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the multicast data, the second PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the unicast data; and receiving uplink control information from the terminal device on the PUCCH resource, wherein the uplink control information comprises the first HARQ-ACK information and the second HARQ-ACK information” is anticipated by the UE 116 that receives a configuration for a set of PUCCH resources to use for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information in response to PDSCH receptions scheduled by DCI formats with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI from a base station (network device) 102, 103, where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH (to the base station 102, 103) using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource to use for a PUCCH transmission with multiplexed unicast and multicast HARQ-ACK information (first, second HARQ-ACK information) as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0127]; and where the UE is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118].
Regarding claim 20, “sending a physical uplink control channel resource indicator (PRI) in DCI corresponding to a last piece of unicast data, wherein the PRI indicates the PUCCH resource, and the PUCCH resource is a resource in a PUCCH resource set configured in the second PUCCH configuration information” is anticipated by the UE that is provided by a higher layer (via base station 102, 103) a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource based on a value of a PUCCH resource indicator field (PRI) in a last DCI format (last downlink control information) that the UE correctly receives and generates corresponding HARQ-ACK information that is included in a PUCCH transmission using the PUCCH resource as spoken of on page 8, paragraph [0091]; and where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/21/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 1, Applicant argues that Papasakellariou does not teach “determining, by the terminal device, a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource based on second PUCCH configuration information, wherein first PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the multicast data, the second PUCCH configuration information corresponds to the unicast data”. Applicant further asserts that Papasakellariou discusses determining a PUCCH resource based on multicast PUCCH information rather than determining a PUCCH resource based on unicast PUCCH information. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
As provided in the previous Office Action and reiterated above, Papasakellariou teaches the UE 116 that receives a configuration for a set of PUCCH resources to use for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information in response to PDSCH receptions scheduled by DCI formats with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI, where the UE determines a PUCCH resource from the set of PUCCH resources based on a value of OUCI and multiplexes the HARQ-ACK information bits in the PUCCH according to the PUCCH resource and transmits the PUCCH using the PUCCH resource as shown in steps 810 and 830 of Figure 8 and spoken of on page 12, paragraph [0141]; where the UE determines a PUCCH resource to use for a PUCCH transmission with multiplexed unicast and multicast HARQ-ACK information (first, second HARQ-ACK information) as spoken of on page 11, paragraph [0127]; and where the UE is provided by a higher layer a first information element PUCCH-Config (second PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with unicast UCI, such as HARQ-ACK information, and a second information element PUCCH-Config (first PUCCH configuration information) providing parameters for a PUCCH transmission with HARQ-ACK information associated with a DCI format with CRC scrambled by a G-RNTI (for multicast UCI) as spoken of on page 10, paragraph [0118].
Paragraph [0118] of Papasakellariou further states that “when a UE receives both unicast PDSCH and multicast PDSCH, the UE needs to determine how to provide corresponding HARQ-ACK information”, where the UE either determines separate HARQ-ACK codebooks for unicast PDSCH receptions and for multicast PDSCH receptions for transmission in a separate multiplexed PUCCH transmission, or determines a single HARQ-ACK codebook for unicast and multicast PDSCH receptions.
While paragraphs [0138]-[0139] of Papasakellariou (noted by Applicant) discuss an embodiment where a higher layer parameter groupcast-PUCCH-AN-List is used to determine PUCCH resources for groupcast communication, it is maintained that the teachings described in paragraph [0118] above describe embodiments where HARQ-ACK information is provided by determining PUCCH resources to use for a PUCCH transmission with multiplexed unicast and multicast HARQ-ACK information based upon PUCCH configuration information corresponding to unicast data as well as multicast data.
Based on the above, it is maintained that Papasakellariou teaches the above limitation in question. Similar reasoning applies to claims 7, 13, and 19.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
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/MICHAEL J MOORE JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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