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 .
The instant office action is in response to communication filed on 11/09/2023.
Claims 1-20 are pending of which claims 1, 11, and 17 are independent.
The IDS(s) submitted on 11/09/2023 has been considered.
Internet Communications
Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
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 (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 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 1, 9, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shaheen et al (US 20180324768 A1) in view of Fan et al (US 20200196348 A1) and Bagaa et al (“On using Deep Reinforcement Learning to reduce Uplink Latency for uRLLC services”, IEEE, 2022).
Regarding claim 1, Shaheen discloses a device (i.e. gNB 760 of Fig. 7, gNB 860 of Fig. 8 wherein gNB structure is detailed in Fig. 21), comprising: a processing system (Fig. 21 Processor 2103 plus DSP 2113) including a processor (Fig. 21 Processor 2103); and a memory (Fig. 21 Memory 2105) that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
receiving, from a user equipment (UE) device (UE of 702 and UE 802 of Fig. 8), a scheduling request (in Fig. 7 step 701 and in Fig. 8 step 801 UE sends a scheduling request for URLLC service to gNB ) for a configured grant operation (Fig. 7 step 703 and Fig. 8 step 803 show gNB sending to UE a grant configured for uplink transmission per paragraphs 306 and 322) during performance of an ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) at the UE device indicating the scheduling request (See paragraph 91 URLLC implemented via a Scheduling Request (SR) service); and
suspending further scheduling requests for additional dynamic configured grants during completion of the URLLC service at the device. (Per paragraphs 85, 86, 310 and 340 in relation to Figs.8 and 11 teach dynamic additional grants – step 703 in Fig. 7, step 803 in Fig. 8 and Fig. 11 step 1103 are the initial grant and the additional dynamic grant is step 811 in Fig. 8 and step 1107 in Fig. 11. Further the suspending scheduling requests for additional dynamic configured grants is achieved in Figs. 8 and 11 as only a single SR (Scheduling Request ) is transmitted for the initial UL grant and the second additional dynamic grant is generated without an additional SR using a timer called logicalChannelSR-Prohibit Timer. LogicalChannelSR-Prohibit Timer if set additional SR is not generated per paragraph 148. Per paragraph 148 additional SR cannot be generated if the LogicalChannelSR-Prohibit Timer is set. See also paragraph 138 and 148. )
determining radio channel characteristics of a radio channel of the UE device; (Shaheen also discloses in paragraphs 85 and 86 that the scheduler of gNB 160 of Fig. 1 should take account of the traffic volume and the QoS requirements of each UE 102 of Fig. 1 and associated radio bearers when sharing resources between UEs 102. Only “per UE” grants may be used to grant the right to transmit on the UL-SCH. Schedulers may assign resources taking into account a radio conditions at the UE 102 identified through measurements made at the gNB 160 and/or reported by the UE 102.)
Even though Sheen discloses dynamically allocating MCS (Modulation and coding Scheme) in paragraph 86 but fails to disclose determining an appropriate modulation and coding scheme for a dynamic configured grant for the UE device, wherein the appropriate modulation and coding scheme is selected based on the radio channel characteristics and communicating information about the dynamic configured grant to the UE device, including communicating an assigned modulation and coding scheme to the UE device.
Fan, in the same endeavor, discloses determining an appropriate modulation and coding scheme (i.e. update modulation and coding scheme linked with a second dynamic grant – see paragraph 17) for a dynamic configured grant for the UE device (see paragraph 17 stating , the trigger event is detection of a change in radio link quality between the UE and the BS during reception of the first uplink transmission. The step of determining comprises determining the second grant that sch3edules the second uplink transmission with an updated modulation and coding scheme (MSC) in a third at least one subframe.)wherein the appropriate modulation and coding scheme is selected based on the radio channel characteristics.(See paragraph 72 with respect Fig. 5 A in relation to paragraph 72 indicates the first grant may indicate a modulation and coding scheme (MSC) corresponding to the estimated radio link quality. Further in Fig. 5A in step 510, In response to the change in radio link quality, the NW determines at step 510 a second grant that schedules the second uplink transmission with an updated MSC in a third plurality of subframes. For example, this step may be performed when the change in radio link quality is greater than a predetermined threshold. The updated MSC can be determined based on the changed radio link quality. See paragraphs 76-78)
Fan also discloses communicating information about the dynamic configured grant to the UE device, including communicating an assigned modulation and coding scheme to the UE device. (See Paragraph 24 with the second dynamic configured grant corresponding updated MSC is sent to the UE and the UE transmits second uplink transmission with the updated MSC. See also paragraphs 75, 78, and in Fig.5A at step 512b the UE gets the second dynamic grant with updated MSC and the UE transmits based on the second grant.)
In view of the above, having Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques and then given the well- established teaching of Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques as taught by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC, since Fan states in paragraph 78 that the modification results in allowing the UE to help increasing channel utilization efficiency and benefit UE performance quite a lot.
Shaheen modified by Fan fails to disclose communicating an assigned modulation and coding scheme to the UE device for use during performance of the URLLC service at the device.
Bagaa, in the same endeavor, discloses communicating an assigned modulation and coding scheme to the UE device for use during performance of the URLLC service at the device. (See Page 408, 1st Column, last paragraph explicitly indicating to support uRLLC services gNB dynamically sending to the UE, DCI grants with the adapted MCS to the channel condition. Note also Bagaa teaches on page 407 2nd column, 4th bullet item stating “…The new methodology dramatically reduces the signaling overhead. For instance, the UL latency will decrease since the UE will not send a Scheduling Request
(SR) nor send BSR to get more grants for the same transmission. More details are provided in Section II-A.)
In view of the above, having Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and then given the well- established teaching of Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC as taught by Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling, since Bagaa states in the last paragraph of the first column of page 408 and abstract that the modification results in providing a high dynamic scheduler that has the ability to avoid the SR and BSR latency.
Regarding claim 9, Shaheen modified by Fan and Bagaa discloses the device of claim 1, and Shaheen further discloses wherein the device comprises a vehicle. (Shaheen in paragraph 116 discloses a URLLC use case where the device comprises a smart vehicle, transport and infrastructure)
Regarding claim 10, Shaheen modified by Fan and Bagaa discloses the device of claim 1, and Shaheen further discloses wherein the device comprises a medical equipment. (Shaheen in paragraph 114 discloses a 5G medical use case where in the device comprises a medical equipment in the form of a robotic end used for minimally invasive surgery.)
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shaheen in view of Fan and Bagaa and further in view Tsai et al (US 20200351932 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Shaheen modified by Fan and Bagaa discloses the device of claim 1 as set forth above, but fails to disclose wherein the operations further comprise:
assigning resources to the dynamic configured grant, wherein the assigning resources is based on the scheduling request; and releasing the resources following completion of the URLLC service at the device.
Tsai, in the same endeavor, disclose wherein the operations further comprise:
assigning resources to the dynamic configured grant, wherein the assigning resources is based on the scheduling request; and releasing the resources following completion of the URLLC service at the device. (Tsai, in paragraph 46 teaches the limitation in reference to Fig. 2 by stating “After the UE completes the uploading of the URLLC data at the time point t3, a portion of the resource 15 between the time point t3 and the time point t4 will be released. Therefore, the base station may reschedule the uplink resources between the time point t3 and the time point t4….”)
In view of the above, having Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and then given the well- established teaching of Tsai ‘s technique of uploading URLLC data, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling as taught by Tsai ‘s technique of uploading URLLC data, since Tsai states in paragraphs 8 and 140 that the modification results, when conflict occurs in the resources of the uplink data, the UE may use these resources in the most efficient way.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shaheen in view of Fan and Bagaa and Tsai and further in view Lyu et al (US 20240414593 A1).
Regarding claim 3, Shaheen modified by Fan , Bagaa and Tsai discloses the device of claim 2, including the assigning resources to the dynamic configured grant as set forth above but fails to disclose assigning a data rate for uplink communication by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at the service; and assigning a latency for the uplink communication by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at the service.
Lyu, in the same endeavor, discloses assigning a data rate for uplink communication by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at the service (See paragraphs 55, 85, and in particular paragraphs 101 and 102-103 a URLLC data flow is assigned data rate for data rate assignment ); and assigning a latency for the uplink communication by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at the service.(See paragraphs 39, 101, 103 and see paragraphs 87-88 with respect to Figs. 2A&2B parameters 205 and 207 assigns latency for URLLC service. Fig. 4 steps 410 and 415, Fig. 8 steps 810, 815, Fig. 9 steps 910, 915)
In view of the above, having Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Tsai ‘s technique of uploading URLLC data then given the well- established teaching of Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Tsai ‘s technique of uploading URLLC data as taught by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, since Lyu states in paragraphs 42 and 77 that the modification results, facilitating efficient use of a communication system's capacity to deliver the traffic and increase spectral efficiency.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shaheen et al (US 20180324768 A1) in view of Fan et al (US 20200196348 A1) and Bagaa et al (“On using Deep Reinforcement Learning to reduce Uplink Latency for uRLLC services”, IEEE, 2022) and Lyu et al (US 20240414593 A1) and Koziol et al (US 20220232581 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Shaheen discloses a non-transitory machine-readable medium (Fig. 21 Memory 2105 of gNB 2160), comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor (Processor 2103 of gNB 2160), facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
receiving, from the UE device (UE of 702 and UE 802 of Fig. 8), over a radio link (i.e. the radio links between gNB and UE in Figs. 7 and 8 are shown as downlink channels 119 and uplink channels 121 in Fig. 1), a buffer status report and a
scheduling request (i.e. SR (Scheduling Request) and BSR (Buffer Status Report) 701 in Fig. 7 and step 801 in Fig. 8 and Fig. 11 SR 1101 and BSR 1105 in Fig. 11) for a dynamic configured grant for extended uplink communication
from the UE device to the network; (In Figs. 7, 8, 11 like Applicant’s Fig. 2A show activating an extended uplink communication using a single SR activates dynamic configured grant to generate multiple grants for extended uplink communication. See paragraphs 85, 86, 91, 306, 310, 322 and 340) and
suspending communication of further buffer status report messages (i.e. by default during provisioning of the URLLC service unless the three timers are configured neither buffer status report (BSR) and scheduling request (SR) can be generated. The timers are set after the completion of the provisioning/configuration. Shaheen in paragraph 138 discloses “…RRC controls BSR reporting by configuring the three timers periodicBSR-Timer, retxBSR-Timer and logicalChannelSR-ProhibitTimer and by, for each logical channel,…” and further scheduling request messages during provision of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device. ( Further the suspending scheduling requests for additional dynamic configured grants is achieved in Figs. 8 and 11 as only a single SR (Scheduling Request ) is transmitted for the initial UL grant and the second additional dynamic grant is generated without an additional SR using a timer called logicalChannelSR-Prohibit Timer. LogicalChannelSR-Prohibit Timer if set additional SR is not generated per paragraph 148. Per paragraph 148 additional SR cannot be generated if the LogicalChannelSR-Prohibit Timer is set. See also paragraph 138 and 148. )
Even though Shaheen discloses dynamically allocating MCS (Modulation and coding Scheme) in paragraph 86 but fails to disclose determining an appropriate modulation and coding scheme for the dynamic configured grant for the UE device, wherein the appropriate modulation and coding scheme is selected based on radio channel characteristics of the radio link.
Fan, in the same endeavor, discloses determining an appropriate modulation and coding scheme for the dynamic configured grant for the UE device (i.e. update modulation and coding scheme linked with a second dynamic grant – see paragraph 17. See also paragraph 17 stating , the trigger event is detection of a change in radio link quality between the UE and the BS during reception of the first uplink transmission. The step of determining comprises determining the second grant that sch3edules the second uplink transmission with an updated modulation and coding scheme (MSC) in a third at least one subframe.), wherein the appropriate modulation and coding scheme is selected based on radio channel characteristics of the radio link. .(See paragraph 72 with respect Fig. 5 A in relation to paragraph 72 indicates the first grant may indicate a modulation and coding scheme (MSC) corresponding to the estimated radio link quality. Further in Fig. 5A in step 510, In response to the change in radio link quality, the NW determines at step 510 a second grant that schedules the second uplink transmission with an updated MSC in a third plurality of subframes. For example, this step may be performed when the change in radio link quality is greater than a predetermined threshold. The updated MSC can be determined based on the changed radio link quality. See paragraphs 76-78)
In view of the above, having Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques and then given the well- established teaching of Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques as taught by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC, since Fan states in paragraph 78 that the modification results in allowing the UE to help increasing channel utilization efficiency and benefit UE performance quite a lot.
Shaheen modified by Fan fails to disclose communicating, to the UE device, information about an assigned modulation and coding scheme to the UE device for use during performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device.
Bagaa , in the same endeavor, discloses communicating, to the UE device, information about an assigned modulation and coding scheme to the UE device for use during performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device. (See Page 408, 1st Column, last paragraph explicitly indicating to support uRLLC services gNB dynamically sending to the UE, DCI grants with the adapted MCS to the channel condition. Note also Bagaa teaches on page 407 2nd column, 4th bullet item stating “…The new methodology dramatically reduces the signaling overhead. For instance, the UL latency will decrease since the UE will not send a Scheduling Request (SR) nor send BSR to get more grants for the same transmission. More details are provided in Section II-A.)
In view of the above, having Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and then given the well- established teaching of Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC as taught by Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling, since Bagaa states in the last paragraph of the first column of page 408 and abstract that the modification results in providing a high dynamic scheduler that has the ability to avoid the SR and BSR latency.
Shaheen modified by Fan and Bagaa fails to disclose communicating to the UE device, information about a data rate and a latency for use on uplink communications during the dynamic configured grant, for use during performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device.
Lyu discloses communicating to the UE device, information about a data rate (See paragraphs 55, 85, and in particular paragraphs 101 and 102-103 a URLLC data flow is assigned data rate for data rate assignment ) and a latency for use on uplink communications during the dynamic configured grant, for use during performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device. (See paragraphs 39, 101, 103 and see paragraphs 87-88 with respect to Figs. 2A&2B parameters 205 and 207 assigns latency for URLLC service. Fig. 4 steps 410 and 415, Fig. 8 steps 810, 815, Fig. 9 steps 910, 915)
In view of the above, having Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling then given the well- established teaching of Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling as taught by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, since Lyu states in paragraphs 42 and 77 that the modification results, facilitating efficient use of a communication system's capacity to deliver the traffic and increase spectral efficiency.
Shaheen modified by Fan and Bagaa and Lyu fails to disclose identifying a start of provision of an ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) service at equipment associated with a UE device, the UE device in radio communication with a network.
Koziol, in the same endeavor, discloses identifying a start of provision of an ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) service (i.e. RRC signal configuring the URLLC service is the start of the provisioning of the URLLC service) at equipment associated with a UE device, the UE device in radio communication with a network. (See paragraphs 163-164 where Koziol discloses provisioning mechanism for URLLC service at a UE and the URLLC service is activated by a configured grant (CG) and The CG supported by 5G NR can be classified into Type-1 and Type-2. Type-1 CG is solely configured by the RRC and is activated as soon as the RRC configuration is completed. In both cases, the gNB may assign a set of parameters such as one or more of MCS (modulation and coding scheme), TBS (transport block size), resource size/timing and power-related settings to each grant, so the communications device can use these grants properly. See also paragraph 165)
In view of the above, having Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services then given the well- established teaching of Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services as taught by Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services, since Koziol states in paragraphs 231 and 232 that the modification results addresses the situation where lower priority data can pre-empt higher priority data is avoided.
Regarding claim 12, Shaheen modified by Fan, Bagaa, Lyu and Koziol discloses the non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11 as set forth above but Shaheen modified by Fan, Bagaa, and Koziol fails to disclose wherein the operations further comprise:
assigning a data rate for uplink communication by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device, forming an assigned data rate;
assigning a latency for the uplink communication by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device, forming an assigned latency; and
communicating the assigned data rate and the assigned latency to the UE device.
Lyu, in the same endeavor, discloses assigning a data rate for uplink communication by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device, forming an assigned data rate; (See paragraphs 55, 85, and in particular paragraphs 101 and 102-103 a URLLC data flow is assigned data rate for data rate assignment )
assigning a latency for the uplink communication by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device, forming an assigned latency; (See paragraphs 39, 101, 103 and see paragraphs 87-88 with respect to Figs. 2A&2B parameters 205 and 207 assigns latency for URLLC service. Fig. 4 steps 410 and 415, Fig. 8 steps 810, 815, Fig. 9 steps 910, 915) and
communicating the assigned data rate (See paragraphs 42, 85, 101, and 88 where quality parameters 205 is sent to a user equipment and contains latency, latency budget and data rate as a reliability metric) the assigned latency to the UE device. (See paragraphs 42, 85, 101, and 88 where quality parameters 205 is sent to a user equipment and contains latency, latency budget and data rate as a reliability metric)
In view of the above, having Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services then given the well- established teaching of Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Shaheen’s uplink transmission techniques modified by Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services as taught by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, since Lyu states in paragraphs 42 and 77 that the modification results, facilitating efficient use of a communication system's capacity to deliver the traffic and increase spectral efficiency.
Claim(s) 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koziol et al (US 20220232581 A1) in view of Fan et al (US 20200196348 A1) and Bagaa et al (“On using Deep Reinforcement Learning to reduce Uplink Latency for uRLLC services”, IEEE, 2022) and Lyu et al (US 20240414593 A1).
Regarding claim 17, Koziol discloses a method, comprising:
initiating, by a processing system (Fig. 3 ) including a processor (i.e. Fig. 3 processor 301 – paragraph 149), a start of provision of an ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) service (i.e. RRC signal configuring the URLLC service is the start of the provisioning of the URLLC service) at equipment associated with a UE device (i.e. user equipment 102, 104, 105 in Fig. 1), the UE device in radio communication with a network (i.e. Fig. 1 network 100) (See paragraphs 163-164 where Koziol discloses provisioning mechanism for URLLC service at a UE and the URLLC service is activated by a configured grant (CG) and The CG supported by 5G NR can be classified into Type-1 and Type-2. Type-1 CG is solely configured by the RRC and is activated as soon as the RRC configuration is completed. In both cases, the gNB may assign a set of parameters such as one or more of MCS (modulation and coding scheme), TBS (transport block size), resource size/timing and power-related settings to each grant, so the communications device can use these grants properly. See also paragraph 165)
;
communicating, by the processing system, from the UE device over a radio link to a network device, a scheduling request (i.e. SR (Scheduling Request) paragraph 163 and paragraphs165-166) for a dynamic configured grant (i.e. DG – Dynamic Grant – paragraphs 162,165 – 166) for extended uplink communication (see paragraph 163 disclosing a single scheduling request generating a single Configured Grant per bandwidth part for the entirety of a single set of transmissions) from the UE device to the network during the provision of the
URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device; (See paragraphs 163-164 where Koziol discloses provisioning mechanism for URLLC service at a UE and the URLLC service is activated by a configured grant (CG) and The CG supported by 5G NR can be classified into Type-1 and Type-2. Type-1 CG is solely configured by the RRC and is activated as soon as the RRC configuration is completed. In both cases, the gNB may assign a set of parameters such as one or more of MCS (modulation and coding scheme), TBS (transport block size), resource size/timing and power-related settings to each grant, so the communications device can use these grants properly. See also paragraph 165)
Koziol fails to disclose receiving, by the processing system, at the UE device, information about a data rate and a latency for use on uplink communications over the radio link during the dynamic configured grant for the UE device for use during performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device,
communicating, by the processing system, on an uplink to the network device over the radio link according to the information about a data rate and a latency, during the provision of the URLLC services at the equipment associated with the UE device.
Lyu, in the same endeavor, discloses receiving, by the processing system, at the UE device, information about a data rate (See paragraphs 55, 85, and in particular paragraphs 101 and 102-103 a URLLC data flow is assigned data rate for data rate assignment ) and a latency for use on uplink communications over the radio link (See paragraphs 39, 101, 103 and see paragraphs 87-88 with respect to Figs. 2A&2B parameters 205 and 207 assigns latency for URLLC service. Fig. 4 steps 410 and 415, Fig. 8 steps 810, 815, Fig. 9 steps 910, 915) during the dynamic configured grant for the UE device for use during performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device; (See paragraphs 39, 101, 103 and see paragraphs 87-88 with respect to Figs. 2A&2B parameters 205 and 207 assigns latency for URLLC service. Fig. 4 steps 410 and 415, Fig. 8 steps 810, 815, Fig. 9 steps 910, 915), communicating, by the processing system, on an uplink to the network device over the radio link according to the information about a data rate (See paragraphs 42, 85, 101, and 88 where quality parameters 205 is sent to a user equipment and contains latency, latency budget and data rate as a reliability metric) and a latency, during the provision of the URLLC services at the equipment associated with the UE device. (See paragraphs 42, 85, 101, and 88 where quality parameters 205 is sent to a user equipment and contains latency, latency budget and data rate as a reliability metric)
In view of the above, having Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services then given the well- established teaching of Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify Koziol ’s technique of provisioning URLLC services as taught by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, since Lyu states in paragraphs 42 and 77 that the modification results, facilitating efficient use of a communication system's capacity to deliver the traffic and increase spectral efficiency.
Koziol modified by Lyu fails to disclose including receiving an assigned modulation and coding scheme for the UE device for use during performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device.
Bagaa in the same endeavor discloses including receiving an assigned modulation and coding scheme for the UE device for use during performance of the URLLC service at the equipment associated with the UE device. (See Page 408, 1st Column, last paragraph explicitly indicating to support uRLLC services gNB dynamically sending to the UE, DCI grants with the adapted MCS to the channel condition. Note also Bagaa teaches on page 407 2nd column, 4th bullet item stating “…The new methodology dramatically reduces the signaling overhead. For instance, the UL latency will decrease since the UE will not send a Scheduling Request (SR) nor send BSR to get more grants for the same transmission. More details are provided in Section II-A.)
In view of the above, having Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services then given the well- established teaching of Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services as taught by Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling, since Bagaa states in the last paragraph of the first column of page 408 and abstract that the modification results in providing a high dynamic scheduler that has the ability to avoid the SR and BSR latency.
Koziol modified by Lyu and Bagaa fails to disclose wherein the assigned modulation and coding scheme is selected based on current radio characteristics of the radio link.
Fan, in the same endeavor, discloses wherein the assigned modulation and coding scheme is selected based on current radio characteristics of the radio link. (See paragraph 72 with respect Fig. 5 A in relation to paragraph 72 indicates the first grant may indicate a modulation and coding scheme (MSC) corresponding to the estimated radio link quality. Further in Fig. 5A in step 510, In response to the change in radio link quality, the NW determines at step 510 a second grant that schedules the second uplink transmission with an updated MSC in a third plurality of subframes. For example, this step may be performed when the change in radio link quality is greater than a predetermined threshold. The updated MSC can be determined based on the changed radio link quality. See paragraphs 76-78. See also paragraph 17)
In view of the above, having Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling then given the well- established teaching of Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Koziol ’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services and Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling as taught by Fan‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling, since Fan states in paragraph 78 that the modification results in allowing the UE to help increasing channel utilization efficiency and benefit UE performance quite a lot.
Regarding claim 18, Koziol modified by Lyu and Bagaa and Fan disclose the method of claim 17, but Koziol modified by Lyu and Fan fails to disclose receiving, by the processing system, an assigned modulation and coding scheme for use by the UE device during the dynamic configured grant, wherein the assigned modulation and coding scheme is adjusted based on an identification of the UE device as a mobile device, the adjusting to mitigate required retransmission of uplink data by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at equipment associated with the UE device.
Bagaa in the same endeavor discloses receiving, by the processing system (See Figs. 1 and 2 where the system comprises a UE and gNB), an assigned modulation and coding scheme for use by the UE device during the dynamic configured grant (See page 407 last line states gNB then assigns PRBs to the UE and sends back a Downlink Control Information (DCI), informing mainly the Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), the number of PRBs, and the k2 parameter to be used for that transmission. The UE will send the data after k2 slots from receiving the DCI. The first DCI contains a minimum grant in terms of the number of PRBs (since SR is just one bit and does not inform the gNB about the current queue status of the UE). Fig. 1 UL dynamic scheduling maps to dynamic configured grant), wherein the assigned modulation and coding scheme is adjusted based on an identification of the UE device as a mobile device (Page 408 Column 1 last paragraph explains the assigned modulation and coding scheme based on the UE being in a wireless channel condition making the UE a mobile device.), the adjusting to mitigate required retransmission (MSC is adjusted because the radio channel deteriorated and such adjustment lowers retransmission) of uplink data by the UE device during the performance of the URLLC service at equipment associated with the UE device. (See Page 408, 1st Column, last paragraph explicitly indicating to support uRLLC services gNB dynamically sending to the UE, DCI grants with the adapted MCS to the channel condition. Note also Bagaa teaches on page 407 2nd column, 4th bullet item stating “…The new methodology dramatically reduces the signaling overhead. For instance, the UL latency will decrease since the UE will not send a Scheduling Request (SR) nor send BSR to get more grants for the same transmission. More details are provided in Section II-A.)
In view of the above, having Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services and Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC then given the well- established teaching of Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services and Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC as taught by Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling, since Bagaa states in the last paragraph of the first column of page 408 and abstract that the modification results in providing a high dynamic scheduler that has the ability to avoid the SR and BSR latency.
Regarding claim 19, Koziol modified by Lyu and Bagaa and Fan discloses the method of claim 17, Koziol further discloses the dynamically selected information selected at the network for the UE device during provision of the URLLC service at the equipment, for current radio characteristics of the radio link. (see paragraphs 163-164 provisioning of radio resources for URLLC services wherein the gNB may assign a set of parameters such as one or more of MCS (modulation and coding scheme), TBS (transport block size), resource size/timing and power-related settings to each grant, so the communications device can use these grants properly.)
Koziol modified by Bagaa and Fan fail to disclose wherein receiving the information about the data rate and the latency for use on uplink communications comprises:
receiving, by the processing system, dynamically selected information about the
data rate and the latency, the dynamically selected information selected at the network for the UE device.
Lyu in the same endeavor, discloses wherein receiving the information about the data rate (See paragraphs 55, 85, and in particular paragraphs 101 and 102-103 a URLLC data flow is assigned data rate for data rate assignment ) and the latency for use on uplink communications (See paragraphs 39, 101, 103 and see paragraphs 87-88 with respect to Figs. 2A&2B parameters 205 and 207 assigns latency for URLLC service. Fig. 4 steps 410 and 415, Fig. 8 steps 810, 815, Fig. 9 steps 910, 915) comprises:
receiving, by the processing system, dynamically selected information about the data rate and the latency, the dynamically selected information selected at the network for the UE device. (See paragraphs 42, 85, 101, and 88 where quality parameters 205 is sent to a user equipment and contains latency, latency budget and data rate as a reliability metric and dynamically selecting is disclosed in paragraph 59)
In view of the above, having Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC then given the well- established teaching of Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC as taught by Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services, since Lyu states in paragraphs 42 and 77 that the modification results, facilitating efficient use of a communication system's capacity to deliver the traffic and increase spectral efficiency.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Koziol et al (US 20220232581 A1) in view of Fan et al (US 20200196348 A1) and Bagaa et al (“On using Deep Reinforcement Learning to reduce Uplink Latency for uRLLC services”, IEEE, 2022) and Lyu et al (US 20240414593 A1) and further in view of Tsai et al (US 20200351932 A1).
Regarding claim 20, Koziol modified by Lyu and Bagaa and Fan discloses the method of claim 17, including traffic related to the provision of the URLLC services as set forth above.
Koziol modified by Lyu and Bagaa and Fan fails to disclose determining, by the processing system, an end to uplink communication of traffic; and
releasing, by the processing system, assigned resources for the dynamic
configured grant for extended uplink communication from the UE device to the network,
wherein the releasing assigned resources is responsive to the determining the end to
uplink communication of traffic .
Tsai discloses determining, by the processing system, an end to uplink communication of traffic; and
releasing, by the processing system, assigned resources for the dynamic
configured grant for extended uplink communication from the UE device to the network,
wherein the releasing assigned resources is responsive to the determining the end to
uplink communication of traffic . (Tsai, in paragraph 46 teaches the limitation in reference to Fig. 2 by stating “After the UE completes the uploading of the URLLC data at the time point t3, a portion of the resource 15 between the time point t3 and the time point t4 will be released. Therefore, the base station may reschedule the uplink resources between the time point t3 and the time point t4….”)
In view of the above, having Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services then given the well- established teaching of Tsai ‘s technique of uploading URLLC data, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to further modify Koziol’s technique of provisioning URLLC services modified by Bagaa ‘s technique of informing updated MSC with dynamic scheduling and Fan’s techniques for using updated MSC and Lyu ‘s technique of assigning data rate and latency for URLLC services as taught by Tsai ‘s technique of uploading URLLC data, since Tsai states in paragraphs 8 and 140 that the modification results, when conflict occurs in the resources of the uplink data, the UE may use these resources in the most efficient way..
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-8 and 13-16 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
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/HABTE MERED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474