Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/507,624

DYNAMIC HARQ-ACK CODEBOOK PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE, AND READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §103§112
Filed
Nov 13, 2023
Examiner
RAHMAN, SHAH M
Art Unit
2413
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Vivo Mobile Communication Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
81%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 11m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 81% — above average
81%
Career Allow Rate
372 granted / 461 resolved
+22.7% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+26.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
59 currently pending
Career history
520
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.0%
-37.0% vs TC avg
§103
57.1%
+17.1% vs TC avg
§102
20.5%
-19.5% vs TC avg
§112
12.9%
-27.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 461 resolved cases

Office Action

§103 §112
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. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 05/08/2024 and 07/24/2025 have been placed in record and considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 1-6, 9-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Regarding claim 1 , lines 4-6 recites “determining, by a terminal, a mapping relationship between HARQ-ACK bits in a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook and the scheduled PDSCHs based on one or more of a downlink assignment index DAI counting manner and whether time-domain bundling is used. “. It is not clear if the determining the mapping relationship between HARO-ACK bits in a dynamic HARO- ACK codebook and the scheduled PDSCHs determined based on DAI uses time-domain bundling, making the claim indefinite. Claims 2-6 and 11 being dependent on claim 1 are also deemed indefinite. Claims 12, 19 and 20 with substantially similar features as in claim 1 are also deemed indefinite. Claims 13-17 being dependent on claim 12 are also interpreted indefinite. Regarding claim 2 , lines 5-6 recites “mapping valid PDSCH(s) in the scheduled PDSCHs to HARQ-ACK bits in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook”. There is no indication in any claims disclosing what is a “valid PDSCH” and how valid PDSCH relates to PDSCH is unable to be transmitted for determining mapping relationship, making the claim indefinite. Claims 5, 9, 10, 13 and 15 reciting “valid PDSCH” without further clarification, are also deemed indefinite for the same reason as in claim 2 . Regarding claim 3 , lines 5-6 recites “wherein each DCI corresponds to MAX positions in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook”. There is no indication in any claims disclosing what is “MAX position”, making the claim indefinite. Claims 4-6 and 14-17 reciting “MAX position” without further clarification, are also deemed indefinite for the same reason as in claim 3 . Regarding claim 10 , lines 3-4 recites “when at least one invalid PDSCH is present in a given bundling group, and binary AND is used, assuming a decoding result corresponding to the invalid PDSCH to be ACK”. There is no indication in any claims disclosing what is an “invalid PDSCH” and how invalid PDSCH relates to PDSCH is unable to be transmitted for determining mapping relationship, making the claim indefinite. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. Claims 1-2, 12-13, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 being unpatentable over Huawei et al. (Rl-162105 “ Discussion on SPS HARQ-ACK bit handling in case of dynamic codebook ”, of IDS, hereinafter ‘HUAWEI’) in view of Moderator (LG Electronics) (R1-2102080 "Summary #4 of POSCH/PUSCH enhancements (Scheduling/HARO)", of IDS, hereinafter 'MODERATOR-LG'). Regarding claim 1 , HUAWEI teaches a dynamic hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement HARQ-ACK codebook processing method ( Page 2, HARO-ACK bit for DL SPS in case of dynamic codebook configuration), comprising: in a case that at least one of scheduled physical downlink shared channels PDSCHs is unable to be transmitted ( Page 3, Case D: SPS PDSCH is not transmitted and an overriding dynamic PDCCH is not received) , determining, by a terminal (Page 3, UE in The PDCCH contains counter DAI and total DAI and there is no misalignment between eNodeB and UE ) , a mapping relationship between HARQ-ACK bits in a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook and the scheduled PDSCHs based on one or more of a downlink assignment index DAI counting manner and whether time-domain bundling is used ( interpreted when time-domain bundling is not used ) ( Page 2, HARO-ACK bit for DL SPS in case of dynamic codebook configuration HARQ-ACK codebook for PUCCH format 4/5 in case of dynamic codebook configuration depends on the counter DAI and total DAI in DL assignment. The definition of total DAI only includes the total number of serving cell(s) with PDSCH transmission(s) associated with PDCCH/EPDCCH(s) and serving cell with PDCCH/EPDCCH indicating downlink SPS release. The serving cell with PDSCH transmission without corresponding PDCCH/EPDCCH(s) is not considered in the total DAI. Page 3, Case D: SPS PDSCH is not transmitted and an overriding dynamic PDCCH is not received The UE could determine from the counter DAIs and the total DAI that the dynamic PDCCH was missed. The HARQ-ACK codebook size is set to O ACK and there is no misalignment between eNodeB and UE. (Construed when determining a mapping relationship between HARQ-ACK bits in a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook and the scheduled PDSCHs based on one or more of a downlink assignment index DAI counting manner and when bundling is not used, time-domain or spatial, as known in the art e.g. 3GPP TS 36.213 V13.1.1 Section 7.3.2.1 available freely over the internet)). HUAWEI does not explicitly disclose determining a mapping relationship between HARQ-ACK bits in a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook and the scheduled PDSCHs based on one or more of a downlink assignment index DAI counting manner and whether time-domain bundling is used (interpreted when time-domain bundling is used). In an analogous art, MODERATOR-LG teaches determining a mapping relationship between HARQ-ACK bits in a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook and the scheduled PDSCHs based on one or more of a downlink assignment index DAI counting manner and whether time-domain bundling is used (interpreted when time-domain bundling is used) ( Pages 37-40, 3.2 HARQ-ACK multiplexing Summary #4a {on HARQ-ACK multiplexing}: Companies' preferences are as follows: o Alt 1: C-DAI/f-DAI is counted per DC!. ■ Xiaomi, Ericsson, Huawei, Apple, Fujitsu, Lenovo, InterDigital o Alt 2: C-DAI/f-DAI is counted per POSCH. ■ Qualcomm, NTT DOCOMO, ZTE, NEC, vivo o Alt 3: C-DAI/f-DAI is counted per M scheduled PDSCH(s), where M is configurable (e.g., 1, 2, 4, ... ). ■ Nokia Proposal #4a: • For generating type-2 HARQ-ACK codebook corresponding to DCI that can schedule multiple PDSCHs, the following alternatives can be considered to DAI counting and will be down-selected. o Alt 1: C-DAI/T-DAI is counted per DC!. o Alt 2: C-DAI/T-DAI is counted per PDSCH. o Alt 3: C-DAI/T-DAI is counted per M scheduled PDSCH(s), where M is configurable (e.g., 1, 2, 4, ... ). o FFS on codebook generation details o FFS on how to signal DAI values (e.g., increase of DAI bits for Alt 2 and Alt 3) o FFS on whether to apply time domain bundling). Nokia We are fine with the updated proposal. Alt 3 is configurable trade-off between alt 1 and alt 3. (e.g. Alt 1: M= scheduled PDSCH, Alt 2: M=l). On Alt.3, there is no restriction on the number of scheduled PDSCHs. The A/Ns are zero-padded to fit the number of feedback bits to assigned for the DCI. When DAI is incremented N values for the DCI, UE reports A/Ns for N*M PDSCHs. (The number of A/Ns can be capped by the configured maximum number of schedulable PDSCHs). We share Samsung's view that the current Type 1 codebook mechanism does not work properly with the multiple PDSCH scheduling and should be discussed further. Moderator To Nokia: Considering concerns raised by multiple companies, more clarification seems necessary for Alt 3. Let's say M=4 and the maximum number of schedulable PDSCHs is configured to 8. For this case, DAI will be incremented to 1 if the number of scheduled PDSCHs is up to 4 and incremented by 2 if the number of scheduled PDSCHs is more than 4. HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to a DAI value would be equal to 4 bits and some of them can be filled with NACK based on the number of scheduled PDSCHs. Is this correct understanding? Proposal #4b: • For generating type-2 HARQ-ACK codebook corresponding to DCI that can schedule multiple PDSCHs, the following alternatives can be considered to DAI counting and will be down-selected in RAN1#104bis-e. o Alt 1: C-DAI/f-DAI is counted per DCI. o Alt 2: C-DAI/f-DAI is counted per PDSCH. o FFS: Alt 3: C-DAI/T-DAI is counted per M scheduled PDSCH(s), where M is configurable (e.g., 1, 2, 4, ... ). o FFS on codebook generation details o FFS on how to signal DAI values (e.g., increase of DAI bits for Alt 2 and Alt 3) o FFS on whether to apply time domain bundling Moderator From my understanding, time domain bundling is not related to DAI counting but related to the number of HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to a DAI value. Proposal #4c: • For generating type-2 HARQ-ACK codebook corresponding to DCI that can schedule multiple PDSCHs, the following alternatives can be considered to DAI counting and will be down-selected in RAN1#104bis-e. o Alt 1: C-DAI/f-DAI is counted per DCI. o Alt 2: C-DAI/f-DAI is counted per PDSCH. o FFS: Alt 3: C-DAI/T-DAI is counted per M scheduled PDSCH(s), where Mis configurable (e.g., 1, 2, 4, ... ). o FFS on codebook generation details o FFS on how to signal DAI values (e.g., increase of DAI bits for Alt 2 and Alt 3) o FFS on whether to apply time domain bundling of HARO~ACK feedback Nokia We are fine in general. Regarding to Alt 3, please see below clarification, Unless need to down-select in this meeting, study all alternatives should be supported, and FFS should be removed. To Moderator, Your understanding is correct. You can simply understand that this is configurable version of Alt l/2 By configuring M value, NW can select best option for the deployment. If# of PDSCH is small (e.g. 2 or 3), M=l can be used. Or if it is 4 or 8, then M= 2 or 4 can be used according to the # of carriers, PUCCH capability etc. Related DL/UL overhead comparison is as follows. DAI size: Alt 1 <= Alt 3 <= Alt 2 HARQ codebook size: Alt 2<= Alt 3 <=Alt l. Ericsson We are fine with proposal #4c. Regarding Nokia's comment on HARQ codebook size, that will also depend on whether or not time domain bundling is used. (From above discussion for Alt 2 and Alt 3, presented by MODERATOR-LG , it is obvious that if time-domain bundling is used, then if PDSCH is scheduled but not transmitted, terminal to indicate corresponding NACK in the HARQ-ACK codebook which can have dynamic based on Network selected option for deployment of number of carriers and corresponding scheduled PDSCH and corresponding configured DAI value and the number of HARQ-ACK bits corresponds to a DAI value, since number of scheduled PDSCH and DAI value are known to both UE and Network/gNB, similar to HUAWEI Page 3, Case D)). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on configurable DAI of MODERATO-LG to the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on DAI of HUAWEI in order to take the advantage of a technique using bundling for reducing overhead for DAI size and HARQ codebook size ( MODERATOR-LG : Page 13, Box for Nokia/NSB ) . Regarding claim 2 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG, teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining a mapping relationship between HARQ-ACK bits in a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook and the scheduled PDSCHs based on a DAI counting manner and whether time-domain bundling is used comprises: in a case that the DAI counting manner comprises performing DAI counting for each downlink control information DCI and time-domain bundling is not used, mapping valid PDSCH(s) in the scheduled PDSCHs to HARQ-ACK bits in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, or mapping all of the scheduled PDSCHs to HARQ-ACK bits in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook ( Page 3, See Cases A, B and D, For Case C see Page 4, Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 . HARQ-ACK bit for DL SPS PDSCH in case of dynamic codebook Spatial bundling not configured, or no bundling including Time-Domain bundling configured, showing performing DAI counting for each downlink control information DCI and mapping all of the scheduled and activated valid PDSCHs to HARQ-ACK bits in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook. (Valid PDSCH are interpreted as scheduled and activated PDSCHs)). Regarding claim 12 , the claim is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1 , and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 1 . Regarding claim 13 , the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 2 . Regarding claim 19 , a terminal ( Page 3, UE in The PDCCH contains counter DAI and total DAI and there is no misalignment between eNodeB and UE ), comprising a processor, a memory, and a program stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor, wherein when the program is executed by the processor (Page 3, UE). Further , the claim 19 is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1 , and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 1 . Regarding claim 20 , the claim is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1 , and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 12 . Claims 3-9 and 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 being unpatentable over Huawei et al. (Rl-162105 “ Discussion on SPS HARQ-ACK bit handling in case of dynamic codebook ”, of IDS, hereinafter ‘HUAWEI’) in view of Moderator (LG Electronics) (R1-2102080 "Summary #4 of POSCH/PUSCH enhancements (Scheduling/HARO)", of IDS, hereinafter 'MODERATOR-LG') and with further in view of Bhamri et al. (US 20240243855 A1 with priority of us-provisional-application US 63186712, herein after ‘BHAMRI’). Regarding claim 3 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG, teaches the method according to claim 2. HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG do not explicitly disclose wherein the number of HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to one or more PDSCHs scheduled by each DCI in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook is determined by the maximum configured number of PDSCHs for multi-PDSCH DCIs across serving cells belonging to a same PUCCH cell group; wherein each DCI corresponds to MAX positions in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, and each position corresponds to a single PDSCH. In an analogous art, BHAMRI teaches wherein the number of HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to one or more PDSCHs scheduled by each DCI in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook is determined by the maximum configured number of PDSCHs for multi-PDSCH DCIs across serving cells belonging to a same PUCCH cell group, wherein each DCI corresponds to MAX positions in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, and each position corresponds to a single PDSCH ( Fig. 5, [0101] FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary implementation 500 of HARQ-ACK codebook construction (i.e., PDSCH indexing) at a UE for single HARQ-ACK codebook scheduled for multiple PDSCH transmissions scheduled by single DCI, according to embodiments of the disclosure. In the implementation 500 , there are 3 CCs (denoted “CC 1 ,” “CC 2 ,” and “CC 3 ,” respectively) and CC 1 is scheduled with 2 PDSCH transmissions by one DCI received on CC 1 in slot 1 and CC 2 is scheduled with 2 PDSCH transmissions by one DCI received on CC 2 in slot 1 . Furthermore, CC 3 is also scheduled with 2 PDSCH transmissions by one DCI received on CC 3 in slot 2 . [0102] As illustrated, in the implementation 500 the PDSCH transmissions are indexed first in order of CCs having PDSCH transmissions in slot 1 (i.e., CC 1 and CC 2 ), followed by CCs having PDSCH transmissions in slot 2 (i.e., CC 1 , CC 2 , and CC 3 ), and so on. In this example, same size single codebook is assumed for all CCs because the maximum number of PDSCH transmissions scheduled by single DCI is 2. When multiple CCs have PDSCH transmissions scheduled for the same slot, then the PDSCH indexing for that slot may be in order from lowest CC index to highest CC index. Corresponding to the PDSCH indexing, HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to the PDSCH transmissions are added to generate the codebook.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of constructing a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook for multiple PDSCH for a group of component carriers or cells or TRP of BHAMRI to the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on DAI of HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG in order to take the advantage of a technique for avoiding any ambiguity for HARQ-ACK codebook construction and to avoid significant increase in the size of HARQ-ACK codebook ( BHAMRI : [0114, 0116] ) . Regarding claim 4 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG and BHAMRI, teaches the method according to claim 3. HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG do not explicitly disclose wherein the mapping all of the scheduled PDSCHs to HARQ-ACK bits in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook comprises: mapping N scheduled PDSCHs scheduled by one DCI to the beginning N positions of the MAX positions corresponding to the one DCI in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook one by one in a scheduling order. BHAMRI teaches wherein the mapping all of the scheduled PDSCHs to HARQ-ACK bits in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook comprises: mapping N scheduled PDSCHs scheduled by one DCI to the beginning N positions of the MAX positions corresponding to the one DCI in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook one by one in a scheduling order ( See Fig. 5, [0101, 0102] cited above for claim 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of constructing a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook for multiple PDSCH for a group of component carriers or cells or TRP of BHAMRI to the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on DAI of HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG in order to take the advantage of a technique for avoiding any ambiguity for HARQ-ACK codebook construction and to avoid significant increase in the size of HARQ-ACK codebook ( BHAMRI : [0114, 0116] ) . Regarding claim 5 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG and BHAMRI, teaches the method according to claim 4 , further comprising: in a case that one position in N actually mapped positions in the MAX positions corresponding to the one DCI in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook is mapped to a valid PDSCH, setting all HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to the one position to NACK ( Page 4: Alternative 3: A ppend the HARQ-ACK bit for the serving cell with PDSCH transmission without corresponding PDCCH/EPDCCH(s) for subframes that are activated for SPS. This avoids HARQ-ACK feedback for deactivated SPS subframes, compared to Alternative 2. If SPS is activated but SPS PDSCH is not detected by the UE, the HARQ- ACK bit is set to NACK. The potential overhead would only occur if SPS PDSCH is not transmitted and the UE detects an SPS overriding dynamic PDCCH. ….. the HARQ-ACK bit for DL SPS PDSCH is prefered to be located at the end of the HARQ-ACK bits associated with dynamic PDCCHs/EPDCCHs (Construed that an valid SPS PDSCH being activated by PDCCH/DCI, but not transmitted or received by UE, is mapped to corresponding HARQ-ACK codebook bit position and being set to NACK) ). Regarding claim 6 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG and BHAMRI, teaches the method according to claim 4. HUAWEI does not explicitly disclose setting all HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to each of (MAX–N) unmapped positions in the MAX positions corresponding to the one DCI in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook to NACK. MODERATOR-LG teaches setting all HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to each of (MAX–N) unmapped positions in the MAX positions corresponding to the one DCI in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook to NACK ( Pages 38 and 40: Moderator To Nokia: Considering concerns raised by multiple companies, more clarification seems necessary for Alt 3. Let's say M=4 and the maximum number of schedulable PDSCHs is configured to 8. For this case, DAI will be incremented to 1 if the number of scheduled PDSCHs is up to 4 and incremented by 2 if the number of scheduled PDSCHs is more than 4. HARQ-ACK bits corresponding to a DAI value would be equal to 4 bits and some of them can be filled with NACK based on the number of scheduled PDSCHs. Is this correct understanding? Nokia We are fine in general. Regarding to Alt 3, please see below clarification, Unless need to down-select in this meeting, study all alternatives should be supported, and FFS should be removed. To Moderator, Your understanding is correct. You can simply understand that this is configurable version of Alt l/2 ….. ). See also BHAMRI disclosing- [0094] In some embodiments of the first solution, UE can be configured and/or indicated whether same codebook is applied for all multiple PDSCH transmissions scheduling DCI (where the size can be aligned by means of time-domain bundling or addition of NACK bits) or different sub HARQ ACK codebooks need to be constructed corresponding to the DCI that can schedule different number of maximum PDSCH transmissions. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on configurable DAI of MODERATO-LG to the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on DAI of HUAWEI and BHAMRI in order to take the advantage of a technique using bundling for reducing overhead for DAI size and HARQ codebook size ( MODERATOR-LG : Page 13, Box for Nokia/NSB ) . Regarding claim 7 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG, teaches the method according to claim 1. HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG do not explicitly disclose wherein in a case that the DAI counting manner comprises performing DAI counting for each downlink control information DCI and time-domain bundling is used, the time-domain bundling manner comprises: comprising all PDSCH(s) in the scheduled PDSCHs into an operation range of the time-domain bundling. In an analogous art, BHAMRI teaches wherein in a case that the DAI counting manner comprises performing DAI counting for each downlink control information DCI and time-domain bundling is used ( [0094] In some embodiments of the first solution, UE can be configured and/or indicated whether same codebook is applied for all multiple PDSCH transmissions scheduling DCI (where the size can be aligned by means of time-domain bundling or addition of NACK bits) or different sub HARQ ACK codebooks need to be constructed corresponding to the DCI that can schedule different number of maximum PDSCH transmissions. [0095] In some embodiments of the first solution, when a UE is configured to monitor a same DCI can be used to schedule either a single PDSCH transmission or multiple PDSCH transmissions and if the UE misses the DCI, then the number of NACKs to be added is based on maximum number of PDSCH transmissions that can be scheduled by DCI. In this case, if the DAI is counted per DCI, then the counter is incremented only by one, even if multiple PDSCH transmissions could have been scheduled and if the DAI is counted per PDSCH, then the counter is incremented by the number equal to the maximum number of PDSCH transmissions that can be scheduled by single DCI.), the time-domain bundling manner comprises: comprising all PDSCH(s) in the scheduled PDSCHs into an operation range of the time-domain bundling ( [0116] According to embodiments of a third solution, in order to avoid significant increase in the size of HARQ-ACK codebook for multiple PDSCH scheduling by single DCI. PDSCH grouping and/or time-domain HARQ-ACK bundling can be applied based on: [0118] Option 2: Number of TRPs over which multiple PDSCH transmissions are scheduled by DCI, for example, if 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 1 and 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 2 , then two groups can be created, where group 1 is applied for TRP 1 and group 2 is applied for TRP 2 . Based on this grouping, two separate HARQ-ACK sub-codebooks could be applied. Additionally, HARQ-ACK bundling could be applied for each of the group such that only 1 HARQ-ACK bit is generate for one group (for one Transport Block (“TB”) per PDSCH transmission). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of constructing a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook for multiple PDSCH for a group of component carriers or cells or TRP of BHAMRI to the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on DAI of HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG in order to take the advantage of a technique for avoiding any ambiguity for HARQ-ACK codebook construction and to avoid significant increase in the size of HARQ-ACK codebook ( BHAMRI : [0114, 0116] ) . Regarding claim 8 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG and BHAMRI, teaches the method according to claim 7. HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG do not explicitly disclose wherein a granularity or range of the time-domain bundling comprises one of the following: a PDSCH set scheduled by DCI; wherein the PDSCH set is classified in a manner of regarding all the scheduled PDSCHs as a PDSCH set; and PDSCH subsets in the PDSCH set scheduled by DCI; wherein a size of a PDSCH subset is determined based on the number of PDSCH subsets, and the size of the PDSCH subset is based on configured by higher-layer signaling. BHAMRI teaches wherein a granularity or range of the time-domain bundling comprises one of the following : a PDSCH set scheduled by DCI; wherein the PDSCH set is classified in a manner of regarding all the scheduled PDSCHs as a PDSCH set ( See [0118] as cited for claim 7.) ; and PDSCH subsets in the PDSCH set scheduled by DCI; wherein a size of a PDSCH subset is determined based on the number of PDSCH subsets, and the size of the PDSCH subset is based on configured by higher-layer signaling. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of constructing a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook for multiple PDSCH for a group of component carriers or cells or TRP of BHAMRI to the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on DAI of HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG in order to take the advantage of a technique for avoiding any ambiguity for HARQ-ACK codebook construction and to avoid significant increase in the size of HARQ-ACK codebook ( BHAMRI : [0114, 0116] ) . Regarding claim 9 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG, teaches the method according to claim 8. HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG do not explicitly disclose wherein in a case that the granularity or range of the time-domain bundling comprises the PDSCH subsets in the PDSCH set scheduled by DCI, the method further comprises: determining a mapping relationship between the scheduled PDSCHs or valid PDSCHs in the scheduled PDSCHs and the PDSCH subsets; wherein the mapping relationship comprises any one of the following: the 1st scheduled PDSCH or the 1st valid PDSCH corresponds to the 1st PDSCH in the 1st PDSCH subset, and remaining scheduled PDSCHs or remaining valid PDSCHs sequentially correspond to a current PDSCH subset or to a PDSCH subset after the current PDSCH subset; and the last scheduled PDSCH or the last valid PDSCH corresponds to the last PDSCH in the last PDSCH subset, and remaining scheduled PDSCHs or remaining valid PDSCHs sequentially correspond to a current PDSCH subset or to a PDSCH subset before the current PDSCH subset. BHAMRI teaches wherein in a case that the granularity or range of the time-domain bundling comprises the PDSCH subsets in the PDSCH set scheduled by DCI ( [0116] According to embodiments of a third solution, in order to avoid significant increase in the size of HARQ-ACK codebook for multiple PDSCH scheduling by single DCI. PDSCH grouping and/or time-domain HARQ-ACK bundling can be applied based on:) , the method further comprises: determining a mapping relationship between the scheduled PDSCHs or valid PDSCHs in the scheduled PDSCHs and the PDSCH subsets ( [0118] Option 2: Number of TRPs over which multiple PDSCH transmissions are scheduled by DCI, for example, if 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 1 and 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 2 , then two groups can be created, where group 1 is applied for TRP 1 and group 2 is applied for TRP 2 . Based on this grouping, two separate HARQ-ACK sub-codebooks could be applied. Additionally, HARQ-ACK bundling could be applied for each of the group such that only 1 HARQ- ACK bit is generate for one group (for one Transport Block (“TB”) per PDSCH transmission) ; wherein the mapping relationship comprises any one of the following: the 1st scheduled PDSCH or the 1st valid PDSCH corresponds to the 1st PDSCH in the 1st PDSCH subset, and remaining scheduled PDSCHs or remaining valid PDSCHs sequentially correspond to a current PDSCH subset or to a PDSCH subset after the current PDSCH subset ( [0118] 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 1 …. where group 1 is applied for TRP 1 …) ; and the last scheduled PDSCH or the last valid PDSCH corresponds to the last PDSCH in the last PDSCH subset, and remaining scheduled PDSCHs or remaining valid PDSCHs sequentially correspond to a current PDSCH subset or to a PDSCH subset before the current PDSCH subset ( [0118] …. 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 2 …. group 2 is applied for TRP 2 … ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of constructing a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook for multiple PDSCH for a group of component carriers or cells or TRP of BHAMRI to the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on DAI of HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG in order to take the advantage of a technique for avoiding any ambiguity for HARQ-ACK codebook construction and to avoid significant increase in the size of HARQ-ACK codebook ( BHAMRI : [0114, 0116] ) . Regarding claim 14 , the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 3 . Regarding claim 15 , the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 4 . Regarding claim 16 , the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 5 . Regarding claim 17 , the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 6 . Regarding claim 18 , the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 7 . Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 being unpatentable over Huawei et al. (Rl-162105 “ Discussion on SPS HARQ-ACK bit handling in case of dynamic codebook ”, of IDS, hereinafter ‘HUAWEI’) in view of Moderator (LG Electronics) (R1-2102080 "Summary #4 of POSCH/PUSCH enhancements (Scheduling/HARO)", of IDS, hereinafter 'MODERATOR-LG') and with further in view of Bhamri et al. (US 20240243855 A1 with priority of us-provisional-application US 63186712, hereinafter ‘BHAMRI’) with evidence by Lei et al. (US 20220330297 A1, hereinafter ‘LEI’). Regarding claim 10 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG and BHAMRI, teaches the method according to claim 8. HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG do not explicitly disclose at least one of the following: when at least one invalid PDSCH is present in a given bundling group, and binary AND is used, assuming a decoding result corresponding to the invalid PDSCH to be ACK, and setting HARQ-ACK bits for the bundling group in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook based on a bundling output; when no scheduled PDSCH/valid PDSCH is mapped for a given bundling group, setting all HARQ-ACK bits of the given bundling group in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook to NACK; wherein the given bundling group is the PDSCH set, or, the given bundling group is one of the PDSCH subsets. BHAMRI teaches at least one of the following: when at least one invalid PDSCH is present in a given bundling group, and binary AND is used, assuming a decoding result corresponding to the invalid PDSCH to be ACK, and setting HARQ-ACK bits for the bundling group in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook based on a bundling output; when no scheduled PDSCH/valid PDSCH is mapped for a given bundling group, setting all HARQ-ACK bits of the given bundling group in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook to NACK ( Fig. 7, NACK for virtual or invalid PDSCH transmissions and ACK for actual PDSCH transmissions, [0110] In the implementation 700 , there are 2 CCs (denoted “CC 1 ” and “CC 2 ,” respectively). CC 1 is scheduled with 1 PDSCH transmission by a one DCI received on CC 1 in slot 1 and CC 2 is also scheduled with 1 PDSCH transmission by another DCI received on CC 2 in slot 1 . In the depicted embodiment, the UE assumes additional (i.e., virtual) PDSCH transmissions to align with maximum PDSCH transmissions, as discussed above. [0116] …multiple PDSCH scheduling by single DCI. PDSCH grouping and/or time-domain HARQ-ACK bundling can be applied based on: [0118] Option 2: Number of TRPs over which multiple PDSCH transmissions are scheduled by DCI, for example, if 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 1 and 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 2 , then two groups can be created, where group 1 is applied for TRP 1 and group 2 is applied for TRP 2 . Based on this grouping, two separate HARQ-ACK sub-codebooks could be applied. Additionally, HARQ-ACK bundling could be applied for each of the group such that only 1 HARQ-ACK bit is generate for one group (for one Transport Block (“TB”) per PDSCH transmission. (It is obvious from Fig. 7, [0110, 0116 and 0118] that if any of the PDSCH transmission in a PDSCH group scheduled by a DCI is invalid or not transmitted or received, NACK is generated which would result a NACK bit for given bundling PDSCH group in the dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook due to AND operation with evidence by LEI ). LEI [0045] Rule 1-3: If the current size of the first sub-codebook is larger than the configured maximum size, time domain bundling is performed to generate one HARQ- ACK information bits for PDSCHs on same carrier. Time domain bundling is performed by logic AND operation among the PDSCHs within the first sub-group and on same carrier. If any HARQ-ACK information bit for a PDSCH is 0 (i.e., NACK), then the bundled HARQ-ACK information bit is 0.) ; wherein the given bundling group is the PDSCH set, or, the given bundling group is one of the PDSCH subsets ( [0118] multiple PDSCH transmissions are scheduled by DCI, for example, if 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 1 and 4 PDSCH transmissions are scheduled for TRP 2 , then two groups can be created, where group 1 is applied for TRP 1 and group 2 is applied for TRP 2…. ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of constructing a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook for multiple PDSCH for a group of component carriers or cells or TRP of BHAMRI to the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on DAI of HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG in order to take the advantage of a technique for avoiding any ambiguity for HARQ-ACK codebook construction and to avoid significant increase in the size of HARQ-ACK codebook ( BHAMRI : [0114, 0116] ) . Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 being unpatentable over Huawei et al. (Rl-162105 “ Discussion on SPS HARQ-ACK bit handling in case of dynamic codebook ”, of IDS, hereinafter ‘HUAWEI’) in view of Moderator (LG Electronics) (R1-2102080 "Summary #4 of POSCH/PUSCH enhancements (Scheduling/HARO)", of IDS, hereinafter 'MODERATOR-LG') and with further in view of Si et al. (US 20230076459 A1 with priority of PCT/CN2021/072153, hereinafter ‘SI’). Regarding claim 11 , HUAWEI, in view of MODERATOR-LG, teaches the method according to claim 1. HUAWEI and BHAMRI do not explicitly disclose wherein at least one scheduled PDSCH has no conflict with a semi-static UL symbol. In analogous art, SI teaches wherein at least one scheduled PDSCH has no conflict with a semi-static UL symbol ( [0097] in case that the user equipment is configured to use a dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook, or an HARQ-ACK codebook of the user equipment includes only feedback information of the SPS PDSCH correspond to an HARQ-ACK codebook, when it is determined that the user equipment performs, in a feedback slot, HARQ-ACK feedback for multiple SPS PDSCH, determining HARQ-ACK feedback information according to the some SPS PDSCHs;…. [0145] ..... in the above manner, the SPS PDSCH that does not conflict with semi-statically configured uplink symbols means that if all symbols of an SPS PDSCH do not overlap uplink symbols indicated by signaling tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated, it is considered that the SPS PDSCH does not conflict with semi-statically configured uplink symbol.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of using dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook for multiple PDSCH feedback of SI to the technique of determining dynamic HARQ-ACK codebook size based on DAI of HUAWEI and MODERATOR-LG in order to take the advantage of a technique for improving reception efficiency ( SI : [0005, 0131] ) . Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Yin et al. (US 20240171319 A1), describing PAYLOAD REDUCTION AND CONFIGURATION FOR MULTIPLEXING OF HARQ-ACK WITH DIFFERENT PRIORITIES ON PUCCH Wang et al. (US 20240080856 A1), describing METHOD AND DEVICES FOR SIGNAL TRANSMISSION Choi et al. (US 20230239082 A1), describing METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM FOR GENERATING HARQ-ACK CODEBOOK IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM Zhang et al. (US 20220248436 A1), describing METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TRANSMITTING HARQ-ACK Yoshioka et al. (US 20220239445 A1), describing USER TERMINAL AND RADIO COMMUNICATION METHOD Rastegardoost et al. (US 20220007399 A1), describing Acknowledgment Transmission In Wireless Communications Systems Gao et al. (US 20220271873 A1), describing HARQ CODEBOOKS FOR MULTIPLE DL SPS Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT SHAH M RAHMAN whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-8951 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 9:30AM-5:30PM PST . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT UN C CHO can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-272-7919 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SHAH M RAHMAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 13, 2023
Application Filed
Dec 09, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103, §112 (current)

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