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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7-20-2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The 112 rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
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.
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) 4, 6-8, 11, 14-15, 19 and 22-24are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang 20190306878 in view of Elmali 20240396759.
As to claim 4, Zhang discloses a wireless communication method, comprising:
performing, by a wireless device [115-b], a reception operation to receive and decode a downlink message transmitted from a network node [105-b] [a wireless device (e.g., a UE) successfully decodes downlink messages (i.e., data transmissions)] [905] (see par. 0004, 0110);
receiving, by the wireless device, a first feedback message from the network node [UE 115-b may receive a feedback trigger for transmission of HARQ feedback] [915 or 925] (see par. 0112) wherein the first feedback message is associated with a NACK-only feedback state [please note that any message can be associated with anything and a relationship does not require any modification to the message, just a reason to say that they are related](see par. 0103);
generating, by the wireless device, a second feedback message that includes a feedback state as to whether: the downlink message has been decoded correctly; or the downlink message has not been received or has been decoded incorrectly, based on the first feedback message, wherein the second feedback message includes the ACK/NACK bits [UE 115-b may populate the HARQ feedback based on the ACK delay indication and receipt of a downlink channel] [930] (see par. 0116); and
transmitting, by the wireless device, to the network node, the second feedback message on a channel resource corresponding to the feedback state of the wireless device [UE 115-b may transmit, to base station 105-b, the HARQ feedback in accordance with the HARQ ACK codebook size] [935] (see par. 0117). Zhang fails to disclose transforming the NACK-only feedback state into acknowledgement and negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) bits. In analogous art, Elmali discloses transforming the NACK-only feedback state into acknowledgement and negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) bits [the UE device 110 can convert the NACK-only bits to ACK/NACK bits] (see par. 0075). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to combine the teachings for the simple purpose of compatibility with existing standards.
As to claim 6, Zhang discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the channel resource is determined based on downlink control information (DCI) associated with the first feedback message [UE 115-b may receive the channel indication embedded in a downlink grant, included in a trigger DCI] (see par. 0103, 0113-0114).
As to claim 7, Zhang discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the channel resource includes at least one of a unicast physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) [transmit ACK feedback for the one or more downlink transmissions in an uplink transmission (e.g., physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)) to the base station 105 [unicast]] (see par. 0074).
As to claim 8, Zhang discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the feedback state includes a combination of values such that each value indicates whether: the downlink message has been decoded correctly; or the downlink message has not been received or has been decoded incorrectly [the HARQ ACK codebook may indicate that the HARQ ACK feedback includes feedback for a number of downlink data messages and/or HARQ processes with a corresponding size (e.g., number of bits)] (see par. 0031).
As to claim 11, Zhang discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the generating of the second feedback message includes performing a downlink assignment index (DAI) counting for all group radio network [a value of a counter downlink assignment indicator (DAI) field in a downlink message (e.g., DCI) may denote an accumulative number (e.g., a total DAI) of serving cell/downlink channel monitoring occasion-pair(s) up to a current serving cell and current downlink channel] (see par. 0080). The communication with the network requires the use identifiers (see par. 0042). Zhang fails to disclose temporary identifiers; however, any identifier would bring the same predictable result of identifying the desired item. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to use any desired identifier including temporary identifiers for the simple purpose of identifying the desired communication points while allowing dynamic configuration in time.
As to claim 14, Zhang discloses the method of claim 4, wherein information bits of the second feedback message are generated in order of receipt of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) [a user equipment (UE) may utilize a hybrid access request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) feedback scheme to indicate if one or more downlink data messages (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) messages) … the HARQ ACK codebook may indicate that the HARQ ACK feedback includes feedback for a number of downlink data messages and/or HARQ processes with a corresponding size (e.g., number of bits)] (see par. 0031).
As to claim 15, Zhang discloses the method of claim 4, wherein information bits of the second feedback message are generated in G-RNTI ascending order, or in order of receipt of PDSCH (see par. 0095), or in G-RNTI ascending order and order of receipt of PDSCH, or based on a DAI field in a group common downlink control information (DCI) [the downlink channel monitoring occasions may be indexed in an ascending order in time] (see par. 0080).
Regarding claims 19 and 22-24, are the corresponding apparatus claims 4 and 6-8. Therefore, claims 19 and 22-24 are rejected for the same reasons as shown above.
Claim(s) 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Elmali and further in view of Lei 20240187142.
As to claims 9-10, Zhang discloses the method of claim 4, wherein a codebook size for the feedback messages is same as a total number of services to be received by the wireless device (see par. 0107). Zhang fails to disclose multicast. In analogous art, Lei discloses wherein a codebook size for the feedback messages is same as a number of multicast services to be received by the wireless device [HARQ-ACK information bits for the plurality of multicast] (see par. 0096). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to combine the teachings to have feedback for multicast services and maintain the quality of the transmission.
Claim(s) 12 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Elmali and further in view of Yao 20240259144.
As to claims 12 and 17, Zhang discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the generating of the second feedback message includes performing a downlink assignment index (DAI) field configured in the network node [a value of a counter downlink assignment indicator (DAI) field in a downlink message (e.g., DCI) may denote an accumulative number (e.g., a total DAI) of serving cell/downlink channel monitoring occasion-pair(s) up to a current serving cell and current downlink channel] (see par. 0080). Zhang fails to disclose counting per G-RNTI set. In an analogous art, Yao discloses counting per G-RNTI set (see par. 0055). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to combine the teachings for the simple purpose of maintaining the quality of the communication.
Claim(s) 13 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Elmali and further in view of Takeda 20220322292.
As to claims 13 and 16, Zhang discloses the method of claim 4, wherein information bits of the second feedback message are generated in ascending order [a user equipment (UE) may utilize a hybrid access request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) feedback scheme to indicate if one or more downlink data messages (e.g., physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) messages) … the HARQ ACK codebook may indicate that the HARQ ACK feedback includes feedback for a number of downlink data messages and/or HARQ processes with a corresponding size (e.g., number of bits)] (see par. 0031). Zhang fails to disclose counting for all G-RNTIs. In analogous art, Takeda discloses wherein a counting on the DAI field is performed for all G-RNTIs [for a given G-RNTI, the DAI is counted from the first PDSCH to the last PDSCH in the HARQ-ACK window and across different G-RNTIs, where the DAI counts are independent of one another] (see par. 0146). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to combine the teachings for the simple purpose of improving efficiency and reliability.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCOS L TORRES whose telephone number is (571)272-7926. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alison Slater can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MARCOS L. TORRES
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2647
/MARCOS L TORRES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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