Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 21, 22, and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2018/0069665.
Lee teaches:
1. (Original) A method of wireless communication, comprising:
receiving, by a first communication device, a first message to configure a plurality of cells according to a symmetric carrier aggregation or an asymmetric carrier aggregation, each cell including one or more carriers; or
receiving, by the first communication device, the first message and a second message to configure the plurality of cells and activate one or more of the plurality of cells according to a symmetric carrier aggregation or an asymmetric carrier aggregation (In the present disclosure, multi-carrier means CA (or carrier combining). Herein, CA covers aggregation of contiguous carriers and aggregation of non-contiguous carriers. The number of aggregated CCs may be different for a DL and a UL. If the number of DL CCs is equal to the number of UL CCs, this is called symmetric aggregation. If the number of DL CCs is different from the number of UL CCs, this is called asymmetric aggregation. The term CA is interchangeable with carrier combining, bandwidth aggregation, spectrum aggregation, etc., [0058]).
3. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1, wherein the first message is used to configure at least one of the plurality of cells that includes a first number of uplink carriers and a second number of downlink carriers, and wherein the first number equals to the second number (symmetric aggregation is when the number of DL CCs is equal to the number of UL CCs, [0058]).
4. (Original) The method of claim 3, wherein the second message is used to activate at least one of the configured cells according to the asymmetric carrier aggregation, wherein the activating of the at least one of the configured cells according to the asymmetric carrier aggregation includes at least one of:
activating a larger number of uplink carriers than downlink carriers (The number of aggregated CCs may be different for a DL and a UL, [0058];
activating a larger number of downlink carriers than uplink carriers;
activating one or more uplink carriers without downlink carrier; or
activating one or more downlink carriers without uplink carrier.
7. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1, wherein the first message is used to configure at least two of the plurality of cells that includes a shared downlink carrier (BS and UE mostly transmit/receive data via a PDSCH, [0049]).
8. (Original) The method of claim 7, wherein the second message is used to activate at least one of the configured cells according to the symmetric carrier aggregation, wherein the at least one of the configured cells includes one downlink carrier and one uplink carrier (symmetric aggregation is when the number of DL CCs is equal to the number of UL CCs, [0058]).
9. (Original) The method of claim 8, wherein the downlink carrier and the uplink carrier in the at least one of the configured cells belong to one band, or the downlink carrier and the uplink carrier in the at least one of the configured cells belong to different bands and another cell including the same downlink carrier is not activated (different cells may be set to provide different bandwidths, col. 1, lines 40 – 63).
21. (New) A method of wireless communication, comprising:
transmitting, by a second communication device, a first message to configure a plurality of cells according to a symmetric carrier aggregation or an asymmetric carrier aggregation, each cell including one or more carriers; or transmitting, by the second communication device, the first message and a second message to configure the plurality of cells and activate one or more of the plurality of cells according to a symmetric carrier aggregation or an asymmetric carrier aggregation (In the present disclosure, multi-carrier means CA (or carrier combining). Herein, CA covers aggregation of contiguous carriers and aggregation of non-contiguous carriers. The number of aggregated CCs may be different for a DL and a UL. If the number of DL CCs is equal to the number of UL CCs, this is called symmetric aggregation. If the number of DL CCs is different from the number of UL CCs, this is called asymmetric aggregation. The term CA is interchangeable with carrier combining, bandwidth aggregation, spectrum aggregation, etc., [0058]).
22. (New) The method of claim 21, wherein the first message is used to configure at least one of the plurality of cells that includes a first number of uplink carriers and a second number of downlink carriers, and wherein the first number equals to the second number (symmetric aggregation is when the number of DL CCs is equal to the number of UL CCs, [0058]).
23. (New) The method of claim 22, wherein the second message is used to activate at least one of the configured cells according to the asymmetric carrier aggregation, wherein the activating of the at least one of the configured cells according to the asymmetric carrier aggregation includes at least one of:
activating a larger number of uplink carriers than downlink carriers (The number of aggregated CCs may be different for a DL and a UL, [0058];
activating a larger number of downlink carriers than uplink carriers;
activating one or more uplink carriers without downlink carrier; or
activating one or more downlink carriers without uplink carrier.
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) 5, 6, 24, and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee as applied to claims 3 and 22 above, and further in view of Rikkinen, U.S. Patent No. 6,031,827.
Lee teaches signaling in a wireless communications network. Lee does not teach changing a frame type during communication. However, Rikkinen teaches changing a frame type during communication. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of filing to modify the teachings of Lee to incorporate the known technique of changing frame types as taught by Rikkinen in order to obtain the predictable result of more efficient transmissions.
The combination teaches:
5. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 3, further comprising, for a cell in which a time division duplex (TDD) frame structure is configured and only an uplink carrier is activated, updating the frame structure, wherein the updating of the frame structure includes at least one of:
updating all downlink slots and symbols to flexible slots or symbols, or uplink slots or symbols;
updating part of downlink slots and symbols to flexible slots or symbols, or uplink slots or symbols (TDD can be arranged to change the number of frames in each direction to allocate downlink slots for uplink transmissions or vice versa, Rikkinen, col. 14, line 51 - col. 15, line 8);
deactivating part or all of downlink slots and symbols; activating only uplink slots and symbols; or
activating all slots and symbols as uplink slots and symbols.
6. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 5, wherein the frame structure is updated by using radio resource control (RRC) or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI), after or concurrently with the receiving of the second message (RRC may perform dynamic allocation of UL and DL resources, Lee).
24. (New) The method of claim 22, further comprising, for a cell in which a time division duplex (TDD) frame structure is configured and only an uplink carrier is activated, updating the frame structure, wherein the updating of the frame structure includes at least one of:
updating all downlink slots and symbols to flexible slots or symbols, or uplink slots or symbols;
updating part of downlink slots and symbols to flexible slots or symbols, or uplink slots or symbols (TDD can be arranged to change the number of frames in each direction to allocate downlink slots for uplink transmissions or vice versa, Rikkinen, col. 14, line 51 - col. 15, line 8);
deactivating part or all of downlink slots and symbols;
activating only uplink slots and symbols; or
activating all slots and symbols as uplink slots and symbols.
25. (New) The method of claim 24, wherein the frame structure is updated by using radio resource control (RRC) or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or downlink control information (DCI), after or concurrently with the transmitting of the second message (RRC may perform dynamic allocation of UL and DL resources, Lee).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Ling, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2022/0052820.
Lee teaches signaling in a wireless communications network. Lee does not teach utilizing SSBs to assist in simultaneous transmissions. However, Ling teaches utilizing SSBs to assist in simultaneous transmissions. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of filing to modify the teachings of Lee to incorporate the known technique of utilizing SSBs to assist in simultaneous transmissions in order to obtain the predictable result of minimizing signaling overhead.
The combination teaches:
10. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 4, wherein a synchronization signal block (SSB) transmitted on a cell is used for different cells at different locations or simultaneously (SSB resources are utilized to transmit multiple TBs simultaneously, Ling, [0070]).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Samsung, WO2019/066533.
Lee teaches signaling in a wireless communications network. Lee does not teach configuring carriers for single direction transmission. However, Samsung teaches utilizing carriers for single direction transmission. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of filing to modify the teachings of Lee to incorporate the known technique of transmitting in a single direction as taught by Samsung in order to obtain the predictable result of limiting interference.
The combination teaches:
11. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1, wherein the first message is used to configure at least one of the plurality of cells that includes only an uplink carrier or the second message is used to activate at least one of the plurality of cells that includes only an uplink carrier, or the first message is used to configure at least two of the plurality of cells that share a same downlink carrier or the second message is used to activate at least two of the plurality of cells that share a same downlink carrier (SCell can be configured for uplink resources only, [119], Samsung)).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Lee in view of Samsung as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Tabet, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2017/0325123.
Lee in view of Samsung teaches configuring one-way resources in a wireless communications system. The combination does not teach activating carriers. However, Tabet teaches activating carriers. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of filing to modify the combination of Lee in view of Samsung to incorporate the known technique of activating carriers as taught by Tabet in order to obtain the predictable result of conserving energy.
The combination teaches;
12. (Original) The method of claim 11, wherein at least one cell that includes a downlink carrier is activated by the second message (UE signals downlink carriers to activate, [0009], Tabet).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tabet.
Lee teaches signaling in a wireless communications system. Lee does not teach activating carriers. However, Tabet teaches activating carriers. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of filing to modify the teachings of Lee to incorporate the known technique of activating carriers as taught by Tabet in order to obtain the predictable result of conserving energy.
The combination teaches:
13. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the activated cells further includes one or more limited downlink signals that are determined based on:
a plurality of sets of limited downlink signals that is predefined or configured and one of candidate sets of limited downlink signals is further configured; or
a plurality of modes, each mode including a group of sets; or
one set or mode that is determined based on user equipment (UE) capabilities report (UE signals downlink carriers to activate, [0009], Tabet).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Tabet as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Samsung in further view of Lei.
Lee in view of Tabet teaches a method of signaling power conservation in a wireless communications network. The combination does not creating a one-way transmission. However, Samsung teaches utilizing carriers for single direction transmission. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of filing to modify the combination of Lee in view of Tabet to incorporate the known technique of transmitting in a single direction as taught by Samsung in order to obtain the predictable result of limiting interference.
Lee in view of Tabet in further view of Samsung teaches signaling in a wireless communications network to conserve power and minimize interference. The combination does not teach transmissions without SSB. However, Lei teaches transmitting without SSB. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the filing to modify the combination of Lee in view of Tabet in further view of Samsung to incorporate the known technique of not using SSB signaling as taught by Lei in order to obtain the predictable result of minimizing overhead signaling.
The combination teaches:
14. (Original) The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of sets of limited downlink signals includes at least one of:
a cell that includes neither SSB nor downlink signal (SCell can be configured for uplink resources only, [119], Samsung);
a cell that includes one or more aperiodic downlink signals without SSB (DL BWP configured without SSB, Lei, claim 6);
a cell that includes one or more periodic downlink signals without SSB;
a cell includes only SSB; or
a cell that includes SSB and downlink partial signals.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Tabet as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of LG, European Patent EP4,311,353.
Lee in view of Tabet teaches a method of signaling power conservation in a wireless communications network. The combination does not creating utilizing SSB as necessary. However, LG teaches utilizing SSB as necessary. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of filing to modify the combination of Lee in view of Tabet to incorporate the known technique of transmitting SSB as needed in order to obtain the predictable result of minimizing overhead signaling.
The combination teaches:
15 (Original) The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of modes further includes at least one of:
two modes that define whether to include SSB or not (transmission may exclude slots for SSB or include slots for SSB, LG, [0154]);
two modes that define whether to include downlink signals or not; or
two or more modes, wherein one of the two or modes is for sub-sets of a set of the cell that includes SSB and downlink partial signals.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Tabet as applied to claim13 above, and further in view of Lei.
Lee in view of Tabet teaches a method of signaling power conservation in a wireless communications network. The combination does not teach multiple capabilities in a wireless device. However, Lei teaches multiple capabilities in a wireless device. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the filing to modify the combination of Lee in view of Tabet to incorporate the known technique of utilizing devices with multiple capabilities as taught by Lei in order to obtain the predictable result of specialized transmission per network device.
The combination teaches:
16. (Original) The method of claim 13, wherein the one set or mode that is determined based on user equipment capabilities report further includes at least one of:
one or more sets or a combination of sets supported by the UE capabilities report, and one mode configured by the second communication device (UEs may have regular capabilities or reduced capabilities, [0089], Lei); or
one or more modes supported by the UE capabilities report, and one set configured by the second communication device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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PETER G. SOLINSKY
Examiner
Art Unit 2463
/Peter G Solinsky/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463