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 with respect to claim(s) 1-48 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1-9, 11-19, 21-29, 31-39, and 45-48 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue et al. (US 2021/0091914) (“Xue”) in view of MolavianJazi et al. (US 2019/0313348) (“MolavianJazi”) in view of Basu Mallick et al. (US 2019/0253531) (“Basu Mallick”).
For claims 1, 11, 21, and 31; Xue discloses: activating, by a wireless device, a first bandwidth part (BWP) of a cell and a third BWP of the cell, wherein: the first BWP and the third BWP are configured for transmission by the wireless device (paragraph 309: the terminal further needs to support a plurality of active DL BWPs and a plurality of active UL BWPs) (paragraph 368, fig. 7: When a first timer corresponding to the BWP 1 and the BWP 2 expires, both the BWP 1 and the BWP 2 are deactivated, and the default BWP 0 is activated).
Xue does not expressly disclose, but MolavianJazi from similar fields of endeavor teaches: the third BWP is configured to have a same numerology as the first BWP (paragraph 206: the same power scaling may be applied to a set of overlapping uplink transmissions on a set of active UL BWPs that are associated with the same numerology). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the configuration as described by MolavianJazi in the activation/deactivation of BWPs as described by Xue. The motivation is to improve power management.
Xue does not expressly disclose, but Basu Mallick from similar fields of endeavor teaches: based on the third BWP being active after switching the first BWP to a second BWP of the cell, deactivating the third BWP (paragraph 76, 81, 88: activated, deactivated, or switched together (e.g., using the same RRC signaling, MAC signaling, or DCI signaling in which the signaling only indicates a DL BWP number, an UL BWP number, or a link index …UL and DL BWPs that are linked may be activated, deactivated, or switched together (e.g., using the same RRC signaling, MAC signaling, or DCI signaling in which the signaling only indicates a DL BWP number, an UL BWP number, or a link index and then a UE acts (e.g., activates, deactivates, or switches) for the UL BWP and its linked DL BWPs). As may be appreciated, while FIG. 5 illustrates a linking between many DL BWPs and one UL BWP, other embodiments may link many UL BWPs to one DL BWP… the primary BWP may be activated, deactivated, or switched together with the linked BWPs). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the BWP linking as described by Basu Mallick in the activation/deactivation of BWPs as described by Xue. The motivation is to improve signaling overhead.
For claims 2, 12, 22, and 32; Xue discloses: wherein the one or more messages comprise one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages comprising at least one of: an indication of the first BWP; and an indication of the third BWP (paragraph 318: the network device may directly send the first information and the second information to the terminal, and may send the first information and the second information together or at two times. The network device may further send signaling to the terminal, for example, upper-layer signaling or higher layer signaling).
For claims 3, 13, 23, and 33; Xue discloses: wherein the one or more messages comprise at least one radio resource control (RRC) message indicating the second BWP (paragraph 314: the first information is used to indicate a correspondence between each of the at least one default BWP and an active BWP, and each default BWP corresponds to at least two active BWPs).
For claims 4, 14, 24, and 34; Xue discloses: wherein the switching is based on a period of inactivity of the first BWP (paragraph 343: When the first timer corresponding to the BWP 2 expires, if the active BWP 2 corresponding to the first timer that expires is the first active BWP, the terminal performs deactivation processing on the active BWP 2 corresponding to the first timer that expires, and performs activation processing on the default BWP 0).
For claims 5, 15, 25, and 35; Xue discloses: wherein the wireless device is configured to: monitor a downlink control channel on the first BWP for downlink control information (DCI), wherein the switching from the first BWP to the second BWP is based on a determination that the DCI is not received during the monitoring (paragraph 398: When the terminal receives, on the active BWPs corresponding to the first timer, DCI sent by the network device, the terminal sets the value of the first timer that does not expire to the initial value based on the correspondence between a first timer and at least two active BWPs. In other words, the terminal restarts the first timer before the first timer expires).
For claims 6, 16, 26, and 36; Xue discloses: wherein the wireless device is configured to switch from the first BWP to the second BWP by: deactivating the first BWP; and activating the second BWP as the active BWP (paragraph 343: When the first timer corresponding to the BWP 2 expires, if the active BWP 2 corresponding to the first timer that expires is the first active BWP, the terminal performs deactivation processing on the active BWP 2 corresponding to the first timer that expires, and performs activation processing on the default BWP 0).
For claims 7, 17, 27, and 37; Xue discloses: wherein the second BWP comprises a default BWP (paragraph 326, 368: When a first timer corresponding to the BWP 1 and the BWP 2 expires, both the BWP 1 and the BWP 2 are deactivated, and the default BWP 0 is activated).
For claims 8, 18, 28, and 38; Xue discloses: activating the first BWP during a first time interval; and activating the third BWP during a second time interval (paragraph 342: the BWP 1 and the BWP 2. The BWP 1 corresponds to one first timer, the BWP 2 corresponds to another first timer, and the first timers respectively corresponding to the BWP 1 and the BWP 2 have different timeout duration).
For claims 9, 19, 29, and 39; Xue discloses: wherein the wireless device is configured to send or receive at least one message via the second BWP (paragraph 343: the terminal performs deactivation processing on the active BWP 2 corresponding to the first timer that expires, and performs activation processing on the default BWP 0 corresponding to the at least two active BWPs. The network device may continue to schedule corresponding service data on the BWP 1, and schedule, on the default BWP 0, service data on the BWP 2).
For claims 45-48; Xue discloses: wherein the switching the first BWP to the second BWP is based on at least one of: an expiration of a timer associated with the first BWP; or receiving downlink control information (DCI) indicating the switching. (paragraph 343: When the first timer corresponding to the BWP 2 expires, if the active BWP 2 corresponding to the first timer that expires is the first active BWP, the terminal performs deactivation processing on the active BWP 2 corresponding to the first timer that expires, and performs activation processing on the default BWP 0).
Claim(s) 10, 20, 30, and 41-44 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xue in view of MolavianJazi in view of Basu Mallick as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lee et al. (US 2022/0248425) (“Lee”).
For claims 10, 20, 30, and 40; Xue discloses the subject matter in claim 1 as described above in the office action.
Xue does not expressly disclose, but Lee from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein the wireless device is configured to deactivate the third BWP based on a numerology of the second BWP being different from the numerology of the third BWP (Table 7: UE assumes that SL TX/RX operation is deactivated when it switches to initial Uu BWP of which numerology is different from SL BWP). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the BWPs as described by Lee in the activation/deactivation of BWPs as described by Xue. The motivation is to improve overhead control signaling.
For claims 41-44; Xue discloses the subject matter in claim 1 as described above in the office action.
Xue does not expressly disclose, but Lee from similar fields of endeavor teaches: wherein the third BWP comprises a sidelink BWP (Table 7: UE assumes that SL TX/RX operation is deactivated when it switches to initial Uu BWP of which numerology is different from SL BWP). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the BWPs as described by Lee in the activation/deactivation of BWPs as described by Xue. The motivation is to improve overhead control signaling.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Hui et al. (US 2020/0351067); Hui discloses a UE may deactivate an activated sidelink BWP based on the wireless device switching from a first uplink BWP to a second uplink BWP as an active uplink BWP when the sidelink BWP has a different numerology than a numerology of the second uplink BWP.
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 JOHN D BLANTON whose telephone number is (571)270-3933. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-6pm EST, Mon-Thu.
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/JOHN D BLANTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466