DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to an application filed on 12/18/2023.
Claims 1- 30 are pending for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The Examiner contends that the drawings submitted on 12/18/2023 are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made and claims are rejected under new ground of rejection(s).
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1- 16, 22- 25, 27- 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 20220053550 A1), hereinafter “Li”; and in further view of Babaei et al. (US 20230137523 A1), hereinafter “Babaei”.
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE [Li: Fig. 2], comprising:
at least one memory[Li: Fig. 3]; and
at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the UE to [Li: Fig. 3; UE115, memory 304]:
receive an indication of one or more full-duplex time periods and one or more half-duplex time periods [Li: Fig. 4; 7; Par. 64-71 teaches of receiving SBFD (sub & full duplex) resource configuration over time slots/ period];
receive at least one resource allocation for downlink reception or uplink transmission [Li: Fig. 4; Par. 66-71 further teaches of receiving uplink configuration associated with resources]
adjust processing for at least conflicting resources of the at least one resource allocation based on the at least one resource allocation [Li: Fig. 7; Par. 123- 135 teaches of determining resources by UE on operations associated with resource configuration of the slots/ periods]; and
transmit or receive communication after adjustment of the processing for at least the conflicting resources [Li: Fig. 6,7; Par. 115-125 teaches of performing uplink transmission based on the selected configuration]
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However, Li does not teach of receive at least one resource allocation for downlink reception or uplink transmission of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS);
adjust processing for at least conflicting resources of the at least one resource allocation based on the at least one of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS).
Nevertheless, Babaei, in the similar filed of endeavor, teaches receive at least one resource allocation for downlink reception or uplink transmission of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS) [Babaei: Fig. 22; Par. 230- 235 teaches of time domain resource allocation for TBoMS performed via PUSCH repetition Type A];
adjust processing for at least conflicting resources of the at least one resource allocation based on the at least one of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS) [Babaei: Par. 230- 245 teaches resource allocations are based on TBoMS and TBoMS is allocated same or different based on different scenarios].
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time the invention was made to utilize the teachings of Babaei for using TBoMS for communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Babaei in the Li system in order to utilize TBoMS transmission [Babaei: Par. 40].
Regarding claim 2, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein each of the one or more full-duplex time periods corresponds to at least one slot or one or more symbols within a slot, wherein the one or more full-duplex time periods include sub-band full-duplex resources for full-duplex operation of a base station, and the UE operates in a half-duplex mode [Li: Fig. 7; Par. 125 teaches there are slots from HD and SBFD resource configurations for UL transmitting].
Regarding claim 3, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Li in view of Babaei further teaches herein each resource allocation includes at least one of a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) and a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) for the at least one of the uplink channels, the downlink channel, the reference signal, or the TBoMS [Babaei: Fig. 22 illustrates of using TBoMS for resource allocation].
Regarding claim 4, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein the at least one processor is, individually or in any combination, configured to cause the UE to adjust the processing based on a sounding reference signal (SRS) in the SBFD time periods and the non-SBFD time periods [Babaei: Par. 74].
Regarding claim 5, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Li in view of Babaei further teaches rate match the communication in the one or more half-duplex time periods and the one or more full-duplex time periods to avoid one or more conflicting resource blocks in a full-duplex time period [Li: Par. 66- 89 teaches of using SBFD and HD slots/ periods for adjusting/ determining in UL communication by UE during the occasion to selecting the suitable UL configuration].
Regarding claim 6, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 5. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein the at least one processor is, individually or in any combination, configured to cause the UE to rate match for multiple transmission or reception occasions, including one or more occasions that do not include the one or more conflicting resource blocks [Li: Fig. 7 illustrates transmission over different occasions].
Regarding claim 7, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein the at least one processor is, individually or in any combination, configured to cause the UE to rate match the communication in a full-duplex time period or a half-duplex time period to avoid at least the conflicting resources in at least the full-duplex time period or at least the half-duplex time period a guard band between a downlink sub-band and an uplink sub-band frequency resources in a sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) slot or symbol [Li: Fig. 7 teaches of determining by UE for resource allocation on SBFD slots].
Regarding claim 8, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein the at least one processor is, individually or in any combination, configured to cause the UE to rate match the communication in a full-duplex time period or a half-duplex time period to avoid at least the conflicting resources in at least the full-duplex time period or at least the half-duplex time period, based on a rate match pattern for the downlink reception, an uplink cancellation indication (UCLI) for the uplink transmission, or an uplink rate match pattern for the uplink transmission [Li: Fig. 7; Babaei Fig. 7 illustrates where resources are determined by UE for each occasion of uplink transmission in SBFD slots].
Regarding claim 9, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein to adjust the processing the at least one processor is, individually or in any combination, configured to cause the UE to transmit or receive the communication over conflicting full-duplex resources based on at least one of: transmit or receive a downlink signal over the conflicting full-duplex resources based on a first condition that a downlink signal resource allocation for the downlink signal is in a downlink symbol or a flexible symbol that occurs in a sub-band full-duplex (SBFD) time period [Li: Fig. 7; par. 66-89].
Regarding claim 10, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein the at least one processor is, individually or in any combination, further configured to cause the UE to: receive a configuration to disregard the conflicting full-duplex resources and transmit or receive the communication over the conflicting full-duplex resources based on the configuration [Li: Par. 89 teaches transmit/receive UL/DL communications over the SBFD resources].
Regarding claim 11, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein each resource allocation comprises at least one of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) or a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) [Babaei: Par. 280 teaches of communication and transmission of TDRA and FDRA] and, wherein the at least one resource allocation includes a first type of resource allocation associated with the one or more full-duplex time periods and a second type of resource allocation associated with the one or more half-duplex time periods, wherein to adjust the processing, the at least one processor is, individually or in any combination, configured to cause the UE to apply a resource allocation type based on a time period type [Li: Fig. 7 teaches of determining by UE for resource allocation on SBFD slots].
Regarding claim 12, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 11. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein a cycle duration for the at least one resource allocation is longer than a number of symbols of the first type of resource allocation and the second type of resource allocation [Li: Par. 70- 71 teaches of different UL configurations includes different number or type of resources such as frequency resources, time resources].
Regarding claim 13, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 11. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein a cycle duration is counted from a starting symbol per occasion or a center symbol per occasion for both the first type of resource allocation and the second type of resource allocation [Li: Fig. 3, 4].
Regarding claim 14, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 11. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein the first type of resource allocation is for application across a first resource allocation if at least one symbol of the first resource allocation overlaps with a full-duplex time slot or a full-duplex symbol [Li: Figs. 3-4].
Regarding claim 15, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 11. Li in view of Babaei further teaches apply the first type of resource allocation or the second type of resource allocation having a higher priority across both full-duplex time periods and half-duplex time periods [Li: Par. 80 teaches UE use a prior scheme in UL configurations for PUSCH transmission].
Regarding claim 16, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 15. Li in view of Babaei further teaches rate match the communication around conflicting resources [Li: Par. 93 teaches of using data rates to reduce latency in SBFD communication].
Regarding claim 22, Li teaches A method of wireless communication at a UE, comprising [Li: Fig. 2]:
receiving an indication of one or more full-duplex time periods and one or more half-duplex time periods [Li: Fig. 3; UE115, memory 304]:
receiving at least one resource allocation for downlink reception or uplink transmission of [Li: Fig. 4; 7; Par. 64-71 teaches of receiving SBFD (sub & full duplex) resource configuration over time slots/ period];Li: Fig. 4; Par. 66-71 further teaches of receiving uplink configuration associated with resources]
adjusting processing for at least conflicting resources of the at least one resource allocation based on [Li: Fig. 7; Par. 123- 135 teaches of determining resources by UE on operations associated with resource configuration of the slots/ periods]; and
transmitting or receiving communication after adjusting the processing for at least the conflicting resources [Li: Fig. 6,7; Par. 115-125 teaches of performing uplink transmission based on the selected configuration]
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However, Li does not teach of receive at least one resource allocation for downlink reception or uplink transmission of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS);
adjust processing for at least conflicting resources of the at least one resource allocation based on the at least one of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS).
Nevertheless, Babaei, in the similar filed of endeavor, teaches receive at least one resource allocation for downlink reception or uplink transmission of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS) [Babaei: Fig. 22; Par. 230- 235 teaches of time domain resource allocation for TBoMS performed via PUSCH repetition Type A];
adjust processing for at least conflicting resources of the at least one resource allocation based on the at least one of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS) [Babaei: Par. 230- 245 teaches resource allocations are based on TBoMS and TBoMS is allocated same or different based on different scenarios].
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time the invention was made to utilize the teachings of Babaei for using TBoMS for communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Babaei in the Li system in order to utilize TBoMS transmission [Babaei: Par. 40].
Regarding claim 23, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 22. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein each resource allocation comprises at least one of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) or a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) [Babaei: Par. 70 teaches of communication of SBFD used frequency resources in the frequency domain] and, wherein the at least the TBoMS that include the SBFD time periods and the non-SBFD time periods, multiple PUSCHs scheduled by a single downlink control information (DCI) across the SBFD time periods and the non-SBFD time periods [Li: Fig. 7 teaches of determining by UE for resource allocation on SBFD slots].
Regarding claim 24, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 22. Li in view of Babaei further teaches rate matching the communication in the one or more half-duplex time periods and the one or more full-duplex time periods to avoid one or more conflicting resource blocks in a full-duplex time period, wherein the rate matching is performed for multiple transmission or reception occasions, including one or more occasions that do not include the one or more conflicting resource blocks [Li: Fig. 7].
Regarding claim 25, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 22. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein each resource allocation comprises at least one of a time domain resource allocation (TDRA) or a frequency domain resource allocation (FDRA) [Babaei: Par. 280 teaches of communication and transmission of TDRA and FDRA] and, wherein the at least one resource allocation includes a first type of resource allocation associated with the one or more full-duplex time periods and a second type of resource allocation associated with the one or more half-duplex time periods, wherein to adjusting the processing includes applying a resource allocation type based on a time period type [[Li: Fig. 7 teaches of determining by UE for resource allocation on SBFD slots].
Regarding claim 27, Li A method of wireless communication at a network node, comprising [Li: Fig. 2]:
providing at least one resource allocation for a user equipment (UE) for downlink reception or uplink transmission [Li: Fig. 3; UE115, memory 304; Li: Fig. 4; 7; Par. 64-71 teaches of receiving SBFD (sub & full duplex) resource configuration over time slots/ period];Li: Fig. 4; Par. 66-71 further teaches of receiving uplink configuration associated with resources]
transmitting or receiving communication adjusted for at least conflicting resources [Li: Fig. 6,7; Par. 115-125 teaches of performing uplink transmission based on the selected configuration]
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However, Li does not teach of receive at least one resource allocation for downlink reception or uplink transmission of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS);
adjust processing for at least conflicting resources of the at least one resource allocation based on the at least one of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS).
Nevertheless, Babaei, in the similar filed of endeavor, teaches receive at least one resource allocation for downlink reception or uplink transmission of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS) [Babaei: Fig. 22; Par. 230- 235 teaches of time domain resource allocation for TBoMS performed via PUSCH repetition Type A];
adjust processing for at least conflicting resources of the at least one resource allocation based on the at least one of a transport block over multiple slots (TBoMS) [Babaei: Par. 230- 245 teaches resource allocations are based on TBoMS and TBoMS is allocated same or different based on different scenarios].
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the time the invention was made to utilize the teachings of Babaei for using TBoMS for communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize the teachings of Babaei in the Li system in order to utilize TBoMS transmission [Babaei: Par. 40].
Regarding claim 28 , the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 27.
Regarding claim 29, the combined Li in view of Babaei teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 28. Li in view of Babaei further teaches wherein the communication is rate matched in the one or more half-duplex time periods and the one or more full-duplex time periods to avoid one or more conflicting resource blocks in a full-duplex time period, wherein the communication is rate matched for multiple transmission or reception occasions, including one or more occasions that do not include the one or more conflicting resource blocks [Li: Par. 66- 89 teaches of using SBFD and HD slots/ periods for adjusting/ determining in UL communication by UE during the occasion to selecting the suitable UL configuration].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-21, 26 and 30 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
The prior art made of record (see attached PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
A shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of the action. An extension of time may be obtained under 37 CFR 1.136(a). However, in no event, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KYAW Z SOE whose telephone number is (571)270-0304. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am-5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles C Jiang can be reached on 5712707191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KYAW Z SOE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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