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 Amendment
Applicant's request for reconsideration of the finality of the rejection of the last Office action is persuasive and, therefore, the finality of that action is withdrawn.
This office action is in response to amendment filed on 9/18/26. Claims 1, 4-5, 7-9, 11, 13, 15-16, 18, and 28 are currently pending.
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, 4-5, 9, 18, and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yang (US 2021/0400643 which corresponds to WO 2021/016778 cited in previous office action).
Regarding claim 1, Yang teaches a method for reducing a latency, applied to a terminal, comprising:
receiving downlink control information DCI (see “Secondly, if a state of the duplication is needed to be modified, first indication information is transmitted to the UE through one of the following: RRC, DCI or MAC CE” [0079]); and
activating/deactivating configured grant CG and packet data convergence protocol PDCP duplication transmission based on the DCI (see “The first indication information carries at least one of the following information:…a carrier index used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state, and a CG index used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state” [0080] and “Then, the UE determines, based on the first indication information, whether to perform the duplication, and the CG resource used on the corresponding carrier when transmitting the data and/or duplicating data” [0096] which suggests DCI with first indication information which includes information on whether to perform the duplication (i.e. activation/deactivation) and a CG index and/or a carrier index which identifies a CG to activate to perform the duplication and/or a CG to deactivate when duplication is deactivated);
wherein the DCI comprises one of the following:
first indication information for indicating carrier ID/carrier group ID (carrier index) for which PDCP duplication transmission is to be activated (see “The first indication information carries at least one of the following information:…a carrier index used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state” [0080] which suggests DCI with first indication information may include a carrier index which identifies at least one carrier to be activated for transmitting/duplicating data (i.e. “PDCP duplication transmission”) when the duplication state is modified from a deactivation state to an activation state);
second indication information for indicating carrier ID within a cell group (cell group index) for which activation is to be performed (The first indication information carries at least one of the following information:…a cell group index for transmitting data and/or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state” [0079] and “The transmission resource selection information includes at least one of the following:…a cell group index selected by the UE” [0125] which suggests DCI with first indication information may include a cell group index which identifies resources within a cell group for activation of transmitting/duplicating data when the duplication state is modified from a deactivation state to an activation state);
third indication information for indicating carrier ID/carrier group ID (carrier index) for which PDCP duplication transmission is to be deactivated (see “The first indication information carries at least one of the following information:…a carrier index used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state” [0080] which suggests DCI with first indication information may include a carrier index which identifies at least one carrier for deactivation of transmitting/duplicating data (i.e. “PDCP duplication transmission”) when the duplication state is modified from an activation state to a deactivation state); or,
fourth indication information for indicating activation/deactivation of PDCP duplication transmission of a data radio bearer DRBm (bearer index) (see “The first indication information carries at least one of the following information: a bearer index used for transmitting data and / or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state” [0080] which suggests DCI with first indication information may include a bearer index which identifies DRBm for activating/deactivating of transmission/duplicating data);
the method further comprising:
receiving a first signaling (duplication configuration), wherein the first signaling is used to configure a mapping relationship between the carrier ID (carrier index) indicated by the DCI and a carrier, or the first signaling is used to configure a mapping relationship between the carrier group ID (carrier list) indicated by the DCI and a carrier group (see “The duplication configuration includes an index of at least one transmission resource used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data” [0055] and “That is, at least one default carrier may be configured for the UE in the duplication configuration , and the carrier list is formed by the at least one default carrier. The carrier may be represented by a carrier index, and the carrier list includes an index of at least one default carrier” [0077] which in combination suggests a UE initially receives a duplication configuration which may include a carrier index/list that identifies at least one default carrier which is “a mapping relationship” between the carrier index/list and the at least one default carrier);
wherein in a case that the DCI comprises the first indication information or the second indication information, the activating/deactivating the configured grant CG and the packet data convergence protocol PDCP duplication transmission based on the DCI comprises:
activating or reactivating, based on the DCI, the CG on a carrier corresponding to the carrier ID/carrier group ID indicated by the DCI and performing the PDCP duplication transmission on the carrier corresponding to the carrier ID/carrier group ID (see “The UE determines, based on the CG index and/or carrier index used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state , the UL grant used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data, such as the configured CG and/or which carrier is used for data transmission” [0101] which suggests UE activates the configured CG and/or carrier corresponding to the CG index and/or carrier index based on the first indication information received in DCI when the duplication state is modified to an activation state).
Regarding claim 4, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the cell group represents a master cell group MCG or a secondary cell group SCG (see “The primary cell corresponding to the bearer for performing duplication configured for the UE may be considered as a primary cell including the master cell group and/or the secondary cell group” [0069]).
Regarding claim 5, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein in a case that the DCI comprises the third indication information, the activating/deactivating the configured grant CG and the packet data convergence protocol PDCP duplication transmission based on the DCI comprises:
deactivating, based on the DCI, the CG and the PDCP duplication transmission on a carrier corresponding to the carrier ID/carrier group ID indicated by the DCI (see “The UE determines, based on the CG index and/or carrier index used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state , the UL grant used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data, such as the configured CG and/or which carrier is used for data transmission” [0101] which suggests UE deactivates the configured CG and/or carrier corresponding to the CG index and/or carrier index based on the first indication information received in DCI when the duplication state is modified to a deactivation state); or,
deactivating, based on the DCI, the CG and the PDCP duplication transmission on all carriers.
Regarding claim 9, Yang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein a carrier used by the terminal to receive the DCI is a main carrier for performing activation/deactivation of the PDCP duplication transmission (see “Secondly, if a state of the duplication is needed to be modified , first indication information is transmitted to the UE through one of the following : RRC , DCI or MAC CE” [0079]);
a carrier corresponding to the carrier ID indicated by the DCI is a secondary carrier for performing activation/deactivation of the PDCP duplication transmission, or a carrier corresponding to the carrier group ID indicated by the DCI is a secondary carrier for performing activation/deactivation of the PDCP duplication transmission (see “The first indication information carries at least one of the following information:…a carrier index used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state” [0080] wherein the DCI is received by the UE on a “main carrier” and the carrier identification or CG index included in the replication transmission configuration for performing the replication transmission is the “secondary carrier”).
Claims 18 and 28 recite subject matter similar to claim 1 and are therefore rejected on the same basis.
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.
Claim(s) 11, 13, and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US 2021/0400643) in view of Wang et al. (US 2022/0060283).
Regarding claim 11, Yang teaches a method for reducing a latency, applied to a network device, comprising: sending downlink control information DCI to a terminal, to cause the terminal to activate/deactivate configured grant CG and packet data convergence protocol PDCP duplication transmission based on the DCI- wherein the DCI comprises one of the following: first indication information for indicating carrier ID/carrier group ID for which PDCP duplication transmission is to be activated; second indication information for indicating carrier ID within a cell group for which activation is to be performed; third indication information for indicating carrier ID/carrier group ID for which PDCP duplication transmission is to be deactivated; or fourth indication information for indicating activation/deactivation of PDCP duplication transmission of a data radio bearer DRBm; the method further comprising: sending a first signaling to the terminal, wherein the first signaling is used to configure a mapping relationship between the carrier ID indicated by the DCI and a carrier, or the first signaling is used to configure a mapping relationship between the carrier group ID indicated by the DCI and a carrier group; wherein in a case that the DCI comprises the first indication information or the second indication information, the activating/deactivating the configured grant CG and the packet data convergence protocol PDCP duplication transmission based on the DCI comprises: activating or reactivating, based on the DCI, the CG on a carrier corresponding to the carrier ID/carrier group ID indicated by the DCI and performing the PDCP duplication transmission on the carrier corresponding to the carrier ID/carrier group ID (see above rejection of claim 1), but does not explicitly teach that the DCI is sent based on reporting capability of the terminal. In an analogous prior art reference, Wang teaches activating packet duplication based on reporting capability of the terminal (see “That is, when a UE sends capability information (e.g., in an RRC Connection Setup Request) to the network, the capability information may indicate what types of data duplication the UE supports” [par 121]). Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention invention to modify the invention of Yang to allow the DCI to be based on reporting capability of the terminal, as taught by Wang, in order to configure terminals capable of performing PDCP duplication thereby increasing network efficiency.
Regarding claim 13, Yang teaches the method according to claim 12, wherein the cell group represents a master cell group MCG or a secondary cell group SCG (see “The primary cell corresponding to the bearer for performing duplication configured for the UE may be considered as a primary cell including the master cell group and/or the secondary cell group” [0069]).
Regarding claim 15, Yang teaches the method according to claim 11, further comprising:
sending a second signaling to the terminal, wherein the second signaling is used to configure a data radio bearer for performing activation/deactivation of the PDCP duplication transmission (see the duplication configuration further includes “A default carrier when the duplication mode of the bearer for performing duplication configured for the UE is in the deactivation state” [0075]).
Regarding claim 16, Yang teaches the method according to claim 11, wherein a carrier used by the terminal to receive the DCI is a main carrier for performing activation/deactivation of the PDCP duplication transmission (see “Secondly, if a state of the duplication is needed to be modified , first indication information is transmitted to the UE through one of the following : RRC , DCI or MAC CE” [0079]);
a carrier corresponding to the carrier ID indicated by the DCI is a secondary carrier for performing activation/deactivation of the PDCP duplication transmission, or a carrier corresponding to the carrier group ID indicated by the DCI is a secondary carrier for performing activation/deactivation of the PDCP duplication transmission (see “The first indication information carries at least one of the following information:…a carrier index used for transmitting data and/or duplicating data after modifying the duplication state” [0080] wherein the DCI is received by the UE on a “main carrier” and the carrier identification or CG index included in the replication transmission configuration for performing the replication transmission is the “secondary carrier”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7-8 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 4-5, 9, 11, 13, 15-16, 18, and 28 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. Upon further review of the US publication of Yang, the Examiner submits that the DCI including the first indication information to modify the duplication state of Yang [0079-0080] reads on the claimed DCI since it activates/deactivates PDCP duplication transmission using indexes, or IDs, that identify corresponding CG resources and/or carriers. The duplication configuration [0063, 0072-0078] initially received by the UE reads on the claimed “first signaling” since it configures the indexes and associated carriers which are activated/deactivated for PDCP duplication with the DCI including the first indication information.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nam T Huynh whose telephone number is (571)272-5970. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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/NAM T HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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