DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claims 1-30 are currently pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 and 103
2. 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 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.
3. 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)(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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
7. Claims 1, 2, 4-17, and 19-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 2022/0287035 (hereinafter “Yang”) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Yang, in view of the non-patent literature document titled Enhancements For Unlicensed Band URLLC/IIoT (hereinafter “R1-2103326”).
Regarding claims 1, 12, 16, and 27: Yang teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station (BS) in a first fixed frame period (FFP), downlink communication information (DCI), wherein the DCI indicates a scheduled DL communication in a second FFP subsequent to the first FFP (see, e.g., [0073]-[0076], [0094]; a base station schedules a downlink transmission; note inter-COT A/N transmission, including a subsequent COT period);
monitoring for a downlink (DL) signal in the second FFP; and transmitting, based on the monitoring for the DL signal, an acknowledgement/non- acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) indicating whether the scheduled DL communication was detected (see, e.g., [0073]-[0076], [0094]; note A/N feedback).
Yang teaches wherein the base station indicates a subsequent period, as well as utilizing DCI, but does not explicitly state “wherein the DCI indicates [the communication].” To the extent this feature is not inherent to the system of Yang, it is nevertheless taught in R1-2103326 (see, e.g., section 2, note pp. 1-3; scheduling and indication in DCI). Also, Yang does not explicitly state a “fixed frame period.” To the extent this feature is also not inherent to Yang (note, e.g., Yang [0073]; note FBE functionality), it is nevertheless taught in R1-2103326 (see, e.g., section 2, note pp. 1-4; note COTs within FFP boundaries). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate features from the system of R1-2103326, such as the signaling functionality, within the system of Yang, in order to improve resource utilization.
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 1 is applicable to the method, UE, and BS of claims 12, 16, and 27, respectively.
Regarding claims 2 and 17: Yang alternatively modified by R1-2103326 further teaches wherein the transmitting the ACK/NACK comprises: transmitting, in response to detecting the DL signal in the second FFP, the ACK/NACK in the second FFP, wherein the second FFP is associated with a BS channel occupancy time (COT) (see, e.g., Yang [0073]-[0076], [0094]; a base station schedules a downlink transmission; note inter-COT A/N transmission, including a subsequent COT period).
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 2 is applicable to the UE of claim 17.
Regarding claims 4, 13, 19, and 28: Yang alternatively modified by R1-2103326 further teaches wherein: the DCI comprises a first parameter indicating at least one of: the UE to share a BS COT in the second FFP; or the UE to initiate a UE COT in the second FFP, and the transmitting the ACK/NACK is further based on the first parameter (see, e.g., Yang [0076]; and/or R1-2103326 pp. 1-4; note share and initiate functionality). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claim 4.
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 4 is applicable to the method, UE, and BS of claims 13, 19, and 28, respectively.
Regarding claims 5-9 and 20-24: Yang alternatively modified by R1-2103326 further teaches wherein: the first parameter indicates the UE to share the BS COT, and the transmitting the ACK/NACK comprises: transmitting, in response to detecting the DL signal in the second FFP, the ACK/NACK in the BS COT (i.e. claim 5); and wherein: the first parameter indicates the UE to share the BS COT, and the transmitting the ACK/NACK comprises: transmitting, in response to failing to detect the DL signal in the second FFP, the ACK/NACK in the UE COT (i.e. claim 6); and wherein: the first parameter indicates that the scheduled DL communication is associated with the UE COT, and the transmitting the ACK/NACK comprises: transmitting the ACK/NACK in the UE COT (i.e. claim 7); and wherein: the first parameter indicates that the scheduled DL communication is associated with the UE COT, and the transmitting the ACK/NACK comprises: transmitting, in response to detecting the DL signal in the second FFP, the ACK/NACK in the BS COT (i.e. claim 8); and wherein: the first parameter indicates that the scheduled DL communication is associated with the UE COT, and the transmitting the ACK/NACK comprises: transmitting, in response to failing to detect the DL signal in the second FFP, the ACK/NACK in the UE COT (i.e. claim 9) (see, e.g., Yang [0073]-[0076], [0094]; and/or R1-2103326 section 2, pp. 1-3; note signaling for association and transmission with either BS COT or UE COT). The motivation for modification set forth above regarding claim 1 is applicable to claims 5-9.
The rationale set forth above regarding the methods of claim 5-9 is applicable to the UEs of claims 20-24, respectively.
Regarding claims 10, 11, 25, and 26: Yang alternatively modified by R1-2103326 further teaches receiving, from the BS, a radio resource control (RRC) communication indicating a second parameter, wherein the second parameter indicates whether the UE is enabled to initiate the UE COT when the first parameter indicates the UE to share the BS COT in the second FFP, wherein the transmitting the ACK/NACK is further based on the second parameter (i.e. claim 10); and receiving, from the BS, a RRC communication indicating a third parameter, wherein the third parameter indicates whether the UE is enabled to share the BS COT when the first parameter indicates the UE to initiate the UE COT in the second FFP, wherein the transmitting the ACK/NACK is further based on the third parameter (i.e. claim 11) (see, e.g., Yang [0079], [0094]; and/or R1-2103326; pp. 1-3; note RRC signaling and configuration functionality).
The rationale set forth above regarding the methods of claims 10 and 11 is applicable to the UEs of claims 25 and 26, respectively.
Regarding claims 14, 15, 29, and 30: Yang alternatively modified by R1-2103326 further teaches transmitting, to the UE, a radio resource control (RRC) communication indicating whether the UE is enabled to initiate the UE COT when the DCI indicates the UE to share the BS COT in the second FFP (i.e. claim 14); and transmitting, to the UE, a RRC communication indicating whether the UE is enabled to share the BS COT when the DCI indicates the UE to initiate the UE COT in the second FFP (i.e. claim 15) (see, e.g., Yang [0079], [0094]; and/or R1-2103326; pp. 1-3; note RRC signaling and configuration functionality).
The rationale set forth above regarding the methods of claims 14 and 15 is applicable to the BSs of claims 29 and 30, respectively.
8. Claims 3 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang, alternatively in view of R1-2103326, and alternatively in further view of U.S. Publication No. 2025/0226926 (hereinafter “Hedayat”).
Regarding claims 3 and 18: Yang alternatively modified by R1-2103326 further teaches wherein the transmitting the ACK/NACK comprises: transmitting, in response to failing to detect the DL signal in the second FFP, the ACK/NACK in a third FFP different from the second FFP, wherein the third FFP is associated with a UE COT (see, e.g., Yang [0076]; and/or R1-2103326 pp. 1-4; note inter-COT A/N transmission involves a subsequent period that is available). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application, in view of Yang as modified by R1-2103326, to transmit in a third FFP, in order to capitalize on a next available period.
Alternatively, Hedayat, in a similar field of endeavor, teaches wherein an availability for transmission is not a second FFP (see, e.g., [0125]; note consecutive COTs for base station transmission). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate features from the system of Hedayat, such as the signaling functionality, within the system of Yang modified by R1-2103326, in order to, e.g., enable prioritized communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application, in view of Yang as modified by R1-2103326 and Hedayat, to transmit in a third FFP, in order to capitalize on a next available period.
The rationale set forth above regarding the method of claim 3 is applicable to the UE of claim 18.
Relevant Art
9. The following prior art not relied upon in this Office action is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure: See form PTO-892.
Conclusion
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/NICHOLAS SLOMS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476