DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA (or AIA ) first to invent provisions.
Response to Amendment
- The amendment filed on March 16, 2026 has been entered.
- Claims 19-36 are pending.
- Claims 19, 26, 31 and 36 have been amended.
- Claims 19-36 are rejected.
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 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) 19, 21-22, 24-26, and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moon et al. (Pub. No. US 2020/0305191 A1; hereinafter Moon) in view of Chien (Pub. No. US 2023/0146487 A1; hereinafter Chien).
Regarding claim 19, Moon discloses an apparatus of a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: memory to store information regarding a fix frame period (FFP) boundary for the UE; and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory, to: retrieve the FFP boundary information from the memory; retrieve the FFP boundary information from the memory (2020/0305191-See ¶0100, information may be included in the configuration information of the COT, and the configuration information of the COT may be transmitted to the terminal; See ¶0199, computer readable medium may include a hardware device such as ROM, RAM, and flash memory, which are specifically configured to store and execute the program instructions; interpreted the configuration received from the base station is stored in the memory executed by the processor) perform a channel contention assessment (CCA) procedure based on the FFP boundary information; (Fig. 6, Shows the lbt process between UL and DL within the COT; See ¶0114, when the FFP is 10 ms, the COT (or MCOT) and the idle period constituting the FFP may be 9.5 ms and 0.5 ms, respectively) and perform a configured grant (CG) uplink (UL) transmission in a semi-static channel access mode (See ¶0119, an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH) may be scheduled by a configured grant (CG); CG may include information for semi-static configuration; See ¶0124, the terminal may not perform a signal reception operation according to semi-static configuration in symbols in which the CG resource(s) are configured) based on the FFP boundary information and a result of the CCA procedure. (See ¶0121, the terminal may start or initiate a COT by transmitting a PUSCH according to a CG; Figure 6, See ¶0134, a gap period (e.g., latent gap period) for an LBT operation may exist between the first uplink transmission burst and the downlink period, and a gap period (e.g., potential gap period) for an LBT operation may exist between the downlink period and the second uplink transmission burst; further, see ¶0170, a first terminal may acquire a COT by succeeding in an LBT operation, and may transmit a PUSCH (e.g., CG PUSCH) within the COT; interpreted the UE has do LBT before transmitting a uplink signal)
However, Moon fails to disclose the UE being configured with UE FFP parameters associated with UE-initiated channel occupancy, and the CG UL transmission being performed starting from a boundary of a UE FFP defined by the UE FFP parameters.
Chien discloses the UE being configured with UE FFP parameters associated with UE-initiated channel occupancy, and the CG UL transmission being performed starting from a boundary of a UE FFP defined by the UE FFP parameters. (20230146487-See ¶0163, he UE 10 can determine whether UE-initiated COT or shared gNB-initiated COT is used for UL transmission based on the resource location of CG or DG resource(s) in relation to the location of a UE’s FFP or a gNB’s FFP; See ¶0180, the scheduling information includes UL resource location information for configured grant UL transmission in the UL burst, the UL resource location information indicates a location of a UL resource for the configured grant UL transmission, a starting location of the UL resource for the configured grant UL transmission is aligned with a starting point of the FFP according to the set of FFP parameters associated with the UE)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify discloses the FFP boundary to include configuration parameters for the starting point of the FFP. The motivation to combine is both gNB-initiated COT and UE-initiated COT are activated, the UE 10 can have more UL transmission flexibility and opportunities, either by utilizing shared COT from gNB-initiated FFP or UE-initiated FFP (See ¶0066).
Regarding claim 21, Moon discloses the CG UL transmission is performed starting from a beginning of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol corresponding to a start of a channel occupancy time within an FFP. (Figure 6, COT initiated by terminal; first uplink transmission burst; See ¶0121, the beginning part of the uplink transmission burst of the terminal (e.g., symbols from the first symbol to the X-th symbol (i.e., X symbols) or slots from the first slot to the Y-th slot (i.e., Y slots)) may be occupied by the PUSCH according to the CG.)
Regarding claim 22, Moon discloses no intra-symbol starting position is applied to the CG UL transmission. (See ¶0124, the terminal may not perform a signal reception operation according to semi-static configuration in symbols in which the CG resource(s) are configured. For example, the base station may not configure the terminal to perform both a semi-static transmission operation and a semi-static reception operation on the same symbol (e.g., a symbol is set as a flexible symbol by semi-static slot format configuration); interpreted that only semi-static configured symbols are used)
Regarding claim 24, Moon discloses the CG UL transmission is performed from the FFP boundary. (Figure 6, first uplink burst performed at the starting boundary; an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH) may be scheduled by a configured grant (CG); CG may include information for semi-static configuration)
Regarding claim 25, Moon discloses the UE operates as an initiating device in the semi-static channel access mode. (Figure 6, COT initiated by terminal; See ¶0124, the terminal may not perform a signal reception operation according to semi-static configuration in symbols in which the CG resource(s) are configured)
Regarding claim 26, Moon disclose one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure a user equipment (UE) to (See ¶0020, the at least one instruction is executed by the processor, the at least one instruction may cause the processor to) perform a channel contention assessment (CCA) procedure based on a fix frame period (FFP) boundary for the UE; (Fig. 6, Shows the lbt process between UL and DL within the COT; See ¶0114, when the FFP is 10 ms, the COT (or MCOT) and the idle period constituting the FFP may be 9.5 ms and 0.5 ms, respectively) and perform a configured grant (CG) uplink (UL) transmission in a semi-static channel access mode (See ¶0119, an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH) may be scheduled by a configured grant (CG); CG may include information for semi-static configuration; See ¶0124, the terminal may not perform a signal reception operation according to semi-static configuration in symbols in which the CG resource(s) are configured) based on the FFP boundary and a result of the CCA procedure. (See ¶0121, the terminal may start or initiate a COT by transmitting a PUSCH according to a CG; Figure 6, See ¶0134, a gap period (e.g., latent gap period) for an LBT operation may exist between the first uplink transmission burst and the downlink period, and a gap period (e.g., potential gap period) for an LBT operation may exist between the downlink period and the second uplink transmission burst; further, see ¶0170, a first terminal may acquire a COT by succeeding in an LBT operation, and may transmit a PUSCH (e.g., CG PUSCH) within the COT; interpreted the UE has do LBT before transmitting a uplink signal)
However, Moon fails to disclose the UE being configured with UE FFP parameters associated with UE-initiated channel occupancy, and the CG UL transmission being performed starting from a boundary of a UE FFP defined by the UE FFP parameters.
Chien discloses the UE being configured with UE FFP parameters associated with UE-initiated channel occupancy, and the CG UL transmission being performed starting from a boundary of a UE FFP defined by the UE FFP parameters. (20230146487-See ¶0163, he UE 10 can determine whether UE-initiated COT or shared gNB-initiated COT is used for UL transmission based on the resource location of CG or DG resource(s) in relation to the location of a UE’s FFP or a gNB’s FFP; See ¶0180, the scheduling information includes UL resource location information for configured grant UL transmission in the UL burst, the UL resource location information indicates a location of a UL resource for the configured grant UL transmission, a starting location of the UL resource for the configured grant UL transmission is aligned with a starting point of the FFP according to the set of FFP parameters associated with the UE)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify discloses the FFP boundary to include configuration parameters for the starting point of the FFP. The motivation to combine is both gNB-initiated COT and UE-initiated COT are activated, the UE 10 can have more UL transmission flexibility and opportunities, either by utilizing shared COT from gNB-initiated FFP or UE-initiated FFP (See ¶0066).
Regarding claim 28, Moon discloses the CG UL transmission is performed starting from a beginning of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol that does not correspond to a start of a channel occupancy time within an FFP. (Figure 6, second uplink transmission burst is the start of the CG Pusch and its not start of the FFP)
Regarding claim 29, Moon discloses no intra-symbol starting position is applied prior to the CG UL transmission. (See ¶0124, the terminal may not perform a signal reception operation according to semi-static configuration in symbols in which the CG resource(s) are configured. For example, the base station may not configure the terminal to perform both a semi-static transmission operation and a semi-static reception operation on the same symbol (e.g., a symbol is set as a flexible symbol by semi-static slot format configuration); interpreted that only semi-static configured symbols are used)
Regarding claim 30, Moon discloses the UE operates either as an initiating device or a responding device in the semi-static channel access mode. (fig. 6 the COT initiated by the terminal)
Claim(s) 20 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moon in view of Chien and, further in view of IDS provided (3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 Meeting #106-6; R1-2108303; hereinafter 3GPP)
Regarding claims 20 and 27, Moon in view of Chien fails to disclose the CG UL transmission is performed without applying any CG-StartingOffsets-r16 parameter.
3GPP disclose the CG UL transmission is performed without applying any CG-StartingOffsets-r16 parameter. (Page 72, for operation with semi-static channel access, the Rel-16 random starting offsets for UL configuration grants with Full allocation when UE initates a COT, is not supported)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the COT has uplink and downlink transmission with LBT to include COT does not have any random starting offsets for UL configuration grants. The motivation to combine is UE-initiated Channel Occupancy Time (“COT”) is the reduced latency of the configured grant (“CG”) Physical Uplink Shared Channel (“PUSCH”) transmission.
Claim(s) 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moon in view of Chien and, further in view of Falahati et al. (Pub. No. US 2021/0259014 A1; hereinafter Falah).
Regarding claim 23, Moon in view of Chien fails to disclose the CCA procedure is performed during an idle period prior to a start of a new FFP.
Falah disclose the CCA procedure is performed during an idle period prior to a start of a new FFP. (2021/0259014-figure 1, a before a new COT there is CCA operation; See ¶0005, Each frame interval and/or each FPP may comprise a channel occupancy interval (also referred to as M-COT))
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Moon to include before a new FFP started the CCA is done first. The motivation to combine is to efficiently perform CCA in order to avoid collision if the channel is busy.
Claim(s) 31-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moon et al. (Pub. No. US 2020/0305191 A1; hereinafter Moon) in view of IDS provided (3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 Meeting #106-6; R1-2108303; hereinafter 3GPP) and further in view of Chien (Pub. No. US 2023/0146487 A1; hereinafter Chien).
Regarding claim 31, Moon disclose one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure a user equipment (UE) To: (See ¶0199, computer readable medium may include a hardware device such as ROM, RAM, and flash memory, which are specifically configured to store and execute the program instructions; interpreted the configuration received from the base station is stored in the memory executed by the processor) perform a channel contention assessment (CCA) procedure based on the FFP boundary information; (Fig. 6, Shows the lbt process between UL and DL within the COT; See ¶0114, when the FFP is 10 ms, the COT (or MCOT) and the idle period constituting the FFP may be 9.5 ms and 0.5 ms, respectively) and perform a configured grant (CG) uplink (UL) transmission in a semi-static channel access mode (See ¶0119, an uplink data channel (e.g., PUSCH) may be scheduled by a configured grant (CG); CG may include information for semi-static configuration; See ¶0124, the terminal may not perform a signal reception operation according to semi-static configuration in symbols in which the CG resource(s) are configured) based on the FFP boundary information and a result of the CCA procedure. (See ¶0121, the terminal may start or initiate a COT by transmitting a PUSCH according to a CG; Figure 6, See ¶0134, a gap period (e.g., latent gap period) for an LBT operation may exist between the first uplink transmission burst and the downlink period, and a gap period (e.g., potential gap period) for an LBT operation may exist between the downlink period and the second uplink transmission burst; further, see ¶0170, a first terminal may acquire a COT by succeeding in an LBT operation, and may transmit a PUSCH (e.g., CG PUSCH) within the COT; interpreted the UE has do LBT before transmitting a uplink signal)
However, Moon fails to disclose the CG UL transmission is performed without applying any CG-StartingOffsets-r16 parameter.
3GPP disclose the CG UL transmission is performed without applying any CG-StartingOffsets-r16 parameter. (Page 72, for operation with semi-static channel access, the Rel-16 random starting offsets for UL configuration grants with Full allocation when UE initiates a COT, is not supported)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the COT has uplink and downlink transmission with LBT to include COT does not have any random starting offsets for UL configuration grants. The motivation to combine is UE-initiated Channel Occupancy Time (“COT”) is the reduced latency of the configured grant (“CG”) Physical Uplink Shared Channel (“PUSCH”) transmission.
However, Moon in view of 3GPP fails to disclose the UE being configured with UE FFP parameters associated with UE-initiated channel occupancy, and the CG UL transmission being performed starting from a boundary of a UE FFP defined by the UE FFP parameters.
Chien discloses the UE being configured with UE FFP parameters associated with UE-initiated channel occupancy, and the CG UL transmission being performed starting from a boundary of a UE FFP defined by the UE FFP parameters. (20230146487-See ¶0163, he UE 10 can determine whether UE-initiated COT or shared gNB-initiated COT is used for UL transmission based on the resource location of CG or DG resource(s) in relation to the location of a UE’s FFP or a gNB’s FFP; See ¶0180, the scheduling information includes UL resource location information for configured grant UL transmission in the UL burst, the UL resource location information indicates a location of a UL resource for the configured grant UL transmission, a starting location of the UL resource for the configured grant UL transmission is aligned with a starting point of the FFP according to the set of FFP parameters associated with the UE)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify discloses the FFP boundary to include configuration parameters for the starting point of the FFP. The motivation to combine is both gNB-initiated COT and UE-initiated COT are activated, the UE 10 can have more UL transmission flexibility and opportunities, either by utilizing shared COT from gNB-initiated FFP or UE-initiated FFP (See ¶0066).
Regarding claim 32, Moon discloses the CG UL transmission is performed starting from a beginning of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. (Figure 6, COT initiated by terminal; first uplink transmission burst; See ¶0121, the beginning part of the uplink transmission burst of the terminal (e.g., symbols from the first symbol to the X-th symbol (i.e., X symbols) or slots from the first slot to the Y-th slot (i.e., Y slots)) may be occupied by the PUSCH according to the CG.)
Regarding claim 33, Moon discloses no intra-symbol starting position is applied prior to the CG UL transmission. (See ¶0124, the terminal may not perform a signal reception operation according to semi-static configuration in symbols in which the CG resource(s) are configured. For example, the base station may not configure the terminal to perform both a semi-static transmission operation and a semi-static reception operation on the same symbol (e.g., a symbol is set as a flexible symbol by semi-static slot format configuration); interpreted that only semi-static configured symbols are used)
Regarding claim 34, Moon disclose the CCA procedure is performed either during an idle period prior to a start of a new FFP or within an already-acquired FFP. (See ¶0114, The LBT operation performed by the FBE in the idle period or a gap period (e.g., gap period in COT) may be the LBT operation according to the second category.)
Regarding claim 35, Moon discloses the CG UL transmission is performed either from the FFP boundary or from a beginning of an OFDM symbol within an already-acquired FFP. (Figure 6, second uplink transmission burst is the start of the CG Pusch and its not start of the FFP)
Regarding claim 36, Moon discloses the UE operates as either as an initiating device or a responding device in the semi-static channel access mode. (fig. 6 the COT initiated by the terminal)
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect toward claim(s) 19, 26 and 31 recites the following limitation ”the UE being configured with UE FFP parameters associated with UE-initiated channel occupancy, and the CG UL transmission being performed starting from a boundary of a UE FFP defined by the UE FFP parameters” 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Talarico et al. (Pub. No. US 2020/0396767 A1)-See ¶0216, The value indicated through RRC parameters is effectively an offset respect to the radio frame boundary, indicated here by A. The starting positions within the radio frame are evaluated by shifting of A every FFP of length L. In other words, within a radio frame, the starting positions are A+N*L, where N is integer value (0, 1, 2, . . . ), and the starting reference point is the radio frame boundary.
He et al. (Pub. No. US 2023/0189334 A1 )-See ¶0023, The UE-Initiated COT FBE configurations may also be transmitted in a SIB, which means that all UEs within a cell will share the same UE-Initiated COT FBE configuration, including fixed frame period and starting positions.
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.
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/Tejis Daya/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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