Claims status
In response to the application filed on 03/05/2026, claims 1-12 and 16 are currently pending for the examination. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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.
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 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 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.
Claims 1-6, 7-11, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YANG et al. (US 2023/0188297 A1) in view of CIRIK et al. (US 2020/0259703 A1) and further in view of JUNG et al. (US 2022/0377812 A1).
Regarding claim 1; Yang teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) (See Fig. 6: Configuring for multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. ¶ [0073]), the method comprising:
receiving downlink control information (DCI) (See Figs. 5 and 6: the UE to receive the DCI indicating multiple search spaces via multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. ¶ [0070-0071]) including physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring adaption information (See Fig. 6: At 606, the base station 604 may transmit a configuration for multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. That is, the base station 604 may transmit the configuration for a plurality of PDCCH monitoring groups to the UE 602 to monitor different sets of search spaces, i.e., PDCCH adaption info. ¶ [0073]);
monitoring a first search space (SS) set group based on the PDCCH monitoring adaptation (See Fig. 6: At 612, the UE 602 may determine to monitor the search spaces corresponding to one of the PDCCH monitoring groups used to receive the PDCCH transmitted from the base station 604. For example…the UE 602 may determine whether to monitor the search spaces corresponding to the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group to detect and receive the PDCCH. ¶ [0075]);
transmitting a scheduling request (SR) or a random access channel (RACH) (See Fig. 6: At 614, the UE 602 may send a request (i.e., UL signal) to change/adapt the PDCCH monitoring group to the base station 604. That is, the UE 602 may send a request to the base station 604 to switch the PDCCH monitoring group. For example, when the UE knows that there is an urgent traffic coming, the UE may determine to switch or adapt to the PDCCH monitoring group (i.e., monitoring adaption) with a shorter periodicity and with more PDCCH monitoring occasions. ¶ [0079]), based on transmission of the SR or the RACH, monitoring a second SS set group within a PDCCH monitoring window (See Fig. 6: In response to receiving the UL signal at step 614, at 616, the base station 604 may transmit the PDCCH to the UE 602 in the search spaces corresponding to the determined one of the multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. For example, when the multiple PDCCH monitoring groups include the first PDCCH monitoring group and the second PDCCH monitoring group…based on the determination of the search spaces (i.e., second SS set group) corresponding to one of the PDCCH monitoring group to transmit the PDCCH to the UE 602 in the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group in 608. Note: the UE may select and monitor either one of the first or second PDCCH monitoring groups as instructed by the Base Station. ¶ [0076]); and
receiving a PDCCH through the second SS set group (See Fig. 6: At 616…the base station 604 may transmit the PDCCH in the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group based on the determination of the search spaces corresponding to one of the PDCCH monitoring group to transmit the PDCCH to the UE 602 in the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group in 608. ¶ [0076]).
Even though, Yang teaches the method wherein monitoring the search spaces corresponding the first PDCCH monitoring group and the second PDCCH monitoring group or both groups, Yang doesn’t explicitly provide the method wherein the UL signal is a scheduling request (SR), and wherein monitoring of the second SS space set groups,
However, Cirik discloses the method wherein the UL signal is a scheduling request (SR) (Cirik: See Fig. 12: the Uplink Control Information (UCI or UL signal) 509 may comprise at least one of a CSI, an Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK), and/or a scheduling request. ¶ [0109]), and wherein monitoring the search spaces (SS) within the PDCCH monitoring window (Cirik: The wireless device may, during the response window, monitor at least one PDCCH on a search space indicated by a search space indicator (e.g., recoverySearchSpaceId) of a cell (e.g., of an SpCell) for DCI, for example, after the sending/transmitting the uplink signal. See ¶ [0243], and [0259] for Search Space Set, i.e., more than one search space(s)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that the method wherein the UL signal is a scheduling request (SR), and wherein monitoring the search space(s) within the PDCCH monitoring window as taught by Cirik to have incorporated in the system of Yang, so that it would provide that efficient determination/selection of the suitable beam may avoid/reduce potential communication problems in wireless communications. Cirik: ¶ [0004].
[Office’s Note: Because of the alternative claim language such as “…or…”, only one of the alternative limitations has been analyzed by the examiner].
Neither Yang nor Cirik discloses monitoring the first SS set group and the second SS set group.
However, Jung teaches monitoring the first SS set group and the second SS set group (Jung-See Fig. 3: the UE can monitor PDCCH candidates both in the first PDCCH search space set within the first MsgB window and in the second PDCCH search space set within the second MsgB window, where the first MsgB window may or may not be the same as the second MsgB window. ¶ [0140]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide monitoring the first SS set group and the second SS set group as taught by Jung to have incorporated in the system of Yang, so that it would provide that ,with successful completion of 2-step RACH, even if the UE has not been provided other UE-specific search space sets, the UE can monitor PDCCH candidates for fallback/compact DCI formats with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI in the second PDCCH search space set provided by MsgB-SearchSpace. Jung: ¶ [0029].
Regarding claim 2: Yang teaches the method wherein the second SS set is one of all SS sets in which the PDCCH is capable of being received (See Fig. 6: The PDCCH monitoring groups may be associated with at least one search space. The search spaces for receiving the PDCCH may be UE-specific. That is, the UE may be configured to monitor the UE-specific search spaces associated to the PDCCH monitoring groups indicated by the RRC message to receive the PDCCH. ¶ [0055]).
Regarding claim 3; Yang in view of Cirik teaches the method wherein the PDCCH monitoring window is a monitoring window including a time at which a RAR is expected to be received (Cirik: See Fig. 12: A wireless device may receive, from a base station, a random access response, Msg 2 1230 or RAR to be received. The wireless device may start a time window (e.g., ra-ResponseWindow) to monitor a random access response. ¶ [0162]).
Regarding claim 4; Yang teaches the method wherein the second SS set group is related with a control resource set (CORESET) related with the PDCCH monitoring window (Cirik: The wireless device may monitor a PDCCH in a first CORESET while the response window is running. The first CORESET may be associated with the BFR procedure. ¶ [0217]).
Regarding claim 5; Yang teaches the method wherein based on reception of the PDCCH, stopping monitoring the second SS set group and starting monitoring the first SS set group (Cirik: The wireless device may drop/stop monitoring the selected CORESET, for example, based on selecting the CORESET (e.g., selected CORESETO. The wireless device may skip monitoring the selected CORESET, for example, based on selecting the CORESET (e.g., selected CORESET). ¶ [0535]).
Regarding claim 7; Yang teaches a user equipment (UE) UE comprising: at least one transceiver; at least one processor; and at least one memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations, wherein the operations comprise:
receiving downlink control information (DCI) (See Figs. 5 and 6: the UE to receive the DCI indicating multiple search spaces via multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. ¶ [0070-0071]) including physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring adaption information (See Fig. 6: At 606, the base station 604 may transmit a configuration for multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. That is, the base station 604 may transmit the configuration for a plurality of PDCCH monitoring groups to the UE 602 to monitor different sets of search spaces. ¶ [0073]);
monitoring a first search space (SS) set group based on the PDCCH monitoring adaptation (See Fig. 6: At 612, the UE 602 may determine to monitor the search spaces corresponding to one of the PDCCH monitoring groups used to receive the PDCCH transmitted from the base station 604. For example…the UE 602 may determine whether to monitor the search spaces corresponding to the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group to detect and receive the PDCCH. ¶ [0075]);
transmitting a scheduling request (SR) (See Fig. 6: At 614, the UE 602 may send a request (i.e., scheduling request) to change/adapt the PDCCH monitoring group to the base station 604. That is, the UE 602 may send a request to the base station 604 to switch the PDCCH monitoring group. For example, when the UE knows that there is an urgent traffic coming, the UE may determine to switch or adapt to the PDCCH monitoring group (i.e., monitoring adaption) with a shorter periodicity and with more PDCCH monitoring occasions. ¶ [0079]), based on transmission of the SR or the RACH, monitoring a second SS set group within a PDCCH monitoring window (See Fig. 6: In response to receiving the UL signal at step 614, at 616, the base station 604 may transmit the PDCCH to the UE 602 in the search spaces corresponding to the determined one of the multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. For example, when the multiple PDCCH monitoring groups include the first PDCCH monitoring group and the second PDCCH monitoring group…based on the determination of the search spaces (i.e., second SS set group) corresponding to one of the PDCCH monitoring group to transmit the PDCCH to the UE 602 in the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group in 608. Note: the UE may select and monitor either one of the first or second PDCCH monitoring groups as instructed by the Base Station. ¶ [0076]); and
receiving a PDCCH through the second SS set group (See Fig. 6: At 616…the base station 604 may transmit the PDCCH in the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group based on the determination of the search spaces corresponding to one of the PDCCH monitoring group to transmit the PDCCH to the UE 602 in the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group in 608. ¶ [0076]).
Even though, Yang teaches the method wherein monitoring the search spaces corresponding the first PDCCH monitoring group and the second PDCCH monitoring group or both groups, Yang doesn’t explicitly provide the method wherein the UL signal is a scheduling request (SR), and wherein monitoring the search space set groups,
However, Cirik discloses the method wherein the UL signal is a scheduling request (SR) (Cirik: See Fig. 12: the Uplink Control Information (UCI or UL signal) 509 may comprise at least one of a CSI, an Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK), and/or a scheduling request. ¶ [0109]), and wherein monitoring the search spaces (SS) within the PDCCH monitoring window (Cirik: The wireless device may, during the response window, monitor at least one PDCCH on a search space indicated by a search space indicator (e.g., recoverySearchSpaceId) of a cell (e.g., of an SpCell) for DCI, for example, after the sending/transmitting the uplink signal. See ¶ [0243], and [0259] for Search Space Set, i.e., more than one search space(s)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that the method wherein the UL signal is a scheduling request (SR), and wherein monitoring the search space(s) within the PDCCH monitoring window as taught by Cirik to have incorporated in the system of Yang, so that it would provide that efficient determination/selection of the suitable beam may avoid/reduce potential communication problems in wireless communications. Cirik: ¶ [0004].
[Office’s Note: Because of the alternative claim language such as “…or…”, only one of the alternative limitations has been analyzed by the examiner].
Neither Yang nor Cirik discloses monitoring the first SS set group and the second SS set group.
However, Jung teaches monitoring the first SS set group and the second SS set group (Jung-See Fig. 3: the UE can monitor PDCCH candidates both in the first PDCCH search space set within the first MsgB window and in the second PDCCH search space set within the second MsgB window, where the first MsgB window may or may not be the same as the second MsgB window. ¶ [0140]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide monitoring the first SS set group and the second SS set group as taught by Jung to have incorporated in the system of Yang, so that it would provide that ,with successful completion of 2-step RACH, even if the UE has not been provided other UE-specific search space sets, the UE can monitor PDCCH candidates for fallback/compact DCI formats with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI in the second PDCCH search space set provided by MsgB-SearchSpace. Jung: ¶ [0029].
Regarding claim 8: Yang teaches the UE wherein the second SS set is one of all SS sets in which the PDCCH is capable of being received (See Fig. 6: The PDCCH monitoring groups may be associated with at least one search space. The search spaces for receiving the PDCCH may be UE-specific. That is, the UE may be configured to monitor the UE-specific search spaces associated to the PDCCH monitoring groups indicated by the RRC message to receive the PDCCH. ¶ [0055]).
Regarding claim 9; Yang in view of Cirik teaches the UE wherein the PDCCH monitoring window is a monitoring window including a time at which a RAR is expected to be received (Cirik: See Fig. 12: A wireless device may receive, from a base station, a random access response, Msg 2 1230 or RAR to be received. The wireless device may start a time window (e.g., ra-ResponseWindow) to monitor a random access response. ¶ [0162]).
Regarding claim 10; Yang teaches the UE wherein the second SS set is related with a control resource set (CORESET) related with the PDCCH monitoring window (Cirik: The wireless device may monitor a PDCCH in a first CORESET while the response window is running. The first CORESET may be associated with the BFR procedure. ¶ [0217]).
Regarding claim 11; Yang teaches the UE wherein monitoring of the second SS set is skipped within the PDCCH monitoring window based on reception of the PDCCH (Cirik: The wireless device may drop/stop monitoring the selected CORESET, for example, based on selecting the CORESET (e.g., selected CORESETO. The wireless device may skip monitoring the selected CORESET, for example, based on selecting the CORESET (e.g., selected CORESET). ¶ [0535]).
Regarding claim 16; Yang teaches a base station (BS) comprising (See Fig. 6: Configuring for multiple PDCCH monitoring groups between the UE and the BS. ¶ [0073]), at least one transceiver; at least one processor; and at least one memory operably connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to perform operations, wherein the operations comprise:
transmitting downlink control information (DCI) (See Figs. 5 and 6: the UE to receive the DCI indicating multiple search spaces via multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. ¶ [0070-0071]) including physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring adaption information (See Fig. 6: At 606, the base station 604 may transmit a configuration for multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. That is, the base station 604 may transmit the configuration for a plurality of PDCCH monitoring groups to the UE 602 to monitor different sets of search spaces. ¶ [0073]);
transmitting a first PDCCH through a first search space (SS) set based on PDCCH monitoring adaptation (See Fig. 6: At 612, the UE 602 may determine to monitor the search spaces corresponding to one of the PDCCH monitoring groups used to receive the PDCCH transmitted from the base station 604. For example…the UE 602 may determine whether to monitor the search spaces corresponding to the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group to detect and receive the PDCCH. ¶ [0075]);
receiving a scheduling request (SR) through the transceiver (See Fig. 6: At 614, the UE 602 may send a request (i.e., scheduling request to change the PDCCH) to change the PDCCH monitoring group to the base station 604. That is, the UE 602 may send a request to the base station 604 to switch the PDCCH monitoring group. For example, when the UE knows that there is an urgent traffic coming, the UE may determine to switch to the PDCCH monitoring group with a shorter periodicity and with more PDCCH monitoring occasions. ¶ [0079]); and
based on the transmission of the SR, transmitting a second PDCCH through a second SS set within a PDCCH monitoring window (See Fig. 6: In response to receiving the UL signal at step 614, at 616, the base station 604 may transmit the PDCCH (i.e., second one) to the UE 602 in the search spaces corresponding to the determined one of the multiple PDCCH monitoring groups. For example, when the multiple PDCCH monitoring groups include the first PDCCH monitoring group and the second PDCCH monitoring group…based on the determination of the search spaces corresponding to one of the PDCCH monitoring group to transmit the PDCCH to the UE 602 in the first PDCCH monitoring group or the second PDCCH monitoring group in 608. Note: the UE may select and monitor either one of the first or second PDCCH monitoring groups as instructed by the Base Station. ¶ [0076]).
Even though, Yang teaches the method wherein monitoring the search spaces corresponding the first PDCCH monitoring group and the second PDCCH monitoring group, Yang doesn’t explicitly provide the method wherein the UL signal is a scheduling request (SR), and wherein performing PDCCH transmission through the search space(s) within the PDCCH monitoring window.
However, Cirik discloses the method wherein the UL signal is a scheduling request (SR) (Cirik: See Fig. 12: the Uplink Control Information (UCI or UL signal) 509 may comprise at least one of a CSI, an Acknowledgement (ACK)/Negative Acknowledgement (NACK), and/or a scheduling request. ¶ [0109]), and wherein performing PDCCH transmission through the search space(s) within the PDCCH monitoring window (Cirik: The wireless device may, during the response window, monitor at least one PDCCH on a search space indicated by a search space indicator (e.g., recoverySearchSpaceId) of a cell (e.g., of an SpCell) for DCI, for example, after the sending/transmitting the uplink signal. See ¶ [0243], and [0259] for Search Space Set, i.e., more than one search space(s)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that the method wherein the UL signal is a scheduling request (SR), and wherein monitoring the search space(s) within the PDCCH monitoring window as taught by Cirik to have incorporated in the system of Yang, so that it would provide that efficient determination/selection of the suitable beam may avoid/reduce potential communication problems in wireless communications. Cirik: ¶ [0004].
Neither Yang nor Cirik discloses monitoring the first SS set group and the second SS set group.
However, Jung teaches monitoring the first SS set group and the second SS set group (Jung-See Fig. 3: the UE can monitor PDCCH candidates both in the first PDCCH search space set within the first MsgB window and in the second PDCCH search space set within the second MsgB window, where the first MsgB window may or may not be the same as the second MsgB window. ¶ [0140]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide monitoring the first SS set group and the second SS set group as taught by Jung to have incorporated in the system of Yang, so that it would provide that ,with successful completion of 2-step RACH, even if the UE has not been provided other UE-specific search space sets, the UE can monitor PDCCH candidates for fallback/compact DCI formats with CRC scrambled by C-RNTI in the second PDCCH search space set provided by MsgB-SearchSpace. Jung: ¶ [0029].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 and 12 are objected to as being dependent upon the rejected base claims 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
In response to the amendment, Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-12 and 16 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any of the references being used in the current rejection.
Conclusion
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAI AUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-3507. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, Alt Fridays, 7:30 AM- 5:00 PM (EST).
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/SAI AUNG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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