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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 24-27, 29-33 and 35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yuan et al. (Yuan), U.S. Publication No. 2024/0080858.
Regarding Claim 24, Yuan discloses a method, performed by a terminal device
(i.e., UE 405; see figure 4), the method comprising:
receiving a downlink control information (DCI) format without downlink (DL)
assignment, the DCI indicating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (i.e., the base station 410 may transmit, and the UE 405 may receive, a DCI transmission that indicates a unified TCI.; see paragraph [0076]); and
transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a positive hybrid
automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) (i.e., the UE 405 may transmit, and the base station 410 may receive, the HARQ-ACK feedback based at least in part on the determined resources. The HARQ-ACK feedback may include an ACK to indicate successful reception of the DCI transmission… the UE 405 may transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to, or in response to, the unified TCI using a PUCCH transmission; see paragraphs [0077] and [0078]) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a positive HARQ-ACK corresponding to the DCI,
wherein:
the TCI state is different from a previously indicated TCI state (in other words,
the UE includes means for receiving a DCI transmission that indicates a unified TCI, wherein the DCI transmission comprises an SPS-release DCI transmission releasing an SPS physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) configuration; or means for transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback using a HARQ-ACK codebook, wherein the HARQ-ACK feedback comprises an acknowledgment (ACK) to indicate successful reception of the unified TCI in the DCI transmission according to paragraph [0046] therefore, the TCI state is different from the previous TCI state due to specifications of transmissions and configurations), and
the TCI state is applied from a first slot that is at least a time duration of one or
more symbols after a last symbol of the PUCCH or the PUSCH (in other words, The RRC message may indicate one or more parameters that may be used by the UE 405 to determine a slot, a PUCCH resource and/or an ACK/NACK location in a HARQ codebook for transmitting HARQ feedback associated with, and in response to, a unified TCI indication in an SPS release DCI transmission. For example, in some aspects, the RRC message may indicate a value of a slot parameter that may be used to determine the slot in which to transmit the HARQ feedback… In some aspects, the RRC message may indicate an ACK/NACK location in a static HARQ-ACK codebook for the HARQ feedback (e.g., the first bit or last bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook); see paragraph [0074]).
Regarding Claim 29, Yuan discloses a method, performed by a terminal device
(i.e., UE 405; see figure 4), the method comprising:
receiving a downlink control information (DCI) format with downlink (DL)
assignment (i.e., the DCI format of the DCI transmission may include a downlink assignment indicator such as a downlink assignment index (DAI) field; see paragraph [0079]), the DCI indicating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (i.e., the base station 410 may transmit, and the UE 405 may receive, a DCI transmission that indicates a unified TCI.; see paragraph [0076]); and
transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a positive hybrid
automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) (i.e., the UE 405 may transmit, and the base station 410 may receive, the HARQ-ACK feedback based at least in part on the determined resources. The HARQ-ACK feedback may include an ACK to indicate successful reception of the DCI transmission… the UE 405 may transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to, or in response to, the unified TCI using a PUCCH transmission; see paragraphs [0077] and [0078]) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a positive HARQ-ACK corresponding to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the DCI (as described in paragraph [0078]),
wherein:
the TCI state is different from a previously indicated TCI state (in other words,
the UE includes means for receiving a DCI transmission that indicates a unified TCI, wherein the DCI transmission comprises an SPS-release DCI transmission releasing an SPS physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) configuration; or means for transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback using a HARQ-ACK codebook, wherein the HARQ-ACK feedback comprises an acknowledgment (ACK) to indicate successful reception of the unified TCI in the DCI transmission according to paragraph [0046] therefore, the TCI state is different from the previous TCI state due to specifications of transmissions and configurations), and
the TCI state is applied from a first slot that is at least a time duration of one or
more symbols after a last symbol of the PUCCH or the PUSCH (in other words, The RRC message may indicate one or more parameters that may be used by the UE 405 to determine a slot, a PUCCH resource and/or an ACK/NACK location in a HARQ codebook for transmitting HARQ feedback associated with, and in response to, a unified TCI indication in an SPS release DCI transmission. For example, in some aspects, the RRC message may indicate a value of a slot parameter that may be used to determine the slot in which to transmit the HARQ feedback… In some aspects, the RRC message may indicate an ACK/NACK location in a static HARQ-ACK codebook for the HARQ feedback (e.g., the first bit or last bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook); see paragraph [0074]).
Regarding Claim 30, Yuan discloses a method, performed by a network device
(i.e., base station 410; see figure 4), the method comprising:
transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) format without downlink (DL)
assignment, the DCI indicating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (i.e., the base station 410 may transmit, and the UE 405 may receive, a DCI transmission that indicates a unified TCI.; see paragraph [0076]); and
receiving a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a positive hybrid
automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) (i.e., the UE 405 may transmit, and the base station 410 may receive, the HARQ-ACK feedback based at least in part on the determined resources. The HARQ-ACK feedback may include an ACK to indicate successful reception of the DCI transmission… the UE 405 may transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to, or in response to, the unified TCI using a PUCCH transmission; see paragraphs [0077] and [0078]) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a positive HARQ-ACK corresponding to the DCI,
wherein:
the TCI state is different from a previously indicated TCI state (in other words,
the UE includes means for receiving a DCI transmission that indicates a unified TCI, wherein the DCI transmission comprises an SPS-release DCI transmission releasing an SPS physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) configuration; or means for transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback using a HARQ-ACK codebook, wherein the HARQ-ACK feedback comprises an acknowledgment (ACK) to indicate successful reception of the unified TCI in the DCI transmission according to paragraph [0046] therefore, the TCI state is different from the previous TCI state due to specifications of transmissions and configurations), and
the TCI state is applied from a first slot that is at least a time duration of one or
more symbols after a last symbol of the PUCCH or the PUSCH (in other words, The RRC message may indicate one or more parameters that may be used by the UE 405 to determine a slot, a PUCCH resource and/or an ACK/NACK location in a HARQ codebook for transmitting HARQ feedback associated with, and in response to, a unified TCI indication in an SPS release DCI transmission. For example, in some aspects, the RRC message may indicate a value of a slot parameter that may be used to determine the slot in which to transmit the HARQ feedback… In some aspects, the RRC message may indicate an ACK/NACK location in a static HARQ-ACK codebook for the HARQ feedback (e.g., the first bit or last bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook); see paragraph [0074]).
Regarding Claim 35, Yuan discloses a method, performed by a network device
(i.e., base station 410; see figure 4), the method comprising:
transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) format with downlink (DL)
assignment (i.e., the DCI format of the DCI transmission may include a downlink assignment indicator such as a downlink assignment index (DAI) field; see paragraph [0079]), the DCI indicating a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (i.e., the base station 410 may transmit, and the UE 405 may receive, a DCI transmission that indicates a unified TCI.; see paragraph [0076]); and
receiving a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) with a positive hybrid
automatic repeat request-acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) (i.e., the UE 405 may transmit, and the base station 410 may receive, the HARQ-ACK feedback based at least in part on the determined resources. The HARQ-ACK feedback may include an ACK to indicate successful reception of the DCI transmission… the UE 405 may transmit the HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to, or in response to, the unified TCI using a PUCCH transmission; see paragraphs [0077] and [0078]) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a positive HARQ-ACK corresponding to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) scheduled by the DCI (as described in paragraph [0078]),
wherein:
the TCI state is different from a previously indicated TCI state (in other words,
the UE includes means for receiving a DCI transmission that indicates a unified TCI, wherein the DCI transmission comprises an SPS-release DCI transmission releasing an SPS physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) configuration; or means for transmitting hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) feedback using a HARQ-ACK codebook, wherein the HARQ-ACK feedback comprises an acknowledgment (ACK) to indicate successful reception of the unified TCI in the DCI transmission according to paragraph [0046] therefore, the TCI state is different from the previous TCI state due to specifications of transmissions and configurations), and
the TCI state is applied from a first slot that is at least a time duration of one or
more symbols after a last symbol of the PUCCH or the PUSCH (in other words, The RRC message may indicate one or more parameters that may be used by the UE 405 to determine a slot, a PUCCH resource and/or an ACK/NACK location in a HARQ codebook for transmitting HARQ feedback associated with, and in response to, a unified TCI indication in an SPS release DCI transmission. For example, in some aspects, the RRC message may indicate a value of a slot parameter that may be used to determine the slot in which to transmit the HARQ feedback… In some aspects, the RRC message may indicate an ACK/NACK location in a static HARQ-ACK codebook for the HARQ feedback (e.g., the first bit or last bit in the HARQ-ACK codebook); see paragraph [0074]).
Regarding Claims 25 and 31, Yuan discloses wherein the TCI state is one of a
downlink (DL) TCI state (see paragraph [0063]), an uplink (UL) TCI state, or a joint DL/UL TCI state.
Regarding Claims 26 and 32, Yuan discloses wherein the DCI format is DCI
format 1_1 or DCI format 1_2 (see paragraphs [0063] and [0092]).
Regarding Claims 27 and 33, Yuan discloses wherein the time duration is
configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see paragraph [0074]).
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) 28 and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuan in view of Nogami et al. (Nogami), U.S. Publication No. 2022/0173867.
Regarding Claims 28 and 34, Yuan discloses the method as described above. Yuan fails to disclose wherein a number of the one or more symbols in the time
duration is equal to or larger than 1 and equal to or smaller than 336. Nogami discloses wherein a number of the one or more symbols in the time duration is equal to or larger than 1 and equal to or smaller than 336 (i.e., time domain resource assignment, number of bits 0, 1, 2 , 3 or 4 for index of an entry of an RRC configured table providing OFDM symbols used for PUSCH transmission; see Table X9). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider Nogami’s invention with Yuan’s invention to improve reliable service, portability and convenience as described throughout Nogami.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHANTELL LAKETA HEIBER whose telephone number is (571)272-0886. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9am to 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Addy, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHANTELL L HEIBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
December 9, 2025