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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
For Claim 4, “the second indication information” lacks antecedent basis in claims 1 or 2.
For Claim 5, “the second indication information” may lack antecedent basis because its antecedent is only an alternative and not necessarily present in Claim 4.
For Claim 5 (line 3), “the interference” lacks antecedent basis.
For Claim 7, it is not clear what is meant by “supporting to report”.
For Claim 10, “the frequency information” has multiple possible antecedents.
For Claim 31, “the uplink transmission frequency” (line 4), “the downlink reception frequency (line 5), and “the uplink frequencies (line 9) lack antecedent basis in the claim.
Remaining claims are rejected as depending from a rejected claim.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11, 13-16, 30, 31, 34, and 35, as understood in light of any rejections under 35 USC 112, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zeng et al. (US 2019/0081657).
For Claims 1 and 34, Zeng teaches a method for controlling interference, performed by a terminal device comprising: a processor; and a memory storing a computer program executable by the processor (see paragraph 56), the method comprising:
transmitting first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates interference information of the terminal device (see abstract, paragraphs 104-107).
For Claim 2, Zang teaches the method, wherein transmitting the first indication information comprises: transmitting the first indication information in response to satisfying a specified transmitting condition (see abstract, paragraphs 99, 108, 110).
For Claim 3, Zeng teaches the method, further comprising: receiving second indication information, wherein the second indication information indicates the specified transmitting condition; or determining the specified sending condition according to a protocol (see paragraphs 93, 96, 99: reporting configuration, RRC procedure).
For Claim 4, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the specified transmitting condition comprises at least one of: the second indication information indicating that transmitting the first indication information is allowed; a receiver sensitivity being less than or equal to a first threshold value; a receiver sensitivity degradation value being greater than or equal to a second threshold value; a first measurement result being less than or equal to a third threshold value; and a second measurement result being greater than or equal to a fourth threshold value (see paragraphs 99, 108, 110: measurement result, threshold).
For Claim 5, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the second indication information comprises at least one of: whether the terminal device is allowed to report frequency information of the interference; whether the terminal device is allowed to report uplink transmission frequency information of the interference; whether the terminal device is allowed to report an uplink transmission frequency information combination of the interference; whether the terminal device is allowed to report a frequency information combination of the interference; whether the terminal device is allowed to report downlink reception frequency information of the interference; whether the terminal device is allowed to report a correspondence between the uplink transmission frequency information and the downlink reception frequency information of the interference; whether the terminal device is allowed to report a correspondence between the uplink transmission frequency information combination and the downlink reception frequency information of the interference; and whether the terminal device is allowed to report receiver sensitivity information of the interference (see paragraphs 120, 155: allowed to report intermodulation issues; paragraph 116: report receiver sensitivity degradation, receiver sensitivity degradation is an intermodulation issue).
For Claim 6, Zeng teaches the method, further comprising: transmitting third indication information, wherein the third indication information indicates a capability of reporting interference information supported by the terminal device (see paragraphs 10, 12, 97-98).
For Claim 7, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the third indication information comprises at least one of: capability of supporting to report uplink transmission frequency information of the interference; capability of supporting to report an uplink transmission frequency information combination of the interference; capability of supporting to report downlink reception frequency information of the interference; capability of supporting to report a correspondence between the uplink transmission frequency information and the downlink reception frequency information of the interference; capability of supporting to report a correspondence between the uplink transmission frequency information combination and the downlink reception frequency information of the interference; capability of supporting to report receiver sensitivity information of the interference; and receiver sensitivity capability information of the terminal device (see paragraph 155).
For Claim 8, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the receiver sensitivity capability information of the terminal device comprises at least one of: a receiver reference sensitivity power level; and a maximum sensitivity degradation value (see paragraphs 149, 151, 153: maximum sensitivity degradation, UE reports MSD value).
For Claim 9, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the interference information comprises at least one of:
uplink transmission frequency information;
an uplink transmission frequency information combination (see paragraphs 90, 126-127, 130: band combination);
the uplink transmission frequency information and a downlink reception frequency information combination;
downlink reception frequency information (see paragraph 105);
a correspondence between the uplink transmission frequency information and the downlink reception frequency information; a correspondence between the uplink transmission frequency information combination and the downlink reception frequency information; receiver sensitivity information (see paragraph 155); and
an interfering party's radio technical indication and an interfered party's radio technical indication.
For Claim 10, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the frequency information comprises at least one of: frequency point information; bandwidth information (see paragraphs 126, 127); starting frequency point information; ending frequency point information; starting physical resource block; ending physical resource block; and bandwidth section information (see paragraphs 126, 127).
For Claim 11, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the uplink transmission frequency information comprises: an uplink transmission frequency (see paragraph 130) and/or harmonic signal information of the uplink transmission frequency.
For Claim 13, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the uplink transmission frequency information combination comprises: a plurality of uplink transmission frequencies and/or intermodulation signal information between the plurality of the uplink transmission frequencies (see paragraph 130).
For Claim 14, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the intermodulation signal information between the plurality of the uplink transmission frequencies comprises at least one of: an order of the intermodulation signal (see paragraphs 115-116, 129, 153);
multiple information between individual frequencies in the intermodulation signal; and operational relationship information between individual frequencies in the intermodulation signal.
For Claim 15, Zeng teaches the method, wherein the receiver sensitivity information comprises at least one of: a receiver reference sensitivity power level supported by the terminal device; current sensitivity of a receiver in the terminal device (see paragraph 148);
receiver maximum sensitivity degradation supported by the terminal device; current maximum sensitivity degradation of the receiver in the terminal device; and current sensitivity degradation of the receiver in the terminal device (see paragraph 148-149).
For Claims 16 and 35, Zeng teaches a method for controlling interference, performed by a network device comprising: a processor; and a memory storing a computer program executable by the processor (see paragraph 70), the method comprising:
receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates interference information of a terminal device (see abstract, paragraphs 108-110, 112).
For Claim 30, Zeng teaches the method, further comprising: updating frequency information (see paragraphs 113-114) and/or uplink carrier aggregation information corresponding to the terminal device according to the first indication information.
For Claim 31, Zeng teaches the method, wherein updating the frequency information and/or the uplink carrier aggregation information corresponding to the terminal device comprises at least one of:
staggering a transmitting time of the uplink transmission frequency indicated by the first indication information and a receiving time of the downlink reception frequency; invalidating the uplink transmission frequency indicated by the first indication information, or one or more uplink transmission frequencies in the uplink transmission frequency information combination; staggering a transmitting time of all or part of the uplink frequencies in the uplink transmission frequency information combination indicated by the first indication information (see paragraphs 117: use TDM to stagger UL transmissions);
invalidating the downlink reception frequency indicated by the first indication information; and, instructing the terminal device to reduce an uplink transmission power.
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 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) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zeng et al. (US 2019/0081657) as applied to claims 1, 9, and 11 above, and further in view of Mukherjee et al. (US 2022/0329279).
For Claim 12, Zeng as applied above is not explicit as to, but Mukherjee teaches the method, wherein the harmonic signal information of the uplink transmission frequency comprises at least one of: multiple of a harmonic signal relative to a fundamental signal; and a frequency range of the harmonic signal (see paragraphs 58, 61).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to includes the harmonic information as in Mukherjee when implementing the method of Zeng. One of ordinary skill would have been able to do so with the reasonably predictable result of providing the network side with information needed to avoid intra device interference.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Leyh et al. (US 2004/0176039) teaches a system using a threshold comparison to determine a level of self-interference. Jiang et al. (US 2021/0099859) teaches a system in which a UE reports information relating to harmonic interference.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CASSANDRA L DECKER whose telephone number is (571)270-3946. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at 571-272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CASSANDRA L DECKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2466 1/21/2026
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466