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§ 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.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-7, 9-11 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fakoorian et al(US 2021/0360664 A1) in view of Bae et al(US 2020/0374896 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 9, Fakoorian ‘664 teaches, a terminal of a communication system( [0157], [0158] and Figs. 2, 8 UE 115), the terminal comprising: a transceiver([0157], [0158] and Figs. 2, 8 UE 115 comprisingTX840/RX810); and a control unit ([0157], [0158] and Figs. 2, 8 UE 115 comprising communication manager 815); constituted to: identify a time resource allocated for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)([0006], [0099], [0137] and Figs. 4-5, UE receiving joint DCI including time domain resource allocation (TDRA) and identifying time domain resources allocated (i.e. symbols and slot) for PUSCH);
determine an offset and a bandwidth part (BWP) size for frequency hopping ([0101], [0104], [0105], [0132] and Figs. 4-5, UE receiving configuration information(i.e. FDRA and TDRA) via joint DCI( DL and UL configuration) and deriving BWP size and offset parameters for PUSCH from the configuration information), based on whether an uplink resource and a downlink resource are configured on different frequency resources with respect to the time resource([0045], [0093], [0101]-[0105] and Figs. 4-5, UE receiving FDRA and TDRA via joint DCI( DL and UL configuration) which includes BWP 230 that are separated into one or more subbands that may allow concurrent (or at least partially overlapping in time) uplink and downlink communication[0093] and the UE determining BWP size and offset based on the joint DCI parameters( DL and UL resource configuration)).
Fakoorian ‘664 does not explicitly teach, transmit the PUSCH by applying frequency hopping based on the offset and the bandwidth part size.
Bae ‘896 teaches, transmit the PUSCH by applying frequency hopping based on the offset and the bandwidth part size ([0138], [0140]- [0143], Equation 3 and Figs. 8-10, transmitting PUSH, using frequency hopping that is determined according to offset and BWP size).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Fakoorian ‘664, by incorporating the teaching of Bae ‘896, since such modification would provides an efficient frequency hopping method according to resources allocated when a UE performs uplink transmission using time/frequency resources of various time lengths, as suggested by Bae ‘896([0004]).
Regarding claims 2 and 10, the combination of Fakoorian ‘664 and Bae ‘896 teaches all the claim limitations Fakoorian ‘664 further teaches, wherein, in case that the uplink resource and the downlink resource are configured on different frequency resources with respect to the time resource, the offset for the frequency hopping is determined to be a second offset([0101], [0104], [0105], [0132] and Figs. 4-5, receiving joint DCI allocating DL and UL resources on different subbands(BWP) (as shoen in Figs. 4-5)within the same slot and determining an offset value based on the configuration).
Fakoorian ‘664 does not explicitly teach, wherein the second offset is a value at which the PUSCH with the frequency hopping applied is defined to be transmitted in the uplink resource of the time resource.
Bae ‘896 teaches, wherein the second offset is a value at which the PUSCH with the frequency hopping applied is defined to be transmitted in the uplink resource of the time resource([0138], [0140]-[0143], Equation 3 and Figs. 8-10, transmitting PUSH on the uplink resource(BWP), using frequency hopping that is determined according to offset and BWP size).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Fakoorian ‘664, by incorporating the teaching of Bae ‘896, since such modification would provides an efficient frequency hopping method according to resources allocated when a UE performs uplink transmission using time/frequency resources of various time lengths, as suggested by Bae ‘896([0004]).
Regarding claims 3 and 11, the combination of Fakoorian ‘664 and Bae ‘896 teaches all the claim limitations Fakoorian ‘664 further teaches, wherein in case that the uplink resource and the downlink resource are configured in different frequency resources with respect to the time resource, the bandwidth part size for the frequency hopping is determined to be a second bandwidth part size([0101], [0104], [0105], [0132] and Figs. 4-5, receiving joint DCI allocating DL and UL resources on different subbands(BWP) within the same slot and determining an offset value based on the configuration), and wherein the second bandwidth part size is a size of the frequency resource allocated from the time resource to the uplink resource([0104], [0105], [0122] and Figs. 4-5, a BWP size that is that is within the allocated uplink bandwidth being used for transmitting PUSCH).
Regarding claims 5 and 13, Fakoorian ‘664 teaches, a base station of a communication system, the base station comprising: a transceiver; and a control unit constituted to:
identify a time resource allocated for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) ([0006], [0099], [0137] and Figs. 4-5, base station determining and transmitting to UE joint DCI including time domain resource allocation (TDRA) that identifies time domain resources allocated (i.e. symbols and slot) for PUSCH);
determine an offset and a bandwidth part (BWP) size for frequency hopping based ([0101], [0104], [0105], [0132] and Figs. 4-5, based on FDRA that is included in joint DCI( DL and UL configuration) and deriving BWP size and offset parameters for PUSCH) on whether an uplink resource and a downlink resource are configured on different frequency resources with respect to the time resource([0045], [0093], [0101]-[0105] and Figs. 4-5, base station generating joint DCI( DL and UL configuration) for allocating resources that includes BWP 230 that are separated into one or more subbands that may allow concurrent (or at least partially overlapping in time) uplink and downlink communication[0093] and determining BWP size and offset based on the joint DCI parameters( DL and UL resource configuration)).
Fakoorian ‘664 does not explicitly teach, receive the PUSCH by applying frequency hopping based on the offset and the bandwidth part size.
Bae ‘896 teaches, transmit the PUSCH by applying frequency hopping based on the offset and the bandwidth part size([0138], [0140]-[0143], Equation 3 and Figs. 8-11, base station revving PUSCH, using frequency hopping that is determined according to offset and BWP size).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Fakoorian ‘664, by incorporating the teaching of Bae ‘896, since such modification would provides an efficient frequency hopping method according to resources allocated when a UE performs uplink transmission using time/frequency resources of various time lengths, as suggested by Bae ‘896([0004]).
Regarding claims 6 and 14, the combination of Fakoorian ‘664 and Bae ‘896 teaches all the claim limitations Fakoorian ‘664 further teaches, wherein, in case that the uplink resource and the downlink resource are configured on different frequency resources with respect to the time resource, the offset for the frequency hopping is determined to be a second offset([0101], [0104], [0105], [0132] and Figs. 4-5, receiving joint DCI allocating DL and UL resources on different subbands(BWP) within the same slot and determining an offset value based on the configuration).
Fakoorian ‘664 does not explicitly teach, wherein the second offset is a value at which the PUSCH with the frequency hopping applied is defined to be transmitted in the uplink resource of the time resource.
Bae ‘896 teaches, wherein the second offset is a value at which the PUSCH with the frequency hopping applied is defined to be received in the uplink resource of the time resource ([0138], [0140]-[0143], Equation 3 and Figs. 8-10, base station receiving message transmitted via PUSH on the uplink resource(BWP), using frequency hopping that is determined according to offset and BWP size).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Fakoorian ‘664, by incorporating the teaching of Bae ‘896, since such modification would provides an efficient frequency hopping method according to resources allocated when a UE performs uplink transmission using time/frequency resources of various time lengths, as suggested by Bae ‘896([0004]).
Regarding claims 7 and 15, the combination of Fakoorian ‘664 and Bae ‘896 teaches all the claim limitations Fakoorian ‘664 further teaches, wherein in case that the uplink resource and the downlink resource are configured in different frequency resources with respect to the time resource, the bandwidth part size for the frequency hopping is determined to be a second bandwidth part size([0101], [0104], [0105], [0132] and Figs. 4-5, receiving joint DCI allocating DL and UL resources on different subbands(BWP) within the same slot and determining an offset value based on the configuration), and wherein the second bandwidth part size is a size of the frequency resource allocated from the time resource to the uplink resource([0104], [0105], [0122] and Figs. 4-5, a BWP size that is that is within the allocated uplink bandwidth being used for transmitting PUSCH).
Claims 4, 8 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fakoorian ‘664 and Bae ‘896 as applied to claims above, and further in view of Park et al(US 2019/0036665 A1).
Regarding claims 4 and 12, the combination of Fakoorian ‘664 and Bae ‘896 teaches all the claim limitations except, wherein in case that only the uplink resource is configured with respect to the time resource, the offset for the frequency hopping is determined to be a first offset, and wherein the bandwidth part size for the frequency hopping is determined to be a first bandwidth part size.
Park ‘665 teaches, wherein in case that only the uplink resource is configured with respect to the time resource( [0080], [0083] and Figs. 3, 5, when uplink resources for PUCCH is configured with respect to 1 slot), the offset for the frequency hopping is determined to be a first offset, and wherein the bandwidth part size for the frequency hopping is determined to be a first bandwidth part size([0117]-[0119], [0138], based on the UL resources configuration indication from the base station determining the hopping offset number and BWP size) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combined communication system of Fakoorian ‘664 and Bae ‘896, by incorporating the teaching of Park ‘665, since such modification would provide a frequency hopping application method for preventing collision between resources used by user equipments (UEs) which use different bandwidth part (BWP) configurations to transmit uplink (UL) channels, as suggested by Park ‘665([0006]).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Fakoorian ‘664 and Bae ‘896 teaches all the claim limitations except, wherein in case that only the uplink resource is configured with respect to the time resource, the offset for the frequency hopping is determined to be a first offset, and wherein the bandwidth part size for the frequency hopping is determined to be a first bandwidth part size.
Park ‘665 teaches, wherein in case that only the uplink resource is configured with respect to the time resource( [0080], [0083] and Figs. 3, 5, when uplink resources for PUCCH is configured with respect to 1 slot), the offset for the frequency hopping is determined to be a first offset, and wherein the bandwidth part size for the frequency hopping is determined to be a first bandwidth part size([0117]-[0119], [0138], based on the UL resources configuration indication from the base station determining the hopping offset number and BWP size) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combined communication system of Fakoorian ‘664 and Bae ‘896, by incorporating the teaching of Park ‘665, since such modification would provide a frequency hopping application method for preventing collision between resources used by user equipments (UEs) which use different bandwidth part (BWP) configurations to transmit uplink (UL) channels, as suggested by Park ‘665([0006]).
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/AWET HAILE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474