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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11 May 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The remarks regarding the independent claims, see p.9, Remarks, could be persuasive if the claim language reflected the arguments made. The claim amendments have left the claims broader than they were initially.
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) 1 - 4, 6 - 9, 11 - 14, and 16 - 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2014/0050130.
Kim teaches:
1. (Currently Amended) A method performed by a terminal in a communication system, the method comprising:
identifying whether a default beam for a cross-carrier scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is allowed or not (when cross carrier scheduling is activated, PDCCCH uses a carrier indicator field (CIF), this implies that the existence of CIF shows the cross-carrier scheduling is allowed, Kim);
if the default beam for the cross-scheduled cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is allowed, identifying that a scheduling cell for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a scheduled cell for a PDSCH are different from each other (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”); and
if a time offset between the PDCCH and the PDSCH is less than a threshold value, receiving, from a base station, the PDSCH based on a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state of lowest identifier (ID) among activated TCI states applicable to the PDSCH in an active bandwidth part (BWP) of the scheduled cell (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
2. (Original) The method of claim 1, wherein downlink control information received on the PDCCH includes a carrier indicator field (CIF) being not set as 0 (CIF is utilized to distinguish a cell transmitting PDSCH, [0197], the actual value of the CIF is mainly a design choice and not given patentable weight).
3. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1, further comprising:
If the default beam for the cross-scheduled cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is allowed, identifying that a scheduling cell for a PDCCH and a scheduled cell for a PDSCH are the same (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”); and
if a time offset between the PDCCH and the PDSCH is less than a threshold value, receiving, from the base station, the PDSCH based on a quasi co-location (QCL) parameter of a control resource set (CORESET) of lowest index among one or more CORESETs corresponding to a monitored search space in latest slot (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
4. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1, wherein, if the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is not allowed, a release 15 default beam behavior is applied (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
6. (Currently Amended) A method performed by a base station in a communication system, the method comprising:
identifying whether a default beam for a cross-carrier scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is allowed or not (when cross carrier scheduling is activated, PDCCCH uses a carrier indicator field (CIF), this implies that the existence of CIF shows the cross-carrier scheduling is allowed, Kim);
if the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is allowed, transmitting, to a terminal, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), on a scheduling cell, for scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on a scheduled cell, wherein the scheduling cell and the scheduled cell are different from each other (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”); and
if a time offset between the PDCCH and the PDSCH is less than a threshold value, transmitting, to the terminal, the PDSCH based on a quasi co-location parameter associated with a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state of lowest identifier (ID) among activated TCI states applicable to the PDSCH in an active bandwidth part (BWP) of the scheduled cell (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
7. (Original) The method of claim 6, wherein downlink control information transmitted on the PDCCH includes a carrier indicator field (CIF) being not set as 0 (CIF is utilized to distinguish a cell transmitting PDSCH, [0197], the actual value of the CIF is mainly a design choice and not given patentable weight).
8. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 6, further comprising:
If the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is allowed, transmitting, to the terminal, a PDCCH, on a scheduling cell, for scheduling a PDSCH on a scheduled cell, wherein the scheduling cell and the scheduled cell are the same (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”); and
if a time offset between the PDCCH and the PDSCH is less than a threshold value, transmitting, to the terminal, the PDSCH based on a quasi co-location (QCL) parameter of a control resource set (CORESET) of lowest index among one or more CORESETs corresponding to a search space in latest slot (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
9. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 6, wherein, if the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is not allowed, a release 15 default beam behavior is applied (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
11. (Currently Amended) A terminal in a communication system, the terminal comprising:
a transceiver; and
a controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to:
identify whether a default beam for a cross-carrier scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is allowed or not (when cross carrier scheduling is activated, PDCCCH uses a carrier indicator field (CIF), this implies that the existence of CIF shows the cross-carrier scheduling is allowed, Kim),
if the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is allowed, identify that a scheduling cell for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and a scheduled cell for a PDSCH are different from each other (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”), and
if a time offset between the PDCCH and the PDSCH is less than a threshold value, receive, from a base station, the PDSCH based on a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state of lowest identifier (ID) among activated TCI states configured for the PDSCH applicable to the PDSCH in an active bandwidth part (BWP) of the scheduled cell (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
12. (Original) The terminal of claim 11, wherein downlink control information received on the PDCCH includes a carrier indicator field (CIF) being not set as 0 (CIF is utilized to distinguish a cell transmitting PDSCH, [0197], the actual value of the CIF is mainly a design choice and not given patentable weight).
13. (Currently Amended) The terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to:
If the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is allowed, identify that a scheduling cell for a PDCCH and a scheduled cell for a PDSCH are the same (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”), and
if a time offset between the PDCCH and the PDSCH is less than a threshold value, receive, from the base station, the PDSCH based on a quasi co-location (QCL) parameter of a control resource set (CORESET) of lowest index among one or more CORESETs corresponding to a monitored search space in latest slot (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
14. (Currently Amended) The terminal of claim 11, wherein, if the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is not allowed, a release 15 default beam behavior is applied (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
16. (Currently Amended) A base station in a communication system, the base station comprising:
a transceiver; and
a controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to:
identify whether a default beam for a cross-carrier scheduled physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is allowed or not (when cross carrier scheduling is activated, PDCCCH uses a carrier indicator field (CIF), this implies that the existence of CIF shows the cross-carrier scheduling is allowed, Kim),
if the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is allowed, transmit, to a terminal, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), on a scheduling cell, for scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) on a scheduled cell, wherein the scheduling cell and the scheduled cell are different from each other (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”), and
if a time offset between the PDCCH and the PDSCH is less than a threshold value, transmit, to the terminal, the PDSCH based on a quasi co-location parameter associated with a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state of lowest identifier (ID) among activated TCI states configured for the PDSCH applicable to the PDSCH in an active bandwidth part (BWP) of the scheduled cell (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
17. (Original) The base station of claim 16, wherein downlink control information transmitted on the PDCCH includes a carrier indicator field (CIF) being not set as 0 (CIF is utilized to distinguish a cell transmitting PDSCH, [0197], the actual value of the CIF is mainly a design choice and not given patentable weight).
18. (Currently Amended) The base station of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to:
If the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is allowed, transmit, to the terminal, a PDCCH, on a scheduling cell, for scheduling a PDSCH on a scheduled cell, wherein the scheduling cell and the scheduled cell are the same (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”), and
if a time offset between the PDCCH and the PDSCH is less than a threshold value, transmit, to the terminal, the PDSCH based on a quasi co-location (QCL) parameter of a control resource set (CORESET) of lowest index among one or more CORESETs corresponding to a search space in latest slot (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
19. (Currently Amended) The base station of claim 16, wherein, if the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH is not allowed, a release 15 default beam behavior is applied (under a broadest reasonable interpretations, anything following a conditional “if” does not necessarily occur and is not evaluated for patentability, Examiner suggests utilizing the term “responsive to” rather than “if”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 5, 10, 15, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim as applied to claims 1, 6, 11, and 16 above, and further in view of Guo, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2019/0141693.
Kim teaches a method of scheduling data transmissions in a wireless communications network. Kim does not teach utilizing a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state. However, Guo teaches utilizing a TCI state. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the filing to modify the teachings of Kim to incorporate the known technique of utilizing a TCI as taught by Guo in order to obtain the predictable result of compliance with standard specifications.
The combination teaches:
5. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1, further comprising:
transmitting, to the base station, capability information associated with support of the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH (values are chosen based on reported UE capability, [0306], Guo).
10. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 6, further comprising:
receiving, from the terminal, capability information associated with support of the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH (values are chosen based on reported UE capability, [0306], Guo).
15. (Currently Amended) The terminal of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to:
transmit, to the base station, capability information associated with support of the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH (values are chosen based on reported UE capability, [0306], Guo).
20. (Currently Amended) The base station of claim 16, wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive, from the terminal, capability information associated with support of the default beam for the cross-carrier scheduled PDSCH (values are chosen based on reported UE capability, [0306], Guo).
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 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER G SOLINSKY whose telephone number is (571)270-7216. The examiner can normally be reached M - Th, 6:30 A - 5:00 P.
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PETER G. SOLINSKY
Examiner
Art Unit 2463
/Peter G Solinsky/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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