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 § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1, 8 and 15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claims 1, 8 and 15 recites “setting, in a slot aggregation process, N slots as X slot groups, wherein a transmission format of each slot group is pre-configured by a base station”.
The limitation of setting, in a slot aggregation process, N slots as X slot groups, as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind with a high level of generality. That is, other than reciting “wherein a transmission format of each slot group is pre-configured by a base station” nothing in the claim element precludes the step from practically being performed in the mind. For example, “setting N slots as X slot groups” in the context of this claim encompasses the user manually setting the number of slots as a smaller number of slots into groups. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim only recites one additional element – wherein a transmission format of each slot group is pre-configured by a base station. The process of pre-configuring in this step is recited at a high-level of generality such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a pre-configured transmission format. Accordingly, this additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
Dependent claims 4, 5-7, 11-14, 18-20 are also rejected and do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using a processor to determine SCS of an initial downlink BWP amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. The claim is not patent eligible.
Contrast this with dependent claims 2, 3, 9, 10 , 16, 17 where the claimed method further comprise of transmitting a configured transmission format of each slot group and receiving, after transmitting an (x-1)th slot group, a transmission format of an xth slot group or an (x+1)th slot group fed back by a terminal; and configuring the transmission format as a transmission format of the xth slot group or the (x+1)th slot group. That is, said claim includes subject matter that is significantly more than the judicial exception and do integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
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.
Claim 7 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.
Claim 7 is dependent on claim 7 itself. Most likely it meant to depend on claim 6 similar to its equivalent claim 14 depending on claim 13.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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) 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Xu” (US 2020/0137747) in view of Ni et al. (US 2020/0252912, hereinafter “Ni”).
For claims 1, 8 and 15, Xu discloses A slot aggregation method (FIG. 1A is a flow chart illustrating an aggregation method performed carried out in a gNB according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; see Xu par. 0043 and Fig. 1A), comprising:
setting, in a slot aggregation process (see Xu Fig. 1A), N slots as X slot groups, wherein a transmission format of each slot group is pre-configured by a base station (the gNB may signal in block S102 the total number of slots to be aggregated to the UE. In such a case, both the structure of each slot to be aggregated and total number of symbols to be aggregated for carrying UCI may be pre-configured in the UE, or signaled to the UE via a higher layer signaling, or one of the structure of each slot to be aggregated and total number of symbols to be aggregated may be pre-configured in the UE or signaled to the UE, and the other one may be derived by the UE; see Xu par. 0059),
Xu does not explicitly disclose N slots as X slot groups and X is less than N. Ni discloses N slots as X slot groups and X is less than N (One cycle includes N consecutive slots. Among the N slots, the number of slots which are fixed downlink structure, is a; the number of slots which are fixed uplink structure, is b; structure types of (N-a-b) slots can be configured through a UE group common control channel; where a, b and n are integers greater than or equal to 0, and (a+b) is less than or equal to N; see Ni par. 0046). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Ni's arrangement in Xu's invention to monitor slots, thereby avoiding the problem that the UE can not receive scheduling of a base station to the UE in subsequent slots due to waiting behavior of the UE (see Ni par. 0010).
Specifically for claim 8, Xu discloses A non-transitory storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program, when running on a processor, causes the processor to execute the following operations: (there is also provided a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including an instruction, such as the memory 1204 including an instruction, and the instruction may be executed by the processor 1220 of the device 1200 to implement the abovementioned method; see Xu par. 0209).
Specifically for claim 15, Xu discloses An electronic device, comprising a memory and a processor wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor is configured to run the computer program to execute the following operations: (FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating configuration of a gNB 1000 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As show in FIG. 10, the gNB 1000 includes a signaling module 1002 and an obtaining module 1004; see Xu par. 0157 and Fig. 10).
For claims 2, 9 and 16, Xu discloses The method according to claim 1, further comprising: before transmitting each slot group, transmitting, to a terminal, a configured transmission format of each slot group (in block S102, the gNB may signal at least one of the total number of PRBs to be aggregated in the single slot, location of each of PRBs to be aggregated in the single slot, and total number of symbols to be aggregated for carrying UCI to the UE. Similar to the case where the a set of slots is aggregated for carrying the long format PUCCH, the gNB may signal all of the total number of PRBs to be aggregated in the single slot, location of each of PRBs to be aggregated in the single slot, and total number of symbols to be aggregated for carrying UCI to the UE, or signal a part of the total number of PRBs to be aggregated in the single slot, location of each of PRBs to be aggregated in the single slot, and total number of symbols to be aggregated for carrying UCI to the UE. For example, the gNB may signal the total number of PRBs to be aggregated in a single slot, total number of symbols to be aggregated for carrying UCI to the UE, and the location of each of PRBs to be aggregated may be signaled to the UE via a higher signaling or pre-configured in the UE or derived by the UE; see Xu par. 0060).
Claim(s) 4, 6, 11, 13, 18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu and Ni, and further in view of Wang et al. (US 2020/0068535, hereinafter “Wang”).
For claims 4, 11 and 18, the combination of Xu and Ni does not explicitly disclose The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission format comprises a slot aggregation state consisting of 1 and 0. Wang discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission format comprises a slot aggregation state consisting of 1 and 0 (the time scheduling unit is a slot is used in the following description process. For example, states of the time domain starting location, the time domain ending location, and slot aggregation are predefined, and a specific used state is indicated by the first indication information. For example, the defined states are listed in Table 1: At least one of the states is included. Table 1 lists a mapping relationship between a value of the first indication information and the starting location of the time domain location and the time domain ending location that are occupied by the downlink data and the time scheduling unit aggregation level. Each bit value corresponds to one state. In Table 1, "bit value" indicates a bit value of the first indication information, "starting" indicates a starting location of the time domain location indicated by the first indication information, and "ending" indicates a time domain ending location indicated by the first indication information. For example, if the bit value of the first indication information is 1010, it indicates that the starting location of the time domain location is 2, the time domain ending location is -1, and the slot aggregation level is 4, that is, four slots participate in aggregation; see Wang par. 0098-0099, and Tables 1-3). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Wang's arrangement in Xu's invention to provide a resource indication method and an apparatus, to improve data reception performance of a terminal (see Wang par 0006).
For claims 6, 13 and 20, the combination of Xu and Ni does not explicitly disclose The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission format indicates a discrete aggregation structure or a continuous aggregation structure. Wang discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission format indicates a discrete aggregation structure or a continuous aggregation structure ((3) A time scheduling unit, namely, a time scheduling measurement unit, is, for example, a slot (slot), a radio frame, a subframe, or a mini-slot (mini-slot); see Wang par. 0077; The plurality of time scheduling units participating in aggregation that are scheduled by the base station may be continuous or discontinuous in time domain.; see Wang par. 0094). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Wang's arrangement in Xu's invention to provide a resource indication method and an apparatus, to improve data reception performance of a terminal (see Wang par 0006).
Claim(s) 5, 7, 12, 14 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu, Ni and Wang, and further in view of “Jain” (US 2014/0269636).
For claims 5, 12 and 19, Xu discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein
the transmission format is configured for a slot group (Similar to the case where the a set of slots is aggregated for carrying the long format PUCCH, the gNB may signal all of the total number of slots to be aggregated, structure of each slot to be aggregated, the total number of PRBs to be aggregated in each slot, location of each of PRBs to be aggregated in each slot, and total number of symbols to be aggregated for carrying UCI to the UE, or signal a part of the total number of slots to be aggregated, structure of each slot to be aggregated, the total number of PRBs to be aggregated in each slot, location of each of PRBs to be aggregated in each slot, and total number of symbols to be aggregated for carrying UCI to the UE. When the gNB signals a part of the total number of slots to be aggregated, structure of each slot to be aggregated, the total number of PRBs to be aggregated in each slot, location of each of PRBs to be aggregated in each slot, and total number of symbols to be aggregated for carrying UCI to the UE, the remaining part may be signaled to the UE via a higher signaling or pre-configured in the UE or derived by the UE; see Xu par. 0062); or
The combination of Xu and Ni does not explicitly disclose the slot group is further divided into slot sub-groups, and the transmission format is configured for a slot sub-group. Jain discloses the slot group is further divided into slot sub-groups, and the transmission format is configured for a slot sub-group (During ith time slot of every periodic cycle, the master wireless node collects data from a group leader slave wireless node of group S,. This is possible only when the time required to collect data from S, slot requires maximum one more slot to collect data from S,_1 group. i.e. T,=T,_ 1 + 1 (equation 2). By the ith slot the group leader has aggregated data of all other slave wireless nodes of group S,. Also, to minimize number of sub-groups, the number of slave wireless nodes in each group increases, so is the aggregated data and therefore the length of the corresponding time slot for the group S, also increases to enable a group leader slave wireless node in the group to transmit data from each of the slave wireless nodes in the group to the master wireless node. As described in more detail below, the slave wireless nodes are arranged to minimize a total number of time slots that are required for the master wireless node to communicate with each of the slave wireless nodes in the wireless network as set forth in the following equations 3 and 4; see Jain par. 0031-0032). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jain's arrangement in Xu's invention to provide improvements to the configuration of wireless networks that reduce the total fixed overhead for communication during communication between slave wireless nodes and a master wireless node (see Jain par. 0006).
For claims 7 and 14, the combination of Xu and Ni does not explicitly disclose The method according to claim 7, wherein the slot group is further divided into slot sub-groups, and in a case where the transmission format indicates the discrete aggregation structure, positions of 1 and 0 are indicated. Jain discloses The method according to claim 7, wherein the slot group is further divided into slot sub-groups (During ith time slot of every periodic cycle, the master wireless node collects data from a group leader slave wireless node of group S,. This is possible only when the time required to collect data from S, slot requires maximum one more slot to collect data from S,_1 group. i.e. T,=T,_ 1 + 1 (equation 2). By the ith slot the group leader has aggregated data of all other slave wireless nodes of group S,. Also, to minimize number of sub-groups, the number of slave wireless nodes in each group increases, so is the aggregated data and therefore the length of the corresponding time slot for the group S, also increases to enable a group leader slave wireless node in the group to transmit data from each of the slave wireless nodes in the group to the master wireless node. As described in more detail below, the slave wireless nodes are arranged to minimize a total number of time slots that are required for the master wireless node to communicate with each of the slave wireless nodes in the wireless network as set forth in the following equations 3 and 4; see Jain par. 0031-0032). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Jain's arrangement in Xu's invention to provide improvements to the configuration of wireless networks that reduce the total fixed overhead for communication during communication between slave wireless nodes and a master wireless node (see Jain par. 0006), and
The combination of Xu and Ni does not explicitly disclose in a case where the transmission format indicates the discrete aggregation structure, positions of 1 and 0 are indicated. Wang discloses in a case where the transmission format indicates the discrete aggregation structure, positions of 1 and 0 are indicated (The plurality of time scheduling units participating in aggregation that are scheduled by the base station may be continuous or discontinuous in time domain; see Wang par. 0094; value of "starting" may indicate a location of a symbol, after a control channel, from which the downlink data starts to be transmitted. For example, the value of "starting" is 0, indicating that a location of a symbol after the zeroth symbol after the control channel is the location of the symbol from which the downlink data starts to be transmitted, and therefore the downlink data starts to be transmitted and/or mapped from the first symbol after the control channel. Alternatively, the value of "starting" is 1, indicating that a location of a symbol after the first symbol after the control channel is the location of the symbol from which the downlink data starts to be transmitted, and therefore the downlink data starts to be transmitted and/or mapped from the second symbol after the control channel. The rest can be deduced from this; see Wang par. 0111). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Wang's arrangement in Xu's invention to provide a resource indication method and an apparatus, to improve data reception performance of a terminal (see Wang par 0006).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 10 and 17 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: claims 3, 10 and 17 would be allowable because the closest prior arts listed above either alone or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious, the claimed invention of “receiving, after transmitting an (x-1)th slot group, a transmission format of an xth slot group or an (x+1)th slot group fed back by a terminal, wherein x is an integer greater than 1 and x is less than or equal to X; and configuring the transmission format as a transmission format of the xth slot group or the (x+1)th slot group”, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by applicant.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
-Zhang et al. (US 2020/0120647).
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/CHAE S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415