DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 02/09/2026 has been entered.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The instant first office action is in response to communication filed on 02/09/2026.
Claims 1-3, 6-11, 13-14 and 17-23 are pending of which claims 1, 10 and 14 are the base independent claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-3, 6-11, 13-14 and 17-23 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
For a detailed explanation on how the previous prior art and newly cited prior art reads on the claims as amended, please see the rejection below.
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) 1-3, 6-11, 13-14 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khosnevisan et al (US 2024/0306177), claiming benefit to and fully supported by provisional application number 62/952,212, filed on Dec. 20, 2019 and further in view of Fan (US 2025/0310870).
Regarding claim 1, 10, Khosnevisan’177 discloses One or more non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed, cause processing circuitry(see para.0220, which discusses the memory 1130 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1135 including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform various functions) to: process first configuration information received from a base station(see fig.2, base station transmission of 210, see fig.15, which shows base station including processor 1540 couple to memory 1530), the first configuration information to configure, within a bandwidth part(see para.0136, which discusses UE 115-a may be configured with up to 10 search space sets in a given BWP that may each have a number of properties), a first search space(see fig.16 & see para.0266, which shows and discusses receive, from a base station, a configuration that indicates an association between a first search space set and second search space set, 1605, see fig.17, 1705) with a first monitoring slot periodicity and offset(see para.0159, which discusses The examples show in slots 605-a, 605-b and 605-c, should not be considered limiting examples, as there may be more, fewer, or no monitoring occurrences of the first and second search space set based on the configuration of each slot and the repetitions of monitoring occasions within each slot (e.g., based on a slot periodicity as common monitoring slot periodicity and offset and/or monitoring symbols within a time interval), see also para.0148, see para.0239, which discusses configuring one or more parameters for monitoring for the first search space set and the second search space set, the one or more parameters including a combined monitoring occasion periodicity, a combined monitoring occasion offset, or any combination thereof, where the indication of the association includes the configured one or more parameters);
process second configuration information received from a base station(see fig.2, base station transmission of 210, see fig.15, which shows base station including processor 1540 couple to memory 1530), the second configuration information to configure, within a bandwidth part(see para.0136, which discusses UE 115-a may be configured with up to 10 search space sets in a given BWP that may each have a number of properties), a second search space(see fig.16 & see para.0266, which shows and discusses receive, from a base station, a configuration that indicates an association between a first search space set and second search space set, 1605, see fig.17, 1705) with a second common monitoring slot periodicity and offset(see para.0159, which discusses The examples show in slots 605-a, 605-b and 605-c, should not be considered limiting examples, as there may be more, fewer, or no monitoring occurrences of the first and second search space set based on the configuration of each slot and the repetitions of monitoring occasions within each slot (e.g., based on a slot periodicity as common monitoring slot periodicity and offset and/or monitoring symbols within a time interval), see also para.0148, see para.0239, which discusses configuring one or more parameters for monitoring for the first search space set and the second search space set, the one or more parameters including a combined monitoring occasion periodicity, a combined monitoring occasion offset, or any combination thereof, where the indication of the association includes the configured one or more parameters);
determine, based on the first and second configuration information(see fig.16 & see para.0266, which shows and discusses receive, from a base station, a configuration that indicates an association between a first search space set and second search space set, 1605, see fig.17, 1705), an association between the first search space and the second search space(see fig.16 & see para.0267, which shows and discusses UE may determine an association between a first physical downlink control channel candidate in the first search space set and a second physical downlink control channel candidate in the second search space set, see fig.17, 1710); and determine, based on the association, that physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmissions associated with the first and second search spaces are repetitions(see fig.6 & see para.0158-0159, which discusses association between search space sets 600 in a system that supports linking search space sets for PDCCH repetitions, se abs, see also fig.7-18, see para.0131, thus determine).
As discussed above, although Khosnevisan’177 discloses the first search space set and the second search space set may each have various parameters (e.g., periodicity, offset, number of monitoring occasions within a slot) (see para.0148, see para.0239, para.0160), Khosnevisan’177 does not explicitly show the use of “wherein the second monitoring slot periodicity and offset is equal to the first monitoring slot periodicity and offset” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “wherein the second monitoring slot periodicity and offset is equal to the first monitoring slot periodicity and offset” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Fan’970.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Fan’970 teaches the use of wherein the second monitoring slot periodicity and offset is equal to the first monitoring slot periodicity and offset(see para.0225-0226, see para.0227, which discusses the monitoring periodicity and the slot offset may be configured by using a parameter monitoringSlotPeriodicityandoffset, where monitoringSlotPeriodicity corresponds to the monitoring periodicity, and offset corresponds to the slot offset. For example, that monitoring periodicity and slot offsets of the M search spaces are the same/equal may be understood as follows: Parameters monitoringSlotPeriodicityandoffset of the M search spaces have a same/equal value, see para.0260, which discusses the M search spaces include a search space 1 and a search space 2, see para.0007, which discusses configuration information is received from a network device, where the configuration information is used to configure… M search spaces).
In view of the above, having the system of Khosnevisan’177 and then given the well-established teaching of Fan’970, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Khosnevisan’177 to include “wherein the second monitoring slot periodicity and offset is equal to the first monitoring slot periodicity and offset” as taught by Fan’970, since Fan’970 stated in para.0005-0006 & 0119+ that such a modification would provide an efficient system to repeatedly transmit a PDCCH a plurality of times, so as to improve transmission reliability of the PDCCH.
Regarding claim 2, 11, Khosnevisan’177 discloses wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processing circuitry to: decode a first PDCCH transmission associated the first search space based on the association(see fig.16, decode the combined first PDCCH candidate and second PDCCH candidate 1620, where association between first PDCCH candidate in the first search space sets and second PDCCH candidate in the second search space sets 1610, see fig.17, see para.0131).
Regarding claim 3, Khosnevisan’177 discloses wherein the instructions, when executed, further cause the processing circuitry to: decode a second PDCCH transmission in the second search space based on the association(see fig.16, decode the combined first PDCCH candidate and second PDCCH candidate 1620, where association between first PDCCH candidate in the first search space sets and second PDCCH candidate in the second search space sets 1610, see fig.17, see para.0131).
Regarding claim 6 and 17, Khosnevisan’177 discloses wherein the first configuration information is to configure the first search space with a first duration and the second configuration information is to configure the second search space(see fig.16, 1605, fig.17 and fig.18, 1805) with a second duration(see para.0148, which discusses first search space set 410 may have a separate configuration than second search space set 415, which may include a configuration of a slot periodicity and offset (e.g., according to a monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset parameter), duration, and starting symbols (e.g., temporally first symbols) of the monitoring occasions per slot 405 (e.g., according to a monitoringSymbols WithinSlot parameter) to determine the monitoring occasions in the time domain, see para.0101, which discusses each subframe or slot may have the same duration, see fig.4, fig.6, slot with search space, see para.0159, see para.0083, which discusses a monitoring occasion associated with a first search space set may be linked with a monitoring occasion of a second search space set that is in a same time interval (e.g., slot), thus duration).
As discussed above, although Khosnevisan’177 discloses the first search space set and the second search space set may each have various parameters (e.g., periodicity, offset, number of monitoring occasions within a slot) (see para.0148, see para.0239, para.0160), Khosnevisan’177 does not explicitly show the use of “wherein the second duration is equal to the first duration” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “wherein the second duration is equal to the first duration” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Fan’970.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Fan’970 teaches the use of wherein the second duration is equal to the first duration (see para.0017, which discusses duration Of the M search spaces is the same, see para.0260, which discusses the M search spaces include a search space 1 and a search space 2, see para.0007, which discusses configuration information is received from a network device, where the configuration information is used to configure… M search spaces).
In view of the above, having the system of Khosnevisan’177 and then given the well-established teaching of Fan’970, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Khosnevisan’177 to include “wherein the second duration is equal to the first duration” as taught by Fan’970, since Fan’970 stated in para.0005-0006 & 0119+ that such a modification would provide an efficient system to repeatedly transmit a PDCCH a plurality of times, so as to improve transmission reliability of the PDCCH.
Regarding claim 7 and 18, Khosnevisan’177 discloses wherein the first configuration information is to configure the first search space see fig.16, 1605, fig.17 and fig.18, 1805) with a first number of candidates see para.0137, which discusses A search space set may also be configured with a number of candidates for each aggregation level in the search space set. As a non-limiting example, there may be two candidates for a first aggregation level and ten candidates for a second aggregation level, se para.0140, see para.0062, which discusses the first PDCCH candidate may have a same aggregation level as the second PDCCH candidate ) and the second configuration information is to configure the second search space see fig.16, 1605, fig.17 and fig.18, 1805) with a second number of candidates (see para.0137, which discusses A search space set may also be configured with a number of candidates for each aggregation level in the search space set. As a non-limiting example, there may be two candidates for a first aggregation level and ten candidates for a second aggregation level, se para.0140, see para.0062, which discusses the first PDCCH candidate may have a same aggregation level as the second PDCCH candidate ).
As discussed above, although Khosnevisan’177 discloses the first search space set and the second search space set may each have various parameters (e.g., periodicity, offset, number of monitoring occasions within a slot) (see para.0148, see para.0239, para.0160), Khosnevisan’177 does not explicitly show the use of “wherein the second number of candidates is equal to the first number of candidates” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “wherein the second number of candidates is equal to the first number of candidates” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Fan’970.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Fan’970 teaches the use of wherein the second number of candidates is equal to the first number of candidates (see para.00230, which discusses quantities of times of blind detection of the M search spaces are the same may be understood as follows: Parameters nrofCandidates of the M search spaces have a same value, see para.0260, which discusses the M search spaces include a search space 1 and a search space 2, see para.0007, which discusses configuration information is received from a network device, where the configuration information is used to configure… M search spaces).
In view of the above, having the system of Khosnevisan’177 and then given the well-established teaching of Fan’970, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Khosnevisan’177 to include “wherein the second number of candidates is equal to the first number of candidates” as taught by Fan’970, since Fan’970 stated in para.0005-0006 & 0119+ that such a modification would provide an efficient system to repeatedly transmit a PDCCH a plurality of times, so as to improve transmission reliability of the PDCCH.
Regarding claim 8 and 19, Khosnevisan’177 discloses wherein the first configuration information is to configure the first search space(see fig.16, 1605, fig.17 and fig.18, 1805) with a first downlink control information (DCI) format to monitor(see para.0061, which discusses the first search space set and the second search space set may be configured for monitoring a same format of downlink control information) and the second configuration information is to configure the second search space(see fig.16, 1605, fig.17 and fig.18, 1805) with a second downlink control information (DCI) format to monitor(see para.0061, which discusses the first search space set and the second search space set may be configured for monitoring a same format of downlink control information), wherein the second downlink control information (DCI) format is same as first DCI format(see para.0061, which discusses the first search space set and the second search space set may be configured for monitoring a same as equal format of downlink control information).
Regarding claim 9 and 20, Khosnevisan’177 discloses wherein the first configuration information is to configure the first search space with a first search space type(see para.0060, which discusses the first search space set and the second search space set may have a same search space type) and the second configuration information is to configure the second search space(see fig.16, 1605, fig.17 and fig.18, 1805) with a second search space type(see para.0060, which discusses the first search space set and the second search space set may have a same search space type), wherein the second search type is same as the first search space type(see para.0060, which discusses the first search space set and the second search space set may have a same as equal search space type).
Regarding claim 13, Khosnevisan’177 discloses wherein the first configuration information is further to configure the first search space (see fig.16, 1605, fig.17 and fig.18, 1805) with first duration; a first number of candidates; a first downlink control information (DCI) format to monitor; or(due to or language, only one of them is being considered) a first search space type(see para.0060, which discusses the first search space set and the second search space set may have a same search space type, see para.0061); and
the second configuration information is further to configure the the second search space(see fig.16, 1605, fig.17 and fig.18, 1805) with second duration; a second number of candidates; a second downlink control information (DCI) format to monitor; or(due to or language, only one of them is being considered) a second search space type(see para.0060, which discusses the first search space set and the second search space set may have a same search space type, see para.0061),
wherein the second duration is equal to the first duration, the second number of candidates is equal to the first number of candidates, the second DCI format is same as the first DCI format, and the second search space type is same as the first search space type(see para.0060, which discusses the first search space set and the second search space set may have a same search space type, see para.0061, which discusses he first search space set and the second search space set may be configured for monitoring a same format of downlink control information).
Regarding claim 14, Khosnevisan’177 discloses a method comprising: generating first configuration information and second configuration information for transmission to a user equipment(UE) (see para.0239, which discusses configuring one or more parameters for monitoring for the first search space set and the second search space set, the one or more parameters including a combined monitoring occasion periodicity, a combined monitoring occasion offset, or any combination thereof, where the indication of the association includes the configured one or more parameters), wherein:
the first configuration information to configure, within a bandwidth part(see para.0136, which discusses UE 115-a may be configured with up to 10 search space sets in a given BWP that may each have a number of properties), a first search space(see fig.16 & see para.0266, which shows and discusses receive, from a base station, a configuration that indicates an association between a first search space set and second search space set, 1605, see fig.17, 1705) with a first monitoring slot periodicity and offset(see para.0159, which discusses The examples show in slots 605-a, 605-b and 605-c, should not be considered limiting examples, as there may be more, fewer, or no monitoring occurrences of the first and second search space set based on the configuration of each slot and the repetitions of monitoring occasions within each slot (e.g., based on a slot periodicity as common monitoring slot periodicity and offset and/or monitoring symbols within a time interval), see also para.0148, see para.0239, which discusses configuring one or more parameters for monitoring for the first search space set and the second search space set, the one or more parameters including a combined monitoring occasion periodicity, a combined monitoring occasion offset, or any combination thereof, where the indication of the association includes the configured one or more parameters),
the second configuration information to configure, within a bandwidth part(see para.0136, which discusses UE 115-a may be configured with up to 10 search space sets in a given BWP that may each have a number of properties), a second search space(see fig.16 & see para.0266, which shows and discusses receive, from a base station, a configuration that indicates an association between a first search space set and second search space set, 1605, see fig.17, 1705) with a second common monitoring slot periodicity and offset(see para.0159, which discusses The examples show in slots 605-a, 605-b and 605-c, should not be considered limiting examples, as there may be more, fewer, or no monitoring occurrences of the first and second search space set based on the configuration of each slot and the repetitions of monitoring occasions within each slot (e.g., based on a slot periodicity as common monitoring slot periodicity and offset and/or monitoring symbols within a time interval), see also para.0148, see para.0239, which discusses configuring one or more parameters for monitoring for the first search space set and the second search space set, the one or more parameters including a combined monitoring occasion periodicity, a combined monitoring occasion offset, or any combination thereof, where the indication of the association includes the configured one or more parameters), and
the first configuration information or the second configuration information to further configure an association between the first search space and the second search space(see fig.15, memory 1530, see para.0035, which discusses the apparatus may include a processor, memory coupled with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to configure an association between a first PDCCH candidate corresponding to a first search space set and a second PDCCH candidate corresponding to a second search space set, see para.0262, which discusses the processor 1540 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 1530) to cause the device 1505 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting linking search space sets for PDCCH repetitions, see para.0239, which discusses configuring one or more parameters for monitoring for the first search space set and the second search space set, the one or more parameters including a combined monitoring occasion periodicity, a combined monitoring occasion offset, or any combination thereof, where the indication of the association includes the configured one or more parameters, thus association since the indication of the association includes the configured one or more parameters ); and generating, for transmission to the UE(see para.0138, which discusses the base station 105-a may transmit the search space set configuration to the UE 115-a in an RRC configuration), a plurality of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) repetitions associated with the first and second search spaces(see fig.2, encode 210 for transmission, see para.0131, which discusses a first PDCCH 210-a and a second PDCCH 210-b may be transmitted to a UE 115-a via downlink transmission 205. PDCCH 210-a and PDCCH 210-b may each be associated with different search space sets, see para.0138, which discusses the base station 105-a may transmit the search space set configuration to the UE 115-a in an RRC configuration).
As discussed above, although Khosnevisan’177 discloses the first search space set and the second search space set may each have various parameters (e.g., periodicity, offset, number of monitoring occasions within a slot) (see para.0148, see para.0239, para.0160), Khosnevisan’177 does not explicitly show the use of “wherein the second monitoring slot periodicity and offset is equal to the first monitoring slot periodicity and offset” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “wherein the second monitoring slot periodicity and offset is equal to the first monitoring slot periodicity and offset” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Fan’970.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Fan’970 teaches the use of wherein the second monitoring slot periodicity and offset is equal to the first monitoring slot periodicity and offset(see para.0225-0226, see para.0227, which discusses the monitoring periodicity and the slot offset may be configured by using a parameter monitoringSlotPeriodicityandoffset, where monitoringSlotPeriodicity corresponds to the monitoring periodicity, and offset corresponds to the slot offset. For example, that monitoring periodicity and slot offsets of the M search spaces are the same/equal may be understood as follows: Parameters monitoringSlotPeriodicityandoffset of the M search spaces have a same/equal value, see para.0260, which discusses the M search spaces include a search space 1 and a search space 2, see para.0007, which discusses configuration information is received from a network device, where the configuration information is used to configure… M search spaces).
In view of the above, having the system of Khosnevisan’177 and then given the well-established teaching of Fan’970, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Khosnevisan’177 to include “wherein the second monitoring slot periodicity and offset is equal to the first monitoring slot periodicity and offset” as taught by Fan’970, since Fan’970 stated in para.0005-0006 & 0119+ that such a modification would provide an efficient system to repeatedly transmit a PDCCH a plurality of times, so as to improve transmission reliability of the PDCCH.
Claim(s) 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khosnevisan et al (US 2024/0306177), claiming benefit to and fully supported by provisional application number 62/952,212, filed on Dec. 20, 2019 and in view of Fan (US 2025/0310870) and further in view of Jung et al (US 2023/0262599).
Regarding claim 21-23, as discussed above, although the combined Khosnevisan’177 and Fan’870 discloses the first search space set and the second search space set may each have various parameters (e.g., periodicity, offset, number of monitoring occasions within a slot) (see para.0148, see para.0239, para.0160), the combined Khosnevisan’177 and Fan’870 does not explicitly show the use of “herein the first configuration information is to configure a first group index for the first search space, the second configuration information is to configure a second group index for the second search space, and the association between the first search space and the second search space is based on the first group index being equal to the second group index” as required by present claimed invention. However, including “herein the first configuration information is to configure a first group index for the first search space, the second configuration information is to configure a second group index for the second search space, and the association between the first search space and the second search space is based on the first group index being equal to the second group index” would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art as evidenced by Jung’599.
In particular, in the same field of endeavor, Jung’599 teaches the use of wherein the first configuration information is to configure a first group index for the first search space(see para.0266, which discusses receiving an association indication of the first search space configuration with the second search space configuration. In some embodiments, the first search space configuration and the second search space configuration are associated with a group of search space sets. In various embodiments, a UE is configured with a plurality of values for search space configuration parameters for at least one of the first search space configuration and the second search space configuration, see para.0063, which discusses the UE can switch from monitoring search space sets with group index 0 to monitoring search space sets with group index 1 ), the second configuration information is to configure a second group index for the second search space(see para.0266, which discusses receiving an association indication of the first search space configuration with the second search space configuration. In some embodiments, the first search space configuration and the second search space configuration are associated with a group of search space sets. In various embodiments, a UE is configured with a plurality of values for search space configuration parameters for at least one of the first search space configuration and the second search space configuration, para.0063, which discusses the UE can switch from monitoring search space sets with group index 0 to monitoring search space sets with group index 1), and the association between the first search space and the second search space(see para.0266, which discusses receiving an association indication of the first search space configuration with the second search space configuration. In some embodiments, the first search space configuration and the second search space configuration are associated with a group of search space sets. In various embodiments, a UE is configured with a plurality of values for search space configuration parameters for at least one of the first search space configuration and the second search space configuration) is based on the first group index being equal to the second group index (para.0063, which discusses the UE can switch from monitoring search space sets with group index 0 to monitoring search space sets with group index 1, thus equal since group index 0 or 1 is for search space sets, see para.0178).
In view of the above, having the combined Khosnevisan’177 and Fan’870 and then given the well-established teaching of Jung’599, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combined Khosnevisan’177 and Fan’870 to include “wherein the first configuration information is to configure a first group index for the first search space, the second configuration information is to configure a second group index for the second search space, and the association between the first search space and the second search space is based on the first group index being equal to the second group index” as taught by Jung’599, since Jung’599 stated in para.0004+ that such a modification would provide power efficient PDCCH monitoring.
Conclusion
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/VINNCELAS LOUIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474