DETAILED ACTION
In response to communication filed on 4/3/2024.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 1-4,7-11,14-17 and 20 are rejected.
Claims 5,6,12,13,18, and 19 are objected to for having allowable subject matter.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 7/11/2024 and 12/5/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived 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 1,2,7-9,14-16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US Pub. 2023/0422275)(K1 hereafter) in view of Wang et al. (US Pub. 2023/0276441)(W1 hereafter).
Regarding claims 1,8 and 15, K1 teaches an user equipment (UE)(i.e. communication node)[refer Fig. 2][paragraph 0052] comprising:
a transceiver [refer Fig. 2; 230] configured to receive:
first information indicating a first Type-1 hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) codebook for unicast receptions [paragraph 0205],
second information indicating a second Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook for multicast receptions [paragraph 0205],
third information indicating a first set of slot timing values for a first physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission providing the first Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook [paragraph 0212],
fourth information indicating a second set of slot timing values for a second PUCCH transmission providing the second Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook [paragraph 0217],
a first number of unicast receptions (i.e. PDSCH including unicast data)[paragraph 0082], and
a second number of multicast receptions (i.e. PDSCHs including multicast data)[paragraph 0082]; and
a processor [refer Fig. 2; 210] operably coupled to the transceiver [refer Fig. 2; 270], the processor configured to determine a third Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook (i.e. HARQ codebook with concatenated multicast HARQ sub-codebook and unicast HARQ sub-codebook)[paragraph 0228] to provide in a first slot (i.e. two or more PDSCH candidates can overlap in time domain resource)[paragraph 0238] for: the first number of unicast receptions, and the second number of multicast receptions [paragraph 0228],
when at least one of the first number of unicast receptions or the second number of multicast receptions is larger than one (i.e. when the terminal receives one or more multicast PDSCHs and a unicast PDSCH)[paragraph 0228], the third Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook is based on: a union (i.e. concatenation) of the first set of slot timing values and of the second set of slot timing values [paragraph 0227], and
the transceiver is further configured to transmit a third PUCCH providing the third Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook in the first slot [paragraph 0222].
However, K1 fails to disclose fifth information indicating a first set of row indexes of a first table providing time domain resource allocation (TDRA) parameters for the unicast receptions,
sixth information indicating a second set of row indexes of a second table providing TDRA parameters for the multicast receptions, and the third Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook comprises of a union of the first set of row indexes and of the second set of row indexes.
W1 discloses that for time domain resource allocation defined through RRC parameters, multiple TDRA index tables are defined separately for uplink and downlink as well as for broadcast (i.e. multicast or groupcast) and unicast [paragraph 0136].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of K1 to incorporate the use of a TDRA table consisting of rows for multicast and unicast allocations as taught by W1. One would be motivated to do so to provide the use of a known technique in the field of endeavor to yield predictable results.
Regarding claims 2,9 and 16, K1 teaches a unicast reception, from the first number of unicast receptions, is a unicast physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) reception (i.e. PDSCH including unicast data)[paragraph 0082], and
a multicast reception, from the second number of multicast receptions, is a multicast PDSCH reception (i.e. PDSCHs including multicast data)[paragraph 0082].
Regarding claims 7,14 and 20, K1 teaches the transceiver is further configured to receive seventh information providing one of: a first indication for determining: the first Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook [paragraph 0205] based on the first set of slot timing values [paragraph 0212], the second Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook [paragraph 0205] based on the second set of slot timing values [paragraph 0217], and the third Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook based on concatenation of the first Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook and the second Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook [paragraph 0227].
However, K1 fails to disclose the first Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook based the first set of row indexes, the second Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook based the second set of row indexes.
W1 discloses that for time domain resource allocation defined through RRC parameters, multiple TDRA index tables are defined separately for uplink and downlink as well as for broadcast (i.e. multicast or groupcast) and unicast [paragraph 0136], PDSCH time resource allocations specify a row in the at least one table that is indicative of a start symbol and length [paragraph 0139].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of K1 for generating a T1 HARQ codebook for unicast and multicast PDSCH transmissions [refer K1; paragraph 0205] to incorporate the use of a TDRA table consisting of rows for defining multicast and unicast allocations as taught by W1. One would be motivated to do so to provide the use of a known technique in the field of endeavor to yield predictable results.
Claims 3,4,10,11 and 17 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over K1 in view of W1, as applied to claims 1,8 and 15, in further view of Li et al. (US Pub. 2023/0047407)(L1 hereafter).
Regarding claims 3,10 and 17, K1 teaches the first number of unicast receptions is one (i.e. a unicast PDSCH) and comprises a unicast PDSCH reception (i.e. PDSCH including unicast data)[paragraph 0082], the second number of multicast receptions is one (i.e. a PDSCH including multicast data can be scheduled via PDCCH)[paragraph 0074] and comprises a multicast PDSCH reception [paragraph 0075], , receptions are scheduled by first and second downlink control information (DCI) formats (there are multiple DCI formats)[paragraph 0123], the first and second DCI formats include a counter downlink assignment indicator (DAI) field having respective first and second values [paragraph 0165], and the third Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook comprises:
only HARQ-ACK information for the unicast PDSCH reception and for the multicast PDSCH reception when both the first and second values equal one (terminal may estimate the amount of HARQ-ACKs based on a value of a DAI indicated by DCI by which the multicast PDSCH is allocated [paragraph 0207], separate DAI may be defined for unicast transmission [paragraph 0231]), and
HARQ-ACK information for the unicast PDSCH reception, for the multicast PDSCH reception [paragraph 0236], and additional HARQ-ACK information (i.e. NACK information) when at least one of the first and second values does not equal one (i.e. two or more PDSCHs overlapping in time domain)[paragraph 0237]
However, K1 doesn’t expressly disclose that the unicast PDSCH reception and the multicast PDSCH reception are on a primary cell.
W1, in the field of configuring downlink and uplink for broadcast PDSCH and unicast PDSCH [paragraph 0136], discloses that configuration and control information can be received in a primary cell or PCell [paragraph 0048].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of K1 to incorporate the use of TDRA tables for broadcast (i.e. multicast) and unicast allocations on a primary cell as taught by W1. One would be motivated to do so to provide the use of a known technique in the field of endeavor to yield predictable results.
However, K1 in view of W1 fails to disclose the unicast PDSCH reception and the multicast PDSCH reception are scheduled by respective first and second downlink control information (DCI) formats.
L1 discloses that a UE can determine whether a PDSCH is a multicast or unicast PDSCH by using aa DCI format [paragraph 0098].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of K1 for generating a T1 HARQ codebook for unicast and multicast PDSCH transmissions [refer K1; paragraph 0205] to incorporate particular DCI formatting for multicast and unicast PDSCH transmissions as taught by L1. One would be motivated to do so to provide the use of a known technique in the field of endeavor to yield predictable results.
Regarding claims 4 and 11, K1 teaches the first DCI format includes a transmit power control (TPC) command field (TPC commands of PUCCHs in DCI format1_x and/or DCI format 2_2)[paragraph 0280], and the second DCI format does not include a TPC command field (a DCI format may not have a TPC PUCCH field)[paragraph 0280].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5,6,12,13,18, and 19 are 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 a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
The prior art, alone or in combination, fails to disclose or make obvious the release of the configuration for multicast SPS PDSCH receptions is indicated by a second DCI format, the third Type-1 HARQ-ACK codebook comprises only HARQ-ACK information for the unicast PDSCH reception and for the release of the configuration for multicast SPS PDSCH receptions when both the first and second values equal one, and HARQ-ACK information for the unicast PDSCH reception, for the release of the configuration for multicast SPS PDSCH receptions, and additional HARQ-ACK information when at least one of the first and second values does not equal one, as indicated in claims 5,12 and 18, and
receiving seventh information indicating a first reporting mode or a second reporting mode of HARQ-ACK information for the multicast SPS PDSCH receptions, the first reporting mode is for reporting HARQ-ACK information of any value, the second reporting mode is for reporting HARQ-ACK information only when the HARQ-ACK information has at least one negative acknowledgement (NACK) value, the seventh information indicates the second reporting mode, the first number of unicast receptions is zero, the second number of multicast receptions is one multicast SPS PDSCH reception, and the one multicast SPS PDSCH reception is a first multicast SPS PDSCH reception after activation of multicast SPS PDSCH receptions, determining first HARQ-ACK information to provide in a second slot for the first multicast SPS PDSCH reception, and second HARQ-ACK information to provide in a third slot for a multicast SPS reception after the first multicast SPS PDSCH reception, wherein: the first HARQ-ACK information is based on the first reporting mode, and the second HARQ-ACK information is based on the second reporting mode; and the transceiver is further configured to transmit: a fourth PUCCH providing the first HARQ-ACK information in the second slot, and a fifth PUCCH providing the second HARQ-ACK information in the third slot, as indicated in claims 6,13 and 19.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Papasakellariou et al. (US Pub. 2024/0172212) discloses identifying a HARQ-ACK codebook type for unicast and multicast and obtaining a HARQ-ACK codebook by appending the HARQ-ACK codebook for multicast to the HARQ-ACK codebook for unicast [refer Claim 1].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN C KAVLESKI whose telephone number is (571)270-3619. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30am-3pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles C Jiang can be reached on 571-270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Ryan Kavleski
/R. K./
Examiner, Art Unit 2412
/CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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