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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Examiner acknowledges Applicant's arguments filed on June 29, 2026. Claim 18 is amended. Claims 19-21 are newly added.
Claims 16-21 are currently pending consideration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's remarks filed June 29, 2026 concerning claims 16-21 have been fully considered, but are not persuasive. The reasons set forth below.
Regarding claim 16, on page 5 of Applicant's remarks, Applicant submits that Yi does not teach piggyback uplink control information (UCI) for the PUCCH transmission on each of the two or more PUSCH repetitions in the first group after determining that the at least one PUSCH repetition overlaps, at least partially, the PUCCH transmission.
In response to applicant’s remarks, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Yi teaches the claim limitation with Figure 23 Paragraphs [0289] and [0372] PUSCH repetitions; overlap with PUCCH; piggyback the UCI to the earliest PUSCH. Each PUSCH of the one or more PUSCHs multiplexes the UCI of the plurality of the PUCCHs. Example embodiments piggyback/multiple a repetition of a UCI via a repetition of a PUSCH repetition. Therefore, Yi teaches the above claim limitation and Examiner’s assertions are clear and proper.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yi et al. (US 2022/0225360 A1).
5. Regarding claim 16, Yi teaches a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 15 Wireless device), comprising:
at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more
computer-executable instructions for handling uplink transmission collisions in time domain (Figures 15 and 23 Paragraph [0289]); and
at least one processor coupled to the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium and configured to execute the one or more computer-executable instructions to cause the UE (Figure 15 and Paragraph [0222] computer readable medium) to:
group a plurality of physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions into one or more groups, each group having two or more PUSCH repetitions from the plurality of
PUSCH repetitions (Figure 23 Paragraph [0289] PUSCH repetitions);
determine whether at least one PUSCH repetition in a first group overlaps with a
physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission in the time domain (Figure 23 Paragraph [0289] PUSCH repetitions; overlap with PUCCH);
piggyback uplink control information (UCI) for the PUCCH transmission on each of the two or more PUSCH repetitions in the first group after determining that the at least one PUSCH repetition overlaps, at least partially, with the PUCCH transmission (Figure 23 Paragraphs [0289] and [0372] PUSCH repetitions; overlap with PUCCH; piggyback the UCI to the earliest PUSCH. Each PUSCH of the one or more PUSCHs multiplexes the UCI of the plurality of the PUCCHs. Example embodiments piggyback/multiple a repetition of a UCI via a repetition of a PUSCH repetition); and
transmit a PUSCH of the UE including the plurality of PUSCH repetitions (Figure 23 Paragraphs [0289] and [0372] transmit PUSCH; carrying the UCI).
6. Regarding claim 17, Yi teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) for handling uplink transmission collisions in time domain (Figure 23, Paragraph [0289]), the method comprising:
grouping a plurality of physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions into one or more groups, each group having two or more PUSCH repetitions from the plurality of PUSCH repetitions (Figure 23 Paragraph [0289] PUSCH repetitions);
determining whether at least one PUSCH repetition in a first group overlaps with a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission in the time domain (Figure 23 Paragraph [0289] PUSCH repetitions; overlap with PUCCH);
piggybacking uplink control information (UCI) for the PUCCH transmission on each of the two or more PUSCH repetitions in the first group after determining that the at least one PUSCH repetition overlaps, at least partially, with the PUCCH transmission (Figure 23 Paragraphs [0289] and [0372] PUSCH repetitions; overlap with PUCCH; piggyback the UCI to the earliest PUSCH. Each PUSCH of the one or more PUSCHs multiplexes the UCI of the plurality of the PUCCHs. Example embodiments piggyback/multiple a repetition of a UCI via a repetition of a PUSCH repetition); and
transmitting a PUSCH of the UE including the plurality of PUSCH repetitions (Figure 23 Paragraph [0289] transmit PUSCH; carrying the UCI).
7. Regarding claim 18, Yi teaches a base station (BS) (Fig.15 base station), comprising:
at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more
computer-executable instructions for handling uplink transmission collisions in time domain (Figures 15 and 23 Paragraph [0289]); and
at least one processor coupled to the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium and configured to execute the one or more computer-executable instructions to cause the BS (Figure 15 and Paragraph [0222] computer readable medium) to:
receive a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmitted by a user equipment (UE), the received PUSCH including a plurality of PUSCH repetitions (Figure 23 Paragraph [0289] PUSCH repetitions), wherein
the plurality of PUSCH repetitions is grouped into one or more groups, each
group having two or more PUSCH repetitions from the plurality of PUSCH
repetitions (Figure 23 Paragraph [0289] PUSCH repetitions),
at least one PUSCH repetition in a first group overlaps, at least partially, with
a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission in the time domain, and uplink control information (UCI) for the PUCCH transmission is piggybacked on each of the two or more PUSCH repetitions in the first group (Figure 23 Paragraphs [0289] and [0372] PUSCH repetitions; overlap with PUCCH; piggyback the UCI to the earliest PUSCH. Each PUSCH of the one or more PUSCHs multiplexes the UCI of the plurality of the PUCCHs. Example embodiments piggyback/multiple a repetition of a UCI via a repetition of a PUSCH repetition).
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.
Claims 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Yi et al. (US 2022/0225360 A1) in view of Xiong et al. (US 2024/0172224 A1).
8. Regarding claims 19-21, Yi does not explicitly disclose wherein an orthogonal cover code (OCC) is applied to the PUSCH.
Xiong teaches wherein an orthogonal cover code (OCC) is applied to the PUSCH (Paragraph [0038] OCC applied for UCI transmission on PUSCH).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein an orthogonal cover code (OCC) is applied to the PUSCH as taught by Xiong in the system of Yi for enhanced transmission scheme for UCI see abstract of Xiong.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at (571)272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DIANE L LO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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