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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on July 8, 2026 has been entered. Claim 8 has been amended. No claims are canceled. No claims have been added. Claims 1-20 are still pending in this application, with claims 1, 9 and 13 being independent.
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 1-2, 9-10 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Qin et al. (U.S. PGPub 2020/0014515), hereinafter referred to as Qin.
Regarding claim 1, Qin discloses a method for resource indication, comprising:
receiving, by a terminal device, first indication information sent by a network device (a base station 110 sends reference signal sending configuration information to a terminal 120; See [0094]), wherein the first indication information indicates at least one first frequency-domain resource unit scheduled for or allocated to the terminal device (The reference signal sending configuration information instructs the terminal 120 to transmit a reference signal on one or more frequency domain units; See [0094]); and
wherein the at least one first frequency-domain resource unit belongs to a first frequency-domain resource unit group (The terminal 120 determines, based on the quantity of frequency domain unit groups and a quantity of frequency domain units supported by the terminal 120, frequency domain units included in the frequency domain unit group; See [0097]), and the first frequency-domain resource unit group is in an active bandwidth part (BWP) of the terminal device (the terminal 110 can use only a part of the bandwidth. In other words, both measurement and transmission of the terminal 110 need to be performed on the part of the bandwidth. Therefore, the wireless communications system needs to support sending of an SRS on a part of the bandwidth (partial band) in a frequency hopping manner. The part of the bandwidth may also be referred to as a frequency domain unit. A plurality of frequency domain units form the transmission bandwidth of the base station 110, or form a part of the transmission bandwidth, or may be a bandwidth part. The bandwidth part is a segment of consecutive frequency domain resources configured by the base station for the terminal, and has a unique subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. The one or more frequency domain units and another frequency domain unit form a part of a transmission bandwidth supported by the base station 110; See [0075] and [0094]).
Regarding claim 2, Qin further discloses the method of claim 1, wherein a resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group and/or the first frequency-domain resource unit group is determined based on second indication information sent by the network device (the base station 110 may deliver a grouping parameter to the terminal 120. The grouping parameter includes a quantity of frequency domain unit groups. The terminal 120 determines, based on the quantity of frequency domain unit groups and a quantity of frequency domain units supported by the terminal 120, frequency domain units included in the frequency domain unit group; See [0097]).
Regarding claim 9, Qin discloses a terminal device (See Fig. 11), comprising:
a transceiver (See Fig. 11, #111);
a memory (memory of the terminal; See [0156]) configured to store computer programs; and
a processor (See Fig. 11, #112) configured to invoke and execute the computer programs stored in the memory to:
cause the transceiver to receive first indication information sent by a network device (a base station 110 sends reference signal sending configuration information to a terminal 120; See [0094]), wherein the first indication information indicates at least one first frequency-domain resource unit scheduled for or allocated to the terminal device (The reference signal sending configuration information instructs the terminal 120 to transmit a reference signal on one or more frequency domain units; See [0094]); and
wherein the at least one first frequency-domain resource unit belongs to a first frequency-domain resource unit group (The terminal 120 determines, based on the quantity of frequency domain unit groups and a quantity of frequency domain units supported by the terminal 120, frequency domain units included in the frequency domain unit group; See [0097]), and the first frequency-domain resource unit group is in an active bandwidth part (BWP) of the terminal device (the terminal 110 can use only a part of the bandwidth. In other words, both measurement and transmission of the terminal 110 need to be performed on the part of the bandwidth. Therefore, the wireless communications system needs to support sending of an SRS on a part of the bandwidth (partial band) in a frequency hopping manner. The part of the bandwidth may also be referred to as a frequency domain unit. A plurality of frequency domain units form the transmission bandwidth of the base station 110, or form a part of the transmission bandwidth, or may be a bandwidth part. The bandwidth part is a segment of consecutive frequency domain resources configured by the base station for the terminal, and has a unique subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. The one or more frequency domain units and another frequency domain unit form a part of a transmission bandwidth supported by the base station 110; See [0075] and [0094]).
Regarding claim 10, Qin further discloses the terminal device of claim 9, wherein a resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group and/or the first frequency-domain resource unit group is determined based on second indication information sent by the network device (the base station 110 may deliver a grouping parameter to the terminal 120. The grouping parameter includes a quantity of frequency domain unit groups. The terminal 120 determines, based on the quantity of frequency domain unit groups and a quantity of frequency domain units supported by the terminal 120, frequency domain units included in the frequency domain unit group; See [0097]).
Regarding claim 13, Qin discloses a network device (base station; See Fig. 10), comprising:
a transceiver (See Fig. 10, #101);
a memory (memory of the base station; See [0156]) configured to store computer programs; and
a processor (See Fig. 10, #102) configured to invoke and execute the computer programs stored in the memory to:
cause the transceiver to send first indication information to a terminal device (a base station 110 sends reference signal sending configuration information to a terminal 120; See [0094]), wherein the first indication information indicates at least one first frequency-domain resource unit scheduled for or allocated to the terminal device (The reference signal sending configuration information instructs the terminal 120 to transmit a reference signal on one or more frequency domain units; See [0094]);
wherein the at least one first frequency-domain resource unit belongs to a first frequency-domain resource unit group (The terminal 120 determines, based on the quantity of frequency domain unit groups and a quantity of frequency domain units supported by the terminal 120, frequency domain units included in the frequency domain unit group; See [0097]), and the first frequency-domain resource unit group is in an active bandwidth part (BWP) of the terminal device (the terminal 110 can use only a part of the bandwidth. In other words, both measurement and transmission of the terminal 110 need to be performed on the part of the bandwidth. Therefore, the wireless communications system needs to support sending of an SRS on a part of the bandwidth (partial band) in a frequency hopping manner. The part of the bandwidth may also be referred to as a frequency domain unit. A plurality of frequency domain units form the transmission bandwidth of the base station 110, or form a part of the transmission bandwidth, or may be a bandwidth part. The bandwidth part is a segment of consecutive frequency domain resources configured by the base station for the terminal, and has a unique subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. The one or more frequency domain units and another frequency domain unit form a part of a transmission bandwidth supported by the base station 110; See [0075] and [0094]).
Regarding claim 14, Qin further discloses the network device of claim 13, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:
send second indication information to the terminal device (the base station 110 may deliver a grouping parameter to the terminal 120; See [0097]), wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group and/or the first frequency-domain resource unit group (The grouping parameter includes a quantity of frequency domain unit groups. The terminal 120 determines, based on the quantity of frequency domain unit groups and a quantity of frequency domain units supported by the terminal 120, frequency domain units included in the frequency domain unit group; See [0097]).
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.
Claims 3-5, 11-12 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qin as applied to claims 2 and 10 above, and further in view of Zhao et al. (U.S. PGPub 2020/0374846), hereinafter referred to as Zhao.
Regarding claim 3, Qin fails to teach the method of claim 2, wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of a frequency-domain resource unit in a first time-domain resource, and the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource or determining the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource according to a resource type of the first time-domain resource and/or the resource type of the frequency-domain resource unit in the first time-domain resource.
Zhao teaches wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of a frequency-domain resource unit in a first time-domain resource (the PUSCH scheduling device may send the RU type indication information through an MPDCCH; See [0115]) and the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource or determining the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource according to a resource type of the first time-domain resource and/or the resource type of the frequency-domain resource unit in the first time-domain resource (different resource unit types may be represented by a quantity of subframes (or a quantity of slots occupied by a resource unit in time domain) occupied by a resource unit in time domain and a quantity of subcarriers occupied by the resource unit in frequency domain; See [0116]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of a frequency-domain resource unit in a first time-domain resource, and the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource or determining the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource according to a resource type of the first time-domain resource and/or the resource type of the frequency-domain resource unit in the first time-domain resource taught by Zhao in order to enhance transmission quality and minimize wasted resources.
Regarding claim 4, Qin still fails to teach the method of claim 3, wherein the first time-domain resource comprises at least one of: at least one symbol, at least one slot, at least one subslot, at least one uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) transmission period, at least one subframe, or at least one frame.
Zhao teaches wherein the first time-domain resource comprises at least one of: at least one symbol, at least one slot, at least one subslot, at least one uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) transmission period, at least one subframe, or at least one frame (different resource unit types may be represented by a quantity of subframes (or a quantity of slots occupied by a resource unit in time domain) occupied by a resource unit in time domain and a quantity of subcarriers occupied by the resource unit in frequency domain; See [0116]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein the first time-domain resource comprises at least one of: at least one symbol, at least one slot, at least one subslot, at least one uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) transmission period, at least one subframe, or at least one frame taught by Zhao in order to enhance transmission quality and minimize wasted resources.
Regarding claim 5, Qin fails to teach the method of claim 2, wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of M time-frequency resources, each time-frequency resource in the M time-frequency resources is determined based on a time-domain resource unit and a frequency-domain resource unit corresponding to the time-frequency resource, and M is an integer and M≥ 1; and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group or determining the first frequency-domain resource unit group according to the resource type of the M time-frequency resources.
Zhao teaches wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of M time-frequency resources (The resource unit corresponding to the target RU type includes one uplink subframe or a plurality of consecutive uplink subframes in time domain, and a quantity of subcarriers occupied by the resource unit corresponding to the target RU type in frequency domain is less than or equal to 12; See [0117]), each time-frequency resource in the M time-frequency resources is determined based on a time-domain resource unit and a frequency-domain resource unit corresponding to the time-frequency resource (See [0117]), and M is an integer and M≥ 1 (one or more subframes; See[0117]); and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group or determining the first frequency-domain resource unit group according to the resource type of the M time-frequency resources (The terminal determines, based on the RU type indication information, a type of a target resource unit RU that carries a physical uplink shared channel PUSCH. The resource unit corresponding to the target RU type includes one uplink subframe or a plurality of consecutive uplink subframes in time domain, and a quantity of subcarriers occupied by the resource unit corresponding to the target RU type in frequency domain is less than or equal to 12; See [0117]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of M time-frequency resources, each time-frequency resource in the M time-frequency resources is determined based on a time-domain resource unit and a frequency-domain resource unit corresponding to the time-frequency resource, and M is an integer and M≥ 1; and wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the terminal device, the resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group or determining the first frequency-domain resource unit group according to the resource type of the M time-frequency resources taught by Zhao in order to enhance transmission quality and minimize wasted resources.
Regarding claim 11, Qin fails to teach the terminal device of claim 10, wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of a frequency-domain resource unit in a first time-domain resource, and the processor is configured to: determine the resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource or determine the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource according to a resource type of the first time-domain resource and/or the resource type of the frequency-domain resource unit in the first time-domain resource.
Zhao teaches wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of a frequency-domain resource unit in a first time-domain resource (the PUSCH scheduling device may send the RU type indication information through an MPDCCH; See [0115]) and the processor is configured to: determine the resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource or determine the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource according to a resource type of the first time-domain resource and/or the resource type of the frequency-domain resource unit in the first time-domain resource (different resource unit types may be represented by a quantity of subframes (or a quantity of slots occupied by a resource unit in time domain) occupied by a resource unit in time domain and a quantity of subcarriers occupied by the resource unit in frequency domain; See [0116]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of a frequency-domain resource unit in a first time-domain resource, and the processor is configured to: determine the resource type of the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource or determine the first frequency-domain resource unit group in the first time-domain resource according to a resource type of the first time-domain resource and/or the resource type of the frequency-domain resource unit in the first time-domain resource taught by Zhao in order to enhance transmission quality and minimize wasted resources.
Regarding claim 12, Qin still fails to teach the terminal device of claim 11, wherein the first time-domain resource comprises at least one of: at least one symbol, at least one slot, at least one subslot, at least one uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) transmission period, at least one subframe, or at least one frame.
Zhao teaches wherein the first time-domain resource comprises at least one of: at least one symbol, at least one slot, at least one subslot, at least one uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) transmission period, at least one subframe, or at least one frame (different resource unit types may be represented by a quantity of subframes (or a quantity of slots occupied by a resource unit in time domain) occupied by a resource unit in time domain and a quantity of subcarriers occupied by the resource unit in frequency domain; See [0116]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein the first time-domain resource comprises at least one of: at least one symbol, at least one slot, at least one subslot, at least one uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) transmission period, at least one subframe, or at least one frame taught by Zhao in order to enhance transmission quality and minimize wasted resources.
Regarding claim 15, Qin fails to teach the network device of claim 14, wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of a frequency-domain resource unit in a first time-domain resource.
Zhao teaches wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of a frequency-domain resource unit in a first time-domain resource (the PUSCH scheduling device may send the RU type indication information through an MPDCCH. different resource unit types may be represented by a quantity of subframes (or a quantity of slots occupied by a resource unit in time domain) occupied by a resource unit in time domain and a quantity of subcarriers occupied by the resource unit in frequency domain; See [0115]-[0116]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein the second indication information indicates a resource type of a frequency-domain resource unit in a first time-domain resource taught by Zhao in order to enhance transmission quality and minimize wasted resources.
Claims 6-8 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qin as applied to claims 1 and 13 above, and further in view of Shi et al. (U.S. PGPub 2022/0173851), hereinafter referred to as Shi.
Regarding claim 6, Qin fails to teach the method of claim 1, wherein the first indication information comprises N pieces of bit information, each bit information in the N pieces of bit information corresponds to one first frequency-domain resource unit and indicates whether the first frequency-domain resource unit corresponding to the bit information is allocated to the terminal device, and N is an integer and N≥ 1.
Shi teaches wherein the first indication information comprises N pieces of bit information (if a bitmap includes six bits; See [0275]), each bit information in the N pieces of bit information corresponds to one first frequency-domain resource unit (a frequency domain resource allocation unit may be an RBG; See [0276]) and indicates whether the first frequency-domain resource unit corresponding to the bit information is allocated to the terminal device (the six bits are respectively used to indicate whether an RBG 0 to an RBG 5 are allocated for data transmission; See [0275]), and N is an integer and N≥ 1 (N=6 bits; See [0275]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein the first indication information comprises N pieces of bit information, each bit information in the N pieces of bit information corresponds to one first frequency-domain resource unit and indicates whether the first frequency-domain resource unit corresponding to the bit information is allocated to the terminal device, and N is an integer and N≥ 1 taught by Shi in order to improve quality.
Regarding claim 7, Qin still fails to teach the method of claim 6, wherein N is determined based on at least one of: the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the first frequency-domain resource unit group; an index of a starting PRB of the first frequency-domain resource unit group; or a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit.
Shi teaches wherein N is determined based on at least one of: the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the first frequency-domain resource unit group; an index of a starting PRB of the first frequency-domain resource unit group; or a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit (if a bitmap includes six bits, the six bits are respectively used to indicate whether an RBG 0 to an RBG 5 are allocated for data transmission. If that one bit is set to 1 indicates that a corresponding RBG is allocated for data transmission, and a value of the six bits is 110101, the RBG 0, the RBG 1, the RBG 3, and the RBG 5 are allocated for data transmission. quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the scheduled bandwidth and sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units are calculated by using a method similar to the method for calculating the quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the BWP and the sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units; See [0275]-[0276]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein N is determined based on at least one of: the number of physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the first frequency-domain resource unit group; an index of a starting PRB of the first frequency-domain resource unit group; or a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit taught by Shi in order to improve quality.
Regarding claim 8, Qin still fails to teach the method of claim 7, wherein the size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on the number of second frequency-domain resource units in the first frequency-domain resource unit.
Shi teaches (quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the scheduled bandwidth and sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units are calculated by using a method similar to the method for calculating the quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the BWP and the sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units,; See [0276]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein the size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on the number of second frequency-domain resource units in the first frequency-domain resource unit taught by Shi in order to improve quality.
Regarding claim 16, Qin fails to teach the network device of claim 13, wherein the first indication information comprises N pieces of bit information, each bit information in the N pieces of bit information corresponds to one first frequency-domain resource unit and indicates whether the first frequency-domain resource unit corresponding to the bit information is allocated to the terminal device, and N is an integer and N≥ 1.
Shi teaches wherein the first indication information comprises N pieces of bit information (if a bitmap includes six bits; See [0275]), each bit information in the N pieces of bit information corresponds to one first frequency-domain resource unit (a frequency domain resource allocation unit may be an RBG; See [0276]) and indicates whether the first frequency-domain resource unit corresponding to the bit information is allocated to the terminal device (the six bits are respectively used to indicate whether an RBG 0 to an RBG 5 are allocated for data transmission; See [0275]), and N is an integer and N≥ 1 (N=6 bits; See [0275]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the apparatus of Qin to include wherein the first indication information comprises N pieces of bit information, each bit information in the N pieces of bit information corresponds to one first frequency-domain resource unit and indicates whether the first frequency-domain resource unit corresponding to the bit information is allocated to the terminal device, and N is an integer and N≥ 1 taught by Shi in order to improve quality.
Regarding claim 17, Qin still fails to teach the network device of claim 16, wherein N is determined at least based on a size of the active BWP, and the size of the active BWP is determined based on the number of PRBs in the active BWP.
Shi teaches wherein N is determined at least based on a size of the active BWP, and the size of the active BWP is determined based on the number of PRBs in the active BWP (quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the scheduled bandwidth and sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units are calculated by using a method similar to the method for calculating the quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the BWP and the sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units,; See [0276]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the apparatus of Qin to include wherein N is determined at least based on a size of the active BWP, and the size of the active BWP is determined based on the number of PRBs in the active BWP taught by Shi in order to improve quality.
Regarding claim 18, Qin still fails to teach the network device of claim 17, wherein a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on at least one of: a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit group, the size of the active BWP, a first higher layer parameter, or N.
Shi teaches wherein a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on at least one of: a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit group, the size of the active BWP, a first higher layer parameter, or N (quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the scheduled bandwidth and sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units are calculated by using a method similar to the method for calculating the quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the BWP and the sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units,; See [0276]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the apparatus of Qin to include wherein a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on at least one of: a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit group, the size of the active BWP, a first higher layer parameter, or N taught by Shi in order to improve quality.
Regarding claim 19, Qin still fails to teach the network device of claim 17, wherein a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit group and N.
Shi teaches wherein a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit group and N (if a bitmap includes six bits, the six bits are respectively used to indicate whether an RBG 0 to an RBG 5 are allocated for data transmission. If that one bit is set to 1 indicates that a corresponding RBG is allocated for data transmission, and a value of the six bits is 110101, the RBG 0, the RBG 1, the RBG 3, and the RBG 5 are allocated for data transmission. quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the scheduled bandwidth and sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units are calculated by using a method similar to the method for calculating the quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the BWP and the sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units; See [0275]-[0276]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit group and N taught by Shi in order to improve quality.
Regarding claim 20, Qin still fails to teach the network device of claim 17, wherein a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit group, the size of the active BWP, and a first higher layer parameter.
Shi teaches wherein a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit group, the size of the active BWP, and a first higher layer parameter (A frequency domain resource allocation unit may be an RBG. Quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the scheduled bandwidth and sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units are calculated by using a method similar to the method for calculating the quantity of frequency domain resource allocation units in the BWP and the sizes of the frequency domain resource allocation units, wherein the RBG is interpreted as the higher layer parameter; See [0276]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Qin to include wherein a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit is determined based on a size of the first frequency-domain resource unit group, the size of the active BWP, and a first higher layer parameter taught by Shi in order to improve quality.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed July 8, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pages 7-8 if the Applicants’ Response, Applicants state that Qin et al. (U.S. PGPub 2020/0014515), hereinafter referred to as Qin fails to teach wherein the first indication information indicates at least one first frequency-domain resource unit scheduled for or allocated to the terminal device.
Examiner respectfully disagrees in that while Qin teaches configuring the frequency domain units using the cell-level signaling (The frequency domain unit may be configured by the base station 110 by using cell-level signaling, for example, a broadcast message or a system message; or may be configured by using user-level signaling, for example, RRC signaling or MAC CE signaling; See [0090]), it also teaches the reference signal sending configuration information includes an indication of a time-frequency resource that is used to transmit the reference signal (See [0095]). Additionally the reference sending configuration signal can include parameters indicating an in order in which to transmit the signal on the frequency domain units (When the terminal 120 supports the plurality of frequency domain units, the reference signal sending configuration information may further include a first parameter. The first parameter indicates an order in which the terminal 120 transmits the reference signal on the plurality of frequency domain units. As shown in FIG. 2, the base station 110 instructs the terminal UE3 to transmit the reference signal on the frequency domain unit 202, and then transmits the reference signal on the frequency domain unit 203. Certainly, in another implementation, the order in which the terminal 120 transmits the reference signal on the plurality of frequency domain units may also use a preset rule. For example, the order of transmitting the reference signal on different frequency domain units is determined as a descending order or an ascending order of frequencies; See [0095]) and a correspondence between the time and frequency units (The reference signal sending configuration information includes a second parameter that is used to indicate a correspondence between a time unit at which the terminal 120 sends the reference signal and a frequency domain unit on which the terminal 120 sends the reference signal. The correspondence determines a frequency domain unit on which the reference signal is initially sent within a reference signal sending period. Then, the reference signal is transmitted through frequency hopping on the frequency domain units based on the order indicated by the first parameter and the correspondence between the time unit and the frequency domain unit in the second parameter; See [0095]). The claim only indicates that the message has to include first indication information. There is no further limiting factor as to the type of message being received by the terminal. Therefore the rejection is maintained.
On pages 9-10 of the Applicants’ Response, Applicants state that Qin further fails to teach the first frequency-domain resource unit group is an active bandwidth part (BWP) of the terminal device.
Examiner respectfully disagrees in that Qin teaches the bandwidth part is a segment of consecutive frequency domain resources configured by the base station for the terminal (the terminal 110 can use only a part of the bandwidth. In other words, both measurement and transmission of the terminal 110 need to be performed on the part of the bandwidth. Therefore, the wireless communications system needs to support sending of an SRS on a part of the bandwidth (partial band) in a frequency hopping manner. The part of the bandwidth may also be referred to as a frequency domain unit. A plurality of frequency domain units form the transmission bandwidth of the base station 110, or form a part of the transmission bandwidth, or may be a bandwidth part. The bandwidth part is a segment of consecutive frequency domain resources configured by the base station for the terminal, and has a unique subcarrier spacing and a cyclic prefix. The one or more frequency domain units and another frequency domain unit form a part of a transmission bandwidth supported by the base station 110; See [0075] and [0094]). Additionally Fig. 2 shows UE1 and UE2 both supporting a plurality of frequency domain units, thus different groups of units (See Fig. 2 and [0095]).
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.
Conclusion
Any response to this action should be mailed to:
Commissioner for Patents,
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
Hand delivered responses should be brought to:
Customer Service Window
Randolph Building
401 Dulany Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ASHLEY L SHIVERS whose telephone number is (571)270-3523. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chirag Shah can be reached at 571-272-3144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ASHLEY SHIVERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 9/8/2026
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