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 Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed July 08, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
RE claims 1-4, 6-15 and 17-20, Applicants argue: “Abdelghaffar discloses an RFI-based mechanism that operates through an indirect, two- step process, rather than through a direct, resource-by-resource indication: the first portion of the RFI is used to determine the format (e.g., full-duplex, downlink-only, or uplink-only) of a time- domain slot, and only if the slot is identified as having a full-duplex format does the UE decode a second portion of the RFI and consult a pre-configured frequency resource lookup table to identify a set of frequency resources from among several pre-defined sets (e.g., a first set, a second set, a third set, and a fourth set). Accordingly, Abdelghaffar's RFI does not directly indicate, for each individual frequency domain resource, whether that resource is uplink or downlink. Instead, Abdelghaffar first resolves a time-domain (slot) format, and then selects, from a pre-configured table, a pre-defined set of frequency resources as a whole. Abdelghaffar does not establish an individualized, resource-by-resource correspondence between each frequency domain resource and an uplink or downlink designation. This is a structurally different mechanism from that recited in amended Claim 1 in which the second information itself directly and individually designates, for each of the plurality of second frequency domain resources, whether that specific resource is uplink or downlink with no intervening slot-format determination and no lookup table.”
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Abdelghaffar teaches that the RFI may identify a frequency format from a configured lookup table, wherein the frequency format includes a bitmap having indication bits corresponding to respective frequency resources, and wherein the value of each bit indicates where the corresponding frequency resource is configured as uplink or downlink or both. This is therefore is believed to be a direct teaching of the disputed limitation. Accordingly, Applicant’s arguments are unpersuasive at this time. All grounds of rejection are thus maintained as set forth below with claim language updated to reflect the submitted amendments.
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.
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, 6, 8-9, 11-13, 17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song et al. (US 2022/0150720, cited on IDS filed November 20, 2024, Song hereafter) in view of Abdelghaffar et al. (US 2022/0014345, cited on IDS filed November 20, 2024, Abdelghaffar hereafter.
RE claims 1 and 12, Song discloses a method and user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising: a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver (Fig 4 and Paragraphs 20 and 23) and configured to: receive first information for scheduling a first frequency domain resource comprising a plurality of second frequency domain resources (Paragraphs 22-24 discloses a terminal/UE receiving DCI comprised of FDRA information and “the communication device may determine the frequency domain resources of the foregoing N frequency domain resource groups according to the FDRA information.” Paragraph 56 further discloses: ” When the FDRA of PDSCH is type 0, the case where the RBGs correspond to two frequency domain resource groups sequentially in turn is taken as an example. Assuming that there are a total of 12 RBGs (RBG0, 1, 2, . . . , 11) in one BWP, and the FDRA field of DCI totally has 12 bits, namely 0011 0110 0111, that is, the scheduled PDSCH uses RBG2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11.”).
Song does not explicitly disclose that the terminal, in response to receiving second information, determines, based on the first information, the second information, and the plurality of second frequency domain resources, a second frequency domain resource for a downlink transmission or an uplink transmission scheduled by the first information, wherein the second information comprises indication information indicating for each of the plurality of second frequency domain resources, whether the second frequency domain resource is a downlink frequency domain resource or an uplink frequency domain resource, and perform the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission based on the determined second frequency domain resource.
However, Abdelghaffar teaches in response to receiving second information, determines, based on the first information, the second information, and the plurality of second frequency domain resources, a second frequency domain resource for a downlink transmission or an uplink transmission scheduled by the first information, wherein the second information comprises indication information indicating for each of the plurality of second frequency domain resources, whether the second frequency domain resource is a downlink frequency domain resource or an uplink frequency domain resource, and perform the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission based on the determined second frequency domain resource (Paragraphs 222-230 teach DCI indicating a resource allocation scheme “A UE 115 may identify a configuration for interpreting RFIs 810. The UE 115 may receive a control message including one or more RFIs 810 and may determine slot information based on the configuration. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the UE 115 may receive a DCI 805, where the DCI 805 includes a set of RFIs 810. The UE 115 may identify one or more indexes associated with the UE 115, where the one or more indexes indicate a position of an RFI 810 associated with the UE 115”, RFI 810-e may be associated with one or more time periods (e.g., slots 825) of communication resources allocated for the UE 115. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, RFI 810-e may be associated with a first slot 825-a, a second slot 825-b, and a third slot 825-c. The UE 115 may decode the RFI 810-e based on identifying the one or more indexes”, “In some cases, the UE 115 may identify one or more time periods (e.g., one or more slots 825) that include symbols corresponding to a full-duplex format based on the first portion 815 of the RFI 810-e. If the UE 115 identifies one or more slots 825 that include symbols corresponding to a full-duplex format, the UE 115 may decode a subsequent portion of the RFI 810-e to identify a set of frequency resources 835 of the frequency resource allocation. The UE 115 may store a frequency resource table 830 associated with a component carrier 840 in memory. This frequency resource table 830 may be pre-configured at the UE 115 or configured by a base station 105 (e.g., using RRC signaling). In some cases, the UE 115 may identify an indication of a set of frequency resources 835 based on a slot 825 including one or more symbols associated with a full-duplex format or the second portion 820 of the RFI 810-e including the indication of the set of frequency resources 83”, “For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the UE 115 may identify that the first slot 825-a includes symbols having a full-duplex format and may decode the second portion 820 of the RFI 810-e to determine a set of frequency resources 835 from the frequency resource table 830. For example, the frequency resource table 830 (e.g., a lookup table in memory or some other format for storing multiple sets of frequency resource allocations) may include a first set of frequency resources 835-a, a second set of frequency resources 835-b, a third set of frequency resources 835-c, and a fourth set of frequency resources 835-d.” Based on the time slot information indicated by the DCI, the UE may use a preconfigured lookup table to identify an associated full or half duplex frequency resources for uplink and/or downlink data.)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method and UE of Song with the teachings of Abdelghaffar in order to provide for flexible uplink/downlink resource allocation.
RE claims 2 and 13, Song in view of Abdelghaffar discloses the method of claim 1 and UE of claim 12 as set forth above. Note that Song further discloses in case that the first information schedules the downlink transmission, the downlink frequency domain resource indicated by the second information in the plurality of second frequency domain resources is used for the downlink transmission (Paragraphs 22-24 discloses a terminal/UE receiving DCI comprised of FDRA information and “the communication device may determine the frequency domain resources of the foregoing N frequency domain resource groups according to the FDRA information.” In this case FDRA indicates resources used for PDSCH by the communication device. Paragraphs 20 and 23 indicate the device may be a network device or a terminal. If the device is the terminal, this is an indication of downlink resources . Paragraph 56 further discloses: ” When the FDRA of PDSCH is type 0, the case where the RBGs correspond to two frequency domain resource groups sequentially in turn is taken as an example. Assuming that there are a total of 12 RBGs (RBG0, 1, 2, . . . , 11) in one BWP, and the FDRA field of DCI totally has 12 bits, namely 0011 0110 0111, that is, the scheduled PDSCH uses RBG2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11.”).
RE claims 6 and 17, Song in view of Abdelghaffar discloses the method of claim 1 and UE of claim 12 as set forth above. Note that Abdelghaffar further teaches in case that the second information is received, performing the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission on the plurality of second frequency domain resources scheduled by the first information (Paragraphs 222-230 teach DCI indicating a resource allocation scheme “A UE 115 may identify a configuration for interpreting RFIs 810. The UE 115 may receive a control message including one or more RFIs 810 and may determine slot information based on the configuration. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the UE 115 may receive a DCI 805, where the DCI 805 includes a set of RFIs 810. The UE 115 may identify one or more indexes associated with the UE 115, where the one or more indexes indicate a position of an RFI 810 associated with the UE 115”, RFI 810-e may be associated with one or more time periods (e.g., slots 825) of communication resources allocated for the UE 115. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, RFI 810-e may be associated with a first slot 825-a, a second slot 825-b, and a third slot 825-c. The UE 115 may decode the RFI 810-e based on identifying the one or more indexes”, “In some cases, the UE 115 may identify one or more time periods (e.g., one or more slots 825) that include symbols corresponding to a full-duplex format based on the first portion 815 of the RFI 810-e. If the UE 115 identifies one or more slots 825 that include symbols corresponding to a full-duplex format, the UE 115 may decode a subsequent portion of the RFI 810-e to identify a set of frequency resources 835 of the frequency resource allocation. The UE 115 may store a frequency resource table 830 associated with a component carrier 840 in memory. This frequency resource table 830 may be pre-configured at the UE 115 or configured by a base station 105 (e.g., using RRC signaling). In some cases, the UE 115 may identify an indication of a set of frequency resources 835 based on a slot 825 including one or more symbols associated with a full-duplex format or the second portion 820 of the RFI 810-e including the indication of the set of frequency resources 83”, “For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the UE 115 may identify that the first slot 825-a includes symbols having a full-duplex format and may decode the second portion 820 of the RFI 810-e to determine a set of frequency resources 835 from the frequency resource table 830. For example, the frequency resource table 830 (e.g., a lookup table in memory or some other format for storing multiple sets of frequency resource allocations) may include a first set of frequency resources 835-a, a second set of frequency resources 835-b, a third set of frequency resources 835-c, and a fourth set of frequency resources 835-d.” Based on the time slot information indicated by the DCI, the UE may use a preconfigured lookup table to identify an associated full or half duplex frequency resources for uplink and/or downlink data.)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method and UE of Song with the teachings of Abdelghaffar in order to provide for flexible uplink/downlink resource allocation.
RE claims 8 and 19, Song in view of Abdelghaffar discloses the method of claim 1 and UE of claim 12 as set forth above. Note that Song further discloses the first frequency domain resource comprises a resource block group (RBG), and the plurality of second frequency domain resources comprises physical resource blocks (PRBs) or resource blocks (RBs) (Paragraphs 22-24 discloses a terminal/UE receiving DCI comprised of FDRA information and “the communication device may determine the frequency domain resources of the foregoing N frequency domain resource groups according to the FDRA information.” Paragraph 56 further discloses: ” When the FDRA of PDSCH is type 0, the case where the RBGs correspond to two frequency domain resource groups sequentially in turn is taken as an example. Assuming that there are a total of 12 RBGs (RBG0, 1, 2, . . . , 11) in one BWP, and the FDRA field of DCI totally has 12 bits, namely 0011 0110 0111, that is, the scheduled PDSCH uses RBG2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11.” The RBGs are comprised of resource blocks.)
RE claims 9 and 20, Song discloses a method and base station in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising: a transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the transceiver (Fig 4 and Paragraphs 20 and 23) and configured to: transmit first information for scheduling a first frequency domain resource comprising a plurality of second frequency domain resources, and perform a downlink transmission or an uplink transmission on at least one second frequency domain resource in the plurality of second frequency domain resources (Paragraphs 22-24 discloses a terminal/UE receiving DCI comprised of FDRA information and “the communication device may determine the frequency domain resources of the foregoing N frequency domain resource groups according to the FDRA information.” Paragraph 56 further discloses: ” When the FDRA of PDSCH is type 0, the case where the RBGs correspond to two frequency domain resource groups sequentially in turn is taken as an example. Assuming that there are a total of 12 RBGs (RBG0, 1, 2, . . . , 11) in one BWP, and the FDRA field of DCI totally has 12 bits, namely 0011 0110 0111, that is, the scheduled PDSCH uses RBG2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11.” The RBGs are comprised of resource blocks.).
Song does not explicitly disclose wherein, in case that second information is transmitted, the at least one second frequency domain resource is determined based on the first information and the second information, and wherein the second information comprises indication information indicating, for each of the plurality of each of the second frequency domain resources, whether the second frequency domain resource is a downlink frequency domain resource or an uplink frequency domain resource.
However, Abdelghaffar teaches wherein, in case that second information is transmitted, the at least one second frequency domain resource is determined based on the first information and the second information, and wherein the second information comprises indication information indicating, for each of the plurality of each of the second frequency domain resources, whether the second frequency domain resource is a downlink frequency domain resource or an uplink frequency domain resource. (Paragraphs 222-230 teach DCI indicating a resource allocation scheme “A UE 115 may identify a configuration for interpreting RFIs 810. The UE 115 may receive a control message including one or more RFIs 810 and may determine slot information based on the configuration. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the UE 115 may receive a DCI 805, where the DCI 805 includes a set of RFIs 810. The UE 115 may identify one or more indexes associated with the UE 115, where the one or more indexes indicate a position of an RFI 810 associated with the UE 115”, RFI 810-e may be associated with one or more time periods (e.g., slots 825) of communication resources allocated for the UE 115. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, RFI 810-e may be associated with a first slot 825-a, a second slot 825-b, and a third slot 825-c. The UE 115 may decode the RFI 810-e based on identifying the one or more indexes”, “In some cases, the UE 115 may identify one or more time periods (e.g., one or more slots 825) that include symbols corresponding to a full-duplex format based on the first portion 815 of the RFI 810-e. If the UE 115 identifies one or more slots 825 that include symbols corresponding to a full-duplex format, the UE 115 may decode a subsequent portion of the RFI 810-e to identify a set of frequency resources 835 of the frequency resource allocation. The UE 115 may store a frequency resource table 830 associated with a component carrier 840 in memory. This frequency resource table 830 may be pre-configured at the UE 115 or configured by a base station 105 (e.g., using RRC signaling). In some cases, the UE 115 may identify an indication of a set of frequency resources 835 based on a slot 825 including one or more symbols associated with a full-duplex format or the second portion 820 of the RFI 810-e including the indication of the set of frequency resources 83”, “For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the UE 115 may identify that the first slot 825-a includes symbols having a full-duplex format and may decode the second portion 820 of the RFI 810-e to determine a set of frequency resources 835 from the frequency resource table 830. For example, the frequency resource table 830 (e.g., a lookup table in memory or some other format for storing multiple sets of frequency resource allocations) may include a first set of frequency resources 835-a, a second set of frequency resources 835-b, a third set of frequency resources 835-c, and a fourth set of frequency resources 835-d.” Based on the time slot information indicated by the DCI, the UE may use a preconfigured lookup table to identify an associated full or half duplex frequency resources for uplink and/or downlink data.)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method and UE of Song with the teachings of Abdelghaffar in order to provide for flexible uplink/downlink resource allocation.
RE claim 11, Song in view of Abdelghaffar discloses the method of claim 9 as set forth above. Note that Song further discloses the first frequency domain resource comprises a resource block group (RBG), and the plurality of second frequency domain resources comprises physical resource blocks (PRBs) or resource blocks (RBs) (Paragraphs 22-24 discloses a terminal/UE receiving DCI comprised of FDRA information and “the communication device may determine the frequency domain resources of the foregoing N frequency domain resource groups according to the FDRA information.” Paragraph 56 further discloses: ” When the FDRA of PDSCH is type 0, the case where the RBGs correspond to two frequency domain resource groups sequentially in turn is taken as an example. Assuming that there are a total of 12 RBGs (RBG0, 1, 2, . . . , 11) in one BWP, and the FDRA field of DCI totally has 12 bits, namely 0011 0110 0111, that is, the scheduled PDSCH uses RBG2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11.” The RBGs are comprised of resource blocks.)
Claims 3-4 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song in view of Abdelghaffar and further in view of Shao et al. (US 2019/0246384, Shao hereafter.)
RE claims 3 and 14, Song in view of Abdelghaffar discloses the method of claim 1 and UE of claim 12 as set forth above. Song in view of Abdelghaffar does not explicitly disclose wherein: in case that the first information schedules the downlink transmission and a ratio of the downlink frequency domain resource indicated by the second information in the plurality of second frequency domain resources is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the downlink frequency domain resource indicated by the second information in the plurality of second frequency domain resources is used for the downlink transmission; or in case that the first information schedules the uplink transmission and a ratio of the uplink frequency domain resource indicated by the second information in the plurality of second frequency domain resources is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the uplink frequency domain resource indicated by the second information in the plurality of second frequency domain resources is used for the uplink transmission.
However, Shao teaches wherein: in case that the first information schedules the uplink transmission and a ratio of the uplink frequency domain resource indicated by the second information in the plurality of second frequency domain resources is greater than or equal to a second threshold, the uplink frequency domain resource indicated by the second information in the plurality of second frequency domain resources is used for the uplink transmission (Paragraph 97-99 teaches “a user terminal receives first control information, where the first control information is used to indicate a time-frequency resource occupied by an uplink channel in at least one transmission time period; the user terminal determines a time-frequency resource that needs to be occupied by uplink control information on the uplink channel, and/or determines a time-frequency resource that needs to be occupied by uplink data to be transmitted in the at least one transmission time period; the user terminal determines ratio information” and “ When the ratio is the ratio of the time-frequency resource that needs to be occupied by the uplink data to be transmitted in the at least one transmission time period to the time-frequency resource occupied by the uplink channel, if the ratio information is less than the second preset threshold, it may be determined that no uplink data is to be transmitted on the uplink channel; or if the ratio information is greater than or equal to the second preset threshold, it may be determined that the uplink data is to be transmitted on the uplink channel. The second preset threshold may be notified by a network device by using signaling or predefined.”)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method and UE of Song in view of Abdelghaffar with the teachings of Shao since such a modification would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement.
Where a claimed improvement on a device or apparatus is no more than "the simple substitution of one known element for another or the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith, 83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
RE claims 4 and 15, Song in view of Abdelghaffar and further in view of Shao discloses the method of claim 3 and UE of claim 14 as set forth above. Note that Shao further teaches in case that the first information schedules uplink transmission and the ratio of the uplink frequency domain resource indicated by the second information in the plurality of second frequency domain resources is less than the second threshold, the uplink transmission is not performed (Paragraph 99 further teaches: “When the ratio is the ratio of the time-frequency resource that needs to be occupied by the uplink data to be transmitted in the at least one transmission time period to the time-frequency resource occupied by the uplink channel, if the ratio information is less than the second preset threshold, it may be determined that no uplink data is to be transmitted on the uplink channel; or if the ratio information is greater than or equal to the second preset threshold, it may be determined that the uplink data is to be transmitted on the uplink channel. The second preset threshold may be notified by a network device by using signaling or predefined.”)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method and UE of Song in view of Abdelghaffar with the teachings of Shao since such a modification would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement.
Where a claimed improvement on a device or apparatus is no more than "the simple substitution of one known element for another or the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith, 83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
Claims 7, 11 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song in view of Abdelghaffar and further in view of Chatterjee et al. (US 2023/0139455, cited on IDS filed November 20, 2024, Chatterjee hereafter).
RE claims 7, 11 and 18, Song in view of Abdelghaffar discloses the method of claim 1, method of claim 9 and UE of claim 12 as set forth above. Song in view of Abdelghaffar does not explicitly disclose wherein the first information is identified via a dynamic scheduling, a semi-persistent scheduling, or a configured grant (CG); and the second information is obtained via dynamic signaling or semi-static signaling.
However, Chatterjee teaches wherein the first information is identified via a dynamic scheduling, a semi-persistent scheduling, or a configured grant (CG); second information is obtained via dynamic signaling or semi-static signaling. (Paragraphs 170 and 270 teach dynamic indication of RBG values via scheduling DCI, and “semi-statically configured bit-width of the NR Type 1 RA field for "regular" DCI may be defined. A common configured bit-width may be applied for both DL and UL DCI RA field. Further, a default bit-width may be defined to correspond to the larger of initial DL/UL BWP.)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method and UE of Song in view of Abdelghaffar with the teachings of Chatterjee since such a modification would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement.
Where a claimed improvement on a device or apparatus is no more than "the simple substitution of one known element for another or the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith, 83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
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.
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/James P Duffy/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
