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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for domestic priority. The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. PCT/CN2021/130224, filed on 12 November 2021 AD.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 18 March 2024 and 5 September 2025 were filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
Claim 29 utilizes “means for”. Because claim 29 invokes 112(f), claim 29 will be tied to FIG. 5 of the drawings.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 30 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 30 is directed to a signal per se. Claim 30 recites, “A computer-readable medium storing computer executable code at a UE,…”. In light of broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim, the claim fails to exclude non-statutory forms of signals transmissions “…storing computer executable code at a UE…”. Please amend the claim by narrowing the scope of the claim to fall within a statutory category.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 18, 29, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (US 20190044678 A1) or Liu.
Claim 18
A method of wireless communication at a UE, comprising:
transmitting, to a first base station on a first carrier, UE capability information,
(See Liu paragraph 0096, ...the UE 210 reports uplink carrier aggregation capabilities 1221 to the base station 220.)
the UE capability information comprising at least one of information associated with a CA switching period for a second carrier or
(See Liu paragraph 0096, The uplink carrier aggregation capabilities 1221 may specify the number of component carriers that the UE 210 is capable of transmitting uplink signals over at the same time and/or an uplink RF retuning delay of the UE 210.)
information indicating a set of bands associated with CA bands of at least the second carrier,
the first carrier and the second carrier belonging to different TAGs;
(See Liu paragraph 0152, a UE may be capable of transmitting PUSCH, SRS, RACH, and DMRS on 1 UL CC, 2 UL CCs, or even more UL CCs (unavailable as of now). One of the UL CCs is configured as PCell for the UE on which the UE transmits PUCCH, and the other UL CCs, if any, are configured as SCells on which PUCCH may or may not be supported. The UL PCell and UL SCells may be in the same band or in different bands, and they may be FDD, TDD, or FDD+TDD, and they may be in the same timing advance group (TAG) or different TAGs.)
switching from communicating on the first carrier associated with a first TA of a first TAG to communicating on the second carrier associated with a second TA of a second TAG, the first TAG and the second TAG being different,
(See Liu paragraph 0210, ...if the UE switches from UL transmission on CC1 in TAG1 to SRS transmission on CC2 in TAG2, the TA difference between TAG1 and TAG2 needs to be considered,... )
the first TA being greater than the second TA,
(See Liu paragraph 0309, The SRS is still transmitted on the last symbol of subframe n on CC2, but with a larger TA indicated, the UE performs the switching to CC2 and the SRS transmission on CC2 earlier, and hence the UE can switch back to CC1 earlier so that it does not overlap with the subframe n+1. As shown, in this example, No collision w/ subframe n+1 with larger TA for CC2.)
the second carrier being associated with the at least one of the information associated with the CA switching period for the second carrier or the information indicating the set of bands associated with the CA bands of at least the second carrier; and
(See Liu paragraph 0152, In CA, a UE may be capable of transmitting PUSCH, SRS, RACH, and DMRS on 1 UL CC, 2 UL CCs, or even more UL CCs (unavailable as of now). One of the UL CCs is configured as PCell for the UE on which the UE transmits PUCCH, and the other UL CCs, if any, are configured as SCells on which PUCCH may or may not be supported. The UL PCell and UL SCells may be in the same band or in different bands,...)
communicating with a second base station (See Liu FIG. 31 [230]) on the second carrier based on the transmitted UE capability information.
(See Liu paragraph 0129, ...the UE 210 may use the same TA adjustment value when transmitting uplink signals (e.g., SRS symbols, etc.) over the component carriers 3156, 3157, 3159 assigned to the TAG #2. In this example, the component carrier 3142 and the component carrier 3157 do not support PUCCH/PUSCH signaling.)
Claim 29
An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE, comprising:
means for transmitting, to a first base station on a first carrier, UE capability information,
(See Liu paragraph 0096, ...the UE 210 reports uplink carrier aggregation capabilities 1221 to the base station 220.)
the UE capability information comprising at least one of information associated with a CA switching period for a second carrier or
(See Liu paragraph 0096, The uplink carrier aggregation capabilities 1221 may specify the number of component carriers that the UE 210 is capable of transmitting uplink signals over at the same time and/or an uplink RF retuning delay of the UE 210.)
information indicating a set of bands associated with CA bands of at least the second carrier,
the first carrier and the second carrier belonging to different TAGs;
(See Liu paragraph 0152, a UE may be capable of transmitting PUSCH, SRS, RACH, and DMRS on 1 UL CC, 2 UL CCs, or even more UL CCs (unavailable as of now). One of the UL CCs is configured as PCell for the UE on which the UE transmits PUCCH, and the other UL CCs, if any, are configured as SCells on which PUCCH may or may not be supported. The UL PCell and UL SCells may be in the same band or in different bands, and they may be FDD, TDD, or FDD+TDD, and they may be in the same timing advance group (TAG) or different TAGs.)
means for switching from communicating on the first carrier associated with a first TA of a first TAG to communicating on the second carrier associated with a second TA of a second TAG, the first TAG and the second TAG being different,
(See Liu paragraph 0210, ...if the UE switches from UL transmission on CC1 in TAG1 to SRS transmission on CC2 in TAG2, the TA difference between TAG1 and TAG2 needs to be considered,... )
the first TA being greater than the second TA,
(See Liu paragraph 0309, The SRS is still transmitted on the last symbol of subframe n on CC2, but with a larger TA indicated, the UE performs the switching to CC2 and the SRS transmission on CC2 earlier, and hence the UE can switch back to CC1 earlier so that it does not overlap with the subframe n+1. As shown, in this example, No collision w/ subframe n+1 with larger TA for CC2.)
the second carrier being associated with the at least one of the information associated with the CA switching period for the second carrier or the information indicating the set of bands associated with the CA bands of at least the second carrier; and
(See Liu paragraph 0152, In CA, a UE may be capable of transmitting PUSCH, SRS, RACH, and DMRS on 1 UL CC, 2 UL CCs, or even more UL CCs (unavailable as of now). One of the UL CCs is configured as PCell for the UE on which the UE transmits PUCCH, and the other UL CCs, if any, are configured as SCells on which PUCCH may or may not be supported. The UL PCell and UL SCells may be in the same band or in different bands,...)
means for communicating with a second base station (See Liu FIG. 31 [230]) on the second carrier based on the transmitted UE capability information.
(See Liu paragraph 0129, ...the UE 210 may use the same TA adjustment value when transmitting uplink signals (e.g., SRS symbols, etc.) over the component carriers 3156, 3157, 3159 assigned to the TAG #2. In this example, the component carrier 3142 and the component carrier 3157 do not support PUCCH/PUSCH signaling.)
Claim 30
A computer-readable medium storing computer executable code at a UE, the code when executed by a processor causes the processor to:
(See Liu claim 13, A user equipment (UE) comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:)
transmit, to a first base station on a first carrier, UE capability information,
(See Liu paragraph 0096, ...the UE 210 reports uplink carrier aggregation capabilities 1221 to the base station 220.)
the UE capability information comprising at least one of information associated with a CA switching period for a second carrier or
(See Liu paragraph 0096, The uplink carrier aggregation capabilities 1221 may specify the number of component carriers that the UE 210 is capable of transmitting uplink signals over at the same time and/or an uplink RF retuning delay of the UE 210.)
information indicating a set of bands associated with CA bands of at least the second carrier,
the first carrier and the second carrier belonging to different TAGs;
(See Liu paragraph 0152, a UE may be capable of transmitting PUSCH, SRS, RACH, and DMRS on 1 UL CC, 2 UL CCs, or even more UL CCs (unavailable as of now). One of the UL CCs is configured as PCell for the UE on which the UE transmits PUCCH, and the other UL CCs, if any, are configured as SCells on which PUCCH may or may not be supported. The UL PCell and UL SCells may be in the same band or in different bands, and they may be FDD, TDD, or FDD+TDD, and they may be in the same timing advance group (TAG) or different TAGs.)
switch from communicating on the first carrier associated with a first TA of a first TAG to communicating on the second carrier associated with a second TA of a second TAG, the first TAG and the second TAG being different,
(See Liu paragraph 0210, ...if the UE switches from UL transmission on CC1 in TAG1 to SRS transmission on CC2 in TAG2, the TA difference between TAG1 and TAG2 needs to be considered,... )
the first TA being greater than the second TA,
(See Liu paragraph 0309, The SRS is still transmitted on the last symbol of subframe n on CC2, but with a larger TA indicated, the UE performs the switching to CC2 and the SRS transmission on CC2 earlier, and hence the UE can switch back to CC1 earlier so that it does not overlap with the subframe n+1. As shown, in this example, No collision w/ subframe n+1 with larger TA for CC2.)
the second carrier being associated with the at least one of the information associated with the CA switching period for the second carrier or the information indicating the set of bands associated with the CA bands of at least the second carrier; and
(See Liu paragraph 0152, In CA, a UE may be capable of transmitting PUSCH, SRS, RACH, and DMRS on 1 UL CC, 2 UL CCs, or even more UL CCs (unavailable as of now). One of the UL CCs is configured as PCell for the UE on which the UE transmits PUCCH, and the other UL CCs, if any, are configured as SCells on which PUCCH may or may not be supported. The UL PCell and UL SCells may be in the same band or in different bands,...)
communicate with a second base station (See Liu FIG. 31 [230]) on the second carrier based on the transmitted UE capability information.
(See Liu paragraph 0129, ...the UE 210 may use the same TA adjustment value when transmitting uplink signals (e.g., SRS symbols, etc.) over the component carriers 3156, 3157, 3159 assigned to the TAG #2. In this example, the component carrier 3142 and the component carrier 3157 do not support PUCCH/PUSCH signaling.)
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 1-3, 7-15, 17, 19, 20, and 24-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20190044678 A1) or Liu in view of Yang et al. (US 20200259618 A1) or Yang.
Claim 1
Liu teaches,
…transmit, to a first base station on a first carrier, UE capability information,
(See Liu paragraph 0096, ...the UE 210 reports uplink carrier aggregation capabilities 1221 to the base station 220.)
the UE capability information comprising at least one of information associated with a carrier aggregation (CA) switching period for a second carrier or…
(See Liu paragraph 0096, The uplink carrier aggregation capabilities 1221 may specify the number of component carriers that the UE 210 is capable of transmitting uplink signals over at the same time and/or an uplink RF retuning delay of the UE 210.)
…the first carrier and the second carrier belonging to different timing advance groups (TAGs);
(See Liu paragraph 0152, a UE may be capable of transmitting PUSCH, SRS, RACH, and DMRS on 1 UL CC, 2 UL CCs, or even more UL CCs (unavailable as of now). One of the UL CCs is configured as PCell for the UE on which the UE transmits PUCCH, and the other UL CCs, if any, are configured as SCells on which PUCCH may or may not be supported. The UL PCell and UL SCells may be in the same band or in different bands, and they may be FDD, TDD, or FDD+TDD, and they may be in the same timing advance group (TAG) or different TAGs.)
switch from communicating on the first carrier associated with a first timing advance (TA) of a first TAG to communicating on the second carrier associated with a second TA of a second TAG,
the first TAG and the second TAG being different,
(See Liu paragraph 0210, ...if the UE switches from UL transmission on CC1 in TAG1 to SRS transmission on CC2 in TAG2, the TA difference between TAG1 and TAG2 needs to be considered,... )
the first TA being greater than the second TA,
(See Liu paragraph 0309, The SRS is still transmitted on the last symbol of subframe n on CC2, but with a larger TA indicated, the UE performs the switching to CC2 and the SRS transmission on CC2 earlier, and hence the UE can switch back to CC1 earlier so that it does not overlap with the subframe n+1. As shown, in this example, No collision w/ subframe n+1 with larger TA for CC2.)
the second carrier being associated with the at least one of the information associated with the CA switching period for the second carrier or the information indicating the set of bands associated with the CA bands of at least the second carrier; and
(See Liu paragraph 0152, In CA, a UE may be capable of transmitting PUSCH, SRS, RACH, and DMRS on 1 UL CC, 2 UL CCs, or even more UL CCs (unavailable as of now). One of the UL CCs is configured as PCell for the UE on which the UE transmits PUCCH, and the other UL CCs, if any, are configured as SCells on which PUCCH may or may not be supported. The UL PCell and UL SCells may be in the same band or in different bands,...)
communicate with a second base station (See Liu FIG. 31 [230]) on the second carrier based on the transmitted UE capability information.
(See Liu paragraph 0129, ...the UE 210 may use the same TA adjustment value when transmitting uplink signals (e.g., SRS symbols, etc.) over the component carriers 3156, 3157, 3159 assigned to the TAG #2. In this example, the component carrier 3142 and the component carrier 3157 do not support PUCCH/PUSCH signaling.)
However, Liu fails to explicitly teach,
An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:…
Nevertheless, Yang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:…
(See Yang paragraph 0009, The apparatus comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine the transmitting to a base station on a first carrier user equipment or UE capabilities information consisting of carrier aggregation or CA switching period for a second carrier, the first and second carrier belonging to different timing advance groups or TAGs, switching from the first carrier with timing advance 1 or TA1 to the second carrier with TA2, TAG1 not equal to TAG2 and TA1 > TA2, the second carrier associated with a switching period for the second carrier, and communicating with a second base station based on the UE capability information as disclosed by Liu with the UE possessing a processor coupled to the memory as disclosed by Yang to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to reduce the space between the processor and memory to allow for quicker transmission of signals).
Claim 2
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, in downlink from the second base station, scheduling for communicating with the second base station based on the transmitted UE capability information.
(See Liu paragraph 0100, ...the UE 210 may receive downlink signals from, and/or transmit uplink signals to, the base station 230 over one or more of the component carriers 1551-1555 in the set of aggregated component carriers 1550 according to a carrier aggregation and/or carrier selection transmission scheme.)
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 3
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UE capability information comprises an uplink transmission switching band pair information element (IE) that includes the information associated with the CA switching period for the second carrier.
(See Liu paragraph 0111, FIG. 19 is a diagram of a frame format of an uplink control message 1901 for signaling uplink and downlink RF re-tuning delays of a UE. The uplink control message 1901 includes an uplink RF retuning delay field 910 and a flag field 920. The uplink RF retuning delay field 910 may consists of two or more bits indicating a duration of a UE's uplink RF retuning delay.)
Shows a frame including information for a RF retuning delay
(See Liu paragraph 0007, An uplink RF retuning delay is associated with switching from the first component carrier to the second component carrier.)
Shows a RF retuning delay consists of the delay from switching between a first component carrier to a second component carrier
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 7
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second switching period is associated with a second TAG.
(See Liu paragraph 0210, ...if the UE switches from UL transmission on CC1 in TAG1 to SRS transmission on CC2 in TAG2, the TA difference between TAG1 and TAG2 needs to be considered, and there may need to be a guard time before or after the SRS symbol(s) on CC2, otherwise some transmission/reception may need to be dropped.)
Shows the difference between the TA of TAG1 and the TA of TAG2 needs to be consider to determine the guard period
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 8
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the uplink transmission switching band pair IE further comprises a set of band indexes.
(See Liu paragraph 0248, ...the eNB needs to configure a UE with TAGs and add the indexes of all CCs supporting PUSCH/PUCCH/SRS/RACH into corresponding TAGs.)
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 9
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the set of band indexes comprises at least three band indexes,
and at least a third band index of the set of band indexes is associated with the information associated with the CA switching period for the second carrier.
(See Liu paragraph 0152, Except for the case with only FDD CCs, all of these scenarios may be considered for SRS carrier based switching. Below table shows some examples.)
Scenario 4 shows a UE switching between band x, band y, and band z
(See Liu paragraph 0152, The UE may be configured with more SCells with only DL, and they may be in the same band or in several bands operating in FDD, TDD, or FDD+TDD.)
Scenario 4 shows the second carrier, SCell, utilizes third index band of band z
PNG
media_image1.png
420
606
media_image1.png
Greyscale
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 10
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UE capability information comprises a CA band pair information element (IE) that includes the information indicating the set of bands associated with the CA bands of at least the second carrier.
(See Liu paragraph 0152, In CA, a UE may be capable of transmitting PUSCH, SRS, RACH, and DMRS on 1 UL CC, 2 UL CCs, or even more UL CCs (unavailable as of now). One of the UL CCs is configured as PCell for the UE on which the UE transmits PUCCH, and the other UL CCs, if any, are configured as SCells on which PUCCH may or may not be supported. The UL PCell and UL SCells may be in the same band or in different bands, and they may be FDD, TDD, or FDD+TDD, and they may be in the same timing advance group (TAG) or different TAGs. The UE may be configured with more SCells with only DL, and they may be in the same band or in several bands operating in FDD, TDD, or FDD+TDD.)
Shows the SCells, the second carrier, may use different bands from the first carrier of PCell
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 11
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the CA band pair IE further includes a maximum allowed TA offset associated with a maximum allowed difference between the first TA and the second TA.
(See Liu paragraph 0368, In some cases, the inter-band and intra-band retuning time depends on the specific CC pair and the activities of the CC pair, or the band(s) with the CC pair, then for different band pairs, the UE needs to report the maximum retuning times for the CC pair under all possible activities.)
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 12
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, through radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the first base station, information indicating the CA switching period for the second carrier,
(See Liu paragraph 0083, ...the base station 220 transmits an RRC message 321 specifying a periodic SRS switching parameter to the UE 210. The UE 210 then uses the periodic SRS switching parameter to configure a periodic SRS switching schedule, and transmits SRS symbols 361, 371, 381 over the component carrier 341 during different intervals in a sequence of periodic intervals according to the periodic SRS switching schedule. Additionally, the UE 210 transmits an SRS symbol 362 over the component carrier 342 and an SRS symbol 375 over the component carrier 345.)
Shows the first base station 220 transmits an RRC message to the UE indicating a periodic SRS switching parameter between component carriers 341, 342, and 345
the information indicating the CA switching period being based on the information indicating the set of bands associated with the CA bands of at least the second carrier.
(See Liu paragraph 0081, Each component carrier in the set of aggregated component carriers 240 has a different carrier frequencies (or center frequencies) (e.g., f.sub.1, f.sub.2, . . . f.sub.9.). Although the labels (f.sub.1, f.sub.2, . . . f.sub.5, f.sub.6, f.sub.7, . . . f.sub.9) indicate that each of the component carriers 241-249 has a different sub-carrier frequency band, it should be appreciated that those labels do not imply that their corresponding sub-carrier frequencies are contiguous, or otherwise consecutive with one another, in the frequency domain.)
Shows each component carrier utilizes different sub-carrier frequency band including the second carrier
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 13
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first base station (See Liu FIG. 31 [220]) and the second base station (See Liu FIG. 31 [230]) are different.
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 14
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first base station and the second base station are a same base station.
(See Liu paragraph 0081, FIG. 2 is a diagram of a network 200 for supporting carrier aggregation/switching transmissions. As shown, a UE is assigned a set of aggregated component carriers 240 that includes component carriers 241-249 associated with a base station 220. Each component carrier in the set of aggregated component carriers 240 has a different carrier frequencies (or center frequencies) (e.g., f.sub.1, f.sub.2, . . . f.sub.9.). Although the labels (f.sub.1, f.sub.2, . . . f.sub.5, f.sub.6, f.sub.7, . . . f.sub.9) indicate that each of the component carriers 241-249 has a different sub-carrier frequency band, it should be appreciated that those labels do not imply that their corresponding sub-carrier frequencies are contiguous, or otherwise consecutive with one another, in the frequency domain. The different carriers may be in the same band, i.e., intra-band CA, or in different bands, i.e., inter-band CA.)
Shows the UE conducting SRS switching with base station 220 as the first and second base station
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 15
Liu fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 15. Nevertheless, Yang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the CA bands are non-collocated CA bands.
(See Yang paragraph 0122, “non-collocated BS” or “BSs are non-collocated” may mean the BS including the PCell of inter-band NR CA and the BS including the SCell of inter-band NR CA are not collocated. It may also means that the PCell and the SCell are not collocated.)
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 17
Liu fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 17. Nevertheless, Yang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor.
(See Yang paragraph 0261, The transceiver 106 may be coupled with the processor 102 and may transmit and/or receive wireless signals via one or more antennas 108.)
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 19
Liu teaches,
The method of claim 18, wherein the communicating with the second base station on the second carrier based on the transmitted UE capability information comprises receiving, in downlink from the second base station, scheduling for communicating with the second base station based on the transmitted UE capability information.
(See Liu paragraph 0100, ...the UE 210 may receive downlink signals from, and/or transmit uplink signals to, the base station 230 over one or more of the component carriers 1551-1555 in the set of aggregated component carriers 1550 according to a carrier aggregation and/or carrier selection transmission scheme.)
The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 20
Liu teaches limitations of claim 20 as stated in claim 3. The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 24
Liu teaches limitations of claim 24 as stated in claim 7. The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 25
Liu teaches limitations of claim 25 as stated in claim 8. The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 26
Liu teaches limitations of claim 26 as stated in claim 9. The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 27
Liu teaches limitations of claim 27 as stated in claim 10. The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 28
Liu teaches limitations of claim 28 as stated in claim 11. The motivation to combine Liu and Yang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claims 4, 5, 21, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20190044678 A1) or Liu in view of Yang et al. (US 20200259618 A1) or Yang in further view of Wang et al. (WO 2022161051 A1) or Wang.
Claim 4
Liu fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 4. Nevertheless, Wang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the information associated with the CA switching period for the second carrier comprises an offset, the offset being a difference between a first switching period associated with the first TAG and a second switching period.
(See Wang Abstract, the terminal device determines a first switching time parameter according to the first TA and the second TA,)
Shows the terminal determining a first switching time with the first TA and second TA
(See Wang page 7 paragraph 5, ...the second switching time parameter is the Before determining the first switching time parameter, the network device determines and delivers to the terminal device the position or switching time used to indicate the switching time for the terminal device to switch from the first carrier to the second carrier.)
Shows the second switching time parameter
(See Wang page 16 paragraph 7, The multi-carrier uplink transmission scenario to which the carrier switching method provided in this embodiment of the present application is applied may be non-co-sited, for example, may be a non-co-sited multi TAG scenario, which may include CA, DC, or SUL as described above.)
Shows the first TA and second TA may consists from a mult-TAG scenario
Show the first and second switching periods consist of a TA1 from TAG1 and a TA2 from TAG2
(See Wang last paragraph continued from page 32 to page 33, If switching from carrier 2 to carrier 1, the switching time is in carrier 2, and the switching time T1 on the right side of carrier 2 will occupy the transmission time of the tail data of carrier 2, as shown in the part of the data circled in Figure 15c, the length of time occupied is TA1-TA2.)
Show the offset for the second carrier may be calculated by TA1-TA2
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine the transmitting to a base station on a first carrier user equipment or UE capabilities information consisting of carrier aggregation or CA switching period for a second carrier, the first and second carrier belonging to different timing advance groups or TAGs, switching from the first carrier with timing advance 1 or TA1 to the second carrier with TA2, TAG1 not equal to TAG2 and TA1 > TA2, the second carrier associated with a switching period for the second carrier, and communicating with a second base station based on the UE capability information as disclosed by Liu with the offset for the switching period for the second carrier being a difference between a first switching period associated with a first TAG and a second switching period as disclosed by Wang to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to reduce the probability of a collision between transmission on the first and second carrier).
Claim 21
Liu fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 21. However, Wang and Lee, in the same field of endeavor, teach limitations of claim 21 as stated in claim 4. The motivation to combine Liu, Yang, and Wang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 4.
Claim 5
Liu fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 5. However, Wang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches
The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second switching period is greater than the first switching period.
(See Wang page 16 paragraph 3, As shown in Figure 7b, if TA1 < TA2, there may be a conflict between data transmission and carrier switching at the end of carrier 1.)
Shows TA1 < TA2
The motivation to combine Liu, Yang, and Wang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 4.
Claim 22
Liu fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 22. However, Wang, in the same field of endeavor, teach limitations of claim 22 as stated in claim 5. The motivation to combine Liu, Yang, and Wang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 4.
Claims 6 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20190044678 A1) or Liu in view of Yang et al. (US 20200259618 A1) or Yang in further view of Zhang et al. (US 20200374826 A1) or Zhang.
Claim 6
Liu fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 22. However, Zhang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the offset is a maximum offset between two different TAs.
(See Zhang paragraph 0137, when the TAG includes a plurality of carriers, the processing unit 602 is configured to adjust uplink transmission timings of the plurality of carriers in the TAG based on the TA reference value and a maximum TA offset, where the maximum TA offset is a maximum value of TA offsets of the plurality of carriers. For example, a TA offset corresponding to a carrier A is 0.1 μs, and a TA offset corresponding to a carrier B is 0.2 μs. In this case, it is finally determined that the TA offset corresponding to the carrier A is 0.2 μs, and the TA offset corresponding to the carrier B is 0.2 μs.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine the transmitting to a base station on a first carrier user equipment or UE capabilities information consisting of carrier aggregation or CA switching period for a second carrier, the first and second carrier belonging to different timing advance groups or TAGs, switching from the first carrier with timing advance 1 or TA1 to the second carrier with TA2, TAG1 not equal to TAG2 and TA1 > TA2, the second carrier associated with a switching period for the second carrier, and communicating with a second base station based on the UE capability information as disclosed by Liu with the offset being a maximum between two different TAs as disclosed by Zhang to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to increase the amount of uncorrupted data transmitted).
Claim 23
Liu fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 23. However, Zhang, in the same field of endeavor, teach limitations of claim 23 as stated in claim 6. The motivation to combine Liu, Yang, and Zhang in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 6.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20190044678 A1) or Liu in view of Yang et al. (US 20200259618 A1) or Yang in further view of Rico Alvarino et al. (US 20180098358 A1) or Rico Alvarino.
Claim 16
Liu teaches,
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the CA switching period…
(See Liu paragraph 0166, ... if the UE supports 2 UL CCs, it needs to determine the switching-from CC when a switching-to CC is specified. The network may configure in such a case, the switching-from CC should always be the SCell and the PCell never needs to switch its UL transmission. This is a simple solution, and it may minimize interruptions on the PCell which generally handles some more important transmissions (e.g., PUCCH). However, in some situations, it may be desired to switch the PCell as well. One example is there may be a large number of CCs to switch to, and to solely rely on the SCell UL switching to all other CCs may be inefficient.)
Shows the switching between PCell and the SCell
(See Liu paragraph 0166, Another example is, as current RAN 4 standards do not support intra-band non-contiguous UL CA, both the PCell UL and SCell UL may switch at the same time to avoid intra-band non-contiguous UL transmissions, which may be preferred over PCell UL muting and SCell UL switching. If the UE supports 3 UL CCs with 2 UL SCells (not yet supported in RAN 4, though), it needs to determine the switching-from CC when a switching-to CC is specified.)
Shows a switching period between the Pcell and Scell by switching at the same time
However, Liu fails to explicitly teach,
…is a non-collocated CA switching period.
Nevertheless, Rico Alvarino, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
…is a non-collocated CA switching period.
(See Rico Alvarino paragraph 0146, ...in cases where the PCC for pCell and SCC for sCell belong to different timing advance groups (TAGs) and therefore have different TA values (e.g., due to the pCell associated with PCC being non-collocated with the sCell associated with SCC).)
Shows the pCell fails to be collocated with the sCell
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine the transmitting to a base station on a first carrier user equipment or UE capabilities information consisting of carrier aggregation or CA switching period for a second carrier, the first and second carrier belonging to different timing advance groups or TAGs, switching from the first carrier with timing advance 1 or TA1 to the second carrier with TA2, TAG1 not equal to TAG2 and TA1 > TA2, the second carrier associated with a switching period for the second carrier, and communicating with a second base station based on the UE capability information as disclosed by Liu with a non-collocated CA switching period as disclosed by Rico Alvarino to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to increase the accuracy of calculating switching periods between carriers of different TAGs).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang et al. (US 20210266223 A1) or Zhang and Chen teach switching between frequency bands configured by a base station indicated by band indexes.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL ROBERGE BETTENDORF whose telephone number is (571)272-4352. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri, 8:30a.m.-5:00p.m..
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, Edan Orgad can be reached at 571-272-7884. 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.
/SAMUEL ROBERGE BETTENDORF/Examiner, Art Unit 2414
/SITHU KO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414