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 .
Claim Interpretation
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.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that use the word “means” or “step” but are nonetheless not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph because the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure, materials, or acts to entirely perform the recited function. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: receiving and refraining in claim 30, see paragraph 0042, in the specifications. the UE 120 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any
combination of the antenna(s) 252, the modem(s) 254, the MIMO detector 256, the receive processor 258, the transmit processor 264, and/or the TX MIMO processor 266 and paragraph 0050,. Some techniques and apparatuses described herein enable a UE(e.g., UE 120) to refrain from transmitting a control element in an uplink period associated with an SPS configuration when a buffer of data intended for a base station (e.g., base station 110) is empty. A buffer is "empty. Where examiner interprets refraining from transmitting via transceiver , see paragraph 0042.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are not being interpreted to cover only the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant intends to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to remove the structure, materials, or acts that performs the claimed function; or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) does/do not recite sufficient structure, materials, or acts to perform the claimed function.
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.
Claim(s) 1-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Rastegardoost et al. (US20210144743) (hereinafter Rastegardoost) .
Per claim 1, Rastegardoost discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory (paragraph 0202, Fig 15a, ref. 1524, memory) ; and one or more processors (paragraph 0202, Fig 15a, ref. 1518, processor), coupled to the memory, configured to: receive, from a base station, a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration associated with the UE (paragraph 0322 and 0323, i.e. In at least some communications (e.g., a system compatible with LTE/LTE_A, NR, and/or other systems), a base station may transmit/send DCI to a wireless device to trigger a SPS assignment for some types (e.g., voice over internet protocol (VoIP), vehicle-to-everything (V2X)) of data transmission. It may be beneficial to assign resource blocks and/or indicate transmission format (e.g., MCS, MIMO type) once for transmission of the SPS data on multiple subframes to reduce frequent DCI transmission and FIG. 17 shows an example configuration where a base station may trigger an SPS or type 2 grant-free (GF) activation by transmitting DCI at subframe n. The DCI may be CRC scrambled by a first RNTI, (e.g., SPS C-RNTI or CS-RNTI) different from a second RNTI for normal dynamic scheduling (e.g., C-RNTI), to differentiate from normal dynamic scheduling); and refrain from transmitting a control element within an uplink period, associated with the SPS configuration, when a buffer of data intended for the base station is empty (paragraph 0336 and 0337, i.e. the wireless device may receive, based on activation of SPS transmission, DL data transmission periodically (e.g., according to an RRC-configured periodicity). The wireless device may receive the DL data transmission based on transmission parameters indicated in the PDCCH transmission activating the SPS transmission and RRC signaling may be used to configure the periodicity. PDCCH activation may provide transmission parameters. The wireless device may send/transmit according to the preconfigured periodicity and based on receiving the activation command, for example, if data is present in the buffer. The wireless device may not transmit/send any messages, for example, if no data is present in the buffer (e.g., similar to configured grant type 1).
Per claim 2, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the SPS configuration is associated with a period of five or fewer subframes (paragraph 0323, Fig 7 and 17, i.e. the wireless device may transmit/send SPS data via PUSCH indicated by an RRC configuration (e.g., SPS/type 2 CG) or the second DCI for indicating a SPS/type 2 CG transmission via PUSCH. The wireless device may transmit/send SPS data at subframes n+m, n+m+l, n+m+2*l, where m may be an offset value and l may be a value indicating transmission periodicity).
Per claim 3, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control element (paragraph 0089, MAC control elements) is associated with a period of 40 or fewer milliseconds (paragraph 0108, Fig 7, 1 frame is 10 milliseconds or 1 milliseconds subframe).
Per claim 4, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control element comprises a power headroom report (PHR) (paragraph 0089, power headroom report).
Per claim 5, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control element comprises a buffer status report (BSR)(paragraph 0089, i.e. buffer status report).
Per claim 6, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein, to refrain from transmitting the control element, the one or more processors are configured to increase a period associated with the control element (paragraph 0377, i.e. the wireless device may skip/release/ignore the multiple continuous PUSCH transmissions scheduled by the multi-TTI DCI, for example, if the number/quantity of available continuous PUSCHs is not sufficiently high [e.g., greater than a threshold]. The wireless device may transmit/send the same-TB with one or more repetitions based on [e.g., according to] the number/quantity of available continuous PUSCH transmisisons/resources).
Per claim 7, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the period associated with the control element is increased no higher than a maximum duration (paragraph 0377, examiner interprets a maximum duration as greater than a threshold).
Per claim 8, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control element is randomly selected from a plurality of control elements within a period of time (paragraph 0418, i.e. A wireless device may use one or more information fields in a DCI for validation of a DCI format [e.g., for CG activation and/or release]. The wireless device may determine/select (e.g., autonomously select) one or more first transmission parameters for a CG-based transmission. One or more second transmission parameters may be predefined [e.g., HARQ ID, RV, MCS, NDI, CAPC, CBGTI, etc.]).
Per claim 9, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: transmit the control element within a subsequent uplink period, associated with the SPS configuration, based on expiry of a maximum duration (paragraph 0346,i.e. An SPS configuration may comprise one or more parameters (e.g., totalNumberPUSCH-SPS-STTI-UL-Repetitions and/or totalNumberPUSCH-SPS-UL-Repetitions) indicating a total quantity of UL transmissions for slot and/or subslot/mini-slot UL SPS repetitions. A wireless device may be configured with UL SPS and the configured quantity of SPS PUSCH transmissions may be greater than 1, examiner interprets than the total quantity UL transmission and UL SPS repetitions as a maximum duration).
Per claim 10, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the UE is connected to a long term evolution (LTE) network, and the maximum duration is 200 millisecond (paragraph 0160 and 0229, where examiner interprets that RSRQ and RSRP reporting are normally set at 200.miilisecond in paragraph 00229, i.e. where in LTE, The wireless device may report CO and/or RSSI measurements to the base station. It may be beneficial to report a metric indicating CO and/or medium contention. CO may be defined as a portion (e.g., percentage) of time in which RSSI was measured to be above a configured threshold).
Per claim 11, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the UE is connected to a New Radio (NR) network, and the maximum duration is 500 milliseconds (paragraph 0109, Fig 7, i.e. NR at 30 khz at .5 ms).
Per claim 12, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors (paragraph 0202, Fig 15a, ref. 1518, processor) are further configured to: transmit the control element within a subsequent uplink period, associated with the SPS configuration, with data included in the buffer (paragraph 0337, i.e. The wireless device may start to use the configured grant for transmission at a time instant indicated by the periodicity and time offset, for example, based on receiving the RRC configuration. The time offset may be relative to a particular SFN (e.g., SFN=0). Configured grant type 2 may be similar to DL SPS. RRC signaling may be used to configure the periodicity. PDCCH activation may provide transmission parameters. The wireless device may send/transmit according to the preconfigured periodicity and based on receiving the activation command, for example, if data is present in the buffer).
Per claim 13, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors(paragraph 0202, Fig 15a, ref. 1518, processor) are further configured to: receive, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including an SPS cell radio network temporary identifier (SPS-CRNTI) for the UE; and transmit the control element within a subsequent uplink period, associated with the SPS configuration, based on receiving the DCI (paragraph 0323, Fig 17, i.e. the wireless device may transmit/send UL data via the PUSCH in a subframe. The subframe may be indicated by the first DCI, or may be a subframe after a predefined quantity of subframes following receiving the first DCI. The wireless device may determine that a PUSCH assignment indicated by a second DCI is for SPS/type 2 GF scheduling, for example, if the second DCI comprises CRC scrambled by a second RNTI, where the wireless device may transmit/send SPS data via PUSCH indicated by an RRC configuration (e.g., SPS/type 2 CG) or the second DCI for indicating a SPS/type 2 CG transmission via PUSCH).
Per claim 14, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors (paragraph 0202, Fig 15a, ref. 1518, processor) are further configured to :receive, from the base station, a transmit power control (TPC) command; and transmit the control element within a subsequent uplink period, associated with the SPS configuration, based on receiving the TPC command (paragraph 0324, i.e. the base station may set one or more fields of the DCI to indicate whether the DCI is for activation, deactivation, or retransmission of a SPS/type 2 GF data. The one or more fields of the DCI may comprise at least one of: a TPC field for PUSCH, an NDI field, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field, a HARQ process number field, a resource assignment (RA) field, and/or a redundancy version (RV) field. An NDI field of DCI may indicate whether there is new data. A HARQ process number may indicate/identify a HARQ process associated with the PUSCH transmission of a transmission block) .
Per claim 15, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors (paragraph 0202, Fig 15a, ref. 1518, processor) are further configured to: receive, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) associated with aperiodic channel feedback; and transmit the control element within a subsequent uplink period, associated with the SPS configuration, based on receiving the DCI (paragraph 0150, i.e. An SRS resource in a SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets (e.g., with the same/similar time domain behavior, periodic, aperiodic, and/or the like) may be sent/transmitted at a time instant (e.g., simultaneously), for example, if a higher layer parameter indicates beam management. The wireless device may send/transmit one or more SRS resources in SRS resource sets. A network (e.g., an NR network) may support aperiodic, periodic, and/or semi-persistent SRS transmissions. The wireless device may send/transmit SRS resources, for example, based on one or more trigger types. The one or more trigger types may comprise higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC) and/or one or more DCI formats, examiner interprets that SPS configuration can be included as aperiodic, also see paragraph 0246, i.e. . The MAC entity may not generate a MAC PDU for the HARQ entity, for example, if aperiodic CSI requested for a TTI and if the grant indicated to the HARQ entity is a configured UL grant activated by the MAC entity's AUL C-RNTI. The wireless device may use autonomous UL feedback information, for example, if the wireless device detects, on the scheduling cell for UL transmissions on an LAA SCell, a transmission of DCI).
Per claim 16, Rastegardoost discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors (paragraph 0202, Fig 15a, ref. 1518, processor) are further configured to: receive, from the base station, a dynamic grant; and transmit the control element within a subsequent uplink period, associated with the SPS configuration, based on receiving the dynamic grant (paragraph 0323, activation and deactivation UL/DL configured grants with dynamic scheduling SPS/type 2 GF transmissions via trigger an SPS or type 2 grant-free (GF) activation by transmitting DCI at subframe ).
Per claim 17, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 1.
Per claim 18, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 4.
Per claim 19, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 5.
Per claim 20, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 6.
Per claim 21, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 7.
Per claim 22, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 8.
Per claim 23, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 9.
Per claim 24, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 12.
Per claim 25, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 13.
Per claim 26, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 14.
Per claim 27, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 15.
Per claim 28, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 16.
Per claim 29, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 1, see paragraph 0201, non transitory medium.
Per claim 30, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 1( see 112 interpretation)..
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH E DEAN, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-7116. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30-3:30.
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/JOSEPH E DEAN, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647