DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The instant application No. 18694068 has claims 1-7, 9, 12-18, 20, 25 and 27-29 are pending.
2 The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Claims 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because during patent Examination, pending claims must be interpreted as broadly as their terms reasonably allow. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer readable medium (also called machine readable medium and other such variations) typically covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media. When the broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim covers a signal per se, the claim must be rejected under 35 US.C. § 101 as covering non-statutory subject matter. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1356-57 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (transitory embodiments are not directed to statutory subject matter) and Interim Examination Instructions for Evaluating Subject Matter Eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101, Aug. 24, 2009; p. 2.
Examiner suggests amending the claims to cover only statutory embodiments to avoid a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101 by adding the limitation "non-transitory" to the claims.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 7, 12-14, 18, 25 and 27-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Awadin et al. (Pub. No. US 2022/0303892 A1; hereinafter Awadin).
Regarding claim 1, Awadin disclose a method for determining a common frequency resource (CFR) for receiving a multicast and broadcast service (MBS), performed by a terminal, the method comprising: determining the CFR for receiving the MBS in a non-radio resource control (non- RRC) connected mode; (2022/0303892-See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP.)
wherein a frequency location of the CFR corresponds to at least one of: a first frequency location determined based on a common control resource set (CORESET); or a second frequency location determined based on a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) configured for the terminal. (See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP)
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Awadin disclose the terminal is a reduced capability (Redcap) terminal. (See ¶0093, several solutions to use group scheduling for RedCap UEs have been disclosed)
Regarding claims 3 and 14, Awadin disclose determining the CFR for receiving the MBS in the non-RRC connected mode comprises: determining the CFR based on whether the second frequency location is configured. (2022/0303892-See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP.)
Regarding claims 7 and 18, Awadin disclose determining the CFR for receiving the MBS in the non-RRC connected mode comprises:in response to the second frequency location being configured, determining the CFR based on an indication of predetermined signalingi wherein determining the CFR based on the indication of the predetermined signalinq comprises:in response to the predetermined signalinq carrying first information, determining the frequency location of the CFR to be the first frequency location;or,in response to the predetermined signalinq carrying second information,determining the frequency location of the CFR to be the second frequency location; (See ¶0198, To configure such an association, a gNB may provide a UE with a CFR identity, such as an ID of the CFR, that is associated with the configured BWP.) or,in response to the predetermined signalinq not carryinq predetermined information, determining the frequency location of the CFR to be the first frequency location or the second frequency location.
Regarding claims 12 and 27, Awadin discloses a communication device, comprising:a memory; and one or more processors, connected to the memory, configured to execute computer executable instructions stored on the memory (See ¶0258, The controller 2010 may include, for example, at least one microprocessor, at least one digital signal processor, at least one microcontroller, or the like. The memory 2030 may be configured to store a command code to be used by the controller 2010 and/or to store a user data) to implement the method determining the CFR for sending the MBS in a non-radio resource control (non- RRC) connected mode; (2022/0303892-See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP.) wherein a frequency location of the CFR corresponds to at least one of: a first frequency location determined based on a common control resource set (CORESET); or a second frequency location determined based on a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) configured for a terminal. (See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP)
Regarding claim 25, Awadin discloses a communication device, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, connected to the memory, configured to execute computer executable instructions stored on the memory to perform operations comprising: (See ¶0258, The controller 2010 may include, for example, at least one microprocessor, at least one digital signal processor, at least one microcontroller, or the like. The memory 2030 may be configured to store a command code to be used by the controller 2010 and/or to store a user data) determining the CFR for receiving the MBS in a non-radio resource control (non- RRC) connected mode; (2022/0303892-See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP.) wherein a frequency location of the CFR corresponds to at least one of: a first frequency location determined based on a common control resource set (CORESET); or a second frequency location determined based on a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) configured for the terminal. (See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP)
Regarding claim 28, Awadin discloses a computer storage medium, storing computer executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, (See ¶0258, The controller 2010 may include, for example, at least one microprocessor, at least one digital signal processor, at least one microcontroller, or the like. The memory 2030 may be configured to store a command code to be used by the controller 2010 and/or to store a user data) implement the method determining the CFR for receiving the MBS in a non-radio resource control (non- RRC) connected mode; (2022/0303892-See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP.) wherein a frequency location of the CFR corresponds to at least one of: a first frequency location determined based on a common control resource set (CORESET); or a second frequency location determined based on a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) configured for the terminal. (See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP).
Regarding claim 29, Awadin discloses a computer storage medium, storing computer executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, (See ¶0258, The controller 2010 may include, for example, at least one microprocessor, at least one digital signal processor, at least one microcontroller, or the like. The memory 2030 may be configured to store a command code to be used by the controller 2010 and/or to store a user data) implement the method determining the CFR for sending the MBS in a non-radio resource control (non- RRC) connected mode; (2022/0303892-See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP.) wherein a frequency location of the CFR corresponds to at least one of: a first frequency location determined based on a common control resource set (CORESET); or a second frequency location determined based on a downlink bandwidth part (BWP) configured for a terminal. (See ¶0099, For RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs, for broadcast reception, further study the following cases of a configured/defined specific common frequency resource (CFR) for group-common PDCCH/PDSCH; The CFR has the frequency resources identical to the configured BWP)
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Awadin in view of IDS provided 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 meeting #105-e; R1-2104761; hereinafter 3GPP).
Regarding claims 4 and 15, Awadin fails to disclose determining the CFR for receiving the MBS in the non-RRC connected mode comprises: in response to the second frequency location not being configured, determining the frequency location of the CFR to be the first frequency location.
3gpp disclose determining the CFR for receiving the MBS in the non-RRC connected mode comprises: in response to the second frequency location not being configured, determining the frequency location of the CFR to be the first frequency location. (Page 2-3, if initial bwp is not configured, as separate bwp is suppose to contain the frequency range of coreset, the the UE has not need to support 2 activated bwp or to perform bwp switching; cfr is equal to coreset)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify configured to receive the MBS through a CFR to include the configuration does not have a bwp but a coreset. The motivation to combine is to avoid impact to legacy power consumption by not switching bwp (page 3).
Claim(s) 5-6 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Awadin in view of Liu et al. (Pub. No. US 2022/0124675 A1; hereinafter Liu).
Regarding claims 5 and 16, Awadin fails to disclose determining the CFR for receiving the MBS in the non-RRC connected mode comprises: in response to the second frequency location being configured, determining the CFR based on a configured frequency resource monitored by the terminal in the non- RRC connected mode.
Liu discloses determining the CFR for receiving the MBS in the non-RRC connected mode comprises: in response to the second frequency location being configured, determining the CFR based on a configured frequency resource monitored by the terminal in the non- RRC connected mode. (20220124675 -See ¶0101, The UE 120 may monitor the broadcast BWP without performing BWP switching while in the RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode; See ¶0177, transmitting a broadcast downlink communication to the UE in the second CFR while the UE is in a radio resource control idle mode or a radio resource control inactive mode)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify receiving the MBS CFR to include monitoring the bwp in order to receive the MBS in idle mode. The motivation to combine is power consumption associated with the UE monitoring and receiving unicast, multicast, and broadcast downlink communications may be reduced (See ¶0102).
Regarding claims 6 and 17, Awadin fails to disclose determining the CFR based on the configured frequency resource monitored by the terminal in the non-RRC connected mode comprises: in response to the frequency resource monitored by the terminal in the non-RRC connected mode not being configured, determining the frequency location of the CFR to be the first frequency location;or, in response to the frequency resource monitored by the terminal in the non-RRC connected mode being configured, determining the frequency location of the CFR to be the second frequency location.
Liu discloses determining the CFR based on the configured frequency resource monitored by the terminal in the non-RRC connected mode comprises: in response to the frequency resource monitored by the terminal in the non-RRC connected mode not being configured, determining the frequency location of the CFR to be the first frequency location;or, in response to the frequency resource monitored by the terminal in the non-RRC connected mode being configured, determining the frequency location of the CFR to be the second frequency location. (20220124675 -See ¶0101, The UE 120 may monitor the broadcast BWP without performing BWP switching while in the RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode; See ¶0177, transmitting a broadcast downlink communication to the UE in the second CFR while the UE is in a radio resource control idle mode or a radio resource control inactive mode)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify receiving the MBS CFR to include monitoring the bwp in order to receive the MBS in idle mode. The motivation to combine is power consumption associated with the UE monitoring and receiving unicast, multicast, and broadcast downlink communications may be reduced (See ¶0102).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lee et al. (Pub. No. US 2022/0232609 A1)-See ¶0181, the MBS BWP can be referred to as “common frequency resource (CFR)”, and CFR may be configured as DL only. In this case, the HARQ-ACK (or NACK only) can be transmitted through (unicast) active UL BWP. HARQ feedback, may correspond to either A/N report or NACK only report according to configuration through higher layer. For example, when NACK only scheme is configured, HARQ feedback is transmitted only when the UE fails to receive a corresponding MBS, else if the UE correctly receive the MBS, ACK transmission is omitted. On the other hand, A/N report scheme is configured, the UE report HARQ-ACK response for both cases of ACK or NACK.
Lee et al. (Pub. No. US 2022/0231818 A1)-See ¶0185, The base station provides MBS through UL BWP and/or DL BWP. For example, MCCH control information and MTCH are provided through DL BWP. Meanwhile, through the UL BWP, MBS feedback for PDSCH for MCCH or MBS feedback for PDSCH for MTCH is provided. The UL BWP may be used for reporting HARQ ACK/NACK of MBS feedback or MBS-related SSB/CSI-RS measurement result.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEJIS DAYA whose telephone number is (571)270-7817. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30-4:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Jensen can be reached at 571-270-5443. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Tejis Daya/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472