CTNF 18/709,652 CTNF 93502 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Authorization for Internet Communication To expedite prosecution, filing a written authorization for internet communication is recommended. Doing so permits USPTO to communicate using email to schedule interviews and/or discuss other aspects of the application. Without the written authorization in place, USPTO cannot respond to email communications. The preferred method of providing authorization is by filing form PTO/SB/439, available at https://www.uspto.gov/patent/forms/forms. See MPEP 502.03. Claim Objections Claim(s) 1 is/are objected because of the following informalities (or vagueness): Regarding claim 6, said claim recites in part "multiplexing and/or prioritizing the multiplexed and/or prioritized PUCCH and/or PUSCH. It is not clearly understood how different combinations of ‘multiplexing’ and ‘prioritizing’ from the multiple "and/or" achieve the claimed invention. Appropriate clarification is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION. — The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-01 AIA Claim (s) 1-15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. Regarding claims 1 and 15, said claim recites in part “determining at least one of a time unit or an uplink channel for …”, and “performing an uplink transmission …, and the determined time units and/or uplink channels ”. The former uses singular forms for time unit or uplink channel and the latter uses plural terms. This causes antecedent basis issues. Appropriate correction is required. Regarding claims 2-14, these claims depend from claim 1, thus carry the same indefiniteness issues as discussed above, and therefore are rejected on the same grounds discussed above. 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: 07-12-aia AIA A person shall be entitled to a patent unlesss 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. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-3, 5 and 11-15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (2) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US 2021/0105766, “Wang”) . Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to Wang unless otherwise mentioned. Wang comprises the following features: With respect to independent claims: Regarding claim 1 , a method for uplink transmission performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving a downlink signal including at least one of downlink data or downlink control information (DCI) ([0036] “a UE to process the received DCI and the PDSCH, and to prepare the UCI for the multiplexing procedure.”); and determining uplink signals to be transmitted based on the downlink signal (See aforesaid [0036] “to prepare the UCI”), and determining at least one of a time unit or an uplink channel for transmitting the uplink signal ([0036] “The timeline requirements are applied to ensure the time duration from the ending time of a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) and a PDSCH to the starting time of the overlapping group of PUCCHs is long enough for a UE to process the received DCI and the PDSCH, and to prepare the UCI for the multiplexing procedure.” See below [0037] for more clarification with “sub-slot based HARQ-ACK PUCCH”), wherein the uplink signal includes at least one of uplink data or uplink control information (UCI) (See above “UCI”), and the uplink channel includes at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) (See aforesaid [0036] “PUCCHs”) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (This alternative is not examined.); and performing an uplink transmission based on the determined uplink signals, and the determined time units and/or uplink channels ([0037] “Moreover, in Rel-16 NR, it is agreed to introduce a sub-slot based HARQ-ACK PUCCH for carrying HARQ-ACK information. The sub-slot HARQ-ACK PUCCH may be used to carry the HARQ-ACK codebook for a high priority traffic.”). Regarding claim 15 , it is a terminal claim corresponding to the method claim 1, except the limitations, “a transceiver” (See Fig. 9 for 920 “Transceiver”), “a controller” (See Fig. 9 for 926 “Processor”), and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 1. With respect to dependent claims: Regarding claim 2 , the method of claim 1, wherein the performing of the uplink transmission based on the determined uplink signal, and the determined time units and/or uplink channels comprises performing multiplexing and/or prioritization of the determined uplink channels ([0035] “The multiplexing procedure performs the following steps iteratively….the multiplexing procedure then proceeds to determine from the remaining PUCCH resources in the slot a second group of PUCCHs overlapping the second PUCCH). Regarding claim 3 , the method of claim 2, wherein the performing of the multiplexing and/or prioritization of the uplink channels comprises at least one of: multiplexing and/or prioritizing PUCCHs that are not configured with repetitions in a time unit (This alternative is not examined.); multiplexing and/or prioritizing all PUCCHs in the time unit (See aforesaid [0035]); or selecting a predetermined number of PUCCHs from all PUCCHs in the time unit, and multiplexing and/or prioritizing the selected PUCCHs (This alternative is not examined.). Regarding claim 5 , the method of claim 2, wherein the performing of the multiplexing and/or prioritization of the determined uplink channels comprises, when the determined uplink channels include a fifth PUCCH and a sixth PUCCH ([0035] “determine a third PUCCH (may be the same as or different from the second PUCCH) carrying the multiplexed UCIs from the second PUCCH and the second group of overlapping PUCCHs.”) that are configured with repetitions ([Jung, 0184] “based on a sub-slot of the second sub-slot length, where the last symbol of the second PUCCH (or the last symbol of the last transmission occasion (or repetition) of the second PUCCH) is located”), wherein the sixth PUCCH includes multiple UCIs (See above [0035] for the third PUCCH carrying the multiplexed UCIs.), determining an ordering priority of each UCI of the multiple UCIs ([0044] “If a priority of the UCI is higher than a threshold, the UCI is grouped with the sub-slot based HARQ-ACK PUCCH. If a priority of the UCI is equal or lower than a threshold, the UCI is grouped with the slot based HARQ-ACK PUCCH.” Also See [Jung, 0075] and [Jung, 0083] for determining priorities of UCIs.), and determining an ordering priority of the sixth PUCCH based on at least one of the following and performing the multiplexing and/or prioritization based on the determined ordering priority: a UCI with a highest ordering priority among the multiple UCIs (See aforesaid [0044]); or a UCI with a lowest ordering priority among the multiple UCIs (See aforesaid [0044]). Regarding claim 11 , the method of claim 2, wherein the performing of the multiplexing and/or prioritization of the determined uplink channels comprises, when the determined uplink channels include a tenth PUCCH with a UCI of a second priority and more than one eleventh PUCCH with a UCI of a first priority, and the tenth PUCCH overlaps with at least one of the more than one eleventh PUCCH in time domain, in case that a predefined condition is satisfied, multiplexing the UCI of the second priority, that is different from the second priority ([0146] “A PUCCH determined from a sub-slot (can be from Q1 set or Q2 set) may overlap a sub-slot HARQ-ACK PUCCH scheduled in a later sub-slot, and the two overlapping PUCCHs may not satisfy multiplexing timeline requirements. In this case, the PUCCH determined from the previous sub-slot is dropped and the sub-slot HARQ-ACK PUCCH is transmitted if it is determined that the sub-slot HARQ-ACK PUCCH has higher priority.”), and the more than one eleventh PUCCH based on at least one of: the first eleventh PUCCH in time sequence among the more than one eleventh PUCCH ([0144] “A PUCCH determined from the Q2 set is dropped if a PUCCH determined from the Q1 set overlaps the PUCCH of the Q2 set.”); the first eleventh PUCCH in time sequence that is capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority among the more than one eleventh PUCCH; the first eleventh PUCCH in time sequence indicated by a DCI format that is capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority among the more than one eleventh PUCCH; or the first eleventh PUCCH in time sequence that is indicated by a DCI format to be capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority among the more than one eleventh PUCCH; or an eleventh PUCCH that is indicated by a DCI format to be capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority among the more than one eleventh PUCCH (These alternatives are not examined.). Regarding claim 12 , the method of claim 2, wherein the performing of the multiplexing and/or prioritization of the determined uplink channels comprises, when the determined uplink channels include a tenth PUCCH with a UCI of a second priority and more than one eleventh PUCCH with a UCI of a first priority, and the tenth PUCCH overlaps with at least one of the more than one eleventh PUCCH in time domain (See aforesaid [0035 and 0036]), wherein the first priority is different from the second priority (See aforesaid [0037]): updating a set of resources in a time unit of the first priority in case that a predefined condition is satisfied ([0044] “a grouping mechanism is based on a priority of UCI. If a priority of the UCI is higher than a threshold, the UCI is grouped with the sub-slot based HARQ-ACK PUCCH. If a priority of the UCI is equal or lower than a threshold, the UCI is grouped with the slot based HARQ-ACK PUCCH.”, and [0042] “grouping is based on a duration of a PUCCH for UCI. If the duration of the PUCCH is longer than a sub-slot time unit, the PUCCH is grouped with the slot based HARQ-ACK PUCCH. If the duration of the PUCCH is equal or shorter than a sub-slot time unit, the PUCCH is grouped with the sub-slot based HARQ-ACK PUCCH.”); and performing the multiplexing and/or prioritization based on the updated set ([0036] “the scheduling made by the gNB should guarantee that the overlapping PUCCH and PUSCH satisfies specific timeline requirements. The timeline requirements are applied to ensure the time duration from the ending time of a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) and a PDSCH to the starting time of the overlapping group of PUCCHs is long enough for a UE to process the received DCI and the PDSCH, and to prepare the UCI for the multiplexing procedure.”). Regarding claim 13 , the method of claim 12, wherein the updated set includes at least one of: a set including the first eleventh PUCCH in time sequence among the more than one eleventh PUCCH (This alternative is not examined.); a set including the first eleventh PUCCH in time sequence that is capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority among the more than one eleventh PUCCH ([0094] “to facilitate multiplexing between PUCCHs with high priority, it is beneficial to relax the timeline requirements, since the overlapping PUCCHs carrying less UCI bits or sequence-based PUCCH are used to multiplex the UCIs”); a set including the first eleventh PUCCH in time sequence indicated by a DCI format that is capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority; a set including the first eleventh PUCCH in time sequence that is indicated by a DCI format to be capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority among the more than one eleventh PUCCH; a set including an eleventh PUCCH that is indicated by a DCI format to be capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority among the more than one eleventh PUCCH (These alternatives are not examined.). Regarding claim 14 , the method of claim 12, wherein the predefined condition includes at least one of that: at least one of the more than one eleventh PUCCH is capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority (This alternative is not examined.); at least one of the more than one eleventh PUCCH is a PUCCH indicated by a DCI format ([0052] “a priority of UCI may be applied for grouping. In one example, a priority of a HARQ-ACK PUCCH is based on a priority indication of an associated HARQ-ACK codebook in DCI that schedules a corresponding PDSCH. The priority indication may be implicitly by according to DCI format”); at least one of the more than one eleventh PUCCH is indicated by a DCI format to be capable of being multiplexed with the UCI of the second priority; there is no PUCCH configured with repetitions; or a predefined timing condition (These alternatives are not examined.) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 4 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2021/0105766, “Wang”) in view of Jung et al. (US 2024/0155667, “Jung”) . Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to Wang unless otherwise mentioned. Regarding claim 4 , it is noted that while disclosing multiplexing UCI, Wang does not specifically teach about PUCCH repetitions. It, however, had been known in the art before the effective date of the instant application as shown by Jung as follows; the method of claim 2, wherein: when the determined uplink channels include a first PUCCH that is configured with repetitions and a second PUCCH that is not configured with repetitions, the terminal does not expect that the first PUCCH overlaps with the second PUCCH in time domain and the second PUCCH overlaps with another PUCCH in time domain (This alternative is not examined.); and/or when the determined uplink channels include the second PUCCH and multiple third PUCCHs, the terminal does not expect that the second PUCCH overlaps with the multiple third PUCCHs in time domain ([0035] “the multiplexing procedure then proceeds to determine from the remaining PUCCH resources in the slot a second group of PUCCHs overlapping the second PUCCH, if any, and determine a third PUCCH (may be the same as or different from the second PUCCH) carrying the multiplexed UCIs from the second PUCCH and the second group of overlapping PUCCHs. The multiplexing procedure is performed iteratively until at most two non-overlapping PUCCHs is determined.”), wherein at least one of the multiple third PUCCHs is configured with repetitions ([Jung, 0037] “when a UE transmits LP UCI in a first PUCCH and transmits HP UCI in a second PUCCH overlapping with the first PUCCH in time, if configured, the UE multiplexes the LP UCI with the HP UCI into a third PUCCH and further applies repetitions of the third PUCCH over multiple slots or multiple sub-slots.”); and/or when the determined uplink channels include the first PUCCH and multiple fourth PUCCHs, the terminal does not expect that the first PUCCH overlaps with the multiple fourth PUCCHs in time domain (This alternative is not examined.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of instant application to modify Wang by using the features of Jung in order to increase downlink throughput such that “determines a set of PUCCH resources based on UCI bits of the first and second priorities from a PUCCH configuration associated with the second PUCCH, wherein the UCI bits of the first and second priorities are selected from the first and second UCI.” [Jung, 0005] . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2021/0105766, “Wang”) in view of Jung et al. (US 2024/0155667, “Jung”) and Huang et al. (US 2024/0237011, “Huang”) . Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to Wang unless otherwise mentioned. Regarding claim 6 , it is noted that while disclosing multiplexing UCI, Wang does not specifically teach about PUCCH with and without repetitions. It, however, had been known in the art before the effective date of the instant application as shown by Huang as follows; the method of claim 2, wherein, when the determined uplink channels include a seventh PUCCH that is configured with repetitions and an eighth PUCCH and/or PUSCH that is not configured with repetitions, and the seventh PUCCH overlaps with the eighth PUCCH and/or PUSCH in time domain ([Jung, 0174] “when a UE would transmit low priority UCI in a first PUCCH and would transmit high priority UCI in a second PUCCH overlapping with the first PUCCH in time”, and [Huang, 0081] “because the two instances of the first PUCCH overlap with the first and second repetition of the second PUCCH, the UE may determine whether and/or how to multiplex the two PUCCHs into a single PUCCH based at least in part on relative priorities and/or timing requirements of the PUCCHs.”), the performing of the multiplexing and/or prioritization of the determined uplink channels comprises: multiplexing and/or prioritizing of the seventh PUCCH and the eighth PUCCH to obtain the multiplexed and/or prioritized PUCCH ([Jung, 0174] “the UE multiplexes the LP UCI with the HP UCI into a third PUCCH and further applies repetitions of the third PUCCH over multiple slots or multiple sub-slots.”); or multiplexing and/or prioritizing the multiplexed and/or prioritized PUCCH and/or PUSCH (This alternative is not examined.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of instant application to modify Wang by using the features of Jung in order to provide a common protocol such that “receiving, from a base station, downlink control information (DCI) scheduling a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and indicating a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) repetition factor” [Huang, 0007]. The rational and motivation for adding this teaching of Jung are the same as for claim 4 . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 7-9 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2021/0105766, “Wang”) in view of Jung et al. (US 2023/0123957, “Jung957”) . Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to Wang unless otherwise mentioned. Regarding claim 7 , it is noted that while disclosing multiplexing UCI, REF1 does not specifically teach about PUSCH overlapping with one of PUCCHs. It, however, had been known in the art before the effective date of the instant application as shown by Jung957 as follows; the method of claim 2, wherein the terminal does not expect that the PUSCH overlaps ([0034] “when multiple physical uplink control channels (PUCCHs) are overlapped in time has been specified in Rel-15 NR, so that a single PUCCH or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) is transmitted at a time.”) with both a PUCCH that is configured with repetitions and a PUCCH that is not configured with repetitions in time domain ([Jung957, 0024] “If a UE has overlapping resources for PUCCH transmissions in a slot and at least one of the PUCCH transmissions is with repetitions over multiple slots, the UE first follows the procedures described in Clause 9.2.6 for resolving the overlapping among the resources for the PUCCH transmissions.”, and [Jung957, 0027] “A UE does not expect a PUCCH resource that results from multiplexing overlapped PUCCH resources, if applicable, to overlap with more than one PUSCHs if each of the more than one PUSCHs includes aperiodic CSI reports.”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of instant application to modify Wang by using the features of Jung957 in order to effectively utilize resources in uplink transmissions such that “can provide uplink control information multiplexing in PUSCH repetition and enhanced uplink cancellation indication.” [Jung957, 0008]. Regarding claim 8 , the method of claim 2, wherein, when the terminal is configured to multiplex UCIs with different priorities in a PUCCH and/or a PUSCH ([0037] “It is allowable to transmit one or more HARQ-ACK PUCCHs in a slot in Rel-16 NR, one or more than one for the HARQ-ACK codebook with a high priority, and one for the HARQ-ACK codebook with a low priority.”), in case that the determined uplink channels include a ninth PUCCH and the ninth PUCCH is configured with repetitions, the terminal does not multiplex a UCI included in the ninth PUCCH and other different types of UCIs and/or uplink data in the PUCCH and/or PUSCH ([Jung957, 0026] “A UE does not expect to multiplex in a PUSCH transmission in one slot with SCS configuration μ.sub.1 UCI of same type that the UE would transmit in PUCCHs in different slots with SCS configuration μ.sub.2 if μ.sub.1<μ.sub.2.”). The rational and motivation for adding this teaching of Jung957 are the same as for claim 7. Regarding claim 9 , the method of claim 8, wherein: in case that the ninth PUCCH is of a second priority and the ninth PUCCH overlaps with a PUCCH and/or PUSCH of a first priority in time domain, the terminal does not transmit the ninth PUCCH, wherein the first priority is different from the second priority ([0072] “only the PUCCHs that conformed to multiplexing timeline requirements are included in a Q set. A PUCCH determined from the Q set may be dropped if the PUCCH overlaps the other PUCCH not in the Q set, and the other PUCCH is prioritized.”); and/or in case that the ninth PUCCH is of the second priority and the ninth PUCCH overlaps with another PUCCH of the first priority that is configured with repetitions in time domain, the terminal does not transmit the ninth PUCCH (This alternative is not examined.) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (US 2021/0105766, “Wang”) in view of Jung et al. (US 2023/0123957, “Jung957”) and further in view of Jung et al. (US 2024/0155667, “Jung”) . Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to Wang unless otherwise mentioned. Regarding claim 10 , the method of claim 8, wherein: in case that the terminal is configured to support being dynamically indicated whether to multiplex UCIs and/or uplink data with different priorities, the terminal does not expect to be indicated by a DCI format to multiplex a UCI of a second priority with repetitions in a PUCCH and/or PUSCH of a first priority, wherein the first priority is different from the second priority ([Jung, 0082] “A UE does not expect to be scheduled to transmit a PUCCH or a PUSCH with smaller priority index that would overlap in time with a PUCCH of larger priority index with HARQ-ACK information only in response to a PDSCH reception without a corresponding PDCCH. A UE does not expect to be scheduled to transmit a PUCCH of smaller priority index that would overlap in time with a PUSCH of larger priority index with SP-CSI report(s) without a corresponding PDCCH.”, and [Jung, 0087] “If a UE has overlapping resources for PUCCH transmissions in a slot and at least one of the PUCCH transmissions is with repetitions over multiple slots”); and/or in case that the terminal is configured to support being dynamically indicated whether to multiplex UCIs and/or uplink data with different priorities, the terminal does not expect to be indicated by a DCI format to multiplex a UCI of the first priority with repetitions in a PUSCH of the second priority; and/or in case that the terminal is configured to support being dynamically indicated whether to multiplex UCIs and/or uplink data with different priorities, the terminal does not expect to be indicated by a DCI format to multiplex a UCI of the second priority in a PUCCH configured with repetitions that carries a UCI of the first priority (These alternatives are not examined.). The rational and motivation for adding this teaching of Jung are the same as for claim 4. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Harry H. Kim whose telephone number and email address are as follows; 571-272-5009, harry.kim2@uspto.gov. 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, Derrick Ferris can be reached at 571-272-3123. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from www.uspto.gov. For questions or assistance, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (in USA or Canada) or 571-272-1000. /HARRY H KIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 2 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 3 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 4 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 5 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 6 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 7 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 8 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 9 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 10 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 11 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 12 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 13 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 14 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 15 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 16 Art Unit: 2411 Application/Control Number: 18/709,652 Page 17 Art Unit: 2411
Prosecution Insights