DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in reply communication filed on 05/29/2024.
Claims 1-30 are pending.
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 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 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) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-7, 12-20, and 25-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2023/0239823) in view of Wang et al. (US 2020/0337010).
Regarding claim 1, Liu discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication [see Fig. 3, ¶¶ 69-79; UE 302 serving the UE 302 over a carrier in a wireless network 300], comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that [Fig. 14, ¶ 375; a processing system 1400 in a host device/(UE 302) includes a processor 1404, a memory 1406], when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to:
receive configuration information for a serving cell associated with a first transmission reception point (TRP) [see Fig. 3, ¶¶ 79; receive first configuration information of the carrier of the serving cell 310 associated with a TRP0 312/(1st TRP)] and for two or more other cells respectively associated with two or more other TRPs [see Fig. 3, ¶¶ 79; receive second/third configuration information of the carrier of the serving cell 310 associated with TRP1 314/ TRPn 322 /(other TRPs) (the first, second, and third configuration information of the carrier may be transmitted by the TRP0 312 in one message or separate messages)], the serving cell and the two or more other cells being associated with a same component carrier [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 60; cell 0 and cell n being associated with non-co-located TRPs (e.g., TRP0 and TRP1, and TRP n may serve the UE on the same carrier)];
receive a first timing advance configuration associated with the serving cell and a second one or more timing advance configurations associated with the two or more other cells [see ¶ 79; receive first configuration information of the carrier of the serving cell 310 and second configuration information of the carrier associated with TRP1 314 and TRPn 322]; and
transmit an uplink communication in accordance with the first timing advance configuration or the second one or more timing advance configurations [see ¶ 79; transmit, to the TRP0 312, a UL signal or a UL channel in the first group of UL signals and channels according to the first TA value or the second TA value].
Liu disclose all aspects of claim invention set forth above including “receive a first configuration associated with the serving cell and a second one or more configurations associated with the two or more other cells”, but does not explicitly disclose receive “a first timing advance configuration” associated with the serving cell and “a second one or more timing advance configurations” associated with the two or more other cells.
However, Wang discloses receive “a first timing advance configuration” associated with the serving cell and “a second one or more timing advance configurations” associated with the two or more other cells [see Fig. 5, ¶¶ 72, 75, 83, 110, 170; receives first TA configuration data for the first UL carrier 111 and second TA configuration data for the second UL carrier 112 in the cell 11, wherein at least first UL carrier 111 and second UL carrier 112 all belong different TAGs with different TA configurations]; and
transmit an uplink communication in accordance with the first timing advance configuration or the second one or more timing advance configurations [see ¶¶ 143-146; managing TA for UL transmissions between the UE 120 and the network node 110 in the wireless communications network 100, wherein the first TA configuration for the first UL carrier 111 in the cell 11, and to configure the UE 120 with a second TA configuration for the second UL carrier in the cell 11].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “receive “a first timing advance configuration” associated with the serving cell and “a second one or more timing advance configurations” associated with the two or more other cells” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claim 2, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the UE of claim 1.
Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein, to cause the UE to receive the second one or more timing advance configurations, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive a separate respective timing advance configuration for each cell included in the two or more other cells
However, Wang discloses wherein, to cause the UE to receive the second one or more timing advance configurations [see ¶ 79; wherein the UE 120 has received second TA configuration data from the network node 110], the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive a separate respective timing advance configuration for each cell included in the two or more other cells [see ¶ 83; each of the first TA configuration and second TA configuration belong to different TAGs with different TA configurations in the cell 11 that is configured with at least two TAGs].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein, to cause the UE to receive the second one or more timing advance configurations, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive a separate respective timing advance configuration for each cell included in the two or more other cells” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claim 3, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the UE of claim 1.
Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein, to cause the UE to receive the second one or more timing advance configurations, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive a single timing advance configuration that is associated with each cell included in the two or more other cells.
However, Wang discloses wherein, to cause the UE to receive the second one or more timing advance configurations, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive a single timing advance configuration that is associated with each cell included in the two or more other cells [see ¶¶ 82, 109, 148, 167; receive the at least first UL carrier 111 and second UL carrier 112 all belong to the same said single TAG but with different TA configurations including at least the first TA configuration and the second TA configuration].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein, to cause the UE to receive the second one or more timing advance configurations, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive a single timing advance configuration that is associated with each cell included in the two or more other cells” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claim 4, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the UE of claim 1.
Liu further discloses wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to:
receive an activation message that activates a non-serving cell, wherein the non-serving cell is a cell from the two or more other cells [see ¶¶ 146, 205, 225, 314; receive an activation message that activates a non-serving cell, wherein the TRP1/non-serving cell is a cell from the two or more other cells/TRPS];
receive, from the cell, a timing advance command [¶ 78; receives a TA command for a first TAG]; and
transmit, to the cell, an uplink communication using a timing that is based at least in part on the timing advance command and a timing advance value that is associated with the cell [see ¶¶ 79, transmit, to the TRP0 312, a UL signal or a UL channel in the first group of UL signals and channels according to the first TA value], wherein the timing advance value is indicated by the second one or more timing advance configurations [see ¶¶ 79; wherein the timing advance value is indicated by the second one or more timing advance configurations].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to: receive an activation message that activates a non-serving cell, wherein the non-serving cell is a cell from the two or more other cells; receive, from the cell, a timing advance command; and transmit, to the cell, an uplink communication using a timing that is based at least in part on the timing advance command and a timing advance value that is associated with the cell, wherein the timing advance value is indicated by the second one or more timing advance configurations” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claim 5, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the UE of claim 1.
Liu further discloses wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to:
receive an activation message that activates a non-serving cell, wherein the non-serving cell is a cell from the two or more other cells [see ¶¶ 146, 205, 225, 314; receive an activation message that activates a non-serving cell, wherein the TRP1/non-serving cell is a cell from the two or more other cells/TRPS];
receive, from the cell, a timing advance command [¶ 78; receives a TA command for a first TAG]; and
transmit, to the cell, an uplink communication using timing that is based at least in part on the timing advance command and a timing advance value that is associated with a previously active non-serving cell from the two or more other cells [see ¶¶ 79, transmit, to the TRP0 312, a UL signal or a UL channel in the first group of UL signals and channels according to the first TA value].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to: receive an activation message that activates a non-serving cell, wherein the non-serving cell is a cell from the two or more other cells; receive, from the cell, a timing advance command; and transmit, to the cell, an uplink communication using a timing that is based at least in part on the timing advance command and a timing advance value that is associated with the cell, wherein the timing advance value is indicated by the second one or more timing advance configurations” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claim 6, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the UE of claim 1.
Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the second one or more timing advance configurations include one or more timing advance group (TAG) configurations, and wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive an activation message that activates a TAG configuration from the one or more TAG configurations.
However, Wang discloses wherein the second one or more timing advance configurations include one or more timing advance group (TAG) configurations, and wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive an activation message that activates a TAG configuration from the one or more TAG configurations [see ¶¶ 93-95; receiving the first TA configuration of different TAGs with different TA configurations from the network such as the network node 110, that cause the UE 120 to activates at least one of the first and second TA configuration].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein the second one or more timing advance configurations include one or more timing advance group (TAG) configurations, and wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive an activation message that activates a TAG configuration from the one or more TAG configurations” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claim 7, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the UE of claim 6.
Liu further discloses wherein, to cause the UE to receive the activation message that activates the TAG configuration [¶ 55; wherein, to cause the UE to receive the activation message that activates the TAG configuration (Timing advance commands is transmitted, e.g., periodically, by the TRP, generally in a medium access control (MAC) command entity (CE))], the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message or downlink control information activating the TAG configuration for a physical cell identifier (PCI) of at least one of the two or more other cells [¶¶ 55-56; to cause the UE to receive a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message].
Regarding claim 12, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the UE of claim 9.
Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein, to cause the UE to transmit the uplink communication, the processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to: transmit the first uplink communication using the first set of time domain resources; and transmit the second uplink communication using the second set of time domain resources.
However, Wang discloses
wherein, to cause the UE to transmit the uplink communication, the processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to:
transmit the first uplink communication using the first set of time domain resources [see ¶ 161; using the first UL carrier 111 to configure with a first TAT for UL transmissions]; and
transmit the second uplink communication using the second set of time domain resources [see ¶ 161; using the second UL carrier 112 to configured with a second TAT for UL transmissions].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein, to cause the UE to transmit the uplink communication, the processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to: transmit the first uplink communication using the first set of time domain resources; and transmit the second uplink communication using the second set of time domain resources” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claim 13, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the UE of claim 12.
Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein transmitting the first uplink communication using the first set of time domain resources and transmitting the second uplink communication using the second set of time domain resources is based at least in part on at least one of:
the first TAG identifier being different than the second TAG identifier; or
the UE supporting a capability for simultaneous transmissions.
However, Wang discloses wherein transmitting the first uplink communication using the first set of time domain resources and transmitting the second uplink communication using the second set of time domain resources is based at least in part on at least one of:
the UE supporting a capability for simultaneous transmissions [see ¶ 169; using the first UL carrier 111 to configure with a first TAT, and the second UL carrier 112 to configured with a second TAT, which first TAT and second TAT are adapted to run simultaneously for UL transmissions].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein transmitting the first uplink communication using the first set of time domain resources and transmitting the second uplink communication using the second set of time domain resources is based at least in part on at least one of: the first TAG identifier being different than the second TAG identifier; or the UE supporting a capability for simultaneous transmissions” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claims 14-16 and 25-26, the claim recites a method of wireless communication to perform the user equipment (UE) recited as in claims, 1-7 and 12-13 respectively; therefore, claims 14-16 and 25-26 are rejected along the same rationale that rejected in claims, 1-7 and 12-13 respectively.
Regarding claim 27, Liu discloses a network entity for wireless communication [see Fig. 3, ¶¶ 69-79; UE 302 serving the UE 302 over a carrier in a wireless network 300], comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that [Fig. 14, ¶ 376; a processing system 1400 in in a network-side device in a wireless or wireline telecommunications network includes a processor 1404, a memory 1406], when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the network entity to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), configuration information for a serving cell associated with a first transmission reception point (TRP) [see Fig. 3, ¶¶ 79; transmit first configuration information of the carrier of the serving cell 310 associated with a TRP0 312/(1st TRP)] and for two or more other cells associated with two or more other TRPs [see Fig. 3, ¶¶ 79; transmit second/third configuration information of the carrier of the serving cell 310 associated with TRP1 314/ TRPn 322 /(other TRPs) (the first, second, and third configuration information of the carrier may be transmitted by the TRP0 312 in one message or separate messages)], the serving cell and the two or more other cells being associated with a same component carrier [see Fig. 2, ¶¶ 60; cell 0 and cell n being associated with non-co-located TRPs (e.g., TRP0 and TRP1, and TRP n may serve the UE on the same carrier)];
transmit, to the UE, a first timing advance configuration associated with the serving cell and a second one or more timing advance configurations associated with the two or more other cells [see ¶ 79; receive first configuration information of the carrier of the serving cell 310 and second configuration information of the carrier associated with TRP1 314 and TRPn 322]; and
receive an uplink communication in accordance with the first timing advance configuration or the second one or more timing advance configurations [see ¶ 79; transmit, to the TRP0 312, a UL signal or a UL channel in the first group of UL signals and channels according to the first TA value or the second TA value].
Liu disclose all aspects of claim invention set forth above including “transmit a first configuration associated with the serving cell and a second one or more configurations associated with the two or more other cells”, but does not explicitly disclose transmit “a first timing advance configuration” associated with the serving cell and “a second one or more timing advance configurations” associated with the two or more other cells.
However, Wang discloses transmit “a first timing advance configuration” associated with the serving cell and “a second one or more timing advance configurations” associated with the two or more other cells [see Fig. 5, ¶¶ 72, 75, 83, 110, 170; receives first TA configuration data for the first UL carrier 111 and second TA configuration data for the second UL carrier 112 in the cell 11, wherein at least first UL carrier 111 and second UL carrier 112 all belong different TAGs with different TA configurations]; and
transmit an uplink communication in accordance with the first timing advance configuration or the second one or more timing advance configurations [see ¶¶ 143-146; managing TA for UL transmissions between the UE 120 and the network node 110 in the wireless communications network 100, wherein the first TA configuration for the first UL carrier 111 in the cell 11, and to configure the UE 120 with a second TA configuration for the second UL carrier in the cell 11].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “transmit “a first timing advance configuration” associated with the serving cell and “a second one or more timing advance configurations” associated with the two or more other cells” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claim 28, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the network entity of claim 27.
Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein, to cause the network entity to transmit the second one or more timing advance configurations, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the network entity to: transmit separate timing advance configurations for each cell included in the two or more other cells; or transmit a single timing advance configuration that is associated with each cell included in the two or more other cells.
However, Wang discloses wherein, to cause the UE to transmit the second one or more timing advance configurations [see ¶ 79; wherein the network node 110 to cause the U to transmitt a second TA configuration data], the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive a separate respective timing advance configuration for each cell included in the two or more other cells [see ¶ 83; each of the first TA configuration and second TA configuration belong to different TAGs with different TA configurations in the cell 11 that is configured with at least two TAGs].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “wherein, to cause the UE to receive the second one or more timing advance configurations, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to receive a separate respective timing advance configuration for each cell included in the two or more other cells” as taught by Wang in the system of Liu, so that it would to improve support of machine to machine communication, also known as the Internet of things, aiming at lower cost, lower battery consumption and lower latency than 4G equipment [see Wang; ¶ 4].
Regarding claims 29 and 30, the claims recite a method of wireless communication performed by the network entity to perform the network entity for wireless communication recited as in claims 27 and 28 respectively; therefore, claims 29 and 30 are rejected along the same rationale that rejected in claims 27 and 28 respectively.
Claims 9 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2023/0239823) in view of Wang et al. (US 2020/0337010), and further in view of JANG et al. (US 2023/0087223).
Regarding claim 9, the combined system of Liu and Wang discloses the UE of claim 1, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the first timing advance configuration is associated with a first timing advance group (TAG) identifier, wherein a non-serving cell, from the two or more other cells, is activated and is associated with a timing advance configuration, from the second one or more timing advance configurations, that is associated with a second TAG identifier, and wherein the at least one memory further stores processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to:
receive first downlink control information scheduling a first uplink communication to use a first set of time domain resources; and
receive second downlink control information scheduling a second uplink communication to use a second set of time domain resources, wherein the first set of time domain resources and the second set of time domain resources at least partially overlap in a time domain based on an applied timing advance value.
However, JANG discloses when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to:
receive first downlink control information scheduling a first uplink communication to use a first set of time domain resources [see Fig. 14, ¶¶ 332-335, 337; receive first downlink control information scheduling a first uplink communication through DCIs (DCI #0 through DCI #(N−1))]; and
receive second downlink control information scheduling a second uplink communication to use a second set of time domain resources [see Fig. 14, ¶¶ 332-335, 337; receive second downlink control information through DCIs (DCI #0 through DCI #(N−1))], wherein the first set of time domain resources and the second set of time domain resources at least partially overlap in a time domain based on an applied timing advance value [see Fig. 14, ¶¶ 337; the sDCI may include at least one piece of information from among pieces of HARQ-related information, such as frequency domain resource allocation, time domain resource allocation, MCS, etc. of the cooperative TRPs; a case when the frequency and time resources used in the plurality of TRPs partially overlap each other (13-050), see ¶ 330].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to provide “when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to: receive first downlink control information scheduling a first uplink communication to use a first set of time domain resources; and receive second downlink control information scheduling a second uplink communication to use a second set of time domain resources, wherein the first set of time domain resources and the second set of time domain resources at least partially overlap in a time domain based on an applied timing advance value” as taught by JANG in the combined system of Liu and Wang, so that it would to provide repetitive transmission of the uplink control information to each of a plurality of transmission points, panels, or beams [see JANG; ¶ 10].
Regarding claim 22, the claim recites the method of claim 14 to perform the UE of claim 1 recited as in claim 9; therefore, claim 22 is rejected along the same rationale that rejected in claim 9.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 10-11, 21, and 23-24 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
In additional to references cited that are used for rejection as set forth above, Huang et al. (US 20200053752) is also considered as relevant prior arts for rejection of in claims 1, 14, 27, and 29 (SEE Huang; ¶¶ 88-147).
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/PHONG LA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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