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 § 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) 1-7, 17, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being anticipated by Chen US 20160234857
1. First communication device configured to communicate with a second communication device, the first communication device comprising circuitry configured to:
receive a low latency, LL, indication from the second and/or third communication device, which indicates to the first communication device that transmission of a second LL information by the first communication device is allowed (Chen: fig. 2a unit 210 [0061] Base station 105-a (i.e., first device) or UE 115-b (i.e., third device) may subsequently schedule low latency communication 210 during the transmission (e.g., the low latency communication may not be scheduled until the middle of the subframe when it will occur) whereas the low latency communication 210 may use resources that overlap or neighbor with the resources scheduled for non-low latency communication 205); and
transmit second LL information to the second communication device during and within the bandwidth of an ongoing transmission of a data unit from the third communication device to the second communication device (Chen: fig. unit 430 [0083-0085] Thus, base station 105-a may determine what resources are being used by low latency communication 210. Base station 105-a may then generate a low latency indicator including control information to indicate the presence of the low latency communication. Base station 105-a may include the low latency indicator with a subsequent downlink grant associated with a subsequent non-low latency transmission to UE 115-a (i.e., second device)),
wherein the second LL information indicates to the second communication device that the first communication device has LL data to transmit to the second communication device (Chen: fig. unit 430 [0059, 0062, 0083-0085] Base station 105-a may include the low latency indicator with a subsequent downlink grant associated with a subsequent non-low latency transmission to UE 115-a).
2. First communication device as claimed in 1, wherein the LL indication is configured to indicate to the first communication device that transmission of a second LL information by the first communication device is allowed during and within the bandwidth of an ongoing transmission of a data unit from the third communication device to the second communication device (Chen: [0036, 0056-0057] the transmission may be scheduled during an ongoing non-low latency).
3. First communication device as claimed in 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit the second LL information in a manner that causes low or no interference or interference below an interference threshold with the ongoing transmission of the data unit from the third communication device to the second communication device (Chen: [0056-0058, 0066] low latency interference).
4. First communication device as claimed in 3, wherein the circuitry is configured to transmit the second LL information by one or more of the following: - modulating a subset of OFDM symbols of the ongoing transmission of the data unit; - modulating a subset of subcarriers of the ongoing transmission of the data unit; and - mapping a subset of spatial streams of the ongoing transmission of the data unit with a steering matrix (Chen: [0013, 0054-0056] control information/mapping a set of modulation symbols).
5. First communication device as claimed in 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to control transmission power of the transmission of the second LL information based on one or more of - a target signal-to-interference ratio at the second communication device, - an interference threshold that shall not be exceeded by the transmission of the second LL information, - transmit and/or receive power levels of the second communication device, - pathloss information about pathloss between the second communication device and the third communication device and between the second communication device and the first communication device, and - a minimum detection margin for detecting the second LL information by the second communication device (Chen: [0012, 0038] identifying one or more null tones).
6. First communication device as claimed in 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to i) synchronize with the transmission of the next data unit by the third communication device and/or decode content of fourth LL information transmitted by the second communication device, the fourth LL information indicating to the first communication device one or more of the following: - the first communication device is allowed to transmit the second LL information during transmission of the next data unit transmitted by the third communication device; - the first communication device can use the fourth LL information to synchronize with the transmission of the next data unit by the third communication device; - the type of next data unit transmitted by the third communication device; and - a time window and/or a set of subcarriers for use by the first communication device for transmitting the second LL information; and/or ii) synchronize with the ongoing transmission of a data unit by the third communication device and/or decode content of fifth LL information transmitted by the third communication device, the fifth LL information indicating to the first communication device on or more of the following: - the first communication device is allowed to transmit the second LL information during the ongoing transmission of the data unit transmitted by the third communication device; - the type of data unit transmitted by the third communication device in the ongoing transmission; and - a time window and/or a set of subcarriers for use by the first communication device for transmitting the second LL information; and/or iii) synchronize with the ongoing transmission of the data unit from the third communication device by one or more of the following: - synchronizing with a previous frame containing fourth LL information transmitted by the second communication device which is transmitted a predetermined time before the transmission of the ongoing data unit transmitted by the third communication device; - synchronizing with the preamble of the ongoing transmission of the data unit transmitted by the third communication device containing fifth LL information; and - synchronizing with the preamble of the ongoing transmission of the data unit transmitted by the third communication device after a previous frame containing fourth LL information has been received from the second communication device (Chen: [0044] The wireless communications system 100 may support synchronous or asynchronous operation).
7. First communication device as claimed in 1, wherein the circuitry is configured to include an LL sequence for identifying the first communication device into the second LL information and to map the LL sequence into predetermined subcarriers within OFDM symbols for transmitting the second LL information (Chen: [0013, 0054-0056] control information/mapping a set of modulation symbols).
Regarding claims 17 & 20, the independent claim and each dependent claim are related to the same limitation set for hereinabove in claims 1-7, where the difference used is a “NTCRM” and the wordings of the claims were interchanged within the claim itself or some of the claims were presented as a combination of two or more previously presented limitations. This change does not affect the limitation of the above treated claims. Adding these phrases to the claims and interchanging the wording did not introduce new limitations to these claims. Therefore, these claims were rejected for similar reasons as stated above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 6/16/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant Argument:
Applicant respectfully elects Group I (claims 1-7, 17, 20) with traversal.
Response to Arguments:
With respect to the above argument, Examiner would like to draw attention to that
the Applicant’s traversal has been considered but it not persuasive. The elected Group I is directed to method related to a first node (e.g., base station/network device), whereas non-elected Groups is/are directed to method of second node or third node (i.e., terminal node(s)/relay node(s) which are totally distinct and related to separate function(s). Thus, for the above reason, the restriction requirement is maintained.
Remark:
The examiner stresses that the claims are too broad and require detail or specialization of the steps as recited in the claims. Alone and as claimed, the limitations are too open.
Examiner has cited particular portions of the references as applied to each claim limitation for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings of the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested from the applicant in preparing responses, to fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the Examiner.
Regarding all other arguments presented by applicant, the arguments are substantially the same as those which have already been addressed above and in the interest of brevity; the Examiner directs the applicant to those responses above.
In addition, an interview could expedite the prosecution.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Sulaiman Nooristany whose telephone number is (571) 270-1929. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9 to 5. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Jeffrey Rutkowski, can be reached on (571) 270-1215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
/SULAIMAN NOORISTANY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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