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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 41-60 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YANG et al (US 2023/0354419) in view of SHIBAIKE et al (US 2024/0324006).
Regarding claim 41, 50, 58, YANG et al (US 2023/0354419) apparatus/non-transitory computer readable medium/system for a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising:
an antenna (YANG: Fig. 7, ¶227, wireless interface); processing circuitry (YANG: Fig. 7, processor(s)) configured to:
determine that the UE is to transmit a transmission that is to start at a same time on each channel of a set of channels (YANG: ¶33, ¶38, UE is to perform simultaneous transmission and performs LBT on the multiple channels);
after a determination that that the transmission is to start at the same time on each channel of the set of channels, perform channel access procedures on each channel independently (YANG: ¶39, ¶54-56, an LBT is performed on each of the beams/channels independently); and
in response to sensing that a first channel of the set of channels is idle, encode the transmission for transmission within a channel occupancy on the first channel of the set of channels (YANG: ¶215, ¶56, when the LBT is completed, transmission is carried in the channel occupancy time); and memory configured to store data of the transmission (YANG: ¶224, the device includes memory for storing data to be sent to another device/node).
YANG remains silent regarding the transmission being in the frequency range (FR 2-2). However, SHIBAIKE et al (US 2024/0324006) discloses the transmission being in the frequency range (FR 2-2) (SHIBAIKE: ¶86, ¶90, ¶104, the transmission is performed on frequency range FR 2-2).
A person of ordinary skill in the art working with the invention of YANG would have been motivated to use the teachings of SHIBAIKE as it provides a way to improve compliance with TS 38.331 and enable transmission on a newly introduced frequency range with a high data transmission rate (¶2-3). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify invention of YANG with teachings of LEE SHIBAIKE order to improve compatibility and data rate.
Regarding claim 42, 51, 59 YANG modified by SHIBAIKE discloses apparatus/non-transitory computer readable medium/system of claim 41/50/58, wherein the channel access procedures are Type 1 channel access procedures (YANG: ¶43, LBT method type 1).
Regarding claim 43, 52, YANG modified by SHIBAIKE discloses apparatus/non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 42/51, wherein to perform sensing on the set of channels, the processing circuitry is configured to use a single sensing beam that covers all transmissions beams (YANG: ¶37, an omni-direction LBT that covers and measures for all transmission beams before transmission).
Regarding claim 44, 53, YANG modified by SHIBAIKE discloses apparatus/non-transitory computer readable medium 42/51, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to perform simultaneous sensing in different sensing beams to perform sensing on the set of channels, each sensing beam covering a different transmission beam (YANG: ¶86, simultaneous LBT on each sensing beam covering different beams in respective directions).
Regarding claim 45, 54, YANG modified by SHIBAIKE apparatus/non-transitory computer readable medium 41/50, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to initialize a counter for each channel independently and perform sensing on each channel after an end of a previous transmission occupying the channel (YANG: ¶56, a back-off counter is used for each beam).
Regarding claim 46, YANG modified by SHIBAIKE the apparatus of claim 45, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to encode the transmission on a particular channel after first sensing the particular channel to be idle during a sensing slot duration and after the counter for the particular channel is zero (YANG: ¶86, ¶88, when the counter is down to zero and the sensing declares the channel to be idle).
Regarding claim 47, YANG modified by SHIBAIKE discloses the apparatus of claim 46, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
initialize the counter for the particular channel to a random number (YANG: ¶58, back-off counter for each of the beam/channel is started); and
start a loop to:
determine whether the counter for the particular channel is zero; and in response to the counter being larger than zero: decrement the counter for the particular channel (YANG: ¶56, ¶77, counter N is continuously decreased until it reaches 0; that is if it is not 0, then it decrements for the beam transmission);
sense the particular channel for a sensing slot duration and, in response to a determination that the particular channel is idle for the sensing slot duration, return to determining whether the counter for the particular channel is zero (YANG: ¶61, in Case 3, the LBT continues (i.e. the sensing is performed to determine that the channel is idle) until the counter decrements to zero); and
in response to a determination that the particular channel is not idle for the sensing slot duration:
sense the particular channel until either the particular channel is detected to be busy within a defer duration or idle for a sensing slot of the defer duration (YANG: ¶34, ¶54, deferring duration is set as 8 us and is a duration for which transmission is deferred to be aligned with the other beams’ transmission);
in response to a determination that the particular channel is idle for the sensing slot of the defer duration, return to determining whether the counter for the particular channel is zero (YANG: ¶61, in Case 3, the LBT continues (i.e. the sensing is performed to determine that the channel is idle) until the counter decrements to zero); and
in response to a determination that the particular channel is not idle for the sensing slot of the defer duration, return to sensing the particular channel until either the particular channel is detected to be busy within an additional defer duration or idle for a sensing slot of the additional defer duration (YANG: ¶71-72, ¶34, in case the channel/beam is assessed to be busy, the UE returns to sensing/LBT again).
Regarding claim 55, 60, YANG modified by SHIBAIKE discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium/communication system of claim 54/59, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
encode the transmission on a particular channel after first sensing the particular channel to be idle during a sensing slot duration and after the counter for the particular channel is zero (YANG: ¶86, ¶88, when the counter is down to zero and the sensing declares the channel to be idle).
initialize the counter for the particular channel to a random number (YANG: ¶58, back-off counter for each of the beam/channel is started); and
start a loop to:
determine whether the counter for the particular channel is zero; and in response to the counter being larger than zero: decrement the counter for the particular channel (YANG: ¶56, ¶77, counter N is continuously decreased until it reaches 0; that is if it is not 0, then it decrements for the beam transmission);
sense the particular channel for a sensing slot duration and, in response to a determination that the particular channel is idle for the sensing slot duration, return to determining whether the counter for the particular channel is zero (YANG: ¶61, in Case 3, the LBT continues (i.e. the sensing is performed to determine that the channel is idle) until the counter decrements to zero); and
in response to a determination that the particular channel is not idle for the sensing slot duration:
sense the particular channel until either the particular channel is detected to be busy within a defer duration or idle for a sensing slot of the defer duration (YANG: ¶34, ¶54, deferring duration is set as 8 us and is a duration for which transmission is deferred to be aligned with the other beams’ transmission);
in response to a determination that the particular channel is idle for the sensing slot of the defer duration, return to determining whether the counter for the particular channel is zero (YANG: ¶61, in Case 3, the LBT continues (i.e. the sensing is performed to determine that the channel is idle) until the counter decrements to zero); and
in response to a determination that the particular channel is not idle for the sensing slot of the defer duration, return to sensing the particular channel until either the particular channel is detected to be busy within an additional defer duration or idle for a sensing slot of the additional defer duration (YANG: ¶71-72, ¶34, in case the channel/beam is assessed to be busy, the UE returns to sensing/LBT again).
Regarding claim 48, 56 YANG modified by SHIBAIKE discloses apparatus of claim 47/55, wherein the defer duration is 8 us and the sensing slot duration is 5 us (YANG: ¶34, LBT/sensing period is 5 us in at least on scenario, and defer period is 8 us in at least one scenario).
Regarding claim 49, 57 YANG modified by SHIBAIKE discloses apparatus of claim 41/50, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to: decode downlink control information (DCI) that schedules the transmission, the DCI indicating a corresponding channel access procedure for the transmission; and determine, based on the DCI, whether to use a Type 1 channel access procedure for each of the corresponding channel access procedures (YANG: ¶40, DCI signal indicates the LBT/channel access procedure; and the type is also indicated by the DCI).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Document U elaborates on the design challenges, opportunities, and solutions for New Radio-based access to Unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) by taking into account the beambased transmissions and the worldwide regulatory requirements. NR-U intends to expand the applicability of 5th generation New Radio access technology to support operation in unlicensed bands by adhering to Listen-Before-Talk (LBT) requirements for accessing the channel. LBT was already adopted by different variants of 4th generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) in unlicensed spectrum, i.e., Licensed-Assisted Access and MulteFire, to guarantee fair coexistence among different radio access technologies. In the case of beam-based transmissions, the NR-U coexistence framework is significantly different as compared to LTE in unlicensed spectrum due to the use of directional antennas, which enhance the spatial reuse but also complicate the interference management. In particular, beam-based transmissions are needed in the unlicensed spectrum at millimeter-wave (mmWave) bands, which is an attractive candidate for NR-U due to its large amount of allocated spectrum. As a consequence, some major design principles need to be revisited to address coexistence for beam-based NR-U.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OMER S MIAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7524. The examiner can normally be reached M,T,W,Th: 10a-7p, Fri, 9a-12p.
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OMER S. MIAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2461
/OMER S MIAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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