DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to Application No. 18/750,623 filed on 6/21/2024. The preliminary amendment presented on 1/6/2026, which cancels claims 5 and 7, amends claims 11, 14, and 19, and adds new claims 21-22, is hereby acknowledged. Claims 1-4, 6, and 8-22 have been examined.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/8/2024 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-4, 6, and 8-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei et al. (hereinafter Wei)(US 2023/0276224) in view of Bae (US 2021/0306916).
Regarding claim 1, Wei teaches as follows:
A terminal device (interpreted as the user equipment (UE), 350 in figure 3), comprising:
at least one processor (interpreted as the controller/processor 359 in figure 3); and at least one memory (360 in figure 3) storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (the controller/processor 359 can be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium, see, ¶ [0056] and figure 3), cause the terminal device at least to:
transmit, to a network device, capability information indicating support of a plurality of types of the terminal device (at 1002, the UE transmits a UE capability to a base station. For example, the UE capability component 1140 of the apparatus 1102 in FIG. 11 may transmit the UE capability to the base station 102 or 180. The UE capability indicates a fully non-concurrent capability or a partially non-concurrent capability for inter-band downlink carrier aggregation with reception switching, see, ¶ [0089] and figure 10)(the UE may signal to the base station a UE capability for Type A (e.g., fully non-concurrent) or Type B (partially non-concurrent) inter-band downlink CA with receive chain switching, see, ¶ [0073]);
receive, from the network device, an indication for switching a type of the terminal device (at 1006, the UE may receive a configuration (equivalent to applicant’s indication) for a CSI reporting setting based on the single receive chain and the multiple receive chains, and the UE may report the difference by transmitting first CQI based on reception with the multiple receive chains and a differential CQI based on reception with the single receive chain, see, ¶ [0098] and figure 10)(an example communication flow 800 between a UE 802 and a base station 804 in which the UE 802 transmits an indication 803 informing the base station 804 that the UE 802 supports Type B (e.g., partially non-concurrent) inter-band downlink CA with receive chain switching, such as described in connection with FIG. 5B. In contrast to the Type A (fully non-concurrent), in Type B (partially non-concurrent) receive chain switching for inter-band downlink CA, the UE 802 may dynamically switch between using one receive chain (e.g., receive chain 508) and using two receive chains (e.g., receive chains 508 and 510) for the PCell, see, ¶ [0080] and figure 8); and
perform type switching based on the indication (the UE may monitor for downlink communication on a PCell with reception switching between a single receive chain and with multiple receive chains, as illustrated at 1016, see, ¶ [0095] and figure 10).
Wei does not explicitly teach the requirement for an interruption caused by the type switching.
Bae teaches as follows:
The UE 100 may locate a switching gap G on the first carrier 101 according to the UL Tx type, as discussed above (operation 1130A), and may switch the Tx chain TC1 from the first carrier 101 to the second carrier 102 during the provided switching gap (operation 1140A)(see, ¶ [0120] and figure 11A); and
the switching gap G may be a duration of time during which transmission and/or reception on one or more carriers may be interrupted (e.g., paused, stopped, or prevented). The switching gap G may facilitate the switching of the first Tx chain TC1 and the first antenna A1 across carriers (see, ¶ [0066]).
Bae teaches the switching gap as a duration of time identifying required duration for switching carriers.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wei with Bae to include determining a switching gap as a time duration required during switching as taught by Bae in order to efficiently prevent interruption caused by switching between carriers.
Regarding claim 2, Wei in view of Bae teaches performing type switching based on the indication and a requirement as presented above.
Therefore, Wei in view of Bae inherently teaches of determining the requirement based on the capability information and the indication.
Regarding claim 3, Wei teaches as follows:
Wherein the type of the terminal device comprises a user equipment (UE) architecture type (Type A, of inter-band downlink CA with receive chain switching may include fully non-concurrent downlink transmissions… Type B, of inter-band downlink CA with receive chain switching may include partially non-concurrent downlink transmissions, see, ¶ [0071]-[0072]).
Regarding claims 4 and 13, Bae teaches as follows:
Wherein the capability information further comprises one or more switching periods (interpreted as the switching gap G) required for performing type switching (the UE 100 may locate a switching gap G on the first carrier 101 according to the UL Tx type, as discussed above (operation 1130A), and may switch the Tx chain TC1 from the first carrier 101 to the second carrier 102 during the provided switching gap (operation 1140A), see, ¶ [0120] and figure 11A).
Therefore, they are rejected for similar reason as presented above.
Regarding claim 6, Wei teaches as follows:
Wherein the plurality of types comprise a first type and a second type (the UE may signal to the base station a UE capability for Type A (e.g., fully non-concurrent) or Type B (partially non-concurrent) inter-band downlink CA with receive chain switching, see, ¶ [0073]); and
When the UE performs RF retuning from one carrier (e.g., one component carrier) to another carrier, the UE will stop an ongoing transmission. TDM based downlink CA operation may coordinate resources in the time domain, e.g., to avoid retuning during an ongoing transmission from the UE. A UE having 1Tx-2Tx switching for inter-band uplink CA with 2 Tx chains may experience a similar challenge in which is dynamically indicated with 1 or 2 Tx by DCI (see, ¶ [0069]).
Bae teaches the switching period as follows:
The UE 100 may locate a switching gap G (equivalent to applicant’s switching period) on the first carrier 101 according to the UL Tx type, as discussed above (operation 1130A), and may switch the Tx chain TC1 from the first carrier 101 to the second carrier 102 during the provided switching gap (operation 1140A) (see, ¶ [0120] and figure 11A).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wei in view of Bae to include setting different switching periods for different types.
Regarding claim 8, Wei in view of Bae teaches the switching period as presented above and Wei further teaches the well-known new radio carrier aggregation (NR_CA) as follows:
The UE capability indicates a fully non-concurrent capability or a partially non-concurrent capability for inter-band downlink carrier aggregation with reception switching (see, ¶ [0089]); and
the following description may include examples based on 5G NR, the concepts described herein may be applicable to other similar areas, such as LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, GSM, and other wireless technologies (see, ¶ [0032]).
Therefore, it is rejected for similar reason as presented above.
Regarding claim 9, Bae teaches as follows:
Wherein the requirement comprises a processing time period required by the terminal device for processing the indication from the network device, and the terminal device starts to perform the type switching after the processing time period (for dynamically scheduled UL transmission, to provide enough processing time for the UE 100 during switching (e.g., switching between CASE 1 and CASE 2), a preparation time PT (e.g., the amount of time between the scheduling of a given UL Tx and the start of the given UL Tx) for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) may be extended by a switching gap G (e.g., by the temporal length of the switching gap G), see, ¶ [0090] and figure 7A).
Therefore, it is rejected for similar reason as presented above.
Regarding claim 10, Bae teaches as follows:
Wherein the interruption starts when the terminal device starts to perform the type switching after the processing time period (the switching duration may correspond to a period of time between an end of a previous transmission and a start of the transmission, see, ¶ [0012]).
Therefore, it is rejected for similar reason as presented above.
Regarding claim 11, Wei teaches the well-known RRC signaling as follows:
UEs are configured with the slot format (dynamically through DL control information (DCI), or semi-statically/statically through radio resource control (RRC) signaling) through a received slot format indicator (SFI)(see, ¶ [0046]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wei in view of Bae to include the well-known RRC signaling as taught by Wei in order to efficiently transmit the capability information to the network device.
Regarding claim 12, Wei in view of Bae teaches the similar limitations as presented above in the rejection for claim 1.
Wei further teaches as follows:
A first network device (interpreted as the base station 310 in figure 3), comprising: at least one processor (interpreted as the controller/processor 375 in figure 3); and at least one memory (376 in figure 3) storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (the controller/processor 375 can be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium, see, ¶ [0060] and figure 3).
Therefore, it is rejected for similar reason as presented above.
Regarding claims 14, 19, and 21, Bae teaches as follows:
wherein the requirement comprises an interruption length and an interruption with a duration up to the interruption length is allowed for the terminal device (the switching gap G may be a duration of time during which transmission and/or reception on one or more carriers may be interrupted (e.g., paused, stopped, or prevented). The switching gap G may facilitate the switching of the first Tx chain TC1 and the first antenna A1 across carriers, see, ¶ [0066]).
Therefore, they are rejected for similar reason as presented above.
Regarding claims 15 and 20, Bae teaches as follows:
Wherein the first network device is caused to determine the scheduling by preventing from scheduling the terminal device based on the requirement (the switching gap G may be a duration of time (e.g., transient time) during which transmission and/or reception on one or more carriers may be interrupted (e.g., paused, stopped, or prevented). The switching gap G may facilitate the switching of the first Tx chain TC1 and the first antenna A1 across carriers, see, ¶ [0066]).
Therefore, they are rejected for similar reason as presented above.
Regarding claims 16 and 18, Wei in view of Bae teaches the similar limitations as presented above except for sharing information between multiple network devices.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wei in view of Bae to include sharing previously obtained information between multiple network devices during the well-known handover processing
Regarding claim 17, Wei in view of Bae teaches the similar limitations as presented above in the rejection for claims 1 and 12 except for sharing information between multiple network devices.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wei in view of Bae to include sharing previously obtained information between multiple network devices during the well-known handover processing.
Regarding claim 22, Bae teaches as follows:
Wherein the terminal device is further caused to determine the interruption length based on a switching period (the UE 100 may locate a switching gap G on the first carrier 101 according to the UL Tx type, as discussed above (operation 1130A), and may switch the Tx chain TC1 from the first carrier 101 to the second carrier 102 during the provided switching gap (operation 1140A), see, ¶ [0120] and figure 11A).
Therefore, it is rejected for similar reason as presented above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jeong S Park whose telephone number is (571)270-1597. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:00-4:30 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rebecca E Song can be reached at 571-270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JEONG S PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2417
August 19, 2026
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