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 .
Claims 1-4, 6-11, 13-17, 19 and 20 are pending in this office action
Claims 1, 2, 8, 9 11, 15 and 16 have been amended
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed in the amendment filed 02/23/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of new grounds of rejection. See rejection below.
Applicant Argues:
On pages 12-14 of the remarks, Applicant argues: In summary, the Office Action contention that the "Cross-carrier PUCCH Indication Bitmap 474" in Fig. 14 of Salem satisfies the recited "cell indicator field" is incorrect, as explained above. Once again, the "Cross-carrier PUCCH Indication Bitmap 474" is a bitmap which, for the case of two cells, includes two bits with one-to-one mapping to Cell#1 and Cell#2. The "cell indicator field" in the claim is a one-bit field directly indicating either Cell#1 or Cell#2 (there is also no selection by the UE of one or more cells with PUCCH transmission, or14
associated blind decoding by the base station to determine the one or more cells. In Claim 1, there is always a single cell and there is no uncertainty).
In response, the Examiner respectfully submits:
The claims merely recite DCI format including cell indicator field and PUCCH resource indicator field. There is nothing in the claim regarding the size of a bitmap represent the cell indicator field.
Applicant Argues:
On pages 15-17 of the remarks, Applicant argues: Claim 2 allows different sets of resources from which the PUCCH resource will be determined, to be indicated for different cells and that ss evident from Fig. 9, Salem discloses the same single resource in each cell for the PUCCH, not "first resources on the first cell," and "second resources on the second cell, "wherein: the PUCCH resource is from the first resources when the cell is the first cell, and the PUCCH resource is from the second resources when the cell is the second cell”.
In response, the Examiner respectfully submits:
Salem discloses in Fig. 14; PUCCH indicator 472 and carrier indicator 474. The value of the legacy 3-bit PUCCH resource indicator field can be used and propagated to all the cells indicated in the cross-carrier PUCCH indication bitmap. FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a legacy 3-bit PUCCH resource indicator field 472 and a cross-carrier PUCCH indication bitmap 474, according to one embodiment. In the example in FIG. 14, the cells in which a PUCCH resource is indicated are cells 0, 2, and 5, as indicated by the presence of ‘1’ in the positions in the bitmap 474 that correspond to cells 0, 2, and 5. The PUCCH resource actually allocated in each of cells 0, 2, and 5, is indicated by the legacy 3-bit PUCCH resource indicator field 472. In the example in FIG. 14, the PUCCH resource allocated is the PUCCH resource indicated by ‘011’. Another bit value in indicator field 472 would indicate another allocated PUCCH resource.
Applicant Argues:
On pages 15-17 of the remarks, Applicant argues: The UE 110 is thus provided with multiple frequency-domain opportunities for the transmission of the UCI, especially the HARQ feedback for one or more scheduled PDSCHs. These cited portions of Salem merely describe BWPs in general, without teaching or suggesting that "the first resources include third resources in a first uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP) of the first cell and fourth resources in a second UL BWP of the first cell," and "the second resources include fifth resources in a first UL BWP of the second cell and sixth resources in a second UL BWP of the second cell."
In response, the Examiner respectfully submits:
Salem teaches in Figs. 6 and 9; [0056], [0094], [0106]-[0107], multiple UL-BWP per cell/CC. There are resources in BWP 304 and other resources in BWP 306. The base station 170 pre-configures the UE 110 with one or more PUCCH resource sets per uplink BWP for each cell of some or all of the cells in the activated cell group for the UE 110. A PUCCH resource set comprises a plurality of PUCCH resources, each PUCCH resource having a respective time-frequency resource partition, and each PUCCH resource identified by a corresponding PUCCH resource index value. The base station 170 then dynamically indicates multiple PUCCH resources across multiple cells within the activated cell group. The UE 110 receives the indicated PUCCH resource allocation for the active uplink BWP on each respective indicated cell. The UE 110 is thus provided with multiple frequency-domain opportunities for the transmission of the UCI, especially the HARQ feedback for one or more scheduled PDSCHs.
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 1-3, 6-10,13-16 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salem (US 2020/0275430 A1) in view of Kang et al (US 2020/0177266 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Salem teaches a method for transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), the method comprising:
receiving multiple downlink control information (DCI) formats, wherein at least a first DCI format from the multiple DCI formats includes a cell indicator field (Salem: Fig. 9 and 16; [0059], [0106], [0140] UE receiving DCI format comprising 3 bits CIF, there are multiple DCI formats; Fig. 14:474 disclose the carrier indication field in the bitmap 474) and a PUCCH resource indicator field (Salem: Fig. 14:472 discloses the PUCCH indicator field 472);
determining a cell based on a value of the cell indicator field, wherein the cell is either a first cell or a second cell (Salem: Fig. 9; [0106]-[0107], UE determines the cell based on the CIF);
determining a PUCCH resource on the cell based on a value of the PUCCH resource indicator field (Salem: Fig. 14:472, [0109]-[0110] discloses the PUCCH indicator field 472); and
transmitting the PUCCH on the PUCCH resource on the cell (Salem: Fig. 9, 14; [0097], [0103], [0106]-[0110], UE transmits PUCCH on a selected cell); and
wherein: the PUCCH transmission is in a slot (Salem: Fig. 16; [0103], [039], PUCCH received in a slot), the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission (Salem: Fig. 16; DCI received in subband 3 is the last DCI).
Salem does not explicitly disclose the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission, and the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last.
Kang teaches the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission, and the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last (Kang: [0355]).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Salem wherein the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission, and the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last as disclosed by Kang to provide a system for PRACH for a beam failure recovery (Kang: Abstract)
Regarding claim 8, Salem teaches a user equipment (UE) (Salem: Fig. 5, UE) comprising:
a transceiver configured to receive multiple downlink control information (DCI) formats, wherein at least a first DCI format from the multiple DCI formats includes a cell indicator field (Salem: Fig. 9 and 16; [0059], [0106], [0140] UE receiving DCI format comprising 3 bits CIF, there are multiple DCI formats; Fig. 14:474) and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator field (Salem: Fig. 14:472, [0109]-[0110] discloses the PUCCH indicator field 472);
determining a PUCCH resource on the cell based on a value of the PUCCH resource indicator field (Salem: Fig. 14:472, [0109]-[0110] discloses the PUCCH indicator field 472);
the processor configured to determine a cell based on a value of the cell indicator field, wherein the cell is either a first cell or a second cell (Salem: Fig. 9; [0106]-[0107], UE determines the cell based on the CIF);
wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit a PUCCH on the PUCCH resource on the cell (Salem: Fig. 9, 14; [0097], [0103], [0106]-[0110], UE transmits PUCCH on a selected cell).
Salem does not explicitly disclose the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission, and the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last.
Kang teaches the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission, and the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last (Kang: [0355]).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Salem wherein the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission, and the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last as disclosed by Kang to provide a system for PRACH for a beam failure recovery (Kang: Abstract)
Regarding claim 15, Salem teaches a base station (Salem: Fig. 5, Base station) comprising:
a transceiver configured to transmit multiple downlink control information (DCI) formats, wherein at least a first DCI format from the multiple DCI formats includes a cell indicator field (Salem: Fig. 9 and 16; [0059], [0106], [0140] UE receiving DCI format comprising 3 bits CIF, there are multiple DCI formats) and a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator field (Salem: Fig. 14:472, [0109]-[0110] discloses the PUCCH indicator field 472);
determining a PUCCH resource on the cell based on a value of the PUCCH resource indicator field (Salem: Fig. 14:472, [0109]-[0110] discloses the PUCCH indicator field 472); and
a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to determine a cell based on a value of the cell indicator field, wherein the cell is either a first cell or a second cell, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive a PUCCH on the PUCCH resource on the cell (Salem: Fig. 9, 14; [0097], [0103], [0106]-[0110], Base station receives PUCCH on a selected cell based on the CIF).
Salem does not explicitly disclose the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission, and the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last.
Kang teaches the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission, and the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last (Kang: [0355]).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Salem wherein the multiple DCI formats indicate the slot for the PUCCH transmission, and the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last the DCI format is a DCI format from the multiple DCI formats that is received last as disclosed by Kang to provide a system for PRACH for a beam failure recovery (Kang: Abstract).
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Salem teaches receiving: first information for first resources on the first cell, and second information for second resources on the second cell (Salem: Fig. 9; PUCCH1 on cell 0, PUCCH 2 on cell 2); wherein the PUCCH resource is from the first resources when the cell is the first cell, and the PUCCH resource is from the second resources when the cell is the second cell; and transmitting the PUCCH in the resource (Salem: Figs. 9 and 14).
Regarding claims 3 and 10, Salem teaches wherein: the first resources include third resources in a first uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP) of the first cell and fourth resources in a second UL BWP of the first cell, and the second resources include fifth resources in a first UL BWP of the second cell and sixth resources in a second UL BWP of the second cell (Salem: Figs. 6 and 9; [0056], [0094], [0106]-[0107], multiple UL-BWP per cell/CC).
Regarding claims 6, 16 and 20, Salem teaches wherein: the PUCCH provides hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information, and the HARQ-ACK information is associated with the DCI format (Salem: [0083-[0085], [0096]).
Regarding claims 7, 14 and 19, Salem teaches wherein: the DCI format includes a bandwidth part (BWP) indicator field that indicates a BWP, and the PUCCH transmission is in the BWP (Salem: Figs. 6 and 16; [0127] DCI indicates the subband/UL BWP).
Claims 4, 11 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salem (US 2020/0275430 A1) in view of Kang et al (US 2020/0177266 A1) in further view of Chung et al (US 2012/0208583 A1).
Regarding claims 4 and 11, Salem does not explicitly disclose but Ching teaches determining a power based on a value of accumulated transmit power control (TPC) command values, wherein: the DCI format includes a TPC command field providing a TPC command value, the TPC command value is added to a first value of accumulated TPC command values when the cell indicator field indicates the first cell, the TPC command value is added to a second value of accumulated TPC command values when the cell indicator field indicates the second cell, the value of accumulated TPC command values is the first value when the cell indicator field indicates the first cell, and the value of accumulated TPC command values is the second value when the cell indicator field indicates the second cell; and transmitting the PUCCH using the power (Chung: Fig. 8; [0081]-[0082]; [0117]-[0121], accumulated TPC disclosed in Fig. 8).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Salem determining a power based on a value of accumulated transmit power control (TPC) command values, wherein: the DCI format includes a TPC command field providing a TPC command value, the TPC command value is added to a first value of accumulated TPC command values when the cell indicator field indicates the first cell, the TPC command value is added to a second value of accumulated TPC command values when the cell indicator field indicates the second cell, the value of accumulated TPC command values is the first value when the cell indicator field indicates the first cell, and the value of accumulated TPC command values is the second value when the cell indicator field indicates the second cell; and transmitting the PUCCH using the power as disclosed by Chung to provide a system for controlling uplink transmission power in multi-carrier system (Chung: Abstract).
Regarding claim 17, Salem in view of Chung teaches wherein: the DCI format includes a TPC command field providing a TPC command value, the TPC command value is applicable for determining a power, and the power is applicable only for the PUCCH reception on the cell (Chung: Fig. 10; [0081]-[0082]).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KODZOVI ACOLATSE whose telephone number is (571)270-1999. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 10 am to 6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Avellino Joseph can be reached on (571) 272-3905. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KODZOVI ACOLATSE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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