, DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to 7/10/2024.
Claims 1-21 are pending.
Claims 1-8 and 11-21 are rejected.
Claims 9 and 10 are objected to.
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 1/15/2025, 7/28/2025, and 6/4/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1, 11-15, and 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zeng et al. US 20250267642 A1, hereinafter Zeng.
Regarding Claim 1, Zeng discloses a method for setting subband full duplex (SBFD) resource (Zeng see [0041]), applied to a user equipment (UE) (Zeng see Fig. 1), comprising:
receiving, by the UE, a first configuration from a network device, wherein the first configuration indicates a plurality of transmission directions for a time period (Zeng [0041] discloses TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon parameter configured by using cell common signaling for indicating TDD frame structure information for the cell, including a TDD time period, a quantity of complete downlink/uplink slots included in a single frame period, etc.);
receiving, by the UE, a second configuration from the network device, wherein the second configuration indicates at least one SBFD resource within the time period (Zeng at least [0046] discloses Step 201: A terminal determines, based on an uplink subband configured by a network-side device, a frequency-domain resource available for an SBFD operation within a first BWP in a target SBFD time-domain unit; see Fig. 2a);
receiving, by the UE, a third configuration from the network device, wherein the third configuration indicates a downlink bandwidth part and an uplink bandwidth part (Zeng [0043] discloses that the network-side device may configure one or more BWP pairs for the terminal);
performing, by the UE, a communication operation with the network device according to the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration (Zeng at least [0047, 0055-0056] discloses determining, by the terminal based on a relationship between the BWP and the uplink subband in frequency domain, the frequency-domain resource available for the SBFD operation within the BWP in the target SBFD time-domain unit).
Regarding Claim 11, Zeng discloses the method of claim 1 and further discloses wherein the transmission directions indicated by the first configuration are applied to a frequency range (Zeng at least [0041] discloses that the network side and the UE side perform uplink and/or downlink transmission based on the rule and frequency-domain resource planning in the SBFD time-domain unit; [0048]; see Fig. 2a), and the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration in a frequency domain comprises at least one downlink subband and at least one uplink subband (Zeng see at least Fig. 2a).
Regarding Claim 12, Zeng discloses the method of claim 11 and further discloses wherein the frequency range corresponds to a serving cell (Zeng at least [0041] discloses TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon parameter configured by using cell common signaling for indicating TDD frame structure information for the cell, including a TDD time period, a quantity of complete downlink/uplink slots included in a single frame period, etc.; [0048] discloses that the network-side may configure the SBFD subband for a target serving cell).
Regarding Claim 13, Zeng discloses the method of claim 11 and further discloses wherein the frequency range is equal to a sum of a frequency domain length of the at least one downlink subband and a frequency domain length of the at least one uplink subband (Zeng at least [0041] discloses that the network side and the UE side perform uplink and/or downlink transmission based on the rule and frequency-domain resource planning in the SBFD time-domain unit; TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon parameter configured by using cell common signaling for indicating TDD frame structure information for the cell, including a TDD time period, a quantity of complete downlink/uplink slots included in a single frame period, etc.; [0048]; see Fig. 2a).
Regarding Claim 14, Zeng discloses the method of claim 11 and further discloses wherein the at least one downlink subband and the at least one uplink subband are not overlapping with each other in a frequency domain (Zeng see at least [0040] and Fig. 2a disclosing non-overlapping subband).
Regarding Claim 15, Zeng discloses the method of claim 11 and further discloses wherein each of the at least one downlink subband comprises at least one first resource block or a first set of consecutive resource blocks for a downlink reception, and each of the at least one uplink subband comprises at least one second resource block or a second set of consecutive resource blocks for an uplink transmission (Zeng at least [0041] discloses subband may be embodied as one or more consecutive resource blocks (RBs) in frequency domain at a given subcarrier spacing).
Claim 20 is rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claim 1. Claim 20 recites similar features as in claim 1 for an apparatus for a user equipment (Zeng see Fig. 7).
Claim 21 is rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claim 1. Claim 21 recites similar features as in claim 1 from the perspective of a network device.
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.
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.
Claims 2-5 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zeng as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Tran et al. US 20260006591 A1, hereinafter Tran.
Regarding Claim 2, Zeng discloses the method of claim 1 but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the first configuration comprises a first pattern and a subcarrier spacing, the first pattern indicates a beginning part, a middle part, and an end part of the time period;
wherein the beginning part of the time period indicated by the first pattern comprises at least one downlink resource, the middle part of the time period indicated by the first pattern comprises at least one flexible resource, and the end part of the time period indicated by the first pattern comprises at least one uplink resource;
wherein the second configuration comprises an SBFD setting, wherein the SBFD setting is used to perform at least one of following operations:
overwriting the at least one downlink resource indicated by the first pattern to a first SBFD resource; and
overwriting the at least one flexible resource indicated by the first pattern to a second SBFD resource.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Tran more specifically discloses wherein the first configuration comprises a first pattern and a subcarrier spacing, the first pattern indicates a beginning part, a middle part, and an end part of the time period (Tran see at least Table 6 disclosing SCS; Fig. 9, [0137] discloses the initial TDD band with slot formats “DFFU” where slot formats “D”, “U” and “F” correspond to downlink communication, uplink communication and semi-static flexible (uplink and/or downlink) communication);
wherein the beginning part of the time period indicated by the first pattern comprises at least one downlink resource, the middle part of the time period indicated by the first pattern comprises at least one flexible resource, and the end part of the time period indicated by the first pattern comprises at least one uplink resource (Tran Fig. 9, [0137] discloses the initial TDD band with slot formats “DFFU” where slot formats “D”, “U” and “F” correspond to downlink communication, uplink communication and semi-static flexible (uplink and/or downlink) communication);
wherein the second configuration comprises an SBFD setting, wherein the SBFD setting is used to perform at least one of following operations:
overwriting the at least one downlink resource indicated by the first pattern to a first SBFD resource; and
overwriting the at least one flexible resource indicated by the first pattern to a second SBFD resource (Tran Fig. 9, [0137] discloses that for SBFD, the first 3 slots (which corresponds to downlink and flexible slots) of the TDD band are split into three different subbands, each having its own slot formats upon L1 signaling; Fig. 18).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Tran as it provides more UL time duration to enhance UL coverage, reduce latency and increase UL capacity.
Regarding Claim 3, Zeng in view of Tran discloses the method of claim 2. In the obvious combination, Tran further discloses wherein the SBFD setting is not allowed to be used to overwrite the at least one uplink resource indicated by the first pattern (Tran Fig. 9, [0137] discloses that for slot that is not split, the lot format across the frequency domains will be transmitted to uplink transmission directions).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Tran as it provides more UL time duration to enhance UL coverage, reduce latency and increase UL capacity.
Regarding Claim 4, Zeng in view of Tran discloses the method of claim 2. In the obvious combination, Tran further discloses wherein the first SBFD resource is consecutive in a time domain and the second SBFD resource is consecutive in the time domain (Tran see at least Fig. 9, [0137]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Tran as it provides more UL time duration to enhance UL coverage, reduce latency and increase UL capacity.
Regarding Claim 5, Zeng in view of Tran discloses the method of claim 2. In the obvious combination, Tran further discloses wherein an end time of the first SBFD resource is aligned with a start time of the second SBFD resource (Tran see at least Fig. 9, [0137]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Tran as it provides more UL time duration to enhance UL coverage, reduce latency and increase UL capacity.
Regarding Claim 7, Zeng in view of Tran discloses the method of claim 2. In the obvious combination, Tran further discloses wherein the subcarrier spacing is applied to the first pattern and the SBFD setting (Tran see at least Fig. 18 disclosing IntendedTDD-DL-ULConfiguration-NR exchanges to configure slot formats; see Table 6 IntendedTDD-DL-ULConfiguration-NR).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Tran as it provides more UL time duration to enhance UL coverage, reduce latency and increase UL capacity.
Regarding Claim 8, Zeng in view of Tran discloses the method of claim 2. In the obvious combination, Tran further discloses wherein a start time of the first SBFD resource is aligned with a start time of the beginning part of the time period (Tran Fig. 9, [0137] discloses that for SBFD, the first 3 slots (which corresponds to downlink and flexible slots) of the TDD band are split into three different subbands, each having its own slot formats upon L1 signaling; Fig. 18).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Tran as it provides more UL time duration to enhance UL coverage, reduce latency and increase UL capacity.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zeng as applied to claim 1 above, in view of ETRI, ''Discussion on subband non-overlapping full duplex enhancements'', 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #111, R1-2211559 (as cited in IDS), hereinafter ETRI.
Regarding Claim 6, Zeng discloses the method of claim 1, but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the first configuration indicates a first periodicity of the time period, the second configuration indicates a second periodicity associated with the at least one SBFD resource, and the first periodicity is identical to the second periodicity.
However, in the same field of endeavor, ETRI more specifically discloses wherein the first configuration indicates a first periodicity of the time period, the second configuration indicates a second periodicity associated with the at least one SBFD resource, and the first periodicity is identical to the second periodicity (ETRI see at least section 2.1, pg. 4, lines 1-2 disclosing that the periodicity of the SBFD durations can simply be the same as the periodicity of the slot format configuration, or can be separately configured if that separation is considered beneficial).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of ETRI for potential enhancements on UL/DL subband configuration and transmission for SBFD.
Claims 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zeng as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Choe et al. US 20260135745 A1, hereinafter Choe.
Regarding Claim 16, Zeng discloses the method of claim 1, but fails to explicitly disclose further comprising:
determining a first intersection between the uplink bandwidth part and each of the at least one uplink subband as at least one uplink usable resource block; and determining a second intersection between the downlink bandwidth part and each of the at least one downlink subband as at least one downlink usable resource block.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Choe more specifically discloses further comprising:
determining a first intersection between the uplink bandwidth part and each of the at least one uplink subband as at least one uplink usable resource block; and determining a second intersection between the downlink bandwidth part and each of the at least one downlink subband as at least one downlink usable resource block (Choe at least Fig. 13, [0299] discloses if the UL BWP includes the entire frequency domain of the UL subband, all RBs of the UL subband may be determined as RBs available for uplink transmission. If the UL BWP includes a part of the frequency domain of the UL subband, an RB included in the part of the frequency domain may be determined as an RB available for uplink transmission; [0310] discloses the same in the case of RBs available for downlink reception).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Choe for effective allocation of SBFD resources in a wireless system supporting SBFD communication.
Regarding Claim 17, Zeng in view of Choe discloses the method of claim 16. In the obvious combination, Choe further discloses wherein the UE is allowed to perform an uplink transmission by using the at least one uplink usable resource block, and the UE is allowed to perform a downlink reception by using the at least one downlink usable resource block (Choe at least Fig. 13, [0299] discloses if the UL BWP includes the entire frequency domain of the UL subband, all RBs of the UL subband may be determined as RBs available for uplink transmission. If the UL BWP includes a part of the frequency domain of the UL subband, an RB included in the part of the frequency domain may be determined as an RB available for uplink transmission; [0310] discloses the same in the case of RBs available for downlink reception).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Choe for effective allocation of SBFD resources in a wireless system supporting SBFD communication.
Regarding Claim 18, Zeng in view of Choe discloses the method of claim 16. In the obvious combination, Choe further discloses wherein the UE is not allowed to perform an uplink transmission by using other uplink resource other than the at least one uplink usable resource block, and the UE is not allowed to perform a downlink reception by using other downlink resource other than the at least one downlink usable resource block (Choe at least Fig. 13, [0299] discloses that even if an RB other than the UL BWP is included in the UL subband, the UE may not perform uplink transmission in the RB; [0310] discloses the same in the case of downlink reception).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Choe for effective allocation of SBFD resources in a wireless system supporting SBFD communication.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zeng as applied to claim 1 above, in view of Abdelghaffar et al. US 20210336759 A1, hereinafter Abdelghaffar.
Regarding Claim 19, Zeng discloses the method of claim 1, but fails to explicitly disclose wherein the downlink BWP and the uplink BWP have the same bandwidth part identifier.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Abdelghaffar more specifically discloses wherein the downlink BWP and the uplink BWP have the same bandwidth part identifier (Abdelghaffar at least [0074] discloses that for TDD … in operation according to existing NR standards, the uplink BWP and downlink BWP are configured with the same BWP ID, with the restriction that the uplink and downlink BWP pair shares the same center frequency but may be of different bandwidths).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Zeng with the teachings of Abdelghaffar to meet the existing NR standards when configuring BWP identifiers supporting SBFD operations.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9 and 10 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lu et al. US 20250184975 A1
Ibrahim et al. US 20240064548 A1
Abotabl et al. US 20240056277 A1
Abotabl et al. US 20230239128 A1
Gou et al. US 20260031965 A1
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/Y.K./ Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/PAO SINKANTARAKORN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409
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