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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-12, 28, 29 provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-21 of copending Application No. 18769296 in view of ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996).
Regarding claims 1, 28, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches a method for setting subband full duplex (SBFD) resource, applied to a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, by the UE, a first configuration from a network device, wherein the first configuration indicates a plurality of first transmission directions for a time period (claim 1); 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 (claim 1); receiving, by the UE, a third configuration from the network device, wherein the third configuration indicates at least one second transmission directions for at least one slot within the time period (claim 1); and performing, by the UE, a communication operation with the network device according to the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration (claim 1).
However, the copending Application No. 18769296 does not teach receiving, by the UE, a DCI.
But, ZHANG in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches receiving, by the UE, a downlink control information (DCI) from the network device, wherein the DCI indicates at least one second transmission directions for at least one slot within the time period (par. 82, 102, Each slot 515 and/or portions thereof (e.g., symbols) may be scheduled and/or configured for use for an uplink (“UL”) communication, a downlink (“DL”) communication, or as flexible (“F”). A flexible slot (e.g., 515h-515m) may be used for either an uplink communication or a downlink communication…the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission); and performing, by the UE, a communication operation with the network device according to the first configuration, the second configuration, and the DCI (par. 96, 97, 100, 102, 117, the UE and the network node may communicate on the one or more resources).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by ZHANG in the system of the copending Application No. 18769296 to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services.
Regarding claim 2, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 1, 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 (claim 2); 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 (claim 2); wherein the second configuration comprises an SBFD setting (claim 2), 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 (claim 2); and overwriting the at least one flexible resource indicated by the first pattern to a second SBFD resource (claim 2).
Regarding claim 3, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the SBFD setting is not allowed to be used to overwrite the at least one uplink resource indicated by the first pattern (claim 3).
Regarding claim 4, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the first SBFD resource is consecutive in a time domain and the second SBFD resource is consecutive in the time domain (claim 4).
Regarding claim 5, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein an end time of the first SBFD resource is aligned with a start time of the second SBFD resource (claim 5).
Regarding claim 6, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 1, 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 (claim 6).
Regarding claim 7, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the subcarrier spacing is applied to the first pattern and the SBFD setting (claim 7).
Regarding claim 8, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein a start time of the first SBFD resource is aligned with a start time of the beginning part of the time period (claim 8).
Regarding claim 9, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the SBFD setting comprises an offset, and a start time of the first SBFD resource is later than a start time of the beginning part of the time period by the offset (claim 9).
Regarding claim 10, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the SBFD setting comprises information for a time length, the time length is equal to a sum of a time domain length of the first SBFD resource and a time domain length of the second SBFD resource (claim 10).
Regarding claim 11, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the DCI is allowed to be used to overwrite the at least one flexible resource indicated by the first pattern (claim 2).
Regarding claim 12, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the DCI is not allowed to be used to overwrite the at least one downlink resource and the at least one uplink resource indicated by the first pattern (claim 2).
Regarding claim 29, the copending Application No. 18769296 teaches a method for setting subband full duplex (SBFD) resource, applied to a network device, comprising: transmitting, by the network device, a first configuration to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first configuration indicates a plurality of transmission directions for a time period (claim 1); transmitting, by the network device, a second configuration to the UE, wherein the second configuration indicates at least one SBFD resource within the time period (claim 1); transmitting, by the network device, a third configuration to the UE, wherein the third configuration indicates at least one second transmission directions for at least one slot within the time period (claim 1); and performing, by the network device, a communication operation with the UE according to the first configuration, the second configuration, and the third configuration (claim 1).
However, the copending Application No. 18769296 does not teach transmitting, by the network device, a downlink control information (DCI) to the UE.
But, ZHANG in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches transmitting, by the network device, a downlink control information (DCI) to the UE, wherein the DCI indicates at least one second transmission directions for at least one slot within the time period (par. 82, 102, Each slot 515 and/or portions thereof (e.g., symbols) may be scheduled and/or configured for use for an uplink (“UL”) communication, a downlink (“DL”) communication, or as flexible (“F”). A flexible slot (e.g., 515h-515m) may be used for either an uplink communication or a downlink communication…the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission); and performing, by the network device, a communication operation with the UE according to the first configuration, the second configuration, and the DCI (par. 96, 97, 100, 102, 117, the UE and the network node may communicate on the one or more resources).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by ZHANG in the system of the copending Application No. 18769296 to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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, 2, 3, 7, 11, 12, 13, 19, 20, 27, 28, 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996).
Regarding claim 1, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches a method for setting subband full duplex (SBFD) resource, applied to a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving, by the UE, a first configuration from a network device, wherein the first configuration indicates a plurality of first transmission directions for a time period (Figs. 5, 7, par. 96, the network node may output a first configuration…The first configuration may be associated with a TDD pattern…The first configuration may configure the set of resources to an uplink format, a downlink format, or a flexible format);
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 (par. 97, 100, the network node may output a second configuration configuring one or more resources, of the set of resources, to an SBFD format. The second configuration may configure the one or more resources (e.g., one or more slots, one or more symbols, or a combination thereof) to the SBFD format based at least in part on the one or more resources satisfying a condition);
receiving, by the UE, a downlink control information (DCI) from the network device (par. 102, the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission), wherein the DCI indicates at least one second transmission directions for at least one slot within the time period (par. 82, 102, Each slot 515 and/or portions thereof (e.g., symbols) may be scheduled and/or configured for use for an uplink (“UL”) communication, a downlink (“DL”) communication, or as flexible (“F”). A flexible slot (e.g., 515h-515m) may be used for either an uplink communication or a downlink communication…the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission); and
performing, by the UE, a communication operation with the network device according to the first configuration, the second configuration, and the DCI (par. 96, 97, 100, 102, 117, the UE and the network node may communicate on the one or more resources).
Regarding claim 2, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 1, 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 (Figs. 5, 7, par. 81, 82, 96, A flexible slot (e.g., 515h-515m)…slots 515a-515f (denoted by “nrofDownlinkSlots”)… slots 515o-515s (denoted by “nrofUplinkSlots”)…the network node may output a first configuration…The first configuration may be associated with a TDD pattern…The first configuration may configure the set of resources to an uplink format, a downlink format, or a flexible format);
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 (Figs. 5, 7, par. 82, 96, A flexible slot (e.g., 515h-515m)…slots 515a-515f (denoted by “nrofDownlinkSlots”)… slots 515o-515s (denoted by “nrofUplinkSlots”)…the network node may output a first configuration…The first configuration may be associated with a TDD pattern…The first configuration may configure the set of resources to an uplink format, a downlink format, or a flexible format…a full bandwidth of the set of resources may be configured to one of the uplink format, the downlink format, or the flexible format.);
wherein the second configuration comprises an SBFD setting (par. 88, 97, 98, 100), 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 (par. 88, 97, 98, 99, 100, The second configuration may configure the one or more resources (e.g., one or more slots, one or more symbols, or a combination thereof) to the SBFD format…the condition indicates that resources configured in the flexible format or the downlink format, and not associated with a restricted use, can be configured to the SBFD format); and
overwriting the at least one flexible resource indicated by the first pattern to a second SBFD resource (par. 88, 97, 98, 99, 100, The second configuration may configure the one or more resources (e.g., one or more slots, one or more symbols, or a combination thereof) to the SBFD format…the condition indicates that resources configured in the flexible format or the downlink format, and not associated with a restricted use, can be configured to the SBFD format).
Regarding claim 3, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the SBFD setting is not allowed to be used to overwrite the at least one uplink resource indicated by the first pattern (par. 99, 101, In this context (e.g., for resources configured in the uplink format), the restricted use may include at least one of a random access channel occasion, a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission).
Regarding claim 7, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the subcarrier spacing is applied to the first pattern and the SBFD setting (par. 82, 85, 96, SBFD operation within a TDD carrier, an SBFD sub-band may include 1 resource block, or a set of consecutive resource blocks, for a same transmission direction).
Regarding claim 11, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the DCI is allowed to be used to overwrite the at least one flexible resource indicated by the first pattern (par. 84, the flexible slots or symbols may be dynamically changed by the network node via a DCI message).
Regarding claim 12, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the DCI is not allowed to be used to overwrite the at least one downlink resource and the at least one uplink resource indicated by the first pattern (par. 99, 102, 103, 126, 128, 131, 134, the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission… the uplink transmission may not be permitted to be scheduled in resources… the downlink transmission is not permitted to be scheduled in resources).
Regarding claim 13, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 1, comprising: in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the second configuration and the DCI, ignoring the DCI and configuring the symbol by following the second configuration (par. 99, 102, 103, 126, 128, 131, 134, the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission… the uplink transmission may not be permitted to be scheduled in resources having the SBFD format … the downlink transmission is not permitted to be scheduled in resources having the SBFD format).
Regarding claim 19, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 1, comprising: in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the second configuration and the DCI configures the symbol as downlink, ignoring the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration for the symbol and configuring the symbol as downlink by following the DCI (par. 99, 102, 103, 126, 128, 132, 135, the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission…wherein the uplink transmission is permitted to be scheduled in an uplink sub-band of the resource having the SBFD format…wherein the downlink transmission is permitted to be scheduled in a downlink sub-band of the resource having the SBFD format).
Regarding claim 20, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 1, comprising: in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the second configuration and the DCI configures the symbol as uplink, ignoring the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration for the symbol and configuring the symbol as uplink by following the DCI (par. 99, 102, 103, 126, 128, 132, 135, the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission…wherein the uplink transmission is permitted to be scheduled in an uplink sub-band of the resource having the SBFD format…wherein the downlink transmission is permitted to be scheduled in a downlink sub-band of the resource having the SBFD format).
Regarding claim 27, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein a frequency domain configuration of the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration comprises at least two subbands with different transmission directions (par. 85, An SBFD symbol is a symbol with one or more sub-bands (referred to herein as SBFD sub-bands) that a network node (such as a gNB) can use or will use for SBFD operation…for reconfiguring resources and/or sub-bands between the downlink format, the uplink format, the flexible format, and the SBFD format), and each of the at least two subbands comprises at least one resource block or a set of consecutive resource blocks for the same transmission direction (par. 85, For SBFD operation within a TDD carrier, an SBFD sub-band may include 1 resource block, or a set of consecutive resource blocks, for a same transmission direction).
Regarding claim 28, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches user equipment, comprising:
a transceiver (par. 96, UE); and
a processor (par. 96, UE), coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform:
controlling the transceiver to receive a first configuration from a network device, wherein the first configuration indicates a plurality of transmission directions for a time period (Figs. 5, 7, par. 96, the network node may output a first configuration…The first configuration may be associated with a TDD pattern…The first configuration may configure the set of resources to an uplink format, a downlink format, or a flexible format);
controlling the transceiver to receive a second configuration from the network device, wherein the second configuration indicates at least one SBFD resource within the time period (par. 97, 100, the network node may output a second configuration configuring one or more resources, of the set of resources, to an SBFD format. The second configuration may configure the one or more resources (e.g., one or more slots, one or more symbols, or a combination thereof) to the SBFD format based at least in part on the one or more resources satisfying a condition);
controlling the transceiver to receive a downlink control information (DCI) from the network device (par. 102, the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission), wherein the DCI indicates at least one second transmission directions for at least one slot within the time period (par. 82, 102, Each slot 515 and/or portions thereof (e.g., symbols) may be scheduled and/or configured for use for an uplink (“UL”) communication, a downlink (“DL”) communication, or as flexible (“F”). A flexible slot (e.g., 515h-515m) may be used for either an uplink communication or a downlink communication…the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission); and
performing a communication operation with the network device according to the first configuration, the second configuration, and the DCI (par. 96, 97, 100, 102, 117, the UE and the network node may communicate on the one or more resources).
Regarding claim 29, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches a method for setting subband full duplex (SBFD) resource, applied to a network device, comprising:
transmitting, by the network device, a first configuration to a user equipment (UE), wherein the first configuration indicates a plurality of transmission directions for a time period (Figs. 5, 7, par. 96, the network node may output a first configuration…The first configuration may be associated with a TDD pattern…The first configuration may configure the set of resources to an uplink format, a downlink format, or a flexible format);
transmitting, by the network device, a second configuration to the UE, wherein the second configuration indicates at least one SBFD resource within the time period (par. 97, 100, the network node may output a second configuration configuring one or more resources, of the set of resources, to an SBFD format. The second configuration may configure the one or more resources (e.g., one or more slots, one or more symbols, or a combination thereof) to the SBFD format based at least in part on the one or more resources satisfying a condition);
transmitting, by the network device, a downlink control information (DCI) to the UE (par. 102, the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission), wherein the DCI indicates at least one second transmission directions for at least one slot within the time period (par. 82, 102, Each slot 515 and/or portions thereof (e.g., symbols) may be scheduled and/or configured for use for an uplink (“UL”) communication, a downlink (“DL”) communication, or as flexible (“F”). A flexible slot (e.g., 515h-515m) may be used for either an uplink communication or a downlink communication…the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission); and
performing, by the network device, a communication operation with the UE according to the first configuration, the second configuration, and the DCI (par. 96, 97, 100, 102, 117, the UE and the network node may communicate on the one or more resources).
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.
Claim(s) 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) in view of CHOE et al. (US 20260172217 with foreign app. KR 10-2022-0150571 filed on 11/11/2022).
Regarding claim 4, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not explicitly teach the method according to claim 2, wherein the first SBFD resource is consecutive in a time domain and the second SBFD resource is consecutive in the time domain.
But, CHOE et al. (US 20260172217) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the first SBFD resource is consecutive in a time domain and the second SBFD resource is consecutive in the time domain (fig. 10, 12, par. 209, 224, Whether an SBFD operation is performed for each TDD period length may be indicated by using a bitmap method of using 0 as the index of the first TDD period in an SBFD configuration period and indicating whether an SBFD operation is performed for each index, by using bits, or a start and length indicator value (SLIV) method of encoding and indicating a start index and a TDD period length in which a consecutive SBFD operation is performed together…indicating SBFD time resource information by using a consecutive slot length (L) 1212 and a start slot (S) 1213 in an SBFD).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by CHOE in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to provide efficiently configuring/allocating time resources for full-duplex communication in a wireless communication system (CHOE par. 10).
Regarding claim 5, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not explicitly teach the method according to claim 4, wherein an end time of the first SBFD resource is aligned with a start time of the second SBFD resource.
But, CHOE et al. (US 20260172217) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein an end time of the first SBFD resource is aligned with a start time of the second SBFD resource (fig. 10, par. 209, 224, fig. 10, 12, par. 209, 224, Whether an SBFD operation is performed for each TDD period length may be indicated by using a bitmap method of using 0 as the index of the first TDD period in an SBFD configuration period and indicating whether an SBFD operation is performed for each index, by using bits, or a start and length indicator value (SLIV) method of encoding and indicating a start index and a TDD period length in which a consecutive SBFD operation is performed together…indicating SBFD time resource information by using a consecutive slot length (L) 1212 and a start slot (S) 1213 in an SBFD).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by CHOE in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to provide efficiently configuring/allocating time resources for full-duplex communication in a wireless communication system (CHOE par. 10).
Regarding claim 6, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the method according to claim 1, 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.
But, CHOE et al. (US 20260172217) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches 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 (par. 209, Whether an SBFD operation is performed for each TDD period length may be indicated by using a bitmap method of using 0 as the index of the first TDD period in an SBFD configuration period and indicating whether an SBFD operation is performed for each index, by using bits, or a start and length indicator value (SLIV) method of encoding and indicating a start index and a TDD period length in which a consecutive SBFD operation is performed together.).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by CHOE in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to provide efficiently configuring/allocating time resources for full-duplex communication in a wireless communication system (CHOE par. 10).
Regarding claim 8, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the method according to claim 2, wherein a start time of the first SBFD resource is aligned with a start time of the beginning part of the time period.
But, CHOE et al. (US 20260172217) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein a start time of the first SBFD resource is aligned with a start time of the beginning part of the time period (fig. 10, par. 209, 224, Whether an SBFD operation is performed for each TDD period length may be indicated by using a bitmap method of using 0 as the index of the first TDD period in an SBFD configuration period and indicating whether an SBFD operation is performed for each index, by using bits, or a start and length indicator value (SLIV) method of encoding and indicating a start index and a TDD period length in which a consecutive SBFD operation is performed together).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by CHOE in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to provide efficiently configuring/allocating time resources for full-duplex communication in a wireless communication system (CHOE par. 10).
Regarding claim 9, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the method according to claim 2, wherein the SBFD setting comprises an offset, and a start time of the first SBFD resource is later than a start time of the beginning part of the time period by the offset.
But, CHOE et al. (US 20260172217) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the SBFD setting comprises an offset, and a start time of the first SBFD resource is later than a start time of the beginning part of the time period by the offset (par. 237, the lengths 1233 and 1236 of consecutive slots not including SBFD symbols from both ends of an SBFD configuration period, and the lengths 1234 and 1235 of consecutive symbols where an SBFD operation is not performed, starting from the end points of the consecutive slots, thereby indicating, to the UE, the position of consecutive symbols for an SBFD operation within the SBFD period).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by CHOE in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to provide efficiently configuring/allocating time resources for full-duplex communication in a wireless communication system (CHOE par. 10).
Regarding claim 10, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the method according to claim 2, wherein the SBFD setting comprises information for a time length, the time length is equal to a sum of a time domain length of the first SBFD resource and a time domain length of the second SBFD resource.
But, CHOE et al. (US 20260172217) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the SBFD setting comprises information for a time length, the time length is equal to a sum of a time domain length of the first SBFD resource and a time domain length of the second SBFD resource (fig. 10, par. 209, 224, Whether an SBFD operation is performed for each TDD period length may be indicated by using a bitmap method of using 0 as the index of the first TDD period in an SBFD configuration period and indicating whether an SBFD operation is performed for each index, by using bits, or a start and length indicator value (SLIV) method of encoding and indicating a start index and a TDD period length in which a consecutive SBFD operation is performed together; e.g. SBFD time period of 2 or 4 SBFD operations or sum of time period of 2 or 4 SBFD time period).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by CHOE in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to provide efficiently configuring/allocating time resources for full-duplex communication in a wireless communication system (CHOE par. 10).
Claim(s) 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) in view of WANG et al. (US 20250220647 with foreign app. CN 202211170478.X filed on 09/23/2022).
Regarding claim 14, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 1, comprising:
in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the second configuration and the DCI, determining whether the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration for the symbol is available based on a field (par. 99, 102, 103, 126, 128, 132, 135, the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission…wherein the uplink transmission is permitted to be scheduled in an uplink sub-band of the resource having the SBFD format…wherein the downlink transmission is permitted to be scheduled in a downlink sub-band of the resource having the SBFD format).
However, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not explicitly teach the symbol is available based on a field comprised in the DCI.
But, WANG et al. (US 20250220647) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the second configuration and the DCI, determining whether the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration for the symbol is available based on a field (par. 116, 121, 122, in a case that the first time-domain unit is configured into the downlink resource by the semi-static signaling, and the format index in the dynamic signaling indicates a flexible resource F or a first value, determining that the uplink sub-band indicated by the SBFD pattern is unavailable or available).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by WANG in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve the frequency spectrum utilization rate, improve the uplink coverage and reduce the delay of the time delay-sensitive traffic (WANG par. 53).
Regarding claim 15, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the method according to claim 14, wherein the field has one bit, and the method comprises: in response to determining that the field has a first bit value, determining that the at least one SBFD resource is available; and in response to determining that the field has a second bit value, determining that the at least one SBFD resource is not available.
But, WANG et al. (US 20250220647) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the field has one bit, and the method comprises: in response to determining that the field has a first bit value, determining that the at least one SBFD resource is available (par. 116, 122, in a case that the first time-domain unit is configured into the downlink resource by the semi-static signaling, and the format index in the dynamic signaling indicates the flexible resource F or the first value, determining that the uplink sub-band indicated by the SBFD pattern is available); and in response to determining that the field has a second bit value, determining that the at least one SBFD resource is not available (par. 116, 121, in a case that the first time-domain unit is configured into the downlink resource by the semi-static signaling, and the format index in the dynamic signaling indicates a flexible resource F or a first value, determining that the uplink sub-band indicated by the SBFD pattern is unavailable).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by WANG in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve the frequency spectrum utilization rate, improve the uplink coverage and reduce the delay of the time delay-sensitive traffic (WANG par. 53).
Regarding claim 16, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the method according to claim 15, further comprising: in response to determining that the filed has the second bit value, determining that at least one uplink subband of the at least one SBFD resource has become at least one downlink subband.
But, WANG et al. (US 20250220647) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches in response to determining that the filed has the second bit value, determining that at least one uplink subband of the at least one SBFD resource has become at least one downlink subband (par. 115, 146, 147, The format index may indicate the uplink (U), the downlink (D), the flexible resource F or the first value, the first value is a preset value, for example, may be 255, and may further be another value set according to requirements… in a case that the sub-band is configured into the uplink resource by the semi-static signaling, and the format index in the dynamic signaling indicates D, the terminal determines the transmission direction of the sub-band to be downlink for downlink data transmission, and the outside sub-band is used for downlink data transmission).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by WANG in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve the frequency spectrum utilization rate, improve the uplink coverage and reduce the delay of the time delay-sensitive traffic (WANG par. 53).
Regarding claim 17, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the method according to claim 15, further comprising: in response to determining that the filed has the second bit value, ignoring the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration and configuring the symbol by following the first configuration.
But, WANG et al. (US 20250220647) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches in response to determining that the filed has the second bit value, ignoring the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration and configuring the symbol by following the first configuration (par. 115, 138, 140, in a case that the first time-domain unit is configured into the flexible resource by the semi-static signaling, and the format index in the dynamic signaling indicates the flexible resource F or the first value, determining that the resource indicated by the SBFD pattern is unavailable, and the flexible resource configured by the TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon and/or TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated is available9).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by WANG in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve the frequency spectrum utilization rate, improve the uplink coverage and reduce the delay of the time delay-sensitive traffic (WANG par. 53).
Regarding claim 18, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the method according to claim 15, further comprising: in response to determining that the filed has the second bit value, ignoring the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration and configuring the symbol by following the DCI.
But, WANG et al. (US 20250220647) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches in response to determining that the filed has the second bit value, ignoring the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration and configuring the symbol by following the DCI (par. 115, 138, 140, the indication and/or content of the DCI format 2_0 are/is ignored by the UE on the downlink sub-band in the downlink symbol; and the indication and/or content of the DCI format 2_0 are/is applied to the uplink sub-band or flexible sub-band in the downlink symbol).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by WANG in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve the frequency spectrum utilization rate, improve the uplink coverage and reduce the delay of the time delay-sensitive traffic (WANG par. 53).
Regarding claim 21, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the method according to claim 1, comprising: in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the second configuration and the DCI configures the symbol as flexible, ignoring the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration for the symbol and configuring the symbol as flexible by following the DCI.
But, WANG et al. (US 20250220647) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the second configuration and the DCI configures the symbol as flexible, ignoring the at least one SBFD resource indicated by the second configuration for the symbol and configuring the symbol as flexible by following the DCI (par. 116, 154, the dynamic signaling is in a downlink control information DCI format 2_0… indication of a format index in the dynamic signaling. The format index may indicate the uplink (U), the downlink (D), the flexible resource F or the first value, the first value is a preset value, for example, may be 255, and may further be another value set according to requirements… the indication direction of the DCI format 2_0 is used or not used on the uplink sub-band in the symbol F, and the indication direction of the DCI format 2_0 is used or not used on the flexible sub-band in the symbol F).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by WANG in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve the frequency spectrum utilization rate, improve the uplink coverage and reduce the delay of the time delay-sensitive traffic (WANG par. 53).
Regarding claim 22, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 1, comprising: in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the second configuration and the DCI configures the symbol as direction, ignoring the DCI and configuring the symbol by following the second configuration for the symbol (par. 99, 102, 103, 126, 128, 131, 134, the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission… the uplink transmission may not be permitted to be scheduled in resources having the SBFD format … the downlink transmission is not permitted to be scheduled in resources having the SBFD format).
However, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) does not teach the DCI configures the symbol as flexible;
But, WANG et al. (US 20250220647) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the second configuration and the DCI configures the symbol as flexible, ignoring the DCI and configuring the symbol by following the second configuration for the symbol (par. 140, the indication and/or content of the DCI format 2_0 are/is ignored by the UE on the downlink sub-band in the downlink symbol; and the indication and/or content of the DCI format 2_0 are/is applied to the uplink sub-band or flexible sub-band in the downlink symbol);
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by WANG in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve the frequency spectrum utilization rate, improve the uplink coverage and reduce the delay of the time delay-sensitive traffic (WANG par. 53).
Claim(s) 23-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) in view of KHAN BEIGI et al. (US 20260031964 as supported by provisional app. 63410947 filed on 09/28/2022).
Regarding claim 23, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a slot format table, wherein the slot format table comprises at least one of a downlink symbol, an uplink symbol, a flexible symbol, and an SBFD symbol (Figs. 5, 7, par. 96, 97, 100, the network node may output a first configuration…The first configuration may be associated with a TDD pattern…The first configuration may configure the set of resources to an uplink format, a downlink format, or a flexible format);
However, ZHANG does not teach in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the DCI as the SBFD symbol, determining that a frequency domain configuration of the symbol is the same as the second configuration.
But, KHAN BEIGI et al. (US 20260031964) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches in response to determining that a symbol within the at least one slot is configured by the DCI as the SBFD symbol, determining that a frequency domain configuration of the symbol is the same as the second configuration (par. 147, 205, 207, One or more PUCCH resources (e.g., valid PUCCH resources) located within uplink subband in SFBD slot may be used and other PUCCH resources (e.g., invalid PUCCH resources) which may be located outside the uplink subband in SBFD slot may be considered as not available PUCCH resources…DCI that has scheduled the DL signal (or channel) reception, in which the WTRU may be configured with the PUCCH resource to be used for SBFD slot/symbol which has a valid frequency resource allocation within the UL subband in the SBFD slot/symbol.).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by KHAN BEIGI in the system of ZHANG to configure the resource.
The motivation would have been to improve the frequency spectrum utilization rate.
Regarding claim 24, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 23, further comprising: in response to determining that the symbol is also configured by the first configuration as downlink, ignoring the first configuration and configuring the symbol by following the DCI (Figs. 5, 7, par. 96, 102, 133, 135, The first configuration may configure the set of resources to an uplink format, a downlink format, or a flexible format…the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission).
Regarding claim 25, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 23, further comprising: in response to determining that the symbol is also configured by the first configuration as flexible, ignoring the first configuration and configuring the symbol by following the DCI (Figs. 5, 7, par. 96, 102, 130, The first configuration may configure the set of resources to an uplink format, a downlink format, or a flexible format…the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission).
Regarding claim 26, ZHANG et al. (US 20240014996) teaches the method according to claim 23, further comprising: in response to determining that the symbol is also configured by the first configuration as uplink, ignoring the first configuration and configuring the symbol by following the DCI (Figs. 5, 7, par. 96, 102, 130, 131, The first configuration may configure the set of resources to an uplink format, a downlink format, or a flexible format…the network node may transmit DCI scheduling the downlink transmission or the uplink transmission).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
MOHANDOSS et al. (US 20240178967) teaches wherein the first SBFD resource is consecutive in a time domain and the second SBFD resource is consecutive in the time domain (par. 42, uplink resources 821, 822, and 823 of the SBFD slots are three consecutive SBFD slots allocated for the UE).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THINH D TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3934. The examiner can normally be reached mon-fri 9-6.
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/THINH D TRAN/for /Thinh Tran/, Patent Examiner of Art Unit 2466 08/08/2026
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