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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/11/2024, 03/31/2025, 04/16/2025, 06/23/2025, 11/07/2025, 01/08/2025, 05/13/2026, 06/09/2026 were filed. The submission is 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 § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roessel (WO 2011/154030 A2) in view of Luo (US 2011/0317624 A1) and further in view of Astely (US 2011/0081932 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Roessel discloses: A method comprising: receiving, by a wireless device and from a base station: one or more configuration parameters for a plurality of cells, since Roessel teaches configures a network of at least two backward-compatible carriers in which one carrier is a stand-alone (anchor) carrier and the other carrier is configured to emulate a virtual extension carrier, so each carrier is associated with one of at least two different carrier types (one or more configuration parameters for a plurality of cells ) signaled to the device by radio resource control configuration (i.e., “receiving, by a wireless device and from a base station) (Roessel, page 6, lines 16-21:“allocating at least two different backward-compatible carriers in a network, wherein one of the at least two backward-compatible carriers is a stand-alone carrier, and where the other backward-compatible carrier emulates and/or is configured to emulate a virtual extension carrier 10 with respect to the stand-alone carrier.” … page 10, lines 13-16: “the Virtual Extension Carrier is a “sub-set” of the backward-compatible UL or DL CC, which follows the 15 structure of backward-compatible UL/DL CCs, and contains un-used channels”).
Furthermore, Roessel in page 6, lines 16-21 also discloses: wherein each of the plurality of cells is associated with a first cell type or a second cell type, in particular because Roessel teaches configures a network of at least two backward-compatible carriers in which one carrier is a stand-alone (anchor) carrier and the other carrier is configured to emulate a virtual extension carrier (i.e., “each of the plurality of cells is associated with a first cell type or a second cell type”), so each carrier is associated with one of two carrier types signaled to the device by radio resource control configuration (i.e., “receiving, by a wireless device and from a base station: one or more configuration parameters for a plurality of cells” as claimed)
Additionally, Roessel discloses: wherein an uplink carrier of the cell associated with the second cell type is configured to operate without uplink random access channel resources, particularly since Roessel teaches an uplink virtual extension carrier on which the device never uses the physical random access channel because that channel is cell barred (i.e., “configured to operate without uplink random access channel resources” as claimed) and the random access channel resources reside only on the stand-alone carrier's uplink (Roessel, page 15, lines 14-16 “UE never uses PRACH on the Virtual Extension Carrier 15 (cell barred).” … page 16, line 33 “PRACH resources exist always in standalone carrier's UL CC.”).
In addition, Roessel discloses: information indicating whether each cell of the plurality of cells is associated with the first cell type or the second cell type, notably because Roessel teaches (CRS) cell-specific parameters and a system information element signaled to the device that identify the stand-alone (anchor) carrier and the emulating carrier (i.e., “information indicating whether each cell of the plurality of cells is associated with the first cell type or the second cell type” as claimed), thereby indicating which carrier type each carrier belongs to (Roessel, page 7, lines 6-12 “cell-specific parameters are derived based on the stand-alone component carrier; a new system information block is introduced; cell specific parameters are signaled via the virtual 10 component carrier.”).
With respect to claim 1, although Roessel teaches a network of two backward-compatible carriers where one is a stand-alone anchor carrier and the other emulates a virtual extension carrier whose uplink never uses the random access channel, with carrier-type information signaled to the device: (Roessel, pages 7, 10, 15-16), Roessel does not explicitly disclose wherein a cell associated with the second cell type is configured to be without a common reference signal in at least one downlink transmission time interval that does not have a packet and wherein the common reference signal is for wireless devices that are configured to receive signals via the cell associated with the second cell type, for which Luo is relied upon:
However, Roessel in view of Luo discloses wherein a cell associated with the second cell type is configured to be without a common reference signal in at least one downlink transmission time interval that does not have a packet because in a multicast/broadcast subframe the cell-specific reference signal is absent from the data region, so where no shared-channel packet is transmitted to a device that region carries no common reference signal, teaching a downlink interval configured without the common reference signal when no packet is present (Luo, para [0041], “The eNB may transmit a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) across the system bandwidth for each cell supported by the eNB. The CRS may be transmitted in certain symbol periods of each subframe” … para [0063], “the eNB may specify (e.g., by layer 3 signaling or layer1 signaling) to the UE to use a subset of CRSs or a Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RSS) (contiguous or non-contigu ous) for measurements”).
Moreover, Luo discloses wherein the common reference signal is for wireless devices that are configured to receive signals via the cell associated with the second cell type because the cell-specific reference signal is used by the user equipment served on that cell to perform channel estimation and channel-quality measurement, so it is provided for the devices configured to receive signals via that cell (Luo, para [0041], “The CRS may be transmitted in certain symbol periods of each subframe and may be used by the UEs to perform channel estimation, channel quality measurement, and/or other func tions.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify Roessel to include the teaching of Luo to perform channel estimation and channel-quality measurement, so it is provided for the devices configured to receive signals via that cell.
With respect to claim 1, in spite of the fact that Roessel in view of Luo teaches a network of two backward-compatible carriers where one is a stand-alone anchor carrier and the other emulates a virtual extension carrier whose uplink never uses the random access channel, with carrier-type information signaled to the device, as well as wherein a cell associated with the second cell type is configured to be without a common reference signal in at least one downlink transmission time interval that does not have a packet and wherein the common reference signal is for wireless devices that are configured to receive signals via the cell associated with the second cell type: (Roessel, pages 7, 10, 15-16; Luo, para [0041]), Roessel in view of Luo does not explicitly disclose transmitting, via an uplink channel of a cell associated with the first cell type, control information of the cell associated with the second cell type, for which Astely is relied upon:
However, Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely discloses transmitting, via an uplink channel of a cell associated with the first cell type, control information of the cell associated with the second cell type because the device transmits uplink control information associated with downlink transmissions on a set of radio resources of the uplink primary component carrier even when the downlink assignment is on a different downlink component carrier, so control information for the second carrier is sent on the uplink channel of the first (anchor) carrier (Astely, para [0062], “The user terminal 100 selects a second mapping if it detects at least one downlink assignment for at least one downlink component carrier different from the single associ ated downlink component carrier” … para [0064], “if the user terminal 100 receives assignments for multiple downlink component carriers, the user terminal 100 transmits, on a second set of radio resources on the uplink primary compo nent carrier, uplink control information associated with downlink transmissions”).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the two-carrier-type configuration of Roessel with the multicast/broadcast subframe behavior and cell-specific reference signal usage taught by Luo and the uplink control-signaling-on-the-anchor-carrier scheme taught by Astely, because each reference addresses the same carrier-aggregation problem of efficiently supporting an extension carrier anchored to a backward-compatible carrier; suppressing the common reference signal where no data is sent reduces overhead and interference, and routing the extension carrier's control information onto the anchor carrier's uplink follows directly from Roessel's own teaching that the virtual carrier lacks its own uplink control channel and relies on the stand-alone carrier, yielding a predictable combination of known techniques.
Regarding claim 2, Roessel discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, via a downlink channel of the cell associated with the first cell type, control information comprising scheduling information for transmission of at least one packet, in particular because Roessel teaches the stand-alone anchor carrier's downlink control channel cross-schedules the shared channel of the emulating extension carrier, so the device receives scheduling information for the second carrier on the downlink of the first carrier (Roessel, page 13, lines 33-34 “The PDSCH is allocated via cross-CC scheduling from the stand-alone BCC's PDCCH.”).
Furthermore, Roessel discloses: wherein the scheduling information is associated with the cell associated with the second cell type, particularly since Roessel teaches the stand-alone anchor carrier's downlink control channel cross-schedules the shared channel of the emulating extension carrier, so the device receives scheduling information for the second carrier on the downlink of the first carrier (Roessel, page 13, lines 33-34 “The PDSCH is allocated via cross-CC scheduling from the stand-alone BCC's PDCCH.”).
Additionally, Roessel discloses: and communicating, based on the scheduling information and via the cell associated with the second cell type, the at least one packet, notably because Roessel teaches the stand-alone anchor carrier's downlink control channel cross-schedules the shared channel of the emulating extension carrier, so the device receives scheduling information for the second carrier on the downlink of the first carrier (Roessel, page 13, lines 33-34 “The PDSCH is allocated via cross-CC scheduling from the stand-alone BCC's PDCCH.”).
Regarding claim 6, in spite of the fact that Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely teaches the method of claim 1 with a first-type anchor carrier and a second-type extension carrier, both following backward-compatible structure, configured to the device: (Roessel, page 15), Roessel does not explicitly disclose synchronization signals on the second-type cell at a time-interval location different from that of the first-type cell, for which Astely is relied upon:
However, Roessel in view of Luo discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type comprises synchronization signals located at a transmission time interval location that is different from a transmission time interval location of synchronization signals in the cell associated with the first cell type because the synchronization signals are transmitted in particular subframes of each radio frame, and the network avoids collision of the synchronization signals between the stand-alone carrier and the emulating carrier by choosing the carrier frequency, which entails placing the second carrier's synchronization signals at a different time location than the first carrier's (Luo, para [0041], “In LTE, an eNB may transmit a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) on the downlink in the center 1.08 MHz of the system bandwidth for each cell supported by the eNB. The PSS and SSS may be transmitted in symbol periods 6 and 5, respectively, in subframes 0 and 5 of each radio frame with the normal cyclic prefix, as shown in FIG. 3. The PSS and SSS may be used by UEs for cell search and acquisition. The eNB may transmit a cell-specific reference signal (CRS) across the system bandwidth for each cell supported by the eNB.”).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to locate the second-type carrier's synchronization signals at a different time-interval position than the first-type carrier's, because Roessel expressly requires avoiding collision of the synchronization signals between the two carriers and Luo shows synchronization signals occupying defined subframe positions, so shifting one carrier's synchronization signals in time is a predictable way to meet that anti-collision requirement.
Regarding claim 8, Roessel discloses: A method comprising:, receiving, by a wireless device and from a base station: one or more configuration parameters for a plurality of cells, in particular because Roessel teaches configures a network of at least two backward-compatible carriers in which one carrier is a stand-alone (anchor) carrier and the other is configured to emulate a virtual extension carrier (i.e., “each of the plurality of cells is associated with a first cell type or a second cell type” as claimed), with carrier types signaled to the device via radio resource control configuration (Roessel, page 6, lines 16-21“allocating at least two different backward-compatible carriers in a network, wherein one of the at least two backward-compatible carriers is a stand-alone carrier, and where the other backward-compatible carrier emulates and/or is configured to emulate a virtual extension carrier 10 with respect to the stand-alone carrier.”).
Furthermore, Roessel discloses: wherein each of the plurality of cells is associated with a first cell type or a second cell type, particularly since Roessel teaches configures a network of at least two backward-compatible carriers in which one carrier is a stand-alone (anchor) carrier and the other is configured to emulate a virtual extension carrier (i.e., “each of the plurality of cells is associated with a first cell type or a second cell type” as claimed), with carrier types signaled to the device via radio resource control configuration (Roessel, page 6, lines 16-21“allocating at least two different backward-compatible carriers in a network, wherein one of the at least two backward-compatible carriers is a stand-alone carrier, and where the other backward-compatible carrier emulates and/or is configured to emulate a virtual extension carrier 10 with respect to the stand-alone carrier.”).
Additionally, Roessel discloses: wherein an uplink carrier of the cell associated with the second cell type is configured to operate without uplink random access channel resources, notably because Roessel teaches an uplink virtual extension carrier on which the device never uses the physical random access channel because that channel is cell barred (i.e., “configured to operate without uplink random access channel resources” as claimed), the random access channel resources existing only on the stand-alone carrier's uplink (Roessel, page 15, lines 14-16 “UE never uses PRACH on the Virtual Extension Carrier 15 (cell barred).” … page 16, line 33 “PRACH resources exist always in standalone carrier's UL CC.”).
In addition, Roessel discloses: information indicating whether each cell of the plurality of cells is associated with the first cell type or the second cell type, at least because Roessel teaches cell-specific parameters and a system information element signaled to the device identifying the stand-alone (anchor) carrier and the emulating carrier (i.e., “information indicating whether each cell of the plurality of cells is associated with the first cell type or the second cell type” as claimed), indicating which carrier type each carrier belongs to (Roessel, page 7, lines 6-12 “cell-specific parameters are derived based on the stand-alone component carrier; a new system information block is introduced; cell specific parameters are signaled via the virtual 10 component carrier.”).
Although Roessel teaches a network of two backward-compatible carriers where one is a stand-alone anchor carrier and the other emulates a virtual extension carrier whose uplink never uses the random access channel, with carrier-type information signaled to the device: (Roessel, pages 7, 15-16), Roessel does not explicitly disclose wherein a cell associated with the second cell type selectively comprises a common reference signal in at least one downlink transmission time interval based on data being transmitted in the at least one downlink transmission time interval and wherein the common reference signal is for wireless devices that are configured to receive signals via the cell associated with the second cell type, for which Luo is relied upon:
However, Roessel in view of Luo discloses wherein a cell associated with the second cell type selectively comprises a common reference signal in at least one downlink transmission time interval based on data being transmitted in the at least one downlink transmission time interval because the CRS (cell-specific reference signal) is transmitted in certain symbol periods to support data reception while resource elements not used for it carry data, and the network can direct the device to use a subset of those reference signals on the subframes where shared-channel data is assigned, so presence of the common reference signal in an interval depends on the data being transmitted there (Luo, para [0043], “For both subframe formats 410 and 420, resource elements not used for the CRS may be used to transmit data (e.g., traffic data, control data, and/or other data).” … para [0063], “the eNB may specify (e.g., by layer 3 signaling or layer1 signaling) to the UE to use a subset of CRSs or a Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RSS) (contiguous or non-contigu ous) for measurements”).
Moreover, Luo discloses wherein the common reference signal is for wireless devices that are configured to receive signals via the cell associated with the second cell type because the cell-specific reference signal is used by the user equipment served on that cell to perform channel estimation and channel-quality measurement, so it is provided for the devices configured to receive signals via that cell (Luo, para [0041], “The CRS may be transmitted in certain symbol periods of each subframe and may be used by the UEs to perform channel estimation, channel quality measurement, and/or other func tions.”).
Consequently, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to modify Roessel to include the teaching of Luo set forth above.
Even though Roessel in view of Luo teaches a network of two backward-compatible carriers where one is a stand-alone anchor carrier and the other emulates a virtual extension carrier whose uplink never uses the random access channel, with carrier-type information signaled to the device, as well as wherein a cell associated with the second cell type selectively comprises a common reference signal in at least one downlink transmission time interval based on data being transmitted in the at least one downlink transmission time interval and wherein the common reference signal is for wireless devices that are configured to receive signals via the cell associated with the second cell type: (Roessel, Roessel, pages 7, 15-16; Luo, para [0043]), Roessel in view of Luo does not explicitly disclose transmitting, via an uplink channel of a cell associated with the first cell type, control information of the cell associated with the second cell type, for which Astely is relied upon:
Yet, Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely discloses: transmitting, via an uplink channel of a cell associated with the first cell type, control information of the cell associated with the second cell type because the device transmits uplink control information associated with downlink transmissions on radio resources of the uplink primary component carrier even when the downlink assignment is on a different downlink component carrier, so control information for the second carrier travels on the uplink channel of the first (anchor) carrier (Astely, para [0064], “if the user terminal 100 receives assignments for multiple downlink component carriers, the user terminal 100 transmits, on a second set of radio resources on the uplink primary component carrier, uplink control information associated with downlink transmissions”).
For these reasons, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Roessel's two-carrier-type configuration with Luo's data-dependent use of the cell-specific reference signal and Astely's transmission of uplink control information on the anchor carrier, because all three address efficient carrier aggregation with an anchored extension carrier; conditioning the common reference signal on whether data is present conserves resources and limits interference, and Roessel itself directs the extension carrier's control onto the stand-alone carrier's uplink, so routing that control as Astely teaches is a predictable application of known methods to achieve the expected benefit.
Regarding claim 9, the claim recites: The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, via a downlink channel of the cell associated with the first cell type, control information comprising scheduling information for transmission of at least one packet, wherein the scheduling information is associated with the cell associated with the second cell type; and communicating, based on the scheduling information and via the cell associated with the second cell type, the at least one packet. Claim 9 is analogous to claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 13, the claim recites: The method of claim 8, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type comprises synchronization signals located at a transmission time interval location that is different from a transmission time interval location of synchronization signals in the cell associated with the first cell type. Claim 13 is analogous to claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 15, the claim recites: A wireless device comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the wireless device to: receive, from a base station: one or more configuration parameters for a plurality of cells, wherein each of the plurality of cells is associated with a first cell type or a second cell type, wherein a cell associated with the second cell type is configured to be without a common reference signal in at least one downlink transmission time interval that does not have a packet, wherein an uplink carrier of the cell associated with the second cell type is configured to operate without uplink random access channel resources, and wherein the common reference signal is for wireless devices that are configured to receive signals via the cell associated with the second cell type; and information indicating whether each cell of the plurality of cells is associated with the first cell type or the second cell type; and transmit, via an uplink channel of a cell associated with the first cell type, control information of the cell associated with the second cell type. Claim 15 is analogous to claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 16, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the wireless device to: receive, via a downlink channel of the cell associated with the first cell type, control information comprising scheduling information for transmission of at least one packet, wherein the scheduling information is associated with the cell associated with the second cell type; and communicate, based on the scheduling information and via the cell associated with the second cell type, the at least one packet. Claim 16 is analogous to claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 20, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type comprises synchronization signals located at a transmission time interval location that is different from a transmission time interval location of synchronization signals in the cell associated with the first cell type. Claim 20 is analogous to claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 22, the claim recites: A wireless device comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the wireless device to: receive, from a base station: one or more configuration parameters for a plurality of cells, wherein each of the plurality of cells is associated with a first cell type or a second cell type, wherein a cell associated with the second cell type selectively comprises a common reference signal in at least one downlink transmission time interval based on data being transmitted in the at least one downlink transmission time interval, wherein an uplink carrier of the cell associated with the second cell type is configured to operate without uplink random access channel resources, and wherein the common reference signal is for wireless devices that are configured to receive signals via the cell associated with the second cell type; and information indicating whether each cell of the plurality of cells is associated with the first cell type or the second cell type; and transmit, via an uplink channel of a cell associated with the first cell type, control information of the cell associated with the second cell type. Claim 22 is analogous to claim 8 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 23, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 22, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further configure the wireless device to: receive, via a downlink channel of the cell associated with the first cell type, control information comprising scheduling information for transmission of at least one packet, wherein the scheduling information is associated with the cell associated with the second cell type; and communicate, based on the scheduling information and via the cell associated with the second cell type, the at least one packet. Claim 23 is analogous to claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 27, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 22, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type comprises synchronization signals located at a transmission time interval location that is different from a transmission time interval location of synchronization signals in the cell associated with the first cell type. Claim 27 is analogous to claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roessel (WO 2011/154030 A2) in view of Luo (US 2011/0317624 A1) and further in view of Astely (US 2011/0081932 A1) and further in view of Chen (US 2010/0285792 A1)
Regarding claim 3, although Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely teaches the carrier-aggregation method of claim 1 with an anchor carrier and a virtual extension carrier whose downlink behavior is configured by the network: (Roessel, Luo, para. [0041]; Astely, para. [0064]), Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely does not explicitly disclose a downlink interval in which the control channel begins at a symbol after the first symbol of that interval, for which Chen is relied upon:
Yet, Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely and further in view of Chen discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type comprises a second downlink transmission time interval in which a control channel is configured to start at a symbol after a first symbol in the second downlink transmission time interval because in a multicast/broadcast subframe the control channel and reference symbols occupy only the first two symbols and, more generally, the control region can be configured so the control channel does not occupy the very first symbol; Chen shows the first two symbols form the control region while the remaining region carries data, supporting a control channel that starts after the first symbol (Chen, para [0035], “In an MBSFN subframe, CRS and con trol signal only exists in the first two OFDM symbols out of the total of 14 OFDM symbols (in normal CP) or 12 OFDM symbols (in extended CP) in a subframe.”).
Consequently, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to configure the extension carrier of the claim 1 combination to use the control-region structure taught by Chen, in which the control channel and reference symbols occupy a defined set of leading symbols of a multicast/broadcast subframe, because adopting that well-known subframe format predictably reduces interference between the control and data regions and is a standard technique for such subframes.
Regarding claim 7, even though Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely teaches the method of claim 1 with a second-type extension carrier whose downlink reference signals are configured, including the common reference signal usage drawn from the base combination: (Roessel, Luo, para. [0041]; Astely, para. [0064]), Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely does not explicitly disclose a downlink interval of the second-type cell carrying the common reference signal together with a CSI reference signal, primary and secondary synchronization signals, a broadcast channel signal, and a demodulation reference signal, for which Chen is relied upon:
Yet, Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely and further in view of Chen discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type is configured to have, in at least one second downlink transmission time interval, the common reference signal, a channel state information (CSI) reference signal, a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal, and a demodulation reference signal because a subframe is configured to carry the cell-specific reference signal in its control region together with a demodulation reference signal in the data region while coexisting with the broadcast channel and the primary and secondary synchronization codes, and a CSI reference signal is also available, so the interval contains all of the recited signals together (Chen, para [0034], “DRS position should not overlap/collide with other physical sig nals, such as CRS, PBCH (physical broadcast channel), SSC (Secondary Synchronization Code) and PSC (Primary Syn chronization Code).” … para [0038], “during CoMP transmission the MBSFN subframes have a control region for containing a cell specific reference symbol (CRS) and a separate data region for containing one or more demodulation reference symbols (DRS).”).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to configure the second-type carrier's downlink interval to carry the cell-specific reference signal, demodulation reference signal, synchronization codes, and broadcast channel together as taught by Chen, with the CSI reference signal known from the base combination, because providing these coexisting physical signals in a single subframe is an established frame design that supports both legacy and advanced devices on the same carrier, yielding predictable demodulation and measurement support.
Regarding claim 10, the claim recites: The method of claim 8, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type comprises a second downlink transmission time interval in which a control channel is configured to start at a symbol after a first symbol in the second downlink transmission time interval. Claim 10 is analogous to claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 14, the claim recites: The method of claim 8, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type is configured to have, in at least one second downlink transmission time interval, the common reference signal, a channel state information (CSI) reference signal, a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal, and a demodulation reference signal. Claim 14 is analogous to claim 7 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 17, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type comprises a second downlink transmission time interval in which a control channel is configured to start at a symbol after a first symbol in the second downlink transmission time interval. Claim 17 is analogous to claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 21, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type is configured to have, in at least one second downlink transmission time interval, the common reference signal, a channel state information (CSI) reference signal, a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal, and a demodulation reference signal. Claim 21 is analogous to claim 7 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 24, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 22, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type comprises a second downlink transmission time interval in which a control channel is configured to start at a symbol after a first symbol in the second downlink transmission time interval. Claim 24 is analogous to claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 28, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 22, wherein the cell associated with the second cell type is configured to have, in at least one second downlink transmission time interval, the common reference signal, a channel state information (CSI) reference signal, a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) signal, and a demodulation reference signal. Claim 28 is analogous to claim 7 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 4, 11, 18, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roessel (WO 2011/154030 A2) in view of Luo (US 2011/0317624 A1) and further in view of Astely (US 2011/0081932 A1) and further in view of Fong (US 2011/0170496 A1)
Regarding claim 4, in spite of the fact that Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely teaches the method of claim 3 in which the second-type cell's downlink interval has a control channel starting after the first symbol: (Luo, para. [0041]; Astely, para. [0064]), Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely does not explicitly disclose reduced transmit power on the first symbol relative to other symbols of the downlink interval, for which Fong is relied upon:
Yet, Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely and further in view of Fong discloses The method of claim 3, wherein the first symbol in the second downlink transmission time interval is transmitted at a power level lower than a power level associated with transmission of one or more other symbols in the second downlink transmission time interval because the access node blanks or transmits at lower than nominal transmit power on a portion of the control channel, including the leading symbols, while transmitting the remainder at nominal power, so the first symbol is transmitted at a lower power level than other symbols of the interval (Fong, para [0130], “a first access node performs at least one of blanking and transmitting at lower than nominal transmit power on at least a portion of a control channel.” … para [0122], “the macro cell blanks its transmission (PDSCH and/or Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH)) on the third OFDM symbol of some or all of the MBSFN subframes”).
For these reasons, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to add Fong's reduced or blanked transmit power on a leading control symbol to the method of claim 3, because lowering the power of the first symbol relative to others is a known means of coordinating control-channel interference between high- and low-power nodes, yielding the predictable benefit of improved decoding for interfered devices.
Regarding claim 11, the claim recites: The method of claim 10, wherein the first symbol in the second downlink transmission time interval is transmitted at a power level lower than a power level associated with transmission of one or more other symbols in the second downlink transmission time interval. Claim 11 is analogous to claim 4 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 18, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 17, wherein the first symbol in the second downlink transmission time interval is transmitted at a power level lower than a power level associated with transmission of one or more other symbols in the second downlink transmission time interval. Claim 18 is analogous to claim 4 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 25, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 24, wherein the first symbol in the second downlink transmission time interval is transmitted at a power level lower than a power level associated with transmission of one or more other symbols in the second downlink transmission time interval. Claim 25 is analogous to claim 4 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 5, 12, 19, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Roessel (WO 2011/154030 A2) in view of Luo (US 2011/0317624 A1) and further in view of Astely (US 2011/0081932 A1) and further in view of TS36211 (3GPP TS 36.211 V10.3.0)
Regarding claim 5, even though Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely teaches the method of claim 1 in which the first-type cell is the stand-alone backward-compatible anchor carrier supporting a sequence of transmission time intervals: (Roessel, Roessel, page 10; Luo, para. [0040]; Astely, para. [0064]), Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely does not explicitly disclose a downlink reference signal present in every transmission time interval of the first-type cell, for which TS36211 is relied upon:
Yet, Roessel in view of Luo and further in view of Astely and further in view of TS36211 discloses The method of claim 1, wherein the cell associated with the first cell type comprises: a plurality of transmission time intervals; and a downlink reference signal in every transmission time interval of the plurality of transmission time intervals because the cell-specific downlink reference signal is mapped to resource elements in each slot and is present except in the multicast/broadcast region, so a backward-compatible carrier carries the downlink reference signal in every (normal) subframe, satisfying a reference signal in every transmission time interval (TS36211, 6.10.1.2: “Resource elements (k , l ) used for transmission of cell-specific reference signals on any of the antenna ports in a slot shall not be used for any transmission on any other antenna port in the same slot and set to zero.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the standardized cell-specific reference signal mapping of TS 36.211 for the first-type (anchor) carrier of the claim 1 combination, because Roessel's stand-alone carrier is backward compatible and a backward-compatible carrier transmits the cell-specific reference signal in each subframe per the standard, making its presence in every interval an expected attribute of the anchor carrier.
Regarding claim 12, the claim recites: The method of claim 8, wherein the cell associated with the first cell type comprises: a plurality of transmission time intervals; and a downlink reference signal in every transmission time interval of the plurality of transmission time intervals. Claim 12 is analogous to claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 19, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 15, wherein the cell associated with the first cell type comprises: a plurality of transmission time intervals; and a downlink reference signal in every transmission time interval of the plurality of transmission time intervals. Claim 19 is analogous to claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Regarding claim 26, the claim recites: The wireless device of claim 22, wherein the cell associated with the first cell type comprises: a plurality of transmission time intervals; and a downlink reference signal in every transmission time interval of the plurality of transmission time intervals. Claim 26 is analogous to claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons.
Conclusion
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/CHONGSUH PARK/Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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