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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the arguments/remarks filed on 09/10/2026.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Claims 4, 6, 12, 17, 19 are objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims.
Claims 1-3, 5, 7-11, 13-16, 18, 20 are rejected.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2, 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chunli Wu et al (US 20210250920 A1) in view of Sung-pyo Hong (US 20200413457 A1).
For Claim 1, Wu discloses a user equipment (UE) (Wu teaches, in FIG. 7, that the terminal device includes … one or more memories 720 coupled to the one or more processors 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to the one or more processors 710) comprising: a transceiver configured to: receive a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0063, that A periodic cell DTX/DRX may be configured by the network via radio resource control (RRC) signaling) including a configuration of a periodic cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) pattern for at least one serving cell (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0076, that the terminal device 110 receives from a network device, a DTX/DRX configuration indicating configuration information on a DTX/DRX mode of the network device 120); and a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: determine whether a special cell (SpCell) is configured with the periodic cell DTX pattern; and based on a determination that the SpCell is configured with the periodic cell DTX pattern, monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the SpCell (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0080, that when the network device 120 is active and thus the terminal device 110 may monitor/measure these occasions only when the network device 120 is active for the terminal device 110 with DTX mode configuration).
Wu also teaches, in ¶ 0099, that For example, if the SR trigger is associated with a high priority LCH or a BFR trigger (e.g., SCell BFR or BFD-RS set failure on SCell/SpCell).
Wu fails to expressly disclose based on a determination that the RAR window is running, monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the Cell.
However, Hong, in the analogous art, discloses based on a determination that the RAR window is running, monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the Cell (Hong teaches, in ¶ 0156, that While the random access response window operates, the UE monitors the PDCCH for the random access response identified by the RA-RNTI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Wu with the random access procedure taught in Hong. The motivation for performing a random access procedure is to access and communicate with a base station [Hong: ¶ 0070].
For Claim 2, Wu discloses a UE, wherein: the processor is further configured to determine whether the SpCell is in a cell DTX active period; and to monitor the PDCCH, the processor is further configured to monitor the PDCCH during the cell DTX active period while the RAR window is running (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0080, that when the network device 120 is active and thus the terminal device 110 may monitor/measure these occasions only when the network device 120 is active for the terminal device 110 with DTX mode configuration).
Wu fails to expressly disclose monitoring the PDCCH while the RAR window is running.
However, Hong, in the analogous art, discloses monitoring the PDCCH while the RAR window is running (Hong teaches, in ¶ 0156, that While the random access response window operates, the UE monitors the PDCCH for the random access response identified by the RA-RNTI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Wu with the random access procedure taught in Hong. The motivation to perform a random access procedure is to access and communicate with a base station [Hong: ¶ 0070].
For Claims 14-15, please refer to the rejection of Claims 1-2, above.
Claims 3, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chunli Wu et al (US 20210250920 A1) in view of Sung-pyo Hong (US 20200413457 A1) as applied to claim 1, or 14 above, and further in view of Donggun Kim et al (US 20210250920 A1).
For Claim 3, Hong discloses monitoring the PDCCH while the RAR window is running (Hong teaches, in ¶ 0156, that While the random access response window operates, the UE monitors the PDCCH for the random access response identified by the RA-RNTI).
Wu and Hong fail to expressly disclose to determine whether the SpCell is in a cell DTX non-active period; and to monitor the PDCCH.
However, Kim, in the analogous art, discloses monitoring the PDCCH while the RAR window is running (Kim teaches, in ¶ 0313, that When the DRX function is configured in the PCell (or SpCell or PSCell). Kim teaches, in ¶ 0325, that the first SCell groups may indicate group identifiers applying an operation of monitoring, by the terminal, the DCI of the PDCCH in a short period (out of active time) or a period outside an active period and indicating in a bitmap value of the received DCI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Wu and Hong with the inactive state taught in Hong. The motivation is in order to reduce battery consumption of the terminal [Kim: ¶ 0063].
Claims 5, 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chunli Wu et al (US 20210250920 A1) in view of Sung-pyo Hong (US 20200413457 A1) as applied to claim 1, or 14 above, and further in view of Yi Ding et al (US 20230337221 A1).
For Claims 5, 18, Wu discloses a UE, wherein: the reconfiguration message includes a configuration of a periodic cell discontinuous reception (DRX) pattern (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0076, that the terminal device 110 receives from a network device, a DTX/DRX configuration indicating configuration information on a DTX/DRX mode of the network device 120) for the SpCell (Wu also teaches, in ¶ 0099, that For example, if the SR trigger is associated with a high priority LCH or a BFR trigger (e.g., SCell BFR or BFD-RS set failure on SCell/SpCell)); and transmit one of a negative acknowledgement (NACK) or a positive acknowledgment (ACK) in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) (Wu teaches in ¶ 0075, that the terminal device 110 may transmit uplink control information (UCI), e.g., HARQ feedback information, to the network device 120 via an UL control channel transmission. For example, the UL control channel transmission may be a PUCCH transmission.
Hong teaches, in ¶ 0162, that Upon transmitting the MAC PDU via the uplink radio resource allocated by the random access response, the UE includes the UE identification information in the MAC PDU.
Wu & Hong fail to expressly disclose receive a grant for a sidelink (SL) resource for SL communication from the SpCell.
However, Ding, in the analogous art, discloses receive a grant for a sidelink (SL) resource for SL communication from the SpCell (Ding teaches, in ¶ 0032, that In the mode A (as shown in FIG. 2), transmission resources of a device 1 and a device 2 are allocated by the base station, and the two devices transmit data on an SL according to the resources allocated by the base station).
Ding further teaches, in ¶ 0035, that As shown in FIG. 4, a UE A and a UE B each have a unicast connection to a UE C. The UE A and the UE B do not know existence of each other, and respectively configure a DRX pattern 1 and a DRX pattern 2 for the UE C.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Wu & Hong with the D2D direct communication mode taught in Ding. The motivation is to achieve a higher spectral efficiency and a lower transmission delay [Ding: ¶ 0031].
Claims 7, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chunli Wu et al (US 20210250920 A1) in view of Sung-pyo Hong (US 20200413457 A1) as applied to claim 1, or 14 above, and further in view of HSIN-HSI Tsai (US 20210105827 A1).
For Claims 7, 20, Wu also teaches, in ¶ 0100, that The terminal device 110 may still follow DTX mode for PDCCH monitoring after the SR is transmitted if the SR trigger is, for example, associated with a BSR triggered by a low priority LCH, BFD-RS set failure on SCell, or consistent LBT failure recovery of a SCell.
Wu & Hong fail to expressly disclose to determine whether a scheduling request (SR) triggered for a beam failure recovery of a first serving cell or for a beam failure recovery of a bidirectional forwarding detection-reference signal (BFD-RS) set of the first serving cell is pending during a cell DRX non-active period of the second serving cell, wherein the triggered SR is configured to be transmitted in the second serving cell; and the transceiver is further configured to, based on the determination, transmit the SR in physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) occasions for the SR during the cell DRX non-active period of the second serving cell, wherein the second serving cell can be a same cell or a different cell from the first serving cell.
However, Tsai, in the analogous art, discloses to determine whether a scheduling request (SR) triggered for a beam failure recovery of a first serving cell or for a beam failure recovery of a bidirectional forwarding detection-reference signal (BFD-RS) set of the first serving cell is pending during a cell DRX non-active period of the second serving cell, wherein the triggered SR is configured to be transmitted in the second serving cell (Tsai teaches, in ¶ 0099, that the UE 424 may transmit a BFR-SR to the NW 422 (e.g., if the beam failure event is detected on an SCell. Tsai teaches, in ¶ 0055, that when a DRX cycle is configured, the (DRX) active time may include the time during which a timer is running, where the timer may be a drx-onDurationTimer, …or an SR is sent on a PUCCH and is pending ); and the transceiver is further configured to, based on the determination, transmit the SR in physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) occasions for the SR during the cell DRX non-active period of the second serving cell, wherein the second serving cell can be a same cell or a different cell from the first serving cell (Tsai teaches, in ¶ 0075, that An SR configuration may include a set of PUCCH resources for SR transmission(s) across different BWPs and cells … When an SR (procedure) is triggered, the triggered SR procedure may be considered as pending until it is canceled).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Wu & Hong with the BFR procedure taught in Tsai. The motivation is in order to quickly recover the beam (e.g., change the serving beam) from the beam failure on the SCell [Tsai: ¶ 0058].
Claims 8-9, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chunli Wu et al (US 20210250920 A1) in view of Donggun Kim et al (US 20210250920 A1).
For Claim 8, Wu discloses a base station (BS) (Wu teaches, in FIG. 7, that the network device includes … one or more memories 720 coupled to the one or more processors 710, and one or more communication modules 740 coupled to the one or more processors 710) comprising: a processor configured to: determine whether at least one serving cell is configured with a periodic cell discontinuous transmission (DTX) pattern (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0076, that the terminal device 110 receives from a network device, a DTX/DRX configuration indicating configuration information on a DTX/DRX mode of the network device 120); and a transceiver operably coupled to the processor, the transceiver configured to: transmit a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message including the configuration of the periodic cell DTX pattern for the at least one serving cell (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0063, that A periodic cell DTX/DRX may be configured by the network via radio resource control (RRC) signaling).
Wu fails to expressly teach a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message.
However, Kim, in the analogous art, discloses a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message (Kim teaches, in ¶ 0183, that The BWP may be configured by an RRCSetup message of the RRC connection configuration or an RRCResume message (1f-25) or an RRCReconfiguration message (1f-45), (1f-65), and (1f-85) and RRCReconfiguration message complete (1f-50)), and (1f-70) and (1f-90)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Wu with the RRCReconfiguration message taught in Kim. The motivation is so that the RRC message may include configuration information about a PCell or a PSCell or a plurality of SCells [Kim: ¶ 0183].
For Claim 9, Wu discloses a BS, wherein the at least one serving cell is a special cell (SpCell) (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0099, that For example, if the SR trigger is associated with a high priority LCH or a BFR trigger (e.g., SCell BFR or BFD-RS set failure on SCell/SpCell)). Kim also teaches, in ¶ 0154, that When the terminal is configured with the SpCell and a plurality of SCells through the RRC message, the state or mode may be configured for the BWP of each SCell or each SCell through the RRC message or the MAC CE or the DCI of the PDCCH).
For Claim 11, Wu discloses a BS, wherein: the processor is further configured to determine whether the at least one serving cell is configured with a periodic cell discontinuous reception (DRX) pattern; and the RRC reconfiguration includes the configuration of the periodic cell DRX pattern for the at least one serving cell (Wu teaches, in ¶ 0063, that A periodic cell DTX/DRX may be configured by the network via radio resource control (RRC) signaling). Also, Kim teaches, in ¶ 0312, that the base station may configure, to the terminal, a DRX function, such as a DRX cycle or a start point or an offset or an on-duration (active period or active time) in a PCell or SCell or PSCell through an RRC message. Kim further teaches, in ¶ 0183, that The BWP may be configured by an RRCSetup message of the RRC connection configuration or an RRCResume message (1f-25) or an RRCReconfiguration message (1f-45).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chunli Wu et al (US 20210250920 A1) in view of Donggun Kim et al (US 20210250920 A1) as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Yi Ding et al (US 20230337221 A1).
For Claim 10, Wu and Kim fail to expressly disclose to transmit a grant for a sidelink (SL) resource for SL communication from the SpCell.
However, Ding, in the analogous art, discloses to transmit a grant for a sidelink (SL) resource for SL communication from the SpCell (Ding teaches, in ¶ 0032, that In the mode A (as shown in FIG. 2), transmission resources of a device 1 and a device 2 are allocated by the base station, and the two devices transmit data on an SL according to the resources allocated by the base station).
Ding further teaches, in ¶ 0035, that As shown in FIG. 4, a UE A and a UE B each have a unicast connection to a UE C. The UE A and the UE B do not know existence of each other, and respectively configure a DRX pattern 1 and a DRX pattern 2 for the UE C.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Wu and Kim with the D2D direct communication mode taught in Ding. The motivation is to achieve a higher spectral efficiency and a lower transmission delay [Ding: ¶ 0031].
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chunli Wu et al (US 20210250920 A1) in view of Donggun Kim et al (US 20210250920 A1) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of HSIN-HSI Tsai (US 20210105827 A1).
For Claim 13, Wu and Kim disclose all of the claimed subject matter with the exception to receive a scheduling request (SR) triggered for a beam failure recovery of a first serving cell or for a beam failure recovery of a bidirectional forwarding detection-reference signal (BFD-RS) set of the first serving cell in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) occasions for the SR during a cell DRX non-active period of the second serving cell, wherein the triggered SR is configured to be transmitted in the second serving cell, and wherein the second serving cell can be a same cell or a different cell from the first serving cell.
However, Tsai, in the analogous art, discloses to receive a scheduling request (SR) triggered for a beam failure recovery of a first serving cell or for a beam failure recovery of a bidirectional forwarding detection-reference signal (BFD-RS) set of the first serving cell in a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) occasions for the SR during a cell DRX non-active period of the second serving cell (Tsai teaches, in ¶ 0099, that the UE 424 may transmit a BFR-SR to the NW 422 (e.g., if the beam failure event is detected on an SCell. Tsai teaches, in ¶ 0055, that when a DRX cycle is configured, the (DRX) active time may include the time during which a timer is running, where the timer may be a drx-onDurationTimer, …or an SR is sent on a PUCCH and is pending ), wherein the triggered SR is configured to be transmitted in the second serving cell, and wherein the second serving cell can be a same cell or a different cell from the first serving cell (Tsai teaches, in ¶ 0075, that An SR configuration may include a set of PUCCH resources for SR transmission(s) across different BWPs and cells … When an SR (procedure) is triggered, the triggered SR procedure may be considered as pending until it is canceled).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Wu and Kim with the BFR procedure taught in Tsai. The motivation is in order to quickly recover the beam (e.g., change the serving beam) from the beam failure on the SCell [Tsai: ¶ 0058].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6, 12, 17, 19 are objected to as being dependent upon rejected base claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 4, 6, 12, 17, 19 are considered allowable because the prior art does not teach limitations including:
“determine whether a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission occasion corresponding with the SL resource occurs during a cell DRX active period of the SpCell or a cell DRX non-active period of the SpCell; when the PUCCH transmission occasion corresponding with the SL resource occurs during the cell DRX active period of the SpCell, cause the transceiver to transmit one of a negative acknowledgement (NACK) or a positive acknowledgment (ACK) in the PUCCH transmission occasion; and when the PUCCH transmission occasion corresponding with the SL resource occurs during the cell DRX non-active period of the SpCell, cause the transceiver to refrain from transmitting the one of the NACK or the ACK in the PUCCH transmission occasion,” in addition to other claim limitations as recited in dependent claims 4, 17.
“receive, during a cell DRX active period of the first serving cell, an uplink control information (UCI) in a PUCCH transmission occasion of the first serving cell; receive, during a cell DRX non-active period of the first serving cell the UCI in a PUCCH transmission occasion of a second serving cell,” in addition to other claim limitations as recited in dependent claim 12.
“determine whether a PUCCH transmission occasion of the first serving cell occurs during a cell DRX active period of the first serving cell or cell DRX non-active period of the first serving cell; when the PUCCH transmission occasion of the first serving cell occurs during the cell DRX active period of the first serving cell, cause the transceiver to transmit an uplink control information (UCI) in the PUCCH transmission occasion of the first serving cell; and when the PUCCH transmission occasion of the first serving cell occurs during the cell DRX non-active period of the first serving cell, cause the transceiver to transmit the UCI in a PUCCH transmission occasion of a second serving cell,” in addition to other claim limitations as recited in dependent claims 6, 19.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-3, 5, 7-11, 13-16, 18, 20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMED A KAMARA whose telephone number is (571)270-5629. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-4PM.
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/MOHAMED A KAMARA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
