Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. This Office Action is in response to application filed on 08/22/2024. Claims 1-20 were previously pending. Claims 1-20 are rejected.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 11/01/2024 is/are is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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 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.
5.1. 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.
5.2. Claim(s) 1-5, 11-17, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim et al., (“Kim”, US 2023/0007641 A1) .
Regarding Claim 1, Kim teaches, A method performed by a terminal device (Kim, FIG.1, communication system 100, base station 110, terminal 130, [0062]: the communication system 100 may comprise a plurality of base stations 110s and a plurality of terminals 130s; Claim 1: A subband duplex (SD) operation method of a terminal), comprising:
receiving, from a network node, a subband full duplex, SBFD, slot configuration (Kim, Claim 1: receiving, from a base station, slot pattern information for a slot, information on at least one subband); and
communicating, with the network node, based at least on the SBFD slot configuration (Kim, Claim 1: performing uplink transmission and/or downlink reception with the base station in the at least one subband included in at least one SD symbol included in the slot);
wherein the slot configuration indicates a plurality of radio resources of a slot; and wherein the plurality of radio resources include: at least one downlink, DL, radio resource used for DL transmission; and at least one flexible radio resource used for flexible scheduling (Kim, FIG.4, [0085-87]: a configuration of resource allocation in which DL transmission and UL reception can be performed in a specific slot. The at least one SD symbol is consecutive flexible (FL) symbols located between a downlink (DL) symbol and an uplink (UL) symbol within the slot).
Regarding Claim 2, Kim teaches, A terminal device (Kim, FIG.1, communication system 100, base station 110, terminal 130, [0062]: the communication system 100 may comprise a plurality of base stations 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, and 120-2, and a plurality of terminals 130s) comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to perform the following (Kim, FIG.2, communication node 200, processor 210, memory 220, [0060-61] communication node 200 (“terminal”) includes processor 210, memory 220, [0358-359]: memory 220 stores program instructions, when executed by the processor 210, causes the terminal to perform the function):
receiving, from a network node, a subband full duplex, SBFD, slot configuration (Kim, Claim 1: A subband duplex (SD) operation method of a terminal, comprising: receiving, from a base station, slot pattern information for a slot, information on at least one subband); and
communicating, with the network node, based at least on the SBFD slot configuration;
wherein the slot configuration indicates a plurality of radio resources of a slot (Kim, Claim 1: performing uplink transmission and/or downlink reception with the base station in the at least one subband included in at least one SD symbol included in the slot); and
wherein the plurality of radio resources include: at least one downlink, DL, radio resource used for DL transmission; and at least one flexible radio resource used for flexible scheduling (Kim, FIG.4, [0085-87]: a configuration of resource allocation in which DL transmission and UL reception can be performed in a specific slot. The at least one SD symbol is consecutive flexible (FL) symbols located between a downlink (DL) symbol and an uplink (UL) symbol within the slot).
Regarding Claim 3, Kim teaches, The terminal device according to claim 2,
wherein the plurality of radio resources further include: at least one dedicated uplink, UL, radio resource used for UL transmission (Kim, [0317]: terminal may receive information indicating DL or UL for each subband such as be indicated not only with a common slot pattern but also with a dedicated slot pattern (e.g. tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated)); and
wherein a dedicated UL radio resource in the at least one dedicated UL radio resource is surrounded by the at least one flexible radio resource, in a frequency domain and/or time domain (Kim, FIG.4, [0293]: subcarriers in which UL transmission is allowed may be located between subcarriers in which DL reception is performed).
Regarding Claim 4, Kim teaches, The terminal device according to claim 3,
wherein the at least one dedicated UL radio resource is dedicated from a part of the at least one flexible radio resource, for UL transmission (Kim, [0307-308]: the terminal has established an radio resource control (RRC) connection, it may be indicated not only with a common slot pattern but also with a dedicated slot pattern (e.g., tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated), and may receive a dynamic SFI. Also, the terminal may receive information indicating DL or UL for each subband from the base station).
Regarding Claim 5, Kim teaches, The terminal device according to claim 2,
wherein a frequency domain position of a radio resource in the plurality of radio resources is indicated by a start resource block, RB, and a number of RBs; and wherein a time domain position of the radio resource is indicated by a slot, and a start symbol and a number of symbols in the slot (Kim, Claim 11: the information on the at least one subband includes information on a resource block (RB) set corresponding to each of the at least one subband, wherein the RB set is indicated by a starting RB index and an ending RB index, or indicated by a starting RB index and a number of RBs constituting the RB set).
Regarding Claim 11, Kim teaches, The terminal device according to claim 5,
wherein at least one reference signal from the network node is configured in the plurality of radio resources (Kim, [0296]: a CSI-RS for tracking (e.g., tracking reference signal (TRS)), if some subcarriers are not received in one TRS symbol, the terminal may not use the same subcarriers in the other TRS symbol. The terminal may preferably use subcarriers received in all symbols of the TRS);
wherein a reference signal of the at least one reference signal is configured across at least one of: a DL radio resource, a flexible radio resource, and a dedicated UL radio resource (Kim, [0298]: The DL-RS may be utilized to estimate a pathloss).
Regarding Claim 12, Kim teaches, The terminal device according to claim 11, further configured to perform:
receiving the reference signal, when the reference signal is earlier than an associated UL transmission by a predefined time length; and transmitting based at least on a measurement result of the reference signal; wherein the predefined time length is based on at least one of: a guard period, a time advance, TA, and a transient time from DL to UL of the terminal device (Kim, [0297]: a CSI feedback, a CSI report (e.g., CQI, PMI, RI, etc.) may be derived from a CSI reference resource. A frequency region and a time region of the CSI reference resource are determined, and a valid DL slot is defined, so that CSI reporting should be performed in or before a slot corresponding to a predetermined time (e.g., nCSI_ref)).
Regarding Claim 13, Kim teaches, The terminal device according to claim 12,
wherein the reference signal comprises at least one of: a tracking reference signal, TRS, or a flexible channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS (Kim, [0296]: CSI-RS for tracking (e.g., tracking reference signal (TRS)).
Regarding Claim 14, Kim teaches, The terminal device according to claim 2,
wherein the terminal device comprises a user equipment, UE (Kim, [0064]: terminal 130 may be referred as user equipment (UE)); and
wherein the network node comprises a base station (Kim, [0062]: network node is a base station).
Regarding Claim 15, Kim teaches, A method performed by a network node (Kim, FIG.1, communication system 100, base station 110, terminal 130, [0062]: the communication system 100 may comprise a plurality of base stations 110s and a plurality of terminals 130s; Claim 13: A subband duplex (SD) operation method of a base station), comprising:
transmitting, to a terminal device, a subband full duplex, SBFD, slot configuration (Kim, Claim 13: transmitting, to a terminal, slot pattern information for a slot,, information on at least one subband); and
communicating, with the terminal device, based at least on the SBFD slot configuration (Kim, Claim 13: performing uplink reception and/or downlink transmission with the terminal in the at least one subband included in at least one SD symbol included in the slot);
wherein the slot configuration indicates a plurality of radio resources of a slot; and wherein the plurality of radio resources include: at least one downlink, DL, radio resource used for DL transmission; and at least one flexible radio resource used for flexible scheduling (Kim, FIG.4, [0085-87]: a configuration of resource allocation in which DL transmission and UL reception can be performed in a specific slot. The at least one SD symbol is consecutive flexible (FL) symbols located between a downlink (DL) symbol and an uplink (UL) symbol within the slot).
Regarding Claim 16, Kim teaches, A network node (Kim, FIG.1, communication system 100, base station 110, terminal 130, [0062]: the communication system 100 may comprise a plurality of base stations 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, 120-1, and 120-2, and a plurality of terminals 130s) comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to perform the following (Kim, FIG.2, communication node 200, processor 210, memory 220, [0060-61] communication node 200 (“base station”) includes processor 210, memory 220, [0358-359]: memory 220 stores program instructions, when executed by the processor 210, causes the terminal to perform the function):
transmitting, to a terminal device, a subband full duplex, SBFD, slot configuration (Kim, Claim 13: transmitting, to a terminal, slot pattern information for a slot,, information on at least one subband); and
communicating, with the terminal device, based at least on the SBFD slot configuration (Kim, Claim 13: performing uplink reception and/or downlink transmission with the terminal in the at least one subband included in at least one SD symbol included in the slot);
wherein the slot configuration indicates a plurality of radio resources of a slot; and wherein the plurality of radio resources include: at least one downlink, DL, radio resource used for DL transmission; and at least one flexible radio resource used for flexible scheduling (Kim, FIG.4, [0085-87]: a configuration of resource allocation in which DL transmission and UL reception can be performed in a specific slot. The at least one SD symbol is consecutive flexible (FL) symbols located between a downlink (DL) symbol and an uplink (UL) symbol within the slot).
Regarding Claim 17, Kim teaches, The network node according to claim 16,
wherein a frequency domain position of a radio resource in the plurality of radio resources is indicated by a start resource block, RB, and a number of RBs; and wherein a time domain position of the radio resource is indicated by a slot, and a start symbol and a number of symbols in the slot (Kim, Claim 11: the information on the at least one subband includes information on a resource block (RB) set corresponding to each of the at least one subband, wherein the RB set is indicated by a starting RB index and an ending RB index, or indicated by a starting RB index and a number of RBs constituting the RB set).
Regarding Claim 20, Kim teaches, The method according to claim 17,
wherein at least one reference signal from the network node is configured in the plurality of radio resources (Kim, [0296]: a CSI-RS for tracking (e.g., tracking reference signal (TRS)), if some subcarriers are not received in one TRS symbol, the terminal may not use the same subcarriers in the other TRS symbol. The terminal may preferably use subcarriers received in all symbols of the TRS);
wherein a reference signal of the at least one reference signal is configured across at least one of: a DL radio resource, a flexible radio resource, and a dedicated UL radio resource (Kim, [0298]: The DL-RS may be utilized to estimate a pathloss), and
wherein the network node is further configured to perform:
transmitting the reference signal earlier than an associated UL transmission by a predefined time length; and receiving, from the terminal device, a transmission based at least on a measurement result of the reference signal; wherein the predefined time length is based on at least one of: a guard period, a time advance, TA, and a transient time from DL to UL of the terminal device (Kim, [0297]: a CSI feedback, a CSI report (e.g., CQI, PMI, RI, etc.) may be derived from a CSI reference resource. A frequency region and a time region of the CSI reference resource are determined, and a valid DL slot is defined, so that CSI reporting should be performed in or before a slot corresponding to a predetermined time (e.g., nCSI_ref)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6.1. 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 of this title, 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.
6.2. 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.
6.3. Claim(s) 6-10, 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kim et al., (“Kim”, US 2023/0007641 A1) in view of Jung et al., (“Jung”, US 2025/0047454 A1).
Regarding Claim 6, Kim teaches, The terminal device according to claim 5, but not expressly teaches,
wherein at least one flexible control resource set, CORESET, is configured in the plurality of radio resources; wherein a flexible CORESET of the at least one flexible CORESET is configured across at least one of: a DL radio resource, a flexible radio resource, and a dedicated UL radio resource; and
wherein the flexible CORESET is configured statically by radio resource control, RRC, or dynamically by downlink control information, DCI, or media access control control element, MAC CE.
Jung teaches
wherein at least one flexible control resource set, CORESET, is configured in the plurality of radio resources; wherein a flexible CORESET of the at least one flexible CORESET is configured across at least one of: a DL radio resource, a flexible radio resource, and a dedicated UL radio resource (Jung, [0086]: flexible symbols in a CORESET; for symbols indicated as flexible by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated);
wherein a flexible CORESET of the at least one flexible CORESET is configured across at least one of: a DL radio resource, a flexible radio resource, and a dedicated UL radio resource (Jung, [0086]: for symbols indicated as flexible by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated); and
wherein the flexible CORESET is configured statically by radio resource control, RRC(Kim, [0154]: The terminal may detect PDCCH(s) by using a time resource indicated as a search space set and a frequency resource indicated as a CORESET. The time resource of the search space set configured to the terminal may be limited to DL symbols indicated by RRC signaling. Combined Kim, [0154]-Jung, [0086] teaches the flexible CORESET is configured by RRC)
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to implement the “flexible CORESET” of Jung into the invention of Kim. The suggestion/motivation with “flexible CORESET” allows for slot-based and non-slot-based scheduling to tightly align with URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication) and eMBB traffic demands. Including “flexible CORESET” of Jung into the invention of Kim was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Jung.
Regarding Claim 7, Kim-Jung teaches, The terminal device according to claim 6, further configured to perform:
monitoring a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, in the flexible CORESET, when the flexible CORESET is earlier than an associated UL transmission by a predefined time length; wherein the predefined time length is based on at least one of: a decoding time for the PDCCH, a time advance, TA, and a transient time from DL to UL of the terminal device (Jung, [0086]: the UE assumes that flexible symbols in a CORESET (e.g., CORESET symbol indicated as flexible by bwp-TDD-UL-DL-Configuration) configured with a transmission to the UE for PDCCH monitoring in the DL BWP are DL symbols. Kim, [0161]: since a common search space (CSS) set and a CORESET correspond to each other, a PDCCH candidate may be decoded by receiving the CORESET in symbol(s) where the CSS set is observed (i.e., when all subcarriers are a DL resource. Combined Jung, [0086]-Kim, [0161] teaches a PDCCH candidate may be decoded by receiving the CORESET in symbol prior to process UL subcarriers).
Regarding Claim 8, Kim-Jung teaches, The terminal device according to claim 7,
wherein when a UL transmission overlaps with the flexible CORESET, the UL transmission has a high priority than the PDCCH in the flexible CORESET (Jung, [0081]: the network entity may configure overlapping frequency resources of DL and UL for simultaneous transmission and reception in the cell. Jung, [0104]: if a UE determines overlapping in time of one or more transmission occasions and one or more reception occasions scheduled across multiple active BWPs, the UE first prioritizes to perform a dynamically scheduled transmission (or reception) (e.g., PUCCH, PUSCH, and/or PDSCH scheduled by DCI).
Regarding Claim 9, Kim-Jung teaches, The terminal device according to claim 8, further configured to perform:
judging ((Kim, [0312-313]: the RO may still be derived from resources determined as UL (or FL, SD, or non-DL) in all subbands. When the terminal is in the RRC connected mode, it may be preferable that the RO can be derived from resources determined as UL (and/or FL) only in some subband(s)).
Regarding Claim 10, Kim-Jung teaches, The terminal device according to claim 9,
wherein a flexible radio resource is used for guard band or DL transmission, when the flexible radio resource is not dedicated for UL transmission (Kim, Claims 7-8: the terminal performs DL reception in the first subband and performs UL transmission in the second subband; a guard band exists between the first subband and the second subband.).
Regarding Claim 18, Kim teaches, The network node according to claim 17, but not expressly teaches,
wherein at least one flexible control resource set, CORESET, is configured in the plurality of radio resources; wherein a flexible CORESET of the at least one flexible CORESET is configured across at least one of: a DL radio resource, a flexible radio resource, and a dedicated UL radio resource; and
wherein the flexible CORESET is configured statically by radio resource control, RRC, or dynamically by downlink control information, DCI, or media access control element, MAC CE.
Jung teaches
wherein at least one flexible control resource set, CORESET, is configured in the plurality of radio resources; wherein a flexible CORESET of the at least one flexible CORESET is configured across at least one of: a DL radio resource, a flexible radio resource, and a dedicated UL radio resource (Jung, [0086]: flexible symbols in a CORESET; for symbols indicated as flexible by tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationCommon and tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated); and
wherein the flexible CORESET is configured statically by radio resource control, RRC, (Kim, [0154]: The terminal may detect PDCCH(s) by using a time resource indicated as a search space set and a frequency resource indicated as a CORESET. The time resource of the search space set configured to the terminal may be limited to DL symbols indicated by RRC signaling. Combined Kim, [0154]-Jung, [0086] teaches the flexible CORESET is configured by RRC).
Prior to the effective filing date of invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to implement the “flexible CORESET” of Jung into the invention of Kim. The suggestion/motivation with “flexible CORESET” allows for slot-based and non-slot-based scheduling to tightly align with URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication) and eMBB traffic demands. Including “flexible CORESET” of Jung into the invention of Kim was within the ordinary ability of one of ordinary skill in the art based on the teachings of Jung.
Regarding Claim 19, Kim-Jung teaches, The network node according to claim 18,
wherein when the network node allocates radio resources for PDCCH in the flexible CORESET, the network node is configured to skip UL radio resources; and/or wherein when a UL transmission overlaps with the flexible CORESET, the UL transmission has a high priority than the PDCCH in the flexible CORESET ((Jung, [0086]: the UE assumes that flexible symbols in a CORESET (e.g., CORESET symbol indicated as flexible by bwp-TDD-UL-DL-Configuration) configured with a transmission to the UE for PDCCH monitoring in the DL BWP are DL symbols. Kim, [0161]: since a common search space (CSS) set and a CORESET correspond to each other, a PDCCH candidate may be decoded by receiving the CORESET in symbol(s) where the CSS set is observed (i.e., when all subcarriers are a DL resource. Combined Jung, [0086]-Kim, [0161] teaches a PDCCH candidate may be decoded by receiving the CORESET in symbol prior to process UL subcarriers).
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Zhang et al., US 2024/0049200 A1, Method for establishing wireless communication at user equipment for performing e.g. sub-band configuration indication in wireless communication system, involves communicating sub-band full duplex configuration with network entity in symbols configured for sub-band full duplex operation.
Sano et al., US 2020/0170030 A1, User apparatus for base station apparatus in wireless communication system, has control unit that determines target value with which uplink (UL) resource use rate is controlled so as not to exceed target value.
Bae et al., US 2022/0132495 A1, User equipment for performing uplink transmission in a wireless communication system, comprises n transmission resources which are determined based on the resource allocation, where n is an integer greater than one.
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be directed to CHHIAN (AMY) LING whose telephone number is (571)270-1074. The examiner can
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/C.L/Examiner, Art Unit 2446
/MICHAEL A KELLER/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2446
Prosecution Insights