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 .
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5-9, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Cozzo et al. (US 20220287103, hereinafter, “Cozzo’103”).
Claim 1. Cozzo’103 teaches: A method for wireless communication, comprising: - See Fig. 8
sending, by a user equipment (UE) to a base station, - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0078], (“gNB (such as the BS 102) identifies whether…a UE requests to transmit Msg3”) a request or a capability indication for a repetition of a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission; - in ¶ [0078], (“gNB (such as the BS 102) identifies whether (i) a UE (such as the UE 116) supports a Msg3 PUSCH transmission with repetitions, (ii) a UE requests to transmit Msg3 PUSCH with repetitions”) and
receiving, by the UE from the base station, - in ¶ [0079], (“The gNB can indicate in a RAR message whether a UE should transmit Msg3 PUSCH with a number of repetitions”) a repetition factor indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission. - in ¶ [0070], (“a number of repetitions for a Msg3 PUSCH transmission are provided to a UE (such as the UE 116) from a gNB (such as the BS 102)”, number of repetitions (eq. repetition factor))
Claim 3. Cozzo’103 teaches: A method for wireless communication, comprising: - See Fig.8
receiving, by a base station from a user equipment (UE), - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0078], (“gNB (such as the BS 102) identifies whether…a UE requests to transmit Msg3”) a request or capability indication for a repetition of a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission; - in ¶ [0078], (“gNB (such as the BS 102) identifies whether (i) a UE (such as the UE 116) supports a Msg3 PUSCH transmission with repetitions, (ii) a UE requests to transmit Msg3 PUSCH with repetitions”) and
sending, by the base station to UE from, - in ¶ [0079], (“The gNB can indicate in a RAR message whether a UE should transmit Msg3 PUSCH with a number of repetitions”) a repetition factor indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission. - in ¶ [0070], (“a number of repetitions for a Msg3 PUSCH transmission are provided to a UE (such as the UE 116) from a gNB (such as the BS 102)”, number of repetitions (eq. repetition factor))
Claim 5. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cozzo’103 teaches:
wherein: the first PUSCH transmission comprises at least one of the following: a PUSCH carrying RRC setup complete information, a PUSCH carrying UE capability information, a PUSCH scheduled by a DCI format 0_0 with a CRC scrambled by a cell-RNTI (C- RNTI), a configured scheduling (CS-RNTI), or a modulation and coding scheme cell-RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), or - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional. a PUSCH scheduled by a DCI format 0_1 with a CRC scrambled by a cell-RNTI (C- RNTI), - in ¶ [0102], (“Msg3 PUSCH transmission during initial access and another TDRA table for a PUSCH transmission in RRC_CONNECTED state…can be a CFRA PUSCH scheduled by RAR UL grant or a PUSCH transmission scheduled by a DCI format scrambled by a C-RNTI.”) a configured scheduling (CS-RNTI), or a modulation and coding scheme cell-RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI). - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
Claim 6. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cozzo’103 teaches:
wherein: the UE sends the request or the capability indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission in response to at least one of the following triggering conditions: - in ¶ [0078], (“a UE requests to transmit Msg3 PUSCH with repetitions”); ¶ [0147], (“Msg3 PUSCH with repetitions when a measured RSRP is smaller than a threshold”)
a synchronization signal (SS) reference signal received power (RSRP) measured by the UE being lower than an RSRP threshold, - in ¶ [0147], (“…ROs that can be used by the UE to request to be scheduled a Msg3 PUSCH transmission with repetitions…A UE that is capable to transmit a Msg3 PUSCH repetitions and needs to transmit a Msg3 PUSCH with repetitions…as determined by an RSRP measurement and an indication in a SIB for transmission of Msg3 PUSCH with repetitions when a measured RSRP is smaller than a threshold…”) the UE having requested repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, or the repetition of the second PUSCH transmission being scheduled for the UE. - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
Claim 7. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 6, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cozzo’103 teaches:
wherein: the RSRP threshold is scheduled by one of the following: via a higher layer parameter, - in ¶ [0149], (“A gNB…can configure in a SIB one or more RSRP thresholds”); ¶ [0113], (“The threshold can be same as the threshold rsrp-ThresholdSSB configured in RACH-ConfigCommon IE”) or via a high layer parameter and an offset value. - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
Claim 8. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cozzo’103 teaches:
wherein: the request or the capability indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission via at least one of the following: - in ¶ [0078], (“a UE requests to transmit Msg3 PUSCH with repetitions”) a PRACH resource from a first PRACH resource set corresponding to the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, - in ¶ [0141], (“…a partition of PRACH resources can be used by a UE that supports Msg3 PUSCH transmission with repetitions and supports transmission of an indication in Msg3. It is noted that the indication can be with a request for scheduling of a Msg3 PUSCH transmission with repetitions”) signalling information in the second PUSCH, or a transmission status of the second PUSCH transmission and an indication information in the second PUSCH. - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
Claim 9. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 8, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cozzo’103 teaches:
wherein: the PRACH resource comprises at least one of a preamble sequence resource or a RACH occasion resource. – in ¶ [0143 -0144], (“RACH occasions (ROs)…the UE transmits a PRACH preamble in the N ROs …partition of PRACH preambles that can be used by a UE capable of transmitting Msg3 with repetitions.”)
Claim 16. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cozzo’103 teaches:
wherein: the UE receives, from the base station, the repetition factor indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission by at least one of the following: - in ¶ [0070], (“a number of repetitions for a Msg3 PUSCH transmission are provided to a UE…from a gNB”) a higher layer parameter for configuring the repetition factor, - in ¶ [0070], (“a number of repetitions for a Msg3 PUSCH transmission are provided to a UE (such as the UE 116) from a gNB (such as the BS 102) by higher layers…configured by a field in the RRC IE random access channel (RACH)-ConfigCommon that is used to configure cell specific random-access parameters”) a higher layer parameter for configuring a list of repetition factors and a signalling in a DCI for indicating the repetition factor in the list of repetition factors,a higher layer parameter for configuring a list of M repetition factors and log2M most significant bits (MSBs) of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field in a DCI for indicating the repetition factor in the list of M repetition factors, M being a positive integer, or a higher layer parameter for configuring a list of N repetition factors and [log2N] most significant bits (MSBs) of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field in a DCI for indicating the repetition factor in the list of N repetition factors, N being a positive integer and [ ] representing a ceiling function. - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
Claim 19 is rejected under the same rationale as Claim 1 since they recite nearly identical limitations.
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.
Claims 2, 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cozzo et al. (US 20220287103, hereinafter, “Cozzo’103”) in view of Cozzo et al. (US 20230209514, hereinafter, “Cozzo’514”).
Claim 2. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cozzo’103 teaches:
further comprising: after sending a second PUSCH transmission or before sending a third PUSCH transmission, transmitting, by the UE to the base station, the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission; wherein: the second PUSCH transmission comprises one of a PUSCH scheduled by a random access response (RAR) uplink (UL) grant, - in ¶ [0102], (“a gNB…can configure a TDRA table for a Msg3 PUSCH transmission…and another TDRA table for a PUSCH transmission in RRC_CONNECTED state…can be a CFRA PUSCH scheduled by RAR UL grant”) or a PUSCH scheduled by a downlink control information (DCI) format 0_0 with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled by a temporary cell-radio network temporary identifier (TC-RNTI), or the third PUSCH transmission comprises a PUSCH carrying radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration complete information. - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
Cozzo’103 does not explicitly teach:
after sending a second PUSCH transmission or before sending a third PUSCH transmission, transmitting, by the UE to the base station, the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission;
However, Cozzo’514 teaches:
after sending a second PUSCH transmission - in ¶ [0118], (“the UE…drops, or postpones until after the end of the second PUSCH transmission, repetitions of the first PUSCH transmission.”) or before sending a third PUSCH transmission, - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
transmitting, by the UE to the base station, the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission; - in ¶ [0118], (“drops, or postpones until after the end of the second PUSCH transmission, repetitions of the first PUSCH transmission.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 with Cozzo’514 to include after sending a second PUSCH transmission transmitting the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, as taught by Cozzo’514. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve efficiency, as suggested by Cozzo’514, improvements in radio interface efficiency and coverage is of paramount importance. - ¶ [0027]
Claim 4 is rejected under the same rationale as Claim 2 since they recite nearly identical limitations.
Claims 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cozzo et al. (US 20220287103, hereinafter, “Cozzo’103”) in view of HUANG et al. (US 20220183033, hereinafter, “HUANG”), and further in view of TANG et al. (US 20240172222, hereinafter, “TANG”).
Claim 10. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 8, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cozzo’103 does not explicitly teach:
wherein the request or the capability indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission via the signalling information in the second PUSCH comprises: setting the signalling information as a first value, representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, or setting the signalling information as a second value, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission.
However, HUANG teaches:
wherein the request or the capability indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission - in ¶ [0165], (“The UE may transmit PUSCH1…PUSCH2 (e.g., a second PUSCH, of the multiple PUSCHs”); ¶ [0168], (“DCI scheduling multi-PUSCHs…indicating repetition number and/or slot aggregation number”) via the signalling information in the second PUSCH comprises: - in ¶ [0171], (“if numberOfRepetitions-r16 is present in the resource allocation table, the number of repetitions K is equal to numberOfRepetitions-r16; [0172] elseif the UE is configured with pusch-AggregationFactor, the number of repetitions K is equal to pusch-AggregationFactor; [0173] otherwise K=1.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 with HUANG to specify repetition of multiple PUSCHs, as taught by HUANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to reduce overhead, as suggested by HUANG, in order to have the benefits of overhead reduction and the benefits of improved reliability (e.g., improved PUSCH transmission reliability) associated with repetition and/or aggregation. - ¶ [0168]
Combination of Cozzo’103 and HUANG does not explicitly teach:
setting the signalling information as a first value, representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, or setting the signalling information as a second value, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission.
However, TANG teaches:
setting the signalling information as a first value, - in ¶ [0096], (“If the value is the first state (e.g., true)”) representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, - in ¶ [0095-0096], (“in Msg3 transmission, the RRC message includes a field, for example, “pucch-AggregationCapability-r18” to indicate whether the UE 704 supports PUCCH repetition for Msg4 HARQ-ACK or not…If the value is the first state (e.g., true), the UE 704 has capability to do repetition”) or setting the signalling information as a second value, - in ¶ [0096], (“If the value is the second state (e.g., false), the UE 704 does not have capability to do repetition for Msg4”) representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission. – in ¶ [0096], (“The “pucch-AggregationCapability-r18” field is an optional field taking values of two states such as true/false…If the value is the second state (e.g., false), the UE 704 does not have capability to do repetition for Msg4”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 and HUANG with TANG to include setting the signaling information to two values, as taught by TANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to reduce overhead by combining the capability signaling method taught by TANG to multiple PUSCHs taught by HUANG, as suggested by TANG, This allows the network to control how many repetitions the UE does, for balancing reliability and overhead as needed. - ¶ [0062]
Claim 11. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 8, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
HUANG further teaches:
wherein the request or the capability indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission - in ¶ [0165], (“The UE may transmit PUSCH1…PUSCH2 (e.g., a second PUSCH, of the multiple PUSCHs”); ¶ [0168], (“DCI scheduling multi-PUSCHs…indicating repetition number and/or slot aggregation number”) via the transmission status of the second PUSCH transmission and the indication information in the second PUSCH comprises at least one of the following: - in ¶ [0171], (“if numberOfRepetitions-r16 is present in the resource allocation table, the number of repetitions K is equal to numberOfRepetitions-r16; [0172] elseif the UE is configured with pusch-AggregationFactor, the number of repetitions K is equal to pusch-AggregationFactor; [0173] otherwise K=1.”, with repetition (k>1) or without repetition (k=1) (eq. transmission status))
in response to the UE having requested repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, setting no indication information in the second PUSCH, representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, in response to the UE having requested repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, setting the indication information in the second PUSCH, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, in response to the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, setting no indication information in the second PUSCH, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional. or
in response to the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, - in ¶ [0177], (“from a multi-PUSCH point of view…slots n+k2+1˜n+k2+#SLIV-1 may be used for other transmissions that are not repetitions of the PUSCH transmission”) setting the indication information in the second PUSCH, - in ¶ [0295], (“if the UE is configured with pusch-AggregationFactor and a DCI…indicates a row (e.g., an entry) in pusch-TimeDomainAllocationListForMultiPUSCH-r16…for one PUSCH (e.g., not more than one PUSCH), a number of repetitions K may be set to pusch-AggregationFactor.”) representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission. - in ¶ [0295], (“…resource allocation for one PUSCH (e.g., not more than one PUSCH), a number of repetitions K may be set to pusch-AggregationFactor.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 with HUANG to include signaling information for multiple PUSCHs, as taught by HUANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to reduce overhead, as suggested by HUANG, in order to have the benefits of overhead reduction and the benefits of improved reliability (e.g., improved PUSCH transmission reliability) associated with repetition and/or aggregation. - ¶ [0168]
Claim 12. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 8, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
HUANG further teaches:
wherein the request or the capability indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission - in ¶ [0165], (“The UE may transmit PUSCH1…PUSCH2 (e.g., a second PUSCH, of the multiple PUSCHs”); ¶ [0168], (“DCI scheduling multi-PUSCHs…indicating repetition number and/or slot aggregation number”) via the transmission status of the second PUSCH transmission and the indication information in the second PUSCH comprises at least one of the following: - in ¶ [0171], (“if numberOfRepetitions-r16 is present in the resource allocation table, the number of repetitions K is equal to numberOfRepetitions-r16; [0172] elseif the UE is configured with pusch-AggregationFactor, the number of repetitions K is equal to pusch-AggregationFactor; [0173] otherwise K=1.”, with (k>1) or without repetition (k=1) (eq. transmission status))
in response to the UE having requested repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, setting the indication information in the second PUSCH to a first value, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, - in ¶ [0177], (“from a multi-PUSCH point of view…slots n+k2+1˜n+k2+#SLIV-1 may be used for other transmissions that are not repetitions of the PUSCH transmission”) or
in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, setting the indication information in the second PUSCH to a second value, representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission. - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
TANG further teaches:
in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, setting the indication information in the second PUSCH to a first value, - in ¶ [0096], (“If the value is the second state (e.g., false), the UE 704 does not have capability to do repetition”) representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, – in ¶ [0095-0096], (“in Msg3 transmission…a field, for example, “pucch-AggregationCapability-r18” to indicate whether the UE 704 supports PUCCH repetition...If the value is the second state (e.g., false), the UE 704 does not have capability to do repetition for Msg4”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 and HUANG with TANG to include setting the signaling information to a value, as taught by TANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to reduce overhead, as suggested by TANG, This allows the network to control how many repetitions the UE does, for balancing reliability and overhead as needed. - ¶ [0062]
Claim 13. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 8, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
HUANG further teaches:
wherein the request or the capability indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission - in ¶ [0165], (“The UE may transmit PUSCH1…PUSCH2 (e.g., a second PUSCH, of the multiple PUSCHs”); ¶ [0168], (“DCI scheduling multi-PUSCHs…indicating repetition number and/or slot aggregation number”) via the transmission status of the second PUSCH transmission and the indication information in the second PUSCH comprises at least one of the following: - in ¶ [0171], (“if numberOfRepetitions-r16 is present in the resource allocation table, the number of repetitions K is equal to numberOfRepetitions-r16; [0172] elseif the UE is configured with pusch-AggregationFactor, the number of repetitions K is equal to pusch-AggregationFactor; [0173] otherwise K=1.”, with (k>1) or without repetition (k=1) (eq. transmission status))
in response to the UE having requested repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission,in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, the present of the indication information in the second PUSCH, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional. or
in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, – in ¶ [0231], Table 1, (“pusch-AggregationFactor [0232] Number of repetitions for data…If the field is absent the UE applies the value 1”, value 1 means no repetition) the absent of the indication information in the second PUSCH, – in ¶ [0231], Table 1, (“pusch-AggregationFactor [0232] Number of repetitions for data…If the field is absent the UE applies the value 1”) representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission. - in ¶ [0295], (“…resource allocation for one PUSCH (e.g., not more than one PUSCH), a number of repetitions K may be set to pusch-AggregationFactor.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 with HUANG to include signaling information for multiple PUSCHs, as taught by HUANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to reduce overhead, as suggested by HUANG, in order to have the benefits of overhead reduction and the benefits of improved reliability (e.g., improved PUSCH transmission reliability) associated with repetition and/or aggregation. - ¶ [0168]
Claim 14. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 8, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
HUANG further teaches:
wherein the request or the capability indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission - in ¶ [0165], (“The UE may transmit PUSCH1…PUSCH2 (e.g., a second PUSCH, of the multiple PUSCHs”); ¶ [0168], (“DCI scheduling multi-PUSCHs…indicating repetition number and/or slot aggregation number”) via the transmission status of the second PUSCH transmission and the indication information in the second PUSCH comprises at least one of the following: - in ¶ [0171], (“if numberOfRepetitions-r16 is present in the resource allocation table, the number of repetitions K is equal to numberOfRepetitions-r16; [0172] elseif the UE is configured with pusch-AggregationFactor, the number of repetitions K is equal to pusch-AggregationFactor; [0173] otherwise K=1.”, with (k>1) or without repetition (k=1) (eq. transmission status))
in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, in response to the UE having requested repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, setting the indication information in the second PUSCH to a first value, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional. or
in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, setting the indication information in the second PUSCH to a second value, representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission. - in ¶ [0177], (“from a multi-PUSCH point of view…slots n+k2+1˜n+k2+#SLIV-1 may be used for other transmissions that are not repetitions of the PUSCH transmission”)
TANG further teaches:
in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, setting the indication information in the second PUSCH to a second value, - in ¶ [0096], (“If the value is the first state (e.g., true), the UE 704 has capability to do repetition”) representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission. – in ¶ [0095-0096], (“in Msg3 transmission…“pucch-AggregationCapability-r18” to indicate whether the UE 704 supports PUCCH repetition...If the value is the first state (e.g., true), the UE 704 has capability to do repetition”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 and HUANG with TANG to include setting the signaling information to a value, as taught by TANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to reduce overhead, as suggested by TANG, This allows the network to control how many repetitions the UE does, for balancing reliability and overhead as needed. - ¶ [0062]
Claim 15. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 8, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
HUANG further teaches:
wherein the request or the capability indication for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission - in ¶ [0165], (“The UE may transmit PUSCH1…PUSCH2 (e.g., a second PUSCH, of the multiple PUSCHs”); ¶ [0168], (“DCI scheduling multi-PUSCHs…indicating repetition number and/or slot aggregation number”) via the transmission status of the second PUSCH transmission and the indication information in the second PUSCH comprises at least one of the following: - in ¶ [0171], (“if numberOfRepetitions-r16 is present in the resource allocation table, the number of repetitions K is equal to numberOfRepetitions-r16; [0172] elseif the UE is configured with pusch-AggregationFactor, the number of repetitions K is equal to pusch-AggregationFactor; [0173] otherwise K=1.”, with (k>1) or without repetition (k=1) (eq. transmission status))
in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, – in ¶ [0231], Table 1, (“pusch-AggregationFactor [0232] Number of repetitions for data…If the field is absent the UE applies the value 1”, value 1 means no repetition)
in response to the UE having requested repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, the present of the indication information in the second PUSCH, representing that the UE has the capability or requests for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, or in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, the absent of the indication information in the second PUSCH, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission. - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
TANG further teaches:
in response to that the UE does not request repetition of the second PUSCH transmission, representing that the UE does not have the capability or request for the repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, – in ¶ [0095-0096], (“pucch-AggregationCapability-r18” to indicate...If the value is the second state (e.g., false), the UE 704 does not have capability to do repetition”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 and HUANG with TANG to include representing that the UE does not have the capability for the repetition, as taught by TANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to reduce overhead, as suggested by TANG, This allows the network to control how many repetitions the UE does, for balancing reliability and overhead as needed. - ¶ [0062]
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cozzo et al. (US 20220287103, hereinafter, “Cozzo’103”) in view of HUANG et al. (US 20220183033, hereinafter, “HUANG”).
Claim 17. Cozzo’103 teaches The method according to claim 16, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Cozzo’103 does not explicitly teach:
wherein: a configured list of repetition factors for repetition of the second PUSCH transmission is used for indicating repetition factor for repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, in response to that the higher layer parameter for configuring the list of M repetition factors for repetition of the first PUSCH transmission is not provided; or a repetition factor list {1, 2, ..., M} or {1, 2, ..., N} is used for indicating repetition factor for repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, in response to that both of the list of M or N repetition factors for repetition of the first PUSCH transmission and configured list of repetition factors for repetition of the second PUSCH transmission are not provided.
However, HUANG teaches:
wherein: a configured list of repetition factors for repetition of the second PUSCH transmission - in ¶ [0282], (“the number of repetitions K is determined as…with pusch-AggregationFactor”); ¶ [0232], (“pusch-AggregationFactor Number of repetitions for data”) is used for indicating repetition factor for repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, - in ¶ [0282], (“the number of repetitions K is determined as [0283]…numberOfRepetitions-r16; [0284] elseif the UE is configured with pusch-AggregationFactor, the number of repetitions K is equal to pusch-AggregationFactor;”, pusch-AggregationFactor (eq. configured list of repetition factors of the second PUSCH transmission)) in response to that the higher layer parameter for configuring the list of M repetition factors for repetition of the first PUSCH transmission is not provided; - in ¶ [0282], (“the number of repetitions K is determined as [0283] if numberOfRepetitions-r16 is present in the resource allocation table, the number of repetitions K is equal to numberOfRepetitions-r16; [0284] elseif the UE is configured with pusch-AggregationFactor, the number of repetitions K is equal to pusch-AggregationFactor;”, if numberOfRepetitions-r16 (eq. higher layer parameter of the first PUSCH transmission) is present, use it; if not present, use pusch-AggregationFactor (eq. configured list of repetition factors)) or
a repetition factor list {1, 2, ..., M} or {1, 2, ..., N} is used for indicating repetition factor for repetition of the first PUSCH transmission, in response to that both of the list of M or N repetition factors for repetition of the first PUSCH transmission and configured list of repetition factors for repetition of the second PUSCH transmission are not provided. - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 with HUANG to include repletion factors for multiple PUSCHs, as taught by HUANG. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to reduce overhead, as suggested by HUANG, in order to have the benefits of overhead reduction and the benefits of improved reliability (e.g., improved PUSCH transmission reliability) associated with repetition and/or aggregation. - ¶ [0168]
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cozzo et al. (US 20220287103, hereinafter, “Cozzo’103”) in view of HUANG et al. (US 20220183033, hereinafter, “HUANG”) and further in view of CHEN et al. (US 20260181646, hereinafter, “CHEN”).
Claim 18. Combination of Cozzo’103 and HUANG teaches The method according to claim 17, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Combination of Cozzo’103 and HUANG does not explicitly teach:
wherein: 5- log2M or 5-[log2N1 least significant bits (LSBs) of an MCS field in a DCI indicates an MCS index from a list of MCS indexes for the first PUSCH transmission, a higher layer parameter is used for configuring the list of MCS indexes for the first PUSCH transmission, a list of MCS indexes configured for the second PUSCH transmission is used for indicating the MCS index of the first PUSCH transmission, in response to that the higher layer parameter for configuring the list of MCS indexes for the first PUSCH transmission is not provided, or a MCS index list {0, 1, 2, ..., P-1 } is used for indicating the MCS index for the first PUSCH transmission, in response to that both of the list of MCS indexes for the first PUSCH transmission and the list of MCS indexes for the second PUSCH transmission are not provided, P being a positive integer.
However, CHEN teaches:
wherein: 5- log2M or 5-[log2N1 least significant bits (LSBs) of an MCS field in a DCI indicates an MCS index from a list of MCS indexes for the first PUSCH transmission, - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
a higher layer parameter is used for configuring the list of MCS indexes for the first PUSCH transmission, - in ¶ [0109], (“The RAN equipment can also configure, as part of the common UL BWP configuration information (e.g., using a mcs-Msg3-Repetitions IE), a set of eight modulation and coding scheme (MCS) indexes for Msg3 repetition (i.e., PUSCH transmission scheduled by the RAR UL grant”)
a list of MCS indexes configured for the second PUSCH transmission is used for indicating the MCS index of the first PUSCH transmission, in response to that the higher layer parameter for configuring the list of MCS indexes for the first PUSCH transmission is not provided, or a MCS index list {0, 1, 2, ..., P-1 } is used for indicating the MCS index for the first PUSCH transmission, in response to that both of the list of MCS indexes for the first PUSCH transmission and the list of MCS indexes for the second PUSCH transmission are not provided, P being a positive integer. - This does not require teaching since it’s stated as optional.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cozzo’103 and HUANG with CHEN to include the list of MCS indexes, as taught by CHEN. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to reduce signaling overhead, as suggested by CHEN, this enables an earlier indication of the UE's capability for Msg3 repetition. - ¶ [0040]
Conclusion
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/SHIMA WASEL/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475