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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/27/2024 and 6/30/2025 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
4. The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 (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.
6. 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.
7. Claim(s) 1-7, 10, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 20170302359 A1 by Guo et al. (hereafter referred to as Guo).
Regarding claim 1, Guo teaches A communication control method for controlling a relay apparatus configured to relay a radio signal between a base station and a user equipment (see at least Fig. 2) in a time division duplex system (see at least ¶ [0001]; “The present technology relates to the field of communication, particularly to a method in a relay access point (AP) for timing a random access of a user equipment (UE) to the relay AP in a time division duplex (TDD) radio communication network.”), the communication control method comprising:
performing a downlink relay operation of relaying a downlink signal from the base station to the user equipment (see at least ¶ [0041]; “Take the relay 120 as example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the donor 110 performs the downlink transmission to the relay AP 120, and then the relay AP 120 performs downlink transmission to the UE 150, for example broadcasting to the UE 150.”);
performing an uplink relay operation of relaying an uplink signal from the user equipment to the base station after or before the downlink relay operation (see at least ¶ [0041]; “Then, after a guard period, the downlink transmission is switched to the uplink transmission and the UE 150 is to perform random access to the relay AP 120.”); and
performing, in a time period between a downlink time period during which the downlink relay operation is performed and an uplink time period during which the uplink relay operation is performed, operation switching between the downlink relay operation and the uplink relay operation at a predetermined timing within the time period (see at least ¶ [0050]; “In block 320, the UE determines a starting time point, within a guard period at a downlink-to-uplink switching point, to perform the random access based on the timing advance offset.”).
Regarding claim 2, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 1. In addition, Guo teaches wherein the predetermined timing is a timing different from both an initial timing and a last timing within the time period between the downlink time period and the uplink time period (see at least ¶ [0050]; “In block 320, the UE determines a starting time point, within a guard period at a downlink-to-uplink switching point, to perform the random access based on the timing advance offset. Specifically, the UE can determine the starting time point to be the timing advance offset earlier than the predetermined starting time point.”).
Regarding claim 3, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 1. In addition, Guo teaches further comprising: managing a timing advance for adjusting a transmission timing of the uplink signal from the relay apparatus to the base station, wherein the operation switching is switching from the uplink relay operation to the downlink relay operation (see at least ¶ [0042]-[0045]; timing advance), and the predetermined timing is a timing at which a time indicated by a value obtained by dividing the timing advance by n (n ≥ 2) elapses from an end timing of the uplink time period (see at least ¶ [0045]).
Regarding claim 4, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 1. In addition, Guo teaches further comprising: managing a timing advance for adjusting a transmission timing of the uplink signal from the relay apparatus to the base station, wherein the operation switching is switching from the downlink relay operation to the uplink relay operation (see at least ¶ [0042]-[0045]; timing advance), and the predetermined timing is a timing at which a time indicated by a value obtained by dividing the timing advance by n (n ≥ 2) elapses from an end timing of the downlink time period (see at least ¶ [0045]).
Regarding claim 5, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 3. In addition, Guo teaches wherein a value of n is 2 (see at least ¶ [0045]).
Regarding claim 6, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 1. In addition, Guo teaches wherein the operation switching is switching from the downlink relay operation to the uplink relay operation, and the predetermined timing is a timing at an intermediate point in the time period between the downlink time period and the uplink time period (see at least ¶ [0041]; “Then, after a guard period, the downlink transmission is switched to the uplink transmission and the UE 150 is to perform random access to the relay AP 120.”).
Regarding claim 7, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 1. In addition, Guo teaches wherein the operation switching is switching from the downlink relay operation to the uplink relay operation, and the predetermined timing is a designated timing designated by the base station in the time period between the downlink time period and the uplink time period (see at least ¶ [0041]; “Then, after a guard period, the downlink transmission is switched to the uplink transmission and the UE 150 is to perform random access to the relay AP 120.”).
Regarding claim 10, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 1. In addition, Guo teaches wherein the relay apparatus is a repeater apparatus configured to amplify and transfer a received radio wave (see at least Figs. 2-8 and ¶ [0016]-[0026]; relay AP).
Regarding claim 12, Guo teaches A control terminal comprising:
a controller configured to cause a relay apparatus to execute processing, the relay apparatus being configured to relay a radio signal between a base station and a user equipment in a time division duplex system (see at least Fig. 2 and ¶ [0012], [0013]), the processing comprising:
processing of performing a downlink relay operation of relaying a downlink signal from the base station to the user equipment (see at least ¶ [0041]; “Take the relay 120 as example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the donor 110 performs the downlink transmission to the relay AP 120, and then the relay AP 120 performs downlink transmission to the UE 150, for example broadcasting to the UE 150.”);
processing of performing an uplink relay operation of relaying an uplink signal from the user equipment to the base station after or before the downlink relay operation (see at least ¶ [0041]; “Then, after a guard period, the downlink transmission is switched to the uplink transmission and the UE 150 is to perform random access to the relay AP 120.”); and
processing of performing, in a time period between a downlink time period during which the downlink relay operation is performed and an uplink time period during which the uplink relay operation is performed, operation switching between the downlink relay operation and the uplink relay operation at a predetermined timing within the time period (see at least ¶ [0050]; “In block 320, the UE determines a starting time point, within a guard period at a downlink-to-uplink switching point, to perform the random access based on the timing advance offset.”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Claim(s) 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo as applied to claim 1 above, in view of US 2020/0153672 A1 by Choi et al. (hereafter referred to as Choi).
Regarding claim 8, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 7.
Guo does not appear to specifically disclose further comprising: receiving, from the base station, designated timing information indicating a symbol number as the designated timing, wherein the performing of the operation switching comprises performing the operation switching in a symbol corresponding to the symbol number indicated by the designated timing information.
In the same field of endeavor, Choi teaches further comprising: receiving, from the base station, designated timing information indicating a symbol number as the designated timing, wherein the performing of the operation switching comprises performing the operation switching in a symbol corresponding to the symbol number indicated by the designated timing information (see at least ¶ [0275]; “In the example of FIG. 16, each slot consists of a total of 14 symbols. Each slot format may be defined by a combination of a symbol 1607 for transmission of downlink control information, a symbol 1608 for transmission of downlink data, a symbol 1609 for a guard period (GP) for downlink-uplink switching, a symbol 1610 for transmission of uplink data, and a symbol 1611 for transmission of uplink control information.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the downlink taught by Guo with the downlink control taught by Choi in order to prevent resource collision and maximize resource use.
Regarding claim 9, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 7.
Guo does not appear to specifically disclose further comprising: receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) indicating execution of control of the operation switching, wherein the performing of the operation switching comprises performing the operation switching at a timing at which the DCI is received.
In the same field of endeavor, Choi teaches receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) indicating execution of control of the operation switching, wherein the performing of the operation switching comprises performing the operation switching at a timing at which the DCI is received (see at least ¶ [0275]; “In the example of FIG. 16, each slot consists of a total of 14 symbols. Each slot format may be defined by a combination of a symbol 1607 for transmission of downlink control information, a symbol 1608 for transmission of downlink data, a symbol 1609 for a guard period (GP) for downlink-uplink switching, a symbol 1610 for transmission of uplink data, and a symbol 1611 for transmission of uplink control information.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the downlink taught by Guo with the downlink control taught by Choi in order to prevent resource collision and maximize resource use.
12. Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo as applied to claim 1 above, in view of US 2022/0344826 A1 by Chowdhury et al. (hereafter referred to as Chowdhury).
Regarding claim 11, Guo teaches the communication control method according to claim 1.
Guo does not appear to specifically disclose wherein the relay apparatus is a Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) apparatus configured to change a propagation direction of an incident radio wave by reflection or refraction.
In the same field of endeavor, Chowdhury teaches wherein the relay apparatus is a Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) apparatus configured to change a propagation direction of an incident radio wave by reflection or refraction (see at least ¶ [0055] and ¶ [0097]; “The technology demonstrates an orchestrating software framework to control the RIS network 307 that synchronizes and aligns start times of the relay transmitters and receiver and reconfigures the RIS 309 on demand to change its reflection coefficients.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the relay taught by Guo with the relay control taught by Chowdhury in order to achieve significant gains in reducing size and power demands in IoT platforms (Chowdhury ¶ [0049]).
Conclusion
13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATASHA W COSME whose telephone number is (571)270-7225. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached at 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATASHA W COSME/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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