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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
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Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 11,696,294. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because.
For claims 1, 8, and 15; U.S. Patent No. 11,696,294 discloses: determining a time domain resource allocation pattern set according to a combination of a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) and a second SCS, wherein the first SCS is a SCS of a first channel signal, and the second SCS is a SCS of a second channel signal (claim 1: determining a time domain resource allocation pattern set according to a radio resource control (RRC) signaling and a combination of a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) and a second SCS, wherein the first SCS is a SCS of a first channel signal, and the second SCS is a SCS of a second channel signal); determining a time domain resource allocation pattern in the time domain resource allocation pattern set according to an indication of a downlink control information (DCI) signaling (claim 1: determining a time domain resource allocation pattern in the time domain resource allocation pattern set according to the indication of a downlink control information (DCI) signaling); determining, according to the time domain resource allocation pattern, symbols occupied by the second channel signal; and receiving the second channel signal on the symbols (claim 1: determining, according to the time domain resource allocation pattern in the time domain resource allocation pattern set, symbols occupied by the second channel signal; and receiving the second channel signal on the symbol), wherein determining the time domain resource allocation pattern set according to the combination of the first SCS and the second SCS comprises: determining, according to a predefined correspondence between the time domain resource allocation pattern set and the combination of the first SCS and the second SCS (claim 1: wherein determining the time domain resource allocation pattern set according to RRC signaling and the combination of the first SCS and the second SCS comprises: determining, according to a predefined correspondence between the time domain resource allocation pattern set and the combination of the first SCS and the second SCS, the time domain resource allocation pattern set corresponding to the combination of the first SCS and the second SCS).
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 and 2 of U.S. Patent No. 12,133,239 in view of Ly and Lin.
For claims 1, 8, and 15; U.S. Patent No. 12,133,239 discloses: determining a time domain resource allocation pattern set according to a first channel signal, and a second channel signal (claim 2: determining, in response to a reception of a synchronization signal/broadcast channel signal block (SSB), a location of the monitoring window that corresponds to the SSB and carries the second channel signal); determining, according to the time domain resource allocation pattern, symbols occupied by the second channel signal; and receiving the second channel signal on the symbols (claim 1: detecting the downlink control information of the second channel signal and incorrectly detecting the second channel signal in a slot within the monitoring window, and detecting the downlink control information of the second channel signal in other slots within the monitoring window).
U.S. Patent No. 12,133,239 does not expressly disclose, but Ly from similar fields of endeavor teaches: determining a time domain resource allocation pattern set according to a combination of a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) and a second SCS, wherein the first SCS is a SCS of a first channel signal, and the second SCS is a SCS of a second channel signal (paragraph 140: mappings between the RMSI timing locations and the SSB timing locations for a frequency band below 6 GHz…mappings between the RMSI timing locations and the SSB timing locations for different SSB and RMSI CORESET subcarrier spacing (SCS) combinations); determining a time domain resource allocation pattern in the time domain resource allocation pattern set according to an indication of a downlink control information (DCI) signaling (paragraph 140-141: mappings between the RMSI timing locations and the SSB timing locations for a frequency band below 6 GHz…mappings between the RMSI timing locations and the SSB timing locations for different SSB and RMSI CORESET subcarrier spacing (SCS) combinations). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Ly in the SSB/RMSI resource mapping as described by U.S. Patent No. 12,133,239. The motivation is to improve dynamic scheduling resources for signaling.
U.S. Patent No. 12,133,239 does not expressly disclose, but Lin from similar fields of endeavor teaches: determining a time domain resource allocation according to an indication of a downlink control information (DCI) signaling (paragraph 76: a network node can provide a terminal device with indication information of time domain resource allocation. For various multiplexing types between SSB and RMSI CORESET, for example, the indication information such as one or more bits may be contained in a time domain resource allocation field in DCI carried by a PDCCH in RMSI CORESET). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Lin in the SSB/RMSI resource mapping as described by U.S. Patent No. 12,133,239. The motivation is to improve dynamic scheduling resources for signaling.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ly et al. (US 2019/0159226) (“Ly”) in view of Lin et al. (US 2020/0120624) (”Lin”).
For claims 1, 8, and 15; Ly discloses: determining a time domain resource allocation pattern set according to a combination of a first subcarrier spacing (SCS) and a second SCS, wherein the first SCS is a SCS of a first channel signal, and the second SCS is a SCS of a second channel signal (paragraph 140: mappings between the RMSI timing locations and the SSB timing locations for a frequency band below 6 GHz…mappings between the RMSI timing locations and the SSB timing locations for different SSB and RMSI CORESET subcarrier spacing (SCS) combinations); determining a time domain resource allocation pattern in the time domain resource allocation pattern set according to an indication (paragraph 131: a UE (e.g., UE 120), for determining the location of the RMSI CORESET in the time domain. Operations 1700 begin, at 1702, by storing a mapping of synchronization signal block (SSB) time resources to Type0-physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) common search space control resource set (CORESET) time resources. At 1704, operations 1700 continue by receiving an indication of the SSB time resources. At 1706, operations 1700 continue by determining locations of RMSI CORESET time resources based on the mapping and the indication); determining, according to the time domain resource allocation pattern, symbols occupied by the second channel signal (paragraph 141, 145: These mappings, which may be stored by the UE, enable the UE to determine the time symbols in which the RMSI CORESET are received based on the time symbols in which the SSB is received); and receiving the second channel signal on the symbols (paragraph 141: These mappings, which may be stored by the UE, enable the UE to determine the time symbols in which the RMSI CORESET are received based on the time symbols in which the SSB is received), wherein determining the time domain resource allocation pattern set according to the combination of the first SCS and the second SCS comprises: determining, according to a predefined correspondence between the time domain resource allocation pattern set and the combination of the first SCS and the second SCS (paragraph 140-141: mappings between the RMSI timing locations and the SSB timing locations for a frequency band below 6 GHz…mappings between the RMSI timing locations and the SSB timing locations for different SSB and RMSI CORESET subcarrier spacing (SCS) combinations).
Ly does not expressly disclose, but Lin from similar fields of endeavor teaches: determining a time domain resource allocation according to an indication of a downlink control information (DCI) signaling (paragraph 76: a network node can provide a terminal device with indication information of time domain resource allocation. For various multiplexing types between SSB and RMSI CORESET, for example, the indication information such as one or more bits may be contained in a time domain resource allocation field in DCI carried by a PDCCH in RMSI CORESET). Thus it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the signaling as described by Lin in the SSB/RMSI resource mapping as described by Ly. The motivation is to improve dynamic scheduling resources for signaling.
For claims 2, 9, and 16; Ly discloses: wherein the time domain resource allocation pattern set comprises at least one slot containing the first channel signal (paragraph 102: base station 110 in this configuration 910 may be allowed to transmit L=64 SSB s (i.e., two SSB s per slot), which may be required to be transmitted according to a particular pattern of allocated resources for the SSB s).
For claims 3, 10, and 17; Ly discloses: wherein the time domain resource allocation pattern set comprises a slot not containing the first channel signal (paragraph 137: in some embodiments, RMSI CORESET(s) are mapped into the downlink slots containing SSB(s) only. In some embodiments, for some SS burst set patterns, RMSI CORESET(s) are first mapped into the downlink slots containing SSB(s) and then mapped into the downlink slots without SSB(s). In some embodiments, for some SS burst set patterns, RMSI CORESET(s) are mapped to the downlink slots without SSB(s) only).
For claims 4, 11, and 18; Ly discloses: wherein the correspondence between the time domain resource allocation pattern set and the combination of the first SCS and the second SCS comprises: a combination of the first SCS and the second SCS corresponding to a plurality of time domain resource allocation pattern sets (paragraph 144: As shown in row 4 of the table, when the RMSI CORESET is 2 symbols long, however, the RMSI CORESET in the first time slot occupies time symbols 0 and 1 etc. The different rows (3-5) are not meant to imply transmission at different times or frequencies. They are meant to show the different scenarios where RMSI CORESET may be transmitted with a variety of symbol lengths).
For claims 5, 12, and 19; Ly discloses: wherein the symbols occupied by the second channel signal comprise consecutive P symbols, wherein P is an integer satisfying 0<P≤14 (figure 18A,B: under scenario {15, 15} SCS and 1-symbol length RMSI, RMSI is located in symbols 0-1 out of symbols 0-13).
For claims 6, 13, and 20; Ly discloses: wherein the first channel signal comprises a synchronization signal physical broadcast channel block (SSB); and the second channel signal comprises a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carrying remaining minimum system information (RMSI) (paragraph 131: a UE (e.g., UE 120), for determining the location of the RMSI CORESET in the time domain. Operations 1700 begin, at 1702, by storing a mapping of synchronization signal block (SSB) time resources to Type0-physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) common search space control resource set (CORESET) time resources. At 1704, operations 1700 continue by receiving an indication of the SSB time resources. At 1706, operations 1700 continue by determining locations of RMSI CORESET time resources based on the mapping and the indication).
For claims 7 and 14; Ly discloses: wherein the combination of the first SCS and the second SCS comprises at least one of: {15, 15} kHz, {15, 30} kHz, {30, 15} kHz, {30, 30} kHz, {120, 60} kHz, {120, 120} kHz, {240, 60} kHz, or {240, 120} kHz (figures 18A-D).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Zhang et al. (US 2009/0231993); Zhang discloses a slot-level remapping method, method C, is proposed. In this method, the resource indices within the two resource blocks respectively in the two slots of a subframe to which the PUCCH is mapped are given by: [0068] when n.sub.s mod2=0, resource indices of the physical uplink control channels within a first slot of the two slots of the subframe are established by…the resource indices of the physical uplink control channels within a second slot of the two slots of the subframe.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN D BLANTON whose telephone number is (571)270-3933. The examiner can normally be reached 7am-6pm EST, Mon-Thu.
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/JOHN D BLANTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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