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 .
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 08/08/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it is on two pages and contains international publication data. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a single, separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZTE: “Discussion on basic Functions for Broadcast or Multicast for RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE UEs”, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1#107-e e-Meeting, November 11th – 19th, 2021, R1-2110912 cited by the applicant, hereinafter referred to as ZTE, in view of “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17)”, 3GPP TS 38.331, V17.0.0 (2022-03) cited by the applicant, hereinafter referred to as 3GPP.
Regarding claim 1, ZTE discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (ZTE – Page 3, lines 13-21, note Redcap UE), comprising:
a memory (ZTE – Page 3, lines 13-21, note Redcap UE; a UE comprises memory as is well-known in the art); and
one or more processors, coupled to the memory (ZTE – Page 3, lines 13-21, note Redcap UE; a UE comprises a processor(s) as is well-known in the art), configured to:
define that the UE is a reduced capability (RedCap) UE associated with a maximum reception bandwidth (ZTE – Page 3, lines 13-21, note maximum bandwidth capability of the Redcap UE, maximum bandwidth of an FR1 RedCap UE is 20 MHz during and after initial access, maximum bandwidth of an FR2 RedCap UE is 100 MHz during and after initial access); and
receive a configuration of one or more common frequency resources (CFRs) associated with one or more broadcast communications, wherein the configuration of the one or more CFRs is based at least in part on the indication that the UE is the RedCap UE associated with the maximum reception bandwidth (ZTE – Page 1, Section 2.1.1, lines 5-17, note for broadcast reception, RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs can use a configured/defined CFR with the same size as the initial BWP, where the initial BWP has the same frequency resources as CORESET0 (Redcap UE can support CORESET#0 defined initial BWP, see Page 3, lines 13-21) to receive GC-PDCCH/PDSCH carrying MCCH/MTCH).
ZTE does not teach transmitting an indication that the UE is a reduced capability (RedCap) UE associated with a maximum reception bandwidth.
In an analogous art, 3GPP teaches transmitting an indication that the UE is a reduced capability (RedCap) UE associated with a maximum reception bandwidth (3GPP – Page 875, Section 6.3.3, note UE capability information elements (transmitted via RRC, see Page 465, Section 6.3.2); Page 942, lines 7-8, note the IE RedCapParameters is used to indicate the UE capabilities (such as supported bandwidth as known in the art) supported by RedCap UEs).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of 3GPP into ZTE in order to utilize RRC to transmit RedCapParameters IE indicating maximum reception bandwidth (3GPP – Page 942, lines 7-8).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the configuration of the one or more CFRs configures a single CFR, wherein a bandwidth associated with the single CFR is based at least in part on a bandwidth associated with a control resource set (CORESET) (ZTE – Page 1, Section 2.1.1, lines 5-17, note for broadcast reception, RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs can use a configured/defined CFR with the same size as the initial BWP, where the initial BWP has the same frequency resources as CORESET0 (Redcap UE can support CORESET#0 defined initial BWP, see Page 3, lines 13-21) to receive GC-PDCCH/PDSCH carrying MCCH/MTCH).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the bandwidth associated with the CORESET and the bandwidth associated with the single CFR is less than or equal to the maximum reception bandwidth (ZTE – Page 1, Section 2.1.1, lines 5-17, note for broadcast reception, RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs can use a configured/defined CFR with the same size as the initial BWP, where the initial BWP has the same frequency resources as CORESET0 (Redcap UE can support CORESET#0 defined initial BWP, but may not support the receiving of the bandwidth larger than CORESET#0, see Page 3, lines 13-21) to receive GC-PDCCH/PDSCH carrying MCCH/MTCH).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the configuration of the one or more CFRs configures a first CFR and a second CFR (ZTE – Page 3, lines 1-5, note configure multiple CFRs as Mode 2, UE switches among different CFRs for reception of different MBS services; Page 4, Section 2.1.3, lines 1-6, note network supports configuring different CFRs for MCCH and MTCH).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein a bandwidth associated with the second CFR is larger than a bandwidth associated with the first CFR, and wherein, based at least in part on the UE being the RedCap UE associated with the maximum reception bandwidth, the bandwidth associated with the first CFR is less than or equal to the maximum reception bandwidth and the UE is configured to monitor the first CFR and not the second CFR (ZTE – Page 3, lines 1-5, note configure multiple CFRs as Mode 2, UE switches among different CFRs for reception of different MBS services (UE will monitor CFR based on MBS services used)).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein a bandwidth associated with the second CFR is larger than a bandwidth associated with the first CFR, and wherein one or more non-RedCap UEs are configured to monitor the first CFR and the second CFR (ZTE – Page 1, Section 2.1.1, lines 1-3, note CFR is larger than CORESET#0; Page 2, lines 4-10, note require UE to activate a BWP larger than CORESET#0, once UE enters RRC_CONNECTED state, UE can still use SIB-1 configured initial BWP as the activated BWP or activate another BWP larger than CFR; Page 3, lines 1-5, note UE switches among different CFRs for reception of different MBS services (UE will monitor CFR based on MBS services used)).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the first CFR is associated with a first broadcast communication, of the one or more broadcast communications, associated with at least one of a first multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) point-to-multipoint control channel (MCCH) or a first MBMS point-to-multipoint traffic channel (MTCH) (ZTE – Page 1, Section 2.1.1, lines 5-17, note for broadcast reception, RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs can use a configured/defined CFR with the same size as the initial BWP, where the initial BWP has the same frequency resources as CORESET0 (Redcap UE can support CORESET#0 defined initial BWP, see Page 3, lines 13-21) to receive GC-PDCCH/PDSCH carrying MCCH/MTCH), and wherein the second CFR is associated with a second broadcast communication, of the one or more broadcast communications, associated with at least one of a second MCCH or a second MTCH (ZTE – Page 1, Section 2.1.1, lines 5-17, note for broadcast reception, RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs can use a configured/defined CFR with the same size as the initial BWP, where the initial BWP has the same frequency resources as CORESET0 (Redcap UE can support CORESET#0 defined initial BWP, see Page 3, lines 13-21) to receive GC-PDCCH/PDSCH carrying MCCH/MTCH; Page 3, lines 1-5, note configure multiple CFRs as Mode 2, UE switches among different CFRs for reception (corresponding to different GC-PDCCH/PDSCH carrying MCCH and MTCH) of different MBS services).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein at least a broadcast communication, of the one or more broadcast communications, is transmitted using both the first CFR and the second CFR (ZTE – Page 4, Section 2.1.3, lines 1-6, note more than one CFR is supported for MTCH for transmitting different MBS traffics or to accommodate UEs with different bandwidth capabilities).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the broadcast communication is associated with one or more group radio network temporary identifiers (ZTE – Page 4, Section 2.2.1, lines 1-8, note for broadcast reception with UEs in RRC_IDLE/INACTIVE states, the repetition number of slot-level repetition for MTCH is configured per G-RNTI via MCCH).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the first CFR is confined within the second CFR (ZTE – Page 2, Case D/E, note (first) CFR confined within the SIB-1 configured initial BWP (which may be a second CFR corresponding to different MBS service, see Page 3, lines 1-5)).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the first CFR is associated with a first set of broadcast services associated with a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) point-to-multipoint traffic channel (MTCH), and wherein the second CFR is associated with a second set of broadcast services associated with the MTCH (ZTE – Page 4, Section 2.1.3, lines 1-6, note more than one CFR is supported for MTCH for transmitting different MBS traffics or to accommodate UEs with different bandwidth capabilities).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the first CFR is associated with an MBMS point-to-multipoint control channel (MCCH) (ZTE – Page 1, Section 2.1.1, lines 5-17, note for broadcast reception, RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs can use a configured/defined CFR with the same size as the initial BWP, where the initial BWP has the same frequency resources as CORESET0 (Redcap UE can support CORESET#0 defined initial BWP, see Page 3, lines 13-21) to receive GC-PDCCH/PDSCH carrying MCCH).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein a configuration of the second CFR is received via the MCCH in the first CFR (ZTE – Page 4, Section 2.1.3, lines 1-6, note MCCH only transmits some control information for MBS, network supports configuring different CFRs for MCCH and MTCH).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive an indication of resources associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) associated with a first broadcast service, of the first set of broadcast services, wherein the indication is communicated using both a first physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) associated with the first CFR and a second PDCCH associated with the second CFR (ZTE – Page 1, Section 2.1.1, lines 5-17, note for broadcast reception, RRC_IDLE/RRC_INACTIVE UEs can use a configured/defined CFR with the same size as the initial BWP, where the initial BWP has the same frequency resources as CORESET0 (Redcap UE can support CORESET#0 defined initial BWP, see Page 3, lines 13-21) to receive GC-PDCCH/PDSCH carrying MCCH/MTCH; Page 3, lines 1-5, note MBS services of different groups can occupy different CFRs; Page 4, Section 2.2.2, lines 1-11, note SPS group-common PDSCH for MBS for RRC_CONNECTED UEs (SPS is configured by RRC as known in the art)).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of ZTE and 3GPP, specifically ZTE teaches wherein the UE receives the indication of the resources associated with the PDSCH via the first PDCCH, and wherein a frequency domain resource allocation associated with the PDSCH is scaled to a bandwidth associated with the first CFR (ZTE – Page 2, lines 4-10, note require UE to activate a BWP larger than CORESET#0, once UE enters RRC_CONNECTED state, UE can still use SIB-1 configured initial BWP as the activated BWP or activate another BWP larger than CFR).
Regarding claim 16, ZTE does not teach wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit broadcast reception capability information including an indication of at least one of the maximum reception bandwidth associated with the UE, or a maximum data rate of broadcast services associated with the UE.
In an analogous art, 3GPP teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit broadcast reception capability information including an indication of at least one of the maximum reception bandwidth associated with the UE, or a maximum data rate of broadcast services associated with the UE (3GPP – Page 875, Section 6.3.3, note UE capability information elements (transmitted via RRC, see Page 465, Section 6.3.2); Page 942, lines 7-8, note the IE RedCapParameters is used to indicate the UE capabilities (such as supported bandwidth as known in the art) supported by RedCap UEs).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of 3GPP into ZTE for the same reason as claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 17, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 1 above, except the claim is written from the perspective of the network entity.
Regarding claim 18, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 19, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 20, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 5 above.
Regarding claim 21, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 6 above.
Regarding claim 22, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 7 above.
Regarding claim 23, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 11 above.
Regarding claim 24, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 12 above.
Regarding claim 25, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 13 above.
Regarding claim 26, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 1 above, except the claim is written in a method claim format.
Regarding claim 27, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 28, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 29, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 1 above, except the claim is written in a method claim format from the perspective of the network entity
Regarding claim 30, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 4 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cozzo et al. (US 2022/0287103 A1) discloses selecting a common frequency region of a UL BWP, and RedCap UE.
Lei (US 2024/0147573 A1) discloses UE specific common frequency resource configuration for MBS multicast for a dedicated BWP, and RedCap UE operating on the dedicated BWP.
Xu et al. (US 2024/0267936 A1) discloses cfr-ConfigMCCH-MTCH information element which may include data utilized to configure a common frequency resource used for MCCH and/or multicast traffic channel (MTCH) reception.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BAILOR C HSU whose telephone number is (571)272-1729. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri. 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached at (571)-272-3155. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BAILOR C HSU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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