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 § 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 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 20claimed 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.
3. Claims 1-6, 8, 13-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nokia (“ IIOT WI : Resource Conflicts…” ) in view of Bhattad et al. (US 2020/0267757, hereinafter Bhattad).
Regarding claim 1, Nokia discloses an apparatus comprising processing circuitry processor of a user equipment (UE) configured to perform operations (page 01; Sec 02 – UE) comprising: process a first uplink grant having a first priority (page 02; Sec 02 – handling the two grants where one will be deprioritize); generate, by a medium access control (MAC) layer of the UE, a first MAC protocol data unit (PDU) comprising first data corresponding to the first uplink grant (page 03; Sec 02; para 02; MAC PDU was already delivered to PHY) ; deliver, by the MAC layer, the first MAC PDU to a physical (PHY) layer of the UE (page 03; proposal 2-2; MAC PDU delivered to PHY);
prepare, for transmission by the PHY layer via a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), the first data using resources (page 03; proposal 2-2; UE cancels (including stopping) the transmission of the deprioritized PUSCH);
process a second uplink grant having a second priority, wherein a corresponding PUSCH duration of the first and second uplink grants overlap (page 03; para 02; PUSCH overlaps with the earlier PUSCH – conflict also implies overlapping) and wherein the second priority is higher than the first priority (page 03; proposal 2-2; prioritized PUSCH transmission);
generate, by the MAC layer, a second MAC protocol data unit (PDU) comprising second data corresponding to the second uplink grant (page 03; para 02; another MAC PDU delivered); deliver, by the MAC layer, the second MAC PDU to the PHY layer of the UE (page 03; para 02; another MAC PDU); cancel the transmission of the first data (page 03; para 02; UE cancels the transmission); and prepare the second data for transmission (page 03; para 02 – later transmission) using resources.
Nokia does not explicitly disclose that the resources are identified in the first and the second uplink grants via PUSCH.
In an analogous art, Bhattad discloses that the resources are identified in the first and the second uplink grants via PUSCH (para 0091-0092 – resources indicated by the uplink grans over the PUSCH).It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Nokia’s method/system by having Bhattad’s disclosure in order to improve the performance of a communication system by improving resource allocation.
Regarding claim 13, Nokia discloses a user equipment (page 01; UE), comprising:
process a first uplink grant having a first priority (page 02; Sec 02 – handling the two grants where one will be deprioritize); generate, by a medium access control (MAC) layer of the UE, a first MAC protocol data unit (PDU) comprising first data corresponding to the first uplink grant (page 03; Sec 02; para 02; MAC PDU was already delivered to PHY) ; deliver, by the MAC layer, the first MAC PDU to a physical (PHY) layer of the UE (page 03; proposal 2-2; MAC PDU delivered to PHY);
prepare, for transmission by the PHY layer via a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), the first data using resources (page 03; proposal 2-2; UE cancels (including stopping) the transmission of the deprioritized PUSCH);
process a second uplink grant having a second priority, wherein a corresponding PUSCH duration of the first and second uplink grants overlap (page 03; para 02; PUSCH overlaps with the earlier PUSCH – conflict also implies overlapping) and wherein the second priority is higher than the first priority (page 03; proposal 2-2; prioritized PUSCH transmission);
generate, by the MAC layer, a second MAC protocol data unit (PDU) comprising second data corresponding to the second uplink grant (page 03; para 02; another MAC PDU delivered); deliver, by the MAC layer, the second MAC PDU to the PHY layer of the UE (page 03; para 02; another MAC PDU); cancel the transmission of the first data (page 03; para 02; UE cancels the transmission); and prepare the second data for transmission (page 03; para 02 – later transmission) using resources.
Nokia does not explicitly disclose a transceiver configured to communicate with a network; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform the method steps; and resources are identified in the first and the second uplink grants via PUSCH.
In an analogous art, Bhattad discloses a transceiver (1120 of fig. 11) configured to communicate with a network (para 099 and 0192; 0196); and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver (para 0007; a processor) and configured to perform the method steps (para 0007); and the resources are identified in the first and the second uplink grants via PUSCH (para 0091-0092 – resources indicated by the uplink grans over the PUSCH). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Nokia’s method/system by having Bhattad’s disclosure in order to improve the performance of a communication system by improving resource allocation.
Regarding claims 2 and 14, Nokia discloses wherein the first uplink grant is one of a configured grant or a dynamic grant and the second uplink grant is another one of the configured grant or the dynamic grant (page 01; para 01; configured grant).
Regarding claims 3 and 15, Nokia does not explicitly disclose wherein the operations further comprise configured to: delivering deliver, by the MAC layer, the first uplink grant and associated first Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) information to a HARQ entity of the UE; and delivering deliver, by the MAC layer, the second uplink grant and associated second HARQ information to the HARQ entity of the UE.
In an analogous art, Bhattad discloses wherein the operations further comprise configured to: delivering deliver, by the MAC layer, the first uplink grant and associated first Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) information to a HARQ entity of the UE (para 0167); and delivering deliver, by the MAC layer, the second uplink grant and associated second HARQ information to the HARQ entity of the UE (para 0167).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Nokia’s method/system by having Bhattad’s disclosure in order to improve the performance of a communication system by improving resource allocation.
Regarding claims 4 and 16, Nokia discloses wherein the PHY layer of the UE is configured to prioritize uplink grants based on a priority of the uplink grants (page 02; para 02; priority at PHY).
Regarding claims 5 and 17, Nokia discloses wherein the operations further comprise configured to: receiving process a radio resource control (RRC) parameter configuring the MAC layer of the UE to prioritize uplink grants based on a priority of the grants (page 02; para 01), wherein the RRC parameter is associated with at least one RRC parameter configuring the PHY layer to prioritize uplink grants based on the priority of the grants (page 02; para 02).
Regarding claims 6 and 18, Nokia discloses wherein the operations further comprise configured to: receiving process a radio resource control (RRC) parameter configuring the PHY layer of the UE to prioritize uplink grants based on a priority of the grants (page 02; para 02).
Regarding claims 8 and 20, Nokia discloses wherein the first priority and the second priority are indicated by a priority index in the corresponding uplink grant (page 02; para 02).
6. Claims 7 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nokia/Bhattad in view of Lin (WO 2022/028553, hereinafter Lin).
Regarding claims 7 and 19, Nokia/Bhattad does not explicitly disclose wherein the UE is not configured with logical channel (LCH)-based prioritization is not configured.
In an analogous art, Lin discloses wherein the UE is not configured with logical channel (LCH)-based prioritization is not configured (step 102 of fig. 1).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Nokia/Bhattad’s method/system by having Lin’s disclosure in order to improve the performance of a communication system by improving resource allocation.
7. Claims 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nokia/Bhattad in view of Alabbasi (WO 2020/165281, hereinafter Alabbasi).
Regarding claim 9, Nokia/Bhattad does not explicitly disclose wherein the first uplink grant is a configured grant and the second uplink grant is a dynamic grant, and wherein the operations further comprise configured to: starting start a timer when the UE begins transmitting the first data is transmitted on the PUSCH; and stopping stop the timer when the transmission of the first data is cancelled.
In an analogous art, Alabbasi discloses wherein the first uplink grant is a configured grant and the second uplink grant is a dynamic grant (page 13; lines 15-20), and wherein the operations further comprise configured to: starting start a timer when the UE begins transmitting the first data is transmitted on the PUSCH (pages 11 and 13; lines 15-30); and stopping stop the timer when the transmission of the first data is cancelled (pages 11 and 13; lines 15-30). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Nokia/Bhattad’s method/system by having Lin’s disclosure in order to improve the performance of a communication system by improving resource allocation.
Regarding claim 10, Nokia discloses wherein the PHY layer of the UE cancels the transmission of the first data, and configured to: de prioritizing de-prioritize the first uplink grant (page 03; para 02).
Regarding claim 11, Nokia discloses wherein the first data, and wherein the operations further comprise configured to: de prioritizing de-prioritize the first uplink grant (page 03. Para 02).
Regarding claim 12, Nokia discloses wherein the UE is configured with autonomous transmission wherein the UE autonomously transmits the first data is autonomously transmitted during a subsequent configured grant (page 03; para 02).
Conclusion
4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMINA CHOUDHRY whose telephone number is (571)270-7102. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday (7:30 a.m. to 5.00p.m.).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached on (571)272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAMINA F CHOUDHRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
Prosecution Insights