Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
2. This Office Action is in response to application filed on 08/21/2024. Claims 1-30 were previously pending. Claims 1-30 are rejected.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 08/21/2024, 02/25/2026 is/are is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS(s) is/are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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.
4.1. 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)(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.
4.2. Claim(s) 1-5, 7, 11-14, 16-20, 22, 26-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhang (WO 2023/151095 A1) .
Regarding Claim 1, Zhang teaches, A user equipment (UE) (FIG.1 UE 101) for wireless communication, comprising (Zhang, FIG.1, UE 101, network device 102, Page 6, [3]: UE 101 is configured to support carrier aggregation and is connected to carrier components of the network device 102):
a memory; and one or more processors , coupled to the memory, configured to (Zhang, FIG.11, device 1100, processor 1102, memory 1104, Page 25, lines 33-37, UE includes a memory 1104 and a processor 1102, the processor 1102 is configured to execute the computer program storing in the memory1104):
transmit, to a network entity (102), an indication of a supported aggregated bandwidth for carrier aggregation associated with a frequency band combination (Zhang, S901: Page 23, lines 33-36: transmit, to network device 102, a first information, where the first information indicates that the maximum aggregated bandwidth supported on the set frequency band in carrier aggregation is smaller than the theoretical maximum aggregated bandwidth corresponding to the set frequency band); and
receive, from the network entity (102), a carrier aggregation configuration, associated with the frequency band combination, that is based at least in part on the supported aggregated bandwidth (Zhang, Page 23, lines 24-26: receive, from the network device 102, the carrier aggregation configuration to the UE 101, where the carrier aggregation configuration includes information for indicating bandwidth combination).
Regarding Claim 2, Zhang teaches, The UE (101) of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to at least one of:
transmit one or more uplink signals in accordance with the carrier aggregation configuration (Zhang, Page 23, line 37 – Page 24, line 1: the UE 101 may send new second signaling, where the second signaling includes the first information. For example, the second signaling can be: supporteLimitedAggregatedBandwidthUL).
Regarding Claim 3, Zhang teaches, The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
transmit, to the network entity, an indication of another supported aggregated bandwidth for carrier aggregation associated with another frequency band combination (Zhang, Page 24, lines 12-16: receives the carrier sent by the UE 101 Border channel bandwidth supported on at least one carrier in the aggregation, where the border channel bandwidth includes a maximum channel bandwidth, or, the border channel bandwidth includes a maximum channel bandwidth and a minimum channel bandwidth).
Regarding Claim 4, Zhang teaches, The UE of claim 1, wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is associated with a capability of the UE (Zhang, Page 24, lines 10-16, network device 102 determine the bandwidth combinations that the UE 101 can support according to the received first information, the carrier aggregation capability information of the UE 101 indicated by the first information).
Regarding Claim 5, Zhang teaches, The UE of claim 1, wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is associated with intra-band carrier aggregation, wherein the intra-band carrier aggregation includes at least one of intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation (Zhang, Page 24, lines 13-16: receives at least the information sent by the UE 101 indicates supporting the aggregation level of continuous carrier aggregation on a frequency band (“intra-band carrier aggregation”)).
Regarding Claim 7, Zhang teaches, The UE of claim 1, wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is a maximum aggregated bandwidth supported by the UE for the carrier aggregation associated with the frequency band combination (Zhang, Page 24, lines 6-9: The network device 102 receives the first information sent by the UE 101, wherein the first information indicates that the maximum aggregated bandwidth supported on the set frequency band in carrier aggregation is smaller than the theoretical maximum aggregated bandwidth corresponding to the set frequency band).
Regarding Claim 11, Zhang teaches, A network entity (102) for wireless communication (Zhang, FIG.1, UE 101, network device 102, Page 6, [3]: UE 101 is configured to support carrier aggregation and is connected to carrier components of the network device 102), comprising:
a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to: (Zhang, FIG.11, device 1100, processor 1102, memory 1104, Page 25, line 36-37 – Page 26, line 1UE includes a memory 1104 and a processor 1102, the processor 1102 is configured to execute the computer program storing in the memory1104)
receive an indication of a supported aggregated bandwidth associated with a user equipment (UE) (101) for carrier aggregation associated with a frequency band combination (Zhang, S901, Page 23, lines 33-36: receive, from UE 101, a first information, where the first information indicates that the maximum aggregated bandwidth supported on the set frequency band in carrier aggregation is smaller than the theoretical maximum aggregated bandwidth corresponding to the set frequency band); and
transmit a carrier aggregation configuration for the UE (101), associated with the frequency band combination, that is based at least in part on the supported aggregated bandwidth (Zhang, Page 23, lines 24-26: transmit, to the UE 101,, the carrier aggregation configuration, where the carrier aggregation configuration includes information for indicating bandwidth combination).
Regarding Claim 12, Zhang teaches, The network entity (102) of claim 11, wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is associated with a capability of the UE (Zhang, C4, network device 102 determine the bandwidth combinations that the UE 101 can support according to the received first information, the carrier aggregation capability information of the UE 101 indicated by the first information).
Regarding Claim 13, Zhang teaches, The network entity (102) of claim 11, wherein the indication of the supported aggregated bandwidth is included in at least one of:
a UE capability report (Zhang, carrier aggregation capability information of the UE 101 indicated by the first information).
Regarding Claim 14, Zhang teaches, The network entity (102) of claim 11, wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is a maximum aggregated bandwidth supported by the UE (101) for the carrier aggregation associated with the frequency band combination (Zhang, The network device 102 receives the first information sent by the UE 101, wherein the first information indicates that the maximum aggregated bandwidth supported on the set frequency band in carrier aggregation is smaller than the theoretical maximum aggregated bandwidth corresponding to the set frequency band).
Regarding Claim 16, Zhang teaches, A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising (Zhang, FIG.1, UE 101, network device 102, Page 6, [3]: UE 101 is configured to support carrier aggregation and is connected to carrier components of the network device 102):
transmitting, to a network entity (102), an indication of a supported aggregated bandwidth for carrier aggregation associated with a frequency band combination (Zhang, S901:Page 23, lines 33-36: transmit, to network device 102, a first information, where the first information indicates that the maximum aggregated bandwidth supported on the set frequency band in carrier aggregation is smaller than the theoretical maximum aggregated bandwidth corresponding to the set frequency band); and
receiving, from the network entity (102), a carrier aggregation configuration, associated with the frequency band combination, that is based at least in part on the supported aggregated bandwidth (Zhang, Page 23, lines 24-26: receive, from the network device 102, the carrier aggregation configuration to the UE 101, where the carrier aggregation configuration includes information for indicating bandwidth combination).
Regarding Claim 17-20, see similar rejection to Claim 2-5 respectively.
Regarding Claim 22, see similar rejection to Claim 7.
Regarding Claim 26, Zhang teaches, A method of wireless communication performed by a network entity (Zhang, FIG.1, UE 101, network device 102, Page 6, [3]: UE 101 is configured to support carrier aggregation and is connected to carrier components of the network device 102), comprising:
receiving an indication of a supported aggregated bandwidth associated with a user equipment (UE) (101) for carrier aggregation associated with a frequency band combination (Zhang, S901:Page 23, lines 33-36: transmit, to network device 102, a first information, where the first information indicates that the maximum aggregated bandwidth supported on the set frequency band in carrier aggregation is smaller than the theoretical maximum aggregated bandwidth corresponding to the set frequency band); and
transmitting a carrier aggregation configuration for the UE (101), associated with the frequency band combination, that is based at least in part on the supported aggregated bandwidth (Zhang, Page 23, lines 24-26: receive, from the network device 102, the carrier aggregation configuration to the UE 101, where the carrier aggregation configuration includes information for indicating bandwidth combination).
Regarding Claim 27-29, see similar rejection to Claim 12-14 respectively.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5.1. 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 of this title, 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.
5.2. 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.
5.3. Claim(s) 6, 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Zhang (WO 2023/151095 A1) in view of Kwon et al., (“Kwon”, US 2012/0083309 A1).
Regarding Claim 6, Zhang teaches, The UE of claim 1.
Zhang does not expressly teach
wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is associated with inter-band carrier aggregation.
Kwon teaches
wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is associated with inter-band carrier aggregation (Kwon, FIG.4, [0098]: the inter-band carrier aggregation is of a type in which, if a plurality of CCs exists, one or more of the CCs are aggregated on different frequency bands. For example, an aggregated CC, CC #1 exists in a band #1, and an aggregated CC, CC #2 exists in a band #2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to receive carrier aggregation (CA) configuration as taught by Zhang, to associate the supported aggregated bandwidth to inter-band CA as taught by Kwon.
Doing so provides a method to receive carrier aggregation (CA) configuration and associate the supported aggregated bandwidth to inter-band CA (Kwon, FIG.4, [0098]).
Regarding Claim 21, see similar rejection to Claim 6.
5.4. Claim(s) 8-10, 15, 23-25, 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Zhang (WO 2023/151095 A1) in view of Wang et al., (“Wang”, US 2022/0322351 A1).
Regarding Claim 8, Zhang teaches, The UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
transmit, to the network entity (102), an indication of a bandwidth combination set (BCS) associated with the carrier aggregation associated with the frequency band combination (Zhang, Page 24, lines 17-18: receives from UE 101, at least the information Supporting the aggregation level of continuous carrier aggregation on a frequency band and the identifier of the bandwidth combination set, the identifier of the bandwidth combination set is BCS4 or BCS5, where the BCS includes all possible defined channel bandwidths corresponding to each frequency band in the carrier combination).
Zhang does not expressly teach
wherein the BCS is associated with another aggregated bandwidth for the carrier aggregation associated with the frequency band combination, and wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is less than the other aggregated bandwidth.
Wang teaches
wherein the BCS is associated with another aggregated bandwidth for the carrier aggregation associated with the frequency band combination, and wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is less than the other aggregated bandwidth (Wang, FIG.3, UE 10, network 60, base station (BS) 62, [0035-36]: UE 10 requests component carrier from the network 60 via the BS 62; FIG.4, Fallback Group, bandwidth class, [0038-39]: for the UE 10 that supports Fallback Group 2 (as indicated by 80), three carrier aggregation bandwidth classes are available: D (as indicated by 82) corresponding to 2 contiguous component carriers (CCs), E (as indicated by 84) corresponding to 3 contiguous component carriers, and F (as indicated by 84) corresponding to 4 contiguous component carriers. The aggregated channel bandwidth for carrier aggregation bandwidth class D 82 is greater than 200 megahertz (MHz) and less than or equal to 400 MHz, the aggregated channel bandwidth for carrier aggregation bandwidth class E 84 is greater than 400 MHz and less than or equal to 600 MHz, and the aggregated channel bandwidth for carrier aggregation bandwidth class F 86 is greater than 600 MHz and less than or equal to 800 MHz. For UE 10 that supports 50 MHz resolution, the UE 10 may communicate with the base station 62 using component carrier bandwidths of 50 MHz, 100 MHz, and 200 MHz (the maximum supported component carrier bandwidth being 200 MHz).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to transmit, to the network entity, an indication of bandwidth combination set (BCS) to as taught by Zhang, the BCS is associated with another aggregated bandwidth (CA) for the CA associated with the frequency band combination, as taught by Wang.
Doing so provides a method to transmit, to the network entity, and indication of a BCS associated with the CA associated with the frequency band combination, and the BCS is associated with another aggregated bandwidth for the CA associated with the frequency band combination (Wang, FIG.4, [0038-39]).
Regarding Claim 9, Zhang teaches, The UE of claim 1.
Zhang does not expressly teach
wherein the frequency band combination is associated with a carrier aggregation class, wherein the carrier aggregation class is associated with another aggregated bandwidth for the carrier aggregation associated with the frequency band combination, and wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is less than the other aggregated bandwidth.
Wang teaches
wherein the frequency band combination is associated with a carrier aggregation class, wherein the carrier aggregation class is associated with another aggregated bandwidth for the carrier aggregation associated with the frequency band combination, and wherein the supported aggregated bandwidth is less than the other aggregated bandwidth (Wang, FIG.3, UE 10, network 60, base station (BS) 62, [0035-36]: UE 10 requests component carrier from the network 60 via the BS 62; [0039]: In particular, the 3GPP specifies that the component carrier(s) that the network 60 may cause the UE 10 to fall back to must be in the same fallback group as the parent combination. A fallback group of a carrier aggregation combination is a group of fewer number of aggregated carriers (e.g., lower order carrier aggregation bandwidth classes) than a parent combination to which the UE 10 may recede or fallback. The fallback group may thus define an increased or maximum bandwidth of aggregated component carriers when communicating using carrier aggregation by the UE 10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to transmit, to the network entity, an indication of carrier aggregation configuration associated with the frequency band combination as taught by Zhang, the carrier aggregation class is associated with another aggregated bandwidth for the carrier aggregation associated with the frequency band combination as taught by Wang.
Doing so provides a method to transmit, to the network entity, an indication of carrier aggregation configuration associated with the frequency band combination, and the carrier aggregation class is associated with another aggregated bandwidth for the carrier aggregation associated with the frequency band combination (Wang, FIG.4, [0038-39]).
Regarding Claim 10, Zhang teaches, The UE of claim 1.
Zhang does not expressly teach
wherein the carrier aggregation configuration is associated with a first carrier associated with a first bandwidth and a second carrier associated with a second bandwidth, and wherein a sum of the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth is less than or equal to the supported aggregated bandwidth.
Wang teach
wherein the carrier aggregation configuration is associated with a first carrier associated with a first bandwidth and a second carrier associated with a second bandwidth, and wherein a sum of the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth is less than or equal to the supported aggregated bandwidth (Wang, FIG.3, UE 10, network 60, base station (BS) 62, [0035-36]: UE 10 requests component carrier from the network 60 via the BS 62; FIG.4, [0040]: For example, the base station 62 may allocate an aggregated channel bandwidth 350 MHz to UE 10 using Fallback Group 2 80. For the UE 10 using Fallback Group 2 80, this falls into Class D 82 (e.g., greater than 200 megahertz (MHz) and less than or equal to 400 MHz). Class D enables 82 use of two contiguous component carriers. Due to the possible component carrier bandwidths of 50 MHz, 100 MHz, 200 MHz, and 400 MHz for Fallback Group 2 80, the closest the UE 10 can come to utilizing the full bandwidth of 350 MHz is 300 MHz (one component carrier having a bandwidth of 100 MHz and one component carrier having a bandwidth of 200 MHz).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to transmit, to the network entity, an indication of carrier aggregation configuration associated with the frequency band combination as taught by Zhang, the carrier aggregation configuration is associated with a first carrier associated with a first bandwidth and a second carrier associated with a second bandwidth.as taught by Wang.
Doing so provides a method to transmit, to the network entity, an indication of carrier aggregation configuration associated with the frequency band combination, and the carrier aggregation configuration is associated with a first carrier associated with a first bandwidth and a second carrier associated with a second bandwidth, and wherein a sum of the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth is less than or equal to the supported aggregated bandwidth (Wang, FIG.4, [0040]).
Regarding Claim 15, see similar rejection to Claim 10.
Regarding Claim 23-25, see similar rejection to Claim 8-10 respectively.
Regarding Claim 30, see similar rejection to Claim 15.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Takahashi et al. US 2018/0220295 A1, User apparatus for communicating with base station in carrier aggregation, has capability intelligence report unit that is reported to base station regarding transmission/reception characteristic which supports by user apparatus.
Kim et al., US 2014/0370905 A1, Method for reporting capability of user equipment to support e.g. carrier aggregation, involves transmitting generated user equipment capability message to evolved node b, where band combination information comprises band parameter.
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHHIAN (AMY) LING whose telephone number is (571)270-1074. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-6 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MOO JEONG can be reached at (571)272-9617. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/C.L./
Examiner
Art Unit 2418
/Moo Jeong/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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