DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to the claims filed on 09/06/2024.
Application No: 18/844,912.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 (and similarly claim 11) is objected to because of the following informalities. Claim uses “an alternative to” term. This term equivalent to the logical “OR” term. Multiple “ORs” in a claim makes claim very broad without determining which path is executing to produce the invention. It is recommended to submit the claim with limiting use of multiple “OR” with clear sentences in a claim.
For example, claim 1 uses three logical “ORs” in one sentence, namely, supports either or both of a non-integer DRX cycle and a non-integer periodicity of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) or configured grant (CG).
Appropriate correction is required in all independent claims for further review.
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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U. S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 1-2 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U. S. C. 103 as being unpatentable over LeeSeungmin et al. (US 20190110177 A1) in view of FanQiang et al. (US 20210352640 A1).
Regarding claim 1, LeeSeungmin teaches entering a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode in wireless communications ([0371], e.g. Here, ‘hyperSFN’ represents a hyper SFN which is increased by one each time the SFN is wrapped around, and existence of the ‘eDRX-Allowed’ field represents whether DRX with an extended idle mode is allowed in a cell (i.e. entering a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode in wireless communications). If eDRX is not allowed, the UE has to stop using the DRX in the extended idle mode); and
communicating with a network when in the DRX mode ([0369] Referring to FIG. 32, if the network changes (part of) system information, the network may first notify UEs of this change. At the next modification period, the network may transmit updated system information. If update notification is received, the UE may obtain new system information immediately from the start of the next modification period by using a DRX cycle shorter than or equal to the modification period (i.e. communicating with a network when in the DRX mode)),
by using an extended system frame number (E-SFN) ([0365], e.g. A fundamental solution to solve the problem may be to change the DFN range (namely, Tmax) so that the DFN range may be always divided exactly by the bitmap length. This may involve extending the DFN range so that it may be a multiple of the bitmap length. Therefore, to extend the SFN range, a concept of “Hyper SFN (H-SFN)” may be introduced (i.e. using an extended system frame number (E-SFN)),
that wraps at a maximum value of the E-SFN ([0367], e.g. In order to enable notification of system information update to the RRC_IDLE UE which has an eDRX period longer than or equal to the modification period, an eDRX acquisition period may be defined. The boundary of the eDRX acquisition period may be determined by the H-SFN value which is expressed as H-SFN mod 256=0. In particular, in the case of NB-IoT, the boundary of an eDRX acquisition period may be determined by the H-SFN value which is expressed as H-SFN mod 1024=0. [0371] Here, ‘hyperSFN’ represents a hyper SFN which is increased by one each time the SFN is wrapped around, and existence of the ‘eDRX-Allowed’ field represents whether DRX with an extended idle mode is allowed in a cell. If eDRX is not allowed, the UE has to stop using the DRX in the extended idle mode (i.e. that wraps at a maximum value of the E-SFN)).
LeeSeungmin teaches a vehicle-to-X (V2X) operation method performed by a V2X terminal in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: selecting a resource to be used for performing a V2X communication within a range satisfying a latency requirement; and performing a V2X communication on the basis of the selected resource. However, LeeSeungmin differs from the claimed invention in not specifically and clearly describing wherein
supports either or both of a non-integer DRX cycle and a non-integer periodicity of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) or configured grant (CG).
However, in the analogous field of endeavor, FanQiang teaches wherein
supports either or both of a non-integer DRX cycle and a non-integer periodicity of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) ([0145] In this embodiment, a resource periodicity (periodicity) is indivisible by 10240 ms, but is divisible by symbol/slot/ms (i.e. corresponding to support a non-integer DRX cycle). [0146] A main difference between this embodiment and the foregoing Embodiment 1 lies in that a hyper-system frame number (Hyper-System Frame Number, H-SFN) is introduced and used along with an SFN to determine an SPS/CG resource position (i.e. corresponding to communicating with a network by using an extended system frame number (E-SFN). This is equivalent to that the terminal device maintains the H-SFN, instead of maintaining a counter value per SPS/CG (i.e. corresponding to supports a non-integer periodicity of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS). [0147] A base station broadcasts the H-SFN by using SIB signaling, and the H-SFN is incremented by 1 for every 1024 radio frames. [0284] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communications apparatus according to this application), or
configured grant (CG) ([0147], e.g. A base station broadcasts the H-SFN by using SIB signaling, and the H-SFN is incremented by 1 for every 1024 radio frames. … [0162] For the CG type 1, the terminal device determines a time domain position of the N.sup.th CG type 1 resource by using the following formula (13), that is, the N.sup.th CG type 1 resource starts from which symbol of which slot of which SFN, or it can be understood as: If (H-SFN, SFN, slot number in the frame, symbol number in the slot) satisfies the following formula (13), the terminal device determines (H-SFN, SFN, slot number in the frame, symbol number in the slot) as the time domain position of the CG type 1 resource (i.e. configured grant (CG)). [0284] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communications apparatus according to this application. The communications apparatus may be the foregoing terminal device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the method of FanQiang within the method of LeeSeungmin. The motivation to combine references is that the combined method provides determining a configured resource, and an apparatus. Further, with the development of the communications technologies, a configured resource periodicity may be indivisible by 10240 ms. In this case, after a system frame number (system frame number, SFN) wraps around, in a new SFN periodicity, there is a deviation between the resource position required by the terminal device and an SPS/CG resource position obtained through calculation by the terminal device. As a result, transmission requirements of some high-reliability low-latency services cannot be satisfied. This application provides a method for determining a configured resource and an apparatus, to effectively determine a configured resource (See FanQiang [0002-0007]).
Regarding claim 2, LeeSeungmin in view of FanQiang teaches all the limitations of claim 1. FanQiang further teaches wherein the communicating comprises receiving a value of the E-SFN in a system information block (SIB) broadcast by the network ([0147], e.g. A base station broadcasts the H-SFN by using SIB signaling, and the H-SFN is incremented by 1 for every 1024 radio frames. For example, if the H-SFN is M bits in length, <H-SFN,SFN> may identify 102*2.sup.M radio frames, where K=2.sup.M can be defined (i.e. receiving a value of the E-SFN in a system information block)).
The motivation to combine reference of FanQiang within the method of LeeSeungmin before the effective filing date of the invention is that the new method provides for determining a configured resource, including: obtaining, by a terminal device, configuration information of a configured resource from a network device, where the configured resource is a periodic resource, and the configuration information includes a periodicity parameter of the periodic resource; maintaining, by the terminal device, a sequence number for the configured resource, where the sequence number is updated when a system frame number SFN wraps around; and determining, by the terminal device, the configured resource based on the sequence number and the periodicity parameter. Based on this solution, the terminal device can determine the configured resource based on the periodicity parameter of the periodic resource in the configuration information and the maintained sequence number, to reduce a possibility of a deviation between a configured resource position obtained through calculation and that of a resource actually required by the terminal device, thereby implementing effective configuration of the configured resource (See FanQiang [ abstract, 0008]).
Regarding claim 11, LeeSeungmin teaches an apparatus implementable in a user equipment (UE) ([0008], e.g. In an aspect, a method for performing vehicle-to-x (V2X) operation in a wireless communication system is provided. The method may be performed by a V2X user equipment (UE) and comprise selecting a resource to perform V2X communication within a duration satisfying a latency requirement, and performing the V2X communication based on the selected resource), comprising:
a transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly; and a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform via, the transceiver, operations ([0017], e.g. In other aspects, a user equipment (UE) is provided. The UE may comprise a radio frequency (RF) unit that transmits and receives a radio signal and a processor coupled to the RF unit. The processor may be configured to select a resource to perform V2X communication within a duration satisfying a latency requirement and perform the V2X communication based on the selected resource), comprising:
entering a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode in wireless communications ([0371], e.g. Here, ‘hyperSFN’ represents a hyper SFN which is increased by one each time the SFN is wrapped around, and existence of the ‘eDRX-Allowed’ field represents whether DRX with an extended idle mode is allowed in a cell (i.e. entering a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode in wireless communications). If eDRX is not allowed, the UE has to stop using the DRX in the extended idle mode); and
communicating, via the transceiver, with a network when in the DRX mode ([0369] Referring to FIG. 32, if the network changes (part of) system information, the network may first notify UEs of this change. At the next modification period, the network may transmit updated system information. If update notification is received, the UE may obtain new system information immediately from the start of the next modification period by using a DRX cycle shorter than or equal to the modification period (i.e. communicating with a network when in the DRX mode)),
by using an extended system frame number (E-SFN) ([0365], e.g. A fundamental solution to solve the problem may be to change the DFN range (namely, Tmax) so that the DFN range may be always divided exactly by the bitmap length. This may involve extending the DFN range so that it may be a multiple of the bitmap length. Therefore, to extend the SFN range, a concept of “Hyper SFN (H-SFN)” may be introduced (i.e. using an extended system frame number (E-SFN)),
that wraps at a maximum value of the E- SFN ([0367], e.g. In order to enable notification of system information update to the RRC_IDLE UE which has an eDRX period longer than or equal to the modification period, an eDRX acquisition period may be defined. The boundary of the eDRX acquisition period may be determined by the H-SFN value which is expressed as H-SFN mod 256=0. In particular, in the case of NB-IoT, the boundary of an eDRX acquisition period may be determined by the H-SFN value which is expressed as H-SFN mod 1024=0. [0371] Here, ‘hyperSFN’ represents a hyper SFN which is increased by one each time the SFN is wrapped around, and existence of the ‘eDRX-Allowed’ field represents whether DRX with an extended idle mode is allowed in a cell. If eDRX is not allowed, the UE has to stop using the DRX in the extended idle mode (i.e. that wraps at a maximum value of the E-SFN)).
LeeSeungmin teaches a vehicle-to-X (V2X) operation method performed by a V2X terminal in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: selecting a resource to be used for performing a V2X communication within a range satisfying a latency requirement; and performing a V2X communication on the basis of the selected resource. However, LeeSeungmin differs from the claimed invention in not specifically and clearly describing wherein
supports either or both of a non-integer DRX cycle and a non-integer periodicity of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) or configured grant (CG).
However, in the analogous field of endeavor, FanQiang teaches wherein
supports either or both of a non-integer DRX cycle and a non-integer periodicity of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) ([0145] In this embodiment, a resource periodicity (periodicity) is indivisible by 10240 ms, but is divisible by symbol/slot/ms (i.e. corresponding to support a non-integer DRX cycle). [0146] A main difference between this embodiment and the foregoing Embodiment 1 lies in that a hyper-system frame number (Hyper-System Frame Number, H-SFN) is introduced and used along with an SFN to determine an SPS/CG resource position (i.e. corresponding to communicating with a network by using an extended system frame number (E-SFN). This is equivalent to that the terminal device maintains the H-SFN, instead of maintaining a counter value per SPS/CG (i.e. corresponding to supports a non-integer periodicity of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS). [0147] A base station broadcasts the H-SFN by using SIB signaling, and the H-SFN is incremented by 1 for every 1024 radio frames. [0284] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communications apparatus according to this application), or
configured grant (CG) ([0147], e.g. A base station broadcasts the H-SFN by using SIB signaling, and the H-SFN is incremented by 1 for every 1024 radio frames. … [0162] For the CG type 1, the terminal device determines a time domain position of the N.sup.th CG type 1 resource by using the following formula (13), that is, the N.sup.th CG type 1 resource starts from which symbol of which slot of which SFN, or it can be understood as: If (H-SFN, SFN, slot number in the frame, symbol number in the slot) satisfies the following formula (13), the terminal device determines (H-SFN, SFN, slot number in the frame, symbol number in the slot) as the time domain position of the CG type 1 resource (i.e. configured grant (CG)). [0284] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a communications apparatus according to this application. The communications apparatus may be the foregoing terminal device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to implement the method of FanQiang within the method of LeeSeungmin. The motivation to combine references is that the combined method provides determining a configured resource, and an apparatus. Further, with the development of the communications technologies, a configured resource periodicity may be indivisible by 10240 ms. In this case, after a system frame number (system frame number, SFN) wraps around, in a new SFN periodicity, there is a deviation between the resource position required by the terminal device and an SPS/CG resource position obtained through calculation by the terminal device. As a result, transmission requirements of some high-reliability low-latency services cannot be satisfied. This application provides a method for determining a configured resource and an apparatus, to effectively determine a configured resource (See FanQiang [0002-0007]).
Regarding claim 12, LeeSeungmin in view of FanQiang teaches all the limitations of claim 11. FanQiang further teaches wherein the communicating comprises receiving a value of the E-SFN in a system information block (SIB) broadcast by the network ([0147], e.g. A base station broadcasts the H-SFN by using SIB signaling, and the H-SFN is incremented by 1 for every 1024 radio frames. For example, if the H-SFN is M bits in length, <H-SFN,SFN> may identify 102*2.sup.M radio frames, where K=2.sup.M can be defined (i.e. receiving a value of the E-SFN in a system information block)).
The motivation to combine reference of FanQiang within the method of LeeSeungmin before the effective filing date of the invention is that the new method provides for determining a configured resource, including: obtaining, by a terminal device, configuration information of a configured resource from a network device, where the configured resource is a periodic resource, and the configuration information includes a periodicity parameter of the periodic resource; maintaining, by the terminal device, a sequence number for the configured resource, where the sequence number is updated when a system frame number SFN wraps around; and determining, by the terminal device, the configured resource based on the sequence number and the periodicity parameter. Based on this solution, the terminal device can determine the configured resource based on the periodicity parameter of the periodic resource in the configuration information and the maintained sequence number, to reduce a possibility of a deviation between a configured resource position obtained through calculation and that of a resource actually required by the terminal device, thereby implementing effective configuration of the configured resource (See FanQiang [ abstract, 0008]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-10 and 13-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable, if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, and amending claims to overcome any objection(s) and /or rejection(s) set forth in this Office action.
Prior Art Record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent
to applicant’s disclosure.
Rune; Johan (US-20150341978-A1) - Increasing DRX Cycle Length by Adding Higher Order Bits for System Frame Number SFN Outside of SFN Parameter.
Vajapeyam; Madhavan Srinivasan (US-20160044605-A1) – RAN PROCEDURES FOR EXTENDED DISCONTINUOUS RECEPTION (DRX).
Nam; Wooseok (US 11832334 B2) - Semi-independent discontinuous reception groups.
Lee; Jeonggu (US 12009923 B2) - Method and apparatus for performing downlink reception based on DRX retransmission timer in wireless communication system.
MolavianJazi; Ebrahim (US 12120666 B2) - Cross-carrier scheduling across different DRX groups.
Wu; Zhibin (US 12144056 B2) - Sidelink DRX optimizations for RRC_Connected user equipment (UE).
Xu; Huilin (US 12273950 B2) - DRX adaptation for power saving and latency reduction.
DEENOO YUGESWAR (WO-2014172306-A2) - DISCONTINUOUS RECEPTION (DRX) SCHEMES FOR MILLIMETER WAVELENGTH (MMW) DUAL CONNECTIVITY.
JEON HYOUNGSUK (WO-2018232321-A2) - GRANT FREE CONFIGURATION.
KANG DU (WO-2022129390-A1) - METHODS FOR AUTOMATIC UPDATE OF CONFIGURED GRANT AND SEMI-PERSISTENT SCHEDULING TIMING FOR XR SERVICES.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mahendra Patel whose telephone number is (571) 270-7499. The examiner can normally be reached on 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM (EST) .
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Addy can be reached on (571) 272-7795(571) 272-7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MAHENDRA R PATEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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