DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-19 and 21 have been examined and are pending (claims 20 and 22-30 have been canceled).
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/09/2024 has been found to be in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
5. The drawings were received on 9/09/2024. These drawings are accepted.
Specification
6. The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
11. Claims 1-10 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication 2018/0049227 A1 to Moon et al. (hereinafter “Moon”) in view of Luo.
Regarding Claim 1, Moon discloses an apparatus for wireless communications by a user equipment (Moon: Figure 35), comprising:
one or more memories comprising executable instructions (Moon: Figure 35, [0065] – computer readable memory; [0019] – memory.); and
one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions (Moon: Figure 35, element 3510) and cause the UE to:
determine an amount of data to be sent to a network entity (Moon: [0009] – “…a method of uplink scheduling…[t]he method may include: identifying the amount of data stored in a buffer…”);
select a resource for sending a scheduling request… (Moon: [0010] – “Transmitting the SR (scheduling request) may include: determining a transmission time for the SR according to the identified data amount…”; [0011] – “Transmitting the SR may include: determining the number of SR transmissions according to the identified data amount…”; [0016] – “…allocating an uplink resource to the UE on the basis of the identified data amount.”).
Although Moon discloses sending a scheduling request on a set of resources, Moon does not expressly disclose that the scheduling request resource is based on an amount of data, nor does Moon expressly disclose sending, to the network entity, a scheduling request using the selected resource. This feature is interpreted to correspond to a preconfigured scheduling request resource that is determined according on an amount of data to be transmitted to the network entity.
However, this feature cannot be considered new or novel in the presence of Luo. Luo is similarly concerned with uplink data transmission and reception (Luo: [0002], [0007]). Luo discloses selecting a resource for sending a scheduling request based on an amount of data to be transmitted (Luo: [0061-0065] – corresponds to a preset correspondence to a resource of a sequence for a scheduling request and an amount of uplink data.), and sending, to the network entity, a scheduling request using the selected resource (Luo: [0061-0062] – corresponds to a preconfigured/pre-established scheduling request resource used/determined by the terminal based on an amount of data to be transmitted on the uplink by a terminal to a network device. See also [0070-0071].).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Moon in view of the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Luo to send a scheduling request on a resource based on an amount of data to be transmitted on the uplink for the reasons of reducing the need for reporting a buffer status, thus also reducing power consumption (Luo: [0011]).
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein Moon further discloses the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to receive, from the network entity, an uplink grant that indicates one or more uplink resources for sending the amount of data to the network entity (Moon: [0074], [0077] – network device (NB) sends the UE an uplink grant for resources to transmit data based on a scheduling request received from the UE.).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 2, wherein Moon further discloses the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to send the amount of data to the network entity using the one or more uplink resources indicated by the uplink grant (Moon: [0075-0081] – the UE sends the amount of data to the NB on the resources allocated/assigned by the NB in the uplink grant.).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein Luo further discloses:
selecting the resource for sending the scheduling request based on the amount of data comprises selecting the resource from a plurality of preconfigured resources (Luo: [0057-0066] – the terminal device receives the resource configuration information and sends the scheduling request based on a correspondence at least including the uplink resource and data to be sent in the uplink.), and each respective preconfigured resource of the plurality of preconfigured resources is associated with a respective range of data amounts (Luo: [0057-0066] – the terminal device receives the resource configuration information and sends the scheduling request based on a correspondence at least including the uplink resource and data to be sent in the uplink, wherein the pre-configuration includes a data amount range.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Moon in view of the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Luo to send a scheduling request on a resource based on an amount of data to be transmitted on the uplink for the reasons of reducing the need for reporting a buffer status, thus also reducing power consumption (Luo: [0011]).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 4, wherein Luo further discloses the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to receive, from the network entity, a configuration indicating the plurality of preconfigured resources (Luo: [0061-0065] – corresponds to a preset correspondence to a resource of a sequence for a scheduling request and an amount of uplink data, and obtained by the network device or from a local cache.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Moon in view of the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Luo to send a scheduling request on a resource based on an amount of data to be transmitted on the uplink for the reasons of reducing the need for reporting a buffer status, thus also reducing power consumption (Luo: [0011]).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 5, wherein Luo further discloses the configuration is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling (Luo: [0060] – in an initialization phase, the terminal device receives the resource configuration information through RRC.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Moon in view of the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Luo to send a scheduling request on a resource based on an amount of data to be transmitted on the uplink for the reasons of reducing the need for reporting a buffer status, thus also reducing power consumption (Luo: [0011]).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein Moon further discloses determining the amount of data to be sent to a network entity comprises determining the amount of data stored in a data buffer within the user equipment (Moon: [0009], [0107-0108] – corresponds to determining the amount of data in a buffer for transmission in the uplink from the UE.).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 7, wherein Moon further discloses the data buffer comprises an L2 transmit buffer (Moon: [0316-0322] – information regarding the buffer data is exchanged between devices via a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), which is a Layer-2 signaling element.).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein Moon further discloses determining the amount of data to be sent to a network entity comprises determining an estimated amount of data stored in a data buffer after a scheduling request interval (Moon: [0070-0081] – corresponds to the NB determining an uplink grant based on a first amount of data in a buffer to be transmitted by a UE during a scheduling opportunity, and receiving another grant for remaining data after the previous scheduling opportunity.).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 9, wherein Moon further discloses the scheduling request interval comprises a first time interval associated with sending the scheduling request to the network entity and a second time interval associated with receiving an uplink grant from the network entity (Moon: Figure 1 with [0070-0081] – corresponds to the NB determining an uplink grant based on a first amount of data in a buffer to be transmitted by a UE during a scheduling opportunity, and receiving another grant for remaining data after the previous scheduling opportunity.).
Regarding Claim 16, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein Moon further discloses the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to select the resource for sending the scheduling request based further on a type of data service between the user equipment and the network entity (Moon: [0268-0271] – the scheduling request resource may be for ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) service.).
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 16, wherein Moon further discloses the data service comprises an ultra-reliable low latency communication service (Moon: [0268-0271] – the scheduling request resource may be for ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) service.).
Claim 18, directed to a method embodiment of claim 1, recites similar features as claim and is therefore rejected upon the same grounds as claim 1. Please see above rejection of claim 1.
12. Claims 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Moon and Luo, and further in view of United States Patent Application Publication 2022/0007351 A1 to Ma et al. (hereinafter “Ma”).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Moon and Luo discloses the apparatus of claim 1, but does not expressly disclose wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to select the resource for sending the scheduling request based further on a type of the network entity.
However, this feature cannot be considered new or novel in the presence Ma. Ma is similarly concerned with wireless communications at a user equipment (Ma: [0002]). Ma discloses cause the UE to select the resource for sending the scheduling request based further on a type of the network entity (Ma: [0206] – the one or more scheduling resources may be for a network or for a satellite.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of the combination in view of the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Ma to send a scheduling request on a resource based on a network type for the reasons of improving resource allocation and signaling overhead (Ma: [0194]).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Moon, Luo, and Ma discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein Ma further discloses the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to determine the type of the network entity based on a received system information block (SIB) message from the network entity (Ma: [0179] – UE receives SIB with system information related to one or more satellite beams for communication with a satellite entity.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of the combination in view of the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Ma to send a scheduling request on a resource based on a network type for the reasons of improving resource allocation and signaling overhead (Ma: [0194]).
Regarding Claim 14, the combination of Moon, Luo, and Ma discloses the apparatus of claim 12, wherein Ma further discloses the network entity comprises a non-terrestrial network entity (Ma: [0206] – the one or more scheduling resources may be for a network or for a satellite.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of the combination in view of the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Ma to send a scheduling request on a resource based on a network type for the reasons of improving resource allocation and signaling overhead (Ma: [0194]).
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Moon, Luo, and Ma discloses the apparatus of claim 14, wherein Ma further discloses the non-terrestrial network entity comprises a satellite (Ma: [0206] – the one or more scheduling resources may be for a network or for a satellite.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of the combination in view of the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Ma to send a scheduling request on a resource based on a network type for the reasons of improving resource allocation and signaling overhead (Ma: [0194]).
13. Claims 19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo in view of Moon.
Regarding Claim 19, Luo discloses an apparatus for wireless communications by a network entity (Luo: Figure 10 with [0048]), comprising:
one or more memories comprising executable instructions (Luo: [0118-0119]); and
one or more processors configured to execute the executable instructions (Luo: [0118-0119]) and cause the network entity to:
receive a scheduling request using a preconfigured resource, wherein the preconfigured resource is one of a plurality of preconfigured resources (Luo: [0052-0065] – corresponds to receiving resource configuration information for a scheduling request resource in which the network device provides the configuration details prior to receiving the scheduling request, wherein the terminal determines the resource based on a sequence to be carried in the scheduling request and the amount of data to be transmitted in the uplink. The number of resources for the scheduling request may depend upon the amount of data to be transmitted, such that there may be different resources.), each respective preconfigured resource of the plurality of preconfigured resources being associated with a respective amount of data for an uplink transmission (Luo: [0052-0065] – the resource for the scheduling request may be determined according to the amount of data to be transmitted from the terminal.).
Although discloses Luo discloses allocating preconfigured resources for a scheduling grant (Luo: see above and Figure 3), Luo does not explicitly disclose sending an uplink grant, wherein the uplink grant indicates one or more uplink resources for sending an amount of data associated with the [scheduling request] resource to the network entity.
However, this feature cannot be considered new or novel in the presence of Moon. Moon is similarly concerned with determining resources for a scheduling request (Moon: [0008-0009]). Moon discloses sending an uplink grant, wherein the uplink grant indicates one or more uplink resources for sending an amount of data associated with the [scheduling request] resource to the network entity (Moon: [0074], [0077] – network device (NB) sends the UE an uplink grant for resources to transmit data based on a scheduling request received from the UE.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Luo in view of the operation for determining a resource for a scheduling request of Moon to send an uplink grant based on an amount of data for the reasons of improving reducing delays associated with excessive signaling (Moon: [0093-0095]).
Regarding Claim 21, the combination of Luo and Moon discloses the apparatus of claim 19, wherein Luo further discloses the one or more processors are further configured to cause the network entity to send a configuration indicating the plurality of preconfigured resources (Luo: [0061-0065] – terminal device receives resource configuration information for a scheduling resource prior to the transmission of a scheduling request.).
Allowable Subject Matter
14. Claims 11 is 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.
Conclusion
15. Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
16. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV whose telephone number is (571)270-7163. The examiner can normally be reached M, T, R, F 5:00 AM-5:00 PM, W 5:00 AM-3:00 PM (EDT).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached at (571) 272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
BENJAMIN H. ELLIOTT IV
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 July 30, 2026
Prosecution Insights