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 .
This Office Action is in response to the correspondence filed 09/19/2024.
Claims 1-14 are pending and rejected.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/19/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 1-14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al (US20200275474A1) in view of 3GPP TS38.321 v16.6.0 (2021).
Regarding claim 8 (and method claim 1), Chen teaches a terminal in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising:
a transceiver ([0037], transceiver); and
a controller ([0033]-[0036], [0561], controller, processor) configured to:
perform a discontinuous reception (DRX) operation ([0388]-[0400], [0426]-[0430], expressly teaches a MAC entity may be configured by RRC with DRX functionality and when in RRC_CONNECTED and DRX is configured, the MAC entity monitors PDCCH discontinuously; also identifies DRX timers includes drx-RetransmissionTimerUL and drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL),
identify an uplink grant for transmission ([0404]-[0405], [0434]-[0435], teaches that when DR is configured and the MAC entity is in active time, the UE monitors PDCCH, and if the PDCCH indicates a UL transmission, the UE starts the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL after the corresponding PUSCH transmission; also teaches the configured-uplink-grant case by stating that, if a MAC PDU is transmitted in a configured UL grant, the DRX UL HARQ RTT timer is started after the PUSCH transmission),
start a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) round-trip time (RTT) timer associated with to the DRX operation in a first symbol after end of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource corresponding to the uplink grant ([0404]-[0405], [0434]-[0435], when DRX is transmitted in a configured UL grant, the MAC entity starts drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process; defines the timer as a DRX-related timer and states it is the minimum duration before a UL HARQ retransmission grant is expected by the MAC entity; teaches that is a MAC PDU is transmitted in a configured UL grant, the MAC entity starts drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL In the first symbol after the end of the first repetition of the corresponding PUSCH transmission; also teaches that when PDCCH indicates UL transmission, the timer starts in the first symbol after the end of the first repetition of the corresponding PUSCH transmission),
However, Chen does not fully teach but 3GPP teaches identify that the uplink grant is deprioritized, based on logical channel-based prioritization being configured (pg. 41-42, & pg. 44-46, Section 5.4.1, 5.4.2.1, UL grant reception, teaches when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-basedPrioritization, UL grant priority is evaluated against overlapping PUSCH durations and overlapping SR transmissions; for a C-RNTI/CS-RNTI UL grant, if no higher-priority overlapping configured grant or higher-priority SR exists, the grant is prioritized and the other overlapping UL grants are considered de-prioritized UL grants; for a configured UL grant, the same clause similarly teaches other overlapping grants as de-prioritized UL grants when one grant is selected as prioritized; further confirms the identification by stating that, when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-based-Prioritization and the UL grant is not a prioritized UL grant, the MAC entity ignores the UL grant),
based on the uplink grant being de-prioritized (pg. 41-42, & pg. 44-46, Section 5.4.1, 5.4.2.1, UL grant reception, teaches when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-basedPrioritization, UL grant priority is evaluated against overlapping PUSCH durations and overlapping SR transmissions; for a C-RNTI/CS-RNTI UL grant, if no higher-priority overlapping configured grant or higher-priority SR exists, the grant is prioritized and the other overlapping UL grants are considered de-prioritized UL grants; for a configured UL grant, the same clause similarly teaches other overlapping grants as de-prioritized UL grants when one grant is selected as prioritized; further confirms the identification by stating that, when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-based-Prioritization and the UL grant is not a prioritized UL grant, the MAC entity ignores the UL grant).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen with 3GPP because Chen already teaches an NR UE performing DRX, monitoring PDCCH, identifying UL grants, and starting drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL in the first symbol after the corresponding PUSCH transmission, while 3GPP supplies the standard MAC rule for determining when an UL grant is de-prioritized under Ich-basedPrioritization.
A POSITA would have applied 3GPP’s LCH-based prioritization/deprioritization rules to Chen’s DRX/HARQ timer procedure to resolve overlapping UL grants or SR resources thereby allowing Chen’s UE to identify a de-prioritized UL grant and use Chen’s HARQ RTT/retransmission timer framework to support retransmission while preserving DRX power savings.
Regarding claim 9 (and method claim 2), Chen teaches wherein the controller is further configured to identify whether the HARQ RTT timer expires ([0392], [0397]-[0398], [0410]-[0411], [0429]-[0430], teaches that when DRX is configured, the MAC entity determines whether a drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL expires; states that if a drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL expires, the MAC entity starts the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process),
start a retransmission timer associated with the DRX operation, based on an expiration of the HARQ RTT timer ([([0392], [0397]-[0398], [0410]-[0411], [0429]-[0430], expressly teaches this limitation because the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL is one of the DRX timers and is started in the first symbol after expiration of drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL), and
monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) allocating a retransmission resource for a deprioritized transmission in an active time by starting of the retransmission timer (([0392], [0397]-[0398], [0410]-[0411], [0429]-[0430], teaches that active time includes the time while drx-RetransmissionTimerUL is running and that, when the MAC entity is in active time, it monitors PDDCH).
However, Chen does not fully teach but the deprioritized transmission in an active time by starting of the retransmission timer (pg. 41-42, & pg. 44-46, Section 5.4.1, 5.4.2.1, UL grant reception, teaches when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-basedPrioritization, UL grant priority is evaluated against overlapping PUSCH durations and overlapping SR transmissions; for a C-RNTI/CS-RNTI UL grant, if no higher-priority overlapping configured grant or higher-priority SR exists, the grant is prioritized and the other overlapping UL grants are considered de-prioritized UL grants; for a configured UL grant, the same clause similarly teaches other overlapping grants as de-prioritized UL grants when one grant is selected as prioritized; further confirms the identification by stating that, when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-based-Prioritization and the UL grant is not a prioritized UL grant, the MAC entity ignores the UL grant).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen with 3GPP because Chen already teaches an NR UE performing DRX, monitoring PDCCH, identifying UL grants, and starting drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL in the first symbol after the corresponding PUSCH transmission, while 3GPP supplies the standard MAC rule for determining when an UL grant is de-prioritized under Ich-basedPrioritization.
A POSITA would have applied 3GPP’s LCH-based prioritization/deprioritization rules to Chen’s DRX/HARQ timer procedure to resolve overlapping UL grants or SR resources thereby allowing Chen’s UE to identify a de-prioritized UL grant and use Chen’s HARQ RTT/retransmission timer framework to support retransmission while preserving DRX power savings.
Regarding claim 10 (and method claim 3), Chen teaches wherein the HARQ RTT timer is started in case that the PUSCH transmission has already been initiated (([0392], [0397]-[0398], [0410]-[0411], [0429]-[0430], teaches starting drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL when a MAC PDU is transmitted in a configured UL grant, and also when PDCCH indicates UL transmission, in the first symbol after the end of the corresponding PUSCH transmission).
However, Chen does not fully teach but 3GPP teaches wherein the controller is further configured to identify whether a PUSCH transmission corresponding to a deprioritized transmission has already been initiated (pg. 41-42, & pg. 44-46, Section 5.4.1, 5.4.2.1, UL grant reception, teaches when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-basedPrioritization, UL grant priority is evaluated against overlapping PUSCH durations and overlapping SR transmissions; for a C-RNTI/CS-RNTI UL grant, if no higher-priority overlapping configured grant or higher-priority SR exists, the grant is prioritized and the other overlapping UL grants are considered de-prioritized UL grants; for a configured UL grant, the same clause similarly teaches other overlapping grants as de-prioritized UL grants when one grant is selected as prioritized; further confirms the identification by stating that, when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-based-Prioritization and the UL grant is not a prioritized UL grant, the MAC entity ignores the UL grant).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen with 3GPP because Chen already teaches an NR UE performing DRX, monitoring PDCCH, identifying UL grants, and starting drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL in the first symbol after the corresponding PUSCH transmission, while 3GPP supplies the standard MAC rule for determining when an UL grant is de-prioritized under Ich-basedPrioritization.
A POSITA would have applied 3GPP’s LCH-based prioritization/deprioritization rules to Chen’s DRX/HARQ timer procedure to resolve overlapping UL grants or SR resources thereby allowing Chen’s UE to identify a de-prioritized UL grant and use Chen’s HARQ RTT/retransmission timer framework to support retransmission while preserving DRX power savings.
Regarding claim 11 (and method claim 4), Chen teaches wherein the controller is further configured not to start the HARQ RTT timer in case that the PUSCH transmission has not already been initiated ([0404]-[0405], [0434]-[0435], UL HARQ RTT only when a MAC PDU is transmitted in a configured grant or when PDCCH indicates UL transmission followed by the corresponding PUSCH transmission).
Regarding claim 12 (and method claim 5), Chen teaches wherein, in case that the uplink grant is a configured grant (CG) ([0404]-[0405], teaches configured UL grants and starting drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL when a MAC PDU is transmitted is a configured UL grant),
However, Chen fails to teach but 3GPP teaches the HARQ RTT timer is started based on an automatic transmission being not configured for the CG (pg. 41-42, & pg. 44-46, Section 5.4.1, 5.4.2.1, UL grant reception, teaches when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-basedPrioritization, UL grant priority is evaluated against overlapping PUSCH durations and overlapping SR transmissions; for a C-RNTI/CS-RNTI UL grant, if no higher-priority overlapping configured grant or higher-priority SR exists, the grant is prioritized and the other overlapping UL grants are considered de-prioritized UL grants; for a configured UL grant, the same clause similarly teaches other overlapping grants as de-prioritized UL grants when one grant is selected as prioritized; further confirms the identification by stating that, when the MAC entity is configured with Ich-based-Prioritization and the UL grant is not a prioritized UL grant, the MAC entity ignores the UL grant).
It would have been obvious to an person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen with 3GPP because Chen already teaches an NR UE performing DRX, monitoring PDCCH, identifying UL grants, and starting drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL in the first symbol after the corresponding PUSCH transmission, while 3GPP supplies the standard MAC rule for determining when an UL grant is de-prioritized under Ich-basedPrioritization.
A POSITA would have applied 3GPP’s LCH-based prioritization/deprioritization rules to Chen’s DRX/HARQ timer procedure to resolve overlapping UL grants or SR resources thereby allowing Chen’s UE to identify a de-prioritized UL grant and use Chen’s HARQ RTT/retransmission timer framework to support retransmission while preserving DRX power savings.
Regarding claim 13 (and method claim 6), Chen does not fully teach but 3GPP teaches wherein, in case that the uplink grant is a configured grant (CG) (pg. 41-42, & pg. 44-46, Section 5.4.1, 5.4.4, addresses configured UL grant), the uplink grant is deprioritized, in case that a resource for the CG overlaps with at least one of a resource for a scheduling request (SR) having higher priority than the CG ((pg. 41-42, & pg. 44-46, Section 5.4.1, 5.4.4, a configured UL grant is prioritized only if there is no overlapping PUCCH resource with an SR transmission whose triggering logical channel has higher priority; Scheduling Request—which states that when an SR is prioritized, other overlapping UL grants are considered de-prioritized UL grants), a resource for another CG having higher priority than the CG (Section 5.4.1, 5.4.4, a configured UL grant is prioritized only if there is no overlapping PUSCH duration of an UL grant addressed to CS-RNTI with NDI = 1 or C-RNTI whose priority is higher than or equal to the configured grant), or a resource for a dynamic grant (DG) on a time axis or in case that a cancellation indication (CI)-radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) is received from a base station (pg. 41-43, Section 5.4.1, expressly states that if the corresponding PUSCH transmission of a configured UL grant is cancelled by CI-RNTI, the configured UL grant is considered a de-prioritized UL grant).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen with 3GPP because Chen already teaches an NR UE performing DRX, monitoring PDCCH, identifying UL grants, and starting drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL in the first symbol after the corresponding PUSCH transmission, while 3GPP supplies the standard MAC rule for determining when an UL grant is de-prioritized under Ich-basedPrioritization.
A POSITA would have applied 3GPP’s LCH-based prioritization/deprioritization rules to Chen’s DRX/HARQ timer procedure to resolve overlapping UL grants or SR resources thereby allowing Chen’s UE to identify a de-prioritized UL grant and use Chen’s HARQ RTT/retransmission timer framework to support retransmission while preserving DRX power savings.
Regarding claim 14 (and method claim 7), Chen does not fully teach but 3GPP teaches wherein, in case that the uplink is a dynamic grant (DG) (pg. 41-42, & pg. 44-46, Section 5.4.1, 5.4.4, a configured UL grant is prioritized only if there is no overlapping PUSCH duration of an UL grant addressed to CS-RNTI with NDI = 1 or C-RNTI whose priority is higher than or equal to the configured grant), the uplink grant is deprioritized in case that a resource for the DG overlaps with at a resource for a scheduling request (SR) having higher priority than the CG on a time axis or in case that a cancellation indication (CI)-radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) is received from a base station (Section 5.4.1, expressly states that if the corresponding PUSCH transmission of a configured UL grant is cancelled by CI-RNTI, the configured UL grant is considered a de-prioritized UL grant; a configured UL grant is prioritized only if there is no overlapping PUCCH resource with an SR transmission whose triggering logical channel has higher priority; Scheduling Request—which states that when an SR is prioritized, other overlapping UL grants are considered de-prioritized UL grants).
It would have been obvious to an person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen with 3GPP because Chen already teaches an NR UE performing DRX, monitoring PDCCH, identifying UL grants, and starting drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL in the first symbol after the corresponding PUSCH transmission, while 3GPP supplies the standard MAC rule for determining when an UL grant is de-prioritized under Ich-basedPrioritization.
A POSITA would have applied 3GPP’s LCH-based prioritization/deprioritization rules to Chen’s DRX/HARQ timer procedure to resolve overlapping UL grants or SR resources thereby allowing Chen’s UE to identify a de-prioritized UL grant and use Chen’s HARQ RTT/retransmission timer framework to support retransmission while preserving DRX power savings.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Loehr et al (US20210084586A1) discloses reporting transmission for discontinuous reception
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL WILLIAM ABBATINE whose telephone number is (571)272-0192. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 0830-1700 EST.
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, Nishant Divecha can be reached at (571) 270-3125. 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.
/MICHAEL WILLIAM ABBATINE JR./Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
Prosecution Insights