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 .
Claims 1-18, 21-22 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 10-12, 21-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al. US 20240365297.
Regarding claim 1, A communication control method, performed by a terminal, comprising: in response to a conflict between transmission of uplink information to a network device in an uplink subband and receiving of downlink information transmitted by the network device in a downlink slot where the uplink subband is located (when downlink/flexible resources are updated to uplink resources and/or flexible resources, the SPS PDSCH may conflict with the resources updated to uplink, the UE needs to determine which SPS PDSCHs to receive, para. 0078), transmitting the uplink information or receiving the downlink information according to predefined rules (for uplink configuration transmission, if a resource of the uplink configuration transmission overlaps a DL resource configured through frequency domain uplink-downlink configuration information, the UE performs a conflict resolving operation between the uplink configuration transmission and the downlink resource, para. 0159, 0175-0176, for example if the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2 conflict with the UL resource, the base station cannot send the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2 and the UE excludes the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2 and not receive the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2, para. 0188).
Regarding claim 2, the method according to claim 1, wherein the downlink information comprises at least one of: a semi-persistent scheduling physical downlink shared channel (SPS PDSCH); a periodic and/or semi-persistent non zero power channel state information reference signal (NZP CSI RS); a periodic and/or semi-persistent zero power channel state information reference signal (ZP CSI RS); a control resource set (CORESET); a search space (SS); or a PDSCH scheduled by the network device (when downlink/flexible resources are updated to uplink resources and/or flexible resources, the SPS PDSCH may conflict with the resources updated to uplink, the UE needs to determine which SPS PDSCHs to receive, para. 0078).
Regarding claim 3, The method according to claim 2, wherein transmitting the uplink information or receiving the downlink information according to the predefined rules comprises: in response to determining that the downlink information comprises the SPS PDSCH, transmitting the uplink information, and not receiving the downlink information (if a resource of the uplink configuration transmission overlaps a DL resource configured through frequency domain uplink-downlink configuration information, the UE performs a conflict resolving operation between the uplink configuration transmission and the downlink resource, para. 0175-0176, if an example is the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2 conflict with the UL resource, the base station cannot send the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2 at this position and when determining to receive an SPS PDSCH, the UE excludes the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2 and not receive the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2, para. 0188).
Regarding claim 10, a communication control method, performed by a network device, (network side device, Figure 20) comprising: in response to a conflict between receiving of uplink information transmitted by a terminal in an uplink subband and transmission of downlink information to the terminal in a downlink slot where the uplink subband is located (a communication system includes a terminal and a network side device, the terminal may be configured to perform the steps of the transmission determining method or the network side device may be configured to perform the steps of the transmission determining method, para. 0018, (when downlink/flexible resources are updated to uplink resources and/or flexible resources, the SPS PDSCH may conflict with the resources updated to uplink, the UE needs to determine which SPS PDSCHs to receive, para. 0078), receiving the uplink information or transmitting the downlink information according to predefined rules (for uplink configuration transmission, if a resource of the uplink configuration transmission overlaps a DL resource configured through frequency domain uplink-downlink configuration information, a conflict resolving operation is performed between the uplink configuration transmission and the downlink resource, para. 0159, 0175-0176, for example if the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2 conflict with the UL resource, the SPS PDSCH 1 and the SPS PDSCH 2 are excluded and not received, para. 0188).
Claims 11-12, 21-22 are rejected under the same rationale.
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.
Claim(s) 4-5, 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Awadin et al. US 20230163937.
Regarding claim 4, the method according to claim 2, Li discloses transmitting the uplink information or receiving the downlink information according to the predefined rules but does not expressly disclose in response to determining that the downlink information comprises the periodic and/or semi-persistent NZP CSI RS, transmitting the uplink information, and not receiving the downlink information. Awadin discloses the UE is configured to receive a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PDSCH, and a periodic CSI-RS in the downlink which conflicts with a dynamic uplink transmission that fully or partially overlaps in the time domain, the UE transmits the dynamic UL transmission and cancels the DL reception, para. 0079. Awadin discloses NZP and ZP CSI-RS, para. 0380. Before the filing of the invention it would have been obvious to modify Li to include Awadin’s prioritization/dropping/cancelation rules. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so to ensure no collisions occur, para. 0076.
Regarding claim 5, The method according to claim 2, Li discloses transmitting the uplink information or receiving the downlink information according to the predefined rules but does not expressly disclose in response to determining that the downlink information comprises the periodic and/or semi-persistent ZP CSI RS, transmitting the uplink information and ignoring the downlink information. Awadin discloses the UE is configured to receive a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) PDSCH, and a periodic CSI-RS in the downlink which conflicts with a dynamic uplink transmission that fully or partially overlaps in the time domain, the UE transmits the dynamic UL transmission and cancels the DL reception, para. 0079. Awadin discloses NZP and ZP CSI-RS, para. 0380. Before the filing of the invention it would have been obvious to modify Li to include Awadin’s prioritization/dropping/cancelation rules. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so to ensure no collisions occur, para. 0076.
Claims 13-14 are rejected under the same rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-9, 15-18 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fu et al. US 12133252 discloses a resource conflict handling method that includes transmitting, when a first PUSCH and a second PUSCH overlap or conflict with respect to time domain resources, and if there is a fourth PUSCH in a third PUSCH included in the first PUSCH that does not overlap or conflict with the second PUSCH with respect to time domain resources, a data block over the fourth PUSCH.
Hao et al. US 20240089960 discloses resolving directional conflicts in a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) telecommunication system by obtaining a first communication occasion and a second communication occasion configured or scheduled in opposite directions to overlap in a time domain or with a gap in the time domain less than a threshold and then determining whether to cancel at least a portion of the first communication occasion or to cancel at least a portion of the second communication occasion.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MELANIE JAGANNATHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3163. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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, Marcus Smith can be reached at 571-270-1096. 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.
/MELANIE JAGANNATHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2468