DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-19 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jia et al. (US 20230254836 A1).
Considering claim 1, Jia teaches configuration method, performed by a network device and comprising:
determining first configuration information (401, Fig.4A, [0242]), the first configuration information being used for determining at least one of a start position ([0026] start resource block) or a size of a guard band corresponding to a subband (Fig.4A, [0026] a location of a resource block on the guard band relative to the start resource block on the BWP, [0142] bandwidth part may also be referred to as a subband); and
sending the first configuration information to a terminal device (402, Fig.4A, [0244]-[0246]).
Considering claim 10, Jia teaches a configuration method, performed by a terminal device and comprising:
receiving first configuration information from a network device (401, Fig.4A, [0242]), the first configuration information being used for determining at least one of a start position ([0015], [0026] start resource block) or a size of a guard band corresponding to a subband (Fig.4A, [0026] a location of a resource block on the guard band relative to the start resource block on the BWP, [0142] bandwidth part may also be referred to as a subband); and
determining at least one of the start position ([0015], [0026] start resource block) or the size of the guard band according to the first configuration information (Fig.4A, [0026] a location of a resource block on the guard band relative to the start resource block on the BWP, [0028]).
Considering claim 2, Jia teaches wherein the first configuration information comprises an offset of a resource block (RB) occupied by the start position of the guard band relative to a reference RB ([0026]-[0028], [0049]), and the reference RB is an RB with the smallest index among a plurality of RBs occupied by a component carrier (CC) or a bandwidth part (BWP) to which the guard band belongs ([0026]-[0028], [0049]).
Considering claims 3, 12, Jia teaches wherein the guard band is in the subband, and the start position of the guard band is the same as a start position of the subband ([0026]-[0028], [0224]).
Considering claim 4, Jia teaches wherein the first configuration information comprises the size of the guard band ([0026]-[0028], [0142]), and the method further comprises: sending second configuration information to the terminal device, wherein the second configuration information is used for configuring the start position of the subband ([0026]-[0028], [0142]).
Considering claims 5, 14, Jia teaches wherein the size of the guard band is a size corresponding to a subcarrier spacing (SCS) of a bandwidth part (BWP) to which the guard band belongs ([0026]-[0028], [0144]).
Considering claims 6, 15, Jia teaches wherein frequency domain location information of the subband is determined according to at least one of the start position or the size of the guard band ([0026]-[0028], [0142]).
Considering claims 7, 16, Jia teaches wherein different guard bands in a bandwidth part (BWP) to which the guard band belongs have a same size ([0050]), or different guard bands in a component carrier (CC) to which the guard band belongs have a same size.
Considering claims 8, 17, Jia teaches wherein if link directions of adjacent subbands are all uplink, a guard band corresponding to the adjacent subbands is used for uplink transmission ([0141]); or if link directions of adjacent subbands are all downlink, a guard band corresponding to the adjacent subbands is used for downlink transmission.
Considering claims 9, 19, Jia teaches wherein a bandwidth part (BWP) to which the subband (BWP) belongs comprises a plurality of subbands associated with an uplink direction ([0141]), and a physical random access channel (PRACH) occasion (RO) resource is configured in one or more of the plurality of subbands associated with the uplink direction ([0141]); and/or the BWP to which the subband belongs comprises a plurality of subbands associated with a downlink direction ([0141]), and a control resource set (CORESET) is configured in one or more of the plurality of subbands associated with the downlink direction ([0157]).
Considering claim 11, Jia teaches wherein the first configuration information comprises an offset of a resource block (RB) occupied by the start position of the guard band relative to a reference RB ([0027]-[0028]), and the reference RB is an RB with the smallest index among a plurality of RBs occupied by a component carrier (CC) or a bandwidth part (BWP) to which the guard band belongs ([0015], [0049]); and determining at least one of the start position or the size of the guard band according to the first configuration information ([0026]-[0028]) comprises: determining the start position of the guard band according to the offset and a start position of the reference RB ([0026]-[0028], [0049]).
Considering claim 13, Jia teaches wherein the first configuration information comprises the size of the guard band; determining at least one of the start position or the size of the guard band according to the first configuration information ([0026]-[0028]) comprises: obtaining the size of the guard band from the first configuration information ([0140]; and the method further comprises: receiving second configuration information from the network device , wherein the second configuration information is used for configuring the start position of the subband (Fig.4A, [0026] a location of a resource block on the guard band relative to the start resource block on the BWP, [0142] bandwidth part may also be referred to as a subband).
Considering claim 18, Jia teaches determining that a link direction of the subband is a predefined direction ([0030]), if no configuration information for configuring the link direction of the subband is received ([0055]).
Considering claim 22, Jia teaches a configuration device, comprising:
a transceiver (Fig.6-8, [0314]); a processor (Fig.7), in communication connection with the transceiver; and a memory, being in communication connection with the processor and storing computer programs which, when executed by the processor ([Fig.6-8, [0340]), cause the processor to:
determine first configuration information (401, Fig.4A, [0242]), the first configuration information being used for determining at least one of a start position ([0026] start resource block) or a size of a guard band corresponding to a subband (Fig.4A, [0026] a location of a resource block on the guard band relative to the start resource block on the BWP, [0142] bandwidth part may also be referred to as a subband); and
cause the transceiver to send the first configuration information to a terminal device (402, Fig.4A, [0244]-[0246]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHAI MINH NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7923. The examiner can normally be reached 6-3.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Appiah can be reached at 571-272-7904. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KHAI M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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