DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
Claims 61-80 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20230156619 A1 (Zhou), in view of US 20200359331 A1 (Park) and in further view of US 20220014298 A1 (Ibrahim) and US 20220110072 A1 (Zhang).
Regarding Claims 61, 70:
An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory storing instructions (Zhou: Figs. 2-3, 7, 11-13), that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine whether to report a power headroom report value to a network node; the power headroom report value being applicable to a mixed slot where simultaneous transmissions in downlink and uplink are scheduled in non-overlapping sub-bands of the same carrier (Zhou: Figs. 2-3 and [0074]-[0097], a wireless communication configuration that comprises BSs, UEs, and communication links, where links may be downlink (HD), uplink(HD), downlink and uplink (HD or FD), direct link to BS, and direct link between UEs; BSs may enable UEs to perform full-duplex (FD) communications; BS may establish full duplex link and set interference threshold(s); a UE determines CLI interference level (i.e., CLI between uplink and downlink) and adjust its transmit power, as well as computer uplink metric, e.g., 1st or 1st and 2nd uplink metrics; UE transmits the uplink metric(s) to BS, where BS determines whether to continue FD based on the uplink metric received; the uplink metric may Include PHR of the UE; Park further illustrates: Figs. 7-8, a serving cell may transmits a RRC or DCI (including PCLI parameter) based on UE capability info, or from other neighboring cells based on measurement of UE CLI report, generate DCI to the UE, the UE adjusts the uplink transmission power based on PCLI, where RRC or DCI is a downlink signal).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to modify Zhou with to reduce the uplink transmit power at the mixed slot, based on information received from the network node as further taught by Park. The advantage is to flexibly change a UL/DL configuration, techniques for mitigating interference caused by a difference between a UL/DL configuration of a serving cell and a UL/DL configuration of a neighboring cell (Park Background).
Zhou does not teach explicitly on full-duplex mixed slots where simultaneous DL and UL are scheduled in non-overlapping sub-bands. However, Ibrahim teaches (Ibrahim: Fig. 6, HD and HD for a UE; and Fig. 8, HD and FD for multiple UEs in non-overlapping sun-band).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to modify Zhou with full-duplex mixed slots where simultaneous DL and UL are scheduled in non-overlapping sub-bands as further taught by Ibrahim. The advantage of doing so is to provide the precise physical layer layout for full-duplex 5G NR, noting that "a full-duplex UE may reduce the uplink transmission power, which will reduce the interference caused to downlink reception" (Ibrahim, [0072]).
Zhou does not teach explicitly on the power headroom report value is based on a difference between an uplink transmit power given an expected cross link interference for a user equipment, and an uplink transmit power at the mixed slot. However, Zhang teaches:
wherein the power headroom report value is based on a difference between an uplink transmit power given an expected cross link interference for a user equipment, and an uplink transmit power at the mixed slot (Zhang: Figs. 3A-C, various FD configurations, as well as FD/HD cooperation configurations; Figs. 4A-B, in-band FD and sub-band non-overlapping FD; Fig. 11, UE calculates a PHR for HD and a PHR for FD, determine whether to report either or both PHRs, and report to BS; Fig. 12 and [0104], "…the UE may report the HD PHR as a default value, and report an offset/differential value for FD PHR when needed (e.g., when one or more conditions is/are met)"); and
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention was made to modify Zhou with f a difference between an uplink transmit power given an expected cross link interference for a user equipment, and an uplink transmit power at the mixed slot as further taught by Zhang. The advantage of doing so is to techniques for determining reporting power headroom reports associated with full duplex (FD) and/or half-duplex (HD) operating modes for further improvements in NR and LTE technology (Zhang: Background).
determine whether to reduce the uplink transmit power at the mixed slot, based on information received from the network node (Zhou: [0005]."determining cross-link interference between the first UE and the second UE... adjusting a transmit power setting of the first UE in accordance with the cross-link interference... the uplink metric of the first UE that is based on the adjusted transmit power setting"; [0041], "modify the transmit power setting based on a cross-link interference threshold to reduce the indicated cross-link interference").
.Regarding Claims 62 and 71, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: transmit, to the network node, the power headroom value applicable to the mixed slot (Zhang: Fig. 11, UE calculates a PHR for HD and a PHR for FD, determine whether to report either or both PHRs, and report to BS; Fig. 12 and [0104], "…the UE may report the HD PHR as a default value, and report an offset/differential value for FD PHR when needed (e.g., when one or more conditions is/are met)").
Regarding Claims 63 and 72, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: report the power headroom report value as a change from another power headroom report value, the another power headroom report value being applicable to at least one uplink slot (Zhang: Fig. 12 and [0104], "…the UE may report the HD PHR as a default value, and report an offset/differential value for FD PHR when needed (e.g., when one or more conditions is/are met)").
Regarding Claim 64, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: determine the power headroom report value with an assumption that a reception reference signal received power of the apparatus is substantially similar to a reception reference signal received power of the user equipment (Zhang: Fig. 16 and [0123]-[0137], UE may report PHR based on comparison with a first threshold or with a second threshold).
Regarding Claim 65, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: determine a downlink sensitivity limit that indicates an upper bound of a cross link interference level the user equipment has while the user equipment receives an acceptable signal to interference noise ratio; determine a power of the cross link interference; and determine the power headroom report value so that the power of the cross link interference is less than or equal to the downlink sensitivity limit (Zhou, [0080], "To keep the interference between the UE 115-a and the UE 115-b at or below the interference threshold of -15 dBm, the UE 115-a may adjust the transmit power... resulting in the interference dropping from -12 dBm to -15 dBm, at or below the interference threshold", which implies capping the transmit power to ensure the interference stays at or below an interference threshold limit configured by the network).
Regarding Claim 66, 69 and 77, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 65, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: determine the downlink sensitivity limit as at least partially a downlink reception reference signal received power added to at least partially an offset; determine the power of the cross link interference as at least partially the uplink transmit power given the expected cross link interference minus at least partially a power attenuation to an adjacent channel minus at least partially a propagation loss between the apparatus and the user equipment (Park: [0107]-[0120], determine CLI and adjust DL/UP ratio, where the downlink sensitivity limit is implied; [0125]: "A serving cell (or a serving base station) may be improved to transmit the parameter for P_CLI to the UE. The parameter for the P_CLI may be transferred through an RRC signal or DCI. An unit of the P_CLI is dB and can be set, for example, from 0 dB to 1 dB or 2 dB step size. The parameter for P_CLI may be determined based on a strength of the CLI."; [0141]-[0149] "P_C MAX_L,f,c and P_C MAX_H,f,c are determined according to the P_CLI received from the cell." The P_CMAX equations include MPR.c (which accounts for ACLR-related spectral emission constraints) as a distinct additive term alongside P_CLI; Ibrahim: e.g., [0071], The receiver automatic gain control (AGC) states may be improved in order to improve the noise figure (NF). Digital interference cancelation of the ACLR leakage, e.g., greater than 20 dB, may be used. In some examples, a non-linear model may be employed for each Tx-Rx pair. It is further noted that DL RSRP, offset, ACLR, and propagation loss — is individually taught in the prior arts. Their combination into the DL sensitivity limit and CLI power formula is the result of straightforward engineering analysis).
Regarding Claims 67 and 76, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 66, wherein the downlink reception reference signal received power is of the apparatus or the user equipment (Zhou: [0076], "UE 115-a may analyze (e.g., perform channel measurements on) the pathloss reference signal 230 received from UE 115-b, and determine, based on the analysis, that the pathloss reference signal from UE 115-b indicates some level of crosslink interference."; Park: §[0116]-§[0120]: Discloses that the serving cell and UE operate in the same frequency band, making the UE's own DL RSRP the natural reference for CLI-constrained power computation).
Regarding Claim 68, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 66, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: receive a configuration of the offset from the network node (Park: [0013], "The information on the additional reduction value may be received via a radio resource control (RRC) signal or downlink control information (DCI)).
Regarding Claims 73 and 75, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: transmit an offset to the at least one user equipment, the offset configured to be used with the at least one user equipment to determine a downlink sensitivity limit that indicates an upper bound of a cross link interference level the user equipment has while the user equipment receives an acceptable signal to interference noise ratio, the downlink sensitivity limited determined as at least partially a downlink reception reference signal received power added to at least partially the offset (Park: [0107]-[0120], determine CLI and adjust DL/UP ratio, where the downlink sensitivity limit is implied; [0125]: "A serving cell (or a serving base station) may be improved to transmit the parameter for P_CLI to the UE. The parameter for the P_CLI may be transferred through an RRC signal or DCI. An unit of the P_CLI is dB and can be set, for example, from 0 dB to 1 dB or 2 dB step size. The parameter for P_CLI may be determined based on a strength of the CLI."; [0141]-[0149] "P_C MAX_L,f,c and P_C MAX_H,f,c are determined according to the P_CLI received from the cell." The P_CMAX equations include MPR.c (which accounts for ACLR-related spectral emission constraints) as a distinct additive term alongside P_CLI; Ibrahim: e.g., [0071], The receiver automatic gain control (AGC) states may be improved in order to improve the noise figure (NF). Digital interference cancelation of the ACLR leakage, e.g., greater than 20 dB, may be used. In some examples, a non-linear model may be employed for each Tx-Rx pair. It is further noted that DL RSRP, offset, ACLR, and propagation loss — is individually taught in the prior arts. Their combination into the DL sensitivity limit and CLI power formula is the result of straightforward engineering analysis); and
transmit a delta value to the at least one user equipment, the delta value configured to be used with the at least one user equipment to determine a power of the cross link interference as at least partially the uplink transmit power given the expected cross link interference minus at least partially a power attenuation to an adjacent channel minus at least partially the delta value; wherein the delta value represents a propagation loss between a first user equipment of the at least one user equipment and a second user equipment of the at least one user equipment (Park, [0156]-[0159], "transmits an RRC signal and/or DCI including the additional reduction value (e.g., ) P.sub.CLI").
Regarding Claim 74, all limitations are taught by Claims 1 and 65-66. Therefore, Claim 74 is rejected for the same reasons as Claims 1 and 65-66.
Regarding Claim 78, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: report to the network node a capability to reduce an in-band emission level; receive an offset used to determine the downlink sensitivity limit that indicates the upper bound of the acceptable cross link interference level of the user equipment, the offset based on the report to the network node of the capability to reduce the in-band emission level (Park, [0122], "The UE may be improved to transmit, to the cell (e.g., serving cell), UE capability information including information on whether the UE can apply a parameter for an additional reduction value (e.g., P.sub.CLI ) to determine a transmit power").
Regarding Claim 79, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 78, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: receive an indication to not report the power headroom report value, based on the reported capability to reduce the in-band emission level, the information received from the network node comprising the indication (Zhang, [0102], "the network entity (e.g., a gNB) may indicate PHR reporting for a single mode (e.g., FD or HD) or both modes", which implies that configures the network node to dynamically disable FD PHR requests for UEs that lack the requisite interference-suppression capabilities).
Regarding Claim 80, Zhou as modified further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 74, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to: receive, from the network node, a configuration comprising a cross link interference reporting threshold, the information received from the network node comprising the indication; determine a downlink reference signal received power of the apparatus; and report the power headroom report value to the network node, in response to the downlink reference signal received power being lower than the cross link interference reporting threshold (Zhang, [0112]-[0113], "If PHR is calculated to be less than a threshold, this may trigger the UE to report a FD abortion... the threshold can be defined in the specification of the UE or signaled to the UE by gNB").
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHITONG CHEN whose telephone number is (571) 270-1936. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9:30am - 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuwen Pan can be reached on 571-272-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZHITONG CHEN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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