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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/25/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/24/2026. The submission 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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 19 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 19
Claim 19 recites the limitation “the first carrier” in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner suggests the term “a first carrier”, with emphasis added to overcome the lack of antecedent basis.
Claim 19 recites the additional limitation “the second carrier” in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner suggests the term “a second carrier”, with emphasis added to overcome the lack of antecedent basis.
Claim 22 are rejected based on claim dependency, or similarity, to claim 19.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: lines 3-4 states “comprising 2 physical resource blocks (PRBs) on the lower side of the second carrier cannot be scheduled for the second carrier when the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier”, with emphasis added. An examiner suggestion is the addition of the word “that” in front of the cannot. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: lines 5-6 states “on the upper side of the second carrier cannot be scheduled for the second carrier when the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier”, with emphasis added. An examiner suggestion is the addition of the word “that” in front of the cannot. Appropriate correction is required.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 10, 12-19, and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (Pub.: No.: US 20120163185 A1, hereafter “Zhang”) in view of Guo (Pub.: No.: US 20200280999 A1, hereafter “Guo”).
Regarding Claim 1 and Claim 19
Zhang teaches a method and node comprising
A method at a Radio Access Network (RAN) node (Zhang Fig. 1: 102) for serving a first cell (Zhang Fig. 10D: 906) with a first carrier (Zhang ¶0125: DL_F2 carriers) that is partially overlapped (Zhang ¶0125: support the UE 902 via overlapping) with a second carrier (Zhang ¶0125: overlapping second carrier group including at least DL_F1 of Sector 1 906) of a second cell (Zhang Fig. 10D: 908; Zhang teaches multiple sectors with overlapping carrier groups for communicating with a UE, see Fig. 1, Fig. 10D, and ¶0125),
Zhang does not explicitly teach
the method comprising: broadcasting or transmitting, to one or more User Equipments (UEs), a first part of data in a first part of the first carrier that is overlapped with the second carrier and a second part of the data in a second part of the first carrier that is not overlapped with the second carrier
However, Guo teaches
the method comprising: broadcasting (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) or transmitting (Guo ¶0229: an NB-IoT subcarrier is aligned with an NR subcarrier is referred to as a pattern), to one or more User Equipments (UEs) (Guo Fig. 1: 20), a first part of data (Guo ¶0229: NB-IoT RB) in a first part of the first carrier that is overlapped (Guo ¶0230: a pattern 11 in FIG. 5, an NB-IoT carrier is exactly aligned with one NR RB e.g. an overlapping area, see ¶0229) with the second carrier (Guo ¶0229: NR RB pair) and a second part of the data in a second part of the first carrier that is not overlapped with the second carrier (Guo ¶0230: a pattern 11 in FIG. 5, an NB-IoT carrier is exactly aligned with one NR RB, and one RB, rather than two RBs; Guo teaches two subcarriers in a pattern with one over another and a section where there is not overlapping, see Fig. 1 and ¶0229-¶0230).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view of Srinivas by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches two subcarriers in a pattern with one over another and a section where there is not overlapping, as taught by Guo in Fig. 1 and ¶0229-¶0230, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Claim 19 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Zhang teaches
A processor (Zhang Fig. 11B: 1150); a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform of (Zhang Fig. 11B: 1170; Zhang teaches a processor coupled with memory, see Fig. 11B):
Regarding Claim 2 and Claim 22
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Zhang further teaches
wherein the first carrier is an anchor carrier of the first cell (Zhang ¶0125: single uplink carrier, i.e. UL_F1 or anchor carrier, see ¶0125).
Regarding Claim 10
Zhang teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Guo teaches
broadcasting a message (Guo ¶0321: eutra-CRS-SequenceInfo information may be used to indicate) indicating that the first carrier has an operation mode of "inband- DifferentPC" (Guo ¶0321: In an inband-differentPCI mode) with respect to the second carrier (Guo ¶0321: frequency resource of the RB occupied by the NB-IoT anchor carrier; Guo teaches an information being used to indicate an inband-differentPCI mode for the NB-IoT anchor carrier, see ¶0321).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches an information being used to indicate an inband-differentPCI mode for the NB-IoT anchor carrier, as taught by Guo in ¶0321, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Regarding Claim 12
Zhang teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Guo teaches
wherein the starting symbol for Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel (NPDSCH) (Guo ¶0303: used for a NPDSCH) and/or Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel (NPDCCH) (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) in the subcarriers of the second part of the first carrier (Guo ¶0303: In the NB-IoT system) is same (Guo ¶0303: the last symbols are still used) as that in the subcarriers of the first part of the first carrier (Guo ¶0303: when in guardband mode; Guo teaches a NPDSCH used in the NB-IoT system wherein the symbols are still used while in guardband mode, see ¶0303).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches a NPDSCH used in the NB-IoT system wherein the symbols are still used while in guardband mode, as taught by Guo in ¶0303, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Regarding Claim 13
Zhang teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Guo teaches
wherein one or more resource elements (REs) (Guo ¶0330: RE occupied by the NRS on one RB) in the first carrier are reserved for CRS transmission (Guo ¶0330: eutra-CRS-SequenceInfo) associated with the second carrier (Guo ¶0330: LTE system; Guo teaches at least one resource element associated with eutra-CRS-SequenceInfo within the LTE system, see ¶0330).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches at least one resource element associated with eutra-CRS-SequenceInfo within the LTE system, as taught by Guo in ¶0330, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Regarding Claim 14
Zhang teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Guo teaches
wherein the one or more reserved REs comprise at least one RE in the second part of the first carrier (Guo ¶0075: the network device may predefine several REs, and the REs are REs used to transmit an NRS in the NB-IoT system, see ¶0075).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches that the network device may predefine several REs, and the REs are REs used to transmit an NRS in the NB-IoT system, as taught by Guo in ¶0075, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Regarding Claim 15
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 13. Guo further teaches
wherein the one or more reserved REs comprise no RE in the second part of the first carrier (Guo ¶0291: NR network device can determine that no data is transmitted on the NR network, and may schedule the NR terminal to transmit data on the NB-IoT carrier, see ¶0291).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches that the NR network device can determine that no data is transmitted on the NR network, and may schedule the NR terminal to transmit data on the NB-IoT carrier, as taught by Guo in ¶0291, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Regarding Claim 16
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 13. Guo further teaches
wherein the data comprises at least one or more Narrowband Reference Signals (NRSs) (Guo ¶0289: the NB-IoT system, several narrowband reference signals (NRS) exist in a downlink subframe, see ¶0289).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches that the NB-IoT system, several narrowband reference signals (NRS) exist in a downlink subframe, as taught by Guo in ¶0289, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Regarding Claim 18
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Zhang further teaches
wherein the second cell is also served by the RAN node (Zhang Fig. 1: 102; Zhang shows that the cell is serviced by a RAN node, see Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 17
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Zhang further teaches
wherein the first carrier is a Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) carrier (Zhang Fig. 3: 303, Radio Network Subsystems) and the second carrier is an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) carrier (Zhang Fig. 3: 302, UTRAN, see Fig. 3).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (Pub.: No.: US 20120163185 A1, hereafter “Zhang”) in view of Guo (Pub.: No.: US 20200280999 A1, hereafter “Guo”), further in view of Srinivas (Pub. No.: US 9655127 B1, hereafter “Srinivas”).
Regarding Claim 3
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Zhang in view of Guo does not explicitly teach
wherein the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, or 20 MHz.
However, Srinivas teaches
wherein the second carrier (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: different carriers) has a bandwidth of 3 MHz (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 3 MHz), 5 MHz (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 5 MHz), 10 MHz (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 10 MHz), 15 MHz (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or 20 MHz (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 20 MHz; Srinivas teaches different carriers can have different frequency spans, from 3 MHz, to 5 MHz, to 10 MHz, to 20 MHz, see col. 8 lines 41-59).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view of Guo by way of Srinivas, to include an element that teaches different carriers can have different frequency spans, from 3 MHz, to 5 MHz, to 10 MHz, to 20 MHz, as taught by Srinivas in col. 8 lines 41-59, to better improve communication systems by combining a known element with another known element and strengthen the system by allowing a more rapid and dynamic system allocation and promote end-to-end communication for a higher quality of service.
Claim(s) 4-5 and 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (Pub.: No.: US 20120163185 A1, hereafter “Zhang”) in view of Guo (Pub.: No.: US 20200280999 A1, hereafter “Guo”), further in view of Srinivas (Pub. No.: US 9655127 B1, hereafter “Srinivas”).
Regarding Claim 4
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Guo teaches
the first part of the first carrier has 10 subcarriers (Guo ¶0229: 10 subcarriers) while the second part of the first carrier has 2 subcarriers (Guo ¶0229: two subcarriers) that are overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier (Guo ¶0229: overlapping areas; Guo teaches an overlapping area that includes 10 subcarriers and two subcarriers, see ¶0229).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches an overlapping area that includes 10 subcarriers and two subcarriers, as taught by Guo in ¶0229, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Zhang in view of Guo does not explicitly teach
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz,
However, Srinivas teaches
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 3 MHz, see col. 8 lines 41-59),
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view of Guo by way of Srinivas, to include an element that teaches a frequency span of 3 MHz, as taught by Srinivas in col. 8 lines 41-59, to better improve communication systems by combining a known element with another known element and strengthen the system by allowing a more rapid and dynamic system allocation and promote end-to-end communication for a higher quality of service.
Regarding Claim 5
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Guo teaches
at least one of following is true: with type 0 resource allocation for the second carrier (Guo ¶0229: an NB-IoT subcarrier is aligned with an NR subcarrier is referred to as a pattern), a resource block group (RBG) (Guo ¶0229: pattern) comprising 2 physical resource blocks (PRBs) (Guo ¶0229: within RB 3 and RB 4) on the lower side of the second carrier (Guo ¶0229: 10 subcarriers) cannot be scheduled for the second carrier (Guo ¶0229: occupied by) when the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier (Guo ¶0229: 10 subcarriers; Guo teaches a subcarrier aligned with a NR subcarrier in a pattern, with two resource blocks and noting when one region is occupied by another region, see ¶0229); and with type 0 resource allocation for the second carrier, an RBG comprising 1 PRB on the upper side of the second carrier cannot be scheduled for the second carrier when the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches a subcarrier aligned with a NR subcarrier in a pattern, with two resource blocks and noting when one region is occupied by another region, as taught by Guo in ¶0229, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Zhang in view of Guo does not explicitly teach
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz,
However, Srinivas teaches
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 3 MHz, see col. 8 lines 41-59),
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view Guo by way of Srinivas, to include an element that teaches a frequency span of 3 MHz, as taught by Srinivas in col. 8 lines 41-59, to better improve communication systems by combining a known element with another known element and strengthen the system by allowing a more rapid and dynamic system allocation and promote end-to-end communication for a higher quality of service.
Regarding Claim 7
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Guo teaches
at least one of following is true: the first part of the first carrier has 10 subcarriers (Guo ¶0229: 10 subcarriers) while the second part of the first carrier has 2 subcarriers (Guo ¶0229: two subcarriers) that are overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier (Guo ¶0229: overlapping areas; Guo teaches an overlapping area that includes 10 subcarriers and two subcarriers, see ¶0229); and the first part of the first carrier has 3 subcarriers while the second part of the first carrier has 9 subcarriers that are overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches an overlapping area that includes 10 subcarriers and two subcarriers, as taught by Guo in ¶0229, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Zhang in view of Guo does not explicitly teach
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz,
However, Srinivas teaches
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 5 MHz, see col. 8 lines 41-59),
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view Guo by way of Srinivas, to include an element that teaches a frequency span of 5 MHz, as taught by Srinivas in col. 8 lines 41-59, to better improve communication systems by combining a known element with another known element and strengthen the system by allowing a more rapid and dynamic system allocation and promote end-to-end communication for a higher quality of service.
Regarding Claim 8
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Guo teaches
at least one of following is true: with type 0 resource allocation for the second carrier(Guo ¶0229: an NB-IoT subcarrier is aligned with an NR subcarrier is referred to as a pattern), an RBG (Guo ¶0229: pattern) comprising 2 PRBs (Guo ¶0229: within RB 3 and RB 4) on the lower side of the second carrier (Guo ¶0229: 10 subcarriers) cannot be scheduled (Guo ¶0229: occupied by) for the second carrier when the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier(Guo ¶0229: 10 subcarriers; Guo teaches a subcarrier aligned with a NR subcarrier in a pattern, with two resource blocks and noting when one region is occupied by another region, see ¶0229); and with type 0 resource allocation for the second carrier, an RBG comprising 1 PRB on the upper side of the second carrier cannot be scheduled for the second carrier when the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier(Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches a subcarrier aligned with a NR subcarrier in a pattern, with two resource blocks and noting when one region is occupied by another region, as taught by Guo in ¶0229, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Zhang in view of Guo does not explicitly teach
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz,
However, Srinivas teaches
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 5 MHz, see col. 8 lines 41-59),
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view Guo by way of Srinivas, to include an element that teaches a frequency span of 5 MHz, as taught by Srinivas in col. 8 lines 41-59, to better improve communication systems by combining a known element with another known element and strengthen the system by allowing a more rapid and dynamic system allocation and promote end-to-end communication for a higher quality of service.
Claim(s) 6 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (Pub.: No.: US 20120163185 A1, hereafter “Zhang”) in view of Srinivas (Pub. No.: US 9655127 B1, hereafter “Srinivas”), further in view of Suzuki (Pub. No.: US 20190020436 A1, hereafter “Suzuki”).
Regarding Claim 6
Zhang teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Zhang does not explicitly teach
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz,
However, Srinivas teaches
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 3 MHz, see col. 8 lines 41-59),
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view Guo by way of Srinivas, to include an element that teaches a frequency span of 3 MHz, as taught by Srinivas in col. 8 lines 41-59, to better improve communication systems by combining a known element with another known element and strengthen the system by allowing a more rapid and dynamic system allocation and promote end-to-end communication for a higher quality of service.
Srinivas does not explicitly teach
at least one of following is true: broadcasting a message indicating that a channel raster offset of 2.5 kHz is to be applied at any UE to access the first carrier when the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier; and broadcasting a message indicating that a channel raster offset of -2.5 kHz is to be applied at any UE to access the first carrier when the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier.
However, Suzuki teaches
at least one of following is true: broadcasting a message (Suzuki ¶0116: performs cell search) indicating that a channel raster offset (Suzuki ¶0117: channel raster offset) of 2.5 kHz (Suzuki ¶0117: 2.5 KHz) is to be applied at any UE (Suzuki ¶0116: terminal apparatus) to access the first carrier (Suzuki ¶0117: in LTE cell) when the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier (Suzuki ¶0117: NB-IoT; Suzuki teaches the UE searching the channel raster offset of 2.5 KHz within the LTE cell of the NB-IoT, see ¶0116-¶0117); and broadcasting a message indicating that a channel raster offset of -2.5 kHz is to be applied at any UE to access the first carrier when the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view Guo further in view of Srinivas by way of Suzuki, to include an element that teaches the UE searching the channel raster offset of 2.5 KHz within the LTE cell of the NB-IoT, as taught by Suzuki in ¶0116-¶0117, to combine a known invention with another known invention for a known result, to improve communication between a base station and an apparatus for downlink communication and improve cell search within that communication system.
Regarding Claim 9
Zhang in view Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Zhang in view Guo does not explicitly teach
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz,
However, Srinivas teaches
wherein when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 5 MHz, see col. 8 lines 41-59),
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view Guo by way of Srinivas, to include an element that teaches a frequency span of 5 MHz, as taught by Srinivas in col. 8 lines 41-59, to better improve communication systems by combining a known element with another known element and strengthen the system by allowing a more rapid and dynamic system allocation and promote end-to-end communication for a higher quality of service.
Srinivas does not explicitly teach
at least one of following is true: broadcasting a message (Suzuki ¶0116: performs cell search) indicating that a channel raster offset (Suzuki ¶0117: channel raster offset) of 2.5 kHz (Suzuki ¶0117: 2.5 KHz) is to be applied at any UE (Suzuki ¶0116: terminal apparatus) to access the first carrier (Suzuki ¶0117: in LTE cell) when the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier (Suzuki ¶0117: NB-IoT) and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier (Suzuki ¶0112: In the guard band operation scenario; Suzuki teaches during a guard band operation scenario, the UE searching the channel raster offset of 2.5 KHz within the LTE cell of the NB-IoT, see ¶0112 and ¶0116-¶0117); broadcasting a message indicating that a channel raster offset of -2.5 kHz is to be applied at any UE to access the first carrier when the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); broadcasting a message indicating that a channel raster offset of -2.5 kHz is to be applied at any UE to access the first carrier when the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); and broadcasting a message indicating that a channel raster offset of 2.5 kHz is to be applied at any UE to access the first carrier when the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view Guo further in view of Srinivas by way of Suzuki, to include an element that teaches during a guard band operation scenario, the UE searching the channel raster offset of 2.5 KHz within the LTE cell of the NB-IoT, as taught by Suzuki in ¶0112 and ¶0116-¶0117, to combine a known invention with another known invention for a known result, to improve communication between a base station and an apparatus for downlink communication and improve cell search within that communication system.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (Pub.: No.: US 20120163185 A1, hereafter “Zhang”) in view of Guo (Pub.: No.: US 20200280999 A1, hereafter “Guo”), further in view of Srinivas (Pub. No.: US 9655127 B1, hereafter “Srinivas”), even further in view of Xu (Pub. No.: US 20130301565 A1, hereafter “Xu”).
Regarding Claim 11
Zhang in view of Guo teaches a method and node comprising the method and system as explained above in Claim 1. Guo teaches
the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers (Guo ¶0229: 10 subcarriers, examiner’s note, 10 subcarriers has at least 9 subcarriers within it) overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier (Guo ¶0229: overlapping areas; Guo teaches an overlapping area that includes 10 subcarriers, see ¶0229)
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang by way of Guo, to include an element that teaches an overlapping area that includes 10 subcarriers, as taught by Guo in ¶0229, to combine a known element with another known element to generate an expected structure, to enable a small amount of crosstalk in a communication field, whereby the reduction of the communication eye can cause some issues, but, the data throughput can overcome that increase in noise.
Guo does not explicitly teach
wherein at least one of following is true:
NNcellID mod 6 =(NcellID + 2) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS) port is configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID -2)mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 3 =( NcellID + 2) mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 3 =( NcellID - 2) mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID + 2) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID - 2) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 3 =( NcellID + 2) mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 3 =( NcellID - 2) mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID + 3) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID - 3) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier; NNcellID mod 3 = (NcellID – 3) mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier; and NNcellID mod 3 = NcellID mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier, wherein NNcellID refers to the Physical layer Cell Identity (PCI) of the first cell and NcellID refers to the PCI of the second cell.
However, Srinivas teaches
wherein at least one of following is true: NNcellID mod 6 =(NcellID + 2) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS) port is configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID -2)mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 3 =( NcellID + 2) mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 3 =( NcellID - 2) mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 3 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID + 2) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID - 2) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 3 =( NcellID + 2) mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 3 =( NcellID - 2) mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 2 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID + 3) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the lower side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 6 =( NcellID - 3) mod 6 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 1 CRS port is configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); NNcellID mod 3 = NcellID mod 3 when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz, the first carrier is on the upper side of the second carrier and has 9 subcarriers overlapped with a guard-band associated with the second carrier, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim),
when the second carrier has a bandwidth of 5 MHz (Srinivas col. 8 lines 41-59: total frequency span could be 5 MHz, see col. 8 lines 41-59),
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view Guo by way of Srinivas, to include an element that teaches a frequency span of 5 MHz, as taught by Srinivas in col. 8 lines 41-59, to better improve communication systems by combining a known element with another known element and strengthen the system by allowing a more rapid and dynamic system allocation and promote end-to-end communication for a higher quality of service.
Srinivas does not explicitly teach
NNcellID mod 3 = (NcellID – 3) mod 3, and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured for the second carrier (); wherein NNcellID refers to the Physical layer Cell Identity (PCI) of the first cell and NcellID refers to the PCI of the second cell.
However, Xu teaches
NNcellID mod 3 = (NcellID – 3) mod 3 (Xu ¶0124: same CRS), and 2 or 4 CRS ports are configured (Xu ¶0124: mapping is applied) for the second carrier (Xu ¶0124: CRS is linked to the PCI); wherein NNcellID refers to the Physical layer Cell Identity (PCI) (Xu ¶0124: PCI) of the first cell and NcellID refers to the PCI of the second cell (Xu ¶0124: second PCI; Xu teaches two of the same CRSs, tied directly to twos PCI for the applied mapping).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Zhang in view Guo further in view of Srinivas by way of Xu, to include an element that teaches two of the same CRSs, tied directly to twos PCI for the applied mapping, as taught by Xu in ¶0124, to improve the responsiveness by adding a known element with a second known element for a known result, to enable communication systems to have a more rapid response by allowing combining elements and reducing the data needed thereby improving end to end communication and the overall quality of the service provided.
Conclusion
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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