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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 17 January 2025. 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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 17-18, and 22-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ericsson et al. 3GPP R1-2202531 “FL summary #4 on reduced maximum UE bandwidth for RedCap” (hereinafter referred to as “Ericsson”). Note: Ericsson was cited by the applicant in the IDS received 17 January 2025.
As to claim 1, Ericsson teaches a method comprising:
receiving, by a terminal, a synchronization signal block (SSB) (pages 48-49: UE receives SS/PBCH block);
receiving system information based on the SSB from a base station (pages 48-49: UE uses the received SS/PBCH block to receives SIB1); and
performing uplink transmission on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource allocated by an index indicating a common PUCCH resource set included in the system information (pages 128-129: UE determines PRB index of PUCCH transmission for common PUCCH resource based on the received SIB; see also pages 97, 109-110, and 132),
wherein, based on the terminal being a first type terminal, uplink control information is transmitted from the terminal to the base station on a PUCCH resource that is configured by the PUCCH resource set based on the index (pages 112, 114-115, 118-119, and 128-129: non-RedCap UE transmits PUCCH according to an offset using PRB index for common PUCCH resource based on the received SIB), and
wherein, based on the terminal being a second type terminal, the uplink transmission is performed on a resource that is distinguished by applying at least one of code division multiplexing (CDM), time division multiplexing (TDM) and frequency division multiplexing (FDM) to the PUCCH resource that is configured by the PUCCH resource set based on the index (pages 110, 114, 116, 118-119, 128-129, and 133: RedCap UE transmits PUCCH with multiplexed PUCCH resources (FDM,TDM, CS, CDM) according to an additional offset using PRB index for common PUCCH resource based on the received SIB).
As to claim 2, Ericsson teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first type terminal is a legacy terminal and is a terminal type that transmits the uplink control information through the PUCCH resource, and
wherein the second type terminal is a terminal using a 5 MHz band and is a terminal type that performs the uplink transmission on the PUCCH resource (pages 17, 119, and 133: non-RedCap UE is normal/legacy UE and RedCap UE is a 5MHz UE).
As to claim 3, Ericsson teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the second type terminal performs the uplink transmission by using a partial band of a frequency band that the first type terminal uses (pages 119 and 133: multiplex (FDM) non-RedCap and RedCap resources).
As to claim 17, Ericsson teaches a method comprising:
transmitting a synchronization signal block (SSB) to a terminal (pages 48-49: BS transmits SS/PBCH block to UE);
transmitting system information based on the SSB to the terminal (pages 48-49: BS transmits SIB1 based on the SS/PBCH block); and
receiving uplink data by a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource allocated by an index indicating a common PUCCH resource set included in the system information (pages 128-129: BS receives PUCCH transmission based on determined PRB index of PUCCH transmission for common PUCCH resource based on the SIB; see also pages 97, 109-110, and 132),
wherein, based on the terminal being a first type terminal, uplink control information is transmitted from the terminal to the base station on a PUCCH resource that is configured by the PUCCH resource set based on the index (pages 112, 114-115, 118-119, and 128-129: non-RedCap UE transmits PUCCH according to an offset using PRB index for common PUCCH resource based on the received SIB), and
wherein, based on the terminal being a second type terminal, the uplink transmission is performed on a resource that is distinguished by applying at least one of code division multiplexing (CDM), time division multiplexing (TDM) and frequency division multiplexing (FDM) to the PUCCH resource that is configured by the PUCCH resource set based on the index (pages 110, 114, 116, 118-119, 128-129, and 133: RedCap UE transmits PUCCH with multiplexed PUCCH resources (FDM,TDM, CS, CDM) according to an additional offset using PRB index for common PUCCH resource based on the received SIB).
As to claim 18, claim 18 is rejected the same way as claim 1.
As to claim 22, claim 22 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
As to claim 23, claim 23 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
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) 4-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ericsson in view of Ericsson et al. 3GPP R1-2109436 “FL Summary for [106bis-e-NR-52-71GHz-03] Email discussion/approval on enhancements for PUCCH formats 0/1/4” (hereinafter referred to as “Ericsson’436”). Note Ericsson’436 was cited by the applicant in the IDS received 17 January 2025.
As to claim 4, Ericsson teaches the method of claim 1.
Although Ericsson teaches “The method of claim 1,” Ericsson does not explicitly disclose “the terminal uses…the base station”.
However, Ericsson’436 teaches the terminal uses the PUCCH resource allocated through the index as a common PUCCH resource before receiving a dedicated PUCCH configuration based on a connection to the base station (pages 15 and 20; table 1-1: dedicated PUCCH resource configuration follows common PUCCH resource set configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Ericsson by including “the terminal uses…the base station” as taught by Ericsson’436 because it provides Ericsson’s method with the enhanced capability of adding flexibility to the application of common PUCCH resource configuration (Ericsson’436, pages 15 and 20; table 1-1).
As to claim 5, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 4.
Ericsson’436 further teaches at least one of a PUCCH format, a start symbol of the PUCCH resource, a number of symbols of the PUCCH resource, a physical resource block (PRB) offset of the PUCCH resource, and a set of initial cyclic shift indexes is configured based on the PUCCH resource set (pages 15 and 20; table 1-1: the PUCCH resource set is indicated by index, PUCCH format, first symbol, number of symbols, PRB offset, and set of initial CS indexes).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 by including “at least…resource set” as further taught by Ericsson’436 for the same rationale as set forth in claim 4 (Ericsson’436, pages 15 and 20; table 1-1).
As to claim 6, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 5. Ericsson further teaches based on the CDM being applied to the PUCCH resource, an orthogonal cover code (OCC) is applied to a resource, through which the second type terminal performs the uplink transmission, and thus the resource is distinguished from the PUCCH resource for the first type terminal (pages 114 and 118: OCC for PF1 is applied to multiplex PUCCH resources for the RedCap UE and non-RedCap UE).
As to claim 7, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 6.
Ericsson’436 further teaches based on a first type PUCCH format being applied to the resource for performing the uplink transmission based on the index, an OCC with a length of 2 is applied to the resource for performing the uplink transmission (page 30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 by including “based on…uplink transmission” as further taught by Ericsson’436 for the same rationale as set forth in claim 4 (Ericsson’436, pages 15 and 20; table 1-1).
As to claim 8, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 6.
Ericsson’436 further teaches based on a second type PUCCH format being applied to the PUCCH resource based on the index, an OCC of the second type PUCCH format set by the dedicated PUCCH configuration is applied to the resource for performing the uplink transmission for the second type terminal (page 30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 by including “based on…type terminal” as further taught by Ericsson’436 for the same rationale as set forth in claim 4 (Ericsson’436, pages 15 and 20; table 1-1).
As to claim 9, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 6. Ericsson further teaches the PUCCH resource set includes 16 resources,
wherein the 16 resources for the first type terminal are determined based on a number of cyclic shifts and a number of PRBs, and
wherein the 16 resources for the second type terminal are determined based on the number of the cyclic shifts, a number of OCCs, and the number of the PRBs (pages 112-119, 128-129, and 133).
As to claim 10, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 6.
Ericsson’436 further teaches an OCC index indicating the OCC applied to the second type terminal is preset in the second type terminal or is indicated by the base station, and
wherein, based on being indicated by the base station, the OCC index is indicated to the second type terminal through higher layer signaling or is indicated in a random access procedure (page 30).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 by including “an OCC…access procedure” as further taught by Ericsson’436 for the same rationale as set forth in claim 4 (Ericsson’436, pages 15 and 20; table 1-1).
As to claim 11, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 5.
Ericsson’436 further teaches based on the TDM being applied to the PUCCH resource, a start symbol of the resource for performing the uplink transmission for the second type terminal is configured to be different from a start symbol of the PUCCH resource for the first type terminal so that the resource for performing the uplink transmission for the second type terminal and the PUCCH resource for the first type terminal are distinguished (pages 15 and 20; table 1-1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 by including “based on…are distinguished” as further taught by Ericsson’436 for the same rationale as set forth in claim 4 (Ericsson’436, pages 15 and 20; table 1-1).
As to claim 12, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 11.
Ericsson’436 further teaches the base station indicates at least one of a start symbol indication value and an offset value to the terminal,
wherein, based on the terminal receiving the start symbol indication value, the terminal replaces the start symbol of the PUCCH resource indicated by the index by the start symbol indication value, and
wherein, based on the terminal receiving the offset value, the terminal determines a symbol obtained by applying the offset value to the start symbol of the PUCCH resource indicated by the index as the start symbol of the PUCCH resource (pages 15, 20, and 30; table 1-1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 by including “the base…PUCCH resource” as further taught by Ericsson’436 for the same rationale as set forth in claim 4 (Ericsson’436, pages 15 and 20; table 1-1).
As to claim 13, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 12.
Ericsson’436 further teaches at least one of the start symbol indication value and the offset value, which are applied to the second type terminal, is preset in the second type terminal or is indicated by the base station, and
wherein, based on being indicated by the base station, at least one of the start symbol indication value and the offset value is indicated to the second type terminal through higher layer signaling or is indicated in a random access procedure (pages 15, 20, and 30; table 1-1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 by including “at least…access procedure” as further taught by Ericsson’436 for the same rationale as set forth in claim 4 (Ericsson’436, pages 15 and 20; table 1-1).
As to claim 14, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 11. Ericsson further teaches the PUCCH resource set includes 16 resources,
wherein the 16 resources for the first type terminal are determined based on a number of cyclic shifts and a number of PRBs, and
wherein the 16 resources for the second type terminal are determined based on the number of the cyclic shifts, a number of OCCs, and the number of the PRBs (pages 112-119, 128-129, and 133).
As to claim 15, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 5. Ericsson further teaches based on the FDM being applied to the PUCCH resource, an additional PRB offset other than the PRB offset is applied to the resource for performing the uplink transmission for the second type terminal so that the resource for performing the uplink transmission for the second type terminal and the PUCCH resource for the first type terminal are distinguished (pages 110, 112, 114, 116, 119, and 133).
As to claim 16, Ericsson in view of Ericsson’436 teaches the method of claim 15. Ericsson further teaches the base station indicates at least one of the additional PRB offset value and an edge indicator to the terminal,
wherein, based on the terminal receiving only the PRB offset value, the terminal applies the PRB offset value to a PRB offset of the PUCCH resource indicated by the index, and
wherein, based on the terminal receiving the PRB offset value and the edge indicator, the terminal applies the offset value to the PRB offset of the PUCCH resource indicated by the index based on a boundary indicated by the edge indicator (pages 110, 112, 114, 116, 119, and 133).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN T VAN ROIE whose telephone number is (571)270-0308. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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/JUSTIN T VAN ROIE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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