DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to Application No. 18/867,254 filed on 11/19/2024. The preliminary amendment presented on 11/19/2024, which amends claims 1, 3-11, and 13-15 and adds new claims 16-20, is hereby acknowledged. Claims 1-20 have been examined.
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 11/19/2024 and 4/13/2026 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)(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.
Claims 1-4, 6, 10, 12-15, and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by He et al. (hereinafter He)(US 2025/0266861).
Regarding claims 1, 15, and 17, He teaches as follows:
A user equipment (UE)(UE 110 in figure 2) for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory (memory arrangement 210 in figure 2); and
at least one processor (205 in figure 2) coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to (the UE 110 may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input/output (I/O) device 220, a transceiver 225 and other components 230, see, ¶ [0025] and figure 2):
receive a configuration indicating one or more sets of resources for a bandwidth part (BWP) of the UE (in 905, the UE receives a BWP and frequency hopping configuration from the network. The BWP configuration can include time and frequency parameters for one or more BWPs that can be activated by the network and used for network operations (UL or DL). In all cases, the BWP configuration at least includes the time and frequency resources for the BWP, a subcarrier spacing (SCS), and other parameters known to those skilled in the art, see, ¶ [0075] and figure 9); and
determine at least one set of available resources for a subband based on the one or more sets of resources for the BWP (available resources 655 between C-BWP 2 615 and C-BWP 3 620 (RBs 12-14), available resource 660 between C-BWP 1 610 and C-BWP 2 615 (RBs 13-15), and available resources 665 between the P-BWP 605 and C-BWP 1 610 (RBs 34-36), can be used by the network for other purposes, including as a PUCCH resource for legacy UEs or for other channels, see, ¶ [0056] and figure 6).
Regarding claim 2, He teaches as follows:
Wherein the subband is associated with the BWP (C-BWP 1 610 is configured in RBs 26-33 in sub-band 2 635. C-BWP 2 615 is configured in RBs 15-22 in sub-band 1 630. C-BWP 3 620 is configured in RBs 4-11 in sub-band 0 625, see, ¶ [0056] and figure 6).
Regarding claims 3 and 18, He teaches as follows:
Wherein the one or more sets of resources are one or more physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource sets for the BWP, wherein each PUCCH resource set is configured with one or more PUCCH resources for the BWP (the RBs 0-2 are reserved for a first PUCCH region 645 for legacy UEs and the RBs 47-50 are reserved for a second PUCCH region 650 for legacy UEs, see, ¶ [0055] and figure 6);
determine, based on the one or more PUCCH resource sets for the BWP, at least one available PUCCH resource set for the subband (these regions, e.g., available resources 655 between C-BWP 2 615 and C-BWP 3 620 (RBs 12-14), available resource 660 between C-BWP 1 610 and C-BWP 2 615 (RBs 13-15), and available resources 665 between the P-BWP 605 and C-BWP 1 610 (RBs 34-36), can be used by the network for other purposes, including as a PUCCH resource for legacy UEs, see, ¶ [0056] and figure 6); and
determine at least one available PUCCH resource for the subband in the at least one available PUCCH resource set for the subband (see, ¶ [0056] and figure 6).
Regarding claim 4, He teaches as follows:
Determine a PUCCH resource set for the BWP to be an available PUCCH resource set for the subband when at least one PUCCH resource in the PUCCH resource set is available for the subband (these regions, e.g., available resources 655 between C-BWP 2 615 and C-BWP 3 620 (RBs 12-14), available resource 660 between C-BWP 1 610 and C-BWP 2 615 (RBs 13-15), and available resources 665 between the P-BWP 605 and C-BWP 1 610 (RBs 34-36), can be used by the network for other purposes, including as a PUCCH resource for legacy UEs, see, ¶ [0056] and figure 6).
Regarding claim 6, He teaches as follows:
Determine a PUCCH resource in a PUCCH resource set for the BWP to be an available PUCCH resource for the subband in the case that only a first physical resource for a first hop of the PUCCH resource is within the subband (PUCCH resource used for each C-BWP1-3 are within the sub-band 2, 1, 0 respectively, see, ¶ [0056] and figure 6).
Regarding claim 10, He teaches as follows:
When only the first physical resource is within the subband, transmit a PUCCH in the first physical resource in the subband in one or more time units without frequency hopping regardless of whether frequency hopping is configured for the UE (the RBs 0-2 are reserved for a first PUCCH region 645 for legacy UEs and the RBs 47-50 are reserved for a second PUCCH region 650 for legacy UEs without using the frequency hopping, see, ¶[0055] and figure 6).
Regarding claims 12 and 19, He teaches as follows:
Wherein the configuration is for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource allocation and is downlink control information (DCI) indicating a set of physical resource blocks (PRBs) for a PUSCH (the UE can receive a configuration for a starting PRB to be used for the lowest sub-band in the set of sub-bands spanning the component carrier. The network can select the starting PRB based on scheduling constraints for other (e.g., legacy) UEs, e.g., the PUCCH region for legacy UEs on the edges of the CC, see, ¶ [0077])(transmitting a scheduling downlink control information (DCI) indicating the first BWP and a subset of the FH BWPs are activated for a first channel and performing uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) communications on the first channel in the activated first BWP and the determined one or more FH BWPs, see, ¶ [0121]).
Regarding claims 13 and 20, He teaches as follows:
Determine the at least one set of available resources for the subband by determining the set of PRBs to be a set of available PUSCH resources for the subband when the set of PRBs is within the subband (the RBs 0-2 are reserved for a first PUCCH region 645 for legacy UEs and the RBs 47-50 are reserved for a second PUCCH region 650 for legacy UEs, see, ¶ [0055] and figure 6).
Regarding claim 14, He teaches all limitations as presented above in the rejection for claim 1 and He further teaches the base station as follows:
A base station (BS)(Base Station 120A in figure 3), comprising:
at least one memory (memory arrangement 310 in figure 3); and
at least one processor (305 in figure 3) coupled with the at least one memory (the base station 300 may include a processor 305, a memory arrangement 310, an input/output (I/O) device 315, a transceiver 320, and other components 325, see, ¶ [0030] and figure 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.
Claims 5 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al. (hereinafter He)(US 2025/0266861).
Regarding claim 5, He teaches similar limitations as presented above and further teaches as follows:
The UE can receive a configuration of a C-BWP list or sub-band list including one or multiple C-BWPs or sub-bands associated with a list ID. Based on the list ID indicated in the scheduling DCI, the UE can activate/deactivate particular C-BWPs/sub-bands for the FH operation. The network can select to activate/deactivate certain C-BWPs/sub-bands based on scheduling constraints for other (e.g., legacy) UEs (see, ¶ [0078]); and
FIG. 7b shows an exemplary table 710 for a two-bit FHI field description according to various exemplary embodiments. As shown, the codepoint ‘00’ of the FHI field can indicate list ID 0, the codepoint ‘01’ of the FHI field can indicate list ID 1, the codepoint ‘10’ of the FHI field can indicate list ID 2, and the codepoint ‘11’ of the FHI field can indicate list ID 3. List ID 0 can comprise all sub-bands, list ID 1 can comprise all even sub-bands, list ID 2 can comprise all odd sub-bands, and list ID 3 can comprise any custom selection of sub-bands, e.g., sub-band X, sub-band Y, sub-band Z, etc. (see, ¶ [0063]).
Wherein the examiner interpreted applicant’s “frequency hopping is not configured” condition as deactivating resource for the frequency hopping operation.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify He to include configuring or non-configuring frequency hopping operation indicated by the two-bit FHI field.
Regarding claim 9, He teaches as follows:
Transmit a PUCCH in the physical resource in the subband in one or more time units (see, ¶ [0056] and figure 6).
7. Claims 7-8, 11, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al. (hereinafter He)(US 2025/0266861) in view of Datta et al. (hereinafter Datta)(US 2021/0105764).
Regarding claim 7, He teaches all limitations as presented above except for using PUCCH resource identity.
Datta teaches as follows:
A base station scheduling user equipments (UEs) for transmitting physical uplink control channels (PUCCHs) may identify resources for the PUCCHs using PUCCH resource set indices and PUCCH resource indicators (see, ¶ [0022]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify He with Datta to include the PUCCH resource indicators as taught by Datta in order to efficiently allocate PUCCH resource into a PUCCH resource set.
Regarding claim 8, He teaches all limitations as presented above except for overriding PUCCH resource.
Datta teaches as follows:
The base station 904 may transmit the PUCCH resource set index 922 to the UE 902 prior to scheduling the PUCCH of the UE 902, may determine to change the PUCCH resource set index (equivalent to applicant’s overriding PUCCH resource) during scheduling the PUCCH of the UE 902, and may transmit a new PUCCH resource set index to the UE 902 (see, ¶ [0185]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify He in view of Datta to include changing preallocated PUCCH resource in order for the UE to dynamically change PUCCH resource.
Regarding claim 11, He teaches as follows:
The RBs 0-2 are reserved for a first PUCCH region 645 for legacy UEs and the RBs 47-50 are reserved for a second PUCCH region 650 for legacy UEs without using the frequency hopping (see, ¶[0055] and figure 6).
Regarding claim 16, He teaches the different PUCCH resource configuration including starting physical resource blocks (PRB) as presented above (see, ¶ [0056] and figure 6) except for the resource ID.
Datta teaches as follows:
A base station scheduling user equipments (UEs) for transmitting physical uplink control channels (PUCCHs) may identify resources for the PUCCHs using PUCCH resource set indices and PUCCH resource indicators (equivalent to applicant’s resource ID)(see, ¶ [0022]); and
The PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether short or long PUCCHs are transmitted and depending on the particular PUCCH format (see, ¶ [0147]).
Therefore, it is rejected for similar reason as presented above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jeong S Park whose telephone number is (571)270-1597. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 8:00-4:30 ET.
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, Rebecca E Song can be reached at 571-270-3667. 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.
/JEONG S PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2417
September 9, 2026
Prosecution Insights