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 .
Claims 1-30 are pending in Instant Application.
Priority
Examiner acknowledges Applicant’s claim to priority benefits of: This application is a 371 of PCT/CN2022/110764 filed 08/08/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 12/13/2024, 6/4/2026 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is/are being considered if signed and initialed by the Examiner.
Notice re prior art available under both pre-AIA and 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 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MCC (MCC SUPPORT: "Draft Report of 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #109-e v0.3.0 (Online meeting, 9th - 20th May 2022, 3GPP DRAFT; (2022-07-06))", page 206, line 2 - page 207, IDS submitted 6/4/2026), and further in view of Zhu et al. (CN 112425240 A).
As per claim 1, MCC disclose A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (see page 206-207, UE), comprising:
one or more processors (see page 206-207, UE with a CPU/ a processor), configured to:
receive configuration information identifying a configuration for a switching period for a set of frequency bands associated with transmit switching, wherein the set of frequency bands includes more than two frequency bands (see page 206-207, para. "Proposal 8: For inter-band UL CA Option 1 with and without SUL, if Tx switching across 3 or 4 bands is configured, the switching period is only applicable when the UL transmissions are switched between different bands. Proposal 9: For inter-band UL CA Option 2 without SUL, if Tx switching across 3 or 4 bands is configured, the switching period is applicable in the following cases: • If the current state of Tx chains is 2Tx on one band and 0Tx on other bands, the next UL transmission has a 2-port transmission on at least one carrier on one of other bands [..]", p. 207, first instance of par. "Agreement", point "- Alt.2: NW indicates 2 bands out of the configured bands (3 or 4 bands) via DCI or MAC-CE, and dynamic Tx carrier switching between indicated bands is same as Rel-17"): whereby the disclosed 3 or 4 bands is a specific implementation of the broader more than two frequency bands),
wherein the switching period is associated with a frequency band, of the set of frequency bands, in accordance with an association rule (see page 206-207, para. "Proposal 9 [..]":whereby each of the disclosed "cases" is a specific implementation of an association rule; see also p. 207, last par., points 11• UE report the supports of only a set of concurrent UL cases (combinations of 2 bands for concurrent UL transmissions) • Switching across 0/1/2 ports is supported only for 2 configured bands out of 3 or 4 configured bands and other bands support switching across 0/l port only • Only switching across 0/l port is supported across all configured bands when 3 or 4 bands are configured • Prioritization rules [..]":whereby the each of the disclosed clause of "supported only" and "prioritization rules" is a specific implementation of the broader association rule); and
transmit a set of uplink communications on the set of frequency bands in accordance with the configuration (see page 206-207, UE report/transmit the supports of only on a set of concurrent UL cases (combinations of 2 bands for concurrent UL transmissions)).
Although MCC disclose the above method performed by a UE.
MCC however dos not explicitly disclose A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication , comprising: a memory; and one or more processors.
Zhu however disclose A user equipment (UE) for wireless (see Fig.2, Fig.4, page 2, para. 3-9, an electronic device is a terminal device / a UE) communication , comprising: a memory (see Fig.4, memory 4003); and one or more processors (see Fig.4, a Processor 4001), configured to:
receive configuration information identifying a configuration for a switching period for a set of frequency bands associated with transmit switching, wherein the set of frequency bands includes more than two frequency bands (see page 12, para. 3, the electronic device is a network device, and the network device implements the method for switching frequency domain resources, which is implemented by the network device as an implementation subject, see also para. 0039-0049, 0195-0205).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the functionality of a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, as taught by Zhu, in the system of MCC, so as to enable a UE to acquire first information, wherein the first information is used for determining relevant
information for switching frequency domain resources by the UE, the relevant
information comprises switching time and switched resource information, and the switched resource
information comprises switched service beam identifiers and/or frequency domain resource
information; and determining the related information of the frequency domain resource switching according to the first information, in order to better satisfy the communication requirement and the existing frequency domain resource switching method is improved, see Zhu, see page 4 paragraphs 8-12.
As per claim 2, the combination of MCC and Zhu disclose the UE of claim 1.
MCC further disclose wherein the one or more processors, to receive the configuration information, are configured to: receive downlink control information including a bit indicator or a format associated with indicating the frequency band. of the set of frequency bands, that is associated with the switching period (see page 206-207, Alt.2: NW indicates 2 bands out of the configured bands (3 or 4 bands) via DCI or MAC-CE, and dynamic Tx carrier switching between indicated bands is same as Rel-17").
As per claim 3, the combination of MCC and Zhu disclose the UE of claim 1.
MCC further disclose wherein a first frequency band, of the set of frequency bands, that is associated with the switching period is based at least in part on the first frequency band being a target to which the UE is to switch from a second frequency band of the set of frequency bands (see page 206-207, Agreement", point"- Alt 3: One anchor band is selected among configured bands (3 or 4 bands), and dynamic Tx carrier switching can be performed only from the anchor band to a non-anchor band and from a non-anchor band to the anchor band" whereby the disclosed anchor/non-anchor bands are specific
implementations of source/target bands).
As per claim 4, the combination of MCC and Zhu disclose the UE of claim 1.
MCC further disclose wherein a first frequency band, of the set of frequency bands, that is associated with the switching period is based at least in part on the first frequency band being a source from which the UE is to switch to a second frequency band of the set of frequency bands (see page 206-207, Agreement", point"- Alt 3: One anchor band is selected among configured bands (3 or 4 bands), and dynamic Tx carrier switching can be performed only from the anchor band to a non-anchor band and from a non-anchor band to the anchor band" whereby the disclosed anchor/non-anchor bands are specific
implementations of source/target bands).
As per claim 5, the combination of MCC and Zhu disclose the UE of claim 1.
MCC further disclose wherein the frequency band, of the set of frequency bands, that is associated with the switching period is based at least in part on a prioritization, and wherein the prioritization is based on at least one of: whether the frequency band is a secondary cell or a primary cell, or whether the frequency band is a source frequency band or a target frequency band (see page 206, 207, Prioritization rules [..]":whereby the each of the disclosed clause of "supported only" and "prioritization rules").
As per claim 6, the combination of MCC and Zhu disclose the UE of claim 1.
MCC further disclose wherein the one or more processors, to receive the configuration information, are configured to: receive frequency band pair configuration information that includes the configuration information (see page 206, 207, receiving "combinations of 2 bands", "2 configured bands out of 3 or 4").
As per claim 7, the combination of MCC and Zhu disclose the UE of claim 6.
MCC further disclose wherein the frequency band pair configuration information is conveyed via a medium access control (MAC) control element or a radio resource control (RRC) message (see page 206, 207, Alt.2: NW indicates 2 bands out of the configured bands (3 or 4 bands) via DCI or MAC-CE,
and dynamic Tx carrier switching between indicated bands is same as Rel-17").
As per claim 8, the combination of MCC and Zhu disclose the UE of claim 6.
MCC further disclose wherein the frequency band, of the set of frequency bands, that is associated with the switching period is based at least in part on the frequency band being an anchor frequency band (see page 206, 207, "Agreement", point"- Alt 3: One anchor band is selected among configured
bands (3 or 4 bands), and dynamic Tx carrier switching can be performed only from the anchor band
to a non-anchor band and from a non-anchor band to the anchor band").
As per claim 9, the combination of MCC and Zhu disclose the UE of claim 8.
MCC further disclose wherein the frequency band, of the set of frequency bands, that is associated with the switching period is based at least in part on the frequency band being a non-anchor frequency band (see page 206, 207, "Agreement", point"- Alt 3: One anchor band is selected among configured
bands (3 or 4 bands), and dynamic Tx carrier switching can be performed only from the anchor band
to a non-anchor band and from a non-anchor band to the anchor band").
As per claim 10, claim 10 is rejected the same way as claim 1. Zhu also disclose A network node for wireless communication wireless (see Fig.2, Fig.4, page 2, para. 3-9, an network device . a network node), comprising: a memory (see Fig.4, memory 4003); and one or more processors (see Fig.4, a Processor 4001), coupled to the memory, configured to: transmit configuration information identifying a configuration for a switching period for a set of frequency bands associated with transmit switching (see page 4, a communication method that may be performed by a network device, where the method may
include: sending / transmit configuration information indication information of first information, wherein the first information is used for determining relevant information for switching frequency domain resources by the terminal equipment, the relevant information comprises switching time and switched resource information, and the switched resource information comprises switched service beam identifiers and/or frequency domain resource information).
As per claim 11, claim 11 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
As per claim 12, claim 12 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As per claim 13, claim 13 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As per claim 14, claim 14 is rejected the same way as claim 5.
As per claim 15, claim 15 is rejected the same way as claim 6.
As per claim 16, claim 16 is rejected the same way as claim 7.
As per claim 17, claim 17 is rejected the same way as claim 8.
As per claim 18, claim 18 is rejected the same way as claim 9.
As per claim 19, claim 19 is rejected the same way as claim 1.
As per claim 20, claim 20 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
As per claim 21, claim 21 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As per claim 22, claim 22 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As per claim 23, claim 23 is rejected the same way as claim 5.
As per claim 24, claim 24 is rejected the same way as claim 6.
As per claim 25, claim 25 is rejected the same way as claim 1.
As per claim 26, claim 26 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
As per claim 27, claim 27 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As per claim 28, claim 28 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As per claim 29, claim 29 is rejected the same way as claim 5.
As per claim 30, claim 30 is rejected the same way as claim 6.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lyu et al. (US Pub. No.:2024/0049037) – see para. 0107-0112, “The uplinkTxSwitching-DL-Interruption-r16 field is encoded as a bit map, where bit N is set to “1” if DL interruption on band N will occur during uplink Tx switching as specified in TS 38.133 and in TS 36.133. The leading/leftmost bit (bit 0) corresponds to the first band of this band combination, the next bit corresponds to the second band of this band combination and so on. The capability is not applicable to the following band combinations, in which DL reception interruption is not allowed: [0111] TDD+TDD CA with the same UL-DL pattern [0112] TDD+TDD EN-DC with the same UL-DL pattern”.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR whose telephone number is (571)272-1335. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 7 am - 4 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian Moore can be reached on 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LAKERAM JANGBAHADUR/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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