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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment(s) filed 07/15/2026 have been entered.
Per the 07/15/2026 amendment(s):
Claim(s) 1-20 are cancelled.
Claim(s) 21-36 are newly presented.
Claim(s) 21-36 are now pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 21-22, 27-30 and 35-36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam (US 2020/0029330 A1) in view of Freda (US 2021/0014791 A1).
Regarding Claim 21, Nam discloses the below limitation(s): receiving information carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling (Nam [0040] signaling for the PDCCH candidate adaptation component may occur at RRC layer),
wherein the information indicates a first number of search space sets ([0047] UE may be configured by higher layers (e.g. RRC) with a search space set, which may indicate where the UE should search for PDCCH messages and a type of message (e.g. one or more DCI formats)),
wherein the first number of search space sets each comprise Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates ([0047] PDCCH search space at an aggregation level is defined by a set of PDCCH candidates),
wherein the information indicates a downlink control information (DCI) format and a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level (AL) corresponding to each of a first number of blind decoding attempts to be performed on respective PDCCH candidates ([0047] RRC-indicated search space set may indicate where the UE should search for a type of message (e.g. one or more DCI formats) … candidates for blind decoding may utilize different overlapping resources within the search space, for example candidate 252 may be a message with a first format (e.g. DCI format 0_1) and candidate 254 may be a message with a second format (e.g. DCI format 1_1) and candidates 252 and 254 may have the same level of CCE aggregation or different levels of CCE aggregation; see also Fig 3-4 for charts mapping exemplary CCE aggregation levels and number of PDDCH candidates based on different configurations);
receiving a first-type radio signal ([0040] signaling for the PDCCH candidate adaptation component may occur at RRC layer; see also Fig 6 block 610 receiving a configuration of the PDCCH, which is an exemplary "first-type radio signal"),
performing, based on the first-type radio signal, a second number of blind decoding attempts on PDCCH candidates of the second number of search space sets (Fig 6 block 632 blindly decoding the second set of candidates in addition to the anchor set of candidates; [0047] UE searches for PDCCH messages using blind decoding on a search space),
Nam does not disclose the below limitation(s): wherein the first-type radio signal indicates a second number of search space sets, wherein the second number of search space sets is a subset of the first number of search space sets; and
wherein the second number of blind decoding attempts is a positive integer no greater than the first number of blind decoding attempts.
In the same field of endeavor of search space monitoring and blind decoding, Freda does disclose the below limitation(s): wherein the information indicates a downlink control information (DCI) format and a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level (AL) corresponding to each of a first number of blind decoding attempts to be performed on respective PDCCH candidates (Freda [0210] UE may be configured to monitor for DCIs on a first operating band; Fig 6A and associated [0219] UE may be configured with a search space consisting of the first three aggregation level, in which the aggregation level includes eight control channel elements);
wherein the first-type radio signal indicates a second number of search space sets, wherein the second number of search space sets is a subset of the first number of search space sets ([0216] UE may be configured to process a first and a second number (or subset) of search spaces, a first and a second set of search space, search space aggregation level, or similar); and
performing, based on the first-type radio signal, a second number of blind decoding attempts on PDCCH candidates of the second number of search space sets ([0216] search space may be any collection of control channel resources (e.g. PDCCH) that a UE uses to perform blind decoding for downlink control channel messages),
wherein the second number of blind decoding attempts is a positive integer no greater than the first number of blind decoding attempts ([0216] wherein the second number of search spaces is a subset, i.e. a smaller number than the first number of search spaces to be blind decoded; [0569] teaches performing a low number of blind decoding attempts in a low activity state and a high number of blind decoding attempts in a high activity state, which is respectively interpreted as "second number of blind decoding attempts" and "first number of blind decoding attempts"; see also [0215]-[0216] generally for reducing the number of blind decoding attempts).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teaching of Nam to include performing blind decoding on a subset of search spaces as taught by Freda. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to only perform monitoring and blind decoding on a subset of search space in order to reduce resource usage and free other search space for other communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam and Freda to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 22, Nam and Freda disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 21.
Nam does not disclose the below limitation(s): further comprising monitoring for the first-type radio signal on a first number of sub-bands of a carrier.
In the same field of endeavor of search space monitoring and blind decoding, Freda does disclose the below limitation(s): further comprising monitoring for the first-type radio signal on a first number of sub-bands of a carrier (Freda [0208] UE may be configured to monitor a sub-band, multiple sub-bands, a subset of the frequency band, a subset of the system bandwidth, a frequency location, or subset of resources of the control channel. This may include Aggregation Levels).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method performed by a UE to include monitoring a sub-band of a carrier as taught by Freda. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to only monitor the sub-band in which data is expected to reduce resources used for monitoring. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam and Freda to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 27, Nam and Freda disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 22.
Nam further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein each of the first number of sub-bands is deployed in Unlicensed Spectrum (Nam [0045] teaches an embodiment that operated via WiFi stations (STAs) via communications links in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g. 5 GHz)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method performed by a UE to include monitoring the unlicensed spectrum as taught by Nam. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable the UE to monitor and perform blind decoding of radio signals sent in the unlicensed spectrum, which is an improvement over the art by expanding the spectrum that can be used. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam and Freda to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 28, Nam and Freda disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 21.
Nam does not disclose the below limitation(s): receiving, based on the second number of blind decoding attempts, DCI comprising one of a downlink grant or an uplink grant.
In the same field of endeavor of search space monitoring and blind decoding, Freda does disclose the below limitation(s): receiving, based on the second number of blind decoding attempts, DCI comprising one of a downlink grant or an uplink grant (Freda [0239] UE may be configured to transmission between states upon reception of N consecutive grants which use a specific search space, search space size, or specific DCI message).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method performed by a UE to include obtaining a DCI comprising a grant by performing blind decoding of radio signal(s) as taught by Freda. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to obtain a grant without exchanging security messaging or performing a RA handshake, thus reducing the delay between requesting and receiving a grant as well as reducing the amount of network resources used. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam and Freda to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 29, Nam discloses the below limitation(s):A User Equipment (UE) comprising: a receiver (Nam Fig 8 UE comprising transceiver 802/receiver 806) configured to
receive information carried in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling ([0040] signaling for the PDCCH candidate adaptation component may occur at RRC layer),
wherein the information indicates a first number of search space sets ([0047] UE may be configured by higher layers (e.g. RRC) with a search space set, which may indicate where the UE should search for PDCCH messages and a type of message (e.g. one or more DCI formats)),
wherein the first number of search space sets each comprise Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) candidates ([0047] PDCCH search space at an aggregation level is defined by a set of PDCCH candidates),
wherein the information indicates a downlink control information (DCI) format and a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level (AL) corresponding to each of a first number of blind decoding attempts to be performed on respective PDCCH candidates ([0047] RRC-indicated search space set may indicate where the UE should search for a type of message (e.g. one or more DCI formats) … candidates for blind decoding may utilize different overlapping resources within the search space, for example candidate 252 may be a message with a first format (e.g. DCI format 0_1) and candidate 254 may be a message with a second format (e.g. DCI format 1_1) and candidates 252 and 254 may have the same level of CCE aggregation or different levels of CCE aggregation; see also Fig 3-4 for charts mapping exemplary CCE aggregation levels and number of PDDCH candidates based on different configurations);
the receiver configured to receive a first-type radio signal (Fig 8 UE comprising transceiver 802/receiver 806; [0040] signaling for the PDCCH candidate adaptation component may occur at RRC layer; see also Fig 6 block 610 receiving a configuration of the PDCCH, which is an exemplary "first-type radio signal"),
a processor (Fig 8 UE 110 comprising processor(s) 812) configured to
perform, based on the first-type radio signal, a second number of blind decoding attempts on PDCCH candidates of the second number of search space sets (Fig 6 block 632 blindly decoding the second set of candidates in addition to the anchor set of candidates; [0047] UE searches for PDCCH messages using blind decoding on a search space),
Nam does not disclose the below limitation(s): wherein the first-type radio signal indicates a second number of search space sets, wherein the second number of search space sets is a subset of the first number of search space sets; and
wherein the second number of blind decoding attempts is a positive integer no greater than the first number of blind decoding attempts.
In the same field of endeavor of search space monitoring and blind decoding, Freda does disclose the below limitation(s): wherein the information indicates a downlink control information (DCI) format and a control channel element (CCE) aggregation level (AL) corresponding to each of a first number of blind decoding attempts to be performed on respective PDCCH candidates (Freda [0210] UE may be configured to monitor for DCIs on a first operating band; Fig 6A and associated [0219] UE may be configured with a search space consisting of the first three aggregation level, in which the aggregation level includes eight control channel elements);
wherein the first-type radio signal indicates a second number of search space sets, wherein the second number of search space sets is a subset of the first number of search space sets ([0216] UE may be configured to process a first and a second number (or subset) of search spaces, a first and a second set of search space, search space aggregation level, or similar); and
perform, based on the first-type radio signal, a second number of blind decoding attempts on PDCCH candidates of the second number of search space sets ([0216] search space may be any collection of control channel resources (e.g. PDCCH) that a UE uses to perform blind decoding for downlink control channel messages),
wherein the second number of blind decoding attempts is a positive integer no greater than the first number of blind decoding attempts ([0216] wherein the second number of search spaces is a subset, i.e. a smaller number than the first number of search spaces to be blind decoded; [0569] teaches performing a low number of blind decoding attempts in a low activity state and a high number of blind decoding attempts in a high activity state, which is respectively interpreted as "second number of blind decoding attempts" and "first number of blind decoding attempts"; see also [0215]-[0216] generally for reducing the number of blind decoding attempts).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the teaching of Nam to include performing blind decoding on a subset of search spaces as taught by Freda. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to only perform monitoring and blind decoding on a subset of search space in order to reduce resource usage and free other search space for other communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam and Freda to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 30, Nam and Freda disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 29.
Nam does not disclose the below limitation(s): the receiver further configured to monitor for the first-type radio signal on a first number of sub-bands of a carrier.
In the same field of endeavor of search space monitoring and blind decoding, Freda does disclose the below limitation(s): the receiver further configured to monitor for the first-type radio signal on a first number of sub-bands of a carrier (Freda [0208] UE may be configured to monitor a sub-band, multiple sub-bands, a subset of the frequency band, a subset of the system bandwidth, a frequency location, or subset of resources of the control channel. This may include Aggregation Levels).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method performed by a UE to include monitoring a sub-band of a carrier as taught by Freda. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to only monitor the sub-band in which data is expected to reduce resources used for monitoring. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam and Freda to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 35, Nam and Freda disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 30.
Nam further discloses the below limitation(s): wherein each of the first number of sub-bands is deployed in Unlicensed Spectrum (Nam [0045] teaches an embodiment that operates via WiFi stations (STAs) via communications links in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g. 5 GHz)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method performed by a UE to include monitoring the unlicensed spectrum as taught by Nam. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to enable the UE to monitor and perform blind decoding of radio signals sent in the unlicensed spectrum, which is an improvement over the art by expanding the spectrum that can be used. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam and Freda to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 36, Nam and Freda disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 30.
Nam does not disclose the below limitation(s): the receiver further configured to: receive, based on the second number of blind decoding attempts, DCI comprising one of a downlink grant or an uplink grant.
In the same field of endeavor of search space monitoring and blind decoding, Freda does disclose the below limitation(s): the receiver further configured to: receive, based on the second number of blind decoding attempts, DCI comprising one of a downlink grant or an uplink grant (Freda [0239] UE may be configured to transmission between states upon reception of N consecutive grants which use a specific search space, search space size, or specific DCI message).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method performed by a UE to include obtaining a DCI comprising a grant by performing blind decoding of radio signal(s) as taught by Freda. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to obtain a grant without exchanging security messaging or performing a RA handshake, thus reducing the delay between requesting and receiving a grant as well as reducing the amount of network resources used. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam and Freda to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Claim(s) 24 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam in view of Freda and further in view of Zeng (US 2021/0352582 A1).
Regarding Claim 24, Nam and Freda disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 22.
Nam and Freda do not disclose the below limitation(s): wherein the first-type radio signal is monitored in a Channel Occupancy Time, COT.
In the same field of endeavor of search space monitoring and blind decoding, Zeng does disclose the below limitation(s): wherein the first-type radio signal is monitored in a Channel Occupancy Time, COT (Zeng [0095] UE may monitor the control channel for downlink control information during the indicated CoT, which is for the purpose of determining whether to start blind decoding).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method performed by a UE to include performing search space monitoring and blind decoding during an indicated Channel Occupancy Time (CoT) as taught by Zeng. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to restrict search space monitoring to reduce congestion/interference/power consumption. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam, Freda and Zeng to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Regarding Claim 32, Nam and Freda disclose the limitation(s) of Claim 29.
Nam and Freda do not disclose the below limitation(s): wherein the first-type radio signal is monitored in a Channel Occupancy Time, COT.
In the same field of endeavor of search space monitoring and blind decoding, Zeng does disclose the below limitation(s): wherein the first-type radio signal is monitored in a Channel Occupancy Time, COT (Zeng [0095] UE may monitor the control channel for downlink control information during the indicated CoT, which is for the purpose of determining whether to start blind decoding).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the aforementioned method performed by a UE to include performing search space monitoring and blind decoding during an indicated Channel Occupancy Time (CoT) as taught by Zeng. The suggestion/motivation to do so would have been to restrict search space monitoring to reduce congestion/interference/power consumption. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Nam, Freda and Zeng to obtain the invention, as specified in the instant claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 23, 25-26, 31 and 33-34 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: a thorough and complete search has been conducted and no prior art has been found that solely, or in any reasonable combination, reads on each element of the indicated claim(s). In particular, the amended language of independent Claim #, namely “TEXT”, overcomes previously cited prior art by performing a step not contemplated by the prior art. EXPLAIN
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAWN D MILLER whose telephone number is (571)272-8599. The examiner can normally be reached M-TR 8-5.
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, Charles C Jiang can be reached at (571) 270-7191. 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.
/SHAWN D MILLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
Prosecution Insights