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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-2 and 4-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Huang et al. (hereinafter Huang) US 2023/0051501 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Huang teaches a network entity (Fig. 6), comprising:
a processing system configured to:
receive first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first set of one or more downlink shared channel transmissions (Fig. 6 & ¶0076-¶0077; reception of an DCI for a dynamic transmission);
transmit, during a first uplink channel transmission occasion based on a first slot offset, first feedback information associated with the first set of one or more downlink shared channel transmissions (Fig. 6 & ¶0079; transmission of a dynamic A/N feedback based on the offset in the dynamic DCI);
receive second DCI that schedules a second set of one or more downlink shared channel transmissions (Fig. 5 & ¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes an offset);
and transmit, during a second uplink channel transmission occasion based on a second slot offset, the first feedback information and second feedback information in a single payload, wherein the second feedback information is associated with the second set of one or more downlink shared channel transmissions (¶0083 & ¶0105-¶0117; Multiplexing e.g., appending, SPS A/N feedback message following the received activation DCI with repetitions of the dynamic A/N feedback message in accordance with the offset provided in the activation DCI).
Regarding claim 2, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein: the first DCI indicates the first slot offset, and the second slot offset corresponds to a quantity of one or more slots relative to a next available slot from a reference slot corresponding to the first uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0100; note that special slot is reference slot where SPS A/N feedback message determined based on the "next uplink slot or a
next uplink portion of a special slot).
Regarding claim 4, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured to: receive signaling that indicates a quantity of one or more uplink channel transmission occasions to use to transmit feedback, wherein the quantity includes at least the first uplink channel transmission occasion and the second uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 5, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 4, wherein the signaling indicates a respective quantity of one or more uplink channel transmission occasions to use to transmit feedback for each downlink component carrier of a set of one or more downlink component carriers (¶0070; allocation of different frequency resources for HARQ-ACK feedback in
accordance with the DCI received).
Regarding claim 6, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 4, wherein the signaling indicates a respective quantity of one or more uplink channel transmission occasions to use to transmit feedback for each uplink component carrier of a set of one or more uplink component carriers (¶0070; allocation of different frequency resources for HARQ-ACK feedback in
accordance with the DCI received).
Regarding claim 7, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 4, wherein the signaling indicates a respective quantity of one or more uplink channel transmission occasions to use to transmit feedback for each uplink control channel format of a set of one or more uplink control channel formats (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 8, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 4, wherein the signaling indicates a respective quantity of one or more uplink channel transmission occasions to use to transmit feedback for each uplink control channel resource of a set of one or more uplink control channel resources (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 9, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 4, wherein the signaling comprises radio resource control signaling, medium access control-control element signaling, DCI signaling, or a combination thereof (¶0089; see MAC DCI)
Regarding claim 10, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein: the first DCI indicates a quantity of one or more uplink channel transmission occasions to use to transmit feedback, and the quantity includes at least the first uplink channel transmission occasion and the second uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 11, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the first DCI indicates the first slot offset and the second slot offset (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 12, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the first slot offset and the second slot offset are a same slot offset (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 13, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein: the first DCI indicates a first identifier associated with a set of slot offsets, and the set of slot offsets comprises the first slot offset and the second slot offset (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 14, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein: the first slot offset corresponds to a first quantity of one or more slots between a first downlink shared channel transmission of the first set of one or more downlink shared channel transmissions and the first uplink channel transmission occasion, and the second slot offset corresponds to a second quantity of one or more slots between the first downlink shared channel transmission and the second uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 15, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein: the first slot offset corresponds to a first quantity of one or more slots between a first downlink shared channel transmission of the first set of one or more downlink shared channel transmissions and the first uplink channel transmission occasion, and the second slot offset corresponds to a second quantity of one or more slots between the first uplink channel transmission occasion and the second uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 16, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the first feedback information and the second feedback information, the processing system is configured to: multiplex the second feedback information and the first feedback information on a channel that overlaps with the second uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0102; multiplexing of overlapping HARQ-ACK).
Regarding claim 17, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein, to transmit the first feedback information and the second feedback information, the processing system is configured to: multiplex the second feedback information and the first feedback information with uplink control information, wherein the second uplink channel transmission occasion overlaps with an uplink control channel for the uplink control information, and wherein the uplink control information is transmitted with the second feedback information and the first feedback information (¶0102; multiplexing of overlapping HARQ-ACK).
Regarding claim 18, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the second uplink channel transmission occasion comprises a feedback slot for a set of downlink shared channels that includes at least a first downlink shared channel transmission of the first set of one or more downlink shared channel transmissions and a second downlink shared channel transmission of the second set of one or more downlink shared channel transmissions based on a difference between a slot index of the feedback slot and the second slot offset (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 19, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured to: transmit capability information associated with a threshold quantity of uplink channel transmission occasions that the network entity supports for feedback transmissions (¶0079; defining the capability of the UE for maximum number of repetitions and slots corresponding to a threshold number of slots which in par.89 are transmitted to the network).
Regarding claim 20, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured to: transmit capability information that indicates a threshold quantity of slots that the network entity supports for buffering feedback information, wherein the threshold quantity of slots corresponds to a quantity of slots after a downlink shared channel (¶0079; defining the capability of the UE for maximum number of repetitions and slots corresponding to a threshold number of slots which in par.89 are transmitted to the network).
Regarding claim 21, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured to: transmit capability information that indicates a threshold quantity of slots that the network entity supports for buffering feedback information, wherein the threshold quantity of slots corresponds to a quantity of slots after an initial transmission of the feedback information (¶0079; defining the capability of the UE for maximum number of repetitions and slots corresponding to a threshold number of slots which in par.89 are transmitted to the network).
Claim 22 is substantially similar to claim 1, thus the same rationale applies.
Regarding claim 23, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 22, wherein the processing system is configured to: output signaling that indicates a quantity of one or more uplink channel transmission occasions to use to transmit feedback, wherein the quantity includes at least the first uplink channel transmission occasion and the second uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Regarding claim 24, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 22, wherein the processing system is configured to: obtain capability information associated with a threshold quantity of uplink channel transmission occasions that a second network entity supports for feedback transmissions (¶0079; defining the capability of the UE for maximum number of repetitions and slots corresponding to a threshold number of slots which in par.89 are transmitted to the network).
Regarding claim 25, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 22, the processing system is configured to: obtain capability information that indicates a threshold quantity of slots that a second network entity supports for buffering feedback information, wherein the threshold quantity of slots corresponds to a first quantity of slots after a downlink shared channel, or a second quantity of slots after an initial transmission of the feedback information (¶0079; defining the capability of the UE for maximum number of repetitions and slots corresponding to a threshold number of slots which in par.89 are transmitted to the network).
Regarding claim 26, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 22, the processing system is configured to: jointly decode the first feedback information obtained via the first uplink channel transmission occasion and the first feedback information obtained via the second uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0102; multiplexing of overlapping HARQ-ACK).
Claim 27 is substantially similar to claim 1, thus the same rationale applies.
Regarding claim 28, Huang teaches the method of claim 27, further comprising: receiving signaling that indicates a quantity of one or more uplink channel transmission occasions to use to transmit feedback, wherein the quantity includes at least the first uplink channel transmission occasion and the second uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
Claim 29 is substantially similar to claim 1, thus the same rationale applies.
Regarding claim 30, Huang teaches the method of claim 29, further comprising: outputting signaling that indicates a quantity of one or more uplink channel transmission occasions to use to transmit feedback, wherein the quantity includes at least the first uplink channel transmission occasion and the second uplink channel transmission occasion (¶0069-¶0072; reception of an activation DCI which includes offsets defined in numbers of slots used for determining the HARQ-ACK feedback slot).
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Jiang et al. (hereinafter Jiang) US 2026/0143499 A1.
Regarding claim 3, Huang teaches the network entity of claim 2, but does not expressly teach wherein the next available slot does not overlap with a synchronization signal block or one or more downlink symbols.
Jiang teaches wherein the next available slot does not overlap with a synchronization signal block or one or more downlink symbols (¶0103; the available slot meets at least one of the following: [0104] in the available slot, a symbol on which the common PDCCH repetition transmission is located does not overlap a symbol on which an SSB is located; [0105] in the available slot, a symbol on which the common PDCCH repetition transmission is located does not overlap a symbol on which a physical random access channel (PRACH) is located; [0106] in the available slot, a symbol on which the common PDCCH repetition transmission is located does not overlap a symbol on which a message A physical uplink shared channel PUSCH is located; [0107] in the available slot, a symbol on which the common PDCCH repetition transmission is located does not overlap a symbol corresponding to another search space, where the another search space is different from a search space corresponding to the common PDCCH repetition transmission; [0108] in the available slot, a symbol on which the common PDCCH repetition transmission is located does not overlap a symbol corresponding to another control resource set CORESET, where the another CORESET is different from a CORESET corresponding to the common PDCCH repetition transmission; [0109] in the available slot, a symbol on which the common PDCCH repetition transmission is located does not overlap a symbol on which another common PDCCH is located; [0110] in the available slot, a symbol on which the common PDCCH repetition transmission is located is a downlink symbol; and [0111] in the available slot, a symbol on which the common PDCCH repetition transmission is located is a flexible symbol).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the calimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Jian into the system of Huang in order to monitor the consecutive physical signal monitoring occasions in the same search space, to reduce power consumption overheads of the terminal and the common PDCCH repetition transmission is more flexible, to enable the terminal to more easily monitor the common PDCCH (¶0101-¶0103).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAHRAN ABU ROUMI whose telephone number is (469)295-9170. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6AM-5PM.
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MAHRAN ABU ROUMI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2455
/MAHRAN Y ABU ROUMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2455
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