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 .
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 1-3, 7-9 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Takeda et al (US 2022/0386342 A1).
Regarding claim 1, 13, Takeda teaches a method for a terminal to monitor a new radio technology (NR) physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a wireless communication system (Fig. 1, Fig. 4-5), the method comprising:
monitoring a PDCCH in a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or multiple OFDM symbols within a slot that is used for a long term evolution (LTE) cell-specific reference signal (CRS) ([0062], “A UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates in a PDCCH search space (e.g., common search space, UE-specific search space) during PDCCH monitoring occasions on the CORESET”, [0041], “an NR base station may map one or more NR PDCCH DMRSs to one or more REs of a slot based on the location/mapping of one or more LTE CRSs in the slot, and the NR base station may transmit the mapping information to a NR UE”); and
receiving a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) for decoding of the PDCCH in at least one OFDM symbol within the slot ([0042], “the UE 104 may include a DMRS monitoring component 198 configured to monitor/receive one or more NR PDCCH DMRSs from one or more REs of a slot based on the locations of one or more LTE CRSs in the slot when NR PDCCH is at least partially overlapped with LTE PDCCH in the slot”), wherein a resource element (RE) used for the DM-RS for the decoding of the PDCCH does not overlap with an RE used for the LTE CRS ([0089], “for transmission that is associated with DSS, a base station may be configured to map DMRS(s) (e.g., NR PDCCH DMRS) on RE(s) where CRS(s) (e.g., LTE CRS) is not present. Thus, the DMRS may be mapped with the CRS on a same symbol if they do not overlap”).
Regarding claim 2, 8, Takata further teaches, wherein, in an event that the multiple OFDM symbols for monitoring the PDCCH include both i) symbols containing the LTE CRS and ii) symbols not containing the LTE CRS, the DM-RS for the decoding of the PDCCH is received from only through at least one of the multiple OFDM symbols not containing LTE CRS ([0085], “For example, as shown at 710 and 712, as the second PDCCH may occupy the first two symbols (e.g., symbols #0 and #1) and both symbols are mapped with at least one CRS 708 (e.g., at least one RE of the symbol is allocated with a CRS 708), if the first PDCCH is a 2-symbol CORESET that occupies the second symbol and the third symbol (e.g., symbols #1 and #2) or a 3-symbol CORESET that occupies the first three symbols (e.g., symbols #0 to #2) such as shown at 714, the first base station 702 may map one or more DMRSs 706 on the third symbol (e.g., symbol #2) for its PDCCH/CORESET. However, the first base station 702 may not map DMRS 706 on the first two symbols (e.g., symbols #0 and #1) as at least one CRS 708 is mapped on each symbol of the first two symbols”, also see Fig. 7, it’s noted that CRS is referred to LTE CRS).
Regarding claim 3, 9, Takata further teaches, wherein DM-RS puncturing is applied to the RE used for the LTE CRS ([0091], “the first base station 1002 may not map DMRS 1006 on the RE(s) that is mapped with CRS 1008. In one example, as shown at 1016, for DMRSs that are not mapped (e.g., DMRS that overlaps with CRS), the DMRS may be punctured by the first base station 1002”).
Regarding claim 7, Takeda teaches a method for a base station to transmit a new radio technology (NR) physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
configuring a single orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol or multiple OFDM symbols within a slot to transmit the PDCCH, the slot being used for a long term evolution (LTE) cell-specific reference signal (CRS) ([0062], “A UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates in a PDCCH search space (e.g., common search space, UE-specific search space) during PDCCH monitoring occasions on the CORESET”; ([0041], “an NR base station may map one or more NR PDCCH DMRSs to one or more REs of a slot based on the location/mapping of one or more LTE CRSs in the slot, and the NR base station may transmit the mapping information to a NR UE”);
allocating a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) for decoding of the PDCCH to at least one OFDM symbol within the slot ([0041], “an NR base station may map one or more NR PDCCH DMRSs to one or more REs of a slot based on the location/mapping of one or more LTE CRSs in the slot, and the NR base station may transmit the mapping information to a NR UE”); and
transmitting the PDCCH and the DM-RS for the decoding of the PDCCH, wherein a resource element (RE) used for the DM-RS for the decoding of the PDCCH does not overlap with an RE used for the LTE CRS ([0042], “the UE 104 may include a DMRS monitoring component 198 configured to monitor/receive one or more NR PDCCH DMRSs from one or more REs of a slot based on the locations of one or more LTE CRSs in the slot when NR PDCCH is at least partially overlapped with LTE PDCCH in the slot”), wherein a resource element (RE) used for the DM-RS for the decoding of the PDCCH does not overlap with an RE used for the LTE CRS ([0089], “for transmission that is associated with DSS, a base station may be configured to map DMRS(s) (e.g., NR PDCCH DMRS) on RE(s) where CRS(s) (e.g., LTE CRS) is not present. Thus, the DMRS may be mapped with the CRS on a same symbol if they do not overlap”).
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 4-6, 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takeda et al (US 2022/0386342 A1), in view of Takeda et al (US 2023/0189034 A1), hereinafter as “Takeda’034”.
Regarding claim 4, 10, Takeda disclose all of the limitations as applied to claim 1. However, Takeda fails to disclose transmitting/receiving configuration information of the LTE CRS. Takeda’034 teaches transmitting/receiving configuration information of the LTE CRS ([0010], “the base station to transmit, to a UE, a configuration of a set of resource elements for LTE-CRS interference measurements associated with one or more neighboring LTE cells”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine Takeda’s NR-PDCCH over-DSS DM RS mapping with Takeda’034 reference’s express signaling to the UE of the LTE CRS resource element configuration. Both references are from the same field (NR/LTE dynamic spectrum sharing and LTE-CRS handling and address the same problem (allowing NR transmission to coexist with the incumbent LTE CRS). Providing the UE with the LTE CRS configuration, as Takeda’034 teaches, supplies the terminal with exact the information needed to perform the CRS-avoidance that Takeda already contemplates, with a reasonable expectation of success and predictable result.
Regarding claim 6, 12, the aforementioned references further teaches that the configuration information of the LTE CRS is transmitted/received through a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (Takeda’034, [0062], “the base station 110 may transmit the configuration to the UE 120 in a radio resource control (RRC) message”).
Regarding claim 5, 11, Takeda teaches all of the limitations except that the configuration information of the LTE CRS comprises rate matching pattern configuration information of the LTE CRS for the PDCCH. Takeda’034 teaches that the configuration information of the LTE CRS comprises rate matching pattern configuration information of the LTE CRS for the PDCCH ([0096], “the base station 110 may transmit, to the UE 120, a rate-matching indication that identifies an LTE-CRS rate-matching pattern to be used by the UE 120 for one or more downlink communications”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine Takeda’s NR-PDCCH over-DSS DM RS mapping with Takeda’034 reference’s the LTE-CRS rate matching pattern for PDCCH. Both references are from the same field (NR/LTE dynamic spectrum sharing and LTE-CRS handling and address the same problem (allowing NR transmission to coexist with the incumbent LTE CRS). Providing the UE with the CRS rate-matching pattern for the PDCCH, as Takeda’034 teaches, supplies the terminal with exact the information needed to perform the CRS-avoidance that Takeda already contemplates, with a reasonable expectation of success and predictable result.
Conclusion
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/SIMING LIU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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