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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/23/2024 and 06/15/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, and 14 – 18 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 7-9, 13, 15 – 18 and 20 of U.S. Patent No. US12120061B2 (or application# US17/557,723). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both the Pat’061 and instant application claim scheduling mini-slots of PRB and HARQ based on fading condition.
instant application 18893794
U.S. Patent No. US12120061B2
1. A system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory; and
one or more components stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request for services from a user equipment (UE);
determining that dynamic mini-slot assignment is selected; and
based at least in part on determining that dynamic mini-slot assignment is selected:
identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
scheduling, in one or more first mini-slots of a physical resource block (PRB), a first portion of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission based at least in part on the fading condition; and
scheduling, in one or more second mini-slots of the PRB, a second portion of the HARQ transmission based at least in part on the fading condition.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a HARQ feedback message in the PRB.
1. A system comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory; and
one or more components stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request for services from a user equipment (UE);
determining that dynamic mini-slot assignment is selected based on at least one of a radio frequency condition of the request or a round trip delay of messages exchanged with the UE; and
based at least in part on determining that dynamic mini-slot assignment is selected:
identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
scheduling, in one or more first mini-slots of a physical resource block (PRB), one or more hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmissions based at least in part on the fading condition; and
scheduling, in one or more second mini-slots of the PRB, one or more HARQ feedback messages based at least in part on the fading condition.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:
determining that the fading condition comprises a slow-fading condition
determining, based at least in part on the slow-fading condition, that the one or more first mini-slots overlap with the one or more second mini-slots in at least one of a frequency domain or a time domain; and
selecting, based at least in part on determining that the one or more first mini-slots overlap with the one or more second mini-slots in at least one of the frequency domain or the time domain, the one or more first mini-slots overlap and the one or more second mini-slots for scheduling the HARQ transmission.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein scheduling the one or more HARQ feedback messages comprises:
determining that the fading condition compromises a slow-fading condition; and
selecting one or more mini-slots that overlap with the one or more first mini-slots in at least one of time or frequency as the one or more second mini-slots based at least in part on determining that the fading condition comprises the slow-fading condition.
8. A method comprising:
receiving a request for services from a user equipment (UE);
determining that dynamic assignment is selected; and
based at least in part on determining that dynamic assignment is selected:
identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
determining, based at least in part on the fading condition, a mini-slot size; and
scheduling, in one or more mini-slots of a physical resource block (PRB) and of the mini-slot size, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission.
8. A method comprising:
receiving a request for services from a user equipment (UE);
determining that dynamic assignment is selected based on at least one of a radio frequency condition of the request or a round trip delay of messages exchanged with the UE; and
based at least in part on determining that dynamic assignment is selected:
identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
scheduling, in one or more first mini-slots of a physical resource block (PRB), one or more first transmissions of a first transmission type based at least in part on the fading condition; and
scheduling, in one or more second mini-slots of the PRB, one or more second transmissions of a second transmission type based at least in part on the fading condition, wherein the first transmission type is distinct from the second transmission type.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise selecting a size of at least one of the one or more first mini-slots or the one or more second mini-slots based at least in part on the fading condition.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein:
the method further comprises determining that the fading condition comprises a fast-fading condition; and
determining the mini-slot size comprises determining a large mini-slot size based at least in part on the fast-fading condition.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein scheduling the one or more second transmissions comprises:
determining that the fading condition compromises a fast-fading condition; and
selecting one or more mini-slots that do not overlap with the one or more first mini-slots in at least one of time or frequency as the one or more second mini-slots based at least in part on determining that the fading condition comprises the fast-fading condition.
11. The method of claim 8, further comprising scheduling a HARQ feedback message in the PRB.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one of the first transmission type or the second transmission type comprises:
a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission;
a HARQ retransmission; and
a HARQ feedback message.
14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:
receiving, from the UE, a HARQ feedback message in the PRB; and
transmitting, to the UE and based at least in part on the HARQ feedback message, a HARQ retransmission in the one or more mini-slots of the PRB.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one of the first transmission type or the second transmission type comprises:
a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission;
a HARQ retransmission; and
a HARQ feedback message.
15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more components that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request for services from a user equipment (UE);
determining that dynamic assignment is selected; and
based on determining that dynamic assignment is selected:
identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
determining a type of the services;
determining, based at least in part on the type of the services, a mini-slot size; and
scheduling, in one or more mini-slots of a physical resource block (PRB) and of the mini-slot size, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission.
15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more components that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request for services from a user equipment (UE);
determining that dynamic assignment is selected based on at least one of a radio frequency condition of the request or a round trip delay of messages exchanged with the UE; and
based on determining that dynamic assignment is selected:
identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
scheduling, in one or more first mini-slots of a physical resource block (PRB), one or more first transmissions of a first transmission type based on the fading condition; and
scheduling, in one or more second mini-slots of the PRB, one or more second transmissions of a second transmission type based on the fading condition, wherein the first transmission type is distinct from the second transmission type.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein scheduling the one or more first transmissions comprises:
determining that the services comprise a small-packet service;
selecting one or more small mini-slots as the one or more first mini-slots based at least in part on determining that the services comprise the small-packet service; and
scheduling the one or more first transmissions in the one or more first mini-slots.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein:
determining the type of the services comprises determining the services are small-packet services; and
determining the mini-slot size comprises determining a small mini-slot size based at least in part on determining the services are the small-packet services.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein scheduling the one or more first transmissions comprises:
determining that the services comprise a small-packet service;
selecting one or more small mini-slots as the one or more first mini-slots based at least in part on determining that the services comprise the small-packet service; and
scheduling the one or more first transmissions in the one or more first mini-slots.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more small mini-slots comprise one or more mini-slots of a size of four or fewer symbols.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein:
determining the type of the services comprises determining the services are not small-packet services; and
determining the mini-slot size comprises determining a large mini-slot size based at least in part on determining the services are not the small-packet services.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein scheduling the one or more first transmissions comprises:
determining that the services do not comprise a small-packet service;
selecting one or more large mini-slots as the one or more first mini-slots based at least in part on determining that the services do not comprise the small-packet service; and
scheduling the one or more first transmissions in the one or more first mini-slots.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise scheduling a HARQ retransmission in the PRB.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein at least one of the first transmission type or the second transmission type comprises:
a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission;
a HARQ retransmission; and
a HARQ feedback message.
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 6 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. US20190158251A1, hereinafter Park in view of Wan et al. US20090013232A1, hereinafter Wan.
Regarding claim 1, Park teaches a system comprising: one or more processors; a memory; and one or more components stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
(Park: Summary and Fig. 2 and Fig. 9 and para. [0011] base station for wireless communication may include memory and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to transmit an indicator, associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, to a user equipment (UE), and para. [0052] controller/processor 240 of base station 110, controller/processor 280 of UE 120, and/or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 1300 of FIG. 13, process 1400 of FIG. 14, and/or other processes as described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink)
receiving a request for services from a user equipment (UE);
(Park: para. [0038] access by UEs with service subscription. Para. [0049] base station 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 for one or more UEs, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE. Para. [0090] UL scheduling request for example)
determining that dynamic mini-slot assignment is selected; and based at least in part on determining that dynamic mini-slot assignment is selected:
(Park: para. [0114] mini-slots may be used for a service that requires (e.g., due to a HARQ configuration of the UE 120) an acknowledgement (e.g., an ACK) or a non-acknowledgement (e.g., a NACK) to be transmitted in a same slot or a same mini-slot as a HARQ transmission. Here, BS 110 may schedule a mini-slot for a HARQ transmission to UE 120 (e.g., UE 120 with the HARQ configuration) in order to allow UE 120 to provide an acknowledgment or a non-acknowledgement in the same slot or the same mini-slot. BS 110 can schedule HARQ transmissions on the data portion of the slot, but a service requiring the same-slot acknowledgment or the same-slot non-acknowledgement may involve scheduling on the mini-slot depending on HARQ configurations supported by UE 120. For example, if UE 120 does not support transmitting a same-slot acknowledgement for data received in the data portion of the slot, but is capable of doing so for the mini-slot, then BS 110 may schedule the HARQ transmission using the mini-slot.)
identifying a condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
(Park: para. [0116] A HARQ process allows multiple transmissions (e.g., including an initial transmission and one or more retransmissions) to enable a UE (e.g., UE 120) to decode a received packet of the transmissions. a HARQ process enables a certain data rate without perfect link adaptation. URLLC requires low latency, thus allowing for a limited number of HARQ transmissions of a HARQ process to send a packet before the threshold latency (e.g., 500 microseconds (μs)) is reached and the packet expires or is dropped (e.g., due to not reaching the URLLC standard – corresponds to claim limitation “identify a condition”). On the other hand, URLLC requires ultra reliability (e.g., 10e−5), which can contradict low latency aspirations. Mini-slot bundles may be used for HARQ transmissions to improve reliability of the HARQ process within a latency threshold (e.g., the latency threshold of URLLC). Para. [0113-0114] Use of the mini-slots within the control portion to transmit such data may permit a latency and/or a reliability requirement or threshold of a service (e.g., a low latency service, an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) service, and/or the like) to be satisfied without impacting network performance)
scheduling, in one or more first mini-slots of a physical resource block (PRB), a first portion of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission based at least in part on the condition; and scheduling, in one or more second mini-slots of the PRB, a second portion of the HARQ transmission based at least in part on the condition. (Park: para. [0116 & 0113-0115] A HARQ process allows multiple transmissions (e.g., including an initial transmission and one or more retransmissions) to enable a UE (e.g., UE 120) to decode a received packet of the transmissions. a HARQ process enables a certain data rate without perfect link adaptation. URLLC requires low latency, thus allowing for a limited number of HARQ transmissions of a HARQ process to send a packet before the threshold latency (e.g., 500 microseconds (μs)) is reached and the packet expires or is dropped (e.g., due to not reaching the URLLC standard – corresponds to claim limitation “identify a condition”). On the other hand, URLLC requires ultra reliability (e.g., 10e−5), which can contradict low latency aspirations. Mini-slot bundles may be used for HARQ transmissions to improve reliability of the HARQ process within a latency threshold (e.g., the latency threshold of URLLC))
It is noted that Park does not explicitly disclose: identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services; scheduling, a first portion of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission based at least in part on the fading condition; and scheduling, a second portion of the HARQ transmission based at least in part on the fading condition.
However, Wan from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
(Wan: para. [0042] fading fluctuations and interference fluctuations caused by traffic variations causing the channel quality to change unpredictably, and the overall impact on a system with a coded message block transmitted in a multi-carrier system where parts of the code block may experience low transmission quality such that the coded bits of a component are severely distorted or lost to the receiving node; para. [0043] A HARQ (The equalizing HARQ) method is described that detects and retransmits the most distorted parts of a received coded message blocks on components of higher quality ensuring good retransmission quality for those badly distorted parts in the prior transmission; para. [0045 & 0048-0050] and FIG. 2 & FIG. 3: The HARQ method is described with a detection step (Steps 210-215) feedback (Step 220) and retransmissions (Step 225) described; (NOTE: detects distorted/bad part – Detecting Fading))
scheduling, a first portion of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission based at least in part on the fading condition; and scheduling, a second portion of the HARQ transmission based at least in part on the fading condition. (Wan: Para. [0042] Discussed is the impact of fading fluctuations and interference fluctuations caused by traffic variations causing the channel quality to change unpredictably, and the overall impact on a system with a coded message block transmitted in a multi-carrier system where parts of the code block may experience low transmission quality such that the coded bits of a component are severely distorted or lost to the receiving node; para. [0043] A HARQ (The equalizing HARQ) method is described that detects and retransmits the most distorted parts of a received coded message blocks on components of higher quality ensuring good retransmission quality for those badly distorted parts in the prior transmission; para. [0045] and FIG. 2 & FIG. 3: The HARQ method is described with sending node transmitting (Step 205), feedback (Step 220) from receiving node/device, and retransmissions by sending node (Step 225) described; NOTE: HARQ associated in part with fading condition described with feedback and retransmissions scheduled) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Wan in the system of Park. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for provides individual channel-dependent link-adaptation for the retransmission with different modulation mode and transmitted power (if permitted) to enhance the reliability of retransmissions (Wan: para. [0027]), and the equalizing HARQ provides more flexibility of adaptation than the conventional HARQ, by incorporating retransmission adaptation to minimize unnecessary radio resource consumption (Wan: para. [0028]).
Regarding claim 3, Park and Wan teach the system of claim 1, wherein the one or more first mini-slots (first mini-slot 708) and the one or more second mini-slots (second mini-slot 708) are staggered in at least one of a frequency domain or a time domain. (Park: Fig. 7B and para. [0102] different mini-slots 708 may be associated with transmitting data to different UEs and may utilize different ranges of frequencies. For example, a first mini-slot 708 may utilize a first range of frequencies of the slot (e.g., the highest 30 MHz of the 80 MHz slot range) to transmit first data to a first particular UE, while a second mini-slot 708 may utilize a second range of frequencies of the slot (e.g., the lowest 30 MHz of the 80 MHz slot range) to transmit second data to a second particular UE)
Regarding claim 6, Park and Wan teach the system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a HARQ feedback message in the PRB. (Park: para. [0114] BS 110 may schedule a mini-slot for a HARQ transmission to UE 120 (e.g., UE 120 with the HARQ configuration) in order to allow UE 120 to provide an acknowledgment or a non-acknowledgement in the same slot or the same mini-slot. In some aspects, BS 110 can schedule HARQ transmissions on the data portion of the slot, but a service requiring the same-slot acknowledgment or the same-slot non-acknowledgement may involve scheduling on the mini-slot depending on HARQ configurations supported by UE 120. For example, if UE 120 does not support transmitting a same-slot acknowledgement for data received in the data portion of the slot, but is capable of doing so for the mini-slot, then BS 110 may schedule the HARQ transmission using the mini-slot)
Regarding claim 7, Park and Wan teach the system of claim 1, Park and Wan do not explicitly teach: wherein identifying the fading condition comprises determining the fading condition based at least in part on a comparison of a radio frequency condition associated with the request to a radio frequency condition threshold.
However, Wan from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein identifying the fading condition comprises determining the fading condition based at least in part on a comparison of a radio frequency condition associated with the request to a radio frequency condition threshold. (Wan: para. [0042] fading fluctuations and interference fluctuations caused by traffic variations causing the channel quality to change unpredictably, and the overall impact on a system with a coded message block transmitted in a multi-carrier system where parts of the code block may experience low transmission quality such that the coded bits of a component are severely distorted or lost to the receiving node; para. [0043] A HARQ (The equalizing HARQ) method is described that detects and retransmits the most distorted parts of a received coded message blocks on components of higher quality ensuring good retransmission quality for those badly distorted parts in the prior transmission; para. [0045 & 0048-0050] and FIG. 2 & FIG. 3: The HARQ method is described with a detection step (Steps 210-215) feedback (Step 220) and retransmissions (Step 225) described; (NOTE: detects distorted/bad part – Detecting Fading). Para. [0049] 215 a: The receiving node performs quality measurements on the received signal, for example SINR or symbol information rates, to determine a quality indicator for each component, associated with a specific part of the received first message block. The components are preferably sorted based on their respective quality indicator and parts associated with components with a received quality indicator below a quality threshold value are identified as bad parts) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Wan in the system of Park. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for provides individual channel-dependent link-adaptation for the retransmission with different modulation mode and transmitted power (if permitted) to enhance the reliability of retransmissions (Wan: para. [0027]), and the equalizing HARQ provides more flexibility of adaptation than the conventional HARQ, by incorporating retransmission adaptation to minimize unnecessary radio resource consumption (Wan: para. [0028]).
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park and Wan as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Baghel et al. US20190245656A1, hereinafter Baghel.
Regarding claim 2, Park and Wan teach the system of claim 1, Park and Wan do not explicitly teach: wherein the one or more first mini-slots overlap with the one or more second mini-slots in at least one of a frequency domain or a time domain.
However, Baghel from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein the one or more first mini-slots overlap with the one or more second mini-slots in at least one of a frequency domain or a time domain. (Baghel: Fig. 6 and para. [0080] Such different frequency resources associated with or employed by the second mini-slot 604 may be mutually exclusive of or partially overlap with the frequency resources associated with or employed by the first mini-slot 602) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Baghel in the system of Park and Wan. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for second mini-slot 604 may provide some advantage (e.g., diversity) (Baghel: para. [0080]).
Claim(s) 8 and 11 – 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. US20190158251A1, hereinafter Park in view of Wan et al. US20090013232A1, hereinafter Wan, and further in view of Saito et al. US 20200170076 A1, hereinafter Saito.
Regarding claim 8, Park teaches a method comprising:
(Park: Summary and Fig. 2 and Fig. 9 and para. [0011] base station for wireless communication may include memory and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to transmit an indicator, associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, to a user equipment (UE), and para. [0052] controller/processor 240 of base station 110, controller/processor 280 of UE 120, and/or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 1300 of FIG. 13, process 1400 of FIG. 14, and/or other processes as described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink)
receiving a request for services from a user equipment (UE);
(Park: para. [0038] access by UEs with service subscription. Para. [0049] base station 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 for one or more UEs, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE. Para. [0090] UL scheduling request for example)
determining that dynamic assignment is selected; and based at least in part on determining that dynamic assignment is selected:
(Park: para. [0114] mini-slots may be used for a service that requires (e.g., due to a HARQ configuration of the UE 120) an acknowledgement (e.g., an ACK) or a non-acknowledgement (e.g., a NACK) to be transmitted in a same slot or a same mini-slot as a HARQ transmission. Here, BS 110 may schedule a mini-slot for a HARQ transmission to UE 120 (e.g., UE 120 with the HARQ configuration) in order to allow UE 120 to provide an acknowledgment or a non-acknowledgement in the same slot or the same mini-slot. BS 110 can schedule HARQ transmissions on the data portion of the slot, but a service requiring the same-slot acknowledgment or the same-slot non-acknowledgement may involve scheduling on the mini-slot depending on HARQ configurations supported by UE 120. For example, if UE 120 does not support transmitting a same-slot acknowledgement for data received in the data portion of the slot, but is capable of doing so for the mini-slot, then BS 110 may schedule the HARQ transmission using the mini-slot)
identifying a condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
(Park: para. [0116] A HARQ process allows multiple transmissions (e.g., including an initial transmission and one or more retransmissions) to enable a UE (e.g., UE 120) to decode a received packet of the transmissions. a HARQ process enables a certain data rate without perfect link adaptation. URLLC requires low latency, thus allowing for a limited number of HARQ transmissions of a HARQ process to send a packet before the threshold latency (e.g., 500 microseconds (μs)) is reached and the packet expires or is dropped (e.g., due to not reaching the URLLC standard – corresponds to claim limitation “identify a condition”). On the other hand, URLLC requires ultra reliability (e.g., 10e−5), which can contradict low latency aspirations. Mini-slot bundles may be used for HARQ transmissions to improve reliability of the HARQ process within a latency threshold (e.g., the latency threshold of URLLC). Para. [0113-0114] Use of the mini-slots within the control portion to transmit such data may permit a latency and/or a reliability requirement or threshold of a service (e.g., a low latency service, an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) service, and/or the like) to be satisfied without impacting network performance)
scheduling, in one or more mini-slots of a physical resource block (PRB) and of the mini-slot size, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission. (Park: para. [0116 & 0113-0115] A HARQ process allows multiple transmissions (e.g., including an initial transmission and one or more retransmissions) to enable a UE (e.g., UE 120) to decode a received packet of the transmissions. a HARQ process enables a certain data rate without perfect link adaptation. URLLC requires low latency, thus allowing for a limited number of HARQ transmissions of a HARQ process to send a packet before the threshold latency (e.g., 500 microseconds (μs)) is reached and the packet expires or is dropped (e.g., due to not reaching the URLLC standard – corresponds to claim limitation “identify a condition”). On the other hand, URLLC requires ultra reliability (e.g., 10e−5), which can contradict low latency aspirations. Mini-slot bundles may be used for HARQ transmissions to improve reliability of the HARQ process within a latency threshold (e.g., the latency threshold of URLLC))
It is noted that Park does not explicitly disclose: identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services.
However, Wan from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
(Wan: para. [0042] fading fluctuations and interference fluctuations caused by traffic variations causing the channel quality to change unpredictably, and the overall impact on a system with a coded message block transmitted in a multi-carrier system where parts of the code block may experience low transmission quality such that the coded bits of a component are severely distorted or lost to the receiving node; para. [0043] A HARQ (The equalizing HARQ) method is described that detects and retransmits the most distorted parts of a received coded message blocks on components of higher quality ensuring good retransmission quality for those badly distorted parts in the prior transmission; para. [0045 & 0048-0050] and FIG. 2 & FIG. 3: The HARQ method is described with a detection step (Steps 210-215) feedback (Step 220) and retransmissions (Step 225) described; (NOTE: detects distorted/bad part – Detecting Fading))
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Wan in the system of Park. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for provides individual channel-dependent link-adaptation for the retransmission with different modulation mode and transmitted power (if permitted) to enhance the reliability of retransmissions (Wan: para. [0027]), and the equalizing HARQ provides more flexibility of adaptation than the conventional HARQ, by incorporating retransmission adaptation to minimize unnecessary radio resource consumption (Wan: para. [0028]).
It is noted that Park and Wan do not explicitly disclose: determining, based at least in part on the fading condition, a mini-slot size.
However, Saito from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: determining, based at least in part on the fading condition (Doppler frequency), a mini-slot size (size of mini-slot).
(Saito: para. [0082] the field (the mini slot size) in which data is scheduled may vary from scheduling to scheduling. When the size (the number of symbols) of a mini-slot is larger than a predetermined value, it is preferable to place a DMRS, in addition to the DMRS of the beginning part, from the perspective of compensating for the Doppler frequency and improving the accuracy of channel estimation) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Saito in the system of Park and Wan. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for improving the accuracy of channel estimation (Saito: para. [0082]).
Regarding claim 11, Park, Wan and Saito teach the method of claim 8, further comprising scheduling a HARQ feedback message in the PRB. (Park: para. [0114] BS 110 may schedule a mini-slot for a HARQ transmission to UE 120 (e.g., UE 120 with the HARQ configuration) in order to allow UE 120 to provide an acknowledgment or a non-acknowledgement in the same slot or the same mini-slot. In some aspects, BS 110 can schedule HARQ transmissions on the data portion of the slot, but a service requiring the same-slot acknowledgment or the same-slot non-acknowledgement may involve scheduling on the mini-slot depending on HARQ configurations supported by UE 120. For example, if UE 120 does not support transmitting a same-slot acknowledgement for data received in the data portion of the slot, but is capable of doing so for the mini-slot, then BS 110 may schedule the HARQ transmission using the mini-slot)
Regarding claim 12, Park, Wan and Saito teach the method of claim 8, wherein the mini-slot size is a size of four or fewer symbols. (Park: para. [0093] mini-slot 708 may include fewer than 14 symbols (e.g., one symbol, two symbols, four symbols, and/or the like)
Regarding claim 13, Park, Wan and Saito teach the method of claim 8, wherein the mini-slot size is a size of seven or more symbols. (Park: para. [0093] mini-slot 708 may include fewer than 14 symbols)
Regarding claim 14, Park, Wan and Saito teach the method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, from the UE, a HARQ feedback message in the PRB; and
(Park: para. [0114] mini-slots may be used for a service that requires (e.g., due to a HARQ configuration of the UE 120) an acknowledgement (e.g., an ACK) or a non-acknowledgement (e.g., a NACK) to be transmitted in a same slot or a same mini-slot as a HARQ transmission. Here, BS 110 may schedule a mini-slot for a HARQ transmission to UE 120 (e.g., UE 120 with the HARQ configuration) in order to allow UE 120 to provide an acknowledgment or a non-acknowledgement in the same slot or the same mini-slot)
transmitting, to the UE and based at least in part on the HARQ feedback message, a HARQ retransmission in the one or more mini-slots of the PRB.
(Park: para. [0121] and FIG. 9, and by reference number 940, BS 110 may increase a number of mini-slots used in a HARQ retransmission of the HARQ process. In some aspects, BS 110 may increase the number of mini-slots (e.g., from one mini-slot to three mini-slots) used in the HARQ transmission based at least in part on the amount of resources indicated in the CSI feedback. In some aspects, the number of mini-slots may be increased based at least in part on a round of the HARQ process in which the HARQ retransmission is being transmitted)
Claim(s) 15 – 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. US20190158251A1, hereinafter Park in view of in view of Wan et al. US20090013232A1, hereinafter Wan and further in view of Islam et al. US 20180063865 A1, hereinafter Islam.
Regarding claim 15, Park teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more components that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
(Park: Summary and Fig. 2 and Fig. 9 and para. [0011] base station for wireless communication may include memory and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory. The memory and the one or more processors may be configured to transmit an indicator, associated with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, to a user equipment (UE), and para. [0052] controller/processor 240 of base station 110, controller/processor 280 of UE 120, and/or any other component(s) of FIG. 2 may perform or direct operations of, for example, process 1300 of FIG. 13, process 1400 of FIG. 14, and/or other processes as described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink. Para. [0157-0159 & 0035] component is intended to be broadly construed as hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and software)
receiving a request for services from a user equipment (UE);
(Park: para. [0038] access by UEs with service subscription. Para. [0049] base station 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 for one or more UEs, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE. Para. [0090] UL scheduling request for example)
determining that dynamic assignment is selected; and based on determining that dynamic assignment is selected:
(Park: para. [0114] mini-slots may be used for a service that requires (e.g., due to a HARQ configuration of the UE 120) an acknowledgement (e.g., an ACK) or a non-acknowledgement (e.g., a NACK) to be transmitted in a same slot or a same mini-slot as a HARQ transmission. Here, BS 110 may schedule a mini-slot for a HARQ transmission to UE 120 (e.g., UE 120 with the HARQ configuration) in order to allow UE 120 to provide an acknowledgment or a non-acknowledgement in the same slot or the same mini-slot. BS 110 can schedule HARQ transmissions on the data portion of the slot, but a service requiring the same-slot acknowledgment or the same-slot non-acknowledgement may involve scheduling on the mini-slot depending on HARQ configurations supported by UE 120. For example, if UE 120 does not support transmitting a same-slot acknowledgement for data received in the data portion of the slot, but is capable of doing so for the mini-slot, then BS 110 may schedule the HARQ transmission using the mini-slot.)
identifying a condition of at least one of the UE or the services; (Park: para. [0116] A HARQ process allows multiple transmissions (e.g., including an initial transmission and one or more retransmissions) to enable a UE (e.g., UE 120) to decode a received packet of the transmissions. a HARQ process enables a certain data rate without perfect link adaptation. URLLC requires low latency, thus allowing for a limited number of HARQ transmissions of a HARQ process to send a packet before the threshold latency (e.g., 500 microseconds (μs)) is reached and the packet expires or is dropped (e.g., due to not reaching the URLLC standard – corresponds to claim limitation “identify a condition”). On the other hand, URLLC requires ultra reliability (e.g., 10e−5), which can contradict low latency aspirations. Mini-slot bundles may be used for HARQ transmissions to improve reliability of the HARQ process within a latency threshold (e.g., the latency threshold of URLLC). Para. [0113-0114] Use of the mini-slots within the control portion to transmit such data may permit a latency and/or a reliability requirement or threshold of a service (e.g., a low latency service, an ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) service, and/or the like) to be satisfied without impacting network performance)
and
scheduling, in one or more mini-slots of a physical resource block (PRB) and of the mini-slot size, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) transmission. (Park: para. [0116 & 0113-0115] A HARQ process allows multiple transmissions (e.g., including an initial transmission and one or more retransmissions) to enable a UE (e.g., UE 120) to decode a received packet of the transmissions. a HARQ process enables a certain data rate without perfect link adaptation. URLLC requires low latency, thus allowing for a limited number of HARQ transmissions of a HARQ process to send a packet before the threshold latency (e.g., 500 microseconds (μs)) is reached and the packet expires or is dropped (e.g., due to not reaching the URLLC standard – corresponds to claim limitation “identify a condition”). On the other hand, URLLC requires ultra reliability (e.g., 10e−5), which can contradict low latency aspirations. Mini-slot bundles may be used for HARQ transmissions to improve reliability of the HARQ process within a latency threshold (e.g., the latency threshold of URLLC))
It is noted that Park does not explicitly disclose: identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services.
However, Wan from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: identifying a fading condition of at least one of the UE or the services;
(Wan: para. [0042] fading fluctuations and interference fluctuations caused by traffic variations causing the channel quality to change unpredictably, and the overall impact on a system with a coded message block transmitted in a multi-carrier system where parts of the code block may experience low transmission quality such that the coded bits of a component are severely distorted or lost to the receiving node; para. [0043] A HARQ (The equalizing HARQ) method is described that detects and retransmits the most distorted parts of a received coded message blocks on components of higher quality ensuring good retransmission quality for those badly distorted parts in the prior transmission; para. [0045 & 0048-0050] and FIG. 2 & FIG. 3: The HARQ method is described with a detection step (Steps 210-215) feedback (Step 220) and retransmissions (Step 225) described; (NOTE: detects distorted/bad part – Detecting Fading))
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Wan in the system of Park. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for provides individual channel-dependent link-adaptation for the retransmission with different modulation mode and transmitted power (if permitted) to enhance the reliability of retransmissions (Wan: para. [0027]), and the equalizing HARQ provides more flexibility of adaptation than the conventional HARQ, by incorporating retransmission adaptation to minimize unnecessary radio resource consumption (Wan: para. [0028]).
It is noted that Park and Wan do not explicitly disclose: determining a type of the services; determining, based at least in part on the type of the services, a mini-slot size;
However, Islam from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: determining a type of the services (low latency traffic at a cell edge may be served with a mini-slot that is longer than that used for serving low latency traffic near the cell center); determining, based at least in part on the type of the services, a mini-slot size; (Islam: para. [0060 & 0048 & 0033] and in FIG. 7B, different mini-slot lengths may be used. For example, low latency traffic (corresponds to claim limitation “type of services”) at a cell edge may be served with a mini-slot that is longer than that used for serving low latency traffic near the cell center. A base station may dynamically schedule mini-slot lengths (corresponds to claim limitation “mini-slot size”) depending on when low latency traffic arrives and a mini-slot may start at any symbol within the TB boundary, but may or may not cross the TB boundary. Para. [0044] A TTU may be divided into a number of slots, for example 20 slots. A low latency slot duration may be equal to or shorter than a latency tolerant slot or a long-term evolution (LTE) slot. A mini-slot may contain any number of symbols that is fewer than the number of symbols in a slot, e.g., 1, 3, 6 symbols if a slot is 7 symbols). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Islam in the system of Park and Wan. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for resources reserved as low latency resources may change dynamically or semi-statically over time, e.g. based on factors such as traffic load, bandwidth requirements, and latency (Islam: para. [0034]), and to provide mechanism to manage and provision different service requirements such as URLLC and eMBB accordingly (Islam: para. [0033]).
Regarding claim 16, Park, Wan and Islam teach the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, Park and Wan do not explicitly teach: wherein: determining the type of the services comprises determining the services are small-packet services; and determining the mini-slot size comprises determining a small mini-slot size based at least in part on determining the services are the small-packet services.
However, Islam from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein: determining the type of the services comprises determining the services (cell edge/center) are small-packet services; and determining the mini-slot size comprises determining a small mini-slot size based at least in part on determining the services are the small-packet services (Islam: para. [0060 & 0048] and in FIG. 7B, different mini-slot lengths may be used. For example, low latency traffic at a cell edge may be served with a mini-slot that is longer than that used for serving low latency traffic near the cell center. A base station may dynamically schedule mini-slot lengths (corresponds to claim limitation “mini-slot size”) depending on when low latency traffic arrives and a mini-slot may start at any symbol within the TB boundary, but may or may not cross the TB boundary. Para. [0044] A TTU may be divided into a number of slots, for example 20 slots. A low latency slot duration may be equal to or shorter than a latency tolerant slot or a long-term evolution (LTE) slot. A mini-slot may contain any number of symbols that is fewer than the number of symbols in a slot, e.g., 1, 3, 6 symbols if a slot is 7 symbols). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Islam in the system of Park and Wan. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for resources reserved as low latency resources may change dynamically or semi-statically over time, e.g. based on factors such as traffic load, bandwidth requirements, and latency (Islam: para. [0034]), and to provide mechanism to manage and provision different service requirements such as URLLC and eMBB accordingly (Islam: para. [0033]).
Regarding claim 17, Park, Wan and Islam teach the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, Park and Wan do not explicitly teach: wherein: determining the type of the services comprises determining the services are not small-packet services; and determining the mini-slot size comprises determining a large mini-slot size based at least in part on determining the services are not the small-packet services.
However, Islam from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein: determining the type of the services (cell edge/center) comprises determining the services are not small-packet services; and determining the mini-slot size comprises determining a large mini-slot size based at least in part on determining the services are not the small-packet services. (Islam: para. [0060 & 0048] and in FIG. 7B, different mini-slot lengths may be used. For example, low latency traffic at a cell edge may be served with a mini-slot that is longer than that used for serving low latency traffic near the cell center. A base station may dynamically schedule mini-slot lengths (corresponds to claim limitation “mini-slot size”) depending on when low latency traffic arrives and a mini-slot may start at any symbol within the TB boundary, but may or may not cross the TB boundary. Para. [0044] A TTU may be divided into a number of slots, for example 20 slots. A low latency slot duration may be equal to or shorter than a latency tolerant slot or a long-term evolution (LTE) slot. A mini-slot may contain any number of symbols that is fewer than the number of symbols in a slot, e.g., 1, 3, 6 symbols if a slot is 7 symbols). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Islam in the system of Park and Wan. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for resources reserved as low latency resources may change dynamically or semi-statically over time, e.g. based on factors such as traffic load, bandwidth requirements, and latency (Islam: para. [0034]), and to provide mechanism to manage and provision different service requirements such as URLLC and eMBB accordingly (Islam: para. [0033]).
Regarding claim 18, Park, Wan and Islam teach the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise scheduling a HARQ retransmission in the PRB. (Park: para. [0114] BS 110 may schedule a mini-slot for a HARQ transmission to UE 120 (e.g., UE 120 with the HARQ configuration) in order to allow UE 120 to provide an acknowledgment or a non-acknowledgement in the same slot or the same mini-slot. In some aspects, BS 110 can schedule HARQ transmissions on the data portion of the slot, but a service requiring the same-slot acknowledgment or the same-slot non-acknowledgement may involve scheduling on the mini-slot depending on HARQ configurations supported by UE 120. For example, if UE 120 does not support transmitting a same-slot acknowledgement for data received in the data portion of the slot, but is capable of doing so for the mini-slot, then BS 110 may schedule the HARQ transmission using the mini-slot)
Regarding claim 19, Park, Wan and Islam teach the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise scheduling one or more user data bits in the PRB. (Park: para. [0052] A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink. Para. [0143] indicator is included in downlink control information (DCI) associated with the HARQ process. In some aspects, the UE is configured to decode the mini-slots based at least in part on the number of the mini-slots indicated for the HARQ transmission. In some aspects, a size of downlink control information (DCI) is based at least in part on the number of the mini-slots, wherein the DCI is associated with the HARQ process and includes the indicator. In some aspects, a bit size of the indicator is based at least in part on a round of the HARQ transmission, wherein the round of the HARQ transmission is based at least in part on a number of HARQ transmissions that have occurred in the HARQ process. the UE is configured to reply to the HARQ transmission with an acknowledgement or a non-acknowledgement response, wherein a size of downlink control information (DCI) associated with a subsequent HARQ transmission of the HARQ process is increased based at least in part on the acknowledgement or the non-acknowledgement response.)
Regarding claim 20, Park, Wan and Islam teach the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise scheduling a HARQ feedback message corresponding to the HARQ transmission in a single symbol of the PRB. (Park: Fig. 7B Mini-slot for HARQ and para. [0093 & 0099-0100] mini-slot 708 may include fewer than 14 symbols (e.g., one symbol))
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 9 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please also see PTO-892.
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/WUTCHUNG CHU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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