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
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)(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, 8-9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being clearly anticipated by WAI et al. (US 2023/0327746 A1), hereinafter “Wai” .
Claims 1, 9, and 10:
Regarding claim 1, Wai teaches, a relay device (Wai: Fig. 1, block 10) comprising: communication circuitry; and processor circuitry coupled to the communication circuitry (Wai: Fig.2, box 101-109 and antenna units 111, 113, 114, 117, and 119 ), the processor circuitry being configured to perform processing comprising:
first communication processing to receive a plurality of signals from a first wireless communication device (Wai: BS of Fig.1 block 20, Fig.3 is the first wireless device) via the communication circuitry (Fig.2, antenna units 111 );
communication control processing to allocate, to each of the plurality of signals received by the first communication processing, a corresponding transmission timing and beam used for wireless communication (Wai: [0098], “control signal transmission/reception unit 104 of the non-reproduction wireless relay device 10 receives the discrete beam selection execution information and timing information transmitted from the base station 20 by the control signal transmission/ reception antenna 114 in the step Sll0l of the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 4.”; see Fig.5); and
second communication processing (Wai: Fig.2, transmission beam switching unit 103 and communication circuitry, antenna unit 113) to transmit each signal to a second wireless communication device (Wai: Fig.1, terminal station 30 is the second wireless communication device) via the communication circuitry by using the beam allocated by the communication control processing, at the transmission timing allocated by the communication control processing (Wai: [0099] The non-reproduction wireless relay device 10 waits until the transmission timing based on the timing information received by the control signal transmission/ reception unit 104 comes (step S1201). When the transmission timing comes, the beam control unit 106 controls the transmission beam switching unit 103 to switch the forming direction of the transmission beam formed by the terminal station side transmission antenna 113 (step S1202).”),
wherein the communication control processing includes receiving first information that includes a beam index indicating the beam (Wai: [0104] When the control signal transmission/reception unit 104 of the non-reproduction wireless relay device 10 receives the information indicating the beam ID transmitted from the base station 20 by the control signal transmission/reception antenna 114 (the step S1205, YES), the beam control unit 26 controls the transmission beam switching unit 103 so that the signal of wireless communication is relayed by using the transmission beam corresponding to the beam ID based on the received information (step S1206).”).
Claim 9 is for a base station implementing method complimentary to the method implemented by device of claim 1. Claim elements are discussed above in claim 1. Presence of communication circuitry and processor circuitry is implied.
Claim 10 is for a system comprising device of claim 1 and wireless devices communicating through the device of claim 1. Claim elements are discussed above in claim 1.
Regarding claim 8, Wai teaches the relay device according to claim 1 (discussed above), wherein the communication control processing includes receiving identification information of each beam from the first wireless communication device ([0013], “a beam ID is associated with each of a plurality of discretely set candidate beams, and a signal including the beam ID is transmitted and received by each candidate beam.”), selecting the beam to be allocated to each signal of the plurality of signals, and causing the processor circuitry to perform the second communication processing via the communication circuitry by using the identification information of the selected beam ([0013] “The discrete beam selection is a technique for specifying a beam ID associated with a candidate beam most suitable for communication on the basis of a result of transmission and reception of each candidate beam, and selecting a beam to be used for the beam forming.”).
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.
Claims 2-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WAI et al. (US 2023/0327746 A1), hereinafter “Wai” in view of ABEDINI et al. (US 2021/0036762 A1), hereinafter “Abedini”.
Regarding claim 2, Wai teaches the relay device according to claim 1 (discussed above).
Wai, though teaches however fails to expressly teach, wherein the first communication processing includes receiving each of the signals in a time division multiplexing method, though teaches in [0102], “As shown in FIG. 6, the base station 20 sequentially transmits beam search signals in which beam IDs are embedded to the non-reproduction wireless relay device 10 when the transmission timing comes.”.
Abedini in the same field of endeavor teaches the claim. In FIG.14 it is indicated that each of the signals is received by a time division multiplexing method; [0121], “In FIG. 14, the gNB 1410 repeats the SSB/RMSI transmission N times to allow the basic repeater to receive-amplify-send N SSB/ RMSI transmissions sweeping across its N beams.”
A person of ordinary skill in the art would have come up with the claimed invention by combining disclosure by Abedini with that of Wai motivated by generating and transmitting SSBs/RMSI and/or receiving RACH MSGl transmissions, as disclosed by Abedini in [0120].
Regarding claim 3, Wai teaches the relay device according to claim 1 (discussed above), wherein the first information includes information that indicates the transmission timing allocated to each signal of the plurality of signals (discussed above in claim 2, as per disclosure in paragraph [0120] and Fig.14, "the gNB 1410 may provide the repeater 1430 with information to use for generating and transmitting SSBs/RMST and/or receiving RACH MSG 1 transmissions. This information may also include various transmit and receive resource configuration information (e.g., beam configurations, frequency and time resources, etc.).").
Regarding claim 4, combination of Wai and Abedini teaches the relay device according to claim 3 (discussed above), wherein the communication control processing includes receiving a downlink control information that includes the first information (Wai: Fig.2, block 104, control signal transmission reception unit, receives the control from the base station through antenna unit 114).
Regarding claim 5, combination of Wai and Abedini teaches the relay device according to claim 3 (discussed above), wherein the communication control processing includes receiving the first information as a parameter at the time of establishment of connection for wireless resource control with the first wireless communication device (implied based on disclosure in Abedini: Fig.14, and [0120]).
Regarding claim 6, combination of Wai and Abedini teaches the relay device according to claim 3 (discussed above).
The claim, wherein the communication control processing includes stopping a predetermined operation of the relay device at a timing that is not allocated to any one signal of the plurality of signals, as the transmission timing in the first information, though not expressly taught by combination of Wai and Abedini, it would have been obvious that if the operation is predetermined, and timing is not allocated, for an operation that is predetermined, the operation will not be performed.
Regarding claim 7, combination of Wai and Abedini teaches the relay device according to claim 3 (discussed above).
wherein the communication control processing includes stopping a predetermined operation of the relay device (discussed above in claim 6) in a case where information regarding a predetermined beam is included in the first information (implied by disclosure in Abedini: [0083], ”receive and transmit panels 736, 738 of a nonconventional repeater 750 may be used to implement some fixed beam patterns.” See Fig. 7B).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to INTEKHAAB AALAM SIDDIQUEE whose telephone number is (571)272-0895. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday 9AM-5PM EST.
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/INTEKHAAB A SIDDIQUEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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