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 § 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.
Independent Claims
Claim(s) 1, 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niu (US-20190053177) in view of Li (US-20210051683).
As to claim 1, 4: Niu teaches a method for receiving a synchronization signal block (SSB) on an unlicensed spectrum, comprising at least one of: receiving, by a terminal device, at least one of K SSBs of X SSBs, the K SSBs being transmitted by a network device at K SSB positions within a first transmission opportunity (TXOP) ([0026, 32, 49, 52, 53] With respect to UE side, in some embodiments, the UE in connected mode always detects the transmission of PSS and SSS; In other words, a channel occupancy time related to success of the LBT is not smaller than duration of the SS burst.), wherein the first TXOP includes the K SSB positions capable of being used to transmit SSBs, where K is less than a number X of SSBs configured by the network device for transmission on an unlicensed carrier, and K and X are both positive integers ([0048, 52, 53] the LBT is performed repeatedly until success of the LBT is obtained, a portion of the SS blocks of the SS burst, which is expected to be transmitted from the time point up to a moment of the success of the LBT, is skipped from being transmitted, and a remaining portion of the SS blocks of the SS burst is transmitted); or, receiving, by the terminal device, at least one of remaining X-K SSBs of the SSBs, the remaining X-K SSBs being transmitted by the network device within a second TXOP after the first TXOP, wherein each of the X SSBs is transmitted at a candidate SSB position corresponding to the SSB, and different SSBs correspond to different candidate SSB positions, wherein a Listen Before Talk (LBT) interval is between the first TXOP and the second TXOP, wherein receiving, by the terminal device, the at least one of the remaining X-K SSBs of the X SSBs comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, the at least one of the remaining X-K SSBs transmitted by the network device from a (K+1)-th SSB within the second TXOP until the (K+1)-th SSB to an X-th SSB are sequentially transmitted ([0026, 58] the LBT procedure is re-performed in the second half frame of the radio frame, in order to perform the transmission of the remaining SS burst, which was not completed in the first half frame. Specifically, the one or more processors of the baseband circuitry of the RAN are to configure the data containing information regarding LBT to enable the LBT to be initiated in a first half frame of a radio frame, and when it is determined that not all of the SS blocks of the SS burst can be transmitted in the first half frame, the LBT is performed once again in a second half frame of the radio frame in order to perform the transmission of a portion of the SS blocks of the SS burst not completed in the first radio frame).
Niu may not explicitly teach wherein the K SSBs already transmitted within the first TXOP are no longer transmitted by the network device at K SSB positions within the second TXOP that correspond to the K SSB positions within the first TXOP. However, Li teaches wherein the K SSBs already transmitted within the first TXOP are no longer transmitted by the network device at K SSB positions within the second TXOP that correspond to the K SSB positions within the first TXOP ([0145, 163] If SSB 0 is transmitted in time occasion k but SSB 1 cannot be transmitted in time occasion k+1. The remaining SSB burst (SSB 1, SSB 2, SSB 3) is shifted and gNB performs LBT for SSB 1 in the next time occasion (time occasion k+2). This procedure is repeated until all the SSBs in the burst are transmitted or until the STTC window is expired.).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement withholding SSB transmissions, taught by Li, into the communication system, taught by Niu, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and prevent redundant transmissions. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Li and Niu in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Dependent Claims
Claim(s) 2, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niu (US-20190053177), Li (US-20210051683) in view of Kwak (US-20180084432).
As to claim 2, 5: Niu teaches the method of claim 1.
Niu may not explicitly teach wherein the first TXOP and the second TXOP are within a same Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) window. However, Kwak teaches wherein the first TXOP and the second TXOP are within a same Discovery Reference Signal (DRS) window ([0162, 170] DMTC always has two DRS transmission opportunities. That is, the DMTC may always have two LAA DRS occasions based on a time window of 5 ms).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement multiple transmit opportunities, taught by Kwak, into the communication system, taught by Niu, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and enable another transmission and prevent delays . In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Niu and Kwak in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Claim(s) 3, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niu (US-20190053177), Li (US-20210051683) in view of Chen (US-20180084593).
As to claim 3, 6: Niu teaches the method of claim 1.
Niu may not explicitly teach wherein the candidate SSB position corresponds to an SSB index. However, Chen wherein the candidate SSB position corresponds to an SSB index ([0392, 416] the slot timing is jointly encoded to SS block index).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement map SSB position to index, taught by Chen, into the communication system, taught by Niu, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and to identify SSB for detection and reception. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Chen and Niu in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW CHUNG SUK OH whose telephone number is (571)270-5273. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12p-8p.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at 5712727969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW C OH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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