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 .
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 1-20 stand rejected.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6-7, 11, 13-15, 18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (Pub. No.: US 20180076924 A1) in view of He et al. (Pub. No.: US 20160301513 A1), hereafter respectively referred to as Lee and He ‘513.
In regard to Claim 1, Lee teaches A method for a user equipment (UE) (WTRU 102c, Para. 35, FIG. 1A), the method comprising: receiving information for a first bandwidth part (BWP) (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14) and for a second BWP (a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband in a subframe, Para. 220, FIG. 14. The frequency location of the D-subband for the second subframe may be indicated from the downlink control channel in the first subframe, Para. 213) on a first serving cell (the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell, Para. 34. The base station 114b may communicate with WTRU 102c over an air interface 116, Para. 35, FIG. 1A. The base station 114b and the WTRU 102c may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell, Para. 39, FIG. 1A), wherein the first serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell) (The base station 114a and/or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell, Para. 34. The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with WTRU 102c over an air interface 116, Para. 35, FIG. 1A).
Lee teaches receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (The NB-EPDCCH USS may carry the same or a subset of information carried in the legacy (E)PDCCH USS, Para. 162) on a second serving cell (The base station 114a may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell, Para. 34. The base station 114a may communicate with WTRU 102c over an air interface 116, Para. 35, FIG. 1A), wherein: the PDCCH provides a downlink control information (DCI) format (NB-EPDCCH USS may be used by the WTRU for one or more of following: monitoring a downlink control information (DCI), Para. 162), the DCI format includes cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits (downlink control information (DCI) with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), Para. 162) that are scrambled by a cell-RNTI (C-RNTI) (cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled with a C-RNTI, 162).
Lee teaches determining the first BWP (The DC-subband, Para. 214, FIG. 14) or the second BWP (a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband, Para. 220, FIG. 14) as an active BWP (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14. An associated PDSCH in a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband, Para. 220, FIG. 14) for the first serving cell (the base station 114b, Para. 34).
Lee teaches receiving PDCCHs (NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS, Para. 214, FIG. 14) on the first serving cell (the base station 114b, Para. 34) when the active BWP is the first BWP (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14).
Lee teaches skipping receptions of PDCCHs (a WTRU may skip monitoring and/or receiving NB-EPDCCH, Para. 220, FIG. 14) on the first serving cell (the base station 114b, Para. 34) when the active BWP is the second BWP (if the WTRU receives an associated PDSCH in a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband in a subframe, Para. 220, FIG. 14).
Although Lee provides an implicit teaching, Lee fails to explicitly teach the first serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell), and although Lee teaches the DCI format, Lee fails to teach the DCI format includes a bitmap, and although Lee teaches determining the first BWP or the second BWP as an active BWP for the first serving cell, Lee fails to teach determining, based on a value of a bit in the bitmap, the first BWP or the second BWP as an active BWP.
He ‘513 teaches the first serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell) (After configured SCells are activated, the UE can access the SCells' PDCCH, PDSCH, and/or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and provide channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting for the SCells, Para. 26).
He ‘513 teaches the DCI format includes a bitmap (a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format, Para. 81, FIG. 9).
He ‘513 teaches determining, based on a value of a bit in the bitmap (a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format where the bitmap size equals the number of CCs, Para. 81, FIG. 9. Transmissions on six CCs including <CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4, CC5, CC7>, the corresponding bitmap field setting in the DCI format may be set as “01111101”, Para. 85, FIG. 9), the first BWP (CC1, Para. 85, FIG. 9) or the second BWP (CC2, Para. 85, FIG. 9) as an active BWP (that provide activation/deactivation within a group, a new DCI format allows a single DCI format to arbitrarily schedule on a set of CCs. For example, a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format where the bitmap size equals the number of CCs, Para. 81, FIG. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘513 with the teachings of Lee since He ‘513 provides a technique for adding a bitmap to a DCI format to indicate component carriers for scheduling transmissions, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee to permit DCI to include a bitmap indicating subbands that are configured for intended communications.
In regard to Claim 4, Lee teaches wherein: the DCI format schedules a reception of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (the downlink control channel in the first subframe may carry a DCI which may contain the scheduling information of the associated PDSCH in the second subframe, Para. 197. FIG. 11 shows subframes 1101 configured with multiple subbands 1102. The DCI may include a frequency location of the PDSCH in the second subframe, Para. 198, FIG. 11) or a transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).
Although Lee teaches the DCI format, Lee fails to teach the DCI format includes a dedicated field that provides the bitmap.
He ‘513 teaches the DCI format includes a dedicated field that provides the bitmap (a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format where the bitmap size equals the number of CCs, Para. 81, FIG. 9. Transmissions on six CCs including <CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4, CC5, CC7>, the corresponding bitmap field setting in the DCI format may be set as “01111101”, Para. 85, FIG. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘513 with the teachings of Lee since He ‘513 provides a technique for adding a bitmap to a DCI format to indicate component carriers for scheduling transmissions, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee to permit DCI to include a bitmap indicating subbands that are configured for intended communications.
In regard to Claim 6, Lee teaches wherein the information for the first BWP (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14) is received by radio resource control signaling (The configuration of cell-specific subframes may be provided in signaling such as broadcast or dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 98. The configuration of WTRU-specific subframes may be provided to a WTRU in signaling such as dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 99).
In regard to Claim 7, Lee teaches wherein the information for the second BWP (a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband in a subframe, Para. 220, FIG. 14. The frequency location of the D-subband for the second subframe may be indicated from the downlink control channel in the first subframe, Para. 213) is received by radio resource control signaling (The configuration of cell-specific subframes may be provided in signaling such as broadcast or dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 98. The configuration of WTRU-specific subframes may be provided to a WTRU in signaling such as dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 99).
In regard to Claim 8, Lee teaches A user equipment (UE) (WTRU 102c, Para. 35, FIG. 1A) comprising: a transceiver (transceiver 120, Para. 44, FIG. 1B) configured to: receive information for a first bandwidth part (BWP) (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14) and for a second BWP (a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband in a subframe, Para. 220, FIG. 14. The frequency location of the D-subband for the second subframe may be indicated from the downlink control channel in the first subframe, Para. 213) on a first serving cell (the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell, Para. 34. The base station 114b may communicate with WTRU 102c over an air interface 116, Para. 35, FIG. 1A. The base station 114b and the WTRU 102c may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell, Para. 39, FIG. 1A), wherein the first serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell) (The base station 114a and/or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell, Para. 34. The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with WTRU 102c over an air interface 116, Para. 35, FIG. 1A).
Lee teaches receive a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (The NB-EPDCCH USS may carry the same or a subset of information carried in the legacy (E)PDCCH USS, Para. 162) on a second serving cell (The base station 114a may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell, Para. 34. The base station 114a may communicate with WTRU 102c over an air interface 116, Para. 35, FIG. 1A), wherein: the PDCCH provides a downlink control information (DCI) format (NB-EPDCCH USS may be used by the WTRU for one or more of following: monitoring a downlink control information (DCI), Para. 162), the DCI format includes cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits (downlink control information (DCI) with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), Para. 162) that are scrambled by a cell-RNTI (C-RNTI) (cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled with a C-RNTI, 162).
Lee teaches a processor operably coupled to the transceiver (processor 118 may be coupled to the transceiver 120, Para. 44, FIG. 1B), the processor configured to determine the first BWP (The DC-subband, Para. 214, FIG. 14) or the second BWP (a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband, Para. 220, FIG. 14) as an active BWP (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14. An associated PDSCH in a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband, Para. 220, FIG. 14) for the first serving cell (the base station 114b, Para. 34).
Lee teaches, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: receive PDCCHs (NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS, Para. 214, FIG. 14) on the first serving cell (the base station 114b, Para. 34) when the active BWP is the first BWP (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14).
Lee teaches skip receptions of PDCCHs (a WTRU may skip monitoring and/or receiving NB-EPDCCH, Para. 220, FIG. 14) on the first serving cell (the base station 114b, Para. 34) when the active BWP is the second BWP (if the WTRU receives an associated PDSCH in a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband in a subframe, Para. 220, FIG. 14).
Although Lee provides an implicit teaching, Lee fails to explicitly teach the first serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell), and although Lee teaches the DCI format, Lee fails to teach the DCI format includes a bitmap, and although Lee teaches determine the first BWP or the second BWP as an active BWP, Lee fails to teach determine, based on a value of a bit in the bitmap, the first BWP or the second BWP as an active BWP.
He ‘513 teaches the first serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell) (After configured SCells are activated, the UE can access the SCells' PDCCH, PDSCH, and/or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and provide channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting for the SCells, Para. 26).
He ‘513 teaches the DCI format includes a bitmap (a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format, Para. 81, FIG. 9).
He ‘513 teaches determine, based on a value of a bit in the bitmap (a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format where the bitmap size equals the number of CCs, Para. 81, FIG. 9. Transmissions on six CCs including <CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4, CC5, CC7>, the corresponding bitmap field setting in the DCI format may be set as “01111101”, Para. 85, FIG. 9), the first BWP (CC1, Para. 85, FIG. 9) or the second BWP (CC2, Para. 85, FIG. 9) as an active BWP (that provide activation/deactivation within a group, a new DCI format allows a single DCI format to arbitrarily schedule on a set of CCs. For example, a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format where the bitmap size equals the number of CCs, Para. 81, FIG. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘513 with the teachings of Lee since He ‘513 provides a technique for adding a bitmap to a DCI format to indicate component carriers for scheduling transmissions, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee to permit DCI to include a bitmap indicating subbands that are configured for intended communications.
In regard to Claim 11, Lee teaches the DCI format schedules a reception of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (the downlink control channel in the first subframe may carry a DCI which may contain the scheduling information of the associated PDSCH in the second subframe, Para. 197. FIG. 11 shows subframes 1101 configured with multiple subbands 1102. The DCI may include a frequency location of the PDSCH in the second subframe, Para. 198, FIG. 11) or a transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).
Although Lee teaches the DCI format, Lee fails to teach the DCI format includes a dedicated field that provides the bitmap.
He ‘513 teaches the DCI format includes a dedicated field that provides the bitmap (a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format where the bitmap size equals the number of CCs, Para. 81, FIG. 9. Transmissions on six CCs including <CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4, CC5, CC7>, the corresponding bitmap field setting in the DCI format may be set as “01111101”, Para. 85, FIG. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘513 with the teachings of Lee since He ‘513 provides a technique for adding a bitmap to a DCI format to indicate component carriers for scheduling transmissions, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee to permit DCI to include a bitmap indicating subbands that are configured for intended communications.
In regard to Claim 13, Lee teaches, wherein the information for the first BWP BWP (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14) is received by radio resource control signaling (The configuration of cell-specific subframes may be provided in signaling such as broadcast or dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 98. The configuration of WTRU-specific subframes may be provided to a WTRU in signaling such as dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 99).
In regard to Claim 14, Lee teaches, wherein the information for the second BWP (a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband in a subframe, Para. 220, FIG. 14. The frequency location of the D-subband for the second subframe may be indicated from the downlink control channel in the first subframe, Para. 213) is received by radio resource control signaling (The configuration of cell-specific subframes may be provided in signaling such as broadcast or dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 98. The configuration of WTRU-specific subframes may be provided to a WTRU in signaling such as dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 99).
In regard to Claim 15, Lee teaches A base station comprising: a transceiver (Each of the base stations 114a, 114b may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRUs, Para. 33, FIG. 1A) configured to: transmit information for a first bandwidth part (BWP) (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14) and for a second BWP (a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband in a subframe, Para. 220, FIG. 14. The frequency location of the D-subband for the second subframe may be indicated from the downlink control channel in the first subframe, Para. 213) on a first serving cell (the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell, Para. 34. The base station 114b may communicate with WTRU 102c over an air interface 116, Para. 35, FIG. 1A. The base station 114b and the WTRU 102c may utilize a cellular-based RAT (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, etc.) to establish a picocell or femtocell, Para. 39, FIG. 1A), wherein the first serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell) (The base station 114a and/or the base station 114b may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell, Para. 34. The base stations 114a, 114b may communicate with WTRU 102c over an air interface 116, Para. 35, FIG. 1A).
Lee teaches transmit a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) (The NB-EPDCCH USS may carry the same or a subset of information carried in the legacy (E)PDCCH USS, Para. 162) on a second serving cell (The base station 114a may be configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals within a particular geographic region, which may be referred to as a cell, Para. 34. The base station 114a may communicate with WTRU 102c over an air interface 116, Para. 35, FIG. 1A), wherein: the PDCCH provides a downlink control information (DCI) format (NB-EPDCCH USS may be used by the WTRU for one or more of following: monitoring a downlink control information (DCI), Para. 162), the DCI format includes cyclic redundancy check (CRC) bits (downlink control information (DCI) with a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), Para. 162) that are scrambled by a cell-RNTI (C-RNTI) (cyclic redundancy check (CRC) scrambled with a C-RNTI, 162).
Lee teaches a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to determine the first BWP (The DC-subband, Para. 214, FIG. 14) or the second BWP (a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband, Para. 220, FIG. 14) as an active BWP (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14. An associated PDSCH in a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband, Para. 220, FIG. 14) for the first serving cell (the base station 114b, Para. 34).
Lee teaches, wherein the transceiver is further configured to: transmit PDCCHs (NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS, Para. 214, FIG. 14) on the first serving cell (the base station 114b, Para. 34) when the active BWP is the first BWP (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14).
Lee teaches skip transmissions of PDCCHs (a WTRU may skip monitoring and/or receiving NB-EPDCCH, Para. 220, FIG. 14) on the first serving cell (the base station 114b, Para. 34) when the active BWP is the second BWP (if the WTRU receives an associated PDSCH in a D-subband which is different from the DC-subband in a subframe, Para. 220, FIG. 14).
Although Lee provides an implicit teaching, Lee fails to explicitly teach the first serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell), and although Lee teaches the DCI format, the DCI format includes a bitmap, and although Lee teaches determine the first BWP or the second BWP as an active BWP, Lee fails to teach determine, based on a value of a bit in the bitmap, the first BWP or the second BWP as an active BWP.
He ‘513 teaches the first serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell) (After configured SCells are activated, the UE can access the SCells' PDCCH, PDSCH, and/or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), and provide channel quality indicator (CQI) reporting for the SCells, Para. 26).
He ‘513 teaches the DCI format includes a bitmap (a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format, Para. 81, FIG. 9).
He ‘513 teaches determine, based on a value of a bit in the bitmap (a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format where the bitmap size equals the number of CCs, Para. 81, FIG. 9. Transmissions on six CCs including <CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4, CC5, CC7>, the corresponding bitmap field setting in the DCI format may be set as “01111101”, Para. 85, FIG. 9), the first BWP (CC1, Para. 85, FIG. 9) or the second BWP (CC2, Para. 85, FIG. 9) as an active BWP (that provide activation/deactivation within a group, a new DCI format allows a single DCI format to arbitrarily schedule on a set of CCs. For example, a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format where the bitmap size equals the number of CCs, Para. 81, FIG. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘513 with the teachings of Lee since He ‘513 provides a technique for adding a bitmap to a DCI format to indicate component carriers for scheduling transmissions, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee to permit DCI to include a bitmap indicating subbands that are configured for intended communications.
In regard to Claim 18, Lee teaches wherein: the DCI format schedules a transmission of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (the downlink control channel in the first subframe may carry a DCI which may contain the scheduling information of the associated PDSCH in the second subframe, Para. 197. FIG. 11 shows subframes 1101 configured with multiple subbands 1102. The DCI may include a frequency location of the PDSCH in the second subframe, Para. 198, FIG. 11) or a reception of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).
Although Lee teaches the DCI format, Lee fails to teach the DCI format includes a dedicated field that provides the bitmap.
He ‘513 teaches the DCI format includes a dedicated field that provides the bitmap (a new bitmap field can be added to each Rel-12 DCI format where the bitmap size equals the number of CCs, Para. 81, FIG. 9. Transmissions on six CCs including <CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4, CC5, CC7>, the corresponding bitmap field setting in the DCI format may be set as “01111101”, Para. 85, FIG. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘513 with the teachings of Lee since He ‘513 provides a technique for adding a bitmap to a DCI format to indicate component carriers for scheduling transmissions, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee to permit DCI to include a bitmap indicating subbands that are configured for intended communications.
In regard to Claim 20, Lee teaches wherein the information for the first BWP (The DC-subband may be used for NB-EPDCCH USS and/or NB-EPDCCH CSS. The DC-subband may be configured via higher layer signaling or a broadcasting channel, Para. 214, FIG. 14) and the second BWP is transmitted by radio resource control signaling (The configuration of cell-specific subframes may be provided in signaling such as broadcast or dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 98. The configuration of WTRU-specific subframes may be provided to a WTRU in signaling such as dedicated RRC signaling, Para. 99).
Claim(s) 2, 9 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of He ‘513, and further in view of He et al. (Pub. No.: US 20200204328 A1), hereafter referred to as He ‘328.
In regard to Claim 2, as presented in the rejection of Claim 1, Lee in view of He ‘513 teaches the first serving cell.
Lee in view of He ‘513 fails to teach a first bit of the bitmap is associated with a first group of serving cells that include the first serving cell, and a second bit of the bitmap is associated with a second group of serving cells that do not include the first serving cell.
He ‘328 teaches a first bit of the bitmap (HFCI field 418 contains the bitmap ‘1110’, Para. 58, FIGS. 2, 5) is associated with a first group of serving cells (cell groups (CGs). Each CG may comprise a same number of component carriers, Para. 56, FIG. 1) that include the first serving cell (HFCI field 418 contains the bitmap ‘1110’. Based on such a bitmap, UE 104 may determine that HARQ feedback bits are to be generated for CG 1, Para. 58, FIGS. 2, 5), and a second bit of the bitmap is associated with a second group of serving cells that do not include the first serving cell (HFCI field 418 contains the bitmap ‘1110’. Based on such a bitmap, UE 104 may determine that HARQ feedback bits are to be generated, but not for CG 4, Para. 58, FIGS. 2, 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘328 with the teachings of Lee in view of He ‘513 since He ‘328 provides a technique for a bitmap that indicates cell groups that each comprise a number of component carriers, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee in view of He ‘513 to permit a base station to indicate which cell groups are utilized by the base station and which cell groups are not utilized by the base station.
In regard to Claim 9, as presented in the rejection of Claim 8, Lee in view of He ‘513 teaches the first serving cell.
Lee in view of He ‘513 fails to teach a first bit of the bitmap is associated with a first group of serving cells that include the first serving cell, and a second bit of the bitmap is associated with a second group of serving cells that do not include the first serving cell.
He ‘328 teaches a first bit of the bitmap (HFCI field 418 contains the bitmap ‘1110’, Para. 58, FIGS. 2, 5) is associated with a first group of serving cells (cell groups (CGs). Each CG may comprise a same number of component carriers, Para. 56, FIG. 1) that include the first serving cell (HFCI field 418 contains the bitmap ‘1110’. Based on such a bitmap, UE 104 may determine that HARQ feedback bits are to be generated for CG 1, Para. 58, FIGS. 2, 5), and a second bit of the bitmap is associated with a second group of serving cells that do not include the first serving cell (HFCI field 418 contains the bitmap ‘1110’. Based on such a bitmap, UE 104 may determine that HARQ feedback bits are to be generated, but not for CG 4, Para. 58, FIGS. 2, 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘328 with the teachings of Lee in view of He ‘513 since He ‘328 provides a technique for a bitmap that indicates cell groups that each comprise a number of component carriers, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee in view of He ‘513 to permit a base station to indicate which cell groups are utilized by the base station and which cell groups are not utilized by the base station.
In regard to Claim 16, as presented in the rejection of Claim 15, Lee in view of He ‘513 teaches the first serving cell.
Lee in view of He ‘513 fails to teach a first bit of the bitmap is associated with a first group of serving cells that include the first serving cell, and a second bit of the bitmap is associated with a second group of serving cells that do not include the first serving cell.
He ‘328 teaches a first bit of the bitmap (HFCI field 418 contains the bitmap ‘1110’, Para. 58, FIGS. 2, 5) is associated with a first group of serving cells (cell groups (CGs). Each CG may comprise a same number of component carriers, Para. 56, FIG. 1) that include the first serving cell (HFCI field 418 contains the bitmap ‘1110’. Based on such a bitmap, UE 104 may determine that HARQ feedback bits are to be generated for CG 1, Para. 58, FIGS. 2, 5), and a second bit of the bitmap is associated with a second group of serving cells that do not include the first serving cell (HFCI field 418 contains the bitmap ‘1110’. Based on such a bitmap, UE 104 may determine that HARQ feedback bits are to be generated, but not for CG 4, Para. 58, FIGS. 2, 5).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘328 with the teachings of Lee in view of He ‘513 since He ‘328 provides a technique for a bitmap that indicates cell groups that each comprise a number of component carriers, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee in view of He ‘513 to permit a base station to indicate which cell groups are utilized by the base station and which cell groups are not utilized by the base station.
Claim(s) 3, 10 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of He ‘513, and further in view of Yoshimura et al. (Pub. No.: US 20190174524 A1), hereafter referred to as Yoshimura.
In regard to Claim 3, as presented in the rejection of Claim 1, Lee in view of He ‘513 teaches the first BWP.
Lee in view of He ‘513 fails to teach the first BWP corresponds to a non-dormant state for the first serving cell, and the second BWP corresponds to a dormant state for the first serving cell.
Yoshimura teaches the first BWP (in the prescribed radio resources, Para. 136) corresponds to a non-dormant state for the first serving cell (the serving cell being in the busy state may mean that the interference power (or the mean of the interference power, the mean of the interference power in time and/or the frequency) detected in the prescribed radio resources of the serving cell exceeds (or is equal to or larger than) the threshold of LBT, Para. 136), and the second BWP (in the prescribed radio resources. Here, the prescribed radio resources may be given based on a prescribed time and a prescribed frequency. The prescribed time may be given based on a counter, Para. 136) corresponds to a dormant state for the first serving cell (The serving cell being in the idle state may mean the interference power detected in the prescribed radio resources of the serving cell does not exceed (or is equal to or smaller than) the threshold of LBT, Para. 136).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘328 with the teachings of Lee in view of He ‘513 since He ‘328 provides a technique for determining busy states and idle states in various radio resources of a serving cell, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee in view of He ‘513 to permit a base station to determine non-dormant states and dormant states of subbands in subframes for communications of the base station.
In regard to Claim 10, as presented in the rejection of Claim 8, Lee in view of He ‘513 teaches the first BWP.
Lee in view of He ‘513 fails to teach the first BWP corresponds to a non-dormant state for the first serving cell, and the second BWP corresponds to a dormant state for the first serving cell.
Yoshimura teaches the first BWP (in the prescribed radio resources, Para. 136) corresponds to a non-dormant state for the first serving cell (the serving cell being in the busy state may mean that the interference power (or the mean of the interference power, the mean of the interference power in time and/or the frequency) detected in the prescribed radio resources of the serving cell exceeds (or is equal to or larger than) the threshold of LBT, Para. 136), and the second BWP (in the prescribed radio resources. Here, the prescribed radio resources may be given based on a prescribed time and a prescribed frequency. The prescribed time may be given based on a counter, Para. 136) corresponds to a dormant state for the first serving cell (The serving cell being in the idle state may mean the interference power detected in the prescribed radio resources of the serving cell does not exceed (or is equal to or smaller than) the threshold of LBT, Para. 136).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘328 with the teachings of Lee in view of He ‘513 since He ‘328 provides a technique for determining busy states and idle states in various radio resources of a serving cell, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee in view of He ‘513 to permit a base station to determine non-dormant states and dormant states of subbands in subframes for communications of the base station.
In regard to Claim 17, as presented in the rejection of Claim 15, Lee in view of He ‘513 teaches the first BWP.
Lee in view of He ‘513 fails to teach the first BWP corresponds to a non-dormant state for the first serving cell, and the second BWP corresponds to a dormant state for the first serving cell.
Yoshimura teaches the first BWP (in the prescribed radio resources, Para. 136) corresponds to a non-dormant state for the first serving cell (the serving cell being in the busy state may mean that the interference power (or the mean of the interference power, the mean of the interference power in time and/or the frequency) detected in the prescribed radio resources of the serving cell exceeds (or is equal to or larger than) the threshold of LBT, Para. 136), and the second BWP (in the prescribed radio resources. Here, the prescribed radio resources may be given based on a prescribed time and a prescribed frequency. The prescribed time may be given based on a counter, Para. 136) corresponds to a dormant state for the first serving cell (The serving cell being in the idle state may mean the interference power detected in the prescribed radio resources of the serving cell does not exceed (or is equal to or smaller than) the threshold of LBT, Para. 136).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘328 with the teachings of Lee in view of He ‘513 since He ‘328 provides a technique for determining busy states and idle states in various radio resources of a serving cell, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee in view of He ‘513 to permit a base station to determine non-dormant states and dormant states of subbands in subframes for communications of the base station.
Claim(s) 5, 12 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of He ‘513, and further in view of Cai et al. (Pub. No.: US 20100151874 A1), hereafter referred to as Cai.
In regard to Claim 5, as presented in the rejection of Claim 1, Lee in view of He ‘513 teaches the method.
Lee fails to teach a subset of the set of other fields provides the bitmap.
He ‘513 teaches a subset of the set of other fields provides the bitmap (As shown in FIG. 9, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) may be provided for the example DCI format 900 with the new bitmap field 910, Para. 85, FIG. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘513 with the teachings of Lee since He ‘513 provides a technique for adding a bitmap to a DCI format to indicate component carriers for scheduling transmissions, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee to permit DCI to include a bitmap indicating subbands that are configured for intended communications.
Lee in view of He ‘513 fails to teach wherein: the DCI format includes a resource allocation field and a set of other fields, the resource allocation field indicates no resource allocation.
Cai teaches wherein: the DCI format includes a resource allocation field and a set of other fields, the resource allocation field indicates no resource allocation (In the case of DCI format 1, DCI format 2 and DCI format 2A, this means that the bit map is set to all zeros for the resource block assignment field and represents a null resource block assignment, Para. 84).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Cai with the teachings of Lee in view of He ‘513 since Cai provides a technique for setting a resource block assignment field to all zeros when necessary in DCI, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee in view of He ‘513 to permit a base station to utilize a bitmap outside a resource allocation field for efficient indications of subbands in DCI.
In regard to Claim 12, as presented in the rejection of Claim 8, Lee in view of He ‘513 teaches the UE.
Lee fails to teach a subset of the set of other fields provides the bitmap.
He ‘513 teaches a subset of the set of other fields provides the bitmap (As shown in FIG. 9, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) may be provided for the example DCI format 900 with the new bitmap field 910, Para. 85, FIG. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘513 with the teachings of Lee since He ‘513 provides a technique for adding a bitmap to a DCI format to indicate component carriers for scheduling transmissions, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee to permit DCI to include a bitmap indicating subbands that are configured for intended communications.
Lee in view of He ‘513 fails to teach the DCI format includes a resource allocation field and a set of other fields, the resource allocation field indicates no resource allocation.
Cai teaches the DCI format includes a resource allocation field and a set of other fields, the resource allocation field indicates no resource allocation (In the case of DCI format 1, DCI format 2 and DCI format 2A, this means that the bit map is set to all zeros for the resource block assignment field and represents a null resource block assignment, Para. 84).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Cai with the teachings of Lee in view of He ‘513 since Cai provides a technique for setting a resource block assignment field to all zeros when necessary in DCI, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee in view of He ‘513 to permit a base station to utilize a bitmap outside a resource allocation field for efficient indications of subbands in DCI.
In regard to Claim 19, as presented in the rejection of Claim 15, Lee in view of He ‘513 teaches the base station.
Lee fails to teach a subset of the set of other fields provides the bitmap.
He ‘513 teaches a subset of the set of other fields provides the bitmap (As shown in FIG. 9, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) may be provided for the example DCI format 900 with the new bitmap field 910, Para. 85, FIG. 9).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of He ‘513 with the teachings of Lee since He ‘513 provides a technique for adding a bitmap to a DCI format to indicate component carriers for scheduling transmissions, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee to permit DCI to include a bitmap indicating subbands that are configured for intended communications.
Lee in view of He ‘513 fails to teach wherein: the DCI format includes a resource allocation field and a set of other fields, the resource allocation field indicates no resource allocation.
Cai teaches wherein: the DCI format includes a resource allocation field and a set of other fields, the resource allocation field indicates no resource allocation.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Cai with the teachings of Lee in view of He ‘513 since Cai provides a technique for setting a resource block assignment field to all zeros when necessary in DCI, which can be introduced into the arrangement of Lee in view of He ‘513 to permit a base station to utilize a bitmap outside a resource allocation field for efficient indications of subbands in DCI.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
PELLETIER et al. (Pub. No.: US 20190089498 A1) teaches skipping receptions of PDCCHs on the first serving cell when the active BWP is the second BWP (The WTRU control channel 1512 (e.g., PDCCH) may be ignored when performing NR reception over the LTE bandwidth, Para. 289, FIG. 15).
YI et al. (Pub. No.: US 20180077688 A1) teaches skipping receptions of PDCCHs on the first serving cell when the active BWP is the second BWP (The eNB configures the UE with On-Duration Skip for L-band cells to skip PDCCH monitoring in some of the on duration for L-band cells (S1605), Para. 146, FIGS. 15D, 16).
Yang et al. (Pub. No.: US 20140003303 A1) teaches skipping receptions of PDCCHs on the first serving cell when the active BWP is the second BWP (the UE can skip a PDCCH reception process (e.g. blind decoding) for the SCC in SF #(d-m) of PCC DC. For example, the UE can skip monitoring of the search space for the SCC in SF #(d-g) of PCC DC. Specifically, the UE can skip a PDCCH reception operation (e.g. blind decoding) for the SCC in SF #(10N+2) and SF #(10N+7) of PCC DC in FIG. 14(a), Para. 111).
Nayeb Nazar et al. (Pub. No.: US 20110243066 A1) teaches the DCI format includes a bitmap; determining, based on a value of a bit in the bitmap, the first BWP or the second BWP as an active BWP (signaling a bitmap in a dynamic manner to indicate how many and which CCs are scheduled. This may require a few bits (e.g., 5 bits bitmap where five CCs are configured or activated.) These bits may be inserted in downlink control information (DCI) for DL assignment, Para. 91).
Nory et al. (Pub. No.: US 20100232373 A1) teaches the DCI format includes a bitmap; determining, based on a value of a bit in the bitmap, the first BWP or the second BWP as an active BWP (the component carrier indicator bit map may be included in PDCCH-1 message by re-mapping some of the bits in existing Rel-8 compliant DCI format used for PDCCH-1 to indicate the component carrier indicator bit map. The component carrier indicator bit map may be compressed (e.g., allowing only certain combinations of active carriers), Para. 40).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSHUA Y SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-1826. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 10:30am-7pm ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CHIRAG G SHAH can be reached at (571)272-3144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
Joshua Smith
/J.S./
10-11-2026
/CHIRAG G SHAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2477
