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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini et al. (US 2021/0127368, hereinafter “Abedini”) in view of Shen et al. (CN111614449B, hereinafter “Shen”, with citations from the machine translated doc. from Espacenet).
For claims 1, 8 and 15, Abedini discloses A method, comprising:
receiving, by a relay device, configuration information from a network device (the relay device 606 may receive the configuration information 620 from the base station 602, and may apply the configurations of the one or more beam pair links and the one or more power settings for communication with the base station 602 on the backhaul link 610 and the access link 612; see Abedini par. 0104 and Fig. 6), wherein the configuration information indicates to transmit a first signal and a second signal in a target time period, the first signal is a signal for communication between the relay device and the network device (For the backhaul link 610 and the access link 612, the base station 602 may respectively configure 624 a first set of resources associated with the first control information 614 for the relay device 606 and a second set of resources associated with the data and/or second control information 616 for the UE 604. The base station 602 may configure 624 the first and second sets of resources to be overlapping in at least one of time and/or frequency; see Abedini par. 0106), and the second signal is a signal transmitted with assistance of the relay device (the relay device 606 may be configured to forward signaling between the base station 602 and the UE 604 over an access link 612; see Abedini par. 0099, 0125-0126);
Abedini does not explicitly disclose when at least one of the first signal or the second signal meets a first condition, transmitting, by the relay device, the first signal in the target time period; or when at least one of the first signal or the second signal does not meet a first condition, transmitting, by the relay device, the second signal in the target time period. Shen discloses when at least one of the first signal or the second signal meets a first condition, transmitting, by the relay device, the first signal in the target time period; or when at least one of the first signal or the second signal does not meet a first condition, transmitting, by the relay device, the second signal in the target time period (S110. If the transmission of the first pilot signal and the reception of the second pilot signal conflict, determine the priority of the first configuration information and the second configuration information. The first configuration information is used to configure the first pilot signal. The sending time of the signal, the second configuration information is used to configure the receiving time of the second pilot signal, the first pilot signal is received by the relay node, and the second pilot signal is received by the terminal device take over. It should be noted that the first pilot signal is received by the relay node, and it can be understood that the first pilot signal is a signal sent to the relay node by other relay nodes or network equipment. The second pilot signal is received by the terminal device. It can be understood that the second pilot signal is a signal sent by the relay node or the network device to the terminal device. Optionally, in some embodiments, if it is determined that the interval between the sending moment and the receiving moment is less than or equal to the present time interval, it is determined that the sending of the first pilot signal and the receiving of the second pilot signal conflict. For example, if the sending time of the first pilot signal overlaps with the receiving time of the second pilot signal, it is determined that the sending of the first pilot signal and the receiving of the second pilot signal conflict. Alternatively, if the preset time interval is 2 ms and the time interval between the sending time of the first pilot signal and the receiving time of the second pilot signal is 1 ms, then the sending time of the first pilot signal and the time interval of the second pilot signal are determined. Receive conflict. Optionally, in some embodiments, if the duration of the first pilot signal overlaps with the duration of the second pilot signal, it is determined that the transmission of the first pilot signal and the reception of the second pilot signal conflict. In other words, if the transmission resources of the first pilot signal and the reception resources of the second pilot signal overlap in the time domain, the transmission of the first pilot signal and the reception of the second pilot signal conflict; see Shen page 3 lines 33-57). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Shen's arrangement in Abedini's invention to provide a method for transmitting pilot signals and a relay node to solve the problem that the pilot signal transmission and reception conflicts affect the pilot signal measurement of the relay node and the pilot signal measurement of the terminal equipment (see Shen page 1 lines 34-36).
Specifically for claim 8, Abedini discloses An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations including (FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 902. The apparatus 902 may be a base station, such as a gNB or other macro base station, a small cell base station (e.g., picocell, femto cell, etc.), and so forth…The baseband unit 904 may include a computer readable medium/memory. The baseband unit 904 is responsible for general processing, including the execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium/memory; see Abedini par. 0167-0168 and Fig. 9):
Specifically for claim 15, Abedini discloses A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, that when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the at least one processor to perform operations including (The software, when executed by the baseband unit 904, causes the baseband unit 904 to perform the various functions described supra. The computer-readable medium/memory may also be used for storing data that is manipulated by the baseband unit 904 when executing software; see Abedini par. 0168):
For claims 2, 9 and 16, Abedini discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein:
the first condition is that a priority of the first signal is higher than or equal to a priority of the second signal (respective priority may be assigned to each of control information on the backhaul link 610 and data/control information on the access link 612. Respective priorities may indicate which of control information on the backhaul link 610 or data/control information on the access link 612 is to be prioritized over the other. For example, the control information on the backhaul link 610 may be assigned a relatively higher priority than that assigned to the data/control information on the access link 612, or vice versa; see Abedini par. 0116); and
the priorities of the first signal and the second signal are classified based on signal types (In some aspects, prioritization may be based on the type of uplink and/or downlink signals communicated over the backhaul link 610. For example, some downlink reference signals and/or broadcast signals may be associated with a relatively lower priority, such as SS/PBCH blocks, CSIRSs, and/or SIBS. Accordingly to another example, communications that are semi-statically configured in the uplink and/or downlink may be associated with a relatively lower priority. Conversely, communications that are dynamically scheduled on uplink and/or downlink channels may be associated with a relatively higher priority; see Abedini par. 0117, 0128), and the signal types include at least one of the following signal types: a public signal, a data signal, and a control signal (At operation 808, the relay device may receive, from the base station, information indicating a first priority associated with the first control information and indicating a second priority associated with the at least one of data and/or second control information. The first and second priorities may be different, and the relay device may determine which communications operations/configurations associated with one of the first control information or the at least one of data and/or second control information should be prioritized over other communications operations/configurations associated with the other of the first control information or the at least one of data and/or second control information.; see Abedini par. 0153).
For claims 5, 12 and 19, Abedini discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first signal or the second signal meeting the first condition comprises:
the first signal having at least one of the following functions: beam management, power control, connection and disconnection control, timing information, configuration information of the second signal, feedback measurement reporting, scheduling requesting, and time synchronization (the base station 502 may transmit a transmission/reception switching configuration to the relay device 506 that indicates a direction in which the relay device 506 is to relay signals between the base station 502 and the UE 504-e.g., a transmission/reception switching configuration may indicate to the relay device 506 whether one or both of uplink signaling from the UE 504 and/or downlink signaling from the base station 502 are to be respectively relayed to the base station 502 or to the UE 504. Further, the base station 502 may transmit a relay deployment configuration to the relay device 506 that indicates a time and/or duration for which the relay device 506 may refrain from relaying signals between the base station 502 and the UE 504---e.g., a relay deployment configuration may indicate that the relay device 506 may switch off an analog radio frequency (RF) deployment so that the relay device 506 does not unnecessarily relay signals. In connection with one or more of the configurations for beamforming, power, transmission/reception switching, and/or relay deployment, the base station 502 may transmit associated scheduling information to the relay device 506. Scheduling information may indicate a time and/or duration for which an associated configuration is to be applied for at least one of beamforming, power, transmission/reception switching, and/or relay deployment. For example, scheduling information configured by the base station 502 for the relay device 506 may indicate a time at which to change beamforming configurations or to change power configurations. In some aspects, the base station 502 may indicate a time and/or duration of scheduling information as one or more time resources, such as a symbol, slot, and/or subframe at which an associated one of the aforementioned configurations is to be applied; see Abedini par. 0080-0081, 0108, 0132-0133).
For claims 6 and 13, Abedini does not explicitly disclose The method according to claim 1, wherein before determining whether the at least one of the first signal or the second signal meets the first condition, the method further comprises: when the first signal and the second signal meet a second condition, transmitting, by the relay device, the first signal and the second signal in the target time period. Shen discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein before determining whether the at least one of the first signal or the second signal meets the first condition, the method further comprises: when the first signal and the second signal meet a second condition, transmitting, by the relay device, the first signal and the second signal in the target time period (S120: Perform a pilot signal transmission operation matching the priority determination result. Optionally, in S120, perform a pilot signal transmission operation that matches the priority determination result, including: if the priority of the first configuration information is higher than the priority of the second configuration information, receiving it at the sending moment The first pilot signal; or, if the priority of the first configuration information is lower than the priority of the second configuration information, the second pilot signal is sent at the reception moment. In other words, if the priority of one configuration information is higher than the priority of the second configuration information, the relay node needs to receive the third configuration sent by other devices (network devices or other relay nodes) at the sending time configured by the first configuration information. A pilot signal to achieve the measurement of the first pilot signal; if the priority of the first configuration information is lower than the priority of the second configuration information, the relay node needs to configure the second configuration information to other devices at the reception moment. The device (sub-relay node or terminal device of the relay node) sends a second pilot signal so that the terminal device can measure the second pilot signal; see Shen page 5 lines 21-36). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Shen's arrangement in Abedini's invention to provide a method for transmitting pilot signals and a relay node to solve the problem that the pilot signal transmission and reception conflicts affect the pilot signal measurement of the relay node and the pilot signal measurement of the terminal equipment (see Shen page 1 lines 34-36).
Claim(s) 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini and Shen, and further in view of “Lin” (US 2020/0305155).
For claims 3, 10 and 17, the combination of Abedini and Shen does not explicitly disclose The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first signal or the second signal meeting the first condition comprises: the first signal being a public signal; the first signal being a non-public signal, and the second signal being a non-public signal; the first signal being a control signal, and the second signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal; or the first signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal, and the second signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal. Lin discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first signal or the second signal meeting the first condition comprises: the first signal being a public signal; the first signal being a non-public signal, and the second signal being a non-public signal; the first signal being a control signal, and the second signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal; or the first signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal, and the second signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal (As illustrated in FIG. 6, the method 200 includes the following operations: S210, at least one first resource is determined in a target time unit, the at least one first resource being for carrying at least one of grant-free data or semi-persistently scheduled data; S220, a resource allocation of a terminal device is determined in the target time unit; S230, an available resource is determined among the at least one first resource according to the resource allocation; S240, transmission of at least one of the grant-free data or semi-persistently scheduled data is performed via the available resource with the terminal device; see Lin par. 0070; the operation that the available resource is determined among the overlapping resource between the at least one first resource and the at least one second resource includes the following operation: when a target overlapping resource in at least one overlapping resource between the at least one first resource and the at least one second resource satisfies a preset condition, the target overlapping resource is determined as the available resource; see Lin par. 0076). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Lin's arrangement in Abedini's invention to avoid a Schedule Request (SR) process and a Buffer Status Report (BSR) process, thereby increasing an effective transmission time of the terminal device (see Lin par. 0002).
For claims 4, 11 and 18, the combination of Abedini and Shen does not explicitly disclose The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first signal or the second signal not meeting the first condition comprises: the second signal being a public signal; the second signal being a control signal, and the first signal being a non-public signal; the second signal being a control signal, and the first signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal; or the second signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal, and the first signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal. Lin discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first signal or the second signal not meeting the first condition comprises: the second signal being a public signal; the second signal being a control signal, and the first signal being a non-public signal; the second signal being a control signal, and the first signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal; or the second signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal, and the first signal being a semi-persistently scheduled signal (According to an implementation of the disclosure, the operation that the available resource is determined among the at least one first resource according to the resource allocation includes the following operations: at least one second resource is determined in the target time unit according to the resource allocation, the at least one second resource having a same target feature as a target feature of the at least one first resource; and the available resource is determined among an overlapping resource between the at least one first resource and the at least one second resource. According to an implementation of the disclosure, the target carrier includes at least one of: a transmission direction, a subcarrier spacing or a cyclic prefix length. According to an implementation of the disclosure, the operation that the available resource is determined among the overlapping resource between the at least one first resource and the at least one second resource includes the following operation: when a target overlapping resource in at least one overlapping resource between the at least one first resource and the at least one second resource satisfies a preset condition, the target overlapping resource is determined as the available resource; see Lin par. 0075-0076). It would have been obvious to the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date to use Lin's arrangement in Abedini's invention to avoid a Schedule Request (SR) process and a Buffer Status Report (BSR) process, thereby increasing an effective transmission time of the terminal device (see Lin par. 0002).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 14 and 20 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: claims 7, 14 and 20 would be allowable because the closest prior arts listed above either alone or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious, the claimed invention of “wherein the second condition is at least one of that a difference between power of the first signal and power of the second signal is less than or equal to a first threshold, or that a difference between a modulation order of the first signal and a modulation order of the second signal is less than or equal to a second threshold”, in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) above as defined by applicant.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
-Mildth et al. (US 2011/0243060).
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/CHAE S LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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