DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are currently pending in the application and have been examined.
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 statements (IDSs) submitted on 01/23/2025, 03/14/2025, 07/29/2025, 02/03/2026, 03/11/2026 and 07/08/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are 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.
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Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 10-12, 14-17, 19 and 20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 2, 4-6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19 and 20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,231,244, hereinafter ‘244. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because even though the current application recites at least two positions of at least two time slots associated with the first cell that overlap with a time slot associated with the second cell, and ‘244 recites a position of a first time slot associated with the first cell that overlaps with a second time slot associated with the second cell, the time slot(s) of the first cell is/are overlapping with the a time slot of the second cell in both. Any other differences would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention. A mapping table is shown below.
19/035594
US-12231244
1. A wireless communication method, comprising:
determining, by a communication device that is configured to communicate with a first cell and a second cell, at least two positions of at least two time slots associated with the first cell that overlap with a time slot associated with the second cell,
wherein the time slot is configured for a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) information;
determining, for the HARQ-ACK information, a plurality of time slots associated with the first cell and the second cell based on at least one position of the at least two positions of the at least two time slots and a set of values associated with the first cell; and
transmitting, by the communication device, the HARQ-ACK information for the plurality of time slots in the time slot to the second cell.
1. A wireless communication method, comprising:
determining, by a communication device that is configured to communicate with a first cell and a second cell, a position of a first time slot associated with the first cell that overlaps with a second time slot associated with the second cell,
wherein the second time slot is configured for a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) information;
determining, for the HARQ-ACK information, a plurality of time slots associated with the first cell and the second cell based on the position of the first time slot and a set of values associated with the first cell; and
transmitting, by the communication device, the HARQ ACK information associated with the plurality of time slots, wherein the HARQ-ACK information is transmitted in the second time slot of the second cell.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the plurality of time slots is performed based on the at least two positions of the at least two time slots, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell overlaps with two or more time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell overlaps with one time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the plurality of time slots is performed based on one position of one time slot from the at least two time slots, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell overlaps with two or more time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell overlaps with two or more time slots from the second set of time slots of the second cell.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the HARQ-ACK information includes a first HARQ-ACK information concatenated with a second HARQ-ACK information, wherein the first HARQ-ACK information indicates whether data or signal are received on the first set of time slots from the first cell, and wherein the second HARQ-ACK information indicates whether data or signal are received on the second set of time slots from the second cell.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the HARQ-ACK information includes a first HARQ-ACK information concatenated with a second HARQ-ACK information, wherein the first HARQ-ACK information indicates whether data or signals are received on the first set of time slots from the first cell, and wherein the second HARQ-ACK information indicates whether data or signals are received on the second set of time slots from the second cell.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first HARQ-ACK information is concatenated with the second HARQ-ACK information in the HARQ-ACK information based on an ascending order of carrier indexes of the first cell and the second cell.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first HARQ-ACK information is concatenated with the second HARQ-ACK information in the HARQ-ACK information based on an ascending order of carrier indexes of the first cell and the second cell.
10. A communication device for wireless communication comprising one or more processors configured to cause the communication device to implement a method, the communication device is caused to:
determine, by the communication device that is configured to communicate with a first cell and a second cell, at least two positions of at least two time slots associated with the first cell that overlap with a time slot associated with the second cell,
wherein the time slot is configured for a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) information;
determine, for the HARQ-ACK information, a plurality of time slots associated with the first cell and the second cell based on at least one position of the at least two positions of the at least two time slots and a set of values associated with the first cell; and
transmit, by the communication device, the HARQ-ACK information for the plurality of time slots in the time slot to the second cell.
7. An apparatus for wireless communication comprising a processor configured to implement a method comprising that causes the apparatus to:
determine, by a communication device that is configured to communicate with a first cell and a second cell, a position of a first time slot associated with the first cell that overlaps with a second time slot associated with the second cell,
wherein the second time slot is configured for a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) information;
determine, for the HARQ-ACK information, a plurality of time slots associated with the first cell and the second cell based on the position of the first time slot and a set of values associated with the first cell; and
transmit, by the communication device, the HARQ ACK information associated with the plurality of time slots, wherein the HARQ-ACK information is transmitted in the second time slot of the second cell.
11. The communication device of claim 10, wherein the determine the plurality of time slots is performed based on the at least two positions of the at least two time slots, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell overlaps with two or more time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell overlaps with one time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell.
12. The communication device of claim 10, wherein the determine the plurality of time slots is performed based on one position of one time slot from the at least two time slots, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell overlaps with two or more time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell.
10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell overlaps with two or more time slots from the second set of time slots of the second cell.
14. The communication device of claim 11, wherein the HARQ-ACK information includes a first HARQ-ACK information concatenated with a second HARQ-ACK information, wherein the first HARQ-ACK information indicates whether data or signal are received on the first set of time slots from the first cell, and wherein the second HARQ-ACK information indicates whether data or signal are received on the second set of time slots from the second cell.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the HARQ-ACK information includes a first HARQ-ACK information concatenated with a second HARQ-ACK information, wherein the first HARQ-ACK information indicates whether data or signals are received on the first set of time slots from the first cell, and wherein the second HARQ-ACK information indicates whether data or signals are received on the second set of time slots from the second cell.
15. A wireless communication method, comprising:
configuring, by a network device, a first cell and a second cell for cell switching, and slots pattern between the first cell and the second cell;
configuring, by the network device, the second cell for a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) information,
wherein at least two positions of at least two time slots associated with the first cell overlaps with a second time slot associated with the second cell, and
wherein the second time slot is configured for the transmission of the HARQ ACK information; and
receiving, by the network device, the HARQ ACK information associated with a plurality of time slots,
wherein the plurality of time slots are associated with the first cell and the second cell based on at least one position of the at least two positions of the at least two time slots and a set of values associated with the first cell,
wherein the HARQ-ACK information is received in the second time slot of the second cell.
19. A wireless communication method, comprising:
configuring, by a network device, a first cell and a second cell for cell switching, and slots pattern between the first cell and the second cell;
configuring, by the network device, the second cell for a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) information,
wherein a position of a first time slot associated with the first cell overlaps with a second time slot associated with the second cell, and
wherein the second time slot is configured for the transmission of the HARQ ACK information; and
receiving, by the network device, the HARQ ACK information associated with a plurality of time slots,
wherein the plurality of time slots are associated with the first cell and the second cell based on the position of the first time slot and a set of values associated with the first cell,
wherein the HARQ-ACK information is received in the second time slot of the second cell.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining the plurality of time slots is performed based on the at least two positions of the at least two time slots, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell overlaps with two or more time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell.
14. The non-transitory computer readable program storage medium of claim 13, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell overlaps with one time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining the plurality of time slots is performed based on one position of one time slot from the at least two time slots, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell overlaps with two or more time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell.
16. The non-transitory computer readable program storage medium of claim 13, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell overlaps with two or more time slots from the second set of time slots of the second cell.
19. A network device for wireless communication comprising one or more processors configured to cause the network device to implement a method, the network device is caused to:
configure a first cell and a second cell for cell switching, and slots pattern between the first cell and the second cell;
configure the second cell for a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) information,
wherein at least two positions of at least two time slots associated with the first cell overlaps with a second time slot associated with the second cell, and
wherein the second time slot is configured for the transmission of the HARQ ACK information; and
receive the HARQ ACK information associated with a plurality of time slots,
wherein the plurality of time slots are associated with the first cell and the second cell based on at least one position of the at least two positions of the at least two time slots and a set of values associated with the first cell,
wherein the HARQ-ACK information is received in the second time slot of the second cell.
19. A wireless communication method, comprising:
configuring, by a network device, a first cell and a second cell for cell switching, and slots pattern between the first cell and the second cell;
configuring, by the network device, the second cell for a transmission of a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) information,
wherein a position of a first time slot associated with the first cell overlaps with a second time slot associated with the second cell, and
wherein the second time slot is configured for the transmission of the HARQ ACK information; and
receiving, by the network device, the HARQ ACK information associated with a plurality of time slots,
wherein the plurality of time slots are associated with the first cell and the second cell based on the position of the first time slot and a set of values associated with the first cell,
wherein the HARQ-ACK information is received in the second time slot of the second cell.
20. The network device of claim 19, wherein the determine the plurality of time slots is performed based on the at least two positions of the at least two time slots, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell overlaps with two or more time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the plurality of time slots includes a first set of time slots associated with the first cell and a second set of time slots associated with the second cell, and wherein each time slot from the first set of time slots of the first cell overlaps with one time slot from the second set of time slots of the second cell.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten, amended or properly filing an electronic Terminal Disclaimer to overcome the nonstatutory double patenting rejection, set forth in this Office action. None of the prior art teaches determining, by a communication device that is configured to communicate with a first cell and a second cell, at least two positions of at least two time slots associated with the first cell that overlap with a time slot associated with the second cell, and determining, for the HARQ-ACK information, a plurality of time slots associated with the first cell and the second cell based on at least one position of the at least two positions of the at least two time slots and a set of values associated with the first cell.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Huang et al. (US-20190306841) teaches a method and apparatus are disclosed from the perspective of a UE (User Equipment). In one embodiment, the method includes the UE being configured with a first cell. The method further includes the UE being configured with a second cell. The method includes the UE changing active downlink BWP (Bandwidth Part) of the first cell from a first downlink BWP to a second downlink BWP, wherein a first occasion in the first cell is prior to finishing the change of active downlink BWP of the first cell, and a second occasion in the second cell is prior to finishing the change of active downlink BWP of the first cell. In addition, the method includes the UE transmitting an uplink signal in a slot on the first cell after the change of active downlink BWP, wherein the uplink signal comprises HARQ-ACK (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Acknowledgment) associated with the second occasion and not associated with the first occasion. (Abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN J TABONE JR whose telephone number is (571)272-3827. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 AM to 7 PM EST.
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/JOHN J TABONE JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2111 07/24/2026
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