UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`
`
`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`PO. Box 1450
`Alexandria, Virginia 2231371450
`www.uspto.gov
`
`15/773,528
`
`05/03/2018
`
`Ayako Horiuchi
`
`733456.564USPC
`
`6309
`
`Seed IP Law Group LLP/Panason1e (PIPCA)
`701 5th Avenue, Suite 5400
`Seattle, WA 98104
`
`RIVAS' RAUL
`
`PAPER NUMBER
`
`ART UNIT
`
`2471
`
`NOTIFICATION DATE
`
`DELIVERY MODE
`
`03/ 1 9/2021
`
`ELECTRONIC
`
`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
`
`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
`
`Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above—indicated "Notification Date" to the
`
`following e—mail address(es):
`US PTOeACtion @ SeedIP .Com
`
`pairlinkdktg @ seedip .eom
`
`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`

`

`017/09 A0170” Summary
`
`Application No.
`15/773,528
`Examiner
`Raul Rivas
`
`Applicant(s)
`Horiuchi et al.
`Art Unit
`2471
`
`AIA (FITF) Status
`Yes
`
`- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet wit/7 the correspondence address -
`Period for Reply
`
`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE 3 MONTHS FROM THE MAILING
`DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing
`date of this communication.
`|f NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`-
`- Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
`Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term
`adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
`
`Status
`
`1). Responsive to communication(s) filed on 12/21/2020.
`III A declaration(s)/affidavit(s) under 37 CFR 1.130(b) was/were filed on
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`2a)D This action is FINAL.
`
`2b)
`
`This action is non-final.
`
`3)[:] An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview
`on
`; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.
`
`4)[:J Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is
`closed in accordance with the practice under Expade Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
`
`Disposition of Claims*
`
`5)
`
`Claim(s)
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`11,15—20,24—28 and 30—31 is/are pending in the application.
`
`5a) Of the above claim(s)
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`is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`
`
`
`[I Claim(ss)
`
`is/are allowed.
`
`8)
`Claim(s 11 ,15—20, 24—28 and 30—31 is/are rejected.
`
`[:l Claim(ss_) is/are objected to.
`
`) ) ) )
`
`S)
`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement
`E) Claim(s
`* If any claims have been determined aflowable. you may be eligible to benefit from the Patent Prosecution Highway program at a
`
`participating intellectual property office for the corresponding application. For more information, please see
`
`http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init events/pph/index.jsp or send an inquiry to PPeredback@uspto.gov.
`
`Application Papers
`
`10)[:| The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
`
`is/are: a)C] accepted or b)l:] objected to by the Examiner.
`11)[:] The drawing(s) filed on
`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).
`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
`
`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
`
`12)D Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).
`Certified copies:
`
`a)D All
`
`b)[:] Some**
`
`c)l:] None of the:
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`1C] Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`
`2.[:] Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No.
`
`3D Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage
`application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
`
`** See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
`
`Attachment(s)
`
`1) [3 Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`
`Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08a and/or PTO/SB/08b)
`2)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date_
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`
`3) E] Interview Summary (PTO-413)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date
`4) CI Other-
`
`PTOL-326 (Rev. 11-13)
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`Part of Paper No./Mai| Date 20210311
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/773,528
`Art Unit: 2471
`
`Page 2
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`DETAILED ACTION
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`Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
`
`1.
`
`The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined
`
`under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA.
`
`2.
`
`This action is in response to the communication filed on 12/21/2020.
`
`Response to Arguments
`
`3.
`
`Applicant's arguments filed on 12/21/2020 with respect to claim(s) 20 and the
`
`similarly amended independent claims have been considered but are moot in view of
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`the new ground(s) of rejection. Upon further consideration, the cited prior art
`
`reference(s) Suzuki et al. (U.S. Pub. 20150358124) does address the new amended
`
`limitations set forth within independent claim(s) 20. Therefore, new rejections have been
`
`formulated to address the limitations as set forth in independent claim 20 and the
`
`similarly amended independent claims rendering the applicant's remarks/arguments and
`
`amendments filed on 12/21/2020 moot.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/773,528
`Art Unit: 2471
`
`Page 3
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`Claim Rejections — 35 USC § 102
`
`4.
`
`The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that
`
`form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
`
`A person shall be entitled to a patent unless —
`(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on
`sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
`
`5.
`
`Claims 11, 15-16, 18-20, 24-25, 27-28 and 30-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.
`
`102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki et al. (U.S. Pub. 20150358124).
`
`Regarding claim 20 Suzuki disclose a communication method, comprising:
`
`receiving downlink control information (DCI) mapped to one or more
`
`Physical Resource Block (PRB) sets among a plurality of PRB sets (para. 12,
`
`wherein in a case where downlink control information with a certain payload size and
`
`mapped to a certain set of resource elements is received using an EPDCCH candidate
`
`corresponding to one of the two EPDCCH-PRB-sets);
`
`mapping an ACK/NACK signal to a Physical Uplink Control Channel
`
`(PUCCH) resource, the ACK/NACK signal being generated based on a detection
`
`result of data indicated by the DCI (para. 12, wherein in a case where a first ECCE
`
`number of the detected EPDCCH candidate is used for determining the PUCCH
`
`resource used by the transmission unit for transmitting HARQ-ACK, the first ECCE
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/773,528
`Art Unit: 2471
`
`Page 4
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`number is determined based on the first EPDCCH-PRB-set, while in a case where the
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`two EPDCCH candidates corresponding to the respective two EPDCCH-PRB-sets are
`
`mapped to the same set of resource elements); and
`
`transmitting the ACK/NACK signal, (para. 171, the mobile station apparatus 1
`
`determines a PUCCH resource used for transmission of HARQ-ACK corresponding to a
`
`transport block received on a PDSCH),
`
`wherein the plurality of PRB sets include a first PRB set having a first
`
`plurality of ECCEs and (para. 12, while in a case where the two EPDCCH candidates
`
`corresponding to the respective two EPDCCH-PRB-sets are mapped to the same set of
`
`resource elements, at least the two EPDCCH candidates corresponding to the
`
`respective two EPDCCH-PRB-sets are mapped starting with a resource element in a
`
`same OFDM symbol) a second PRB set having a second plurality of ECCEs
`
`different from the first plurality of ECCEs (para. 12, wherein in a case where a first
`
`ECCE number of the detected EPDCCH candidate is used for determining the PUCCH
`
`resource used by the transmission unit for transmitting HARQ-ACK, the first ECCE
`
`number is determined based on the first EPDCCH-PRB-set),
`
`for the first PRB set, an index to the PUCCH resource is determined based
`
`on a first ECCE index in which the DCI is mapped and which is offset by a higher
`
`layer signaling (para. 173, N.sup.(e1).sub.PUCCH,q is a parameter/offset value of a
`
`higher layer which is set for EPDCCH-PRB-set q.) and determined without adding a
`
`PRB value to a first ECCE index (para. 154, 171, FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a
`
`correspondence between a PUCCH resource index and a PUCCH resource. In FIG. 13,
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/773,528
`Art Unit: 2471
`
`Page 5
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`m is a number for identifying a physical resource block to which a PUCCH resource
`
`corresponds. n.sup.(1,p).sub.PUCCH is an index of a PUCCH resource corresponding
`
`to an antenna port p, n.sup.(p).sub.OC an orthogonal sequence index for the antenna
`
`port p, and n.sup.(p).sub.OS is a cyclic shift index for the antenna port p. (...). The
`
`mobile station apparatus 1 determines a PUCCH resource used for transmission of
`
`HARQ-ACK corresponding to a transport block received on a PDSCH on the basis of at
`
`least N.sub.ECCE)
`
`for the second PRB set, an index to the PUCCH resource is determined
`
`based on the PRB value and which is offset by a higher layer signaling (para. 173,
`
`N.sup.(e1).sub.PUCCH,q is a parameter/offset value of a higher layer which is set for
`
`EPDCCH-PRB-set q.) and a second ECCE index in which the PCI is mapped (para.
`
`182, a parameter/offset corresponding to the EPDCCH-PRB-set 2 and selects a
`
`resource for a PUCCH based on the selected parameter/offset value, and a
`
`transmission unit that transmits HARQ-ACK using the selected PUCCH resource),
`
`the PRB value is determined based on a total number of ECCEs in the first
`
`plurality of ECCEs included in the first PRB set (para. 172, the mobile station
`
`apparatus 1 determines a PUCCH resource using a parameter/offset value
`
`N.sup.(e1).sub.PUCCH, q to which EPDCCH-PRB-set q corresponds).
`
`Regarding claim 24 Suzuki disclose wherein for the first PRB set or the
`
`second PRB set the index to the PUCCH resource is determined based on a
`
`repetition level offset which is common for a same repetition level, the repetition
`
`level offset being indicated by the higher layer signaling (para. 189, in a case
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/773,528
`Art Unit: 2471
`
`Page 6
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`where the DCI format is detected in the EREG, the mobile station apparatus 1
`
`determines a PUCCH resource using a parameter N.sup.(e1).sub.PUCCH,1 for the
`
`EPDCCH-PRB-set 1. In this case, the base station apparatus 3 tries to receive HARQ-
`
`ACK using the PUCCH resource determined using the parameter
`
`N.sup.(e1).sub.PUCCH,1 for the EPDCCH-PRB-set1).
`
`Regarding claim 25 Suzuki disclose wherein the DCI is mapped to the one or
`
`more PRB sets by prioritizing a frequency direction over a time direction (para.
`
`163, Note that in a single SC-FDMA symbol, z.sup.(p) (*) are mapped sequentially to
`
`subcarriers in ascending order of subcarrier numbers).
`
`Regarding claim 27 Suzuki disclose wherein for the second PRB set the
`
`index to the PUCCH resource is determined by assuming the second ECCE index
`
`is 0 when the DCI is received on multiple PRB sets (para. 173, Fig. 9, shows at least
`
`two PRB-set, where both are considering the case that the first and second ECCE index
`
`is 0).
`
`Regarding claim 28 Suzuki disclose wherein the PRB value is selected from
`
`multiple values (para. 173, the mobile station apparatus 1 determines a PUCCH
`
`resource using a parameter/offset value N.sup.(e1).sub.PUCCH,q to which EPDCCH-
`
`PRB-set q corresponds).
`
`Regarding claim 30 Suzuki disclose wherein the first PRB set and the second
`
`PRB set are contiguous PRBs (para. 163, the mobile station apparatus 1 maps, in a
`
`sub-frame, the block z.sup.(p) (*) of the modulation symbol to SC-FDMA symbols of [0,
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/773,528
`Art Unit: 2471
`
`Page 7
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`1, 5, 6] in the first slot and then to SC-FDMA symbols of [0, 1, 5, 6] in the second slot.
`
`Note that in a single SC-FDMA symbol, z.sup.(p) (*) are mapped sequentially to
`
`subcarriers in ascending order of subcarrier numbers).
`
`Regarding claim 31 Suzuki disclose wherein, for the second PRB set, the
`
`index to the PUCCH resource is determined by adding the PRB value to the
`
`second ECCE index (para. 131, For example, ECCE 0 in EPDCCH-PRB-set 2 includes
`
`EREGs 0,4,8, and 12 in PRB 2).
`
`Claim 11 recites an apparatus corresponding to the method of claim 20 and thus
`
`is rejected under the same reason set forth in the rejection of claim 20.
`
`Regarding claims 15-16 and 18-19 the limitations of claims 12-16 and 18-19,
`
`respectively, are rejected in the same manner as analyzed above with respect to claims
`
`24-25 and 27-28, respectively.
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
`
`6.
`
`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 of this title, 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.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/773,528
`Art Unit: 2471
`
`Page 8
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`7.
`
`Claims 17 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
`
`Suzuki et al. (U.S. Pub. 20150358124) in view of Chae et al. (U.S. Pub. 20150244510).
`
`Regarding claim 26 Suzuki does not specifically disclose wherein, for the
`
`second PRB set the index to the PUCCH resource is determined for distributed
`
`assignment based on:
`
`{lift}?
`rt- w- 3&1:
`PLELH
`ELLE};
`
`.. EN
`+33,
`ARC}
`
`lei}
`N‘K‘ifl‘q and the FRB set ot‘fiet, and whertzim tits:
`
`However Chae teach, (para. 139, This may be efficient when low aggregation levels
`
`(ALs) are concentrated in a localized EPDCCH and high ALs are concentrated in a
`
`distributed EPDCCH. This may be expressed by Equation 4 below
`
`n.sub.PUCCH.sup.(1)=N.sub.PUCCH,n.sup.(1)+f.sub.1(n.sub.ECCE)+.delta..su-
`
`b.ARl.times.n.sub.ARl, for distributed type Equation 4).
`
`for the second PRB set index to the PUCCH resource is determined for
`
`localized assignment based
`
`g1,35,}‘3
`
`”PU-CECE W,59350
`4"“ sits
`
`as
`
`_.i”EECEqj. ’1Ecstaq
`
`‘1‘ ”- +31ARQ+fifPI§fCH5q
`
`{in}
`
`and. the PRES set artifact.
`
`on:
`
`n.sub.PUCCH.sup.(1)=N.sub.PUCCH,n.sup.(1)+f.sub.1(n.sub.ECCE)+.delta..su-
`
`b.AP.times.k.sub.P, for localized type.
`
`

`

`Application/Control Number: 15/773,528
`Art Unit: 2471
`
`Page 9
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`Suzuki and Chae are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless
`
`communication networks and, more specifically, to managing resources.
`
`Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at
`
`the time the invention was made to combine the teachings of Chae in the system of
`
`Suzuki so the use of the available resources are decided based on the concentration of
`
`aggregation levels on localized or distributed EPDCCH. The motivation for doing so
`
`would have been to efficiently managing the available resources.
`
`Regarding claim 17 the limitations of claim 17 are rejected in the same manner
`
`as analyzed above with respect to claim 26.
`
`Conclusion
`
`8.
`
`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
`
`examiner should be directed to RAUL RIVAS whose telephone number is (571)270—
`
`5590. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday — Friday, from 8:30am to
`
`5:00pm.
`
`If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s
`
`supervisor, Chi Pham can be reached on (571) 272—3179. The fax phone number for
`
`the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571—273—8300.
`
`Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the
`
`Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for
`
`published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR.
`
`

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`Application/Control Number: 15/773,528
`Art Unit: 2471
`
`Page 10
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`Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only.
`
`For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair—direct.uspto.gov. Should
`
`you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic
`
`Business Center (EBC) at 866—217—9197 (toll—free).
`
`If you would like assistance from a
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`USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information
`
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`
`/RR/
`
`Examiner, Art Unit 2471
`
`/CHI H PHAM/
`
`Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
`
`