IP Verse

Physical Uplink Shared Channel Processing Period

Patent No. US11910404 (titled "Physical Uplink Shared Channel Processing Period") was filed by Peninsula Technologies Llc on Jan 30, 2023.

What is this patent about?

’404 is related to the field of wireless communication, specifically addressing the scheduling of uplink transmissions in cellular networks. In modern cellular systems like LTE and 5G, efficient scheduling is crucial for maximizing throughput and minimizing latency. A key challenge is ensuring that the user equipment (UE) has sufficient time to process the downlink control information (DCI) that grants it uplink resources before it needs to transmit on the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) .

The underlying idea behind ’404 is to optimize uplink scheduling by taking into account the UE's processing capabilities. The base station learns the minimum time a UE needs to process a DCI message and prepare for a PUSCH transmission. This PUSCH processing period is signaled by the UE to the base station. The base station then ensures that it schedules uplink transmissions such that the UE always has at least this minimum processing time.

The claims of ’404 focus on a base station receiving a capability message from a wireless device. This message includes a parameter specifying the minimum time the UE needs to process a DCI assigning uplink resources and prepare for the corresponding PUSCH transmission. The base station then transmits a DCI assigning uplink resources, ensuring that the transmission occurs after a time period that is equal to or greater than the UE's reported minimum PUSCH processing period . Finally, the base station receives the transport block transmitted by the UE.

In practice, the base station uses the UE's reported processing time to avoid scheduling uplink transmissions too aggressively. Without this information, the base station might schedule transmissions that the UE is unable to prepare for in time, leading to dropped packets and reduced throughput. By respecting the UE's processing limitations, the base station ensures that the UE has sufficient time to perform necessary operations like decoding the DCI, configuring its transmitter, and preparing the data for transmission.

This approach differs from prior solutions that may have relied on fixed timing assumptions or generic estimates of UE processing capabilities. By allowing the UE to explicitly signal its processing time, the system can adapt to the specific capabilities of each device. This is particularly important in heterogeneous networks where different UEs may have vastly different processing power. By tailoring the scheduling to each UE's capabilities, the system can achieve more efficient resource utilization and improve overall network performance.

How does this patent fit in bigger picture?

Technical landscape at the time

In the mid-2010s when ’404 was filed, wireless communication systems commonly relied on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and similar multicarrier modulation techniques. At a time when carrier aggregation (CA) was typically implemented using multiple component carriers (CCs), systems commonly relied on techniques for managing timing advance (TA) and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes to ensure reliable data transmission.

Novelty and Inventive Step

The claims were rejected in a non-final office action. The rejection was based on nonstatutory double patenting over another U.S. patent. The examiner stated that the claims were not patentably distinct. The prosecution record does NOT describe the technical reasoning or specific claim changes that led to allowance.

Claims

This patent contains 20 claims, of which claims 1, 11, and 20 are independent. The independent claims are directed to a method, a base station, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium, respectively, all generally relating to managing physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) processing periods between a base station and a wireless device. The dependent claims generally elaborate on and refine the elements and features of the independent claims.

Key Claim Terms New

Definitions of key terms used in the patent claims.

Term (Source)Support for SpecificationInterpretation
Downlink control information (DCI)
(Claim 1, Claim 11, Claim 20)		“The following Acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure: DCI downlink control information.”Information transmitted from the base station to the wireless device that includes a resource assignment for PUSCH transmission.
First physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) processing period
(Claim 1, Claim 11, Claim 20)		“Example embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented using various physical layer modulation and transmission mechanisms. Example transmission mechanisms may include, but are not limited to: CDMA, OFDM, TDMA, Wavelet technologies, and/or the like. Hybrid transmission mechanisms such as TDMA/CDMA, and OFDM/CDMA may also be employed. Various modulation schemes may be applied for signal transmission in the physical layer.”A time duration between the reception of downlink control information (DCI) containing a resource assignment and the PUSCH transmission time of that resource assignment, as reported by the wireless device.
First resource assignment
(Claim 1, Claim 11, Claim 20)		“Example embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented using various physical layer modulation and transmission mechanisms. Example transmission mechanisms may include, but are not limited to: CDMA, OFDM, TDMA, Wavelet technologies, and/or the like. Hybrid transmission mechanisms such as TDMA/CDMA, and OFDM/CDMA may also be employed. Various modulation schemes may be applied for signal transmission in the physical layer.”A resource allocation for uplink transmission, indicated by the first DCI, that occurs after a specific time period.
Transport block
(Claim 1, Claim 11, Claim 20)		“The following Acronyms are used throughout the present disclosure: TB transport block.”A block of data received by the base station from the wireless device via the first resource assignment.
Wireless device capability message
(Claim 1, Claim 11, Claim 20)		“The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication systems and, more particularly, to a technical field of multicarrier communication systems.”A message sent from a wireless device to a base station that includes parameters related to the device's capabilities, specifically regarding PUSCH processing.

Litigation Cases New

US Latest litigation cases involving this patent.

Case NumberFiling DateTitle
2:25-cv-01035Oct 9, 2025Peninsula Technologies, LLC v. T-Mobile USA, Inc.
2:25-cv-01034Oct 9, 2025Peninsula Technologies, LLC v. AT&T Mobility LLC

Patent Family

Patent Family

File Wrapper

The dossier documents provide a comprehensive record of the patent's prosecution history - including filings, correspondence, and decisions made by patent offices - and are crucial for understanding the patent's legal journey and any challenges it may have faced during examination.

  • Date

    Description

  • Get instant alerts for new documents

US11910404

PENINSULA TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Application Number
US18103286
Filing Date
Jan 30, 2023
Status
Granted
Expiry Date
Sep 26, 2037
External Links
Slate, USPTO, Google Patents