DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA (or AIA ) first to invent provisions.
Response to Amendment
- The amendment filed on February 25, 2026 has been entered.
- Claims 1-2, 55-59, 61-63, 82-84, 86, 88-90 and 109 are pending.
- Claims 1-2, 55-59, 61-63, 82-84, 86, 88-90 and 109 are 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, 55, 61-63, 82, 88-90 and 109 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan et al. (Pub. No. US 2021/0112498 A1; hereinafter Duan) in view of Zhang (Pub. No. US 2023/0058830 A1) and, further in view of Nam et al. (Pub. No. US 2019/0349972 A1; hereinafter Nam).
Regarding Claims 1 and 55, Duan teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory(See ¶0068, The controller/processor 359 can be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data) and, configured to cause the UE to: report a capability of the UE indicating a supported Sounding Reference Signals transmission port switching, (See ¶0094, the scheduling of SRS resources may depend on the antenna switching capabilities reported by the UE to the base station; See ¶0057, The antenna switching capability may include at least a number of receive (RX) antenna ports of the UE 104 or a number of transmit (TX) chains of the UE 104 switchably coupled to two or more of the RX antenna ports) wherein the capability includes 1T6R, 2T6R, 4T6R, 1T8R, 2T8R and 4T8R (table 1, has list of capabilities; 2021/0112498 a1; See ¶0094, a UE may report only the number of TX chains with antenna switching capabilities (or the number of TX chains that are switchably coupled to two or more RX antenna ports). For example, a UE having 6 RX antenna ports and 2 TX chains, where only 1 of the TX chain is switchably coupled to multiple RX antenna ports, may report its antenna switching capability as 1T6R; a UE having 8RX antenna ports and 4 TX chains, where only 2 or 4 of the TX chains are switchably coupled to multiple RX antenna ports, may report its antenna switching capability as 2T8R or 4T8R, respectively) receive (Figure 11A, item 1104, receiving a schedule for a number of sounding reference signal resource sets based on the reported antenna switching capability) the SRS configuration indicating, for each SRS resource set of one or more SRS resource sets configured to comprise one or more SRS resources for antenna switching, one or more SRS resources and an association between the one or more SRS ports and one or more antenna ports of the UE, (See ¶0088, a UE having 8 RX antenna ports and a number (x) of TX chains switchably coupled to the RX antenna ports (xT8R) may require 8/x, 4/x, or 2/x SRS resource sets to sound all 8 antenna ports when transmitting 1, 2, or 4 SRS resources, respectively, per SRS resource set; table 2, explains the relationship between the SRS resource and srs ports) and indicating, for each srs resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets, (See ¶0076, he scheduling may be performed using RRC signaling. Each SRS resource set is provided in a different UL slot and includes one or more SRS resources.) a guard period comprising one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, (See ¶0082, SRS resource set configuration 400B of FIG. 4B, a first SRS resource (SRS 1) may be provided in symbol 9, a second SRS resource (SRS 2) may be provided in symbol 11, and a guard period is inserted (in symbol 10) between the two SRS resources; See ¶0059, The symbols on DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also referred to as single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power limited scenarios; limited to a single stream transmission); interpreted that since uplink and downlink symbols are ofdm then guard period symbols for the switching between ul and dl are ofdm) the one or more SRS ports and the association between the one or more SRS ports and the one or more antenna ports of the UE and one or two OFDM symbols of the guard period are based on the capability (See ¶0059, he symbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also referred to as single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols); See ¶0081, guard period is inserted between individual SRS resources (not shown for simplicity) to allow time for the TX chains of the UE to switch between different RX antenna ports; See ¶0088, a UE having 8 RX antenna ports and a number (x) of TX chains switchably coupled to the RX antenna ports (xT8R) may require 8/x, 4/x, or 2/x SRS resource sets to sound all 8 antenna ports when transmitting 1, 2, or 4 SRS resources, respectively, per SRS resource set; table 2, explains the relationship between the SRS resource and srs ports); interpreted that the base station needs to know the UE has the capability switching antennas in order for the base station to configure a guard period; See ¶0082, e SRS resource set configuration 400B of FIG. 4B, a first SRS resource (SRS 1) may be provided in symbol 9, a second SRS resource (SRS 2) may be provided in symbol 11, and a guard period is inserted (in symbol 10) between the two SRS resources) and transmit one or more SRS resources according to the SRS configuration. (See ¶0128, transmitting, to the network node, one or more SRS resources for each of the scheduled SRS resource sets.) when the capability is 1T6R: each SRS resource in the one SRS resource set corresponds to a single SRS port of the one or more SRS ports (table 2, srs resources and 1 srs resource set for 1T6R; 1 SRS port per srs resource) and each SRS port of the one or more SRS ports is associated with a different antenna port of the UE; (See ¶0074, Each RX antenna port of a particular UE may correspond to a different communication channel; with each SRS resource having a single port and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port) and when the capability is 2T6R: each SRS resource in the one SRS resource set corresponds to a respective pair of SRS ports of the one or more SRS ports, (table 2, 2T6R, 2 SRS ports per SRS resource; discloses 3 resource per set) and the respective pair of SRS ports of each SRS resource is associated with a different antenna port pair of the UE; (See ¶0074, with each SRS resource having two ports and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port)
Duan fails to disclose when the capability is 1T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, the one SRS resource set is configured with six SRS resources, the six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols, and when the capability is 2T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, the one SRS resource set is configured with three SRS resources, the three SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols,
Zhang discloses when the capability is 1T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, (See ¶0045, For 1T6R, the SRS resource set is configured to be periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent) the one SRS resource set is configured with six SRS resources, (See ¶0044, when the transmit-receive port information corresponds to M=1 and N=6 (i.e., 1T6R), the target configuration information includes one SRS resource set, and the SRS resource set contains six SRS resources) the six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols, (See ¶0084, SRS resources in the same SRS resource set may be transmitted on different symbols) and when the capability is 2T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, (See ¶0048, For 2T6R, the SRS resource set is configured to be periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent) the one SRS resource set is configured with three SRS resources, (See ¶0096, when the transmit-receive port information corresponds to M=2 and N=6 (i.e., 2T6R), the target configuration information includes one SRS resource set, and the SRS resource set contains three SRS resources) the three SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols, (See ¶0084, optionally, SRS resources in the same SRS resource set may be transmitted on different symbols)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Duan to include the configuration information is transmitted by the base station. The motivation to combine is SRS resources are allocated for different antenna combinations, respectively achieving SRS resource configuration for 1T6R, 2T6R, 4T6R, 1T8R, 2T8R, and 4T8R, to enlarge the transmit-receive channel matrix and effectively improve the flexibility of the scheduling of the base station (See ¶0039).
Duan in view of Zhang fails to disclose the UE refrains from transmitting any other signal in the guard period in a case the one or more SRS resources are transmitted in a same slot, and wherein the guard period comprises one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols between every two SRS resources of an SRS resource set transmitted in the different symbols
Nam discloses the UE refrains from transmitting any other signal in the guard period in a case the one or more SRS resources are transmitted in a same slot and wherein the guard period comprises one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols between every two SRS resources of an SRS resource set transmitted in the different symbols (See ¶0076, SRS resources in a set are generally transmitted by a UE in the same slot, but separated by a guard period. During a guard period, the UE does not transmit any other signal, which allows for transition and settling time (e.g., between transmitting and receiving or between changing antenna configurations); the guard period may include Y or at least Y intervening OFDM symbols that separate the SRS resource transmissions; Fig. 7A- 7C, guard between srs1 and srs2); See ¶0095, the first SRS (SRS 1) resource at symbol index 10 is separated from the second SRS resource (SRS 2) at symbol index 12 by the guard period at symbol index 11)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify guard period is used for antenna switching to include the other signals are not transmitted in the guard period. The motivation to combine it is to efficient switch between UL to DL without causing interference.
Regarding Claim 61 and 88, Duano discloses each SRS resource in the 1 SRS resource set consists of corresponds to a single SRS port of the one or more SRS ports, (table 2, srs resources and 1 srs resource set for 1T6R; 1 srs port per srs resource) and each SRS port of the one or more SRS ports is associated with a different antenna port of the UE. (See ¶0074, Each RX antenna port of a particular UE may correspond to a different communication channel; with each SRS resource having a single port and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port)
Duan fails to disclose the capability is 1T6R: 1 SRS resource set is configured with a resource type set as aperiodic, the 1 SRS resource set is configured with 6 SRS resources, the 6 SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols in one slot
Zhang discloses the capability is 1T6R: (2023/0058830 a1-See ¶0044, when the transmit-receive port information corresponds to M=1 and N=6 (i.e., 1T6R)) 1 SRS resource set is configured with a resource type set as aperiodic, the 1 SRS resource set is configured with 6 SRS resources, (See ¶0044, the target configuration information includes one SRS resource set, and the SRS resource set contains six SRS resources, the SRS resource set occupies one slot unit; See ¶0081, SRS resource set can be configured to be aperiodic) the 6 SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols in one slot, (See ¶0084, SRS resources in the same SRS resource set may be transmitted on different symbols; See ¶0093, one SRS resource set, and the SRS resource set contains six SRS resources, the SRS resource set occupies one slot unit)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Duan to include the configuration information is transmitted by the base station. The motivation to combine is SRS resources are allocated for different antenna combinations, respectively achieving SRS resource configuration for 1T6R, 2T6R, 4T6R, 1T8R, 2T8R, and 4T8R, to enlarge the transmit-receive channel matrix and effectively improve the flexibility of the scheduling of the base station (See ¶0039).
Regarding Claims 62 and 89, Duan discloses the 2 SRS resource sets are each configured with 3 SRS resources, (2021/0112498-Table 2, shows that there are 2 srs resource sets are configured with 3 srs resources each; See ¶0083, 6 RX antenna ports presents several unique scenarios for sounding all 6 antenna ports depending on the number (x) of TX chains switchably coupled to the RX antenna ports (xT6R) and the maximum number of SRS resources that can be scheduled in each SRS resource set is 3) 6 SRS resources are transmitted in 2 different slots, (See ¶0049, Each SRS resource set is provided in a different UL slot and includes one or more SRS resources; Table 2, shows that there are 2 srs resource sets are configured with 3 srs resources each; See ¶0083, 6 RX antenna ports presents several unique scenarios for sounding all 6 antenna ports depending on the number (x) of TX chains switchably coupled to the RX antenna ports (xT6R) and the maximum number of SRS resources that can be scheduled in each SRS resource set is 3) and a respective SRS port of the one or more SRS ports corresponding to each SRS resource in each of the 2 SRS resource sets is associated with a different antenna port of the UE. (Table 1, 1T6R has 1 srs port per srs resource 2 SRS resource set; See ¶0074, Each RX antenna port of a particular UE may correspond to a different communication channel; with each SRS resource having a single port and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port)
Duan fails to teach when the capability is 1T6R: 2 SRS resource sets are configured with each resource type set as aperiodic, all resources are transmitted in different symbols
Zhang discloses the capability is 1T6R: (See ¶0091, when the transmit-receive port information corresponds to M=1 and N=6 (i.e., 1T6R)) 2 SRS resource sets are configured with each resource type set as aperiodic, (2023/0058830-See ¶0091, the target configuration information includes two SRS resource sets; See ¶0175, each SRS resource set to be aperiodic) all resources are transmitted in different symbols (See ¶0085, all SRS resources in all SRS resource sets may be transmitted on different symbols)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Duan to include the configuration information is transmitted by the base station. The motivation to combine is SRS resources are allocated for different antenna combinations, respectively achieving SRS resource configuration for 1T6R, 2T6R, 4T6R, 1T8R, 2T8R, and 4T8R, to enlarge the transmit-receive channel matrix and effectively improve the flexibility of the scheduling of the base station (See ¶0039).
Regarding Claims 63 and 90, Duan discloses a respective SRS port of the one or more SRS ports corresponding to each SRS resource in the 3 SRS resource sets is associated with a different antenna port of the UE (Table 1, 1 SRS port per SRS resources 3 SRS resource sets; See ¶0074, Each RX antenna port of a particular UE may correspond to a different communication channel; with each SRS resource having a single port and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port)
Duan fails to disclose when the capability is 1T6R: 3 SRS resource sets are configured with each resource type set as aperiodic, the 3 SRS resource sets are each configured with 2 SRS resources, 6 SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols of 3 different slots
Zhang discloses when the capability is 1T6R: 3 SRS resource sets are configured with each resource type set as aperiodic, (2023/0058830-See ¶0090, three SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set contains two SRS resources; See ¶0175, each SRS resource set to be aperiodic) the 3 SRS resource sets are each configured with 2 SRS resources, (See ¶0090, three SRS resource sets, and each SRS resource set contains two SRS resources) 6 SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols of 3 different slots, (See ¶0090, the three SRS resource sets occupy three different slot units; See ¶0085, all SRS resources in all SRS resource sets may be transmitted on different symbols)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Duan to include the configuration information is transmitted by the base station. The motivation to combine is SRS resources are allocated for different antenna combinations, respectively achieving SRS resource configuration for 1T6R, 2T6R, 4T6R, 1T8R, 2T8R, and 4T8R, to enlarge the transmit-receive channel matrix and effectively improve the flexibility of the scheduling of the base station (See ¶0039).
Regarding Claim 82, Duan teaches a base unit for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory (See ¶0072, The controller/processor 375 can be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data) and configured to cause the base unit to: receive a report, (See ¶0094, the scheduling of SRS resources may depend on the antenna switching capabilities reported by the UE to the base station) wherein the report includes a capability of a user equipment (UE) indicating a supported Sounding Reference Signals transmission port switching, (See ¶0094, the scheduling of SRS resources may depend on the antenna switching capabilities reported by the UE to the base station; See ¶0057, The antenna switching capability may include at least a number of receive (RX) antenna ports of the UE 104 or a number of transmit (TX) chains of the UE 104 switchably coupled to two or more of the RX antenna ports) wherein the capability includes at least one of 1T6R, 2T6R, 4T6R, 1T8R, 2T8R and 4T8R (2021/0112498 a1; See ¶0094, a UE may report only the number of TX chains with antenna switching capabilities (or the number of TX chains that are switchably coupled to two or more RX antenna ports). For example, a UE having 6 RX antenna ports and 2 TX chains, where only 1 of the TX chain is switchably coupled to multiple RX antenna ports, may report its antenna switching capability as 1T6R; a UE having 8RX antenna ports and 4 TX chains, where only 2 or 4 of the TX chains are switchably coupled to multiple RX antenna ports, may report its antenna switching capability as 2T8R or 4T8R, respectively) determine an SRS configuration according to the report (See ¶0078, reported antenna switching capabilities may affect the scheduling of SRS resource sets by the base station. For example, a UE reporting 4 TX chains with switching capabilities may be configured to transmit SRS resources having 1, 2, or 4 ports. On the other hand, a UE reporting more than 4 TX chains with switching capabilities may be configured to transmit SRS resources having more than 4 ports.) and configure one or more SRS resource sets each comprising one or more SRS resources for antenna switching; (See ¶0128, one or more SRS resources for each of the scheduled SRS resource sets; See ¶0094, the scheduling of SRS resources may depend on the antenna switching capabilities reported by the UE to the base station) transmit the SRS configuration (block 1104, the process 1100 proceeds with receiving a schedule for a number of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets based on the reported antenna switching capability) and receive one or more SRS resources according to the SRS configuration. (See ¶0128, transmitting, to the network node, one or more SRS resources for each of the scheduled SRS resource sets.) the SRS configuration indicating, for each SRS resource set of one or more SRS resource sets configured to comprise one or more SRS resources for antenna switching, one or more SRS resources and an association between the one or more SRS ports and one or more antenna ports of the UE, (See ¶0088, a UE having 8 RX antenna ports and a number (x) of TX chains switchably coupled to the RX antenna ports (xT8R) may require 8/x, 4/x, or 2/x SRS resource sets to sound all 8 antenna ports when transmitting 1, 2, or 4 SRS resources, respectively, per SRS resource set; table 2, explains the relationship between the SRS resource and srs ports) and indicating, for each srs resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets, (See ¶0076, he scheduling may be performed using RRC signaling. Each SRS resource set is provided in a different UL slot and includes one or more SRS resources.) a guard period comprising one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, (See ¶0082, SRS resource set configuration 400B of FIG. 4B, a first SRS resource (SRS 1) may be provided in symbol 9, a second SRS resource (SRS 2) may be provided in symbol 11, and a guard period is inserted (in symbol 10) between the two SRS resources; See ¶0059, The symbols on DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also referred to as single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power limited scenarios; limited to a single stream transmission); interpreted that since uplink and downlink symbols are ofdm then guard period symbols for the switching between ul and dl are ofdm) the one or more SRS ports and the association between the one or more SRS ports and the one or more antenna ports of the UE and one or two OFDM symbols of the guard period are based on the capability (See ¶0059, he symbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also referred to as single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols); See ¶0081, guard period is inserted between individual SRS resources (not shown for simplicity) to allow time for the TX chains of the UE to switch between different RX antenna ports; See ¶0088, a UE having 8 RX antenna ports and a number (x) of TX chains switchably coupled to the RX antenna ports (xT8R) may require 8/x, 4/x, or 2/x SRS resource sets to sound all 8 antenna ports when transmitting 1, 2, or 4 SRS resources, respectively, per SRS resource set; table 2, explains the relationship between the SRS resource and srs ports); interpreted that the base station needs to know the UE has the capability switching antennas in order for the base station to configure a guard period; See ¶0082, e SRS resource set configuration 400B of FIG. 4B, a first SRS resource (SRS 1) may be provided in symbol 9, a second SRS resource (SRS 2) may be provided in symbol 11, and a guard period is inserted (in symbol 10) between the two SRS resources) when the capability is 1T6R: each SRS resource in the one SRS resource set corresponds to a single SRS port of the one or more SRS ports (table 2, srs resources and 1 srs resource set for 1T6R; 1 SRS port per srs resource) and each SRS port of the one or more SRS ports is associated with a different antenna port of the UE; (See ¶0074, Each RX antenna port of a particular UE may correspond to a different communication channel; with each SRS resource having a single port and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port) and when the capability is 2T6R: each SRS resource in the one SRS resource set corresponds to a respective pair of SRS ports of the one or more SRS ports, (table 2, 2T6R, 2 SRS ports per SRS resource; discloses 3 resource per set) and the respective pair of SRS ports of each SRS resource is associated with a different antenna port pair of the UE; (See ¶0074, with each SRS resource having two ports and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port)
Duan fails to disclose when the capability is 1T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, the one SRS resource set is configured with six SRS resources, the six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols, and when the capability is 2T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, the one SRS resource set is configured with three SRS resources, the three SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols,
Zhang discloses when the capability is 1T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, (See ¶0045, For 1T6R, the SRS resource set is configured to be periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent) the one SRS resource set is configured with six SRS resources, (See ¶0044, when the transmit-receive port information corresponds to M=1 and N=6 (i.e., 1T6R), the target configuration information includes one SRS resource set, and the SRS resource set contains six SRS resources) the six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols, (See ¶0084, SRS resources in the same SRS resource set may be transmitted on different symbols) and when the capability is 2T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, (See ¶0048, For 2T6R, the SRS resource set is configured to be periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent) the one SRS resource set is configured with three SRS resources, (See ¶0096, when the transmit-receive port information corresponds to M=2 and N=6 (i.e., 2T6R), the target configuration information includes one SRS resource set, and the SRS resource set contains three SRS resources) the three SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols, (See ¶0084, optionally, SRS resources in the same SRS resource set may be transmitted on different symbols)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Duan to include the configuration information is transmitted by the base station. The motivation to combine is SRS resources are allocated for different antenna combinations, respectively achieving SRS resource configuration for 1T6R, 2T6R, 4T6R, 1T8R, 2T8R, and 4T8R, to enlarge the transmit-receive channel matrix and effectively improve the flexibility of the scheduling of the base station (See ¶0039).
Duan in view of Zhang fails to disclose the UE refrains from transmitting any other signal in the guard period in a case the one or more SRS resources are transmitted in a same slot, and wherein the guard period comprises one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols between every two SRS resources of an SRS resource set transmitted in the different symbols
Nam discloses the UE refrains from transmitting any other signal in the guard period in a case the one or more SRS resources are transmitted in a same slot and wherein the guard period comprises one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols between every two SRS resources of an SRS resource set transmitted in the different symbols (See ¶0076, SRS resources in a set are generally transmitted by a UE in the same slot, but separated by a guard period. During a guard period, the UE does not transmit any other signal, which allows for transition and settling time (e.g., between transmitting and receiving or between changing antenna configurations); the guard period may include Y or at least Y intervening OFDM symbols that separate the SRS resource transmissions; Fig. 7A- 7C, guard between srs1 and srs2); See ¶0095, the first SRS (SRS 1) resource at symbol index 10 is separated from the second SRS resource (SRS 2) at symbol index 12 by the guard period at symbol index 11)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify guard period is used for antenna switching to include the other signals are not transmitted in the guard period. The motivation to combine it is to efficient switch between UL to DL without causing interference.
Regarding claim 109, Duan discloses a method performed by a base unit, the method comprising: Receiving, report, wherein the report includes a capability of the UE indicating a supported Sounding Reference Signals transmission port switching, (See ¶0094, the scheduling of SRS resources may depend on the antenna switching capabilities reported by the UE to the base station; See ¶0057, The antenna switching capability may include at least a number of receive (RX) antenna ports of the UE 104 or a number of transmit (TX) chains of the UE 104 switchably coupled to two or more of the RX antenna ports) wherein the capability includes 1T6R, 2T6R, 4T6R, 1T8R, 2T8R and 4T8R (table 1, has list of capabilities; 2021/0112498 a1; See ¶0094, a UE may report only the number of TX chains with antenna switching capabilities (or the number of TX chains that are switchably coupled to two or more RX antenna ports). For example, a UE having 6 RX antenna ports and 2 TX chains, where only 1 of the TX chain is switchably coupled to multiple RX antenna ports, may report its antenna switching capability as 1T6R; a UE having 8RX antenna ports and 4 TX chains, where only 2 or 4 of the TX chains are switchably coupled to multiple RX antenna ports, may report its antenna switching capability as 2T8R or 4T8R, respectively) determining the SRS configuration according to the report (See ¶0094, the scheduling of SRS resources may depend on the antenna switching capabilities reported by the UE to the base station) and configuration, (Figure 11A, item 1104, receiving a schedule for a number of sounding reference signal resource sets based on the reported antenna switching capability) one or more SRS resource sets each comprising one or more SRS resources for antenna switching, one or more SRS resources and an association between the one or more SRS ports and one or more antenna ports of the UE, (See ¶0088, a UE having 8 RX antenna ports and a number (x) of TX chains switchably coupled to the RX antenna ports (xT8R) may require 8/x, 4/x, or 2/x SRS resource sets to sound all 8 antenna ports when transmitting 1, 2, or 4 SRS resources, respectively, per SRS resource set; table 2, explains the relationship between the SRS resource and srs ports) and indicating, for each srs resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets, (See ¶0076, he scheduling may be performed using RRC signaling. Each SRS resource set is provided in a different UL slot and includes one or more SRS resources.) a guard period comprising one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, (See ¶0082, SRS resource set configuration 400B of FIG. 4B, a first SRS resource (SRS 1) may be provided in symbol 9, a second SRS resource (SRS 2) may be provided in symbol 11, and a guard period is inserted (in symbol 10) between the two SRS resources; See ¶0059, The symbols on DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also referred to as single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power limited scenarios; limited to a single stream transmission); interpreted that since uplink and downlink symbols are ofdm then guard period symbols for the switching between ul and dl are ofdm) the one or more SRS ports and the association between the one or more SRS ports and the one or more antenna ports of the UE and one or two OFDM symbols of the guard period are based on the capability (See ¶0059, he symbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also referred to as single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols); See ¶0081, guard period is inserted between individual SRS resources (not shown for simplicity) to allow time for the TX chains of the UE to switch between different RX antenna ports; See ¶0088, a UE having 8 RX antenna ports and a number (x) of TX chains switchably coupled to the RX antenna ports (xT8R) may require 8/x, 4/x, or 2/x SRS resource sets to sound all 8 antenna ports when transmitting 1, 2, or 4 SRS resources, respectively, per SRS resource set; table 2, explains the relationship between the SRS resource and srs ports); interpreted that the base station needs to know the UE has the capability switching antennas in order for the base station to configure a guard period; See ¶0082, e SRS resource set configuration 400B of FIG. 4B, a first SRS resource (SRS 1) may be provided in symbol 9, a second SRS resource (SRS 2) may be provided in symbol 11, and a guard period is inserted (in symbol 10) between the two SRS resources)
when the capability is 1T6R: each SRS resource in the one SRS resource set corresponds to a single SRS port of the one or more SRS ports (table 2, srs resources and 1 srs resource set for 1T6R; 1 SRS port per srs resource) and each SRS port of the one or more SRS ports is associated with a different antenna port of the UE; (See ¶0074, Each RX antenna port of a particular UE may correspond to a different communication channel; with each SRS resource having a single port and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port) and when the capability is 2T6R: each SRS resource in the one SRS resource set corresponds to a respective pair of SRS ports of the one or more SRS ports, (table 2, 2T6R, 2 SRS ports per SRS resource; discloses 3 resource per set) and the respective pair of SRS ports of each SRS resource is associated with a different antenna port pair of the UE; (See ¶0074, with each SRS resource having two ports and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port)
Duan fails to disclose when the capability is 1T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, the one SRS resource set is configured with six SRS resources, the six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols, and when the capability is 2T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, the one SRS resource set is configured with three SRS resources, the three SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols,
Zhang discloses when the capability is 1T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, (See ¶0045, For 1T6R, the SRS resource set is configured to be periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent) the one SRS resource set is configured with six SRS resources, (See ¶0044, when the transmit-receive port information corresponds to M=1 and N=6 (i.e., 1T6R), the target configuration information includes one SRS resource set, and the SRS resource set contains six SRS resources) the six SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols, (See ¶0084, SRS resources in the same SRS resource set may be transmitted on different symbols) and when the capability is 2T6R: one SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets is configured with a resource type set as periodic or semi-persistent, (See ¶0048, For 2T6R, the SRS resource set is configured to be periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent) the one SRS resource set is configured with three SRS resources, (See ¶0096, when the transmit-receive port information corresponds to M=2 and N=6 (i.e., 2T6R), the target configuration information includes one SRS resource set, and the SRS resource set contains three SRS resources) the three SRS resources are transmitted in different symbols, (See ¶0084, optionally, SRS resources in the same SRS resource set may be transmitted on different symbols)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Duan to include the configuration information is transmitted by the base station. The motivation to combine is SRS resources are allocated for different antenna combinations, respectively achieving SRS resource configuration for 1T6R, 2T6R, 4T6R, 1T8R, 2T8R, and 4T8R, to enlarge the transmit-receive channel matrix and effectively improve the flexibility of the scheduling of the base station (See ¶0039).
Duan in view of Zhang fails to disclose the UE refrains from transmitting any other signal in the guard period in a case the one or more SRS resources are transmitted in a same slot, and wherein the guard period comprises one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols between every two SRS resources of an SRS resource set transmitted in the different symbols
Nam discloses the UE refrains from transmitting any other signal in the guard period in a case the one or more SRS resources are transmitted in a same slot and wherein the guard period comprises one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols between every two SRS resources of an SRS resource set transmitted in the different symbols (See ¶0076, SRS resources in a set are generally transmitted by a UE in the same slot, but separated by a guard period. During a guard period, the UE does not transmit any other signal, which allows for transition and settling time (e.g., between transmitting and receiving or between changing antenna configurations); the guard period may include Y or at least Y intervening OFDM symbols that separate the SRS resource transmissions; Fig. 7A- 7C, guard between srs1 and srs2); See ¶0095, the first SRS (SRS 1) resource at symbol index 10 is separated from the second SRS resource (SRS 2) at symbol index 12 by the guard period at symbol index 11)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify guard period is used for antenna switching to include the other signals are not transmitted in the guard period. The motivation to combine it is to efficient switch between UL to DL without causing interference.
Claim(s) 2, 56 and 83 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan in view Zhang, Nam and GO et al. (Pub. No. US 2022/0224444 A1; hereinafter Go).
Regarding Claims 2 and 56, Duan in view of Zhang and Nam fails to disclose the processor is further configured to: report one or more guard symbols for antenna switching, wherein the one or more guard symbols comprise 0, 1 or 2 symbols.
Go discloses report one or two OFDM symbols of the guard period for antenna switching (See ¶0079, the number subcarriers included in a radio frame, the number of slots included in a radio frame, the number of slots included in a subframe an the number of OFDM symbols; See ¶0272, A UE may report, to a base station, whether a gap symbol is necessary in the antenna switching operation. In the present disclosure, the gap symbol means a symbol in which an SRS is not transmitted, and may also be denoted a guard period or a guard symbol.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Duan in view of Zhang and Nam to include reporting a guard period to switch the antenna from transmitting to receive. The motivation to combine is a guard symbol attributable to the antenna switching can be minimized and the waste of resources can be reduced (See ¶0033).
Regarding Claim 83, Duan in view of Zhang and Nam fails to disclose to receive a further report, wherein the further report includes one or more guard symbols for antenna switching, wherein the one or more guard symbols comprise 0, 1 or 2 symbols.
Go discloses receive a further report, wherein the further report includes one or more guard symbols for antenna switching, wherein the one or more guard symbols comprise 0, 1 or 2 symbols. (See ¶0272, A UE may report, to a base station, whether a gap symbol is necessary in the antenna switching operation. In the present disclosure, the gap symbol means a symbol in which an SRS is not transmitted, and may also be denoted a guard period or a guard symbol.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system disclosed by Duan in view of Mano and Nam to include reporting a guard period to switch the antenna from transmitting to receive. The motivation to combine is a guard symbol attributable to the antenna switching can be minimized and the waste of resources can be reduced (See ¶0033).
Claim(s) 57-59, 84 and 86 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Duan in view of Mano, Nam and Zhang et al. (Pub. No US 2019/0281588 A1; hereinafter Zhang2).
Regarding Claim 57, Duan in view of Zhang and Nam fails to disclose the processor is further configured to: receive an activation command through one or more of a Media Access Control Control Element or Downlink Control Information, wherein the activation command is configured to activate at least one SRS resource within the one or more SRS resource sets used for antenna switching with a resource type set as aperiodic.
Zhang2 discloses receive an activation command through one or more of a Media Access Control Control Element or Downlink Control Information, (See ¶0156, MAC CE is used for activation when the A/D field is set to 1) wherein the activation command is configured to activate at least one SRS resource within the one or more SRS resource sets used for antenna switching with a resource type set as aperiodic. (See ¶0156, Resource ID reference to the first SRS resource within the aperiodic SRS resource set; MAC CE is used for activation when the A/D field is set to 1; See ¶0036, An individual SRS resource can be used for different purposes: antenna switching)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system reporting capability to the base station to include the base station transmits an activation command to the UE. The motivation to combine is efficiency reduce the time delay of generating information and efficiency of activating or deactivating the SRS resource set is improved (See ¶0038).
Regarding Claim 58, Duan in view of Zhang and Nam fails to disclose the activation command includes a bitmap in which each bit corresponds to 1 an SRS resource, and wherein a bit in the bitmap indicates an SRS resource corresponding to the bit is activated when the bit is set to 1 or an SRS resource corresponding to the bit is deactivated when the bit is set to 0.
Zhang2 discloses the activation command includes a bitmap in which each bit corresponds to 1 an SRS resource, and wherein a bit in the bitmap indicates an SRS resource corresponding to the bit is activated when the bit is set to 1 or an SRS resource corresponding to the bit is deactivated when the bit is set to 0. (2019/0281588 a1-See ¶0153, The A/D field has a length of 1 bit and indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set. The field is set to 1 to indicate activation, otherwise it indicates deactivation)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system reporting capability to the base station to include the base station transmits an activation command to the UE. The motivation to combine is efficiency reduce the time delay of generating information and efficiency of activating or deactivating the SRS resource set is improved (See ¶0038).
Regarding Claims 59 and 86, Duan in view of Zhang and Nam fails to disclose processor is further configured to: receive a Downlink Control Information containing a non-zero SRS request field; and transmit activated SRS resources associated with a value of the received SRS request field.
Zhang2 discloses receive a Downlink Control Information containing a non-zero SRS request field; (2019/0281588 a1-See ¶0058, The 2-bit SRS request field in DCI format 0_1, 1_1 indicates the triggered SRS resource set, and the 2-bit SRS request field in DCI format 2_3 indicates the triggered SRS resource set) and transmit activated SRS resources associated with a value of the received SRS request field. (See ¶0056, UE 101 receives a DCI triggering aperiodic SRS in slot n, the UE 101 transmits aperiodic SRS in each of the triggered SRS resource set(s) in slot)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system reporting capability to the base station to include the base station transmits an activation command to the UE. The motivation to combine is efficiency reduce the time delay of generating information and efficiency of activating or deactivating the SRS resource set is improved (See ¶0038).
Regarding Claim 84, Duan in view of Zhang and Nam fails to disclose transmit an activation command through one or more of a Media Access Control Element or Downlink Control Information, wherein the activation command is configured to activate one or more SRS resources of configured SRS resources within the one or more SRS resource sets used for antenna switching with a resource type set as aperiodic.
Zhang2 discloses transmit (Figure 2, base station transmitting the MAC CE to the UE) an activation command through one or more of a Media Access Control Element or Downlink Control Information, (2019/0281588 a1-See ¶0156, This field is only present if MAC CE is used for activation, for example, when the A/D field is set to 1) wherein the activation command is configured to activate one or more SRS resources of configured SRS resources within the one or more SRS resource sets used for antenna switching with a resource type set as aperiodic. (See ¶0153, The A/D field has a length of 1 bit and indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set. The field is set to 1 to indicate activation, otherwise it indicates deactivation; See ¶0036, An individual SRS resource can be used antenna switching.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and system reporting capability to the base station to include the base station transmits an activation command to the UE. The motivation to combine is efficiency reduce the time delay of generating information and efficiency of activating or deactivating the SRS resource set is improved (See ¶0038).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed toward claims 1, 55, 82 and 109 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues Duan, Zhang, and Nam-alone or in any combination-do not teach or suggest "receiving an SRS configuration indicating,.. . for each SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets, a guard period comprising one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, wherein the one or more SRS ports and the association between the one or more SRS ports, the one or more antenna ports of the UE, and the one or two OFDM symbols of the guard period are based on the capability. Examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant. Duan disclose receiving an SRS configuration indicating,… for each SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets, (See ¶0076, he scheduling may be performed using RRC signaling. Each SRS resource set is provided in a different UL slot and includes one or more SRS resources) a guard period comprising one or two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols (See ¶0082, SRS resource set configuration 400B of FIG. 4B, a first SRS resource (SRS 1) may be provided in symbol 9, a second SRS resource (SRS 2) may be provided in symbol 11, and a guard period is inserted (in symbol 10) between the two SRS resources; See ¶0059, The symbols on DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) OFDM (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also referred to as single carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power limited scenarios; limited to a single stream transmission); interpreted that since uplink and downlink symbols are ofdm then guard period symbols for the switching between ul and dl are ofdm) and the one or two OFDM symbols of the guard period are based on the capability (See ¶0081, guard period is inserted between individual SRS resources (not shown for simplicity) to allow time for the TX chains of the UE to switch between different RX antenna ports; See ¶0082, SRS resource set configuration 400B of FIG. 4B, a first SRS resource (SRS 1) may be provided in symbol 9, a second SRS resource (SRS 2) may be provided in symbol 11, and a guard period is inserted (in symbol 10); interpreted that the base station needs to know the UE has the capability switching antennas in order for the base station to configure a guard period)
wherein the one or more SRS ports (table 2, srs resources and 1 srs resource set for 1T6R; 1 SRS port per srs resource) and the association between the one or more SRS ports, the one or more antenna ports of the UE, (See ¶0074, Each RX antenna port of a particular UE may correspond to a different communication channel; with each SRS resource having a single port and each SRS port being associated with a different RX antenna port)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Jongren et al. (Pub. No. US 2023/0036989 A1)-See ¶0039, two SRS resources from the same SRS resource set are transmitted in different OFDM symbols of the same slot. The resources are either 1-port or 2- port for the case of either 1T2R (1 TX chain and 2 RX chains) or 2T4R, respectively. Different antenna ports are mapped to different resources. A guard period of at least one symbol is required due to the transient effects of the power when antennas are switched. Both cases with and without repetition factor are illustrated, in left and right of example 10-1 a, respectively.
Kim et al. (Pub. No. US 2020/0204323 A1)-See ¶0020, for a UE 102 configured with one or more SRS resource configuration(s), and when the higher layer parameter resourceType in SRS-Resource is set to ‘aperiodic’: the UE 102 receives a configuration of SRS resource sets, and the UE 102 receives a downlink DCI, a group common DCI, or an uplink DCI based command where a codepoint of the DCI may trigger one or more SRS resource set(s). For SRS in a resource set with usage set to ‘codebook’ or ‘antenna Switching’, the minimal time interval between the last symbol of the PDCCH triggering the aperiodic SRS transmission and the first symbol of SRS resource is N2. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TEJIS DAYA whose telephone number is (571)270-7817. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30-4:30.
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/Tejis Daya/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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