DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Applicant’s RCE filed 1/5/26 is acknowledged.
Claim 1, 9, 11, and 18 are amended.
Claims 1-6 and 8-20 are pending.
Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome each and every 35 U.S.C. 112(a) rejection previously set forth in the Final Office Action mailed 10/3/2025.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 1, 9, and 18 (pages 1-3) in a reply filed 1/5/2026 have been considered but are moot because the arguments are based on newly changed limitations in the amendment and new ground of rejections using newly introduced references or a newly introduced portion of an existing reference are applied in the current rejection.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/5/26 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chou et al. US 20180227886 (hereinafter “Chou”) in view of Fukui WO 2007108073 (hereinafter “Fukui”, citations are from the attached translation document)
As to claim 1 and 18 (claim 1 is the method claim for the system in claim 18):
Chou discloses:
A method for multi-user ("one or more UEs", Chou [0054]) physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) ("PDCCH", Chou [0060]) beamforming (“beamforming", Chou [0060]), the method comprising: communicating, by a node configured to wirelessly communicate with one or more UEs ("The base station can communicate with one or more UEs in the radio communication system", Chou [0054]), a transmission to a first UE of the one or more UEs, the transmission including a first signal and a first orthogonal code; and communicating, by the node configured to wirelessly communicate with the one or more UEs, the transmission to the second UE of the one or more UEs, the transmission including a second signal and a second orthogonal code, ("RSs of different UEs are allocated at the same resource (“e.g. time and frequency) element, and separated by orthogonal codes", Chou [FIG. 9A]) (Examiner’s Note: each UE is separated by orthogonal code as shown in FIG. 9A; therefore, there can be multiple PDCCH)
wherein the first signal and the second signal are communicated by the node via a single PDCCH beam, (“Since UE2 and UE3 use the same refine beam (e.g., refine beam 1-1 in FIG. 7A), TRP1 may schedule them together within the same sub-frame with frequency and/or time diversity", Chou [0101]) wherein the first orthogonal code and the second orthogonal code allow the first UE to distinguish and interpret the first signal and the second signal communicated via the single PDCCH beam, ("RSs of different UEs are allocated at the same resource (“e.g. time and frequency) element, and separated by orthogonal codes", Chou [FIG. 9A]) (“As shown in FIG. 9A, the resource allocation of the second stage DCI indicated by the first stage DCI, and the second stage DCI, for all the UEs may be transmitted in the same resources. As shown in FIG. 9A, RSs 940A, 940B, and 940C (collectively referred to as RSs 940) precoded with the respective UE-specific second stage DCIs 920A, 920B, and 920C (collectively referred to as UE-specific second station DCIs 920) are transmitted in the same resource (e.g., time and frequency) element, where the RSs are separated by orthogonal codes, for example. Since the second stage DCI may contain the UE-specific RSs for demodulation, all of the UEs can decode their corresponding second stage DCI by using their corresponding UE-specific RS”, Chou [0109]) (Examiner’s Note: since UE-specific signals are separated by orthogonal codes, it’s implied that the orthogonal code is used to differentiate each signal within the same beam)
Chou as described above does not explicitly teach:
and wherein the first UE distinguishes that the first signal is intended for the first UE by receiving a result of the first signal when multiplying the first signal by the first orthogonal code.
However, Fukui further teaches distinguishing signals by multiplying each signal by respective orthogonal codes which includes:
and wherein the first UE distinguishes that the first signal is intended for the first UE by receiving a result of the first signal when multiplying the first signal by the first orthogonal code. (“FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which an orthogonal code is used for control information and a control information area is shared by a plurality of UEs. For example, in the second subframe, frequency group # 3 and frequency group # 4 are used to simultaneously transmit control information to UE4 and UE5. At this time, each control information is multiplied by a different orthogonal code, and each UE is preliminarily notified to extract only the signal addressed to itself by using the orthogonal code V. Can do.”, Fukui [0029]) (“Note that the frequency width (number of subcarriers) occupied by the control information is fixed as in the above-described embodiment. Also, regardless of whether the control information area is shared by multiple UEs, the control information is always multiplied by an orthogonal code. As a result, the terminal performs reception and decoding processing on the premise that orthogonal codes are always multiplied, and there is no need to perform prior notification of the presence or absence of orthogonal codes. The processing of the present embodiment can be realized by performing spreading processing using orthogonal codes in the modulation Z transmission unit 14 and performing despreading processing in the reception Z demodulation unit 21.”, Fukui [0031])
Chou and Fukui are analogous because they pertain to UEs decoding signals transmitted by a base station.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include distinguishing signals by multiplying each signal by respective orthogonal codes as described in Fukui et al. into Chou. By modifying the method to include distinguishing signals by multiplying each signal by respective orthogonal codes as taught by Fukui, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]) and improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]) are achieved.
As to claim 2:
Chou discloses:
The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating, by the node (“UEs to communicate the TRP", Chou [0096]), an indication to the first UE and the second UE that the node supports more than one UE via the single beam.( "UE2 and UE3 may obtain the scheduling information of their data channels for themselves and/or for each other in the second stage DCI (e.g., in second stage DCI 820A in FIG. 8A) within refine beam 1-1", Chou [0100])
As to claim 3:
Chou discloses:
The method of claim 1, further comprising, receiving, at the node, a signal from the first UE. (“the UE notifies the TRP", Chou [0115])
As to claim 5:
Chou discloses:
The method of claim 1, further comprising, receiving, at the node, a signal from the second UE. (“the UE notifies the TRP", Chou [0115])
As to claim 9:
Claim 9 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1 from the perspective of the UE.
As to claim 10:
Chou discloses:
The method of claim 9, further comprising determining, at the first UE which of the first signal or the second signal was intended for the first UE.( "All UEs can decode their corresponding data with their beam-specific RSs precoded with the corresponding second stage DCIs" Chou [0101])
As to claim 15:
Chou discloses:
The method of claim 9, further comprising communicated ("transmitted", Chou [0109]), to the node ("TRP1", Chou [0101]), a third signal from the first UE comprising the first orthogonal code. (“RSs of different UEs are allocated at the same resource (e.g. time and frequency) element, and separated by orthogonal codes", Chou [FIG. 9A])
As to claim 16:
Chou discloses:
The method of claim 9, wherein the first UE generates the first orthogonal code and communicates the first orthogonal code to the node. (“exemplary actions the UEs to communicate with the TRP", Chou [FIG. 9B]) ("RSs of different UEs are allocated at the same resource (e.g. time and frequency) element, and separated by orthogonal codes" Chou [FIG. 9A])
As to claim 17:
Chou discloses:
The method of claim 9, wherein the node generates the first orthogonal code and communicates the first orthogonal code to the first UE. ("exemplary actions the UEs to communicate with the TRP", Chou [FIG. 9B]) ("RSs of different UEs are allocated at the same resource (e.g. time and frequency) element, and separated by orthogonal codes", Chou [FIG. 9A])
Claim(s) 4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chou in view of Fukui, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Aldabahi et al. US 11342973 (hereinafter “Aldabahi”)
As to claim 4:
The combination of Chou and Fukui as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 3, further comprising interpreting, at the node, the signal communicated by the first UE by multiplying the signal by the first orthogonal code.
However, Aldabahi further teaches orthogonal code multiplication which includes:
The method of claim 3, further comprising interpreting (“identifies", Aldabahi [27]), at the node ("base station (BS)", Aldabahi [27]), the signal communicated by the first UE by multiplying the signal by the first orthogonal code. ("These codes are reciprocal at the mobile station (MS) and the base station (BS). Therefore, when a signal is received at the base station (BS), it is basically receiving one codeword. The BS multiplies the received codeword (appearing in the weights of the antennas) by all four codewords in order to retrieve the unique codeword and its affiliated beam in the bundle. As a result, the base station (BS) now identifies the direction with the highest signal level", Aldabahi [27])
Chou, Fukui, and Aldabahi are analogous because they pertain to communicating using orthogonal code.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include orthogonal code multiplication as described in Aldalbhi into Chou as modified by Fukui. By modifying coding scheme to include orthogonal code multiplication as taught by Aldalbahi, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]), improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]), and enhanced signal quality (Aldalbahi [16]) are achieved.
As to claim 6:
The combination of Chou and Fukui as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 5, further comprising interpreting, at the node, the signal communicated by the second UE by multiplying the signal by the second orthogonal code.
However, Aldabahi further teaches orthogonal code multiplication which includes:
The method of claim 5, further comprising interpreting (“identifies", Aldabahi [27]), at the node ("base station (BS)", Aldabahi [27]), the signal communicated by the second UE by multiplying the signal by the second orthogonal code. ("These codes are reciprocal at the mobile station (MS) and the base station (BS). Therefore, when a signal is received at the base station (BS), it is basically receiving one codeword. The BS multiplies the received codeword (appearing in the weights of the antennas) by all four codewords in order to retrieve the unique codeword and its affiliated beam in the bundle. As a result, the base station (BS) now identifies the direction with the highest signal level", Aldabahi [27])
Chou, Fukui, and Aldabahi are analogous because they pertain to communicating using orthogonal code.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include orthogonal code multiplication as described in Aldalbhi into Chou as modified by Fukui. By modifying coding scheme to include orthogonal code multiplication as taught by Aldalbahi, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]), improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]), and enhanced signal quality (Aldalbahi [16]) are achieved.
As to claim 11:
The combination of Chou and Fukui as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 10, wherein the determining ("distinguishable signals are generated", Aldabahi [14]) comprises: upon determining the result is not zero, determining the first signal was intended for the first UE. ("At the MS side, the received signals are multiplied (correlated) by all the codes, then the signal that results in the highest correlation indicates signals of interest (SoI) that need to be demodulated and retrieved. Meanwhile, the received signals that result in zero cross-correlation are discarded (for other users)", Aldabahi [14])
Chou, Fukui, and Aldabahi are analogous because they pertain to multi-beam data transmission.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include orthogonal code multiplication as described in Aldalbhi into Chou as modified by Fukui. By modifying coding scheme to include orthogonal code multiplication as taught by Aldalbahi, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]), improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]), and enhanced signal quality (Aldalbahi [16]) are achieved.
As to claim 12:
The combination of Chou and Fukui as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 10, wherein the determining comprises: multiplying the first signal by the second orthogonal code; and upon determining the result is zero, determining the first signal was not intended for the first UE.
However, Aldabahi further teaches orthogonal code multiplication which includes:
The method of claim 10, wherein the determining ("distinguishable signals are generated", Aldabahi [14]) comprises: multiplying the first signal by the second orthogonal code; and upon determining the result is zero, determining the first signal was not intended for the first UE. ("At the MS side, the received signals are multiplied (correlated) by all the codes, then the signal that results in the highest correlation indicates signals of interest (SoI) that need to be demodulated and retrieved. Meanwhile, the received signals that result in zero cross-correlation are discarded (for other users)", Aldabahi [14])
Chou, Fukui, and Aldabahi are analogous because they pertain to communicating using orthogonal code.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include orthogonal code multiplication as described in Aldalbhi into Chou as modified by Fukui. By modifying coding scheme to include orthogonal code multiplication as taught by Aldalbahi, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]), improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]), and enhanced signal quality (Aldalbahi [16]) are achieved.
As to claim 13:
The combination of Chou and Fukui as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 10, wherein the determining comprises: multiplying the second signal by the second orthogonal code; and upon determining the result is not zero, determining the second signal was intended for the first UE.
However, Aldabahi further teaches orthogonal code multiplication which includes:
The method of claim 10, wherein the determining ("distinguishable signals are generated", Aldabahi [14]) comprises: multiplying the second signal by the second orthogonal code; and upon determining the result is not zero, determining the second signal was intended for the first UE. ("At the MS side, the received signals are multiplied (correlated) by all the codes, then the signal that results in the highest correlation indicates signals of interest (SoI) that need to be demodulated and retrieved. Meanwhile, the received signals that result in zero cross-correlation are discarded (for other users)", Aldabahi [14])
Chou, Fukui, and Aldabahi are analogous because they pertain to communicating using orthogonal code.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include orthogonal code multiplication as described in Aldalbhi into Chou as modified by Fukui. By modifying coding scheme to include orthogonal code multiplication as taught by Aldalbahi, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]), improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]), and enhanced signal quality (Aldalbahi [16]) are achieved.
As to claim 14:
The combination of Chou and Fukui as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 10, wherein the determining comprises: multiplying the second signal by the first orthogonal code; and upon determining the result is zero, determining the second signal was not intended for the first UE.
However, Aldabahi further teaches orthogonal code multiplication which includes:
The method of claim 10, wherein the determining ("distinguishable signals are generated", Aldabahi [14]) comprises: multiplying the second signal by the first orthogonal code; and upon determining the result is zero, determining the second signal was not intended for the first UE. ("At the MS side, the received signals are multiplied (correlated) by all the codes, then the signal that results in the highest correlation indicates signals of interest (SoI) that need to be demodulated and retrieved. Meanwhile, the received signals that result in zero cross-correlation are discarded (for other users)", Aldabahi [14])
Chou, Fukui, and Aldabahi are analogous because they pertain to communicating using orthogonal code.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include orthogonal code multiplication as described in Aldalbhi into Chou as modified by Fukui. By modifying coding scheme to include orthogonal code multiplication as taught by Aldalbahi, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]), improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]), and enhanced signal quality (Aldalbahi [16]) are achieved.
As to claim 19:
The combination of Chou and Fukui as described above does not explicitly teach:
The system of claim 18, further comprising: receiving, at the node, a signal from the first UE; and interpreting, at the node, the signal communicated by the first UE by multiplying the signal by the first orthogonal code.
However, Aldabahi further teaches orthogonal code multiplication which includes:
The system of claim 18, further comprising: receiving, at the node, a signal from the first UE ("a signal is received at the base station (BS)", Aldabahi [27]); and interpreting (“identifies", Aldabahi [27]), at the node ("base station (BS)", Aldabahi [27]), the signal communicated by the first UE by multiplying the signal by the first orthogonal code. ("These codes are reciprocal at the mobile station (MS) and the base station (BS). Therefore, when a signal is received at the base station (BS), it is basically receiving one codeword. The BS multiplies the received codeword (appearing in the weights of the antennas) by all four codewords in order to retrieve the unique codeword and its affiliated beam in the bundle. As a result, the base station (BS) now identifies the direction with the highest signal level", Aldabahi [27])
Chou, Fukui, and Aldabahi are analogous because they pertain to communicating using orthogonal code.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include orthogonal code multiplication as described in Aldalbhi into Chou as modified by Fukui. By modifying coding scheme to include orthogonal code multiplication as taught by Aldalbahi, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]), improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]), and enhanced signal quality (Aldalbahi [16]) are achieved.
As to claim 20:
The combination of Chou and Fukui as described above does not explicitly teach:
The system of claim 18, further comprising: receiving, at the node, a signal from the second UE; and interpreting, at the node, the signal communicated by the second UE by multiplying the signal by the second orthogonal code.
However, Aldabahi further teaches orthogonal code multiplication which includes:
The system of claim 18, further comprising: receiving, at the node, a signal from the second UE; and interpreting (“identifies", Aldabahi [27]), at the node ("base station (BS)", Aldabahi [27]), the signal communicated by the second UE by multiplying the signal by the second orthogonal code. ("These codes are reciprocal at the mobile station (MS) and the base station (BS). Therefore, when a signal is received at the base station (BS), it is basically receiving one codeword. The BS multiplies the received codeword (appearing in the weights of the antennas) by all four codewords in order to retrieve the unique codeword and its affiliated beam in the bundle. As a result, the base station (BS) now identifies the direction with the highest signal level", Aldabahi [27]) (“The beamformer architecture shown in FIG. 2 is based on upon a uniform circular array (UCA) with an identical radiation pattern of symmetric beamwidth in all spatial directions (no beam broadening in the end-fire direction), i.e., providing similar signal levels to mobile stations (MSs) at different locations with high directivities.”, Aldabahi [28]) (claim 5, Aldabahi)
Chou, Fukui, and Aldabahi are analogous because they pertain to communicating using orthogonal code.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include orthogonal code multiplication as described in Aldalbhi into Chou as modified by Fukui. By modifying coding scheme to include orthogonal code multiplication as taught by Aldalbahi, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]), improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]), and enhanced signal quality (Aldalbahi [16]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chou in view of Fukui, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhou et al. US 20220030519 (hereinafter “Zhou”)
As to claim 8:
The combination of Chou and Fukui as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 1, wherein the first UE is in closer proximity to the node relative to the second UE.
However, Zhou further teaches relative location of UEs which includes:
The method of claim 1, wherein the first UE is in closer proximity to the node relative to the second UE. ("UE 115-d and UE 115-e may be closer in proximity to base station 105-b relative to UE 115-f, UE 115-g, and UE 115-h", Zhou [0119])
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include relative location of UEs as described in Zhou into Chou as modified by Fukui. By modifying the relative location of UEs as taught by Zhou, the benefits of improved transmission latency and power efficiency (Chou [0008]), improved communication with multiple UEs (Fukui [0031]), and improved data rate (Zhou [0048]) are achieved.
Conclusion
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/A.C.K./
Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471