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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed January 8, 2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-20 under 35 USC § 102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of 35 USC § 103.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsson et al. (US 20250125927 A1) in view of Huang et al. (US 20250080177 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Nilsson et al. teaches a method, comprising: receiving a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration from a base station at a user equipment (UE), the UE having N antenna groups, N being an integer greater than two, the SRS configuration indicating N SRS resources for the N antenna groups, respectively, the N SRS resources each being associated with an SRS resource indicator (SRI) (Paragraph 163, 165, 172-173, 101, These passages disclose a UE receiving an SRS configuration from a base station that defines multiple SRS resources corresponding to multiple transmit ports (antenna groups) and associates those resources with SRI indications used for identifying the resources); performing SRS transmission using the N SRS resources from the N antenna groups, respectively (Paragraph 74, 165, 169, These passages disclose transmitting SRS based on the configured SRS resources across multiple transmit chains/ports corresponding to antenna groups); and transmitting the PUSCH using two antenna groups of the N antenna groups corresponding to the two SRIs indicated in the DCI and two precoders corresponding to the two TPMIs indicated in the DCI (Paragraph 96, 99, 165, These passages disclose transmitting PUSCH using multiple antenna ports (antenna groups) and corresponding precoders derived from the selected uplink codebook associated with SRS resources).
Nilsson et al. does not explicitly teach receiving a downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the DCI corresponding to a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the DCI indicating two SRIs associated with two of the N SRS resources, the DCI indicating two transmission precoder matrix indicators (TPMIs).
However, Huang et al. teaches receiving a downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the DCI corresponding to a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the DCI indicating two SRIs associated with two of the N SRS resources, the DCI indicating two transmission precoder matrix indicators (TPMIs) (Paragraph 53, 1121, 134, These passages disclose DCI corresponding to a PUSCH grant that includes TPMI fields and SRI fields, and further disclose multiple SRIs in DCI associated with multiple SRS resources, thereby teaching DCI indicating two SRIs (for two SRS resources) and two TPMIs for PUSCH transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide receiving a downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the DCI corresponding to a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the DCI indicating two SRIs associated with two of the N SRS resources, the DCI indicating two transmission precoder matrix indicators (TPMIs) as taught by Huang et al. in the system of Nilsson et al., so that it would enable the base station to explicitly signal the UE which SRS resources and corresponding precoders should be used for multi-antenna PUSCH transmission, thereby improving coordinated uplink beam/precoder selection and efficient utilization of multiple antenna groups configured via the SRS resources.
Regarding claim 2, Nilsson et al. teaches the DCI indicates more than two SRIs associated with more than two of the N SRS resources, and the transmitting includes: transmitting the PUSCH using the more than two antenna groups of the N antenna groups corresponding to the more than two SRIs indicated in the DCI (Paragraph 97, 99, 101, 165-166, The passage teaches DCI-based SRI indication linking SRS resources to PUSCH and further teaches PUSCH transmission using multiple antenna ports/antenna groups via an 8-port codebook corresponding to multiple SRS resources).
Regarding claim 3, Nilsson et al. teaches the DCI further indicates one of co-phasing information of the two antenna groups, and amplitude information of the two antenna groups (Paragraph 96, 97, 99-101, These passages collectively teach that DCI signaling (via SRI and codebook-based precoder selection) conveys antenna port/beamforming parameters for multiple antenna groups).
Regarding claim 4, Nilsson et al. teaches the transmitting the PUSCH includes: transmitting the PUSCH using the two antenna groups based on uplink transmission timings of the two antenna groups derived from the co-phasing information of the two antenna groups (Paragraph 77, 79, 84-85, 96, 99, These passages teach transmitting a PUSCH using multiple antenna groups (via multiple SRS resource groups/codebook ports) with coordinated uplink transmission characteristics defined by comb offsets and cyclic shifts that establish relative phase/timing relationships across the groups).
Regarding claim 5, Nilsson et al. teaches the transmitting the PUSCH includes: transmitting the PUSCH using the two antenna groups based on frequency-domain phase compensations of the two antenna groups derived from the co-phasing information of the two antenna groups (Paragraph 77, 79, 85, 96-97, 99, 164, These passages teach transmitting a PUSCH using multiple antenna groups (via multiple SRS port subsets / resources) with precoding based on SRS-derived spatial/phase characteristics).
Regarding claim 6, Nilsson et al. teaches the amplitude information of the two antenna groups is indicated by two transmit power control (TPC) commands indicated in the DCI, the two TPC commands corresponding to the two antenna groups, respectively (Paragraph 77, 79, 96, 101, These passages collectively teach grouping antenna ports into multiple subsets/resources (corresponding to antenna groups) and using DCI signaling (via SRI field selection/indication per resource) to control which resource/group is used for uplink transmission).
Regarding claim 7, Nilsson et al. teaches receiving a group-based beam measurement report configuration; transmitting a group-based beam measurement report based on the group-based beam measurement report configuration, the group-based beam measurement report being obtained based on measurement of channel-state- information reference signals (CSI-RS) or synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) transmitted from the base station, at least two transmission and reception points (TRPs) of the base station, or at least two TRPs of the base station and another base station; and receiving two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states for an uplink transmission of SRS, PUSCH, or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH),the two TCI states indicating two of the CSI-RS or two of the SSBs transmitted from the base station, the at least two TRPs of the base station, or the at last two TRPs of the base station and the other base station (Paragraph 77, 85, 96, 101, 163, 168, 169, 173, The UE receives a network-provided SRS configuration defining grouped SRS resources/subsets, performs SRS transmissions based on those grouped resources reflecting measurements across multiple spatial resources, and receives uplink control signaling identifying multiple SRS resources (via SRI/DCI) corresponding to different transmission states).
Regarding claim 8, Nilsson et al. teaches the group-based beam measurement report includes: information of downlink beams corresponding to ones of the CSI-RS or SSBs transmitted from the base station, the at least two TRPs of the base station, or the at last two TRPs of the base station and the other base station, or information of the antenna groups corresponding to the downlink beams (Paragraph 77, 78, 163-164, The disclosure of partitioning SRS ports into multiple subsets with distinct transmission characteristics corresponds to grouping antenna resources).
Regarding claim 9, Nilsson et al. teaches receiving a configuration of three SRS resources for UE antenna panel selection and beam measurement, the three SRS resources corresponding to three antenna groups of the N antenna groups, the three SRS resources being associated with three SRIs; transmitting SRS using the three SRS resources from the three antenna groups, respectively; receiving two TCI states indicating two SRIs of the three SRIs associated with the three SRS resources for an uplink transmission of SRS, PUSCH, or PUCCH (Paragraph 77, 85, 101, 163, 169, The passage teaches configuring multiple SRS resources with distinct port subsets corresponding to antenna groups, transmitting SRS based on those resources, and receiving uplink control signaling indicating specific SRIs for uplink transmissions, which collectively reads on the claimed configuration, transmission, and selective SRI indication).
Regarding claim 10, Nilsson et al. teaches a method, comprising: receiving a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration from a base station at a user equipment (UE), the UE having N antenna groups, N being an integer greater than two, the SRS configuration indicating N SRS resources for the N antenna groups, respectively, the N SRS resources each associated with an SRS resource indicator (SRI) (Paragraph 163, 173, 96, 101, These passages teach a UE receiving an SRS configuration from a base station that defines multiple SRS resources (corresponding to multiple antenna ports/groups >2) with SRI association identifying each resource); performing SRS transmission using the N SRS resources from the N antenna groups, respectively (Paragraph 169, 165, 164, These passages teach transmitting SRS signals using multiple configured SRS resources/ports); receiving a first downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, the first DCI scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the first DCI indicating N transmission precoder matrix indicators (TPMIs) corresponding to the N antenna groups, respectively (Paragraph 101, 97, These passages teach receiving DCI that schedules PUSCH and conveys precoding-related information (via SRS-based codebook selection tied to antenna ports)); selecting two antenna groups from the N antenna groups for transmission of the PUSCH (Paragraph 77, 164, These passages teach dividing multiple antenna ports/groups into subsets and using subsets for transmission); and transmitting the PUSCH using the selected two antenna groups with two precoders corresponding to the two TPMIs selected from the N TPMIs indicated in the first DCI (Paragraph 99, 165, 97, These passages teach transmitting PUSCH using selected antenna ports/groups with corresponding precoders from a codebook (i.e., TPMIs), aligning with transmission using selected subsets and associated precoders).
Nilsson et al. does not explicitly teach selecting two TPMIs from the N TPMIs, the selected two TPMIs corresponding to the selected two antenna groups.
However, Huang et al. teaches selecting two TPMIs from the N TPMIs, the selected two TPMIs corresponding to the selected two antenna groups (Paragraph 190, 207, 219, These passages disclose selecting a subset (including a configured number, such as two) of TPMIs from a larger set for UL transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide selecting two TPMIs from the N TPMIs, the selected two TPMIs corresponding to the selected two antenna groups as taught by Huang et al. in the system of Nilsson et al., so that it would enable flexible uplink precoder selection from a larger set of precoding indicators while maintaining compatibility with multi-antenna SRS-based codebook transmission schemes and improving transmission efficiency and adaptability of PUSCH transmissions using selected antenna group subsets.
Regarding claim 11, Nilsson et al. teaches transmitting a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to indicate the selected two antenna groups by indicating two SRIs corresponding to the two selected antenna groups or the selected two TPMIs corresponding to the two selected antenna groups (Paragraph 77, 96, 101, 164, 169, The passage teaches transmitting uplink signaling (control signaling via DCI/UL mechanisms) that includes SRI indications identifying one of multiple configured SRS resources/subsets).
Regarding claim 12, Nilsson et al. teaches the N antenna groups include three antenna groups, and the method further comprises: receiving at least one DCI field indicating: two candidate antenna groups among the three antenna groups, or co-phasing information and amplitude information of the respective two candidate antenna groups (Paragraph 77, 97, 99, 101, 164, These passages collectively teach multiple antenna groups (subsets), DCI indicating selection between two candidate groups/resources, and codebook-based precoding that provides phase and amplitude information for the selected antenna groups).
Regarding claim 13, Nilsson et al. teaches the transmitting includes: transmitting the PUSCH using the selected two antenna groups based on uplink transmission timings or frequency-domain phase compensations of the selected two antenna groups derived from the co-phasing information indicated by the at least one DCI field (Paragraph 77, 79, 85, 97, 99, 164, These passages collectively teach transmitting a PUSCH using multiple (at least two) antenna groupings (subsets of SRS ports) where the transmission (via precoder/codebook selection) is based on phase-related characteristics (cyclic shifts/comb offsets corresponding to frequency-domain phase relationships) derived from SRS-based configuration that informs uplink transmission behavior).
Regarding claim 14, Nilsson et al. teaches the amplitude information of the respective two candidate antenna groups is indicated by two transmit power control (TPC) commands indicated in the respective DCI, the two TPC commands corresponding to the two candidate antenna groups, respectively (Paragraph 98, 101, These passages teach power control parameters (including power control adjustment states and pathloss-based power settings) associated with multiple SRS resources (corresponding to different antenna groups) and explicitly teach DCI signaling identifying respective SRS resources).
Regarding claim 15, Nilsson et al. teaches receiving a group-based beam measurement report configuration; transmitting a group-based beam measurement report based on the group-based beam measurement report configuration, the group-based beam measurement report being obtained based on measurement of channel-state- information reference signals (CSI-RS) ) or synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) transmitted from the base station, at least two transmission and reception points (TRPs) of the base station, or at least two TRPs of the base station and another base station; and receiving two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states indicating two of the CSI-RS or two of the SSBs transmitted from the base station, the at least two TRPs of the base station, or the at last two TRPs of the base station and the other base station for an uplink transmission of SRS, PUSCH, or PUCCH (Paragraph 85, 96, 99, 101, 163, 169, 173, The UE receives a configuration that groups SRS resources/ports into multiple subsets mapped to different spatial resources, transmits SRS based on that configuration across the grouped resources (corresponding to group-based measurements across multiple transmission points), and receives DCI signaling (SRI) selecting between multiple SRS resources for uplink transmission, corresponding to receiving multiple transmission state indications tied to reference signals).
Regarding claim 16, Nilsson et al. teaches receiving a configuration of three SRS resources for UE antenna panel selection and beam measurement, the three SRS resources corresponding to three antenna groups of the N antenna groups, the three SRS resources being associated with three SRIs; transmitting SRS using the three SRS resources from the three antenna groups, respectively; receiving two TCI states indicating two SRIs of the three SRIs associated with the three SRS resources for an uplink transmission of SRS, PUSCH, or PUCCH (Paragraph 77, 96, 101, 163-165, 169, These passages collectively teach receiving an SRS configuration defining multiple SRS resources mapped to different antenna/port groupings with associated SRI indications, transmitting SRS using those configured resources, and receiving control signaling (DCI) indicating selected SRIs for uplink transmission).
Regarding claim 17, Nilsson et al. teaches a method, comprising: receiving a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration from a base station at a user equipment (UE), the UE having three antenna groups, the SRS configuration indicating three groups of SRS resources for the three antenna groups, respectively, each SRS resource of the three groups of SRS resources being associated with an SRS resource indicator (SRI) (Paragraph 86, 163-164, 173, These passages teach receiving an SRS configuration from a base station where the configuration defines multiple grouped SRS resources (subsets/ports mapped to different offsets) each identified/configured (via resource IDs) corresponding to different antenna groupings); performing SRS transmission using the three groups of SRS resources from the three antenna groups, respectively, each SRS resource of the three groups of SRS resources corresponding to a transmission beam (Paragraph 77, 81-85, 169, These passages teach transmitting SRS using multiple configured SRS resource groups mapped to distinct spatial/port configurations (comb offsets/cyclic shifts) that correspond to different transmission beams from different antenna groupings); and transmitting the PUSCH using the transmission beams from two of the at least two antenna groups corresponding to the at least two SRIs, the transmission beams corresponding to two of the at least two SRIs (Paragraph 96-97, 99, These passages teach transmitting PUSCH using multiple antenna ports/beamforming (via codebook selection) corresponding to multiple SRS resources (SRIs), which map to different antenna groups and thus different transmission beams).
Nilsson et al. does not explicitly teach receiving a downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least two SRIs of the SRIs associated with each SRS resource of the three groups of SRS resources, the DCI scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the at least two SRIs corresponding to at least two antenna groups, respectively.
However, Huang et al. teaches receiving a downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least two SRIs of the SRIs associated with each SRS resource of the three groups of SRS resources, the DCI scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the at least two SRIs corresponding to at least two antenna groups, respectively (Paragraph 53, 114, 121, 134, These passages disclose DCI including multiple SRIs corresponding to multiple SRS resources and indicating UL grants for PUSCH transmission, where at least two SRIs are identified in the DCI and correspond to respective SRS resources associated with different antenna transmissions).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide receiving a downlink control information (DCI) indicating at least two SRIs of the SRIs associated with each SRS resource of the three groups of SRS resources, the DCI scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the at least two SRIs corresponding to at least two antenna groups, respectively as taught by Huang et al. in the system of Nilsson et al., so that it would enable the base station to explicitly indicate, via DCI, which SRS-associated transmission beams and corresponding antenna groups are to be used for scheduled PUSCH transmission, thereby improving uplink scheduling control and supporting efficient multi-antenna beam-based uplink transmissions.
Regarding claim 18, Nilsson et al. teaches the at least two SRIs include three SRIs corresponding to the three antenna groups, respectively, and the method further includes: selecting two antenna groups from the three antenna groups, the selected two antenna groups corresponding to the two of the at least two antenna groups corresponding to the at least two SRIs; and transmitting a PUCCH to indicate the selected two antenna groups by indicating the two SRIs corresponding to the selected two antenna groups (Paragraph 81–83, 86–87, 96, 101, These passages teach multiple distinct SRS port groupings (corresponding to multiple SRIs/antenna groups) and explicit selection of particular groupings via SRI signaling in uplink control information).
Regarding claim 19, Nilsson et al. teaches receiving a group-based beam measurement report configuration; transmitting a group-based beam measurement report based on the group-based beam measurement report configuration, the group-based beam measurement report being obtained based on measurement of channel-state- information reference signals (CSI-RS) or synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) transmitted from the base station, at least two transmission and reception points (TRPs) of the base station, or at least two TRPs of the base station and another base station; and receiving two transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states indicating two of the CSI-RS or two of the SSBs transmitted from the base station, the at least two TRPs of the base station, or the at last two TRPs of the base station and the other base station for an uplink transmission of SRS, PUSCH, or PUCCH (Paragraph 96, 98, 101, 168, 169, the disclosure teaches receiving a higher-layer grouped configuration tied to beam management and CSI-RS resources, transmitting uplink signals based on that configuration derived from reference signals, and receiving control signaling selecting between multiple configured reference signal resources).
Regarding claim 20, Nilsson et al. teaches receiving a configuration of three SRS resources for UE antenna panel selection and beam measurement, the three SRS resources for UE antenna panel selection and beam measurement corresponding to the three antenna groups, the three SRS resources being associated with three SRIs; transmitting SRS using the three SRS resources for UE antenna panel selection and beam measurement from the three antenna groups, respectively; receiving two TCI states indicating two SRIs of the three SRIs associated with the three SRS resources for UE antenna panel selection and beam measurement for an uplink transmission of SRS, PUSCH, or PUCCH (Paragraph 96, 101, 163-165, The passage teaches receiving a configuration of multiple SRS resources partitioned into subsets corresponding to antenna groupings with SRI-based indication, transmitting SRS using those configured resources, and receiving uplink control signaling indicating selected SRS resources via SRIs for uplink transmissions).
Allowable Subject Matter
Based on the specification, the applicant could consider adding concepts that clarify the scalability of the DCI to indicate more than two SRIs and corresponding antenna groups, including embodiments where more than two antenna groups are jointly scheduled for PUSCH transmission. The claim could further incorporate the DCI indicating co-phasing information and/or amplitude information for the selected antenna groups, including deriving uplink transmission timing alignment or frequency-domain phase compensation from the co-phasing information. Additional concepts could include explicitly reciting that amplitude information is conveyed via separate transmit power control (TPC) commands corresponding to respective antenna groups. The applicant could also add concepts relating to group-based beam measurement reporting, including receiving a beam measurement configuration, generating a report based on CSI-RS or SSB measurements across multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs), and associating downlink beams with specific antenna groups. Further improvements reflected in the specification include receiving transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states that indicate specific CSI-RS or SSB resources for uplink transmission, including SRS, PUSCH, or PUCCH. The claim could also incorporate embodiments in which the UE selects antenna groups and corresponding TPMIs from a larger set indicated in DCI, and optionally transmits a PUCCH to signal the selected antenna groups via SRIs or TPMIs. Additional concepts include DCI fields that indicate candidate antenna group pairs among three groups, and non-codebook-based transmission where each SRS resource corresponds to a transmission beam and the DCI indicates multiple SRIs spanning multiple antenna groups, followed by UE-side selection and signaling of the chosen groups. Including these concepts would more fully capture the coordinated beam selection, multi-TRP measurement integration, phase/amplitude control, and UE-driven antenna group selection mechanisms described in the specification.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sevindik (US 20250070938 A1)
Ly et al. (US 20240162951 A1)
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/ANDREW SHAJI KURIAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/IQBAL ZAIDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464