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 .
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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 7-8, filed 11 November 2025, in view of the amendments with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-2, 4, 7-19, and 21 under 35 USC 103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 Guo in view of Tiirola as shown hereinbelow. Guo ¶¶352-354 and figure 6 are relied upon to disclose the newly amended limitations.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 7-19 and 21-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. WO 2019/096317 A1 in view of Tiirola et al. US 2012/0252474 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Tiirola”). Note: WO 2019/096317 was cited by the applicant in the IDS received 22 December 2022.
NOTE: Guo et al. EP 3,713,312 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Guo”) will be used for translation purposes. Note: Guo was cited by the applicant in the IDS received 22 December 2022.
As to claims 1 and 18, Guo teaches a resource configuration method, comprising:
receiving configuration information sent by a network device, wherein the configuration information comprises at least a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set and a second SRS resource set, and usage of each of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set comprises beam management and antenna switch (¶¶74 and 345-350; figure 2: receive, from base station, configuration information for SRS resource sets including parameters for antenna switching and beam management); and
sending each SRS resource in the first SRS resource set by using a first antenna group, and sending each SRS resource in the second SRS resource set by using a second antenna group (¶347: different antennas are used for transmitting on different SRS resources for antenna switching),
wherein a transmission time interval between the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set is greater than or equal to at least one of an antenna group activation time or an antenna group switching time of a terminal (¶¶358-359: the minimum time interval between SRS resources is configured to be equal to the antenna switching configuration parameter Y), and
wherein SRS resources with identifiers in a target order in the first SRS resource set and the target order in the second SRS resource set are sent by using beams in a same direction (¶¶352-254; figure 6: SRS resource 1 of first SRS resource set and SRS resource 2 of second SRS resource set have a same filter parameter/equal weighting factors (i.e. target order) and are transmitted on a same beam (i.e. same direction) with different antennas).
Although Guo teaches “A resource configuration…of a terminal, and wherein SRS resources…beams in a same direction” Guo does not explicitly disclose “is less than or equal to a channel coherence time”.
However, Tiirola teaches the transmission time interval between the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set is less than or equal to a channel coherence time (¶40; figure 5A: time period/offset (transmission time interval) between the two SRS configurations is lower than the channel coherence time).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Guo by including “is less than or equal to a channel coherence time” as taught by Tiirola because it provides Guo’s method with the enhanced capability of improving the performance of the SRS analysis (Tiirola, ¶40; figure 5A).
As to claims 2 and 19, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 1. Guo further teaches wherein SRS resources in a same SRS resource set are sent by using different beams (¶¶348-349).
As to claims 4 and 21, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 1. Guo further teaches wherein the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set comprises at least one of a path loss reference signal, time domain behavior, or a transmit power-related parameter (¶78).
As to claims 7 and 24, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 1. Guo further teaches further comprising:
receiving indication information delivered by the network device, wherein the indication information comprises at least one of information about a beam used by the first antenna group for downlink transmission or information about a beam used by the second antenna group for downlink transmission (¶¶47-79).
As to claim 8, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 7. Guo further teaches wherein the beam used for downlink transmission corresponds to an SRS having highest signal quality (¶¶47-79).
As to claim 9, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 7. Guo further teaches wherein a combination of SRS resources in the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set has a preset binding relationship (¶¶47-79).
As to claim 10, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 7. Guo further teaches wherein the information about the beam used for downlink transmission is carried in quasi-co-location-info (qcl-info) of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration information, or is carried in downlink control information (DCI) (¶¶47-79).
As to claim 11, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 7. Guo further teaches further comprising:
receiving, based on the indication information, downlink data or a downlink signal sent by the network device; or
sending uplink data or an uplink signal to the network device based on the indication information (¶¶47-79).
As to claim 12, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 1. Guo further teaches wherein, before receiving the configuration information, the method further comprises:
reporting capability information of the terminal to the network device, wherein the capability information indicates at least one of the following:
the terminal supports an SRS resource set configured for a maximum of N types of usage, wherein N is greater than or equal to 2; or
the terminal supports an SRS resource set configured for beam management and antenna switch (¶¶74-106; figure 2).
As to claim 13, Guo teaches a resource measurement method, comprising:
sending configuration information to a terminal, wherein the configuration information comprises at least a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set and a second SRS resource set, and usage of each of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set comprises beam management and antenna switch (¶¶74 and 345-350; figure 2: transmit, to user equipment, configuration information for SRS resource sets including parameters for antenna switching and beam management);
measuring each SRS resource, in the first SRS resource set, sent by the terminal by using a first antenna group of the terminal, and measuring each SRS resource, in the second SRS resource set, sent by the terminal by using a second antenna group of the terminal (¶¶76-78 and 347: measure different SRS resources transmitted using different antennas for antenna switching); and
determining, based on a measurement result, an SRS resource that meets a quality requirement in the first SRS resource set and an SRS resource that meets a quality requirement in the second SRS resource set (¶¶50 and 345-350: for the different SRS resource sets, perform measurements and analyzing to determine quality),
wherein a transmission time interval between the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set is greater than or equal to at least one of an antenna group activation time or an antenna group switching time of the terminal (¶¶358-359: the minimum time interval between SRS resources is configured to be equal to the antenna switching configuration parameter Y), and
wherein SRS resources with identifiers in a target order in the first SRS resource set and the target order in the second SRS resource set are sent by using beams in a same direction (¶¶352-254; figure 6: SRS resource 1 of first SRS resource set and SRS resource 2 of second SRS resource set have a same filter parameter/equal weighting factors (i.e. target order) and are transmitted on a same beam (i.e. same direction) with different antennas).
Although Guo teaches “A resource measurement…of the terminal, and wherein SRS resources with identifiers…beams in a same direction” Guo does not explicitly disclose “is less than or equal to a channel coherence time”.
However, Tiirola teaches the transmission time interval between the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set is less than or equal to a channel coherence time (¶40; figure 5A: time period/offset (transmission time interval) between the two SRS configurations is lower than the channel coherence time).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the method described in Guo by including “is less than or equal to a channel coherence time” as taught by Tiirola because it provides Guo’s method with the enhanced capability of improving the performance of the SRS analysis (Tiirola, ¶40; figure 5A).
As to claim 14, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 13. Guo further teaches further comprising:
notifying the terminal of at least one of an identifier of the SRS resource that meets the quality requirement in the first SRS resource set and an identifier of the SRS resource that meets the quality requirement in the second SRS resource set (¶¶47-79).
As to claim 15, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 13. Guo further teaches wherein the SRS resource that meets the quality requirement is an SRS resource having highest signal quality (¶¶47-79).
As to claim 16, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 13. Guo further teaches wherein a combination of SRS resources in the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set has a preset binding relationship (¶¶47-79).
As to claim 17, Guo in view of Tiirola teaches the method according to claim 14. Guo further teaches wherein the identifier of the SRS resource that meets the quality requirement is carried in quasi-co-location-info (qcl-info) of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration information, or is carried in downlink control information (DCI) (¶¶47-79).
As to claim 22, claim 22 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
As to claim 23, claim 23 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
Conclusion
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 JUSTIN T VAN ROIE whose telephone number is (571)270-0308. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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/JUSTIN T VAN ROIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469