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
This is a 2nd non-final rejection. Examiner raises a new ground of rejection, and also examiner relies on different claim interpretation than previous examiner. Examiner updates the claim mapping with respect to the primary reference.
Applicant's arguments filed 05/21/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. This current applicant is about non-codebook UL transmission based on two types of DCI. This interpretation is based on Fig. 6 of current application, reproduced below.
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Onggosanusi Reference (US 20200100232 A1) essentially teaches non-codebook UL transmission (See PP148, 172, 173, 190-191). In addition, Onggosanusi teaches at least 4 different DCI. Fig. 5 teaches DCI with beam correspondence, Fig. 6 teaches DCI without beam correspondence, Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 have a similar relationship, but with TCI; so there are at least 4 different types of DCI. Also note Fig. 7 of Ohggosanusi teaches SpatialRelationsInfo, exactly identical to UL-TCI-State (spatialRelationInfo) of current application, Fig. 6.
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Therefore Examiner presents rejection of claim 1 and 9 under 35 USC 102. Examiner also chose to simplify the rejections by removing the Matsumura reference, since it did not add anything to the record.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1, 3-9, 11 to 16 are pending and rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Onggosanusi et al. (US 20200100232 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Onggosanusi discloses a method of performing a non-codebook based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission by a user equipment (UE) ([0016] The method includes determining, from the UL beam indication, a transmit spatial filter applied to a signal to be transmitted on a PUSCH or a PUCCH and transmitting, to the base station, the signal on the PUSCH or the PUCCH.), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station (BS), first downlink control information (DCI) including a transmission configuration indication (TCI) field that indicates a source reference signal (RS) for providing transmission beam information to the UE (Fig. 7, step 704, NW signals UL-TCi via DCI; see also Fig. 8, step 804; Fig. 11, step 1101, teaches UE receives RS trigger, PP 211 “can be signaled in an UL TCI field of an UL related DCI”);
receiving, from the BS, second DCI including a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indication (SRI) field that indicates an SRS resource in an SRS resource set with usage set to non-codebook (SRS-nCB) resource set for providing precoding information to the UE; (Fig. 5, step 504, NW signals SRI via DCI, see also Fig. 6, step 604; the claim does not require the two receiving steps to be performed in any particular order, or nor do they have to come from the same figure in the prior art; non-codebook transmission is mentioned throughout the primary reference );
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performing the non-codebook based PUSCH transmission according to the transmission beam information and the precoding information (paragraph 148 teaches non-codebook based ul transmission, see also PP172, 173, 190-191),
wherein the first DCI is different from the second DCI (The claim does not define how the two DCIs are different; Examiner interpret them as different types of DCI. Onggosanusi Fig. 5 teaches DCI with beam correspondence, Fig. 6 teaches DCI without beam correspondence, Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 have a similar relationship, but with TCI; so there are at least 4 different types of DCI).
Regarding claim 9, Onggosanusi discloses a user equipment (UE) for performing a non-codebook based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, the UE comprising: at least one processor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one processor and storing one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to (Fig. 3A, UE 116, Memory 360, Processor 340)):
receiving, from a base station (BS), first downlink control information (DCI) including a transmission configuration indication (TCI) field that indicates a source reference signal (RS) for providing transmission beam information to the UE (Fig. 7, step 704, NW signals UL-TCi via DCI; see also Fig. 8, step 804; Fig. 11, step 1101, teaches UE receives RS trigger, PP 211 “can be signaled in an UL TCI field of an UL related DCI”);
receiving, from the BS, second DCI including a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indication (SRI) field that indicates an SRS resource in an SRS resource set with usage set to non-codebook (SRS-nCB) resource set for providing precoding information to the UE; (Fig. 5, step 504, NW signals SRI via DCI, see also Fig. 6, step 604; the claim does not require the two receiving steps to be performed in any particular order, or nor do they have to come from the same figure in the prior art; non-codebook transmission is mentioned throughout the primary reference );
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performing the non-codebook based PUSCH transmission according to the transmission beam information and the precoding information (paragraph 148 teaches non-codebook based ul transmission, see also PP172, 173, 190-191),
wherein the first DCI is different from the second DCI (The claim does not define how the two DCIs are different, Examiner interpret them as different types of DCI. Onggosanusi Fig. 5 teaches DCI with beam correspondence, Fig. 6 teaches DCI without beam correspondence, Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 have a similar relationship, but with TCI; so there are at least 4 different types of DCI).
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1, 8-9, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onggosanusi et al. (US 20200100232 A1) in view of Nokia et al. (3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #AH-1901, Taipei, Taiwan, 21st – 25th January, 2019, R1-1900692; hereinafter “NPL1”).
Regarding claim 1, Onggosanusi discloses a method of performing a non-codebook based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission by a user equipment (UE) ([0016] The method includes determining, from the UL beam indication, a transmit spatial filter applied to a signal to be transmitted on a PUSCH or a PUCCH and transmitting, to the base station, the signal on the PUSCH or the PUCCH.), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station (BS), first downlink control information (DCI) including a transmission configuration indication (TCI) field for providing transmission beam information to the UE (Fig. 7, step 704, NW signals UL-TCi via DCI);
receiving, from the BS, second DCI including a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indication (SRI) field that indicates an SRS resource in an SRS resource set with usage set to non-codebook (SRS-nCB) resource set for providing precoding information to the UE; (Fig. 5, step 704, NW signals SRI via DCI, the claim does not require the two receiving steps to be performed in any particular order, or nor do they have to come from the same figure in the prior art); and
performing the non-codebook based PUSCH transmission according to the transmission beam information and the precoding information (paragraph 148 teaches non-codebook based ul transmission, see also PP172, 173, 190-191),
wherein the first DCI is different from the second DCI (The claim does not define how the two DCIs are different, Examiner interpret them as different types of DCI. Onggosanusi Fig. 5 teaches DCI with beam correspondence, Fig. 6 teaches DCI without beam correspondence, Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 have a similar relationship, but with TCI; so there are at least 4 different types of DCI).
If Onggosanusi is not clear enough already, in the same filed of endeavor, NPL1 discloses a method of performing a non-codebook based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a base station (BS), information that indicates a source reference signal (RS) for providing transmission beam information to the UE (P. 3: To facilitate panel specific UL beam selection using DL RSs as spatial sources for UL TX beams, UE panel specific beam reporting would be beneficial where UE would insert an identifier (that reflects panel visible to gNB) to each reported L1-RSRP measurement; P. 8: One typical operating mode of NR cell is that the same downlink RS acts as source RS to determine both downlink TX beam and uplink TX for the UE for PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI-RS for CSI acquisition, CSI-RS for RLM, PUCCH and SRS for codebook/non-codebook transmission.); and receiving, from the BS, second DCI including a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indication (SRI) field that indicates an SRS resource in an SRS resource set with usage set to non-codebook (SRS-nCB) resource set for providing panel and beam information to the UE (P. 4-5 and Fig. 1: Panel and beam selection for non-codebook and codebook based transmission could be implemented by associating an SRS resource of the SRS resource set for non-codebook/codebook to a panel (identifier) and SRI in the scheduling grant would thus select one or multiple SRS resources, i.e. panels, for the transmission…Panel and beam selection for non-codebook and codebook based transmission could be implemented by associating an SRS resource of the SRS resource set for non-codebook/codebook to a panel (identifier) and SRI in the scheduling grant (= a second DCI) would thus select one or multiple SRS resources, i.e. panels, for the transmission; Proposal 3: SRS resource for codebook/non-codebook based PUSCH is associated to an identifier (panel); P. 22: Proposal 1: Support UE panel aware beam reporting for panel specific uplink beam selection by including the (panel) identifier to the reported beam measurement result.).
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 of Onggosanusi, based on the above teachings from NPL1, to obtain the limitations of claim 1, because the modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to enable a UE to receive beam and precoding information for uplink transmission.
Regarding claim 8, Onggosanusi and NPL1 disclose the limitations of claim 1 as set forth, and NPL1 further discloses deriving panel information for the non-codebook based PUSCH transmission according to the source RS, wherein the derived panel information is used for at least one of a transmission of the SRS resource and the non-codebook based PUSCH transmission (P. 3: To facilitate panel specific UL beam selection using DL RSs as spatial sources for UL TX beams, UE panel specific beam reporting would be beneficial where UE would insert an identifier (that reflects panel visible to gNB) to each reported L1-RSRP measurement; P. 8: One typical operating mode of NR cell is that the same downlink RS acts as source RS to determine both downlink TX beam and uplink TX for the UE for PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI-RS for CSI acquisition, CSI-RS for RLM, PUCCH and SRS for codebook/non-codebook transmission.);
Claims 9 and 16 are rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claims 1-2 and 8, respectively. Claims 9-10 and 16 recite similar features as in claims 1-2 and 8, respectively, from the perspective of an apparatus for a user equipment (UE). Onggosanusi further discloses a UE for performing a non-codebook based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, the UE comprising: at least one processor, and at least one memory- coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one memory fer storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to perform similar functions ([0093] and Fig. 3A: UE 116 with processor 340 and memory 360.).
Claims 3-7 and 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Onggosanusi in view of NPL1, and further in view of Park et al. (US 20220116965 A1; hereinafter “Park”).
Regarding claim 3, Onggosanusi and NPL1 disclose the limitations of claim 1 as set forth. But Onggosanusi and NPL1do not disclose wherein transmission beam information associated with the SRS-nCB resource set is the same as the transmission beam information provided by the source RS.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Park discloses receiving, from a base station (BS), first downlink control information (DCI) including a transmission configuration indication (TCI) field that indicates a source reference signal (RS) for providing transmission beam information to the UE; and performing the PUSCH transmission according to the transmission beam information and the precoding information, wherein transmission beam information associated with the SRS resource set is the same as the transmission beam information provided by the source RS (Abstract: the downlink control information (= first DCI) comprising information that indicates a downlink reference signal (DL RS) related to a beam for transmission of the PUSCH; and transmitting the PUSCH by using the beam; [0008] The transmission of the PUSCH is based on port virtualization applied to most recent sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission in a specific resource, and the specific resource is an SRS resource in which the DL RS is configured as spatial related information; [0011] The SRS resource may belong to an SRS resource set in which a higher layer parameter usage is configured as beam management; [0012] When there is a plurality of SRS resources, the port virtualization may be applied based on the SRS transmission in an SRS resource having an index according to a specific criterion among the plurality of SRS resources.).
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 of Onggosanusi, NPL1, and Matsumura as applied to claim 1, based on the above teaching from Park, to derive the limitations of claim 3, because the modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to use the same beam information to perform a set of uplink transmissions, such as multi-layer MIMO uplink transmission.
Regarding claim 4, Onggosanusi, NPL1, and Park disclose the limitations of claim 3 as set forth, and Onggosanusi further discloses wherein the transmission beam information associated with the SRS-nCB resource set is determined based on a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource configured by the BS ([0183] Each configuration links one target SRS to one reference RS (which could be CSI-RS, SSB, or SRS) represented by an ID.).
Regarding claim 5, Onggosanusi, NPL1, and Park disclose the limitations of claim 3 as set forth, and Park further discloses wherein the SRS resource is configured with spatial relation information for deriving the transmission beam information for a transmission of the SRS resource (Abstract: the downlink control information (= first DCI) comprising information that indicates a downlink reference signal (DL RS) related to a beam for transmission of the PUSCH; and transmitting the PUSCH by using the beam; [0008] The transmission of the PUSCH is based on port virtualization applied to most recent sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission in a specific resource, and the specific resource is an SRS resource in which the DL RS is configured as spatial related information.).
Regarding claim 6, Onggosanusi, NPL1, disclose the limitations of claim 1 as set forth. But Onggosanusi, NPL1, and Matsumura do not disclose wherein the source RS is an SRS resource of an SRS resource set with usage set to a beam Management (SRS-bM) resource set, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, or a synchronization signal block (SSB).
However, in the same field of endeavor, Park discloses wherein the source RS is an SRS resource of an SRS resource set with usage set to a beam Management (SRS-bM) resource set, a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, or a synchronization signal block (SSB) ([0011] The SRS resource may belong to an SRS resource set in which a higher layer parameter usage is configured as beam management; [0012] When there is a plurality of SRS resources, the port virtualization may be applied based on the SRS transmission in an SRS resource having an index according to a specific criterion among the plurality of SRS resources.).
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 of Onggosanusi, NPL1, and Matsumura as applied to claim 1, based on the above teaching from Park, to derive the limitations of claim 6, because the modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to select a reference resource of a reference resource set with usage set to a beam Management.
Regarding claim 7, Onggosanusi, NPL1, and Matsumura disclose the limitations of claim 1 as set forth. But Onggosanusi, NPL1, and Matsumura do not disclose wherein the source RS is configured with a spatial relation information for deriving the transmission beam information .
However, in the same field of endeavor, Park discloses wherein the source RS is configured with a spatial relation information for deriving the transmission beam information (Abstract: the downlink control information (= first DCI) comprising information that indicates a downlink reference signal (DL RS) related to a beam for transmission of the PUSCH; and transmitting the PUSCH by using the beam.).
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 of Onggosanusi, NPL1, and Matsumura as applied to claim 1, based on the above teaching from Park, to derive the limitations of claim 7, because the modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to utilize a source RS for deriving the transmission beam information.
Claims 11-15 are rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claims 3-7, respectively. Claims 11-15 recite similar features as in claims 3-7, respectively, from the perspective of an apparatus for a user equipment (UE). Onggosanusi further discloses a UE for performing a non-codebook based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, the UE comprising: at least one processor, and at least one memory- coupled to the at least one processor, the at least one memory fer storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to perform similar functions ([0093] and Fig. 3A: UE 116 with processor 340 and memory 360.).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Charles C Jiang whose telephone number is (571)270-7191. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 7 am to 5 pm Eastern Time.
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/CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412