DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to communications filed on December 29, 2025. Claims 1-30 are pending in the application.
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 .
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)(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 1-7, 12-17, 21-24, and 26-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Du et al. (WO 2021/022531).
Regarding Claim 1, Du teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
performing one or more cross-link interference (CLI) measurements on each of multiple ports to determine a plurality of measurement values for multiple ports (“In one solution, a victim device is informed by the network of the number of antenna ports used by an aggressor device for SRS transmission. The victim device measures SRS-RSRP over all the antenna ports and obtains CLI measurement results accordingly” – See [00104]; The UE performs CLI measurements on all antenna ports and obtains the associated measurement values); and
transmitting a CLI measurement report based on the plurality of measurement values (“Thus, accurate CLI measurement results may be obtained and reported” – See [00104]; The UE reports the CLI measurement values).
Regarding Claim 2, Du teaches the method of Claim 1. Du further teaches receiving, from a base station, a message including a CLI resource configuration indicating the multiple ports; and wherein the multiple ports include multiple sounding reference signal (SRS) resources; and wherein the CLI measurement report is transmitted to the base station (“the second device 120 transmits 610 a configuration for SRS-RSRP measurement to the first device 110. The configuration at least indicates the number of antenna ports being used by the third device 130 for transmission of the SRS” – See [00106]; “In some embodiments, the number of antenna ports may be 2 or 4” – See [00107]; “Thus, accurate CLI measurement results may be obtained and reported” – See [00104]; “With continued reference to Fig. 6, the first device 110 transmits 640 the estimation of the CLI to the second device 120” – See [0117]; See also Fig. 1; The UE 110 receives, from base station 120, a CLI configuration indicating the multiple ports for the SRS, wherein the UE transmits the CLI report to the base station).
Regarding Claim 3, Du teaches the method of Claim 1. Du further teaches that the multiple ports include the same or fewer number of ports of sounding reference signals from an aggressor UE; and the multiple ports are configured to be time division multiplexed across multiple slots, multiple symbols, or a combination thereof (“In one solution, a victim device is informed by the network of the number of antenna ports used by an aggressor device for SRS transmission. The victim device measures SRS-RSRP over all the antenna ports and obtains CLI measurement results accordingly” – See [00104]; “Antenna ports of an aggressor device for transmission of SRS can be orthogonally multiplexed in time (different symbols) , frequency (BW, hopping, comb) , and code (cyclic shift) domain” – See [0073]; The multiple ports measured by the UE include all (i.e., the same number) of the ports on which the SRS is transmitted by the aggressor UE, wherein the ports are time division multiplexed across different symbols).
Regarding Claim 4, Du teaches the method of Claim 1. Du further teaches that each of the multiple ports is configured to be assigned to a different transmission slot, or wherein each port corresponds to a different resource; or a single port or a plurality of ports of the multiple ports is assigned to a one slot; and the plurality of ports assigned to the one slot have a symbol-based assignment or a cyclic shift (CS)-based assignment (“Antenna ports of an aggressor device for transmission of SRS can be orthogonally multiplexed in time (different symbols) , frequency (BW, hopping, comb) , and code (cyclic shift) domain” – See [0073]; Each of the ports is assigned to a different resource (e.g., a symbol)).
Regarding Claim 5, Du teaches the method of Claim 1. Du further teaches that performing the one or more CLI measurements on each of multiple ports includes: performing a first CLI measurement during a first symbol of a plurality of symbols using a first port of the multiple ports; and performing a second CLI measurement during a second symbol of the plurality of symbols using a second port of the multiple ports; and the plurality of symbols are included in a single slot, the first symbol and the second symbol are consecutive symbols, the first port and the second port are different ports, or a combination thereof (“In one solution, a victim device is informed by the network of the number of antenna ports used by an aggressor device for SRS transmission. The victim device measures SRS-RSRP over all the antenna ports and obtains CLI measurement results accordingly” – See [00104]; “Antenna ports of an aggressor device for transmission of SRS can be orthogonally multiplexed in time (different symbols) , frequency (BW, hopping, comb) , and code (cyclic shift) domain” – See [0073]; The SRS for each of the ports is transmitted in different symbols. Thus, a first CLI measurement is performed for a first port during a first symbol, a second CLI measurement is performed for a second port during a second symbol, and so on. Furthermore, the first and second ports are different ports).
Regarding Claim 6, Du teaches the method of Claim 1. Du further teaches that the multiple ports are switched orthogonally by symbol level to perform the one or more CLI measurements; multiple ports have the same time domain configuration as sounding reference signals (SRS) transmissions of from an aggressor UE; performing the one or more CLI measurements on each of the multiple ports includes selecting one or more ports for a CLI measurement according to a pattern that includes a port switching pattern per slot, per symbol, or a combination thereof or a combination thereof (“Antenna ports of an aggressor device for transmission of SRS can be orthogonally multiplexed in time (different symbols) , frequency (BW, hopping, comb) , and code (cyclic shift) domain” – See [0073]; The multiple antenna ports are transmitted orthogonally at the symbol level).
Regarding Claim 7, Du teaches the method of Claim 1. Du further teaches that performing the multiple CLI measurements comprises performing a first set of CLI measurements using a first port of the multiple ports and a second port of the multiple ports during the same symbol, and wherein the multiple ports correspond to the same resource (“The SRS of first and second aggressor devices are configured to be transmitted on the exact same time, frequency, or base sequence resources, just with different cyclic shifts” – See [0096]; In the case where the plurality of SRSs are transmitted on different ports by different aggressor UEs, a first and second SRS are measured on a same time resource/symbol. Thus, the multiple ports correspond to the same resource).
Claims 12, 21, and 26 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 1.
Claims 13, 22, and 27 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 2.
Claim 14 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claims 3 and 4.
Claim 15 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claims 3 and 5.
Claim 16 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 6.
Claim 17 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 7.
Claims 23 and 28 are rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 3.
Regarding Claim 24, Du teaches the method of Claim 21. Du further teaches determining a pattern for use of the multiple ports by the UE, and wherein the pattern comprises a port switching pattern per slot, per symbol, or a combination thereof; and the pattern indicates to use one port per slot, indicates to switch ports each slot, indicates to switch ports each symbol, or a combination thereof; or the message includes an indication of the pattern, and the pattern is defined by a standard (“the configuration may further indicate a time domain resource on which the SRS are to be received. The time domain resource comprises a plurality of OFDM symbols” – See [0114]; “Antenna ports of an aggressor device for transmission of SRS can be orthogonally multiplexed in time (different symbols) , frequency (BW, hopping, comb) , and code (cyclic shift) domain” – See [0073]; A pattern/resource configuration for the ports is determined, wherein the pattern comprises a switching/multiplexing pattern per symbol, and wherein the ports are multiplexed in different symbols (i.e., to switch ports each symbol)).
Claim 29 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 24.
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.
Claims 8-10, 18, 19, 25, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Du et al. (WO 2021/022531) in view of Ying et al. (US 2022/0116129).
Regarding Claim 8, Du teaches the method of Claim 7. Du further teaches generating the CLI measurement report to indicate a first CLI measurement from the first port and a second CLI measurement from the second port; combining a first CLI measurement from the first port and a second CLI measurement from the second port to generate a combined CLI measurement, and generating the CLI measurement report to indicate the combined CLI measurement (“For example, the first device 110 may determine a power level of one of the correlation peaks and determine a product of the power level and the number of antenna ports. Consequently, the first device 110 may determine the product as the estimation of CLI. For another example, the first device 110 may determine power levels of all of the correlation peaks and determine a sum of the power levels. Consequently, the first device 110 may determine the sum as the estimation of CLI” – See [00110]; “With continued reference to Fig. 6, the first device 110 transmits 640 the estimation of the CLI to the second device 120” – See [0117]; The CLI report includes a combined CLI measurement, wherein the combined CLI measurement is generated as a product or sum of the individual CLI measurements).
Du does not explicitly teach that combining the first CLI measurement from the first port and the second CLI measurement from the second port includes: averaging the first CLI measurement and the second CLI measurement, or selecting the maximum of the first CLI measurement and second CLI measurement as the combined measurement.
However, Ying teaches that combining the first CLI measurement from the first port and the second CLI measurement from the second port includes: averaging the first CLI measurement and the second CLI measurement, or selecting the maximum of the first CLI measurement and second CLI measurement as the combined measurement (“the linear average of CLI values of resource sets specified in “CLI-ResourceSetList” (this report parameter may indicate a mean value from a group of resource sets)” – See [0105]; The combined CLI measurement includes an average/mean value from a plurality of CLI measurement values (e.g., first and second CLI measurements)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Du such that combining the first CLI measurement from the first port and the second CLI measurement from the second port includes: averaging the first CLI measurement and the second CLI measurement, or selecting the maximum of the first CLI measurement and second CLI measurement as the combined measurement. Motivation for doing so would be to provide a representation of the overall CLI experienced by the UE (See Ying, [0100]).
Regarding Claim 9, Du teaches the method of Claim 1. Du does not explicitly teach that the multiple CLI measurements are performed via multiple receive (RX) antenna ports, and further comprising: averaging measurements received via a set of RX antenna ports of the multiple RX antenna ports, or determining a maximum measurement of a set of RX measurements received via a set of RX antenna ports of the multiple RX antenna ports.
However, Ying teaches that the multiple CLI measurements are performed via multiple receive (RX) antenna ports, and further comprising: averaging measurements received via a set of RX antenna ports of the multiple RX antenna ports, or determining a maximum measurement of a set of RX measurements received via a set of RX antenna ports of the multiple RX antenna ports (“A UE may use the receive beam(s) of the QCL source as the received beam(s) for CLI measurement” – See [0083]; “the linear average of CLI values of resource sets specified in “CLI-ResourceSetList” (this report parameter may indicate a mean value from a group of resource sets)” – See [0105]; The CLI measurements are performed via multiple RX beams/ports, wherein the measurements are averaged).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Du such that the multiple CLI measurements are performed via multiple receive (RX) antenna ports, and further comprising: averaging measurements received via a set of RX antenna ports of the multiple RX antenna ports, or determining a maximum measurement of a set of RX measurements received via a set of RX antenna ports of the multiple RX antenna ports for the same reasons as those given with respect to Claim 8.
Regarding Claim 10, Du teaches the method of Claim 1. Du does not explicitly teach that the multiple CLI measurements are performed via multiple receive (RX) antenna ports, and further comprising combining a set of RX measurements received via a set of Rx antenna ports of the multiple RX antenna ports using a precoder or a beam; and receiving a radio resource control (RRC), a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI) that includes an indicator corresponding to the precoder or the beam; or receiving, from a base station, a message including a CLI resource configuration indicating the multiple ports, and wherein the message includes an indicator corresponding to the precoder or the beam.
However, Ying teaches that the multiple CLI measurements are performed via multiple receive (RX) antenna ports, and further comprising combining a set of RX measurements received via a set of Rx antenna ports of the multiple RX antenna ports using a precoder or a beam; and receiving a radio resource control (RRC), a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI) that includes an indicator corresponding to the precoder or the beam; or receiving, from a base station, a message including a CLI resource configuration indicating the multiple ports, and wherein the message includes an indicator corresponding to the precoder or the beam (“The spatial relationship information of a semi-persistent (SP) CLI-RS transmission may be indicated by MAC CE” – See [0058]; “A UE may use the receive beam(s) of the QCL source as the received beam(s) for CLI measurement” – See [0083]; “the linear average of CLI values of resource sets specified in “CLI-ResourceSetList” (this report parameter may indicate a mean value from a group of resource sets)” – See [0105]; The multiple CLI measurements are performed via multiple RX ports/beams, and the UE receives a MAC CE indicating the beam information. Furthermore, the RX measurements are combined by averaging each of the individual CLI measurement values).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Du such that the multiple CLI measurements are performed via multiple receive (RX) antenna ports, and further comprising combining a set of RX measurements received via a set of Rx antenna ports of the multiple RX antenna ports using a precoder or a beam; and receiving a radio resource control (RRC), a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI) that includes an indicator corresponding to the precoder or the beam; or receiving, from a base station, a message including a CLI resource configuration indicating the multiple ports, and wherein the message includes an indicator corresponding to the precoder or the beam for the same reasons as those given with respect to Claim 8.
Claim 18 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 9.
Claim 19 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 10.
Regarding Claim 25, Du teaches the method of Claim 21. Du does not explicitly teach generating an indicator to indicate to whether the UE is to combine a set of receive (RX) measurements received via a set of Rx antenna ports using a precoder or a beam; and transmitting the indicator to the UE; wherein: transmitting the indicator includes transmitting a radio resource control (RRC), a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI) that includes the indicator; or the indicator is included in the message.
However, Ying teaches generating an indicator to indicate to whether the UE is to combine a set of receive (RX) measurements received via a set of Rx antenna ports using a precoder or a beam; and transmitting the indicator to the UE; wherein: transmitting the indicator includes transmitting a radio resource control (RRC), a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI) that includes the indicator; or the indicator is included in the message (“L3 filtering coefficients for CLI measurement may be configured in RRC. In one embodiment, an RRC IE may be defined for CLI measurement quantity configuration as follows” – See [0102]; “Option 2: the linear average of CLI values of resource sets specified in “CLI-ResourceSetList” (this report parameter may indicate a mean value from a group of resource sets)” – See [0105]; “A UE may use the receive beam(s) of the QCL source as the received beam(s) for CLI measurement” – See [0083]; An RRC message indicates that the UE is to combine the RX measurements via averaging, wherein the measurements are received via a set of Rx antenna ports using a 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 Du to include generating an indicator to indicate to whether the UE is to combine a set of receive (RX) measurements received via a set of Rx antenna ports using a precoder or a beam; and transmitting the indicator to the UE; wherein: transmitting the indicator includes transmitting a radio resource control (RRC), a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or downlink control information (DCI) that includes the indicator; or the indicator is included in the message for the same reasons as those given with respect to Claim 8.
Claim 30 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 25.
Claims 11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Du et al. (WO 2021/022531) in view of Xu et al. (US 2020/0112420).
Regarding Claim 11, Du teaches the method of Claim 1. Du further teaches combining a set of CLI measurements from a set of ports of the multiple ports (“For example, the first device 110 may determine a power level of one of the correlation peaks and determine a product of the power level and the number of antenna ports. Consequently, the first device 110 may determine the product as the estimation of CLI. For another example, the first device 110 may determine power levels of all of the correlation peaks and determine a sum of the power levels. Consequently, the first device 110 may determine the sum as the estimation of CLI” – See [00110]; “With the process 700, the victim device performs CLI SRS-RSRP measurement” – See [00125]; The CLI measurement (e.g., CLI SRS-RSRP) is a combined CLI measurement, wherein the combined CLI measurement is generated as a product or sum of the individual CLI measurements).
Du does not explicitly teach combining a set of receive (RX) measurements from a set of RX antenna ports of multiple RX antenna ports; and wherein the set of CLI measurements are combined prior to the set of RX measurements being combined, or the set of RX measurements are combined prior to the set of CLI measurements being combined.
However, Xu teaches combining a set of receive (RX) measurements from a set of RX antenna ports of multiple RX antenna ports; and wherein the set of CLI measurements are combined prior to the set of RX measurements being combined, or the set of RX measurements are combined prior to the set of CLI measurements being combined (“As shown in FIG. 4, the exemplary CLI measurement metrics 400 include cross-link-reference signal received power (CL-RSRP) 410, cross-link-received signal strength indicator (CL-RSSI) 420” – See [0041]; “CL-RSSI in this embodiment is a measurement metric that can be used at UE side. The CL-RSSI in this embodiment is a linear average of the entire received power over the measurement band (bandwidth=N resource blocks) on certain symbols in the measurement resource” – See [0126]; “multi-port measurements, such as 2-port, or 4-port, or more (such as port 15-16 based on CSI-RS, or port 15-18, or port 15-22), if the single-port measurement accuracy is not satisfactory or the multi-port measurement accuracy is better” – See [0115]; CLI RSSI (RX measurements) is averaged/combined from a set of multiple ports, wherein the averaging/combining of CLI RSSI measurements can be performed before or after combining of CLI RSRP measurements).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Du to include combining a set of receive (RX) measurements from a set of RX antenna ports of multiple RX antenna ports; and wherein the set of CLI measurements are combined prior to the set of RX measurements being combined, or the set of RX measurements are combined prior to the set of CLI measurements being combined. Motivation for doing so would be to enable different types of CLI to be measured (See Xu, [0127]).
Claim 20 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 11.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on December 29, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On pages 12-13 of the remarks, Applicant argues “Du generally describes ‘a device, method, apparatus and computer readable medium for detecting Cross Link Interference.’ Du, Abstract. At the cited portions, Du describes that ‘a victim device is informed by the network of the number of antenna ports used by an aggressor device for SRS transmission. The victim device measures SRS-RSRP over all the antenna ports and obtains CLI measurement results accordingly.’ Id. at ¶ [0104]. That is, Du describes measuring SRS-RSRP over all antenna ports, but does not describe measuring on each of the multiple antenna ports, for example, to determine a plurality of measurement values.
Indeed, additional relevant portions surrounding the cited portions describe that ‘the first device 110 may determine the estimation of CLI by performing a correlation operation on the received SRS’ (e.g., single SRS) where ‘the first device 110 transforms the received SRS from time domain to frequency domain so as to obtain the received SRS in frequency domain … performs resource element (RE) de-mapping on the received SRS in frequency domain to obtain a plurality of SRS corresponding to the antenna ports of the third device … correlates the plurality of SRS with one or more SRS base sequences to obtain a correlation result … [and that] some correlation peaks of SRS over samples in time domain may be obtained’ Id. at ¶ [0109]. That is, Du describes a single measurement procedure during which the device receives a single SRS, and then performs an internal correlation procedure to estimate the CLI across the multiple ports. For example, the CLI estimation is required since the device is not performing measurements on each of the multiple ports.”
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Du discloses that the UE performing the CLI measurement determines a plurality of correlation peaks, wherein each of the correlation peaks corresponds to an SRS that was transmitted using multiple antenna ports (“the victim device is supposed to detect a series of “correlation peaks” by using a correlation receiver, assuming the same behavior as a network device. For example, in the example of Fig. 2, it is assumed that four antenna ports of an aggressor device are used for transmission of SRS. Thus, without timing error between a victim device and the aggressor device, four correlation peaks 201, 202, 203 and 204 may be detected” – See [0086]). Additionally, Du discloses that a power level of each of the individual correlation peaks is determined (“first device 110 may determine power levels of all of the correlation peaks and determine a sum of the power levels” – See [00110]).
As such, a plurality of correlation peaks are determined, each of which corresponds to an SRS that was transmitted on a respective one of four antenna ports. For each of the four correlation peaks, the UE determines a respective power level (measurement value) corresponding to each peak. In the example above, four correlation peaks corresponding to the four antenna ports are detected. Subsequently, a power level corresponding to each of the correlation peaks is determined. Thus, Du teaches determining a plurality of measurement values, where each of the plurality of measurement values corresponds to multiple antenna ports. The multiple power levels/measurement values are then summed to determine a CLI estimate (See [00110]).
In view of this, Du is considered to teach the limitation “performing one or more cross-link interference (CLI) measurements on each of multiple ports to determine a plurality of measurement values for multiple ports.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Scott M Sciacca whose telephone number is (571)270-1919. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday, 7:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joseph Avellino can be reached at (571) 272-3905. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SCOTT M SCIACCA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478