DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 01/26/2026 has been entered and considered by Examiner. Claims 9-20 and 30-35 are presented for examination.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant elected without traverse to prosecute claims associated with Specie 4 related to Fig. 17 is acknowledge by the Primary Examiner. Accordingly, all claims pertain to the elected Specie will be prosecuted. However, Claims 30-35 are directed to the elected Specie 4. Thus, Claims 30-35 will be considered. The restriction is made Final.
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.
Claims 9-20 and 30-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu (US Pub. 20190253214 A1).
For claims 9 and 30, Liu discloses a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) [0189], comprising:
receiving, from a first transmission-reception point, configuration information for a sounding reference signal resource set that configures an uplink sounding reference signal for uplink tracking of one or more of frequency shifts or time shifts associated with uplink transmissions between the UE and one or more transmission-reception points (RRC signaling delivers SRS configuration. “Receiving” and “configuration information”, the network may use the SRS for
uplink power control, time tracking") [0003, 0058-61];
configuring at least a first sounding reference signal resource set for uplink tracking based at least in part on the configuration information (step 3910, configures SRS resource set via RRC, UE configures itself based on the received SRS configuration. The purpose ("for uplink tracking") is established) [0202, 0189, 0056-59]; and
transmitting a first sounding reference signal based at least in part on the first sounding reference signal resource set (step 3930) [0202, 0070-73, 0053-56].
Claim 30 differs from claim 9 only by the additional recitation of the following limitation, which is also taught by the cited prior art. The cited prior art further discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor, memory coupled with the processor [0173, 0188, 0196]; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to [0173, 0188, 0196]: All other identical limitations are rejected based on the same rationale as shown above.
For claims 10 and 31, Liu discloses the configuration information includes one or more of a time domain configuration, a frequency domain configuration, a spatial domain configuration, a power configuration, a periodicity configuration, an activation command configuration, a transmission configuration, or any combinations thereof, for the first sounding reference signal resource set (an SRS configuration covers time, frequency, and spatial domain configurations. SRS configuration also includes power control and the existence of periodic/aperiodic types.) [0055, 0108, 0160-166].
For claim 11, Liu discloses the time domain configuration provides at least two time domain resources for transmission of the first sounding reference signal within the first sounding reference signal resource set, (multiple time-domain resources within a set (Figs. 7-8, e.g., hopping instances, symbols for two or more timing)) [0126, 0003, 0162-167] or
provides at least two sounding reference signal resource sets in two or more consecutive uplink slots (Figs. 7-8, multiple SRS resource sets (for different antenna pairs) in consecutive slots) [0126, 0003, 0162-167].
For claims 12 and 34, Liu discloses the time domain configuration provides at least two time domain resources for transmission of the first sounding reference signal with a two or a four symbol time domain gap (Fig. 11) [0054-56, 0107], the time domain configuration provides separate configurations for a low-band frequency range and a high-band frequency range (Fig. 11) [0054-56, 0107], or any combinations thereof.
For claim 13, Liu discloses the frequency domain configuration indicates that a same fixed subcarrier comb pattern is used across a plurality of time domain resources for transmitting the first sounding reference signal (Fig. 12) [0126, 0151-153].
For claim 14, Liu discloses the spatial domain configuration indicates that the first sounding reference signal is transmitted using a single antenna port (Fig. 9) [0102-103, 0124, 0138].
For claim 15, Liu discloses the power configuration indicates that the first sounding reference signal is transmitted at a same transmit power across all sounding reference signal resources of the first sounding reference signal resource set (Figs. 7-8, the same frequency carrying the SRS signals has the same power, since they are transported using the same frequency) [0126, 0151-153].
For claim 16, Liu discloses the periodicity configuration indicates a fixed periodicity for a plurality of transmissions of the first sounding reference signal (Figs. 11-12, frequency hopping vs no frequency hopping, note one is sequential, another one is not sequential) [0126, 0151-153].
For claim 17, Liu discloses the first sounding reference signal is transmitted aperiodically in response to a trigger received at the UE (Figs. 11-12, frequency hopping vs no frequency hopping, note one is sequential, another one is not sequential) [0126, 0151-153].
For claim 18, Liu discloses the activation command configuration provides an activation, deactivation, or triggering of the first sounding reference signal resource set based on a sounding reference signal activation command [0126 0078].
For claim 19, Liu discloses receiving, from the first transmission-reception point, control information that provides an indication that the first uplink reference signal is to be transmitted from the UE to one or more transmission-reception points [0202].
For claims 20 and 35, Liu discloses transmitting, prior to the receiving the configuration information, a capability indication to the first transmission-reception point that indicates a UE capability to use a sounding reference signal for uplink tracking (Fig. 37) [0103-107, 0170].
For claim 32, Liu discloses the time domain configuration provides at least two time domain resources for transmission of the first sounding reference signal within the first sounding reference signal resource set (e.g., hopping instances, symbols)) [0126, 0003, 0162-167].
For claim 33, Liu discloses the time domain configuration provides at least two sounding reference signal resource sets in two or more consecutive uplink slots (multiple SRS resource sets (for different antenna pairs) in consecutive slots) [0126, 0003, 0162-167].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US-20180213513-A1; US-20240031097-A1
Inquiries
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to PAKEE FANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3633. The Examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9:00AM-5:00PM.
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, Armouche, Hadi can be reached on 571-270-3618. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAKEE FANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409