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 Amendment
The amendment to the claims filed on 05/11/2026 complies with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.121(c) and has been entered. Claims 16-17, 19-20, 22-23, 25-26, 28-29, 31-34, and 36-37 are amended. Claims 1-15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30 and 35 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Arguments/Remarks filed 05/11/2026 (hereinafter Resp.) are fully considered hereinafter.
First, Applicant argues against Claims 16, 22, 28, and 33 being rejected under 35 U.S.C. § l 12(a) for lack of written description in support of the limitation “a higher layer signaling that configures a number of slots for demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundling.” – See Resp., 10:§I,¶1. Applicant’s explanation that support exists in the (substitute) Specification because “all PUSCHs scheduled by one DCI are grouped into different PPCGs according to time units (e.g., one time unit may be L time slots, and L may be obtained . . . through receiving higher layer signaling configuration by the UE”– See [¶0103] is persuasive if/when combined with the amended limitation “one or more groups including a plurality of PUSCHs for the DMRS bundling based on the number of slots configured by the higher layer signaling” of the same claims; under the Broadest Reasonable Interpretation standard, a person of ordinary skills in the art could understand that because, as known in the art, a scheduled PUSCH transmission carries at least one DMRS encoded in at least one OFDM symbol, e.g., as provided by the dmrs-Type parameter of the higher layer/RRC Information Element (IE) DMRS-UplinkConfig – See, e.g., 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.0.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331), a higher layer signaling that configures a number of slots for groups including a plurality of PUSCHs inherently configures a number of slots comprising DMRSs1 for bundling depending, e.g., on the UE being able to maintain phase continuity across PUSCH repetitions. Therefore, the rejection under 35 U.S.C. §112(a) is withdrawn.
Applicant further argues that in Ly et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0014095 (hereinafter Ly) that “Ly explains that different time groups are identified for the phase continuity and the transmit power based on the number of slots for DMRS bundling” therefore “different time groups are used for different purposes and usages,” and that “Ly fails to disclose that the time unit to split the number of slots into the number of groups is set to two as amended in claim 16” – See Resp., p.15:¶1. Examiner respectfully disagrees on both points.
First, the present Specification discloses that time groups, i.e., number of time units for DMRS bundling, are used for different purposes and usages, just as disclosed in Ly – See, e.g. [¶0054] (stating that “The PUSCH power control group (PPCG) is mainly taken as an example herein . . . so that for each PPCG, a user equipment (UE) can transmit all PUSCH transmissions in the PPCG with the same adjusted transmission power”); see also [¶0107] (stating “successive PUSCHs in a PPCG are replaced by the successive PUSCHs in a DTBG” wherein “for each DTBG, joint channel estimation is performed by employing DMRSs carried in the PUSCHs included in the DTBG,” whereby a person of ordinary skills in the art would appreciate that phase continuity, as disclosed in Ly, is a coherence property required for joint channel estimation). Furthermore, as it was noted in Footnote 2 of the previous Office Action, at page 11, “[t]he Specification does not define ‘DMRS bundling’ per se, therefore the understanding of a person of ordinary skills in the art would apply here, e.g. mapping of DMRS symbols onto slots with PUSCH transmission occasions based on the DMRS-UplinkConfig IE, as explained in §6.4.1.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.211 V16.1.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical channels and modulation (Release 16)”(hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.211),’” which is a minimal specification in accord with both the knowledge in the art and Ly.
Second, Ly defines bundling as “transmitting multiple, redundant versions of a same set of DMRSs to a base station in one or more transmission time intervals (TTIs) or one or more slots” – See [¶0005], i.e., a two-slot time unit for DMRS bundling is disclosed by the very definition of DMRS bundling in Ly. To be sure, Claim 16 requires “the time unit being set to two” with no indication of what “two” means, therefore “two slots” is a reasonable assumption2 by one of ordinary skills in the art in light of the present Specification, e.g., Figs. 14-15. Furthermore, Ly teaches that “[t]he UE may bundle DMRSs associated with a physical shared channel that is related to multiple slots or TTIs (for example, to increase reliability)” whereby “[t]he UE may maintain one or more coherence properties across the DMRSs to bundle the DMRSs” – See [¶0038], e.g., “DMRS bundling may be achieved by using the same precoding matrix to code or map multiple DMRSs transmitted consecutively” – See [¶0092] whereby the “same precoding matrix may be used for multiple consecutive transmissions of DMRS-PUSCH pairs to achieve phase continuity across the multiple consecutively transmitted DMRSs” so that “a base station 105 may more easily estimate a channel” – See [¶0093]. That means that DMRS bundling across a number of TTIs includes a case where one TTI is two slots long wherein the consecutive DMRSs sent on the UL symbols of those two slots are transmitted using the same precoding matrix with the respective PUSCH repetitions to assure better channel estimation (which leads to improved coverage as discussed in 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 meetings at the time of the present filing); see also Noh et al., "DMRS Design and Evaluation for 3GPP 5G New Radio in a High Speed Train Scenario," GLOBECOM 2017 - 2017 IEEE Global Communications Conference, Singapore, 2017, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/GLOCOM.2017.8254568 (hereinafter Noh) explaining in §III (A), at p.3:col2, that “[t]he DMRS design is strongly related to the channel characteristics because the main purpose of DMRS is to estimate the channel coefficient for coherent detection . . . specifically, . . . if the channel varies faster (i.e., having shorter channel coherence time), denser DMRS allocation in the time-domain is needed,” i.e., more symbols per slot are allocated to DMRS and PUSCH repetition factor is >1 as shown in Fig. 3 reproduced hereinafter, showing a 2 slots allocation, wherein Pattern 1C shows one PUSCH occasion frontloaded by a DMRS in each of the two slots.
Therefore, Applicant’s argument that Ly would disclose a different subject matter than that of Amended Claim 16 and the subsequent independent claims fails to persuade on both counts.
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Claim Objections
Amended Claim 16, 22, 28, and 33 objected to because of the following informalities: " should be “the time unit being set to two slots” because “a time unit” is a measure of time like ms or µs while “two” is a scalar, i.e., lacks the time dimension. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Amended Claims 17, 23, 29, and 34 and their dependents are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, regards as the invention.
The meaning of every term used in a claim should be apparent from the prior art or from the specification and drawings at the time the application is filed. Claim language may not be "ambiguous, vague, incoherent, opaque, or otherwise unclear in describing and defining the claimed invention." In re Packard, 751 F.3d 1307, 1311 (Fed. Cir. 2014). Applicants need not confine themselves to the terminology used in the prior art, but are required to make clear and precise the terms that are used to define the invention whereby the metes and bounds of the claimed invention can be ascertained. MPEP § 2173.05(a).
Here, the indicated amended claims, each dependent from an independent claim, recite the limitation “based on the number of slots” whereby the respective independent claims recites both “a number of slots for” DMRS bundling and “the time unit being set to two slots.” Therefore, it is unclear whether the “number of slots” in the amended claims is a reference to the first or the latter number of slots.
For this reason, Amended Claims 17, 23, 29, and 34 and their dependents are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) for indefiniteness.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 16-17, 19-20, 22-23, 25-26, 28-29, 31-34, and 36-37, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(2) as anticipated by Ly et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0014095 (hereinafter Ly) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. §103 as obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan et al., U.S. patent Application Publication No. 2023/0107305 (hereinafter Sridharan).
Regarding Amended Claim 16, Ly teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) (“The UE may bundle DMRSs associated with a physical shared channel that is related to multiple slots or TTIs ” whereby the “UE may maintain one or more coherence properties across the DMRSs to bundle the DMRSs” including “a coherence property such as phase continuity across the bundled DMRSs” wherein phase continuity “may include one or more of a precoder phase continuity (for example, precoding each of the DMRS using a same precoder matrix)” and “may be based on one or more parameters such as a transmit power, a transmit waveform, a time resource allocation,” e.g., a number of slots – See [¶0038] because “[t]ime intervals for base stations 105 or UEs 115 may be expressed in multiples of a basic time unit . . . organized according to radio frames each having a specified duration (for example, 10 milliseconds (ms)” – See [¶0052] whereby each “frame may be divided (for example, in the time domain) into subframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a quantity of slots” wherein “[e]ach slot may include a quantity of symbol periods (for example, depending on the length of the cyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period)” and “may further be divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols” – See [¶0053] with “[a] subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallest scheduling unit (for example, in the time domain) of the wireless communications system 100 and may be referred to as a TTI” that “may be dynamically selected (for example, in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs)),” e.g., 2sTTis per scheduling time unit – See [¶0054]; see also § 4.3, 3GPP TS 38.211 V16.1.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical channels and modulation (Release 16)” (hereinafter 3GPP 38.211) showing in Table 4.3.2-1 the constant number of OFDM symbols per slot, slots per frame, and slots per subframe for normal cyclic prefix), the method comprising:
receiving a higher layer signaling that configures a number of slots for demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundling (“the base station may indicate that the UE is to perform DMRS bundling on one or more physical shared channels (for example, one or more PUSCHs) by transmitting an indication of a DMRS bundling configuration, or a DMRS bundling configuration itself, to the UE . . . explicitly or implicitly “ that may “include a quantity of symbols [or slots] for the DMRS bundling (for example, a number of symbols [or slots] for which DMRS bundling should be performed), as well as one or more of a start symbol or an end symbol for the DMRS bundling, among other examples” – See [¶0039] whereby the start OFDMA symbol and the end OFDMA symbol implicitly indicate a number of slots in the 5G NR transmission frame having always 14 symbols per slot for any supported sub-carrier spacing (SCS) as specified in § 3GPP TS 38.211 supra, and a “base station 105-a may explicitly signal the indication or the DMRS bundling configuration 205 itself to the UE 115-a via RRC signaling,” i.e., higher layer signaling, or “may implicitly indicate the DMRS bundling configuration 205 to the UE 115-a (for example, by signaling a parameter) based on one or more of a configured modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a timing gap between physical shared channel symbols, or a quantity of physical shared channel repetitions”– See [¶0098] and Figure 2; “[t]he one or more physical shared channels may, in some implementations, repeat over multiple TTIs,” e.g., slots, and the “indication of the DMRS bundling configuration . . . based on . . . a quantity of repetitions of the one or more physical shared channels (for example PUSCHs)” that may “repeat over multiple TTIs” whereby the UE may receive from the base station the “quantity of repetitions” of a PUSCH transmission for DMRS bundling – See [¶0135]; see also § 6.1, 3GPP TS 38.214 V16.1.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 16),” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.214), specifying, at page 108-109, that when “the PUSCH mapping type is set to Type A,” i.e., slot based repetitions, “the same symbol allocation is applied across the K consecutive slots” whereby “the number of repetitions K is determined as” the numberofrepetitions parameter configured by the PUSCH-TimeDomainResourceAllocation RRC information Element, else as pusch-AggregationFactor parameter configured in the RRC IE PUSCH-Config used to configure the UE specific PUSCH parameters, and else as “1”; see also §6.2.2, at page 134, specifying the RRC parameters pertinent to the UE DMRS transmission procedure including the RRC IE DMRS-UplinkConfig, whereby RRC IEs are specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.0.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16),” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331)),
receiving one downlink control information (DCI) that schedules physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions (“The base station may transmit DCI to the UE to configure the UE for uplink”– See [¶0040]; whereby “the DCI 305 may be a scheduling DCI 305 or a group common (GC) DCI 305-c (for example, that may be transmitted to multiple UEs 115)” and “may be associated with a PUSCH 315-c that may be repeated in multiple TTIs,”– See [¶0114] and Figs. 4B and 7A, wherein the number of slots for DMRS bundling is based on PUSCH mapping type set to Type A and quantity of repetitions K (or N in Ly:) set to 2 instead of the 4 shown because “a UE 115 is to perform DMRS bundling on . . .one or more PUSCHs” – See [¶0090], whereby bundling means “for example, maintain a phase continuity or precoder continuity . . . including symbols carrying DMRSs (for example, coherent transmission of DMRSs across multiple slots)” and “the uplink transmission may include the one or more physical shared channels and one or more associated DMRSs” so that “base station 105 may receive the DMRSs from the UE 115 and may improve a channel estimate by jointly processing the multiple bundled DMRSs”– See [¶0091] (emphasis added to show accord with present Specification3));
identifying one or more groups including a plurality of PUSCHs for the DMRS bundling based on the number of slots configured by the higher layer signaling wherein the plurality of PUSCH is identified among the scheduled PUSCH repetitions within the number of slots configured by the higher layer signaling (“The UE 115-a may bundle multiple DMRSs 225, for example, in a time domain by transmitting DMRSs 225 in multiple TTIs” and “this may include transmitting multiple, redundant versions of a same set of DMRSs 225 in multiple TTIs.” – See [¶0088], i.e., the UE ultimately identifies the groups including a plurality of PUSCHs for the DMRS bundling, e.g., “FIG. 7A illustrates uplink DMRS bundling in which a same DMRS-PUSCH pair 704 may be transmitted (for example, by a UE 115 or a mobile device) in four consecutive transmission slots using the same precoding matrix for each DMRS-PUSCH pair 704. Transmission of the same PUSCH 703 may be repeated such that the same PUSCH 703 may be transmitted N times, for example four [or two] times, resulting in four [or two] transmissions of a same PUSCH, such as the PUSCHs 703a, 703b” – See [¶0146] based on the number of slots configured by the higher layer signaling as explained supra),
wherein the number of slots is split into the one or more groups based on a time unit configured by the higher layer signaling, the time unit being set to two slots (e.g., because “each frame may include a variable quantity of slots, and the quantity of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing [SCS]” – See [¶0053] and “[a] subframe . . . may be the smallest scheduling unit (for example, in the time domain) of the wireless communications system 100 and may be referred to as a TTI,” – See [¶0054] each subframe, as a time unit configured by the higher layer signaling, may be a TTI that for 30KHz SCS has exactly 2 slots), and
performing transmissions of the plurality of PUSCHs with a same transmission power in the one or more groups for the DMRS bundling (“a transmit power for transmission of each of the DMRS-PUSCH pairs of FIG. 7A . . . may be maintained constant to maintain phase continuity across the multiple DMRSs transmitted consecutively on the uplink” – See [¶0148] and Fig. 7A, wherein the TP is maintained at each subframe of 2 slots instead of the 4 slots shown; see also Fig. 8, wherein the same logic applies, i.e., the TP is constant for groups of 2 slots with consecutive PUSCH occasions/repetitions instead of four).
In case the special case of on a time unit configured by the higher layer signaling, the time unit being set to two slots because the TTI is a subframe in a bandwidth part (BWP) using a specific SCS is not specifically targeted at DMRS bundling, Sridharan like Ly teaches a configuration that “may be used for joint channel estimation once DMRS bundling across slots is enabled” – See [¶0083].
Sridharan specifically teaches wherein the number of slots is split into the one or more groups based on a time unit configured by the higher layer signaling, the time unit being set to two slots (“an A-DMRS preceding a PUSCH transmission and located in the middle of two PUSCH transmissions . . . or repetitions to bridge the gap between the transmissions” and may “be used towards a joint channel estimation with DMRS bundling” – See [¶0084] and Fig. 9D wherein two consecutive UL slots contain multiple PUSCH-DMRS pairs, like in Ly, and an additional DMRS in-between, whereby “[t]he A-DMRS is coherent in phase with the rest of the PUSCH and DMRS symbols” and “is transmitted at the same transmit power as the PUSCH and DMRS to ensure phase coherence” – See [¶0076] and “the network entity may trigger . . . the UE to transmit A-DMRS for a PUSCH transmission, relative to DMRS indicated in a current PUSCH DMRS configuration” – See [¶0069], i.e., the split into the one or more groups is based on a time unit configured by the higher layer signaling, the time unit being set to two slots as in Fig. 9D).
Thus, Ly and Sridharan each discloses a method and apparatus for DMRS bundling across multiple time-domain PUSCH repetitions. A person of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have understood that the configuring by a base station of an additional DMRS between two successive slots with DMRS-PUSCH pair repetitions, as taught in Sridharan, could have been combined with the indication of a DMRS bundling configuration by higher layer signaling as taught in Ly because both provide a UE with indication about time domain resource allocations for DMRS budling DMRS. Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to carry out the combination through techniques known in the art. Finally, the combination achieves the predictable result of allowing the UEs to bridge the time gap between the transmissions of DMRS-PUSCH pairs, as taught in Sridharan, in addition to joint channel estimation with DMRS bundling, as taught in Ly.
Therefore, Amended Claim 16 is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Regarding Amended Claim 17, dependent from Amended Claim 16, Ly further teaches the method of claim 16, wherein identifying the one or more groups for the DMRS bundling includes:
identifying the PUSCH transmissions scheduled by the DCI as different groups based on the number of slots (“The base station 105-a may explicitly signal . . . the DMRS bundling configuration 205 itself to the UE 115-a . . . via a DCI transmission” – See [¶0098] including a DCI that “may include a transmit power control (TPC) command or an uplink transmission
scheduling indication, among other examples” and the “UE 115-a may receive the DCI 215 and may determine whether to maintain DMRS bundling (for example, maintain a phase continuity or precoder continuity),” e.g., “the UE 115-a may determine to maintain or to alter one or more parameters associated with a phase continuity or one or more other coherence properties associated with transmitting a physical shared channel 230 . . . for example, coherent transmission of DMRSs 225 across multiple slots” previously configured for DRMS bundling by higher level signaling – See [¶0109] i.e., the UE 115 was configured to “transmit DMRS 225 in a number (N) of consecutive transmission slots, in which a same precoding matrix may be associated with each of the DMRS 225 in the N consecutively transmitted slots” – See ¶0111] but “the base station 105 may transmit, an indication to adjust transmit power associated with the DMRSs that have not yet been transmitted such as the DMRSs 702c through 702d in FIG. 7A,” i.e., the remaining 2 slots with PUSCH repetitions, or “such as the DMRSs 806a through 806d in FIG. 8,” i.e., the remaining slots with PUSCH repetitions based on the configured number of slots for DMRS bundling – See [¶0159]).
Therefore, Amended Claim 17 is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Regarding Amended Claim 19, dependent from Amended Claim 16, Ly further teaches the method of claim 16, wherein the one or more groups for the DMRS bundling are identified based on a preset maximum time unit4 (“UE 115 may additionally or alternatively bundle DMRSs for example, in a time domain by transmitting (for example, coherently transmitting) the DMRSs in multiple TTIs or by transmitting (for example, coherently transmitting) the DMRSs in multiple slots” – See [¶0088], i.e., transmitting a group, wherein “a non-contiguous time resource allocation having a timing gap between physical shared channel symbols larger than a given threshold may affect a phase continuity of the physical shared channel symbols, including symbols carrying the DMRSs 225” – See [¶0098] and Fig. 2, i.e., destroy the phase continuity/coherence of the DMRS-PUSCH pairs group whereby “a DMRS may provide information to a base station 105 regarding how to demodulate an associated PUSCH containing data, a DMRS and its associated PUSCH, such as a DMRS-PUSCH pair, may be coded using the same precoding matrix” – See [¶0092]; therefore, the preset maximum time unit is the threshold number of contiguous symbols constituting the time gap beyond which the coherent transmission of DMRS groups, including across the groups, is affected5)
whereby the maximum time unit may be preset (“base station 105-b may additionally or alternatively transmit an indication of the DMRS bundling configuration based on . . . a timing gap between the one or more physical shared channel symbols” – See [¶0135]). Furthermore, the maximum time unit for DMRS bundling of PUSH repetitions, e.g., in one bundle may be preset by the RRC parameters specified in 3GPP TS 38.214:108 as defined by the various PUSCH config IE defined by 3GPP TS 38.331, i.e., the numberOfRepetitions preset at a maximum 16, and/or the pusch-AggregationFactor preset at maximum 8.
Therefore, Amended Claim 19 is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Regarding Amended Claim 20, dependent from Amended Claim 16, Ly further teaches the method of claim 16, wherein identifying the one or more groups for the DMRS bundling includes:
identifying successive PUSCH transmissions among the PUSCH repetitions scheduled by the one DCI as one group for the DMRS bundling (“The UE 115-a may receive the DCI 215 and may determine whether to maintain DMRS bundling (for example, maintain a phase continuity or precoder continuity) for one or more of the physical shared channels 230 based on . . . information included in the DCI 215” e.g., “the UE 115-a may determine to maintain or to alter one or more parameters associated with a phase continuity or one or more other coherence properties associated with transmitting a physical shared channel 230 . . . including symbols carrying DMRSs 225 (for example, coherent transmission of DMRSs 225 across multiple slots)” – See [¶0109] e.g., identifying successive PUSCH transmissions among the PUSCH repetitions scheduled by the one DCI as “two sub-bundles of uplink DMRS-bundling phase continuity” wherein “first DMRS bundle of phase continuity may refer to the four[or two] DMRSs 802a through 802d transmitted using the same precoding matrix and the same first transmit power” – See [¶0152], each group for DMRS bundling comprising successive PUSCH transmissions among the PUSCH repetitions but “phase continuity may not exist between a DMRS 802 transmitted using the first transmit power and a DMRS 806 transmitted using the second transmit power” – See [¶0151] and Fig. 8).
Therefore, Amended Claim 20 is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Regarding Amended Claim 22, Ly teaches a user equipment, comprising: a transceiver; and a processor configured to control the transceiver (“FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of a device 1005 that supports physical shared channel reference signal bundling in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 1005 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115” – See [¶0180]; see also Fig. 13 showing the transceiver in communication with the processor) to execute the steps required by Amended Claim 16 and recited with substantially the same language. Because Amended Claim 16 is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan, Amended Claim 22 is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Regarding Claims 23 and 25-26, as amended, dependent from Amended Claim 22, each reciting the limitations in Claims 17 and 18-20, respectively, as amended, with no additional limitations, only applied to the user equipment of Amended Claim 22.
Because Ly and, in the alternative Ly in view of Sridharan, teaches each of the Claims 17, 19-20, and 22, as amended, each of the Claims 23 and 25-26, as amended, is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Regarding Amended Claim 28, Ly teaches a method performed by a base station (e.g., Fig. 16 whereby “[t]he operations of method 2400 may be implemented by a base station 105 or its components” – See [¶0293] and Fig. 24) the method comprising:
transmitting a higher layer signaling that configures a number of slots for demodulation reference signal (DMRS) bundling (“The DMRS bundling configuration transmission component 1525 may transmit, to the UE, an indication of the DMRS bundling configuration” – See [¶0224] and step 2405 of Fig. 24; whereby “the DMRS bundling configuration transmission component 1615 transmits the indication of the DMRS bundling configuration via RRC signaling” – See [¶0229]),
transmitting one downlink control information (DCI) that schedules physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) repetitions (“The DCI component 1635 may transmit, to the UE based on receiving the indication of the UE capability, DCI” and “the DCI includes scheduling DCI or GC DCI” – See [¶0232], e.g., “base station 105 may transmit DCI 505 to the UE 115 that includes scheduling . . . for one or more PUSCHs 515 that may carry one or more DMRSs 510” – See [¶0127] and “may be associated with a PUSCH 315-c that may be repeated in multiple TTIs” – See [¶0114]);
determining one or more groups for the DMRS bundling based on the number of slots configured by the higher layer signaling (when DMRS bundling means “coherent transmission of DMRSs across multiple slots” that “may include the one or more physical shared channels and one or more associated DMRSs” to help the base station “improve a channel estimate by jointly processing the multiple bundled DMRSs” – See [¶0091] and the number of slots for DMRS bundle is based on “quantity of repetitions” of a PUSCH transmission, “a DMRS bundle may refer to the four [or two] DMRSs 702a through 702d that are transmitted using the same precoding matrix,” i.e., the group comprising the DMRS-PUSCH pairs for DMRS bundling comprises all “quantity of repetitions” slots because the base station uses the same precoding matrix across those slots)
wherein the same limitations apply to the one or more groups for the DMRS bundling as recited in Amended Claim 16 with the same language; and
receiving the plurality PUSCH transmissions with a same transmission power in the time group for the DMRS bundling (“the base station may receive, from the UE based on transmitting the DCI, one or more bundled DMRSs associated with one or more physical shared channel symbols associated with the one or more physical shared channels” – See [¶0298], including the case where, as in Fig. 7A, “uplink DMRS bundling in which a same DMRS-PUSCH pair 704 may be transmitted (for example, by a UE 115 or a mobile device) in four consecutive transmission slots using the same pre coding matrix for each DMRS-PUSCH pair 704” and “same PUSCH 703 may be repeated such that the same PUSCH 703 may be transmitted N times, for example four [or two] times, resulting in four[or two] transmissions of a same PUSCH, such as the PUSCHs 703a, 703b, 703c, and 703d” – See [¶0145], wherein “a transmit power for transmission of each of the DMRS-PUSCH pairs of FIG. 7 A . . . may be maintained constant to maintain phase continuity across the multiple DMRSs transmitted consecutively on the uplink” – See [¶0148]).
Sridharan, like Ly, teaches in Fig. 12, a network entity “configured to perform operations for the techniques disclosed herein, such as the operations illustrated in FIG. 6” – See [¶0086]
Therefore, Amended Claim 28 is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Regarding Claims 29, and 31-32, as amended, dependent from Amended Claim 28, Ly further teaches the method of claim 28, wherein the limitations are recited using the same language and for the same limitations of the DMRS bundling as those required in Claims 17, and 19-20, respectively, as amended. Because each of the Claims 17, 19-20, and 28, as amended, is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan, Claims 29, and 31-32, as amended, are anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Regarding Amended Claim 33, Ly further teaches a base station comprising: a transceiver; and a processor configured to control the transceiver, e.g., as shown in Fig. 13 and/or 17, whereby the base station performs the steps of Amended Claim 28. Because Amended Claim 28 is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan, Amended Claim 33 is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Regarding Claims 34, and 36-37, as amended, dependent from Amended Claim 33, each of the claims recites the same limitations using the same language as for the limitations disclosed in in Claims 23, and 25-26, respectively, each as amended. Because each of the Claims 23, 25-26 and 33, as amended, is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan, each of the Claims 34, and 36-37, as amended, is anticipated by Ly or, in the alternative, obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
In sum, Claims 16-17, 19-20, 22-23, 25-26, 28-29, 31-34, and 36-37, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (2)(a) as anticipated by Ly, or in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. §103 as obvious over Ly in view of Sridharan.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Ly et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0322884 as applied in previous Office Action;
Liang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230124181 teaches joint channel estimation of a plurality of channels associated with different slots between a network device and a terminal device;
Kim et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20210392679 discloses extended coverage with PUSCH repetition and DMRS bundling;
Yamamoto et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20250337626 teaches combining of the PUSCH transmitted by repetition over a plurality of subframes, and coherently combines the signals of the portion corresponding to the data signal and the DMRS;
Ma et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0087095 discloses DMRS multi-slot bundling for PDCCH;
Chen et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0092820 discloses method, a terminal device, a network device and a computer storage medium of uplink power control, wherein the method comprises: determining number of bits of a Transmission Power Control TPC command field of the terminal device in Downlink Control Information DCI;
Kwak et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230396385 discloses PUCCH DM-RS enhancement based on usage of slot bundling or the number of slots for scheduling whereby a WTRU receives DCI which schedules a number of bundled slots which is larger than a threshold;
Manolakos et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0222380 discloses for time domain bundling of demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) in slot aggregation;
Manolakos et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20190319757 disclosing a method of transmitting uplink signals by a user equipment in a wireless communication system performing DMRS bundling/sharing for the purpose of reducing DMRS overhead;
Manolakos et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0078867 disclosing shared channel communications to be time-domain reference signal (RS) bundled based at least in part on an RS associated with the shared channel;
Lee et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2020/0221474 disclosing repeatedly transmitting a first SPS uplink signal to the base station, whereby a time resource of a second SPS uplink signal overlaps;
Hwang et al., U.S. Patent No. 11,394,590 discloses method for transmitting, by a terminal, DMRS in a wireless communication system supporting narrowband (NB)-Internet of things (IOT) with a 2-slot bundle;
3GPP TR 37.910 V16.1.0 (2019-09), “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Study on self evaluation towards IMT-2020 submission (Release 16)”;
3GPP TS 38.331 V16.0.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16),” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331), considered the “Bible” of RRC procedures and associated messages;
3GPP TS 38.211 V16.1.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical channels and modulation (Release 16)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.211), cited by 3GPP TS 38.331 in relationship with uplink DMRS configuration through RRC;
3GPP TS 38.214 V16.1.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 16),” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.214) cited by 3GPP TS 38.331 in relationship with configuration of PUSCH transmissions;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #101, R1-2005004, Agenda item: 8.4.1, Title: “[101-e-NR-Cov-Enh] Email discussion on evaluation methodology and simulation assumptions for NR coverage enhancements” for Rel-17, Source: China Telecom (moderator), published June 7, 2020;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #101, R1-2004224, Agenda item:7.2.5.3, Source: Moderator (Apple Inc.), Title: “Feature lead summary on PUSCH enhancements for NR eURLLC”, June 5, 2020, disclosing updates to 3GPP specifications for PUSCH with repetition Type A and Type B;
Noh et al., "DMRS Design and Evaluation for 3GPP 5G New Radio in a High Speed Train Scenario," GLOBECOM 2017 - 2017 IEEE Global Communications Conference, Singapore, 2017, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/GLOCOM.2017.8254568.
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.
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/L.G.G./ Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
1 Indicating the “[s]election of the DMRS type to be used for UL (see TS 38.211 [16], clause 6.4.1.1.3)” whereby §6.4.1.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.211 V16.1.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical channels and modulation (Release 16)”(hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.211) specifies, at pages 71-75, e.g., in Table 6.4.1.1.3-3, the PUSCH DM-RS positions within a slot for single-symbol DM-RS, including multiple symbol positions per slot, depending on the repetition type of the PUSCH (Type A/slot-level repetitions, or TypeB/intra-slot repetitions)
2 The “slot” assumption is exemplary only. A time unit may also be measured in OFDMA symbols, e.g., when PUSCH/DMRS repetition Type B is used as specified in §6.4.1.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.211 supra. The symbol level assumption requires familiarity with the RRC IEs TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated and TDD-UL-DL-ConfigCommon that determine the UE and cell specific Uplink/Downlink TDD configuration, respectively, e.g., as used Fig. 3 reproduced infra, and required for PUSCH repetition Type B – See § 6.1, 3GPP TS 38.214 V16.1.0 (2020-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 16),” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.214), at page 109.
3 The Specification states that “DMRS time domain bundling is performed” on “PUSCHs for at least two transmission occasions,” i.e., a bundling time-unit is at least two slots for PUSCH Type A and a standardized number of OFDMA symbols for PUSCH Type B; and a “DMRS time bundling group (DTBG)” comprises “DMRSs carried in all PUSCHs . . . used for joint channel estimation” – See [¶0084].
4 The Specification further defines “preset” numbers N1, N2, N3, and N4 of PUSCH repetitions “belonging to one PPCG” – See [¶0106] [¶0110],[¶0116] but no “preset maximum time unit” identifying a time-group for DMRS bundling. While it is true that the Specification defines a “time unit” as both “L time slots” and “P OFDM symbols” – See [¶0103], and further teaches that a “PPCG is grouped based on a preset maximum number of OFDM symbols in PUSCHs” – See [¶0125], the OFDM symbols are frequency division multiplexed over a time unit hence it is difficult for a person of ordinary skills in the art to map a ”preset maximum time unit” over a number of OFDM symbols. Furthermore, the Specification is silent as to PUSCH repetition type B (symbol level) as requirement for counting repetitions in terms of symbols.
5 To be noted that the method disclosed in Sridharan specifically solves the “time gap” between DMRS-PUSCH pair transmissions/repetitions problem by splitting the configured number of slots into one or more groups based on a time unit configured by the higher layer signaling, the time unit being set to two slots.
Prosecution Insights