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 filed 01/13/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 4-6, 12-13, 15-16 and 35 have been amended. Claims 9-11, 14, and 17-32 are previously cancelled. Claim 13 has been cancelled. Claims 1-8, 12, 15-16, and 33-36 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/13/2026 have been fully considered but are rendered moot by the use of a new prior art reference to reject the indicated limitations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-8, 12, 15-16, 33-36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damnjanovic et al. (US 20170099120 A1), hereinafter Damnjanovic, in view of Xu et al. (WO 2021243481 A1), hereinafter Xu.
For claim 1,
Damnjanovic teaches a data transmission method based on satellite communication, performed by a terminal, comprising ([0004] satellite communication with a terminal):
Damnjanovic does not explicitly teach, however Xu teaches determining one or more demodulation performance parameters for demodulating data received through a satellite, wherein the demodulation performance parameters comprise at least one of:downlink data that are correctly or incorrectly received, or indication information for indicating a proportion of the PDSCHs carrying the downlink data that are correctly or incorrectly received([FIG. 4] and [0065] the network entity (terminal) includes a BLER calculator used to calculate the BLER for the PDSCH transmissions based on a number of received ACK/NACKs);
reporting target indication information determined according to the demodulation performance parameters to the satellite, wherein the target indication information is configured to instruct the satellite to update one or more transmission parameters for the terminal performing data transmission ([FIG. 4] and [0066] network entity (terminal) sends DMRS configuration to the UE (satellite). The new DMRS configuration is then used by the UE (satellite) for further transmissions, meaning the transmission parameters would have been updated based on the received new DMRS configuration);
wherein when the demodulation performance parameters comprised in the target indication information are greater than or equal to a preset threshold, updated one or more target transmission parameters comprise one or more first transmission parameters, wherein an efficiency of the one or more first transmission parameters is higher than an efficiency of the one or more transmission parameters used between the terminal and the satellite before updating (at least [00108] BLER is compared to a preset threshold. If the BLER is found to be greater than or equal to the threshold, the DMRS is reverted back to a previous DMRS setting (such as pos1) to reduce the BLER and, therefore, increase efficiency);
wherein when the demodulation performance parameters comprised in the target indication information are less than the preset threshold, the updated one or more target transmission parameters comprise one or more second transmission parameters, wherein an efficiency of the one or more second transmission parameters is lower than the efficiency of the transmission parameters used between the terminal and the satellite before updating (at least [FIG. 6] and [00125-00126] MCS value may be compared to a preset MCS threshold. This comparison may be used to determine whether or not to keep the updated DMRS configuration or revert back to a previous configuration. It is well known in the art that if a BLER is below a threshold, a higher-order MCS may be used which is less efficient for computation overhead and power consumption.);
wherein (at least [00109] and [00200] the DMRS (transmission parameter) is updated to pos0, pos1, or a previous or default setting (update manner) based on the BLER. Any information or signals transmitted may be in the form of bits.); and
performing data transmission with the satellite according to the updated one or more target transmission parameters transmitted by the satellite (at least [0093] terminal may use the determined PDSCH configuration, based on the DMRS setting, to generate and transmit a PDSCH to the satellite);
wherein the target transmission parameters comprise at least one of: modulation and coding scheme information used for data transmission, resource information allocated for data transmission, power information of data transmission, or repetition number information of data transmission (at least [00126] and [00119] MCS may be used as a transmission parameter. Alternatively, the index value of the MCS may be based on a SINR value.).
Therefore, 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 methods of Damnjanovik for satellite communication with a terminal with the methods of Xu for determining demodulation parameters comprising indication information of a number of correctly or incorrectly received PDSCHs, reporting information to a satellite to update one or more transmission parameters comprising MCS and SINR values, comparing demodulation performance parameters to preset thresholds to increase/decrease efficiency of the transmission parameters, and performing transmission using the updated transmission parameters to reduce BLER, increase efficiency, and reduce overhead and power consumption of the communication system.
For claim 2, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 1.
Damnjanovic further teaches wherein reporting the target indication information determined according to the demodulation performance parameters to the satellite comprises:
in response to meeting a preset reporting condition, reporting the target indication information to the satellite (Fig 7 and [0091], information reported to satellite when switching threshold is crossed).
For claim 3, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 2.
Damnjanovic further teaches receiving a notification message sent by the satellite, wherein the notification message comprises at least a target period at which the terminal periodically reports the target indication information (Fig 8, timeline, and [0070], HARQ used to receive transmission from satellite]); and
in response to reaching the target period, determining that the preset reporting condition is met (Fig 7 and 8, reporting position triggered and timeline followed).
For claim 4, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 3.
Damnjanovic further teaches wherein the notification message further comprises at least one of:
a resource location when reporting the target indication information, or a preset format of signaling or signal for the terminal to perform uplink transmission ([0074], includes location information); and
reporting the target indication information determined according to the demodulation performance parameters to the satellite comprises at least one of:
reporting the target indication information to the satellite at the resource location indicated by the notification message; or reporting the target indication information in accordance with the preset format to the satellite ([0070], terminal transmits information to satellite for inter-beam handover).
For claim 5, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 2.
Damnjanovic further teaches in response to receiving preset trigger signaling or a preset trigger signal, determining that the preset reporting condition is met (Fig 7 and [0091], information reported to satellite when switching threshold is crossed).
For claim 6, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 5.
Damnjanovic further teaches wherein the preset trigger signaling or the preset trigger signal comprises at least a resource location when reporting the target indication information ([0074], includes location information); and
reporting the target indication information determined according to the demodulation performance parameters to the satellite comprises: reporting the target indication information to the satellite at the resource location indicated by the preset trigger signaling or the preset trigger signal (Fig 7 and [0091], information reported to satellite when switching threshold is crossed, [0070], transmission for inter-beam handover includes position).
For claim 7, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 1.
Damnjanovic further teaches wherein the determining the one or more demodulation performance parameters for demodulating data received through the satellite comprises:
determining one or more reference resources ([0069], computation of signal parameters); and
determining the demodulation performance parameters for demodulating data received through the satellite at one or more resource locations of the reference resources ([0075], signal demodulation).
For claim 8, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 7.
Damnjanovic further teaches wherein determining the reference resources comprises any one of: determining one or more resources predefined in a protocol as the reference resources; determining at least part of resources comprised in a time window predefined in the protocol as a plurality of reference resources; after receiving resource indication signaling transmitted by the satellite, determining one or more resources indicated by the resource indication signaling as the reference resources; after receiving time window indication signaling transmitted by the satellite, determining at least part of resources comprised in the time window indicated by the time window indication signaling as the a plurality of reference resources ([0075], current resources tracked for signals being demodulated).
For claim 12, It is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 1, where Damnjanovic further teaches the method be performed by a satellite ([0004], satellite can receive and transmit signals).
For claim 15, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 12.
Damnjanovic further teaches wherein transmitting the one or more target transmission parameters to the terminal comprises:
transmitting the one or more target transmission parameters to the terminal through downlink scheduling signaling ([0046], downlink communication).
For claim 16, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 12.
Damnjanovic further teaches wherein the one or more target transmission parameters comprise at least one of: modulation and coding scheme information used for data transmission, resource information allocated for data transmission, power information of data transmission, or repetition number information of data transmission ([0075] frequency and timing resources monitored for signals being demodulated).
For claim 33, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 1.
Damnjanovic further teaches a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program when executed by a processor causes the processor to execute the method according to claim 1 ([0013], terminal with memory storing instruction executed by a processor).
For claim 34, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 12.
Damnjanovic further teaches a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program when executed by a processor causes the processor to execute the method according to claim 12 ([0066], satellite has memory storing instruction executed by a processor).
For claim 35, It is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 1, where Xu teaches the additional limitations of a terminal having a processor and memory for storing instructions executable by the processor (Fig 4, and [0085], terminal with memory storing instruction executed by a processor).
For claim 36, Damnjanovic and Xu teach claim 12.
Damnjanovic further teaches a satellite, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor, wherein the instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to execute the data transmission method based on satellite communication according to claim 12 ([0066], a satellite with a processor and memory storing instructions).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Benjamin T. Ranew whose telephone number is (571)272-2746. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached at (571) 270-0422. 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.
/BENJAMIN T. RANEW/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
Prosecution Insights