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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 04/08/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 18, 32 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Independent Claims
Claim(s) 1, 18, 32, 35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US-20200252241) in view of Liu (WO-2021155572-A1), Grossman (WO-2020020453-A1), Vintola (US-11026189), 3GPP TS 38.214-g20, Physical layer procedures for data (Release 16) (2020-07-20).
As to claim 1, 18, 32, 35: Park teaches a signal transmission method, performed by a terminal, comprising: receiving first information sent by a network device, wherein the first information is used to indicate that a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource is used for multiple usages, wherein the multiple usages comprise at least a first usage and a second usage; and sending an SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource to the network device according to the first information (abstract fig.8, s1510, s1530; [0020, 237, 247] wherein the configuration information includes information on first usage of the SRS resource related to the transmission of the uplink data and information on second usage of the SRS resource related to antenna switching); wherein the sending an SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource to the network device according to the first information, includes: determining the first SRS resource according to the first information; in case that the second usage is downlink CSI acquisition, determining uplink filter of the SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource according to downlink filter of a specific signal; and sending the SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource to the network device, based on the uplink filter of the SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource; or, wherein the sending an SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource to the network device according to the first information, includes: determining the first SRS resource according to the first information; in case that the first SRS resource or an SRS resource set where the first SRS resource is included, is not configured with spatial relation information, sending the SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource set to the network device by using an uplink filter corresponding to spatial relation information indicated for SRS resources in an SRS resource set configured with one of the multiple usage types; or, in case that the first SRS resource or the SRS resource set where the first SRS resource is included, is not configured with a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state, sending the SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource set to the network device by using an uplink filter corresponding to a TCI state indicated for an SRS resource or an SRS resource set configured with one of the multiple usage types.
Park may not explicitly teach or, wherein the sending an SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource to the network device according to the first information, includes: determining the first SRS resource according to the first information; determining an uplink filter for SRS transmission corresponding to the first SRS resource, according to one or more of multiple downlink filters for reception of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), and sending the SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource according to the uplink filters. However, Liu teaches or, wherein the sending an SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource to the network device according to the first information, includes: determining the first SRS resource according to the first information; determining an uplink filter for SRS transmission corresponding to the first SRS resource, according to one or more of multiple downlink filters for reception of physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) ([0007] TCI state is activated for PDSCH transmission on the schedule dCC, the default spatial relation for SRS resource transmission is determined by the activated TCI state), and sending the SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource according to the uplink filters (abstract transmitting the SRS resource using the determined default spatial relation).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement determine UL filter according to DL, taught by Liu, into the communication system, taught by Park, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and enable communications . In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Park and Liu in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Park may not explicitly teach or, wherein after the sending an SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource to the network device according to the first information, the method further includes: determining, according to the uplink filter for SRS transmission corresponding to the first SRS resource, downlink filter for reception of PDSCH sent by the network device. However, Grossman teaches or, wherein after the sending an SRS corresponding to the first SRS resource to the network device (13:35-36 Each UL transmission beam may be associated with a certain UL RS, which may be a sounding reference signal) according to the first information (taught by Park), the method further includes: determining, according to the uplink filter for SRS transmission corresponding to the first SRS resource, downlink filter for reception of PDSCH sent by the network device (7:5-20 the UE identifies for an indicated UL transmission beam for the UL transmission to the gNB a corresponding DL reception beam for the corresponding downlink reception).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement determining DL reception filter using UL, taught by Grossman, into the communication system, taught by Park, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and enable DL reception. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Grossman and Park in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Park may not explicitly teach or, wherein when transmitting the SRS corresponding to the SRS resource set where the first SRS resource is included, to the network device, SRSs corresponding to any two SRS resources in an SRS resource set where the first SRS resource is included, are transmitted at different moments. However, Vintola teaches or, wherein when transmitting the SRS corresponding to the SRS resource set where the first SRS resource is included, to the network device, SRSs corresponding to any two SRS resources in an SRS resource set where the first SRS resource is included, are transmitted at different moments (claim 8 wherein the routing configuration of the UE is used to transmit the at least one first SRS and a second SRS using different symbols of a slot).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement SRS in different symbols, taught by Vintola, into the SRS, taught by Park, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and avoid collision and overlap. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Park and Vintola in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Park may not explicitly teach and no uplink transmission is performed between any two SRS resources which are configured in a same slot and which are in the SRS resource set where the first SRS resource is included. However, 3GPP teaches and no uplink transmission is performed between any two SRS resources which are configured in a same slot and which are in the SRS resource set where the first SRS resource is included (section 6.2.1, p.130 The SRS resource set applicability is configured by the higher layer parameter usage in SRS-ResourceSet. When the higher layer parameter usage is set to 'beamManagement', only one SRS resource in each of multiple SRS sets may be transmitted at a given time instant, but the SRS resources in different SRS resource sets with the same time domain behaviour in the same BWP may be transmitted simultaneously p.134 The UE is not expected to be configured with different time domain behavior for SRS resources in the same SRS resource set. The UE is also not expected to be configured with different time domain behavior between SRS resource and associated SRS resources set).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement no uplink transmission between SRS resources in same slot, taught by 3GPP, into the SRS, taught by Park, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and prevent collision and overlap. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine 3GPP and Park in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Dependent Claims
Claim(s) 3, 4, 6, 8, 20, 21, 24, 25, 33, 34, 36, 37 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park (US-20200252241) in view of Liu (WO-2021155572-A1), Grossman (WO-2020020453-A1), Vintola (US-11026189), 3GPP TS 38.214-g20, Physical layer procedures for data (Release 16) (2020-07-20).
As to claim 3, 20, 33, 36: Park teaches the method according to claim 1, 3, 32, 35, wherein the first SRS resource includes all or part of SRS resources in an SRS resource set configured with a first usage type; the first information is further used to indicate that all or part of the SRS resources in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type are further used for a second usage (abstract fig.8, s1510, s1530; [0020, 237, 247] wherein the configuration information includes information on first usage of the SRS resource related to the transmission of the uplink data and information on second usage of the SRS resource related to antenna switching).
As to claim 4, 21, 34, 37: Park teaches the method according to claim 3, 20, 33, 36 wherein the first SRS resource includes a specific SRS resource in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type, and the first information is used to indicate that the specific SRS resource in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type is further used for the second usage; or, wherein the first SRS resource includes all or part of SRS resources in the SRS resource set which is configured with the first usage type and a time-domain type of a specific type; the first information is used to indicate that all or part of the SRS resources in the SRS resource set which is configured with the first usage type and the time-domain type of the specific type, are further used for the second usage (abstract fig.8, s1510, s1530; [0020, 190, 237, 247] wherein the configuration information includes information on first usage of the SRS resource related to the transmission of the uplink data and information on second usage of the SRS resource related to antenna switching).
As to claim 6, 24: Park teaches the method according to claim 4, 21 wherein the first SRS resource includes a specific SRS resource in the SRS resource set which is configured with the first usage type and the time-domain type of the specific type (abstract [0129, 170, 188]); and the first information is used to indicate that the specific SRS resource in the SRS resource set which is configured with the first usage type and the time-domain type of the specific type, is further used for the second usage; or, wherein the specific SRS resource includes at least one of the following: an SRS resource indicated by the first information (abstract [0129, 170, 188] wherein the DCI includes an SRS resource for the transmission of the uplink data and information on timing related to an antenna port configured for the SRS resource); first s SRS resources with smallest indexes in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type, wherein s is a positive integer; first m SRS resources with earliest transmission moment in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type, wherein m is a positive integer: an SRS resource in a specific SRS resource set in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type; an SRS resource, which is configured in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and which is simultaneously configured in a second SRS resource set: wherein the second SRS resource set is an SRS resource set whose usage type is configured as a second usage type, first k SRS resources with smallest indexes in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the time-domain type of the specific type, wherein k is a positive integer; first n SRS resources with earliest transmission moment in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the time-domain type of the specific type, wherein n is a positive integer; an SRS resource in a specific SRS resource set in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the time-domain type of the specific type; or, an SRS resource, which is configured in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the time-domain type of the specific type and which is simultaneously configured in the second SRS resource set.
As to claim 8, 25: Park teaches the method according to claim 6, 24, wherein the specific SRS resource set is one of the following: an SRS resource set indicated by the first information (abstract [0129, 170, 188] wherein the DCI includes an SRS resource for the transmission of the uplink data and information on timing related to an antenna port configured for the SRS resource); first k SRS resource sets with smallest indexes in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type, wherein k is a positive integer; first n SRS resource sets with earliest transmission moment in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type, wherein n is a positive integer; first t SRS resource sets with smallest indexes in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the time-domain type of the specific type, wherein t is a positive integer; first r SRS resource sets with earliest transmission moment in the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the time-domain type of the specific type, wherein r is a positive integer.
Claim(s) 11, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu (WO-2021155572-A1), Grossman (WO-2020020453-A1), Vintola (US-11026189), 3GPP TS 38.214-g20, Physical layer procedures for data (Release 16) (2020-07-20) in view of Yang (US-20200112349).
As to claim 11: Park teaches the method according to claim 3.
Park may not explicitly teach wherein the first SRS resource includes: an SRS resource which is simultaneously included in both the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the SRS resource set configured with the second usage type. However, Yang teaches wherein the first SRS resource includes: an SRS resource which is simultaneously included in both the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the SRS resource set configured with the second usage type ([0060] if the same SRS resources are used for DL CSI acquisition and UL CSI acquisition at the same time).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement simultaneous usage types, taught by Yang, into the SRS, taught by Park, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and reduce overhead and simplify configuration. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Yang and Park in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
As to claim 13: Park teaches the method according to claim 3, wherein the first information is carried in an SRS resource set configuration signaling sent by the network device to the terminal (abstract [0129, 170, 188] wherein the DCI includes an SRS resource for the transmission of the uplink data and information on timing related to an antenna port configured for the SRS resource); in case that the SRS resource set configuration signaling does not configure an SRS resource set whose usage type is the second usage type, the terminal determines that the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type is further used for the second usage; or, in case that the SRS resource set configuration signaling configures an SRS resource set whose usage type is the second usage type, and there presents an SRS resource which is simultaneously included in both the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the SRS resource set configured with the second usage type, the terminal determines that the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type is further used for the second usage, … , is further used for the second usage (abstract fig.8, s1510, s1530; [0020, 190, 237, 247] wherein the configuration information includes information on first usage of the SRS resource related to the transmission of the uplink data and information on second usage of the SRS resource related to antenna switching).
Park may not explicitly teach or the terminal determines that the SRS resource which is simultaneously included in both the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the SRS resource set configured with the second usage type. However, Yang teaches or the terminal determines that the SRS resource which is simultaneously included in both the SRS resource set configured with the first usage type and the SRS resource set configured with the second usage type ([0060] if the same SRS resources are used for DL CSI acquisition and UL CSI acquisition at the same time).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to implement simultaneous usage types, taught by Yang, into the SRS, taught by Park, in order to implement a well-known feature of a pre-defined protocol and reduce overhead and simplify configuration. In addition, it would have been obvious to combine Yang and Park in a known manner to obtain predictable results as the combination would not change the essence, quiddity, or functionality of the prior art references.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW CHUNG SUK OH whose telephone number is (571)270-5273. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12p-8p.
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/ANDREW C OH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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