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 .
This office action is a response to an application filed on 01/06/2026 in which claims 1-5, 9-12, 15-27 and 30 are pending. Claims 6-8, 13-14 and 28-29 were canceled.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/06/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s Arguments/Remarks filed on 11/13/2025 with respect to amended independent claim 1 have been fully considered. Based on the amendments to the claims, further consideration and search were performed resulting in a new ground(s) of rejection presented below. The claims have not overcome the claim rejections as shown below.
Claims 1-5, 9-12, 15-27 and 30 are pending.
Claims 6-8, 13-14 and 28-29 were canceled.
Response to Arguments
Regarding amended independent claim 1, Applicant argues that the Office Action has not shown that a superposition signal including a base modulation layer and an enhanced modulated layer, as described in Malladi, teach or suggest “a superposition signal”, where “the first transmission is transmitted via a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and that the second transmission is transmitted via a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam”.
Further consideration of the prior art Malladi was performed. Malladi discloses in [0016] that spatial layers are used for the transmission of the base modulation layer and enhancement modulation layer. Malladi further discloses in [0165] that the downlink grant indicates the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer. Thus, Malladi discloses wherein the superposition control information indicates that the first transmission is transmitted via a first spatial layer and that the second transmission is transmitted via a second spatial layer. However, Malladi does not disclose the spatial layers corresponding to beams. Further search was performed and the prior art Gorokhov et al. (US 2010/0202561), hereinafter “Gorokhov” was found to disclose the feature of spatial layers corresponding to beams.
Therefore, based on the new ground of rejection, the independent claim 1 is rendered unpatentable. Independent claims 12, 27 and 30 recite similar distinguishing features as claim 1 discussed above, thus are rendered unpatentable for the reasons discussed above. As a result the features of the claims are shown by the cited references as set forth below.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-5 and 18-23 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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.
Claims 1, 9-10, 12, 15-17, 24-25, 27 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Malladi et al. (US 2015/0326360) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Malladi” in view of Shin et al. (US 2020/0389870), hereinafter “Shin” and further in view of Gorokhov et al. (US 2010/0202561), hereinafter “Gorokhov”.
As to claim 1, Malladi teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (Malladi, Fig. 39, [0309], a UE for wireless communication), comprising:
one or more processors (Malladi, Fig. 39, [0309]-[0311], the UE includes a processor);
one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors (Malladi, Fig. 39, [0309]-[0311], the UE includes a memory connected to the processor); and
instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to (Malladi, Fig. 39, [0309]-[0311], the memory stores software code and instructions executed by the processor to perform the functions of the UE):
receive control signaling scheduling a first transmission via a first set of resources (Malladi, Fig. 14, [0177], the UE receives a downlink grant from a base station, where the downlink grant indicates that downlink resources have been allocated for a base modulation layer and/or an enhancement modulation layer. The downlink grant includes information such as discussed with respect to Figs. 10-12);
receive superposition control information that indicates superposition of a second transmission and the first transmission during at least a portion of the first set of resources (Malladi, Fig. 11, [0165], [0166], the UE receives signaling information in the downlink grant, where the signaling information indicates whether the UE is to receive the base modulation layer, the enhancement modulation layer, or both, and downlink resources for the UE on the layer(s). [0168], [0191], the reception of the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer by the UE from the base station indicates the transmission of superpositioning the enhancement modulation layer onto the base modulation layer by the base station) based at least on part on the second transmission having a higher priority than the first transmission (Malladi, [0122], the base modulation layer is used to transmit high priority or latency sensitive content, and the enhancement modulation layer is used to transmit lower priority data), wherein the superposition control information indicates that the first transmission is transmitted via a first spatial layer and that the second transmission is transmitted via a second spatial layer (Malladi, [0165], the downlink grant indicates the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer);
monitor the first set of resources for the first transmission based at least in part on the control signaling (Malladi, Fig. 4, [0134], Fig. 6, [0138], Fig. 13, [0173], the UE includes a RF receiver to receive transmissions on two or more hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and one or more enhancement modulation layers) from the base station. Fig. 14, [0177], the downlink grant indicates the UE the downlink resources that have been allocated for the base modulation layer and/or the enhancement modulation layer transmissions); and
decode a superposition signal comprising the first transmission and the second transmission to receive the first transmission via the first set of resources based at least in part on the superposition control information (Malladi, Fig. 6, [0138], [0168], Fig. 14, [0177]-[0178], [0191], the UE performs decoding on the content from the base modulation layer (step 1415) and from the enhancement modulation layer (step 1425), where the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer are superpostioned in a hierarchical modulation signal. The decoding is based on the transmissions characteristic, the signaling and downlink grant to obtain the content in the corresponding downlink resources).
Malladi teaches the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi further discloses the use of downlink grants (Malladi, [0167], [0170]). However, Malladi does not explicitly teach in Figures 11 and 14 the following underlined features: regarding claim 1, receive, after receiving the control signaling, superposition control information, a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam.
However, Shin teaches receive, after receiving the control signaling, superposition control information (Shin, Fig. 14, [0306], [0308]-[0309], [0316]-[0320], the first UE receives, after receiving the first DCI from the base station, a second DCI from the base station. The second DCI includes information related to PDSCH cancellation of a second UE to be applied to a superposition signal from the base station while decoding the superposition signal. The superposition signal (PDSCH for first UE and PDSCH for second UE) is transmitted via the same time and frequency resources. [0101]-[0103], the superimposed signal include base-layer subsymbols and enhancement-layer subsymbols).
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 invention of Malladi to have the features, as taught by Shin in order to correctly decode a signal by transmitting information related to signal cancellation of a far UE to the near UE in a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) system (Shin, [0023]), where the information is transmitted in a new DCI distinguishable from other DCIs (Shin, [0005]).
Malladi and Shin teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi and Shin do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 1, a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam.
However, Gorokhov teaches a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam (Gorokhov, [0007], “in the event that a wireless communications device has multiple antennas, the device can be configured to transmit data to an associated network according to SU-MIMO via a set of spatial layers that correspond to, e.g., physical antennas, beams and/or other appropriate constructs defined across physical antennas, or the like”, [0037], “a set of spatial layers (corresponding to, for example, physical antennas, beams formed via beamforming and/or other processes across multiple physical antennas, etc.)”. In a MIMO environment, a set of spatial layers correspond to beams).
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 invention of Malladi and Shin to have the features, as taught by Gorokhov in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of forward links for the different access terminals and to cause less interference between access terminals scattered randomly an access point’s coverage and access terminals in neighboring cells (Gorokhov, [0077]).
As to claim 9, Malladi teaches wherein the superposition control information indicates one or more parameters associated with the second spatial layer (Malladi, [0165]-[0166], the signaling information includes transmission energy ratio information, transport block size, modulation and coding scheme, resource block location, precoding matrix, layer mapping, etc. for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer. The downlink grant indicates the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer), wherein decoding the superposition signal comprises:
decode the superposition signal to obtain the first transmission from the first spatial layer of the superposition signal based at least in part on the one or more parameters associated with the second spatial layer (Malladi, Fig. 6, [0138], [0168], Fig. 14, [0177]-[0178], [0191], the UE performs decoding on the content from the base modulation layer (step 1415) and from the enhancement modulation layer (step 1425), where the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer are superpostioned in a hierarchical modulation signal. The decoding is based on the transmissions characteristic, the signaling and downlink grant to obtain the content in the corresponding downlink resources. [0160], [0165]-[0166], the signaling includes information such as MCS and transmission energy ratio between the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer, and the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer).
As to claim 10, Malladi teaches wherein the superposition control information indicates a time and frequency location of the superposition signal (Malladi, [0018], [0165], the signaling information includes a resource block location of data transmitted to the UE on one or more of the base modulation layer or the enhancement modulation layer. [0167], resource block size), a power parameter associated with the superposition signal (Malladi, [0165], the signaling information includes a transmission energy ratio between the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer), a modulation and coding scheme associated with the superposition signal (Malladi, [0165], a modulation and coding scheme for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer), a channel identifier associated with the superposition signal, a demodulation reference signal identifier, or a combination thereof.
As to claim 12, Malladi teaches an apparatus for wireless communications at a network entity (Malladi, Fig. 38, [0303], a base station for wireless communication), comprising:
one or more processors (Malladi, Fig. 38, [0303]-[0305], the base station includes a processor);
one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors (Malladi, Fig. 38, [0303]-[0305], the base station includes a memory connected to the processor); and
instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to (Malladi, Fig. 38, [0303]-[0305], the memory stores software code and instructions executed by the processor to perform the functions of the base station):
transmit, to a first user equipment (UE), control signaling scheduling a first transmission via a first set of resources (Malladi, Fig. 14, [0177], the UE receives a downlink grant from a base station, where the downlink grant indicates that downlink resources have been allocated for a base modulation layer and/or an enhancement modulation layer. The downlink grant includes information such as discussed with respect to Figs. 10-12);
transmit, to the first UE, a second UE, or both, superposition control information that indicates superposition of a second transmission and the first transmission during at least a portion of the first set of resources (Malladi, Fig. 11, [0165], [0166], the UEs receive signaling information in the downlink grant from the base station, where the signaling information indicates whether the UE is to receive the base modulation layer, the enhancement modulation layer, or both, and downlink resources for the UE on the layer(s). [0168], [0191], the reception of the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer by the UE from the base station indicates the transmission of superpositioning the enhancement modulation layer onto the base modulation layer by the base station) based at least on part on the second transmission having a higher priority than the first transmission (Malladi, [0122], the base modulation layer is used to transmit high priority or latency sensitive content, and the enhancement modulation layer is used to transmit lower priority data), wherein the superposition control information indicates that the first transmission is transmitted via a first spatial layer and that the second transmission is transmitted via a second spatial layer (Malladi, [0165], the downlink grant indicates the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer); and
transmit, to the first UE, the second UE, or both, a superposition signal via a second set of resources that at least partially overlap with the first set of resources, the superposition signal comprising at least a portion of the first transmission and the second transmission (Malladi, Fig. 4, [0134], Fig. 6, [0138], Fig. 13, [0173], the UEs include a RF receiver to receive transmissions on two or more hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and one or more enhancement modulation layers) from the base station. The base station transmits the hierarchical modulation layers via the transmitter 430. Fig. 14, [0177], the downlink grant indicates the UEs the downlink resources that have been allocated for the base modulation layer and/or the enhancement modulation layer transmissions. [0014], [0147], the hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and enhancement modulation layer) are transmitted via PDSCH. The resources used for the transmission of the hierarchical modulation layers overlap with the resources used for any of the base modulation layer and enhancement modulation layer. [0168], the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer are superpostioned in a hierarchical modulation signal).
Malladi teaches the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi further discloses the use of downlink grants (Malladi, [0167], [0170]). However, Malladi does not explicitly teach in Figures 11 and 14 the following underlined features: regarding claim 12, transmit, to the first UE, a second UE, or both and after transmitting the control signaling, superposition control information, a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam.
However, Shin teaches transmit, to the first UE, a second UE, or both and after transmitting the control signaling, superposition control information (Shin, Fig. 14, [0306], [0308]-[0309], [0316]-[0320], the first UE receives, after receiving the first DCI from the base station, a second DCI from the base station. The second DCI includes information related to PDSCH cancellation of a second UE to be applied to a superposition signal from the base station while decoding the superposition signal. The superposition signal (PDSCH for first UE and PDSCH for second UE) is transmitted via the same time and frequency resources. [0101]-[0103], the superimposed signal include base-layer subsymbols and enhancement-layer subsymbols).
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 invention of Malladi to have the features, as taught by Shin in order to correctly decode a signal by transmitting information related to signal cancellation of a far UE to the near UE in a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) system (Shin, [0023]), where the information is transmitted in a new DCI distinguishable from other DCIs (Shin, [0005]).
Malladi and Shin teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi and Shin do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 12, a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam.
However, Gorokhov teaches a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam (Gorokhov, [0007], “in the event that a wireless communications device has multiple antennas, the device can be configured to transmit data to an associated network according to SU-MIMO via a set of spatial layers that correspond to, e.g., physical antennas, beams and/or other appropriate constructs defined across physical antennas, or the like”, [0037], “a set of spatial layers (corresponding to, for example, physical antennas, beams formed via beamforming and/or other processes across multiple physical antennas, etc.)”. In a MIMO environment, a set of spatial layers correspond to beams).
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 invention of Malladi and Shin to have the features, as taught by Gorokhov in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of forward links for the different access terminals and to cause less interference between access terminals scattered randomly an access point’s coverage and access terminals in neighboring cells (Gorokhov, [0077]).
As to claim 15, Malladi teaches wherein the superposition control information indicates a time and frequency location of the superposition signal (Malladi, [0018], [0165], the signaling information includes a resource block location of data transmitted to the UE on one or more of the base modulation layer or the enhancement modulation layer. [0167], resource block size), a power parameter associated with the superposition signal (Malladi, [0165], the signaling information includes a transmission energy ratio between the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer), a modulation and coding scheme associated with the superposition signal (Malladi, [0165], a modulation and coding scheme for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer), a channel identifier associated with the superposition signal, a demodulation reference signal identifier associated with the superposition signal, or a combination thereof.
As to claim 16, Malladi teaches wherein the instructions to transmit the superposition signal are executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
transmit the superposition signal in accordance with a first modulation and coding scheme for the first transmission and a second modulation and coding scheme for the second transmission (Malladi, [0165], “a modulation and coding scheme for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer”, [0167], [0182], [0204], the base station transmits the hierarchical modulation signal (superposition of the enhancement modulation layer onto the base modulation) using an MCS for each of the layers. Fig. 5, [0137], the transmission of the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer is performed via corresponding MCSs).
As to claim 17, Malladi teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
transmit the superposition control information comprising an indication of the first modulation and coding scheme, the second modulation and coding scheme, or both (Malladi, [0165], “The signaling information may also include…a modulation and coding scheme for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer”, [0167], “the signaling information…may include…a modulation scheme for the base modulation layer, a modulation scheme for the enhancement modulation layer”, [0182], “an MCS of each of the layers”, [0204], “MCS for each modulation layer”. Fig. 5, [0137], the transmission of the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer is performed via corresponding MCSs).
As to claim 24, Malladi teaches wherein the instructions to transmit the superposition signal are executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
transmit the first spatial layer of the superposition signal that comprises the first transmission (Malladi, Fig. 4, [0134], Fig. 6, [0138], Fig. 13, [0173], the UEs include a RF receiver to receive transmissions on two or more hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and one or more enhancement modulation layers) from the base station. The base station transmits the hierarchical modulation layers via the transmitter 430. [0014], [0147], the hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and enhancement modulation layer) are transmitted via PDSCH. [0168], the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer are superpostioned in a hierarchical modulation signal. [0165], the downlink grant indicates the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer); and
transmit the second spatial layer of the superposition signal that comprises the second transmission (Malladi, Fig. 4, [0134], Fig. 6, [0138], Fig. 13, [0173], the UEs include a RF receiver to receive transmissions on two or more hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and one or more enhancement modulation layers) from the base station. The base station transmits the hierarchical modulation layers via the transmitter 430. [0014], [0147], the hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and enhancement modulation layer) are transmitted via PDSCH. [0168], the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer are superpostioned in a hierarchical modulation signal. [0165], the downlink grant indicates the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer).
As to claim 25, Malladi teaches wherein the superposition control information indicates one or more parameters associated with the first spatial layer, the second spatial layer, or both (Malladi, [0165]-[0166], the signaling information includes transmission energy ratio information, transport block size, modulation and coding scheme, resource block location, precoding matrix, layer mapping, etc. for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer. The downlink grant also indicates the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer).
As to claim 27, Malladi teaches a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (Malladi, Fig. 11, [0163], Fig. 14, [0176], Fig. 39, [0309], a method for wireless communication by a UE), comprising:
receiving control signaling scheduling a first transmission via a first set of resources (Malladi, Fig. 14, [0177], the UE receives a downlink grant from a base station, where the downlink grant indicates that downlink resources have been allocated for a base modulation layer and/or an enhancement modulation layer. The downlink grant includes information such as discussed with respect to Figs. 10-12);
receiving superposition control information that indicates superposition of a second transmission and the first transmission during at least a portion of the first set of resources (Malladi, Fig. 11, [0165], [0166], the UE receives signaling information in the downlink grant, where the signaling information indicates whether the UE is to receive the base modulation layer, the enhancement modulation layer, or both, and downlink resources for the UE on the layer(s). [0168], [0191], the reception of the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer by the UE from the base station indicates the transmission of superpositioning the enhancement modulation layer onto the base modulation layer by the base station) based at least on part on the second transmission having a higher priority than the first transmission (Malladi, [0122], the base modulation layer is used to transmit high priority or latency sensitive content, and the enhancement modulation layer is used to transmit lower priority data), wherein the superposition control information indicates that the first transmission is transmitted via a first spatial layer and that the second transmission is transmitted via a second spatial layer (Malladi, [0165], the downlink grant indicates the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer);
monitoring the first set of resources for the first transmission based at least in part on the control signaling (Malladi, Fig. 4, [0134], Fig. 6, [0138], Fig. 13, [0173], the UE includes a RF receiver to receive transmissions on two or more hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and one or more enhancement modulation layers) from the base station. Fig. 14, [0177], the downlink grant indicates the UE the downlink resources that have been allocated for the base modulation layer and/or the enhancement modulation layer transmissions); and
decoding a superposition signal comprising the first transmission and the second transmission to receive the first transmission via the first set of resources based at least in part on the superposition control information (Malladi, Fig. 6, [0138], [0168], Fig. 14, [0177]-[0178], [0191], the UE performs decoding on the content from the base modulation layer (step 1415) and from the enhancement modulation layer (step 1425), where the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer are superpostioned in a hierarchical modulation signal. The decoding is based on the transmissions characteristic, the signaling and downlink grant to obtain the content in the corresponding downlink resources).
Malladi teaches the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi further discloses the use of downlink grants (Malladi, [0167], [0170]). However, Malladi does not explicitly teach in Figures 11 and 14 the following underlined features: regarding claim 27, receiving, after receiving the control signaling, superposition control information, a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam.
However, Shin teaches receiving, after receiving the control signaling, superposition control information (Shin, Fig. 14, [0306], [0308]-[0309], [0316]-[0320], the first UE receives, after receiving the first DCI from the base station, a second DCI from the base station. The second DCI includes information related to PDSCH cancellation of a second UE to be applied to a superposition signal from the base station while decoding the superposition signal. The superposition signal (PDSCH for first UE and PDSCH for second UE) is transmitted via the same time and frequency resources. [0101]-[0103], the superimposed signal include base-layer subsymbols and enhancement-layer subsymbols).
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 invention of Malladi to have the features, as taught by Shin in order to correctly decode a signal by transmitting information related to signal cancellation of a far UE to the near UE in a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) system (Shin, [0023]), where the information is transmitted in a new DCI distinguishable from other DCIs (Shin, [0005]).
Malladi and Shin teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi and Shin do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 27, a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam.
However, Gorokhov teaches a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam (Gorokhov, [0007], “in the event that a wireless communications device has multiple antennas, the device can be configured to transmit data to an associated network according to SU-MIMO via a set of spatial layers that correspond to, e.g., physical antennas, beams and/or other appropriate constructs defined across physical antennas, or the like”, [0037], “a set of spatial layers (corresponding to, for example, physical antennas, beams formed via beamforming and/or other processes across multiple physical antennas, etc.)”. In a MIMO environment, a set of spatial layers correspond to beams).
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 invention of Malladi and Shin to have the features, as taught by Gorokhov in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of forward links for the different access terminals and to cause less interference between access terminals scattered randomly an access point’s coverage and access terminals in neighboring cells (Gorokhov, [0077]).
As to claim 30, Malladi teaches a method for wireless communications at a network entity (Malladi, Fig. 11, [0163], Fig. 14, [0176], Fig. 38, [0303], a method for wireless communication by a base station), comprising:
transmitting, to a first user equipment (UE), control signaling scheduling a first transmission via a first set of resources (Malladi, Fig. 14, [0177], the UE receives a downlink grant from a base station, where the downlink grant indicates that downlink resources have been allocated for a base modulation layer and/or an enhancement modulation layer. The downlink grant includes information such as discussed with respect to Figs. 10-12);
transmitting, to the first UE, a second UE, or both, superposition control information that indicates superposition of a second transmission and the first transmission during at least a portion of the first set of resources (Malladi, Fig. 11, [0165], [0166], the UEs receive signaling information in the downlink grant from the base station, where the signaling information indicates whether the UE is to receive the base modulation layer, the enhancement modulation layer, or both, and downlink resources for the UE on the layer(s). [0168], [0191], the reception of the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer by the UE from the base station indicates the transmission of superpositioning the enhancement modulation layer onto the base modulation layer by the base station) based at least on part on the second transmission having a higher priority than the first transmission (Malladi, [0122], the base modulation layer is used to transmit high priority or latency sensitive content, and the enhancement modulation layer is used to transmit lower priority data), wherein the superposition control information indicates that the first transmission is transmitted via a first spatial layer and that the second transmission is transmitted via a second spatial layer (Malladi, [0165], the downlink grant indicates the number of spatial layers for the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer); and
transmitting, to the first UE, the second UE, or both, a superposition signal via a second set of resources that at least partially overlap with the first set of resources, the superposition signal comprising at least a portion of the first transmission and the second transmission (Malladi, Fig. 4, [0134], Fig. 6, [0138], Fig. 13, [0173], the UEs include a RF receiver to receive transmissions on two or more hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and one or more enhancement modulation layers) from the base station. The base station transmits the hierarchical modulation layers via the transmitter 430. Fig. 14, [0177], the downlink grant indicates the UEs the downlink resources that have been allocated for the base modulation layer and/or the enhancement modulation layer transmissions. [0014], [0147], the hierarchical modulation layers (base modulation layer and enhancement modulation layer) are transmitted via PDSCH. The resources used for the transmission of the hierarchical modulation layers overlap with the resources used for any of the base modulation layer and enhancement modulation layer. [0168], the base modulation layer and the enhancement modulation layer are superpostioned in a hierarchical modulation signal).
Malladi teaches the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi further discloses the use of downlink grants (Malladi, [0167], [0170]). However, Malladi does not explicitly teach in Figures 11 and 14 the following underlined features: regarding claim 30, transmitting, to the first UE, a second UE, or both and after transmitting the control signaling, superposition control information, a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam.
However, Shin teaches transmitting, to the first UE, a second UE, or both and after transmitting the control signaling, superposition control information (Shin, Fig. 14, [0306], [0308]-[0309], [0316]-[0320], the first UE receives, after receiving the first DCI from the base station, a second DCI from the base station. The second DCI includes information related to PDSCH cancellation of a second UE to be applied to a superposition signal from the base station while decoding the superposition signal. The superposition signal (PDSCH for first UE and PDSCH for second UE) is transmitted via the same time and frequency resources. [0101]-[0103], the superimposed signal include base-layer subsymbols and enhancement-layer subsymbols).
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 invention of Malladi to have the features, as taught by Shin in order to correctly decode a signal by transmitting information related to signal cancellation of a far UE to the near UE in a multi-user superposition transmission (MUST) system (Shin, [0023]), where the information is transmitted in a new DCI distinguishable from other DCIs (Shin, [0005]).
Malladi and Shin teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi and Shin do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 30, a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam.
However, Gorokhov teaches a first spatial layer corresponding to a first multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beam and a second spatial layer corresponding to a second MIMO beam (Gorokhov, [0007], “in the event that a wireless communications device has multiple antennas, the device can be configured to transmit data to an associated network according to SU-MIMO via a set of spatial layers that correspond to, e.g., physical antennas, beams and/or other appropriate constructs defined across physical antennas, or the like”, [0037], “a set of spatial layers (corresponding to, for example, physical antennas, beams formed via beamforming and/or other processes across multiple physical antennas, etc.)”. In a MIMO environment, a set of spatial layers correspond to beams).
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 invention of Malladi and Shin to have the features, as taught by Gorokhov in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of forward links for the different access terminals and to cause less interference between access terminals scattered randomly an access point’s coverage and access terminals in neighboring cells (Gorokhov, [0077]).
Claims 11 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Malladi et al. (US 2015/0326360) (provided in the IDS), hereinafter “Malladi” in view of Shin et al. (US 2020/0389870), hereinafter “Shin” and further in view of Gorokhov et al. (US 2010/0202561), hereinafter “Gorokhov” and further in view of ElArabawy et al. (US 2015/0139120), hereinafter “ElArabawy”.
Malladi, Shin and Gorokhov teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi, Shin and Gorokhov do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 11, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to a network entity, a capability message indicating a capability to decode the superposition signal, wherein receiving the superposition control information that indicates the superposition of the second transmission is based at least in part on the capability message.
As to claim 11, ElArabawy teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to a network entity, a capability message indicating a capability to decode the superposition signal (ElArabawy, Fig. 3, [0042], the base station receives the capabilities of the UE, the capabilities include whether hierarchical modulation is supported by the respective UE), wherein receiving the superposition control information that indicates the superposition of the second transmission is based at least in part on the capability message (ElArabawy, Fig. 3, [0058], [0060], [0066], Fig. 4, the control information for the hierarchical modulation is transmitted by the base station to the UE in the downlink (step 370) after the UE indicates its hierarchical modulation capabilities to the base station (step 310). Fig. 6, [0063]-[0065], the UE includes a demodulator 640, H-M aware demultiplexer 650, descrambler 660A-B and decoder 670A-B to decode the incoming data stream comprising the base layer and enhanced layer).
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 invention of Malladi, Shin and Gorokhov to have the features, as taught by ElArabawy in order to allow multiple allocations of the same radio resource to multiple UEs, which improves utilization of radio resources and leads to improvement in system throughput (ElArabawy, [0041]).
Malladi, Shin and Gorokhov teach the claimed limitations as stated above. Malladi, Shin and Gorokhov do not explicitly teach the following features: regarding claim 26, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
receive a capability message indicating a capability to decode the superposition signal, wherein transmitting the superposition signal is based at least in part on the capability message.
As to claim 26, ElArabawy teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
receive a capability message indicating a capability to decode the superposition signal (ElArabawy, Fig. 3, [0042], the base station receives the capabilities of the UE, the capabilities include whether hierarchical modulation is supported by the respective UE), wherein transmitting the superposition signal is based at least in part on the capability message (ElArabawy, Fig. 3, [0058], [0060], [0066], Fig. 4, the control information for the hierarchical modulation is transmitted by the base station to the UE in the downlink (step 370) after the UE indicates its hierarchical modulation capabilities to the base station (step 310). Fig. 6, [0063]-[0065], the UE includes a demodulator 640, H-M aware demultiplexer 650, descrambler 660A-B and decoder 670A-B to decode the incoming data stream comprising the base layer and enhanced layer).
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 invention of Malladi, Shin and Gorokhov to have the features, as taught by ElArabawy in order to allow multiple allocations of the same radio resource to multiple UEs, which improves utilization of radio resources and leads to improvement in system throughput (ElArabawy, [0041]).
Conclusion
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/RICARDO H CASTANEYRA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473