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 action is in response to applicant arguments filed on 1/6/2026.
Claims 1-20 have been examined and rejected.
The IDS filed on 1/6/2026 has been considered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim (US 2013/0182594 A1) in view of Kim* (US 20150162966 A1) (Both references from Case IPR2023-00603).
Regarding Claim 1, Kim discloses a method for multi-antenna transmission in a user equipment (see FIG. 5), comprising:
receiving a first radio signal (see para 55, a method of transmitting a CSI-RS/i.e., a first radio signal, for a massive MIMO system by using CSI-RS resources); and
receiving a first signaling (see paras 65-69, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information/i.e., a first signaling, before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the time and frequency resource positions at which the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO are transmitted, wherein this information includes positions of time and frequency resources at which a CSI-RS for each antenna group is transmitted);
wherein the first radio signal is collectively transmitted by K antenna port groups of the base station (see FIG. 5. para 60, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports; also see FIG. 7, para 83, five beam groups 710 are illustrated, each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, and each antenna group transmits CSI-RSs by using one CSI-RS resource 700 for 8 ports in each transmission interval);
the antenna port group includes a positive integer number of antenna port(s) (see FIG. 5);
a first antenna port group is one of the K antenna port groups (see FIG. 5 depicting five antenna port group 510);
the first signaling is used to determine a first time resource pool that comprises a collection of time resources for shared use (see FIG. 5, para 60, since each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource/i.e., representing shared use (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports; also see paras 65-69, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information/i.e., a first signaling, before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the time and frequency resource positions at which the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO are transmitted, wherein this information includes positions of time and frequency resources at which a CSI-RS for each antenna group is transmitted);
the first radio signal includes one or more of or CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference signal) (see para 55, a method of transmitting a CSI-RS/i.e., a first radio signal, for a massive MIMO system by using CSI-RS resources).
Kim discloses all the above limitations, but does not disclose: at least one of a first antenna virtualization vector and a second antenna virtualization vector is associated with the first antenna port group; the first antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the base station in the first time resource pool; the second antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the user equipment in the first time resource pool;
In the same field of endeavor, Kim* discloses this limitation: see FIG. 12, para 141, a cell having N antenna ports, and K antenna port groups of M antenna ports, one CSI-RS transmission resource is allocated to each antenna group, … the eNB establishes K CSI-RS transmission configurations and assigns an antenna virtualization matrix B/i.e., representing the first and the second antenna virtualization vectors; … see para 135, FIG. 12, CSI-RSs for M ports among N ports may be UE-specifically and aperiodically transmitted/i.e., representing second antenna virtualization vector available for UE, which is a variation of cell-specific and periodic transmission/i.e., representing the first antenna virtualization vector available for Base station (sell specific) of the CSI-RSs for N ports in resources corresponding to one CSI-RS configuration … mapping between CSI-RSs of N antenna ports and M UE-specific ports or antenna virtualization may be performed using a transform matrix B of N*M dimensions; also at para 146, the eNB may designate, through one or more UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS configurations, a CSI-RS transmission-enabled region for the UE. Herein, a UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS transmission resource may be a subset of a cell-specific CSI-RS resource, as shown in FIG. 14.
It would have been obvious, to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Kim, so as to use antenna virtualization for mapping CSI-RS for M ports among N ports of the UE in massive MIMO as taught by Kim*, to reduce the overhead of transmitting CSI-RSs (see Kim*, para 134).
Regarding Claims 2, 7, 12 and 17, Kim discloses: receiving a second signaling; and operating a second radio signal in a first time resource sub-pool; wherein the operating is one of receiving or transmitting the second radio signal; the second signaling is used to determine the first time resource sub-pool from the first time resource pool (see para , FIG. 8. illustrates a transmission of CSI-RSs for a plurality of beams by allocating not only individual time resources but also individual frequency resources; also see FIG. 5, para 60, since each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource … each transmission antenna has an individual transmission resource/i.e., representing other resources or resource sub-pool, in transmitting a CSI-RS, and the UE can measure the channel state in each transmission antenna. The channel state in each transmission antenna needs to be measured for determination of an optimum precoding scheme; and at paras 65-69, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information, before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the time and frequency resource positions at which the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO are transmitted, wherein this information includes positions of time and frequency resources at which a CSI-RS for each antenna group is transmitted).
Regarding Claims 3, 8, 13 and 18, Kim discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first signaling indicates the first antenna port group from the K antenna port group(s) (see FIG. 5. para 60, antenna groups 1 through 5 in FIG. 4 are allocated transmission time intervals and transmit CSI-RSs in the allocated transmission time intervals. In FIG. 4, since each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports … the CSI-RS 510 for massive MIMO, CSI-RSs 520 for non-massive MIMO with respect to all antenna groups are transmitted; also see paras 65-67, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the number of antenna groups which configure the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO); or, comprising:
Regarding Claims 4, 9, 14 and 19, Kim discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting second information, wherein the second information is used to determine K1 antenna port group(s); the K1 antenna port group(s) belong(s) to the K antenna port groups; the first antenna port group is one of the K1 antenna port group(s); the K1 is a positive integer (see paras 65-68, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: 1) Information on the number of transmission antennas which configure the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO; 2) Information on the number of antenna groups which configure the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO; 3) Information on the number of transmission antennas which configure each of the antenna groups configuring the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO); or, or,
Regarding Claims 5, 10, 15 and 20, Kim discloses the method of claim 1, wherein or the first signaling is a semi-static signaling (see para 108, One method capable of reducing the quantity of control information for the second CSI-RS, which should be transmitted through a PDCCH or an E-PDCCH, is to semi-statically set the transmission resources for the second CSI-RS); or the first signaling is a high layer signaling (see para 107, The control information is imperative for reception of a second CSI-RS allocated to a UE by the UE… the eNB may notify a corresponding UE of information needed for reception of a second CSI-RS allocated to UEs other than the corresponding UE. The reason why the eNB notifies a UE of information needed for reception of a second CSI-RS allocated to the other UEs is in order to enable the UE to measure the multi-user MIMO interference generated at the time of multi-user MIMO transmission by receiving the second CSI-RS allocated to the other UEs… some of the information may be set using a higher layer signaling while only indispensable information is transmitted using a PDCCH or an E-PDCCH); or or or
Regarding Claim 6, Kim discloses a method for multi-antenna transmitting in a base station, comprising:
transmitting a first radio signal to a target receiver (see para 55, a method of transmitting a CSI-RS/i.e., a first radio signal transmitted by the base station (to a receiver UE), for a massive MIMO system by using CSI-RS resources); and
transmitting a first signaling to a target receiver (see paras 65-69, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO/i.e., by the base station, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information/i.e., a first signaling, before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the time and frequency resource positions at which the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO are transmitted, wherein this information includes positions of time and frequency resources at which a CSI-RS for each antenna group is transmitted);
wherein the first radio signal is collectively transmitted by K antenna port groups (see FIG. 5. para 60, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports; also see FIG. 7, para 83, five beam groups 710 are illustrated, each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, and each antenna group transmits CSI-RSs by using one CSI-RS resource 700 for 8 ports/i.e., representing collective transmission by the base station, in each transmission interval);
the K is a positive integer greater than 1; the antenna port group includes a positive integer number of antenna port(s); a first antenna port group is one of the K antenna port groups (see FIG. 5 depicting five antenna port group 510);
the first signaling is used to determine a first time resource pool that comprises a collection of time resources for shared use (see FIG. 5, para 60, since each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource/i.e., representing shared use (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports; also see paras 65-69, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information/i.e., a first signaling, before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the time and frequency resource positions at which the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO are transmitted, wherein this information includes positions of time and frequency resources at which a CSI-RS for each antenna group is transmitted);
the first radio signal includes one or more of or CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference signal); the first signaling is a downlink signaling (see para 55, a method of transmitting a CSI-RS/i.e., a downlink signal, for a massive MIMO system by using CSI-RS resources).
Kim discloses all the above limitations, but does not disclose: at least one of a first antenna virtualization vector and a second antenna virtualization vector is associated with the first antenna port group; the first antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the base station in the first time resource pool; the second antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the target receiver of the first signaling in the first time resource pool;
In the same field of endeavor, Kim* discloses this limitation: see FIG. 12, para 141, a cell having N antenna ports, and K antenna port groups of M antenna ports, one CSI-RS transmission resource is allocated to each antenna group, … the eNB establishes K CSI-RS transmission configurations and assigns an antenna virtualization matrix B … see para 135, FIG. 12, CSI-RSs for M ports among N ports may be UE-specifically and aperiodically transmitted, which is a variation of cell-specific and periodic transmission of the CSI-RSs for N ports in resources corresponding to one CSI-RS configuration … mapping between CSI-RSs of N antenna ports and M UE-specific ports or antenna virtualization may be performed using a transform matrix B of N*M dimensions; also at para 146, the eNB may designate, through one or more UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS configurations, a CSI-RS transmission-enabled region for the UE. Herein, a UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS transmission resource may be a subset of a cell-specific CSI-RS resource, as shown in FIG. 14.
It would have been obvious, to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Kim, so as to use antenna virtualization for mapping CSI-RS for M ports among N ports of the UE in massive MIMO as taught by Kim*, to reduce the overhead of transmitting CSI-RSs (see Kim*, para 134).
Regarding Claim 11, Kim discloses a user equipment (UE) for multi-antenna transmission, comprising:
a first transceiver, receiving a first radio signal from a base station (see para 55, a method of transmitting a CSI-RS/i.e., a first radio signal, for a massive MIMO system by using CSI-RS resources); and
a second receiver, receiving a first signaling from the base station (see paras 65-69, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information/i.e., a first signaling, before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the time and frequency resource positions at which the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO are transmitted, wherein this information includes positions of time and frequency resources at which a CSI-RS for each antenna group is transmitted);
wherein the first radio signal is collectively transmitted by K antenna port groups; the K is a positive integer greater than 1 (see FIG. 5. para 60, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports; also see FIG. 7, para 83, five beam groups 710 are illustrated, each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, and each antenna group transmits CSI-RSs by using one CSI-RS resource 700 for 8 ports in each transmission interval);
the antenna port group includes a positive integer number of antenna port(s); a first antenna port group is one of the K antenna port groups (see FIG. 5 depicting five antenna port group 510);
the first signaling is used to determine a first time resource pool that comprises a collection of time resources for shared use (see FIG. 5, para 60, since each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource/i.e., representing shared use (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports; also see paras 65-69, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information/i.e., a first signaling, before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the time and frequency resource positions at which the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO are transmitted, wherein this information includes positions of time and frequency resources at which a CSI-RS for each antenna group is transmitted);
the first radio signal includes one or more of or CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference signal) (see para 55, a method of transmitting a CSI-RS/i.e., a first radio signal, for a massive MIMO system by using CSI-RS resources).
Kim discloses all the above limitations, but does not disclose: at least one of a first antenna virtualization vector and a second antenna virtualization vector is associated with the first antenna port group; the first antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the base station in the first time resource pool; the second antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the user equipment of the first signaling in the first time resource pool;
In the same field of endeavor, Kim* discloses this limitation: see FIG. 12, para 141, a cell having N antenna ports, and K antenna port groups of M antenna ports, one CSI-RS transmission resource is allocated to each antenna group, … the eNB establishes K CSI-RS transmission configurations and assigns an antenna virtualization matrix B … see para 135, FIG. 12, CSI-RSs for M ports among N ports may be UE-specifically and aperiodically transmitted, which is a variation of cell-specific and periodic transmission of the CSI-RSs for N ports in resources corresponding to one CSI-RS configuration … mapping between CSI-RSs of N antenna ports and M UE-specific ports or antenna virtualization may be performed using a transform matrix B of N*M dimensions; also at para 146, the eNB may designate, through one or more UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS configurations, a CSI-RS transmission-enabled region for the UE. Herein, a UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS transmission resource may be a subset of a cell-specific CSI-RS resource, as shown in FIG. 14.
It would have been obvious, to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Kim, so as to use antenna virtualization for mapping CSI-RS for M ports among N ports of the UE in massive MIMO as taught by Kim*, to reduce the overhead of transmitting CSI-RSs (see Kim*, para 134).
Regarding Claim 16, Kim discloses a base station equipment for multi-antenna transmission, comprising:
a third transceiver, transmitting a first radio signal to a target receiver (see para 55, a method of transmitting a CSI-RS/i.e., a first radio signal transmitted by the base station (to a target or UE), for a massive MIMO system by using CSI-RS resources); and
a second transmitter, transmitting a first signaling to the target receiver (see paras 65-69, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO/i.e., by the base station, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information/i.e., a first signaling, before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the time and frequency resource positions at which the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO are transmitted, wherein this information includes positions of time and frequency resources at which a CSI-RS for each antenna group is transmitted);
wherein the first radio signal is collectively transmitted by K antenna port groups (see FIG. 5. para 60, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports; also see FIG. 7, para 83, five beam groups 710 are illustrated, each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, and each antenna group transmits CSI-RSs by using one CSI-RS resource 700 for 8 ports/i.e., representing collective transmission by the base station, in each transmission interval);
the K is a positive integer greater than 1;the antenna port group includes a positive integer number of antenna port(s); a first antenna port group is one of the K antenna port groups (see FIG. 5 depicting five antenna port group 510);
the first signaling is used to determine a first time resource pool that comprises a collection of time resources for shared use (see FIG. 5, para 60, since each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource/i.e., representing shared use (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports; also see paras 65-69, In order to transmit the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an eNB should notify a UE of related control information/i.e., a first signaling, before transmitting a CSI-RS. The control information is imperative for proper reception of the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO and proper determination of the channel state based on the received CSI-RSs by the UE. Such control information may include at least one of the following: Information on the time and frequency resource positions at which the CSI-RSs for massive MIMO are transmitted, wherein this information includes positions of time and frequency resources at which a CSI-RS for each antenna group is transmitted);
the first radio signal includes one or more (see para 55, a method of transmitting a CSI-RS/i.e., a downlink signal, for a massive MIMO system by using CSI-RS resources).
Kim discloses all the above limitations, but does not disclose: at least one of a first antenna virtualization vector and a second antenna virtualization vector is associated with the first antenna port group; the first antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the base station in the first time resource pool; the second antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the target receiver of the first signaling in the first time resource pool;
In the same field of endeavor, Kim* discloses this limitation: see FIG. 12, para 141, a cell having N antenna ports, and K antenna port groups of M antenna ports, one CSI-RS transmission resource is allocated to each antenna group, … the eNB establishes K CSI-RS transmission configurations and assigns an antenna virtualization matrix B … see para 135, FIG. 12, CSI-RSs for M ports among N ports may be UE-specifically and aperiodically transmitted, which is a variation of cell-specific and periodic transmission of the CSI-RSs for N ports in resources corresponding to one CSI-RS configuration … mapping between CSI-RSs of N antenna ports and M UE-specific ports or antenna virtualization may be performed using a transform matrix B of N*M dimensions; also at para 146, the eNB may designate, through one or more UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS configurations, a CSI-RS transmission-enabled region for the UE. Herein, a UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS transmission resource may be a subset of a cell-specific CSI-RS resource, as shown in FIG. 14.
It would have been obvious, to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the system of Kim, so as to use antenna virtualization for mapping CSI-RS for M ports among N ports of the UE in massive MIMO as taught by Kim*, to reduce the overhead of transmitting CSI-RSs (see Kim*, para 134).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/6/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive as detailed below:
On pages 10-11, the Applicant argues that: “… with respect to the feature of "wherein the first radio signal is collectively transmitted by K antenna port groups of the base station" recited in claim 1, the Office action refers to Kim (at FIG. 12, para 141) as allegedly disclosing these features. See Office action at page 3… Applicant submits that Kim does not contain the asserted paragraph 141. In fact, the highest paragraph number of Kim is 0134… Further, the FIG. 12 of Kim "illustrates a notification of an allocation-or-not of a second CSI-RS." See Kim at paragraph 0119. FIG. 12 of Kim does not teach or suggest "a cell having N antenna ports" at all. For these reasons, the Office action failed to identify a specific reference that discloses or teaches "wherein the first radio signal is collectively transmitted by K antenna port groups of the base station" recited in claim 1. For these reasons, applicant respectfully submits that the rejection of claim 1 should be withdrawn.”
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The limitation "wherein the first radio signal is collectively transmitted by K antenna port groups of the base station" is taught by Kim at paragraph 60, see FIG. 5. each antenna group transmits a CSI-RS in each transmission interval by using one CSI-RS resource (as indicated by reference numeral 500 of FIG. 5) for 8 ports; also see FIG. 7, para 83, five beam groups 710 are illustrated, each antenna group includes 8 transmission antennas, and each antenna group transmits CSI-RSs by using one CSI-RS resource 700 for 8 ports/i.e., representing collective transmission by the base station, in each transmission interval. The Claim 1 mapping above, indicated Kim* to disclose the limitation "wherein the first radio signal is collectively transmitted by K antenna port groups of the base station" was a typo and has been stricken off for claim 1 as indicated above, and the primary reference Kim teaches the limitation "wherein the first radio signal is collectively transmitted by K antenna port groups of the base station". The other independent claims 6, 11 and 16 have the same mapping for the above limitation without the indicated typo above.
On pages 11-12, regarding the limitation: “… at least one of a first antenna virtualization vector and a second antenna virtualization vector is associated with the first antenna port group; the first antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the base station in the first time resource pool; the second antenna virtualization vector is an antenna virtualization vector available to the user equipment in the first time resource pool …” the Applicant argues that the mapping from Kin* fails to teach the above limitation.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. FIG. 12, is a diagram illustrating 3D MIMO and multiple antenna virtualization matrices. Kim* solves the problem of CSI-Rs associated overhead as the number of transmit antenna increases for 3D MIMO, and uses multiple antenna virtualization matrices. Specifically, antenna virtualization matrix B is used for CSI-RS transmission on N by M ports. Here antenna virtualization is achieved using a transform matrix (B), to form M-port antenna groups. A CSI-RS after antenna virilization is denoted by Z, each Z is a vector for each antenna port for CSI-RS, which are the first and second antenna virtualization vectors. These CI-RS virtualized vectors are transmitted as cell-specific or UE-specific in resources corresponding to one CSI-RS configuration. This is also mapped in detailed below using Kim*:
Here the antenna virtualization matrix B (N by M) is for CSI-RSs transmission. At paras 135-136, CSI-RSs for M ports among N ports may be UE-specifically i.e., representing second antenna virtualization vector available for UE, and aperiodically transmitted, which is a variation of cell-specific/i.e., representing the first antenna virtualization vector available for base station (cell specific) and periodic transmission of the CSI-RSs for N ports in resources corresponding to one CSI-RS configuration … mapping between CSI-RSs of N antenna ports and M UE-specific ports or antenna virtualization may be performed using a transform matrix B of N*M dimensions. FIG. 12 conceptually shows such antenna virtualization. In FIG. 12, a CSI-RS uses M antenna ports. As shown in FIG. 12, N by M antenna virtualization matrix B is used for CSI-RS transmission, the matrix may be designated/configured for each UE. If a signal for CSI-RS antenna ports is X, a signal after antenna virtualization may be represented as Z. Herein, zi denotes a precoding vector for the i-th CSI-RS antenna port… para 139, a UE-group-specific configuration, in a cell including N antenna ports, antenna ports may be grouped into antenna groups of M antenna ports such that K antenna groups are configured… antenna virtualization of N antenna ports and the kth M port antenna group may be performed through a transform matrix Bk. Matrix Bk1 for the k1th M-port antenna group and matrix Bk2 for the k2th M-port antenna group… para 141, a cell having N antenna ports, and K antenna port groups of M antenna ports, one CSI-RS transmission resource is allocated to each antenna group, … the eNB establishes K CSI-RS transmission configurations and assigns an antenna virtualization matrix B/i.e., representing the first and the second antenna virtualization vectors; …; also at para 146, the eNB may designate, through one or more UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS configurations, a CSI-RS transmission-enabled region for the UE. Herein, a UE-specific aperiodic CSI-RS transmission resource may be a subset of a cell-specific CSI-RS resource, as shown in FIG. 14.
Hence Kim in view of Kim* clearly teaches the above limitation.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/DEEPA BELUR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472