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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to amendment filed on 01/02/2026.
Claims 1, 3, 9 and 16 are amended.
Claims 1 – 20 are pending and ready for examination.
In response to applicant’s amendment in claim 3, examiner has withdrawn 35 U.S.C. 112(b) rejection of the claim.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 01/02/2026 with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on combination of references applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant amended the independent claims 1, 9 and 16. The amendment changes the scope of the claims; therefore, a new ground of rejection has been made in view of a new prior art KHOSHNEVISAN et al. (US 2025/0293826 A1) and previously cited prior art XIAO et al. (US 2024/0205919 A1).
Applicant argued on page 2: middle paragraph of the remark, " The combination of Xiao and Tian fails to disclose or suggest at least "receiving ... configuration parameters indicating a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set list configured with a single SRS resource set," and "based on the first SRS resource set list being configured with a single SRS resource set ..., transmitting, for the configured uplink grant, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission using the at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list" as required by claim 1.". According to applicant claim 1 is allowable over the cited prior arts.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant’s arguments that claim 1 is allowable. The new prior art KHOSHNEVISAN discloses two sets of SRS resource sets (¶ [0105]), comprising a single SRS resource set and two SRS resource sets (¶ [0116]). KHOSHNEVISAN further teaches PUSCH transmission using the at least two SRS resource sets (¶ [0097]. Therefore, KHOSHNEVISAN teaches the limitation in question. Accordingly, claim 1 is not allowable.
Applicant argued on page 3: last paragraph of the remark, “Claim 9, although different from claim 1, recites similar features and therefore is allowable for similar reasons”.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant’s remarks. As mentioned above the limitations of claim 1 are taught by the new prior art; therefore, the argument is moot.
Applicant argued on page 3: last paragraph of the remark, regarding dependent claims.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant’s argument. Since, the combination of KHOSHNEVISAN and XIAO teaches all the limitations of the currently amended independent claims 1 and 9. Therefore, the dependent claims 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, and 15 are not patentable by virtue of their dependency from the independent claims.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with all the arguments filed by the applicant. All arguments and remarks are replied in detail in the rejection section below.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 10 and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 2, 10 and 16 recite, “if two SRS resource sets …, then…” and “if one SRS resource set …, then…”. Here, the “if… then” statement indicates the situation that may or may not happen. It does not indicate the situation will happen definitely. Therefore, examiner suggested to change the statement as “when…. then…” or “in response to….”.
Appropriate corrections are required.
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 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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7 – 9, 11 – 12 and 14 – 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KHOSHNEVISAN et al. (KHOSHNEVISAN hereinafter referred to KHOSHNEVISAN) (US 2025/0293826 A1) in view of XIAO et al. (XIAO hereinafter referred to XIAO) (US 2024/0205919 A1).
(Currently Amended) Regarding claim 1, KHOSHNEVISAN teaches a method (Title, COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL RESOURCE SETS) comprising:
receiving, by a wireless device, configuration parameters (Fig.8, step 805; [0104], base station transmits and the mobile station receives configuration information; the configuration information includes an indication of one or more configuration parameters) indicating ([0105], the configuration information indicates two sets of SRS resource sets to be associated with two different DCI formats):
a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set list configured with a single SRS resource set ([0105], a first set of SRS resource sets for DCI format 0_1; [0116], one SRS resource set is configured for DCI format 0_1. Here, the first set of SRS resource sets is a single SRS resource set);
a second SRS resource set list associated with a downlink control information (DCI) format 0_2 ([0105], a second set of SRS resource sets for DCI format 0_2; [0116], two SRS resource sets are configured for DCI format 0_2. Here, the two SRS resource sets is a second SRS resource set list); and
based on the first SRS resource set list being configured with a single SRS resource set ([0116], same as above) and based on the second SRS resource set list being configured with at least two SRS resource sets ([0116], same as above), transmitting, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission using the at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list ([0097], The base station indicates, to the UE, an SRS resource for a PUSCH transmission by indicating the SRS resource in an SRS resource indicator (SRI) field in a downlink communication (e.g., a DCI communication with a format 0_1 or format 0_2, which is uplink scheduling DCI) that schedules the PUSCH transmission. Here, the PUSCH transmission is performed using the uplink scheduling DCI. Considering, the uplink scheduling DCI is the DCI format 0_2; therefore, the PUSCH transmission is performed using at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list).
KHOSHNEVISAN does not specifically teach
at least two SRS resource indicator (SRI) fields for a configured uplink grant, and
transmitting, for the configured uplink grant, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.
XIAO teaches (Title, METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MULTIPLE TRANSMIT-RECEIVE POINT (M-TRP) BASED PHYSICAL UPLINK SHARED CHANNEL (PUSCH) TRANSMISSION)
receiving, by a wireless device,
at least two SRS resource indicator (SRI) fields for a configured uplink grant (Fig.2, step 204 and [0067], UE receives configured grant (CG) configuration for PUSCH transmission from the BS; [0095], CG configuration includes two SRI fields. Here, the PUSCH transmission is an uplink transmission; therefore, the CG is a configured uplink grant); and
transmitting, for the configured uplink grant, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission using the at least two SRS resource sets ([0048], Two SRI fields in an UL grant are used for indicating SRS resource(s) in the two SRS resource sets for a PUSCH transmission; [0102], UE transmits the PUSCH transmission to the BS based on the CG configuration. Here, the PUSCH transmission is using the at least two SRS resource sets based on the CG configuration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KHOSHNEVISAN as mentioned above and further incorporate the teaching of XIAO. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide improved technical solutions for M-TRP based PUSCH transmission to improve reliability and robustness (XIAO, Abstract and [0006] and [0007]).
(Currently Amended) Regarding claim 9, KHOSHNEVISAN teaches a method (Title, COMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL RESOURCE SETS) comprising:
transmitting, by a base station, one or more configuration parameters (Fig.8, step 805; [0104], base station transmits and the mobile station receives configuration information; the configuration information includes an indication of one or more configuration parameters) indicating ([0105], the configuration information indicates two sets of SRS resource sets to be associated with two different DCI formats):
a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set list configured with a single SRS resource set ([0105], a first set of SRS resource sets for DCI format 0_1; [0116], one SRS resource set is configured for DCI format 0_1. Here, the first set of SRS resource sets is a single SRS resource set);
a second SRS resource set list associated with a downlink control information (DCI) format 0_2 ([0105], a second set of SRS resource sets for DCI format 0_2; [0116], two SRS resource sets are configured for DCI format 0_2. Here, the two SRS resource sets is a second SRS resource set list); and
based on the first SRS resource set list being configured with a single SRS resource set ([0116], same as above) and based on the second SRS resource set list being configured with at least two SRS resource sets ([0116], same as above), receiving, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission using the at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list ([0097], The base station indicates, to the UE, an SRS resource for a PUSCH transmission by indicating the SRS resource in an SRS resource indicator (SRI) field in a downlink communication (e.g., a DCI communication with a format 0_1 or format 0_2, which is uplink scheduling DCI) that schedules the PUSCH transmission. Here, the PUSCH transmission is performed using the uplink scheduling DCI. Considering, the uplink scheduling DCI is the DCI format 0_2; therefore, the PUSCH transmission is performed using at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list).
KHOSHNEVISAN does not specifically teach
at least two SRS resource indicator (SRI) fields for a configured uplink grant, and
receiving, for the configured uplink grant, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission.
XIAO teaches (Title, METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR MULTIPLE TRANSMIT-RECEIVE POINT (M-TRP) BASED PHYSICAL UPLINK SHARED CHANNEL (PUSCH) TRANSMISSION)
transmitting, by a base station,
at least two SRS resource indicator (SRI) fields for a configured uplink grant (Fig.2, step 204 and [0067], UE receives configured grant (CG) configuration for PUSCH transmission from the BS; [0095], CG configuration includes two SRI fields. Here, the PUSCH transmission is an uplink transmission; therefore, the CG is a configured uplink grant); and
receiving, for the configured uplink grant, a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission using the at least two SRS resource sets ([0048], Two SRI fields in an UL grant are used for indicating SRS resource(s) in the two SRS resource sets for a PUSCH transmission; [0102], UE transmits the PUSCH transmission to the BS based on the CG configuration. Here, the PUSCH transmission is using the at least two SRS resource sets based on the CG configuration).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KHOSHNEVISAN as mentioned above and further incorporate the teaching of XIAO. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide improved technical solutions for M-TRP based PUSCH transmission to improve reliability and robustness (XIAO, Abstract and [0006] and [0007]).
Regarding claims 3 (Currently Amended) and 11 (Original), combination of KHOSHNEVISAN and XIAO teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 9, respectively as outlined above.
KHOSHNEVISAN does not specifically teach
wherein the transmitting the PUSCH transmission using the at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list comprises:
transmitting at least one transport block in a first transmission using at least one of a first spatial filter, or a first precoder, that is indicated by a first SRS resource in a first SRS resource set of the at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list; and
transmitting the at least one transport block in a second transmission using at least one of a second spatial filter, or a second precoder, that is indicated by a second SRS resource in a second SRS resource set of the at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list.
However, XIAO teaches
wherein the transmitting the PUSCH transmission using the at least two SRS resource sets ([0048], SRS resource(s) in the two SRS resource sets for a PUSCH transmission) of the second SRS resource set list comprises:
transmitting at least one transport block in a first transmission ([0093], Each PUSCH transmission of the maximum number of PUSCH transmissions transmits the same transport block (TB)) using at least one of a first spatial filter, or a first precoder, that is indicated by a first SRS resource in a first SRS resource set ([0071], the DCI activating the PUSCH transmission includes two SRI fields and two transmission precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) fields. Here, first TPMI of the two is considered as a first precoder) of the at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list ([0060], UE may receive the configuration information of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set from the BS); and
transmitting the at least one transport block in a second transmission ([0093], Each PUSCH transmission of the maximum number of PUSCH transmissions transmits the same transport block (TB)) using at least one of a second spatial filter, or a second precoder, that is indicated by a second SRS resource in a second SRS resource set ([0071], the DCI activating the PUSCH transmission includes two SRI fields and two transmission precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) fields. Here, other than the first TPMI of the two is considered as a second precoder) of the at least two SRS resource sets of the second SRS resource set list (Same as regarding [0060]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KHOSHNEVISAN as mentioned in claims 1 and 9 and further incorporate the teaching of XIAO. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide improved technical solutions for M-TRP based PUSCH transmission to improve reliability and robustness (XIAO, Abstract and [0006] and [0007]).
(Original) Regarding claims 5 and 12, combination of KHOSHNEVISAN and XIAO teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 9, respectively as outlined above.
KHOSHNEVISAN further teaches
wherein the one or more configuration parameters indicate ([0116], different parameters associated with different SRS resources).
KHOSHNEVISAN does not specifically teach
a first SRS resource set index for a first SRS resource set of the at least two SRS resource sets; and
a second SRS resource set index for a second SRS resource set of the at least two SRS resource sets, wherein the first SRS resource set index is less than the second SRS resource set index
However, XIAO teaches
a first SRS resource set index for a first SRS resource set of the at least two SRS resource sets ([0059], The first SRS resource set refers to the SRS resource set with a lower index or identifier (ID)); and
a second SRS resource set index for a second SRS resource set of the at least two SRS resource sets, wherein the first SRS resource set index is less than the second SRS resource set index ([0059], the second SRS resource set refers to the SRS resource set with a higher index or ID).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KHOSHNEVISAN as mentioned in claims 1 and 9 and further incorporate the teaching of XIAO. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide improved technical solutions for M-TRP based PUSCH transmission to improve reliability and robustness (XIAO, Abstract and [0006] and [0007]).
(Original) Regarding claims 7 and 14, combination of KHOSHNEVISAN and XIAO teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 9, respectively as outlined above.
KHOSHNEVISAN does not specifically teach
wherein:
a first SRI field of the at least two SRI fields indicates a first SRS resource in a first SRS resource set of the at least two SRS resource sets; and
a second SRI field of the at least two SRI fields indicates a second SRS resource in a second SRS resource set of the at least two SRS resource sets.
However, XIAO teaches
wherein: a first SRI field of the at least two SRI fields ([0048], Two SRI fields in an UL grant are used for indicating SRS resource(s) in the two SRS resource sets for a PUSCH transmission respectively where each SRI field is associated with an SRS resource set) indicates a first SRS resource in a first SRS resource set ([0071], An SRI field is used to indicate the SRS resource(s) in an SRS resource set; [0076] and [0084], The first SRI field is used to indicate the SRS resource(s) in the first SRS resource set) of the at least two SRS resource sets; and
a second SRI field of the at least two SRI fields indicates a second SRS resource in a second SRS resource set ([0084], second SRI field is used to indicate the SRS resource(s) in the second SRS resource set) of the at least two SRS resource sets.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified KHOSHNEVISAN as mentioned in claims 1 and 9 and further incorporate the teaching of XIAO. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide improved technical solutions for M-TRP based PUSCH transmission to improve reliability and robustness (XIAO, Abstract and [0006] and [0007]).
(Original) Regarding claims 8 and 15, combination of KHOSHNEVISAN and XIAO teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 9, respectively as outlined above.
KHOSHNEVISAN further teaches wherein:
the first SRS resource set list is indicated by an SRI field of downlink control information (DCI) ([0097], an SRS resource for a PUSCH transmission by indicating the SRS resource in an SRS resource indicator (SRI) field in a downlink communication (e.g., a DCI communication with a format 0_1 or format 0_2) using DCI format 0_1 ([0105], a first set of SRS resource sets for DCI format 0_1); and
the second SRS resource set list is indicated by an SRI field of DCI ([0097], an SRS resource for a PUSCH transmission by indicating the SRS resource in an SRS resource indicator (SRI) field in a downlink communication (e.g., a DCI communication with a format 0_1 or format 0_2) using DCI format 0_2 ([0105], a second set of SRS resource sets for DCI format 0_2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16 – 20 are allowable over prior arts; but they need to overcome claim objections.
Claims 2, 4, 6, 10 and 13 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. The claims need to overcome claim objections.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROWNAK ISLAM whose telephone number is (571)272-8009. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm (EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached on 571-272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROWNAK ISLAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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