Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
A Pre-Brief Appeal Conference was held. The previous rejection is withdrawn.
Claims 1-5, 9-13 and 17-21 are currently pending consideration.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 5, 9-11, 13, 17-19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Gao (US 2025/0192946 A1).
1. Regarding claims 1 and 17, Gao teaches a user equipment (UE) and method performed by a user equipment (Fig. 2, 9 and 13 terminal/UE and method) comprising:
a transceiver configured to receive, from a base station, a configuration on one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources (Fig.9 configuration parameter to the terminal/UE); and
a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to identify, based on the configuration, information on 8 antenna ports related with the one or more SRS resources (Figure 2 configure and send an SRS of 8 antenna ports on one SRS resource),
wherein the transceiver is further configured to perform an SRS transmission based on the information on the 8 antenna ports (Figure 2 configure and send an SRS of 8 antenna ports on one SRS resource), and
wherein the information includes a cyclic shift and a transmission comb offset for the 8 antenna ports (Paragraphs [0041] to [0046] transmission comb offset and cyclic shift parameter)
wherein the 8 antenna ports include a plurality of antenna groups (Paragraph [0051] antenna ports to M antenna panels), wherein each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective cyclic shift and a same set of transmission comb offsets (Figures 3 and 9 configure and send an SRS of 8 antenna ports; transmission comb offset), and wherein each antenna within each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective transmission comb offset (Fig. 3 and 9 transmission comb offset and antenna ports).
2. Regarding claim 9, Gao teaches a base station (BS) (Figure 14) comprising:
a processor configured to generate a configuration on one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, wherein the configuration includes information on 8 transmit antenna ports related with the one or more SRS resources (Fig. 9, send configuration parameter corresponding to the SRS resource to a terminal); and
a transceiver operably coupled to the processor, the transceiver configured to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), the information on 8 antenna ports configuration (Fig. 9, , send configuration parameter corresponding to the SRS resource to a terminal); and receive an SRS transmission on the one or more SRS resources based on the information on 8 antenna ports (Fig. 8 receiving SRS of 8 antenna ports),
wherein the information includes a cyclic shift and a transmission comb offset for the 8 antenna ports (Paragraphs [0041] to [0046] transmission comb offset and cyclic shift parameter)),
wherein the 8 antenna ports include a plurality of antenna groups (Paragraph [0051] antenna ports to M antenna panels), wherein each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective cyclic shift and a same set of transmission comb offsets (Figures 3 and 9 configure and send an SRS of 8 antenna ports; transmission comb offset), and wherein each antenna within each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective transmission comb offset (Fig. 3 and 9 transmission comb offset and antenna ports).
3. Regarding claims 2, 10 and 18, Gao teaches wherein a maximum number of cyclic shifts = 8 (Fig. 2, Paragraphs [0063] and [0116] ]maximum number of cyclic shift parameters is 8).
4. Regarding claims 3, 11 and 19, Gao teaches wherein a maximum number of cyclic shifts = 12, and each antenna within each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective cyclic shift (Paragraphs [064] and [0117] maximum number of cyclic shift parameters is 12).
5. Regarding claims 5, 13 and 21, Gao teaches wherein each antenna within each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective cyclic shift (Paragraphs [0114] to [0019] antenna ports; cyclic shift parameters).
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.
Claims 4, 12 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (US 2025/0192946 A1) in view of Jacobsson et al. (US 2024/0187188 A1)
6. Regarding claims 4, 12 and 20, Gao does not explicitly disclose wherein a maximum number of cyclic shifts = 6.
Jacobsson teaches a maximum number of cyclic shifts = 6 (Figure 15, Paragraph [0039] and [0170] max number of cyclic shifts is 6).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a maximum number of cyclic shifts = 6, as taught by Jacobsson in the system of Gao for improving the NR Rel-16 framework for determining cyclic shifts see Paragraph [0042] of Jacobsson.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Faruk Hamza can be reached at (571)272-7969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DIANE L LO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
