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
Examiner acknowledges Applicant's amendment filed on April 9, 2026.
Claims 1-5, 9-13 and 17-21 are currently pending consideration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's remarks filed April 9, 2026 concerning claims 1-5, 9-13 and 17-21 have been fully considered, but are not persuasive. The reasons set forth below.
Regarding claim 1, on page 9 of Applicant's remarks, Applicant submits that Gao does not disclose that each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective cyclic shift and a same set of transmission comb offsets, and then, within each of the antenna groups, each antenna in the group is associated with a respective transmission comb offset.
In response to applicant’s remarks, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Gao teaches in Paragraphs [0057], [0066] to [0070], and [0078] each antenna port group corresponds to one transmission comb and calculate cyclic shift parameter corresponding to all antenna ports within the group. The antenna port groups have a one-to-one correspondence with the transmission combs. Time domain locations of the transmission combs corresponding to the at least two antenna port groups are identical.
Thus, it is clear that examiners assertion that Gao teaches all the limitations of claim 1 is clear and proper.
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 2025/0175301 A1).
1. Regarding claims 1 and 17, Gao teaches a user equipment (UE) and method performed by a user equipment (Figures 2 and 14, Paragraphs [0057] and [0066] to [0070]) comprising:
a transceiver configured to receive, from a base station, a configuration on one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources (Figure 2 receiving configuration information of an SRS resource); 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, the SRS resource including 8 antenna ports),
wherein the transceiver is further configured to perform an SRS transmission based on the information on the 8 antenna ports (Figure 2, mapping SRS corresponding to at least two antenna port groups to physical resources corresponding to different transmission combs), and
wherein the information includes a cyclic shift and a transmission comb offset for the 8 antenna ports (Paragraph [0048] configuration includes transmission comb parameter and cyclic shift parameter).
wherein the 8 antenna ports include a plurality of antenna groups (Paragraph [0045] at least two antenna port groups are obtained based on grouping the 8 antenna ports), wherein each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective cyclic shift and a same set of transmission comb offsets (Paragraphs [0057], [0066] to [0068] and [0078] each antenna port group corresponds to one transmission comb; maximum value of cyclic shift parameter of the transmission comb; locations of transmission combs are identical), and wherein each antenna within each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective transmission comb offset (Paragraphs [0057] and [0066] to [0070] each antenna port group corresponds to one transmission comb; calculates the cyclic shift parameter corresponding to all antenna ports within the group).
2. Regarding claim 9, Gao teaches a base station (BS) (Figure 15) 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. 11, 1010 sending configuration information of an SRS resource); 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. 11, 1020 sending configuration information of an SRS resource including 8 antenna ports); and receive an SRS transmission on the one or more SRS resources based on the information on 8 antenna ports (Fig. 11 receiving SRSs corresponding to at least two antenna port groups),
wherein the information includes a cyclic shift and a transmission comb offset for the 8 antenna ports (Paragraphs [0057], [0066] to [0068 and [0079]] each antenna port group corresponds to one transmission comb; maximum value of cyclic shift parameter of the transmission comb),
wherein the 8 antenna ports include a plurality of antenna groups (Paragraph [0045] at least two antenna port groups are obtained based on grouping the 8 antenna ports), wherein each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective cyclic shift and a same set of transmission comb offsets (Paragraphs [0057], [0066] to [0068], and [0078] each antenna port group corresponds to one transmission comb; maximum value of cyclic shift parameter of the transmission comb; locations of transmission combs are identical), and wherein each antenna within each of the antenna groups is associated with a respective transmission comb offset (Paragraphs [0057] and [0066] to [0070] each antenna port group corresponds to one transmission comb; calculates the cyclic shift parameter corresponding to all antenna ports within the group).
3. Regarding claims 2, 10 and 18, Gao teaches wherein a maximum number of cyclic shifts = 8 (Fig. 2, Paragraphs [0057] and [0067] each antenna port group corresponds to one transmission comb; maximum number of cyclic shift parameters is 8, calculates the cyclic shift parameter corresponding to all antenna ports within the group).
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 (Fig. 2, Paragraphs [0057] and [0068] each antenna port group corresponds to one transmission comb; maximum number of cyclic shift parameters is 12, calculates the cyclic shift parameter corresponding to all antenna ports within the group).
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 (Fig. 2, Paragraphs [0057] and [0067] each antenna port group corresponds to one transmission comb; maximum number of cyclic shift parameters is 8, calculates the cyclic shift parameter corresponding to all antenna ports within the group).
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 2025/0175301 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; transmission comb 8).
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
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.
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
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
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