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 Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/30/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments are mainly focused on Suh not disclosing: “sending by the
first terminal device identification information of the second terminal device”. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Suh clearly teaches terminal device information in figure 1, elements, 130, 140, 150 and [0057]
“[057] In addition, the head node 120 selects at least one active member terminal from among the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 using the first, second, and third channel information. Specifically, the head node 120 may select the active member terminal using the CDI or CQI included in the first, second, and third channel information. Also, the head node 120 may select at least one active antenna from among reception antennas installed in the active member terminal.”
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The first, second and third channel information is associated with first, second and third terminal respectively and would obviously require respective terminal information:
“[051] In this instance, the first, second, and third channel information may include Channel Direction Information (CDI) or Channel Quality Information (CQI), respectively.
[052] In this instance, CQI.sub.k,i=.parallel.h.sub.k,i.parallel..sup.2 of CQI with respect to h.sub.k,i of a radio channel formed between an i-th reception antenna installed in a k-th member terminal and the base station 110 is information being associated with a magnitude of a channel vector”.
Previously issued office action is copied here for completeness.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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, 7, 9, 11-13, and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by JUNG HOON SUH et al. (US 20090104926 A1), hereinafter Suh.
Re. Claim 1, Suh teaches A communication method, comprising: receiving, by a first terminal device(¶0034 - The head node 120 may include a relay station or a mobile terminal), first information sent by a second terminal device(¶0092 - the head node receives channel information generated from each of the member terminals), wherein the first information comprises information indicating a second beam selected by the second terminal device(¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna. Thus, the base station 110 generates a source signal acquired by performing a beam-forming of a data stream using the selection information); and sending, by the first terminal device, (1) identification information of the second terminal device, or (2) identification information and the first information, to a network device(¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna.), wherein the first terminal device is a cluster head node, and the second terminal device is a member node of a cluster to which the first terminal device belongs(See Fig. 1 and 5, also ¶0041 - the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 may be selected from among the plurality of neighboring terminals considering state information of a radio channel formed between the head node 120 and the plurality of neighboring terminals.).
Re. Claim 7, Suh teaches claim 1.
Suh further teaches wherein the sending, by the first terminal device, of the (2) identification information and the first information to the network device comprises: sending, by the first terminal device, the identification information to the network device on a time-frequency resource associated with the second beam selected by the second terminal device(¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna).
Re. Claim 9, Suh teaches A communication method, comprising: sending, by a second terminal device, first information to a first terminal device based on a measurement result of a beam of a network device(¶0050 - Each of the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 estimates a channel state of a radio channel formed between the base station 110 and the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 using the pilot signal. The member terminals 130, 140, and 150 then generate first, second, and third channel information with respect to the radio channel. Also ¶0048 - each of the neighboring terminals including the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 may transmit signals of channel information in a broadcast scheme. In this instance, the head node 120 may receive signals of channel information transmitted from each of the neighboring terminals), wherein the first information indicates information about a second beam selected by the second terminal device(¶0049 - so that the base station (BS) 110 appropriately performs the beam-forming of the data stream, channel state information of the radio channel formed between the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 and the base station (BS) 110 has to be determined. For this purpose, the base station (BS) 110 broadcasts a pilot signal to all users, for example, all the member terminals 130, 140, and 150, and then receives feedback information corresponding to the pilot signal from all the users at the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 so as to determine the channel state.); and receiving, by the second terminal device, downlink data sent by the network device(¶0060 - the base station 110, upon receipt of the selection information, generates a source signal targeting the active member terminal(s)) or that is from the network device and that is forwarded by the first terminal device, wherein the first terminal device is a cluster head node, and the second terminal device is a member node of a cluster to which the first terminal device belongs(See Fig. 1 and 5, also ¶0041 - the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 may be selected from among the plurality of neighboring terminals considering state information of a radio channel formed between the head node 120 and the plurality of neighboring terminals.).
Re. Claim 11, Suh teaches claim 9.
Suh further teaches wherein the first information further comprises one or more of: a quality of a sidelink channel between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, a quality of a downlink channel between the second terminal device and the network device(¶0055-56 - radio channels formed between the each of the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 and the base station 110 are Rayleigh fading channels. In this instance, each of the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 transmits the first, second, and third channel information to the head node 120 without directly transmitting them to the base station 110. ¶0057 - the head node 120 may select the active member terminal using the CDI or CQI included in the first, second, and third channel information.), or third information of the second terminal device, wherein the third information indicates that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data sent by the network device, or that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data forwarded by the first terminal device.
Re. Claim 12, Suh teaches claim 11.
Suh further teaches wherein the method further comprises: in response to the third information in the first information indicating that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data sent by the network device (¶0074 - the plurality of member terminals 130, 140, and 150, receive the pilot signal, and transmit the channel information to the head node 120), receiving, by the second terminal device, the downlink data sent by the network device(¶0060 - the base station 110, upon receipt of the selection information, generates a source signal targeting the active member terminal(s), for example, the first member terminal 130 and the second member terminal); and in response to the third information in the first information indicating that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data forwarded by the first terminal device, receiving, by the second terminal device, the downlink data forwarded by the first terminal device(¶0087 - In this instance, although not shown in FIG. 5, the head node may transmit the selection information to the active member terminals.).
Re. Claim 13, Suh teaches A communication apparatus, comprising: a processor(¶0099 - Various components of the communication device, as shown in FIG. 2, such as, the channel information reception unit 210, the member terminal selection unit 220 and the selection information transmission unit 230 can be integrated into a single control unit, such as a baseband processor installed at the head node); and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that(¶0099 - software modules may include data and instructions which can also be stored on one or more machine-readable storage), when executed by the processor, cause the communication apparatus to: receive first information sent by a second terminal device(¶0092 - the head node receives channel information generated from each of the member terminals), wherein the first information comprises information indicating a second beam selected by the second terminal device(¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna. Thus, the base station 110 generates a source signal acquired by performing a beam-forming of a data stream using the selection information); and send (1) identification information of the second terminal device or (2) identification information and the first information, to a network device(¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna.) wherein the communication apparatus is a cluster head node, and the second terminal device is a member node in a cluster to which the communication apparatus belongs(See Fig. 1 and 5, also ¶0041 - the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 may be selected from among the plurality of neighboring terminals considering state information of a radio channel formed between the head node 120 and the plurality of neighboring terminals.).
Re. Claim 17, Suh teaches claim 16.
Suh further teaches wherein the second information comprises one or more of: the quality of the sidelink channel between the communication apparatus and the second terminal device, a quality of a downlink channel between the communication apparatus and the network device, the quality of the downlink channel between the second terminal device and the network device(¶0058 - the head node 120 transmits, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station (BS) 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna. In this instance, the selection information may include CQI or CDI.); load information of the communication apparatus, or the third information, wherein the third information.
Re. Claim 18, Suh teaches claim 16.
Suh further teaches wherein the communication apparatus is further caused to: in response to the third information in the first information indicating, that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data sent by the network device(¶0074 - the plurality of member terminals 130, 140, and 150, receive the pilot signal, and transmit the channel information to the head node 120), send the identification information of the second terminal device and the first information to the network device(¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna); and in response to the third information in the first information indicating that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data forwarded by the communication apparatus(¶0087 – although not shown in FIG. 5, the head node may transmit the selection information to the active member terminals), send the identification information to the network device(¶0087 - The head node transmits, to the base station, selection information including first CDI, second CDI, and third CDI of the first, second, and third member terminals acting as the active member terminals.).
Re. Claim 19, Suh teaches claim 13.
Suh further teaches wherein the communication apparatus is further caused to: send the identification information to the network device on a time-frequency resource associated with the second beam selected by the second terminal device(¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna. Thus, the base station 110 generates a source signal acquired by performing a beam-forming of a data stream using the selection information.).
Re. Claim 20, Suh teaches claim 13.
Suh further teaches wherein the communication apparatus is further caused to: send second indication information to the second terminal device(¶0087 - the head node may transmit the selection information to the active member terminals.), wherein the second indication information indicates that downlink data of the second terminal device is to be sent by the network device(¶0088 - The base station may select a beam-forming vector corresponding to the first, second and third member terminals using the selection information. In this instance, the base station generates a source signal using the selected beam-forming vector by performing a beam-forming of a data stream.), or the second indication information indicates that the downlink data of the second terminal device is to be forwarded by the communication apparatus.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 2-6, 8, 10, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suh in view of Zhou et al. (US 20200169956 A1), hereinafter Zhou.
Re. Claim 2, Suh teaches wherein the sending, by the first terminal device, of the (1)identification information of the second terminal device, or the (2) identification information and the first information, to the network device, comprises: determining, by the first terminal device based on second information, whether (1) to send the identification information to the network device (¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna) or (2) to send the identification information and the first information to the network device.
However, Suh does not explicitly teach wherein the second information is information required for determining whether the first terminal device is to forward downlink data that is sent by the network device to the second terminal device.
Yet, in the same field of endeavor of improving wireless communications, Zhou teaches wherein the second information is information required for determining whether the first terminal device is to forward downlink data that is sent by the network device to the second terminal device (See Fig. 23 and ¶0096-99 - executed by a first user equipment (UE), including: receiving configuration information transmitted by a base station, wherein, the configuration information is used for receiving information of a second UE; receiving the information of the second UE according to the configuration information; and forwarding the received information of the second UE. Also see ¶0397 - In scenario 1, the relay node only forwards the physical uplink shared channel transmission of the remote node and does not forward the physical downlink shared channel transmission of the base station and the physical downlink control channel transmission of the base station. In scenario 2, the relay node forwards the physical uplink shared channel transmission of the remote node, forwards the physical downlink shared channel transmission of the base station, and does not forward the physical downlink control channel transmission of the base station.).
Therefore, 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 teachings of Suh to include second information required for determining whether the first terminal device is to forward downlink data that is sent by the network device to the second terminal device, as taught by Zhou. The motivation to do so is that it can improve the coverage expansion of a cell, the cell capacity, and the uniformization of the cell throughput, as noted by Zhou (¶0006).
Re. claim 3, Suh and Zhou teach claim 2.
Suh further teaches sending, by the first terminal device, the second information to the network device(¶0058 - the head node 120 transmits, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station (BS) 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna.), and the sending, by the first terminal device, of the (1)identification information of the second terminal device, or the (2) identification information and the first information, to the network device, further comprises: receiving, by the first terminal device, first indication information of the network device(¶0049 - the base station (BS) 110 broadcasts a pilot signal to all users, for example, all the member terminals 130, 140, and 150, and then receives feedback information corresponding to the pilot signal from all the users at the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 so as to determine the channel state.).
Re. claim 4, Suh and Zhou teach claim 2.
Suh further teaches wherein the first information further comprises one or more of: a quality of a sidelink channel between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, a quality of a downlink channel between the second terminal device and the network device(¶0055-56 - radio channels formed between the each of the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 and the base station 110 are Rayleigh fading channels. In this instance, each of the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 transmits the first, second, and third channel information to the head node 120 without directly transmitting them to the base station 110. ¶0057 - the head node 120 may select the active member terminal using the CDI or CQI included in the first, second, and third channel information.), or third information of the second terminal device, wherein the third information indicates that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data sent by the network device, or that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data forwarded by the first terminal device.
Re. Claim 5, Suh and Zhou teach claim 4.
Suh further teaches wherein the second information comprises one or more of: the quality of the sidelink channel between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, a quality of a downlink channel between the first terminal device and the network device, the quality of the downlink channel between the second terminal device and the network device(¶0058 - the head node 120 transmits, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station (BS) 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna. In this instance, the selection information may include CQI or CDI.), load information of the first terminal device, or the third information.
Re. Claim 6, Suh and Zhou teach claim 4.
Suh further teaches wherein the sending, by the first terminal device, of the (1)identification information of the second terminal device, or the (2) identification information and the first information, to the network device, comprises: in response to the third information in the first information indicating that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data sent by the network device(¶0074 - the plurality of member terminals 130, 140, and 150, receive the pilot signal, and transmit the channel information to the head node 120), sending, by the first terminal device, the identification information of the second terminal device and the first information to the network device(¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna); and in response to the third information in the first information indicating that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data forwarded by the first terminal device(¶0087 - the head node may transmit the selection information to the active member terminals), sending, by the first terminal device, the identification information to the network device(¶0087 - The head node transmits, to the base station, selection information including first CDI, second CDI, and third CDI of the first, second, and third member terminals).
Re. Claim 8, Suh teaches claim 1.
However, Suh does not explicitly disclose sending, by the first terminal device, second indication information to the second terminal device, wherein the second indication information indicates that downlink data of the second terminal device is to be sent by the network device, or the second indication information indicates that the downlink data of the second terminal device is to be forwarded by the first terminal device.
Yet, in the same field of endeavor of improving wireless communications, Zhou teaches sending, by the first terminal device, second indication information to the second terminal device, wherein the second indication information indicates that downlink data of the second terminal device is to be sent by the network device, or the second indication information indicates that the downlink data of the second terminal device is to be forwarded by the first terminal device(¶0115-17 - the second scheduling information is used for the first UE to forward the data information of the second UE; and forwarding the received data information of the second UE according to the second scheduling information. Further, the data information of the second UE at the second UE is received according to the control information directly received from the base station, or, the data information of the second UE at the second UE is received according to the control information forwarded by the first UE.)
Therefore, 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 teachings of Suh to include the second indication information indicates that downlink data of the second terminal device is to be sent by the network device, or second indication information that indicates that the downlink data of the second terminal device is to be forwarded by the first terminal device, as taught by Zhou. The motivation to do so is that it can improve the coverage expansion of a cell, the cell capacity, and the uniformization of the cell throughput, as noted by Zhou (¶0006).
Re. Claim 10, Suh teaches claim 9.
Suh further teaches receiving, by the second terminal device, second indication information(¶0087 - the head node may transmit the selection information to the active member terminals); and receiving, by the second terminal device based on the second indication information, the downlink data sent by the network device (¶0060 - the base station 110, upon receipt of the selection information, generates a source signal targeting the active member terminal(s), for example, the first member terminal 130 and the second member terminal) or the downlink data that is from the network device and that is forwarded by the first terminal device.
However, Suh fails to explicitly disclose wherein the second indication information indicates whether the first terminal device is to forward the downlink data of the second terminal device.
Yet, in the same field of endeavor of improving wireless communications, Zhou teaches wherein the second indication information indicates whether the first terminal device is to forward the downlink data of the second terminal device(¶0115-17 - the second scheduling information is used for the first UE to forward the data information of the second UE; and forwarding the received data information of the second UE according to the second scheduling information. Further, the data information of the second UE at the second UE is received according to the control information directly received from the base station, or, the data information of the second UE at the second UE is received according to the control information forwarded by the first UE.).
Therefore, 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 teachings of Suh to include wherein the second indication information indicates that downlink data of the second terminal device is to be sent by the network device, or second indication information that indicates that the downlink data of the second terminal device is to be forwarded by the first terminal device, as taught by Zhou. The motivation to do so is that it can improve the coverage expansion of a cell, the cell capacity, and the uniformization of the cell throughput, as noted by Zhou (¶0006).
Re. Claim 14, Suh teaches claim 13.
Suh further teaches wherein the communication apparatus is further caused to: determine, based on second information, whether (1) to send the identification information to the network device (¶0081 - the head node 120 may select either an active member terminal or an active antenna using the received channel information, and transmit, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna), or (2) to send the identification information and the first information to the network device.
However, Suh does not explicitly teach wherein the second information is information required for determining whether the first terminal device is to forward downlink data that is sent by the network device to the second terminal device.
Yet, in the same field of endeavor of improving wireless communications, Zhou teaches wherein the second information is information required for determining whether the first terminal device is to forward downlink data that is sent by the network device to the second terminal device (See Fig. 23 and ¶0096-99 - executed by a first user equipment (UE), including: receiving configuration information transmitted by a base station, wherein, the configuration information is used for receiving information of a second UE; receiving the information of the second UE according to the configuration information; and forwarding the received information of the second UE. Also see ¶0397 - In scenario 1, the relay node only forwards the physical uplink shared channel transmission of the remote node and does not forward the physical downlink shared channel transmission of the base station and the physical downlink control channel transmission of the base station. In scenario 2, the relay node forwards the physical uplink shared channel transmission of the remote node, forwards the physical downlink shared channel transmission of the base station, and does not forward the physical downlink control channel transmission of the base station.).
Therefore, 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 teachings of Suh to include second information required for determining whether the first terminal device is to forward downlink data that is sent by the network device to the second terminal device, as taught by Zhou. The motivation to do so is that it can improve the coverage expansion of a cell, the cell capacity, and the uniformization of the cell throughput, as noted by Zhou (¶0006).
Re. claim 15, Suh and Zhou teach claim 14.
Suh further teaches wherein the communication apparatus is further caused to: send the second information to the network device(¶0058 - the head node 120 transmits, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel formed between the base station (BS) 110 and either the active member terminal or the active antenna. In this instance, the selection information may include CQI or CDI.); and wherein the communication apparatus is further caused to send the (1) identification information to the network or the (2) identification information and the first information to the network device(¶0058 - the head node 120 transmits, to the base station 110, selection information associated with the radio channel) based on received first indication information of the network device(¶0057 - Specifically, the head node 120 may select the active member terminal using the CDI or CQI included in the first, second, and third channel information.).
Re. Claim 16, Suh and Zhou teach claim 14.
Suh further teaches wherein the first information further comprises one or more of: a quality of a sidelink channel between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, a quality of a downlink channel between the second terminal device and the network device(¶0055-56 - radio channels formed between the each of the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 and the base station 110 are Rayleigh fading channels. In this instance, each of the member terminals 130, 140, and 150 transmits the first, second, and third channel information to the head node 120 without directly transmitting them to the base station 110. ¶0057 - the head node 120 may select the active member terminal using the CDI or CQI included in the first, second, and third channel information.), or third information of the second terminal device, wherein the third information indicates that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data sent by the network device, or that the second terminal device expects to receive the downlink data forwarded by the first terminal device.
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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Park et al. (US 20230319789) disclose a channel state information feedback method and apparatus, in which a terminal measures channel state information for each subchannel unit by dividing the entire channel into a plurality of subchannel.
Billman et al. (US 20230291469) disclose a satellite communications network, the method comprising: receiving from a satellite terminal a message; and storing the message contents in a satellite network database.
Lee et al. (20230198814) disclose an operation method of a terminal using a channel estimation artificial intelligence (AI) model may comprise: receiving, from a base station, information on the channel estimation AI model.
Kwon et al. (20230145844) disclose a method of a base station may comprise: determining one of machine learning (ML) models for receiving channel information for a channel to communicate with a terminal based on capability information of the terminal
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/JAYANTI K PATEL/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2485 July 1, 2026
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