Detail Action
This office action is a response to an amendment submitted on 06/26/2026.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7- 20 are pending for examination.
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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 04/07/2023. These drawings are acceptable for examination proceedings.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1,4, 5, 13 and 19 have been amended.
Claims 3 and 6 have been cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments filed on 06/26/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments are summarized as follows;
Applicant argued that Prior Art “Wang does not disclose “transmitting to the UE an indication of a frequency difference…… “. [See Remarks/ Argument: Pg. 9].
In response to applicant’s argument, the examiner respectfully disagrees with the current above arguments.
In response to applicants’ argument that, a recitation of the intended use of the claimed invention must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim.
Applicant’s argument “indication of a frequency difference” as requiring disclosure of an explicit numerical value” is narrower than the actual claim language, which only requires “transmitting an indication of the frequency difference” as not necessarily an explicit numerical value. Moreover, the argument also focuses on the stated purpose of Wang’s pre-compensation rather than the operative technical disclosure of the Prior Art.
In this case, the claim recites an “indication of a frequency difference” not “a value identifying the frequency difference”. Wang disclosed transmission arrangement providing the UE with signals at carrier frequencies having the recited relationship where TRP transmits at a nominal carrier and another at a carrier shifted by the calculated pre-compensation can reasonably be found to indicate the frequency relationship between those frequencies.
Additionally, Wang explicitly disclosed transmitting, from the first TRP to the UE, an indication of a frequency different between the first frequency and the third frequency [Wang: Figs. 3, 4, 6; Par. 19, 174-189, and 208- 217 teaches that UE receives TRS0 which TRP1 transmit at the carrier frequency FC (Par.205) which estimates the frequency shift with respect to fc to be 2Δƒ1 (the carrier frequency corresponding to TRP1 is ƒTRP1=ƒUE+Δƒ1=ƒC+Δƒ1+Δƒ1=fC+2Δƒ1), and TRP2 estimates the frequency shift with respect to ƒC to be Δƒ1+Δƒ2 (the carrier frequency corresponding to TRP2 is ƒTRP2=ƒUE+Δƒ2=ƒC+Δƒ1+Δƒ2). Δƒ2 is the Doppler shift corresponding to TRP2 [Par. 209)].
Therefore, the distinction is not enough under 102 if the same claim limitations are disclosed. And, a reference need not use the applicant’s terminology, disclose the applicant’s intended use if it reasonably teaches the same functional limitation, and Wang anticipated the limitations arranged as claimed.
Therefore, applicants’ arguments are not persuasive.
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)(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, 2, 4, 5, 12-13, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102[a][2] as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US 20230261697 A1); hereinafter “Wang”.
Regarding claim 1, Wang teaches A method comprising:
transmitting, from a first transmission reception point (TRP), a first reference signal (RS) to a user equipment (UE) on a first frequency [Wang: Par. 89 teaches a plurality of TRPs all transmit downlink signals (including the first RS and second RS), and at this time, the terminal may receive the plurality of downlink signals. When the plurality of TRPs transmit the RSs, the terminal can receive a plurality of Downlink Reference Signals (DL RSs); Par. [0124] further teaches carrier frequency at which the first RS is received; [0177, 0179] further teaches TRP1 transmits TRSO at the carrier frequency]
receiving, at the first TRP, a second RS from the UE on a second frequency, wherein the second frequency is based on a third frequency on which the UE received the first RS [Wang: Par. 0122 teaches the terminal transmits an uplink signal (such as the RS) based on the indication of the network device, so that the network device may perform Doppler shift estimation. [0124] An uplink signal transmitted by the terminal is received. The modulated carrier frequency of the uplink signal (which may also be understood as the carrier frequency of the uplink signal) is determined by using the first RS, that is, the modulated carrier frequency of the uplink signal is associated with the carrier frequency at which the first RS is received; [0180] At S3, the UE transmits the uplink RS, such as a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), [0181] At S4, frequency shift (namely, frequency shift) estimation is performed based on the uplink RS.];
determining a first Doppler shift frequency using the first frequency and the second frequency [Wang: Par. 126 teaches the network device performs frequency shift estimation on the plurality of TRPs to obtain a frequency shift of the plurality of TRPs with respect to the carrier frequency of the first RS; [0127] A Doppler shift compensation value of at least one TRP is determined by using the obtained frequency shift of the plurality of TRPs with respect to the carrier frequency of the first RS; [0182] Here, assuming that TRP1 estimates the frequency shift with respect to TRP1 and TRP2];
transmitting, from the first TRP, a third RS having a fourth frequency determined based on the first Doppler shift frequency, wherein the third RS is configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling as a first quasi-co-location (OCL) type with respect to the first RS [Wang: Par. 138 teaches the first information transmitted by the network side is received by RRC signaling] and
transmitting, from the first TRP to the UE, an indication of a frequency different between the first frequency and the third frequency [Wang: Figs. 3, 4, 6; Par. 19, 174-189, and 208- 217 teaches that UE receives TRS0 which TRP1 transmit at the carrier frequency FC (Par.205) which estimates the frequency shift with respect to fc to be 2Δƒ1 (the carrier frequency corresponding to TRP1 is ƒTRP1=ƒUE+Δƒ1=ƒC+Δƒ1+Δƒ1=fC+2Δƒ1), and TRP2 estimates the frequency shift with respect to ƒC to be Δƒ1+Δƒ2 (the carrier frequency corresponding to TRP2 is ƒTRP2=ƒUE+Δƒ2=ƒC+Δƒ1+Δƒ2). Δƒ2 is the Doppler shift corresponding to TRP2 [Par. 209)].
Regarding claim 2, Wang teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Wang further teaches wherein the first Doppler shift frequency is determined based on a difference between the first frequency and the second frequency and the second RS is configured by the first TRP with the same spatial relation and frequency reference as the first RS [Wang: Par. 97- 101 teaches of respective RS corresponding to QCL type which has spatial parameters].
Regarding claim 4, Wang teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 3. Wang further teaches wherein the third RS is configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling as a quasi-co-location (OCL) type D with respect to the first RS [Wang: Par. 101].
Regarding claim 5, Wang teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 3. Wang further teaches wherein the first OCL type comprises an average delay, a delay spread, a Doppler shift with frequency offset, a Doppler spread with frequency offset [Wang: Abstract].
Regarding claim 12, Wang teaches all the limitations in the parent claim 1. Wang further teaches further comprising providing the first Doppler shift frequency from the first TRP to a second TRP [Wang: Par. 7 teaches doppler shift could reach different frequencies].
Regarding claim 13, Wang teaches A method comprising:
receiving, at a user equipment-(UE), a first reference signal (RS) transmitted from a first transmission reception point (TRY) on a third frequency; and
[Wang: Par. 89 teaches [0089] …a plurality of TRPs all transmit downlink signals (including the first RS and second RS), and at this time, the terminal may receive the plurality of downlink signals. When the plurality of TRPs transmit the RSs, the terminal can receive a plurality of Downlink Reference Signals (DL RSs); Par. [0124] further teaches carrier frequency at which the first RS is received; [0177, 0179] further teaches TRP1 transmits TRSO at the carrier frequency]
transmitting, from the UE, a second RS to the first TRP on the third frequency, wherein the third frequency is based on a first frequency on which the first TRP transmitted the first RS and has the same spatial relation as the first RS; [Wang: Par. 0122 teaches the terminal transmits an uplink signal (such as the RS) based on the indication of the network device, so that the network device may perform Doppler shift estimation. [0124] An uplink signal transmitted by the terminal is received. The modulated carrier frequency of the uplink signal (which may also be understood as the carrier frequency of the uplink signal) is determined by using the first RS, that is, the modulated carrier frequency of the uplink signal is associated with the carrier frequency at which the first RS is received; [0180] At S3, the UE transmits the uplink RS, such as a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), [0181] At S4, frequency shift (namely, frequency shift) estimation is performed based on the uplink RS.];
wherein a first Doppler shift frequency is determined by the first TRP using the first frequency and a second frequency on which the second RS is received by the first TRP [Wang: Par. 126 teaches the network device performs frequency shift estimation on the plurality of TRPs to obtain a frequency shift of the plurality of TRPs with respect to the carrier frequency of the first RS; [0127] A Doppler shift compensation value of at least one TRP is determined by using the obtained frequency shift of the plurality of TRPs with respect to the carrier frequency of the first RS; [0182] Here, assuming that TRP1 estimates the frequency shift with respect to TRP1 and TRP2].
Regarding claim 19, Wang teaches An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:
a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory[Fig. 9-11] comprising instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit, from a first transmission reception point (TRP), a first reference signal (RS) to a user equipment (UE) on a first frequency [Wang: Par. 89 teaches [0089]…a plurality of TRPs all transmit downlink signals (including the first RS and second RS), and at this time, the terminal may receive the plurality of downlink signals. When the plurality of TRPs transmit the RSs, the terminal can receive a plurality of Downlink Reference Signals (DL RSs); Par. [0124] further teaches carrier frequency at which the first RS is received; [0177, 0179] further teaches TRP1 transmits TRSO at the carrier frequency]
receive, at the first TRP, a second RS from the UE on a second frequency, wherein the second frequency is based on a third frequency on which the UE received the first RS; and [Wang: Par. 0122 teaches the terminal transmits an uplink signal (such as the RS) based on the indication of the network device, so that the network device may perform Doppler shift estimation. [0124] An uplink signal transmitted by the terminal is received. The modulated carrier frequency of the uplink signal (which may also be understood as the carrier frequency of the uplink signal) is determined by using the first RS, that is, the modulated carrier frequency of the uplink signal is associated with the carrier frequency at which the first RS is received; [0180] At S3, the UE transmits the uplink RS, such as a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), [0181] At S4, frequency shift (namely, frequency shift) estimation is performed based on the uplink RS.];
determine a first Doppler shift frequency using the first frequency and the second frequency [Wang: Par. 126 teaches the network device performs frequency shift estimation on the plurality of TRPs to obtain a frequency shift of the plurality of TRPs with respect to the carrier frequency of the first RS; [0127] A Doppler shift compensation value of at least one TRP is determined by using the obtained frequency shift of the plurality of TRPs with respect to the carrier frequency of the first RS; [0182] Here, assuming that TRP1 estimates the frequency shift with respect to TRP1 and TRP2].
Regarding claim 20, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 2.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7- 11, and 14-18 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 following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowable subject matter:
A full search was conducted and the features of the instant claims 7- 11, and 14-18 were not found to be in any reasonable combination of the closest prior art in view of Wang.
With respect to exemplary, the prior art in above teach of method and devices for transmitting first and second Reference signals with a doppler shift frequencies, delay spread to determine doppler shift frequencies [Wang: Figs. 1-4; Par. 120- 127, 170- 181].
However, Wang does not disclose, suggest or render obvious the limitations of the instant claims 7- 11, and 14-18 reciting;
“transmitting, from a second TRP, a fourth RS to the UE on a fifth frequency;
receiving, at the second TRP, a fifth RS from the UE on a sixth frequency, wherein the sixth frequency is based on a seventh frequency on which the UE received the fourth RS; and
determining a second Doppler shift frequency using the fifth frequency and the sixth frequency”
Therefore, Claims 7- 11, and 14-18 are indicated as containing allowable subject matter and allowed over the closest Prior Art reference of Wang.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record (see attached PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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 KYAW Z SOE whose telephone number is (571)270-0304. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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/KYAW Z SOE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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