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
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to applicant’s amendment filed, 10 November 2025, of application filed, with the above serial number, on 21 July 2023 in which claims 9, 23 have been amended. Claims 1-35 are pending in the application.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
Claims 29-35 having “means” limitations therein are interpreted substantially as indicated in the specification in exemplary paragraph 156.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-6, 8, 11-15, 17-20, 22, 25-29, 31-34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a2 as being anticipated by Bagheri et al (hereinafter “Bagheri”, 2022/0312440).
As per Claim 1, Bagheri discloses a method of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving a message to trigger transmission of at least one sounding reference signal (SRS) of at least one SRS resource set for sounding over an active bandwidth part (BWP) in an upcoming slot, the upcoming slot being offset by a number of available slots from a reference slot indicated by the message (at least paragraph 335-340, 367; a non-zero A-SRS triggering offset value can be configured per SRS resource set (TS 38.331, parameter slotOffset for resource Type: aperiodic in SRS-Config). If a cross-slot scheduling based power saving mode is configured and/or activated for a UE, the UE may perform procedures/actions described herein: In an embodiment, to adapt the minimum applicable value of aperiodic SRS triggering offset for an active UL BWP, implicit indication by defining the minimum applicable value to be the larger of the minimum applicable K2 value (K2_min) when indicated and the corresponding RRC parameter slotOffset; a slot-offset parameter associated with a sounding reference signal resource set, where the slot-offset parameter can indicate the number of slots between the sounding reference signal request and the corresponding sounding reference signal transmission); and
detecting a gap in which operation for the active BWP is suspended occurring before the transmission of the at least one SRS of the at least one SRS resource set is complete (at least paragraph 356; determined default minimum scheduling offset for the particular bandwidth part is applied 508. For the particular bandwidth part, a time gap between a scheduling of a transmission for the user equipment and a physical downlink control channel in unit of slots is equal to or larger than the default minimum scheduling offset).
As per Claim 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the at least one SRS of the at least one SRS resource set in the upcoming slot after the gap, the number of available slots comprising a sum of a first number of available slots from the reference slot up to the gap and a second number of available slots after the gap and up to the upcoming slot (at least paragraph 356-358; For the particular bandwidth part, a time gap between a scheduling of a transmission for the user equipment and a physical downlink control channel in unit of slots is equal to or larger than the default minimum scheduling offset 510).
As per Claim 4. The method of claim 3, wherein, for the UE, every slot that is available occurs outside of the gap, and every slot within the gap is unavailable (at least paragraph 356-358).
As per Claim 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: canceling the transmission of the at least one SRS based on the gap (at least paragraph 356-358; scheduled after time gap).
As per Claim 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining whether a duration of the gap satisfies a threshold, the transmission of the at least one SRS being canceled upon determining that the duration satisfies the threshold (at least paragraph 356-358).
As per Claim 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the threshold comprises one of a threshold value defined by a wireless standard for an access network in which the UE operates or at least one of a threshold number of slots or a respective number of milliseconds that is based on a UE capability (at least paragraph 176, 285; the threshold is based on reported UE capability of W slots).
As per Claim 11. The method of claim 1, wherein an available slot comprises a slot that satisfies a UE timing condition and has a set of uplink resources sufficient to accommodate all of the at least one SRS of the at least one SRS resource set (at least paragraph 107, 337-344; the UE will not transmit SRS corresponding to an SRS resource set that is triggered by an SRS request if the corresponding slotOffset parameter associated with the SRS resource set is smaller than K2_min; assist the eNB to schedule uplink transmission resources to different UEs in an appropriate way, it is important that the user equipment reports its available power headroom (PH) to eNB. The eNB can determine how much more uplink bandwidth per sub-frame a user equipment is capable of using).
As per Claim 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is included in downlink control information (DCI) (at least paragraph 361; downlink control information).
As per Claim 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the reference slot is different from the slot that includes the DCI (at least paragraph 361-365).
As per Claim 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the reference slot is offset from the slot that includes the DCI (at least paragraph 361-365).
Claims 15, 17-20, 22, 25-29, 31-34 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 1, 3-6, 8, 11 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra.
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.
Claim(s) 2, 7, 9-10, 16, 21, 23, 24, 30, 35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bagheri in view of Shimoda et al (hereinafter “Shimoda”, 2021/0176096).
As per Claim 2. Bagheri fails to explicitly disclose wherein the gap comprises at least one of: a measurement gap associated with measurement reporting in frequency resources outside the active BWP, a first time period in which the active BWP is deactivated and another BWP is activated, a second time period for sounding over a set of component carriers outside of the active BWP, a third time period for sidelink communication on a sidelink BWP, a fourth time period in which no transmit (TX) chain is available for the transmission of the at least one SRS, or an off duration of a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Shimoda. Shimoda discloses, in an analogous art, the transmission band of the SRS to be transmitted during the measurement gap duration should be configured not to include the active BWP. The SRS can be transmitted in a band outside the active BWP (at least Shimoda paragraph 525-528, 538-540). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Shimoda’s measurement gap with Bagheri as Shimoda discloses the problem being the UE cannot transmit the SRS in a band outside the active BWP with the measurement gap and the interference with transmission from the other UEs can be reduced.
As per Claim 7. Bagheri fails to explicitly disclose wherein the gap occurs during the transmission of the at least one SRS of the at least one SRS resource set. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Shimoda. Shimoda discloses, in an analogous art, UE may be configured to transmit the SRS in the active BWP during the measurement gap duration (at least Shimoda paragraph 525-532, 538-540, 585, 743; Fig. 24). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Shimoda’s transmission during a measurement gap with Bagheri as Shimoda discloses this enables, for example, a sounding in a wide band in one measurement gap and thus, a sounding in a wide band can be promptly performed.
As per Claim 9. Bagheri fails to explicitly disclose further comprising: after detecting the gap, transmitting a first SRS of the at least one SRS in the upcoming slot; and canceling transmission of each additional SRS of the at least one SRS from a respective slot of a set of consecutive slots after the gap. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Shimoda. Shimoda discloses, in an analogous art, a plurality of SRSs may be configured for one measurement gap. For example, transmission of the SRS with a plurality of timings may be configured in one measurement gap. The plurality of SRSs may have mutually different frequency bands (at least Shimoda paragraph 525-528, 538-540). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Shimoda’s transmission timings with Bagheri, as Shimoda teaches even when a measurement gap duration is short and the UL band is wide, application of a plurality of measurement gaps enables transmission of the SRS in the entire UL band.
As per Claim 10. Bagheri fails to explicitly disclose further comprising: transmitting a first SRS of the at least one SRS in the upcoming slot, the gap occurring after the first SRS is transmitted; and transmitting each remaining SRS of the at least one SRS in a respective slot of a set of consecutive slots after the gap. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Shimoda. Shimoda discloses, in an analogous art, the SRS configuration being transmitted in slots before and after gaps in consecutive active BWP slots (at least Shimoda Fig. 24, 27; see paragraph 525-528, 538-540 and respective figure descriptions). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Shimoda’s transmission timings with Bagheri, as Shimoda teaches even when a measurement gap duration is short and the UL band is wide, application of a plurality of measurement gaps enables transmission of the SRS in the entire UL band.
Claims 16, 21, 23, 24, 30, 35 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 2, 7, 9-10 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10 November 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Bagheri does not disclose detecting a gap in which operation for the active BWP is suspended occurring before the transmission of the at least one SRS of the at least one SRS resource set is complete.
However, claim 1 recites the message triggering transmission of an SRS signal in an upcoming slot that is offset, with the gap being detected or determined in the current active BWP that is suspended. First, Examiner notes the claim language is broad and vague with an active BWP in an upcoming slot, so not active now but upcoming active. As well as ‘the active BWP is suspended’ which also suggests the active BWP as not being active and the prior BWP or at least inactive or dormant.
Nevertheless, Bagheri discloses in at least paragraph 356, determining to switch from one BWP to another BWP, with a determined default minimum scheduling offset for the particular bandwidth part. And Bagheri teaches for the upcoming active particular BWP, a time gap between a scheduling of a transmission for the user equipment and a physical downlink control channel in unit of slots is equal to or larger than the default minimum scheduling offset. Applicant argues that the gap in Bagheri is different and not for the active BWP in which operation is suspended. However, the BWP being suspended is simply any gap of time or slot that the transmission cannot occur. Such even being specified in claim 2 that the gap be a time period in which the active BWP is deactivated and another BWP is activated. Thus, Bagheri discloses the gap being detected with the scheduling offset minimum and the scheduling of the switching itself.
Applicant also argues that Bagheri does not disclose the gap detection before the transmission is complete. However, Bagheri is scheduling the transmission with the scheduling offset, the transmission is not complete as it is scheduled for later transmission.
And in response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., “the concept of "detecting a gap" presupposes that the UE performs an active observation of its operational state to determine when a temporary suspension occurs before a particular transmission completes”; “the problem of incomplete SRS transmission due to operational suspension nor provides any rationale or motivation to introduce detection logic for such conditions”) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is indicated in PTO form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY TODD whose telephone number is (303)297-4763. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5 MST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Nicholas Taylor can be reached on 571-272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY TODD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443