DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Priorities and Examiner Remarks
This application is a National Stage entry of PCT/US2022/012967 (international filing date: 01/19/2022), which claims priority from provisional application 63140553
(filed 01/22/2021).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 16-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiong et al. (US 20190191453 A1, hereinafter Xiong), in view of CHOI et al. (US 20190372734 A1, hereinafter CHOI).
Regarding claim 16,
Xiong teaches a terminal comprising (Xiong, in general, see fig. 5 and/or fig. 6, along with fig. 14-15, note that fig. 5 is for UE and fig. 6 is for BS):
a receiver that receives, via higher layer signaling, configuration information regarding a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, and receives downlink control information (DCI) indicating an SRS resource (Xiong, see at least para. 91 along with para. 131-134, “…In some embodiments, the UE 102 may determine, based on the DCI or RRC signalling or a combination thereof, a division of the PRBs in the one or more symbols of the control region to include: first PRBs for NR PUCCH transmission(s), and second PRBs for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission(s). The UE 102 may transmit an SRS in the control region in at least one of the second PRBs…”);
and
a processor that, when a first parameter indicating a specific value is configured by the configuration information, determines that frequency sounding with the SRS transmission is partial frequency sounding and switches, based on the received DCI indicating SRS resource, between full frequency sounding and the partial frequency sounding (Xiong, see at least para. 131-134 of fig. 14, “...for multiplexing of the NR PUCCH and SRS in the same symbol within one slot, different comb offsets may be assigned for NR PUCCH and SRS. It should be noted that comb offset(s) for NR PUCCH and SRS transmission may be semi-statically configured by higher layers (such as via MSI, RMSI, SIB and/or RRC signaling) and/or may be dynamically indicated in the DCI. A combination of such techniques may be used, in some embodiments. In a non-limiting example, in case IFDMA with M=2 is employed for both NR PUCCH and SRS, a first comb offset of 0 may be used for NR PUCCH and a second comb offset of 1 may be used for SRS...”, note that para. 132 discloses: (a) In a non-limiting example, this technique may be used in cases in which the NR SRS transmission may occupy a full system bandwidth for link adaption and scheduling, and the technique may be used to avoid frequency segmentation for NR SRS transmission, and (b) “...The scope of embodiments is not limited to such cases, however. In some embodiments, interleaved frequency division multiple access (IFDMA) with a repetition factor (such as “M”) may be employed for NR PUCCH and SRS transmission...”),
wherein in case of the partial frequency sounding, the processor determines, using a second parameter, which is different from the first parameter, configured by the configuration information, specific PRB used for the partial frequency sounding with the SRS transmission in one symbol among the SRS resource indicated by the DCI (Xiong, see at least para. 131-134 along with fig. 15 and para. 91, for one non-limiting example, “…for multiplexing of the NR PUCCH and SRS in the same symbol within one slot, different comb offsets may be assigned for NR PUCCH and SRS. ... In a non-limiting example, in case IFDMA with M=2 is employed for both NR PUCCH and SRS, a first comb offset of 0 may be used for NR PUCCH and a second comb offset of 1 may be used for SRS...”, note that para. 91 disclose “...the UE 102 may determine, based on the DCI or RRC signalling or a combination thereof, a division of the PRBs in the one or more symbols of the control region to include: first PRBs for NR PUCCH transmission(s), and second PRBs for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission(s). The UE 102 may transmit an SRS in the control region in at least one of the second PRBs…”).
Xiong does not specifically teach (a) DCI including an SRS request field indicating an SRS resource, and (b) specific resource elements (REs) mapped within a Resource Block (RB) [used for the partial frequency sounding].
CHOI teaches (a) DCI including an SRS request field indicating an SRS resource (CHOI, see at least para. 64-65 including TABLE 1, e.g. SRS request field in DCI indicates SRS parameters), and (b) specific resource elements (REs) mapped within a Resource Block (RB) [used for the partial frequency sounding] (CHOI, in general, see fig. 11 in view of fig. 17 along with their respective paragraphs, in particular, see at least para. 116, e.g. number of REs per resource block (RB) for SRS resource).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate CHOI into Xiong to support UEs having different sounding BWs, there is a need for a method of allocating UEs to different resource areas, and orthogonality is supported between UEs that perform simultaneous transmissions by allowing IFDMA comb structures to have different sounding BWs, for minimizing the degradation of channel estimation performance (para. 94).
Regarding claim 17, Xiong in view of CHOI teaches the first parameter is a parameter regarding a frequency domain. (Xiong, see at least para. 131-134 of fig. 14 and 15, “...As shown in the example in FIG. 14, the resources allocated for NR PUCCH and SRS (1410 and 1420, respectively) are separate in the frequency domain within the same symbol. Embodiments are not limited by the example sizes (in terms of PRBs, symbols and/or other) of elements shown in FIG. 14...”, note that para. 133 discloses “... In a non-limiting example, in case IFDMA with M=2 is employed for both NR PUCCH and SRS, a first comb offset of 0 may be used for NR PUCCH and a second comb offset of 1 may be used for SRS...”)
Regarding claim 18, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 16 except this claim is in method claim format.
Regarding claim 19, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 16. To be more specific, although reciting subject matters slightly different, one skilled in the art would have known claim 19 performs reverse (or corresponding) procedures of claim 16. For example, it would be a base station of claim 19 that performs the reverse (or corresponding) receiving from and transmitting to the terminal of claim 16. Hence, the examiner applies the same rejection reasoning as set forth in claim 16.
Regarding claim 20, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as a combination of claims 16 and 19, except this claim is in system claim format.
To be more specific, Xiong in view of CHOI also teaches a system comprising a terminal and a base station (Xiong, see at least fig. 5 and 6), which is well known in the art and commonly used for providing and enabling robust and reliable data communication hardware and software.
Regarding claim 21, Xiong in view of CHOI teaches the partial frequency sounding with the SRS transmission using four or less symbols is supported. (CHOI, see at least fig. 18 and corresponding paragraphs 150-152, in particular, see at least para. 152 in view of para. 138, for one non-limiting example, N=4, where N indicates number of SRS symbols)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate CHOI into Xiong to support UEs having different sounding BWs, there is a need for a method of allocating UEs to different resource areas, and orthogonality is supported between UEs that perform simultaneous transmissions by allowing IFDMA comb structures to have different sounding BWs, for minimizing the degradation of channel estimation performance (para. 94).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/20/2026 have been fully considered. Regarding independent claims 16, 18, 19, and 20, since applicant's amendment necessitated new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action, previous Office action's rejections are moot. Accordingly, corresponding dependent claims have also been rejected in this Office action.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 YEE F LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7577. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached on 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/YEE F LAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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