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 .
Continued Examination under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06/08/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This communication is considered fully responsive to the amendment filed on 06/08/2026. Claims 1-9, 11-13, 15-26, 28-29, and 31-34 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 17, and 18 filed on 06/08/2026 have been considered but they are not persuasive and the arguments on the amended feature has been addressed in the instant Office Action with previously identified prior art by mapping the relevant teachings for more clarification thereof that read on said added feature are moot.
The Applicant argues that regarding independent claim 1, 17, and 18, the cited combination fails to teach an antenna port configuration associated with two switching cases and determining a target switching case based on it. The Applicant further asserted that the Examiner impermissibly relied on the Applicant’s own specification (Fig. 6 and paragraph [0078]) to supply a mapping rule, thereby engaging in impermissible hindsight.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The rejection of the independent claims is based on the combination of Gao et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220338027, hereinafter “Gao”) and Park et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230156608, hereinafter “Park”), not Gao alone. Gao provide the foundational multi-mode switching framework comprising at least three switching cases (Mode 1, Mode 2, and Mode 3). Furthermore, Tables V and VI of Gao establish the exact structural environment where a specific antenna port configuration (e.g., “0P+1P”) explicitly overlaps with multiple candidate switching cases (Mode 1 and Mode 2).
To address the specific disambiguation mechanism that the Applicant alleges is missing, the Examiner explicitly combined Gao with Park. Park identifies the precise ambiguity situation where an antenna port configuration indication is commonly mapped to two overlapping switching cases rather than a single case. To resolve this ambiguity, Park explicitly teaches applying predefined procedural rules (e.g., Options 1, 2, and 3) to unambiguously determine and configure a final “target switching case” from the overlapping candidate cases. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to integrate Park’s ambiguity resolution mechanism into Gao’s multi-mode framework to ensure reliable dynamic uplink switching without operational mismatch.
Regarding the allegation of hindsight bias, the Examiner’s prior reference to the Applicant’s Figure 6 and paragraph [0078] was not an attempt to fill a logical gap in the prior art. The citation was provided solely as an “Examiner’s note” to highlight that the mapping outcome claimed by the Applicant is identical to the objective mapping already inherently present in Table VI of Gao. To visually emphasize this exact correspondence, Table VI of Gao and Fig. 6 of the instant application are reproduced below.
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(Fig. 6 of the Drawings of the Instant Application)
The combination of Gao and Park explicitly teaches transmitting and receiving an antenna port configuration associated with two switching cases and determining the target switching case based thereon to configure the transmission chains.
Thus, the Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive, and rejection of claims 1, 17, 18, and their dependents under 35 U.S.C. § 103 are maintained.
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.
Claim(s) 1-8, 11, 13, 15-23, 25, 28-29, and 31-34 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220338027, hereinafter “Gao”), and further in view of Park et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230156608, hereinafter “Park”).
With respect to independent claims 1, 17 and 18:
Regarding Claim 1, Gao teaches An apparatus for wireless communication (Fig. 3 an para [0175] of Gao: a wireless terminal … may be a user equipment (UE),), comprising:
at least one transceiver (Fig. 3 and para [0175] of Gao: communication unit 320 may a transceiver and is used to transmit and receive signals);
at least one memory comprising instructions (Fig. 3 and para [0175] of Gao: The storage unit 310 may be any data storage device that stores a program code 312, which is accessed and executed by the processor 300.); and
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to (Fig. 3 and para [0175] of Gao: a program code 312, which is accessed and executed by the processor 300.):
determine an uplink (UL) transmission (Tx) switching procedure including a plurality of switching cases, wherein the UL Tx switching procedure is associated with at least one of one or more Tx chains or one or more antenna ports, at least one of the one or more Tx chains or the one or more antenna ports corresponding to one or more component carriers (CCs) (paras [0238-0251] of Gao: at least one of the following transmission modes may be provided for the UE supporting the intra-panel switching. In this embodiment, the UE supporting the intra-panel switching may support 2 panels as shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the UE has 2T4R (i.e. 2 Tx chains 0 and 1 and 4 Rx chains 1 a, 1 b, 2 a and 2 b) and 2 panels (i.e. UE panels 1 and 2), wherein each of panels has 1 Tx chain, 2 Rx chains and 2 subarrays (e.g. subarrays 1 a and 1 b or subarrays 2 a and 2 b). … Mode 1.. Mode 2… Mode 3…the number of Tx chains and the number of antenna ports for the UL transmissions in the modes 1, 2, and 3 can be found in the following Table V…) Table V of Gao is reproduced herein below.
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, wherein the plurality of switching cases includes at least three switching cases including a target switching case; (paragraphs [0238-251] and Tables V and VI of Gao: at least one of the following transmission modes may be provided for the UE supporting the intra-panel switching…. In an embodiment, the number of Tx chains and the number of antenna ports for the UL transmissions in the modes 1, 2, and 3 (interpreted as “at least three switching cases including a target switching case”) can be found in the following Table V). Table VI of Gao is reproduced herein below.
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(The missing/crossed out limitations will be discussed in view of Park)
configure, based on the determined target switching case, at least one of the one or more Tx chains or the one or more antenna ports (para [0258] of Gao: Determine at least one transmission state for an uplink channel, wherein at least one of a spatial relation or an antenna port of the uplink channel is determined based on a first transmission state of the at least one transmission state.); and
transmit, to a base station via the at least one transceiver, at least one UL transmission based on the configured at least one of the one or more Tx chains or the one or more antenna ports (para [0259] of Gao: Transmit, to a wireless network node, the uplink channel.) .) (paras [0327-0329] of Gao: Receive, from a wireless terminal, an uplink channel in a first transmission mode... the wireless network node may receive a UL channel in a first transmission mode from a wireless terminal (e.g. UE). In this embodiment, the wireless network node (is expect to) receives another UL channel in a second transmission mode after a time gap (interpreted as “target switching case”). ).
As noted above, Gao fails to explicitly teach the features “receive, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of an antenna port configuration, wherein the antenna port configuration is associated with two switching cases of the at least three switching cases;” and “determine, based on the determined UL Tx switching procedure and the antenna port configuration, the target switching case.”
Park teaches the missing features “receive, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of an antenna port configuration” (para [0233] of Park: the processor 102 (included in wireless device 100) may control the RF transceiver 106 to receive first power headroom report (PHR) for the first carrier allocated with a transmission chain and transmission chain switching information (interpreted as “an indication of an uplink (UL) transmission (Tx) switching procedure including a plurality of switching cases”) for changing configuration of a transmission chain for each of the first carrier and the second carrier, ) (para [0131] of Park: the Tx chain and the transmission chain may have a configuration corresponding to the Tx port or the transmission port.), wherein the antenna port configuration is associated with two switching cases of the at least three switching cases: Park further discloses, in para [0125] and TABLE 7 of Park, that the antenna port configuration of “0P+1P” is associated with both Case 1 (1T+1T) and Case 2 (0T+2T), presenting an overlapping/ambiguous configuration). See Table 7 of Park showing two switching cases.
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To resolve this, Park teaches determine, based on the determined UL Tx switching procedure and the antenna port configuration, the target switching case (paras [0132]-[0137] of Park: disclosing a procedure where the UE determines whether to operate in the first Tx mode or the second Tx mode using predefined procedural rules, such as maintaining a previously indicated Tx mode (Option 1, see para [0134] of Park), reverting to a default Tx mode (Option 2, see para [0135] of Park), or determining the Tx mode based on a preconfigured number of available UL Tx chains for each BWP (Option 3, see para [0136] of Park).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to combine the teaching of Gao and Park. The motivation to combine would be integrate Park’s deterministic procedural rules (Option 1, 2, or 3) into the UE’s multi-mode switching framework taught by Gao. This provides the UE with a robust mechanism to unambiguously determine the correct target switching case and accurately configure its hardware (Tx chains and antenna ports) in real-time, thereby preventing operational mismatch during dynamic UL Tx switching across multiple carriers.
Regarding claim 17, it is a method claim corresponding to the a user equipment claim 1 and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding Claim 18, Gao teaches An apparatus for wireless communication (Fig. 4 and para [0179] of Gao: a network wireless network node 40), comprising:
at least one transceiver (para [0179] of Gao: The communication unit 420 may be a transceiver.);
at least one memory comprising instructions (para [0179] of Gao: The storage unit 410 may be any data storage device that stores a program code 412); and
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to (para [0181] of Gao: The processor 400 may implement any steps described in exemplified embodiments on the wireless network node 40, e.g., via executing the program code 412):
transmit, to a user equipment (UE) via the at least one transceiver, an indication of an uplink (UL) transmission (Tx) switching procedure including a plurality of switching cases (para [0207] of Gao: a new command (e.g., a MAC-CE or an RRC signaling) may be introduced to combine candidates of the SRS resource(s) and/or the SRS port(s) and/or the DL RS(s) (and/or the TCI state(s)) for a transmission state.) (paras [0233-0236] of Gao: the transmission mode is determined according to at least one of the panel, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports. …the first and second transmission modes are different at at least one of the panels, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports, panels… the number or the maximum number of ports corresponding to single transmission state is determined according to the transmission mode…the transmission mode may be configurable by the network.) (paras [0238] of Gao: at least one of the following transmission modes may be provided for the UE supporting the intra-panel switching. In this embodiment, the UE supporting the intra-panel switching may support 2 panels as shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the UE has 2T4R (i.e. 2 Tx chains 0 and 1 and 4 Rx chains 1 a, 1 b, 2 a and 2 b) and 2 panels (i.e. UE panels 1 and 2), wherein each of panels has 1 Tx chain, 2 Rx chains and 2 subarrays (e.g. subarrays 1 a and 1 b or subarrays 2 a and 2 b).), wherein the UL Tx switching procedure is associated with at least one of one or more Tx chains or one or more antenna ports, at least one of the one or more Tx chains or the one or more antenna ports corresponding to one or more component carriers (CCs) (paras [0239-0251] and TABLE V of Gao: Table V of Gao is reproduced herein below.
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wherein the plurality of switching cases includes at least three switching cases including a target switching case ; ((para [0251] of Gao: three transmission modes may be summarized into Table VI.). Table VI of Gao is reproduced herein below.
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(The missing/crossed out limitations will be discussed in view of Park): and
receive, from the UE via the at least one transceiver, at least one UL transmission based on at least one of the one or more Tx chains or the one or more antenna ports associated with the target switching case (para [0287-0288] of Gao: Receive, from the wireless terminal, an uplink channel... the wireless network node may transmit a first command associated with at least one transmission state to a wireless terminal (e.g. UE) and receive a UL channel from the wireless terminal. Note that, at least one of a spatial relation or an antenna port of the UL channel is determined based on a first transmission state of the at least one transmission state.) (paras [0327-0329] of Gao: Receive, from a wireless terminal, an uplink channel in a first transmission mode... the wireless network node may receive a UL channel in a first transmission mode from a wireless terminal (e.g. UE). In this embodiment, the wireless network node (is expect to) receives another UL channel in a second transmission mode after a time gap (interpreted as “target switching case”). )
As noted above, Gao fails to teach transmit, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of an antenna port configuration wherein the antenna port configuration is associated with two switching cases of the at least three switching cases and wherein a target switching case is one of the two switching cases: and.
Park teaches the above recited missing features. Park teaches “transmit, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of an antenna port configuration” (para [0233] of Park: the processor 102 (included in wireless device 100) may control the RF transceiver 106 to receive first power headroom report (PHR) for the first carrier allocated with a transmission chain and transmission chain switching information UE (interpreted as “an indication of an antenna port configuration”) for changing configuration of a transmission chain for each of the first carrier and the second carrier, ) (para [0131] of Park: the Tx chain and the transmission chain may have a configuration corresponding to the Tx port or the transmission port.). Park further teaches the missing feature of “wherein the antenna port configuration is associated with two switching cases of the at least three switching cases and wherein a target switching case is one of the two switching cases”. Park discloses, in para [0125] and TABLE 7 of Park, that the antenna port configuration of “0P+1P” is associated with both Case 1 (1T+1T) and Case 2 (0T+2T), presenting an overlapping/ambiguous configuration). See Table 7 of Park showing two switching cases.
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To resolve this, Park teaches determine, based on the determined UL Tx switching procedure and the antenna port configuration, the target switching case (paras [0132]-[0137] of Park: disclosing a procedure where the UE determines whether to operate in the first Tx mode or the second Tx mode using predefined procedural rules, such as maintaining a previously indicated Tx mode (Option 1, see para [0134] of Park), reverting to a default Tx mode (Option 2, see para [0135] of Park), or determining the Tx mode based on a preconfigured number of available UL Tx chains for each BWP (Option 3, see para [0136] of Park).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to combine the teaching of Gao and Park. The motivation to combine would be integrate Park’s predefined procedural mechanism (Option 1, 2, or 3) into Gao’s expanded multi-mode switching system (supporting at least 3 cases) to effectively resolve mapping ambiguities when a dynamic antenna port indication overlaps with multiple candidates switching cases. This ensures that the base station and the UE unambiguously identify the same target switching case, preventing communication errors and increasing the reliability of dynamic UL Tx switching operations.
With respect to dependent claims:
Regarding Claim 2, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: Gao further teaches:
receive, from a base station via the at least one transceiver, an indication of the UL Tx switching procedure, wherein to determine the UL Tx switching procedure, the at least one processor is configured to cause the apparatus to determine the UL Tx switching procedure based on the indication (para [0207] of Gao: a new command (e.g., a MAC-CE or an RRC signaling) may be introduced to combine candidates of the SRS resource(s) and/or the SRS port(s) and/or the DL RS(s) (and/or the TCI state(s)) for a transmission state.) (paras [0233-0236] of Gao: the transmission mode is determined according to at least one of the panel, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports. …the first and second transmission modes are different at at least one of the panels, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports, panels… the number or the maximum number of ports corresponding to single transmission state is determined according to the transmission mode…the transmission mode may be configurable by the network.) (paras [0238] of Gao: at least one of the following transmission modes may be provided for the UE supporting the intra-panel switching. In this embodiment, the UE supporting the intra-panel switching may support 2 panels as shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the UE has 2T4R (i.e. 2 Tx chains 0 and 1 and 4 Rx chains 1 a, 1 b, 2 a and 2 b) and 2 panels (i.e. UE panels 1 and 2), wherein each of panels has 1 Tx chain, 2 Rx chains and 2 subarrays (e.g. subarrays 1 a and 1 b or subarrays 2 a and 2 b).)
Regarding Claim 3, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 2, Gao further teaches wherein the indication of the UL Tx switching procedure is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling (para [0207] of Gao: a new command (e.g., a MAC-CE or an RRC signaling) may be introduced to combine candidates of the SRS resource(s) and/or the SRS port(s) and/or the DL RS(s) (and/or the TCI state(s)) for a transmission state.) (paras [0233-0236] of Gao: the transmission mode is determined according to at least one of the panel, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports. …the first and second transmission modes are different at at least one of the panels, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports, panels… the number or the maximum number of ports corresponding to single transmission state is determined according to the transmission mode…the transmission mode may be configurable by the network.).
Regarding Claim 4, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 2, Gao further teaches wherein the indication of the UL Tx switching procedure is associated with multiple component parts, each of the multiple component parts being associated with one of the plurality of switching cases (para [0207] of Gao: a new command (e.g., a MAC-CE or an RRC signaling) may be introduced to combine candidates of the SRS resource(s) and/or the SRS port(s) and/or the DL RS(s) (and/or the TCI state(s)) for a transmission state.) (paras [0233-0236] of Gao: the transmission mode is determined according to at least one of the panel, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports. …the first and second transmission modes are different at at least one of the panels, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports, panels… the number or the maximum number of ports corresponding to single transmission state is determined according to the transmission mode…the transmission mode may be configurable by the network.) (paras [0238] of Gao: at least one of the following transmission modes may be provided for the UE supporting the intra-panel switching. In this embodiment, the UE supporting the intra-panel switching may support 2 panels as shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the UE has 2T4R (i.e. 2 Tx chains 0 and 1 and 4 Rx chains 1 a, 1 b, 2 a and 2 b) and 2 panels (i.e. UE panels 1 and 2), wherein each of panels has 1 Tx chain, 2 Rx chains and 2 subarrays (e.g. subarrays 1 a and 1 b or subarrays 2 a and 2 b).) (paras [0239-0251] and TABLE V of Gao: Table V of Gao is reproduced herein below.
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Regarding Claim 5, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 2, Gao further teaches wherein the indication of the UL Tx switching procedure is associated with multiple component parts, each of the multiple component parts being associated with two of the plurality of switching cases (para [0207] of Gao: a new command (e.g., a MAC-CE or an RRC signaling) may be introduced to combine candidates of the SRS resource(s) and/or the SRS port(s) and/or the DL RS(s) (and/or the TCI state(s)) for a transmission state.) (paras [0233-0236] of Gao: the transmission mode is determined according to at least one of the panel, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports. …the first and second transmission modes are different at at least one of the panels, the transmission state and the number of antenna ports, panels… the number or the maximum number of ports corresponding to single transmission state is determined according to the transmission mode…the transmission mode may be configurable by the network.) (paras [0238] of Gao: at least one of the following transmission modes may be provided for the UE supporting the intra-panel switching. In this embodiment, the UE supporting the intra-panel switching may support 2 panels as shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the UE has 2T4R (i.e. 2 Tx chains 0 and 1 and 4 Rx chains 1 a, 1 b, 2 a and 2 b) and 2 panels (i.e. UE panels 1 and 2), wherein each of panels has 1 Tx chain, 2 Rx chains and 2 subarrays (e.g. subarrays 1 a and 1 b or subarrays 2 a and 2 b).) (paras [0239-0251] and TABLE V of Gao: Table V of Gao is reproduced herein below.
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Regarding Claim 6, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 2, Park further teaches wherein the indication of the UL Tx switching procedure indicates that one of the one or more CCs is a priority CC. (para [0137] of Park: In relation to Option 3, if the total number of Tx chains configured for each carrier is more than the capability of the UE, the UE may stop UL transmission of a specific carrier (e.g., larger carrier index) according to a specific rule (e.g., priority rule)) (or a UL Tx chain of a carrier having a low priority may be 0-Tx). Accordingly, the UE may perform another procedure in the state in which it is assumed/considered that there is no original configuration/indication for UL transmission for a carrier having a low priority.)(para [0138] of Park: Indication of the Tx mode may be performed through MAC-CE (medium access control-Control Element) or DCI.)
Regarding Claim 7, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, Park further teaches wherein the UL Tx switching procedure including the plurality of switching cases is predetermined, predefined, or preconfigured (para [0218] of Park: The BS may transmit transmission chain switching information(interpreted as “the UL Tx switching procedure”) for changing configuration of a transmission chain for each of the first carrier and the second carrier) (para [0134]: When one Tx mode of the first Tx mode (1-Tx+1-Tx) and the second Tx mode (0-Tx+2-Tx) is indicated to the UE (interpreted as “the UL Tx switching procedure including the plurality of switching cases is predetermined, predefined, or preconfigured”), the UE may maintain the configuration of a Tx chain for each carrier according to a previously indicated Tx mode until another Tx mode is indicated.).
Regarding Claim 8, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, Park further teaches wherein one of the plurality of switching cases is a priority switching case (para [0136] of Park: Option 3: The number of available UL Tx chains for each BWP configured for each carrier may be predefined or configured.)( para [0137] of Park: In relation to Option 3, if the total number of Tx chains configured for each carrier is more than the capability of the UE, the UE may stop UL transmission of a specific carrier (e.g., larger carrier index) according to a specific rule (e.g., priority rule) (interpreted as “a priority switching case”)) (or a UL Tx chain of a carrier having a low priority may be 0-Tx).).
Regarding Claim 11, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, Gao further teaches wherein a mapping of antenna port configurations to the plurality of switching cases is based on a physical channel or signal of the at least one UL transmission (para [0251] of Gao: In an embodiment, the number of Tx chains and the number of antenna ports for the UL transmissions in these three transmission modes may be summarized into Table VI.). Table VI of Gao is reproduced herein below.
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Regarding Claim 13, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: Gao further teaches:
switch, based on the determined UL Tx switching procedure, to the target switching case from one of the plurality of switching cases (paras [0238-0343] of Gao: at least one of the following transmission modes may be provided for the UE supporting the intra-panel switching. In this embodiment, the UE supporting the intra-panel switching may support 2 panels as shown in FIG. 8. In FIG. 8, the UE has 2T4R (i.e. 2 Tx chains 0 and 1 and 4 Rx chains 1 a, 1 b, 2 a and 2 b) and 2 panels (i.e. UE panels 1 and 2), wherein each of panels has 1 Tx chain, 2 Rx chains and 2 subarrays (e.g. subarrays 1 a and 1 b or subarrays 2 a and 2 b)… Mode 1: Two Panels, or Two Transmission States … Mode 2: One panel, or one transmission state In an embodiment of the mode 2, up to one port transmission is supported…Mode 3: Another panel, or another transmission state In an embodiment of the mode 3, up to one port transmission is supported.) (paras [0327-0329] of Gao: Receive, from a wireless terminal, an uplink channel in a first transmission mode... the wireless network node may receive a UL channel in a first transmission mode from a wireless terminal (e.g. UE). In this embodiment, the wireless network node (is expect to) receives another UL channel in a second transmission mode after a time gap (interpreted as “switch, based on the determined UL Tx switching procedure, to the target switching case from one of the plurality of switching cases”).).
Regarding Claim 15, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, Park further teaches
wherein the one or more CCs include a first CC and a second CC (para [0006] of Park: performing carrier aggregation (CA) through a first carrier and a second carrier based on switching of a transmission chain).
Regarding Claim 16, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, Gao further teaches wherein the apparatus is configured to operate as a user equipment (para [0175] of Gao: The wireless terminal 30 may be a user equipment (UE),).
Regarding Claim 19, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 18, Gao teaches wherein the indication of the UL Tx switching procedure indicates the target switching case , wherein the indication of the UL Tx switching procedure is transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) signaling (para [0207] of Gao: In an embodiment, a new command (e.g., a MAC-CE or an RRC signaling) may be introduced to combine candidates of the SRS resource(s) and/or the SRS port(s) and/or the DL RS(s) (and/or the TCI state(s)) for a transmission state…) (paras [0286-0288] of Gao: Transmit, to a wireless terminal, a first command associated with at least one transmission state (interpreted as “the indication of the UL Tx switching procedure indicates the target switching case”)… the wireless network node may transmit a first command associated with at least one transmission state to a wireless terminal (e.g. UE) and receive a UL channel from the wireless terminal. Note that, at least one of a spatial relation or an antenna port of the UL channel is determined based on a first transmission state of the at least one transmission state.)
Regarding Claim 20, Claim 20 has similar limitation as of Claim(s) 4, therefore it is rejected under the same reasons as Claim(s) 4.
Regarding Claim 21, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 19, Park further teaches wherein the indication of the UL Tx switching procedure indicates that one of the one or more CCs is a priority CC (para [0137] of Park: In relation to Option 3, if the total number of Tx chains configured for each carrier is more than the capability of the UE, the UE may stop UL transmission of a specific carrier (e.g., larger carrier index) according to a specific rule (e.g., priority rule)) (or a UL Tx chain of a carrier having a low priority may be 0-Tx). Accordingly, the UE may perform another procedure in the state in which it is assumed/considered that there is no original configuration/indication for UL transmission for a carrier having a low priority.)(para [0138] of Park: Indication of the Tx mode may be performed through MAC-CE (medium access control-Control Element) or DCI.)
Regarding Claim 22, Claim 22 has similar limitation as of Claim(s) 7, therefore it is rejected under the same reasons as Claim(s) 7.
Regarding Claim 23, Claim 23 has similar limitation as of Claim(s) 8, therefore it is rejected under the same reasons as Claim(s) 8.
Regarding Claim 25, Claim 25 has similar limitation as of Claim(s) 11, therefore it is rejected under the same reasons as Claim(s) 11.
Regarding Claim 28, Claim 28 has similar limitation as of Claim(s) 15, therefore it is rejected under the same reasons as Claim(s) 15.
Regarding Claim 29, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 18, Gao further teaches wherein the apparatus is configured to operate as a base station (Fig. 4 and para [0179] of Gao: The wireless network node 40 may be… a base station (BS)).
Regarding Claim 31, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, Gao further teaches
wherein, for a first switching case of the plurality of switching cases (mode 1 in Table VI of Gao is interpreted as “first switching case”), a number of Tx chains associated with a first CC of the one or more CCs is one and a number of Tx chains associated with a second CC of the one or more CCs is one (see Table VI of Gao: 1T + 1T); Table VI of Gao is reproduced herein below.
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(Table VI of Gao)
wherein, for a second switching case of the plurality of switching cases (mode 2 in Table VI of Gao is interpreted as “second switching case”), the number of Tx chains associated with the first CC is zero and the number of Tx chains associated with the second CC is two (see Table VI of Gao: 0T + 2T);
wherein, for a third switching case of the plurality of switching cases (mode 3 in Table VI of Gao is interpreted as “third switching case”), the number of Tx chains associated with the first CC is two and the number of Tx chains associated with the second CC is zero (see Table VI of Gao: 2T + 0T); and
wherein, to determine the UL Tx switching procedure, the at least one processor is configured to determine a mapping rule between the at least one antenna port configuration and a corresponding target switching case of the at least two switching cases (see Table VI of Gao: Number of antenna ports for UL transmission)(Examiner’s note: In Table VI of Gao, an indication of mode 2 followed by an antenna port configuration of 0P+1P may imply switching to mode 1.).
Regarding Claim 32, Claim 32 has similar limitation as of Claim(s) 31, therefore it is rejected under the same reasons as Claim(s) 31.
Regarding Claim 33, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, Gao further teaches wherein the one or more CCs comprise a first CC and a second CC, and wherein the at least one antenna port configuration comprises one or more of: (see Table VI of Gao:); Table VI of Gao is reproduced herein below.
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424
962
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(Table VI of Gao)
a first antenna port configuration associated with zero ports for the first CC and one port for the second CC (see Table VI of Gao: 0P + 1P); or
a second antenna port configuration associated with one port for the first CC and zero ports for the second CC (see Table VI of Gao: 1P + 0P).
Regarding Claim 34, Claim 34 has similar limitation as of Claim(s) 33, therefore it is rejected under the same reasons as Claim(s) 33.
Claim(s) 9, 12, 24, and 26 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Park, and further in view of Li et al (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230199586, hereinafter “Li”).
Regarding Claim 9, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, Gao and Park fail to teach wherein one CC of the one or more CCs is a primary component carrier (PCC) and another CC of the one or more CCs is a secondary component carrier (SCC), the one CC being a priority CC
In analogous art, Li teaches the above missing features as follows,
wherein one CC of the one or more CCs is a primary component carrier (PCC) and another CC of the one or more CCs is a secondary component carrier (SCC), the one CC being a priority CC (para [0162] of Li: The priorities of the serving cells may be predefined. For example, in the M serving cells, a priority of a PCell is higher than a priority of an SPCell, and the priority of the SPCell is higher than a priority of an SCell.) (para [0282] of Li: Using an example in which a first carrier and a second carrier are configured for the terminal device, and a maximum quantity of uplink channels supported by uplink communication of the terminal device is 2, a relationship between a quantity of channels and a quantity of ports on a carrier may be shown in Table 1.
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400
888
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(Table 1 of Li)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of instant application to modify the combination of Gao and Park by using the features of Li in order to have more effective method such that "a priority of a PCell is higher than a priority of an SPCell." [Para [0162] of Li].
Regarding Claim 12, Gao and Park teach The apparatus of claim 1, Gao and Park fail to teach wherein, if a first CC of the one or more CCs is associated with frequency division duplexing (FDD), the first CC is a priority CC, or wherein, if the first CC is associated with time division duplexing (TDD), the priority CC is one of the one or more CCs with a greater amount of UL transmissions.
In analogous art, Li teaches the above missing features if a first CC of the one or more CCs is associated with frequency division duplexing (FDD), the first CC is a priority CC (para [0320] of Li: a serving cell of a terminal device in an FDD communication system is used as an example. The serving cell may include an uplink carrier with a center frequency of 900 MHz and a downlink carrier with a center frequency of 3.5 GHz.)(para [0216] of Li: For example, the network device may initialize and configure the cell states of the N serving cells based on a priority sequence of the N serving cells (interpreted as “the first CC is a priority CC”), and perform cell state switching.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of instant application to modify the combination of Gao and Park by using the features of Li in order to have more effective method such that "a priority of a PCell is higher than a priority of an SPCell." [Para [0162] of Li].
Regarding Claim 24, Claim 24 has similar limitation as of Claim(s) 9, therefore it is rejected under the same reasons as Claim(s) 9.
Regarding Claim 26, Claim 26 has similar limitation as of Claim(s) 12, therefore it is rejected under the same reasons as Claim(s) 12.
Conclusion
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/WON JUN CHOI/Examiner, Art Unit 2411 /DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411
