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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/31/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/13/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 02/02/2026 has been entered. Independent Claims 27, 45, and 46 have been amended. No dependent claims have been amended. No claims have been cancelled. No claims are new and have been entered. Claims 27-46 are still pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 02/02/2026 on pages 7-8 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 27 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Davydov fails to teach a panel for generating beamforming in a different direction. However, ¶0041 of Davydov clearly states “Antenna pairs 842 may accordingly be used as portions of one or more 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, or 8-port, or 16-port antennas.” (emphasis added) so there are a plurality of antennas within a plurality of antenna arrays can be sectioned off to perform or available beamforming (see ¶0071 for a sample use case), as mentioned in the Applicant Remarks from 02/02/2026. Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of a panel for generating beamforming in a different direction from the teachings of Davydov. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 02/02/2026 on page 9 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 27 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Davydov fails to teach generating reference signal resources as a part of a beam selection procedure. However, 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 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). Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of generating reference signal resources as a part of a beam selection procedure from the teachings of Davydov. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 02/02/2026 on page 10 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 27 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Davydov fails to teach a first reference signal transmitted from panel and a second resource signal transmitted from a second panel. However, ¶0033 of Davydov states “Corresponding resource block 400 depicts RE pairs 420 bearing CSI-RS symbols that are associated with each eNB antenna port”, meaning that there is a CSI-RS symbol, e.g. a reference signal, associated with the antenna port. Which each antenna port is can be a subset of the larger antenna array, see ¶0041 of Davydov for an example of the functionality of the CSI-RS symbol in relation to the antenna port. Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of a first reference signal transmitted from panel and a second resource signal transmitted from a second panel from the teachings of Davydov. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 02/02/2026 on pages 10-11 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 27 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Khoshnevisan fails to teach that DMRS are used in a beam selection process and time-overlapping. However, since DMRS contains CSI-RS, see Khoshnevisan ¶0071, if the DMRS overlaps, then the CSI-RS that’s contained within, overlaps as well. As for the argument that the CSI-RS cannot be contained within a DMRS, the specific claim language in question is “first reference signal resource”, and does not rise to the specificity of a reference signal reference alone, just that it exists within the communication, see MPEP 2111.01.I-III for further information. Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of that DMRS are used in a beam selection process and time-overlapping from the teachings of Khoshnevisan. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 02/02/2026 on page 12 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 31 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Davydov fails to teach two resources being transmitted on two different beams. However, ¶0041 of Davydov further clarifies “Antenna pairs 842 may accordingly be used as portions of one or more 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, or 8-port, or 16-port antennas.” (emphasis added) so there are a plurality of antennas within a plurality of antenna arrays can be sectioned off to perform or available beamforming, as mentioned in the Applicant Remarks from 02/02/2026. This was previously mentioned in the section titled “Regarding Claim 27, Claim 45, and Claim 46”, as Claim 31 is dependent on Claim 30, which is dependent on Claim 27. Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of two resources being transmitted on two different beams from the teachings of Davydov. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 02/02/2026 on page 12 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 32 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Davydov fails to teach a logical unit containing at least one antenna panel. However, ¶0041 of Davydov further clarifies “Antenna pairs 842 may accordingly be used as portions of one or more 1-port, 2-port, 4-port, or 8-port, or 16-port antennas.” (emphasis added) so there are a plurality of antennas within a plurality of antenna arrays can be sectioned off to perform or available beamforming, as mentioned in the Applicant Remarks from 02/02/2026. This was previously mentioned in the section titled “Regarding Claim 27, Claim 45, and Claim 46”, as Claim 38 is dependent on Claim 27. Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of two resources being transmitted on two different beams from the teachings of Davydov. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 02/02/2026 on page 12 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 33 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Davydov fails to teach a phase center of an antenna panel and instead is the phase center of the communication signal. However, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies 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). Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of a phase center of an antenna panel and instead is the phase center of the communication signal from the teachings of Davydov. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments filed on 02/02/2026 on page 13 of applicant’s remark regarding Claim 43 under 35 USC § 103. The applicant argues that Davydov fails to teach a report for a number of best beams. However, ¶0082 of Davydov describes transmit the ordered list which an ordered list is suggested to have a at least one highest value. The claim language of “best” without any further descriptive terms to show the functional difference between an ordered list and a priority list as is suggested in the argument. Thus, the applicant here fails to patentably distinguish the claimed invention of a report for a number of best beams from the teachings of Davydov. The applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but are not persuasive.
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) 27-41 and 43-46 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davydov (Pub. No.: US 20180219601 A1, hereafter “Davydov”) in view of Khoshnevisan (Pub. No.: US 20200153543 A1, hereafter “Khoshnevisan”).
Regarding Claim 27, Claim 45, and Claim 46
Davydov teaches a device, method, and medium comprising
A first network device (Davydov Fig. 8: 800, eNB) for transmission of reference signal resources comprising an antenna arrangement (Davydov Fig. 8: 842, antenna pairs) having at least two panels (Davydov Fig. 8: 842, antenna pairs), each of the at least two panels being configured to generate beams (Davydov ¶0041: beamforming by eNB) in different directions (Davydov Fig. 8: 822 and 826), wherein the first network device comprises control circuitry configured to (Davydov Fig. 8: 800, eNB; Davydov teaches an eNB, e.g. a base station, having multiple antenna, and beamforming by the eNB to two different locations): transmit (Davydov ¶0041: transmission in general), as part of performing a beam selection procedure (Davydov ¶0041: be more promising in forming a wireless communication channel) with a second network device (Davydov ¶0041: channel with UE; Davydov teaches transmitting information for forming a channel with a UE): a first reference signal resource (Davydov ¶0033: CSI-RS) in one or more beams (Davydov ¶0033: RE pairs) from a first of the at least two panels (Davydov ¶0033: associated with each eNB antenna port; Davydov teaches a CSI-RS being transmitted through RE pairs and are associated with each of the plurality of ports); and a second reference signal resource (Davydov ¶0072: second CSI-RS) in one or more beams (Davydov ¶0072: establish) from a second of the at least two panels (Davydov ¶0072: second portion following the first portion in an ordered set of antenna ports; Davydov teaches a second RSI-RS being used to establish a second portion for the plurality of ports), wherein the one or more beams from the first of the at least two panels (Davydov ¶0033: plurality of antennas) differ (Davydov ¶0033: first polarization) from the one or more beams from the second of the at least two panels (Davydov ¶0033: plurality of second antennas having a second polarization; Davydov teaches the plurality of antennas having two different polarizations),
Davydov does not explicitly teach
and wherein the first reference signal resource is time-wise overlapping with the second reference signal resource when transmitted
However, Khoshnevisan teaches
and wherein the first reference signal resource (Khoshnevisan Fig. 8: 805, DMRS information, e.g. information containing CSI-RS, see ¶0071) is time-wise overlapping (Khoshnevisan ¶0082: DMRS may overlap in time and/or frequency) with the second reference signal resource when transmitted (Khoshnevisan ¶0082: two transmission layers; Khoshnevisan teaches information containing a CSI-RS with two transmission signals that can overlap over time).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Davydov by way of Khoshnevisan, to include an element that teaches information containing a CSI-RS with two transmission signals that can overlap over time, as taught by Khoshnevisan in Fig. 8 and ¶0082, to improve BS and UE communication systems by allowing simultaneous communication across multiple reference signals at the same time or frequency and improve throughput.
Claim 46 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Davydov teaches
A non-transitory computer-readable medium (Davydov Fig. 15: 1518) comprising, stored thereupon, a computer program for transmission of reference signal resources in a first network device (Davydov ¶0094: instructions; Davydov teaches a computer-readable medium containing executable instructions)
Regarding Claim 28
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein the at least two panels are configured to generate beams in the same OFDM symbol (Davydov ¶0081: CSI-RS groups may contain the same message, and the CSI-RS contains OFDM, see ¶0033; Davydov teaches a plurality of CSI-RS with the same message, e.g. an OFDM symbol).
Regarding Claim 29
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein each reference signal resource comprises at least one single-port reference signal resource (Davydov ¶0030: each resource element corresponds to an antenna port; Davydov teaches the reference signal corresponding to an individual antenna port).
Regarding Claim 30
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein each reference signal resource is a two- port reference signal resource (Davydov ¶0032: CSI reference signal may be transmitted on a 2-port antenna numbered 15 through 22; Davydov teaches the reference signal can refer to a 2-port antenna with an associated value).
Regarding Claim 31
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 30. Davydov further teaches
wherein each reference signal resource is transmitted in two different beams (Davydov ¶0033: first and second antennas) wherein the two different beams are transmitted with non- parallel polarizations (Davydov ¶0033: polarization orthogonal; Davydov teaches two antennas with two antenna configurations with orthogonal polarizations).
Regarding Claim 32
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein the antenna arrangement (Davydov Fig. 20: 2000) comprises at least one physical antenna panel (Davydov Fig. 20: 2010), wherein each panel is a logical unit (Davydov Fig. 20: 2004e) comprising a segment of the at least one physical antenna panel (Davydov Fig. 20: 2010; Davydov teaches a processing unit to handle instructions, coupled to at least one antenna).
Regarding Claim 33
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein the antenna arrangement comprises at least two physical antenna panels (Davydov Fig. 20: 2010, e.g. one or more antennas, see ¶0111), and wherein the phase center (Davydov ¶0110: carrier frequency) of the at least two panels are spatially separated (Davydov ¶0110: multiple different phases; Davydov teaches one or more antennas having a carrier frequency having multiple different phases).
Regarding Claim 34
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein the antenna arrangement comprises at least two physical antenna panels (Davydov Fig. 20: 2010, e.g. one or more antennas, see ¶0111) and wherein the at least two panels are configured to point (Davydov ¶0040: FD-MIMO beamforming) in the same spatial direction (Davydov ¶0041: FD-MIMO downlink; Davydov teaches one or more antennas generating FD-MIMO beamforming for downlink communication with a UE).
Regarding Claim 35
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein the antenna arrangement comprises at least two physical antenna panels (Davydov Fig. 20: 2010, e.g. one or more antennas, see ¶0111) and wherein each of the at least two panels comprises two sets of antenna elements (Davydov ¶0033: antenna configuration), wherein a first set of antenna elements comprises antenna elements with a first polarization (Davydov ¶0033: first polarization), and a second set of antenna elements comprises antenna elements with a second polarization (Davydov ¶0033: second polarization), the first polarization and the second polarization are non-parallel to each other (Davydov ¶0033: polarization orthogonal; Davydov teaches two polarizations wherein they are orthogonal to each other).
Regarding Claim 36
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein the antenna arrangement comprises at least two physical antenna panels (Davydov Fig. 20: 2010, e.g. one or more antennas, see ¶0111) and wherein the at least two panels are configured to generate beams (Davydov ¶0040: CSI-RS protocol supports FD-MIMO beamforming) using time-domain beamforming (Davydov ¶0027: OFDM symbols in the time domain with the CSI-RS; Davydov teaches one or more antennas using a CSI-RS with an OFDM symbol in the time domain, for use of beamforming).
Regarding Claim 37
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein the one or more beams in which the first reference signal resource (Davydov ¶0067: CSI-RS) is transmitted differs from the one or more beams in which the second reference signal resource is transmitted (Davydov ¶0067: second CSI-RS assigned to a second group of UEs; Davydov teaches multiple CSI-RSs assigned to different groups).
Regarding Claim 38
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein each reference signal resource is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource (Davydov ¶0067: CSI-RS; Davydov teaches the signal resource is a CSI-RS resource).
Regarding Claim 39
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 38. Khoshnevisan further teaches
wherein the CSI-RS resources (Khoshnevisan Fig. 8: 805, DMRS information, e.g. information containing CSI-RS, see ¶0071) transmitted in the same OFDM symbol (Khoshnevisan ¶0082: OFDM symbols) has the same (Khoshnevisan ¶0082: same DMRS port group) transmission configuration indication (TCI) state (Khoshnevisan ¶0082: TCI states can overlap; Khoshnevisan teach information containing CSI-RS with the overlapping OFDM symbols and overlapping TCI states for the same DMRS port group).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Davydov by way of Khoshnevisan, to include an element that teaches information containing CSI-RS with the overlapping OFDM symbols and overlapping TCI states for the same DMRS port group, as taught by Khoshnevisan in Fig. 8 and ¶0082, to improve BS and UE communication systems by allowing simultaneous communication across multiple reference signals at the same time or frequency and improve throughput.
Regarding Claim 40
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 38. Khoshnevisan further teaches
wherein the CSI-RS resources transmitted in the same OFDM symbol (Khoshnevisan ¶0082: OFDM symbols) has the same frequency allocation (Khoshnevisan ¶0082: overlap in frequency) or different frequency allocation (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Khoshnevisan teaches that the DMRS, e.g. CSI-RS resources, can overlap in frequency).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Davydov by way of Khoshnevisan, to include an element that teaches that the DMRS, e.g. CSI-RS resources, can overlap in frequency, as taught by Khoshnevisan in ¶0082, to improve BS and UE communication systems by allowing simultaneous communication across multiple reference signals at the same time or frequency and improve throughput.
Regarding Claim 41
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein the first network device is a network node (Davydov ¶0064: eNB and UE communicate with each other on a network) and the reference signal resource is a channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS) resource (Davydov ¶0064: CSI-RS symbols) transmitted from the network node (Davydov ¶0064: eNB may send CSI-RS configuration messages; Davydov teaches the eNB and UE communicate with each other in a network with CSI-RS symbols).
Regarding Claim 43
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27. Davydov further teaches
wherein the second network device is further configured to evaluate (Davydov ¶0082: index) the received reference signal resources (Davydov ¶0082: CSI-RS) and to report N best beams (Davydov ¶0082: transmit the ordered list) to the first network device (Davydov ¶0082: secondary circuitry 1720; Davydov teaches indexing information from the CSI-RS and transmitting the ordered list to a secondary system).
Regarding Claim 44
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 43. Davydov further teaches
wherein the second network device is a user equipment (UE) (Davydov ¶0041: UE) or a network node (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim; Davydov teaches that the network device is a UE).
Claim(s) 42 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Davydov (Pub. No.: US 20180219601 A1, hereafter “Davydov”) in view of Khoshnevisan (Pub. No.: US 20200153543 A1, hereafter “Khoshnevisan”), further in view of Pan (Pub. No.: US 20130039304 A1, hereafter “Pan”)
Regarding Claim 42
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan teaches the device, method, and medium as explained above in Claim 27.
Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan does not explicitly teach
wherein the first network device is a user equipment (UE), and the reference signal resource is Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmitted from the UE.
However, Pan teaches
wherein the first network device is a user equipment (UE) (Pan ¶0071: UE), and the reference signal resource is Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) (Pan ¶0071: SRS) transmitted from the UE (Pan ¶0071: to BS from UE; Pan teaches the UE sending an SRS to a base station).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Davydov in view of Khoshnevisan by way of Pan, to include an element that teaches the UE sending an SRS to a base station, as taught by Pan in ¶0071, to improve a case where the SRS resources exist in a semi0static configuration and cannot meet the requirements and allowing for more dynamic configuration of the SRS.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER whose telephone number is (703)756-4763. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 4:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached on (571) 270-1215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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