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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/05/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A 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.
Claims 38, 40 and 47-57 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Vieira et al. ( U.S. PGPUB 2024/0284457 ), Vieira hereinafter. Vieira teaches all of the limitations of the specified claim with the following reasoning.
Regarding claim 38, Vieira teaches a method performed in a transmitter device configured for transmission of measurement signals for beam selection, the method comprising: (page 15 line 25 to 27 - In step 152 of the method 150, a number of measurement signals for beam selection measurements are received from the transmitter apparatus. …)
determining a collection of linear combinations of transmission beams, wherein the transmission beams are of a set of available transmission beams, wherein a cardinality, R, of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams is lower than a cardinality, N, of the set of available transmission beams, wherein each transmission beam in the set of available transmission beams is comprised in at least one linear combination of transmission beams, and wherein at least one of the linear combinations of transmission beams comprises less than all transmission beams of the set of available transmission beams; and(page 14 line 4 to line 17 - ... may comprise determining the cardinality of the collection of linear combinations of transmission and/or reception beams … At least one of the linear combinations of transmission beams may be a linear combination of at least two of the transmission beams of the set of the available transmission beams. Thus, the 15 linear combination is not an identity function. Similarly, at least one of the linear combinations of reception beams may be a linear combination of at least two of the reception beams of theset of the available reception beams. …)
transmitting measurement signals to a receiver device, wherein each of the measurement signals corresponds to a linear combination of transmission beams from the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams (page 15 line 31 to 33 - The transmission of the linear combinations of transmission beams of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams and the reception of the measurement signals corresponding to that collection is represented by signaling 192 in Figure 1C. ).
Regarding claim 40, Vieira teaches claim 38.
Vieira further teaches wherein none of the linear combinations of transmission beams comprises all transmission beams of the set of available transmission beams (page 22 line 16 to 18 - … Coding of the original beams (the beams of the set(s)) is formulated such that the number of coded beams at the transmitter apparatus and/or at the receiver apparatus are (preferably significantly) less than the number of original beams …)
Regarding claim 47, Vieira teaches claim 38.
Vieira further teaches further comprising: receiving a transmission beam selection measurement report from the receiver device; (page 16 line 23 to 30 - … the transmission beam selectionmeasurement report may be indicative of a preferred transmission beam, or beams, determinedby the receiver apparatus based on the selection measurement results (e.g., by indicating anindex of each preferred transmission beam). …)
selecting a transmission beam from the set of available transmission beams in accordance with the received transmission beam selection measurement report, and (page 16 line 23 to 30 - … the transmission beam selectionmeasurement report may be indicative of a preferred transmission beam, or beams, determinedby the receiver apparatus based on the selection measurement results (e.g., by indicating anindex of each preferred transmission beam). …)
transmitting a communication signal using the selected transmission beam (page 16 line 23 to 30 - … The transmission beam selection measurement report is represented by signaling 194 in Figure 1C.)
Regarding claim 48, Vieira teaches claim 38
Vieira further teaches wherein each of the linear combinations of transmission beams of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams is a unique linear combination (page 14 line 18 to 19 - In typical embodiments, each of the linear combinations of transmission/reception beams is a unique linear combination).
Regarding claim 49, Vieira teaches claim 38.
Vieira further teaches wherein transmitting the measurement signals that correspond to each of the linear combinations of transmission beams comprises one or more of: transmitting, for each of the linear combinations of transmission beams of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams, a measurement signal that corresponds to the linear combination of transmission beams in a respective transmission time resource, at least some of the respective time resources being different; (page 15 line 8 to 15 - … linear combinations of transmission beams is transmitted in a respective transmission time resource, the respective time resources being different (from each other), i.e., one linear combination of beams is transmitted at a time.)
and transmitting, for each of the linear combinations of transmission beams of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams, a measurement signal that corresponds to the linear combination of transmission beams in a respective transmission frequency resource, at least some of the respective frequency resources being different (page 15 line 8 to 15 -... linear combinations of transmission beams may be transmitted in a respective transmission frequency resource, the respective frequency resources being different (from each other), i.e., one linear combination of beams is transmitted per frequency resource.)
Regarding claim 50, Vieira teaches claim 38.
Vieira further teaches wherein the method is applied during a training phase for beam selection (page 4 line 26 - In some embodiments, the method is applied during a training phase for beam selection.).
Regarding claim 51, Vieira teaches a method performed in a receiver device configured for performing measurements for beam selection, the method comprising: receiving measurement signals from a transmitter device, wherein each of the measurement signals corresponds to a linear combination of transmission beams from a collection of linear combinations of transmission beams, wherein the transmission beams are of a set of available transmission beams, wherein a cardinality, R, of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams is lower than a cardinality, N, of the set of available transmission beams, wherein each transmission beam in the set of available transmission beams is comprised in at least one linear combination of transmission beams, and wherein at least one of the linear combinations of transmission beams comprises less than all transmission beams of the set of available transmission beams; and (page 21 line 30 to 35 - The apparatus may also comprise a receiver (RX 1) 353 configured to receive, using each of the linear combinations of reception beams of the collection of linear combinations of reception beams, a number of measurement signals for beam selection measurements from the transmitter apparatus, wherein the number of measurement signals correspond to a collection of linear combinations of transmission beams of the set of available transmission beams (compare with step 152 of Figure IB). The apparatus also comprises a measurer (MEAS; e.g., a measurement unit or measurement module) 354 configured to perform beam selection measurements on the measurement signals (compare with step 153 of Figure IB). ... page 22 line 16 to 19 - Coding of the original beams (the beams of the set(s)) is formulated such that the number of coded beams at the transmitter apparatus and/or at the receiver apparatus are (preferably significantly) less than the number of original beams. The coded beams correspond to the linear combinations of beams.)
performing measurements for beam selection on the measurement signals, for selection of a transmission beam from the set of available transmission beams (page 6 line 1 to 4 - In some embodiments, performing beam selection measurements comprises determining a quality metric for each combination of a transmission beam of the set of available transmission beams and a reception beam of the set of available reception beams based on the beam selection measurements.).
Regarding claim 56, Vieira teaches an apparatus configured for controlling transmission - from a transmitter device - of measurement signals for beam selection, the apparatus comprising controlling circuitry configured to cause: (fig. 7. and page 27 line 32 to page 28 line 3)
determination of a collection of linear combinations of transmission beams, wherein the transmission beams are of a set of available transmission beams, wherein a cardinality, R, of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams is lower than a cardinality, N, of the set of available transmission beams, wherein each transmission beam in the set of available transmission beams is comprised in at least one linear combination of transmission beams, and wherein at least one of the linear combinations of transmission beams comprises less than all transmission beams of the set of available transmission beams; and (fig. 7. and page 27 line 32 to page 28 line 3, and page 14 line 4 to line 17 - ... may comprise determining the cardinality of the collection of linear combinations of transmission and/or reception beams … At least one of the linear combinations of transmission beams may be a linear combination of at least two of the transmission beams of the set of the available transmission beams. Thus, the 15 linear combination is not an identity function. Similarly, at least one of the linear combinations of reception beams may be a linear combination of at least two of the reception beams of theset of the available reception beams. …)
transmission of measurement signals to a receiver device, wherein each of the measurement signals corresponds to a linear combination of transmission beams from the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams (page 15 line 31 to 33 - The transmission of the linear combinations of transmission beams of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams and the reception of the measurement signals corresponding to that collection is represented by signaling 192 in Figure 1C. ).
Regarding claim 52, Vieira teaches claim 56.
Vieira further teaches wherein performing measurements for beam selection comprises determining a quality metric for each transmission beam of the set of available transmission beams (page 16 line 6 to 10 - For example, performing beam selection measurements may comprise determining a quality metric (e.g., signal strength, SNR, etc.) for each combination of a transmission beam of the set of available transmission beams and a reception beam of the set of available reception beams based on the beam selection measurements (e.g., for each transmission-reception beam pair) based on 10 the beam selection measurements.).
Regarding claim 53, Vieira teaches claim 56.
Vieira further teaches further comprising selecting a preferred transmission beam from the set of available transmission beams based on the measurements for beam selection, wherein selecting the preferred transmission beam comprises: determining, for each transmission beam in the set of available transmission beams, an average received power over all measurement signals that correspond to linear combinations comprising the transmission beam; and (page 16 line 31 to 35 and page 17 line 1 to 2 - For example, the selection may be based on selection measurement results according to some embodiments. In another example, the selection merely comprises accepting the preferred transmission beam indicated in the transmission beam selection measurement report.)
selecting a transmission beam that corresponds to a highest average received power as the preferred transmission beam (page 26 line 8 to 11 - Using this model expression, the detection problem (determining the largest wiEc:, i)HF Bs(: ,j) I) translates to finding the index of the element in 10 c with highest magnitude. Therefrom, the preferred pair of transmission-reception beams can be determined.).
Regarding claim 54, Vieira teaches claim 56.
Vieira further teaches further comprising: transmitting a transmission beam selection measurement report to the transmitter device for selection of the transmission beam from the set of available transmission beams (page 15 line 31 to 33 - The transmission of the linear combinations of transmission beams of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams and the reception of the measurement signals corresponding to that collection is represented by signaling 192 in Figure 1C. ).
Regarding claim 55, Vieira teaches claim 56.
Vieira further teaches wherein performing measurements for beam selection comprises subjecting the received measurement signals to matched filtering based on the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams (page 16 line 11 to 13 - Alternatively or additionally, performing beam selection measurements may comprise subjecting the number of received measurement signals to matched filtering, or minimum mean square error (MMSE) processing, …).
Regarding claim 57, Vieira teaches an apparatus configured for controlling performance of measurements for beam selection, the apparatus comprising controlling circuitry configured to cause: (fig. 7. and page 27 line 32 to page 28 line 3)
reception of measurement signals from a transmitter device, wherein each of the measurement signals corresponds to a linear combination of transmission beams from a collection of linear combinations of transmission beams, wherein the transmission beams are of a set of available transmission beams, wherein a cardinality, R, of the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams is lower than a cardinality, N, of the set of available transmission beams, wherein each transmission beam in the set of available transmission beams is comprised in at least one linear combination of transmission beams, and wherein at least one of the linear combinations of transmission beams comprises less than all transmission beams of the set of available transmission beams; and (fig. 7. and page 27 line 32 to page 28 line 3, and page 14 line 4 to line 17 - ... may comprise determining the cardinality of the collection of linear combinations of transmission and/or reception beams … At least one of the linear combinations of transmission beams may be a linear combination of at least two of the transmission beams of the set of the available transmission beams. Thus, the 15 linear combination is not an identity function. Similarly, at least one of the linear combinations of reception beams may be a linear combination of at least two of the reception beams of theset of the available reception beams. …)
performance of measurements for beam selection on the measurement signals, for selection of a transmission beam from the set of available transmission beams (page 8 line 3 to 6 - Furthermore, the controlling circuitry is configured to cause performance of beam selection measurements on the number of measurement signals for selection of the transmission beam from the plurality of available transmission beams and for selection of the reception beam from
the plurality of available reception beams).
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.
In 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 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 factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 41 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vieira in view of Göransson et al. (U.S. PGPub 2023/0029484), Göransson hereinafter.
Regarding Claim 41, Vieira teaches claim 38.
Yet, Vieira does not expressly teach further comprising allocating, for each linear combination of transmission beams, a respective transmission power for each transmission beam of the set of available transmission beams that is comprised in the linear combination of transmission beams, wherein a sum over the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams of the respective transmission powers allocated for a transmission beam is equal for all transmission beams of the set of available transmission beams.
However, in the analogous art, Göransson explicitly discloses further comprising allocating, for each linear combination of transmission beams, a respective transmission power for each transmission beam of the set of available transmission beams that is comprised in the linear combination of transmission beams, wherein a sum over the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams of the respective transmission powers allocated for a transmission beam is equal for all transmission beams of the set of available transmission beams (paragraph 0074 - It is noted that the combined beam vector as described with reference to FIG. 3, in general, may not have unit amplitude distribution over the array. This may also be the case when no power-weighting between the two or more beam vectors is performed, e.g. the weight applied to each beam vector is equal, (for example q.sub.k=1 or q.sub.k=1/n where n is the total number of beams combined). This may be seen if for example a DFT codebook is used, where adding two DFT vectors in general does not result in a constant power allocation over the array even if each DFT vector itself has a unit power distribution. ...).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Vieira's Approaches for beam selection to include Göransson;'s equal beam vector weighting for easier implementation. (paragraph 0009 Göransson).
Claims 45 and 46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vieira in view of Liu et al. (U.S. PGPub 2023/0029484), Liu hereinafter.
Regarding Claim 45, It is dependent on claim 43. (Claim 43 is objected to and can be allowed if rewritten in independent form). Claim 43 is dependent on claim 38.
Vieira teaches claim 38.
Yet, Vieira does not expressly teach wherein each transmission beam in the set of available transmission beams is comprised in exactly one group.
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly discloses wherein each transmission beam in the set of available transmission beams is comprised in exactly one group (paragraph 0052 - In an embodiment where the descriptor of the combination of beams is a linear combination index, the UE selects a number of M beams from N available set of beams (M is less than or equal to N). In this embodiment, an M-by-1 index vector x may be formed. This index vector x includes M elements that each include a respective index of a different one of the M selected beams. The N beams are sorted according to certain order and the beam order is commonly known to base station and UE. The beam order of M selected beams in x follows the same order. A linear function may then uniquely map all possible values of index vector x to a unique scalar l in custom-character.sup.1. In other words, the linear combination index l=a.sub.0x.sub.0+a.sub.1x.sub.1+ . . . +a.sub.M-1x.sub.M-1, where a.sub.0, a.sub.1, . . . , a.sub.M-1, are scalars with values that provide a unique mapping to ...).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Vieira's Approaches for beam selection to include Liu's unique mapping of selected beam vector to achieve improved signal quality.
Claims 46 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vieira in view of Rosen et al. (US Application 111,909 (US 4989011 A)), Rosen hereinafter.
Regarding Claim 46, Vieira teaches claim 38.
Yet, Vieira does not expressly teach wherein determining the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams comprises: splitting the set of available transmission beams into two or more subsets of available transmission beams; and determining separate collections of linear combinations of transmission beams for each of the subsets.
However, in the analogous art, Rosen explicitly discloses wherein determining the collection of linear combinations of transmission beams comprises: splitting the set of available transmission beams into two or more subsets of available transmission beams; (column 5 line 44 to line 57 … It may also be operatively arranged so that a first linear combination of individual beams emanating from the array of radiating elements together form a first one of the composite beams, and a second linear combination of individual beams emanating from the array of radiating elements, together form a second one of the composite beams. …)
and determining separate collections of linear combinations of transmission beams for each of the subsets (column 5 line 44 to line 57 … It may also be operatively arranged so that a first linear combination of individual beams emanating from the array of radiating elements together form a first one of the composite beams, and a second linear combination of individual beams emanating from the array of radiating elements, together form a second one of the composite beams. …).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine Vieira's Approaches for beam selection to include Rosen's splitting into first and second linear combination to achieve improved signal quality.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 39, 42, 43 and 44 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. This includes:
U.S. PGPUB 2023/0308992 which describes measurements of linear combinations of beams
U.S. PGPUB 2014/0341310 which describes methods for linear RF beam search in millimeter wave communication system with hybrid beam-forming
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/A.L.O./Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472