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 .
The Amendment filed 11/20/2025 has been considered and entered. Claims 1-7 and 10-14 are still pending in this Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the elements. See MPEP § 2172.01. Applicants need to clarify that what is proceeded after ending a preamble and uplink data transmission via a grant-free random access.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the elements. See MPEP § 2172.01. Applicants need to clarify that what is proceeded after ending a preamble and uplink data transmission via a grant-free random access.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) the limitations, “performing a soft interference cancel check, whereby, if the soft interference cancel check result is negative, the calculation of residual mean and variance is performed and whereby, if the soft interference cancel check result is positive, the extrinsic mean and variance 1s calculated directly; calculating the extrinsic mean and variance, whereby, if the soft interference cancel check result is negative, the calculation of residual mean and variance is used; calculating tentative estimates, whereby the calculation of tentative estimation includes activity factors calculation; determining whether a condition of reaching a maximum is fulfilled whereby, if the condition of reaching the maximum fulfilled check result is negative, soft interference cancel check is performed and whereby, if the condition of reaching the maximum fulfilled check result is positive, performance of the method ends,” are mental process, the additional elements individually or as a whole do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
When considered a whole, the claimed invention fails to recite any improvement in any technology or technical field (MPEP 2106.05(a)) or recite any meaningful limitations (MPEP 2706.05(e)}. The limitations are no more than mere automation of joint user activity detection and channel information estimation.
The claim does not recite additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the abstract idea when considered both individually and as a whole. Specifically, the limitation, “receiving signals and initialization of a channel estimation” is just receiving and initializing a process, which is mere judicial-recognized well-understood, routine, conventional activity (MPEP 2106.05(a)).
When considered a whole, the claimed invention still fails amount to significantly more than applying a judicial exception in a field of joint user activity detection and channel information estimation in extra-large Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (XL-MIMO) systems.
Claims 2-6, considered each claim as a whole, fail to recite any further improvement in any technology or technical field (MPEP 2106.05(a)) or recite any meaningful limitations (MPEP 2706.05(e)}. The limitations are no more than mere automation of joint user activity detection and channel information estimation.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 10-14 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 7, WANG et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0327757 A1, either singularly or in combination, cannot teach or suggest the following underlined uniquely distinct features used in combination with other claimed elements cited in the application claim “whereby if the soft interference cancel check result is negative the calculation of residual mean and variance is performed; and whereby if the soft interference cancel check result is positive the extrinsic mean and variance is calculated directly; calculating the extrinsic mean and variance, whereby, if the soft interference and cancel check result is negative, the calculation of residual mean and variance is used, calculating of tentative estimates, whereby the calculation of tentative estimation includes activity factors calculation, determining whether a condition of reaching a maximum is fulfilled, whereby if the condition of reaching the maximum fulfilled check result is negative, soft interference cancel check is performed, and whereby, if the condition of reaching the maximum fulfilled check result is positive the proceeding ends”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHANH C TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3007. The examiner can normally be reached Full Time Increase Flex Program.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hannah S. Wang can be reached at 571-272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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KCT
/KHANH C TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
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