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 .
Response to Amendment/Remarks
This communication is considered fully responsive to the amendment filed on 03/17/2026.
Claims 1-20 are pending and are examined in this office action.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 10, 12, 13, 19 have been amended.
No new claim has been added and no claim has been canceled.
In view of the applicant’s amendment and argument, objection to the claims has been withdrawn.
In view of the applicant’s argument, objection to the specification has been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Regarding Independent claim 1 previously rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103, Applicant's arguments, see “However, Zhang also fails to teach "determining, by the UE, an optimized sounding reference signals (SRS) antenna switching configuration during CA based on characteristics of the network”,….. Kim fails to teach, suggest or motivate, at least, "determining, by the UE, an optimized sounding reference signals (SRS) antenna switching configuration during CA based on characteristics of the network." Accordingly, Zhang and Kim, alone or in combination, fail to teach all the elements of the amended claims 1, 10 and 19, and their dependent claims, for at least the reasons above. ” on pages 9-10 filed on 03/17/2026, with respect to Zhang et al. (US 20240049007 A1; hereinafter “Zhang”) and of KIM et al. (US 20250330289 A1; hereinafter as “KIM”), have been fully considered but are moot, over the limitations of “determining, by the UE, an optimized sounding reference signals (SRS) antenna switching configuration during CA based on characteristics of the network.”. Said limitations are newly added to the amended Claim 1 and have been addressed in instant office action, as shown in section 35 USC 103 rejection below, with newly identified prior art teachings from newly found references AKULA et al. (US 20190052328 A1; hereinafter as “AKULA”). thus rendering said Applicant’s arguments moot.
Regarding all dependent claims: the applicant alleges that all dependent claims are allowable since they depend from all the independent claims above. The examiner respectfully disagrees in view of the above explanation of independent claims. Thus the rejection is deemed proper.
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 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHANG et al. (US 20240049007 A1; hereinafter as “ZHANG”; which has a priority dated August 1, 2022) in view of AKULA et al. (US 20190052328 A1; hereinafter as “AKULA”) and further in view of KIM et al. (US 20250330289 A1; hereinafter as “KIM”, which has priority date January 19, 2023).
Examiner’s note: in what follows, references are drawn to ZHANG unless otherwise mentioned.
With respect to independence claim:
Regarding claim 10, ZHANG teaches,
A wireless device configured for carrier aggregation (CA) (figure. 9: UE with carrier aggregation capability), the wireless device (==UE) comprising:
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an original antenna configuration including multiple antennas (aforesaid UE support 2D Antenna arrays : [0120]; “ UE 116 is configured as a mobile phone or a smart phone, UEs may be configured to operate as other types of mobile or fixed devices.”: [0135]; UE with multiple antennas: ]0139]-[0140]; “ For MIMO, as a UE capability, it has been indicated for a first type of UE (a Type1 UE) and a second type of UE (a Type2 UE). The Type1 UE supports collocated carrier aggregation and for the Type1 UE, both ENDC and NRCA are indicated. The Type2 UE supports non-collocated carrier aggregation. For the Type2 UE, only the inter-band ENDC is indicated. However, with respect to the Type2 UE, it is not indicated for an intra-band NRCA. Therefore, the present disclosure proposes to add definition of the intra-band NRCA for the Type2 UE.”: {0152]);
a memory storing instructions (see fig. 3A: UE with memory: [0092], [0129]-[0130]); and
a processor executing the stored instructions to perform operations (see fig. 3a: processor connected to memory: [0129]-[0131]) including,
receiving at the wireless device capable of CA, a user equipment (UE) capability enquiry from a network (==gNB)) (see fig. 9, UE receiving “ UE CapabalityEnquiry” from gNB: “ Step 2: The network node requests the UE to transmit the capability information, e.g. the network node transmits a “UECapabilityEnquiry” message to the UE. ”: [0287]; UE is NR-CA capable UE: [0289]);
and
sending from the wireless device (==UE), in response to the UE capability enquiry, a UE capability information message (==UE Capability Information Report ) (aforesaid UE sends “UE Capability Information Report” to gNB in response to “UECapabilityEnuiry” “ The UE reports the capability information to the network node based on the request of the network node, e.g., the UE reports a “UECapabilityInformation” message, to report its capability to the network node.”: [0288]; “ It should be noted that the UE may transmit to the network one or more of a first signaling (e.g., which indicates that for intra-band NR-CA, the UE supports the Type2 capability), a second signaling (e.g., which indicates that for intra-band NR-CA or inter-band EN-DC, the UE supports the Type3 or Type4 capability), a third signaling (e.g., which indicates MIMO layer number capability configuration for non-collocated deployment), a fourth signaling (e.g., which indicates Rx Chain number configuration capability), a fifth signaling (e.g., which indicates downlink frequency separation capability for intra-band NR-CA or inter-band EN-DC with overlapping band), a sixth signaling (e.g., which indicates uplink frequency separation capability for intra-band NR-CA or inter-band EN-DC with overlapping band), based on its capability. If the UE reports the first signaling or the second signaling to the network, it indicates that the UE is a UE with a high capability.”[ 0289]).
While ZHANG teaches, UE “ UE capability switching ” in paragraphs [0290]-[0299];
ZHANG does not expressively disclose:
determining, by the UE. an optimized sounding reference signals (SRS) antenna switching configuration during CA based on characteristics of the network:
the UE capability information message having an information element indicating the optimized SRS antenna switching configuration, different from the original antenna configuration.
AKULA, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
determining, by the UE. an optimized sounding reference signals (SRS) antenna switching configuration during CA based on characteristics of the network ( “Aspects of the present disclosure provide methods for improved performance for SRS switching in CA. According to certain aspects, the UE determines bands that can be affected by the SRS antenna switching and sends a list of the affected bands to the BS. These lists could be for various band combinations, such as TDD Tx and FDD Rx, TDD Tx and FDD Tx, and/or TDD Tx and FDD Rx and Tx. The BS can use the list of affected bands to determine (e.g., optimize) scheduling for the UE, for example, to avoid or mitigate the effects of antenna switching on those bands.”: [0086]; also see fig. 11: UE is determining “one or more band combinations (e.g., TDD+FDD CA and/or TDD+5G CA configured band combinations) that share an antenna switch. The bands may be for uplink, downlink, or both uplink and downlink.” : [0088]-[0089]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of ZHANG to include the above recited limitations as taught by AKULA. The suggestion/motivation would be improving performance for sounding reference signal (SRS) antenna switching in carrier aggregation (CA). (AKULA; [0002]).
The combination of ZHANG in View of AKULA does not expressively disclose:
the UE capability information message having an information element indicating the optimized SRS antenna switching configuration, different from the original antenna configuration.
KIM, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
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the UE capability information message (==UE/Electronic Device Capability Information Report from UE to Network Node , see fig. 3) having an information element indicating the optimized SRS antenna switching configuration, different from the original antenna configuration ( “In operation 311, the network node 301 may transmit configuration information to the electronic device 101. For example, the network node 301 may transmit the configuration information to the electronic device 101 through a radio resource control (RRC) message. The electronic device 101 may receive the configuration information through the RRC message. The configuration information may include an SRS configuration. The SRS configuration may include information (e.g., time resource information, frequency resource information, information on a transmission scheme (e.g., periodic transmission/aperiodic transmission), hopping information, usage information, or port information) related to SRSs to be transmitted from the electronic device 101.
[0062] According to an embodiment, the SRS configuration may include information for SRS resources. As an example, the SRS configuration may correspond to an ‘SRS-Config’ information element (IE) defined in a 3GPP standard. For example, the SRS configuration may include SRS resources for 1T4R. The SRS configuration may include information for one or more SRS resource sets (e.g., SRS resource set IE of the 3GPP) including the SRS resources. The information for the one or more SRS resource sets may include information (e.g., a time-frequency resource location) for each of a plurality of SRS resources (e.g., four SRS resources) and usage information for the SRS resources. The usage information may indicate one of beam management, a codebook, a non-codebook, and antenna switching. ”: [061]-[0063]; “ The electronic device 101 may transmit SRSs based on antenna switching for the four SRS resources. The antenna switching, that is, transmission path changing between antennas, may be performed to enable the network node 301 to infer a downlink propagation channel toward each UE receiving antenna. The electronic device 101 may transmit an SRS through one TX antenna in one time interval (e.g., a slot). The electronic device 101 may change a transmission antenna through the antenna switching. For example, the operation 315 may include operation 315-1, operation 315-2, operation 315-3, and operation 315-4. In the operation 315-1, the electronic device 101 may transmit the first SRS (i.e., SRS #0) for the 1T4R. For example, the electronic device 101 may transmit the first SRS through a first antenna. In the operation 315-2, the electronic device 101 may transmit the second SRS (i.e., SRS #1) for the 1T4R. For example, the electronic device 101 may change an antenna connected to the SRS transmission path from the first antenna to a second antenna. The electronic device 101 may transmit the second SRS through the second antenna. In the operation 315-3, the electronic device 101 may transmit the third SRS (i.e., SRS #2) for the 1T4R. For example, the electronic device 101 may change the antenna connected to the SRS transmission path from the second antenna to a third antenna. The electronic device 101 may transmit the third SRS through the third antenna. In the operation 315-4, the electronic device 101 may transmit the fourth SRS (i.e., SRS #3) for the 1T4R. For example, the electronic device 101 may change the antenna connected to the SRS transmission path from the third antenna to a fourth antenna. The electronic device 101 may transmit the fourth SRS through the fourth antenna.”: [0066]; NOTE: antenna original configuration is different than an optimized SRS antenna switching configuration;
See Fig. 6: SRS antenna switching; “ an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 101) for transmitting SRSs, based on a RFFE for TX chain switching, according to various embodiments. For example, four SRS resources may be included in the electronic device 101 for 1T4R. An uplink signal transmitted according to a first SRS resource among the SRS resources may be referred to as a first SRS. An uplink signal transmitted according to a second SRS resource among the SRS resources may be referred to as a second SRS. An uplink signal transmitted according to a third SRS resource among the SRS resources may be referred to as a third SRS. An uplink signal transmitted according to a fourth SRS resource among the SRS resources may be referred to as a fourth SRS.”: [0090]-[0091]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of ZHANG in View of AKULA to include the above recited limitations as taught by KIM. The suggestion/motivation would be to increase throughput in wireless access network.: (KIM; [0002]).
Regarding claim 1, ZHANG teaches, A method comprising:
receiving, at a user equipment (UE) capable of carrier aggregation (CA) and configured with an original antenna configuration, a user equipment (UE) capability enquiry from a radio access network (RAN) of a network;
determining, by the UE. an optimized sounding reference signals (SRS) antenna switching configuration during CA based on characteristics of the network; and
sending from the UE to the RAN, in response to the UE capability enquiry, a UE capability information message, the UE capability information message having an information element indicating the (SRS) antenna switching configuration during CA, wherein the optimized SRS antenna switching configuration is different from the original SRS antenna switching configuration (Regarding claim 1, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 10).
Regarding claim 19, ZHANG teaches,
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor perform operations comprising (fig. 9):
receiving a user equipment (UE) capability enquiry directed to a UE capable of new radio carrier aggregation (NRCA), the UE having an original antenna configuration (aforesaid UE support 2D Antenna arrays : [0120]; “ UE 116 is configured as a mobile phone or a smart phone, UEs may be configured to operate as other types of mobile or fixed devices.”: [0135]; UE with multiple antennas: ]0139]-[0140]; “ For MIMO, as a UE capability, it has been indicated for a first type of UE (a Type1 UE) and a second type of UE (a Type2 UE). The Type1 UE supports collocated carrier aggregation and for the Type1 UE, both ENDC and NRCA are indicated. The Type2 UE supports non-collocated carrier aggregation. For the Type2 UE, only the inter-band ENDC is indicated. However, with respect to the Type2 UE, it is not indicated for an intra-band NRCA. Therefore, the present disclosure proposes to add definition of the intra-band NRCA for the Type2 UE.”: {0152]; (see fig. 9, UE receiving “ UE CapabalityEnquiry” from gNB: “ Step 2: The network node requests the UE to transmit the capability information, e.g. the network node transmits a “UECapabilityEnquiry” message to the UE. ”: [0287]; UE is NR-CA capable UE: [0289]);
generating, in response to the UE capability enquiry, a UE capability information message (==UE Capability Information Report ) (aforesaid UE sends “UE Capability Information Report” to gNB in response to “UECapabilityEnuiry” “ The UE reports the capability information to the network node based on the request of the network node, e.g., the UE reports a “UECapabilityInformation” message, to report its capability to the network node.”: [0288]; “ It should be noted that the UE may transmit to the network one or more of a first signaling (e.g., which indicates that for intra-band NR-CA, the UE supports the Type2 capability), a second signaling (e.g., which indicates that for intra-band NR-CA or inter-band EN-DC, the UE supports the Type3 or Type4 capability), a third signaling (e.g., which indicates MIMO layer number capability configuration for non-collocated deployment), a fourth signaling (e.g., which indicates Rx Chain number configuration capability), a fifth signaling (e.g., which indicates downlink frequency separation capability for intra-band NR-CA or inter-band EN-DC with overlapping band), a sixth signaling (e.g., which indicates uplink frequency separation capability for intra-band NR-CA or inter-band EN-DC with overlapping band), based on its capability. If the UE reports the first signaling or the second signaling to the network, it indicates that the UE is a UE with a high capability.”[ 0289]).
While ZHANG teaches, UE “ UE capability switching ” in paragraphs [0290]-[0299];
ZHANG does not expressively disclose:
determining, by the UE. an optimized antenna switching configuration during based on characteristics of the network:
the UE capability information message indicating the optimized antenna switching configuration different from the original antenna configuration.
AKULA, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
determining, by the UE. an optimized antenna switching configuration during based on characteristics of the network ( “Aspects of the present disclosure provide methods for improved performance for SRS switching in CA. According to certain aspects, the UE determines bands that can be affected by the SRS antenna switching and sends a list of the affected bands to the BS. These lists could be for various band combinations, such as TDD Tx and FDD Rx, TDD Tx and FDD Tx, and/or TDD Tx and FDD Rx and Tx. The BS can use the list of affected bands to determine (e.g., optimize) scheduling for the UE, for example, to avoid or mitigate the effects of antenna switching on those bands.”: [0086]; also see fig. 11: UE is determining “one or more band combinations (e.g., TDD+FDD CA and/or TDD+5G CA configured band combinations) that share an antenna switch. The bands may be for uplink, downlink, or both uplink and downlink.” : [0088]-[0089]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of ZHANG to include the above recited limitations as taught by AKULA. The suggestion/motivation would be improving performance for sounding reference signal (SRS) antenna switching in carrier aggregation (CA). (AKULA; [0002]).
The combination of ZHANG in View of AKULA does not expressively disclose:
the UE capability information message indicating the optimized antenna switching configuration different from the original antenna configuration.
KIM, in the same field of endeavor, discloses:
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the UE capability information message indicating the optimized antenna switching configuration different from the original antenna configuration ( “In operation 311, the network node 301 may transmit configuration information to the electronic device 101. For example, the network node 301 may transmit the configuration information to the electronic device 101 through a radio resource control (RRC) message. The electronic device 101 may receive the configuration information through the RRC message. The configuration information may include an SRS configuration. The SRS configuration may include information (e.g., time resource information, frequency resource information, information on a transmission scheme (e.g., periodic transmission/aperiodic transmission), hopping information, usage information, or port information) related to SRSs to be transmitted from the electronic device 101.
[0062] According to an embodiment, the SRS configuration may include information for SRS resources. As an example, the SRS configuration may correspond to an ‘SRS-Config’ information element (IE) defined in a 3GPP standard. For example, the SRS configuration may include SRS resources for 1T4R. The SRS configuration may include information for one or more SRS resource sets (e.g., SRS resource set IE of the 3GPP) including the SRS resources. The information for the one or more SRS resource sets may include information (e.g., a time-frequency resource location) for each of a plurality of SRS resources (e.g., four SRS resources) and usage information for the SRS resources. The usage information may indicate one of beam management, a codebook, a non-codebook, and antenna switching. ”: [061]-[0063]; “ The electronic device 101 may transmit SRSs based on antenna switching for the four SRS resources. The antenna switching, that is, transmission path changing between antennas, may be performed to enable the network node 301 to infer a downlink propagation channel toward each UE receiving antenna. The electronic device 101 may transmit an SRS through one TX antenna in one time interval (e.g., a slot). The electronic device 101 may change a transmission antenna through the antenna switching. For example, the operation 315 may include operation 315-1, operation 315-2, operation 315-3, and operation 315-4. In the operation 315-1, the electronic device 101 may transmit the first SRS (i.e., SRS #0) for the 1T4R. For example, the electronic device 101 may transmit the first SRS through a first antenna. In the operation 315-2, the electronic device 101 may transmit the second SRS (i.e., SRS #1) for the 1T4R. For example, the electronic device 101 may change an antenna connected to the SRS transmission path from the first antenna to a second antenna. The electronic device 101 may transmit the second SRS through the second antenna. In the operation 315-3, the electronic device 101 may transmit the third SRS (i.e., SRS #2) for the 1T4R. For example, the electronic device 101 may change the antenna connected to the SRS transmission path from the second antenna to a third antenna. The electronic device 101 may transmit the third SRS through the third antenna. In the operation 315-4, the electronic device 101 may transmit the fourth SRS (i.e., SRS #3) for the 1T4R. For example, the electronic device 101 may change the antenna connected to the SRS transmission path from the third antenna to a fourth antenna. The electronic device 101 may transmit the fourth SRS through the fourth antenna.”: [0066]; NOTE: antenna original configuration is different than an optimized SRS antenna switching configuration;
See Fig. 6: SRS antenna switching; “ an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 101) for transmitting SRSs, based on a RFFE for TX chain switching, according to various embodiments. For example, four SRS resources may be included in the electronic device 101 for 1T4R. An uplink signal transmitted according to a first SRS resource among the SRS resources may be referred to as a first SRS. An uplink signal transmitted according to a second SRS resource among the SRS resources may be referred to as a second SRS. An uplink signal transmitted according to a third SRS resource among the SRS resources may be referred to as a third SRS. An uplink signal transmitted according to a fourth SRS resource among the SRS resources may be referred to as a fourth SRS.”: [0090]-[0091]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching of ZHANG in View of AKULA to include the above recited limitations as taught by KIM. The suggestion/motivation would be to increase throughput in wireless access network.: (KIM; [0002]).
With respect to dependent claims:
Regarding claim 2, ZHANG in View of AKULA and further in view of KIM teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches, The method of claim 1, further comprising simultaneously connecting to a primary cell (PCell) of the RAN using time domain duplexing (TDD) and connecting to a secondary cell (SCell) of the RAN using frequency domain duplexing (FDD) (UE is connected with gNB in Fig. 9. Aforesaid gNB can be configured with “ transmission and reception paths of gNB 102 (implemented using RF transceivers 372a-372n, TX processing circuit 374 and/or RX processing circuit 376) support aggregated communication with FDD cells and TDD cells.”: [0144]; “ It should be noted that the first signaling may be designed in a variety of ways, as long as it indicates that the UE supports the non-collocated intra-band NRCA and meets the requirement for the second type of UE. Reporting this signaling indicates that the UE is the Type 2 UE and that the UE supports time-division duplex (TDD) or frequency-division duplex (FDD) intra-band CA and meets the MRTD requirement (MRTD<X μs) as indicated in 38.133 and RF requirements of the Type 2; if the UE does not report this signaling, it indicates that the UE is the Type1 UE, the intra-band CA of TDD or FDD supported by the UE needs to satisfy the MRTD<3 μs as indicated in 38.133 and RF requirements for the Type1 UE.”: [0183]).
Regarding claim 3, ZHANG in View of AKULA and further in view of KIM teaches the invention of claim 2 as set forth above. Further, AKULA teaches, wherein the determining comprising determining the optimized the SRS antenna switching configuration based on slot cycle spacing and periodicity ( “ Aspects of the present disclosure provide methods for improved performance for SRS switching in CA. According to certain aspects, the UE determines bands that can be affected by the SRS antenna switching and sends a list of the affected bands to the BS. These lists could be for various band combinations, such as TDD Tx and FDD Rx, TDD Tx and FDD Tx, and/or TDD Tx and FDD Rx and Tx. The BS can use the list of affected bands to determine (e.g., optimize) scheduling for the UE, for example, to avoid or mitigate the effects of antenna switching on those bands.”: [0086]; slots spacing [0069]-0072]).
Regarding claim 4, ZHANG in View of AKULA and further in view of KIM teaches the invention of claim 3 as set forth above. Further, KIM teaches
The method of claim 3, wherein the original SRS antenna switching configuration is one Tx and four Rx antennas( 1T4R ) and the optimized SRS antenna switching configuration is one Tx and two Rx antennas (1T2R) (original antenna switching is 1T4R and new is 1T2R ; “ For example, for the 1T4R, the four SRS resources may be configured with two SRS resource sets (==1T2R). For example, a first SRS resource set may include two SRS resources, and a second SRS resource set may include two other SRS resources. In addition, as another example, the first SRS resource set may include three SRS resources, and the second SRS resource set may include one SRS resource. Herein, the usage information indicated by each of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set may indicate the antenna switching.”: [0062]-[0063]).
Regarding claim 5, ZHANG in View of AKULA and further in view of KIM teaches the invention of claim 4 as set forth above. Further, KIM teaches
The method of claim 4, further comprising using a 40ms 80 slot periodicity and a 30kHz slot cycle spacing ([0066], [0087][0088]).
Regarding claim 6, ZHANG in View of AKULA and further in view of KIM teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, KIM teaches
The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) from receive antennas of the UE to an access node of the RAN (SRS from UE Antenna to RAN Antenna: “ In a wireless access network, an electronic device can transmit sounding reference signals (SRSs) to a base station. SRS switching technology is a technology that enables the SRSs to be transmitted to the base station through a plurality of antennas mounted on the electronic device.”: [0002], [0004]-[0005]).
Regarding claim 7, ZHANG in View of AKULA and further in view of KIM teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, KIM teaches, the method of claim 1, further comprising sharing receive antennas over multiple frequency bands ( “ The electronic device 101 may manage two transmission resources. The electronic device 101 may transmit two uplink signals based on the first wireless communication module 421 and the second wireless communication module 423. The electronic device 101 may transmit a first uplink signal through the first wireless communication module 421. The first uplink signal may be a signal of a first frequency band. For example, the first frequency band may be a frequency band supporting a NR communication system (e.g., N41 frequency band, TDD, 2496-2690 MHz). The electronic device 101 may transmit a second uplink signal through the second wireless communication module 423. For example, the second frequency band may be a frequency band supporting an LTE communication system (e.g., B3 frequency band, FDD, UL: 1710-1785 MHz, DL: 1805-1880 MHz).”: [0076]).
Regarding claim 8, ZHANG in View of AKULA and further in view of KIM teaches the invention of claim 7 as set forth above. Further, KIM teaches,
The method of claim 7, wherein the multiple frequency bands include n41, n25, and n66 bands (“ The electronic device 101 may manage two transmission resources. The electronic device 101 may transmit two uplink signals based on the first wireless communication module 421 and the second wireless communication module 423. The electronic device 101 may transmit a first uplink signal through the first wireless communication module 421. The first uplink signal may be a signal of a first frequency band. For example, the first frequency band may be a frequency band supporting a NR communication system (e.g., N41 frequency band, TDD, 2496-2690 MHz). The electronic device 101 may transmit a second uplink signal through the second wireless communication module 423. For example, the second frequency band may be a frequency band supporting an LTE communication system (e.g., B3 frequency band, FDD, UL: 1710-1785 MHz, DL: 1805-1880 MHz).”: [0076]; NOTE: n25 is mid band around 1900Mhz, n66 is band in FDD around 1700/2100 Mhz range).
Regarding claim 9, ZHANG in View of AKULA and further in view of KIM teaches the invention of claim 1 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG teaches,
The method of claim 1, further comprising utilizing new radio carrier aggregation (NRCA) ( “ For MIMO, as a UE capability, it has been indicated for a first type of UE (a Type1 UE) and a second type of UE (a Type2 UE). The Type1 UE supports collocated carrier aggregation and for the Type1 UE, both ENDC and NRCA are indicated. The Type2 UE supports non-collocated carrier aggregation. For the Type2 UE, only the inter-band ENDC is indicated. However, with respect to the Type2 UE, it is not indicated for an intra-band NRCA. Therefore, the present disclosure proposes to add definition of the intra-band NRCA for the Type2 UE.”:[0152]).
Regarding claim 11, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 12, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 3.
Regarding claim 13, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 4.
Regarding claim 14, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 5.
Regarding claim 15, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 6.
Regarding claim 16, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 7.
Regarding claim 17, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 9.
Regarding claim 18, ZHANG in View of AKULA and further in view of KIM teaches the invention of claim 17 as set forth above. Further, ZHANG in view of KIM teaches,
The wireless device of claim 17, wherein the original antenna configuration is 1T4R and the optimized SRS antenna switching configuration during NRCA is 1T2R (KIM : 1T2R (original antenna switching is 1T4R and new is 1T2R ; “ For example, for the 1T4R, the four SRS resources may be configured with two SRS resource sets (==1T2R). For example, a first SRS resource set may include two SRS resources, and a second SRS resource set may include two other SRS resources. In addition, as another example, the first SRS resource set may include three SRS resources, and the second SRS resource set may include one SRS resource. Herein, the usage information indicated by each of the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set may indicate the antenna switching.”: [0062]-[0063];
ZHANG teach “( “ For MIMO, as a UE capability, it has been indicated for a first type of UE (a Type1 UE) and a second type of UE (a Type2 UE). The Type1 UE supports collocated carrier aggregation and for the Type1 UE, both ENDC and NRCA are indicated. The Type2 UE supports non-collocated carrier aggregation. For the Type2 UE, only the inter-band ENDC is indicated. However, with respect to the Type2 UE, it is not indicated for an intra-band NRCA. Therefore, the present disclosure proposes to add definition of the intra-band NRCA for the Type2 UE.”:[0152]).
Regarding claim 20, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 2.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to M MOSTAZIR RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4785. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am-5:00pm PST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached at 571-272-3123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/M Mostazir Rahman/Examiner, Art Unit 2411 /BRANDON M RENNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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