DETAILED ACTION
The instant application having application No 18/308800 filed on 10/16/2025 is presented for examination by the examiner.
Response to Argument
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 3-6, 8-12 and 15-19 have been considered. However, Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant’s arguments and would like to provide a further clarification regarding the interpretation of the cited references.
In response to the argument on page 7 of Applicant’s Remark, “a value that indicates which of the first TCI state or the second TCI state to use for transmission via particular RBs of the plurality of RBs”. In fact, Examiner interprets the “a UE receive a DCI message to the UE that includes an FDRA field, the FDRA indicate a set of RBs, and the UE use the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for a first TCI state and a second set of RBs for a second TCI state, both of which satisfy a threshold for transform precoding”. according to Yuan’s disclosure.
As stated in Yuan’s – (page 11, par (0092), line 1-10, a UE receive a DCI message to the UE that includes an FORA field, the FORA indicate a set of RBs, and the UE use the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for a first TCI state and a second set of RBs for a second TCI state, both of which satisfy a threshold for transform precoding.
whereas the Examiner wants to provide further clarification of the cited claim limitation, whereas the Ching’s is directed to “page 13, par (0114), line 1-10, the UE select the frequency resource set for one of its TCI states or antenna panels, the network configures the UE to map portions of the frequency resource set to TCI states or antenna panels (wherein different sets of RBs to different TCI are mapping by the equal portion of the RBs). Because the FDRA indicates frequency resource set (e.g., 10 RBs) that satisfy upon dividing the frequency resource set into to equal halves (e.g., frequency resource set and frequency resource set of 5 RBs each), each of frequency resource set and frequency resource set each satisfy (wherein indicates the value or numbers of the RBs).
Therefore, Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant's arguments.
In response to the argument on page 8 of Applicant’s Remark, “receiving second DCI indicating a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, and transmitting, based on the SRS resource set indicator field, the PUSCH transmission”. In fact, Examiner interprets the “DCI format used for notifying a group of UEs of a physical resource block intended to the UE, DCI format used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUSCH. DCI format used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs, he UE transmit uplink transmissions PUSCH) in an uplink BWP according to a configured numerology, One or more BWP indicator fields provided in Downlink Control Information”. according to Xu’s disclosure.
As stated in Xu’s – page 18, par (0190), line 1-10, DCI format used for notifying a group of UEs of a physical resource block intended to the UE, DCI format used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUSCH. DCI format used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs, page 9, par (018-0119), line 1-10, The UE may transmit uplink transmissions PUSCH) in an uplink BWP according to a configured numerology, One or more BWP indicator fields provided in Downlink Control Information.
whereas the Examiner wants to provide further clarification of the cited claim limitation, whereas the Xu’s is directed to “page 13, par (0155), line 1-10, The UE transmit one or more SRS resources in SRS resource sets, the UE transmit SRS resources based on one or more trigger types, wherein the one or more trigger types comprise higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC) and one or more DCI formats, at least one DCI format employed for the UE to select at least one of one or more configured SRS resource sets. An SRS trigger type 0 refer to an SRS triggered based on a higher layer signaling. An SRS trigger type 1refer to an SRS triggered based on one or more DCI formats, when PUSCH and SRS are transmitted in a same slot, the UE configured to transmit SRS after a transmission of a PUSCH and a corresponding uplink DMRS (wherein PUSCH transmission based on the SRS resources sets).
Therefore, Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant's arguments.
Thus, Yuans’s and Xu’s disclosure still covers the limitations of claim 1, 3-6, 8-12 and 15-19. Therefore, Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant's arguments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3-5, 8-11 and 15-18 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Yuan et al. (U.S 20250168832, May 22, 2025) in view of Xu et al. (US 20230354365, Nov. 2, 2023).
Regarding Claim 1, Yuan discloses a method comprising receiving, by a wireless device, first downlink control information (DCI) indicating a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state and a second TCI state (page 1, par (0004), line 1-10, a user equipment (UE) receives a downlink control information (DCI) message to the UE indicate a set of resource blocks (RBs), and the UE uses the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for the first TCI state);
wherein the second DCI comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set indicator field that comprises a value that indicates which of the first TCI state or the second TCI state to use for transmission via particular RBs of the plurality of RBs(page 11, par (0092), line 1-10, a UE receive a DCI message to the UE that includes an FORA field, the FORA indicate a set of RBs, and the UE use the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for a first TCI state and a second set of RBs for a second TCI state, both of which satisfy a threshold for transform precoding).
Yuan discloses all aspects of the claimed invention, except receiving second DCI indicating a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, and transmitting, based on the SRS resource set indicator field, the PUSCH transmission.
Xu is the same field of invention teaches receiving second DCI indicating a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (page 18, par (0190), line 1-10, DCI format used for notifying a group of UEs of a physical resource block intended to the UE, DCI format used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUSCH. DCI format used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs), and
transmitting, based on the SRS resource set indicator field, the PUSCH transmission (page 9, par (018-0119), line 1-10, The UE may transmit uplink transmissions PUSCH) in an uplink BWP according to a configured numerology, One or more BWP indicator fields provided in Downlink Control Information (DCI)).
Yuan and Xu analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of access to a service device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the transmitting, based on the SRS resource set indicator field, the PUSCH transmission the teaching of Yuan to include the DCI format used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUSCH. DCI format used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs the teaching of Xu because it is providing the UEs with an interface DNs, the interface functionality, end-to-end connections between the UEs and the DNs, authenticate the UEs, and provide charging functionality.
Regarding Claim 3, Yuan discloses transmitting the uplink signal comprise transmitting, via one or more first RBs, the PUSCH transmission using a first transmission precoder; and transmitting, via one or more second RBs, the PUSCH transmission using a second transmission precoder(page 11, par (0092), line 1-10, a UE receive a DCI message to the UE that includes an FORA field, the FORA indicate a set of RBs, and the UE use the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for a first TCI state and a second set of RBs for a second TCI state, both of which satisfy a threshold for transform precoding).
Regarding Claim 4, Yuan discloses receiving one or more configuration parameters indicating a spatial division multiplexing (SDM) scheme for the PUSCH transmission (page 10, par (0086), line 1-10, the UEs use MIMO communications to exploit multipath signal propagation and increase the spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. referred to as spatial multiplexing).
Regarding Claim 5, Yuan discloses receiving one or more configuration parameters indicating a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) scheme for the PUSCH transmission(page 11, par (0097), line 1-10, the UE multiplex frequency division multiplexing (FDM), the UE perform uplink repetitions (e.g., transmitting a first repetitions of an uplink message on a PUSCH using the first beam and the first panel, and a second repetition of the uplink message on the PUSCH using the second beam and the second panel).
Regarding Claim 8, Yuan discloses a method comprising receiving, by a wireless device, first downlink control information (DCI) indicating activation of a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state and a second TCI state(page 1, par (0004), line 1-10, a user equipment (UE) receives a downlink control information (DCI) message to the UE indicate a set of resource blocks (RBs), and the UE uses the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for the first TCI state);
wherein the second DCI comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set indicator field that comprises a value that indicates which of the first TCI state or the second TCI state to use for transmission of a particular portion of the PUSCH transmission(page 11, par (0092), line 1-10, a UE receive a DCI message to the UE that includes an FORA field, the FORA indicate a set of RBs, and the UE use the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for a first TCI state and a second set of RBs for a second TCI state, both of which satisfy a threshold for transform precoding).
Yuan discloses all aspects of the claimed invention, except receiving second DCI indicating a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission; transmitting, based on the SRS resource set indicator field via the plurality of RBs, the PUSCH transmission.
Xu is the same field of invention teaches receiving second DCI indicating a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (page 18, par (0190), line 1-10, DCI format used for notifying a group of UEs of a physical resource block intended to the UE, DCI format used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUSCH. DCI format used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs); transmitting, based on the SRS resource set indicator field via the plurality of RBs, the PUSCH transmission (page 9, par (018-0119), line 1-10, The UE may transmit uplink transmissions PUSCH) in an uplink BWP according to a configured numerology, One or more BWP indicator fields provided in Downlink Control Information (DCI)).
Yuan and Xu analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of access to a service device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the transmitting, based on the SRS resource set indicator field, the PUSCH transmission the teaching of Yuan to include the DCI format used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUSCH. DCI format used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs the teaching of Xu because it is providing the UEs with an interface DNs, the interface functionality, end-to-end connections between the UEs and the DNs, authenticate the UEs, and provide charging functionality.
Regarding Claim 9, Yuan discloses a first portion of the PUSCH transmission comprises a first layer of the PUSCH transmission, and wherein a second portion of the PUSCH transmission comprises a second layer of the PUSCH transmission(page 11, par (0092), line 1-10, a UE receive a DCI message to the UE that includes an FORA field, the FORA indicate a set of RBs, and the UE use the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for a first TCI state and a second set of RBs for a second TCI state, both of which satisfy a threshold for transform precoding).
Regarding Claim 10, Yuan discloses receiving one or more configuration parameters indicating a spatial division multiplexing (SDM) scheme for the PUSCH transmission (page 10, par (0086), line 1-10, the UEs use MIMO communications to exploit multipath signal propagation and increase the spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. referred to as spatial multiplexing).
Regarding Claim 11, Yuan discloses receiving one or more configuration parameters indicating a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) scheme for the PUSCH transmission(page 11, par (0097), line 1-10, the UE multiplex frequency division multiplexing (FDM), the UE perform uplink repetitions (e.g., transmitting a first repetitions of an uplink message on a PUSCH using the first beam and the first panel, and a second repetition of the uplink message on the PUSCH using the second beam and the second panel).
Regarding Claim 15, Yuan discloses a method comprising transmitting, by a base station, first downlink control information (DCD) indicating activation of a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state and a second TCI state(page 1, par (0004), line 1-10, a user equipment (UE) receives a downlink control information (DCI) message to the UE indicate a set of resource blocks (RBs), and the UE uses the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for the first TCI state);
wherein the second DCI comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set indicator field that comprises a value that indicates which of the first TCI state or the second TCI state to use for transmission of a particular portion of the PUSCH transmission(page 11, par (0092), line 1-10, a UE receive a DCI message to the UE that includes an FORA field, the FORA indicate a set of RBs, and the UE use the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for a first TCI state and a second set of RBs for a second TCI state, both of which satisfy a threshold for transform precoding).
Yuan discloses all aspects of the claimed invention, except transmitting second DCI indicating a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, receiving, based on the SRS resource set indicator field via the plurality of RBs, the PUSCH transmission.
Xu is the same field of invention teaches transmitting second DCI indicating a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (page 18, par (0190), line 1-10, DCI format used for notifying a group of UEs of a physical resource block intended to the UE, DCI format used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUSCH. DCI format used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs),
receiving, based on the SRS resource set indicator field via the plurality of RBs, the PUSCH transmission (page 9, par (018-0119), line 1-10, The UE may transmit uplink transmissions PUSCH) in an uplink BWP according to a configured numerology, One or more BWP indicator fields provided in Downlink Control Information (DCI)).
Yuan and Xu analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of access to a service device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the transmitting, based on the SRS resource set indicator field, the PUSCH transmission the teaching of Yuan to include the DCI format used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUSCH. DCI format used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs the teaching of Xu because it is providing the UEs with an interface DNs, the interface functionality, end-to-end connections between the UEs and the DNs, authenticate the UEs, and provide charging functionality.
Regarding Claim 16, Yuan discloses a first portion of the PUSCH transmission comprises a first layer of the PUSCH transmission, and wherein a second portion of the PUSCH transmission comprises a second layer of the PUSCH transmission(page 11, par (0092), line 1-10, a UE receive a DCI message to the UE that includes an FORA field, the FORA indicate a set of RBs, and the UE use the indicated set of RBs to identify a first set of RBs for a first TCI state and a second set of RBs for a second TCI state, both of which satisfy a threshold for transform precoding).
Regarding Claim 17, Yuan discloses transmitting one or more configuration parameters indicating a spatial division multiplexing (SDM) scheme for the PUSCH transmission (page 10, par (0086), line 1-10, the UEs use MIMO communications to exploit multipath signal propagation and increase the spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers. referred to as spatial multiplexing).
Regarding Claim 18, Yuan discloses transmitting one or more configuration parameters indicating a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) scheme for the PUSCH transmission(page 11, par (0097), line 1-10, the UE multiplex frequency division multiplexing (FDM), the UE perform uplink repetitions (e.g., transmitting a first repetitions of an uplink message on a PUSCH using the first beam and the first panel, and a second repetition of the uplink message on the PUSCH using the second beam and the second panel).
Examiner Notice
Claim 1 would be allowable if (i) claims 2 or 6 are incorporated into the independent claim 1.
Claim 8 would be allowable if (i) claim 12 is incorporated into the independent claim 8.
Claim 15 would be allowable if (i) claim 19 is incorporated into the independent claim 15.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/IQBAL ZAIDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464