DETAILED ACTION
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 statements (IDSs) submitted on 8/01/2023, 6/25/2024, 8/22/2024, and 7/02/2025 have been entered and considered by the examiner.
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 of this title, 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 Alvarino et al (US2018/0132210 A1) IDS submitted by Applicant in view of Guangdong (CN110224706) IDS submitted by Applicant.
Regarding claims 1 and 11, Alvarino teaches an electronic device/method for transmitting a reference signal by an electronic device (Abstract), comprising:
a communication processor; at least one radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) connected to the communication processor; wherein the communication processor is configured to (Paras. 0010 and 0057-0059; i.e. processor with communication interface and memory reads on communication processor and transceiver and/or various circuitry read on RFIC):
receive, from a first base station corresponding to the first communication network and/or a second base station corresponding to the second communication network, first information regarding a transmission timepoint of a reference signal transmitted to the first base station (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; The SRS configuration provides the UE with time domain (slot) as well as frequency domain resources (e.g., carriers or channels) for transmitting the SRS; The RRC configuration 501 may include an SRS configuration that defines one or more of the CCs used for SRS transmissions; the scheduled entity may not have the resources (e.g., RF chain, antennas, power) to transmit SRSs on all triggered CCs simultaneously. Therefore, the scheduled entity may transmit the SRSs at different times (e.g., one SRS at a time); i.e. Fig. 5 and the associated paras. show different ways that could read on these claims. First, configuration 501 and Group DCI 502 from scheduling entity 1, which reads on second base station, would schedule/trigger all the SRS transmission and the slot would read on the timepoint. Second. Group DCIs 510 from each of the scheduling entities would also convey the same scheduling information);
receive, from the second base station, second information regarding a timepoint at which data of the second communication network is transmitted and/or received (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; i.e. as discussed in the prior limitation, configuration 501 and Group DCI 502 from scheduling entity 1, which reads on second base station, would schedule/trigger all the SRS transmission and the slot would read on the timepoint. Scheduling Entity 2 could also read on second base station and the limitation above would be read as Scheduling Entity 1 reading on first base station); and
select, proximate a timepoint at which uplink data is transmitted to the second base station through a second antenna, a first antenna, and control to transmit the reference signal to the first base station, based on the received first information and the received second information (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; the scheduled entity may not have the resources (e.g., RF chain, antennas, power) to transmit SRSs on all triggered CCs simultaneously. Therefore, the scheduled entity may transmit the SRSs at different times (e.g., one SRS at a time); i.e. based the available antenna/RF chain/power resources, the SRS would be transmitted on an antenna to the second base station at one point in time and to the first base station at the same point in time if resources are available or at a different time if resource are not available).
However, while Alvarino teaches a UE possibly having a plurality of antennas (Para. 0088), he does not specifically disclose a first antenna group, comprising a plurality of antennas, connected to the at least one RFIC to transmit and/or receive data of a first communication network; and a second antenna group, comprising a plurality of antennas, connected to the at least one RFIC to transmit and/or receive data of a second communication network ; and transmitted to the second base station through a second antenna of the second antenna group, a first antenna adjacent to the second antenna, among the plurality of antennas of the first antenna group.
Guangdong teaches downlink data buffering considering cross carrier scheduling in a wireless communication system (Abstract). He further teaches a first antenna group, comprising a plurality of antennas, connected to the at least one RFIC to transmit and/or receive data of a first communication network; and a second antenna group, comprising a plurality of antennas, connected to the at least one RFIC to transmit and/or receive data of a second communication network ; and transmitted to the second base station through a second antenna of the second antenna group, a first antenna adjacent to the second antenna, among the plurality of antennas of the first antenna group (Fig. 3; Paras. 0008-0009; An embodiment of the present application provides a radio frequency circuit, including: four transceiver antennas, configured to transmit an uplink sounding reference signal of a first SIM card to a base station in a time division manner in each first transmission period, where the uplink sounding reference is used. The signal is used for determining, by the base station, downlink channel quality when the four transceiver antennas are used to transmit the 5G radio frequency signal of the first SIM card; The four transceiver antennas are further configured to transmit a 4G radio frequency signal of the second SIM card and a 5G radio frequency signal of the second SIM card in the first transmission period).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Guangdong with the teachings as in Alvarino. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve space utilization inside an electronic device (Guangdong at para. 0005).
Regarding claims 2, 10, 12, and 20, the combination of references Alvarino and Guangdong teach the limitations of the previous claims. Alvarino further teaches wherein the reference signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS) to be used for multi-antenna signal processing based on uplink channel state measurement (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; The SRS configuration provides the UE with time domain (slot) as well as frequency domain resources (e.g., carriers or channels) for transmitting the SRS).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, the combination of references Alvarino and Guangdong teach the limitations of the previous claims. Alvarino further teaches wherein the communication processor is configured to control to transmit information related to antenna switching capability to the first base station (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; To account for these propagation delays, as well as RF switching times at the respective radios, special slots insert a gap between the end of a DL transmission and the beginning of an UL transmission, so that the scheduling entity 202 and the scheduled entity 204 can maintain synchronization).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, the combination of references Alvarino and Guangdong teach the limitations of the previous claims. Alvarino further teaches wherein the communication processor is configured to receive information regarding a timepoint at which the uplink data is transmitted through system information which is broadcast from the second base station (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; The SRS configuration provides the UE with time domain (slot) as well as frequency domain resources (e.g., carriers or channels) for transmitting the SRS; The RRC configuration 501 may include an SRS configuration that defines one or more of the CCs used for SRS transmissions; the scheduled entity may not have the resources (e.g., RF chain, antennas, power) to transmit SRSs on all triggered CCs simultaneously. Therefore, the scheduled entity may transmit the SRSs at different times (e.g., one SRS at a time); i.e. Fig. 5 and the associated paras. show different ways that could read on these claims. First, configuration 501 and Group DCI 502 from scheduling entity 1, which reads on second base station, would schedule/trigger all the SRS transmission and the slot would read on the timepoint. Second. Group DCIs 510 from each of the scheduling entities would also convey the same scheduling information).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, the combination of references Alvarino and Guangdong teach the limitations of the previous claims. Guangdong further teaches wherein the communication processor is configured to control to transmit another reference signal different from the reference signal through at least one antenna among the first antenna group adjacent to a fourth antenna capable of using for reception among the second antenna group proximate a timepoint at which uplink data is transmitted through a third antenna among the second antenna group (Fig. 3; Paras. 0008-0009; An embodiment of the present application provides a radio frequency circuit, including: four transceiver antennas, configured to transmit an uplink sounding reference signal of a first SIM card to a base station in a time division manner in each first transmission period, where the uplink sounding reference is used. The signal is used for determining, by the base station, downlink channel quality when the four transceiver antennas are used to transmit the 5G radio frequency signal of the first SIM card; The four transceiver antennas are further configured to transmit a 4G radio frequency signal of the second SIM card and a 5G radio frequency signal of the second SIM card in the first transmission period). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Guangdong with the teachings as in Alvarino. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve space utilization inside an electronic device (Guangdong at para. 0005)).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, the combination of references Alvarino and Guangdong teach the limitations of the previous claims. Alvarino further teaches wherein the communication processor is configured to store mapping information between the configured timepoint at which the reference signal is transmitted and an antenna in a memory in a table type (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0059, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; The conflict resolution rules 360 may be stored in memory 305 or any storage, for example, a computer-readable medium).
Regarding claims 7 and 17, the combination of references Alvarino and Guangdong teach the limitations of the previous claims. Alvarino further teaches wherein the timepoint at which the uplink data is transmitted corresponds to at least one of an uplink subframe or a special subframe in a time division duplex (TDD) configuration about the second communication network (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0059, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; in the same time slot, one TDD CC may be UL while another TDD CC may be DL, and vice-versa. In addition, special slots can be configured differently for different CCs. The special slots may be utilized for downlink-to-uplink switching or vice-versa. That is, with reference to communication by a scheduled entity 204, when utilizing a TDD carrier, where the timing for both the uplink and downlink transmissions is driven by a scheduling entity 202, there may be a need for a certain time gap when transitioning from a DL slot to an UL slot, or an UL slot to a DL slot).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, the combination of references Alvarino and Guangdong teach the limitations of the previous claims. Alvarino further teaches wherein the communication processor is configured to control the reference signal to be simultaneously transmitted through the plurality of antennas among the first antenna group at and/or proximate the timepoint of transmitting the reference signal (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0059, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; The SRS configuration provides the UE with time domain (slot) as well as frequency domain resources (e.g., carriers or channels) for transmitting the SRS; the scheduled entity may not have the resources (e.g., RF chain, antennas, power) to transmit SRSs on all triggered CCs simultaneously. Therefore, the scheduled entity may transmit the SRSs at different times (e.g., one SRS at a time); i.e. if the RF chain/antenna resources are available as shown in Guangdong, the SRS can be transmitted at the same time).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Alvarino teaches an electronic device/method for transmitting a reference signal by an electronic device (Abstract), comprising:
a communication processor; at least one radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) connected to the communication processor; wherein the communication processor is configured to (Paras. 0010 and 0057-0059; i.e. processor with communication interface and memory reads on communication processor and transceiver and/or various circuitry read on RFIC):
receive, from a first base station corresponding to the first communication network and/or a second base station corresponding to the second communication network, first information regarding a transmission timepoint of a reference signal transmitted to the first base station (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; The SRS configuration provides the UE with time domain (slot) as well as frequency domain resources (e.g., carriers or channels) for transmitting the SRS; The RRC configuration 501 may include an SRS configuration that defines one or more of the CCs used for SRS transmissions; the scheduled entity may not have the resources (e.g., RF chain, antennas, power) to transmit SRSs on all triggered CCs simultaneously. Therefore, the scheduled entity may transmit the SRSs at different times (e.g., one SRS at a time); i.e. Fig. 5 and the associated paras. show different ways that could read on these claims. First, configuration 501 and Group DCI 502 from scheduling entity 1, which reads on second base station, would schedule/trigger all the SRS transmission and the slot would read on the timepoint. Second. Group DCIs 510 from each of the scheduling entities would also convey the same scheduling information);
receive, from the second base station, second information regarding a timepoint at which data of the second communication network is transmitted and/or received (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; i.e. as discussed in the prior limitation, configuration 501 and Group DCI 502 from scheduling entity 1, which reads on second base station, would schedule/trigger all the SRS transmission and the slot would read on the timepoint. Scheduling Entity 2 could also read on second base station and the limitation above would be read as Scheduling Entity 1 reading on first base station);
identify a timepoint at which the reference signal is to be transmitted through an antenna configured to transmit a signal corresponding to the second communication network based on the received first information and the received second information (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; the scheduled entity may not have the resources (e.g., RF chain, antennas, power) to transmit SRSs on all triggered CCs simultaneously. Therefore, the scheduled entity may transmit the SRSs at different times (e.g., one SRS at a time); i.e. based the available antenna/RF chain/power resources, the SRS would be transmitted on an antenna to the second base station at one point in time and to the first base station at the same point in time if resources are available or at a different time if resource are not available);
configure a timepoint at which a reference signal is to be transmitted through the antenna to correspond to a timepoint at which uplink data corresponding to the second communication network is transmitted (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; the scheduled entity may not have the resources (e.g., RF chain, antennas, power) to transmit SRSs on all triggered CCs simultaneously. Therefore, the scheduled entity may transmit the SRSs at different times (e.g., one SRS at a time); i.e. based the available antenna/RF chain/power resources, the SRS would be transmitted on an antenna to the second base station at one point in time and to the first base station at the same point in time if resources are available or at a different time if resource are not available); and
control to transmit the reference signal to the first base station through the antenna, based on the configured timepoint at which the reference signal is transmitted (Fig. 5; Paras. 0053, 0063, 0067-0071, 0083-0088, and 0094; the scheduled entity may not have the resources (e.g., RF chain, antennas, power) to transmit SRSs on all triggered CCs simultaneously. Therefore, the scheduled entity may transmit the SRSs at different times (e.g., one SRS at a time); i.e. based the available antenna/RF chain/power resources, the SRS would be transmitted on an antenna to the second base station at one point in time and to the first base station at the same point in time if resources are available or at a different time if resource are not available).
However, while Alvarino teaches a UE possibly having a plurality of antennas (Para. 0088), he does not specifically disclose a plurality of antennas connected to the at least one RFIC to transmit and/or receive data corresponding to at least one of a first communication network or a second communication network; and among the plurality of antennas configured to transmit the reference signal.
Guangdong teaches downlink data buffering considering cross carrier scheduling in a wireless communication system (Abstract). He further teaches a plurality of antennas connected to the at least one RFIC to transmit and/or receive data corresponding to at least one of a first communication network or a second communication network; and among the plurality of antennas configured to transmit the reference signal (Fig. 3; Paras. 0008-0009; An embodiment of the present application provides a radio frequency circuit, including: four transceiver antennas, configured to transmit an uplink sounding reference signal of a first SIM card to a base station in a time division manner in each first transmission period, where the uplink sounding reference is used. The signal is used for determining, by the base station, downlink channel quality when the four transceiver antennas are used to transmit the 5G radio frequency signal of the first SIM card; The four transceiver antennas are further configured to transmit a 4G radio frequency signal of the second SIM card and a 5G radio frequency signal of the second SIM card in the first transmission period).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings as in Guangdong with the teachings as in Alvarino. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve space utilization inside an electronic device (Guangdong at para. 0005).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENT KRUEGER whose telephone number is (303)297-4238. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-5:00 MT.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached on (571) 272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KENT KRUEGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474