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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 7-11, 13-18, 20-22 & 26-28 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4-1-26.
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species A of claims 1-6, 12, 19, 23-25 & 29-30 in the reply filed on 4-1-26 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6-6-25. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 2-2-24. These drawings are acceptable.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 12, 19, 23-25 & 29-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1-2) as being anticipated by Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1).
Regarding Claim 1.
A method of operating a wireless node, comprising:
receiving first quasi-colocation (QCL) information associated with a first antenna port of the wireless node {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0383 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source, see also Fig.23 & ¶0389-¶0390; Fig.24b & ¶0402-¶0403; and ¶0480 wherein “the transceiver(s) 106 transmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas; and ¶0485 wherein “In this document, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports)”};
receiving second QCL information associated with a second antenna port of the wireless node {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0383 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source, see also Fig.23 & ¶0389-¶0390; Fig.24b & ¶0402-¶0403; and ¶0480 wherein “the transceiver(s) 106 transmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas; and ¶0485 wherein “In this document, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports)”}; and
performing a multi-port signaling operation {Cha: ¶0480 wherein “the transceiver(s) 106 transmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas; and ¶0485 wherein “In this document, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports)”; In other words, by transmitting/receiving via one or more antennas, which may be a plurality of antenna ports, the UE has performed multi-port signaling operation, emphasis added} that comprises a first signaling operation via at least the first antenna port based on the first QCL information, and a second signaling operation via at least the second antenna port based on the second QCL information {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0368 wherein “In S1305b, the UE may transmit an SRS signal on the SRS resource and/or the SRS resource set for positioning based on the configured/indicated information”; see also ¶0367}
wherein the first signaling operation, the second signaling operation, or both, are associated with positioning and/or sensing {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0383 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source.. DL RS (e.g., PRS) resource(s) for UE positioning may be transmitted from multiple cell(s)/TRP(s)/gNB(s) such as a reference cells (or serving cells) and a neighboring cells, see also ¶0383}.
Regarding Claim 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signaling operation and the second signaling operation are transmission operations {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0368 wherein “In S1305b, the UE may transmit an SRS signal on the SRS resource and/or the SRS resource set for positioning based on the configured/indicated information”; see also ¶0367 and s1205b-Fig.19b & ¶0342}.
Regarding Claim 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signaling operation and the second signaling operation are reception operations {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0380 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source.. DL RS (e.g., PRS) resource(s) for UE positioning may be transmitted from multiple cell(s)/TRP(s)/gNB(s) such as a reference cells (or serving cells) and a neighboring cells, see also ¶0383 & ¶0403 wherein “In S1403b, the UE may receive a configuration/indication of QCL relationship between DL RS resource(s) and/or DL RS resource set(s) and UL RS resource(s) and/or UL RS resource set(s) configured for UE positioning and information about power control from the BS/location server. In S1305b, based on the configured/indicated information, the UE may receive DL RS resource(s) and/or DL RS resource set(s), may receive a configuration/indication of transmission of UL RS resource(s) and/or UL RS resource set(s), or may transmit an SRS signal on the UL RS resource(s) and/or UL RS resource set(s).” In other words, by receiving the DL RS resource set(s), the UE inherently performs the first and second signaling operation, which are the receiving operation, emphasis added; and ¶0480 wherein “the transceiver(s) 106 transmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas; and ¶0485 wherein “In this document, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports)”}.
Regarding Claim 4. The method of claim 1,
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with sensing and the second signaling operation is associated with sensing, or
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with positioning and the second signaling operation is associated with positioning {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0383 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source.. DL RS (e.g., PRS) resource(s) for UE positioning may be transmitted from multiple cell(s)/TRP(s)/gNB(s) such as a reference cells (or serving cells) and a neighboring cells, see also ¶0383}, or
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with sensing and the second signaling operation is associated with positioning.
Regarding Claim 5. The method of claim 1,
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with communication and the second signaling operation is associated with positioning {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0383 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source.. DL RS (e.g., PRS) resource(s) for UE positioning may be transmitted from multiple cell(s)/TRP(s)/gNB(s) such as a reference cells (or serving cells) and a neighboring cells, see also ¶0383}, or
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with communication and the second signaling operation is associated with sensing.
Regarding Claim 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first signaling operation and the second signaling operation are frequency division multiplexed (FDM'ed) {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0074 wherein “the present disclosure can be applied to various wireless access systems such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), etc.”}.
Regarding Claim 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless node corresponds to a wireless network component positioning {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0380 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source.. DL RS (e.g., PRS) resource(s) for UE positioning may be transmitted from multiple cell(s)/TRP(s)/gNB(s) such as a reference cells (or serving cells) and a neighboring cells, see also ¶0383; see also wireless device 100-Figs.30-31}.
Regarding Claim 19. The method of claim 1,
wherein the first antenna port is dedicated to communication or positioning {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0392 wherein “The spatial QCL relationship that a single DL RS resource transmitted from a specific cell/gNB/TRP has with multiple UL RS (e.g., SRS, UL-PRS) resources and/or a single SRS resource set may be limitedly configured/indicated only when UL RS resource(s) are configured for UE positioning”} or sensing, or
wherein the first antenna port is flexibly re-configurable to any of communication or positioning or sensing.
Regarding Claim 23.
-Claim 23 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claim 1, vice versa (e.g. transmitted direction from Base Station to UE).
A method of operating a configuration node, comprising:
transmitting, to a wireless node, first quasi-colocation (QCL) information associated with a first antenna port of the wireless node; and
transmitting, to the wireless node, second QCL information associated with a second antenna port of the wireless node,
wherein the first QCL information and the second QCL information are associated with a multi-port signaling operation that is performed by the wireless node and that comprises a first signaling operation via at least the first antenna port based on the first QCL information, and a second signaling operation via at least the second antenna port based on the second QCL information,
wherein the first signaling operation, the second signaling operation, or both, are associated with positioning and/or sensing.
Regarding Claim 24. The method of claim 23,
wherein the first signaling operation and the second signaling operation are transmission operations, or
wherein the first signaling operation and the second signaling operation are reception operations.
-Claim 24 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 1-3 & 23.
Regarding Claim 25. The method of claim 23,
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with sensing and the second signaling operation is associated with sensing, or
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with positioning and the second signaling operation is associated with positioning, or
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with sensing and the second signaling operation is associated with positioning, or
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with communication and the second signaling operation is associated with positioning, or
wherein the first signaling operation is associated with communication and the second signaling operation is associated with sensing.
-Claim 25 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claims 1, 4 & 23.
Regarding Claim 29.
-Claim 29 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claim 1, and further as following:
A wireless node {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): first device 100-Figs.30-31 and UE#1-Fig.23}, comprising:
one or more memories {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): memory 104-Figs.30-31};
one or more transceivers {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): transceiver(s) 106-Figs.30-31 & ¶0480 wherein “the transceiver(s) 106 transmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas}; and
one or more processors {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): processor(s) 102-Figs.30-31} communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:
receive, via the one or more transceivers, first quasi-colocation (QCL) information associated with a first antenna port of the wireless node;
receive, via the one or more transceivers, second QCL information associated with a second antenna port of the wireless node; and
perform a multi-port signaling operation that comprises a first signaling operation via at least the first antenna port based on the first QCL information, and a second signaling operation via at least the second antenna port based on the second QCL information,
wherein the first signaling operation, the second signaling operation, or both, are associated with positioning and/or sensing.
Regarding Claim 30.
-Claim 30 is rejected with the same reasons as set forth in claim 23, and further as following:
A configuration node {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): second device 200-Figs.30-31 & gNB1 & gNB2 in Fig.23}, comprising:
one or more memories {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): memory 204-Figs.30-31};
one or more transceivers {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): transceiver(s) 206-Figs.30-31 & ¶0481 wherein “the transceiver(s) 106 transmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas”}; and
one or more processors {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): processor(s) 202-Figs.30-31} communicatively coupled to the one or more memories and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors, either alone or in combination, configured to:
transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to a wireless node, first quasi-colocation (QCL) information associated with a first antenna port of the wireless node; and
transmit, via the one or more transceivers, to the wireless node, second QCL information associated with a second antenna port of the wireless node,
wherein the first QCL information and the second QCL information are associated with a multi-port signaling operation that is performed by the wireless node and that comprises a first signaling operation via at least the first antenna port based on the first QCL information, and a second signaling operation via at least the second antenna port based on the second QCL information,
wherein the first signaling operation, the second signaling operation, or both, are associated with positioning and/or sensing.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6-23-26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
A/. With respect to 102 rejection to Independent claims 1, 23 & 29-30, the applicant argued that Cha does not disclose, at least: receiving first quasi-colocation (QCL) information associated with a first antenna port of the wireless node; receiving second QCL information associated with a second antenna port of the wireless node; and performing a multi-port signaling operation comprising a first signaling operation via at least the first antenna port based on the first QCL information, and a second signaling operation via at least the second antenna port based on the second QCL information, as recited in independent claim 1.
-In reply, the applicant is directed to 102 rejection as set forth as above and also as following with further details of multi-port & antenna ports as highlighted in italic font:
Regarding Claim 1.
A method of operating a wireless node, comprising:
receiving first quasi-colocation (QCL) information associated with a first antenna port of the wireless node {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0383 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source, see also Fig.23 & ¶0389-¶0390; Fig.24b & ¶0402-¶0403; and ¶0480 wherein “the transceiver(s) 106 transmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas; and ¶0485 wherein “In this document, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports)”};
receiving second QCL information associated with a second antenna port of the wireless node {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0383 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source, see also Fig.23 & ¶0389-¶0390; Fig.24b & ¶0402-¶0403; and ¶0480 wherein “the transceiver(s) 106 transmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas; and ¶0485 wherein “In this document, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports)”}; and
performing a multi-port signaling operation {Cha: ¶0480 wherein “the transceiver(s) 106 transmit and/or receive radio signals through one or more antennas; and ¶0485 wherein “In this document, the one or more antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality of logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports)”; In other words, by transmitting/receiving via one or more antennas, which may be a plurality of antenna ports, the UE has performed multi-port signaling operation, emphasis added} that comprises a first signaling operation via at least the first antenna port based on the first QCL information, and a second signaling operation via at least the second antenna port based on the second QCL information {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0368 wherein “In S1305b, the UE may transmit an SRS signal on the SRS resource and/or the SRS resource set for positioning based on the configured/indicated information”; see also ¶0367}
wherein the first signaling operation, the second signaling operation, or both, are associated with positioning and/or sensing {Cha (US 2022/0224498 A1): ¶0379-¶0383 wherein UE receiving multiples DL RS resources transmitted from multiple cells/gNBs/TRPs, which are used for reference of a UE beam direction, that is, a QCL source.. DL RS (e.g., PRS) resource(s) for UE positioning may be transmitted from multiple cell(s)/TRP(s)/gNB(s) such as a reference cells (or serving cells) and a neighboring cells, see also ¶0383}.
Therefore, 102 rejections to claims 1, 23 & 29-30 stand.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/PHUONGCHAU BA NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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