DETAILED ACTION
In response to communications filed 04/23/2026.
Claims 3, 4, 26 and 27 are canceled.
Claims 31-34 are added.
Claims 1, 2, 5-25 and 28-34 are pending for examination.
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 .
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 (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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 2, 5-25 and 28-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mahama et al. (US 2024/0107541 A1) in view of Nemeth et al. (US 2024/0097866 A1) hereinafter “Mahama” and “Nameth” respectively.
Regarding Claim 1, Mahama teaches A user equipment (UE) (Mahama: paragraph 0184 & Fig. 12, apparatus implemented as a User Equipment (UE)) for wireless communication (Mahama: paragraph 0035 & Fig. 1, wireless communication system), comprising:
one or more memories (Mahama: paragraph 0184 & Fig. 12, memory); and
one or more processors (Mahama: paragraph 0184 & Fig. 12, processing circuitry), coupled to the one or more memories, configured to:
receive a first configuration for a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission on sub-band full duplex (SBFD) slots, wherein the first configuration schedules a plurality of SRS resources for transmission of a plurality of SRSs (Mahama: paragraph 0181 & Fig. 11, receive SRS configuration indicating a first set of parameters to configure a first frequency domain starting position of SRS transmission in SBFD slots);
receive a second configuration for SRS transmission on non-SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0181 & Fig. 11, receive SRS configuration indicating a first set of parameters to configure a second frequency domain starting position of SRS transmission in non-SBFD slots); and
apply the first configuration based, at least in part, on a determination that a first SRS of the plurality of SRSs is to be transmitted on one of the SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0183 & Fig. 11, perform SRS transmissions across multiple slots including SBFD slots).
Mahama fails to explicitly teach ignoring an SRS resource of the scheduled plurality of SRS resources based at least in part on a determination that the SRS resource occurs during one of the non-SBFD slots. However, Nameth from an analogous art similarly teaches a field in configuration information to indicate whether scheduled transmissions should be skipped or postponed (Nameth: paragraphs 0057-0058). When the bit in the field is set and the first instance is scheduled on a SBFD slot, then the repetition may be skipped or postponed when it would fall on non-SBFD slot (Nameth: paragraphs 0059-0060) therefore similarly ignoring the scheduled resource.
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 Mahama to ignore or skip a scheduled resource as taught by Nameth so as ignore SRS resources that may be scheduled during non-SBFD slots or symbols to ensure resource efficiency.
Regarding Claim 2, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the first configuration and the second configuration each include multiple SRS resource sets, wherein each SRS resource set is associated with the SBFD slot or the non-SBFD slot (Mahama: paragraph 0182, SRS configuration indicates an SRS resource set including separate SRS resources corresponding to SBFD slots and non-SBFD slot).
Regarding Claim 5, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein each of the non-SBFD slots is an uplink slot or a flexible slot (Mahama: paragraph 0076, uplinks slot and/or flexible slots).
Regarding Claim 6, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein each of the SBFD slots is an SBFD symbol with an uplink subband and a downlink subband (Mahama: paragraph 0040, separate frequency domain resource allocations for SBFD symbols; see also paragraph 0145 & Fig. 10).
Regarding Claim 7, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors, to apply the first configuration, are configured to apply one or more of a frequency hopping pattern, a partial frequency sounding pattern, a spatial filter, or power control to the one of the SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraphs 0134-0137, frequency hopping pattern for SRS).
Regarding Claim 8, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors, to apply the first configuration, are configured to apply a frequency hopping pattern to an uplink bandwidth part (Mahama: paragraphs 0038, employ frequency hopping to uplink transmission).
Regarding Claim 9, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors, to apply the first configuration, are configured to apply a slot offset, relative to a reference slot, associated with the first SRS (Mahama: paragraph 0121, slot offset for SRS transmission).
Regarding Claim 10, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive downlink control information (DCI) that triggers transmission of an aperiodic SRS resource set in a slot (Mahama: paragraph 0121, triggering DCI for aperiodic SRS transmission), and wherein one of the first configuration or the second configuration is applied based, at least in part, on a duplex type associated with the aperiodic SRS resource set (Mahama: paragraph 0121, slotOffset IE determines the number of slots between the triggering DCI and the actual SRS transmission for aperiodic transmission).
Regarding Claim 11, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the slot based, at least in part, on a reference slot relative to the slot at which the triggering DCI was received (Mahama: paragraph 0121, slot offset for SRS transmission).
Regarding Claim 12, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the reference slot based, at least in part, on a duplex type of the slot at which the triggering DCI was received (Mahama: paragraph 0121, slotOffset IE determines the number of slots between the triggering DCI and the actual SRS transmission for aperiodic transmission).
Regarding Claim 13, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the slot is based, at least in part, on an offset from the reference slot based, at least in part, on a count of a number of slots with the same duplex type of the aperiodic SRS resource set (Mahama: paragraph 0121, slotOffset IE determines the number of slots between the triggering DCI and the actual SRS transmission for aperiodic transmission).
Regarding Claim 14, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive up to two frequency configurations for an SRS resource (Mahama: paragraph 0070, two frequency domain positions based on slot type; see also paragraph 0165, frequency domain resource configuration for SRS is modified to include UL-SB in the BFD slots/symbols).
Regarding Claim 15, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive the first configuration and the second configuration as a shared configuration for the SRS resource (Mahama: paragraph 0181, receive the SRS configuration in a SBFD system indicating both SBFD slots and non-SBFD slots) and cancel transmission of the SRS in an uplink subband as a result of one or more resource blocks being outside the uplink subband configuration (Mahama: paragraph 0178, skipping or disabling of SRS resource allocation for specific sets of slots in SRS transmission).
Regarding Claim 16, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to apply a new SRS sequence based, at least in part, on overlapped resources within an uplink subband (Mahama: paragraph 0178, configuration (Mahama: paragraphs 0097-0099, two frequency domain positions to avoid overlap).
Regarding Claim 17, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to truncate an SRS sequence (Mahama: paragraph 0165, frequency domain resource configuration for SRS is modified to ensure that the frequency domain position is confined within the UL-SB in the SBFD slots/symbols).
Regarding Claim 18, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors, to apply the first configuration or the second configuration, are configured to configuring up to two frequency domain shift values or frequency domain position values (Mahama: paragraph 0070, two frequency domain positions).
Regarding Claim 19, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the up to two frequency domain shift values shift a frequency of the SRS to a frequency of an uplink subband (Mahama: paragraphs 0072-0075, bitmap indicating UL slots).
Regarding Claim 20, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein applying the first configuration or the second configuration includes configuring up to two SRS sequence length values configured to enable up to two SRS bandwidth values, wherein at least one of the SRS bandwidth values is within an uplink subband (Mahama: paragraph 0160, two sets of parameters are provided within one or each SRS Resource and two values of frequency domain position are provided within each SRS Resource).
Regarding Claim 21, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors, to apply the first configuration or the second configuration, are configured to apply frequency hopping to SRS transmissions scheduled on non-SBFD slots and shifting SRS transmissions scheduled on non-SBFD symbols to frequencies within an uplink subband (Mahama: paragraphs 0134-0137, frequency hopping pattern for SRS transmission).
Regarding Claim 22, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein applying the first configuration or the second configuration includes applying a first frequency hopping pattern to SRS transmissions scheduled on SBFD slots and a second frequency hopping pattern to SRS transmissions scheduled on non-SBFD slots, wherein frequencies in the second frequency hopping pattern are within an uplink subband (Mahama: paragraphs 0134-0137, frequency hopping pattern for SRS transmission).
Regarding Claim 23, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein applying the first configuration or the second configuration is based, at least in part, on a duplex mode of the SRS (Mahama: paragraphs 0036-0037, SBFD mode).
Regarding Claim 24, Mahama teaches A network node (Mahama: paragraph 0184 & Fig. 12, apparatus implemented as a base station) for wireless communication (Mahama: paragraph 0035 & Fig. 1, wireless communication system), comprising:
one or more memories (Mahama: paragraph 0184 & Fig. 12, memory); and
one or more processors (Mahama: paragraph 0184 & Fig. 12, processing circuitry), coupled to the one or more memories, configured to:
output, to a user equipment (UE) (Mahama paragraph 0180, user equipment (UE)), a first configuration for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, by the UE, on sub-band full duplex (SBFD) slots, wherein the first configuration schedules a plurality of SRS resources for transmission of a plurality of SRSs (Mahama: paragraph 0181 & Fig. 11, receive SRS configuration indicating a first set of parameters to configure a first frequency domain starting position of SRS transmission in SBFD slots);
output, to the UE, a second configuration for SRS transmission, by the UE, on non-SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0181 & Fig. 11, receive SRS configuration indicating a first set of parameters to configure a second frequency domain starting position of SRS transmission in non-SBFD slots);
configure the UE to apply the first configuration based, at least in part, on a determination that a first SRS of the plurality of SRSs is to be transmitted on one of the SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0183 & Fig. 11, perform SRS transmissions across multiple slots including SBFD slots).
Mahama fails to explicitly teach ignoring an SRS resource of the scheduled plurality of SRS resources based at least in part on a determination that the SRS resource occurs during one of the non-SBFD slots. However, Nameth from an analogous art similarly teaches a field in configuration information to indicate whether scheduled transmissions should be skipped or postponed (Nameth: paragraphs 0057-0058). When the bit in the field is set and the first instance is scheduled on a SBFD slot, then the repetition may be skipped or postponed when it would fall on non-SBFD slot (Nameth: paragraphs 0059-0060) therefore similarly ignoring the scheduled resource.
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 Mahama to ignore or skip a scheduled resource as taught by Nameth so as ignore SRS resources that may be scheduled during non-SBFD slots or symbols to ensure resource efficiency.
Regarding Claim 25, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the first configuration and the second configuration each include multiple SRS resource sets, wherein each SRS resource set is associated with the SBFD slots or the non-SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0182, SRS configuration indicates an SRS resource set including separate SRS resources corresponding to SBFD slots and non-SBFD slot).
Regarding Claim 28, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to configure the UE to receive up to two frequency configurations for an SRS resource (Mahama: paragraph 0070, two frequency domain positions based on slot type), and
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to configure the UE to receive the first configuration and the second configuration as a shared configuration for the SRS resource (Mahama: paragraph 0181, receive the SRS configuration in a SBFD system indicating both SBFD slots and non-SBFD slots) and cancel transmission of the SRS in an uplink subband as a result of one or more resource blocks being outside the uplink subband (Mahama: paragraph 0178, skipping or disabling of SRS resource allocation for specific sets of slots in SRS transmission).
Regarding Claim 29, Mahama teaches A method of wireless communication (Mahama: paragraph 0035 & Fig. 1, wireless communication system) performed by a user equipment (UE) (Mahama: paragraph 0184 & Fig. 12, apparatus implemented as a User Equipment (UE)), comprising:
receiving a first configuration for a sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission on sub-band full duplex (SBFD) slots, wherein the first configuration schedules a plurality of SRS resources for transmission of a plurality of SRSs (Mahama: paragraph 0181 & Fig. 11, receive SRS configuration indicating a first set of parameters to configure a first frequency domain starting position of SRS transmission in SBFD slots);
receiving a second configuration for SRS transmission on non-SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0181 & Fig. 11, receive SRS configuration indicating a first set of parameters to configure a second frequency domain starting position of SRS transmission in non-SBFD slots); and
applying the first configuration based, at least in part, on a determination that a first SRS of the plurality of SRSs is to be transmitted on one of the SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0183 & Fig. 11, perform SRS transmissions across multiple slots including SBFD slots).
Mahama fails to explicitly teach ignoring an SRS resource of the scheduled plurality of SRS resources based at least in part on a determination that the SRS resource occurs during one of the non-SBFD slots. However, Nameth from an analogous art similarly teaches a field in configuration information to indicate whether scheduled transmissions should be skipped or postponed (Nameth: paragraphs 0057-0058). When the bit in the field is set and the first instance is scheduled on a SBFD slot, then the repetition may be skipped or postponed when it would fall on non-SBFD slot (Nameth: paragraphs 0059-0060) therefore similarly ignoring the scheduled resource.
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 Mahama to ignore or skip a scheduled resource as taught by Nameth so as ignore SRS resources that may be scheduled during non-SBFD slots or symbols to ensure resource efficiency.
Regarding Claim 30, Mahama teaches A method of wireless communication (Mahama: paragraph 0035 & Fig. 1, wireless communication system) performed by a network node (Mahama: paragraph 0184 & Fig. 12, apparatus implemented as a base station), comprising:
outputting, to a user equipment (UE) (Mahama paragraph 0180, user equipment (UE)), a first configuration for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, by the UE, on sub-band full duplex (SBFD) slots, wherein the first configuration schedules a plurality of SRS resources for transmission of a plurality of SRSs (Mahama: paragraph 0181 & Fig. 11, receive SRS configuration indicating a first set of parameters to configure a first frequency domain starting position of SRS transmission in SBFD slots);
outputting, to the UE, a second configuration for SRS transmission, by the UE, on non-SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0181 & Fig. 11, receive SRS configuration indicating a first set of parameters to configure a second frequency domain starting position of SRS transmission in non-SBFD slots);
configuring the UE to apply the first configuration based, at least in part, on a determination that a first SRS of the plurality of SRSs is to be transmitted on one of the SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0183 & Fig. 11, perform SRS transmissions across multiple slots including SBFD slots).
Mahama fails to explicitly teach ignoring an SRS resource of the scheduled plurality of SRS resources based at least in part on a determination that the SRS resource occurs during one of the non-SBFD slots. However, Nameth from an analogous art similarly teaches a field in configuration information to indicate whether scheduled transmissions should be skipped or postponed (Nameth: paragraphs 0057-0058). When the bit in the field is set and the first instance is scheduled on a SBFD slot, then the repetition may be skipped or postponed when it would fall on non-SBFD slot (Nameth: paragraphs 0059-0060) therefore similarly ignoring the scheduled resource.
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 Mahama to ignore or skip a scheduled resource as taught by Nameth so as ignore SRS resources that may be scheduled during non-SBFD slots or symbols to ensure resource efficiency.
Regarding Claim 31, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein a second configuration schedules a second plurality of SRS resources for transmission of a second plurality of SRSs (Mahama: paragraph 0181 & Fig. 11, receive SRS configuration indicating a first set of parameters to configure a second frequency domain starting position of SRS transmission in non-SBFD slots), and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
apply the second configuration based, at least in part, on a determination that a third SRS of the second plurality of SRSs is to be transmitted on one of the non-SBFD slot (Mahama: paragraph 0183 & Fig. 11, perform SRS transmissions across multiple slots including non-SBFD based on the SRS configuration received); and
cancel transmission of a fourth SRS of the second plurality of SRSs on an SRS resource of the scheduled second plurality of SRS resources based at least in part on a determination that the fourth SRS occurs during one of the SBFD slots (Mahama: paragraph 0178, skipping or disabling of SRS resource allocation for specific sets of slots in SRS transmission).
Regarding Claim 32, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches, wherein the second configuration schedules the second plurality of SRS resources for transmission of the second plurality of SRSs with a 4-slot periodicity (Mahama: paragraph 0054 & Fig. 3, 2 slot periodicity).
Regarding Claim 33, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the first configuration schedules the plurality of SRS resources for transmission of the plurality of SRSs with a 2-slot periodicity (Mahama: paragraph 0054 & Fig. 3, 4 slot periodicity).
Regarding Claim 34, Mahama-Nameth teaches the respective claim(s) as presented above and further teaches wherein the first configuration schedules the plurality of SRS resources for transmission of the plurality of SRSs with a 2-slot periodicity (Mahama: paragraph 0054 & Fig. 3, 2 slot periodicity).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended claims 1, 24, 29 and 30 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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.
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/NAJEEB ANSARI/Examiner, Art Unit 2463
/ASAD M NAWAZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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