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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 16, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-30 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 7, 12-14, 19, 24-28, and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan et al. (hereinafter “Guan”, US 2025/0212227) in view of Liu et al. (hereinafter “Liu ‘158”, US 2022/0038158) and further in view of Clevorn et al. (hereinafter “Clevorn”, US 2014/0233665).
Regarding claims 1 and 26, Guan discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), and a method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE) (i.e., a terminal device 1400 as described in paragraph 0313), comprising:
at least one memory comprising instructions (i.e., memory 1420 stores program 1430 as described in paragraphs 0314-0315); and
one or more processors, individually or collectively, configured to execute the instructions (i.e., processor 1410 as described in paragraphs 0314-0315) and cause the UE to:
receive, from the network entity, signaling scheduling the UE for simultaneous transmission of at least one PUSCH using uplink ports shared across multiple panels of the UE (i.e., UE receives DCI for scheduling an uplink transmission and performing simultaneous transmission across multi-panels as described in paragraph 0173, and in Abstract), wherein the signaling indicates a first set of PUSCH ports corresponding to a subset of SRS ports associated with SRS resources in the first SRS resource set and a second set of PUSCH ports corresponding to a subset of SRS ports associated with SRS resources in the second SRS resource set (i.e., UE determines a first/second set of antenna port (PUSCH port) indexes associated with the first panel 125-1 and second panel 125-2. UE transmits PUSCH using the same antenna ports as the SRS ports in the SRS resources indicated by both indicators as described in paragraphs 174-0177); and
transmit the at least one PUSCH via a first panel of the UE using the first set of PUSCH ports and via a second panel of the UE using the second set of PUSCH ports (i.e., UE transmits PUSCH using the antenna ports as the SRS ports in the SRS resources indicated by both SRS resource indicators as described in paragraphs 0177-0179).
Guan, however, does not expressly disclose:
receive, from a network entity, a configuration of at least first and second sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets for codebook-based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions; and
wherein at least one row of a precoding matrix associated with at least one of the first or second SRS resource set has zero values indicating at least one PUSCH port corresponding to the at least one row is not used for transmitting the at least one PUSCH.
In a similar endeavor, Liu ‘158 discloses method and apparatus for multiple panel and/or multiple beam codebook based PUSCH transmissions. Liu ‘158 also discloses:
receive, from a network entity, a configuration of at least first and second sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets for codebook-based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions (i.e., UE receives two or more sounding reference signal resources that are used for the codebook based physical uplink shared channel transmission as described in Abstract, and in paragraph 0007).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to enable efficient beamforming and improve system performance in MIMO systems.
The combination of Guan and Liu ‘158 fails to expressly disclose the remaining features of these claims.
Furthermore, Clevorn discloses communication terminal, and a method for selecting a transmit antenna for a transmission to a radio communications network. Clevorn also discloses:
wherein at least one row of a precoding matrix associated with at least one of the first or second SRS resource set has zero values indicating at least one PUSCH port corresponding to the at least one row is not used for transmitting the at least one PUSCH (i.e., the precoding matrices that could be selected by the eNB, and the precoding matrices contains zeros for certain antenna ports (i.e., the eNB indicates to disable a certain antenna port number) as described in paragraph 0117).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to reduce the computational load and/or avoid ambiguity.
Regarding claims 2, 14, and 27, Guan, Liu ‘158, and Clevorn disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above. Liu ‘158 also discloses wherein receiving the signaling comprises receiving downlink control information (DCI) with a field that indicates a transmitted precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) index associated with at least one of the first SRS resource set or the second SRS resource set (i.e., the DCI received by the UE includes TPMI as described in paragraph 0002 and Abstract).
Regarding claims 7, 19, and 28, Guan, Liu ‘158, and Clevorn disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above. Guan also discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to determine uplink ports are shared across multiple panels of the UE based on at least one of:
the UE transmitting signaling indicating a capability of the UE to support uplink ports shared across multiple panels of the UE (i.e., UE capability as described in paragraphs 0088-0090, and 0114-0115);
the UE receiving signaling enabling sharing of uplink ports across multiple panels of the UE; or
a configured maximum rank parameter for single PUSCH transmission being larger than a configured maximum rank parameter for simultaneous PUSCH transmission on multiple panels.
Regarding claims 12 and 25, Guan, Liu ‘158, and Clevorn disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above. Liu ‘158 also discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to determine when the signaling indicates the first set of PUSCH ports corresponding to the subset of SRS ports associated with the first SRS resource set and the second set of PUSCH ports corresponding to the subset of SRS ports associated with the second SRS resource set based on at least one of:
capability signaling by the UE;
a radio resource control (RRC) signaling;
a codebook subset configuration; or
an indication in a downlink control information (DCI) (i.e., based on the DCI as described in Abstract).
Regarding claim 24, Guan, Liu ‘158, and Clevorn disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above. Guan also discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the network entity to determine when the signaling indicates the first set of PUSCH ports corresponding to the subset of SRS ports associated with the first SRS resource set and the second set of PUSCH ports corresponding to the subset of SRS ports associated with the second SRS resource set based on UE capability signaling (i.e., based on the capability of a terminal device as described in paragraph 0052).
Regarding claims 13 and 30, Guan discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a network entity, and a method for wireless communications by a network entity (i.e., network devices 1400 as described in paragraph 0313), comprising:
at least one memory comprising instructions (i.e., memory 1420 stores program 1430 as described in paragraphs 0314-0315); and
one or more processors, individually or collectively, configured to execute the instructions (i.e., processor 1410 as described in paragraphs 0314-0315) and cause the network entity to:
transmit, to the UE, signaling scheduling the UE for simultaneous transmission of at least one PUSCH using uplink ports shared across multiple panels of the UE (i.e., UE receives DCI for scheduling an uplink transmission and performing simultaneous transmission across multi-panels as described in paragraph 0173, and in Abstract), wherein the signaling indicates a first set of PUSCH ports corresponding to a subset of SRS ports associated with SRS resources in the first SRS resource set and a second set of PUSCH ports corresponding to a subset of SRS ports associated with SRS resources in the second SRS resource set (i.e., UE determines a first/second set of antenna port (PUSCH port) indexes associated with the first panel 125-1 and second panel 125-2. UE transmits PUSCH using the same antenna ports as the SRS ports in the SRS resources indicated by both indicators as described in paragraphs 174-0177); and
receive the at least one PUSCH, wherein the at least one PUSCH is transmitted via a first panel of the UE using the first set of PUSCH ports and via a second panel of the UE using the second set of PUSCH ports (i.e., UE transmits PUSCH using the antenna ports as the SRS ports in the SRS resources indicated by both SRS resource indicators as described in paragraphs 0177-0179).
Guan, however, does not expressly disclose:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a configuration of at least first and second sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets for codebook-based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions; and
wherein at least one row of a precoding matrix associated with at least one of the first or second SRS resource set has zero values indicating at least one PUSCH port corresponding to the at least one row is not used for transmitting the at least one PUSCH.
In a similar endeavor, Liu ‘158 discloses method and apparatus for multiple panel and/or multiple beam codebook based PUSCH transmissions. Liu ‘158 also discloses:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a configuration of at least first and second sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets for codebook-based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions (i.e., UE receives two or more sounding reference signal resources that are used for the codebook based physical uplink shared channel transmission as described in Abstract, and in paragraph 0007).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to enable efficient beamforming and improve system performance in MIMO systems.
The combination of Guan and Liu ‘158 fails to expressly disclose the remaining features of these claims.
Furthermore, Clevorn discloses communication terminal, and a method for selecting a transmit antenna for a transmission to a radio communications network. Clevorn also discloses:
wherein at least one row of a precoding matrix associated with at least one of the first or second SRS resource set has zero values indicating at least one PUSCH port corresponding to the at least one row is not used for transmitting the at least one PUSCH (i.e., the precoding matrices that could be selected by the eNB, and the precoding matrices contains zeros for certain antenna ports (i.e., the eNB indicates to disable a certain antenna port number) as described in paragraph 0117).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to reduce the computational load and/or avoid ambiguity.
Claim(s) 3 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan in view of “Liu ‘158” in view of Clevorn, and further in view of Haghighat et al. (hereinafter “Haghighat”, US 2025/0365041).
Regarding claims 3 and 15, Guan, Liu ‘158, and Clevorn disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above, but do not expressly disclose limitations of these claims.
In a similar endeavor, Haghghat discloses UL MIMO full TX power. Haghighat also discloses wherein one or more rows of a precoding matrix indicated by the TPMI index have zero values indicating corresponding PUSCH ports that are not used for transmitting the at least one PUSCH (i.e., TPMI index having precoding matrix with 0 values as described in paragraph 0077 and Table 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to reduce the computational load and/or avoid ambiguity.
Claim(s) 4-6 and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan in view of Liu ‘158 in view of Clevorn in view of Haghighat and further in view of Liu (hereinafter “Liu ‘628”, US 2025/0203628).
Regarding claims 4 and 16, Guan, Liu ‘158, Clevorn, and Haghighat disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above, but do not expressly disclose limitations of these claims.
In a similar endeavor, Liu ‘628 discloses precoding indication for simultaneous multi-panel UL transmission. Liu ‘628 also discloses wherein the TPMI field is restricted to a limited number of valid values when the DCI schedules the UE for simultaneous transmission of the at least one PUSCH using uplink ports shared across multiple panels of the UE (i.e., receiving a DCI containing TPMI field indicating a precoding matrix, the DCI schedules a multi-panel simultaneous PUSCH transmission with up to 4 layers in step 202 of Fig. 2 and as described in paragraphs 0099-0100).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to enable the UE to effectively select the correct precoding matrix.
Regarding claims 5 and 17, Guan, Liu ‘158, Clevorn, Haghighat, and Liu ‘628 disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above. Liu ‘628 also discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: interpret the TPMI field using a first set of tables defined for simultaneous transmission of the at least one PUSCH using uplink ports shared across multiple panels of the UE (i.e., see Fig. 2, and its descriptions. Also, see paragraphs 0062-0064, and Table 6.3.1.5-3).
Regarding claims 6 and 18, Guan, Liu ‘158, Clevorn, Haghighat, and Liu ‘628 disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above. Liu ‘628 also discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to select one of the first set of tables based on the number of SRS ports of an SRS resource indicated in the DCI (i.e., as described in paragraph 0068-0071) and a maximum rank configuration for PUSCH associated with teach of the first and second SRS resource set (i.e., as described in paragraph 0007-0010).
Claim(s) 8, 20, and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan in view of Liu ‘158 in view of Clevorn and further in view of Liu (hereinafter “Liu ‘420”, US 2025/0392420).
Regarding claims 8, 20, and 29, Guan, Liu ‘158, and Clevorn disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above, but do not expressly disclose features of these claims.
In a similar endeavor, Liu ‘420 discloses communication method, terminal device, and network device. Liu ‘420 also discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause, based on the signaling, the UE to:
simultaneously transmit the at least one PUSCH via spatial division multiplexing (SDM) or single frequency network (SFN) transmission (i.e., the SDM or SFN scheme as described in paragraphs 0051-0052); and
determine separate transmitted precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) indexes associated with the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set (i.e., the first/second TPMI is associated with the first/second SRS resource set as described in paragraphs 0100, 0107-0110).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to optimize the channel conditions.
Claim(s) 9, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan in view of Liu ‘158 in view of Clevorn and further in view of Xiong et al. (hereinafter “Xiong”, US 2021/0337534).
Regarding claims 9 and 21, Guan, Liu ‘158, and Clevorn disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above, but do not expressly disclose features of these claims.
In a similar endeavor, Xiong discloses UE configured for PUSCH repetition based on TPMI index and SRI. Xiong also discloses wherein receiving the signaling comprises receiving:
a first downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a first PUSCH and indicates a first TPMI (i.e., the DCI including a scheduling grant for a PUSCH transmission as described in paragraphs 0013-0014); and
a second DCI that schedules a second PUSCH, at least partially overlapping in time with the first PUSCH (i.e., the DCI including a scheduling grant for a PUSCH transmission as described in paragraphs 0013-0014), and indicates a second TPMI (i.e., TPMIs are partially overlapping as shown in Fig. 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references, and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to enable the UE to transmit within the resource restrictions.
Claim(s) 10-11, and 22-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan in view of Liu ‘158 in view of Clevorn and further in view of Lin et al. (hereinafter “Lin”, US 2020/0396684).
Regarding claims 10 and 22, Guan, Liu ‘158, and Clevorn disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above, but do not expressly disclose features of these claims.
In a similar endeavor, Lin discloses operation with power saving in connected mode discontinuous reception (C-DRX) also discloses wherein there is a limit on a sum of a number of the PUSCH ports in the first set and a number of the PUSCH ports in the second set (i.e., based on the number of SRS ports per resource as described in paragraphs 0125, 0128, and 0139).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings of the cited references and arrive at the present invention.
The motivation/suggestion for doing so would have been to support the UE’s maximum capability.
Regarding claims 11 and 23, Guan, Liu ‘158, Clevorn, and Lin disclose all limitations recited within claims as described above. Lin also discloses wherein the limit is based on a number of SRS ports in an SRS resource of the first SRS resource set or an SRS resource of the second SRS resource set (i.e., based on the number of SRS ports per resource as described in paragraphs 0125, 0128, and 0139).
Conclusion
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/Wayne H Cai/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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