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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed April 22, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant argues on page 11 of Remarks that there is no mechanism in Guan for using fewer SRS ports than available in the selected SRS resource because each resource has one SRS port. The Examiner respectfully disagrees.
It is noted that claim merely recites “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 nowhere in claim does it clearly define a proper subset that has a few elements. In other words, claim does not recite anything that restricts the subset to fewer ports. Hence, the full set of SRS ports is still a valid subset of itself.
The Applicant then argues that Liu ‘158 does not cure this deficiency. Since the Examiner did not rely on Liu ‘158 for the argued features. Thus, this point of arguments is moot.
In response to applicant’s argument that there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to combine the references, the examiner recognizes that obviousness may be established by combining or modifying the teachings of the prior art to produce the claimed invention where there is some teaching, suggestion, or motivation to do so found either in the references themselves or in the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Fine, 837 F.2d 1071, 5 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1988), In re Jones, 958 F.2d 347, 21 USPQ2d 1941 (Fed. Cir. 1992), and KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 82 USPQ2d 1385 (2007).
Based on the discussion above, it should be clear to the Applicant that the combination of Guan and Liu ‘158 still reads on the argued features. Thus, previous rejections are maintained.
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).
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.
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.
Regarding claims 2, 14, and 27, Guan and Liu ‘158 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 and Liu ‘158 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 and Liu ‘158 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 and Liu ‘158 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.
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.
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 and further in view of Liu (hereinafter “Liu ‘420”, US 2025/0392420).
Regarding claims 8, 20, and 29, Guan and Liu ‘158 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 and further in view of Xiong et al. (hereinafter “Xiong”, US 2021/0337534).
Regarding claims 9 and 21, Guan and Liu ‘158 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 and further in view of Lin et al. (hereinafter “Lin”, US 2020/0396684).
Regarding claims 10 and 22, Guan and Liu ‘158 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, 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).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6, and 15-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WAYNE CAI whose telephone number is (571)272-7798. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 7:00 AM-5:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KATHY WANG-HURST can be reached on (571)270-5371. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Wayne H Cai/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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