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 on 6/05/26 have been fully considered. However, they are moot due to new ground rejection shown below.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-7, 10-12, 15-16, 18-21, 24-26 and 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 20220247468 A1) in view of Park2 (US 20150003271 A1).
For claim 1, Huang discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (FIGs. 1-18 and the associated text, such as UE-115-c in FIG. 4), comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory, the at least one processor (the memory and processor of the UE) is configured to:
receive, from a network node (FIGs. 1-18 and the associated text, such as BS 105-d in FIG. 4), a channel state information (CSI) configuration, wherein the CSI configuration is indicative of a format associated with at least one CSI report (FIG. 4, step 410 in view of “[0156] At 410, UE 115-c may receive, from base station 105-d, a CSI reporting configuration for full duplex CSI reporting (e.g., for transmitting a full duplex CSI report). …”; note that CSI reporting configuration specifies the format of the CSI report);
receive multiple channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmissions during at least one CSI-RS occasion, wherein the multiple CSI-RS transmissions include a CSI- RS from each logically combined set of antenna modules of the network node (FIGs. 1-18 and the associated text, such as FIG. 4, step 415 in view of “[0158] At 415, UE 115-c may monitor for a CSI-RS based on the CSI reporting configuration.” and “[0159] At 420, UE 115-c may calculate full duplex CSI based on the CSI reporting configuration and the monitoring, where the full duplex CSI report indicates the calculated full duplex CSI. … the CSI reporting configuration may indicate the uplink transmission type utilizes a first uplink transmission power of a set of different uplink transmission powers, a first uplink multiple antenna scheme of a set of different multiple antenna schemes, or both.”); and
provide, for the network node, the at least one CSI report based on the format associated with the at least one CSI report and based on the CSI-RS (FIGs. 1-18 and the associated text, such as FIG. 4, steps 420 and 425 in view of “[0159] At 420, UE 115-c may calculate full duplex CSI based on the CSI reporting configuration and the monitoring, where the full duplex CSI report indicates the calculated full duplex CSI. In some cases, UE 115-c may measure a downlink channel status based on a first number of transmit antennas and a second number of receive antennas of UE 115-c, determining a self-interference metric using the first number of transmit antennas and the second number of receive antennas, ...” and “[0161] At 425, UE 115-c may transmit the full duplex CSI report that includes uplink bandwidth information based on the monitoring”), wherein the at least one CSI report is indicative a relative phase offset associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions during the at least one CSI-RS occasion ([0102] “… The adjustment of signals communicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting device or a receiving device applying certain amplitude and phase offsets to signals carried via each of the antenna elements associated with the device. …”).
Huang is silent but Park2, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses wherein the at least one CSI report is indicative of at least one of a relative timing offset associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions or a relative phase offset associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions during the at least one CSI-RS occasion (FIGs. 8-9, 12 and 15 the associated text, such as “[0156] … Similarly to a method of using multiple CSI-RS configurations, which will be described later, the UE can generate/calculate CSI feedback information for one CSI-RS configuration by processing channel measurement results with respect to a plurality of sub-resources according to joint-aggregation.” and [0157] … the timing offset value (i.e. .DELTA.n.sub.s) used for CSI-RS sequence generation and the parameter (i.e. resourceConfig) indicating an RE position in which a CSI-RS is present per CSI-RS configuration (or CSI-RS configuration group (i.e. a group of a plurality of CSI-RS configurations)), antenna port (or antenna port group), and/or subframe set have been described in the aforementioned examples. …”; note that “phase offset” as an antenna parameter of CSI report in [0102] of Huang). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Park2 above to the CSI report by Huang to yield a predictable result of determining time offset for synchronization.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Huang and Park2 for the benefit of improving synchronization ([0157] of Park2).
Independent claim 15 is rejected because it is the same method
For claim 15, Huang discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node (FIGs. 1-18 and the associated text, base stations 105, such as FIG. 4, step 410 base station 105-d,), comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory (the memory and processor of the base station), the at least one processor is configured to:
provide, for a user equipment (UE), a channel state information (CSI) configuration, wherein the CSI configuration is indicative of a format associated with at least one CSI report (FIGs. 1-18 and the associated text, such as FIG. 4, step 410 in view of “[0156] At 410, UE 115-c may receive, from base station 105-d, a CSI reporting configuration for full duplex CSI reporting (e.g., for transmitting a full duplex CSI report). …”; note that CSI reporting configuration specifies the format of the CSI report);
provide, for the UE, multiple channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmissions during at least one CSI-RS occasion (FIGs. 1-18 and the associated text, such as FIG. 4, steps 420 and 425 in view of “[0159] At 420, UE 115-c may calculate full duplex CSI based on the CSI reporting configuration and the monitoring, where the full duplex CSI report indicates the calculated full duplex CSI. In some cases, UE 115-c may measure a downlink channel status based on a first number of transmit antennas and a second number of receive antennas of UE 115-c, determining a self-interference metric using the first number of transmit antennas and the second number of receive antennas, ...” and “[0161] At 425, UE 115-c may transmit the full duplex CSI report that includes uplink bandwidth information based on the monitoring”), wherein the at least one CSI report is indicative a relative phase offset associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions during the at least one CSI-RS occasion ([0102] “… The adjustment of signals communicated via the antenna elements may include a transmitting device or a receiving device applying certain amplitude and phase offsets to signals carried via each of the antenna elements associated with the device. …”).
Huang is silent but Park2, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses wherein the at least one CSI report is indicative of at least one of a relative timing offset associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions or a relative phase offset associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions during the at least one CSI-RS occasion (FIGs. 8-9, 12 and 15 the associated text, such as “[0156] … Similarly to a method of using multiple CSI-RS configurations, which will be described later, the UE can generate/calculate CSI feedback information for one CSI-RS configuration by processing channel measurement results with respect to a plurality of sub-resources according to joint-aggregation.” and [0157] … the timing offset value (i.e. .DELTA.n.sub.s) used for CSI-RS sequence generation and the parameter (i.e. resourceConfig) indicating an RE position in which a CSI-RS is present per CSI-RS configuration (or CSI-RS configuration group (i.e. a group of a plurality of CSI-RS configurations)), antenna port (or antenna port group), and/or subframe set have been described in the aforementioned examples. …”; note that “phase offset” as an antenna parameter of CSI report in [0102] of Huang). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Park2 above to the CSI report by Huang to yield a predictable result of determining time offset for synchronization.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine Huang and Park2 for the benefit of improving synchronization ([0157] of Park2).
Claim 29 is rejected because it is a method performed by the apparatus of claim 1 and has the same subject matter.
Claim 30 is rejected because it is a method performed by the apparatus of claim 15 and has the same subject matter.
As to claims 2 and 16, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 1 and 15, Huang further discloses:
receive, from the network node, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) from the logically combined set of antenna modules (“[0127] Accordingly, the full duplex-capable UE 115 may calculate and report the self-full duplex mode CSI to the base station 105 according to the received configuration (e.g., together with or separate from a non-self-full duplex mode CSI). The base station 105 may then determine a radio resource allocation and transport format for downlink data transfer (e.g., in a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)) and for uplink data transfer (e.g., in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) under the self-full duplex mode. … ”), wherein at least one of a timing offset or a phase offset between the multiple antenna modules of the logically combined set of antenna modules is based on the at least one CSI report ([0157] … the timing offset value (i.e. .DELTA.n.sub.s) used for CSI-RS sequence generation and the parameter (i.e. resourceConfig) indicating an RE position in which a CSI-RS is present per CSI-RS configuration (or CSI-RS configuration group (i.e. a group of a plurality of CSI-RS configurations)), antenna port (or antenna port group), and/or subframe set have been described in the aforementioned examples. …”); and
receive, from the network node, an indication of the at least one of the timing offset, the phase offset (as disclosed by the parent claims), or an index to a data structure that comprises at least one of discrete timing or phase offset values associated with a radio resource control (RRC) procedure ( “[0062] In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, transmitting the CSI reporting configuration may include operations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting RRC signaling including the CSI reporting configuration. …”).
As to claims 4 and 18, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 1 and 15, Huang further discloses:
wherein the at least one CSI report is further indicative of a set of ports associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions (FIGs. 1-18 and the associated text, such as FIG. 4, steps 420 and 425 in view of “[0159] At 420, UE 115-c may calculate full duplex CSI based on the CSI reporting configuration and the monitoring, where the full duplex CSI report indicates the calculated full duplex CSI. In some cases, UE 115-c may measure a downlink channel status based on a first number of transmit antennas and a second number of receive antennas of UE 115-c, determining a self-interference metric using the first number of transmit antennas and the second number of receive antennas, ...” in view of the parent claims).
As to claims 5 and 19, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 1 and 15, further discloses:
wherein the at least one CSI-RS occasion includes a first CSI-RS occasion and a second CSI-RS occasion (suggested by Huang: “[0081] … a base station may transmit downlink reference signals to the UE for the UE to measure and for which to report the measurements (e.g., channel state information (CSI) for CSI reference signals (CSI-RSs)), where the base station uses the report of the measurements to schedule the simultaneous transmission and reception such that the self-interference has less impact …”);
wherein the CSI configuration is indicative of at least four ports (Park2: “[0105] In the example of FIG. 8, … it is assumed that 4 of the 8 CSI-RS ports correspond to the eNB …”);
wherein to receive the multiple CSI-RS transmissions during the at least one CSI-RS occasion, the at least one processor is configured to:
receive a first CSI-RS from a first pair of antennas of the network node during the first CSI-RS occasion (this is an obvious try according to 2143(E) or a design choice according to 2143(F), hence is an obvious to OOSA),
receive a second CSI-RS from a second pair of antennas of the network node during the second CSI-RS occasion, wherein the second pair of antennas is different from the first pair of antennas (this is an obvious try according to 2143(E) or a design choice according to 2143(F), hence is an obvious to OOSA), and
measure at least one of the relative timing offset associated with the CSI-RS or the relative phase offset associated with the first CSI-RS and the second CSI-RS (this is an obvious try according to 2143(E) or a design choice according to 2143(F) in view of the parent claim, hence is an obvious to OOSA)).
The motivation of combing Huang and Park2 is the same as stated in the parent claims.
As to claims 6 and 20, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 5 and 19, Huang further discloses:
wherein the first CSI-RS and the second CSI-RS comprise additional instances of the CSI-RS, wherein each of the additional instances of the CSI-RS correspond to pairs of different antenna modules of the network node, wherein the at least one CSI report includes a second number of CSI reports corresponding to each of the additional instances of the CSI-RS (FIGs. 1-18 and the associated text, such as FIG. 4, steps 420 and 425 in view of “[0159] At 420, UE 115-c may calculate full duplex CSI based on the CSI reporting configuration and the monitoring, where the full duplex CSI report indicates the calculated full duplex CSI. In some cases, UE 115-c may measure a downlink channel status based on a first number of transmit antennas and a second number of receive antennas of UE 115-c, determining a self-interference metric using the first number of transmit antennas and the second number of receive antennas, ...” in view of the parent claims in combined with 2143(E) or 2143(F)).
As to claims 7 and 21, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 5 and 19, further discloses:
wherein the CSI configuration is indicative of a number of CSI-RS ports associated with the UE (Park2: “[0105] In the example of FIG. 8, … it is assumed that 4 of the 8 CSI-RS ports correspond to the eNB …” in view of design choice by 2143(F)); and
wherein the second CSI-RS occasion is subsequent to the first CSI-RS occasion based on the number of CSI-RS ports associated with the UE being less than a number of antenna ports of the logically combined set of antenna modules of the network node (this is a design choice according to 2143(F)), or
wherein the second CSI-RS occasion is a same CSI-RS occasion as the first CSI-RS occasion (this is an obvious try according to 2143(E) or by design choice according to 2143(F)).
As to claims 10 and 24, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 5 and 19, Huang further discloses:
wherein the at least one CSI report is based on at least four ports for the multiple CSI-RS transmissions or the relative phase offset associated with the first CSI-RS and the second CSI-RS, the at least one processor is configured to measure on each other port of the at least four ports than the one port of the at least four ports (FIG 9A shows 4 CSI-RS ports for the multiple CSI-RS transmissions), wherein one port of the at least four ports is a measurement reference port, wherein to measure at least one of the relative timing offset associated with the CSI-RS (Park2: “[0105] In the example of FIG. 8, … it is assumed that 4 of the 8 CSI-RS ports correspond to the eNB …” in view of design choice by 2143(F)).
As to claims 11 and 25, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 1 and 15, Huang further discloses:
wherein a number of ports associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions is at least two ports that include a first pair of ports and a second pair of ports, wherein the at least one CSI occasion includes a first CSI occasion and a second CSI occasion (Park2: “[0105] In the example of FIG. 8, … it is assumed that 4 of the 8 CSI-RS ports correspond to the eNB …” in view of design choice by 2143(F));
wherein to receive the multiple CSI-RS transmissions during the at least one CSI-RS occasion, the at least one processor is configured to:
receive a first instance of the CSI-RS, by the first pair of ports of the number of ports and from a first pair of antennas of the network node, during the first CSI occasion (this is obvious an obvious try according to 2143(E) or a design choice according to 2143(F)), and
receive a second instance of the CSI-RS, by the second pair of ports of the number of ports and from a second pair of antennas of the network node, during the second CSI occasion subsequent to the first CSI occasion (this is an obvious try according to 2143(E) or by design choice according to 2143(F)).
As to claims 12 and 26, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 11 and 25, further discloses:
wherein the at least one CSI report includes at least two CSI reports, wherein the at least two CSI reports are respectively indicative of the relative timing offset associated with the CSI-RS at the first instance and at the second instance (FIG. 9A shows 4 CSI-RS ports, which may be divided into two pairs of antennas with each having two ports, according to 2143(E) with an obvious try, or according to 2143(F) with design choice); or
wherein the at least two ports are associated with different pairs of antennas included in a same antenna module of the network node (this is an obvious try according obvious try by 2143(E), or design choice by 2143(F)).
Claims 3, 14, 17 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 20200351818 A1) in view of Park2 (US 20150003271 A1), further in view of PAZ (US 20230309095 A1). As to claims 3 and 17, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 2 and 16, and is silent but PAZ, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses: wherein the indication is comprised in a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (“[0081] … MAC-CE 712 received over PDSCH 710 …”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of PAZ above to the CSI reports by Huang in view of Park2 to yield a predictable result of CB mapping.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application for the benefit of CB mapping ([0081] of PAZ).
As to claims 14 and 28, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 1 and 15, and is silent but PAZ, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses:
wherein the at least one CSI report is further indicative of at least one of a delay spread associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions or a set of ports associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions (“[0086] In response to the indicator 630 from the UE … The network may consider additional information such as: a scheduling scenario, CSI based on a CSI report or SRS, operational MCS and RI, channel delay spread, Doppler spread, SNR measurements, and/or UE speed. Some of these considerations may involve additional information provided by the UE 104. The base station 102 may transmit a notification 760 of a new dynamic CB mapping type. …”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of PAZ above to the CSI reports by Huang in view of Park2 to yield a predictable result of providing base station signaling.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application for the benefit of providing dynamic mapping ([0086] of PAZ).
Claims 8-9, 13, 22-23 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang (US 20200351818 A1) in view of Park2 (US 20150003271 A1), further in view of Eyuboglu (US 11140695 B1).
As to claims 8 and 22, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 5 and 19, Huang further discloses:
wherein the at least one CSI report is based on two layers and on four ports for the multiple CSI-RS transmissions (FIG 9A shows 4 CSI-RS ports, determining the first CSI-RS occasion and the second CSI-RS occasion from 4 CSI-RS ports by design choice according to 2143(F); and “… Information on a CSI-RS configuration can be defined as an information element (IE) CSI-RS-Config and provided to a UE through higher layer (e.g. radio resource control (RRC) layer) signaling. …” or “[0115] …. A CSI-RS resource may be configured in a cell-specific way such as by common RRC signaling, or in a wireless device-specific way such as by dedicated RRC signaling and/or L1/L2 signaling. …”);),
Huang in view of Park2 is silent but Eyuboglu, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses: wherein the two layers are associated with a vertical polarization and a horizontal polarization (c23/l5-7, “…The antenna elements may use a single (e.g., vertical) polarization or they may use dual (vertical and horizontal) polarization. …”); or
wherein the at least one CSI report is indicative of an additional CSI metric associated with a precoding coefficient and the relative phase offset associated with the multiple CSI-RS transmissions (c62/l16-25, “…. CSI measurements include Channel Quality Indication (CQI), which the serving RF node uses to determine the data rate at which to serve the UE, Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI), which the serving RF node uses to determine the digital precoding matrix, Rank Indication (RI), which the serving RF node uses to determine the number of layers (5G NR currently supports up to 8 layers) to transmit to the UE in spatial multiplexing and CRI (CSI Resource Indicator), which the serving RF node uses to determine the preferred DL beam. …”; note that “precoding matrix” reads on precoding coefficient). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Eyuboglu above to the CSI reports by Huang in view of Park2 to yield a predictable result of obtaining desired Channel Quality Indication (CQI).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application for the benefit of obtaining desired Channel Quality Indication (CQI) (c62/l14-16 of Eyuboglu).
As to claims 9 and 23, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 5 and 19, Huang further discloses:
wherein the at least one CSI report is based on a single layer and on four ports for the multiple CSI-RS transmissions (FIG 9A shows 4 CSI-RS ports on the physical layer).
Huang in view of Park2 is silent but Eyuboglu, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses: wherein the single layer is associated with at least one of a vertical polarization, a horizontal polarization, or a circular polarization (c62/l16-25, “…. CSI measurements include Channel Quality Indication (CQI), which the serving RF node uses to determine the data rate at which to serve the UE, Precoding Matrix Indication (PMI), which the serving RF node uses to determine the digital precoding matrix, Rank Indication (RI), which the serving RF node uses to determine the number of layers (5G NR currently supports up to 8 layers) to transmit to the UE in spatial multiplexing and CRI (CSI Resource Indicator), which the serving RF node uses to determine the preferred DL beam. …”; note that “precoding matrix” reads on precoding coefficient). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Eyuboglu above to the CSI reports by Huang in view of Park2 to yield a predictable result of obtaining desired Channel Quality Indication (CQI).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application for the benefit of obtaining desired Channel Quality Indication (CQI) (c62/l14-16 of Eyuboglu).
As to claims 13 and 27, Huang in view of Park2 discloses claims 11 and 25, Huang further discloses:
wherein the at least one CSI report is based on two layers and on two ports for the CSI-RS, wherein the two layers are associated (“[0122] A wireless device, configured for operation in one or more BWPs of a cell, may be configured by one or more higher layers (e.g., RRC layer). …”); or
wherein the at least one CSI report is based on a single layer and on four ports for the multiple CSI-RS transmissions (FIG 9A shows 4 CSI-RS ports on the physical layer)).
Huang in view of Park2 is silent but Eyuboglu, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses: the one or two layers are associated with a vertical polarization and a horizontal polarization (c23/l5-7, “…The antenna elements may use a single (e.g., vertical) polarization or they may use dual (vertical and horizontal) polarization. …”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Eyuboglu above to the CSI reports by Huang in view of Park2 to yield a predictable result of obtaining desired Channel Quality Indication (CQI).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application for the benefit of obtaining desired Channel Quality Indication (CQI) (c62/l14-16 of Eyuboglu).
Conclusion
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/JIANYE WU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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