DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 25 January 2024. Claims 1-30 are now pending in the present application. This action is made Non-Final.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on
25 January 2024
is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
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Claims 1-30 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-30 of U.S. Patent No. 11,901,982 B2 (Ly et al.; application no. 17/450,448; Applicant Related Art; hereinafter ARA ‘982). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both the instant application and the US patent ARA ‘982 claim the same subject matter. The common subject matter is uplink spatial filter and precoder for joint channel estimation across physical uplink shared channels.
Regarding claims 1, 9, 18, and 25, ARA ‘982 discloses a method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a base station, an indication to transmit a set of physical uplink shared channels (PUSCHs), each PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs comprising a corresponding demodulation reference signal (DMRS); receiving, from the base station, for a first PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs, a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) and for a second PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs, a second SRI; and transmitting, to the base station, the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs comprising the corresponding DMRS, wherein the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH maintain phase continuity responsive to the first SRI being equal to the second SRI { (drawn to features - see claims 1, 11, 18, & 27, respectively) }.
Regarding claims 2, 10, 19, and 26, ARA ‘982 discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SRI for the second PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs indicates a different SRS resource than the first SRS resource, and wherein the second PUSCH is transmitted based on the first SRS resource { (drawn to features - see claims 3 & 14) }.
Regarding claim 3, 11, 20, and 27, ARA ‘982 discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH do not maintain phase continuity responsive to the first PUSCH and the second PUSCH being transmitted based on a first SRI of 0 and a second SRI of 0 { (drawn to features - see claims 3, 13, & 19) }.
Regarding claims 4, 12, 21, and 28, ARA ‘982 discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, to the base station, the first and second SRS resources at a single transmit occasion { (drawn to features - see claims 1 & 11) }.
Regarding claim 5 and 14 ARA ‘982 discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the SRI for each PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs indicates the first SRS resource, wherein each PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs is transmitted based on its respective SRI, and wherein each SRI for the set of PUSCHs corresponds to a same SRS resource transmission occasion { (drawn to features - see claim 2 & 14) }.
Regarding claim 6, ARA ‘982 discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the UE transmits the set of PUSCHs based on at least one of a codebook transmission or a non-codebook transmission { (drawn to features - see claims 4 & 21) }.
Regarding claims 7 and 15, ARA ‘982 discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the base station, for each PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs, a same transmission rank indicator (TRI) and a same transmit precoder matrix indicator (TPMI), wherein each PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs is transmitted based on its respective TRI and TPMI { (drawn to features - see claims 7, 15, & 24) }.
Regarding claims 8, 16, 24, and 30, ARA ‘982 discloses the method of claim 7, further comprising: receiving, from the base station, a TRI and a TPMI for a third PUSCH from the base station, the TRI for the third PUSCH indicating a different rank than the same rank or the TPMI for the third PUSCH indicating a different transmit precoder matrix than the same transmit precoder matrix, wherein the set of PUSCHs does not comprise the third PUSCH, and wherein the indication is to transmit the third PUSCH and the set of PUSCHs; and transmitting, to the base station, the third PUSCH based on the different rank or the different transmit precoder matrix, wherein a DMRS of the third PUSCH is not included in the DMRSs of PUSCHs in the set of PUSCHs { (drawn to features - see claims 6, 10, 16, 26, & 30) }.
Regarding claim 13, ARA ‘982 discloses the method of claim 9, further comprising: performing joint channel estimation for the set of PUSCHs based on the DMRS comprised in the set of the PUSCHs { (drawn to features - see claims 28 & 12) }.
Regarding claims 17 and 22, ARA ‘982 discloses the method of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, for each PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs, a transmission rank indicator (TRI) and a transmit precoder matrix indicator (TPMI), wherein each PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs is received based on its respective TRI and TPMI, wherein each TRI indicates a same rank, and wherein transmit precoder matrices indicated by each TPMI of the TPMIs have a same mapping between antenna port and transmission layer { (drawn to features - see claims 7, 17, & 24) }.
Regarding claims 23 and 29, ARA ‘982 discloses the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, from the base station, for each PUSCH of the set of PUSCHs, a transmission rank indicator (TRI) and a transmit precoder matrix indicator (TPMI), wherein: the TRI for the first PUSCH indicates a first transmission rank, the TPMI for the first PUSCH indicates a first transmit precoder matrix, the TRI for a second PUSCH indicates a second transmission rank different from the first transmission rank or the TPMI for the second PUSCH indicates a second transmit precoder matrix different from the first transmit precoder matrix, and the second PUSCH is transmitted based on the first transmission rank and the first transmit precoder matrix { (drawn to features - see claims 8, 25, & 29) }.
Conclusion
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/WILLIE J DANIEL JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
WJD,Jr
09 January 2026