DETAILED ACTION
This communication is response to the application filed 01/30/2024. Claims 1-20 are pending and presented 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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/30/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Regarding claims 1, 2, and 20, the terms “a feature of at least one feature according to a list of at list one list” was not described in the specification.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1, 2, and 20, the terms “determining a feature of at least one feature according to a list of at least one list” is vague and renders the claim indefinite. It is unclear from the claim language what the feature and the list are referring to. Thus, the claim language is unclear.
Regarding claims 3-19, they are rejected since they depend(s) on rejected base claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US 2025/0016756 to PAN et al. (hereafter Pan).
Regarding claim 1, Pan discloses a method (see Pan, Fig 2) comprising:
determining, at an apparatus, a feature of at least one feature according to a list of at least one list (see Pan, ¶ 0073: the foregoing waveform switching may refer to switching between the CP-OFDM waveform and the DFT-s-OFDM waveform. In some embodiments, in a case that there is another type of waveform, the foregoing waveform switching may also refer to switching a current waveform to a target waveform; ¶ 0091: one-bit signaling is used to indicate whether to simultaneously switch to the DFT-s-OFDM waveform or to the CP-OFDM waveform) based on:
a number of bits (N) (see Pan, ¶ 0130 and ¶ 0147: N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell; ¶ 0101: Four bits may be introduced, namely b0, b1, b2, and b3, which respectively indicate whether waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of a cell in the G0/G1/G2/G3; ¶ 0147:),
the at least one list of at least one waveform dependent field (see Pan, ¶ 0087: the first indication information may include a plurality of bits, and each bit corresponds to indicating whether a cell performs DWS),
one or more bits of at least one waveform dependent field of downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling an uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0068: A terminal receives first DCI from a network device, where the first DCI is used to schedule physical channels of a plurality of cells; ¶ 0130: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell),
an indication that dynamic waveform switching (DWS) is utilized of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0072: dynamic waveform switching (DWS) is performed as instructed by the first DCI. Therefore, the foregoing waveform switching performed according to the preset rule may also be referred to as DWS; ¶ 0087: the first indication information may include a plurality of bits, and each bit corresponds to indicating whether a cell performs DWS; ¶ 0095: DWS occurs in each cell of the cell group, so that there is independent waveform switching between a plurality of PUSCHs scheduled by the DCI in the cell group), and
a waveform indicated by the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling an uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0070: The terminal uses pre-configured waveforms of the physical channels of the plurality of cells); and
causing transmission, at the apparatus, of an UL transmission according to the feature (see Pan, ¶ 0065: a UE has a capability of sending multi-stream data in a CP-OFDM waveform, and a network tends to configure the UE to be in a CP-OFDM waveform for a PUSCH transmission; ¶ 0211: the radio frequency unit 501 may send uplink data to the network side device).
Regarding claim 2, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 1. Although phrased as an apparatus claim, the claim is nevertheless simple repetitions of the subject matter of claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determining comprises: making, based on the indication that dynamic waveform switching (DWS) is utilized being included in the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission, a determination whether the one or more bits of at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission are greater than or equal in number to the number of bits (N) (see Pan, ¶ 0130: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell. The N bits here may correspond to a Least Significant Bit (LSB) to a Most Significant Bit (MSB) in an order of increasing cell ID. For example, a four-bit field b.sub.3b2b.sub.1b.sub.0 is used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on PUSCHs of four cells (respectively PCI 3, PCI 2, PCI 1, PCI 0, meeting PCI 3>PCI 2>PCI 1>PCI 0); ¶ 0147: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed on each cell. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells belong to a same TAG, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell. The N bits here may correspond to an LSB to an MSB in an order of increasing cell ID), the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) matching one or more of the at least one waveform dependent field of the list of the at least one list, the list associated with the waveform indicated by the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0148: DWS is determined by a waveform of a specific cell in the cell group that belongs to the same TAG. In a case that a waveform configured for the first cell in the cell group is different from the waveform of the of the specific cell, DWS is performed on the PUSCH of the first cell; otherwise, DWS is not performed. This is to ensure that PUSCHs of all the cells in the group have a same waveform); and
determining, based on the determination, the feature of the at least one feature based on indication information indicated by the one or more bits of the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0077: in a case that the terminal receives DCI for scheduling the physical channels of the plurality of cells, the terminal switches, based on an indication carried in the DCI, the waveforms of the physical channels of the plurality of cells according to the preset rule associated with the attribute of the plurality of cells, to implement dynamic waveform switching, thereby effectively ensuring transmission performance of a UE; ¶ 0095: DWS occurs in each cell of the cell group, so that there is independent waveform switching between a plurality of PUSCHs scheduled by the DCI in the cell group. During specific implementation, one bit is used in the first indication information to indicate switching for each cell, or an indication bit is jointly encoded with TDRA, FDRA, or the like).
Regarding claim 4, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determining the feature of at least one feature according to a list evaluates the list in a sequential order to determine the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) matching one or more of the at least one waveform dependent field of the list of the at least one list (see Pan, ¶ 0145: A plurality of PUSCHs scheduled by DCI are PUSCHs on a multi-cell, and the multi-cell includes one or more groups of multi-cells, where each group of multi-cells belongs to a same timing advance group (TAG), and the group of multi-cell PUSCHs scheduled by the single piece of DCI uses a same waveform).
Regarding claim 5, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the sequential order begins with one of the following: a first waveform dependent field of the list; and a last waveform dependent field of the list (see Pan, ¶ 0147: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed on each cell. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells belong to a same TAG, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell. The N bits here may correspond to an LSB to an MSB in an order of increasing cell ID).
Regarding claim 6, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the waveform indicated by the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission indicates discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (see Pan, ¶ 0029: USCH scheduled by Downlink Control Information (DCI) 0_0 is an MSG3 PUSCH transmission, in which a Discrete Fourier Transform-Spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM) waveform is used; ¶ 0091: DWS may be performed on an entire cell group. For example, for each cell group, one-bit signaling is used to indicate whether to simultaneously switch to the DFT-s-OFDM waveform or to the CP-OFDM waveform; ¶ 0123: if types of waveforms include not only CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM, but also another type, a bit used to indicate a specific target waveform may be added to the DCI. In some embodiments, the bit may be jointly encoded with other information in the DCI, so as to reduce the signaling overheads required to support dynamic waveform switching).
Regarding claim 8, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determining is further based on indication information indicated by the one or more bits of the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0068: A terminal receives first DCI from a network device, where the first DCI is used to schedule physical channels of a plurality of cells; ¶ 0076: bits that are in a DCI format and that are used to indicate DWS may be used to indicate related information about multi-cell physical channel scheduling; ¶ 0130: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell).
Regarding claim 9, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determining the feature of at least one feature associated with a list is further based on indication information comprising a value indicated by the one or more bits of the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0068: A terminal receives first DCI from a network device, where the first DCI is used to schedule physical channels of a plurality of cells; ¶ 0076: bits that are in a DCI format and that are used to indicate DWS may be used to indicate related information about multi-cell physical channel scheduling; ¶ 0130: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell).
Regarding claim 11, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the one or more bits in the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission comprise one of the following: one or more most significant bits in the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission, and one or more least significant bits in the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0130: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell. The N bits here may correspond to a Least Significant Bit (LSB) to a Most Significant Bit (MSB) in an order of increasing cell ID).
Regarding claim 12, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one list of the at least one waveform dependent field identifies one or more bits of the at least one waveform dependent field of the at least list (see Pan, ¶ 0087: DWS configuration occurs in each cell of the cell group, and a network ensures that there is no different waveform between a plurality of PUSCHs scheduled by the first DCI in the cell group. During specific implementation, the first indication information may include a plurality of bits, and each bit corresponds to indicating whether a cell performs DWS; ¶ 0091: DWS may be performed on an entire cell group. For example, for each cell group, one-bit signaling is used to indicate whether to simultaneously switch to the DFT-s-OFDM waveform or to the CP-OFDM waveform; ¶ 0101: Four bits may be introduced, namely b0, b1, b2, and b3, which respectively indicate whether waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of a cell in the G0/G1/G2/G3. If waveform switching is performed on each group (a corresponding bit is set to 1), it can be considered that a waveform of a PUSCH of a non-reference cell in the group is switched to a waveform of a PUSCH of a reference cell in the group).
Regarding claim 13, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) is in the at least one list of the at least one waveform dependent field (see Pan, ¶ 0123: if types of waveforms include not only CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM, but also another type, a bit used to indicate a specific target waveform may be added to the DCI. In some embodiments, the bit may be jointly encoded with other information in the DCI, so as to reduce the signaling overheads required to support dynamic waveform switching; ¶ 0130: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell. The N bits here may correspond to a Least Significant Bit (LSB) to a Most Significant Bit (MSB) in an order of increasing cell ID. For example, a four-bit field b3b2b1b0 is used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on PUSCHs of four cells (respectively PCI 3, PCI 2, PCI 1, PCI 0, meeting PCI 3>PCI 2>PCI 1>PCI 0)).
Regarding claim 14, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one processor and the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, are further configured to:
receive the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission, wherein the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission comprises the indication that dynamic waveform switching (DWS) is utilized and the indication information indicated by the one or more bits of the at least one waveform dependent field of the second downlink control information (DCI) (see Pan, ¶ 0009: in a case that the first DCI carries first indication information, switch based on the first indication information, waveforms of the physical channels of the plurality of cells according to a preset rule, where the preset rule is associated with an attribute of the plurality of cells; ¶ 0072: dynamic waveform switching (DWS) is performed as instructed by the first DCI. Therefore, the foregoing waveform switching performed according to the preset rule may also be referred to as DWS; ¶ 0087: the first indication information may include a plurality of bits, and each bit corresponds to indicating whether a cell performs DWS; ¶ 0095: DWS occurs in each cell of the cell group, so that there is independent waveform switching between a plurality of PUSCHs scheduled by the DCI in the cell group), and the waveform indicated by the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling an uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0070: The terminal uses pre-configured waveforms of the physical channels of the plurality of cells).
Regarding claim 15, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the uplink (UL) transmission comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUSCH) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0065: a UE has a capability of sending multi-stream data in a CP-OFDM waveform, and a network tends to configure the UE to be in a CP-OFDM waveform for a PUSCH transmission).
Regarding claim 16, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one processor and the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, are further configured to determine the number of bits and the at least one list of the at least one waveform dependent field (see Pan, ¶ 0130: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell).
Regarding claim 17, Pan discloses the wherein the at least one processor and the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, are further configured to determine an indication on whether dynamic waveform switching is applied or not applied (see Pan, ¶ 0069: In a case that the first DCI carries first indication information, the terminal switches, based on the first indication information, waveforms of the physical channels of the plurality of cells according to a preset rule; ¶ 0072: The waveform switching manner described in step 201 may be understood that dynamic waveform switching (DWS) is performed as instructed by the first DCI. Therefore, the foregoing waveform switching performed according to the preset rule may also be referred to as DWS; ¶ 0130: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed).
Regarding claim 18, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one processor and the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, are further configured to determine, via at least one of the following:
radio resource control (RRC) configuration, and other downlink control information (DCI) (see Pan, ¶ 0090: configured by RRC signaling, MAC signaling, and DCI signaling; ¶ 0133: a PCI of the specific cell is configured by using RRC signaling on a BWP of a cell in which scheduling DCI is located, where a PUSCH waveform corresponding to the PCI is a reference waveform), at least one of following:
the number of bits, and the at least one list of at least one waveform dependent (see Pan, ¶ 0087: the first indication information may include a plurality of bits, and each bit corresponds to indicating whether a cell performs DWS; ¶ 0101: Different cell groups use different bands, and each group has four cells that use a same band. Four bits may be introduced, namely b0, b1, b2, and b3, which respectively indicate whether waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of a cell in the G0/G1/G2/G3; ¶ 0130: N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell).
Regarding claim 19, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one processor and the at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, are further configured to: determine the number of bits (N) and the at least one list of the at least one waveform dependent field for the downlink control information (DCI), the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission (see Pan, ¶ 0130: one bit is used to indicate whether DWS is performed. It is assumed that one piece of DCI can schedule PUSCHs of up to N cells, and N bits may be used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on a PUSCH of each cell. The N bits here may correspond to a Least Significant Bit (LSB) to a Most Significant Bit (MSB) in an order of increasing cell ID. For example, a four-bit field b.sub.3b2b.sub.1b.sub.0 is used to indicate whether dynamic waveform switching is performed on PUSCHs of four cells (respectively PCI 3, PCI 2, PCI 1, PCI 0, meeting PCI 3>PCI 2>PCI 1>PCI 0)), wherein the one or more bits of the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) are to be used for indicating the feature of at least one feature when the downlink control information (DCI) indicates dynamic waveform switching (DWS) is utilized, wherein the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) is identified in list of the at least one list of the at least one waveform dependent field (see Pan, ¶ 0133: a PCI of the specific cell is configured by using RRC signaling on a BWP of a cell in which scheduling DCI is located, where a PUSCH waveform corresponding to the PCI is a reference waveform. If waveforms of all other cells corresponding to the serving cell are different from the PUSCH waveform of the serving cell, DWS needs to be performed; ¶ 0147).
Regarding claim 20, it is rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 1 and 14. Although phrased as an apparatus claim, the claim is nevertheless simple repetitions of the subject matter of claims 1 and 14.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 7, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan in view of US 2024/0284451 to PARK et al. (hereafter Park).
Regarding claim 7, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more bits in the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission comprise one or more padded bits in the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission.
However, Park discloses wherein the one or more bits in the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission comprise one or more padded bits in the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission (see Park, ¶ 0178: The remaining bits may have a reserved value, may be padded with a value of 0 or may be ignored. For example, in DCI indicating a waveform change from CP-OFDM to DFT-s-OFDM, a TPMI and TRI field may have a 6-bit size based on a configuration for CP-OFDM. Based on a configuration for DFT-s-OFDM, only 4 bits of a TPMI and TRI field are meaningful. Accordingly, it may be assumed that uplink transmission is performed based on 4 bits among 6 bits of a TPMI and TRI field (a MSB or a LSB) and the remaining 2 bits are ignored or zero-padded).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Park and incorporate it into the system of Pan to achieve improved uplink transmission based on plurality of waveform-related configurations (see Park, ¶ 0005).
Regarding claim 10, Pan discloses the apparatus according to claim 2, but does not explicitly disclose wherein the determining the feature of at least one feature associated with a list is further based on a position in the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission of the one or more bits of the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission.
However, Park discloses wherein the determining the feature of at least one feature associated with a list is further based on a position in the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission of the one or more bits of the at least one waveform dependent field of the downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling the uplink (UL) transmission (see Park, ¶ 0178: it may be assumed that a size of a specific field in DCI based on a configuration for a source waveform is larger than a size of a specific field in DCI based on a configuration for a target waveform. In this case, among the total number of bits in the specific field, only the number of some bits corresponding to a field size based on a configuration for a target waveform may be interpreted and applied. The number of some bits may be positioned in the most significant bit (MSB) or the least significant bit (LSB) of the total number of bits. The remaining bits may have a reserved value, may be padded with a value of 0 or may be ignored. For example, in DCI indicating a waveform change from CP-OFDM to DFT-s-OFDM, a TPMI and TRI field may have a 6-bit size based on a configuration for CP-OFDM. Based on a configuration for DFT-s-OFDM, only 4 bits of a TPMI and TRI field are meaningful. Accordingly, it may be assumed that uplink transmission is performed based on 4 bits among 6 bits of a TPMI and TRI field (a MSB or a LSB) and the remaining 2 bits are ignored or zero-padded).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement the above teaching as taught by Park and incorporate it into the system of Pan to achieve improved uplink transmission based on plurality of waveform-related configurations (see Park, ¶ 0005).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2024/0155641 TAHERZADEH et al. discloses a method for waveform switching, a device, and a chip. The method includes: The terminal receives a first downlink control information (DCI) from a network device, where the first DCI is used to schedule physical channels of a plurality of cells; and the terminal uses pre-configured waveforms of the physical channels of the plurality of cells, where when the first DCI is used to schedule the physical channels of the plurality of cells, the terminal does not support dynamic waveform switching.
US 2025/0227697 to WU et al. discloses transmitting, by a network-side device, a first DCI to a terminal, wherein the first DCI is used to schedule a first PUSCH, the terminal is a terminal with dynamic waveform switching capability, and the dynamic waveform switching capability is enabled; and determining, by the network-side device, a reception position of the first PUSCH according to a rule corresponding to a waveform used by the first PUSCH.
US 2024/0349278 to Gu discloses receiving, by a terminal, first signaling sent by the network-side device. The first signaling includes at least one of the following dynamic waveform switch enabling indication information, used for enabling dynamic waveform switch; or waveform indication information, used for indicating a switched waveform.
US 2022/0210772 to LIU et al. discloses control information sending methods in a wireless communications system. In one example waveform control information sending method, a network device obtains control information that includes uplink transmission waveform indication information, and sends the control information to a terminal. After receiving the control information, the terminal determines, based on the control information, a waveform used to send uplink data.
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/RASHEED GIDADO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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