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 with respect to claim(s) 1, 19, 29 and 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 19, 29 and 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosseini et al. (US 2021/0044385, IDS Reference) in view of Cirik et al. (US 2023/0284230) in view of Ren et al. (US 2021/0099214).
Regarding claims 1 and 29, Hosseini et al. disclose a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (Figure 8 and paragraph 218, device 805 as UE 115), comprising:
one or more memories (Figure 8 and paragraph 223, memory 825 including code 830 to implement aspect of disclosure); and
one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories (Figure 8, processor 835 coupled to memory 830 via bus 840) and individually or collectively configured to:
receive one or more control messages (Figure 16 and paragraph 294, At 1605, the base station may transmit a configuration (e.g., an RRC configuration, a DCI indication separate from a downlink control message scheduling resources) configuring the UE) that indicate:
a quantity of a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets (Paragraph 133, the UE 115-a may be configured with multiple SRS resources (e.g., multiple sets of resources corresponding to a sounding reference signal; Paragraph 136, In some examples (e.g., for a non-codebook based PUSCH transmission mode), the UE 115-a may be configured with at most one SRS resource set, which may include, indicate, or otherwise refer to a set of one or more SRS resources), a quantity of one or more SRS resource indicator fields included in one or more control messages (Figure 16 and paragraph 294, At 1605, the base station may transmit a configuration…configuring the UE to interpret sounding reference signal resource indicators), and a set of parameters for multiple uplink shared channel messages (Paragraph 133, the UE 115-a may be configured with multiple SRS resources (e.g., multiple sets of resources corresponding to a sounding reference signal), where the usage of each SRS resource can be set by a configuration (e.g., an RRC configuration, a DCI indication) with various parameters such as “codebook based transmission,” “non-codebook based transmission,” “antenna switching,” “beam management,” or others);
receive a downlink control information message comprising downlink control information that schedules at least one uplink shared channel message, the downlink control information message including the one or more SRS resource indicator fields (Figure 16 and paragraph 295, At 1610, the base station may transmit, to a UE, a downlink control message (e.g., downlink control information, a PDCCH, an uplink grant) that schedules resources for transmitting repetitions of an uplink channel transmission, where the downlink control message includes a sounding reference signal resource indicator (e.g., an SRI));
interpret the one or more SRS resource indicator fields (Figure 16 and paragraph 296, At 1615, the base station may receive the repetitions of the uplink channel transmission from the UE according to a set of sounding reference signal resources indicated by the sounding reference signal resource indicator and the transmitted configuration; Paragraph 294, configuration…configuring the UE to interpret sounding reference signal resource indicators); and
transmit the at least one uplink shared channel message in accordance with interpreting the one or more SRS resource indicator fields (Figure 16 and paragraph 296, At 1615, the base station may receive the repetitions of the uplink channel transmission from the UE according to a set of sounding reference signal resources indicated by the sounding reference signal resource indicator and the transmitted configuration).
Hosseini et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Cirik et al.: wherein the plurality of SRS resource sets are configured for non-codebook usage (Cirik et al., Paragraph 290, The DCI may comprise the at least two fields, for example, based on the one or more configuration parameters indicating, for the plurality of SRS resource sets, “codebook. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate, for the plurality of SRS resource sets, for example, “non-codebook”. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate “non-codebook” for each SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hosseini et al. with the cited disclosure from Cirik et al. in order to allow SRS resource set selection by a UE (Cirik et al., Paragraph 152).
Hosseini et al. in view of Cirik et al. discuss maximum rank/maximum quantity of layers at paragraphs 142 and 153 (Hosseini et al.) but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Ren et al.: the one or more control messages indicating at least one maximum rank value that be associated with uplink shared channel transmissions from the UB, the at least one maximum rank value being based at least in part on a threshold quantity of rank values supported by the UE (Ren et al., Paragraph 106, …maximum quantity of uplink transmission layers (that is, a maximum quantity of supported transmission layers for a PUSCH (Maximum number of supported layers for PUSCH), which may be marked as L_max)…The maximum quantity of uplink transmission layers L_max may be configured by using RRC signaling), and interpreting based at least in part on a quantity of the at least one maximum rank value (Ren et al., Paragraph 106, after receiving the DCI, the terminal first determines a table based on a maximum quantity of uplink transmission layers…Then, the terminal determines, based on the quantity (N_SRS) of the configured SRS resources and the index carried in the SRI field, a table cell in the table, where a number in the table cell represents an SRI recommended by the network device, and a quantity of SRIs in the table cell represents a PUSCH rank).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hosseini et al. and Cirik et al. with the cited disclosure from Ren et al. in order to further perform non-codebook-based uplink transmission mode (Ren et al., Paragraph 104).
Regarding claims 19 and 30, Hosseini et al. disclose a network entity for wireless communication (Figure 9 and paragraph 268, device 1205 as base station 105), comprising:
one or more memories (Figure 12 and paragraph 273, memory 1230 storing code 1235 to perform disclosed functions); and
one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories (Figure 12, processor 1240 coupled to memory 1230 via bus 1250) and individually or collectively configured to:
transmit one or more control messages (Figure 16 and paragraph 294, At 1605, the base station may transmit a configuration (e.g., an RRC configuration, a DCI indication separate from a downlink control message scheduling resources) configuring the UE) that indicate:
a quantity of a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets (Paragraph 133, the UE 115-a may be configured with multiple SRS resources (e.g., multiple sets of resources corresponding to a sounding reference signal; Paragraph 136, In some examples (e.g., for a non-codebook based PUSCH transmission mode), the UE 115-a may be configured with at most one SRS resource set, which may include, indicate, or otherwise refer to a set of one or more SRS resources), a quantity of one or more SRS resource indicator fields included in one or more control messages (Figure 16 and paragraph 294, At 1605, the base station may transmit a configuration…configuring the UE to interpret sounding reference signal resource indicators), and a set of parameters for multiple uplink shared channel messages (Paragraph 133, the UE 115-a may be configured with multiple SRS resources (e.g., multiple sets of resources corresponding to a sounding reference signal), where the usage of each SRS resource can be set by a configuration (e.g., an RRC configuration, a DCI indication) with various parameters such as “codebook based transmission,” “non-codebook based transmission,” “antenna switching,” “beam management,” or others);
transmit a downlink control information message comprising downlink control information that schedules at least one uplink shared channel message, the downlink control information message including the one or more SRS resource indicator fields (Figure 16 and paragraph 295, At 1610, the base station may transmit, to a UE, a downlink control message (e.g., downlink control information, a PDCCH, an uplink grant) that schedules resources for transmitting repetitions of an uplink channel transmission, where the downlink control message includes a sounding reference signal resource indicator (e.g., an SRI)); and
receive the at least one uplink shared channel message in accordance with interpreting the one or more SRS resource indicator fields (Figure 16 and paragraph 296, At 1615, the base station may receive the repetitions of the uplink channel transmission from the UE according to a set of sounding reference signal resources indicated by the sounding reference signal resource indicator and the transmitted configuration), wherein the one or more SRS resource indicator fields is interpreted (Figure 16 and paragraph 296, At 1615, the base station may receive the repetitions of the uplink channel transmission from the UE according to a set of sounding reference signal resources indicated by the sounding reference signal resource indicator and the transmitted configuration; Paragraph 294, configuration…configuring the UE to interpret sounding reference signal resource indicators).
Hosseini et al. do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Cirik et al.: wherein the plurality of SRS resource sets are configured for non-codebook usage (Cirik et al., Paragraph 290, The DCI may comprise the at least two fields, for example, based on the one or more configuration parameters indicating, for the plurality of SRS resource sets, “codebook. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate, for the plurality of SRS resource sets, for example, “non-codebook”. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate “non-codebook” for each SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Hosseini et al. with the cited disclosure from Cirik et al. in order to allow SRS resource set selection by a UE (Cirik et al., Paragraph 152).
Hosseini et al. in view of Cirik et al. discuss maximum rank/maximum quantity of layers at paragraphs 142 and 153 (Hosseini et al.) but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Ren et al.: the one or more control messages indicating at least one maximum rank value that be associated with uplink shared channel transmissions from the UB, the at least one maximum rank value being based at least in part on a threshold quantity of rank values supported by the UE (Ren et al., Paragraph 106, …maximum quantity of uplink transmission layers (that is, a maximum quantity of supported transmission layers for a PUSCH (Maximum number of supported layers for PUSCH), which may be marked as L_max)…The maximum quantity of uplink transmission layers L_max may be configured by using RRC signaling), and interpreting based at least in part on a quantity of the at least one maximum rank value (Ren et al., Paragraph 106, after receiving the DCI, the terminal first determines a table based on a maximum quantity of uplink transmission layers…Then, the terminal determines, based on the quantity (N_SRS) of the configured SRS resources and the index carried in the SRI field, a table cell in the table, where a number in the table cell represents an SRI recommended by the network device, and a quantity of SRIs in the table cell represents a PUSCH rank).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hosseini et al. and Cirik et al. with the cited disclosure from Ren et al. in order to further perform non-codebook-based uplink transmission mode (Ren et al., Paragraph 104).
Claim(s) 4, 12, 18 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hosseini et al. in view of Cirik et al. in view of Ren et al. as applied to claims 1 and 19 above, and further in view of Fakoorian et al. (US 2025/0274940).
Regarding claims 4 and 22, Hosseini et al. in view of Cirik et al. in view of Ren et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Fakoorian et al.: wherein, to receive/transmit the one or more control messages, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to: receive/transmit an indication of a respective maximum rank value for each respective SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets configured at the UE (Fakoorian et al., Paragraphs 47 and 105, a maximum rank for each antenna panel (e.g., a maximum rank for a PUSCH associated with each SRS resource set) can be configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling. For example, an indication in the format (a,b) may be made, where a is the maximum rank of the first antenna panel and b is the maximum rank of the second antenna panel).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hosseini et al., Cirik et al. and Ren et al. with the cited disclosure from Fakoorian et al. in order to reduce the size of DCI (Fakoorian et al., Paragraph 105).
Regarding claim 12, Hosseini et al. in view of Cirik et al. in view of Ren et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not specifically disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Fakoorian et al.: wherein, to receive the one or more control messages, the one or more processors are individually or collectively further configured to: receive an indication of a first SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets and a second SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets, wherein the first SRS resource set is associated with a first uplink shared channel message and the second SRS resource set is associated with a second uplink shared channel message (Fakoorian et al., Abstract, A sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set indicator corresponding to a pair of SRS resource set may be provided by a network to a user equipment (UE), where the pair of SRS resource sets includes a first SRS resource set for a first PUSCH on a first antenna panel of the UE and a second SRS resource set for a second PUSCH on a second antenna panel of the UE. The UE may also receive, from the network, a pair of SRS resource indicators (SRIs). The UE may match each of the SRIs to one of the SRS resource sets based on the SRS resource set indicator; Paragraph 35, an SRS resource set indicator bit-field may indicate the use of both SRS resource sets with either codepoint “10” (indicating that the first and second SRS resource sets are respectively applied to the first and second PUSCH) or codepoint “11” (indicating the second and first SRS resource sets are respectively applied to the second and first PUSCH)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hosseini et al., Cirik et al. and Ren et al. with the cited disclosure from Fakoorian et al. in order to perform multi-panel simultaneous PUSCH transmissions (Fakoorian et al., Abstract).
Regarding claim 18, Hosseini et al. in view of Cirik et al. in view of Ren et al. disclose the claimed invention above but do not disclose the following limitations that are disclosed by Fakoorian et al.: wherein the one or more control messages comprise an indication of a presence of multiple uplink shared channel messages that overlap at least partially in a time domain (Fakoorian et al., Paragraphs 34-35, …the following procedures to indicate the UL beams to use for simultaneous PUSCH transmissions may be used…an SRS resource set indicator bit-field may indicate the use of both SRS resource sets with either codepoint “10” (indicating that the first and second SRS resource sets are respectively applied to the first and second PUSCH) or codepoint “11” (indicating the second and first SRS resource sets are respectively applied to the second and first PUSCH)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Hosseini et al., Cirik et al. and Ren et al. with the cited disclosure from Fakoorian et al. in order to perform multi-panel simultaneous PUSCH transmissions (Fakoorian et al., Abstract).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 5-11, 13-17, 20, 21 and 23-28 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 2 (with further dependent claim 3) and 20 (with further dependent claim 21), the prior art does not disclose or adequately suggest configurations indicating maximum rank as a larger of two values or maximum rank being a summation of a plurality of maximum rank based on the uplink shared channel message being associated with a single SRS resource set;
Regarding claims 5 (with further dependent claims 6 and 7) and 23 (with further dependent claims 24 and 25), the prior art does not disclose or adequately suggest maximum rank indication of an uplink shared channel associated with a first control resource index, with a second control resource index partially overlapping with the uplink share channel, or maximum rank indication when a second uplink shared channel message association with the second control resource set index is absent;
Regarding claims 8 (with further dependent claims 9-11) and claim 26 (with further dependent claims 27 and 28), the prior art does not disclose or adequately suggest a rule stating that a maximum quantity of SRS resources is to be indicated for an uplink shared channel message associated with a control resource index, with a second uplink shared channel associated with a second control resource index partially overlapping the first in a common carrier;
Regarding claim 13 (with further dependent claims 14-17), the prior art does not disclose or adequately suggest the recited limitations for similar reasons set forth above with respect to claim 8.
Conclusion
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/OTIS L THOMPSON, JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
April 8, 2026
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