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 .
Claim Status
Claims 1, 6, 8, 123, 15, 21-22 and 27 are amended. Claims 1-28 are pending.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
3. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/8/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed on 4/20/2026 with respect to claims 1-28, have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 6, 8-9, 13, 15-16, 20, 22-23 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US. Pub. No. 2021/0377892 A1) in view of Tiirola et al (US. Pub. No. 2012/0201275 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Chen discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (See Fig. 19; Terminal Device), comprising: one or more memories (See Fig. 19; Memory); and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories (See Fig. 19; Processor), configured to:
receive a configuration indicating at least one uplink reference signal resource (See par. [67], [320]-[321], [453] and Fig. 13; 730 of Chen for a reference to the terminal device receives the configuration information of the UL reference signal (RS), which includes an identifier of a resource of the RS, and a port number associated with the RS resource, as well as the quantity (set) of ports of the resource); and
transmit a plurality of uplink reference signals, using the at least one uplink reference signal resource (See par. [316]-[317], [338]-[339] and Fig. 13; 750 of Chen for a reference to that after receiving the configuration info, the terminal sends a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs) using the configured resource and port number among a plurality of ports).
Chen does not explicitly disclose wherein a cyclic shift for a first port associated with the plurality of uplink reference signals hops within a subset of a set of possible cyclic shifts, and the cyclic shift for the first port is according to a function of time that is measured in increments longer than one symbol.
However, Tiirola discloses wherein a cyclic shift for a first port associated with the plurality of uplink reference signals hops within a subset of a set of possible cyclic shifts (See par. [81]-[82], [94]-[95] of Tiirola for a reference to the only 12 possible cyclic shift values for CAZAC sequence are 0, 1, ... 11. The net cyclic shift of the ZC sequence that is ultimately transmitted, and is obtained as a combination of resource or cell specific cyclic shift combined with an outcome of cell-specific pseudo-random hopping. The selected shift positions (example: 4 then 2) are from the full set of twelve), and the cyclic shift for the first port is according to a function of time that is measured in increments longer than one symbol (See par. [90]-[92], , [95], [98]-[99] of Tiirola for a reference to the cyclic shift is indexed by TTI and changes between TTIs; a TTI contains multiple symbols, so the time increment is longer than one symbol).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liu to Chen. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by allowing for efficient averaging of reference signal cross-correlation while maintaining low signaling overhead and a flexible structure when implementing an ideal solution for ZC sequence hopping and coordination. (Tiirola; Par. [154])
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Chen and Tiirola, specifically Chen discloses wherein the plurality of uplink reference signals comprise sounding reference signals (See par. [67], [126], [453] of Chen for a reference to the UL reference signal (RS) comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS)).
Regarding claim 6, combination of Chen and Liu does not explicitly disclose wherein the function of time is measured in increments of frequency hops, increments of slots, or increments of frequency hopping cycles.
However, Tiirola discloses wherein the function of time is measured in increments of frequency hops, increments of slots, or increments of frequency hopping cycles (See par. [95], [98]-[99], of Tiirola for a reference to the total cyclic shift value for a certain slot of a TTI used as the TTI index, and cyclic hop inter as the cyclic shift hopping pattern for inter TTI hopping. A symbol-wise hopping pattern is defined with a duration of a TTI. Then the Cyclic hop inter for inter-TTI hopping is used as an index referencing to a cyclic shift resource [increments of frequency hops]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liu to Chen. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by allowing for efficient averaging of reference signal cross-correlation while maintaining low signaling overhead and a flexible structure when implementing an ideal solution for ZC sequence hopping and coordination. (Tiirola; Par. [154])
Regarding claim 8, Chen discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity (See Fig. 20; Network Node), comprising: one or more memories (See Fig. 20; Memory); and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories (See Fig. 20; Processor), configured to:
transmit a configuration indicating at least one uplink reference signal resource (See par. [67], [320]-[321], [453] and Fig. 13; 730 of Chen for a reference to the network node transmits the configuration information, of the UL reference signal (RS), to the terminal device, which includes an identifier of a resource of the RS, and a port number associated with the RS resource, as well as the quantity (set) of ports of the resource); and
receive a plurality of uplink reference signals, using the at least one uplink reference signal resource (See par. [316]-[317], [338]-[339] and Fig. 13; 750 of Chen for a reference to that in response to transmitting the configuration info, the network node receives a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs) using the configured resource and port number among a plurality of ports).
Chen does not explicitly disclose wherein a cyclic shift for a first port associated with the plurality of uplink reference signals hops within a subset of a set of possible cyclic shifts, and the cyclic shift for the first port is according to a function of time that is measured in increments longer than one symbol.
However, Tiirola discloses wherein a cyclic shift for a first port associated with the plurality of uplink reference signals hops within a subset of a set of possible cyclic shifts (See par. [81]-[82], [94]-[95] of Tiirola for a reference to the only 12 possible cyclic shift values for CAZAC sequence are 0, 1, ... 11. The net cyclic shift of the ZC sequence that is ultimately transmitted, and is obtained as a combination of resource or cell specific cyclic shift combined with an outcome of cell-specific pseudo-random hopping. The selected shift positions (example: 4 then 2) are from the full set of twelve), and the cyclic shift for the first port is according to a function of time that is measured in increments longer than one symbol (See par. [90]-[92], , [95], [98]-[99] of Tiirola for a reference to the cyclic shift is indexed by TTI and changes between TTIs; a TTI contains multiple symbols, so the time increment is longer than one symbol).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liu to Chen. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by allowing for efficient averaging of reference signal cross-correlation while maintaining low signaling overhead and a flexible structure when implementing an ideal solution for ZC sequence hopping and coordination. (Tiirola; Par. [154])
Regarding claim 9, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 13, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 6.
Regarding claim 15, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 16, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 20, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 6.
Regarding claim 22, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 8.
Regarding claim 23, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 9.
Regarding claim 27, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 13.
Claims 3-5, 7, 10-12, 14, 17-19, 21, 24-26 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. in view of Tiirola et al and further in view of Liu et al. (US. Pub. No. 2025/0168041 A1).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Chen and Tiirola does not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive an indication of the subset.
However, Liu discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive an indication of the subset (See par. [83] of Liu for a reference to the UE receives control information that indicates configuration, including a subset of SRS resources set using a subset of transmission ports).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liu to the combination of Chen and Tiirola. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by improving the interference randomization across different SRSs sent by different UEs, by utilizing cyclic shift hopping. (Liu; Par. [125])
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Chen and Tiirola does not explicitly disclose wherein one or more additional cyclic shifts are assigned to one or more additional ports based on the cyclic shift for the first port.
However, Liu discloses wherein one or more additional cyclic shifts are assigned to one or more additional ports based on the cyclic shift for the first port (See par. [112], [118], [142] of Liu for a reference to the CS hopping pattern assigned for additional ports are based on comb offset hopping sequence of the SRS port. All additional ports are shifting around based on first port’s CS value and CS offset).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liu to the combination of Chen and Tiirola. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by improving the interference randomization across different SRSs sent by different UEs, by utilizing cyclic shift hopping. (Liu; Par. [125])
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Chen and Tiirola does not explicitly disclose wherein the first port is associated with a first group of ports, and one or more additional cyclic shifts are assigned to one or more additional ports, in the first group of ports, based on the cyclic shift for the first port.
However, Liu discloses wherein the first port is associated with a first group of ports (See par. [38], [83], [131], [165] of Liu for a reference to the gNB configures SRS cyclic shift (CS) hopping on a subset of cyclic shift values. The CS of the port associated with SRS port is a subset of all possible CS values), and one or more additional cyclic shifts are assigned to one or more additional ports, in the first group of ports, based on the cyclic shift for the first port (See par. [112], [118], [142] of Liu for a reference to the CS hopping pattern assigned for additional ports are based on comb offset hopping sequence of the SRS port. All additional ports are shifting around based on first port’s CS value and CS offset).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liu to the combination of Chen and Tiirola. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by improving the interference randomization across different SRSs sent by different UEs, by utilizing cyclic shift hopping. (Liu; Par. [125])
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Chen and Tiirola does not explicitly disclose wherein the function of time comprises a pseudo-random sequence initialized by a measurement of time.
However, Liu discloses wherein the function of time comprises a pseudo-random sequence initialized by a measurement of time (See par. [126]-[127], [149], [163] of Liu for a reference to that to enable CS hopping over time, a pseudo random sequence to introduce additional offset of the current CSs is utilized. When multiple ports of an SRS resource are multiplexed on an RE via different CSs, a proper spacing is applied. The spacing is maintained through the offset value).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liu to the combination of Chen and Tiirola. The motivation for combination would be to improve network’s performance, by improving the interference randomization across different SRSs sent by different UEs, by utilizing cyclic shift hopping. (Liu; Par. [125])
Regarding claim 10, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 3.
Regarding claim 11, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 4.
Regarding claim 12, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 5.
Regarding claim 14, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 7.
Regarding claim 17, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 3.
Regarding claim 18, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 4.
Regarding claim 19, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 5.
Regarding claim 21, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 7.
Regarding claim 24, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 10.
Regarding claim 25, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 11.
Regarding claim 26, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 12.
Regarding claim 28, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 14.
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Khoshnevisan et al. (US 2024/0121801 A1) discloses sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission having a time domain orthogonal cover code (TD-OCC) that drop within a timeline.
Ji et al. (US 2023/0344569 A1) discloses a method and an apparatus for transmitting or receiving a signal for a high-speed mobile terminal in a wireless communication system.
Park et al. (US 2021/0185706 A1) discloses a method for transmitting and receiving a DMRS by using the sequence generating/mapping method and an apparatus supporting the methods.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to RASHA FAYED whose telephone number is (571) 270-3804. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Primary Examiner, Shah M. Rahman can be reached on (571)272-8951. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/R. F./
Examiner, Art Unit 2413
/UN C CHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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