DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
2. Claims 1-11 and 13-31 are presented for examination. Claim 12 has been canceled.
Request for Continued Examination
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 01/16/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. The rejection of claims 10, 11, 13-22 and 27-31 under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph, is withdrawn in view of applicant's amendments/remarks.
Response to Arguments
5. In regards to Double Patenting:
The applicant contends that the amendments filed on 11/04/2025 of independent claims would overcome the non-statutory obviousness-type double patenting rejections.
Examiner respectfully disagrees and asserts that the claims 1-8, 10-12, 14-19, 21-25, and 27 of the reference application ‘835 contain every limitation of claims 1-11, 13-17, 19-21, 23-25, and 27 of the instant application except the feature of “wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits and identifying a failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.” However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the wireless communication system of the instant application with the reference application by including wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits and identifying a failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, and Koslov et al. (US 2011/0200088 A1) teaches the feature of wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme. Therefore, the Examiner maintains the double patenting rejection.
6. In regards to claim Rejections -35 USC § 103:
Applicant’s arguments filed on 11/04/2025 with respect claims 1-30 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant contends that the cited references do not teaches the feature of “transmitting, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword associated with a plurality of encoder input bits encoded using a systematic polar code, wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits.” As recited in claim 1, and similar feature in claim 23.
Examiner respectfully disagrees and asserts that the reference of over Xu et al. (US 2020/0021309) in paragraphs [0048], [0072], and Fig. 16 teaches the such limitation. For example, block codes or error correcting codes are frequently used to provide reliable transmission of messages over noisy channels. In a typical block code, an information message or sequence from an information source 210 at the first (transmitting) wireless communication device 202 is split up into blocks, each block having a length of K bits. An encoder 212 mathematically adds redundancy to the information message, resulting in codewords having a length of N, where N>K. Here, the code rate R is the ratio between the message length and the block length (i.e., R=K/N). Exploitation of this redundancy in the encoded information message is a key to reliably receiving the transmitted message at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204, whereby the redundancy enables correction for bit errors that may occur due to the noise 208 imparted on the transmitted message. That is, a decoder 214 at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204 can take advantage of the redundancy to reliably recover the information message provided to an information sink 216 even though bit errors may occur, in part, due to the addition of the noise 208 in the channel 206. See paragraph [0048].
FIG. 9 depicts an example encoder 900 that uses HARQ with Polar Codes in accordance with the teachings herein. In some aspects, the encoder 900 may be used to provide the encoded information used by the decoder 800 of FIG. 8. In the μ domain 902, the information bits are denoted as D and the frozen bits with a value of zero are denoted as F. Thus, the block D in FIG. 9 may generally correspond to the A and B blocks of FIG. 4. Systematic Polar encoding 904 of these bits creates a so-called mother code 906 that includes a block denoted as D (encoded data) and a block denoted as P 908 (encoded parity check bits). Thus, the mother code 906 is a systematic Polar code in this example. Coding and CRC 908 are then applied to provide a set of bits for a first transmission 910. Based on the selected coding rate, some of the bits of the mother code 906 are punctured. The resulting first transmission 910 thus corresponds to the first transmission (1TX) described in FIG. 8. See paragraph [0072].
Also, the applicant contends that the cited references fail to teaches or suggest the limitation of “wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme,” as recited in claims 1, 10, 23, and 27.
Applicant’s arguments regarding to the limitation above, have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. In addition to, the Examiner maintained the references of over Xu et al. (US 2020/0021309) in view of Xu et al. (US 2021/0203450 A1) in further view of Xu et al. (US 2019/0215105 A1) since no further argument/s regarding to these references.
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 claims at issue 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); and 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
7. Claims 1-11, 13-17, 19-21, 23-25, and 27 are a provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-8, 10-12, 14-19, 21-25, and 27 of co-pending Application No. 18/183,835 (reference application). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-11, 13-17, 19-21, 23-25, and 27 of the present application are substantially equivalent to claims 1-8, 10-12, 14-19, 21-25, and 27 of the reference application as shown in the chart and explanation below.
Instant Application No. 18/467,365
Co-pending Application No. 18/183,835
Claim 1.
A method for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising: transmitting, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword associated with a plurality of encoder input bits encoded using a systematic polar code, wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits, wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme; identifying a failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits;
and transmitting, via the channel, a subset of the plurality of encoder input bits based at least in part on identifying the failure,
wherein the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits are selected according to an order of log likelihood ratio (LLRs) associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code, and wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
Claim 1.
A method for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising: transmitting, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword corresponding to a plurality of information bits encoded using a polar code;
and transmitting, via the channel and independently of the polar code, a subset of the plurality of information bits based at least in part on identifying a failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, wherein a quantity of the subset of the plurality of information bits is determined based at least in part on a difference between an encoding rate of the codeword and a capacity of the channel, and
wherein the subset of the plurality of information bits are selected according to an order of a likelihood of error associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of information bits according to the polar code.
Claim 2.
The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating the failure of the second wireless device to decode the one or more information bits, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on receiving the signaling.
Claim 2.
The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating the failure of the second wireless device to decode the one or more information bits, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on receiving the signaling.
Claim 3.
The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on identifying that the capacity of the channel is less than the rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
Claim 3:
The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on identifying that a capacity of the channel is less than a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
Claim 4:
The method of claim 3, further comprising: receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating a difference between the capacity of the channel and the rate of the codeword, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on receiving the signaling.
Claim 4:
The method of claim 3, further comprising: receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating a difference between the capacity of the channel and the rate of the codeword, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on receiving the signaling.
Claim 5:
The method of claim 3, further comprising: receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating an estimation of the channel, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on the capacity of the channel corresponding to the estimation of the channel being less than the rate of the codeword.
Claim 5:
The method of claim 3, further comprising: receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating an estimation of the channel, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on the capacity of the channel corresponding to the estimation of the channel being less than the rate of the codeword.
Claim 6:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: encoding the subset of the plurality of information bits using a second code that is different from the systematic polar code to generate a second codeword, wherein transmitting the subset of the plurality of information bits further comprises transmitting the second codeword.
Claim 6:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: encoding the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits using a second code that is different from the polar code to generate a second codeword, wherein the transmitting the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits comprises transmitting the second codeword.
Claim 7:
The method of claim 6, further comprising: transmitting, to the first wireless device, signaling indicating one or more parameters associated with the second code, wherein transmitting the second codeword is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling.
Claim 7:
The method of claim 6, further comprising: transmitting, to the first wireless device, signaling indicating one or more parameters associated with the second code, wherein transmitting the second codeword is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling.
Claim 8:
The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a quantity of information bits associated with the second code, a rate of the second code, or both.
Claim 8:
The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a quantity of information bits associated with the second code, a rate of the second code, or both.
Claim 9:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, after transmitting the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits and independently of the systematic polar code, a second subset of the plurality of encoder input bits based at least in part on identifying a second failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, wherein the second subset of the plurality of encoder input bits are selected based at least in part on the order of the LLRs, the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits, or a combination thereof.
Claim 10:
The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, after transmitting the subset of the plurality of information bits and independently of the polar code, a second subset of the plurality of information bits based at least in part on identifying a second failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, wherein the second subset of the plurality of information bits are selected based at least in part on the order of the likelihood of error, the subset of the plurality of information bits, or a combination thereof.
Claim 10:
A method for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising: receiving, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword associated with a plurality of information bits encoded according to a systematic polar code into a plurality of encoder output bits, wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme;
obtaining a first plurality of log likelihood ratios (LLRs) associated with the plurality of encoder output bits based at least in part on performing a first decoding operation on the codeword using the systematic polar code; transmitting, to the second wireless device, signaling indicating a failure of the first wireless device to decode the one or more information bits or signaling indicating the difference between the capacity of the channel and the rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel; receiving, via the channel and based at least in part on signaling, a second plurality of LLRs corresponding to a subset of the plurality of encoder output bits, the second plurality of LLRs being received independent of the polar code,
wherein an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an order of at least one of the first plurality of LLRs or the second plurality of LLRs , and wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel; and performing, on the codeword, a second decoding operation using the systematic polar code and a combination of the first plurality of LLRs and the second plurality of LLRs.
Claim 11:
A method for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising: receiving, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword corresponding to a plurality of information bits;
obtaining a first plurality of log likelihood ratios (LLRs) associated with the plurality of information bits based at least in part on performing a first decoding operation on the codeword using a polar code; receiving, via the channel and based at least in part on a failure of the first wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, a second plurality of LLRs corresponding to a subset of the plurality of information bits, the second plurality of LLRs being received independent of the polar code, wherein a quantity of the subset of the plurality of information bits is based at least in part on a difference between an encoding rate of the codeword and a capacity of the channel, and
wherein an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of information bits is identified based at least in part on an order of a likelihood of error associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for decoding the codeword using the polar code; and performing, on the codeword, a second decoding operation using the polar code and a combination of the first plurality of LLRs and the second plurality of LLRs.
Claim 11:
The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling.
Claim 12:
The method of claim 11, further comprising: transmitting, to the second wireless device, signaling indicating the failure of the first wireless device to decode the one or more information bits, wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling.
Claim 13:
The method of claim 10, further comprising: transmitting, to the second wireless device, signaling indicating an estimation of the channel, wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling.
Claim 14:
The method of claim 11, further comprising: transmitting, to the second wireless device, signaling indicating an estimation of the channel, wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling.
Claim 14:
The method of claim 10, further comprising: decoding, using a second code that is different from the systematic polar code, a second codeword to obtain the second plurality of LLRs, wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs further comprises receiving the second codeword.
Claim 15:
The method of claim 11, further comprising: decoding, using a second code that is different from the polar code, a second codeword to obtain the second plurality of LLRs, wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs further comprises receiving the second codeword.
Claim 15:
The method of claim 14, further comprising: receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating one or more parameters associated with the second code, wherein receiving the second codeword is based at least in part on receiving the signaling.
Claim 16:
The method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating one or more parameters associated with the second code, wherein receiving the second codeword is based at least in part on receiving the signaling.
Claim 16:
The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a quantity of information bits associated with the second code, a rate of the second code, or both.
Claim 17:
The method of claim 16, wherein the one or more parameters comprise a quantity of information bits associated with the second code, a rate of the second code, or both.
Claim 17:
The method of claim 10, further comprising: combining, at a decoder input before the second decoding operation, the second plurality of LLRs with a subset of the first plurality of LLRs to obtain a third plurality of LLRs, wherein each LLR in the subset of the first plurality of LLRs corresponds to an encoder output bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits, and wherein performing the second decoding operation is based at least in part on the combining.
Claim 18:
The method of claim 11, further comprising: combining the second plurality of LLRs with a subset of the first plurality of LLRs to obtain a third plurality of LLRs, wherein each LLR in the subset of the first plurality of LLRs corresponds to an information bit in the subset of the plurality of information bits, and wherein performing the second decoding operation is based at least in part on the combining.
Claim 19:
The method of claim 18, wherein performing the second decoding operation is based at least in part on a first sign of at least one LLR in the third plurality of LLRs being different from a second sign of at least one corresponding LLR in the subset of the first plurality of LLRs.
Claim 19:
The method of claim 18, wherein performing the second decoding operation is based at least in part on a first sign of at least one LLR in the third plurality of LLRs being different from a second sign of at least one corresponding LLR in the subset of the first plurality of LLRs.
Claim 20:
The method of claim 10, wherein: each of the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is decoded using the systematic polar code with a respective subset of a plurality of bit-channels; and each of the subset of the plurality of bit-channels is associated with a higher likelihood of error than a second subset of the plurality of bit-channels that is disjoint from the subset of the plurality of bit-channels.
Claim 21:
The method of claim 11, wherein: each of the subset of the plurality of information bits are decoded using the polar code with a respective subset of the plurality of bit-channels; and each of the subset of the plurality of bit-channels are associated with a higher likelihood of error than a second subset of the plurality of bit-channels that is disjoint from the subset of the plurality of bit-channels.
Claim 21:
The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, after receiving the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits and based at least in part on a second failure of the first wireless device to decode one or more encoder output bits of the plurality of encoder output bits, a second subset of the plurality of encoder output bits corresponding to a respective third plurality of LLRs that are independent of the systematic polar code, wherein a second index associated with each information bit in the second subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on the t least one of the first plurality of LLRs, the second plurality of LLRs, the subset of the plurality of information bits, or a combination thereof.
Claim 22:
The method of claim 11, further comprising: receiving, after receiving the subset of the plurality of information bits and based at least in part on a second failure of the first wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, a second subset of the plurality of information bits corresponding to a respective third plurality of LLRs that are independent of the polar code, wherein a second index associated with each information bit in the second subset of the plurality of information bits is identified based at least in part on the order of the likelihood of error, the subset of the plurality of information bits, or a combination thereof.
Claim 23:
An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors individually or collectively to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword associated with a plurality of encoder input bits encoded using a systematic polar code, wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits, wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme; identify a failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits
and transmit, via the channel, a subset of the plurality of encoder input bits based at least in part on identifying the failure, wherein the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits are selected according to an order of loglikelihood ratios (LLRs)associated with a plurality of bit- channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code. and wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
Claim 23:
An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword corresponding to a plurality of information bits encoded using a polar code;
and transmit, via the channel and independently of the polar code, a subset of the plurality of information bits based at least in part on identifying a failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, wherein the subset of the plurality of information bits are selected according to an order of a likelihood of error associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of information bits according to the polar code.
Claim 24:
wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on receiving the signaling.
Claim 24:
The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating the failure of the second wireless device to decode the one or more information bits, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on receiving the signaling.
Claim 25:
The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the failure is identified based at least in part on identifying that a capacity of the channel is less than a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
Claim 25:
The apparatus of claim 23, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on identifying that a capacity of the channel is less than a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
Claim 27:
An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
receive, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword associated with a plurality of information bits encoded according to a systematic polar code into a plurality of encoder output bits, wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme;
obtain a first plurality of log likelihood ratios (LLRs) associated with the plurality of encoder output bits based at least in part on performing a first decoding operation on the codeword using the systematic polar code; transmit, to the second wireless device, signaling indicating a failure of the first wireless device to decode the one or more information bits or signaling indicating the difference between the capacity of the channel and the rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel;
receive, via the channel and based at least in part on a failure of the first wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of encoder output bits, a second plurality of LLRs corresponding to a subset of the plurality of encoder output bits, the second plurality of LLRs being received independent of the polar code,
wherein an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an order of at least one of the first plurality of LLRs or the second plurality of LLRs, and wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel; and perform, on the codeword, a second decoding operation using the systematic polar code and a combination of the first plurality of LLRs and the second plurality of LLRs.
Claim 27:
An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword corresponding to a plurality of information bits;
obtain a first plurality of log likelihood ratios (LLRs) associated with the plurality of information bits based at least in part on performing a first decoding operation on the codeword using a polar code; wherein a quantity of the subset of the plurality of information bits is based at least in part on a difference between an encoding rate of the codeword and a capacity of the channel, and
receive, via the channel and based at least in part on a failure of the first wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, a second plurality of LLRs corresponding to a subset of the plurality of information bits, the second plurality of LLRs being received independent of the polar code,
wherein an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of information bits is identified based at least in part on an order of a likelihood of error associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for decoding the codeword using the polar code; and perform, on the codeword, a second decoding operation using the polar code and a combination of the first plurality of LLRs and the second plurality of LLRs.
From the table above, claims 1-8, 10-12, 14-19, 21-25, and 27 of the reference application ‘835 contain every limitation of claims 1-11, 13-17, 19-21, 23-25, and 27 of the instant application except the feature of “wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits and identifying a failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits, wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.” However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the wireless communication system of the instant application with the reference application by including wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits, and Koslov et al. (US 2011/0200088 A1) teaches the feature of wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits, wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme would have improved the wireless communication system performance.
Thus, claims 1-11, 13-17, 19-21, 23-25, and 27 of the instant application are not patentably distinct over the patent application because both applications contain substantially the same limitations performing the same function. This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have been not been patented.
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.
8. Claims 1-11 and 13-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 (a) as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2020/0021309) "herein after as Xu" in view of Xu et al. (US 2021/0203450 A1) "herein after as Xu’450" in further view of Xu et al. (US 2019/0215105 A1) "herein after as Xu’105" in further view of Koslov et al. (US 2011/0200088 A1) “herein after as Koslov.”
As per claim 1:
Xu substantially teaches or discloses a method for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising (see Fig. 16): transmitting, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device (see Fig. 2, communication channel 206), a codeword associated with a plurality of encoder input bits encoded (see paragraph [0048], herein Block codes or error correcting codes are frequently used to provide reliable transmission of messages over noisy channels. In a typical block code, an information message or sequence from an information source 210 at the first (transmitting) wireless communication device 202 is split up into blocks, each block having a length of K bits. An encoder 212 mathematically adds redundancy to the information message, resulting in codewords having a length of N, where N>K, and Fig. 16, step 1602), using a systematic polar code (see paragraph [0072], herein Systematic Polar encoding 904 of these bits creates a so-called mother code 906 that includes a block denoted as D (encoded data) and a block denoted as P 908 (encoded parity check bits). Thus, the mother code 906 is a systematic Polar code in this example), wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits (see Fig. 7, the first received transmission (1TX) & the second transmission (2TX) are different); identifying a failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits (see paragraph [0048], Exploitation of this redundancy in the encoded information message is a key to reliably receiving the transmitted message at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204, whereby the redundancy enables correction for bit errors that may occur due to the noise 208 imparted on the transmitted message. That is, a decoder 214 at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204 can take advantage of the redundancy to reliably recover the information message provided to an information sink 216 even though bit errors may occur, in part, due to the addition of the noise 208 in the channel 206, and paragraphs [0052] & [0073]);and transmitting, via the channel, a subset of the plurality of encoder input bits based at least in part on identifying the failure (see paragraph [0052], herein in response to NAK feedback, the encoder 212 may encode a message for a second transmission (which may be referred to as a retransmission), where the message optionally includes at least a portion of the CRC information for the first transmission. To this end, the encoder 212 includes a module for encoding a message for a second transmission 220. The first wireless communication device 202 then sends the second transmission to the second wireless communication device 204).
Xu does not explicitly teach wherein the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits are selected according to an order of log likelihood ratio (LLRs) associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code.
However, Xu’450 in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits are selected according to an order of log likelihood ratio (LLRs) associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code (see paragraph [0086], the polar encoder 341 may select the second sub-block containing the worst sub-channels for retransmission and populate the bit locations with the highest LLRs in the retransmitted information block with the information bits from the second sub-block to improve the likelihood of the information bits in the second sub-block being properly decoded at the receiver. The polar encoder 341 may then polar code the retransmitted information block to produce the second polar code block).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the communication system of Xu with the teachings of Xu’450 by selecting the plurality of encoder input bits according to an order of log likelihood ratio (LLRs) associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the selecting the plurality of encoder input bits according to an order of log likelihood ratio (LLRs) associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code would have improved performance relative to turbo codes and LDPC codes (see paragraph [0004] of Xu’450).
Xu and Xu’450 as combined does not explicitly teach wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
However, Xu’105 in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel (see paragraph [0139], herein the circuit/module for determining a quantity of bits 1134 may determine the quantity of bits based on a coding rate. For example, if repetition is needed, the circuit/module for determining a quantity of bits 1134 may elect to repeat systematic information bits first (e.g., using uniform repetition, and Fig. 18 step 1804).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the communication system of Xu-Xu’450 as combined with the teachings of Xu’105 by including a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel would have improved communication performance (see paragraph [0004] of Xu’105).
Xu-Xu’450-Xu‘105 as combined teaches all the subject matter in claim 1 except wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.
However, Koslov in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme (see abstract, and paragraph [0050], the sending of subsequent codewords encoded with a rateless code can be based on timing).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the communication system of Xu-Xu’450- Xu’105 as combined with the teachings of Koslov by including the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme would have improved performance in communication systems (see abstract of Koslov).
As per claim 2:
Xu teaches that receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating the failure of the second wireless device to decode the one or more information bits, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on receiving the signaling (see paragraph [0051], herein a receiver (not shown) of the second wireless communication device 204 receives the first transmission. If the decoder 214 (e.g., a module for decoding the first transmission 222) is not able to correctly decode the first transmission, the second wireless communication device 204 may send NAK feedback (not shown) to the first wireless communication device 202).
As per claim 3:
Xu teaches that wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on identifying that the capacity of the channel is less than the rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel (see paragraph [0037], if a transmitter's first transmission fails, the transmitter retransmits information bits associated with a lower quality channel. The receiver decodes this information using an SC list (SCL) decoder. For example, the receiver may use the retransmitted decoded bits to decode the signal received in the first transmission by substituting the retransmitted bits for the original corresponding (low quality channel) bits; and paragraph [0055], [Examiner’s note: Receiving NAK identifies transmission failure is based on channel capacity being less than the rate of the codeword]).
As per claim 4:
Xu teaches that receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating a difference between the capacity of the channel and the rate of the codeword, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on receiving the signaling (see paragraph [0051], herein a receiver (not shown) of the second wireless communication device 204 receives the first transmission. If the decoder 214 (e.g., a module for decoding the first transmission 222) is not able to correctly decode the first transmission, the second wireless communication device 204 may send NAK feedback (not shown) to the first wireless communication device 202; and paragraph [0052]).
As per claim 5:
Xu teaches that receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating an estimation of the channel, wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on the capacity of the channel corresponding to the estimation of the channel being less than the rate of the codeword (see paragraph [0073], herein If the decoder (e.g., the decoder 800 of FIG. 8) does not successfully decode the first transmission 910 (e.g., a NAK 912 is received at the encoder 900), a second transmission (e.g., a retransmission) is invoked. Coding and CRC 916 are then applied to the bits of block B from the first transmission 914 to provide a set of encoded bits for the second transmission 918 (e.g., a retransmission) [Examiner’s note: Receiving NAK identifies transmission failure based on channel capacity being less than the rate of the codeword]).
As per claim 6:
Xu teaches that encoding the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits using a second code that is different from the systematic polar code to generate a second codeword, wherein the transmitting the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits comprises transmitting the second codeword (see paragraph [0060] herein if the first transmission (1TX) 404 is not decoded correctly, the transmitter will generate a new codeword in the μ domain 406 with B information bits. After bit-reversal permutation and encoding, the transmitter invokes a second transmission (2TX) 408 to send a corresponding coded block in the X2 domain, and paragraph [0049]).
As per claim 7:
Xu teaches that transmitting, to the first wireless device, signaling indicating one or more parameters associated with the second code, wherein transmitting the second codeword is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling (see paragraph [048], herein in a typical block code, an information message or sequence from an information source 210 at the first (transmitting) wireless communication device 202 is split up into blocks, each block having a length of K bits. An encoder 212 mathematically adds redundancy to the information message, resulting in codewords having a length of N, where N>K. Here, the code rate R is the ratio between the message length and the block length (i.e., R=K/N)).
As per claim 8:
Xu teaches that wherein the one or more parameters comprise a quantity of information bits associated with the second code, a rate of the second code, or both (see paragraph [0072], herein Coding and CRC 908 are then applied to provide a set of bits for a first transmission 910. Based on the selected coding rate, some of the bits of the mother code 906 are punctured).
As per claim 9:
Xu-Xu’450 as combined teaches that transmitting, after transmitting the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits and independently of the systematic polar code, a second subset of the plurality of encoder input bits based at least in part on identifying a second failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits (Xu, see paragraph [0058], herein HARQ incremental redundancy (HARQ-IR) schemes are widely used in wireless communication systems to improve transmission efficiency. In a HARQ scheme, the coded blocks will be retransmitted if the first transmission is not decoded correctly. The maximum number of transmissions in a typical application is 4. However, some applications may use a different retransmission limit), wherein the second subset of the plurality of encoder input bits are selected based at least in part on the order of the LLRs, the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits, or a combination thereof (Xu’450, see paragraph [0012], herein In some aspects of the disclosure, the method further includes selecting M best sub-channels from the K best sub-channels in accordance with the second LLRs and paragraph [0085]).
As per claim 10:
Xu substantially teaches or discloses a method for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising (see Fig. 13): receiving, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword associated with a plurality of information bits encoded according to a systematic polar code into a plurality of encoder output bits (see paragraph [0048], herein Block codes or error correcting codes are frequently used to provide reliable transmission of messages over noisy channels. In a typical block code, an information message or sequence from an information source 210 at the first (transmitting) wireless communication device 202 is split up into blocks, each block having a length of K bits. An encoder 212 mathematically adds redundancy to the information message, resulting in codewords having a length of N, where N>K. Here, the code rate R is the ratio between the message length and the block length (i.e., R=K/N, and Fig. 13, step 1302); obtaining a first plurality of log likelihood ratios (LLRs) associated with the plurality of encoder output bits based at least in part on performing a first decoding operation on the codeword using the systematic polar code (see paragraph [0070], herein Because a systematic code is generated in both the first transmission and the second transmission, the decoder 700 can use soft-combining 722 of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the bits in block B of both the first transmission (block B 704) and the second transmission (block B 704′)); transmitting, to the second wireless device, signaling indicating a failure of the first wireless device to decode the one or more information bits [ ] (see paragraph [0048], Exploitation of this redundancy in the encoded information message is a key to reliably receiving the transmitted message at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204, whereby the redundancy enables correction for bit errors that may occur due to the noise 208 imparted on the transmitted message. That is, a decoder 214 at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204 can take advantage of the redundancy to reliably recover the information message provided to an information sink 216 even though bit errors may occur, in part, due to the addition of the noise 208 in the channel 206, and paragraphs [0052] & [0073]); receiving, via the channel and based at least in part on the signaling, a second plurality of LLRs corresponding to a subset of the plurality of encoder output bits, the second plurality of LLRs being received independent of the systematic polar code (see paragraph [0037], herein soft-combining of the decoded retransmitted bits and the original corresponding (low quality channel) bits may be used to decode the signal received in the first transmission, and Fig. 7); and performing, on the codeword, a second decoding operation using the systematic polar code and a combination of the first plurality of LLRs and the second plurality of LLRs (see paragraph [0070], herein Because a systematic code is generated in both the first transmission and the second transmission, the decoder 700 can use soft-combining 722 of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the bits in block B of both the first transmission (block B 704) and the second transmission (block B 704′), and Fig. 7).
Xu does not explicitly teach wherein an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an at least one of the first plurality of LLRs or the second plurality of LLRs.
However, Xu’450 in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an order of at least one of the first plurality of LLRs or the second plurality of LLRs (see paragraph [0086], the polar encoder 341 may select the second sub-block containing the worst sub-channels for retransmission and populate the bit locations with the highest LLRs in the retransmitted information block with the information bits from the second sub-block to improve the likelihood of the information bits in the second sub-block being properly decoded at the receiver. The polar encoder 341 may then polar code the retransmitted information block to produce the second polar code block).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Xu with the teachings of Xu’450 by including wherein an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an order of at least one of the first plurality of LLRs or the second plurality of LLRs.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an order of at least one of the first plurality of LLRs or the second plurality of LLRs would have would have improved performance relative to turbo codes and LDPC codes (see paragraph [0004] of Xu’450).
Xu-Xu’450 as combined does not explicitly teach signaling indicating the difference between the capacity of the channel and the rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel; and wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
However, Xu’105 in the same the field of endeavor teaches signaling indicating the difference between the capacity of the channel and the rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel; and wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel (see paragraph [0139], herein the circuit/module for determining a quantity of bits 1134 may determine the quantity of bits based on a coding rate. For example, if repetition is needed, the circuit/module for determining a quantity of bits 1134 may elect to repeat systematic information bits first (e.g., using uniform repetition, and Fig. 18 step 1804).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Xu-Xu’450 as combined with the teachings of Xu’105 by including the quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel would have improved communication performance (see paragraph [0004] of Xu’105).
Xu-Xu’450-Xu‘105 as combined teaches all the subject matter in claim 1 except wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.
However, Koslov in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme (see abstract, and paragraph [0050], the sending of subsequent codewords encoded with a rateless code can be based on timing).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Xu-Xu’450- Xu’105 as combined with the teachings of Koslov by including the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme would have improved performance in communication systems (see abstract of Koslov).
As per claim 11:
Xu’450 teaches that wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling (see paragraph [0127], herein at block 914, the wireless communication device may then group the information bits into sub-blocks in accordance with the second LLRs).
As per claim 13:
Xu teaches that transmitting, to the second wireless device, signaling indicating an estimation of the channel, wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling (see paragraph [0073], herein If the decoder (e.g., the decoder 800 of FIG. 8) does not successfully decode the first transmission 910 (e.g., a NAK 912 is received at the encoder 900), a second transmission (e.g., a retransmission) is invoked. Coding and CRC 916 are then applied to the bits of block B from the first transmission 914 to provide a set of encoded bits for the second transmission 918 (e.g., a retransmission)).
As per claim 14:
Xu teaches that decoding, using a second code that is different from the systematic polar code, a second codeword to obtain the second plurality of LLRs, wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs further comprises receiving the second codeword (see paragraph [0037], herein soft-combining of the decoded retransmitted bits and the original corresponding (low quality channel) bits may be used to decode the signal received in the first transmission, and Fig. 7).
As per claim 15:
Xu teaches that receiving, from the second wireless device, signaling indicating one or more parameters associated with the second code, wherein receiving the second codeword is based at least in part on receiving the signaling (see paragraph [048], herein in a typical block code, an information message or sequence from an information source 210 at the first (transmitting) wireless communication device 202 is split up into blocks, each block having a length of K bits. An encoder 212 mathematically adds redundancy to the information message, resulting in codewords having a length of N, where N>K. Here, the code rate R is the ratio between the message length and the block length (i.e., R=K/N)).
As per claim 16:
Xu teaches that wherein the one or more parameters comprise a quantity of information bits associated with the second code, a rate of the second code, or both (see paragraph [0072], herein Coding and CRC 908 are then applied to provide a set of bits for a first transmission 910. Based on the selected coding rate, some of the bits of the mother code 906 are punctured).
As per claim 17:
Xu teaches that combining, at a decoder input before the second decoding operation, the second plurality of LLRs with a subset of the first plurality of LLRs to obtain a third plurality of LLRs, wherein each LLR in the subset of the first plurality of LLRs corresponds to an encoder output bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits, and wherein performing the second decoding operation is based at least in part on the combining (see paragraph [0070], herein Because a systematic code is generated in both the first transmission and the second transmission, the decoder 700 can use soft-combining 722 of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the bits in block B of both the first transmission (block B 704) and the second transmission (block B 704′). The decoder 700 uses SCL decoding 714 to decode the combined received signal for the second transmission (after the soft-combining). The performance of the SCL decoding 714 may thus be improved by the soft-combining).
As per claim 18:
Xu teaches that combining, at a soft decoder output of the second decoding operation, the second plurality of LLRs with a subset of the first plurality of LLRs to obtain a third plurality of LLRs, wherein each LLR in the subset of the first plurality of LLRs corresponds to an encoder output bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits (see paragraph [0070], herein Because a systematic code is generated in both the first transmission and the second transmission, the decoder 700 can use soft-combining 722 of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the bits in block B of both the first transmission (block B 704) and the second transmission (block B 704′). The decoder 700 uses SCL decoding 714 to decode the combined received signal for the second transmission (after the soft-combining). The performance of the SCL decoding 714 may thus be improved by the soft-combining), wherein performing the second decoding operation is based at least in part on the combining; and performing a to take a sign of each LLR of the second plurality of LLRs, wherein the performing the slicing operation is after the combining and based on the combining (see paragraph [0071], herein an example decoder 800 that uses split CRC for Polar codes with HARQ is depicted in FIG. 8. In this case, CRC bits are split (e.g., equally) between a first subset of bits A 802 and a second subset of bits B 804. Thus, in the decoder 800, the bits of a first received transmission (1TX) include the first subset of bits A 802, the second subset of bits B 804, frozen bits F 806, CRC1 808A of the first subset of bits A 802, and CRC2 808B of the second subset of bits B 804. For the first transmission, the decoder 800 applies a CRC-aided SCL decoding algorithm 812 that uses CRC1 808A and CRC2 808B, and Fig. 8).
As per claim 19:
Xu teaches that wherein performing the second decoding operation is based at least in part on a first sign of at least one LLR in the third plurality of LLRs being different from a second sign of at least one corresponding LLR in the subset of the first plurality of LLRs (see paragraph [0071], the second transmission will be requested (e.g., via a HARQ process). Consequently, the transmitter (not shown in FIG. 8) will encode and transmit the information bits of block B (received at the decoder 800 as block B 804′). Because the bits of CRC2 are included in the second transmission in this case (received at the decoder 800 as CRC2 808B′), CRC2 bits can be used to prune 816 the candidate paths from the SCL decoding algorithm 814 for the second transmission, and Fig. 8).
As per claim 20:
Xu-Xu’450as combined teaches that wherein: each of the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is decoded using the systematic polar code with a respective subset of the plurality of bit-channels (Xu, see paragraph [0068], herein decoder 700 that uses single CRC for systematic Polar codes with HARQ is depicted in FIG. 7); and each of the subset of the plurality of bit-channels is associated with a higher likelihood of error than a second subset of a plurality of bit-channels that is disjoint from the subset of the plurality of bit-channels (Xu’450, see paragraph [0086], the polar encoder 341 may select the second sub-block containing the worst sub-channels for retransmission and populate the bit locations with the highest LLRs in the retransmitted information block with the information bits from the second sub-block to improve the likelihood of the information bits in the second sub-block being properly decoded at the receiver. The polar encoder 341 may then polar code the retransmitted information block to produce the second polar code block).
As per claim 21:
Xu-Xu’450 as combined teaches that receiving, after receiving the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits and based at least in part on a second failure of the first wireless device to decode one or more encoder output bits of the plurality of encoder output bits, a second subset of the plurality of encoder output bits corresponding to a respective third plurality of LLRs that are independent of the systematic polar code (Xu, see paragraph [0058], herein HARQ incremental redundancy (HARQ-IR) schemes are widely used in wireless communication systems to improve transmission efficiency. In a HARQ scheme, the coded blocks will be retransmitted if the first transmission is not decoded correctly. The maximum number of transmissions in a typical application is 4. However, some applications may use a different retransmission limit), wherein a second index associated with each information bit in the second subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on the order of the at least one of the first plurality of LLRs, the second plurality of LLRs, the subset of the plurality of information bits, or a combination thereof (Xu’450, see paragraph [0012], herein in some aspects of the disclosure, the method further includes selecting M best sub-channels from the K best sub-channels in accordance with the second LLRs and paragraph [0085]).
As per claim 22:
Xu teaches that calculating, based on the second decoding, the plurality of information bits (see paragraph [0071], herein Because the bits of CRC2 are included in the second transmission in this case (received at the decoder 800 as CRC2 808B′), CRC2 bits can be used to prune 816 the candidate paths from the SCL decoding algorithm 814 for the second transmission, and Fig. 8).
As per claim 23:
Xu substantially teaches or discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising (see Fig. 2): one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors individually or collectively to cause the apparatus to (see paragraph [0006], herein the disclosure provides an apparatus configured for communication that includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory): transmit, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword associated with a plurality of encoder input bits encoded (see paragraph [0048], herein Block codes or error correcting codes are frequently used to provide reliable transmission of messages over noisy channels. In a typical block code, an information message or sequence from an information source 210 at the first (transmitting) wireless communication device 202 is split up into blocks, each block having a length of K bits. An encoder 212 mathematically adds redundancy to the information message, resulting in codewords having a length of N, where N>K. Here, the code rate R is the ratio between the message length and the block length (i.e., R=K/N, and Fig. 2), using a systematic polar code (see paragraph [0072], herein Systematic Polar encoding 904 of these bits creates a so-called mother code 906 that includes a block denoted as D (encoded data) and a block denoted as P 908 (encoded parity check bits). Thus, the mother code 906 is a systematic Polar code in this example), wherein the plurality of encoder input bits is associated with a plurality of information bits different from the plurality of encoder input bits; (see Fig. 7, the first received transmission (1TX) & the second transmission (2TX) are different); identify a failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits (see paragraph [0048], Exploitation of this redundancy in the encoded information message is a key to reliably receiving the transmitted message at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204, whereby the redundancy enables correction for bit errors that may occur due to the noise 208 imparted on the transmitted message. That is, a decoder 214 at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204 can take advantage of the redundancy to reliably recover the information message provided to an information sink 216 even though bit errors may occur, in part, due to the addition of the noise 208 in the channel 206, and paragraphs [0052] & [0073]); and transmit, via the channel, a subset of the plurality of encoder input bits based at least in part on identifying the failure (see paragraph [0052], in response to NAK feedback, the encoder 212 may encode a message for a second transmission (which may be referred to as a retransmission), where the message optionally includes at least a portion of the CRC information for the first transmission. To this end, the encoder 212 includes a module for encoding a message for a second transmission 220. The first wireless communication device 202 then sends the second transmission to the second wireless communication device 204).
Xu does not explicitly teach wherein the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits are selected according to an order of log likelihood ratio (LLRs) associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code.
However, Xu’450 in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits are selected according to an order of log likelihood ratio (LLRs) associated with a plurality of bit- channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code (see paragraph [0086], the polar encoder 341 may select the second sub-block containing the worst sub-channels for retransmission and populate the bit locations with the highest LLRs in the retransmitted information block with the information bits from the second sub-block to improve the likelihood of the information bits in the second sub-block being properly decoded at the receiver. The polar encoder 341 may then polar code the retransmitted information block to produce the second polar code block).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Xu with the teachings of Xu’450 by selecting the plurality of encoder input bits according to an order of log likelihood ratio (LLRs) associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the selecting the plurality of encoder input bits according to an order of log likelihood ratio (LLRs) associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for encoding the plurality of encoder input bits according to the systematic polar code would have would have improved performance relative to turbo codes and LDPC codes (see paragraph [0004] of Xu’450).
Xu-Xu’450 as combined teaches does not explicitly teach wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
However, Xu’105 in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel (see paragraph [0139], herein the circuit/module for determining a quantity of bits 1134 may determine the quantity of bits based on a coding rate. For example, if repetition is needed, the circuit/module for determining a quantity of bits 1134 may elect to repeat systematic information bits first (e.g., using uniform repetition, and Fig. 18 step 1804).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Xu-Xu’450 as combined with the teachings of Xu’105 by including the quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel. would have improved communication performance (see paragraph [0004] of Xu’105).
Xu-Xu’450-Xu‘105 as combined teaches all the subject matter in claim 1 except wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.
However, Koslov in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme (see abstract, and paragraph [0050], the sending of subsequent codewords encoded with a rateless code can be based on timing).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Xu-Xu’450- Xu’105 as combined with the teachings of Koslov by including the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme would have improved performance in communication systems (see abstract of Koslov).
As per claim 24:
Xu teaches that wherein identifying the failure is based at least in part on receiving the signaling (see paragraph [0051], herein a receiver (not shown) of the second wireless communication device 204 receives the first transmission. If the decoder 214 (e.g., a module for decoding the first transmission 222) is not able to correctly decode the first transmission, the second wireless communication device 204 may send NAK feedback (not shown) to the first wireless communication device 202).
As per claim 25:
Xu teaches that wherein the failure is identified based at least in part on identifying that the capacity of the channel is less than the rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel (see paragraph [0037], herein if a transmitter's first transmission fails, the transmitter retransmits information bits associated with a lower quality channel. The receiver decodes this information using an SC list (SCL) decoder. For example, the receiver may use the retransmitted decoded bits to decode the signal received in the first transmission by substituting the retransmitted bits for the original corresponding (low quality channel) bits; and paragraphs [0051-0055], [Examiner’s note: Receiving NAK identifies transmission failure is based on channel capacity being less than the rate of the codeword]).
As per claim 26:
Xu-Xu’450 as combined teaches that that wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: transmit, after transmitting the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits and independently of the systematic polar code, a second subset of the plurality of encoder input bits based at least in part on identifying a second failure of the second wireless device to decode one or more information bits of the plurality of information bits (Xu, see paragraph [0058], herein HARQ incremental redundancy (HARQ-IR) schemes are widely used in wireless communication systems to improve transmission efficiency. In a HARQ scheme, the coded blocks will be retransmitted if the first transmission is not decoded correctly. The maximum number of transmissions in a typical application is 4. However, some applications may use a different retransmission limit), wherein the second subset of the plurality of encoder input bits are selected based at least in part on the order of the LLRs, the subset of the plurality of encoder input bits, or a combination thereof (Xu’450, see paragraph [0012], herein in some aspects of the disclosure, the method further includes selecting M best sub-channels from the K best sub-channels in accordance with the second LLRs and paragraph [0085]).
As per claim 27:
Xu substantially teaches or discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising (see Fig. 2): one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to (see paragraph [0006], herein the disclosure provides an apparatus configured for communication that includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory): receive, via a channel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, a codeword associated with a plurality of information bits encoded according to a systematic polar code into a plurality of encoder output bits (see paragraph [0048], herein Block codes or error correcting codes are frequently used to provide reliable transmission of messages over noisy channels. In a typical block code, an information message or sequence from an information source 210 at the first (transmitting) wireless communication device 202 is split up into blocks, each block having a length of K bits. An encoder 212 mathematically adds redundancy to the information message, resulting in codewords having a length of N, where N>K. Here, the code rate R is the ratio between the message length and the block length (i.e., R=K/N, and Fig. 13, step 1302); obtain a first plurality of log likelihood ratios (LLRs) associated with the plurality of encoder output bits based at least in part on performing a first decoding operation on the codeword using the systematic polar code (see paragraph [0070], herein Because a systematic code is generated in both the first transmission and the second transmission, the decoder 700 can use soft-combining 722 of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the bits in block B of both the first transmission (block B 704) and the second transmission (block B 704′)); transmit, to the second wireless device, signaling indicating a failure of the first wireless device to decode the one or more information bits [ ] (see paragraph [0048], Exploitation of this redundancy in the encoded information message is a key to reliably receiving the transmitted message at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204, whereby the redundancy enables correction for bit errors that may occur due to the noise 208 imparted on the transmitted message. That is, a decoder 214 at the second (receiving) wireless communication device 204 can take advantage of the redundancy to reliably recover the information message provided to an information sink 216 even though bit errors may occur, in part, due to the addition of the noise 208 in the channel 206, and paragraphs [0052] & [0073]); receive, via the channel and based at least in part on the failure signaling, a second plurality of LLRs corresponding to a subset of the plurality of encoder output bits, the second plurality of LLRs being received independent of the systematic polar code (see paragraph [0037], herein soft-combining of the decoded retransmitted bits and the original corresponding (low quality channel) bits may be used to decode the signal received in the first transmission, and Fig. 7); and perform, on the codeword, a second decoding operation using the systematic polar code and a combination of the first plurality of LLRs and the second plurality of LLRs (see paragraph [0070], herein Because a systematic code is generated in both the first transmission and the second transmission, the decoder 700 can use soft-combining 722 of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the bits in block B of both the first transmission (block B 704) and the second transmission (block B 704′), and Fig. 7).
Xu does not explicitly teach wherein an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an order of a likelihood of error associated with a plurality of bit-channels used for decoding the codeword using the polar code.
However, Xu’450 in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an order of at least one of the first plurality of LLRs or the second plurality of LLRs (see paragraph [0086], the polar encoder 341 may select the second sub-block containing the worst sub-channels for retransmission and populate the bit locations with the highest LLRs in the retransmitted information block with the information bits from the second sub-block to improve the likelihood of the information bits in the second sub-block being properly decoded at the receiver. The polar encoder 341 may then polar code the retransmitted information block to produce the second polar code block).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Xu with the teachings of Xu’450 by including an index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an order of at least one of the first plurality of LLRs or the second plurality of LLRs.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the index associated with each information bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is identified based at least in part on an order of at least one of the first plurality of LLRs or the second plurality of LLRs would have improved performance relative to turbo codes and LDPC codes (see paragraph [0004] of Xu’450).
Xu-Xu’450 as combined teaches does not explicitly teach signaling indicating the difference between the capacity of the channel and the rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel; and wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
However, Xu’105 in the same the field of endeavor teaches signaling indicating the difference between the capacity of the channel and the rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel; and wherein a quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel (see paragraph [0139], herein the circuit/module for determining a quantity of bits 1134 may determine the quantity of bits based on a coding rate. For example, if repetition is needed, the circuit/module for determining a quantity of bits 1134 may elect to repeat systematic information bits first (e.g., using uniform repetition, and Fig. 18 step 1804).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Xu-Xu’450 as combined with the teachings of Xu ‘105 by including the quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the quantity of bits in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is based on a difference between a capacity of the channel and a rate of the codeword transmitted over the channel; would have improved communication performance (see paragraph [0004] of Xu’105).
Xu-Xu’450-Xu‘105 as combined teaches all the subject matter in claim 1 except wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.
However, Koslov in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme (see abstract, and paragraph [0050], the sending of subsequent codewords encoded with a rateless code can be based on timing).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Xu-Xu’450- Xu’105 as combined with the teachings of Koslov by including the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme.
This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the codeword is in accordance with a rateless code scheme would have improved performance in communication systems (see abstract of Koslov).
As per claim 28:
Xu teaches that wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: combine, at a decoder input before the second decoding operation, the second plurality of LLRs with a subset of the first plurality of LLRs to obtain a third plurality of LLRs, wherein each LLR in the subset of the first plurality of LLRs corresponds to an encoder output bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits, and wherein the second decoding operation is based at least in part on the combining (see paragraph [0070], herein Because a systematic code is generated in both the first transmission and the second transmission, the decoder 700 can use soft-combining 722 of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the bits in block B of both the first transmission (block B 704) and the second transmission (block B 704′). The decoder 700 uses SCL decoding 714 to decode the combined received signal for the second transmission (after the soft-combining). The performance of the SCL decoding 714 may thus be improved by the soft-combining).
As per claim 29:
Xu teaches that wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: combine, at a soft decoder output of the second decoding operation, the second plurality of LLRs with a subset of the first plurality of LLRs to obtain a third plurality of LLRs, wherein each LLR in the subset of the first plurality of LLRs corresponds to an encoder output bit in the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits (see paragraph [0070], herein Because a systematic code is generated in both the first transmission and the second transmission, the decoder 700 can use soft-combining 722 of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the bits in block B of both the first transmission (block B 704) and the second transmission (block B 704′). The decoder 700 uses SCL decoding 714 to decode the combined received signal for the second transmission (after the soft-combining). The performance of the SCL decoding 714 may thus be improved by the soft-combining), wherein the second decoding operation is based at least in part on the combining; and perform, after combining the second plurality of LLRs with the subset of the first plurality of LLRs at the soft decoder output, a slicing operation to take a sign of each LLR of the second plurality of LLRs (see paragraph [0071], herein an example decoder 800 that uses split CRC for Polar codes with HARQ is depicted in FIG. 8. In this case, CRC bits are split (e.g., equally) between a first subset of bits A 802 and a second subset of bits B 804. Thus, in the decoder 800, the bits of a first received transmission (1TX) include the first subset of bits A 802, the second subset of bits B 804, frozen bits F 806, CRC1 808A of the first subset of bits A 802, and CRC2 808B of the second subset of bits B 804. For the first transmission, the decoder 800 applies a CRC-aided SCL decoding algorithm 812 that uses CRC1 808A and CRC2 808B, and Fig. 8).
As per claim 30:
Xu-Xu’450 as combined teaches that wherein: each of the subset of the plurality of encoder output bits is decoded using the systematic polar code with a respective subset of the plurality of bit-channels (Xu, see paragraph [0068], herein decoder 700 that uses single CRC for systematic Polar codes with HARQ is depicted in FIG. 7); and each of the subset of the plurality of bit-channels is associated with a higher likelihood of error than a second subset of the plurality of bit-channels that is disjoint from the subset of the plurality of bit-channels (Xu’450, see paragraph [0086], the polar encoder 341 may select the second sub-block containing the worst sub-channels for retransmission and populate the bit locations with the highest LLRs in the retransmitted information block with the information bits from the second sub-block to improve the likelihood of the information bits in the second sub-block being properly decoded at the receiver. The polar encoder 341 may then polar code the retransmitted information block to produce the second polar code block).
As per claim 31:
Xu’450 teaches that wherein receiving the second plurality of LLRs is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling (see paragraph [0127], herein at block 914, the wireless communication device may then group the information bits into sub-blocks in accordance with the second LLRs).
Examiner Notes
9. When amending the claims, applicants are respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Prior Art
10. The prior art of record, considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure, is listed in the attached PTO-892 form.
Conclusion
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OSMAN ALSHACK whose telephone number is (571)272-2069. The examiner can normally be reached on MON-FRI 8:30 AM-5:00 PM EST, also please fax interview request to (571) 273- 2069. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ALBERT DECADY can be reached on 5712723819. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OSMAN M ALSHACK/Examiner, Art Unit 2112