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 .
Drawings
The drawing replacement sheets received on 12/5/23 are acceptable.
Response to Amendment/ Arguments
With the response filed 4/6/26, Applicant has amended claims 1, 2, 6-8, 12, 13, 15, 17 and 20, added new claims 21 and 22, and has canceled claims 3 and 18.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 6-8, filed 4/6/26, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-14 and 20 under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102(a)(1)/103 have been fully considered, but are rendered moot in view of a new ground(s) of rejection based on a newly applied reference to Cheng et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2019/0081754 in combination with previously applied prior art, which addresses Applicant’s amendment to claims 1 and 20.
With respect to claims 15-17 and 19, in view of Applicant’s amendment and associated remarks (see pp. 9-10), the rejection of claims 15-17 and 19 has been overcome and is withdrawn.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 5, 9, 20 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2019/0081754 in view of Sun et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2018/0287753.
Regarding claims 1 and 20, Cheng discloses a method implemented by an associated computer/processor and non-transitory computer readable storage medium (¶ [0559]), comprising: obtaining a first reference signal parameter a s a location of a reference signal is determined (step 101 – Fig. 1); and transmitting a set of signal outputs using a single-carrier waveform (i.e. see ¶ [0240]), the set of signal outputs including a first reference signal at a time p, wherein the first reference signal is defined based on the first reference signal configuration parameter (step 102 – Fig. 1; Fig. 3), wherein the first reference signal is a first real reference signal or a first imaginary reference signal as those are the only two possibilities. Cheng further discloses that another reference signal is transmitted in a successive resource element (Fig. 5), but does not expressly disclose that both a second reference signal is transmitted at a time p+1 and a third reference signal is transmitted at a time p-1, wherein the second reference signal and the third reference signal are defined to pre-cancel time-domain interference from traffic to the first reference signal.
Sun discloses transmitting a second reference signal transmitted at a time p+1, and a third reference signal transmitted at a time p-1 (see Fig. 7); where the second reference signal and the third reference signal are defined to pre-cancel time-domain interference from traffic to the first reference signal, as interference from the n+1th symbol and the n-1th symbol cancels interference on the nth symbol (see Fig. 6, where n is a symbol index in the time domain – ¶ [0049]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide for interference cancellation between adjacent symbols, as suggested by Cheng, in the single-carrier system of Cheng, as it utilizes intrinsic interference of OQAM modulation to perform effective channel estimation (see Sun, ¶ [0112]).
Regarding claim 2, in the proposed combination, Sun further suggests that the second reference signal and the third reference signal are both either real or imaginary data and replace real or imaginary data (see Fig. 7; p. 15, ¶¶ (84)-(88)).
Regarding claim 5, in the proposed combination, Sun further discloses that a real or imaginary traffic signal are transmitted at a time p-2 and at a time p+2 (see Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 9, in the proposed combination, the first reference signal is usable to estimate phase and amplitude-related measurements of a communication channel (i.e. channel response information estimated based on the predefined reference signal – Sun, ¶ [0053]).
Regarding claim 21, in the proposed combination, Sun further suggests that the first reference signal are both either real or imaginary data and replace real or imaginary data (see ¶¶ [0070]-[0074]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al. in view of Sun et al., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sabat, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2003/0157943.
Regarding claim 4, Cheng and Sun disclose a communication method using a pilot and auxiliary pilots, as described above, but do not expressly disclose that a pulse power of the first pilot is larger than a pulse power of the second auxiliary pilot and the third auxiliary pilot.
Sabat, Jr. discloses the use of auxiliary pilots that can be lower than normal pilots (see ¶ [0038]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide auxiliary pilots at lower power levels than a main pilot, as suggested by Sabat, Jr., in the method of Cheng and Sun, to reduce power consumption.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al. in view of Sun et al., as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Murakami et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2004/0213365.
Regarding claim 6, Cheng and Sun disclose a communication method using a pilot and auxiliary pilots, as described above, but do not disclose that the pulse power of the first pilot is larger than or equal to any one of the first and second real or imaginary traffic signals.
Murakami discloses that the transmission power of a pilot may be greater than that of data traffic signals in order to increase noise resistance of the pilots (¶ [0404]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide a primary pilot to have a pulse power greater than that of data signals, as suggested by Murakami, in the method of Cheng and Sun, to improve pilot noise resistance.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al. in view of Sun et al. as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Ong et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2006/0067292 and Sabat, Jr. et al.
Regarding claim 7, Cheng and Sun disclose a communication method using a pilot and auxiliary pilots, as described above, but do not expressly disclose that a pulse power of the auxiliary second pilot or auxiliary third pilot is smaller than a pulse power of the first or second real traffic signal or the first or second imaginary traffic signal.
Ong discloses that, when a secondary/auxiliary pilot is used, data may be transmitted with a greater power than the pilot to increase channel estimation efficiency, where Sabat, Jr. discloses the use of auxiliary pilots that can be lower than normal pilots to lower amplifier burden (¶ [0038]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide auxiliary pilots smaller than a pulse power of a traffic signal, as suggested by Ong and Sabat, Jr., in the method of Cheng and Sun, to increase channel estimation efficiency while reducing power consumption requirements.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al. in view of Sun et al., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Shibaike et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0198820.
Regarding claim 8, Cheng and Sun disclose a communication method using pilot reference signals as described above, but do not disclose that the first reference signal is a phase tracking reference signal usable for estimating phase distortion of a communication channel.
Shibaike discloses the use of a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) for estimation of phase noise (¶¶ [0103]-[0104]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use a phase tracking reference signal, as suggested by Shibaike, in the method of Cheng and Sun, to account for phase noise (Shibaike, ¶ [0104]).
Claims 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al. in view of Sun et al., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Xiao et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0403118.
Regarding claim 10, Cheng and Sun disclose a communication method using a pilot and auxiliary pilots, as described above, but do not disclose that obtaining the first reference signal configuration parameter comprises receiving the first reference signal configuration parameter.
Xiao discloses that a reference signal configuration can be received (¶ [0090]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for a UE to receive information with parameters for a reference signal configuration, as taught by Xiao, in the method of Cheng and Sun, in order to inform the UE of parameters associated with reference signals to be signaled.
Regarding claim 11, Xiao further discloses transmitting a reference signal capability message, considered a transmitter interference pre-cancellation capability, prior to receiving the first reference signal configuration parameter (¶ [0090]).
Regarding claim 12, discloses Sun discloses a communication method using a pilot and auxiliary pilots, as described above, but does not determining the first reference signal configuration parameter based on or more operational characteristics for a communication channel and/or a communication device.
Xiao discloses that a UE obtaining a reference signal configuration from a base station based on signaled characteristics of the communication device, including reference signal capability information (¶ [0090]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for a UE to obtain reference signal configuration information based on communication device operational characteristics, as suggested by Xiao, in the method of Cheng and Sun, to optimize reference signal utilization based on UE capabilities.
Regarding claim 13, in the proposed combination, Xiao discloses that the resource configuration is based on operational characteristics such as reference signal type (see ¶ [0099]).
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cheng et al. in view of Sun et al. and Xiao et al., as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view Jin et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2019/0229781 and Ren et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2017/0099172.
Regarding claim 14, Cheng in combination with Sun and Xiao disclose a communication method using a pilots where a reference signal configuration parameter is determined based on operational characteristics, as described above, but do not disclose the operational characteristics comprise a transmitter interference pre-cancellation capability, where a transmitter interference pre-cancellation signal indicating the transmitter interference pre-cancellation signal capability is received prior to determining the first reference signal configuration parameter.
Jin discloses that a UE capability for pilot configuration is reported, where the access nodes subsequently configures the UE based on the capability information including a resource configuration (¶ [0082]). Ren discloses that a pilot capability includes that of an auxiliary pilot symbol in a pilot symbol group for cancelling interference caused by data symbols (¶ [0218]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide capability information prior to determining a reference signal parameter, as suggested by Jin, where the capability information may include that of auxiliary pilots for interference pre-cancellation as suggested by Ren, in the method of Cheng, Sun and Xiao, to ensure the optimal configuration parameters are configured.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-17, 19 and 22 are allowed.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Lugo whose telephone number is 571-272-3043. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-6.
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/DAVID B LUGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631 6/18/2026
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