DETAILED ACTION
Status of Case
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office Action is in response to the restriction response filed on 11/11/2025.
Claims 1-33 are pending, with claims 16-33 being withdrawn.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s response to the restriction requirement is hereby acknowledged. Applicant has elected Group I (claims 1-15) for examination, without traverse. As such, claims 16-33 are hereby withdrawn.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 8/23/2023 has been considered by Examiner.
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 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Acharya (USPAN 2013/0303220) in view of Guo (USPAN 2020/0044797).
Consider claim 1, Acharya discloses a method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (see figure 4a, reproduced below for convenience, and paragraph 50, wherein disclosed is said method), comprising:
reporting, to a base station, information indicating a set of channel properties of a wireless channel on which communication with the base station is configured, each of the set of channel properties being based on receiving a set of pilot signals from the base station (see paragraph 50: the BS transmits CSI-RS pilot signals to the UE and based on said CSI-RS pilot signals, the UE calculates CQI [i.e., channel properties] and reports the calculated CQI back to the serving BS).
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Although Acharya discloses resource allocation based on the information indicating the set of channel properties (see paragraph 91: information regarding the configuration determined by the CSI-RS resource configuration is transmitted to the UE 300 and the collaborating BS 200), Acharya does not specifically disclose transmitting at least one sounding reference signal (SRS) in an SRS resource of an SRS resource set to the base station according to a configuration.
Guo discloses transmitting at least one sounding reference signal (SRS) in an SRS resource of an SRS resource set to the base station according to a configuration (see abstract and paragraph 12: the UE transmits an SRS based on a SRS resource configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Guo. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method that provides for low overhead and low latency in an advanced wireless communication system (see paragraph 9 of Guo).
Consider claims 2 and 9, Acharya discloses determining the information indicating the set of channel properties based on receiving the set of pilot signals from the base station (see above), and although Acharya discloses resource allocation based on the information indicating the set of channel properties (see paragraph 91: information regarding the configuration determined by the CSI-RS resource configuration is transmitted to the UE 300 and the collaborating BS 200), Acharya does not specifically disclose receiving the configuration from the base station.
Guo discloses receiving the configuration from the base station (see abstract and paragraph 12: the UE transmits an SRS based on a SRS resource configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Guo. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method that provides for low overhead and low latency in an advanced wireless communication system (see paragraph 9 of Guo).
Consider claim 8, Acharya discloses a method of wireless communication at a base station (see figure 4a, reproduced below for convenience, and paragraph 50, wherein disclosed is said method), comprising:
receiving, from a user equipment (UE), information indicating a set of channel properties of a wireless channel on which communication with the UE is configured, each of the set of channel properties being based on a set of pilot signals transmitted on the wireless channel (see paragraph 50: the BS transmits CSI-RS pilot signals to the UE and based on said CSI-RS pilot signals, the UE calculates CQI [i.e., channel properties] and reports the calculated CQI back to the serving BS).
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Although Acharya discloses resource allocation based on the information indicating the set of channel properties (see paragraph 91: information regarding the configuration determined by the CSI-RS resource configuration is transmitted to the UE 300 and the collaborating BS 200), Acharya does not specifically disclose receiving at least one sounding reference signal (SRS) in an SRS resource of an SRS resource set from the UE according to a configuration.
Guo discloses t receiving at least one sounding reference signal (SRS) in an SRS resource of an SRS resource set from the UE according to a configuration (see abstract and paragraph 12: the UE transmits an SRS based on a SRS resource configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Guo. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method that provides for low overhead and low latency in an advanced wireless communication system (see paragraph 9 of Guo).
Claims 3-4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Acharya (USPAN 2013/0303220) in view of Guo (USPAN 2020/0044797) and Ji (USPAN 2021/0250944).
Consider claim 3, although Acharya discloses determining the information indicating the set of channel properties, wherein the information indicating the set of channel properties comprising quantized values of at least two values (see above; the CQI that the UE reports to the BS), Acharya does not specifically disclose calculating at least two values for an antenna port based on receiving the set of pilot signals, a first value of the at least two values being based on measurement of at least one Doppler shift on the antenna port and a second value of the at least two values being based on measurement of a delay spread on the antenna port; and quantizing each of the at least two values.
Ji discloses calculating at least two values for an antenna port based on receiving the set of pilot signals, a first value of the at least two values being based on measurement of at least one Doppler shift on the antenna port and a second value of the at least two values being based on measurement of a delay spread on the antenna port; and quantizing each of the at least two values (see paragraph 104: two different antenna ports may be connected in a relationship of a (QCL) target antenna port and a (QCL) reference antenna port, and the terminal may apply (or assume) all or part of the statistical characteristics (e.g., a large scale parameter of a channel such as Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, average gain, spatial Rx (or Tx) parameter, or a reception spatial filter coefficient or a transmission spatial filter coefficient of the terminal) of the channel measured at the reference antenna port when receiving the target antenna port.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Ji. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for transmitting control information to multiple transmission points/panels/beams for the purpose of cooperative communications between multiple transmission points/panels/beams (see paragraph 2 of Ji).
Consider claim 4, although Acharya discloses determining the information indicating the set of channel properties, wherein the information indicating the set of channel properties comprising quantized values of at least two values (see above; the CQI that the UE reports to the BS), Acharya does not specifically disclose the information indicating the set of channel properties comprises at least one of a Doppler shift that is measured on at least one antenna port based on at least one of the set of pilot signals, a Doppler spread calculated using the at least one Doppler shift, or a delay spread that is measured on at least one antenna port based on at least one of the set of pilot signals.
Ji discloses the information indicating the set of channel properties comprises at least one of a Doppler shift that is measured on at least one antenna port based on at least one of the set of pilot signals, a Doppler spread calculated using the at least one Doppler shift, or a delay spread that is measured on at least one antenna port based on at least one of the set of pilot signals (see paragraph 104: two different antenna ports may be connected in a relationship of a (QCL) target antenna port and a (QCL) reference antenna port, and the terminal may apply (or assume) all or part of the statistical characteristics (e.g., a large scale parameter of a channel such as Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, average gain, spatial Rx (or Tx) parameter, or a reception spatial filter coefficient or a transmission spatial filter coefficient of the terminal) of the channel measured at the reference antenna port when receiving the target antenna port.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Ji. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for transmitting control information to multiple transmission points/panels/beams for the purpose of cooperative communications between multiple transmission points/panels/beams (see paragraph 2 of Ji).
Consider claim 15, although Acharya discloses determining the information indicating the set of channel properties, wherein the information indicating the set of channel properties comprising quantized values of at least two values (see above; the CQI that the UE reports to the BS), Acharya does not specifically disclose the information indicating the set of channel properties comprises at least one quantized value corresponding to at least one of a Doppler shift, a Doppler spread, or a delay spread.
Ji discloses the information indicating the set of channel properties comprises at least one quantized value corresponding to at least one of a Doppler shift, a Doppler spread, or a delay spread (see paragraph 104: two different antenna ports may be connected in a relationship of a (QCL) target antenna port and a (QCL) reference antenna port, and the terminal may apply (or assume) all or part of the statistical characteristics (e.g., a large scale parameter of a channel such as Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, average gain, spatial Rx (or Tx) parameter, or a reception spatial filter coefficient or a transmission spatial filter coefficient of the terminal) of the channel measured at the reference antenna port when receiving the target antenna port.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Ji. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for transmitting control information to multiple transmission points/panels/beams for the purpose of cooperative communications between multiple transmission points/panels/beams (see paragraph 2 of Ji).
Claims 5-6 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Acharya (USPAN 2013/0303220) in view of Guo (USPAN 2020/0044797) and Tomeba (USPAN 2019/0013912).
Consider claims 5 and 11, Acharya discloses information indicating the set of channel properties (see above), but does not disclose a recommendation for at least one of a cover code, a difference of cyclic shifts, a comb size, or a cover code size.
Tomeba discloses a recommendation for at least one of a cover code, a difference of cyclic shifts, a comb size, or a cover code size (see claim 15: second information indicating a cover code).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Tomeba. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for wireless communication that is capable of increasing the number of terminal apparatuses that can be spatially multiplexed in the uplink (see paragraph 10 of Tomeba).
Consider claims 6 and 12, Acharya discloses information indicating the set of channel properties (see above), but does not disclose that the cover code comprises at least one of a time-domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) or a frequency-domain domain OCC.
Tomeba discloses that the cover code comprises at least one of a time-domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) or a frequency-domain domain OCC (see claim 15: orthogonal cover code (OCC), which is in the frequency domain).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Tomeba. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for wireless communication that is capable of increasing the number of terminal apparatuses that can be spatially multiplexed in the uplink (see paragraph 10 of Tomeba).
Consider claim 10, Acharya discloses configuring a set of orthogonal resources for the at least one SRS resource on at least two antenna ports (see above), but does not disclose using a cover code.
Tomeba discloses using a cover code (see claim 15: orthogonal cover code (OCC), which is in the frequency domain).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Tomeba. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for wireless communication that is capable of increasing the number of terminal apparatuses that can be spatially multiplexed in the uplink (see paragraph 10 of Tomeba).
Consider claim 13, Acharya discloses information indicating the set of channel properties and configuring at least one SRS resource on at least one antenna port (see above), but does not disclose that the cover code comprises at least one of a time-domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) or a frequency-domain domain OCC.
Tomeba discloses that the cover code comprises at least one of a time-domain orthogonal cover code (OCC) or a frequency-domain domain OCC (see claim 15: orthogonal cover code (OCC), which is in the frequency domain).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Tomeba. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method for wireless communication that is capable of increasing the number of terminal apparatuses that can be spatially multiplexed in the uplink (see paragraph 10 of Tomeba).
Claims 7 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Acharya (USPAN 2013/0303220) in view of Guo (USPAN 2020/0044797) and Su (USPAN 2019/0363844).
Consider claims 7 and 14, Acharya disclose information indicating the set of channel properties comprises a recommendation (see above), but Acharya does not specifically disclose that the recommendation indicates at least one of a delay spread of the set of channel properties or a mobility status of the UE.
Su discloses that a recommendation indicates at least one of a delay spread of the set of channel properties or a mobility status of the UE (see paragraph 173: the network side can determine the DMRS parameter according to a configuration or a system default value, where in the implementation in which the network side configures the DMRS parameter according to the recommendation information transmitted by the terminal, the terminal can measure a channel by measuring a movement speed, a Doppler spread, a Doppler shift, a delay spread, an attainable throughput, a predicated error probability, or another parameter, and further recommend the DMRS parameter for the network side according to a measurement result).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Acharya and combine it with the noted teachings of Su. The motivation to combine these references is to provide a method of transmission that allows for the quality of channel estimation to be improved (see paragraphs 4-6 of Su).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jamal Javaid whose telephone number is 571-270-5137 and email address is Jamal.Javaid@uspto.gov.
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/JAMAL JAVAID/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412