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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 July 6, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicants remarks, filed June 11, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 17, 29, 30 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art Noh et al. (US 2012/0076115) and Liu et al. (US 2013/0142163), hereafter Liu163.
Examiner continues to respectfully disagree with Applicants’ assertion that Liu does not teach-receive, from the base station, a downlink control message comprising a set of one or more blocks, wherein each block of the one or more blocks comprises a sounding reference signal request in accordance with the configuration for transmission of an aperiodic sounding reference signal, an indication of an available slot corresponding to that block, and one or more transmit power control commands-for the same reasons set forth in the Office Action dated April 10, 2026. DCI comprises multiple SRS blocks, A-SRSs can be triggered (Section 0311 of Liu) thus rendering a scenario wherein the SRS request is in accordance with a configuration for A-SRS. Liu further teaches an indication of an available slot corresponding to that block (Section 0184, indication of available slot positions) and one or more transmit power control commands (Section 0311, SRS TPC command fields). Liu therefore teaches the limitations in question. Liu also teaches transmit, during the available slot corresponding to a block of the set of one or more blocks, the aperiodic sounding reference signal in accordance with a power level indicated by the one or more transmit power control commands corresponding to the block (the UE will transmit the A-SRS in accordance with the power level corresponding to the SRS TPC commands (Section 0311)).
Noh teaches transmitting via at least one uplink component carrier (Section 0081) of a set of uplink component carriers (Abstract), wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration (Section 0081, uplink CC associated with transmitting the A-SRS). Liu163 teaches uplink CCs associated with an SRS request field, which reads on a request block (Section 0051). The combination of Liu, Noh, and Liu163 teaches wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration and is associated with the block of the set of one or more blocks.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 7, 11 – 15, 17, 23, 27 – 29, 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2024/0031103) in view of Noh et al. (US 2012/0076115) and in further view of Liu163
Regarding Claim 1, Liu teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), 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 to cause the apparatus (Figure 1, Section 0130, typical UEs comprise processors with memory that stores executable instructions run by said processors) to: receive, from a base station, control information identifying a configuration for transmission of an aperiodic sounding reference signal (Section 0129, indication of an aperiodic sounding reference signal (A-SRS) via layer 1 downlink control information (DCI)); receive, from the base station, a downlink control message comprising a set of one or more blocks, wherein each block of the set of one or more blocks comprises a sounding reference signal request in accordance with the configuration for transmission of the aperiodic sounding reference signal (Section 0311, DCI comprises multiple SRS blocks, A-SRSs can be triggered thus rendering a scenario wherein the SRS request is in accordance with a configuration for A-SRS), an indication of one or more available slots (Section 0184, indication of available slot positions), and one or more transmit power control commands (Section 0311, SRS TPC command fields); and transmit, during an available slot corresponding to a block of the set of one or more blocks, the aperiodic sounding reference signal in accordance with a power level indicated by the one or more transmit power control commands corresponding to the block (the UE will transmit the A-SRS in accordance with the power level corresponding to the SRS TPC commands (Section 0311)).
Liu does not teach transmit, via at least one uplink component carrier of a set of uplink component carriers and during an available slot corresponding to a block of the set of one or more blocks, the aperiodic sounding reference signal in accordance with a power level indicated by the one or more transmit power control commands corresponding to the block, wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration and is associated with the block of the set of one or more blocks.
Noh, which also teaches the use of SRSs, teaches transmitting via at least one uplink component carrier (Section 0081) of a set of uplink component carriers (Abstract), wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration (Section 0081, uplink CC associated with transmitting the A-SRS).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu with the above features of Noh for the purpose efficiently transmitting SRSs as taught by Noh.
Liu in view of Noh does not teach wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration ad is associated with the block of the set of one or more blocks.
Liu163, which also teaches the use SRSs, teaches uplink CCs associated with an SRS request field, which reads on a request block (Section 0051).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh with the above features of Liu163 for the purpose of providing improved processing methods and apparatuses of aperiodic information transmission for a carrier aggregation system as taught by Liu163. The combination of Liu, Noh, and Liu163 teaches transmit, via at least one uplink component carrier of a set of uplink component carriers and during an available slot corresponding to a block of the set of one or more blocks, the aperiodic sounding reference signal in accordance with a power level indicated by the one or more transmit power control commands corresponding to the block, wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration and is associated with the block of the set of one or more blocks.
Regarding Claim 17, Liu teaches a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a base station, control information identifying a configuration for transmission of an aperiodic sounding reference signal (Section 0129, indication of an aperiodic sounding reference signal (A-SRS) via layer 1 downlink control information (DCI)); receiving, from the base station, a downlink control message comprising a set of one or more blocks, wherein each block of the set of one or more blocks comprises a sounding reference signal request in accordance with the configuration for transmission of the aperiodic sounding reference signal (Section 0311, DCI comprises multiple SRS blocks, A-SRSs can be triggered thus rendering a scenario wherein the SRS request is in accordance with a configuration for A-SRS), an indication of one or more available slots (Section 0184, indication of available slot positions), and one or more transmit power control commands (Section 0311, SRS TPC command fields); and transmitting, during an available slot corresponding to a block of the set of one or more blocks, the aperiodic sounding reference signal in accordance with a power level indicated by the one or more transmit power control commands corresponding to the block (the UE will transmit the A-SRS in accordance with the power level corresponding to the SRS TPC commands (Section 0311)).
Liu does not teach transmitting, via at least one uplink component carrier of a set of uplink component carriers and during an available slot corresponding to a block of the set of one or more blocks, the aperiodic sounding reference signal in accordance with a power level indicated by the one or more transmit power control commands corresponding to the block, wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration and is associated with the block of the set of one or more blocks.
Noh, which also teaches the use of SRSs, teaches transmitting via at least one uplink component carrier (Section 0081) of a set of uplink component carriers (Abstract), wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration (Section 0081, uplink CC associated with transmitting the A-SRS).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu with the above features of Noh for the purpose efficiently transmitting SRSs as taught by Noh.
Liu in view of Noh does not teach wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration ad is associated with the block of the set of one or more blocks.
Liu163, which also teaches the use SRSs, teaches uplink CCs associated with an SRS request field, which reads on a request block (Section 0051).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh with the above features of Liu163 for the purpose of providing improved processing methods and apparatuses of aperiodic information transmission for a carrier aggregation system as taught by Liu163. The combination of Liu, Noh, and Liu163 teaches transmit, via at least one uplink component carrier of a set of uplink component carriers and during an available slot corresponding to a block of the set of one or more blocks, the aperiodic sounding reference signal in accordance with a power level indicated by the one or more transmit power control commands corresponding to the block, wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration and is associated with the block of the set of one or more blocks.
Regarding Claim 29, Liu teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with one or more processors; and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus (Figure 1, Section 0130, typical access nodes or base stations comprise processors with memory that stores executable instructions run by said processors) to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), control information identifying a configuration for transmission of an aperiodic sounding reference signal (Section 0129, indication of an aperiodic sounding reference signal (A-SRS) via layer 1 downlink control information (DCI)); transmit, to the UE, a downlink control message comprising the set of one or more blocks, wherein each block of the set of one or more blocks comprises a sounding reference signal request in accordance with the configuration for transmission of the aperiodic sounding reference signal (Section 0311, DCI comprises multiple SRS blocks, A-SRSs can be triggered thus rendering a scenario wherein the SRS request is in accordance with a configuration for A-SRS), an indication of one or more available slots (Section 0184, indication of available slot positions), and one or more transmit power control commands (Section 0311, SRS TPC command fields); and receive, from the UE during an available slot corresponding to the block, the aperiodic sounding reference signal in accordance with a power level indicated by the one or more transmit power control commands corresponding to the block (the UE will transmit the A-SRS in accordance with the power level corresponding to the SRS TPC commands (Section 0311)).
Liu does not teach wherein the configuration identifies a set of uplink component carriers associated with a block of a set of one or more blocks.
Noh, which also teaches the use of SRSs, teaches wherein the configuration identifies a set of uplink component carriers (set of uplink component carriers (Abstract), wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration (Section 0081, uplink CC associated with transmitting the A-SRS)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu with the above features of Noh for the purpose efficiently transmitting SRSs as taught by Noh.
Liu in view of Noh does not teach a set of uplink component carriers associated with a block of a set of one or more blocks.
Liu163, which also teaches the use SRSs, teaches uplink CCs associated with an SRS request field, which reads on a request block (Section 0051).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh with the above features of Liu163 for the purpose of providing improved processing methods and apparatuses of aperiodic information transmission for a carrier aggregation system as taught by Liu163. The combination of Liu, Noh, and Liu163 teaches wherein the configuration identifies a set of uplink component carriers associated with a block of a set of one or more blocks.
Regarding Claim 30, Liu teaches a method for wireless communication at a base station, comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), control information identifying a configuration for transmission of an aperiodic sounding reference signal (Section 0129, indication of an aperiodic sounding reference signal (A-SRS) via layer 1 downlink control information (DCI)); transmitting, to the UE, a downlink control message comprising the set of one or more blocks, wherein each block of the set of one or more blocks comprises a sounding reference signal request in accordance with the configuration for transmission of the aperiodic sounding reference signal (Section 0311, DCI comprises multiple SRS blocks, A-SRSs can be triggered thus rendering a scenario wherein the SRS request is in accordance with a configuration for A-SRS), an indication of one or more available slots (Section 0184, indication of available slot positions), and one or more transmit power control commands (Section 0311, SRS TPC command fields); and receiving, from the UE during an available slot corresponding to the block, the aperiodic sounding reference signal in accordance with a power level indicated by the one or more transmit power control commands corresponding to the block (the UE will transmit the A-SRS in accordance with the power level corresponding to the SRS TPC commands (Section 0311)).
Liu does not teach wherein the configuration identifies a set of uplink component carriers associated with a block of a set of one or more blocks.
Noh, which also teaches the use of SRSs, teaches wherein the configuration identifies a set of uplink component carriers (set of uplink component carriers (Abstract), wherein the set of uplink component carriers is based at least in part on the configuration (Section 0081, uplink CC associated with transmitting the A-SRS)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu with the above features of Noh for the purpose efficiently transmitting SRSs as taught by Noh.
Liu in view of Noh does not teach a set of uplink component carriers associated with a block of a set of one or more blocks.
Liu163, which also teaches the use SRSs, teaches uplink CCs associated with an SRS request field, which reads on a request block (Section 0051).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh with the above features of Liu163 for the purpose of providing improved processing methods and apparatuses of aperiodic information transmission for a carrier aggregation system as taught by Liu163. The combination of Liu, Noh, and Liu163 teaches wherein the configuration identifies a set of uplink component carriers associated with a block of a set of one or more blocks.
Regarding Claims 7, 23, Liu in view of Noh and in further view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: identify, based at least in part on the configuration, a mapping between the sounding reference signal request and the indication of the one or more available slots (DCI contains an SRS request for an A-SRS (Section 0311) and an available slot for said A-SRS (0184), which is effectively mapping), and that a set of sounding reference signal resources is associated with the sounding reference signal request (Section 0129, SRS resource set).
Regarding Claims 11, 27, Liu in view of Noh and in further view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches identify a second indication of one or more second available slots in an available slots field of a second block (multiple blocks (Section 0311) and slots (Section 0184) renders indicating one or more available slots in an available slot field of a second block).
Regarding Claims 12, 28, Liu in view of Noh and in further view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches the configuration, the downlink control message, or both, comprise a first pointer associated with a third block that points to a third indication of one or more third available slots (multiple blocks (Section 0311) and slots (Section 0184) renders indicating one or more available slots in an available slot field of a third block, the indicating is the pointing), and the configuration, the downlink control message, or both, comprise a second pointer associated with the third block that points to a sounding reference signal request and one or more transmit power control commands of the third block (Section 0311, indications of SRS requests and TPC commands, the indicating is the pointing).
Regarding Claim 13, Liu in view of Noh and in further view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Liu further teaches identify a first component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers (Section 0132, multiple UL carriers thus rendering a scenario of multiple UL component carriers) that is associated with a first indication of the one or more available slots (Section 0184) and a second component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers (Section 0132, multiple UL carriers thus rendering a scenario of multiple UL component carriers) that is associated with a second indication of one or more second available slots, wherein an available slots field of the block includes the second indication of the one or more second available slots ((Section 0184) renders indicating one or more available slots in an available slot field of a block (Section 0311)).
Regarding Claim 14, Liu in view of Noh and in further view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Liu further teaches the indication of the one or more available slots comprises a slot offset value, and identifying the available slot based at least in part on the slot offset value (Section 0159, 0174).
Regarding Claim 15, Liu in view of Noh and in further view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 14. Liu further teaches identify the available slot based at least in part on a reference slot indicated by the configuration or the downlink control message, or indicated by both (Section 0184), wherein the reference slot is measured from the downlink control message, or from a combination of the downlink control message and the slot offset value, or a first slot available after the UE performs a component carrier switching procedure, or any combination thereof (Section 0184).
Claim(s) 3, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2024/0031103) in view of Noh et al. (US 2012/0076115) in view of Liu163 in view of Rico Alvarino et al. (US 2017/0290041)
Regarding Claims 3, 19, Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 does not teach transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on each component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers associated with the block.
Rico Alvarino, which also teaches use of A-SRSs, teaches transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on each component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers (Section 0086, A-SRSs on each of a plurality auxiliary CCs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 with the above features of Rico Alvarino for the purpose of increasing mobile network capacity as taught by Rico Alvarino. The combination of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 and Rico Alvarino teaches aperiodic sounding reference signal on each component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers associated with the block.
Claim(s) 4, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2024/0031103) in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Zhang et al. (US 2010/0226327)
Regarding Claims 4, 20, Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 does not teach identify, based at least in part on the configuration, a first component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers that is associated with a first transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands and a second component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers that is associated with a second transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands.
Zhang, which also teaches power control, teaches identify, based at least in part on the configuration, a first component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers that is associated with a first transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands (Claim 11, each power control command corresponds to one component carrier) and a second component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers that is associated with a second transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands (Claim 11, each power control command corresponds to one component carrier).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 with the above features od Zhang for the purpose of improving the quality of service (QoS) or providing a better QoS as taught by Zhang.
Claim(s) 5, 6, 8, 9, 21, 22, 24, 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2024/0031103) in view of Noh et al. (US 2012/0076115) in view of Liu163 in in view of Rico Alvarino et al. (US 2017/0290041) and in further view of Zhang et al. (US 2010/0226327)
Regarding Claims 5, 21, Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Zhang teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 4, 20. Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Zhang does not teach transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the first component carrier at a first power level indicated by the first transmit power control command, and transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the second component carrier at a second power level indicated by the second transmit power control command, wherein the second power level is different than or equal to the first power level.
Rico Alvarino, which also teaches use of A-SRSs, teaches transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the first component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers and the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the second component carrier (Section 0086, A-SRSs on each of a plurality auxiliary CCs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Zhang with the above features of Rico Alvarino for the purpose of increasing mobile network capacity as taught by Rico Alvarino.
Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Zhang in view of Rico Alvarino does not teach transmitting on the first component carrier at a first power level indicated by the first transmit power control command and transmitting on the second component carrier at a second power level indicated by the second transmit power control command, wherein the second power level is different than or equal to the first power level.
Zhang, which also teaches power control, teaches transmitting on the first component carrier at a first power level indicated by the first transmit power control command (Claim 11, each power control command corresponds to one component carrier), and transmitting on the second component carrier at a second power level indicated by the second transmit power control command (Claim 11, each power control command corresponds to one component carrier), wherein the second power level is different than or equal to the first power level (Claim 11, the plurality of power control commands renders different power levels wherein a second power level different from the first power level).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Rico Alvarino with the above features of Zhang for the purpose of improving the quality of service (QoS) or providing a better QoS as taught by Zhang. The combination of Liu, Rico Alvarino, and Zhang teaches transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the first component carrier at a first power level indicated by the first transmit power control command, and transmitting the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the second component carrier at a second power level indicated by the second transmit power control command, wherein the second power level is different than or equal to the first power level.
Regarding Claims 6, 22, Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches identify, based at least in part on the configuration, a component carrier (Section 0132, multiple UL carriers thus rendering a scenario of multiple UL component carriers).
Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 does not teach, wherein the component carrier is associated with a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands; and transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the component carrier at the power level wherein the power level is indicated by the transmit power control command.
Rico Alvarino, which also teaches use of A-SRSs, teaches transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the component carrier (Section 0086, A-SRSs on each of a plurality auxiliary CCs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 with the above features of Rico Alvarino for the purpose of increasing mobile network capacity as taught by Rico Alvarino.
Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Rico Alvarino does not teach wherein the component carrier corresponds to a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands and transmitting at a power level indicated by the transmit power control command
Zhang, which also teaches power control, teaches wherein the component carrier corresponds to a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands (Claim 11, each power control command corresponds to one component carrier), and transmitting at a power level indicated by the transmit power control command (Claim 11, the plurality of power control commands renders different power levels).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Rico Alvarino with the above features of Zhang for the purpose of improving the quality of service (QoS) or providing a better QoS as taught by Zhang. The combination of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163, Rico Alvarino, and Zhang teaches wherein the component carrier corresponds to a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands; and transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the component carrier at a power level indicated by the transmit power control command.
Regarding Claims 8, 24, Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 7, 23. Liu further teaches identify, based at least in part on the configuration, a component carrier that is associated with the set of sounding reference signal resources (Section 0132, multiple UL carriers thus rendering a scenario of multiple UL component carriers, Section 0129, SRS resource set, which renders UL comprising SRS resources and component carriers).
Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 does not teach wherein the component carrier is associated with a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands; and transmit, using the set of sounding reference signal resources, the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the component carrier at the power level, wherein the power level is indicated by the transmit power control command.
Rico Alvarino, which also teaches use of A-SRSs, teaches transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the component carrier (Section 0086, A-SRSs on each of a plurality auxiliary CCs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 with the above features of Rico Alvarino for the purpose of increasing mobile network capacity as taught by Rico Alvarino.
Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Rico Alvarino does not teach wherein the component carrier corresponds to a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands and transmitting on a component carrier at a power level indicated by the transmit power control command
Zhang, which also teaches power control, teaches wherein the component carrier corresponds to a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands (Claim 11, each power control command corresponds to one component carrier), and transmitting on a component carrier at a power level indicated by the transmit power control command (Claim 11, the plurality of power control commands renders different power levels).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Rico Alvarino with the above features of Zhang for the purpose of improving the quality of service (QoS) or providing a better QoS as taught by Zhang. The combination of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163, Rico Alvarino, and Zhang teaches wherein the component carrier corresponds to a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands; and used the set of sounding reference signal resources to transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on the component carrier at a power level indicated by the transmit power control command.
Regarding Claims 9, 25, Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 7, 23. Liu further teaches identify, based at least in part on the configuration, a plurality of component carriers that are associated with the set of sounding reference signal resources (Section 0132, multiple UL carriers thus rendering a scenario of multiple UL component carriers, Section 0129, SRS resource set, which renders UL comprising SRS resources and component carriers), wherein each of the plurality of component carriers point to the block (Section 0311, downlink comprises DCI which comprises blocks thus the downlink signal points to the block); and using the set of sounding reference signal resources (Section 0129) to transmit, during the identified slot (Section 0184).
Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 does not teach wherein the plurality of component carriers are associated with a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands; the aperiodic sounding reference signal on each of the plurality of component carriers at the power level wherein the power level is indicated by the transmit power control command.
Rico Alvarino, which also teaches use of A-SRSs, teaches transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on each of the component carriers (Section 0086, A-SRSs on each of a plurality auxiliary CCs).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu with the above features of Rico Alvarino for the purpose of increasing mobile network capacity as taught by Rico Alvarino.
Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Rico Alvarino does not teach wherein the component carrier corresponds to a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands and transmitting on a component carrier at a power level indicated by the transmit power control command
Zhang, which also teaches power control, teaches wherein the component carrier corresponds to a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands (Claim 11, each power control command corresponds to one component carrier), and transmitting on a component carrier at a power level indicated by the transmit power control command (Claim 11, the plurality of power control commands renders different power levels).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 in view of Rico Alvarino with the above features of Zhang for the purpose of improving the quality of service (QoS) or providing a better QoS as taught by Zhang. The combination of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163, Rico Alvarino, and Zhang teaches wherein the plurality of component carriers corresponds to a transmit power control command of the one or more transmit power control commands; the aperiodic sounding reference signal on each of the plurality of component carriers at a power level indicated by the transmit power control command.
Claim(s) 10, 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2024/0031103) in view of Noh et al. (US 2012/0076115) and in further view of Liu163 in view of R1-2102511
Regarding Claims 10, 26, Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches identify the indication of the one or more available slots based at least in part on the configuration, wherein the configuration maps the indication of the one or more available slots to the block (DCI comprises blocks (Section 0311) and indication of available slots (Section 0184) thus rendering effectively mapping the indication of the available slot to the said blocks).
Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 does not teach mapping the indication of the one or more available slots to one or more uplink component carriers of the set of uplink component carriers associated with the block according to a sounding reference signal request index of the block.
R1-2102511, which also teaches use of SRSs, teaches mapping the indication of the available slot to one or more uplink component carriers of the block according to a sounding reference signal request index of the block (Section 2.3 Collision Handling, Observation 5 shows slots associated with one or more component carriers, which can be a CC set ex. slot n+2 on CC1, Section 2.4 Group Common DCI, 2nd Paragraph shows codepoint of the SRS request, which is the SRS request index, which can choose CC sets, this renders a scenario of mapping the indication of the available slot to one or more uplink component carriers of the block according to a sounding reference signal request index of the block)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 with the above features of R1-2102511 for the purpose of improving uplink channel estimation, providing higher throughput and lower latency which are benefits of SRS enhancement.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2024/0031103) in view of Noh et al. (US 2012/0076115) in view of Liu163 in view of Zeng et al. (US 2018/0206226)
Regarding Claim 16, Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 does not teach wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: receive a list of index values in the configuration, or in a message from the base station, wherein the configuration comprises an index value that maps to an entry of the list of index values, wherein the entry of the list of index values indicates the available slot corresponding to the block.
Zeng, which also teaches wireless communications, teaches receive a list of index values in the configuration, or in a message from the base station, wherein the configuration comprises an index value that maps to an entry of the list of index values, wherein the entry of the list of index values indicates the available slot that corresponds to the block (Section 0052, index values are obtained and are correlated with or associated with available slot formats).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Liu in view of Noh in view of Liu163 with the above features of Zeng for the purpose of reducing the switching overhead due to the presence of the guard interval as taught by Zeng.
Conclusion
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/RAYMOND S DEAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean
July 13, 2026
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