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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed January 30, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicants’ assertion-Where Liu [0184] teaches indicating available slots of an A-SRS resource set, this is embodied in DCI. And while Liu [0311] recites a GC DCI made up of multiple blocks, Liu does not teach each block of a downlink control message comprising an indication of an available slot corresponding to that block. In other words, Liu does not teach block-level indications of available slots but rather DCI-level indications of available slots. Thus, Liu does not disclose at least the above-recited limitations of independent claim 1.- for the same reasons detailed in the Office Action dated November 6, 2025. Liu teaches 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 (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 an available slot corresponding to that block (Section 0184, indication of available slot positions). The cited passages above show that there a multiple SRS blocks and available slot positions. Section 0189 of Liu also teaches wherein the SRS resources, which comprise the blocks, are also associated or correspond to available slots thus rendering a scenario of indications of available slots corresponding to blocks.
R1-2102511 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).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 7, 11 – 15, 17, 18, 23, 27 – 29, 30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu et al. (US 2024/0031103).
Regarding Claim 1, Liu teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor 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 one or more blocks comprises a sounding reference signal request in accordance with the configuration for transmission of an 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 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); and 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)).
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 one or more blocks comprises a sounding reference signal request in accordance with the configuration for transmission of an 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 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); and transmitting, 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)).
Regarding Claim 29, Liu teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising: a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor 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 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 (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 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); and receive, from the UE 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)).
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 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 (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 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); and receiving, from the UE 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)).
Regarding Claims 2, 18, Liu teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches identify, based at least in part on the configuration, a set of uplink component carriers that correspond to the block (Section 0132, multiple UL carriers thus rendering a scenario of multiple UL component carriers, Section 0311, blocks, thus rendering a scenario of component carriers that correspond to the block).
Regarding Claims 7, 23, Liu teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor 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 an available slot (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 corresponds to the sounding reference signal request (Section 0129, SRS resource set).
Regarding Claims 11, 27, Liu teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches identify a second indication of one or more 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 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches the configuration or 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 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 or 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 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Liu further teaches identify a first component carrier of a set of uplink component carriers associated with the block (Section 0132, multiple UL carriers thus rendering a scenario of multiple UL component carriers, Section 0311, blocks, thus rendering a scenario of component carriers that correspond to the block) that corresponds to the indication of the available slot (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 corresponds to a second indication of one or more available slots, wherein the available slots field of the block includes the second indication of the one or more 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 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Liu further teaches the indication of the available slot comprises a slot offset value, and identifying the slot comprises identifying the slot based at least in part on the slot offset value (Section 0159, 0174).
Regarding Claim 15, Liu teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 14. Liu further teaches identify the 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 a slot offset value, or a first slot available after the UE performs a component carrier switching procedure, or any combination thereof (Section 0184).
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) 3, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2024/0031103) in view of Rico Alvarino et al. (US 2017/0290041)
Regarding Claims 3, 19, Liu teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 2, 18. Liu does not teach transmit the aperiodic sounding reference signal on each component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers corresponding to 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 with the above features of Rico Alvarino for the purpose of increasing mobile network capacity as taught by Rico Alvarino. The combination of Liu and Rico Alvarino teaches aperiodic sounding reference signal on each component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers corresponding to 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 Zhang et al. (US 2010/0226327)
Regarding Claims 4, 20, Liu teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 2, 18. Liu does not teach identify, based at least in part on the configuration, a first component carrier of the set of uplink component carriers that corresponds to 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 corresponds to 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 corresponds to 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 corresponds to 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 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 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 Zhang teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 4, 20. Liu 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 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.
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 with the above features of Rico Alvarino for the purpose of increasing mobile network capacity as taught by Rico Alvarino.
Liu 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 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 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 that corresponds to the block (Section 0132, multiple UL carriers thus rendering a scenario of multiple UL component carriers, Section 0311, blocks, thus rendering a scenario of component carriers that correspond to the block).
Liu does not teach, 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.
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 with the above features of Rico Alvarino for the purpose of increasing mobile network capacity as taught by Rico Alvarino.
Liu 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 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 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 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 corresponds to 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 does not teach 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.
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 with the above features of Rico Alvarino for the purpose of increasing mobile network capacity as taught by Rico Alvarino.
Liu 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 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 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 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 correspond to 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 used the set of sounding reference signal resources (Section 0129) to transmit, during the identified slot (Section 0184).
Liu does not teach 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.
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 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 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 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 R1-2102511
Regarding Claims 10, 26, Liu teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 17. Liu further teaches identify the indication of the available slot based at least in part on the configuration, wherein the configuration maps the indication of the available slot 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 does not teach 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.
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 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 Zeng et al. (US 2018/0206226)
Regarding Claim 16, Liu teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Liu does not teach wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor 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 that corresponds 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 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
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.
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/RAYMOND S DEAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean
April 8, 2026
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