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 .
This Office Action is in response to claim amendment filed on June 04, 2026 and wherein claims 1, 6-9 being currently amended, and claim 12 being new added.
In virtue of this communication, claims 1-12 are currently pending in this Office Action.
The Office appreciates the explanation of the amendment and analyses of the prior arts, and however, although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993) and MPEP 2145.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, Pages 9-11, filed on June 04, 2026 , with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1, 6- 9 under 35 USC §103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 KISHI and Tsui.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 1-4, 6-7, 10,12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KISHI et al. (US 20200146013 A1, hereinafter KISHI) in view of Rahman et al. (US 20180262253 A1, hereinafter Rahman) and further in view of Tsui et al. (US 20220279535 A1, hereinafter Tsui).
Claim 1: KISHI teaches A method of forming a composite beam via linear combination of orthogonal beams of an array of antennas belonging to a transmitting device intended to transmit a radio signal whose energy is focused according to the composite beam ([0039],disclose calculate correlation values according to reception pilot symbols, for evaluating adaptability to space multiplexing transmission based on the generated correlation matrix), the method comprising the following implemented by a receiving device receiving the radio signal (Fig.7, element 350):
Estimating, for at least one sub-carrier of a frequency band used to transport the radio signal (Fig. 7, element S3200, S3300, [0101], disclose mobile station apparatus 350
estimates reception quality P(j, k) of antenna-individuated pilot signals and antennas of mobile station apparatus 350), a propagation channel of the radio signal based on data collected during a sweeping of a set of N orthogonal beams of the array of N+1 antennas of the transmitting device carried out by the transmitting device (Fig. 7, [0066], “use an average signal level of a received pilot signal or use an SNR in which S is the average signal level of a received pilot signal and N is a distribution situation of instantaneous pilot received signal … by conveniently performing variable sweeping of θ that means the direction of arrival of paths in angle spectrum evaluation function F(θ) as shown in Equation 8 and calculating a spectral spread in a direction of a peak of the angle spectrum, it is possible to obtain adaptability evaluation function value B. Here, a(θ) indicates direction vectors of antennas 102-1 to 102-Na”, [0094], base station apparatus 300 transmits antenna-individuated pilot signals for space multiplexing transmission from the respective antennas 102-1 to 102-Na), wherein the sweeping comprises transmitting pilot signals in a set of directions, wherein each pilot signal is associated with a direction and each direction corresponds to one of the N orthogonal beams (Fig. 8A/B/C, [0094-0096], disclose base station 300 transmits antenna-individuated pilot signals for space multiplexing transmission from the respective antennas 102-1 to 102-N, antenna-individuated pilot signal APk has patterns orthogonal to one another among the antennas, [0072], disclose transmission signals are code division multiplexed in the frequency axis direction, calculating the correlation value of each subcarrier signal for each user using a pilot signal embedded in the subcarrier signal),
selecting an eigenvector of the broadband NxN matrix associated with the highest eigenvalue of the broadband matrix ([0041-0044], disclose calculate correlation values between the generated replicas and the reception pilot symbols included in subcarrier signals based on H, performing eigenvalue expansion of generated correlation matrix R and determines Na eigenvalues λk. calculated eigenvalues λk are sorted in descending order and subscripts are assigned from the maximum eigenvalue, correlation matrix R is a Hermitean matrix, [0101-0103], disclose estimates reception quality P(j, k) of antenna-individuated pilot signals and antennas of mobile station apparatus according to h(j, k), and H is consisted with reception weight vectors and transmission weight vector),
and transmitting, to the transmitting device (Fig. 7, element S3400, [0102], Mobile station apparatus 350 then transmits calculated channel estimation value h(j, k) and Na×Nr reception quality P(j, k) to base station apparatus 300).
However, KISHI does not explicitly teach determining the coefficients of a NxN broadband covariance matrix from the at least one estimated propagation channel,
an eigenvector associated with the highest eigenvalue of broadband covariance matrix, a component of the selected eigenvector, known as weighting vector, corresponding to a weighting coefficient associated with a beam of the array of antennas,
determining parameters relating to phase and amplitude modulation coefficients intended to be applied to at least one signal processed in transmission by at least one antenna of the array of N+1 antennas corresponding to the radio signal on the basis of the values of the components of the weighting vector,
feedback message comprising the parameters relating to the phase and amplitude modulation coefficients.
Rahman, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches determining the coefficients of a NxN broadband covariance matrix from the at least one estimated propagation channel (Fig. 17, element 1710, [0007], “CSI feedback configuration information to report a CMI indicating a N×N channel covariance matrix (K) associated with a downlink channel matrix, wherein N is a number of antenna ports at the BS; identifying, by the UE, the CMI that indicates a set of L basis vectors {ai}, i=0, 1, 2, . . . , L−1, each comprising a dimension N×1, and a set of L2 coefficients, {ci,j}, i,j=0, 1, 2, . . . , L−1, and that represent the covariance matrix (K) as a weighted linear sum {tilde over (K)}=Σi=0L-1Σ j=0L-1ci,j aiajH, wherein L≤N and H denotes a Hermitian transpose”, [0189], “CSI feedback configuration information to report a covariance matrix indicator (CMI) indicating a N×N channel covariance matrix (K) associated with a downlink channel matrix”, [0113], “the beam
combination is used to quantize a matrix, which can be an estimate of channel covariance matrix”, [0074], “A CRS is transmitted over a DL system bandwidth (BW) and can be used by UEs to obtain a channel estimate to demodulate data or control information or to perform measurements),
determining parameters relating to phase and amplitude modulation coefficients intended to be applied to at least one signal processed in transmission by at least one antenna of the array of N+1 antennas corresponding to the radio signal on the basis of the values of the components of the weighting vector (Fig. 17, [0144-0145], disclose
PNG
media_image1.png
30
205
media_image1.png
Greyscale
,
PNG
media_image2.png
42
121
media_image2.png
Greyscale
for phase coefficient, and
PNG
media_image3.png
24
33
media_image3.png
Greyscale
for amplitude coefficient,
PNG
media_image4.png
138
444
media_image4.png
Greyscale
),
feedback message comprising the parameters relating to the phase and amplitude modulation coefficients ([0120-0121], disclose the amplitude and phase of the combining coefficients report in channel covariance matrix, [0005], “ CSI feedback configuration information to report a covariance matrix indicator (CMI) indicating a N×N channel covariance matrix (K) associated with a downlink channel matrix, wherein N is a number of antenna ports at the BS … identity the CMI that indicates a set of L basis vectors …, each comprising a dimension N×1, and a set of L2 coefficients, … and that represent the covariance matrix (K) as a weighted linear sum … transmit, to the BS, the CSI feedback including the identified CMI over an uplink channel”).
KISHI and Rahman are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of KISHI and the features of determining parameters relating to phase and amplitude modulation coefficients, and transmitting the estimated parameters in a feedback message as taught by Rahman, for the benefit for guarantying high MU performance by reporting accurate CSI to eNB (paragraph [0093-0094]), thus to meet increased throughput requirement (paragraph [0099]).
Tsui, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches an eigenvector associated with the highest eigenvalue of broadband covariance matrix, a component of the selected eigenvector, a component of the selected eigenvector, known as weighting vector, corresponding to a weighting coefficient associated with a beam of the array of antennas (Fig. 7, element 710, 714, [0127-0128], disclose estimating a DL channel based on the UL channel cross covariance, calculating a DL weight matrix according to Hd , Hd can be calculated from an eigenvector calculation from M×M channel outer product , the DL weight matrix may be calculated or updated in cases where the channel covariance changes significantly, [0118-0120], weight vectors is derived from M×K matrix, the M×K matrix can be constructed by taking the M×1 dimensional eigenvector of Rk, with the largest eigenvalue and concatenating those eigenvectors, H is the M×K channel matrix, where each of the K columns represents the channel vector whose elements are the complex-valued channel gain between each MIMO antenna element and the single Rx antenna of the UE, weight coefficients may be applied to the antenna elements of the MIMO antenna array, [0140-0141], The DL can also be estimated by analyzing channel vectors associated with the UE 504—e.g., by determining eigenvalues relating to H H* of equation 620 of FIG. 6, which can inform on an appropriate Su-MIMO rank, where DL weights may be matched to channel fading as determined from the UL channel estimation).
KISHI and Tsui are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of KISHI and the features of constructing weighting vector from eigenvectors, weighting coefficient associated with a beam of the array of antennas as taught by Tsui, for the benefit for allowing BS to adjust DL transmissions according to feedback provided by a UE, for example, to adjust weights of various antennas for beamforming and beamsteering, thus to achieve beam optimization, improve/increase overall UL coverage (paragraph [0099-0100]).
Claim 2: The combination of Rahman and KISHI teaches the method of forming a composite beam according to claim 1, comprising prior to the step of transmitting the feedback message, the following steps:
creating a subset of beams comprising at least one beam selected from the set of orthogonal beams of the array of antennas (Rahman, [0115], “where W1 codebook is used to select: an orthogonal basis set comprising of uniformly spaced (L1, L2) DFT beams as shown in FIG. 13; and L beams freely out of the L1L2 DFT beams in a basis set”, [0116], “ two examples of basis set sizes are: restricted orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=min(a, bN1N2); and full orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=bN1N2”. KISHI, [0095], “antenna-individuated pilot signal APk has patterns orthogonal to one another among the antennas”),
selecting a weighting vector relating to the subset of beams from a reduced broadband covariance matrix, a component of the weighting vector relating to the subset of beams corresponding to a weighting coefficient associated with a beam of the subset of beams (Rahman, [0121], “The amplitude and phase of the combining coefficients {ci,j}i,j are reported separately, where phase reporting is either WB or SB and amplitude reporting is either WB or SB or both WB and SB. The amplitude and phase reporting is determined according to …via RRC or MAC CE or dynamic DCI signalling. For instance, 1 bit signalling can be used to indicate one of WB amplitude and WB phase reporting or WB amplitude and SB phase reporting”, wherein two set coefficient (wide band WB and partial SB) is reported based on higher layer configuration, and SB consume small size matrix, [0119], disclose single/or average polarization matrix N1N2xN1N2 and two polarizations matrix 2N1N2x2N1N2 [0007], “CSI feedback configuration information to report a CMI indicating a N×N channel covariance matrix (K) associated with a downlink channel matrix, wherein N is a number of antenna ports at the BS; identifying, by the UE, the CMI that indicates a set of L basis vectors {ai}, i=0, 1, 2, . . . , L−1, each comprising a dimension N×1, and a set of L2 coefficients, {ci,j}, i,j=0, 1, 2, . . . , L−1, and that represent the covariance matrix (K) as a weighted linear sum {tilde over (K)}=Σi=0L-1Σ j=0L-1ci,j aiajH, wherein L≤N and H denotes a Hermitian transpose”),
determining the values of the components of a quantized weighting vector, the values of the components of the quantized weighting vector being obtained by rounding a value of a modulus and a value of an argument of the components of the weighting vector relating to the subset of beams to at least one possible state defined by a number of quantization bits used to encode the amplitude and phase values (Rahman ,[0113], “the beam combination is used to quantize a matrix, which can be an estimate of channel covariance matrix”.[0166], disclose amplitude quantization codebook is fixed or configured via higher layer RRC or dynamic DCI signaling, [0160], disclose the phase quantization codebook is fixed or configured via higher layer RRC or dynamic DCI signaling, [0148], “the strongest
coefficient corresponds to any one of the 2L diagonal elements. The rest of 2L−1 diagonal coefficients and (2L−1)L non-diagonal coefficients are normalized by the absolute value of the strongest coefficient, and normalized coefficients are reported. Because of this normalization, the amplitude of all coefficients is between 0 and 1” ),
and generating the feedback message, said the parameters relating to phase and amplitude modulation coefficients comprising identifiers of the beams included in the subset of beams and the values of the components of the quantized weighting vector (Rahman , Fig. 17, element 1715, [0121], disclose amplitude coefficient and phase coefficient reporting mode is configured by higher layer RRC configuration,
PNG
media_image5.png
114
468
media_image5.png
Greyscale
[0194], “identifies, by the UE, the CMI that indicates a set of L basis vectors {ai}, i=0, 1, 2, . . . , L−1, each comprising a dimension N×1, and a set of L.sup.2 coefficients, {ci,j}, i,j=0, 1, 2, . . . , L−1, and that represent the covariance matrix (K) as a weighted linear sum {tilde over (K)}= Σi=0L-1Σ j=0L-1ci,j aiajH, wherein L≤N and .sup.H denotes a Hermitian transpose”).
The motivation for combining KISHI and Rahman regarding to the claim 1 is also applied to claim 2.
Claim 3: KISHI teaches the method of forming a composite beam according to claim 2, wherein the subset of beams comprises the beams for which a reception power of the radio signal is the highest ([0066], “by conveniently performing variable sweeping of θ that means the direction of arrival of paths in angle spectrum evaluation function F(θ) as shown in (Equation 8) and calculating a spectral spread in a direction of a peak of the angle spectrum”, [0102], Mobile station apparatus 350 transmits maximum value of Na×Nr reception quality P(j, k) values to base station).
Claim 4: The combination of KISHI and Rahman teaches the method of forming a composite beam according to claim 2, wherein the subset of beams comprises the beams for which a modulus of the corresponding component of the weighting vector relating to the subset of beams is the highest (KISHI, Fig. 7, [0041-0044], disclose calculate correlation values between the generated replicas and the reception pilot symbols included in subcarrier
signals based on H, performing eigenvalue expansion of generated correlation matrix
R and determines Na eigenvalues λk. calculated eigenvalues λk are sorted in descending order and subscripts are assigned from the maximum eigenvalue, correlation matrix R is a Hermitean matrix, [0101-0103], disclose estimates reception quality P(j, k) of antenna-individuated pilot signals and antennas of mobile station apparatus according to h(j, k), and H is consisted with reception weight vectors and transmission weight vector. Rahman, [0148], “the strongest coefficient corresponds to any one of the 2L diagonal elements. The rest of 2L−1 diagonal coefficients and (2L−1)L non-diagonal coefficients
are normalized by the absolute value of the strongest coefficient, and normalized Coefficients are reported”).
Claim 6 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and the combination of KISHI and Rahman further teaches a first device (KISHI, Fig. 7, element 350. Rahman, Fig. 1, Fig. 3, element 116, [0055]), the first device comprising at least a processor (Rahman, Fig. 3, element 340).
Rahman and KISHI are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand a mobile apparatus comprise a processor to calculate channel estimation as taught by Rahman, which is well known in the field.
Claim 7: is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and the combination of KISHI and Rahman further teaches a communication device (KISHI, Fig. 7, element 350, Rahman. Fig. 1, Fig. 3, element 116, [0055]), the first device comprising at least a processor (Rahman, Fig. 3, element 340).
The motivation for combining KISHI and Rahman regarding to the claim 6 is also applied to claim 7.
Claim 10 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and Rahman additionally teaches a processing circuit comprising a processor (Fig. 3, element 340) and a non-transitory memory (Fig. 3, element 360), the non-transitory memory storing program code instructions of a computer program for implementing the method for forming a composite beam according to claim 1, when the computer program is executed by the processor (Fig. 3, element 360, 361, 362, [0059-0060], wherein the processor 340 can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS 361 stored in the memory 360 in order to control the overall operation of the UE 116).
The motivation for combining KISHI and Rahman regarding to the claim 6 is also applied to claim 10.
Claim 12 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1, KISHI further teaches the sweeping comprises receiving pilot signals in a set of receiving directions wherein each pilot signal is associated with a receiving direction and each receiving direction corresponds to one of the N orthogonal beams (Fig. 6, Fig. 7, [0088-0090], mobile station apparatus 350 that communicates with base station apparatus 300 by radio includes Nr antennas 352-1 to 352-Nr, the feedback information is information including a channel estimation value calculated by mobile station apparatus 350 using antenna-individuated pilot signals and measured reception quality, [0098], Mobile station apparatus 350 separates and receives antenna-individuated pilot symbol APk(t) included in antenna-individuated pilot signal APk through antennas 350-1 to 350-Nr (t=1 to Np). Mobile station apparatus 350 then performs channel estimation using separately received antenna-individuated pilot symbol APk(t),[0066], performing variable sweeping of θ that means the direction of arrival of paths in angle spectrum evaluation function F(θ), calculating a spectral spread in a direction of a peak of the angle spectrum, a(θ) indicates direction vectors of antennas 102-1 to 102-Na).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KISHI et al. (US 20200146013 A1, hereinafter KISHI) in view of Rahman et al. (US 20180262253 A1, hereinafter Rahman) and further in view of Tsui et al. (US 20220279535 A1, hereinafter Tsui), and further in view of Rahman_116 et al. (US 20180167116 A1, hereinafter Rahman_116) .
Claim 5: The combination of KISHI, Rahman and TSI teaches the method of forming a composite beam according to claim 2, wherein creating the subset of beams comprises the following steps:
a) selecting at least one beam f, from the set of N orthogonal beams formed by the array of antennas, for which a reception power of the radio signal is the highest (Rahman, [0130], “wherein the 1st PMI i1,3 indicates at least one strongest beam selection (which corresponds to the diagonal coefficient with the largest absolute value”), b) determining (N-1) reduced broadband covariance matrices of dimensions 2 x 2, one reduced broadband covariance matrix of dimensions 2 x 2 corresponding to a combination of beam f with one of the remaining (N-1) beams (Rahman ,[0186], teaches a UE is configured to report an approximation of the covariance 2X2 dimension W1 matrix), c) determining the eigenvalues for the set of (N-1) reduced broadband covariance matrices of dimensions 2 x 2 (Rahman, [0148], “the strongest coefficient corresponds to any one of the 2L diagonal elements. The rest of 2L−1 diagonal coefficients and (2L−1)L non-diagonal coefficients are normalized by the absolute value of the strongest coefficient, and normalized coefficients are reported. Because of this normalization, the amplitude of all coefficients is between 0 and 1”).
However, The combination of KISHI, Rahman and TSI does not explicitly teach d) selecting, from the (N-1) remaining beams, a second beam f corresponding to the eigenvalue of the strongest reduced broadband covariance matrix of dimensions 2 x 2, and e) acts b) to d) being repeated until a number L of beams are selected to form the subset of beams by increasing by one, at each iteration, the dimensions of the reduced broadband covariance matrix and by decreasing by one, at each iteration, the number of reduced broadband covariance matrices and the number of remaining beams.
Rahman_116, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches d) selecting, from the (N-1) remaining beams, a second beam f corresponding to the eigenvalue of the strongest reduced broadband covariance matrix of dimensions 2 x 2, and e) acts b) to d) being repeated until a number L of beams are selected to form the subset of beams by increasing by one, at each iteration, the dimensions of the reduced broadband covariance matrix and by decreasing by one, at each iteration, the number of reduced broadband covariance matrices and the number of remaining beams ([0249-0250], disclose reconstruct the coefficient matrix index i-th order, sorting is performed based on beam power levels, and the total sorting number L is configured from upper layer, thus reducing matrix size with smaller quantization bits via quantitating the power difference between ith and (i-1)th).
KISHI and Rahman_116 are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of KISHI and the features of reconstructing coefficient matrix index as taught by Rahman_116, for the benefit for reducing quantization bits for coefficient, wherein reducing the covariance matrix size, thus reducing CSI report size.
Claims 8- 9, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KISHI et al. (US 20200146013 A1, hereinafter KISHI) in view of Rahman et al. (US 20180262253 A1, hereinafter Rahman) and further in view of Tsui et al. (US 20220279535 A1, hereinafter Tsui), and further in view of Kim et al. (US 20160191124 A1, hereinafter Kim).
Claim 8: KISHI teaches A method of generating a composite beam via linear combination of orthogonal beams of an array of antennas belonging to a transmitting device intended to transmit a radio signal whose energy is focused according to the composite beam ([0039],disclose calculate correlation values according to reception pilot symbols, for evaluating adaptability to space multiplexing transmission based on the generated correlation matrix), the method being implemented by the transmitting device and comprising (Fig. 7, element 300):
sweeping, for at least one sub-carrier of a frequency band used to transport the radio signal, of a set of N orthogonal beams of the array of N+1 antennas of the transmitting device carried out by the transmitting device (Fig. 7, [0066], “use an average signal level of a received pilot signal or use an SNR in which S is the average signal level of a received pilot signal and N is a distribution situation of instantaneous pilot received signal … by conveniently performing variable sweeping of θ that means the direction of arrival of paths in angle spectrum evaluation function F(θ) as shown in Equation 8 and calculating a spectral spread in a direction of a peak of the angle spectrum, it is possible to obtain adaptability evaluation function value B. Here, a(θ) indicates direction vectors of antennas 102-1 to 102-Na”), wherein the sweeping comprises transmitting pilot signals in a set of directions, wherein each pilot signal is associated with a direction and each direction corresponds to one of the N orthogonal beams (Fig. 8A/B/C, [0094-0096], disclose base station 300 transmits antenna-individuated pilot signals for space multiplexing transmission from the respective antennas 102-1 to 102-N, antenna-individuated pilot signal APk has patterns orthogonal to one another among the antennas).transmitting data collected during the sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams to a receiving device intended to receive the radio signal (Fig. 7, element S3100,S3200, [0097-0101], disclose mobile station calculate propagation channel of the radio signal based on data collected during a sweeping through antennas 350-1 to 350-Nr),
receiving a message transmitted by the receiving device (Fig. 7, elements S3400, S3500, [0102], Mobile station apparatus 350 then transmits calculated channel estimation value h(j, k) and reception quality P(j, k) to base station apparatus 300) ,
an eigenvector of a NxN broadband matrix, the eigenvector being associated with a highest eigenvalue of the broadband matrix ([0041-0044], disclose calculate correlation values between the generated replicas and the reception pilot symbols included in subcarrier signals based on H, performing eigenvalue expansion of generated correlation matrix R and determines Na eigenvalues λk. calculated eigenvalues
λk are sorted in descending order and subscripts are assigned from the maximum eigenvalue, correlation matrix R is a Hermitean matrix, [0101-0103], disclose estimates reception quality P(j, k) of antenna-individuated pilot signals and antennas of mobile station apparatus according to h(j, k), and H is consisted with reception
weight vectors and transmission weight vector).
However, KISHI does not explicitly teach the message comprising parameters relating to phase and amplitude modulation coefficients intended to be applied to at least one signal processed in transmission by at least one antenna of the array of N+1 antennas corresponding to the radio signal, the modulation coefficients being determined according to values of the components of an eigenvector of a NxN broadband covariance matrix, the coefficients of which are determined on the basis of an estimate of a propagation channel obtained based on the data collected during the sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams, the eigenvector being associated with a highest eigenvalue of the broadband covariance matrix, a component of the eigenvector constituting a weighting coefficient associated with a beam of the array of N+1 antennas.
modulating the at least one signal processed in transmission by at least one antenna of the array of antennas corresponding to the radio signal by means of the parameters relating to received phase and amplitude modulation coefficients.
Rahman, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches the message comprising parameters relating to phase and amplitude modulation coefficients intended to be applied to at least one signal processed in transmission by at least one antenna of the array of N+1 antennas corresponding to the radio signal, the modulation coefficients being determined according to values of the components of an eigenvector of a NxN broadband covariance matrix, the coefficients of which are determined on the basis of an estimate of a propagation channel obtained based on the data collected during the sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams (Fig. 17, element 1715, [0148], “the strongest coefficient, i.e., the coefficient with the maximum absolute value, can also be reported.”, [0005], “CSI feedback configuration information to report a covariance matrix indicator (CMI) indicating a N×N channel covariance matrix (K) associated with a downlink channel matrix, wherein N is a number of antenna ports at the BS … identity the CMI that indicates a set of L basis vectors …, each comprising a dimension N×1, and a set of L2 coefficients, … and that represent the covariance matrix (K) as a weighted linear sum … transmit, to the BS, the CSI feedback including the identified CMI over an uplink channel”, [0121], “The amplitude and phase of the combining coefficients {ci,j}i,j are reported ”, [0144], Table 1 disclose the formular to derive amplitude coefficient,[0145], disclose the formular to derive phase coefficient).
KISHI and Rahman are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of KISHI and the features of determining parameters relating to phase and amplitude modulation coefficients, and transmitting the estimated parameters in a feedback message as taught by Rahman, for the benefit for guarantying high MU performance by reporting accurate CSI to eNB (paragraph [0093-0094]), thus to meet increased throughput requirement (paragraph [0099]).
Tsui, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches the eigenvector being associated with a highest eigenvalue of the broadband covariance matrix, a component of the eigenvector constituting a weighting coefficient associated with a beam of the array of N+1 antennas (Fig. 7, element 710, 714, [0127-0128], disclose estimating a DL channel based on the UL channel cross covariance, calculating a DL weight matrix according to Hd , Hd can be calculated from an eigenvector calculation from M×M channel outer product , the DL weight matrix may be calculated or updated in cases where the channel covariance changes significantly, [0118-0120], weight vectors is derived from M×K matrix, the M×K matrix can be constructed by taking the M×1 dimensional eigenvector of Rk, with the largest eigenvalue and concatenating those eigenvectors, H is the M×K channel matrix, where each of the K columns represents the channel vector whose elements are the complex-valued channel gain between each MIMO antenna element and the single Rx antenna of the UE, weight coefficients may be applied to the antenna elements of the MIMO antenna array, [0140-0141], The DL can also be estimated by analyzing channel vectors associated with the UE 504—e.g., by determining eigenvalues relating to H H* of equation 620 of FIG. 6, which can inform on an appropriate Su-MIMO rank, where DL weights may be matched to channel fading as determined from the UL channel estimation).
KISHI and Tsui are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of KISHI and the features of constructing weighting vector from eigenvectors, weighting coefficient associated with a beam of the array of antennas as taught by Tsui, for the benefit for allowing BS to adjust DL transmissions according to feedback provided by a UE, for example, to adjust weights of various antennas for beamforming and beamsteering, thus to achieve beam optimization, improve/increase overall UL coverage (paragraph [0099-0100]).
Kim, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches modulating the at least one signal processed in transmission by at least one antenna of the array of antennas corresponding to the radio signal by means of the parameters relating to received phase and amplitude modulation coefficients ([0018], “selecting at least one array of a plurality of arrays connected to the signal transmitting apparatus based on a spatial covariance
matrix of an uplink from a terminal and the plurality of arrays, wherein the spatial
covariance matrix ensures channel reciprocity at downlink from the plurality of arrays to the terminal; and forming a transmission beam to be transmitted to the terminal through the at least one selected array, wherein the plurality of arrays include at least one base station (BS) antenna”).
KISHI and Kim are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of KISHI and the features of forming a transmission beam based on received phase and amplitude coefficients as taught by Kim, for the benefit of selecting the optimized beam corresponding to receiver reception performance.
Claim 9 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 8 and the combination of KISHI and Rahman further teach a communication device (KISHI, Fig. 7, element 300, Rahman, Fig. 2, element 102, [0045] and processor (Rahman, Fig. 2, element 225).
Rahman and KISHI are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to understand a base station comprise a processor as taught by Rahman, which is well known in the field.
Claim 11 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 8, Rahman additional teaches A processing circuit comprising a processor (Fig. 2, element 225) and a non-transitory memory (Fig. 2, element 230), the non-transitory memory storing program code instructions of a computer program for implementing the method for generating a composite beam according to claim 8, when the computer program is executed by the processor ([0051], “The controller/processor 225 is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory 230”, [0050], “the controller/processor 225 could support beam forming or directional routing operations in which outgoing signals from multiple antennas 205a-205n are weighted differently to effectively steer the outgoing signals in a desired direction”).
The motivation for combining KISHI and Rahman regarding to the claim 9 is also applied to claim 11.
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 YONGHONG ZHAO whose telephone number is (571)272-4089. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Friday 9:00 am - 5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, NICHOLAS JENSEN can be reached on 5712723980. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Y.Z./Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
Prosecution Insights