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 .
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 1-7, 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rahman et al. (US 20180262253 A1, hereinafter Rahman) in view of Rahman_116 et al. (US 20180167116 A1, hereinafter Rahman_116).
Claim 1: Rahman 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 ([0064], “ FIG. 4A is a high-level diagram of transmit path circuitry. For example, the transmit path circuitry may be used for an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication”, [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”, Fig.10, [0093], “One CSI-RS port can then correspond to one sub-array which produces a narrow analog beam through analog beamforming …A digital beamforming unit performs a linear combination across N.sub.CSI-PORT analog beams to further increase precoding gain”, [0116], “restricted orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=min(a, bN1N2); and full orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=bN1N2, where an example of a=8, and b=1 or 2. Either only one of the two (restricted or full orthogonal) is supported in the specification or one of them is configured via RRC signaling”), the method comprising the following implemented by a receiving device receiving the radio signal (Fig.3, element 310, [0057], “The RF transceiver 310 receives, from the antenna 305, an incoming RF signal transmitted by an eNB of the network 100”, [0103], disclose both transmit path and receiver path using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), [0093], disclose sweeping across a wider range of angles with a narrow analog beam, and performing a linear combination across analog beams. Fig. 17, [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 … To reduce CRS overhead, an eNodeB may transmit a CSI-RS with a smaller density in the time and/or frequency domain than a CRS”):
Estimating (Fig. 17, element 1710), for at least one sub-carrier of a frequency band used to transport the radio signal (Fig. 10, [0093], “One CSI-RS port can then correspond to one sub-array which produces a narrow analog beam through analog beamforming. This analog beam can be configured to sweep across a wider range of angles by varying the phase shifter bank across symbols or subframes. The number of sub-arrays (equal to the number of RF chains) is the same as the number of CSI-RS ports N.sub.CSI-PORT. A digital beamforming unit performs a linear combination across N.sub.CSI-PORT analog beams to further increase precoding gain”), a propagation channel of the radio signal based on data collected during a sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams of the array of antennas carried out by the transmitting device (Fig. 12, [0113], “In one example of category 1, the beam combination is used to quantize pre-coders, which can be an estimate of channel
eigenvectors or any general beamforming vectors. In another example of category 2, the beam combination is used to quantize a matrix, which can be an estimate of channel
covariance matrix”, [0111], “where the quantized explicit CSI is reported based on linear combination of beams in the beam group indicated by PMI1”, Fig. 13, [0116], “restricted orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=min(a, bN1N2); and full orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=bN1N2, where an example of a=8, and b=1 or 2. Either only one of the two (restricted or full orthogonal) is supported in the specification or one of them is configured via RRC signaling”),
determining the coefficients of a 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 {a.sub.i}, i=0, 1, 2, . . . , L−1, each comprising a dimension N×1, and a set of L2 coefficients, {c.sub.i,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”, Fig. 17, element 1710, [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”, [0120-0121], disclose the amplitude and phase of the combining coefficients report in channel covariance 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”),
selecting an eigenvector of the broadband covariance matrix associated with a highest eigenvalue of the 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 ([0130], “wherein the 1.sup.st PMI i.sub.1,3 indicates at least one strongest beam selection (which corresponds to the diagonal coefficient with the largest absolute value”, [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”),
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 antennas corresponding to the radio signal on the basis of the values of the components of the weighting vector ([0007], “the CMI that indicates a set of L basis vectors {a.sub.i}, i=0, 1, 2, . . . , L−1, each comprising a dimension N×1, and a set of L2 coefficients, {c.sub.i,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”, [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
),
and transmitting, to the transmitting device, a message comprising the parameters relating to the phase and amplitude modulation coefficients, referred to as feedback message ([0007], “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; and transmitting, by the UE to the BS, the CSI feedback including the identified CMI over an uplink channel”, Fig. 17, element 1715, [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 L.sup.2 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”. [0144], Table 1 disclose the formular to derive amplitude coefficient, [0145], disclose the formular to derive phase coefficient).
However, Rahman does not explicitly teach a sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams.
Rahman_116, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches a sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams ([0109], “This analog beam can be configured to sweep across a wider range of angles 620 by varying the phase shifter bank across symbols or subframes. The number of sub-arrays (equal to the number of RF chains) is the same as the number of CSI-RS ports NCSI-PORT. A digital beamforming unit 610 performs a linear combination across NCSI-PORT analog beams to further increase precoding gain”, Fig. 11B, [0131], “the basis set corresponds to L1L2 closely spaced beams, and when (p1, p2)=(O1, O2), it corresponds to L1L2 orthogonal beams”, Fig. 13B, [0138], “ for Type II CSI reporting, the basis set is orthogonal and has the following parameters … beams are orthogonal”, Fig. 19, [0158], “orthogonal fixed beam patterns are considered in which the leading beams of the fixed beam patterns are located At orthogonal
positions”).
Rahman 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 Rahman and the features of sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams as taught by Rahman_116, for the benefit for allowing UE to select beam sweeping based on higher layer configuration, thus gNB providing flexible, configurable beam selection to UE (paragraph [0131]), and it is well known to use orthogonal beams to generate reference signal for CSI measurement.
Claim 2: The combination of Rahman and Rahman_116 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 (Rahman, Fig. 17):
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”, Rahman_116, [0158], “orthogonal fixed beam patterns are considered in which the leading beams of the fixed beam patterns are located at orthogonal positions”),
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 (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”).
Claim 3: Rahman 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 ([0132], “wherein the 1st PMI i1,3 indicates both at least one strongest beam selection and relative beam power”, [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”, [0130-0131], disclose relative beam power or relative amplitude is corresponding to each coefficient value, and the 1st PMI i1,3 indicates at least one strongest beam selection, which corresponds to the diagonal coefficient with the largest absolute value).
Claim 4: 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 ([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”).
Claim 6 is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and Rahman further teaches a first device (Fig. 3, element 116, [0055], “FIG. 3 illustrates an example UE 116 according to embodiments of the present disclosure”), the first device comprising at least a processor (Fig. 3, element 340).
Claim 7: is analyzed and rejected according to claim 1 and Rahman further teaches a communication device (Fig. 1, Fig. 3, element 116, [0055], “FIG. 3 illustrates an example UE 116 according to embodiments of the present disclosure … and the UEs 111-115 of FIG. 1 could have the same or similar configuration”), the first device comprising at least a processor (Fig. 3, element 340).
Claim 10: Rahman 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).
Claim 5: Rahman 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 ([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 ([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 ([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, Rahman 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).
Rahman 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 Rahman 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 Rahman et al. (US 20180262253 A1, hereinafter Rahman) in view of Rahman_116 et al. (US 20180167116 A1, hereinafter Rahman_116) and further in view of Kim et al. (US 20160191124 A1, hereinafter Kim).
Claim 8: Rahman 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([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”, [0093], disclose sweeping across a wider range of angles with a narrow analog beam, and performing a linear combination across analog beams, [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”, [0116], “restricted orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=min(a, bN1N2); and full orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=bN1N2, where an example of a=8, and b=1 or 2. Either only one of the two (restricted or full orthogonal) is supported in the specification or one of them is configured via RRC signaling”), the method being implemented by the transmitting device and comprising:
sweeping, for at least one sub-carrier of a frequency band used to transport the radio signal, the set of orthogonal beams of the array of antennas (Fig. 10, [0093], “one CSI-RS port is mapped onto a large number of antenna elements which can be controlled by a bank of analog phase shifters. One CSI-RS port can then correspond to one sub-array which produces a narrow analog beam through analog beamforming … sweep across a wider range of angles by varying the phase shifter bank across symbols or subframes …A digital beamforming unit performs a linear combination across N.sub.CSI-PORT analog beams to further increase precoding gain”, [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”),
transmitting data collected during the sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams to a receiving device intended to receive the radio signal ([0064], “ FIG. 4A is a high-level diagram of transmit path circuitry. For example, the transmit path circuitry may be used for an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication”, [0074], “An eNodeB transmits one or more of multiple types of RS including a UE-common RS (CRS), a channel state information RS (CSI-RS), or a demodulation RS (DMRS). 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 … To reduce CRS overhead, an eNodeB may transmit a CSI-RS with a smaller density in the time and/or frequency domain than a CRS”, [0116], “restricted orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=min(a, bN1N2); and full orthogonal basis set in which L1L2=bN1N2, where an example of a=8, and b=1 or 2. Either only one of the two (restricted or full orthogonal) is supported in the specification or one of them is configured via RRC signaling”),
receiving a message transmitted by the receiving device, 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 antennas corresponding to the radio signal, the modulation coefficients being determined according to values of the components of an eigenvector of a 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), 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 antennas (([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”, [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, Rahman does not explicitly teach sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams,
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_116, from the same or similar field of endeavor, teaches a sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams ([0109], “This analog beam can be configured to sweep across a wider range of angles 620 by varying the phase shifter bank across symbols or subframes. The number of sub-arrays (equal to the number of RF chains) is the same as the number of CSI-RS ports NCSI-PORT. A digital beamforming unit 610 performs a linear combination across NCSI-PORT analog beams to further increase precoding gain”, Fig. 11B, [0131], “the basis set corresponds to L1L2 closely spaced beams, and when (p1, p2)=(O1, O2), it corresponds to L1L2 orthogonal beams”, Fig. 13B, [0138], “ for Type II CSI reporting, the basis set is orthogonal and has the following parameters … beams are orthogonal. . An illustration of orthogonal basis set of two types is shown in FIG. 11B”, [0158], “orthogonal fixed beam patterns are considered in which the leading beams of the fixed beam patterns are located at orthogonal positions”).
Rahman 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 Rahman and the features of sweeping of the set of orthogonal beams as taught by Rahman_116, for the benefit for allowing UE to select beam sweeping based on higher layer configuration, thus gNB providing flexible, configurable beam selection to UE (paragraph [0131]), and it is well known to use orthogonal beams to generate reference signal for CSI measurement.
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”).
Rahman 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 Rahman 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 Rahman further teach a communication device (Fig. 2, element 102, [0045], “ FIG. 2 illustrates an example eNB 102 according to embodiments of the present disclosure”) and processor (Fig. 2, element 225).
Claim 11: Rahman 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”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892 form. The closest prior art reference is Park et al. (US 20190312623 A1, hereinafter Park), which describes a system for transmitting and receiving channel state information in wireless communication.
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 (571) 270-5443. 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