DETAILED ACTION
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 19 August 2026 has been entered.
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 Objections
Claims 26, 35, and 43 are objected to because of the following informality:
Claim 26 recites the limitation “a first SRI” in line 17. For consistency and clarification with “a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI)” in lines 12-13 of claim 26, it is recommended to change “a first SRI” in line 17 to “the first SRI”.
As to claim 35, claim 35 is objected to for the same reason as claim 26.
As to claim 43, claim 43 is objected to for the same reason as claim 26.
Appropriate correction is required.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 26-27, 29-36, and 38-45 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 26-27, 29-33, 35-36, 38-41, and 43-45 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Matsumura et al. US 2024/0251405 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Matsumura”).
As to claim 26, Matsumura teaches one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) having instructions, stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), configure the UE to (¶¶364 and 369-371; figure 14):
receive a downlink control information (DCI) to schedule transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) using a first antenna panel and a second antenna panel simultaneously (¶¶28 and 90-95; figure 3A: receive DCI scheduling simultaneous PUSCH transmission on panel #1 and panel #2);
identify a first codebook to be used for the PUSCH on the first antenna panel (¶¶45-46, 68, and 100-101; figure 3A: for CB based transmission, identify first codebook for panel #1 based on first SRI and first TPMI received via DCI for panel #1);
identify a second codebook to be used for the PUSCH on the second antenna panel (¶¶45-46, 68, and 100-101; figure 3A: for CB based transmission, identify second codebook for panel #2 based on second SRI and second TPMI received via DCI for panel #2); and
encode the PUSCH for transmission from the first and second antenna panels based on the respective first and second codebooks (¶¶28, 45-46, 68, 90-95, and 100-101; figure 3A: process the PUSCH for simultaneous transmission on panel #1 and panel #2 according to the first and second codebooks respectively),
wherein the DCI indicates a first transmission precoding matrix index (TPMI) for the first codebook and a second TPMI for the second codebook (¶¶28, 45-46, and 68; figures 6A and 6B),
wherein the DCI further indicates a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) for the first codebook and a second SRI for the second codebook (¶¶28, 45-46, 68, and 100-101), and
wherein for single-codeword multi-panel operation (¶¶94-95; figure 3A), the DCI indicates a single modulation and coding scheme (MCS) (¶¶28 and 31) and the one or more processors are configured to encode a single codeword using the single MCS for simultaneous transmission by the first and second antenna panels by applying the first TPMI and first SRI to the encoded codeword for transmission by the first antenna panel and applying the second TPMI and second SRI to the encoded codeword for transmission by the second antenna panel (¶¶45-46, 68, 90, 92-95, 100-101; figures 1 and 3A: UE encodes a single codeword for simultaneous and coherent transmission on panel #1 and panel #2 using DCI indicated first SRI and first TPMI for panel #1 and DCI indicated second SRI and second TPMI for panel #2).
As to claim 27, Matsumura teaches the one or more NTCRM of claim 26, wherein for multi-codeword multi-panel transmission, the DCI indicates a first MCS and a second MCS, the one or more processors configured to encode a first codeword based on the first MCS and encode a second codeword based on the second MCS, and the one or more processors are configured to map the first encoded codeword to layers transmitted by the first antenna panel by applying the first TPMI and the first SRI to the first encoded codeword for transmission by the first antenna panel, and map the second encoded codeword to layers transmitted by the second antenna panel by applying the second TPMI and the second SRI to the second encoded codeword for transmission by the second antenna panel (¶¶45-46, 68, 98-99, and 104; figure 3C)
As to claim 29, Matsumura teaches the one or more NTCRM of claim 26, wherein the PUSCH transmission on the first antenna panel is multiplexed in one or more of time, frequency, or spatial relation with the PUSCH transmission on the second antenna panel (¶¶94-97 and 255-280; figures 3A and 3B).
As to claim 30, Matsumura teaches the one or more NTCRM of claim 29, wherein the DCI indicates a first frequency division resource allocation (FDRA) for the PUSCH on the first antenna panel and a second FDRA for the PUSCH on the second antenna panel, or a first time division resource allocation (TDRA) for the PUSCH on the first antenna panel and a second TDRA for the PUSCH on the second antenna panel (¶104).
As to claim 31, Matsumura teaches the one or more NTCRM of claim 26, wherein the DCI indicates that a same or different modulation and coding scheme (MCS), new data indicator (NDI), or redundancy version is to be used for transmission of the PUSCH on the first and second antenna panels; or
wherein the first and second antenna panels are associated with respective demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port groups (¶¶100-104 and 139).
As to claim 32, Matsumura teaches the one or more NTCRM of claim 27, wherein for the multi-codeword multi-panel transmission, the instructions, when executed, further configure the UE to decode a radio resource control (RRC) message that configures a first maximum rank (maxRank) parameter for the first codeword and a second maxRank parameter for the second codeword (¶¶118, 122, and 196).
As to claim 33, Matsumura teaches the one or more NTCRM of claim 27, wherein for the multi-codeword multi-panel transmission, the instructions, when executed, further configure the UE to decode a radio resource control (RRC) message that configures a first subset of precoders for the first codeword and a second subset of precoders for the second codeword (¶¶28, 45-46, 68, and 195).
As to claim 35, Matsumura teaches one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) having instructions, stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors of a next generation Node B (gNB) (¶¶364 and 369-371; figure 14), configure the gNB to:
encode, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), a downlink control information (DCI) to schedule transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) using a first codebook on a first antenna panel and a second codebook on a second antenna panel simultaneously (¶¶28 and 90-95; figure 3A: configure and transmit DCI scheduling simultaneous PUSCH transmission on panel #1 and panel #2); and
receive the PUSCH from the first or second antenna panel according to the DCI (¶¶28, 45-46, 68, 90-95, and 100-101; figure 3A: receive the PUSCH simultaneously transmitted on panel #1 and panel #2 according to the DCI),
wherein the DCI indicates a first transmission precoding matrix index (TPMI) for the first codebook and a second TPMI for the second codebook (¶¶28, 45-46, and 68; figures 6A and 6B),
wherein the DCI further indicates a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource indicator (SRI) for the first codebook and a second SRI for the second codebook (¶¶28, 45-46, 68, and 100-101), and
wherein for single-codeword multi-panel operation (¶¶94-95; figure 3A), the DCI is encoded to indicate a single modulation and coding scheme (MCS) (¶¶28 and 31) and the one or more processors are configured to decode a single codeword, encoded by the UE based on the single MCS, received simultaneously from the UE via transmission by the first and second antenna panels by application of the first TPMI and a first SRI to the encoded codeword by the UE for transmission by the first antenna panel and application of the second TPMI and the second SRI to the encoded codeword by the UE for transmission by the second antenna panel (¶¶45-46, 68, 90, 92-95, 100-101; figures 1 and 3A: UE encodes a single codeword for simultaneous and coherent transmission on panel #1 and panel #2 using DCI indicated first SRI and first TPMI for panel #1 and DCI indicated second SRI and second TPMI for panel #2 and BS receives and decodes).
As to claim 36, claim 36 is rejected the same way as claim 27.
As to claim 38, claim 38 is rejected the same way as claim 29.
As to claim 39, claim 39 is rejected the same way as claim 30.
As to claim 40, claim 40 is rejected the same way as claim 31.
As to claim 41, claim 41 is rejected the same way as claims 32 or 33.
As to claim 43, claim 43 is rejected the same way as claim 26.
As to claim 44, claim 44 is rejected the same way as claim 27.
As to claim 45, claim 45 is rejected the same way as claim 32.
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) 34 and 42 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura in view of Yuan et al. WO 2021/212451 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Yuan”). Note Yuan was cited by the applicant in the IDS received 10 November 2023.
As to claim 34, Matsumura teaches the one or more NTCRM of claim 26, wherein the PUSCH on the first antenna panel is targeted to a first transmission-reception point (TRP) and the PUSCH on the second antenna panel is targeted to a second TRP (¶¶96-99; figures 3B and 3C).
Although Matsumura teaches “The one…a second TRP,” Matsumura does not explicitly disclose “allocate transmission power…power of the UE”.
However, Yuan teaches allocate transmission power between the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel using semi-static equal power sharing, semi-static unequal power sharing, or dynamic power sharing, wherein a total transmission power of the first and second antenna panels is less than or equal to a maximum transmission power of the UE (¶¶63-76; figure 4E).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the medium described in Matsumura by including “allocate transmission power…power of the UE” as taught by Yuan because it provides Matsumura’s medium with the enhanced capability of precise control and power usage managed on a per panel basis (Yuan, ¶¶63-76; figure 4E).
As to claim 42, claim 42 is rejected the same way as claim 34.
Conclusion
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/JUSTIN T VAN ROIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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