DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Amendment filed 2/9/2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 24, 31, and 38 have been amended.
Claims 1-23 have been previously cancelled.
Claims 24-43 remain pending.
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.
Claims 24-41 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nilsson et al. (US20250125927A1; supported by 63/238460), hereafter Nilsson.
Regarding claim 24,
Nilsson (Title: Sounding Reference Signal for Eight Transmitter UE) discloses an apparatus of a next generation Node B (gNB) (Fig. 6, gNB 160) comprising memory (Fig. 6, memory/medium 180) to store sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration information for an uplink transmission with up to eight layers by a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 5; paragraph 7, 39-41; gNB determines the number of layers/rank up to 8); and processing circuitry, coupled with the memory (Fig. 6, processing circuitry 170; paragraph 114-115) to configure the UE to retrieve SRS configuration information from the memory (Fig. 8, step 812; paragraph 162-168), wherein the SRS configuration information includes a maximum number of cyclic shifts for a comb value (Fig. 5; paragraphs 40-41), and wherein the maximum number of cyclic shifts is an integer multiple of eight (paragraph 91, 167-168; max cyclic shifts = 16, 24 for 8-port SRS at combs 2, 4 and 8) to encode a message for transmission to the UE that includes the SRS configuration information (Fig. 8, step 814).
Nilsson further discloses the SRS configuration information includes an indication of four comb offsets with two ports mapped to each of the four comb offsets for a comb value of four or eight (paragraph 82, 94; Tables 2: port-to-comb-offset mapping; comb value of 4, 2 ports/offset mapped to comb offsets (0, 1, 2, 3). Table 6: comb value of 4; 1 or 2 ports/offset mapped to comb offsets (0, 1, 2, 3)).
Regarding claim 31,
Nilsson discloses computer-readable media (Fig. 6, medium 130) storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors (Fig. 6, processing circuitry 120) configure a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 6, UE 110) to receive, from a next-generation NodeB (gNB)(Fig. 6, gNB 160), sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration information (Fig. 8, step 812; paragraph 162-168) for an uplink transmission with up to eight layers by the UE (Fig. 5; paragraph 7, 39-41; number of layers/rank up to 8), wherein the SRS configuration information includes a maximum number of cyclic shifts for a comb value (Fig. 5; paragraphs 40-41), and wherein the maximum number of cyclic shifts is an integer multiple of eight (paragraph 91, 167-168; max cyclic shifts = 16, 24 for 8-port SRS at combs 2, 4 and 8); and encode an uplink message to the gNB based on the SRS configuration information (Fig. 8, step 814).
Nilsson further discloses the SRS configuration information includes an indication of four comb offsets with two ports mapped to each of the four comb offsets for a comb value of four or eight (paragraph 82, 94; Tables 2: port-to-comb-offset mapping; comb value of 4, 2 ports/offset mapped to comb offsets (0, 1, 2, 3). Table 6: comb value of 4; 1 or 2 ports/offset mapped to comb offsets (0, 1, 2, 3)).
Regarding claim 38,
Nilsson discloses computer-readable media (Fig. 6, memory/medium 180) storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors (Fig. 6, processing circuitry 170) configure a next-generation NodeB (gNB) (Fig. 6, gNB 160) to determine sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration information that is to configure up to eight SRS resources in one SRS resource set (Fig. 5; paragraph 7, 39-41; gNB determines the number of layers/rank up to 8), wherein one SRS resource set is configured for a non-codebook based uplink transmission by a user equipment (UE) (paragraph 4) and encode a message for transmission to the UE that includes the SRS configuration information (Fig. 8, step 814).
Nilsson further discloses the SRS configuration information includes an indication of four comb offsets with two ports mapped to each of the four comb offsets for a comb value of four or eight (paragraph 82, 94; Tables 2: port-to-comb-offset mapping; comb value of 4, 2 ports/offset mapped to comb offsets (0, 1, 2, 3). Table 6: comb value of 4; 1 or 2 ports/offset mapped to comb offsets (0, 1, 2, 3)).
Regarding claims 25 and 32,
Nilsson discloses the SRS configuration information includes a respective maximum number of cyclic shifts for each respective comb value in a plurality of comb values, and wherein each respective maximum number of cyclic shifts is an integer multiple of eight (paragraph 91, 167-168; max cyclic shifts = 16, 24 for 8-port SRS at combs 2, 4 and 8).
Regarding claims 26 and 33,
Nilsson discloses the comb value is two, four or eight, and the maximum number of cyclic shifts is eight, sixteen, or twenty-four (paragraph 91, 167-168; max cyclic shifts = 16, 24 for 8-port SRS at combs 2, 4 and 8).
Regarding claims 27 and 34,
Nilsson discloses the SRS configuration information includes an indication of multiple comb offsets (paragraph 38, 85; Fig. 2).
Regarding claims 28 and 35,
Nilsson discloses the SRS configuration information includes an indication of four comb offsets, and wherein the four comb offsets are (0, 1, 2, 3), (0, 2, 4, 6), or (1, 3, 5, 7) (Tables 1-3).
Regarding claims 29 and 36,
Nilsson discloses each comb offset mapped with two ports (paragraph 82-83).
Regarding claims 30 and 37,
Nilsson discloses the SRS configuration information is to support eight transmit and eight receive (8T8R) antenna ports on the UE (Title; paragraph 41).
Regarding claim 39,
Nilsson discloses SRS configuration information includes an indication of a port group associated with a non-codebook based PUSCH transmission with eight or fewer layers (Tables 1-3; paragraph 82-83).
Regarding claim 40,
Nilsson discloses the message includes downlink control information (DCI) comprising an SRS resource set and an SRS resource index (SRI) field mapped to the port group (paragraphs 8-15; SRI field in DCI indicates number of layers and port/comb mapping).
Regarding claim 41,
Nilsson discloses the SRI field is to indicate SRIs for transmission (paragraph 8-17, 101).
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.
Claims 42 and 43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsson in view of Zhang et al. (US20230035992A1), hereafter Zhang.
Regarding claims 42 and 43,
Nilsson discloses SRS configuration information includes two resource sets, wherein up to four SRS resources are configured in each of the two resource sets (Tables 1-3; paragraph 82-83; 4 ports per offset = two resource sets for 8 ports) but does not expressly disclose multiple codewords and mapping between SRI field and codewords.
Zhang discloses analogous art (Title; paragraph 30: uplink codeword to layer mapping and phase tracking reference signaling; non-codebook based transmission) including multiple codewords and mapping between SRI field and codewords (paragraphs 31-34, 60, 147; codeword-to-layer mapping based on SRI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify Nilsson by providing multiple codewords and mapping between SRI field and codewords, as shown by Zhang, thereby improving system performance compared to one codeword.
Response to Arguments
5. Applicant's arguments filed 2/9/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the Remarks on pg. 7 of the Amendment, Applicant contends Nilsson fails to teach or suggest the limitation (added via the present amendment) of, “for a comb value of four or eight, the SRS configuration information further includes an indication of four comb offsets with two ports mapped to each of the four comb offsets”.
The Examiner respectively disagrees. As now shown in the rejection, at least disclosure in Tables 2 and 6 show the contested limitations. Table 2 provides examples of port-to-comb-offset mapping with a comb value of 4, where 2 ports/offset are mapped to comb offsets (0, 1, 2, 3). Table 6 further shows additional examples of port-to-comb-offset mapping with a comb value of 4 in which 1 or 2 ports/offset are mapped to comb offsets (0, 1, 2, 3). Therefore, the rejections based on Nilsson are properly maintained.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/GREGORY B SEFCHECK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477