Response to Amendment
This Office Action is in response to claim amendment filed on March 16, 2026.
Claims 1-2, 5-8, 11, 14-15, 17-20, and 23 are amended.
Claims 3, 9, 12-13, 21, 24-25 and 27-38 were previously cancelled.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, 10-11, 14-20, 22-23, 26, 39 are currently pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
The objection to the specification has been withdrawn for the reasons stated in
applicant’s response (see remarks Pg. 13-14).
The amendments to claim 6-8, 11, 18-20 and 23 has overcome the Claim Interpretation in accordance with MPEP §2111.04(II), conditional limitations (see remarks Pg. 14).
The 35 U.S.C § 112(b) rejection of claims 1-2, 4-8, 10-11, 17 and 22-23 has been withdrawn in light of applicant’s amendments and remarks (see remarks Pg. 14).
Applicant’s arguments (see remarks Pg. 14-16) with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-2, 4, 6-8, 14-16, 18-20, 26 and 39 under 35 U.S.C. §102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments (see remarks Pg. 16-18) with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 5, 10-11, 17 and 22-23 under 35 U.S.C. §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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 as
necessitated by the claim amendments.
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.
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 non-obviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 6-8, 14-16, 18-20, 26 and 39, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GAO et al., CN 114600526 A (see the English Translated copy), (hereinafter GAO), in view of GAO et al., WO 2022205066 A1 (hereinafter GAO_66).
Regarding claim 1, and 26, GAO teaches a signal transmission method applied to a terminal, (see Fig. 3-4, e.g., Terminal equipment) comprising:
obtaining indication information (see Fig. 3-4, e.g., element S220, S221,);
determining a transmission mode of physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) according to the indication information; wherein the transmission mode includes a first transmission mode and/or a second transmission mode (see Pg. 11, Paragraph 9, e.g., S220, the network device to the terminal device sends the information, wherein the indication information used for indicating the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode of a transmission mode, or the indication information used for indicating the terminal device switching transmission mode. Pg. 14, Paragraph 4, e.g., For uplink shared channel related parameters. the uplink NR single antenna parallel transmission mode (second transmission mode) does not have uplink multiple input multiple output (multiple input multiple output, MIMO) transmission capability, but when the terminal device is switched to the uplink NR double-antenna single transmission mode (first transmission mode), if the terminal device obtains the uplink MIMO capability, namely supporting double-stream (Layer) transmission, the physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink The maximum level (maxRank) information the PUSCH-Config (PUSCH) is set to 2);
determining a first parameter and/or a second parameter corresponding to the transmission mode; wherein the first transmission mode is corresponding to the first parameter, and the second transmission mode is corresponding to the second parameter (see Fig. 3-4, e.g., element S230, Paragraph 9, e.g., S230, the terminal device determines the indication information the transmission mode corresponding to the parameter set, using the parameter set comprises the parameter and using the corresponding transmission mode to transmit; Fig. 3, e.g., element S210, Pg. 12, Paragraph 3, e.g., In S210, the network device by the high layer signaling pre-configuring the first parameter set and the second parameter set to the terminal. the first parameter set corresponding to the terminal device of the first transmission mode, the second parameter set corresponding to the terminal device of the second transmission mode. Wherein, the first transmission mode is uplink single-transmission mode. the second transmission mode is uplink concurrent mode or non-SUO mode. Optionally, the uplink single transmission mode also can be called uplink single transmission mode or SUO transmission mode, uplink concurrent mode also can be called uplink parallel transmission mode or non-SUO transmission mode);
wherein the determining a first parameter and/or a second parameter corresponding to the transmission mode, includes at least one of the following:
determining the first parameter and/or the second parameter according to a first information field in
determining the first parameter according to the indication information (see Fig. 3-4, e.g., element S230, Pg. 12, Paragraph 2, e.g., S230, the terminal device determines the indication information the transmission mode corresponding to the parameter set, using the parameter set comprises the parameter and using the corresponding transmission mode to transmit. Pg. 14, Paragraph 4, e.g., For uplink shared channel related parameters; Therefore, the PUSCH-Config configurations of the two uplink antenna working states are different. That is, the first parameter set comprises PUSCH-Config used by the first transmission mode, the first parameter set comprises PUSCH-Config used by the second transmission mode.); and
transmitting the PUSCH according to the first parameter and/or the second parameter (Pg. 12, Paragraph 6, e.g., wherein the indication can information used for indicating one transmission mode of the first transmissionmode or the second transmission mode, namely indicating the terminal device uses the first transmissionmode or the second transmission mode for indicating the information mode to perform uplinktransmission.),
however, it does not explicitly teach the first information field including a sounding reference signal resource indication (SRI) field and/or a transmission precoding information indication (TPMI) field, or the indication information being an information field different from the first information field.
GAO_66 teaches the first information field including a sounding reference signal resource indication (SRI) field and/or a transmission precoding information indication (TPMI) field (see ¶ [0052], e.g., For example, the parameters may include, but being not limited to, at least one of the following: of the SRI indicated by the SRI field in DCI, the precoding information and the number of layers indicated in DCI, antenna ports indicated in DCI), or
the indication information being an information field different from the first information field (see ¶ [0052], e.g., In some embodiments, the first configuration/indication may be different from the second configuration/indication. For example, the configuration/indication may be explicitly transmitted via at least one of RRC, MAC CE and DCI.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified indication information of GAO to incorporate the teachings of GAO_66 to include the indication information being an information field different from the first information field. Doing so would facilitate in achieving dynamic switching between single-TRP transmission and multi-TRP transmission without introducing additional signaling overhead as suggested by GAO_66 (see ¶ [0031] - ¶ [0032], e.g., This solution can use at least one of SRI fields and TPC fields comprised in a DCI format to indicate information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets. In this way, this solution can support dynamic switching between single-TRP transmission and multi-TRP transmission without introducing additional signaling overhead.).
Regarding claim 2, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
GAO further teaches, wherein a first characteristic of the first transmission mode and/or the second transmission mode is a characteristic associated with one or more of the following:
a transmission node, a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set, spatial- related information, a power control parameter, [[an]]the SRI field in control information for scheduling the PUSCH, [[a]] the TPMI field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH, a terminal antenna panel, a power control parameter set; (see Pg. 14, Paragraph 5, e.g., for the uplink control channel spatial domain relation parameter. in the physical uplink control channel spatial information (PUCCH-Spatial Relation Info), the designated physical uplink control channel (physical uplink control channel, PUCCH) signal using the beam, the beam can be configured to transmit a certain SRS resource used beam. Because the SRS resources used by the terminal device under the two transmission modes are different, the reference signal corresponding to the beam needs to be re-designated. namely the first parameter set comprises the PUCCH spatial domain relation parameter used by the first transmission mode, the first parameter set comprises the PUCCH spatial domain relation parameter used by the second transmission mode. The PUCCH spatial domain relationship parameters included in the two are different.) and/or,
a first characteristic of the first transmission mode and/or the second transmission mode is a characteristic associated with the number of one or more of the following: a transmission node, a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set, a spatial-related parameter, a power control parameter, a power control parameter set.
Regarding claim 4, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
GAO further teaches, wherein the determining the first parameter and/or the second parameter according to a first information field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH, includes at least one of the following:
determining the first parameter according to a state from N states of one first information field in the control information; wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;
determining the second parameter according to at least one first information field in the control information (see Fig. 4, e.g., element S221, Pg. 16-17, Paragraph 9; 1, e.g., in S221, the network device comprises a first field in the DCI sent to the terminal device, the first field comprises the indication information For example, the first field may be a 1 bit (bit) length field, then the 1 bit (bit) length field can be understood as the indication information The 1 bit field has two states: The bit value is 0 and the bit value is 1, and the two different states. the network device can pre-configured bit value is 0 (first state) for indicating the terminal device using the first transmission mode for transmission, the bit value is 1 (second state) for indicating the terminal device using the second transmission mode to transmit. Alternatively, the network device may pre-configured bit value is 1 (first state) for indicating the terminal device using the first transmission mode for transmission, the bit value is 0 (second state) for indicating the terminal device using the second transmission mode to transmit. That is, the different bit states correspond to each other or are used for indicating the terminal devices to adopt different transmission modes. Pg. 14, Paragraph 4, e.g., the first parameter set comprises PUSCH-Config used by the first transmission mode, the second parameter set comprises PUSCH-Config used by the second transmission mode. The configuration parameters included in both are different.).
Regarding claim 6, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
GAO further teaches, wherein the determining a first parameter and/or a second parameter corresponding to the transmission mode according to the transmission mode, includes at least one of the following:
n response to the transmission mode is the first transmission mode, determining the first parameter according to a specified first information field in the first information field; or,
n response to the transmission mode is the second transmission mode, determining the second parameter according to a specified first information field in the first information field (see Pg. 17, Paragraph 2, e.g., the network device pre-configured bit value of the first field is 1 (second state) for indicating the terminal device using the second transmission mode for transmission, the bitvalue is 0 (first state) for indicating the terminal device using the first transmission mode to transmit. The terminal device receives the DCI and analyzes the first field, if the bit value of the first field analyzed by the terminal device is 1, the terminal device determines that the network device indicates itself to perform transmission by using the second transmission mode. switching the terminal device from the currently used transmission mode to the second transmission mode, and activating the parameter of the second parameter set included. the terminal device further interpret each bit domain in the DCI according to the parameter of the second parameter set, and using the second transmission mode to carry out uplink service.).
Regarding claim 7, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
GAO further teaches, wherein the determining the first parameter according to the first information field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH, includes:
n response to meeting a first condition, determining the first parameter according to a first information field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH;
wherein the first condition includes one or more of the following:
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes a specified first information field;
a bit width of the specified first information field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH is non-zero;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes at least two first information fields;
the number of SRS resources included in a specified SRS resource set is greater than 1;
the transmission mode of the PUSCH is at least corresponding to multiple SRS resource sets, and the number of SRS resources included in at least two SRS resource sets in the multiple SRS resource sets is greater than 1;
the number of antenna ports of at least one SRS resource in the specified SRS resource set is greater than 1;
the transmission mode of the PUSCH is at least corresponding to multiple SRS resource sets, and
at least two SRS resource sets in the multiple SRS resource sets satisfy the following condition: the number of antenna ports of at least one SRS resource is greater than 1 (see Pg. 17, Paragraph 2, e.g., if the bit value of the first field analyzed by the terminal device is 0, the terminal device determines that the network device indicates itself to transmit in the first transmission mode. The terminal device is switched to the first transmission mode from the currently used transmission mode, and activating the parameter set by the first parameter set, and using the first transmission mode to carry out uplink service. Pg. 15, Paragraph 4, e.g., S221, the network device sends DCI to the terminal device, the DCI comprises the indication information the indication information used for indicating one transmission mode of the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode, or the indication information used for indicating the terminal device switching transmission mode. wherein, the switching transmission mode comprises switching from the first transmission mode to the second transmission mode, or switching from the second transmission mode to the first transmission mode. correspondingly, the terminal device receives the DCI.).
Regarding claim 8, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 1.
GAO further teaches, wherein the determining the first parameter according to the indication information, includes:
n response to meeting a second condition, determining the first parameter according to the indication information;
wherein the second condition includes one or more of the following:
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH does not include a first information field;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH does not include a specified first information field;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes a specified first information field and a bit width of the specified first information field is zero;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes only one first information field with a non-zero bit width;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes a first information field and a bit width of the first information field is zero;
the number of SRS resources included in a specified SRS resource set is equal to 1; the number of SRS resources included in all SRS resource sets corresponding to the PUSCH transmission mode is equal to 1;
the number of antenna ports of all SRS resources in the specified SRS resource set is equal to 1;
the number of antenna ports of all SRS resources in all SRS resource sets corresponding to the PUSCH transmission mode is equal to 1 (see Pg. 17, Paragraph 2, e.g.,
if the bit value of the first field analyzed by the terminal device is 0, the terminal device determines that the network device indicates itself to transmit in the first transmission mode. The terminal device is switched to the first transmission mode from the currently used transmission mode, and activating the parameter set by the first parameter set, and using the first transmission mode to carry out uplink service.).
Regarding claim 14, and 39, GAO teaches a signal transmission method applied to base station, (see Fig. 3-4, e.g., Network equipment) comprising:
transmitting indication information to a terminal (see Fig. 3-4, e.g., element S220, S221,);
wherein the indication information is used to indicate a transmission mode of physical uplink shared channel PUSCH; (see Pg. 11, Paragraph 9, e.g., S220, the network device to the terminal device sends the information, wherein the indication information used for indicating the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode of a transmission mode, or the indication information used for indicating the terminal device switching transmission mode. Pg. 14, Paragraph 4, e.g., For uplink shared channel related parameters. the uplink NR single antenna parallel transmission mode (second transmission mode) does not have uplink multiple input multiple output (multiple input multiple output, MIMO) transmission capability, but when the terminal device is switched to the uplink NR double-antenna single transmission mode (first transmission mode), if the terminal device obtains the uplink MIMO capability, namely supporting double-stream (Layer) transmission, the physical uplink shared channel (physical uplink The maximum level (maxRank) information the PUSCH-Config (PUSCH) is set to 2); and
wherein the transmission mode includes a first transmission mode and/or a second transmission mode; (see Pg. 12, Paragraph 6, e.g., wherein the indication can information used for indicating one transmission mode of the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode, namely indicating the terminal device uses the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode for indicating the information mode to perform uplink transmission); and
indicating a first parameter and/or a second parameter to the terminal through a first information field in control information for scheduling the PUSCH, or
indicating the first parameter to the terminal through the indication information; (see Fig. 3-4, e.g., element S230, Pg. 12, Paragraph 2, e.g., S230, the terminal device determines the indication information the transmission mode corresponding to the parameter set, using the parameter set comprises the parameter and using the corresponding transmission mode to transmit. Pg. 14, Paragraph 4, e.g., For uplink shared channel related parameters; Therefore, the PUSCH-Config configurations of the two uplink antenna working states are different. That is, the first parameter set comprises PUSCH-Config used by the first transmission mode, the second parameter set comprises PUSCH-Config used by the second transmission mode.);
wherein the first transmission mode is corresponding to the first parameter, and the second transmission mode is corresponding to the second parameter. (see Fig. 3-4, e.g., element S210, Pg. 12, Paragraph 3, e.g., In S210, the network device by the high layer signaling pre-configuring the first parameter set and the second parameter set to the terminal. the first parameter set corresponding to the terminal device of the first transmission mode, the second parameter set corresponding to the terminal device of the second transmission mode.),
however, it does not explicitly teach the first information field including a sounding reference signal resource indication (SRI) field and/or a transmission precoding information indication (TPMI) field, or the indication information being an information field different from the first information field.
GAO_66 teaches the first information field including a sounding reference signal resource indication (SRI) field and/ora transmission precoding information indication (TPMI) field (see ¶ [0052], e.g., For example, the parameters may include, but being not limited to, at least one of the following: of the SRI indicated by the SRI field in DCI, the precoding information and the number of layers indicated in DCI, antenna ports indicated in DCI), or
the indication information being an information field different from the first information field (see ¶ [0052], e.g., In some embodiments, the first configuration/indication may be different from the second configuration/indication. For example, the configuration/indication may be explicitly transmitted via at least one of RRC, MAC CE and DCI.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified indication information of GAO to incorporate the teachings of GAO_66 to include the indication information being an information field different from the first information field. Doing so would facilitate in achieving dynamic switching between single-TRP transmission and multi-TRP transmission without introducing additional signaling overhead as suggested by GAO_66 (see ¶ [0031] - ¶ [0032], e.g., This solution can use at least one of SRI fields and TPC fields comprised in a DCI format to indicate information about PUSCH transmissions based on a single SRS resource set or based on multiple SRS resource sets. In this way, this solution can support dynamic switching between single-TRP transmission and multi-TRP transmission without introducing additional signaling overhead.).
Regarding claim 15, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 14.
GAO further teaches, wherein a first characteristic of the first transmission mode and/or the second transmission mode is a characteristic associated with one or more of the following:
a transmission node, a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set, spatial- related information, a power control parameter, [[an]]the SRI field in control information for scheduling the PUSCH, [[a]]the TPMI field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH, a terminal antenna panel, a power control parameter set; (see Pg. 14, Paragraph 5, e.g., for the uplink control channel spatial domain relation parameter. in the physical uplink control channel spatial information (PUCCH-Spatial Relation Info), the designated physical uplink control channel (physical uplink control channel, PUCCH) signal using the beam, the beam can be configured to transmit a certain SRS resource used beam. Because the SRS resources used by the terminal device under the two transmission modes are different, the reference signal corresponding to the beam needs to be re-designated. namely the first parameter set comprises the PUCCH spatial domain relation parameter used by the first transmission mode, the first parameter set comprises the PUCCH spatial domain relation parameter used by the second transmission mode. The PUCCH spatial domain relationship parameters included in the two are different.) and/or,
a first characteristic of the first transmission mode and/or the second transmission mode is a characteristic associated with the number of one or more of the following: a transmission node, a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set, a spatial-related parameter, a power control parameter, a power control parameter set.
Regarding claim 16, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 14.
GAO further teaches, wherein the indicating the first parameter and/or the second parameter to the terminal through a first information field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH, includes at least one of the following:
indicating the first parameter through a state from N states of one first information field in the control information; wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2;
indicating the second parameter through at least one first information field in the control information (see Fig. 4, e.g., element S221, Pg. 16-17, Paragraph 9; 1, e.g., in S221, the network device comprises a first field in the DCI sent to the terminal device, the first field comprises the indication information For example, the first field may be a 1 bit (bit) length field, then the 1 bit (bit) length field can be understood as the indication information The 1 bit field has two states: The bit value is 0 and the bit value is 1, and the two different states. the network device can pre-configured bit value is 0 (first state) for indicating the terminal device using the first transmission mode for transmission, the bit value is 1 (second state) for indicating the terminal device using the second transmission mode to transmit. Alternatively, the network device may pre-configured bit value is 1 (first state) for indicating the terminal device using the first transmission mode for transmission, the bit value is 0 (second state) for indicating the terminal device using the second transmission mode to transmit. That is, the different bit states correspond to each other or are used for indicating the terminal devices to adopt different transmission modes. Pg. 14, Paragraph 4, e.g., the first parameter set comprises PUSCH-Config used by the first transmission mode, the second parameter set comprises PUSCH-Config used by the second transmission mode. The configuration parameters included in both are different.).
Regarding claim 18, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 14.
GAO further teaches, wherein the method further includes at least one of the following:
n response to the transmission mode is the first transmission mode, indicating the first parameter through a specified first information field in the first information field; or,
n response to the transmission mode is the second transmission mode, indicating the second parameter through a specified first information field in the first information field (Pg. 17, Paragraph 2, e.g., the network device pre-configured bit value of the first field is 1 (second state) for indicating the terminal device using the second transmission mode for transmission, the bitvalue is 0 (first state) for indicating the terminal device using the first transmission mode to transmit. The terminal device receives the DCI and analyzes the first field, if the bit value of the first field analyzed by the terminal device is 1, the terminal device determines that the network device indicates itself to perform transmission by using the second transmission mode. switching the terminal device from the currently used transmission mode to the second transmission mode, and activating the parameter of the second parameter set included. the terminal device further interpret each bit domain in the DCI according to the parameter of the second parameter set, and using the second transmission mode to carry out uplink service.).
Regarding claim 19, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 14.
GAO further teaches, wherein the indicating the first parameter to the terminal through the first information field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH, includes:
in response to a first condition being met, indicating the first parameter by the first information field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH
wherein the first condition includes one or more of the following:
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes a specified first information field;
a bit width of the specified first information field in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH is non-zero;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes at least two first information fields;
the number of SRS resources included in a specified SRS resource set is greater than 1;
the transmission mode of the PUSCH is at least corresponding to multiple SRS resource sets, and the number of SRS resources included in at least two SRS resource sets in the multiple SRS resource sets is greater than 1;
the number of antenna ports of at least one SRS resource in the specified SRS resource set is greater than 1;
the transmission mode of the PUSCH is at least corresponding to multiple SRS resource sets, and
at least two SRS resource sets in the multiple SRS resource sets satisfy the following condition: the number of antenna ports of at least one SRS resource is greater than 1 (see Pg. 17, Paragraph 2, e.g., if the bit value of the first field analyzed by the terminal device is 0, the terminal device determines that the network device indicates itself to transmit in the first transmission mode. The terminal device is switched to the first transmission mode from the currently used transmission mode, and activating the parameter set by the first parameter set, and using the first transmission mode to carry out uplink service. Pg. 15, Paragraph 4, e.g., S221, the network device sends DCI to the terminal device, the DCI comprises the indication information the indication information used for indicating one transmission mode of the first transmission mode or the second transmission mode, or the indication information used for indicating the terminal device switching transmission mode. wherein, the switching transmission mode comprises switching from the first transmission mode to the second transmission mode, or switching from the second transmission mode to the first transmission mode. correspondingly, the terminal device receives the DCI.).
Regarding claim 20, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 14.
GAO further teaches, wherein the indicating the first parameter according to the indication information, includes:
in response to a second condition being met, indicating the first parameter through the indication information
wherein the second condition includes one or more of the following:
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH does not include a first information field;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH does not include a specified first information field;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes a specified first information field and a bit width of the specified first information field is zero;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes only one first information field with a non-zero bit width;
the control information for scheduling the PUSCH includes a first information field and a bit width of the first information field is zero;
the number of SRS resources included in a specified SRS resource set is equal to 1; the number of SRS resources included in all SRS resource sets corresponding to the PUSCH transmission mode is equal to 1;
the number of antenna ports of all SRS resources in the specified SRS resource set is equal to 1;
the number of antenna ports of all SRS resources in all SRS resource sets corresponding to the PUSCH transmission mode is equal to 1 (see Pg. 17, Paragraph 2,
if the bit value of the first field analyzed by the terminal device is 0, the terminal device determines that the network device indicates itself to transmit in the first transmission mode. The terminal device is switched to the first transmission mode from the currently used transmission mode, and activating the parameter set by the first parameter set, and using the first transmission mode to carry out uplink service.).
Claim(s) 5, 10-11, 17, and 22-23, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GAO in view of GAO_66 and in further view of Lin et al., US 20220322393 A1, (hereinafter Lin).
Regarding claim 5, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 4.
GAO as improved by GAO_66 does not teach but Lin teaches, wherein when determining the first parameter according to a state from N states of one first information field in the control information, the method further includes:
determining the first parameter and/or the second parameter according to the first information field in the control information,
wherein the control information comprises at least two first information fields, and wherein a specified first information field of the at least two first information fields is configured for determining the first parameter and another first information field of the at least two first information fields, other than the specified first information field, is configured for determining the second parameter (see ¶ [0168], e.g., the field for the switching indication may be 0, 1, or 2 bits. If at least one of the second SRI field, the second TPMI field, and the second TPC field does not have a reserved value for the switching indication, the bit size of the field in the DCI used to provide the switching indication may be 2. The field having a value of ‘00’ may indicate switching to a single-TRP based PUSCH transmission, a value of ‘01’ may indicate to keep performing multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission, a value of ‘10’ may indicate switching the transmission order of TRPs, and a value of ‘11’ may be a reserved value. ¶ [0126], e.g., In some implementations, one of the SRI fields may indicate to the UE, in addition to the SRI values, whether to switch to a single-TRP based PUSCH transmission. In some implementations, an SRI field may be directly used to indicate whether to perform switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission. An SRI table may not have an empty entry under some conditions. Hence, the SRI field may not have reserved bit/value to indicate whether to perform switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission. Under such conditions, the bit length of the SRI field used to provide switching indication between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission may be increased, for example, by one bit. In some implementations, the one bit may be attached to the SRI field to provide the switching indication.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified first information field in the control information of GAO to incorporate the teachings of Lin to include a state from N states of one first information field in the control information and determining the first parameter according to a specified first information field in the control information which includes at least two first information fields, and determining the second parameter according to another first information field other than the specified first information field in the control information which includes at least two first information fields. Doing so would facilitate in achieving providing an indication of the switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission and/or the transmitting order of TRPs as suggested by Lin (see ¶ [0127], e.g., The new SRI table may provide, in addition to the SRI values, an indication of the switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission and/or the transmitting order of TRPs to which the UE transmits the repetitive PUSCH.).
Regarding claim 10, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 5.
GAO further teaches, wherein the specified first information field is any of the following:
M-th first information field; wherein M is a specified value;
a first information field with the minimum bit width among at least two first information fields;
a first information field with the maximum bit width among at least two first information fields;
only one first information field included in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH (see Pg. 17, Paragraph 2, if the bit value of the first field analyzed by the terminal device is 0, the terminal device determines that the network device indicates itself to transmit in the first transmission mode. The terminal device is switched to the first transmission mode from the currently used transmission mode, and activating the parameter set by the first parameter set, and using the first transmission mode to carry out uplink service.).
Regarding claim 11, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 5.
GAO as improved by GAO_66 does not teach but Lin teaches, wherein the method further includes at least one of the following:
n response to the transmission mode is the first transmission mode and the number of SRS resources included in the SRS resource set associated with the specified first information field is 1,
determining a bit width of the specified first information field as non-zero;
n response to the transmission mode is the second transmission mode and the number of antenna ports of all SRS resources in the SRS resource set associated with the specified first information field is 1,
determining a bit width of the specified first information field as non-zero (see ¶ [0135], e.g., the SRI table may be enhanced by adding two empty entries (e.g., by adding one to the bit width of the SRI field for the switching indication). One of the empty entries may be used to provide the switching indication. ¶ [0136] In some implementations, only one SRS source may be configured to each of the SRS resource sets that are applied to PUSCH transmissions (e.g., to the different TRPs). In some implementations, the SRI field for providing the switching indication may not be absent. For example, there might be two SRI fields, including SRI field #0 and SRI field #1, that are applied for repetitive PUSCH transmissions to different TRPs. SRI field#1 may also provide the switching indication. Under this scenario, when only one SRS source is configured to each of the SRS resource sets, SRI field #0 may be absent, but SRI field #1 that is used for providing the switching indication may not be absent. In some implementations, one bit may indicate the switching between a single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and a multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission. In some implementations, the bit may further indicate the transmission order of the TRPs. In some implementations, if the bit is ‘0’, a UE may be indicated to switch to a single-TRP based PUSCH transmission. If the bit is ‘1’, the UE may be indicated to switch the transmission order of the TRPs.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified first information field in the control information of GAO to incorporate the teachings of Lin to include bit width of the specified first information field as non-zero. Doing so would facilitate in achieving providing an indication of the switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission and/or the transmitting order of TRPs as suggested by Lin (see ¶ [0127], e.g., The new SRI table may provide, in addition to the SRI values, an indication of the switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission and/or the transmitting order of TRPs to which the UE transmits the repetitive PUSCH.).
Regarding claim 17, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 16.
GAO as improved by GAO_66 does not teach but Lin teaches, wherein when indicating the first parameter through a state from N states of one first information field in the control information, the method further includes:
indicating the first parameter and/or the second parameter by the first information field in the control information, wherein the control information comprises at least two first information fields, and
wherein a specified first information field of the at least two first information fields is configured for indicating the first parameter and another first information field of the at least two first information fields, other than the specified first information field, is configured for indicating the second parameter (see ¶ [0168], e.g., the field for the switching indication may be 0, 1, or 2 bits. If at least one of the second SRI field, the second TPMI field, and the second TPC field does not have a reserved value for the switching indication, the bit size of the field in the DCI used to provide the switching indication may be 2. The field having a value of ‘00’ may indicate switching to a single-TRP based PUSCH transmission, a value of ‘01’ may indicate to keep performing multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission, a value of ‘10’ may indicate switching the transmission order of TRPs, and a value of ‘11’ may be a reserved value. ¶ [0126], e.g., In some implementations, one of the SRI fields may indicate to the UE, in addition to the SRI values, whether to switch to a single-TRP based PUSCH transmission. In some implementations, an SRI field may be directly used to indicate whether to perform switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission. An SRI table may not have an empty entry under some conditions. Hence, the SRI field may not have reserved bit/value to indicate whether to perform switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission. Under such conditions, the bit length of the SRI field used to provide switching indication between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission may be increased, for example, by one bit. In some implementations, the one bit may be attached to the SRI field to provide the switching indication.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified first information field in the control information of GAO to incorporate the teachings of Lin to include a state from N states of one first information field in the control information and determining the first parameter according to a specified first information field in the control information which includes at least two first information fields, and determining the second parameter according to another first information field other than the specified first information field in the control information which includes at least two first information fields. Doing so would facilitate in achieving providing an indication of the switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission and/or the transmitting order of TRPs as suggested by Lin (see ¶ [0127], e.g., The new SRI table may provide, in addition to the SRI values, an indication of the switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission and/or the transmitting order of TRPs to which the UE transmits the repetitive PUSCH.).
Regarding claim 22, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 17.
GAO further teaches, wherein the specified first information field is any of the following:
M-th first information field; wherein M is a specified value;
a first information field with the minimum bit width among at least two first information fields;
a first information field with the maximum bit width among at least two first information fields;
only one first information field included in the control information for scheduling the PUSCH (see Pg. 17, Paragraph 2, if the bit value of the first field analyzed by the terminal device is 0, the terminal device determines that the network device indicates itself to transmit in the first transmission mode. The terminal device is switched to the first transmission mode from the currently used transmission mode, and activating the parameter set by the first parameter set, and using the first transmission mode to carry out uplink service.).
Regarding claim 23, GAO as combined with GAO_66 teaches the limitations of Claim 17.
GAO does not teach but Lin teaches, wherein the method further includes at least one of the following:
in response to the transmission mode is the first transmission mode and the number of SRS resources included in the SRS resource set associated with the specified first information field is 1,
determining a bit width of the specified first information field as non-zero;
in response to the transmission mode is the second transmission mode and the number of antenna ports of all SRS resources in the SRS resource set associated with the specified first information field is 1,
determining a bit width of the specified first information field as non-zero (see ¶ [0135], e.g., the SRI table may be enhanced by adding two empty entries (e.g., by adding one to the bit width of the SRI field for the switching indication). One of the empty entries may be used to provide the switching indication. ¶ [0136] In some implementations, only one SRS source may be configured to each of the SRS resource sets that are applied to PUSCH transmissions (e.g., to the different TRPs). In some implementations, the SRI field for providing the switching indication may not be absent. For example, there might be two SRI fields, including SRI field #0 and SRI field #1, that are applied for repetitive PUSCH transmissions to different TRPs. SRI field#1 may also provide the switching indication. Under this scenario, when only one SRS source is configured to each of the SRS resource sets, SRI field #0 may be absent, but SRI field #1 that is used for providing the switching indication may not be absent. In some implementations, one bit may indicate the switching between a single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and a multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission. In some implementations, the bit may further indicate the transmission order of the TRPs. In some implementations, if the bit is ‘0’, a UE may be indicated to switch to a single-TRP based PUSCH transmission. If the bit is ‘1’, the UE may be indicated to switch the transmission order of the TRPs.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective
filing date of the claimed invention to have modified first information field in the control information of GAO to incorporate the teachings of Lin to include bit width of the specified first information field as non-zero. Doing so would facilitate in achieving providing an indication of the switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission and/or the transmitting order of TRPs as suggested by Lin (see ¶ [0127], e.g., The new SRI table may provide, in addition to the SRI values, an indication of the switching between the single-TRP based PUSCH transmission and multi-TRP based PUSCH transmission and/or the transmitting order of TRPs to which the UE transmits the repetitive PUSCH.).
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 POONAM SHARMA whose telephone number is (571)272-6579. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru 8:30-5:30 pm, ET.
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, Kevin Bates can be reached at (571) 272-3980. 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.
/POONAM SHARMA/Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/KEVIN T BATES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
Prosecution Insights