weightDETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This action is in response to the application filed on 15 November 2023.
Claims 40-59 are under examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted 15 November 2023. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 40, 41, 43-45, 50, 51 and 53-55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by (“Cross-Link Interference Suppression By Orthogonal Projector For 5G Dynamic TDD URLLC Systems””, Nokia Bell-Labs, Aalbor, Denmark, 2020-01, herein referred to as Esswie)
With respect to claims 40 and 50, Esswie teaches An apparatus for suppression, at a first radio access node, of interference caused by other radio access nodes when the first radio access node and/or the other radio access nodes operate in a full duplex mode, wherein the full duplex mode comprises simultaneous transmission and reception in a same frequency interval, (BS, Figure 2) the apparatus comprising controlling circuitry configured to cause:
acquisition of measurements indicative of channel conditions between the other radio access nodes and the first radio access node, wherein channel conditions indicate interference caused at the first radio access node by the other radio access nodes; (During the inter-BSCLI slots within an RFC, the DL aggressor BSs signal adjacent victim UL BSs with a DL precoder map over the Xn-interface, n-demand signaling denotes a vector of the DL sub-band pre-coding matrix indices (PMIs). Channel Q is BS-BS channel, Page 3 section B)
selection of a set of radio access nodes from the other radio access nodes based on the channel conditions between the other radio access nodes and the first radio access node, (the identified strongest BS-BS interfering, Page 3 section B) wherein the controlling circuitry is configured to cause selection of the set of radio access nodes by causing one or more of:
selection of the set to comprise radio access nodes which cause highest interference at the first radio access node among the other radio access nodes; (the identified strongest BS-BS interfering, Page 3 section B. Examiner note: strongest is equate to highest interference)
selection of the set to comprise radio access nodes which cause interference at the first radio access node that exceeds an interference threshold;
selection of the set to comprise radio access nodes which cause an accumulated interference at the first radio access node that is a defined fraction of an accumulated interference at the first radio access node caused by all of the other radio access nodes; and
determination of an uplink receive filter for suppression of interference at the first radio access node based on the channel conditions between the selected set of radio access nodes and the first radio access node. (Such interference estimate is highly sparse in the spatial domain due to the BS-BS CLI summation, leading to a degraded linear-IRC decoding performance. Thus, prior to decoding, the UL BSs spatially project the interference column vectors of Rulk, i.e., rulρ, on to the projector sub-space. The spatial span of Rulk is regularized by suppressing the sparse N−1 BS-BS CLI strongest aggressors, Page 3-4 section B)
With respect to claims 41 and 51, Esswie teaches wherein determining the uplink receive filter for the first radio access node comprises selecting the uplink receive filter based on a null space defined by the channel conditions between the selected set of radio access nodes and the first radio access node.; (the UL decoder becomes highly directive towards the span of the direct effective channel, and outside the sub space spanned by the principal BS-BS CLI basis, leading to a significant improvement of the URLLC UL performance, Page 4 section B)
With respect to claims 43 and 53, Esswie teaches wherein acquiring measurements comprises performing the measurements. (During the inter-BSCLI slots within an RFC, the DL aggressor BSs signal adjacent victim UL BSs with a DL precoder map over the Xn-interface, n-demand signaling denotes a vector of the DL sub-band pre-coding matrix indices (PMIs). Channel Q is BS-BS channel, Page 3 section B)
With respect to claims 44 and 54, Esswie teaches further comprising acquiring transmission particulars of the other radio access nodes, wherein selecting the set of radio access nodes is further based on the transmission particulars. (During the inter-BSCLI slots within an RFC, the DL aggressor BSs signal adjacent victim UL BSs with a DL precoder map over the Xn-interface, n-demand signaling denotes a vector of the DL sub-band pre-coding matrix indices (PMIs). Channel Q is BS-BS channel, Page 3 section B)
With respect to claims 45 and 55, Esswie teaches wherein the channel conditions are indicative of an effective channel, wherein an impact of the effective channel corresponds to an impact of one or more of: transmitter imperfections, transmitter settings, propagation channel, interference, receiver settings, and receiver imperfections. (the effective interference channel Q*V equation 10, the propagation channel q and transmitter setting (the DL precoder), Page 3 section B)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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
Claims 42 and 52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over (“Cross-Link Interference Suppression By Orthogonal Projector For 5G Dynamic TDD URLLC Systems””, Nokia Bell-Labs, Aalbor, Denmark, 2020-01, herein referred to as Esswie)) in view of (“Multi-layer beamforming in uplink/downlink massive MIMO Systems with multi-antenna users””, cell lab. Dept. of electrical engineering, Yazd university, 2019, herein referred to as Rezaei).
With respect to claims 42 and 52, Esswie doesn’t teach further comprising controlling one or more user devices served by the first radio access node to apply an uplink transmit beamforming which is based on the uplink receive filter.
Rezaei teaches further comprising controlling one or more user devices served by the first radio access node to apply an uplink transmit beamforming which is based on the uplink receive filter. (As the analog reception filter BH RF is designed regarding the previous subsection, the BS broadcasts it to all users, designs its precoder (Fk; k = 1, ···, K) to maximize the effective signal power received at the BS based on the effective channel matrix (BHRF Hk; ∀ k) which has lower dimension than the original one, Page 61 Section 3.2)
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement system of Esswie with apply an uplink transmit beamforming which is based on the uplink receive filter as taught by Rezaei. The motivation for combining Esswie and Rezaei is to be able to handle transmission and reception efficiently in both the uplink and downlink transmission modes.
Claims 46, 48, 49, 56, 58 and 59 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over (“Multi-layer beamforming in uplink/downlink massive MIMO Systems with multi-antenna users””, cell lab. Dept. of electrical engineering, Yazd university, 2019, herein referred to as Rezaei) in view of Frank et al. (US Publication 2008/0165673).
With respect to claims 46 and 56, Rezaei teaches An apparatus for a user device served by a first radio access node, wherein the first radio access node applies an uplink receive filter for suppression of interference caused by one or more other radio access nodes when the first radio access node and/or the other radio access nodes operate in a full duplex mode, wherein the full duplex mode comprises simultaneous transmission and reception in a same frequency interval, wherein the uplink receive filter has been based on channel conditions between a set of radio access nodes and the first radio access node, wherein channel conditions indicate interference caused at the first radio access node by the other radio access nodes, the set of radio access nodes selected from the other radio access nodes based on the channel conditions between the other radio access nodes and the first radio access node, (UE, figure 1) the apparatus comprising controlling circuitry configured to cause:
reception of a control signal indicative of one or more of: the uplink receive filter and an uplink transmit beamforming which is based on the uplink receive filter, wherein the control signal is indicative of the uplink receive filter, and wherein the controlling circuitry is further configured to cause determination of the uplink transmit beamforming based on the uplink receive filter; (As the analog reception filter BH RF is designed regarding the previous subsection, the BS broadcasts it to all users, Page 61 Section 3.2) and
Wherein the controlling circuitry is configured to cause determination of the uplink transmit beamforming based on the uplink receive filter by causing selection of the uplink transmit beamforming such that a composite channel between the user device and the first radio access node fulfills a channel criterion. (designs its precoder (Fk; k = 1, ···, K) to maximize the effective signal power received at the BS based on the effective channel matrix (BHRF Hk; ∀ k) which has lower dimension than the original one. Page 61 section 3.2)
Rezaei doesn’t explicitly teach wherein the composite channel is defined by a combination of at least the uplink transmit beamforming, a propagation channel between the user device and the first radio access node, and the uplink receive filter.
Frank teaches wherein the composite channel is defined by a combination of at least the uplink transmit beamforming, a propagation channel between the user device and the first radio access node, and the uplink receive filter. (The composite channel comprises the convolution of the transmit filter, the receive filter and the propagation channel between the transmitter and receiver, paragraph 31)
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement system of Rezaei with the composite channel is defined by a combination of at least the uplink transmit beamforming, a propagation channel between the user device and the first radio access node, and the uplink receive filter as taught by Frank. The motivation for combining Rezaei and Frank is to be able to improve synchronization between transmitter and receiver.
With respect to claims 48 and 58, Rezaei teaches wherein determining the uplink transmit beamforming is further based on an interference condition. (Design the precoder of each user which
upgrades the performance of the whole network. With the help of precoders, the users can shape narrow beams towards the BS which results in interference reduction and link reliability increment, Page 63 Section 5.1)
With respect to claims 49 and 59, Rezaei teaches further comprising adjusting a power control setting based on the uplink receive filter and/or the uplink transmit beamforming. (n all the configurations, by designing reception filters, the received power of each user is increased which results in higher sum spectral efficiency, Page 64 Section 5.2)
Claims 47 and 57 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over (“Multi-layer beamforming in uplink/downlink massive MIMO Systems with multi-antenna users””, cell lab. Dept. of electrical engineering, Yazd university, 2019, herein referred to as Rezaei) in view of (“Joint Transmit and Receive Analog Beamforming in 60 GHz MIMO multipath channels””, interuniversity micro-Electronics center (IMEC), Leuven, Belgium, 2009, herein referred to as Nseng)
With respect to claims 47 and 57, Rezaei in view of Frank doesn’t teach wherein the uplink transmit beamforming is selected as an eigenvector corresponding to a largest eigenvalue of a combination of the propagation channel between the user device and the first radio access node and the uplink receive filter.
Nsenga teaches wherein the uplink transmit beamforming is selected as an eigenvector corresponding to a largest eigenvalue of a combination of the propagation channel between the user device and the first radio access node and the uplink receive filter. (SNR maximizing TX weight for a give RX filter and Largest eigenvector of the combined channel-filter matrix, Page 3 Section B)
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement system of Rezaei in view of Frank with the uplink transmit beamforming is selected as an eigenvector corresponding to a largest eigenvalue of a combination of the propagation channel between the user device and the first radio access node and the uplink receive filter as taught by Nsenga. The motivation for combining Rezaei, Frank, and Nsenga is to be able to maximizes the largest eigen value.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Filin et al. (US Publication 2025/0374105) discloses the wireless device can send: an indication that a value is inside the range of values for an entire duration of the time interval; and/or an indication that the value is outside the range of values for the entire duration of the time interval. The wireless device can also or alternatively send one or more measurement reports, based on the value measured at the wireless device being inside or outside the range of values for the entire duration of the time interval.
Zhang et al. (US Publication 2024/0098708) discloses the UE may receive, from the network node, a second common downlink channel or reference signal in at least one downlink sub-band associated with a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) slot or symbol.
Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to ABDULLAHI AHMED whose telephone number is (571) 270-3652. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00AM-4:30PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Khalid Kassim can be reached on 571-270-3370. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ABDULLAHI AHMED/Examiner, Art Unit 2475
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