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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Second to last paragraph of page 13 of 15 of Applicant’s arguments asserts that the cited features of Zhang are not the same as the recited amendmed independent claim 1, specifically Zhang does not disclose “an indication of a respective activation status for each sounding reference signal resource.”
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claim is constructed with a Boolean ‘or’ when limiting the “status being either activated or deactivated”. Therefore to anticipate the claim the status in Zhang need to only show activated. The antecedent basis for “the respective activation status” is established with “an indication of a respective activation status each sounding reference signal” therefore Zhang would only need to disclose all sounding reference signal resources to be active to anticipate the claim because the claim only requires an indication. The independent claims broadly claims this indication, unlike claims 31-33 which require a bitmap, with a bit per sounding reference signal resource. Zhang, [0044] per-resource indication within a specific resource set, with FIG. 9, [0011] titled Activation/Deactivation and the activation/deactivation command descriptions from [0051-0053] showing a deactivation command for an activated SRS resource.
Assuming arguendo the independent claims requires a bit per resource, the claims do not define the size of a resource vs a resource set, this mathematical relationship could be a simple as 1, meaning that Zhang’s [0035] UE may have multiple SRS resource sets with a single resource and Fig. 9, in view of [0153] describes the A/D field with a length of 1 bit for activate or deactivate the SRS resource set.
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (US PGPub 2019/0281588 A1) hereinafter Zhang.
Regarding Claim 1 Zhang discloses: A method for wireless communication, comprising: receiving configuration signaling that indicates a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets, each of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets comprising a respective plurality of sounding reference signal resources; (Tables 6-7 (SRS-Config IE), paragraph [0165]: “The network (e.g., a RAN node 111) triggers the transmission of the set of SRS-Resources using a configured aperiodicSRS-ResourceTrigger”, Operation 205 in Figure 2: “RRC (re)configuration is performed…for all SRS resources” and [0035]: “the UE 101 may be configured with one or more SRS resource sets as configured by the higher layer parameter SRS-ResourceSet. For each SRS resource set, the UE 101 may be configured with K≥1 SRS resources” and [0038]: “the RAN node 111 configures a group of SRS resources for a current transmission scheme (e.g., codebook or non-codebook) using RRC signaling at operation 205”)
receiving a control message that indicates, for a sounding reference signal resource set of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets, an activation status for a sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set; (Paragraph [0151] and Figure 9: “the NW (e.g., a RAN node 111) may update, activate or deactivate beams or BWPs of one or more configured SRS resource sets by sending a suitable MAC CE”, Figure 9, A/D field: “indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set” and [0038]: “At operation 210, the RAN node 111 signals/transmits a MAC CE to update, reconfigure, or otherwise indicate a subset of the RRC configured SRS resources”)
wherein within the control message, an indication of a respective activation status for each sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set, the respective activation status being either activated or deactivated; ([0044] per-resource indication within a specific resource set, with FIG. 9, [0011] titled Activation/Deactivation and the activation/deactivation command descriptions from [0051-0053] showing a deactivation command for an activated SRS resource. Further the UE may have multiple SRS resource sets according [0035])
and transmitting one or more sounding reference signals based at least in part on the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set. (Paragraph [0183], Operation 1020: “generates and transmit…an SRS in the SRS resource indicated by the DCI”)
Regarding Claim 2 Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the configuration signaling, an indication of a respective identifier for each of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets; and receiving, within the control message, an indication of one or more identifiers each corresponding to a respective sounding reference signal resource set, wherein the one or more identifiers comprise an identifier of the sounding reference signal resource set. (Table 6, SRS-ResourceSetId field: “The ID of this resource set. It is unique in the context of the BWP” and Figure 9, SRS Resource Set ID field: “indicates the SRS Resource Set ID identified by SRS-ResourceSetId”)
Regarding Claim 4, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 3, wherein the indication of the respective activation status for each sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set comprises a bitmap, each bit of the bitmap indicating the respective activation status for a corresponding sounding reference signal resource. ( MAC CE structure in Figure 9 shows individual fields for each resource)
Regarding Claim 5, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the control message, an indication of whether the control message is to activate or deactivate one or more sounding reference signal resources. (Figure 9, A/D field: “has a length of 1 bit and indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set. The field is set to 1 to indicate activation, otherwise it indicates deactivation”)
Regarding Claim 6, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the control message, for each of one or more sounding reference signal resource sets identified in the control message, a respective indication of whether the control message is to activate or deactivate one or more sounding reference signal resources within a corresponding one of the one or more sounding reference signal resource sets. (Figure 9 and ¶[0153]: “The A/D field has a length of 1 bit and indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set. The field is set to 1 to indicate activation, otherwise it indicates deactivation and shows the MAC CE includes “SRS Resource Set ID field”)
Regarding Claim 7, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the control message, for each of one or more activated sounding reference signal resources as indicated by the control message, a respective indication of a respective set of one or more antenna ports, wherein transmitting the one or more sounding reference signals comprises: transmitting, via each of the one or more activated sounding reference signal resources, a respective sounding reference signal using the respective set of one or more antenna ports for the activated sounding reference signal resource. ( [0035]: “each SRS resource 138 being transmitted on SRS resource ports (e.g., antenna ports) of a UE 101” and Table 6: Shows “nrofSRS-Ports” field indicating “Number of SRS antenna ports” and [0183]: “An example of wideband multi-port SRS is a 2-port SRS transmission”)
Regarding Claim 8, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 7, wherein the respective indication of the respective set of one or more antenna ports comprises a bitmap, each bit of the bitmap indicating whether a corresponding antenna port is included in the respective set of one or more antenna ports. ( [0035]: “each SRS resource 138 being transmitted on SRS resource ports (e.g., antenna ports) of a UE 101” and Table 6: Shows “nrofSRS-Ports” field indicating “Number of SRS antenna ports” and [0183]: “An example of wideband multi-port SRS is a 2-port SRS transmission”)
Regarding Claim 9, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the control message, an indication of whether the control message is for a normal uplink carrier or a supplementary uplink carrier. (Figure 9, SUL field: “indicates whether the MAC CE applies to the NUL carrier or SUL carrier configuration. This field is set to 1 to indicate that it applies to the SUL carrier configuration”)
Regarding Claim 10, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the control message, an indication of a quantity of sounding reference signal resource sets subject to the control message. ( [0043]: “M is the number of candidate SRS resources and/or SRIs, or the number of beams in the beam subset”)
Regarding Claim 11, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the configuration signaling, an indication of a respective identifier for each of a plurality of groups of sounding reference signal resource sets, each of the groups of sounding reference signal resource sets comprising one or more sounding reference signal resource sets, wherein the control message indicates the sounding reference signal resource set based at least in part on including an identifier of a group of sounding reference signal resource sets that includes the sounding reference signal resource set; and receiving, within the control message, an indication of a quantity of activated sounding reference signal resources for each sounding reference signal resource set of the group of sounding reference signal resource sets, wherein the control message indicates the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource based at least in part on including the indication of the quantity of activated sounding reference signal resources for each sounding reference signal resource set of the group of sounding reference signal resource sets. ([0165]: Configuration of multiple resource sets, Figure 9: “SRS Resource Set ID” field showing set identification, [0043]: “M is the number of candidate SRS resources”, [0038] “grouping of SRS resources” and [0151]: “the NW (e.g., a RAN node 111) may update, activate or deactivate beams or BWPs of one or more configured SRS resource sets by sending a suitable MAC CE”)
Regarding Claim 12, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the configuration signaling, an indication of a respective identifier for each of a plurality of groups of sounding reference signal resource sets, each of the groups of sounding reference signal resource sets comprising one or more sounding reference signal resource sets, wherein the control message indicates the sounding reference signal resource set based at least in part on including an identifier of a group of sounding reference signal resource sets that includes the sounding reference signal resource set; and receiving, within the control message, for each sounding reference signal resource set of the group of sounding reference signal resource sets, a respective indication of a quantity of activated sounding reference signal resources within a corresponding sounding reference signal resource set, wherein the control message indicates the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource based at least in part on including the respective indication of the quantity of activated sounding reference signal resources within the sounding reference signal resource set. ([0165]: Configuration of multiple resource sets, Figure 9: “SRS Resource Set ID” field showing set identification, [0043]: “M is the number of candidate SRS resources”, [0038] “grouping of SRS resources” and [0151]: “the NW (e.g., a RAN node 111) may update, activate or deactivate beams or BWPs of one or more configured SRS resource sets by sending a suitable MAC CE”)
Regarding Claim 13, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the configuration signaling, an indication of a respective identifier for each of a plurality of sounding reference signal resource configurations, wherein the plurality of sounding reference signal resource configurations each correspond to a respective set of one or more activated sounding reference signal resources being activated; receiving, within the control message, an indication of an identifier of the sounding reference signal resource set; and receiving, within the control message, for the sounding reference signal resource set, an indication of an identifier of a sounding reference signal resource configuration of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource configurations, wherein the control message indicates the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource based at least in part on including the indication of the identifier of the sounding reference signal resource configuration. ([0165]: Configuration of multiple resource sets, Figure 9: “SRS Resource Set ID” field showing set identification, [0043]: “M is the number of candidate SRS resources”, [0038] “grouping of SRS resources” and [0151]: “the NW (e.g., a RAN node 111) may update, activate or deactivate beams or BWPs of one or more configured SRS resource sets by sending a suitable MAC CE”)
Regarding Claim 14, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, within the control message, an indication of a serving cell corresponding to the sounding reference signal resource set, an indication of a bandwidth part corresponding to the sounding reference signal resource set, or both. (Figure 9, “SRS Resource Set’s CC ID field” and “SRS Resource Set’s BWP ID field” and [0154]: “The SRS Resource Set’s CC ID field has a length of 5 bits and indicates the identity of the component carrier”)
Regarding Claim 15, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein the control message comprises a medium access control-control element. ([0151]: “MAC CE” and Figure 9 title: “SRS beam Activation/Deactivation MAC CE”)
Regarding Claim 16 Zhang discloses: A method for wireless communication, comprising: transmitting configuration signaling that indicates a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets, each of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets comprising a respective plurality of sounding reference signal resources; (Tables 6-7 (SRS-Config IE), paragraph [0165]: “The network (e.g., a RAN node 111) triggers the transmission of the set of SRS-Resources using a configured aperiodicSRS-ResourceTrigger”, Operation 205 in Figure 2: “RRC (re)configuration is performed…for all SRS resources” and [0035]: “the UE 101 may be configured with one or more SRS resource sets as configured by the higher layer parameter SRS-ResourceSet. For each SRS resource set, the UE 101 may be configured with K≥1 SRS resources” and [0038]: “the RAN node 111 configures a group of SRS resources for a current transmission scheme (e.g., codebook or non-codebook) using RRC signaling at operation 205”)
transmitting a control message that indicates, for a sounding reference signal resource set of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets, an activation status for a sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set; (Paragraph [0151] and Figure 9: “the NW (e.g., a RAN node 111) may update, activate or deactivate beams or BWPs of one or more configured SRS resource sets by sending a suitable MAC CE”, Figure 9, A/D field: “indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set” and [0038]: “At operation 210, the RAN node 111 signals/transmits a MAC CE to update, reconfigure, or otherwise indicate a subset of the RRC configured SRS resources”)
wherein within the control message, an indication of a respective activation status for each sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set, the respective activation status being either activated or deactivated; ([0044] per-resource indication within a specific resource set, with FIG. 9, [0011] titled Activation/Deactivation and the activation/deactivation command descriptions from [0051-0053] showing a deactivation command for an activated SRS resource. Further the UE may have multiple SRS resource sets according [0035])
and receiving one or more sounding reference signals based at least in part on the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set. (Paragraph [0183], Operation 1020: “generates and transmit…an SRS in the SRS resource indicated by the DCI”)
Regarding Claim 17, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting, within the configuration signaling, an indication of a respective identifier for each of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets; and transmitting, within the control message, an indication of one or more identifiers each corresponding to a respective sounding reference signal resource set, wherein the one or more identifiers comprise an identifier of the sounding reference signal resource set. (Table 6, SRS-ResourceSetId field: “The ID of this resource set. It is unique in the context of the BWP” and Figure 9, SRS Resource Set ID field: “indicates the SRS Resource Set ID identified by SRS-ResourceSetId”)
Regarding Claim 19, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting, within the control message, an indication of whether the control message is to activate or deactivate one or more sounding reference signal resources. ( MAC CE structure in Figure 9 shows individual fields for each resource)
Regarding Claim 20, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting, within the control message, for each of one or more sounding reference signal resource sets identified in the control message, a respective indication of whether the control message is to activate or deactivate one or more sounding reference signal resources within a corresponding one of the one or more sounding reference signal resource sets. (Figure 9, A/D field: “has a length of 1 bit and indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set. The field is set to 1 to indicate activation, otherwise it indicates deactivation”)
Regarding Claim 21, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting, within the control message, for each of one or more activated sounding reference signal resources as indicated by the control message, a respective indication of a respective set of one or more antenna ports for use when transmitting a sounding reference signal via a corresponding one of the one or more sounding reference signal resources. (Figure 9 and ¶[0153]: “The A/D field has a length of 1 bit and indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set. The field is set to 1 to indicate activation, otherwise it indicates deactivation and shows the MAC CE includes “SRS Resource Set ID field”)
Regarding Claim 22, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting, within the control message, an indication of whether the control message is for a normal uplink carrier or a supplementary uplink carrier, an indication of a quantity of sounding reference signal resource sets subject to the control message, or both. (Figure 9, “SRS Resource Set’s CC ID field” and “SRS Resource Set’s BWP ID field” and [0154]: “The SRS Resource Set’s CC ID field has a length of 5 bits and indicates the identity of the component carrier”)
Regarding Claim 23, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting, within the configuration signaling, an indication of a respective identifier for each of a plurality of groups of sounding reference signal resource sets, each of the groups of sounding reference signal resource sets comprising one or more sounding reference signal resource sets, wherein the control message indicates the sounding reference signal resource set based at least in part on including an identifier of a group of sounding reference signal resource sets that includes the sounding reference signal resource set; and transmitting, within the control message: an indication of a quantity of activated sounding reference signal resources for each sounding reference signal resource set of the group of sounding reference signal resource sets, wherein the control message indicates the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource based at least in part on including the indication of the quantity of activated sounding reference signal resources for each sounding reference signal resource set of the group of sounding reference signal resource sets; or for each sounding reference signal resource set of the group of sounding reference signal resource sets, a respective indication of a quantity of activated sounding reference signal resources within a corresponding sounding reference signal resource set, wherein the control message indicates the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource based at least in part on including the respective indication of the quantity of activated sounding reference signal resources within the sounding reference signal resource set. ([0165]: Configuration of multiple resource sets, Figure 9: “SRS Resource Set ID” field showing set identification, [0043]: “M is the number of candidate SRS resources”, [0038] “grouping of SRS resources” and [0151]: “the NW (e.g., a RAN node 111) may update, activate or deactivate beams or BWPs of one or more configured SRS resource sets by sending a suitable MAC CE”)
Regarding Claim 24, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 16, further comprising: transmitting, within the configuration signaling, an indication of a respective identifier for each of a plurality of sounding reference signal resource configurations, wherein the plurality of sounding reference signal resource configurations each correspond to a respective set of one or more activated sounding reference signal resources being activated; transmitting, within the control message, an indication of an identifier of the sounding reference signal resource set; and transmitting, within the control message, for the sounding reference signal resource set, an indication of an identifier of a sounding reference signal resource configuration of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource configurations, wherein the control message indicates the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource based at least in part on including the indication of the identifier of the sounding reference signal resource configuration. ([0165]: Configuration of multiple resource sets, Figure 9: “SRS Resource Set ID” field showing set identification, [0043]: “M is the number of candidate SRS resources”, [0038] “grouping of SRS resources” and [0151]: “the NW (e.g., a RAN node 111) may update, activate or deactivate beams or BWPs of one or more configured SRS resource sets by sending a suitable MAC CE”)
Regarding Claim 25 Zhang discloses: An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising: a one or more processors of a user equipment (UE); (Fig 3 and 4)
a transceiver coupled with the processor; and memory coupled with the one or more processors, the memory and the one or more processors configured to cause the apparatus to: receive, via the transceiver, configuration signaling that indicates a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets and a respective set of sounding reference signal resources within each of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets; (Tables 6-7 (SRS-Config IE), paragraph [0165]: “The network (e.g., a RAN node 111) triggers the transmission of the set of SRS-Resources using a configured aperiodicSRS-ResourceTrigger”, Operation 205 in Figure 2: “RRC (re)configuration is performed…for all SRS resources” and [0035]: “the UE 101 may be configured with one or more SRS resource sets as configured by the higher layer parameter SRS-ResourceSet. For each SRS resource set, the UE 101 may be configured with K≥1 SRS resources” and [0038]: “the RAN node 111 configures a group of SRS resources for a current transmission scheme (e.g., codebook or non-codebook) using RRC signaling at operation 205”)
receive, via the transceiver, a control message that indicates, for a sounding reference signal resource set of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets, an activation status for a sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set; (Paragraph [0151] and Figure 9: “the NW (e.g., a RAN node 111) may update, activate or deactivate beams or BWPs of one or more configured SRS resource sets by sending a suitable MAC CE”, Figure 9, A/D field: “indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set” and [0038]: “At operation 210, the RAN node 111 signals/transmits a MAC CE to update, reconfigure, or otherwise indicate a subset of the RRC configured SRS resources”)
wherein within the control message, an indication of a respective activation status for each sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set, the respective activation status being either activated or deactivated; ([0044] per-resource indication within a specific resource set, with FIG. 9, [0011] titled Activation/Deactivation and the activation/deactivation command descriptions from [0051-0053] showing a deactivation command for an activated SRS resource. Further the UE may have multiple SRS resource sets according [0035])
and transmit, via the transceiver, one or more sounding reference signals based at least in part on the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set. (Paragraph [0183], Operation 1020: “generates and transmit…an SRS in the SRS resource indicated by the DCI”)
Regarding Claim 26 Zhang discloses: The apparatus of claim 25, the memory and the one or more processors further configured to cause the apparatus to: receive, via the transceiver and within the configuration signaling, an indication of a respective identifier for each of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets; and receive, via the transceiver and within the control message, an indication of one or more identifiers each corresponding to a respective sounding reference signal resource set, wherein the one or more identifiers comprise an identifier of the sounding reference signal resource set. (Table 6, SRS-ResourceSetId field: “The ID of this resource set. It is unique in the context of the BWP” and Figure 9, SRS Resource Set ID field: “indicates the SRS Resource Set ID identified by SRS-ResourceSetId”)
Regarding Claim 28 Zhang discloses: The apparatus of claim 25, the memory and the one or more processors further configured to cause the apparatus to: receive, within the control message, an indication of whether the control message is to activate or deactivate one or more sounding reference signal resources. (Figure 9, A/D field: “has a length of 1 bit and indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set. The field is set to 1 to indicate activation, otherwise it indicates deactivation”)
Regarding Claim 29, Zhang discloses: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a one or more processors of a base station; a transceiver coupled with the one or more processors; and memory coupled with the one or more processors, (Fig 3 and 4) the memory and the one or more processors configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit, configuration signaling that indicates a plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets and a respective set of sounding reference signal resources within each of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets; (Tables 6-7 (SRS-Config IE), paragraph [0165]: “The network (e.g., a RAN node 111) triggers the transmission of the set of SRS-Resources using a configured aperiodicSRS-ResourceTrigger”, Operation 205 in Figure 2: “RRC (re)configuration is performed…for all SRS resources” and [0035]: “the UE 101 may be configured with one or more SRS resource sets as configured by the higher layer parameter SRS-ResourceSet. For each SRS resource set, the UE 101 may be configured with K≥1 SRS resources” and [0038]: “the RAN node 111 configures a group of SRS resources for a current transmission scheme (e.g., codebook or non-codebook) using RRC signaling at operation 205”)
transmit, a control message that indicates, for a sounding reference signal resource set of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets, an activation status for a sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set; (Paragraph [0151] and Figure 9: “the NW (e.g., a RAN node 111) may update, activate or deactivate beams or BWPs of one or more configured SRS resource sets by sending a suitable MAC CE”, Figure 9, A/D field: “indicates whether to activate or deactivate indicated periodic and/or aperiodic SRS resource set” and [0038]: “At operation 210, the RAN node 111 signals/transmits a MAC CE to update, reconfigure, or otherwise indicate a subset of the RRC configured SRS resources”)
wherein within the control message, an indication of a respective activation status for each sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set, the respective activation status being either activated or deactivated; ([0044] per-resource indication within a specific resource set, with FIG. 9, [0011] titled Activation/Deactivation and the activation/deactivation command descriptions from [0051-0053] showing a deactivation command for an activated SRS resource. Further the UE may have multiple SRS resource sets according [0035])
and receive, one or more sounding reference signals based at least in part on the activation status for the sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set. (Paragraph [0183], Operation 1020: “generates and transmit…an SRS in the SRS resource indicated by the DCI”)
Regarding Claim 30, Zhang discloses: The apparatus of claim 29, the memory and the one or more processors further configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit, within the configuration signaling, an indication of a respective identifier for each of the plurality of sounding reference signal resource sets; and transmit, within the control message, an indication of one or more identifiers each corresponding to a respective sounding reference signal resource set, wherein the one or more identifiers comprise an identifier of the sounding reference signal resource set. (Table 6, SRS-ResourceSetId field: “The ID of this resource set. It is unique in the context of the BWP” and Figure 9, SRS Resource Set ID field: “indicates the SRS Resource Set ID identified by SRS-ResourceSetId”)
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.
Claims 31-33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (US PGPub 2019/0281588 A1) hereinafter Zhang, as applied above to the independent claims, in view of Muruganathan et al. (US 2019/0223161 A1) hereinafter Muruganathanan.
Regarding claim 31 and similarly, claims 32 and 33, Muruganathanan teaches the following limitations that Zhang does not expliclty disclose: The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the indication of the respective activation status for each sounding reference signal resource within the sounding reference signal resource set comprises a bitmap, each bit of the bitmap indicating the respective activation status for a corresponding sounding reference signal resource. ([0110], [0036], a per-resource bitmap indicating activation/deactivate status of each resource)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the indications of SRS resource sets and resources disclosed by Zhang to include the bitmap format for the MAC CE resource sets and resources of Muruganathanan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because they are both employ the identical two-step approach of RRC configuration of multiple resources followed by MAC CE activation of a subset as taught by Muruganathanan, [0037-0038]], and would have been appropriate to use the same MAC CE across different resource types [0096].
Conclusion
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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/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
