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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on December 29, 2023 and January 27, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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 1-3, 10, 13, 14, 21, 33 and 43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Liu et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230180134 A1 (hereinafter Liu).
Regarding Claim 1, Liu discloses an uplink transmission method, performed by a terminal, the method comprising: receiving configuration signaling, wherein the configuration signaling comprises a first indication field, the first indication field indicates precoding matrix indicator (TPMI indication information) (e.g., ¶ [0028] In a possible design, when the n TPMIs correspond to N time domain resources, before the terminal device determines the power control parameter of the PUSCH based on the precoding indication information used by the PUSCH, the terminal device may further receive first indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate a quantity N of repetitions of the PUSCH to be sent by the terminal device in time domain; e.g., ¶ [0213] The terminal device may receive the precoding indication information that is indicated by the network device and that is used to send the PUSCH. For example, the terminal device may receive first signaling, and the first signaling carries a field used to indicate the n TPMIs), while the terminal transmits codebook-based uplink transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (e.g., ¶ [0202] A codebook configured for a terminal device with two antenna ports is shown in Table 4. Each matrix in Table 4 is a codeword or corresponds to a TPMI. A row of the matrix corresponds to an antenna port through which the terminal device sends a PUSCH); and determining a precoding used while the PUSCH is transmitted, based on the TPMI indication information (e.g., ¶ [0048] In a possible design, the precoding indication information of the PUSCH indicates a TPMI group, the TPMI group includes n predefined TPMIs, and different TPMI groups include different TPMIs; e.g., ¶ [0056] In a possible design, when the n TPMIs correspond to N time domain resources, that a network device indicates precoding indication information that is used by a terminal device to send a PUSCH; e.g., ¶ [0232] According to the method provided in this embodiment of this application, in a communication process (for example, a PUSCH transmission process), the terminal device may determine, based on the precoding indication information indicating the PUSCH, a power control parameter of a TPMI indicated by the precoding indication information).
Regarding Claim 2, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 1.
Liu discloses further comprising: determining the precoding used while the PUSCH is transmitted towards a TRP direction based on the TPMI indication information; or, determining the precoding used while the PUSCH is transmitted towards at least two TRP directions based on the TPMI indication information (e.g., ¶ [0159] When a plurality of parameter sets are configured, and DCI for scheduling the PUSCH includes an SRI field… [which is used] to select a transmit beam of the PUSCH… When the network device configures a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, during scheduling of the PUSCH, one or more SRS resources (indicated by the SRI field) need to be selected to represent a transmit beam of the PUSCH. In this way, different values are indicated by using the SRI field to indicate different parameter sets, so that different transmit beams of the PUSCH may use independent parameter sets to improve transmission performance; e.g., ¶ [0183] Each TPMI corresponds to a set of power control parameters, and at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters. Each TPMI corresponds to some time-frequency resources occupied by the PUSCH. A precoding manner includes at least one of an antenna port used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, a transmit beam used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, an antenna beamforming manner used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, or the like [Examiner interprets a known antenna, transmit beam and beamforming manner to suggest direction of the beam transmitting PUSCH to network device, with corresponding precoding (PMI); i.e., SRSs through antenna beams may be associated with different directions, and the precoding schemes used may be determined]).
Regarding Claim 3, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 1.
Liu discloses wherein determining a precoding used while the PUSCH is transmitted, based on the TPMI indication information comprises: determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, while the TPMI indication information is configured to indicate that the terminal indicates the precoding matrix through the TPMI domain (e.g., ¶ [0006] precoding indication information used by the PUSCH. The precoding indication information includes n transmitted precoding matrix indicators TPMIs, each TPMI corresponds to a set of power control parameters, at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters, each TPMI corresponds to some time-frequency resources occupied by the PUSCH; e.g., ¶ [0027] n TPMIs correspond to N time domain resources; e.g., ¶ [0174] precoding indication information is used to indicate n transmitted precoding matrix indicators (TPMI), and at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters. In this way, the terminal device may implement PUSCH transmission by using an adapted power control parameter, to improve transmission performance; e.g., ¶ [0184] each TPMI corresponds to a matrix (also referred to as a precoding matrix)).
Regarding Claim 10, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 1.
Liu discloses wherein while a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set is configured as at least one and at least one SRS resource indication (SRI) domain exists, the PUSCH is transmitted by using the precoding indicated by the TPMI domain in a beam direction corresponding to SRS resource indicated in each SRI domain respectively (e.g., ¶ [0174] terminal device may determine a power control parameter of a to-be-sent PUSCH based on precoding indication information, and send the PUSCH based on the power control parameter. The precoding indication information is used to indicate n transmitted precoding matrix indicators (TPMI), and at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters. In this way, the terminal device may implement PUSCH transmission by using an adapted power control parameter, to improve transmission performance. Alternatively, the terminal device may determine a power control parameter of a to-be-sent PUSCH based on sounding reference signal indication information, and send the PUSCH based on the power control parameter. The sounding reference signal indication information is used to indicate index values of p SRS resources, and at least two of the index values of the p SRS resources correspond to different power control parameters. In this way, in a PUSCH transmission process, index values of different SRS resources may adapt to transmission paths to different network devices, and then corresponding power control parameters are used, to improve transmission performance; e.g., ¶ [0237] When sending SRSs on different SRS resources, the terminal device may use different beamforming manners. Therefore, when different SRS resources are indicated, it indicates that beamforming for PUSCH transmission is beamforming used to send an SRS on an SRS resource indicated by a corresponding SRI. It can be learned that the SRI essentially still indicates a precoding manner of the PUSCH; e.g., ¶ [0241] each SRS resource may correspond to a different time domain resource of the PUSCH).
Regarding Claim 13, Liu discloses an uplink transmission method, performed by a network device, the method comprising: transmitting configuration signaling to a terminal, wherein the configuration signaling comprises a first indication field, the first indication field indicates precoding matrix indicator (TPMI indication information) (e.g., ¶ [0213] The terminal device may receive the precoding indication information that is indicated by the network device and that is used to send the PUSCH. For example, the terminal device may receive first signaling, and the first signaling carries a field used to indicate the n TPMIs) while the terminal transmits codebook-based uplink transmission of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (e.g., ¶ [0202] A codebook configured for a terminal device with two antenna ports is shown in Table 4. Each matrix in Table 4 is a codeword or corresponds to a TPMI. A row of the matrix corresponds to an antenna port through which the terminal device sends a PUSCH); and determining a precoding used while the PUSCH is received, based on the TPMI indication information (e.g., ¶ [0034] A network device indicates precoding indication information that is used by a terminal device to send a PUSCH. The precoding indication information includes n TPMIs, each TPMI corresponds to a set of power control parameters, at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters, each TPMI corresponds to some time-frequency resources occupied by the PUSCH, and n is a positive integer. The network device receives the PUSCH; e.g., ¶ [0172] When a plurality of network devices coordinately receive and process the PUSCH, the terminal device can determine transmit power and a precoding manner of the PUSCH only by using a unified set of power control parameters. However, transmission paths for transmitting the PUSCH to different network devices are independent, and the unified set of power control parameters and a same precoding manner cannot adapt to two transmission paths at the same time, affecting performance of PUSCH transmission; e.g., ¶ [0213] The terminal device may receive the precoding indication information that is indicated by the network device and that is used to send the PUSCH. For example, the terminal device may receive first signaling, and the first signaling carries a field used to indicate the n TPMIs).
Regarding Claim 14, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 13.
Liu discloses further comprising: configuring the TPMI indication information to be applied to the precoding used while the PUSCH is received towards a TRP direction; or, configuring the TPMI indication information to be applied to the precoding used while the PUSCH is received towards at least two TRP directions (e.g., ¶ [0159] When a plurality of parameter sets are configured, and DCI for scheduling the PUSCH includes an SRI field… [which is used] to select a transmit beam of the PUSCH… When the network device configures a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, during scheduling of the PUSCH, one or more SRS resources (indicated by the SRI field) need to be selected to represent a transmit beam of the PUSCH. In this way, different values are indicated by using the SRI field to indicate different parameter sets, so that different transmit beams of the PUSCH may use independent parameter sets to improve transmission performance; e.g., ¶ [0183] Each TPMI corresponds to a set of power control parameters, and at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters. Each TPMI corresponds to some time-frequency resources occupied by the PUSCH. A precoding manner includes at least one of an antenna port used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, a transmit beam used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, an antenna beamforming manner used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, or the like [Examiner interprets a known antenna, transmit beam and beamforming manner to suggest direction of the beam transmitting PUSCH to network device, with corresponding precoding (PMI); i.e., SRSs through antenna beams may be associated with different directions, and the precoding schemes used may be determined]).
Regarding Claim 15, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 14.
Liu discloses further comprising: configuring the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to be applied to all transmission opportunities of the PUSCH (e.g., ¶ [0006] precoding indication information used by the PUSCH. The precoding indication information includes n transmitted precoding matrix indicators TPMIs, each TPMI corresponds to a set of power control parameters, at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters, each TPMI corresponds to some time-frequency resources occupied by the PUSCH; e.g., ¶ [0027] n TPMIs correspond to N time domain resources; e.g., ¶ [0174] precoding indication information is used to indicate n transmitted precoding matrix indicators (TPMI), and at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters. In this way, the terminal device may implement PUSCH transmission by using an adapted power control parameter, to improve transmission performance; e.g., ¶ [0184] each TPMI corresponds to a matrix (also referred to as a precoding matrix)).
Regarding Claim 21, Liu discloses a terminal, comprising: a processor; and a transceiver, connected with the processor, wherein, the processor is configured to load and execute executable instructions (e.g., FIG. 8, ¶ [0285] terminal device 800 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input/output apparatus. The processor is mainly configured to process a communication protocol and communication data, control the entire terminal device, execute a software program, and process data of the software program, for example, configured to support the terminal device in performing actions described in the foregoing method embodiments) to implement a uplink transmission method, the method is applied to a terminal and comprises operations that are functionally similar to the method of claim 1. Therefore, the reasoning used in the examination of claim 1 shall be applied to claim 21.
Regarding Claim 33, Liu discloses a network device, comprising: a processor; and a transceiver, connected with the processor, wherein, the processor is configured to load and execute executable instructions (e.g., FIG. 9, ¶ [0291] base station 900 includes one or more radio frequency units, for example, a remote radio unit (RRU) 901, and one or more baseband units (BBU) (which may also be referred to as a digital unit, DU) 902. The RRU 901 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver component, or the like, and may include at least one antenna 9011 and a radio frequency unit 9012. The RRU 901 part is mainly configured for receiving and sending of radio frequency signals and conversion between a radio frequency signal and a baseband signal, for example, configured to send the signaling messages in the foregoing embodiments to the terminal device. The BBU 902 part is mainly configured to perform baseband processing, control the base station, and the like) to implement the uplink transmission method according to claim 13.
Regarding Claim 43, Liu discloses a non-transient computer-readable storage medium, having at least one instruction, at least one program, code set or instruction set stored therein, wherein the at least one instruction, at least one program, code set or instruction set is loaded and executed by a processor (e.g., FIG. 8, ¶ [0285] terminal device 800 includes a processor, a memory, a control circuit, an antenna, and an input/output apparatus. The processor is mainly configured to process a communication protocol and communication data, control the entire terminal device, execute a software program, and process data of the software program, for example, configured to support the terminal device in performing actions described in the foregoing method embodiments; e.g., ¶ [0287] The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium, a storage device, or the like [i.e., non-transitory storage medium]) to implement the uplink transmission method according to claim 1.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 4-6 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Yuan et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 20230069053 A1 (hereinafter Yuan).
Regarding Claim 4, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 3.
Liu does not expressly disclose further comprising: applying the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to all transmission opportunities of the PUSCH.
Yuan discloses further comprising: applying the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to all transmission opportunities of the PUSCH (e.g., ¶ [0054] In some aspects, the selected PUSCH transmission occasion may include a first transmitted precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions 420 and 425; e.g., ¶ [0063] selected PUSCH transmission occasion may include a first TPMI of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions 520 and 525; e.g., ¶ [0084] selected PUSCH transmission occasion comprises a first TPMI of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions, the plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions including the first PUSCH transmission occasion and the second PUSCH transmission occasion [i.e., Examiner interprets the disclosures to suggest precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to multiple transmission opportunities of the PUSCH, which may also be configured for every opportunity; such interpretation would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as evidenced by examples, Kang et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220053526 A1 (e.g., ¶ [0200] for uplink repeat transmission (e.g., PUSCH repeat transmission), a different beamformer/precoder may be applied in every transmission opportunity (TO) and uplink transmission for a different TRP may be supported per TO) and Kim et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230309089 A1 (e.g., ¶ [0244] Table 13 illustrates a precoder applied for each PUSCH transmission occasion (TO)]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date to combine the disclosure of determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, as disclosed by Liu, with the disclosure of applying the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to all transmission opportunities of the PUSCH, as disclosed by Yuan. The motivation to combine would have been to support uplink control information multiplexing on physical uplink shared channel for multiple panel uplink transmission (Yuan: e.g., ¶ [0001]).
Regarding Claim 5, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 3.
Liu does not expressly disclose further comprising: applying the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to a first transmission opportunity of the PUSCH.
Yuan discloses further comprising: applying the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to a first transmission opportunity of the PUSCH (e.g., ¶ [0063] selected PUSCH transmission occasion may include a first TPMI of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions 520 and 525).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date to combine the disclosure of determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, as disclosed by Liu, with the disclosure of applying the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to a first transmission opportunity of the PUSCH, as disclosed by Yuan. The motivation to combine would have been to support uplink control information multiplexing on physical uplink shared channel for multiple panel uplink transmission (Yuan: e.g., ¶ [0001]).
Regarding Claim 6, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 5.
Liu does not expressly disclose further comprising: applying a precoding preconfigured by a network to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH, n>1, and n being an integer, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings; or, applying a predefined precoding to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH, n>1, and n being an integer, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings.
Yuan discloses further comprising: applying a precoding preconfigured by a network to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH, n>1, and n being an integer, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings; or, applying a predefined precoding to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH, n>1, and n being an integer, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings (e.g., ¶ [0063] selected PUSCH transmission occasion may include a first TPMI of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions 520 and 525; e.g., ¶ [0084] selected PUSCH transmission occasion comprises a first TPMI of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions, the plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions including the first PUSCH transmission occasion and the second PUSCH transmission occasion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date to combine the disclosure of determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, as disclosed by Liu, with the disclosure of applying a precoding preconfigured by a network to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH, as disclosed by Yuan. The motivation to combine would have been to support uplink control information multiplexing on physical uplink shared channel for multiple panel uplink transmission (Yuan: e.g., ¶ [0001]).
Regarding Claim 16, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 14.
Liu does not expressly disclose further comprising: configuring the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to be applied to a first transmission opportunity of the PUSCH.
Yuan discloses further comprising: configuring the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to be applied to a first transmission opportunity of the PUSCH (e.g., ¶ [0054] In some aspects, the selected PUSCH transmission occasion may include a first transmitted precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions 420 and 425; e.g., ¶ [0063] selected PUSCH transmission occasion may include a first TPMI of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions 520 and 525; e.g., ¶ [0084] selected PUSCH transmission occasion comprises a first TPMI of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions, the plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions including the first PUSCH transmission occasion and the second PUSCH transmission occasion [i.e., Examiner interprets the disclosures to suggest precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to multiple transmission opportunities of the PUSCH, which may also be configured for every opportunity; such interpretation would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, as evidenced by examples, Kang et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220053526 A1 (e.g., ¶ [0200] for uplink repeat transmission (e.g., PUSCH repeat transmission), a different beamformer/precoder may be applied in every transmission opportunity (TO) and uplink transmission for a different TRP may be supported per TO) and Kim et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230309089 A1 (e.g., ¶ [0244] Table 13 illustrates a precoder applied for each PUSCH transmission occasion (TO)]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date to combine the disclosure of determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, as disclosed by Liu, with the disclosure of applying the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to all transmission opportunities of the PUSCH, as disclosed by Yuan. The motivation to combine would have been to support uplink control information multiplexing on physical uplink shared channel for multiple panel uplink transmission (Yuan: e.g., ¶ [0001]).
Regarding Claim 17, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 16.
Liu does not expressly disclose further comprising: transmitting configuration information to the terminal, wherein the configuration information configures a precoding applied to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH to the terminal, n>1, and n being an integer, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings; or, predefining the precoding applied to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH, n>1, and n being an integer, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings.
Yuan discloses further comprising: transmitting configuration information to the terminal, wherein the configuration information configures a precoding applied to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH to the terminal, n>1, and n being an integer, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings; or, predefining the precoding applied to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH, n>1, and n being an integer, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings (e.g., ¶ [0063] selected PUSCH transmission occasion may include a first TPMI of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions 520 and 525; e.g., ¶ [0084] selected PUSCH transmission occasion comprises a first TPMI of a plurality of TPMIs associated with a plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions, the plurality of PUSCH transmission occasions including the first PUSCH transmission occasion and the second PUSCH transmission occasion).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date to combine the disclosure of determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, as disclosed by Liu, with the disclosure of applying a precoding preconfigured by a network to an n-th transmission opportunity of the PUSCH, as disclosed by Yuan. The motivation to combine would have been to support uplink control information multiplexing on physical uplink shared channel for multiple panel uplink transmission (Yuan: e.g., ¶ [0001]).
Claims 7-9 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Kim et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230309089 A1 (hereinafter Kim).
Regarding Claim 7, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 5.
Liu does not expressly disclose further comprising: applying a group of precodings associated with the TPMI information in the TPMI domain and determined to be used by the terminal based on known information to PUSCH transmission opportunities after the first transmission opportunity, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings.
Kim discloses further comprising: applying a group of precodings associated with the TPMI information in the TPMI domain and determined to be used by the terminal based on known information to PUSCH transmission opportunities after the first transmission opportunity, wherein different transmission opportunities use the same precoding or different precodings (e.g., ¶ [0010] PUSCH based on a transmission precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) and a transmission rank given by the DCI. The PUSCH may be transmitted in a plurality of transmission occasions (TO), the plurality of TOs may be configured with N (N is a natural number) TO groups including one or more TOs, the PUSCH may be transmitted based on a precoding vector group associated with a TO group in which the PUSCH is transmitted, the precoding vector group may be determined as one or more precoding vectors constituting a precoding matrix indicated by the TPMI; e.g.,. ¶ [0226] UE may transmit a PUSCH by applying a precoding vector of group 0 for a 4-port SRS (e.g., SRS resource 0) used for PUSCH transmission toward TRP 0 at a PUSCH transmission occasion (TO) (i.e., PUSCH transmission TO using UL TCI state 0 or PUSCH transmission TO using spatial relation info 0) of TRP 0. Similarly, a UE may transmit a PUSCH by applying a precoding vector of group 1 for a 4 port SRS (e.g., SRS resource 1) used for PUSCH transmission toward TRP 1 at a PUSCH TO (i.e., PUSCH transmission TO using UL TCI state 1 or PUSCH transmission TO using spatial relation info 1) of TRP 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date to combine the disclosure of determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, as disclosed by Liu, with the disclosure of applying a group of precodings associated with the TPMI information, determined to be used by the terminal based on known information to PUSCH transmission opportunities, as disclosed by Kim. The motivation to combine would have been to support transmitting and receiving an uplink control/data channel in a wireless communication system supporting multiple multi-transmission reception point (Kim: e.g., ¶ [0005]).
Regarding Claim 8, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 3.
Liu discloses wherein determining the precoding of the PUSCH through the TPMI information in a TPMI domain comprises: applying the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to respective first transmission opportunities… corresponding to transmitting the PUSCH in each TRP direction (e.g., ¶ [0159] When a plurality of parameter sets are configured, and DCI for scheduling the PUSCH includes an SRI field… [which is used] to select a transmit beam of the PUSCH… When the network device configures a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, during scheduling of the PUSCH, one or more SRS resources (indicated by the SRI field) need to be selected to represent a transmit beam of the PUSCH. In this way, different values are indicated by using the SRI field to indicate different parameter sets, so that different transmit beams of the PUSCH may use independent parameter sets to improve transmission performance; e.g., ¶ [0183] Each TPMI corresponds to a set of power control parameters, and at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters. Each TPMI corresponds to some time-frequency resources occupied by the PUSCH. A precoding manner includes at least one of an antenna port used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, a transmit beam used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, an antenna beamforming manner used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, or the like [Examiner interprets a known antenna, transmit beam and beamforming manner to suggest direction of the beam transmitting PUSCH to network device, with corresponding precoding (PMI); i.e., SRSs through antenna beams may be associated with different directions, and the precoding schemes used may be determined]).
Liu does not expressly disclose transmission opportunity groups.
Kim discloses transmission opportunities in transmission opportunity groups corresponding to transmitting the PUSCH (e.g., ¶ [0010] PUSCH based on a transmission precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) and a transmission rank given by the DCI. The PUSCH may be transmitted in a plurality of transmission occasions (TO), the plurality of TOs may be configured with N (N is a natural number) TO groups including one or more TOs, the PUSCH may be transmitted based on a precoding vector group associated with a TO group in which the PUSCH is transmitted, the precoding vector group may be determined as one or more precoding vectors constituting a precoding matrix indicated by the TPMI; e.g.,. ¶ [0226] UE may transmit a PUSCH by applying a precoding vector of group 0 for a 4-port SRS (e.g., SRS resource 0) used for PUSCH transmission toward TRP 0 at a PUSCH transmission occasion (TO) (i.e., PUSCH transmission TO using UL TCI state 0 or PUSCH transmission TO using spatial relation info 0) of TRP 0. Similarly, a UE may transmit a PUSCH by applying a precoding vector of group 1 for a 4 port SRS (e.g., SRS resource 1) used for PUSCH transmission toward TRP 1 at a PUSCH TO (i.e., PUSCH transmission TO using UL TCI state 1 or PUSCH transmission TO using spatial relation info 1) of TRP 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date to combine the disclosure of determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, as disclosed by Liu, with the disclosure of applying a group of precodings associated with the TPMI information, determined to be used by the terminal based on known information to PUSCH transmission opportunities, as disclosed by Kim. The motivation to combine would have been to support transmitting and receiving an uplink control/data channel in a wireless communication system supporting multiple multi-transmission reception point (Kim: e.g., ¶ [0005]).
Regarding Claim 9, Liu in view of Kim discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 8.
Liu does not expressly disclose wherein other transmission opportunities except the first transmission opportunity use the same precoding or different precodings.
Kim discloses wherein other transmission opportunities except the first transmission opportunity use the same precoding or different precodings (e.g., ¶ [0010] PUSCH based on a transmission precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) and a transmission rank given by the DCI. The PUSCH may be transmitted in a plurality of transmission occasions (TO), the plurality of TOs may be configured with N (N is a natural number) TO groups including one or more TOs, the PUSCH may be transmitted based on a precoding vector group associated with a TO group in which the PUSCH is transmitted, the precoding vector group may be determined as one or more precoding vectors constituting a precoding matrix indicated by the TPMI; e.g.,. ¶ [0226] UE may transmit a PUSCH by applying a precoding vector of group 0 for a 4-port SRS (e.g., SRS resource 0) used for PUSCH transmission toward TRP 0 at a PUSCH transmission occasion (TO) (i.e., PUSCH transmission TO using UL TCI state 0 or PUSCH transmission TO using spatial relation info 0) of TRP 0. Similarly, a UE may transmit a PUSCH by applying a precoding vector of group 1 for a 4 port SRS (e.g., SRS resource 1) used for PUSCH transmission toward TRP 1 at a PUSCH TO (i.e., PUSCH transmission TO using UL TCI state 1 or PUSCH transmission TO using spatial relation info 1) of TRP 1; e.g., ¶ [0244] Table 13 illustrates a precoder applied for each PUSCH transmission occasion (TO)] [i.e., first transmission opportunity having the same or different precodings from subsequent transmission opportunities does not necessarily distinguish it from a recitation of all opportunities having same or different precodings]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date to combine the disclosure of determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, as disclosed by Liu, with the disclosure of applying precodings to transmission opportunities associated with TPMI information, as disclosed by Kim. The motivation to combine would have been to support transmitting and receiving an uplink control/data channel in a wireless communication system supporting multiple multi-transmission reception point (Kim: e.g., ¶ [0005]).
Regarding Claim 18, Liu discloses all the limitations of the method according to claim 14.
Liu discloses wherein determining the precoding of the PUSCH through the TPMI information in a TPMI domain comprises: configuring the precoding indicated by the TPMI information in the TPMI domain to be applied to respective first transmission opportunities in transmission opportunity groups… corresponding to receiving the PUSCH in each TRP direction (e.g., ¶ [0159] When a plurality of parameter sets are configured, and DCI for scheduling the PUSCH includes an SRI field… [which is used] to select a transmit beam of the PUSCH… When the network device configures a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, during scheduling of the PUSCH, one or more SRS resources (indicated by the SRI field) need to be selected to represent a transmit beam of the PUSCH. In this way, different values are indicated by using the SRI field to indicate different parameter sets, so that different transmit beams of the PUSCH may use independent parameter sets to improve transmission performance; e.g., ¶ [0183] Each TPMI corresponds to a set of power control parameters, and at least two of the n TPMIs respectively correspond to different power control parameters. Each TPMI corresponds to some time-frequency resources occupied by the PUSCH. A precoding manner includes at least one of an antenna port used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, a transmit beam used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, an antenna beamforming manner used by the terminal device to send the PUSCH, or the like [Examiner interprets a known antenna, transmit beam and beamforming manner to suggest direction of the beam transmitting PUSCH to network device, with corresponding precoding (PMI); i.e., SRSs through antenna beams may be associated with different directions, and the precoding schemes used may be determined]).
Liu does not expressly disclose transmission opportunity groups.
Kim discloses first transmission opportunities in transmission opportunity groups corresponding to receiving the PUSCH (e.g., ¶ [0010] PUSCH based on a transmission precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) and a transmission rank given by the DCI. The PUSCH may be transmitted in a plurality of transmission occasions (TO), the plurality of TOs may be configured with N (N is a natural number) TO groups including one or more TOs, the PUSCH may be transmitted based on a precoding vector group associated with a TO group in which the PUSCH is transmitted, the precoding vector group may be determined as one or more precoding vectors constituting a precoding matrix indicated by the TPMI; e.g.,. ¶ [0226] UE may transmit a PUSCH by applying a precoding vector of group 0 for a 4-port SRS (e.g., SRS resource 0) used for PUSCH transmission toward TRP 0 at a PUSCH transmission occasion (TO) (i.e., PUSCH transmission TO using UL TCI state 0 or PUSCH transmission TO using spatial relation info 0) of TRP 0. Similarly, a UE may transmit a PUSCH by applying a precoding vector of group 1 for a 4 port SRS (e.g., SRS resource 1) used for PUSCH transmission toward TRP 1 at a PUSCH TO (i.e., PUSCH transmission TO using UL TCI state 1 or PUSCH transmission TO using spatial relation info 1) of TRP 1.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the filing date to combine the disclosure of determining the precoding of the PUSCH through TPMI information in a TPMI domain, as disclosed by Liu, with the disclosure of applying a group of precodings associated with the TPMI information, determined to be used by the terminal based on known information to PUSCH transmission opportunities, as disclosed by Kim. The motivation to combine would have been to support transmitting and receiving an uplink control/data channel in a wireless communication system supporting multiple multi-transmission reception point (Kim: e.g., ¶ [0005]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding Claim 11, dependent from claim 1, the prior art of record fails to disclose individually or in combination or render obvious the limitation while a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set is configured as at least one but no corresponding SRI indication domain exists, the PUSCH is transmitted by using the precoding indicated by the TPMI domain in a beam direction corresponding to SRS resource contained in each SRS resource set respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. References considered relevant to this application are listed in the attached "Notice of References Cited” (PTO-892).
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/VLADISLAV Y AGUREYEV/Examiner, Art Unit 2471