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 .
1. Claims 38-57 are pending. Claims 1-37 are canceled.
Priority
2. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The Information Disclosure Statements dated 01/03/2024 and 12/04/2024 are acknowledged by the Examiner.
Specification
4. The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. Claims 38-57 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 38-57 recite a plurality of variables associated with:
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However, the second value is PF, the third value is n, and the fourth value is KF are not defined. The claim merely assigns symbols to the variables without explaining what physical, logical, or operational parameters the variables represent, how the variables are determined, how the variables relate to the sounding reference signal.
As a result, a person of ordinary skill in the art would not be able to determine, with reasonable certainty, how the recited offset is calculated or what is encompassed by the claim. Therefore, the scope of the claims is unclear and indefinite.
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.
6. Claim(s) 38, 42, 48, 52-53 and 55 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; "Physical channels and modulation" (Release 16), 3GPP TS 38.211 V16.6.0, June 30, 2021 (cited in the IDS dated 12/04/2024) hereafter “TS 38.211” in view of IIS FRAUNHOFER et al ., "Enhancements on SRS for coverage and capacity", 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #104-bis-e, R1-2103679, e-Meeting, April 20, 2021, pp. 1-3 (cited in the IDS dated 12/04/2024) hereafter R1-2103679.
As for claim 38, TS 38.211 discloses:
A method performed by a terminal device, the method comprising:
determining an offset using a formula, wherein:
a second value is PF (6.4.1.4.2 on pages 84-85,
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),
a third value is n (6.4.1.4.2 on pages 84-85, variable n),
a fourth value is kF (6.4.1.4.2 on pages 84-85,
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), and
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see TS 38.211 page 85:
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determining a frequency domain starting position of the SRS using the offset (6.4.1.4.1 and 6.4.1.4.2 on page 84, Determining ) and transmitting the SRS to a network device (6.4.1.4.3 on page 85, Transmitting the SRS on a given SRS resource).
TS 38.211 does not explicitly disclose a first value m corresponds to a bandwidth of a sounding reference signal (SRS) and the formula includes m/Pf.
However, R1-2103679 discloses a first value m corresponds to a bandwidth of a sounding reference signal (SRS) (R1-2103679, section 2.1 page 1 last paragraph, page 2 paragraphs 1-3, m is the configured actual sounding bandwidth) and the formula includes m/Pf (R1-2103679, section 2.1 on page 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of TS 38.211 with a first value m corresponds to a bandwidth of a sounding reference signal (SRS) and the formula includes m/Pf as taught by R1-2103679 to provide expanded coverage and capacity (R1-2103679, page 3).
As for claim 42, TS 38.211 discloses:
the third value n is determined using a value of (nsRS/ PF) modPF, and wherein nsRS represents an SRS counter.
see TS 38.211 page 86:
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As for claim 48, this claim is analyzed and rejected for the same reasons as claim 38 because the corresponding method claim 38 can be used to practice the apparatus of claim 48.
As for claim 52, TS 38.211 discloses:
the third value n is determined using a value of (nsRS/ PF) modPF, and wherein nsRS represents an SRS counter.
see TS 38.211 page 86:
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As for claims 53 and 55, TS 38.211 discloses:
the fourth value
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see TS 38.211 Page 85:
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7. Claim(s) 43, 47 and 54 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TS 38.211 in view of OPPO, "Enhancements on SRS flexibility, coverage and capacity", 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #103-e, Ri.. 2008222, e-Meeting, November 13, 2020, pp. 1-10 (as cited in the IDS dated 10/03/2024) hereafter R1-2008222 and further in view of R1-2103679.
As for claim 43, TS 38.211 discloses:
A method performed by a network device, the method comprising:
a second value is PF (6.4.1.4.2 on pages 84-85,
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),
a third value is n (6.4.1.4.2 on pages 84-85, variable n),
a fourth value is kF (6.4.1.4.2 on pages 84-85,
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), and
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see TS 38.211 page 85:
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wherein a frequency domain starting position of the SRS is determined using the offset (6.4.1.4.1 and 6.4.1.4.2 on page 84, Determining ) and receiving the SRS from the terminal device (6.4.1.4.3 on page 85, Transmitting the SRS on a given SRS resource).
TS 38.211 does not explicitly disclose transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information of a sounding reference signal (SRS), the configuration information comprising.
However, R1-2008222 discloses transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information of a sounding reference signal (SRS), the configuration information comprising (R1-2008222, section 2 on page 4 in the first paragraph, Transmitting, to the UE, RRC signaling indicating the SRS configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of TS 38.211 with transmitting, to a terminal device, configuration information of a sounding reference signal (SRS), the configuration information comprising as taught by R1-2008222 to provide expanded coverage and capacity (R1-2008222, section 4.1 first paragraph).
The combination of TS 38.211 and R1-2008222 does not explicitly disclose a first value m corresponding to a bandwidth of the SRS, wherein an offset is determined using a formula and the formula includes m/Pf.
However, R1-2103679 discloses a first value m corresponding to a bandwidth of the SRS, wherein an offset is determined using a formula (R1-2103679, section 2.1 page 1 last paragraph, page 2 paragraphs 1-3, m is the configured actual sounding bandwidth and determining the offset using a formula) and the formula includes m/Pf (R1-2103679, section 2.1 on page 2).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the combination of the teachings of TS 38.211 and R1-2008222 with a first value m corresponds to a bandwidth of a sounding reference signal (SRS) and the formula includes m/Pf as taught by R1-2103679 to provide expanded coverage and capacity (R1-2103679, page 3).
As for claim 47, TS 38.211 discloses:
the third value n is determined using a value of (nsRS/ PF) modPF, and wherein nsRS represents an SRS counter.
see TS 38.211 page 86:
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As for claim 54, TS 38.211 discloses:
the fourth value
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see TS 38.211 page 85:
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Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 39-41, 44-46, 49-51, 56-57 are 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.
Conclusion
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Yoo et al, US 2017/0048717 [0102] discloses the UE estimates the UE-specific SRS transmission subframe indices as 0, 2, 5, and 7 by substituting the SRS periodicity and offset.
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JENEE HOLLAND whose telephone number is (571)270-7196. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, IAN MOORE can be reached at (571)272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JENEE HOLLAND
Examiner
Art Unit 2469
/JENEE HOLLAND/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469