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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is responsive to Application # 18601878 filed 03/11/2024. Claims 1 amended; claims 2-20 added. Claims 1-20 are subject to examination.
Priority
Acknowledgement is made to this application's claim for priority to provisional application 62397695 filed 09/21/2016.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
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Claim 1-20 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. US 11930522 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both the apparatuses follow the same steps.
Instant Application 18601878
Patent US 11930522 B2
(application 17/745112)
1. An apparatus, comprising: a memory interface; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory interface and configured to:
decode a configuration message that indicates, for one or more CSI (Channel State Information)-RS (Reference Signal) APs (Antenna Ports), a density of CSI-RS resources per Physical Resource Block (PRB) per port;
determine a set of REs (Resource Elements) for the one or more CSI-RS APs based on the configuration message; and
determine CSI parameters based on CSI-RS measurements from the set of REs.
1. An apparatus configured to be employed for a UE (User Equipment), comprising: a memory interface; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory interface and configured to cause the UE to:
receive a configuration message that comprises one or more configuration parameters for one or more CSI (Channel State Information)-RS (Reference Signal) APs (Antenna Ports) of a configurable density CSI-RS, the one or more configuration parameters indicating a density of CSI-RS resource per Physical Resource Block (PRB) per CSI-RS AP and a PRB offset;
determine a set of REs (Resource Elements) for the one or more CSI-RS APs based on the one or more configuration parameters; and
determine one or more CSI parameters based on measurements of the configurable density CSI-RS from the set of REs; wherein the one or more configuration parameters are provided per CSI- RS resource configuration.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 13-14 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 1-9, 11-12, and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (Park hereinafter) (US 11870717 B2) in view of Etemad et al. (Etemad hereinafter) (US 20140036796 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Park teaches, An apparatus, comprising: a memory interface; and processing circuitry coupled to the memory interface and configured to:
decode a configuration that indicates, for one or more CSI (Channel State Information)-RS (Reference Signal) APs (Antenna Ports), a density of CSI-RS resources per Physical Resource Block (PRB) per port (Park; Fig. 33; In Tables 9 and 10, “fdmtype” is an indicator indicating index(es) of a PRB-pair ... to inform through which PRB-pair each aggregated CSI-RS resource/pattern/configuration is transmitted, col 51 line 29-34; In the FDM-based CSI-RS design, two neighboring PRB-pairs may be used to configure a new CSI-RS port. In this case, CSI-RS density becomes 0.5 RE/RB/port, col 60 line 39-42);
determine a set of REs (Resource Elements) for the one or more CSI-RS APs based on the configuration (Park; Fig. 33 ... Each block in the figure represents REs, col 60 line 43-45; 64-port CSI-RS resources/pattern, col 28 line 13); and
determine CSI parameters based on CSI-RS measurements from the set of REs (Park; an RS for channel measurement to select MCS, PMI, etc. (CSI-RS: Channel State Information-RS, Channel State Indication-RS, etc.), col 16 line 26-28).
Although Park teaches CSI RS configuration, but Park failed to explicitly teach,
configuration message.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Etemad teaches,
configuration message (Etemad; RRC signaling related to CSI measurement and feedback configuration ... RRCReconfiguration message, Par. 0019).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Park to include the use of RRCReconfiguration message as taught by Etemad in order to capture information elements (IEs) (Etemad; Par. 0019).
Regarding claim 2, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the configuration message indicates one PRB offset on even PRBs or another PRB offset on odd PRBs, if the density of CSI-RS resource is 1/2 per PRB (Park; Fig. 17; In order to set a CSI-RS resource/pattern by using the FDM scheme according to the embodiment described above, information such as the CSI-RS transmission (RB) period and RB offset by which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped has to be provided additionally to a UE through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling … the d value related to the offset (in what follows, it is called a ‘CSI-RS RB offset’) of an RB to which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped may be set individually for each CSI-RS resource/pattern ... RBconfig parameter is set/defined from joint encoding of one c value and multiple d values (for example, d1 and d2), col 30 line 37- col 31 line 21 [Note that in Fig. 17, R1 is for even RB offset and R2 is odd RB offset]).
Regarding claim 3, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the configuration message indicates a PRB offset indicating an offset number of PRBs from a reference PRB, and wherein the density and the PRB offset are indicated separately (Park; information such as the CSI-RS transmission (RB) period and RB offset by which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped has to be provided additionally to a UE through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, col 30 line 39-42 [Note that in Fig. 17shows first PRB is the reference PRB for both offsets]; NPZ-ResourceConfig-r13 ... fdmtype, TABLE 10).
Regarding claim 4, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more CSI-RS APs comprise two or more CSI-RS APs in a CSI-RS group (Park; CDM-8 may be applied to a new CSI-RS design supporting 8-port aggregation (namely 24- and 32-port CSI-RSs), col 60 line 61-63).
Regarding claim 5, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the two or more CSI-RS APs in the CSI-RS group comprise a first half of configured CSI-RS APs for a user equipment or a second half of configured CSI-RS APs for the user equipment (Park; Fig. 33).
Regarding claim 6, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the density is configured for each CSI-RS resource configuration (Park; NPZ-ResourceConfig-r13 ::- SEQUENCE { ... fdmtype ... {0,1,2}, TABLE 10).
Regarding claim 7, Park teaches, An apparatus, comprising:
a memory interface (Park; the enb, col 59 line 10); and
processing circuitry coupled to the memory interface and configured to (Park; the enb, col 59 line 10):
cause to transmit, a configuration that indicates, for one or more CSI (Channel State Information)-RS (Reference Signal) APs (Antenna Ports), a density of CSI-RS resource per Physical Resource Block (PRB) per port (Park; Fig. 33; In Tables 9 and 10, “fdmtype” is an indicator indicating index(es) of a PRB-pair ... to inform through which PRB-pair each aggregated CSI-RS resource/pattern/configuration is transmitted, col 51 line 29-34; In the FDM-based CSI-RS design, two neighboring PRB-pairs may be used to configure a new CSI-RS port. In this case, CSI-RS density becomes 0.5 RE/RB/port, col 60 line 39-42) and a PRB offset (Park; the RB period and/or offset may be set, in a frequency-axis related configuration, in the form of joint encoding by a single parameter such as RBconfig (in units of individual CSI-RS resources), col 31 line 9-13);
map CSI-RS to a set of REs (Resource Elements) for transmitting via the one or more CSI-RS APs based on the configuration (Park; Fig. 33 ... Each block in the figure represents REs, col 60 line 43-45; 64-port CSI-RS resources/pattern, col 28 line 13); and
cause to receive a CSI report based on a measurement of the CSI-RS (Park; an RS for channel measurement to select MCS, PMI, etc. (CSI-RS: Channel State Information-RS, Channel State Indication-RS, etc.), col 16 line 26-28; provide the derived CSI to an eNB as feedback information, col 4 line 40-41).
Although Park teaches CSI RS configuration, but Park failed to explicitly teach,
configuration message.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Etemad teaches,
configuration message (Etemad; RRC signaling related to CSI measurement and feedback configuration ... RRCReconfiguration message, Par. 0019).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Park to include the use of RRCReconfiguration message as taught by Etemad in order to capture information elements (IEs) (Etemad; Par. 0019).
Regarding claim 8, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the PRB offset indicates one PRB offset on even PRBs or another PRB offset on odd PRBs, if the density of CSI-RS resource is 1/2 per PRB per port (Park; Fig. 17; In order to set a CSI-RS resource/pattern by using the FDM scheme according to the embodiment described above, information such as the CSI-RS transmission (RB) period and RB offset by which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped has to be provided additionally to a UE through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling … the d value related to the offset (in what follows, it is called a ‘CSI-RS RB offset’) of an RB to which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped may be set individually for each CSI-RS resource/pattern ... RBconfig parameter is set/defined from joint encoding of one c value and multiple d values (for example, d1 and d2), col 30 line 37- col 31 line 21 [Note that in Fig. 17, R1 is for even RB offset and R2 is odd RB offset]).
Regarding claim 9, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the configuration message is a RRC (Radio Resource Control) message (Etemad; RRC signaling related to CSI measurement and feedback configuration ... RRCReconfiguration message, Par. 0019).
The rational and motivation for adding this teaching of Etemad is the same as for Claim 7.
Regarding claim 11, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more CSI-RS APs comprise two or more CSI-RS APs in a CSI-RS group; and wherein the two or more CSI-RS APs in the CSI-RS group comprise a first half of configured CSI-RS APs or a second half of configured CSI-RS APs (Park; Fig. 33).
Regarding claim 12, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more CSI-RS APs comprise each CSI- RS AP of a CSI-RS resource configuration (Park; TABLE 9).
Regarding claim 15, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the PRB offset indicates an offset number of PRBs from a reference PRB (Park; information such as the CSI-RS transmission (RB) period and RB offset by which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped has to be provided additionally to a UE through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, col 30 line 39-42 [Note that in Fig. 17shows first PRB is the reference PRB for both offsets]).
Regarding claim 16, Park teaches, A method, performed by a user equipment, comprising:
receiving a configuration that indicates, for one or more CSI (Channel State Information)-RS (Reference Signal) APs (Antenna Ports), a density of CSI-RS resources per Physical Resource Block (PRB) per port (Park; Fig. 33; In Tables 9 and 10, “fdmtype” is an indicator indicating index(es) of a PRB-pair ... to inform through which PRB-pair each aggregated CSI-RS resource/pattern/configuration is transmitted, col 51 line 29-34; In the FDM-based CSI-RS design, two neighboring PRB-pairs may be used to configure a new CSI-RS port. In this case, CSI-RS density becomes 0.5 RE/RB/port, col 60 line 39-42) and a PRB offset (Park; the RB period and/or offset may be set, in a frequency-axis related configuration, in the form of joint encoding by a single parameter such as RBconfig (in units of individual CSI-RS resources), col 31 line 9-13);
receiving CSI-RS on a set of REs (Resource Elements) determined based on the density and the PRB offset (Park; Fig. 33 ... Each block in the figure represents REs, col 60 line 43-45; 64-port CSI-RS resources/pattern, col 28 line 13); and
transmitting a CSI report based on a measurement of the CSI-RS (Park; an RS for channel measurement to select MCS, PMI, etc. (CSI-RS: Channel State Information-RS, Channel State Indication-RS, etc.), col 16 line 26-28; provide the derived CSI to an eNB as feedback information, col 4 line 40-41).
Although Park teaches CSI RS configuration, but Park failed to explicitly teach,
configuration message.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Etemad teaches,
configuration message (Etemad; RRC signaling related to CSI measurement and feedback configuration ... RRCReconfiguration message, Par. 0019).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Park to include the use of RRCReconfiguration message as taught by Etemad in order to capture information elements (IEs) (Etemad; Par. 0019).
Regarding claim 17, Park-Etemad teaches, The method of claim 16, wherein the PRB offset indicates one PRB offset on even PRBs or another PRB offset on odd PRBs, if the density of CSI-RS resource is 1/2 (Park; Fig. 17; In order to set a CSI-RS resource/pattern by using the FDM scheme according to the embodiment described above, information such as the CSI-RS transmission (RB) period and RB offset by which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped has to be provided additionally to a UE through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling … the d value related to the offset (in what follows, it is called a ‘CSI-RS RB offset’) of an RB to which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped may be set individually for each CSI-RS resource/pattern ... RBconfig parameter is set/defined from joint encoding of one c value and multiple d values (for example, d1 and d2), col 30 line 37- col 31 line 21 [Note that in Fig. 17, R1 is for even RB offset and R2 is odd RB offset]).
Regarding claim 18, Park-Etemad teaches, The method of claim 16, wherein the density and the PRB offset are received in each CSI-RS resource configuration (Park; NPZ-ResourceConfig-r13 ::- SEQUENCE { ... fdmtype ... {0,1,2}, TABLE 10; the d value related to the offset (in what follows, it is called a ‘CSI-RS RB offset’) of an RB to which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped may be set individually for each CSI-RS resource/pattern, col 30 line 60-63).
Regarding claim 19, Park-Etemad teaches, The method of claim 16, wherein the one or more CSI-RS APs comprise CSI-RS APs in multiple CSI-RS groups (Park; CDM-8 may be applied to a new CSI-RS design supporting 8-port aggregation (namely 24- and 32-port CSI-RSs), col 60 line 61-63).
Regarding claim 20, Park-Etemad teaches, The method of claim 16, wherein the density of CSI-RS resource and the PRB offset are indicated separately (Park; information such as the CSI-RS transmission (RB) period and RB offset by which a CSI-RS is transmitted/mapped has to be provided additionally to a UE through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, col 30 line 39-42 [Note that in Fig. 17shows first PRB is the reference PRB for both offsets]; NPZ-ResourceConfig-r13 ... fdmtype, TABLE 10).
Claim 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park-Etemad and in further view of Park et al. (Park-1 hereinafter) (US 20190341981 A1).
Regarding claim 10, Park-Etemad teaches, The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more CSI-RS APs comprise a CSI-RS AP (Park; antennaPortsCount-r11, TABLE 9).
Although Park teaches antenna port count, Park-Etemad failed to explicitly teach,
a single CSI-RS AP.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Park-1 teaches,
a single CSI-RS AP (Park-1; A CSI-RS port number (antennaPortsCount): a parameter (e.g., one CSI-RS port, Par. 0208).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Park-Etemad to include the use of antennaPortsCount parameter value as taught by Park-1 in order to indicate number of antenna ports (Park-1; Par. 0208).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Reference YUM et al. (US 20190245603 A1) teaches in Par. 0170 that “Required Configuration Parameters: CSI-RS Density and CSI-RS Offset”.
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/SHARMIN CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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