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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/15/25 and 1/20/25 is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
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.
The following title is suggested: Method and Apparatus for Determining Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) for Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Echigo et al. (US 2024/0259880).
Regarding claim 1, Echigo teaches a communication method, comprising:
receiving first information, wherein the first information indicates a layer quantity of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (see “The UE may be notified of the SRI, the TRI, the TPMI, and the like by using downlink control information (DCI)” [par 41] and “The TRI and the TPMI may be specified by precoding information and number of layers field ("Precoding information and number of layers" field) of the DCI” [par 43] which suggests the UE receives a DCI which includes “a layer quantity of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)”) and wherein the layer quantity of the PUSCH is not less than 2 (see “layer 1” and “layer 2” [Fig. 9, 10A, 10B; par 153]);
determining a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS) table based on the layer quantity of the PUSCH (see “The UE may determine an MCS table to refer, based on the number of layers of a PUSCH to transmit” [par 189] and “…a plurality of MCS tables indicating MCSs of respective separate layers may be referred [par 188]); and
sending the PUSCH based on the first MCS table (see “In the second embodiment, the UE may apply a different MCS for each layer and transmit a PUSCH” [par 152]).
Regarding claim 2, Echigo teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first MCS table comprises:
an MCS whose modulation order is 6 and whose target coding rate x 1024 is 455; or
an MCS whose modulation order is 6 and whose target coding rate x 1024 is 477 (see “Modulation Order” and “Target code Rate R x [1024]” for layer 0 and layer 1 in Figure 12 which may be specified with different target coding rates as known in the art).
Regarding claim 3, Echigo teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein a maximum modulation order in the first MCS table is 10 and wherein the first MCS table does not comprise an MCS whose modulation order is 8 and whose target coding rate x 1024 is 948 (see “Modulation Order” and “Target code Rate R x [1024]” for layer 0 and layer 1 in Figure 12 which may be specified with different modulation orders and target coding rates as known in the art).
Regarding claim 4, Echigo teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a first MCS index and a first parameter (MCS parameter) (see “In the present example, an MCS parameter for layer 0 and an MCS parameter for layer 1 are associated with each MCS index” [par 187]);
determining a modulation order of the PUSCH based on the first parameter (see “the UE may determine a modulation order (Qmsub1) and a target code rate (Rsubi) for layer 1, based on the MCS index for layer 1 (for example, given by the first MCS field)…” [par 201]); and
determining, as a target coding rate of the PUSCH, a target coding rate corresponding to the first MCS index in the first MCS table (see “Target code Rate R x [1024]” for layer 0 and layer 1 in Figure 12).
Regarding claim 5, Echigo teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
receiving a first MCS index and a scale factor (MCS offset);
obtaining a modulation order of the PUSCH based on the scale factor or a target coding rate of the PUSCH based on the scale factor (see “the UE may determine a modulation order (Qmsub1) and a target code rate (Rsub i) for layer 1, based on the MCS index for layer 1 (for example, given by the first MCS field) and may determine a modulation order (Qmsub2) and a target code rate (R2) for layer 2, based on the MCS index for layer 2 (which may be given by the second MCS field or by the first MCS field and the MCS offset field, for example)” [par 201]); and
obtaining a modulation order corresponding to the first MCS index in the first MCS table or a target coding rate corresponding to the first MCS index in the first MCS table (see “the UE may determine a modulation order (Qmsub1) and a target code rate (Rsub i) for layer 1, based on the MCS index for layer 1 (for example, given by the first MCS field) and may determine a modulation order (Qmsub2) and a target code rate (R2) for layer 2, based on the MCS index for layer 2 (which may be given by the second MCS field or by the first MCS field and the MCS offset field, for example)” [par 201]).
Claims 6 and 16 recite subject matter similar to claim 1, but from the perspective of the network and are therefore rejected on the same basis.
Claims 7, 12, and 17 recite subject matter similar to claim 2, and are therefore rejected on the same basis.
Claims 8, 13, and 18 recite subject matter similar to claim 3, and are therefore rejected on the same basis.
Claims 9, 14, and 19 recite subject matter similar to claim 4, and are therefore rejected on the same basis.
Claims 10, 15, and 20 recite subject matter similar to claim 5, and are therefore rejected on the same basis.
Claim 11 recites subject matter similar to claim 1 and is therefore rejected on the same basis.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Nam T Huynh whose telephone number is (571)272-5970. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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/NAM T HUYNH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647