DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to communications filed on April 2, 2024. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application.
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 filed on 6/25/2024 and 11/20/2024 have been considered.
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)(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 1-10 and 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Abdelghaffar et al. (US 2025/0240142).
Regarding Claim 1, Abdelghaffar teaches an apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (“The device 1305 may be an example of or include the components of a device 1005, a device 1105, or a base station 105 as described herein … The device 1305 may include … a memory 1330, code 1335, a processor 1340” – See [0237]; “The memory 1330 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 1335 including instructions that, when executed by the processor 1340, cause the device 1305 to perform various functions described herein” – See [0240]), cause the apparatus at least to:
select a mapping, for demodulation reference signals for one or more transmissions on a channel, using information for ranks higher than four that has ports assigned for the demodulation reference signals mapped to different codewords and to different code division multiplexing groups (“For example, a UE may transmit control signaling indicating that it is capable of communicating in accordance with new DMRS port mapping configurations, and a base station may indicate (e.g., via radio resource control (RRC) signaling) a DMRS port mapping configuration in response to the control signaling. In such cases, the DMRS port mapping configuration may define mappings between codewords and DMRS ports corresponding to a respective CDM group for each antenna port field value” – See [0047]; “At 520, the UE 505 may receive, from the base station 510, first control signaling that indicates a DMRS port mapping configuration” – See [0164]; “DMRS port mapping configurations for DMRS Type 1 with two codewords may be further illustrated in Table 4” – See [0094]; See also Table 4; The base station selects/indicates a mapping based on UE capabilities. The mapping relates to DMRS (demodulation reference signals) using ranks 5-8 (ranks higher than four), wherein DMRS ports are mapped to codewords 0 and 1 (different codewords) in different CDM (code division multiplexing) groups);
distribute layers over the code division multiplexing groups (As shown in Table 4, the different layers/ports are distributed to the CDM group for codeword 0 and the CDM group for codeword 1); and
transmit the demodulation reference signals on the channel (“The UE 505 may receive, and the base station 510 may transmit, the first and second DMRSs at 540 and 545 based on transmitting/receiving the capability signaling at 515, transmitting/receiving the first control signaling at 520, transmitting/receiving the second control signaling at 525, referencing the port mapping table(s) at 530, identifying the DMRS port(s) which are to be used at 535” – See [0173]; The base station transmits the DMRS in accordance with the selected mapping).
Regarding Claim 2, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Abdelghaffar further teaches the distributing layers over the code division multiplexing groups comprises: performing layer-to-code division multiplexing group mapping, where layers are distributed across different code division multiplexing groups in an ascending or cyclic manner (See Table 4; As shown in Table 4, the different layers/ports are mapped to CDM groups in ascending order. In a first example having a total of five layers, layers 0 and 1 are mapped to CDM group 0 for codeword 0 and layers 2, 3, and 4 are mapped respectively to CDM groups 1, 1, and 0 for codeword 1).
Regarding Claim 3, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 2. Abdelghaffar further teaches that the selected mapping is for demodulation reference signal ports for the channel and having two possible code division multiplexing groups, and the information maps individual demodulation reference signal ports to corresponding codewords (“CDM group 0, and CDM group 1” – See [0100]; See also Table 4; As shown in Table 4, there are two CDM groups: 0 and 1. The information in Table 4 maps DMRS ports to corresponding codewords. In a first example, ports 0 and 1 are mapped to codeword 0 and ports 2, 3, and 4 are mapped to codeword 1).
Regarding Claim 4, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 3. Abdelghaffar further teaches that the information that maps individual demodulation reference signal ports to corresponding codewords maps individual demodulation reference signal ports to individual unique combinations of code division multiplexing group index, frequency division-orthogonal cover code index, and time division-orthogonal cover code index from a plurality of such combinations (“DMRS ports within a CDM group are orthogonalized via FD-OCC and TD-OCC, where DMRS ports in different CDM groups are independent of one another. For example, DMRS ports 0, 1, 4, and 5 corresponding to CDM group 0 may be orthogonal to one another via FD-OCC and TD-OCC” – See [0096]; See Tables 4 and 14; The individual DMRS ports are mapped to unique combinations of CDM group index. In a first example, DMRS ports (0, 1) are mapped to CDM group index (0, 0) and DMRS ports (2, 3, 4) are mapped to CDM group index (1, 1, 0). Furthermore, the DMRS ports are mapped to unique/orthogonal cover codes).
Regarding Claim 5, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 3. Abdelghaffar further teaches that the information comprises mapping of demodulation reference signal ports to codewords, wherein for individual values, of a plurality of values, corresponding to individual ranks, a set of demodulation reference signal ports is split into two subsets, and each subset corresponds to one of two codewords, wherein demodulation reference signal ports in each of the sets are assigned to two different code division multiplexing groups, and wherein for each of the sets either the demodulation reference signal ports are split evenly between the two different code division multiplexing groups or one of the two different code division multiplexing groups is assigned one more demodulation reference signal port then the other of the two different code division multiplexing groups (“CDM group 0, and CDM group 1” – See [0100]; See also Table 4; As shown in Table 4, the set of DMRS ports is split into two subsets where each subset corresponds to one or two codewords. In a first example, DMRS ports 0 and 1 correspond to codeword 0 and DMRS ports 2, 3, and 4, correspond to codeword 1. Furthermore, DMRS ports 0 and 1 are mapped to CDM group 0 for codeword 0 and DMRS ports 2, 3, and 4 are mapped respectively to CDM groups 1, 1, and 0 for codeword 1. For mappings with an even number of DMRS ports (e.g., six or eight), the DMRS ports are split evenly between the two CDM groups. In one example with six DMRS ports, DMRS ports 0, 1, and 2 are respectively mapped to CDM group 0, 0, and 1, while DMRS ports 3, 4, and 6 are respectively mapped to CDM group 1, 0, and 1. Thus, three DMRS ports are mapped to CDM group 0 and three DMRS ports are mapped to CDM group 1. For mappings with an odd number of DMRS ports (e.g., five or seven), the DMRS ports are split such that one CDM group is assigned one more DMRS port than the other CDM group. In an example with five DMRS ports, three DMRS ports are assigned to CDM group 0 and two DMRS ports are assigned to CDM group 1).
Regarding Claim 6, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 3. Abdelghaffar further teaches that the configuration is for demodulation reference signal ports for the channel and having three possible code division multiplexing groups, and the information maps individual demodulation reference signal ports to corresponding codewords (“For example, as shown in Table 5 above, DMRS ports 0, 1, 6, and 7 belong to CDM group 0, DMRS ports 2, 3, 8, and 9 belong to CDM group 1, and DMRS ports 4, 5, 10, and 11 belong to CDM group 2” – See [0099]; See also Table 5; The DMRS mapping configuration may include three CDM groups (i.e., CDM groups 0, 1, and 2) with DMRS ports corresponding to codewords 0 and 1).
Regarding Claim 7, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 6. Abdelghaffar further teaches that the information that maps individual demodulation reference signal ports to corresponding codewords maps individual demodulation reference signal ports to individual unique combinations of code division multiplexing group index, frequency division-orthogonal cover code index, and time division-orthogonal cover code index from a plurality of such combinations (“DMRS ports within a CDM group are orthogonalized via FD-OCC and TD-OCC, where DMRS ports in different CDM groups are independent of one another. For example, DMRS ports 0, 1, 4, and 5 corresponding to CDM group 0 may be orthogonal to one another via FD-OCC and TD-OCC” – See [0096]; See Tables 4, 5, and 14; The individual DMRS ports are mapped to unique combinations of CDM group index. In a first example, DMRS ports (0, 1) are mapped to CDM group index (0, 0) and DMRS ports (2, 3, 4) are mapped to CDM group index (1, 1, 2). Furthermore, the DMRS ports are mapped to unique/orthogonal cover codes).
Regarding Claim 8, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 3. Abdelghaffar further teaches that the information comprises mapping of demodulation reference signal ports to codewords, wherein for individual values, of a plurality of values, corresponding to individual ranks, a set of demodulation reference signal ports is split into two subsets, and each subset corresponds to one of two codewords, wherein demodulation reference signal ports in each of the sets are assigned to two different code division multiplexing groups (See Table 4; DMRS port mappings are split into two subsets. In an example that includes five layers, a first subset (DMRS ports 0 and 1) corresponds to codeword 0 and a second subset (DMRS ports 2, 3, and 4) corresponds to codeword 1. Similarly, DMRS ports 0 and 1 are assigned to CDM group 0, while DMRS ports 2, 3, and 4 are respectively assigned to CDM groups 1, 1, and 0), and
wherein for each of the sets either the demodulation reference signal ports are split evenly between the two different code division multiplexing groups or one of the two different code division multiplexing groups is assigned one more demodulation reference signal port then the other of the two different code division multiplexing groups (See also Table 4; For mappings with an even number of DMRS ports (e.g., six or eight), the DMRS ports are split evenly between the two CDM groups. In one example with six DMRS ports, DMRS ports 0, 1, and 2 are respectively mapped to CDM group 0, 0, and 1, while DMRS ports 3, 4, and 6 are respectively mapped to CDM group 1, 0, and 1. Thus, three DMRS ports are mapped to CDM group 0 and three DMRS ports are mapped to CDM group 1. For mappings with an odd number of DMRS ports (e.g., five or seven), the DMRS ports are split such that one CDM group is assigned one more DMRS port than the other CDM group. In an example with five DMRS ports, three DMRS ports are assigned to CDM group 0 and two DMRS ports are assigned to CDM group 1).
Regarding Claim 9, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 2. Abdelghaffar further teaches that demodulation reference signal ports are mapped via the selected mapping to code division multiplexing groups, and the layer-to-code division multiplexing group mapping is performed by distributing layers to code division multiplexing groups in an ascending manner based on demodulation reference signal ports, so a lowest layer is assigned to a demodulation reference signal port having a lowest number, a higher layer is assigned to a demodulation reference signal port having a higher number, and continuing until a highest layer is assigned to a demodulation reference signal port having a highest number (“Comparatively, in the context of layer-to-antenna port mapping, the block of vectors [x(0)(i) . . . x(v-1)(i)]T, i=0,1, . . . , Msymblayer−1 may be mapped to antenna ports according to Equation 1 below” – See [0091]; See also Equation 1; As shown in Table 4, the DMRS ports are mapped to CDM groups. Furthermore, the DMRS ports are mapped one-to-one to layers in ascending order, such that a lowest numbered DMRS port corresponds to a lowest numbered layer, and so on, until a highest numbered DMRS port corresponds with a highest numbered layer).
Regarding Claim 10, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 2. Abdelghaffar further teaches that the layer-to-code division multiplexing group mapping is performed using cyclic mapping having individual nodes for an individual code division multiplexing group and a corresponding layer, and edges connecting one node with a neighbor node, wherein an ending node has an edge connecting to a starting node in the cyclic mapping (See Table 4; The layers are mapped to CDM groups in a cyclic manner having a pattern of 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, and so on. In an example that includes eight layers, layers 0 and 1 are mapped to CDM group 0 and CDM group 0, layers 2 and 3 are mapped to CDM group 1 and CDM group 1, layers 4 and 5 are mapped to CDM group 0 and CDM group 0, and layers 6 and 7 are mapped to CDM group 1 and CDM group 1).
Claim 12 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 1.
Claim 13 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 2.
Claim 14 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 3.
Claim 15 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 4.
Claim 16 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 5.
Claim 17 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 6.
Claim 18 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 8.
Claim 19 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 9.
Claim 20 is rejected based on reasoning similar to Claim 10.
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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abdelghaffar et al. (US 2025/0240142) in view of Elshafie et al. (US 2023/0155865).
Regarding Claim 11, Abdelghaffar teaches the apparatus of Claim 1. Abdelghaffar further teaches a user equipment or a base station (“The wireless communications system 100 may include one or more base stations 105, one or more UEs 115” – See [0049]).
Abdelghaffar does not explicitly teach that the channel is a physical uplink shared channel for the user equipment and the channel is a physical downlink shared channel for the base station.
However, Elshafie teaches that a DMRS is transmitted by a user equipment on a physical uplink shared channel and by a base station on a physical downlink shared channel (“In the 5G new radio (NR) standards, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is used to estimate a real-time channel of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). A number of ports for the DMRS is the sum of the number of all data ports from one UE or multiple UEs. The DMRS have two kinds of time-domain locations: front-loaded DMRS and additional DMRSs. For the former, the DMRS symbols may be located at the beginning of the PDSCH/PUSCH. For the latter, the DMRS symbols may be located at the middle of the PDSCH/PUSCH” – See [0057]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abdelghaffar such that the channel is a physical uplink shared channel for the user equipment and the channel is a physical downlink shared channel for the base station since this functionality is specified in the well-known and widely used 3GPP 5G NR standards.
Conclusion
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/SCOTT M SCIACCA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478