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 .
Priorities and Examiner Remarks
This application is a Continuation of 17156699 (filed 01/25/2021, now U.S. Patent # 12015567), which is a Continuation of PCT/CN2020/082280
(filed 03/31/2020) that claims foreign priority to application of CHINA: 201910338994.0 (filed 04/25/2019).
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 11/21/2025 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. (US 20180206132 A1, hereinafter Guo), in view of ZHANG et al. (US 20190174466 A1, hereinafter ZHANG).
Regarding claim 1, Guo teaches a User Equipment (UE) for wireless communications, comprising: a transceiver; and a processor; the transceiver and the processor configured to (in general, see each embodiment of figures 8, 9, 10, and/or 11 and their corresponding paragraphs 124-142; see also sections including, but not limited to, paragraphs 92-123 for relevant background information):
receive configuration information for transmission of a plurality of repetitions of a first bit block, each repetition being scheduled in one of a plurality of time domain resource windows, wherein at least one of the plurality of time domain resource windows includes multiple symbols (Guo, see at least para. 124-127 along with para. 70, e.g. take fig. 8 as a non-limiting example, “...An example is shown in FIG. 8A. In this example, the UE is requested to transmit on NR-SRS resource 811 with periodicity T slots 801. The periodic NR-SRS can contain multiple NR-SRS resources and the UE is requested to transmit on those configured NR-SRS resources periodically. An example is shown FIG. 8B. In this example, there are three NR- SRS resources 811, 812 and
813. The UE is requested to transmit on these three NR-SRS resource with periodicity T slots 801. Those NR-SRS resources can be allocated on contiguous CP-OFDM/DFT-S-OFDM symbols within one slot, as shown in the example in FIG. 8B...”);
and
transmit a first radio signal in a first time-frequency resource allocation and a second radio signal in a second time-frequency resource allocation, the first and second radio signals each carrying a repetition of the first bit block (Guo, see at least para. 127, 130, and 132, along with para. 94 and 114, e.g. take fig. 8A along with either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, “...As illustrated in FIG. 9B, the UE can be configured with one Tx beam 941 to the UE at 981. The UE is requested to use the Tx beam 941 on NR-SRS transmission after Nd slots 981...”, note that “...Each NR-SRS resource can correspond to one Tx beam index. Different NR-SRS resource in NR-SRS transmission can correspond to one same Tx beam index. Different NR-SRS resource in NR-SRS transmission can correspond to different Tx beam indices...”);
wherein the first time-frequency resource allocation is scheduled in a first time domain resource window, and the second time-frequency resource allocation is scheduled in a second time domain resource window, the first time domain resource window and the second time domain resource window each being selected from the plurality of time domain resource windows (Guo, see at least para. 130 and 132, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, in fig. 9B, “...The UE receives a second Tx beam configuration 982 from the gNB. Then after Nd slots 981 after receiving a second Tx beam configuration 982, the UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 942 on the NR-SRS transmission...”, note that when fig. 9B in view of fig. 9A, fig. 9A illustrates an example without receives a second Tx beam configuration 982 from the gNB);
wherein
the first radio signal is transmitted using a first multi-antenna transmission configuration corresponding to a first parameter, and the second radio signal is transmitted using a second multi-antenna transmission configuration corresponding to a target parameter (Guo, see at least para. 130 and 132, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, “...As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the UE can be configured with one Tx beam 941 to the UE at 981. After a configured or predefined delay, 981, after the UE receiving the Tx beam configuration, the UE begin to use the configured Tx beam 941 on the NR-SRS transmission in NR-SRS resource 811. The NR-SRS is transmitted on NR-SRS resource 811 periodically with periodicity T slots 801...”, note that “...The UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 941 on each NR-SRS transmission...”);
and wherein
the target parameter is the first parameter when the first time domain resource window and the second time domain resource window are the same (Guo, see at least para. 130 and 132 in view of para. 114, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, note that in fig. 9A, “...The UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 941 on each NR-SRS transmission...”, in other words, “...Each NR-SRS resource can correspond to one Tx beam index. Different NR-SRS resource in NR-SRS transmission can correspond to one same Tx beam index...”)
and
is a second parameter when the first time domain resource window and the second time domain resource window are different (Guo, see at least para. 130 and 132 in view of para. 114, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, note that in fig. 9B, “...after Nd slots 981 after receiving a second Tx beam configuration 982, the UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 942 on the NR-SRS transmission...”, in other words, “...Different NR-SRS resource in NR-SRS transmission can correspond to different Tx beam indices...”).
Guo does not specifically teach first bit block including a Transport Block.
ZHANG teaches first bit block including a Transport Block (see at least para. 247 in view of at least fig. 3-4, TBs to be delivered to PHY 1110).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate ZHANG into the apparatus of Guo to reduce the reconfiguration latency.
Regarding claim 2, Guo in view of ZHANG teaches when the first time domain resource window and the second time domain resource window are adjacent in time, the target parameter is the second parameter, and when the first time domain resource window and the second time domain resource window are the same, the target parameter is the first parameter (Guo, see at least para. 130 and 132 in view of para. 114, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, note that in fig. 9A, “...The UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 941 on each NR-SRS transmission...”, in other words, “...Each NR-SRS resource can correspond to one Tx beam index. Different NR-SRS resource in NR-SRS transmission can correspond to one same Tx beam index...”, also note that in fig. 9B, “...after Nd slots 981 after receiving a second Tx beam configuration 982, the UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 942 on the NR-SRS transmission...”, in other words, “...Different NR-SRS resource in NR-SRS transmission can correspond to different Tx beam indices...”).
Regarding claim 3, Guo in view of ZHANG teaches the first parameter is an index of a first reference signal, the first reference signal comprising a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), and wherein the first multi-antenna transmission configuration is inferred from transmission of the first reference signal, the multi-antenna transmission configuration including one or more of a transmission antenna port, a transmission antenna port group, a transmitting beam, or a Tx spatial filtering. (Guo, see at least para. 130 and 132, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, “...As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the UE can be configured with one Tx beam 941 to the UE at 981. After a configured or predefined delay, 981, after the UE receiving the Tx beam configuration, the UE begin to use the configured Tx beam 941 on the NR-SRS transmission in NR-SRS resource 811. The NR-SRS is transmitted on NR-SRS resource 811 periodically with periodicity T slots 801...”, note that “...The UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 941 on each NR-SRS transmission...”)
Regarding claim 4, Guo in view of ZHANG teaches the first parameter and the second parameter are parameters selected from among a plurality of sequentially arranged parameters, wherein a position of the first parameter in the plurality of sequentially arranged parameters is used to determine the second parameter. (Guo, see at least para. 133, “...the UE can be indicated with NT≥1 Tx beams a periodic NR-SRS transmission with one resource. The UE is requested to cycle the indicated Tx beams on the periodic NR-SRS transmission. This example can be used by the UE to sweep multiple Tx beams across the periodic NR-SRS transmission ... the UE can be configured with the following information: a list of Tx beam ID {B1, B2, . . . , BN T };...”)
Regarding claim 5, Guo in view of ZHANG teaches the first parameter and the second parameter are parameters selected from among a plurality of sequentially arranged parameters, wherein a position of a third time domain resource window among the plurality of time domain resource windows is used to determine the second parameter, the third time domain resource window being an earliest time domain resource window that is later than the first time domain resource window. (Guo, see at least para. 132-133 in view of para. 114, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, note that in fig. 9B, “...after Nd slots 981 after receiving a second Tx beam configuration 982, the UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 942 on the NR-SRS transmission...”, in other words, “...Different NR-SRS resource in NR-SRS transmission can correspond to different Tx beam indices...”, also note that “...the UE can be indicated with NT≥1 Tx beams a periodic NR-SRS transmission with one resource. The UE is requested to cycle the indicated Tx beams on the periodic NR-SRS transmission. This example can be used by the UE to sweep multiple Tx beams across the periodic NR-SRS transmission ... the UE can be configured with the following information: a list of Tx beam ID {B1, B2, . . . , BN T };...”)
Regarding claim 6, Guo in view of ZHANG teaches the first parameter and the second parameter are parameters selected among a plurality of sequentially arranged parameters, wherein a position of a first time domain resource window among the plurality of time domain resource windows is used to determine the first parameter. (Guo, see at least para. 130 and 132-133, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, “...As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the UE can be configured with one Tx beam 941 to the UE at 981. After a configured or predefined delay, 981, after the UE receiving the Tx beam configuration, the UE begin to use the configured Tx beam 941 on the NR-SRS transmission in NR-SRS resource 811. The NR-SRS is transmitted on NR-SRS resource 811 periodically with periodicity T slots 801...”, note that “...The UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 941 on each NR-SRS transmission...”, also note that “...the UE can be indicated with NT≥1 Tx beams a periodic NR-SRS transmission with one resource. The UE is requested to cycle the indicated Tx beams on the periodic NR-SRS transmission. This example can be used by the UE to sweep multiple Tx beams across the periodic NR-SRS transmission ... the UE can be configured with the following information: a list of Tx beam ID {B1, B2, . . . , BN T };...”)
Regarding claim 7, Guo in view of ZHANG teaches a first time domain resource window and the second time domain resource window are the same, the first time domain resource window comprises two periods, and wherein each period correspond to one of the first time-frequency resource block allocation or the second time-frequency resource allocation, and a DL/UL switching point or a time-domain unit boundary is provided between the two periods. (Guo, see at least para. 130 and 132, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, take fig. 9A as an example, any two 811 within the beam 941 transmit cycle)
Regarding claim 8, Guo in view of ZHANG teaches each of the plurality of time domain resource windows is reserved for a nominal repetition of transmission of the first bit block, and the first radio signal and the second radio signal correspond to two actual repetitions of transmission of the first bit block. (Guo, see at least para. 97 along with at least fig. 9A, “...one NR-SRS resource can contain one or more of the following components: one CP-OFDM/DFT-S-OFDM symbol; the bandwidth of NR-SRS in frequency domain; the number of NR-SRS antenna port(s) and indices of antenna port(s); the index of Tx beam corresponding to one NR-SRS resource; the mapping factor R, which the NR-SRS signal is mapped for every R REs so that there are R same repetitions within one symbol in time domain...”)
Regarding claim 9, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 1. To be more specific, although reciting subject matters slightly different, one skilled in the art would have known claim 9 performs reverse (or corresponding) procedures of claim 1. For example, it would be the base station of claim 9 that performs the reverse (or corresponding) receiving from and transmitting to the UE of claim 1. Hence, the examiner applies the same rejection reasoning as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 10, Guo in view of ZHANG teaches the target parameter is selected as the first parameter when the first and second time domain resource windows are the same, and selected as the second parameter when the first and second time domain resource windows are different. (Guo, see at least para. 130 and 132 in view of para. 114, e.g. either or both of fig. 9A and 9B as a non-limiting example, note that in fig. 9A, “...The UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 941 on each NR-SRS transmission...”, in other words, “...Each NR-SRS resource can correspond to one Tx beam index. Different NR-SRS resource in NR-SRS transmission can correspond to one same Tx beam index...”, also note that in fig. 9B, “...after Nd slots 981 after receiving a second Tx beam configuration 982, the UE is requested to use the configured Tx beam 942 on the NR-SRS transmission...”, in other words, “...Different NR-SRS resource in NR-SRS transmission can correspond to different Tx beam indices...”).
Regarding claims 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, these claims are rejected for the same reasoning as claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, respectively, except each of these claims is in method claim format.
Regarding claims, 19 and 20, these claims are rejected for the same reasoning as claims 9 and 10, respectively, except each of these claims is in method claim format.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/21/2025 have been fully considered. Regarding independent claims 1, 9, 11, and 19, since applicant's amendment necessitated new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action, previous Office action's rejections are moot. Accordingly, corresponding dependent claims have also been rejected in this Office action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YEE F LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7577. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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/YEE F LAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465