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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed July 22, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant stated that the Office Action has not shown that the reception of the power offset configuration is similar to the performing UL power control procedures for the subbands, while also acknowledging figure 6a and b in the Office action. With regards to claims 1, 14, and 20 as shown in Abotabl’s figures and its supporting paragraphs the UE uses these configuration and parameters to determine the UL transmit power for the subbands [0082].
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 4, 6-7, 9-15, 17, 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by ABOTABL et al. (US 20210392674 A1, hereinafter Abotabl).
Regarding claims 1, 14, and 20 Abotabl discloses:
one or more memories storing processor-executable code; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the UE to: (Paragraph [0045], “at UE 120, a transmit processor 264…The transceiver may include any combination of antenna(s) 252, modulators and/or demodulators 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, and/or TX MIMO processor 266. The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., controller/processor 280) and memory 282…”)
receive an indication of a subband configuration for an operating bandwidth of the UE, the subband configuration indicating a division of the operating bandwidth into a plurality of subbands; (Paragraph [0149], “The UE may receive the power control configuration for the uplink transmission from a base station. The power control configuration may include at least one of sub-band information for power control or a power control parameter for at least one sub-band. In some aspects, the UE may receive a configuration for one or more power control parameters for a first sub-band of at least one sub-band of the uplink transmission.” And paragraph [0072], “the UE 120 may receive, one or more power offset configurations and/or power scaling configurations. A power offset configuration may include information (e.g., a table, a mapping, and/or the like) that identifies one or more sets of power offset values for a plurality of sub-bands of an uplink frequency band” and paragraph [0073], “a power offset configuration, or another configuration (e.g., another RRC configuration), may configure the plurality of sub-bands. For example, each sub-band, of the plurality of sub-bands, may be configured to be a particular size…”)
perform a plurality of uplink power control procedures for the plurality of subbands to obtain a plurality of subband-specific transmit powers for the plurality of subbands; (Paragraph [0151], “The UE may apply the first set of the one or more power control parameters for a first sub-band of the uplink transmission.” And paragraph [0152], “The UE may apply the second set of one or more power control parameters for a second sub-band of the uplink transmission.” And paragraph [0081], “the UE 120 may determine an uplink transmit power for the uplink communication. In a case where the UE 120 is to use a set of power scaling values, the UE 120 may determine an uplink transmit power for the uplink communication according to Equation 1, described above. In this case, the UE 120 may apply the set of power scaling values to the determined uplink transmit power.” And paragraph [0082], “the UE 120 is to apply a set of power offset values, the UE 120 may determine respective uplink transmit powers for the plurality of sub-bands of the uplink frequency band based at least in part on the set of power offset values”)
and transmit one or more uplink messages via the plurality of subbands using the plurality of subband-specific transmit powers obtained from the plurality of uplink power control procedures. (Paragraph [0153], “the UE (e.g., using transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, MOD 254, antenna 252, controller/processor 280, and/or memory 282) may transmit the uplink transmission, as described above, for example, with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6B, and/or 7. The UE may transmit the uplink transmission over at least the first sub-band based at least in part on the first set of one or more power control parameters and the second sub-band based at least in part on the second set of one or more power control parameters.”)
Regarding claims 2 and 15 Abotabl discloses:
receive instructions to perform subband-based power control for uplink, wherein the plurality of uplink power control procedures is performed based at least in part on the instructions to perform subband-based power control for uplink. (paragraph [0149], “the UE (e.g., using antenna 252, DEMOD 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, controller/processor 280, and/or memory 282) may receive a power control configuration for uplink transmission, as described above, for example, with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6B, and/or 7. The UE may receive the power control configuration for the uplink transmission from a base station. The power control configuration may include at least one of sub-band information for power control or a power control parameter for at least one sub-band.”)
Regarding claims 4 and 17 Abotabl discloses:
receive a plurality of offsets for the plurality of subbands, wherein the plurality of subband-specific transmit powers is based at least in part on the plurality of offsets. (Paragraph [0072], “the UE 120 may receive, one or more power offset configurations and/or power scaling configurations. A power offset configuration may include information (e.g., a table, a mapping, and/or the like) that identifies one or more sets of power offset values for a plurality of sub-bands of an uplink frequency band” sub band power offset for subband transmit power.)
Regarding claims 6 and 19 Abotabl discloses:
wherein the plurality of measurements comprises a plurality of pathloss measurements corresponding to the plurality of subbands and comprises one or more parameters corresponds to the plurality of subbands, the one or more parameters corresponding to subband-specific pathloss measurements associated with the network entity. (Paragraph [0092], “In some aspects, the UE 120 may apply the first set of one or more power control parameters for the first sub-band and the second set of one or more power control parameters for the second sub-band during a full duplex symbol and a half duplex symbol. In some aspects, the first power control parameter and the second power control parameter include a target power, a pathloss scaling factor, an offset value, or a downlink MCS term.” And paragraph [0093], “In some aspects, at least one of first set of one or more power control parameters or the second set of one or more power control parameters may be defined for a SRS resource indicator (SRI) or for a URLLC or non-URLLC mode.” The parameters corresponding to the pathloss comes from the SRS.)
Regarding claim 7 Abotabl discloses:
receive a quantity of subbands, (Paragraph [0073], “ a power offset configuration, or another configuration (e.g., another RRC configuration), may configure the plurality of sub-bands. For example, each sub-band, of the plurality of sub-bands, may be configured to be a particular size (e.g., a quantity of resource elements (REs), a quantity of resource blocks (RBs), a quantity of RB groups (RBGs), and/or the like), and the plurality of sub-bands may include sub-bands that are different sizes and/or include sub-bands that are the same size.”)
an upper frequency of one or more of the plurality of subbands,
a lower frequency of one or more of the plurality of subbands,
a relative location of one or more of the plurality of subbands based at least in part on one or more resources,
one or more optical wireless communication (OWC) parameters of a network entity,
one or more OWC parameters of the UE, or any combination thereof.
Regarding claim 9 Abotabl discloses:
wherein the mapping is specific to an uplink communication link direction. (Paragraph [0149], “The UE may receive the power control configuration for the uplink transmission from a base station. The power control configuration may include at least one of sub-band information for power control or a power control parameter for at least one sub-band… the one or more power control parameters for the first sub-band may include at least one of a maximum power, a minimum power, a band separation with a downlink transmission, or a band corresponding to a half-duplex transmission.”)
Regarding claim 10 Abotabl discloses:
map the plurality of subbands to a plurality of modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index factors; (Paragraph [0152], “The UE may apply the second set of one or more power control parameters for a second sub-band of the uplink transmission… In some aspects, the first power control parameter and the second power control parameter include a target power, a pathloss scaling factor, an offset value, or a downlink MCS term.”)
receive an indication identifying one or more subbands of the plurality of subbands; (Paragraph [0149], “The UE may receive the power control configuration for the uplink transmission from a base station. The power control configuration may include at least one of sub-band information for power control or a power control parameter for at least one sub-band.”)
and transmit one or more additional uplink messages via the identified one or more subbands of the plurality of subbands based at least in part on one or more corresponding MCS factors of the plurality of MCS factors. (Paragraph [0153], “The UE may transmit the uplink transmission over at least the first sub-band based at least in part on the first set of one or more power control parameters and the second sub-band based at least in part on the second set of one or more power control parameters.” UE can transmit uplink transmission based on the power control parameters that has MCS term.)
Regarding claim 11 Abotabl discloses:
map the plurality of subbands to a plurality of resource block factors; (Paragraph [0073], “ a power offset configuration, or another configuration (e.g., another RRC configuration), may configure the plurality of sub-bands. For example, each sub-band, of the plurality of sub-bands, may be configured to be a particular size (e.g., a quantity of resource elements (REs), a quantity of resource blocks (RBs), a quantity of RB groups (RBGs), and/or the like), and the plurality of sub-bands may include sub-bands that are different sizes and/or include sub-bands that are the same size.”)
receive an indication identifying one or more subbands of the plurality of subbands; (Paragraph [0149], “The UE may receive the power control configuration for the uplink transmission from a base station. The power control configuration may include at least one of sub-band information for power control or a power control parameter for at least one sub-band.”)
and transmit one or more additional uplink messages via the identified one or more subbands of the plurality of subbands based at least in part on one or more corresponding resource block factors of the plurality of resource block factors. (Paragraph [0084], “The UE 120 may transmit the uplink communication using the uplink transmit power determined by the UE 120. Accordingly, the uplink transmit power used by the UE 120 may vary over the uplink frequency band (e.g., because the uplink transmit power may be based at least in part on multiple sub-band uplink transmit powers according to a set of power offset values, where the uplink frequency is within or corresponds to one of the multiple sub-bands associated with one of the sub-band uplink transmit powers)…” The UE transmits based on the power configuration in paragraph [0073].)
Regarding claim 12 Abotabl discloses:
receive, from a network entity, a first indication of one or more target receive powers for the network entity; (Paragraph [0149], “The UE may receive the power control configuration for the uplink transmission from a base station. The power control configuration may include at least one of sub-band information for power control or a power control parameter for at least one sub-band.” And paragraph [0152], “ In some aspects, the first power control parameter and the second power control parameter include a target power…”)
map the plurality of subbands to the one or more target receive powers; (Paragraph [0149], “The UE may receive the power control configuration for the uplink transmission from a base station. The power control configuration may include at least one of sub-band information for power control or a power control parameter for at least one sub-band.” And paragraph [0152], “ In some aspects, the first power control parameter and the second power control parameter include a target power…”)
receive a second indication identifying one or more subbands of the plurality of subbands; (Paragraph [0152], “At 1040, the UE (e.g., using controller/processor 280 and/or memory 282) may apply a second set of one or more power control parameters, as described above, for example, with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6B, and/or 7. The UE may apply the second set of one or more power control parameters for a second sub-band of the uplink transmission.”)
and transmit one or more additional uplink messages via the identified one or more subbands based at least in part on the one or more target receive powers. (Paragraph [0153], “At 1050, the UE (e.g., using transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, MOD 254, antenna 252, controller/processor 280, and/or memory 282) may transmit the uplink transmission, as described above, for example, with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6B, and/or 7. The UE may transmit the uplink transmission over at least the first sub-band based at least in part on the first set of one or more power control parameters and the second sub-band based at least in part on the second set of one or more power control parameters.”)
Regarding claim 13 Abotabl discloses:
map the plurality of subbands to a plurality of power control parameters; (paragraph [0149], “The UE may receive the power control configuration for the uplink transmission from a base station. The power control configuration may include at least one of sub-band information for power control or a power control parameter for at least one sub-band. In some aspects, the UE may receive a configuration for one or more power control parameters for a first sub-band of at least one sub-band of the uplink transmission. The power control configuration for the power control parameters for the uplink transmission is received by from the base station via RRC or DCI. In some aspects, the one or more power control parameters for the first sub-band may include at least one of a maximum power, a minimum power, a band separation with a downlink transmission, or a band corresponding to a half-duplex transmission.”)
receive an indication identifying one or more subbands of the plurality of subbands; (Paragraph [0149], “The UE may receive the power control configuration for the uplink transmission from a base station. The power control configuration may include at least one of sub-band information for power control or a power control parameter for at least one sub-band.”)
and transmit one or more additional uplink messages via the identified one or more subbands of the plurality of subbands based at least in part on a corresponding one or more power control parameters of the plurality of power control parameters. (Paragraph [0153], “the UE (e.g., using transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, MOD 254, antenna 252, controller/processor 280, and/or memory 282) may transmit the uplink transmission, as described above, for example, with reference to FIGS. 6A, 6B, and/or 7. The UE may transmit the uplink transmission over at least the first sub-band based at least in part on the first set of one or more power control parameters and the second sub-band based at least in part on the second set of one or more power control parameters.”)
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.
Claims 3, 5, 8, 16, and 18 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abotabl in view of Deenoo et al. (US 20200374960 A1, hereinafter Deenoo)
Regarding claims 3 and 16 Abotabl discloses:
receive, from a network entity, an indication of a plurality of measurements; (Paragraph [0072], “the base station 110 may transmit (e.g., via radio resource control (RRC) signaling), and the UE 120 may receive, one or more power offset configurations and/or power scaling configurations.” And paragraph [0073], “a power offset configuration, or another configuration (e.g., another RRC configuration), may configure the plurality of sub-bands. For example, each sub-band, of the plurality of sub-bands, may be configured to be a particular size (e.g., a quantity of resource elements (REs), a quantity of resource blocks (RBs), a quantity of RB groups (RBGs), and/or the like), and the plurality of sub-bands may include sub-bands that are different sizes and/or include sub-bands that are the same size.” And paragraph [0074], “A power scaling configuration may include information (e.g., a table, a mapping, and/or the like) that identifies one or more sets of power scaling values for a plurality of symbols (e.g., symbol indices). For example, a set of power scaling values may include respective power scaling values (e.g., 1, −0.1, +0.2, and/or the like)”)
and obtain the plurality of subband specific transmit powers for the plurality of subbands based at least in part on the plurality of measurements. (Paragraph [0072], “the base station 110 may transmit (e.g., via radio resource control (RRC) signaling), and the UE 120 may receive, one or more power offset configurations and/or power scaling configurations.” And paragraph [0074], “A power scaling configuration may include information (e.g., a table, a mapping, and/or the like) that identifies one or more sets of power scaling values for a plurality of symbols (e.g., symbol indices). For example, a set of power scaling values may include respective power scaling values (e.g., 1, −0.1, +0.2, and/or the like)” same as above the UE obtains power configuration for subbands from BS.)
Abotabl does not disclose:
transmit a plurality of uplink reference signals;
the measurements corresponding to the transmitted uplink reference signal;
Deenoo discloses:
transmit a plurality of uplink reference signals; (Paragraph [0139], “various beam configuration aspects and parameters may be implemented in the WTRU and/or network… The configuration of the signals/channels may include UL reference signals (e.g., DMRS, SRS) which may be used for sounding and/or demodulation.”)
the measurements corresponding to the transmitted uplink reference signal; (Paragraph [0139], “various beam configuration aspects and parameters may be implemented in the WTRU and/or network… The configuration of the signals/channels may include UL reference signals (e.g., DMRS, SRS) which may be used for sounding and/or demodulation.” When sending UL RS the base station uses the DMRS and SRS for to measure the power. Abotabl already discloses power configuration for subbands.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have combined the power configuration of Abotabl with Deenoo’s UL RS. One would have been motivated to do this to increase the accuracy of UL measurements.
Regarding claims 5 and 18 Abotabl does not disclose:
receive, for the plurality of subbands, a plurality of offsets relative to a baseline offset, wherein the plurality of subband-specific transmit powers is based at least in part on the plurality of offsets and the baseline offset.
Deenoo discloses:
receive, for the plurality of subbands, a plurality of offsets relative to a baseline offset, wherein the plurality of subband-specific transmit powers is based at least in part on the plurality of offsets and the baseline offset. (Paragraph [0117], “a WTRU may be configured with a baseline configuration via higher layer signaling and the dynamic signaling may indicate an offset to the baseline configuration that is indicates a dedicated resource to the WTRU. For example, the baseline configuration may provide the frequency/resource block (RB)…” Offset to a baseline meaning there must be a baseline offset.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the power offset configuration of Abotabl with Deenoo’s baseline offset. One would have been motivated to do this to reduce the overhead and increase efficiency of the UE transmit power.
Regarding claim 8 Abotabl discloses:
perform, based at least in part on a mapping between the plurality of uplink pathloss measurements and the plurality of subbands, a first power control procedure for a first subband of the plurality of subbands using a first uplink pathloss measurement of the plurality of uplink pathloss measurements to obtain a first subband-specific transmit power for the first subband; (Paragraph [0152], “In some aspects, the UE may apply the first set of one or more power control parameters for the first sub-band and the second set of one or more power control parameters for the second sub-band… In some aspects, the first power control parameter and the second power control parameter include a target power, a pathloss scaling factor, an offset value, or a downlink MCS term.” And paragraph [0153], “at least one of first set of one or more power control parameters or the second set of one or more power control parameters may be defined for an SRS resource indicator or for a URLLC or non-URLLC mode” Abotabl discloses the mapping of pathloss factors per subbands (first or second) which is obtained from the BS.)
and perform, based at least in part on the mapping between the plurality of uplink pathloss measurements and the plurality of subbands, a second power control procedure for a second subband of the plurality of subbands using a second uplink pathloss measurement of the plurality of uplink pathloss measurements to obtain a second subband-specific transmit power for the second subband. (Paragraph [0152], “In some aspects, the UE may apply the first set of one or more power control parameters for the first sub-band and the second set of one or more power control parameters for the second sub-band… In some aspects, the first power control parameter and the second power control parameter include a target power, a pathloss scaling factor, an offset value, or a downlink MCS term.” And paragraph [0153], “at least one of first set of one or more power control parameters or the second set of one or more power control parameters may be defined for an SRS resource indicator or for a URLLC or non-URLLC mode” Abotabl discloses the mapping of pathloss factors per subbands (first or second) which is obtained from the BS. As well as uplink transmission via subbands as disclosed above.)
Abotabl does not disclose:
transmit a plurality of uplink reference signals via the plurality of subbands;
and receive, from a network entity, an indication of a plurality of uplink pathloss measurements corresponding to the plurality of uplink reference signals
Deenoo discloses:
transmit a plurality of uplink reference signals via the plurality of subbands; (Paragraph [0139], “various beam configuration aspects and parameters may be implemented in the WTRU… The configuration of the signals/channels may include UL reference signals (e.g., DMRS, SRS) which may be used for sounding and/or demodulation.” UL RS transmitted to be measured.)
and receive, from a network entity, an indication of a plurality of uplink pathloss measurements corresponding to the plurality of uplink reference signals (Paragraph [0139], “various beam configuration aspects and parameters may be implemented in the WTRU and/or network…The configuration of the signals/channels may include DL RSs (e.g., NR shared spectrum (NR-SS), CSI-RS, DMRS, which may be used for measurements, demodulation, path loss estimation, and/or timing adjustments.” While Abotabl discloses the majority of the claims, they only disclose a pathloss scaling factor parameter.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the power control configuration of Abotabl to estimate the path loss taught by Deenoo. One would have been motivated to do this for efficient uplink power control.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/NAM P. CAO/Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479
