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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-19 filed on February 05, 2024 are pending, claims 4-5 are amended and claims 14-15 and 18-19 have been canceled.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 28, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner and an initialed and dated copy of the Applicant’s IDS form 1449 is attached to the instant Office Action.
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.
Claims 1-6 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al. (US 11,483,038 B1, hereinafter "Yu") in view of Kim et al. (US 10,616,907 B2, hereinafter "Kim").
Regarding claim 1, Yu discloses a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
performing an initial access with a plurality of User Equipment (UEs) (Yu, Col.9 47-49 the AP begins the sounding process. Specifically, the AP sends out a sounding packet (e.g., null data packet) to each of the STAs having traffic);
dividing the plurality of UEs into a first group UEs that are closer than a certain distance to the base station and a second group UEs that are further than a certain distance to the base station (Yu, Col. 8 line 1-15 the AP 110 compares the calculated correlation to a respective threshold based on the ranges of the STAs…AP 110 may be partitioned into three areas -near region 202, intermediate region 204, and far region 206);
for the first group UEs, determining a number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the first group UEs based on a number of streams (Yu, Col. 3 line 8-13 determining a number of spatial streams of the client station; determining whether a sum of the number of spatial streams allocated to the selected first client station and the number of spatial streams of the client station other than the first client station exceeds a maximum number of allowable spatial streams at the AP);
allocating a subarray corresponding to the allocated subarray ID to each UE (Yu, claim 1 a function of channel cross correlation values versus relative distances, wherein the channel cross selection values in the function vary inversely to the relative distances (i.e. subarray ID); and allocating for transmission one or more spatial streams to each of the client stations in the selected subset of client stations).
Yu does not explicitly disclose for the second group UEs, determining a number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the second group UEs based on a propagation loss; allocating a subarray Identifier (ID) based on the determined number of subarrays; and communicating with each UE based on the subarray allocated to each UE.
Kim from the same field of endeavor discloses for the second group UEs, determining a number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the second group UEs based on a propagation loss (Kim, Col. 4 line 55-60 analog beamforming, beam precision is determined by the element characteristics of the PS and PA, and the control characteristics of the element make analog beamforming advantageous for narrowband transmission. Moreover, the hardware structure makes it difficult to implement multi-stream transmission, thus making the multiplexing gain for higher data rates relatively small (i.e. loss) and making it impractical to form a beam per user based on orthogonal resource allocation as well as Col. 11 line 22-24 the base station may adjust analog beams with respect to a UE which is farthest from the base station or has the lowest signal quality);
allocating a subarray Identifier (ID) based on the determined number of subarrays (Kim, Col. 15 line 53-55 the UE may detect its control information by blind decoding, acquire UE grouping information updated by the base station. the UE may detect the control channel from the next control channel group, on the basis of the sector ID determined as described above); and
communicating with each UE based on the subarray allocated to each UE (Kim, Col. 14 line 26-27 the base station may multiplex control information of UEs within each group and transmit them by using a specific time-frequency resource. The control information of UEs within each group may be multiplexed for each analog beam).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified used grouping disclosed by YU and assign resource to each group disclosed by Yu with a motivation to make this modification in order to reduce user and provider costs, improve service quality, and expand and improve coverage and system capacity (Yu, Col. 1).
Regarding claim 2, Yu discloses wherein a distance between the base station and the plurality of UEs is determined based on an uplink access signal received from the plurality of UEs and/or a downlink training signal transmitted by the base station (Yu, Col. Line 14-19 AP 110 calculates the channel state information by performing a sounding procedure. The initial sounding mode is executed to sound the channels without targeting any specific group. The sounding could be in the form of a null data packet (NDP) dedicated for sounding).
Regarding claim 3, Yu discloses wherein determining the number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the first group UEs and/or the number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the second group UEs further comprises, updating the number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the first group UEs and/or the number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the second group UEs (Yu, Col. 8 line 46-48 Once the AP 110 groups the STAs based on the distances to the AP 110 and the channel correlation, the groups that are formed are used until a re-grouping condition is triggered; regrouping is triggered in response to channel conditions worsening or a change in the traffic status at the STAs).
Regarding claim 4, Yu discloses wherein the updating comprises, based on a sum of the number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the first group UEs and the number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the second group UEs being greater than a total number of subarrays of the base station, reducing the number of subarrays to be allocated to UEs belonging to the first group UEs in priority to the number of subarrays to be allocated to UEs belonging to the second group UEs (Yu, Col. 3 line 10-15 determining whether a sum of the number of spatial streams allocated to the selected first client station and the number of spatial streams of the client station other than the first client station exceeds a maximum number of allowable spatial streams at the AP).
Regarding claim 5, Yu discloses wherein the updating comprises, based on a sum of the number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the first group UEs and the number of subarrays to be allocated to each UE belonging to the second group UEs being less than a total number of subarrays of the base station, increasing the number of subarrays to be allocated to UEs belonging to the first group UEs in priority to the number of subarrays to be allocated to UEs belonging to the second group UEs (Yu, Col. 3 line 10-15 determining whether a sum of the number of spatial streams allocated to the selected first client station and the number of spatial streams of the client station other than the first client station exceeds a maximum number of allowable spatial streams at the AP).
Regarding claim 6, Yu discloses further comprising calculating a required aperture, for each UE belonging to the first group UEs and for each UE belonging to the second group UEs (Yu, Col. 8 line 4-7 AP 110 may be partitioned into three areas -near region 202, intermediate region 204, and far region 206--based on calculated RSSI values. Each of the regions 202, 204, and 206 have a corresponding correlation threshold requirement).
Regarding claim 16, this claim recites "a base station" that discloses similar steps as recited by the method of claim 1, thus is rejected with the same rationale applied against claim 1 as presented above.
Regarding claim 17, Yu discloses a User Equipment (UE) (Yu, Fig. 1 STA) adapted to operate in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising:
at least one transceiver (Yu, Fig. 1 Tx/Rx);
at least one processor (Yu, Fig. 1 HOST); and
at least one memory operably connectable to the at least one processor and storing
instructions that, based on being executed by the at least one processor, perform operations comprising:
performing, via the at least one transceiver, an initial access with a base station (Yu, Col.9 47-49 the AP begins the sounding process. Specifically, the AP sends out a sounding packet (e.g., null data packet) to each of the STAs having traffic); and
communicating, via the at least one transceiver, with the base station based on a
subarray allocated to the UE (Yu, Col. 3 line 8-13 determining a number of spatial streams of the client station);,
wherein the subarray corresponds to a subarray Identifier (ID) allocated based on a number of subarrays determined by the base station (Yu, claim 1 a function of channel cross correlation values versus relative distances, wherein the channel cross selection values in the function vary inversely to the relative distances; and allocating for transmission one or more spatial streams to each of the client stations in the selected subset of client stations), and
wherein the number of subarrays is determined based on, i) a number of streams if a distance between the UE and the base station is closer than a certain distance (Yu, Col. 3 line 8-13 determining a number of spatial streams of the client station; determining whether a sum of the number of spatial streams allocated to the selected first client station and the number of spatial streams of the client station other than the first client station exceeds a maximum number of allowable spatial streams at the AP), but does not explicitly disclose ii) a propagation loss if a distance between the UE and the base station is farther than a certain distance.
Kim from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein the number of subarrays is determined based on a propagation loss if a distance between the UE and the base station is farther than a certain distance (Kim, Col. 4 line 55-60 analog beamforming, beam precision is determined by the element characteristics of the PS and PA, and the control characteristics of the element make analog beamforming advantageous for narrowband transmission. Moreover, the hardware structure makes it difficult to implement multi-stream transmission, thus making the multiplexing gain for higher data rates relatively small (i.e. loss)and making it impractical to form a beam per user based on orthogonal resource allocation).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified used grouping disclosed by YU and assign resource to each group disclosed by Yu with a motivation to make this modification in order to reduce user and provider costs, improve service quality, and expand and improve coverage and system capacity (Yu, Col. 1).
Claim 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu et al. (US 11,483,038 B1, hereinafter "Yu") in view of Kim et al. (US 10,616,907 B2, hereinafter "Kim") as applied to claim above, and further in view of Manne et al. (US 2021/0392669 A1, hereinafter "Manne").
Regarding claim 7, Yu in view of Kim does not explicitly disclose wherein allocating the subarray ID based on the determined number of subarrays further comprises, allocating a reference subarray ID for each UE belonging to the first group UEs and for each UE belonging to the second group UEs.
Manne from the same field of endeavor discloses wherein allocating the subarray ID based on the determined number of subarrays further comprises, allocating a reference subarray ID for each UE belonging to the first group UEs and for each UE belonging to the second group UEs (Manne, [0076] The segregating unit 516 segregates the plurality of UEs into a plurality of groups based on the determined one or more best beams (i.e. reference subarray) and the second metric. Each of the plurality of groups comprises one or more UEs. In an embodiment, the segregating unit 516 segregates the plurality of UEs in to two groups, comprising a first group and a second group. The first group comprises a first set of UEs, wherein the first metric associated with each of the first set of UEs is greater than a threshold value. The first set of UEs are scheduled for communication using a first set of resources. The first set of resources corresponds to one of time and frequency resources used for scheduling physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the base station. The first set of resources corresponds to User Search Space 1 (USS-1)).
It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have to include the teachings of Manne’s system for UE grouping into Yu’s user grouping process as modified by Kim with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve network throughput (Manne, [0003]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-13 are 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 8 is potentially allowable over the prior art of record Yu et al. (US 11,483,038 B1, hereinafter "Yu") in view of Kim et al. (US 10,616,907 B2, hereinafter "Kim") and further in view of Manne et al. (US 2021/0392669 A1, hereinafter "Manne") as applied to the claim above.
Yu in view of Kim and Manne fails to teach alone or in combination "the reference subarray ID is a subarray ID at an edge based on a direction of each UE belonging to the first group UEs, and a subarray corresponding to the reference subarray ID is a subarray having a largest angle between each UE belonging to the first group UEs".
Claim 9 is potentially allowable over the prior art of record Yu et al. (US 11,483,038 B1, hereinafter "Yu") in view of Kim et al. (US 10,616,907 B2, hereinafter "Kim") and further in view of Manne et al. (US 2021/0392669 A1, hereinafter "Manne") as applied to the claim above.
Yu in view of Kim and Manne fails to teach alone or in combination "the reference subarray ID is a subarray ID closest to a direction of each UE based on the direction of each UE belonging to the second group UEs, and a subarray corresponding to the reference subarray ID is a subarray having a smallest angle between each UE belonging to the second group UEs".
Claim 10 is potentially allowable over the prior art of record Yu et al. (US 11,483,038 B1, hereinafter "Yu") in view of Kim et al. (US 10,616,907 B2, hereinafter "Kim") and further in view of Manne et al. (US 2021/0392669 A1, hereinafter "Manne") as applied to the claim above.
Yu in view of Kim and Manne fails to teach alone or in combination "for the first group UEs, allocating a first additional subarray ID distant from the reference subarray ID for the first group UEs by the required aperture for each UE; and for the second group UEs, allocating a second additional subarray ID that is less distant from the reference subarray ID for the second group UEs".
Claim 11 is potentially allowable over the prior art of record Yu et al. (US 11,483,038 B1, hereinafter "Yu") in view of Kim et al. (US 10,616,907 B2, hereinafter "Kim") and further in view of Manne et al. (US 2021/0392669 A1, hereinafter "Manne") as applied to the claim above.
Yu in view of Kim and Manne fails to teach alone or in combination " allocating a third additional subarray ID for the first group UEs and a fourth additional subarray ID for the second group UEs, based on the required aperture for each UE being greater than an aperture for each UE".
Claim 1 is potentially allowable over the prior art of record Yu et al. (US 11,483,038 B1, hereinafter "Yu") in view of Kim et al. (US 10,616,907 B2, hereinafter "Kim") and further in view of Manne et al. (US 2021/0392669 A1, hereinafter "Manne") as applied to the claim above.
Yu in view of Kim and Manne fails to teach alone or in combination "wherein the third additional subarray ID is allocated in priority to the fourth additional subarray ID".
Claim 1 is potentially allowable over the prior art of record Yu et al. (US 11,483,038 B1, hereinafter "Yu") in view of Kim et al. (US 10,616,907 B2, hereinafter "Kim") and further in view of Manne et al. (US 2021/0392669 A1, hereinafter "Manne") as applied to the claim above.
Yu in view of Kim and Manne fails to teach alone or in combination " wherein the third additional subarray ID is allocated such that a minimum value of a distance from the first additional subarray ID is greatest, and wherein the fourth additional subarray ID is allocated such that a minimum value of a distance from the second additional subarray ID is smallest".
Conclusion
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/LUNA WEISSBERGER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415