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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/21/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-11, 13-18, 20-25, and 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura et al. (US 2022/0278880 A1; “Matsumura”) in view of Hasegawa et al. (US 2020/0252254 A1; “Hasegawa”).
Regarding claim 1, Matsumura teaches a method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising:
being indicated that a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is based on frequency domain coding using a frequency domain orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) of length greater than two [Matsumura ¶ 0012: a control section that assumes that a frequency domain orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) having a sequence length of a number larger than two is applied to a demodulation reference signal mapped to a pair of resource elements the number of which is greater than two and that are being different in frequency; see also ¶¶ 0117-0118: FD-OCC according to the first embodiment may be applied to M (M>2) RE pairs that are adjacent in the frequency direction in a given CDM group, wherein the FD-OCC having a sequence length of M may be used, wherein the number of DMRS ports can be increased to M/2 times as large as that of Rel-15 NR, e.g., M may be 4, 8, 16, 32, or the like]; and
transmitting or receiving a number of DMRS of the channel based on the frequency domain coding [Matsumura ¶ 0012: a transmitting/receiving section that performs transmission processing or reception processing of the demodulation reference signal, based on the FD-OCC; see also ¶ 0293: transmitting/receiving section 220 may perform transmission processing or reception processing of the demodulation reference signal, based on the FD-OCC].
However, Matsumura does not explicitly disclose obtaining an indication, wherein the indication includes a format of a DCI used to schedule a channel having the DMRS.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Hasegawa teaches obtaining an indication, wherein the indication includes a format of a DCI used to schedule a channel having the DMRS [Hasegawa ¶ 0072: when 2 OFDM symbols and 4-bit OCC are used the terminals are notified of the number of DMRS symbols in the RRC (step ST1), and then the terminals are notified of a row number based on a 1 DMRS symbol or 2 DMRS symbols in the DCI (step ST2) (here, the DCI of step 2 is analogous to a received indication including a DCI format to schedule DMRS)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of utilizing FD-OCC of length greater than 2 to transmit DMRS as taught by Matsumura, with the method of indicating a DCI format for scheduling DMRS with an associated OCC as taught by Hasegawa. The motivation to combine these references would be to reduce control overhead for reference signaling in a wireless communication system [Hasegawa ¶ 0008].
Regarding claim 2, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the FD-OCC is of length 4, 6, or 8 the FD-OCC having a sequence length of M may be used, wherein the number of DMRS ports can be increased to M/2 times as large as that of Rel-15 NR, e.g., M may be 4, 8, 16, 32, or the like; Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative (e.g., use of the word “or”), therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references].
Regarding claim 3, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the FD-OCC comprises a real-valued code [Matsumura ¶ 0131, Figs. 5B & 6B: orthogonal code of FIG. 5B is expressed in another manner, e.g., natural exponential function exp(z) (i.e. real-value code)].
Regarding claim 4, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 1,wherein a DMRS sequence length is an integer multiple of the length of the FD-OCC [Matsumura ¶ 0110: the TD-OCC/FD-OCC of the DMRS according to Rel. 15 NR will be described. The DMRS mapped to the resource element (RE) may correspond to a sequence obtained by multiplying the TD-OCC on a DMRS sequence by a parameter (here, as DMRS must be mapped to discrete resources, the parameter would implicitly be an interfere value)].
Regarding claim 6, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the DMRS is one DMRS of a plurality of DMRS and each DMRS of the plurality of DMRS is associated with a different cyclic shift [Matsumura ¶ 0092: a case of DMRS configuration type 1 and the double symbol DMRS, the Comb, the CS, and the TD-OCC may be used for orthogonalization. For example, up to eight APs may be supported by using two types of Combs, two types of CSs, and TD-OCCs ({1, 1} and {1, −1}) (here, different DMRS associated with different AP are subject to different comb/FD-OCC, i.e., cyclic shift)].
Regarding claim 7, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the DMRS is one DMRS of a plurality of DMRS and each DMRS of the plurality of DMRS is associated with a FD-OCC and a length of each of the FD-OCC may vary among DMRS [Matsumura ¶ 0122, Fig. 5A: different OCC is applied to Rel-15 DMRS and later than Rel 15 DMRS, wherein Fig. 5A shows different length OCC, e.g., DMRS type 1 for Rel-15 contrasted with DMRS type 1 for later Rel].
Regarding claim 8, Matsumura teaches a wireless device comprising processing circuitry operable to:
wherein a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is based on frequency domain coding using a frequency domain orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) of length greater than two or a number of cyclic shifts greater than two [Matsumura ¶ 0012: a control section that assumes that a frequency domain orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) having a sequence length of a number larger than two is applied to a demodulation reference signal mapped to a pair of resource elements the number of which is greater than two and that are being different in frequency; see also ¶¶ 0117-0118: FD-OCC according to the first embodiment may be applied to M (M>2) RE pairs that are adjacent in the frequency direction in a given CDM group, wherein the FD-OCC having a sequence length of M may be used, wherein the number of DMRS ports can be increased to M/2 times as large as that of Rel-15 NR, e.g., M may be 4, 8, 16, 32, or the like]; and
transmit or receive a number of DMRS of the channel based on the frequency domain coding [Matsumura ¶ 0012: a transmitting/receiving section that performs transmission processing or reception processing of the demodulation reference signal, based on the FD-OCC; see also ¶ 0293: transmitting/receiving section 220 may perform transmission processing or reception processing of the demodulation reference signal, based on the FD-OCC].
However, Matsumura does not explicitly disclose obtaining an indication, wherein the indication includes a format of a DCI used to schedule a channel having the DMRS.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Hasegawa teaches obtaining an indication, wherein the indication includes a format of a DCI used to schedule a channel having the DMRS [Hasegawa ¶ 0072: when 2 OFDM symbols and 4-bit OCC are used the terminals are notified of the number of DMRS symbols in the RRC (step ST1), and then the terminals are notified of a row number based on a 1 DMRS symbol or 2 DMRS symbols in the DCI (step ST2) (here, the DCI of step 2 is analogous to a received indication including a DCI format to schedule DMRS)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of utilizing FD-OCC of length greater than 2 to transmit DMRS as taught by Matsumura, with the method of indicating a DCI format for scheduling DMRS with an associated OCC as taught by Hasegawa. The motivation to combine these references would be to reduce control overhead for reference signaling in a wireless communication system [Hasegawa ¶ 0008].
Regarding claim 9, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the wireless device of claim 8, wherein the FD-OCC is of length 4, 6, or 8 [Matsumura ¶ 0118: the FD-OCC having a sequence length of M may be used, wherein the number of DMRS ports can be increased to M/2 times as large as that of Rel-15 NR, e.g., M may be 4, 8, 16, 32, or the like; Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative (e.g., use of the word “or”), therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references].
Regarding claim 10, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the wireless device of claim 8, wherein the FD-OCC comprises a real-valued code or a complex-valued code [Matsumura ¶ 0131, Figs. 5B & 6B: orthogonal code of FIG. 5B is expressed in another manner, e.g., natural exponential function exp(z) (i.e. real-value code); Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative (e.g., use of the word “or”), therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references].
Regarding claim 11, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the wireless device of claim 8, wherein a DMRS sequence length is an integer multiple of the length of the FD-OCC [Matsumura ¶ 0110: the TD-OCC/FD-OCC of the DMRS according to Rel. 15 NR will be described. The DMRS mapped to the resource element (RE) may correspond to a sequence obtained by multiplying the TD-OCC on a DMRS sequence by a parameter (here, as DMRS must be mapped to discrete resources, the parameter would implicitly be an integer value)].
Regarding claim 13, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the wireless device of claim 8, wherein the DMRS is one DMRS of a plurality of DMRS and each DMRS of the plurality of DMRS is associated with a different cyclic shift [Matsumura ¶ 0092: a case of DMRS configuration type 1 and the double symbol DMRS, the Comb, the CS, and the TD-OCC may be used for orthogonalization. For example, up to eight APs may be supported by using two types of Combs, two types of CSs, and TD-OCCs ({1, 1} and {1, −1}) (here, different DMRS associated with different AP are subject to different comb/FD-OCC, i.e., cyclic shift)].
Regarding claim 14, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the wireless device of claim 8, wherein the DMRS is one DMRS of a plurality of DMRS and each DMRS of the plurality of DMRS is associated with a FD-OCC and a length of each of the FD-OCC may vary among DMRS [Matsumura ¶ 0122, Fig. 5A: different OCC is applied to Rel-15 DMRS and later than Rel 15 DMRS, wherein Fig. 5A shows different length OCC, e.g., DMRS type 1 for Rel-15 contrasted with DMRS type 1 for later Rel].
Regarding claim 15, Matsumura teaches a method performed by a target network node, the method comprising:
a wireless device using a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is based on frequency domain coding using a frequency domain orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) of length greater than two [Matsumura ¶ 0012: a control section that assumes that a frequency domain orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) having a sequence length of a number larger than two is applied to a demodulation reference signal mapped to a pair of resource elements the number of which is greater than two and that are being different in frequency; see also ¶¶ 0117-0118: FD-OCC according to the first embodiment may be applied to M (M>2) RE pairs that are adjacent in the frequency direction in a given CDM group, wherein the FD-OCC having a sequence length of M may be used, wherein the number of DMRS ports can be increased to M/2 times as large as that of Rel-15 NR, e.g., M may be 4, 8, 16, 32, or the like]; and
transmitting or receiving a number of DMRS of the channel based on the frequency domain coding [Matsumura ¶ 0012: a transmitting/receiving section that performs transmission processing or reception processing of the demodulation reference signal, based on the FD-OCC; see also ¶ 0293: transmitting/receiving section 220 may perform transmission processing or reception processing of the demodulation reference signal, based on the FD-OCC].
However, Matsumura does not explicitly disclose transmitting an indication, wherein the indication includes a format of a DCI used to schedule a channel having the DMRS.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Hasegawa teaches transmitting an indication, wherein the indication includes a format of a DCI used to schedule a channel having the DMRS [Hasegawa ¶ 0072: when 2 OFDM symbols and 4-bit OCC are used the terminals are notified of the number of DMRS symbols in the RRC (step ST1), and then the terminals are notified of a row number based on a 1 DMRS symbol or 2 DMRS symbols in the DCI (step ST2) (here, the DCI of step 2 is analogous to a transmitted indication including a DCI format to schedule DMRS)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of utilizing FD-OCC of length greater than 2 to transmit DMRS as taught by Matsumura, with the method of indicating a DCI format for scheduling DMRS with an associated OCC as taught by Hasegawa. The motivation to combine these references would be to reduce control overhead for reference signaling in a wireless communication system [Hasegawa ¶ 0008].
Regarding claim 16, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the FD-OCC is of length 4, 6, or 8 [Matsumura ¶ 0118: the FD-OCC having a sequence length of M may be used, wherein the number of DMRS ports can be increased to M/2 times as large as that of Rel-15 NR, e.g., M may be 4, 8, 16, 32, or the like; Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative (e.g., use of the word “or”), therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references].
Regarding claim 17, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the FD-OCC comprises a real-valued code or a complex-valued code [Matsumura ¶ 0131, Figs. 5B & 6B: orthogonal code of FIG. 5B is expressed in another manner, e.g., natural exponential function exp(z) (i.e. real-value code); Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative (e.g., use of the word “or”), therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references].
Regarding claim 18, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 15, wherein a DMRS sequence length is an integer multiple of the length of the FD-OCC [Matsumura ¶ 0110: the TD-OCC/FD-OCC of the DMRS according to Rel. 15 NR will be described. The DMRS mapped to the resource element (RE) may correspond to a sequence obtained by multiplying the TD-OCC on a DMRS sequence by a parameter (here, as DMRS must be mapped to discrete resources, the parameter would implicitly be an integer value)].
Regarding claim 20, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the DMRS is one DMRS of a plurality of DMRS and each DMRS of the plurality of DMRS is associated with a different cyclic shift [Matsumura ¶ 0092: a case of DMRS configuration type 1 and the double symbol DMRS, the Comb, the CS, and the TD-OCC may be used for orthogonalization. For example, up to eight APs may be supported by using two types of Combs, two types of CSs, and TD-OCCs ({1, 1} and {1, −1}) (here, different DMRS associated with different AP are subject to different comb/FD-OCC, i.e., cyclic shift)].
Regarding claim 21, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the DMRS is one DMRS of a plurality of DMRS and each DMRS of the plurality of DMRS is associated with a FD-OCC and a length of each of the FD-OCC may vary among DMRS [Matsumura ¶ 0122, Fig. 5A: different OCC is applied to Rel-15 DMRS and later than Rel 15 DMRS, wherein Fig. 5A shows different length OCC, e.g., DMRS type 1 for Rel-15 contrasted with DMRS type 1 for later Rel].
Regarding claim 22, Matsumura teaches a network node comprising processing circuitry operable to:
a wireless device determining a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is based on frequency domain coding using a frequency domain orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) of length greater than two or a number of cyclic shifts greater than two [Matsumura ¶ 0012: a control section that assumes that a frequency domain orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC) having a sequence length of a number larger than two is applied to a demodulation reference signal mapped to a pair of resource elements the number of which is greater than two and that are being different in frequency; see also ¶¶ 0117-0118: FD-OCC according to the first embodiment may be applied to M (M>2) RE pairs that are adjacent in the frequency direction in a given CDM group, wherein the FD-OCC having a sequence length of M may be used, wherein the number of DMRS ports can be increased to M/2 times as large as that of Rel-15 NR, e.g., M may be 4, 8, 16, 32, or the like]; and
transmit or receive a number of DMRS of the channel based on the frequency domain coding [Matsumura ¶ 0012: a transmitting/receiving section that performs transmission processing or reception processing of the demodulation reference signal, based on the FD-OCC; see also ¶ 0293: transmitting/receiving section 220 may perform transmission processing or reception processing of the demodulation reference signal, based on the FD-OCC].
However, Matsumura does not explicitly disclose transmitting an indication, wherein the indication includes a format of a DCI used to schedule a channel having the DMRS.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Hasegawa teaches transmitting an indication, wherein the indication includes a format of a DCI used to schedule a channel having the DMRS [Hasegawa ¶ 0072: when 2 OFDM symbols and 4-bit OCC are used the terminals are notified of the number of DMRS symbols in the RRC (step ST1), and then the terminals are notified of a row number based on a 1 DMRS symbol or 2 DMRS symbols in the DCI (step ST2) (here, the DCI of step 2 is analogous to a transmitted indication including a DCI format to schedule DMRS)].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of utilizing FD-OCC of length greater than 2 to transmit DMRS as taught by Matsumura, with the method of indicating a DCI format for scheduling DMRS with an associated OCC as taught by Hasegawa. The motivation to combine these references would be to reduce control overhead for reference signaling in a wireless communication system [Hasegawa ¶ 0008].
Regarding claim 23, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the network node of claim 22, wherein the FD-OCC is of length 4, 6, or 8 [Matsumura ¶ 0118: the FD-OCC having a sequence length of M may be used, wherein the number of DMRS ports can be increased to M/2 times as large as that of Rel-15 NR, e.g., M may be 4, 8, 16, 32, or the like; Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative (e.g., use of the word “or”), therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references].
Regarding claim 24, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the network node of claim 22, wherein the FD-OCC comprises a real-valued code or a complex-valued code [Matsumura ¶ 0131, Figs. 5B & 6B: orthogonal code of FIG. 5B is expressed in another manner, e.g., natural exponential function exp(z) (i.e. real-value code); Examiner’s Note: the limitations are written in the alternative (e.g., use of the word “or”), therefore, it is only necessary that one of the alternative limitations be taught by the applied references].
Regarding claim 25, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the network node of claim 22, wherein a DMRS sequence length is an integer multiple of the length of the FD-OCC [Matsumura ¶ 0110: the TD-OCC/FD-OCC of the DMRS according to Rel. 15 NR will be described. The DMRS mapped to the resource element (RE) may correspond to a sequence obtained by multiplying the TD-OCC on a DMRS sequence by a parameter (here, as DMRS must be mapped to discrete resources, the parameter would implicitly be an integer value)].
Regarding claim 27, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the network node of claim 22, wherein the DMRS is one DMRS of a plurality of DMRS and each DMRS of the plurality of DMRS is associated with a different cyclic shift [Matsumura ¶ 0092: a case of DMRS configuration type 1 and the double symbol DMRS, the Comb, the CS, and the TD-OCC may be used for orthogonalization. For example, up to eight APs may be supported by using two types of Combs, two types of CSs, and TD-OCCs ({1, 1} and {1, −1}) (here, different DMRS associated with different AP are subject to different comb/FD-OCC, i.e., cyclic shift)].
Regarding claim 28, Matsumura in view of Hasegawa teaches the network node of claim 22, wherein the DMRS is one DMRS of a plurality of DMRS and each DMRS of the plurality of DMRS is associated with a FD-OCC and a length of each of the FD-OCC may vary among DMRS [Matsumura ¶ 0122, Fig. 5A: different OCC is applied to Rel-15 DMRS and later than Rel 15 DMRS, wherein Fig. 5A shows different length OCC, e.g., DMRS type 1 for Rel-15 contrasted with DMRS type 1 for later Rel].
Conclusion
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/BRIAN P COX/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474