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 .
Response to Arguments
2. Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant’s Remarks, filed 5/19/2026, with respect to claim 1 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The previous 35 USC 102 rejection of claims 1-4, 14-20, 256, 26, 28, and 29 has been withdrawn. There is a new rejection under 35 USC 103.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The factual inquiries 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.
6. Claim(s) 1-4, 14-20, 25-26, and 28-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 2023/0397226 A1 by Matsumura et al. (previously presented, hereafter referred to as Matsumura), in view of US 2023/0422272 A1 by Sun et al. (hereafter referred to as Sun).
Regarding claim 1, Matsumura teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (see at least ¶ [0246]; “For example, the base station, the user terminal, and the like according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that executes the processing of the radio communication method of the present disclosure.”), comprising:
at least one processor (see at least Fig. 14 and ¶ [0246]-[0251]; processor 1001); and
at least one memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that (see at least Fig. 14 and ¶ [0246]-[0253]; processor 1001, memory 1002), when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to:
receive configuration information associated with a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set and a second SRS resource set (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]); and
receive downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a spatial division multiplexing (SDM) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]), the DCI including:
a first SRS resource indicator (SRI) field associated with the first SRS resource set that indicates one or more first transmission parameters for one or more first layers of the SDM PUSCH communication (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]; SRI), a first transmit precoder matrix indicator (TPMI) field that indicates one or more first precoding parameters for the one or more first layers (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0066]; Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator (TPMI)), a second SRI field associated with the second SRS resource set that indicates a one or more second transmission parameters for one or more second layers of the SDM PUSCH communication (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]; SRI), and a second TPMI field that indicates one or more second precoding parameters for the one or more second layers (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0066]; Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator (TPMI)).
Matsumura fails to specifically disclose a single DCI that includes a first SRI field and a second SRI field.
In the same field of endeavor, Sun teaches a single DCI that includes a first SRI field and a second SRI field (see at least abstract; “The UE receives a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set configuration including a first resource set corresponding to a first transmission and reception point (TRP) and a second resource set corresponding to a second TRP, receives a downlink control information (DCI) transmission including an SRS resource indicator (SRI) indicating (i) which resource from the first resource set should be selected for a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission to a first TRP, and (ii) which resource from the second resource set should be selected for a second PUSCH transmission to a second TRP and transmits the first PUSCH transmission to the first TRP and the second PUSCH transmission to the second TRP.”).
It would have ben obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the DCI taught by Matsumura with the DCI as taught by Sun in order to improve reliability of the wireless channels.
Regarding claim 2, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the UE of claim 1.
In addition, Matsumura further teaches wherein the one or more first transmission parameters comprise at least one of: one or more beams for the one or more first layers or one or more power control parameters for the one or more first layers, and wherein the one or more first precoding parameters comprise at least one of: a codebook-based precoder index or a quantity of layers for the one or more first layers (see at least ¶ [0065]; “Further, the usage (the RRC parameter “usage” or the Layer-1 (L1) parameter “SRS-SetUse”) may be, for example, beam management, codebook (CB), non-codebook (NCB), antenna switching, or the like. SRS used for the codebook or the non-codebook may be used to determine a precoder for codebook-based or non-codebook-based PUSCH transmission based on SRI”).
Regarding claim 3, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the UE of claim 1.
In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein the at least one memory further stores processor- readable code configured to cause the UE to identify a precoder matrix, for precoding the one or more first layers, based at least in part on a maximum rank associated with the first SRS resource set and a quantity of ports associated with an SRS resource, of the first SRS resource set, indicated by the first SRI field (see at least ¶ [0066]; “For example, in the case of the codebook-based transmission, the UE may determine the precoder for the PUSCH transmission based on the SRI, a Transmitted Rank Indicator (TRI), and a Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator (TPMI).”).
Regarding claim 4, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the UE of claim 3.
In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein the at least one memory further stores processor- readable code configured to cause the UE to identify the maximum rank associated with the first SRS resource set based at least in part on at least one of: a radio resource control (RRC) configuration, a configuration at the UE, or a combined maximum rank for the first SRS resource set and the second SRS resource set (see at least ¶ [0128] and [0290]; “FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which a plurality of (in this example, two) SRIs corresponding to one SRI code point (field value) are configured by higher layer signaling (for example, RRC signaling) over a plurality of CORESET pool indexes.”).
Regarding claim 14, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the UE of claim 1.
In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein an overall quantity of bits included in the DCI for the first TPMI field and the second TPMI field, for supporting dynamic switching between single transmit receive point (sTRP) communication and multiple transmit receive point (mTRP) communication, corresponds to a greater quantity of a first quantity of bits for sTRP communication or a second quantity of bits for mTRP communication (see at least ¶ [0100]-[0103] and [0108]-[0110]; MTRP).
Regarding claim 15, Matsumura teaches A base station for wireless communication (see at least ¶ [0246]; “For example, the base station, the user terminal, and the like according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may function as a computer that executes the processing of the radio communication method of the present disclosure.”), comprising:
at least one processor (see at least Fig. 14 and ¶ [0246]-[0251]; processor 1001); and
at least one memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code (see at least Fig. 14 and ¶ [0246]-[0253]; processor 1001, memory 1002)that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the base station to:
transmit configuration information associated with a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set and a second SRS resource set (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]); and
transmit downlink control information (DCI) that schedules a spatial division multiplexing (SDM) physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) communication (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]), the DCI including:
a first SRS resource indicator (SRI) field associated with the first SRS resource set that indicates one or more first transmission parameters for one or more first layers of the SDM PUSCH communication (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]; SRI), a first transmit precoder matrix indicator (TPMI) field that indicates one or more first precoding parameters for the one or more first layers (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0066]; Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator (TPMI)), a second SRI field associated with the second SRS resource set that indicates a one or more second transmission parameters for one or more second layers of the SDM PUSCH communication (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]; SRI), and a second TPMI field that indicates one or more second precoding parameters for the one or more second layers (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0066]; Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator (TPMI)).
Matsumura fails to specifically disclose a single DCI that includes a first SRI field and a second SRI field.
In the same field of endeavor, Sun teaches a single DCI that includes a first SRI field and a second SRI field (see at least abstract; “The UE receives a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource set configuration including a first resource set corresponding to a first transmission and reception point (TRP) and a second resource set corresponding to a second TRP, receives a downlink control information (DCI) transmission including an SRS resource indicator (SRI) indicating (i) which resource from the first resource set should be selected for a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission to a first TRP, and (ii) which resource from the second resource set should be selected for a second PUSCH transmission to a second TRP and transmits the first PUSCH transmission to the first TRP and the second PUSCH transmission to the second TRP.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the DCI taught by Matsumura with the DCI as taught by Sun in order to improve reliability of the wireless channels.
Regarding claim 16, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the base station of claim 15. In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein the one or more first transmission parameters comprise at least one of: one or more beams for the one or more first layers or one or more power control parameters for the one or more first layers, and wherein the one or more first precoding parameters comprise at least one of: a codebook-based precoder index or a quantity of layers for the one or more first layers (see at least ¶ [0065]; “Further, the usage (the RRC parameter “usage” or the Layer-1 (L1) parameter “SRS-SetUse”) may be, for example, beam management, codebook (CB), non-codebook (NCB), antenna switching, or the like. SRS used for the codebook or the non-codebook may be used to determine a precoder for codebook-based or non-codebook-based PUSCH transmission based on SRI”).
Regarding claim 17, Matsumura teaches the base station of claim 15.
In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein a quantity of bits included in the first TPMI field is based at least in part on at least one of. a maximum rank associated with the first SRS resource set, a first quantity of one or more first ports associated with a first SRS resource of the first SRS resource set indicated by the first SRI field (see at least ¶ [0066]; “For example, in the case of the codebook-based transmission, the UE may determine the precoder for the PUSCH transmission based on the SRI, a Transmitted Rank Indicator (TRI), and a Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator (TPMI).”), a coherency of the one or more first ports associated with the first SRS resource and one or more second ports associated with a second SRS resource of the second SRS resource set indicated by the second SRI field, or whether fullpowerModel is configured (see at least Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 18, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the base station of claim 17. In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein the quantity of the one or more first ports and a quantity of the one or more second ports are a same quantity (see at least ¶ [0126]; SRS resource sets for each CORESET pool index may be assumed to be the same).
Regarding claim 19, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the base station of claim 17. In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein the quantity of the one or more first ports and a quantity of the one or more second ports are different quantities (see at least ¶ [0140]; different fields).
Regarding claim 20, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the base station of claim 17. In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein the quantity of bits included in the first TPMI field is based at least in part on a first maximum quantity of ports for the first SRS resource set, and wherein the quantity of bits included in the second TPMI field is based at least in part on a second maximum quantity of ports for the second SRS resource set with zero padding (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]).
Regarding claim 25, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the base station of claim 15. In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein an overall quantity of bits included in the DCI for the first TPMI field and the second TPMI field, for supporting dynamic switching between single transmit receive point (sTRP) communication and multiple transmit receive point (mTRP) communication, corresponds to a greater quantity of a first quantity of bits for sTRP communication or a second quantity of bits for mTRP communication (see at least ¶ [0100]-[0103] and [0108]-[0110]; MTRP).
As to claims 26 and 28, which is the corresponding method of the system as recited in claim 1 and 14, the rejection and analysis made for claims 1 and 14 also applies for claims 26 and 28.
As to claim 29, which is the corresponding method of the system as recited in claim 15, the rejection and analysis made for claim 15 also applies for claim 29.
7. Claim(s) 5-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura in view of Sun as applied to claims 1 and 3 above, in view of US 2021/0226680 A1 by KHOSHNEVISAN et al. (hereafter referred to as KHOSHNEVISAN).
Regarding claim 5, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the UE of claim 3.
Matsumura in view of Sun does not appear to specifically disclose wherein, to cause the UE to identify the precoder matrix, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to: identify a first table based at least in part on the maximum rank and the quantity of antenna ports, identify a TPMI index and a quantity of layers based at least in part on an association in the first table between the TPMI index, the quantity of layers, and a bit field index indicated by the first TPMI field, identify a second table based at least in part on the quantity of layers and the quantity of ports, and identify the precoder matrix in the second table based at least in part on the TPMI index.
In the same field of endeavor, KHOSHNEVISAN teaches wherein, to cause the UE to identify the precoder matrix, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to: identify a first table based at least in part on the maximum rank and the quantity of antenna ports, identify a TPMI index and a quantity of layers based at least in part on an association in the first table between the TPMI index, the quantity of layers, and a bit field index indicated by the first TPMI field (see at least Fig. 3B and ¶ [0047]; “In some cases, the size of the field may be based at least in part on the quantity of antenna ports indicated for the SRS resource, a Codebooksubset field, a Maxrank field, and/or a TransformPrecoder field. The quantity of antenna ports may be used to identify a quantity of rows for an associated TPMI matrix.”), identify a second table based at least in part on the quantity of layers and the quantity of ports, and identify the precoder matrix in the second table based at least in part on the TPMI index (see at least Fig. 3C).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Matsumura in view of Sun with KHOSHNEVISAN in order to improvements in LTE and NR technologies.
Regarding claim 6, Matsumura in view of Sun teaches the UE of claim 1.
Matsumura in view of Sun does not appear to specifically disclose wherein a quantity of bits included in the first TPMI field is based at least in part on at least one of: a maximum rank associated with the first SRS resource set, a first quantity of one or more first ports associated with a first SRS resource of the first SRS resource set indicated by the first SRI field, a coherency of the one or more first ports associated with the first SRS resource and one or more second ports associated with a second SRS resource of the second SRS resource set indicated by the second SRI field, or whether fullpowerModel is configured.
In the same field of endeavor, KHOSHNEVISAN wherein a quantity of bits included in the first TPMI field is based at least in part on at least one of: a maximum rank associated with the first SRS resource set, a first quantity of one or more first ports associated with a first SRS resource of the first SRS resource set indicated by the first SRI field, a coherency of the one or more first ports associated with the first SRS resource and one or more second ports associated with a second SRS resource of the second SRS resource set indicated by the second SRI field, or whether fullpowerModel is configured (see at least ¶ [0047]; “In some cases, the size of the field may be based at least in part on the quantity of antenna ports indicated for the SRS resource, a Codebooksubset field, a Maxrank field, and/or a TransformPrecoder field. The quantity of antenna ports may be used to identify a quantity of rows for an associated TPMI matrix”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Matsumura in view of Sun with KHOSHNEVISAN in order to improvements in LTE and NR technologies.
Regarding claim 7, Matsumura in view of Sun and KHOSHNEVISAN teaches the UE of claim 6. In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein the quantity of the one or more first ports and a quantity of the one or more second ports are a same quantity (see at least ¶ [0126]; SRS resource sets for each CORESET pool index may be assumed to be the same).
Regarding claim 8, Matsumura in view of Sun and KHOSHNEVISAN teaches the UE of claim 6.
In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein the quantity of the one or more first ports and a quantity of the one or more second ports are different quantities (see at least ¶ [0140]; different fields).
Regarding claim 9, Matsumura in view of Sun and KHOSHNEVISAN teaches the UE of claim 6. In addition, Matsumura teaches wherein the quantity of bits included in the first TPMI field is based at least in part on a first maximum quantity of ports for the first SRS resource set, and wherein the quantity of bits included in the second TPMI field is based at least in part on a second maximum quantity of ports for the second SRS resource set with zero padding (see at least Fig. 6 and ¶ [0121]-[0123]).
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 10-13, 21-24, 27, and 30 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.
Conclusion
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATASHA W COSME whose telephone number is (571)270-7225. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30-4. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached at 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATASHA W COSME/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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