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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 29-48 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claims 29, 38, and 41 each recite the limitation "probabilities in the set of probabilities ". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. It is unclear whether the “set of probabilities” refers to the set of probabilities corresponding to a lower peak-to-average power ratio or the set of equal probabilities of transitions between modulation symbols. Applicant is advised to refer to the “set of probabilities” as a “first set of a probabilities” and the “set of equal probabilities of transitions between modulation symbols” as a “second set of equal probabilities of transitions between modulation symbols”. This will clarify that the processing of the input bit sequence into a symbol sequence conforms to the first set of probabilities corresponding to the lower peak to average power ratio (PAPR), achieving the desired result of managing the PAPR directly with the modulation scheme as recited in applicant’s originally filed specification.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 29-48 are allowable over the prior art. Said claims are drawn to an apparatus and method for encoding a bit string into a symbol sequence using a probability set describing the probabilities of transitions between modulation symbols that is specifically chosen to lower the PAPR relative to a set of equal probabilities. While the prior is replete with examples of managing PAPR in digital transmissions (see for example Back et al. 2022/0278882 paragraphs 0144 and 0240, Yoshida WO 2022/085137 A1, Liu et al. 2020/0204325 paragraph 0194, and Horn et al. 2022/0166481), said prior art does not appear to teach or reasonably suggest at the time of effective filing applicant’s claimed invention of utilizing a probability set specifically selected to have a lower PAPR than a corresponding set of equal probabilities, as claimed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOMINIC D SALTARELLI whose telephone number is (571)272-7302. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nathan Flynn can be reached at (571) 272-1915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DOMINIC D SALTARELLI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2421
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