DETAILED ACTION
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In line 1 of [0056], “SSB #192” should be changed to “SSB #191”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al (US 2023/0422310) in view of Takano et al (US 2022/0345908).
Regarding claim 7: Kim discloses a terminal comprising:
a receiver (see communication unit 1410 of Figure 14, for example) that receives one reference signal in a first group among a plurality of reference signals that are transmitted using different resources respectively, time-division-multiplexed, and divided into a plurality of groups including the first group, a second group, and a third group (disclosed throughout; see Figures 6, 9A, and 9B and [0101]-[0107], which disclose multiple (LF) groups (group 1…Group LF) of reference signals (SSBs); as indicated in Figure 6, the SSBs within each group are time-division-multiplexed; as indicated in [0123], in one example, the number of groups (LF) may be 1, 2, or 4; in the case of 4, the groups include a first group, a second group, and a third group); and
a processor (see controller 1430 of Figure 14, for example) that controls to receive one or more reference signals in the second group and one or more reference signals in the third group, based on reception of the one reference signal in the first group (disclosed throughout; see Figures 6, 9A, and 9B and [0101]-[0107], for example; in [0107], the UE may receive one of the SSBs through blind detection; further, based on this detected SSB, the UE may “identify the group index of the SSB, and identify frequency domains of the SSBs belonging to [FL-1] LF-1 different groups” and then “[t]he UE may receive the SSBs belonging to the LF-1 groups based on the identified frequency domain”; that is, based on the reception of the one reference signal in the first group, the UE receives one or more reference signals in at least the second and third groups).
Kim is silent regarding the number of the plurality of reference signals, simply referring to this value as “L”. That is, Kim is silent regarding the limitation wherein a number of the plurality of reference signals is greater than 64. However, Takano discloses a similar system for transmitting SSBs (see Figure 5, for example). Takano further discloses that maximum L number (or number of SSBs/beams) may be larger than 64 to support higher frequency bands and the necessary narrower beams. See [0062], for example. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Kim to use a maximum of 128 of 256 SSBs as suggested by Takano in [0052], for example. The rationale for doing so would have been to utilize higher frequency bands and cover a certain geographical area in an SSB burst with the required narrow beams used at this higher frequency as suggested by Takano in [0052], for example.
Regarding claim 9: Kim discloses a radio communication method for a terminal, comprising:
receiving one reference signal in a first group among a plurality of reference signals that are transmitted using different resources respectively, time-division-multiplexed, and divided into a plurality of groups including the first group, a second group, and a third group (disclosed throughout; see Figures 6, 9A, and 9B and [0101]-[0107], which disclose multiple (LF) groups (group 1…Group LF) of reference signals (SSBs); as indicated in Figure 6, the SSBs within each group are time-division-multiplexed; as indicated in [0123], in one example, the number of groups (LF) may be 1, 2, or 4; in the case of 4, the groups include a first group, a second group, and a third group); and
controlling to receive one or more reference signals in the second group and one or more reference signals in the third group, based on reception of the one reference signal in the first group (disclosed throughout; see Figures 6, 9A, and 9B and [0101]-[0107], for example; in [0107], the UE may receive one of the SSBs through blind detection; further, based on this detected SSB, the UE may “identify the group index of the SSB, and identify frequency domains of the SSBs belonging to [FL-1] LF-1 different groups” and then “[t]he UE may receive the SSBs belonging to the LF-1 groups based on the identified frequency domain”; that is, based on the reception of the one reference signal in the first group, the UE receives one or more reference signals in at least the second and third groups).
Kim is silent regarding the number of the plurality of reference signals, simply referring to this value as “L”. That is, Kim is silent regarding the limitation wherein a number of the plurality of reference signals is greater than 64. However, Takano discloses a similar system for transmitting SSBs (see Figure 5, for example). Takano further discloses that maximum L number (or number of SSBs/beams) may be larger than 64 to support higher frequency bands and the necessary narrower beams. See [0062], for example. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Kim to use a maximum of 128 of 256 SSBs as suggested by Takano in [0052], for example. The rationale for doing so would have been to utilize higher frequency bands and cover a certain geographical area in an SSB burst with the required narrow beams used at this higher frequency as suggested by Takano in [0052], for example.
Regarding claim 10: Kim discloses a base station comprising:
a transmitter (see wireless communication unit 1510 of Figure 15, for example) that transmits one reference signal in a first group among a plurality of reference signals that are transmitted using different resources respectively, time-division-multiplexed, and divided into a plurality of groups including the first group, a second group, and a third group (disclosed throughout; see Figures 6, 9A, and 9B and [0101]-[0107], which disclose multiple (LF) groups (group 1…Group LF) of reference signals (SSBs); as indicated in Figure 6, the SSBs within each group are time-division-multiplexed; as indicated in [0123], in one example, the number of groups (LF) may be 1, 2, or 4; in the case of 4, the groups include a first group, a second group, and a third group); and
a processor (see controller 1540 of Figure 15, for example) that controls to transmit one or more reference signals in the second group and one or more reference signals in the third group, which a terminal receives based on reception of the one reference signal in the first group (disclosed throughout; see Figures 6, 9A, and 9B and [0101]-[0107], for example; in [0107], the UE may receive one of the SSBs through blind detection; further, based on this detected SSB, the UE may “identify the group index of the SSB, and identify frequency domains of the SSBs belonging to [FL-1] LF-1 different groups” and then “[t]he UE may receive the SSBs belonging to the LF-1 groups based on the identified frequency domain”; that is, based on the reception of the one reference signal in the first group, the UE receives one or more reference signals in at least the second and third groups).
Kim is silent regarding the number of the plurality of reference signals, simply referring to this value as “L”. That is, Kim is silent regarding the limitation wherein a number of the plurality of reference signals is greater than 64. However, Takano discloses a similar system for transmitting SSBs (see Figure 5, for example). Takano further discloses that maximum L number (or number of SSBs/beams) may be larger than 64 to support higher frequency bands and the necessary narrower beams. See [0062], for example. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Kim to use a maximum of 128 of 256 SSBs as suggested by Takano in [0052], for example. The rationale for doing so would have been to utilize higher frequency bands and cover a certain geographical area in an SSB burst with the required narrow beams used at this higher frequency as suggested by Takano in [0052], for example.
Regarding claim 11: Kim discloses a system comprising a terminal and a base station (see the terminal/UE in Figure 14 and base station in Figure 15, for example), wherein the terminal comprises:
a receiver (see communication unit 1410 of Figure 14, for example) that receives one reference signal in a first group among a plurality of reference signals that are transmitted using different resources respectively, time-division-multiplexed, and divided into a plurality of groups including the first group, a second group, and a third group (disclosed throughout; see Figures 6, 9A, and 9B and [0101]-[0107], which disclose multiple (LF) groups (group 1…Group LF) of reference signals (SSBs); as indicated in Figure 6, the SSBs within each group are time-division-multiplexed; as indicated in [0123], in one example, the number of groups (LF) may be 1, 2, or 4; in the case of 4, the groups include a first group, a second group, and a third group); and
a processor (see controller 1430 of Figure 14, for example) that controls to receive one or more reference signals in the second group and one or more reference signals in the third group, based on reception of the one reference signal in the first group (disclosed throughout; see Figures 6, 9A, and 9B and [0101]-[0107], for example; in [0107], the UE may receive one of the SSBs through blind detection; further, based on this detected SSB, the UE may “identify the group index of the SSB, and identify frequency domains of the SSBs belonging to [FL-1] LF-1 different groups” and then “[t]he UE may receive the SSBs belonging to the LF-1 groups based on the identified frequency domain”; that is, based on the reception of the one reference signal in the first group, the UE receives one or more reference signals in at least the second and third groups),
the base station comprises:
a transmitter (see wireless communication unit 1510 of Figure 15, for example) that transmits the one reference signal in the first group (disclosed throughout; see Figures 6, 9A, and 9B and [0101]-[0107], for example; see [0106] and step 904 of Figure 9A, for example).
Kim is silent regarding the number of the plurality of reference signals, simply referring to this value as “L”. That is, Kim is silent regarding the limitation wherein a number of the plurality of reference signals is greater than 64. However, Takano discloses a similar system for transmitting SSBs (see Figure 5, for example). Takano further discloses that maximum L number (or number of SSBs/beams) may be larger than 64 to support higher frequency bands and the necessary narrower beams. See [0062], for example. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Kim to use a maximum of 128 of 256 SSBs as suggested by Takano in [0052], for example. The rationale for doing so would have been to utilize higher frequency bands and cover a certain geographical area in an SSB burst with the required narrow beams used at this higher frequency as suggested by Takano in [0052], for example.
Regarding claim 8: Kim discloses the limitations that the plurality of groups correspond to a plurality of periods (disclosed throughout; see [0101] and Figure 6, for example, which indicates that each of the groups corresponds to a plurality of periods (such as the period during which SSB0 is transmitted, the period during which SSB1 is transmitted, etc.); as indicated in [0101], the SSBs are continuously mapped to these periods starting at time t1), and the receiver receives the plurality of groups in the plurality of periods, respectively (disclosed throughout; see Figure 9B, and [0107], which discloses that the UE’s receiver receives the SSBs in the plurality of groups and periods).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhang et al (US 2022/0338140) discloses a method for transmitting SSBs from a network to a terminal device.
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Robert C. Scheibel
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2467
/Robert C Scheibel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467 June 2, 2026
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