DETAILED ACTION
Claims status
In response to the amendment filed on 06/29/2026, claims 21-30 have been withdrawn, and thus claims 1-20 are currently pending for the examination. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
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 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by LEE et al. (US 2019/0268113 A1).
Regarding claim 1; Lee teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory (See Fig. 1 and its components. ¶ [0038]), configured to:
receive, from a base station, a configuration of a control region in a delay-Doppler domain (See Fig. 9 and ¶ [0080]: UE 1 receives/detects control information allocated thereto from a downlink control region (or a downlink control channel region). Lee further teaches that the control information may be transmitted using a downlink control channel, such as PDCCH or ePDCCH, and that a new DCI format within the PDCCH/ePDCCH may be transmitted on an OTFS basis. See ¶ [0083]. Lee further teaches receiving information/data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a predefined rule (i.e., being analyzed as an OTFS precoding size and rule) using an N×N OTFS transform matrix on time and frequency domains corresponding to the OTFS basis size. See Lee's Abstract and claim 1. Lee additionally teaches delay-Doppler processing in which the UE determines a channel coefficient for a delay for each path and each Doppler shift. See ¶ [0088]. Accordingly, Lee's control-region configuration together with the OTFS basis/transform configuration and delay-Doppler processing teaches the claimed configuration of a control region in a delay-Doppler domain) and;
receive, from the base station, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) communication with orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) precoding (See Figs. 9-10 and ¶ [0083]: the base station notifies UE 1 of information using a downlink control channel, for example, PDCCH or ePDCCH. Lee expressly teaches that the information may be included and transmitted in a new DCI format within the PDCCH or ePDCCH, and further expressly provides that “the new DCI format may be transmitted on a conventional OFDM or OTFS basis.” Thus, Lee expressly teaches PDCCH/ePDCCH-carried DCI transmitted on an OTFS basis. See also Lee's Abstract and claim 1, teaching receiving information/data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a predefined rule and using an N×N OTFS transform matrix, reasonably corresponding to the claimed OTFS precoding.); and
decode the PDCCH communication with the OTFS precoding based at least in part on the configuration of the control region (See Figs. 9-10: the UE to receive/decode the PDCCH using DL control channel/region and detect information on an OTFS basis size N from a base station; and receiving data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a pre-defined rule (i.e., precoding size and rule) in an N×N OTFS transform matrix on time and frequency domains corresponding to the OTFS basis size. See Lee’s Abstract and claim 1) in the Delay-Doppler domain (See Figs. 9-10: the UE to find a channel coefficient for a delay for each path and each Doppler shift (i.e., in a delay-Doppler Domain) by multiplying the received signal of a corresponding resource from B0,0 to B4,4. The UE 1 may know a degree to which each data is distorted by the delay and Doppler shift, based on this channel coefficient included in the Control information. ¶ [0088]).
Regarding claim 2; Lee teaches The UE wherein the one or more processors, to decode the PDCCH communication with OTFS precoding (See Figs. 9-10: the UE to receive/decode the PDCCH using DL control channel/region and detect information on an OTFS basis size N from a base station. See Abstract), are configured to:
apply OTFS decoding to the PDCCH communication with OTFS precoding (See Figs. 9-10: receiving data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a pre-defined rule (i.e., precoding size and rule) in an N×N OTFS transform matrix on time and frequency domains corresponding to the OTFS basis size. See Lee’s Abstract and claim 1), resulting in an information block in the delay-Doppler domain (See Fig. 7: A first path 316 represents a channel with no Doppler effect and with a delay by one sample, while a second path 318 represents a channel in which only two samples of delay occur and a Doppler shift occurs by two. (In this connection, the sample refers to a smallest unit at which the receiving stage of a system using OTFS can detect the delay or Doppler. ¶ [0071]); and
decode the PDCCH communication based at least in part on the configuration of the control region, wherein the configuration of the control region indicates a set of allocated delay-Doppler samples for the control region in the information block (See Figs. 9-10: the UE to receive/decode the PDCCH using DL control channel/region and detect information on an OTFS basis size N from a base station; and receiving data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a pre-defined rule (i.e., precoding size and rule) in an N×N OTFS transform matrix on time and frequency domains corresponding to the OTFS basis size. See Lee’s Abstract and claim 1), and wherein the PDCCH communication is included in one or more delay-Doppler samples in the set of allocated delay-Doppler samples (See Figs. 9-10: the UE to find a channel coefficient for a delay for each path and each Doppler shift (i.e., in a delay-Doppler Domain) by multiplying the received signal of a corresponding resource from B0,0 to B4,4. The UE 1 may know a degree to which each data is distorted by the delay and Doppler shift, based on this channel coefficient included in the Control information. ¶ [0088]).
Regarding claim 13; Lee teaches a base station for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a configuration of a control region in a delay-Doppler domain (See Fig. 9 and ¶ [0080]: a Base Staton or Access Point to transmit control information allocated thereto from a downlink control region (or a downlink control channel region). Lee further teaches that the control information may be transmitted using a downlink control channel, such as PDCCH or ePDCCH, and that a new DCI format within the PDCCH/ePDCCH may be transmitted on an OTFS basis. See ¶ [0083]. Lee further teaches receiving information/data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a predefined rule (i.e., being analyzed as an OTFS precoding size and rule) using an N×N OTFS transform matrix on time and frequency domains corresponding to the OTFS basis size. See Lee's Abstract and claim 1. Lee additionally teaches delay-Doppler processing in which the UE determines a channel coefficient for a delay for each path and each Doppler shift. See ¶ [0088]. Accordingly, Lee's control-region configuration together with the OTFS basis/transform configuration and delay-Doppler processing teaches the claimed configuration of a control region in a delay-Doppler domain)
apply orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) precoding to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) communication included in the control region in the delay-Doppler domain (See Figs. 9-10 and ¶ [0083]: the base station notifies UE 1 of information using a downlink control channel, for example, PDCCH or ePDCCH. Lee expressly teaches that the information may be included and transmitted in a new DCI format within the PDCCH or ePDCCH, and further expressly provides that “the new DCI format may be transmitted on a conventional OFDM or OTFS basis.” Thus, Lee expressly teaches PDCCH/ePDCCH-carried DCI transmitted on an OTFS basis. See also Lee's Abstract and claim 1, teaching receiving information/data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a predefined rule and using an N×N OTFS transform matrix, reasonably corresponding to the claimed OTFS precoding.); and
transmit, to the UE, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) communication (See Fig. 9 and 10: The base station needs to notify/transmit an user equipment 1 (UE1) of following four pieces of information…using a downlink control channel (for example, PDCCH or ePDCCH), and…In a new DCI (Downlink Control Information) format transmitting within the PDCCH or the ePDCCH. ¶ [0083]) with orthogonal time frequency space (OTFS) precoding; (See Figs. 9-10: using the OTFS Transmission scheme. ¶ [0080-0083]).
Regarding claim 14; Lee teaches The BS wherein the one or more processors, to decode the PDCCH communication with OTFS precoding (See Figs. 9-10: the UE to receive/decode the PDCCH using DL control channel/region and detect information on an OTFS basis size N from a base station. See Abstract), are configured to:
apply OTFS decoding to the PDCCH communication with OTFS precoding (See Figs. 9-10: receiving data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a pre-defined rule (i.e., precoding size and rule) in an N×N OTFS transform matrix on time and frequency domains corresponding to the OTFS basis size. See Lee’s Abstract and claim 1), resulting in an information block in the delay-Doppler domain (See Fig. 7: A first path 316 represents a channel with no Doppler effect and with a delay by one sample, while a second path 318 represents a channel in which only two samples of delay occur and a Doppler shift occurs by two. (In this connection, the sample refers to a smallest unit at which the receiving stage of a system using OTFS can detect the delay or Doppler. ¶ [0071]); and
decode the PDCCH communication based at least in part on the configuration of the control region, wherein the configuration of the control region indicates a set of allocated delay-Doppler samples for the control region in the information block (See Figs. 9-10: the UE to receive/decode the PDCCH using DL control channel/region and detect information on an OTFS basis size N from a base station; and receiving data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a pre-defined rule (i.e., precoding size and rule) in an N×N OTFS transform matrix on time and frequency domains corresponding to the OTFS basis size. See Lee’s Abstract and claim 1), and wherein the PDCCH communication is included in one or more delay-Doppler samples in the set of allocated delay-Doppler samples (See Figs. 9-10: the UE to find a channel coefficient for a delay for each path and each Doppler shift (i.e., in a delay-Doppler Domain) by multiplying the received signal of a corresponding resource from B0,0 to B4,4. The UE 1 may know a degree to which each data is distorted by the delay and Doppler shift, based on this channel coefficient included in the Control information. ¶ [0088]).
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 9-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LEE et al. (US 2019/0268113 A1) in view of Kwak et al. (US 2021/0058970 A1).
Regarding claim 9; Lee teaches the UE wherein the PDCCH communication with the OTFS precoding includes PDCCH data and a PDCCH pilot signal (Lee-The base station needs to notify an user equipment 1 (UE1) of following four pieces of information in addition to existing information such as existing MCS, RB, etc., using a downlink control channel (for example, PDCCH or ePDCCH). In this connection, the above-mentioned four pieces of information may be included and transmitted in a new DCI (Downlink Control Information) format within the PDCCH or the ePDCCH. ¶ [0083]).
Lee doesn’t explicitly describe wherein the configuration of the control region indicates an allocation of the PDCCH DMRS on all or a subset of delay-Doppler samples in the set of allocated delay-Doppler samples.
However, Kwak discloses wherein the configuration of the control region (Kwak- the PDCCH can be used to schedule DL transmissions on PDSCH and UL transmissions on PUSCH, wherein the DCI on PDCCH includes, inter alia, downlink assignments containing at least modulation and coding format. ¶ [0079]) indicates an allocation of the PDCCH DMRS (Kwak- UE attempt to find the primary channel by detecting the DMRS and/or decoding the GC-PDCCH. ¶ [0053]) on all in the set of allocated delay-Doppler samples (Kwak: The large-scale properties include one or more of delay spread, Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and spatial Rx parameters. ¶ [0072]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide that wherein the configuration of the control region indicates an allocation of the PDCCH DMRS on all or a subset of delay-Doppler samples in the set of allocated delay-Doppler samples as taught by Kwak to have incorporated in the system of Lee, so that it would provide more accurate and efficient operation of WB procedures with LBT operation as compared with existing and/or previous solutions. Kwak-¶ [0023].
Regarding claim 10; Lee in view of Kwak discloses the UE wherein the PDCCH communication with PDCCH precoding includes scheduling information for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communication (Kwak- the PDCCH can be used to schedule DL transmissions on PDSCH and UL transmissions on PUSCH, wherein the DCI on PDCCH includes, inter alia, downlink assignments containing at least modulation and coding format. ¶ [0079]), wherein the PDSCH communication is jointly modulated with the PDCCH communication in the information block (Kwak- The UE 601 monitors a set of PDCCH candidates on one or more activated serving cells as configured by higher layer signaling for control information (e.g., DCI), where monitoring implies attempting to decode each of the PDCCHs (or PDCCH candidates) in the set according to all the monitored DCI formats. ¶ [0077]).
Regarding claim 11; Lee in view of Kwak discloses the UE wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: decode the PDSCH communication jointly modulated with the PDCCH communication in the information block based at least in part on the scheduling information (Kwak- the PDCCH can be used to schedule DL transmissions on PDSCH and UL transmissions on PUSCH, wherein the DCI on PDCCH includes, inter alia, downlink assignments containing at least modulation and coding format, resource allocation, and HARQ information related to DL-SCH; and/or uplink scheduling grants containing at least modulation and coding format, resource allocation. ¶ [0079]).
Regarding claim 12; Lee in view of Kwak discloses the UE wherein the information block includes multiple repetitions of the PDCCH communication with the OTFS precoding (Kwak-See Fig. 11: At 1104, the process 1100 may further include monitoring for a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) on one or more of the monitoring locations. ¶ [0158]),
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-8 and 15-20 are objected to as being dependent upon the rejected base claims but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
In response to the amendment as filed on 06/29/2026, Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Arguments:
Applicant argued that Lee does not teach applying OTFS precoding to the PDCCH communication itself.
Examiner’s responses:
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant relies substantially upon Lee ¶ [0080] to argue that Lee applies OTFS only to the data region. However, Applicant's interpretation fails to account for Lee's express disclosure in ¶ [0083] concerning transmission of the control information itself on an OTFS basis. Specifically, Lee ¶ [0083] teaches that the base station notifies the UE of information using a downlink control channel, such as PDCCH or ePDCCH, that such information may be included in a new DCI format within the PDCCH or ePDCCH, and that:
“The new DCI format may be transmitted on a conventional OFDM or OTFS basis.” Thus, contrary to Applicant's argument, Lee expressly provides an embodiment in which the DCI carried within the PDCCH/ePDCCH is transmitted on an OTFS basis. Applicant's reliance upon the data-region embodiment of ¶ [0080] does not negate this additional express teaching of ¶ [0083]. Lee further teaches receiving data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a predefined rule, which is reasonably analyzed as providing an OTFS precoding size and rule, using an N×N OTFS transform matrix in the time and frequency domains corresponding to the OTFS basis size. See Lee’s Abstract and claim 1. Accordingly, Lee does not merely mention OTFS as an unsupported alternative; Lee expressly provides the OTFS basis size, indexing according to a predefined rule, and the corresponding N×N OTFS transform operation for implementing OTFS transmission/reception.
Arguments:
Applicant further argued that Lee fails to provide any further explanation of how control information in DCI or PDCCH would actually be configured, received, or decoded using OTFS precoding. Specifically, this bare mention that DCI "may be transmitted on...OTFS basis"
Examiner’s responses:
Examiner further disagrees.
With respect to the claimed “configuration of a control region in a delay-Doppler domain,” Lee ¶ [0080] teaches that UE 1 receives and detects control information allocated thereto from a downlink control region (or downlink control channel region). Lee ¶ [0083] expressly teaches that the DCI within the PDCCH/ePDCCH may itself be transmitted on an OTFS basis. These teachings, considered together with Lee's OTFS basis and N×N transform teachings, disclose or at least necessarily describe application of the disclosed OTFS transmission framework to the PDCCH/DCI communication. In wireless communication, decoding is an inherently essential part of the transmission itself. Without proper decoding, there will be no transmission/reception in this system.
Arguments:
Applicant further argued the cited prior art does not describe decoding a PDCCH communication with OTFS precoding based on a configuration of a control region in the delay-Doppler domain, as recited by claim 1.
Examiner’s responses:
Examiner further disagrees. Lee ¶ [0083] teaches that the base station notifies the UE of information using a downlink control channel, such as PDCCH or ePDCCH, that such information may be included in a new DCI format within the PDCCH or ePDCCH, and that:
“The new DCI format may be transmitted on a conventional OFDM or OTFS basis.” Lee further provides an embodiment in which the DCI carried within the PDCCH/ePDCCH is transmitted on an OTFS basis. Applicant's reliance upon the data-region embodiment of ¶ [0080] does not negate this additional express teaching of ¶ [0083]. Lee further teaches receiving data on OTFS bases of a predetermined size indexed according to a predefined rule, which is reasonably analyzed as providing an OTFS precoding size and rule, using an N×N OTFS transform matrix in the time and frequency domains corresponding to the OTFS basis size. See Lee’s Abstract and claim 1. Accordingly, Lee does not merely mention OTFS as an unsupported alternative; Lee expressly provides the OTFS basis size, indexing according to a predefined rule, and the corresponding N×N OTFS transform operation for implementing OTFS transmission/reception. With respect to the claimed “configuration of a control region in a delay-Doppler domain,” Lee ¶ [0080] teaches that UE 1 receives and detects control information allocated thereto from a downlink control region (or downlink control channel region). Lee ¶ [0083] expressly teaches that the DCI within the PDCCH/ePDCCH may itself be transmitted on an OTFS basis. These teachings, considered together with Lee's OTFS basis and N×N transform teachings, disclose or at least necessarily describe application of the disclosed OTFS transmission framework to the PDCCH/DCI communication. Applicant further argues that ¶ [0088] relates to data decoding rather than PDCCH decoding. However, the Examiner does not rely upon ¶ [0088] in isolation. Paragraph [0088] further demonstrates how Lee's OTFS receiver operates with respect to the delay-Doppler domain, teaching that the UE performs two-dimensional channel estimation and determines a channel coefficient for a delay for each path and each Doppler shift. This teaching is considered together with ¶ [0083], which expressly provides that the DCI carried within PDCCH/ePDCCH may be transmitted on an OTFS basis, and Lee's Abstract and claim 1, which disclose the OTFS basis size, predefined indexing rule, and corresponding N×N OTFS transform matrix.
Accordingly, Lee's teachings considered as a whole disclose: (1) receiving control information from a downlink control region (¶ [0080]); (2) transmitting DCI within PDCCH/ePDCCH (¶ [0083]); (3) expressly transmitting such DCI on an OTFS basis (¶ [0083]); (4) receiving information using predetermined OTFS bases indexed according to a predefined rule and an N×N OTFS transform matrix (Abstract and claim 1); and (5) OTFS receiver processing involving both delay and Doppler dimensions (¶ [0088]). Applicant's characterization of ¶ [0083] as merely a “bare mention” therefore does not overcome Lee's express disclosure. A reference is considered for all that it teaches, and Lee expressly provides the alternative of transmitting DCI within the PDCCH/ePDCCH on an OTFS basis and further describes the underlying OTFS basis, indexing, transform matrix, and delay-Doppler processing. Accordingly, Applicant's argument that Lee teaches OTFS only for data transmission while retaining a conventional PDCCH is not persuasive, and the rejection of claims 1-2 and 13-14 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) is maintained.
Conclusion
Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
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/SAI AUNG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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