DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-6 in the reply filed on 05/08/2026 is acknowledged. Accordingly, claims 1-6 and 18 are searched and examined.
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.
Claims 1-3, 6 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 2007/0206559 A1) in view of Abedi (US 2007/0217329 A1).
Consider claims 1 and 18:
Cho discloses a method (see Fig. 7 and paragraphs 0105-0107, where Cho describes a flow chart for a wireless communication system which includes a Node B and a plurality of user equipment (UEs); see paragraph 0017, where Cho describes that the Node B may be a base station) comprising:
performing, by a base station (BS), an initial access with a plurality of User Equipment (UEs) (see Fig. 7 and paragraph 0106, where Cho describes that the Node B receives channel information from each of the UEs);
generating, by the BS, signals for the plurality of UEs (see Fig. 7 and paragraph 0107, where Cho describes that the Node B generates data symbols for the UEs);
performing, by the BS, an Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) on each of the signals for the plurality of UEs (see Fig. 5A and paragraph 0093, where Cho describes that the Node B performs Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) process on the data symbols for the UEs);
determining, by the BS, a cyclic shift value for each of the plurality of UEs (see Fig. 5A and paragraph 0092, where Cho describes that the Node B determines subcarrier set offsets for the data symbols of the UEs; see paragraph 0059, where Cho describes that the subcarrier set offsets are cyclically shifted by m every N OFDM symbols);
applying, by the BS, the cyclic shift value for each of the plurality of UEs to each of the signals for the plurality of UEs on which the IDFT has been performed (see Fig. 5A and paragraph 0093, where Cho describe that the IFFT generates OFDM symbols; see paragraph 0059, where Cho describes that for every N OFDM symbols, a cyclically shift value m is applied);
generating, by the BS, a downlink signal by summing each of the signals for the plurality of UEs to which the cyclic shift value has been applied and adding a Cyclic Prefix (CP) (see Fig. 5A and paragraph 0093, where Cho describe that the OFDM symbols for the UEs are generated in parallel, the Node B then combines the parallel OFDM symbols into serial OFDM symbols, a Guard Interval (GI) adder 519 inserts Cyclic Prefix (CP) samples into the OFDM symbols); and
transmitting, by the BS, the downlink signal (see Fig. 5A and paragraph 0093, where Cho describes that the CP-inserted OFDM symbols are sent on channels via transmit antennas 520).
As discussed above, Cho discloses: Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT). Cho does not explicitly disclose: Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT).
Abedi teaches: Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) (see Fig. 30 and paragraph 0256, where Abedi describes a base station which includes IDFT processing units 501 to 50M)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have: Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT), as taught by Abedi to modify the method of Cho because IFFT and IDFT are same processing, as discussed by Abedi (see paragraph 0154).
Consider claim 2:
Cho in view of Abedi discloses the method of claim 1 above. Cho discloses: the cyclic shift value for each of the plurality of UEs is a cyclic shift value capable of minimizing a Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) (see Fig. 11 and paragraphs 0086-0087, where Cho describes that the Node B allocates equidistant subcarriers to each UE; see paragraph 0074, where Cho describes that the allocation of equidistant subcarriers to UEs achieves low PAPR).
Consider claim 3:
Cho in view of Abedi discloses the method of claim 1 above. Cho discloses: the cyclic shift value for each of the plurality of UEs (see paragraph 0059, where Cho describes that there is a cyclic shift value for each cell; see paragraph 0062, where Cho describes that a cell includes a plurality of UEs).
Cho does not specifically disclose: a PAPR is below a threshold value.
Abedi teaches: a PAPR is below a threshold value (see paragraph 0041, where Abedi describes selecting an allocation which provides a PAPR reduction which exceeds a threshold value)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have: a PAPR is below a threshold value, as taught by Abedi to modify the method of Cho in order to save processing burden, as discussed by Abedi (see paragraph 0041).
Consider claim 6:
Cho in view of Abedi discloses the method of claim 1 above. Cho discloses: generating second signals for each of the plurality of UEs by applying a data allocation offset based on the cyclic shift value for each of the plurality of UEs (see Fig. 5A and paragraphs 0090-0092, where Cho describes that the Node B includes a data symbol generator for each UE, the data symbol generators generate data symbols for the UEs based on subcarrier set offsets indicated by resource allocation information; see paragraph 0059, where Cho describes that the subcarrier set offsets are cyclically shifted); generating a second downlink signal by summing each of the second signals for the plurality of UEs and adding a CP (see Fig. 5A and paragraphs 0090-0093, where Cho describes that the Node B generates a downlink signal by combining each of the OFDM symbols for the UEs, a Cyclic Prefix (CP) sample is added to the OFDM symbols); and transmitting the second downlink signal (see Fig. 5A and paragraph 0093, where Cho describes that the CP-inserted OFDM symbols are sent on channels via transmit antennas 520).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 2007/0206559 A1) in view of Abedi (US 2007/0217329 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gao et al. (US 2024/0323953 A1).
Consider claim 4:
Cho in view of Abedi discloses the method of claim 1 above. Cho does not specifically disclose: receiving, from each of the plurality of UEs, a UE capability indicative of being able to compensate for the cyclic shift value.
Gao teaches: receiving, from each of a plurality of UEs, a UE capability indicative of being able to compensate for a cyclic shift value (see paragraph 0082, where Gao describes that a terminal device may transmit a UE capability report to a network, the UE capability report can indicate that the terminal device can support cyclic shifting operation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have: receiving, from each of the plurality of UEs, a UE capability indicative of being able to compensate for the cyclic shift value, as taught by Gao to modify the method of Cho in order to improve reliability, as discussed by Gao (see the Abstract).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 2007/0206559 A1) in view of Abedi (US 2007/0217329 A1), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Yoon et al. (US 2013/0034011 A1).
Consider claim 5:
Cho in view of Abedi discloses the method of claim 1 above. Cho does not specifically disclose: transmitting the cyclic shift value for each of the plurality of UEs to each of the plurality of UEs via Downlink Control Information (DCI).
Yoon teaches: transmitting cyclic shift value for each of a plurality of UEs to each of the plurality of UEs via Downlink Control Information (DCI) (see paragraph 0092, where Yoon describes that a base station sets cyclic shift value of Downlink Control Information (DCI) format and transmits the set cyclic shift value to a UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have: transmitting the cyclic shift value for each of the plurality of UEs to each of the plurality of UEs via Downlink Control Information (DCI), as taught by Yoon to modify the method of Cho in order for the UE to identify other control values, as discussed by Yoon (see paragraph 0092).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LIHONG YU whose telephone number is (571)270-5147. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am-6:00 pm EST Monday-Friday.
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/LIHONG YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
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