DETAILED ACTION
The instant application having Application No. 18/710166 filed on 05/16/2024 is presented for examination by the examiner.
Claims 2, 9, 16 were cancelled. Claims 1, 3-8, 10-15, 17-20 are pending.
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 . 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.
Priority
As required by M.P.E.P. 201.14(c), acknowledgement is made of applicant's claim for priority based on application filed on KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2021-0158710 (11/17/2021) and KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 10-2022-0118909 (09/20/202). Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Response to Argument
Applicant’s arguments (see the Applicant's Remarks) with respect to the rejection(s) of
claims 1, 3-8, 10-15, 17-20 have been fully considered and not persuasive. Examiner provides a new ground of rejections to address Applicant’s amendment/argument (See the updated claim rejections below.).
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 of this title, 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, 8, 10, 15, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 2024/0275556 A1) in view of Yang et al. (US 11,743,899 B2).
As per claim 1, Chen discloses “A method of a terminal, comprising:” as [(fig. 4), UE 402.] “receiving, from a base station, downlink control information (DCI) including information used to determine whether a phase tracking-reference signal (PT-RS) is mapped;” [(par. 0064), the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, may be based on associating the uplink PTRS with a DMRS port via a single value indicated in a PTRS-DMRS association field of the scheduling DCI received.] “identifying that the PT-RS is mapped on a data channel based on the information;” [(par. 0063), At 408, the base station 404 may transmit scheduling DCI to the UE 402 for transmitting an SDM PUSCH. (par. 0064), if 1 PTRS port is configured, the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, may be based on associating the uplink PTRS with a DMRS port via a single value indicated in a PTRS-DMRS association field of the scheduling DCI received. (par. 0065), At 416, the UE 402 may transmit the SDM PUSCH to the base station 404 based on the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, and the mapping performed, at 414. (par. 0066), FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 that illustrates a PTRS-DMRS allocation. PUSCH transmissions from a UE may be codebook-based or non-codebook-based.] “and performing a transmission procedure of the data channel including the PT-RS with the base station,” [(par. 0063), At 408, the base station 404 may transmit scheduling DCI to the UE 402 for transmitting an SDM PUSCH. (par. 0064), if 1 PTRS port is configured, the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, may be based on associating the uplink PTRS with a DMRS port via a single value indicated in a PTRS-DMRS association field of the scheduling DCI received. (par. 0065), At 416, the UE 402 may transmit the SDM PUSCH to the base station 404 based on the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, and the mapping performed, at 414. (par. 0066), FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 that illustrates a PTRS-DMRS allocation. PUSCH transmissions from a UE may be codebook-based or non-codebook-based.]
Chen does not explicitly disclose “wherein the data channel is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for which transform precoding is enabled, and the PT-RS is mapped to the PUSCH before the transform precoding is performed for the PUSCH”.
However, Yang discloses “wherein the data channel is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for which transform precoding is enabled, and the PT-RS is mapped to the PUSCH before the transform precoding is performed for the PUSCH” as [(col. 13- lines 25 to 67), although not commonly used in urban areas, PTRS can also be utilized for PUSCH transmission. Specifically, if transform precoding (e.g., DFT) is enabled, the phase-tracking reference signal rm(m′) to be mapped in position in before transform precoding.]
Chen et al. (US 2024/0275556 A1) and Yang et al. (US 11,743,899 B2) are analogous art because they are the same field of endeavor of network communication. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Yang’s teaching into Chen’s teaching. The motivation for making the above modification would be to allow efficiently transmitting and receiving a wireless signal. (Yang, col. 1 – lines 41 to 43)
As per claim 3, Chen in view of Yang discloses “The method according to claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.]
Chen discloses “wherein the DCI schedules the PUSCH.” [(par. 0063), At 408, the base station 404 may transmit scheduling DCI to the UE 402 for transmitting an SDM PUSCH. (par. 0064), if 1 PTRS port is configured, the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, may be based on associating the uplink PTRS with a DMRS port via a single value indicated in a PTRS-DMRS association field of the scheduling DCI received. (par. 0065), At 416, the UE 402 may transmit the SDM PUSCH to the base station 404 based on the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, and the mapping performed, at 414. (par. 0066), FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 that illustrates a PTRS-DMRS allocation. PUSCH transmissions from a UE may be codebook-based or non-codebook-based.]
As per claim 8, Chen discloses “A method of a base station, comprising:” [(fig. 4), BS 404.] “transmitting, to a terminal, downlink control information (DCI) including used to determine whether a phase tracking-reference signal (PT-RS) is mapped;” [(par. 0064), the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, may be based on associating the uplink PTRS with a DMRS port via a single value indicated in a PTRS-DMRS association field of the scheduling DCI received.] “and in response to that the PT-RS is indicated to be mapped on a data channel, performing a transmission procedure of the data channel including the PT-RS with the terminal” [(par. 0063), At 408, the base station 404 may transmit scheduling DCI to the UE 402 for transmitting an SDM PUSCH. (par. 0064), if 1 PTRS port is configured, the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, may be based on associating the uplink PTRS with a DMRS port via a single value indicated in a PTRS-DMRS association field of the scheduling DCI received. (par. 0065), At 416, the UE 402 may transmit the SDM PUSCH to the base station 404 based on the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, and the mapping performed, at 414. (par. 0066), FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 that illustrates a PTRS-DMRS allocation. PUSCH transmissions from a UE may be codebook-based or non-codebook-based.]
Chen does not explicitly disclose “wherein the data channel is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for which transform precoding is enabled, and the PT-RS is mapped to the PUSCH before the transform precoding is performed for the PUSCH”.
However, Yang discloses “wherein the data channel is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for which transform precoding is enabled, and the PT-RS is mapped to the PUSCH before the transform precoding is performed for the PUSCH” as [(col. 13- lines 25 to 67), although not commonly used in urban areas, PTRS can also be utilized for PUSCH transmission. Specifically, if transform precoding (e.g., DFT) is enabled, the phase-tracking reference signal rm(m′) to be mapped in position in before transform precoding.]
Chen et al. (US 2024/0275556 A1) and Yang et al. (US 11,743,899 B2) are analogous art because they are the same field of endeavor of network communication. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Yang’s teaching into Chen’s teaching. The motivation for making the above modification would be to allow efficiently transmitting and receiving a wireless signal. (Yang, col. 1 – lines 41 to 43)
As per claim 10, Chen in view of Yang discloses “The method according to claim 8,” as [see rejection of claim 8.]
Chen discloses “wherein the DCI schedules the PUSCH” [(par. 0063), At 408, the base station 404 may transmit scheduling DCI to the UE 402 for transmitting an SDM PUSCH. (par. 0064), if 1 PTRS port is configured, the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, may be based on associating the uplink PTRS with a DMRS port via a single value indicated in a PTRS-DMRS association field of the scheduling DCI received. (par. 0065), At 416, the UE 402 may transmit the SDM PUSCH to the base station 404 based on the PTRS-DMRS association performed, at 412, and the mapping performed, at 414. (par. 0066), FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 that illustrates a PTRS-DMRS allocation. PUSCH transmissions from a UE may be codebook-based or non-codebook-based.]
As per claims 15 and 17, as [see rejection of claims 1 and 3.]
Claims 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 2024/0275556 A1) in view of Yang et al. (US 11,743,899 B2) in view of Bang et al. (US 2022/0353033 A1).
As per claim 4, Chen in view of Yang discloses “The method according to claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.]
Chen in view of Yang does not explicitly disclose “further comprising receiving information indicating a mapping interval of the PT-RS from the base station, wherein the PT-RS is mapped in time domain according to the mapping interval indicated by the base station”.
However, Bang discloses “further comprising receiving information indicating a mapping interval of the PT-RS from the base station, wherein the PT-RS is mapped in time domain according to the mapping interval indicated by the base station” as [(par. 0120), the base station may set (e.g., configure) the PTRS transmission and the PTRS reception by the terminal using a subCarrierSpacingCommon value of the MIB. Specifically, when the terminal receives the MIB in a specific carrier frequency domain (for example, the band of no less than FR3 or 52.6 GHz); it may be determined that the PTRS is transmitted by the PDSCH or the PUSCH transmitted in the initial transmission stage. At this time, the base station and the terminal may assume that PTRS transmission related setting is predetermined based on a preset value (or a default value) of the terminal and the base station. For example, it may be assumed that PTRS timeDensity is transmitted every symbol and PTRS frequencyDensity is transmitted every two RBs.]
Chen et al. (US 2024/0275556 A1) and Bang et al. (US 2022/0353033 A1) are analogous art because they are the same field of endeavor of network communication. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bang’s teaching into Chen’s teaching. The motivation for making the above modification would be to improve transmitting and receiving a phase tracking reference signal before an initial transmission stage. (Bang, par. 0001-008)
As per claim 5, Chen in view of Yang in view of Bang discloses “The method according to claim 4,” as [see rejection of claim 4.]
Chen discloses “wherein the PT-RS is mapped according to the mapping interval based on a demodulation (DM)-RS of the data channel” as [(fig. 5.)]
As per claims 11 and 12, as [see rejection of claims 4 and 5.]
As per claims 18 and 19, as [see rejection of claims 4 and 5.]
Claims 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 2024/0275556 A1) in view of Yang et al. (US 11,743,899 B2) in view of YANG et al. (US 2024/0048319 A1).
As per claim 6, Chen in view of Yang disclose “The method according to claim 1,” as [see rejection of claim 1.]
Chen in view of Yang does not explicitly disclose “further comprising transmitting uplink control information (UCI) to the base station on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) on which a PT-RS is mapped”.
However, YANG discloses “further comprising transmitting uplink control information (UCI) to the base station on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) on which a PT-RS is mapped” as [(par. 0086), the schematic overview 1000 shows that DMRS 1004 is also provided to the symbol mapper 1030. The symbol mapper 1030 may perform operations related to mapping UCI 1002, PT-RS and/or DMRS 1004 to the resources associated with the PUCCH.]
Chen et al. (US 2024/0275556 A1) and YANG et al. (US 2024/0048319 A1) are analogous art because they are the same field of endeavor of network communication. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate YANG’s teaching into Chen’s teaching. The motivation for making the above modification would be to improve transmitting and receiving a phase tracking reference signal on the PUCCH. (YANG, par. 0002-0005)
As per claim 7, Chen in view of Yang in view of YANG discloses “The method according to claim 6,” as [see rejection of claim 6.]
YANG discloses “wherein the PT-RS is mapped before a DM-RS symbol on the PUCCH” as [(par. 0088 and fig. 11), The resource grid 1150 illustrates a scenario in which one of the complex data symbols is replaced with a PT-RS data symbol that has a known value. This creates 2×3 modulation symbols in the PUCCH. The PT-RS 1155 are shown to be included in each OFDM symbol 1120, 1122, 1124 that does not include DMRS 1112.]
Chen et al. (US 2024/0275556 A1) and YANG et al. (US 2024/0048319 A1) are analogous art because they are the same field of endeavor of network communication. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate YANG’s teaching into Chen’s teaching. The motivation for making the above modification would be to improve transmitting and receiving a phase tracking reference signal on the PUCCH. (YANG, par. 0002-0005)
As per claims 13 and 14, as [see rejection of claims 6 and 7.]
As per claim 20, as [see rejection of claims 6 and 7.]
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mang Hang Yeung whose telephone number is (571)-270-7319 The examiner can normally be reached on Mon through Th (9:00 am to 4:00pm EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rebecca Song can be reached on (571) 270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANG HANG YEUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2417
Prosecution Insights