DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/8/26 has been entered.
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 .
Response to Amendment/Arguments
With the amendment filed 6/8/26, entered with the RCE filed 6/26/26, Applicant has amended claims 1, 13, 17 and 20 to recite: “wherein the null space estimate is determined as a function of a channel prediction of the radio propagation channel, where the channel prediction is based on one or more of scheduling delay values, speed of travel of the user equipment, and measurements based on uplink reference signals.” Applicant argues that the cited references fail to teach this limitation. In view of Applicant’s amendment, the claims stand rejected based on the previously cited prior art to Wang et al. (“Wang '061”), Wang et al. (“Wang '831”) and Sahraei et al. in combination with newly cited prior art to Berens et al.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 9, 10, 13, 17, 20, 23 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2020/0092061 (“Wang '061”) in view of Wang et al. U.S Pat. App. Pub. No. 2015/0271831 ( “Wang '831”), Berens et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2004/0151259 and Sahraei et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2021/0359731.
Regarding claims 1, 17 and 23, Wang '061 discloses a network node (base station 110) serving a user equipment (i.e. UE 120) over a radio propagation channel (see Fig. 1), the network node comprising a processor 810 (Fig. 8) and a computer readable storage medium (¶ [0020]) to implement a method of estimating the radio propagation channel (¶ [0049]), the method comprising: configuring the user equipment to use single port transmission for transmitting on an uplink data channel to the network node (¶ [0154]); transmitting downlink control information (DCI) towards the UE, wherein the downlink control information indicates which port the UE is to use for transmission of demodulation reference signals (DMRS) on the uplink data channel, as DCI is used to schedule uplink data transmission on a terminal side, and a single antenna port is a resource used for uplink DMRS (¶¶ [0051], [0070], [0154]); receiving uplink reference signals from the UE and uplink data and the DMRS on the uplink data channel from the UE (¶ [0051], [0070], [0154], [0198]); and determining a channel estimate of the radio propagation channel from the received uplink reference signals and the received DMRS (¶¶ [0049], [0380]). Wang '061 does not expressly show that a null space estimate is determined from the uplink reference signals and the received DMRS.
Wang '831 discloses that a null space estimate is determined based on received reference signals/DMRS (¶ [0041]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to estimate a null space matrix from uplink DMRS/reference signals, as suggested by Wang '831, in the method/network node of Wang '061, in order to help eliminate interference (see Wang '831, ¶ [0041]).
Further, Wang '061 does not expressly disclose that the null space estimate is determined as a function of a channel prediction of the radio propagation environment, where the channel prediction is based on one or more of scheduling delay values, speed of travel of the user equipment, and measurements on uplink reference signals.
Sahraei discloses that a null space matrix may be determined based on an estimated channel matrix (¶¶ [0173]-[0174]), and Berens discloses that prediction of conditions of channel state estimation may be made based on speed of a mobile terminal (¶ [0033]). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to determine a null space matrix based on a channel matrix as taught by Sahraei, where the channel state information may be a prediction based on a speed of a mobile terminal, as suggested by Berens, in the method/network node of Wang '061 and Wang '831, to improve the channel estimation process based on expected changes in the channel.
Regarding claim 9, Sahraei further discloses transmitting a downlink signal by applying precoder weights (¶ [0085]) to downlink signals (see Figs. 3-4), applying amplitude clipping to the downlink signal, yielding an in-band error signal (¶ [0048]), and transmitting the downlink signal, where one skilled in the art would recognize that the in-band error signal would be projected into a null space along with other portions of the space. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply precoding and transmission of precoded signals, as suggested by Sahraei, in the method of Wang '061 in the proposed combination, as precoding is a known way to provide efficient MIMO communications (see Sahraei, ¶ [0004]).
Regarding claim 10, in the proposed combination, Sahraei further discloses that the precoding weights are determined as a function of the channel state information received from the UE, the uplink reference signals, and/or the DMRS (¶ [0085]).
Regarding claims 13, 20 and 24, Wang '061 discloses a user equipment (i.e. UE 120) assisting a network node (i.e. base station 110) in estimating a radio propagation channel (see Fig. 1), the UE comprising a processor 810 (Fig. 8) and a computer readable storage medium (¶ [0020]) to implement a method comprising: receiving configuration information from the network node to use single port transmission for transmitting on an uplink data channel to the network node (¶ [0154]); receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the network node, wherein the downlink control information indicates which port the UE is to use for transmission of demodulation reference signals (DMRS) on the uplink data channel, as DCI is used to schedule uplink data transmission on a terminal side, and a single antenna port is a resource used for uplink DMRS (¶¶ [0051], [0070], [0154]); and transmitting uplink reference signals towards the network node and uplink data and the DMRS on the uplink data channel in accordance with the configuration (¶ [0051], [0070], [0154], [0198]), thereby assisting the network node in estimating the radio propagation channel (¶¶ [0049], [0380]). Although, as a matter of claim construction, the following limitation is not considered a requirement for the method of claim 13 or the UE of claim 24 since they describe functions performed at a network node, Wang '061 does not expressly show that a null space estimate is determined from the uplink reference signals and the received DMRS at the network node, where the null space estimate is determined as a function of a channel prediction of the radio propagation environment, where the channel prediction is based on one or more of scheduling delay values, speed of travel of the user equipment, and measurements on uplink reference signals.
Wang '831 discloses that a null space estimate is determined based on received reference signals/DMRS by an uplink device (¶ [0041]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to estimate a null space matrix from uplink DMRS/reference signals, as suggested by Wang '831, in the method/UE of Wang '061, in order to help eliminate interference (see Wang '831, ¶ [0041]).
Further, Sahraei discloses that a null space matrix may be determined based on an estimated channel matrix (¶¶ [0173]-[0174]), and Berens discloses that prediction of conditions of channel state estimation may be made based on speed of a mobile terminal (¶ [0033]). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to determine a null space matrix based on a channel matrix as taught by Sahraei, where the channel state information may be a prediction based on a speed of a mobile terminal, as suggested by Berens, in the method/UE of Wang '061 and Wang '831, to improve the channel estimation process based on expected changes in the channel.
Claims 2, 11, 12 and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang '061 in view of Wang '831, Sahraei et al. and Berens et al., as applied above, and further in view of Shibaike et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2025/0015952.
Regarding claim 2, Wang '061 in combination with Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens disclose a method for estimating a radio propagation channel by a network node, as described above, but do not expressly disclose verifying that the user equipment is configurable to selectively switch transmission on the uplink data channel between at least two ports.
Shibaike discloses that a UE may report capability information indicated a supported SRS transmission port switching pattern (¶ [0037]), which provides indication that the UE is configurable to selectively switch between transmission ports. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide information regarding SRS port switching capability, as suggested by Shibaike, in the method of Wang '061 et al., Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens in order to a establish beam management procedure for subsequent beam usage.
Regarding claim 11, Wang '061 in combination with Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens disclose a method for estimating a radio propagation channel by a network node, as described above, but do not expressly disclose configuring the UE to use a first port for transmitting on the uplink data channel to the network node and configuring the UE to use a second port for a next-most in time occurring transmission on the uplink data channel to the network node.
Shibaike discloses that a UE may be configured to transmit on a plurality of ports, and configured by a higher layer parameter for a TDD UL/DL configuration for transmissions (¶ [0041]-[0042], [0056], [0070]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to configure a UE to transmit using several ports, as suggested by Shibaike, in the method of Wang '061, Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens to provide antenna diversity.
Regarding claim 12, Wang '061 in combination with Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens disclose a method for estimating a radio propagation channel by a network node, as described above, but do not expressly disclose configuring the UE to switch from one port to another port when transmitting uplink data from one transmission to a next transmission.
Shibaike discloses a UE configured to switch transmission using a plurality of ports, and configured by a higher layer parameter for a TDD UL/DL transmissions (¶ [0041]-[0042], [0056], [0070]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for a UE to switch transmission ports, as suggested by Shibaike, in the method of Wang '061, Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens for antenna diversity.
Regarding claim 14, Wang '061 in combination with Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens disclose a method for assisting a network node in estimating a radio propagation channel, as described above, but do not disclose verifying to the network node that the UE is configurable to selectively switch transmission on the uplink data channel between at least two ports.
Shibaike discloses that a UE may report capability information indicated a supported SRS transmission port switching pattern (¶ [0037]), which provides indication that the UE is configurable to selectively switch between transmission ports. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide information regarding SRS port switching capability, as suggested by Shibaike, in the method of Wang '061, Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens, in order to a establish beam management procedure for subsequent beam usage.
Regarding claim 15, Wang '061 in combination with Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens disclose a method for estimating a radio propagation channel by a network node, as described above, but do not expressly disclose configuring the UE to use a first port for transmitting on the uplink data channel to the network node and configuring the UE to use a second port for a next-most in time occurring transmission on the uplink data channel to the network node.
Shibaike discloses that a UE may be configured to transmit on a plurality of ports, and configured by a higher layer parameter for a TDD UL/DL configuration for transmissions (¶ [0041]-[0042], [0056], [0070]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to configure a UE to transmit using several ports, as suggested by Shibaike, in the method of Wang '061, Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens to provide antenna diversity.
Regarding claim 16, Wang '061 in combination with Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens disclose a method for estimating a radio propagation channel by a network node, as described above, but do not expressly disclose configuring the UE to switch from one port to another port when transmitting uplink data from one transmission to a next transmission.
Shibaike discloses that a UE may be configured to switch transmission using a plurality of ports, and is configured by a higher layer parameter for a TDD UL/DL transmissions (¶ [0041]-[0042], [0056], [0070]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, for a UE to switch transmission ports, as suggested by Shibaike, in the method of Wang '061, Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens for antenna diversity.
Claims 3-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang '061 in view of Wang '831, Sahraei et al. and Berens et al., as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Abdoli et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2023/0155864.
Regarding claim 3, Wang '061 in combination with Wang '831, Sahraei and Berens disclose a method for estimating a radio propagation channel by a network node, as described above, where the proposed combination suggests that the null space estimate is a function of a channel prediction of the radio propagation channel as Sahraei discloses that a null space matrix is based on a channel matrix (¶¶ [0173]-[0174]), and Berens teaches predicting the conditions of channel state estimation based on speed of a mobile terminal (¶ [0033]), but the references of the proposed combination do not expressly disclose that the channel prediction is a function of the channel estimate.
Abdoli discloses a system employing a null-space dimension characterization where a predicted UL is based on SRS channel estimation (¶¶ [0418]-[0423]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide channel prediction from channel estimation, as suggested by Shibaike, in the method of Wang '061 and Wang '831, as deriving a channel prediction from a channel estimate to provide channel information is a known technique for characterizing a channel.
Regarding claim 4, in the proposed combination, Sahraei further discloses an equation for estimating a null space as identified in the first term of the equation in paragraph [0107] (see ¶¶ [0097], [0109], where the null matrix K corresponds to: I – H+H).
Regarding claim 5, in the proposed combination, Abdoli further discloses that the channel prediction is determined as a function of a weight matrix H with weight values (i.e. coefficients) (see ¶¶ [0173], [0418]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record below is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bai et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2020/0259545 disclose that a base station may predict a future value of a channel quality parameter based on uplink reference signal measurements.
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/DAVID B LUGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631 7/6/2026
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