DETAILED ACTION
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.
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the application filed on 05/27/2024.
Claims 1-13, 17-19, and 23-25 are currently pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/27/2024 and 12/12/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4, 7, 11, 13, 17-19, and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sahraei (US 20240137134 A1), hereinafter Sahraei.
Regarding claim 1, Sahraei discloses
determining incident angle information, the incident angle information comprising incident angle information of an incident beam transmitted by a base station to the RIS array (See at least Fig. 2, [0126] “reconfigurable surface 205-a may be associated with a set of reflection matrix configurations (e.g., codebook of reflection matrix configurations) which are usable by the reconfigurable surface 205-a to reflect signals incident on the reconfigurable surface 205-a”, [0128] “a precoder associated with each reflective surface element 210 may include a set of parameters associated with the reflective surface element 210, including an orientation of the reflective surface element 210” Sahraei discloses a reconfigurable surface 205-a (RIS array) operating as a passive reflector between base station 105-a and a UE 115. Incident angle information as claimed may include at least orientation information of the reconfigurable surface.);
acquiring a precoding matrix index (PMI), the PMI being determined according to channel information between the RIS array and a user equipment (UE) (See at least [0135] “the base station 105-a may use the first channel estimate (Ĵ.sub.1) to tune the reconfigurable surface 205-a. Specifically, the base station 105-a may use the first channel estimate (Ĵ.sub.1) to configure the reconfigurable surface 205-a with a second reflection matrix configuration (e.g., vector r.sub.2). The second reflection matrix configuration (e.g., second precoder configuration) may be included within the set of reflection matrix configurations (e.g., codebook of reflection matrix configurations) associated with the reconfigurable surface 205-a.” Sahraei discloses PMI (precoding configurations of a codebook) determined by channel estimation information between RIS 105-a and UE 115-a.);
determining reflection angle information corresponding to the RIS array according to the PMI (See at least [0126] “reconfigurable surface 205-a to reflect signals incident on the reconfigurable surface 205-a. In particular, each reflection matrix configuration associated with the reconfigurable surface may include a set of precoders associated with the set of reflective surface elements 210,”); and
determining a target deflection phase angle of each RIS array element in the RIS array according to the incident angle information and the reflection angle information, to precode the RIS array (See at least [0128] “In some aspects, the precoder (e.g., reflective coefficient) used by each respective reflective surface element 210 of the reconfigurable surface 205-a may be selected and/or modified by the base station 105-a in order to co-phase the reflection from each of the reflective surface elements 210” The Examiner notes that co-phase reflections share a target deflection phase angle).
Regarding claim 4, Sahraei, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Sahraei additionally discloses
acquiring the PMI comprises at least one of following acts: acquiring the PMI transmitted by the UE; or acquiring the PMI forwarded by the base station (See at least [0128] “the precoder (e.g., reflective coefficient) used by each respective reflective surface element 210 of the reconfigurable surface 205-a may be selected and/or modified by the base station 105-a”).
Regarding claim 7, Sahraei, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Sahraei additionally discloses
determining the target deflection phase angle of each RIS array element in the RIS array according to the incident angle information and the reflection angle information comprises: determining deflection phase angles supported by each RIS array element; and determining the target deflection phase angle of each RIS array element from the deflection phase angles supported by each RIS array element (See at least Fig. 2, [0128] “the precoder (e.g., reflective coefficient) used by each respective reflective surface element 210 of the reconfigurable surface 205-a may be selected and/or modified by the base station 105-a in order to co-phase the reflection from each of the reflective surface elements 210 [….] modifying a reflection matrix configuration used by the reconfigurable surface 205-a, by transitioning from a first reflection matrix configuration to a second reflection matrix configuration”).
Regarding claim 11, applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 1. Accordingly, claim 11 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 1, shown above.
Regarding claim 13, applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 1. Accordingly, claim 13 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 1, shown above.
Regarding claim 17, Sahraei, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Sahraei additionally discloses
A communication device, comprising a processor and a memory storing a computer program, wherein the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory, to cause the communication device to perform the method (See at least [0023] “An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus may include a processor, memory coupled with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory”).
Regarding claim 18 applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 17. Accordingly, claim 18 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 17, shown above.
Regarding claim 19, Sahraei, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 13. Sahraei additionally discloses
A communication device, comprising a processor and a memory storing a computer program, wherein the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory, to cause the communication device to perform the method (See at least [0007] “An apparatus for wireless communication at a UE is described. The apparatus may include a processor, memory coupled with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the processor to”).
Regarding claim 23, Sahraei, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 1. Sahraei additionally discloses
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed, the method (See at least [0025] “A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a base station is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive”).
Regarding claim 24, applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 23. Accordingly, claim 24 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 23, shown above.
Regarding claim 25, Sahraei, as shown above, discloses all of the limitations of claim 13. Sahraei additionally discloses
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed, the method according to claim 13 is implemented. (See at least [0009] “A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a UE is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to”).
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 2-3 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sahraei, in view of Sun (US 20230129288 A1), hereinafter Sun.
Regarding claim 2, Sahraei, as shown above, discloses all the limitations of claim 1. Sahraei does not explicitly disclose determining the incident angle information comprises: acquiring a horizontal-dimension incident angle and a vertical-dimension incident angle of the incident beam transmitted by the base station, and/or acquiring a sum of the horizontal- dimension incident angle and the vertical-dimension incident angle of the incident beam transmitted by the base station; and determining the sum of the horizontal-dimension incident angle and the vertical- dimension incident angle as the incident angle information. However, Sun, in the same or in a similar field of endeavor, discloses
determining the incident angle information comprises: acquiring a horizontal-dimension incident angle and a vertical-dimension incident angle of the incident beam transmitted by the base station, and/or acquiring a sum of the horizontal- dimension incident angle and the vertical-dimension incident angle of the incident beam transmitted by the base station; and determining the sum of the horizontal-dimension incident angle and the vertical- dimension incident angle as the incident angle information (See at least Figs. 8, 9A-C [0118] “classifying incident beams based on incident directions (AoA (Elevation, Azimuthal)). For example, when the incident beam is AoA(0, 10), it is an incident beam incident at an elevation angle of 0 degrees and an azimuthal angle of 10 degrees” Sun discloses an incident angle information as a function of horizontal (azimuth) and vertical (elevation) angles. Further, the Examiner notes that ‘sum’ has a broadest reasonable interpretation including ‘combination of’.).
Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the precoding system disclosed by Sahraei with the incident angle system disclosed by Sun. One would have been motivated to do so in order to advantageously achieve enhanced modes of operations to improve at least SNR or delay, thereby increasing efficiency (See at least [0119] “Considering advantages and disadvantages per beam width, the RIS mode meeting the manufacturer's requirements may be included in the candidate RIS modes”).
Regarding claim 3, The combination of Sahraei and Sun, as shown above, discloses all the limitations of claims 1 and 2. Sahraei does not explicitly disclose the horizontal-dimension incident angle comprises: an angle between the incident beam and an antenna array surface of the RIS array in a horizontal dimension, and the vertical-dimension incident angle comprises: an angle between the incident beam and the antenna array surface of the RIS array in a vertical dimension. However, Sun, in the same or in a similar field of endeavor, discloses
the horizontal-dimension incident angle comprises: an angle between the incident beam and an antenna array surface of the RIS array in a horizontal dimension, and the vertical-dimension incident angle comprises: an angle between the incident beam and the antenna array surface of the RIS array in a vertical dimension (See at least Figs. 8, 9A-C [0118] “classifying incident beams based on incident directions (AoA (Elevation, Azimuthal)). For example, when the incident beam is AoA(0, 10), it is an incident beam incident at an elevation angle of 0 degrees and an azimuthal angle of 10 degrees”).
Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the precoding system disclosed by Sahraei with the incident angle system disclosed by Sun. One would have been motivated to do so in order to advantageously achieve enhanced modes of operations to improve at least SNR or delay, thereby increasing efficiency (See at least [0119] “Considering advantages and disadvantages per beam width, the RIS mode meeting the manufacturer's requirements may be included in the candidate RIS modes”).
Regarding claim 12, applicant recites limitations of the same or substantially the same scope as claim 2. Accordingly, claim 12 is rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as claim 2, shown above.
Claims 5-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sahraei, in view of Zhou (US 20230318177 A1), hereinafter Zhou.
Regarding claim 5, Sahraei, as shown above, discloses all the limitations of claim 1. Sahraei Sahraei further discloses
determining the reflection angle information corresponding to the RIS array according to the PMI comprises: determining a precoding matrix corresponding to the PMI (See at least Fig. 2, [0126] “reconfigurable surface 205-a may be associated with a set of reflection matrix configurations (e.g., codebook of reflection matrix configurations) which are usable by the reconfigurable surface 205-a to reflect signals incident on the reconfigurable surface 205-a”, [0128] “In some aspects, the precoder (e.g., reflective coefficient) used by each respective reflective surface element 210 of the reconfigurable surface 205-a may be selected and/or modified by the base station 105-a in order to co-phase the reflection from each of the reflective surface elements 210”;
Sahraei does not explicitly disclose determining a horizontal-dimension precoding vector and a vertical-dimension precoding vector corresponding to the precoding matrix; determining a horizontal-dimensional reflection angle and a vertical-dimensional reflection angle corresponding to the RIS array according to the horizontal-dimensional precoding vector and the vertical-dimensional precoding vector; and determining a sum of the horizontal-dimension reflection angle and the vertical-dimension reflection angle as the reflection angle information. However, Zhou, in the same or in a similar field of endeavor, discloses
determining a horizontal-dimension precoding vector and a vertical-dimension precoding vector corresponding to the precoding matrix; determining a horizontal-dimensional reflection angle and a vertical-dimensional reflection angle corresponding to the RIS array according to the horizontal-dimensional precoding vector and the vertical-dimensional precoding vector (See at least Fig. 12, [0301] “precoding calculation unit 1320 of the electronic device 1300 includes an angle of departure or an angle of arrival in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction”, [0220] “The first calculation unit 1010 of the electronic device 1000 may calculate the first precoding matrix” Zhou discloses a reflection steering vector by a precoding matrix); and
determining a sum of the horizontal-dimension reflection angle and the vertical-dimension reflection angle as the reflection angle information (See at least Fig. 12, [0301] “precoding calculation unit 1320 of the electronic device 1300 includes an angle of departure or an angle of arrival in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction” Further, the Examiner notes that ‘sum’ has a broadest reasonable interpretation including ‘combination of’.).
Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the precoding system disclosed by Sahraei with the reflection angle system disclosed by Zhou. One would have been motivated to do so in order to advantageously improve the effectiveness of the system (See at least [0003] “improve the effectiveness of the communication system”).
Regarding claim 6, The combination of Sahraei and Zhou, as shown above, discloses all the limitations of claims 1 and 5. Sahraei does not explicitly disclose the horizontal-dimension reflection angle comprises: an angle between a reflection beam and an antenna array surface of the RIS array in a horizontal dimension, and the vertical-dimension reflection angle comprises: an angle between the reflection beam and the antenna array surface of the RIS array in a vertical dimension. However, Zhou, in the same or in a similar field of endeavor, discloses
the horizontal-dimension reflection angle comprises: an angle between a reflection beam and an antenna array surface of the RIS array in a horizontal dimension, and the vertical-dimension reflection angle comprises: an angle between the reflection beam and the antenna array surface of the RIS array in a vertical dimension (See at least Fig. 12, [0301] “precoding calculation unit 1320 of the electronic device 1300 includes an angle of departure or an angle of arrival in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction” Further, the Examiner notes that ‘sum’ has a broadest reasonable interpretation including ‘combination of’.).
Furthermore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the precoding system disclosed by Sahraei with the reflection angle system disclosed by Zhou. One would have been motivated to do so in order to advantageously improve the effectiveness of the system (See at least [0003] “improve the effectiveness of the communication system”).
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Allowance of claims 8-10 is indicated because:
None of the prior art of record teach or suggest the subject matter of dependent claims 8-10. The prior art of record does not anticipate or render fairly obvious in combination to teach all of the additional limitations of the claimed invention, as best understood within the context of Applicant’s claimed invention as a whole, such as in claim 8, wherein, the formula 1 comprises: <formula> and wherein W is a deflection phase angle supported by an ith RIS array element, i=O,1,...,N-1,Nis a number of RIS array elements, d is a distance between RIS array elements, k is a wavelength of the incident beam, a is the incident angle information, the incident angle information comprises a sum of a horizontal-dimension incident angle and a vertical- dimension incident f the incident beam, p is the reflection angle information, and the reflection angle information comprises the sum of the horizontal-dimension reflection angle and the vertical-dimension reflection angle corresponding to the RIS array, determined according to the PMI, and in claim 9, wherein, the formula 1 comprises: <formula> and the formula 2 comprises: <formula> and wherein og is a deflection phase angle supported by an ith RIS array element, i=O,1,...,N-1,Nis a number of RIS array elements, d is a distance between RIS array elements, k is a wavelength of the incident beam, a is the incident angle information, the incident angle information comprises a sum of a horizontal-dimension incident angle and a vertical- dimension incident angle of the incident beam, p is the reflection angle information, and the reflection angle information comprises the sum of the horizontal-dimension reflection angle and the vertical-dimension reflection angle corresponding to the RIS array, determined according to the PMI, and in claim 10, wherein, the formula 1 comprises: <formula> and the formula 2 comprises: <formula>and wherein og is a deflection phase angle supported by an ith RIS array element, i=O,1,...,N-1,Nis a number of RIS array elements, d is a distance between RIS array elements, k is a wavelength of the incident beam, a is the incident angle information, the incident angle information comprises a sum of a horizontal-dimension incident angle and a vertical- dimension incident angle of the incident beam, p is the reflection angle information, and the reflection angle information comprises the sum of the horizontal-dimension reflection angle and the vertical-dimension reflection angle corresponding to the RIS array, determined according to the PMI.
Accordingly, claims 8-10 are deemed to have allowable subject matter.
Claims 8-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Elshafie (US 20240305335 A1) - Aspects of the disclosure relate to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) controller for controlling a RIS panel to be frequency and/or element dependent, and for operating an adaptive filtering function. The RIS controller may be configured to transmit, to a scheduling entity, a RIS frequency capability indication for indicating communication support of the RIS panel for one or more frequency ranges. The scheduling entity, then, may transmit RIS control information based on the RIS frequency capability indication. In response, the RIS controller may receive the RIS control information and configure the RIS panel based on the RIS control information. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.
Zhinong (US 20240235635 A1) - A reconfigurable device for influencing spatial properties of an incident radio wave comprises a first sheet having characteristics that vary along a first length direction of the first sheet, the characteristics relating to a first influencing of a spatial propagation of an incident radio wave, and a second sheet having characteristics that vary along a second length direction of the second sheet, the characteristics relating to a second influencing of a spatial propagation of an incident radio wave. A first actuator is coupled to the first sheet and configured to move the first sheet along the first length direction so as to selectively place a section of the first sheet in an exposed area of the reconfigurable device. A second actuator is coupled to the second sheet and configured to move the second sheet along the second length direction so as to selectively place a section of the second sheet in the exposed area. The first sheet and the second sheet are stacked so that a radio wave incident on the exposed area passes through the respective section of the first sheet placed in the exposed area and is incident upon the respective section of the second sheet placed in the exposed area.
Haija (US 20240072849 A1) - Aspects of the present disclosure provide methods and devices that facilitate two-way redirection via a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) when beam correspondence does not hold. A first embodiment includes using a wide-beam redirection via RIS in which the RIS is configured to redirect the beam incident on the RIS in either direction such that the redirected beam can encompass the deviation of the redirected direction and still reach the destination. A second embodiment includes partitioning the RIS, or using multiple different RISs, where each part, or different RIS, is configured for each direction of communication. A third embodiment includes using time division-duplexing (TDD) such that the RIS is configured to transmit in one direction at a time.
Zhu (US 11777206 B2) - Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for initialization and operation of intelligent reflecting surface. The method may include transmitting a synchronization signal block burst to a reflection surface device. The method may also include receiving a first measurement report of the synchronization signal block burst received at the reflection surface device. The method may further include determining a transmit beam for a subsequent synchronization signal block burst based on a highest strength of signals in the synchronization signal block burst. In addition, the method may include receiving a second measurement report of the subsequent synchronization signal block burst. Further, the method may include determining an arrival angle of the subsequent synchronization signal block burst at the reflection surface device. The method may also include establishing a connection with the reflection surface device based on the transmit beam and the arrival angle.
Nam (US 20220416968 A1) - Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. Repetitions of a reference signal may be transmitted by a first device. In some examples, the repetitions may be quasi-colocated with one another, share an antenna port, or both. The repetitions of the reference signal may arrive at a reconfigurable surface. The reconfigurable surface may apply a modulation sequence to the repetitions of the reference signal and output modulated repetitions of the reference signal in a direction based on a reflective state of the reconfigurable surface. A signal including the modulated repetitions of the reference signal may be received by a second device and combined with the modulation sequence used by the reconfigurable surface to obtain a combined signal. The combined signal may be used to determine, for the reconfigurable surface, information about a channel between the first device and the second device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNETH W GOOD whose telephone number is (571)272-4186. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Thu 7:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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/KENNETH W GOOD/
Examiner, Art Unit 3648