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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 10/03/2024 has been considered and made of record by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: as to claim 5, line 2, “SRS setting information” should be replaced by SRS configuration information. Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-4, 11, 12, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LIU et al. (hereinafter, referred to as LIU) (US 2020/0028638), in view of OH et al. (hereinafter, referred to as OH) (US 2020/0037292).
As to claims 1 and 11, LIU discloses a method/apparatus for transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (see the abstract and paragraphs 0045 and 0062), the method comprising: receiving SRS configuration information for configuring at least one SRS resource (see the abstract and paragraphs 0008-0011); and transmitting the SRS in a first SRS resource from among the at least one SRS resource based on the SRS configuration information (see paragraphs 0008-0011). LIU further discloses that the UE (see Fig. 4, unit 120 and paragraph 0045) comprising: radio frequency (RF) transceiver (see Fig. 4, the combination of blocks 458 and 464 and paragraphs 0034-0037); and a processor connected to the RF transceiver (see Fig. 4, block 480), wherein the processor controls the RF transceiver to perform the method steps cited above (see paragraphs 0011 and 0063). LIU discloses all the subject matters claimed in claims 1 and 11, except that based on the SRS configuration information including uplink time window information related with the first SRS resource, the UE configures an uplink time window related with the first SRS resource based on the uplink time window information, and wherein the uplink time window is a duration in which the SRS is transmitted with priority over other types of signals. OH, in the same field of endeavor, discloses a communication system comprising a UE, wherein the UE is configured to transmit SRS signal in an uplink transmission interval (see paragraphs 0100-0101). OH further discloses that when the UE is configured to perform uplink signal transmission via one or more uplink transmission time intervals, a field for indicating the configured uplink transmission time interval, related with a first resource, may be added to uplink transmission configuration information transmitted to the UE (see paragraphs 0112 and 0115-0116), and wherein the uplink time window is a duration in which the uplink is transmitted with priority over other signals (see paragraphs 0015-0016, since the uplink signal is scheduled to be transmitted within the uplink time window, the transmission of this uplink signal has priority over transmission of any other signal in that time interval). Since LIU discloses that the uplink transmission configuration information is the SRS configuration information (see paragraphs 0082, 0088, 0106, and claim 1), LIU in view of OH (i.e., the combination of references) teaches that based on the SRS configuration information including uplink time window information related with the first SRS resource, the UE configures an uplink time window related with the first SRS resource based on the uplink time window information. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the teachings of LIU, as suggested by OH, in order to increase the efficiency and performance of the communication system.
As to claims 2 and 12, LIU discloses application of frequency hopping related with the first SRS resource (see paragraphs 0027, 0075, 0077, and claim 12). LIU does not disclose that SRS configuration information including the uplink time window information, and that the uplink time window is configured with respect to the first SRS resource. As described in the rejections of claims 1 and 11, OH, in the same field of endeavor, discloses a communication system comprising a UE, wherein the UE is configured to transmit SRS signal in an uplink transmission interval (see paragraphs 0100-0101). OH further discloses that when the UE is configured to perform uplink signal transmission via one or more uplink transmission time intervals, a field for indicating the configured uplink transmission time interval may be added to uplink transmission configuration information transmitted to the UE (see paragraphs 0112 and 0115-0116), and that the uplink time window is configured with respect to the first uplink signal resource (see paragraph 0094, “transmission time interval may be configured based on K OFDM symbols”). Since LIU discloses that the uplink transmission configuration information is the SRS configuration information (see paragraphs 0082, 0088, 0106, and claim 1), LIU in view of OH teaches that based on the SRS configuration information including uplink time window information related with the first SRS resource, the UE configures an uplink time window related with the first SRS resource based on the uplink time window information. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the teachings of LIU, as suggested by OH, in order to increase the efficiency and performance of the communication system.
As to claim 3, LIU and OH do not expressly disclose that
based on the SRS configuration information not including uplink time window information related with the first SRS resource, the uplink time window is not configured with respect to the first SRS resource. However, as explained in the rejection of claim 1, OH discloses that when the UE is configured to perform uplink signal transmission via one or more uplink transmission time intervals, a field for indicating the configured uplink transmission time interval may be added to uplink transmission configuration information transmitted to the UE (see paragraphs 0112 and 0115-0116), and that the uplink time window is configured with respect to the first uplink signal resource (see paragraph 0094, “transmission time interval may be configured based on K OFDM symbols”). It would have been recognizable/obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that if the configuration information does not include uplink time window information related with the first uplink (SRS) resource, the uplink time window cannot be configured with respect to the first uplink resource, because the information regarding the uplink time window related with the first uplink resource is not provided to UE. This information is required to perform any configuration.
As to claim 4, OH discloses that the uplink time window information includes a time resource offset value in symbol or slot units (see paragraphs 0083, 0127, 0132, 0134, and 0136).
As to claim 14, LIU discloses a method for receiving a sounding reference signal (SRS) for positioning in a wireless communication system (see the abstract and paragraphs 0045, 0062, and 0074), the method comprising: transmitting SRS configuration information for configuring at least one SRS resource to a user equipment (UE) (see the abstract and paragraphs 0008-0011); and receiving the SRS in a first SRS resource from among the at least one SRS resource based on the SRS configuration information from the UE (see paragraphs 0008-0011). LIU discloses all the subject matters claimed in claim 14, except that based on the SRS configuration information including uplink time window information related with the first SRS resource, the UE configures an uplink time window related with the first SRS resource based on the uplink time window information, and wherein the uplink time window is a duration in which the SRS is transmitted with priority over other types of signals. OH, in the same field of endeavor, discloses a communication system comprising a UE, wherein the UE is configured to transmit SRS signal in an uplink transmission interval (see paragraphs 0100-0101). OH further discloses that when the UE is configured to perform uplink signal transmission via one or more uplink transmission time intervals, a field for indicating the configured uplink transmission time interval, related with a first resource, may be added to uplink transmission configuration information transmitted to the UE (see paragraphs 0112 and 0115-0116), and wherein the uplink time window is a duration in which the uplink is transmitted with priority over other signals (see paragraphs 0015-0016, since the uplink signal is scheduled to be transmitted within the uplink time window, the transmission of this uplink signal has priority over transmission of any other signal in that time interval). Since LIU discloses that the uplink transmission configuration information is the SRS configuration information (see paragraphs 0082, 0088, 0106, and claim 1), LIU in view of OH teaches that based on the SRS configuration information including uplink time window information related with the first SRS resource, the UE configures an uplink time window related with the first SRS resource based on the uplink time window information. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the teachings of LIU, as suggested by OH, in order to increase the efficiency and performance of the communication system.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-9 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
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LEILA . MALEK
Examiner
Art Unit 2632
/LEILA MALEK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
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