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 .
2. The following is a non-final Office action in response to Applicant submission received on 06/27/2024.
3. Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
Foreign Priority
4. No foreign priority claimed under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Oath/Declaration
5. The applicant's oath/declaration filed on 06/27/2024 has been reviewed by the examiner and is found to conform to the requirements prescribed in 37 C.F.R. 1.63.
Drawings
6. The applicant’s drawings submitted on 06/27/2024 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Information Disclosure Statement
7. The information disclosure statement submitted by Applicant is in compliance with the provision of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609. It has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered as to the merits.
Examiner’s Note
After reviewing the current claims of the instant application and the
claims of parent patent US 12,068,846 B2, the examiner concludes that no obviousness
double patenting (ODP) rejection was necessary because the subject matter
is not common to the prior patent in the parent application.
Double Patenting
8. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
9. Claims 1, 3-7, 11, 13-18 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-5, 10, 14-20 of U.S. Patent No. 11,070,329 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the limitations of claims 1, 3-7, 11, 13-18 of the instant Application are similar to the limitations claims 1-5, 10, 14-20 of U.S. Patent No. 11,070,329 B2 as compared in the following table, and have a broader scope as claim 1 recites “logical mapping of transmission resources of a digital communication channels”, whereas the claim of reference claim recites “transmission resources from a delay-Doppler plane” as noted below:
US Application 18/757,085
US Patent No. 11,070,329 B2
Independent claim 1. A signal transmission method, implemented at a transmitter-side, comprising:
performing a logical mapping of transmission resources of a digital communication channel along a first two-dimensional resource plane represented by a first and a second orthogonal axes corresponding to a first transmission dimension and a second transmission dimension respectively;
allocating, to a first signal, a first group of transmission resources from the logical mapping for transmission;
transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, the first signal having the first group of transmission resources to a corresponding transformed signal in a second two-dimensional resource plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension respectively;
converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the communications channel; and
transmitting the formatted signal over the communications channel.
Independent claim 1. A method of transmitting over a digital communications channel, the method implemented at a transmitter-side, comprising:
allocating, to a first signal for a first user equipment a first group of transmission resources from a delay-Doppler plane, which is represented by a first and a second orthogonal axes corresponding to a first transmission dimension and a second transmission dimension, respectively, for transmission; allocating, to a second signal for a second user equipment, a second group of transmission resources from the delay-Doppler plane for transmission;
transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, a multiplexing of the first signal having the first group of transmission resources and the second signal having the second group of transmission resources from the delay-Doppler plane to a corresponding transformed signal in a time-frequency plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension, respectively;
converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the digital communications channel; and
transmitting the formatted signal over the digital communications channel,
wherein transmission resources used by the first signal and the second signal are non-overlapping in the delay-Doppler plane.
Claim 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting the transformed signal to the formatted signal includes applying a multicarrier modulation scheme to the transformed signal.
Claim 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation of converting the transformed signal to the formatted signal includes applying a multicarrier modulation scheme to the transformed signal.
Claim 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the multicarrier modulation scheme is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme.
Claim 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the multicarrier modulation scheme is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme.
Claim 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the transmission format comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmission format and wherein the OFDM scheme produces a signal compatible with the LTE transmission format.
Claim 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the transmission format comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmission format and wherein the OFDM scheme produces a signal compatible with the LTE transmission format.
Claim 6. The method of claim 1, further including: allocating, to at least one additional second signal, a second group of resources from the logical mapping for transmission, wherein transmission resources used by the first signal and the second signal are non-overlapping in at least one of the first two-dimensional resource plane and the second two-dimensional resource plane.
Claim 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: allocating, to at least one more additional signal, an additional group of transmission resources from the delay-Doppler plane logical for transmission; and including in the multiplexing, prior to the transforming operation, the at least one more additional signal, wherein transmission resources used by the at least one more additional signal are non-overlapping with transmission resources used by the first signal and the second signal in the delay-Doppler plane and the time-frequency plane.
Claim 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment and wherein the second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment.
Claim 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment and wherein the second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment.
Claim 11. A transmission apparatus comprising at least one processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores instructions that, upon execution by the at least one processor, cause the transmission apparatus to implement a method comprising:
performing a logical mapping of transmission resources of a digital communication channel along a first two-dimensional resource plane represented by a first and a second orthogonal axes corresponding to a first transmission dimension and a second transmission dimension respectively;
allocating, to a first signal, a first group of transmission resources from the logical mapping for transmission;
transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, the first signal having the first group of transmission resources to a corresponding transformed signal in a second two-dimensional resource plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension respectively;
converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the communications channel; and
transmitting the formatted signal over the communications channel.
Claim 14. A signal transmission method over a digital communications channel, implemented at a transmitter-side, comprising:
allocating, to a first signal, a first group of transmission resources from a delay-Doppler plane, which is represented by a first and a second orthogonal axes corresponding to a first transmission dimension and a second transmission dimension, respectively, for transmission;
transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, the first signal having the first group of transmission resources from the delay-Doppler plane to a corresponding transformed signal in a time-frequency plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension respectively;
converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the digital communications channel; and
transmitting the formatted signal over the digital communications channel.
Claim 13. The transmission apparatus of claim 11, wherein the converting the transformed signal to the formatted signal includes applying a multicarrier modulation scheme to the transformed signal.
Claim 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the operation of converting the transformed signal to the formatted signal includes applying a multicarrier modulation scheme to the transformed signal.
Claim 14. The transmission apparatus of claim 13, wherein the multicarrier modulation scheme is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme.
Claim 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the multicarrier modulation scheme is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme.
Claim 15. The transmission apparatus of claim 14, wherein the transmission format comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmission format and wherein the OFDM scheme produces a signal compatible with the LTE transmission format.
Claim 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the transmission format comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmission format and wherein the OFDM scheme produces a signal compatible with the LTE transmission format.
Claim 16. The transmission apparatus of claim 11, wherein the method further includes: allocating, to at least one additional second signal, a second group of resources from the logical mapping for transmission, wherein transmission resources used by the first signal and the second signal are non-overlapping in at least one of the first two-dimensional resource plane and the second two-dimensional resource plane.
Claim 18. The method of claim 14, further including: allocating, to at least one additional second signal, a second group of resources from the delay-Doppler plane for transmission, wherein transmission resources used by the first signal and the at least one additional second signal are non-overlapping in at least one of the delay-Doppler plane and the time-frequency plane.
Claim 17. The transmission apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment and wherein the second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment.
Claim 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment and wherein the at least one additional second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment.
Claim 18. The transmission apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first signal comprises an information signal for a user equipment and the second signal comprises a reference signal.
Claim 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the first signal comprises an information signal for a user equipment and the at least one additional second signal comprises a reference signal.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 8 recites the limitation "the second signal" in Line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
10. 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
11. 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.
12. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
13. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
14. Claims 1-6 and 11-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (US 20140092861 A1) in view of Dent (US 20090023462 A1) and further in view of view of Hadani et al. (US 20140161154 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Goa discloses a signal transmission method, implemented at a transmitter-side (para. [0021]: synchronization signals transmitted by a network node), comprising:
performing a logical mapping of transmission resources of a digital communication channel along a first two-dimensional resource plane represented by a first and a second orthogonal axes corresponding to a first transmission dimension and a second transmission dimension respectively (Gao, para. [0023]: time-frequency resources to allow a UE to quickly locate the synchronization signals without any user intervention. The disclosed techniques can be implemented to encode information in such synchronization signals to enable UEs to locate, in the time-frequency plane of transmission resources, time slots and subcarriers on which the geometry signals are transmitted from among various possibilities, e.g. time is on one axis and frequency on the other axis);
allocating, to a first signal, a first group of transmission resources from the logical mapping for transmission (Gao, Figs. 3, 4, para. [0011] [0012]: depicts a transmission resource allocation graph in which certain resource elements (REs) are assigned to transmission of a Geometry Indicator signal. Moreover, figure 4 depicts the allocation of REs to Geometry Indicator signal transmissions. Furthermore, paragraph 45 recites with reference to Fig. 3, REs are plotted along time axis (horizontal) and frequency axis (vertical) with RE group 302 and 304 showing the unused subcarriers in OFDM symbols used by primary and secondary synchronization signals. The time-frequency plane mapping of transmission resources in the form of REs. Each RE represents a subcarrier of the OFDM signal and a duration of time or a time slot that the signal is transmitted in).
Gao does not appear to teach transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, the first signal having the first group of transmission resources to a corresponding transformed signal in a second two-dimensional resource plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension respectively.
In the same field of endeavor, Dent teaches transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, the first signal having the first group of transmission resources to a corresponding transformed signal in a second two-dimensional resource plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension respectively (Dent, Fig. 12, para. [0068]: Figure 12 illustrates a set of signal strength measurements made at different times on different frequencies, plotted as a two-dimensional array, wherein the top graph in FIG. 12 shows the time variation of the beam positions for five frequencies. The top graph also shows an exemplary sinusoid along the frequency axis that represents the signal strength measurements from all frequency components at one instant of time. When the time variation of the beam positions after unscrambling the order is a first sinusoid, and the sinusoid is shifted from one frequency to the next (after ordering the frequencies along the frequency axis appropriately, if necessary), then the two-dimensional Fourier transform will exhibit a strong peak at a specific point in the transform plane while noise components will be distributed randomly across all components in the two-dimensional transform plane, as shown in the bottom graph in FIG. 12).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teaching of Gao with the teaching of Dent to include the features such that transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, the first signal having the first group of transmission resources to a corresponding transformed signal in a second two-dimensional resource plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension respectively as taught by Dent. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide combined signal strengths that are immune to slow fading (Dent, para. [0064].
The references do not explicitly teach converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the communications channel; and
transmitting the formatted signal over the communications channel.
In the same field of endeavor, Hadani teaches converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the communications channel (Hadani, Fig. 7A, para. 206: converting the transformed signal to analog signals in the analog portion, so to the OTFS receiver 750 will typically be capable of receiving and demodulating the radio signals in the analog receiver 770 of the OTFS receiver 750, and then often decoding or deconvolving these signals in the digital portion of the digital OTFS receiver 780); and
transmitting the formatted signal over the communications channel (Hadani, para. [0290]: the analog signal is transmitted over a communication channel).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao and Dent with the teaching of Hadani to include the features such that converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the digital communications channel, and transmitting the formatted signal over the digital communications channel as taught by Hadani. The motivation for doing so would have been to optimize transmission efficiency in response to various impairments in the communications link (Hadani, para. [0198]).
Regarding claim 2, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the method of claim 1, however, Hadani further teaches wherein the first two-dimensional resource plane comprises a delay-Doppler plane and wherein the second two-dimensional resource plane comprises a time-frequency plane (Hadani, Figs. 47, 54 and para. [0112]: depict a delay-Doppler plane and a time-frequency plane).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao and Dent with the teaching of Hadani to include the features such that the first two-dimensional resource plane comprises a delay-Doppler plane and wherein the second two-dimensional resource plane comprises a time-frequency plane as taught by Hadani. The motivation for doing so would have been to optimize transmission efficiency in response to various impairments in the communications link (Hadani, para. [0198]).
Regarding claim 3, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the method of claim 1, however, Hadani further teaches wherein the converting the transformed signal to the formatted signal includes applying a multicarrier modulation scheme to the transformed signal (Hadani, para. [0174]: transform the signals over time in a OFDM manner).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao and Dent with the teaching of Hadani to include the features such that the converting the transformed signal to the formatted signal includes applying a multicarrier modulation scheme to the transformed signal as taught by Hadani. The motivation for doing so would have been to optimize transmission efficiency in response to various impairments in the communications link (Hadani, para. [0198]).
Regarding claim 4, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the method of claim 3, however, Hadani further teaches wherein the multicarrier modulation scheme is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme (Hadani, para. [0174]: transform the signals over time in a OFDM manner).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao and Dent with the teaching of Hadani to include the features such that the multicarrier modulation scheme is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme as taught by Hadani. The motivation for doing so would have been to optimize transmission efficiency in response to various impairments in the communications link (Hadani, para. [0198]).
Regarding claim 5, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the method of claim 4, wherein the transmission format comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmission format (Gao, para. [0034]: Long Term Evolution (LTE) deployment scenarios are used) and wherein the OFDM scheme produces a signal compatible with the LTE transmission format (Gao, para. [0044]: In LTE, in one radio frame (10 ms), there are 20 Resource Elements (REs) unused at the same orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing (OFDM) symbols as PSS and SSS 202 located).
Regarding claim 6, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the method of claim 1, further including: allocating, to at least one additional second signal, a second group of resources from the logical mapping for transmission (Gao, [0047]: when, e.g., a geometry indicator uses two REs out of possible 8 REs 402, several possible assignments of 2 REs from 8 available REs 402 are possible, indicating the other REs are allocated to other signal), wherein transmission resources used by the first signal and the second signal are non-overlapping in at least one of the first two-dimensional resource plane and the second two-dimensional resource plane (Gao, Figs. 3, 4, [0047]: Figures 3 and 4 show that the transmission resources allocation are non-overlapping. Gao further teaches that a 45 degree phase difference may indicate that two REs farthest away from the PSS/SSS are used for coding LPN IDs, while a 90 degree phase difference may indicate that 4 farthest REs are used).
Regarding claim 11, Gao discloses a transmission apparatus (para. [0072]: a “data processing apparatus" that encompasses all apparatus, devices, and machines for processing data) comprising at least one processor and a memory (para. [0072]: the apparatus including a computer, or multiple processors or computers. The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system), wherein the memory stores instructions that, upon execution by the at least one processor, cause the transmission apparatus to implement a method comprising:
performing a logical mapping of transmission resources of a digital communication channel along a first two-dimensional resource plane represented by a first and a second orthogonal axes corresponding to a first transmission dimension and a second transmission dimension respectively (Gao, para. [0023]: time-frequency resources to allow a UE to quickly locate the synchronization signals without any user intervention. The disclosed techniques can be implemented to encode information in such synchronization signals to enable UEs to locate, in the time-frequency plane of transmission resources, time slots and subcarriers on which the geometry signals are transmitted from among various possibilities, e.g. time is on one axis and frequency on the other axis);
allocating, to a first signal, a first group of transmission resources from the logical mapping for transmission (Gao, Figs. 3, 4, para. [0011] [0012]: depicts a transmission resource allocation graph in which certain resource elements (REs) are assigned to transmission of a Geometry Indicator signal. Moreover, figure 4 depicts the allocation of REs to Geometry Indicator signal transmissions. Furthermore, paragraph 45 recites with reference to Fig. 3, REs are plotted along time axis (horizontal) and frequency axis (vertical) with RE group 302 and 304 showing the unused subcarriers in OFDM symbols used by primary and secondary synchronization signals. The time-frequency plane mapping of transmission resources in the form of REs. Each RE represents a subcarrier of the OFDM signal and a duration of time or a time slot that the signal is transmitted in).
Gao does not appear to teach transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, the first signal having the first group of transmission resources to a corresponding transformed signal in a second two-dimensional resource plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension respectively.
In the same field of endeavor, Dent teaches transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, the first signal having the first group of transmission resources to a corresponding transformed signal in a second two-dimensional resource plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension respectively (Dent, Fig. 12, para. [0068]: Figure 12 illustrates a set of signal strength measurements made at different times on different frequencies, plotted as a two-dimensional array, wherein the top graph in FIG. 12 shows the time variation of the beam positions for five frequencies. The top graph also shows an exemplary sinusoid along the frequency axis that represents the signal strength measurements from all frequency components at one instant of time. When the time variation of the beam positions after unscrambling the order is a first sinusoid, and the sinusoid is shifted from one frequency to the next (after ordering the frequencies along the frequency axis appropriately, if necessary), then the two-dimensional Fourier transform will exhibit a strong peak at a specific point in the transform plane while noise components will be distributed randomly across all components in the two-dimensional transform plane, as shown in the bottom graph in FIG. 12).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teaching of Gao with the teaching of Dent to include the features such that transforming, using a first two-dimensional transform, the first signal having the first group of transmission resources to a corresponding transformed signal in a second two-dimensional resource plane represented by a third and a fourth orthogonal axes corresponding to a third transmission dimension and a fourth transmission dimension respectively as taught by Dent. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide combined signal strengths that are immune to slow fading (Dent, para. [0064].
The references do not explicitly teach converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the communications channel; and
transmitting the formatted signal over the communications channel.
In the same field of endeavor, Hadani teaches converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the communications channel (Hadani, Fig. 7A, para. 206: converting the transformed signal to analog signals in the analog portion, so to the OTFS receiver 750 will typically be capable of receiving and demodulating the radio signals in the analog receiver 770 of the OTFS receiver 750, and then often decoding or deconvolving these signals in the digital portion of the digital OTFS receiver 780); and
transmitting the formatted signal over the communications channel (Hadani, para. [0290]: the analog signal is transmitted over a communication channel).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao and Dent with the teaching of Hadani to include the features such that converting the transformed signal to a formatted signal according to a transmission format of the digital communications channel, and transmitting the formatted signal over the digital communications channel as taught by Hadani. The motivation for doing so would have been to optimize transmission efficiency in response to various impairments in the communications link (Hadani, para. [0198]).
Regarding claim 12, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the transmission apparatus of claim 11, however, Hadani further teaches wherein the first two-dimensional resource plane comprises a delay-Doppler plane and wherein the second two-dimensional resource plane comprises a time-frequency plane (Hadani, Figs. 47, 54 and para. [0112]: depict a delay-Doppler plane and a time-frequency plane).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao and Dent with the teaching of Hadani to include the features such that the first two-dimensional resource plane comprises a delay-Doppler plane and wherein the second two-dimensional resource plane comprises a time-frequency plane as taught by Hadani. The motivation for doing so would have been to optimize transmission efficiency in response to various impairments in the communications link (Hadani, para. [0198]).
Regarding claim 13, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the transmission apparatus of claim 11, however, Hadani further teaches wherein the converting the transformed signal to the formatted signal includes applying a multicarrier modulation scheme to the transformed signal (Hadani, para. [0174]: transform the signals over time in a OFDM manner).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao and Dent with the teaching of Hadani to include the features such that the converting the transformed signal to the formatted signal includes applying a multicarrier modulation scheme to the transformed signal as taught by Hadani. The motivation for doing so would have been to optimize transmission efficiency in response to various impairments in the communications link (Hadani, para. [0198]).
Regarding claim 14, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the transmission apparatus of claim 13, however, Hadani further teaches wherein the multicarrier modulation scheme is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme (Hadani, para. [0174]: transform the signals over time in a OFDM manner).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao and Dent with the teaching of Hadani to include the features such that the converting the transformed signal to the formatted signal includes applying a multicarrier modulation scheme to the transformed signal as taught by Hadani. The motivation for doing so would have been to optimize transmission efficiency in response to various impairments in the communications link (Hadani, para. [0198]).
Regarding claim 15, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the transmission apparatus of claim 14, wherein the transmission format comprises a Long Term Evolution (LTE) transmission format (Gao, para. [0034]: Long Term Evolution (LTE) deployment scenarios are used) and wherein the OFDM scheme produces a signal compatible with the LTE transmission format (Gao, para. [0044]: In LTE, in one radio frame (10 ms), there are 20 Resource Elements (REs) unused at the same orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing (OFDM) symbols as PSS and SSS 202 located).
Regarding claim 16, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the transmission apparatus of claim 11, wherein the method further includes: allocating, to at least one additional second signal, a second group of resources from the logical mapping for transmission (Gao, [0047]: when, e.g., a geometry indicator uses two REs out of possible 8 REs 402, several possible assignments of 2 REs from 8 available REs 402 are possible, indicating the other REs are allocated to other signal), wherein transmission resources used by the first signal and the second signal are non-overlapping in at least one of the first two-dimensional resource plane and the second two-dimensional resource plane (Gao, Figs. 3, 4, [0047]: Figures 3 and 4 show that the transmission resources allocation are non-overlapping. Gao further teaches that a 45 degree phase difference may indicate that two REs farthest away from the PSS/SSS are used for coding LPN IDs, while a 90 degree phase difference may indicate that 4 farthest REs are used).
15. Claims 7-8 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (US 20140092861 A1), Dent (US 20090023462 A1), Hadani et al. (US 20140161154 A1) and further in view of PAPASAKELLARIOU et al. (US 20130039299 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the method of claim 6, but the refences fail to teach wherein the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment and wherein the second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment.
In the same field of endeavor, PAPASAKELLARIOU teaches wherein the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment (PAPASAKELLARIOU, para. [0070]: transmitting a first control signal to a first User Equipment (UE) over a first number of the REs in the subset of the frequency RBs and over a first number of the transmission symbols in the TTI) and wherein the second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment (PAPASAKELLARIOU, para. [0070]: transmitting a second control signal to a second UE over a second number of the REs in the subset of the frequency RBs and over a second number of the transmission symbols in the TTI).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao, Dent and Hadani with the teaching of PAPASAKELLARIOU to include the features such that the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment and wherein the second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment as taught by PAPASAKELLARIOU. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a method for designing a multiplexing, transmission, and reception scheme (para. [0069]).
Regarding claim 8, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the method of claim 1, but the refences fail to teach wherein the first signal comprises an information signal for a user equipment and the second signal comprises a reference signal.
In the same field of endeavor, PAPASAKELLARIOU teaches wherein the first signal comprises an information signal for a user equipment (PAPASAKELLARIOU, para. [0070]: transmitting a first control signal to a first User Equipment (UE) over a first number of the REs in the subset of the frequency RBs and over a first number of the transmission symbols in the TTI) and the second signal comprises a reference signal (PAPASAKELLARIOU, para. [0070]: transmitting a reference signal of the first type over a third number of the REs in the subset of the frequency RBs and over a third number of the transmission symbols in the TTI).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao, Dent and Hadani with the teaching of PAPASAKELLARIOU to include the features such that the first signal comprises an information signal for a user equipment and the second signal comprises a reference signal as taught by PAPASAKELLARIOU. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a method for designing a multiplexing, transmission, and reception scheme (para. [0069]).
Regarding claim 17, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the transmission apparatus of claim 16, but the refences fail to teach wherein the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment and wherein the second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment.
In the same field of endeavor, PAPASAKELLARIOU teaches wherein the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment (PAPASAKELLARIOU, para. [0070]: transmitting a first control signal to a first User Equipment (UE) over a first number of the REs in the subset of the frequency RBs and over a first number of the transmission symbols in the TTI) and wherein the second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment (PAPASAKELLARIOU, para. [0070]: transmitting a second control signal to a second UE over a second number of the REs in the subset of the frequency RBs and over a second number of the transmission symbols in the TTI).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao, Dent and Hadani with the teaching of PAPASAKELLARIOU to include the features such that the first signal comprises a first information signal for a first user equipment and wherein the second signal comprises a second information signal for a second user equipment as taught by PAPASAKELLARIOU. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide an apparatus for designing a multiplexing, transmission, and reception scheme (para. [0069]).
Regarding claim 18, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the transmission apparatus of claim 11, but the refences fail to teach wherein the first signal comprises an information signal for a user equipment and the second signal comprises a reference signal.
In the same field of endeavor, PAPASAKELLARIOU teaches wherein the first signal comprises an information signal for a user equipment (PAPASAKELLARIOU, para. [0070]: transmitting a first control signal to a first User Equipment (UE) over a first number of the REs in the subset of the frequency RBs and over a first number of the transmission symbols in the TTI) and the second signal comprises a reference signal ((PAPASAKELLARIOU, para. [0070]: transmitting a reference signal of the first type over a third number of the REs in the subset of the frequency RBs and over a third number of the transmission symbols in the TTI)).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao, Dent and Hadani with the teaching of PAPASAKELLARIOU to include the features such that the first signal comprises an information signal for a user equipment and the second signal comprises a reference signal as taught by PAPASAKELLARIOU. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide an apparatus for designing a multiplexing, transmission, and reception scheme (para. [0069]).
16. Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (US 20140092861 A1), Dent (US 20090023462 A1), Hadani et al. (US 20140161154 A1) and further in view of Mattos (US 20130257652 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the method of claim 1, but the references fail to teach wherein the first signal comprises a pilot signal.
In the same field of endeavor, Mattos teaches wherein the first signal comprises a pilot signal (Mattos, para. [0039]: The first signal may be an E1C signal of a GNSS system. The E1C signal may be a pilot signal. The first signal may also comprise a carrier, a primary spreading code c and data and may be on a C channel. The frequency of the E1C signal is relatively unknown due to satellite Doppler, user Doppler).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao, Dent and Hadani with the teaching of Mattos to include the features such that the first signal comprises a pilot signal as taught by Mattos. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a data signal and a Phase-lock loop signal for the carrier signal (Mattos, para. [0075]).
Regarding claim 19, Gao, Dent, and Hadani disclose the transmission apparatus of claim 11, but the references fail to teach wherein the first signal comprises a pilot signal.
In the same field of endeavor, Mattos teaches wherein the first signal comprises a pilot signal (Mattos, para. [0039]: The first signal may be an E1C signal of a GNSS system. The E1C signal may be a pilot signal. The first signal may also comprise a carrier, a primary spreading code c and data and may be on a C channel. The frequency of the E1C signal is relatively unknown due to satellite Doppler, user Doppler).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Gao, Dent and Hadani with the teaching of Mattos to include the features such that the first signal comprises a pilot signal as taught by Mattos. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a data signal and a Phase-lock loop signal for the carrier signal (Mattos, para. [0075]).
Allowable Subject Matter
17. Claims 10 and 20 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.
18. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: No prior arts of record anticipate, suggest, teach, or render obvious claim element “wherein the two-dimensional delay-Doppler plane comprises a lattice with lattice points defined as (m/Δf, n/T), wherein 1/Δf is a maximum delay representable on the two-dimensional delay-Doppler plane, 1/T is a maximum Doppler representable on the two-dimensional delay-Doppler plane, and m and n are integers”.
Conclusion
18. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
a) Rakib et al. (US 20110293030 A1) discloses a method that can accommodate multiple users at once, can adapt to changing channel conditions, and is particularly useful for coping with channel impairments such as Doppler shifts.
b) KAMIJO et al. (US 20160146945 A1) discloses the plural positions are the lattice points of the mesh set around the initial position, and the positioning unit 21 sets the mesh, makes the lattice points of the mesh into the search points, calculates the search point pseudo range, which is the pseudo range from each of the search points to each of the positioning satellites 41 and includes the NLOS reflected path delay distance estimated by the three-dimensional map data and the ray-tracing method, calculates the reference position based on the calculated search point pseudo range, and selects particular search point as the candidate position on such a condition that, regarding the particular search point, the distance between the calculated reference position and the initial position is equal to the threshold or less.
c) Shao et al. (US 20180167186 A1) discloses determining an uplink reference signal position including at least one uplink reference signal symbol group, where each group includes at least one time unit; determining an uplink reference signal symbol group corresponding to a user terminal; and sending an uplink reference signal in a time unit of the uplink reference signal symbol group corresponding to the user terminal.
17. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN F VOLTAIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-3953. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30-6:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, REBECCA E. SONG can be reached at (571)270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JEAN F VOLTAIRE/Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417
Prosecution Insights