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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicants' communication filed on 9/25/2024. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-20 are currently presented in the instant application.
Claim Objections
Claims 3, 8, 18 objected to because of the following informalities: because these claims cited “T” without define used. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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, 6, 11, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication 20230076705 (hereinafter referred to as Elshafie).
Consider claim 1, Elshafie teaches a communication method (see at least Fig. 10-12), wherein the method comprises:
receiving downlink data from a network device, wherein the downlink data corresponds to one or more code blocks (CBs) (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UE 1002 may receive one or more code blocks 1010 from the base station 1004…” and see at least ¶ [0104], “…1102 may be performed by code block component 1340. For instance, referring to FIGS. 5, 7, and 10, the UE 1002 may receive one or more code blocks 1010 from the base station 1004 (e.g., code blocks 542 or encoded code blocks 538), where each of the code blocks includes multiple code block segments 704…”);
determining, based on the downlink data, a decoded sequence obtained by performing channel decoding on the downlink data, wherein the decoded sequence is an estimation result of the CB, and one decoded sequence corresponds to one CB (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UE may determine a code block segment quality 1014 of each code block segment…” and see at least ¶ [0107], “…the UE determines a code block segment quality of each of the code block segments. For example, 1104 may be performed by determination component 1342. For instance, referring to FIGS. 7 and 10, at block 1012, the UE 1002 may determine a code block segment quality 1014 of each code block segment 704. For instance, referring to FIGS. 7-9, the UE may determine the quality…”); and
sending indication information to the network device, wherein the indication information indicates first information, the first information is determined based on a quantity of non-zero elements or a quantity of zero elements comprised in first data, the first data is determined based on the decoded sequence, one piece of first data corresponds to one CB, the first data is related to C and H, C is the decoded sequence obtained by performing the channel decoding on the downlink data, and H is a check matrix corresponding to the CB (see at least ¶ [0074], “…the base station 504 applies channel coding to the code block(s) 514. For instance, the base station may include a LDPC encoder, which encodes the code blocks using the applied base graph and a parity check matrix to form encoded code blocks 518. The encoded code blocks may include systematic bits (the information bits of the code block) and parity bits.…” and see at least ¶ [0082], “…the LDPC decoder 802 may receive an input LLR vector 804 of input LLRs 806 corresponding to bits of an encoded code block segment, decode the input LLR vector through one or more iterations of belief propagation decoding, and obtain an output LLR vector 808 of output LLRs 810 corresponding to bits of a decoded code block segment…” and see at least ¶ [0101], “…the UE may transmit a CSI report 1030 to the base station including the code block segment qualities 1014. In one example, the CSI report may include a bitmap 1032 of length M*custom-character, and the bitmap may include the quantization 1028 for each code block segment of a code block. In another example, the CSI report may include indices 1034 for K code block segments having the worst code block segment quality, as well as indices 1036 for non-acknowledged code blocks (e.g., indices 902) including the K code block segments…” and see at least ¶ [0113], “…the UE sends a CSI report including one or more of the code block segment qualities. For example, 1106 may be performed by CSI report component 1344. For instance, referring to FIG. 10, the UE 1002 may transmit CSI report 1030 to the base station including one or more of the code block segment qualities 1014 determined at block 1012. In one example, the CSI report may include a bitmap 1032 of length M*custom-character, and the bitmap may include the code block segment quality (in the form of quantization 1028) for each code block segment of a code block…” and see at least ¶ [0116], “…the UE determines and quantizes the first segment as 0 (low quality), the second segment as 1 (high quality), the third segment as 0 (low quality), and the fourth segment as 1 (high quality) such as described in the example above, the UE may provide the indices of only the first segment and the third segment in the CSI report (e.g., segment index 1 and segment index 3) since these K=2 segments include the worst code block segment qualities (low quality) of all M=4 segments…”).
Consider claim 6, Elshafie teaches a communication method, wherein the method comprises:
sending a downlink data signal to a terminal device, wherein the downlink data signal corresponds to one or more code blocks (CBs) (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UE 1002 may receive one or more code blocks 1010 from the base station 1004…” and see at least ¶ [0104], “…1102 may be performed by code block component 1340. For instance, referring to FIGS. 5, 7, and 10, the UE 1002 may receive one or more code blocks 1010 from the base station 1004 (e.g., code blocks 542 or encoded code blocks 538), where each of the code blocks includes multiple code block segments 704…”); and
receiving indication information from the terminal device, wherein the indication information indicates first information, the first information is determined based on a quantity of non-zero elements comprised in first data, one piece of first data corresponds to one CB, the first data is related to C and H, C is a decoded sequence obtained by performing channel decoding on downlink data, and H is a check matrix corresponding to the CB (see at least ¶ [0074], “…the base station 504 applies channel coding to the code block(s) 514. For instance, the base station may include a LDPC encoder, which encodes the code blocks using the applied base graph and a parity check matrix to form encoded code blocks 518. The encoded code blocks may include systematic bits (the information bits of the code block) and parity bits.…” and see at least ¶ [0082], “…the LDPC decoder 802 may receive an input LLR vector 804 of input LLRs 806 corresponding to bits of an encoded code block segment, decode the input LLR vector through one or more iterations of belief propagation decoding, and obtain an output LLR vector 808 of output LLRs 810 corresponding to bits of a decoded code block segment…” and see at least ¶ [0101], “…the UE may transmit a CSI report 1030 to the base station including the code block segment qualities 1014. In one example, the CSI report may include a bitmap 1032 of length M*custom-character, and the bitmap may include the quantization 1028 for each code block segment of a code block. In another example, the CSI report may include indices 1034 for K code block segments having the worst code block segment quality, as well as indices 1036 for non-acknowledged code blocks (e.g., indices 902) including the K code block segments…” and see at least ¶ [0113], “…the UE sends a CSI report including one or more of the code block segment qualities. For example, 1106 may be performed by CSI report component 1344. For instance, referring to FIG. 10, the UE 1002 may transmit CSI report 1030 to the base station including one or more of the code block segment qualities 1014 determined at block 1012. In one example, the CSI report may include a bitmap 1032 of length M*custom-character, and the bitmap may include the code block segment quality (in the form of quantization 1028) for each code block segment of a code block…” and see at least ¶ [0116], “…the UE determines and quantizes the first segment as 0 (low quality), the second segment as 1 (high quality), the third segment as 0 (low quality), and the fourth segment as 1 (high quality) such as described in the example above, the UE may provide the indices of only the first segment and the third segment in the CSI report (e.g., segment index 1 and segment index 3) since these K=2 segments include the worst code block segment qualities (low quality) of all M=4 segments…”).
Consider claim 11, Elshafie teaches a communication apparatus, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to invoke program code or instructions stored in a memory, to enable the communication apparatus to perform the method (see at least ¶ [0131], Fig. 13), comprising:
receiving downlink data from a network device, wherein the downlink data corresponds to one or more code blocks (CBs) (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UE 1002 may receive one or more code blocks 1010 from the base station 1004…” and see at least ¶ [0104], “…1102 may be performed by code block component 1340. For instance, referring to FIGS. 5, 7, and 10, the UE 1002 may receive one or more code blocks 1010 from the base station 1004 (e.g., code blocks 542 or encoded code blocks 538), where each of the code blocks includes multiple code block segments 704…”);
determining, based on the downlink data, a decoded sequence obtained by performing channel decoding on the downlink data, wherein the decoded sequence is an estimation result of the CB, and one decoded sequence corresponds to one CB (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UE may determine a code block segment quality 1014 of each code block segment…” and see at least ¶ [0107], “…the UE determines a code block segment quality of each of the code block segments. For example, 1104 may be performed by determination component 1342. For instance, referring to FIGS. 7 and 10, at block 1012, the UE 1002 may determine a code block segment quality 1014 of each code block segment 704. For instance, referring to FIGS. 7-9, the UE may determine the quality…”); and
sending indication information to the network device, wherein the indication information indicates first information, the first information is determined based on a quantity of non-zero elements or a quantity of zero elements comprised in first data, the first data is determined based on the decoded sequence, one piece of first data corresponds to one CB, the first data is related to C and H, C is the decoded sequence obtained by performing the channel decoding on the downlink data, and H is a check matrix corresponding to the CB (see at least ¶ [0074], “…the base station 504 applies channel coding to the code block(s) 514. For instance, the base station may include a LDPC encoder, which encodes the code blocks using the applied base graph and a parity check matrix to form encoded code blocks 518. The encoded code blocks may include systematic bits (the information bits of the code block) and parity bits.…” and see at least ¶ [0082], “…the LDPC decoder 802 may receive an input LLR vector 804 of input LLRs 806 corresponding to bits of an encoded code block segment, decode the input LLR vector through one or more iterations of belief propagation decoding, and obtain an output LLR vector 808 of output LLRs 810 corresponding to bits of a decoded code block segment…” and see at least ¶ [0101], “…the UE may transmit a CSI report 1030 to the base station including the code block segment qualities 1014. In one example, the CSI report may include a bitmap 1032 of length M*custom-character, and the bitmap may include the quantization 1028 for each code block segment of a code block. In another example, the CSI report may include indices 1034 for K code block segments having the worst code block segment quality, as well as indices 1036 for non-acknowledged code blocks (e.g., indices 902) including the K code block segments…” and see at least ¶ [0113], “…the UE sends a CSI report including one or more of the code block segment qualities. For example, 1106 may be performed by CSI report component 1344. For instance, referring to FIG. 10, the UE 1002 may transmit CSI report 1030 to the base station including one or more of the code block segment qualities 1014 determined at block 1012. In one example, the CSI report may include a bitmap 1032 of length M*custom-character, and the bitmap may include the code block segment quality (in the form of quantization 1028) for each code block segment of a code block…” and see at least ¶ [0116], “…the UE determines and quantizes the first segment as 0 (low quality), the second segment as 1 (high quality), the third segment as 0 (low quality), and the fourth segment as 1 (high quality) such as described in the example above, the UE may provide the indices of only the first segment and the third segment in the CSI report (e.g., segment index 1 and segment index 3) since these K=2 segments include the worst code block segment qualities (low quality) of all M=4 segments…”).
Consider claim 16, Elshafie teaches a communication apparatus, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to invoke program code or instructions stored in a memory, to enable the communication apparatus to perform the method (see at least ¶ [0136], Fig. 14), comprising:
sending a downlink data signal to a terminal device, wherein the downlink data signal corresponds to one or more code blocks (CBs) (see at least ¶ [0100], “…the UE 1002 may receive one or more code blocks 1010 from the base station 1004…” and see at least ¶ [0104], “…1102 may be performed by code block component 1340. For instance, referring to FIGS. 5, 7, and 10, the UE 1002 may receive one or more code blocks 1010 from the base station 1004 (e.g., code blocks 542 or encoded code blocks 538), where each of the code blocks includes multiple code block segments 704…”); and
receiving indication information from the terminal device, wherein the indication information indicates first information, the first information is determined based on a quantity of non-zero elements comprised in first data, one piece of first data corresponds to one CB, the first data is related to C and H, C is a decoded sequence obtained by performing channel decoding on downlink data, and H is a check matrix corresponding to the CB (see at least ¶ [0074], “…the base station 504 applies channel coding to the code block(s) 514. For instance, the base station may include a LDPC encoder, which encodes the code blocks using the applied base graph and a parity check matrix to form encoded code blocks 518. The encoded code blocks may include systematic bits (the information bits of the code block) and parity bits.…” and see at least ¶ [0082], “…the LDPC decoder 802 may receive an input LLR vector 804 of input LLRs 806 corresponding to bits of an encoded code block segment, decode the input LLR vector through one or more iterations of belief propagation decoding, and obtain an output LLR vector 808 of output LLRs 810 corresponding to bits of a decoded code block segment…” and see at least ¶ [0101], “…the UE may transmit a CSI report 1030 to the base station including the code block segment qualities 1014. In one example, the CSI report may include a bitmap 1032 of length M*custom-character, and the bitmap may include the quantization 1028 for each code block segment of a code block. In another example, the CSI report may include indices 1034 for K code block segments having the worst code block segment quality, as well as indices 1036 for non-acknowledged code blocks (e.g., indices 902) including the K code block segments…” and see at least ¶ [0113], “…the UE sends a CSI report including one or more of the code block segment qualities. For example, 1106 may be performed by CSI report component 1344. For instance, referring to FIG. 10, the UE 1002 may transmit CSI report 1030 to the base station including one or more of the code block segment qualities 1014 determined at block 1012. In one example, the CSI report may include a bitmap 1032 of length M*custom-character, and the bitmap may include the code block segment quality (in the form of quantization 1028) for each code block segment of a code block…” and see at least ¶ [0116], “…the UE determines and quantizes the first segment as 0 (low quality), the second segment as 1 (high quality), the third segment as 0 (low quality), and the fourth segment as 1 (high quality) such as described in the example above, the UE may provide the indices of only the first segment and the third segment in the CSI report (e.g., segment index 1 and segment index 3) since these K=2 segments include the worst code block segment qualities (low quality) of all M=4 segments…”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claims 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 17, 19, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Application Publication 20230076705 (hereinafter referred to as Elshafie) in view of US Patent Application Publication 20200186167 (hereinafter referred to as Noh).
Consider claims 2, 12 (depends on at least claims 1, 11), Elshafie discloses the limitations of claims 1, 11 as applied to claim rejection 1, 11 above and further discloses:
Elshafie teaches wherein the first information is at least one of the following information:
a quantity of non-zero elements comprised in first data corresponding to at least one of the one or more CBs,
a proportion of a non-zero element comprised in first data corresponding to at least one of the one or more CBs,
an average value of quantities of non-zero elements comprised in first data corresponding to at least one of the one or more CBs,
a sum of quantities of non-zero elements comprised in first data corresponding to at least one of the one or more CBs,
an average value of proportions of non-zero elements comprised in first data corresponding to at least one of the one or more CBs,
a block error rate (BLER) corresponding to the at least one of the one or more CBs, or
a BLER corresponding to a CB set comprising the plurality of CBs (see at least ¶ [0085], “…the base station may configure the UE to calculate …, or a weighted sum of the norm of the input LLR vector and the norm of the output LLR vector, and the UE may compare the calculated norm or weighted sum (the agreed metric in this example) with the configured threshold Z to determine the quality of the code block segment …”).
Elshafie disclose all the subject matters of the claimed invention concept. However, Elshafie does not particularly disclose a BLER corresponding to a CB set comprising the plurality of CBs. In an analogous field of endeavor, attention is directed to Noh, which teaches a BLER corresponding to a CB set comprising the plurality of CBs (see Noh, at least ¶ [0119], “…code blocks may be segmented as follows. As the number of code blocks generated by the segmentation increases, the block error rate (BLER) may increase…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious a finding that one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have combined the elements as claimed by the know method, and that in combination. Each element merely performs the same function as it does separately; Elshafie disclosed invention, and have a BLER corresponding to a CB set comprising the plurality of CBs, as taught by Noh, thereby, to provide a wireless communication system is a multiple access system that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources, as discussed by Noh, (see at least ¶ [0002]).
Consider claims 3, 8, 13, 18 (depends on at least claims 1, 6, 11, 16), Elshafie discloses the limitations of claims 1, 6, 11, 16 as applied to claim rejection 1, 6, 11, 16 above and further discloses:
Elshafie disclose all the subject matters of the claimed invention concept. However, Elshafie does not particularly disclose wherein the first data is A, and A=CHT, or A=HCT. In an analogous field of endeavor, attention is directed to Noh, which teaches wherein the first data is A, and A=CHT, or A=HCT (see Noh, at least ¶ [0089], “…the structures of the matrices H and G, it can be seen that a product of the matrix G and a transposed matrix of the matrix H...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious a finding that one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have combined the elements as claimed by the know method, and that in combination. Each element merely performs the same function as it does separately; Elshafie disclosed invention, and have wherein the first data is A, and A=CHT, or A=HCT, as taught by Noh, thereby, to provide a wireless communication system is a multiple access system that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources, as discussed by Noh, (see at least ¶ [0002]).
Consider claims 5, 10, 15, 20 (depends on at least claims 1, 6, 11, 16), Elshafie discloses the limitations of claims 1, 6, 11, 16 as applied to claim rejection 1, 6, 11, 16 above and further discloses:
Elshafie disclose all the subject matters of the claimed invention concept. However, Elshafie does not particularly disclose wherein there is a correspondence between the BLER corresponding to the CB and the quantity of the non-zero elements comprised in the first data corresponding to the CB, or there is a correspondence between the BLER corresponding to the CB and the proportion of the non-zero element comprised in the first data corresponding to the CB. In an analogous field of endeavor, attention is directed to Noh, which teaches wherein there is a correspondence between the BLER corresponding to the CB and the quantity of the non-zero elements comprised in the first data corresponding to the CB, or there is a correspondence between the BLER corresponding to the CB and the proportion of the non-zero element comprised in the first data corresponding to the CB (see Noh, at least ¶ [0078], “…the number of non-zero elements in the parity check matrix H …” and see at least ¶ [0084], “…indicates a predetermined size of zero matrix and index ‘0’ indicates a predetermined size of identity matrix. In addition…” and at least ¶ [0119], “…code blocks may be segmented as follows. As the number of code blocks generated by the segmentation increases, the block error rate (BLER) may increase…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious a finding that one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have combined the elements as claimed by the know method, and that in combination. Each element merely performs the same function as it does separately; Elshafie disclosed invention, and have wherein there is a correspondence between the BLER corresponding to the CB and the quantity of the non-zero elements comprised in the first data corresponding to the CB, or there is a correspondence between the BLER corresponding to the CB and the proportion of the non-zero element comprised in the first data corresponding to the CB, as taught by Noh, thereby, to provide a wireless communication system is a multiple access system that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources, as discussed by Noh, (see at least ¶ [0002]).
Consider claims 7, 17 (depends on at least claims 1, 11), Elshafie discloses the limitations of claims 1, 11 as applied to claim rejection 1, 11 above and further discloses:
Elshafie teaches wherein the first information is one of the following information:
a quantity of non-zero elements comprised in first data corresponding to each of the one or more CBs,
a proportion of a non-zero element comprised in first data corresponding to each of the one or more CBs,
an average value of quantities of non-zero elements comprised in first data corresponding to each of the one or more CBs, or
an average value of proportions of non-zero elements comprised in first data corresponding to each of the one or more CBs, and
a block error rate (BLER) corresponding to the one or more CBs (see at least ¶ [0085], “…the base station may configure the UE to calculate …, or a weighted sum of the norm of the input LLR vector and the norm of the output LLR vector, and the UE may compare the calculated norm or weighted sum (the agreed metric in this example) with the configured threshold Z to determine the quality of the code block segment …”).
Elshafie disclose all the subject matters of the claimed invention concept. However, Elshafie does not particularly disclose a block error rate (BLER) corresponding to the one or more CBs. In an analogous field of endeavor, attention is directed to Noh, which teaches a block error rate (BLER) corresponding to the one or more CBs (see Noh, at least ¶ [0119], “…code blocks may be segmented as follows. As the number of code blocks generated by the segmentation increases, the block error rate (BLER) may increase…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious a finding that one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention could have combined the elements as claimed by the know method, and that in combination. Each element merely performs the same function as it does separately; Elshafie disclosed invention, and have a block error rate (BLER) corresponding to the one or more CBs, as taught by Noh, thereby, to provide a wireless communication system is a multiple access system that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources, as discussed by Noh, (see at least ¶ [0002]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 9, 14, 19 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG A NGO whose telephone number is (571)270-7264. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 5:30AM-3:30PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony S Addy can be reached at (571) 272-7795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHUONG A NGO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
Prosecution Insights