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 .
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, 3, 6, 8, 11, 13, 16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by 3GPP, Rel-18, LS on required DCI signaling for advanced receiver on MU-MIMO scenario (R4-2309895; hereinafter 3GPP R4-2309895).
Regarding claims 1 and 11, 3GPP R4-2309895 teaches a method performed by a terminal in a communication system (§1, RAN4 observes that R-ML receiver can achieve better performance. DCI based network assistant signaling to know the essential information related to the interfering layers associated with the co-scheduled UE(s).),
the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, configuration information indicating information on multi-user multi-input and multi-output (MU-MIMO) that is included in downlink control information (DCI) via higher layer signaling (read as RRC signaling) (§1, (1),The existence of MU-MIMO DCI signaling is configured by RRC signaling.; §1, (2), The field is intended to be included in a DCI.);
receiving, from the base station, the DCI that schedules downlink data (read as format 1_1), wherein the DCI includes the information on the MU-MIMO (§1, DCI based network assistant signaling.; §1, (1),The existence of MU-MIMO DCI signaling is configured by RRC signaling.; §1, (2), DCI which can be based on the format 1_1.); and
receiving, from the base station, the downlink data based on the information on the MU-MIMO (§1, The advanced receiver to cancel inter-user interference for MU-MIMO. DCI based network assistant signaling to know the essential information related to the interfering layers associated with the co-scheduled UE(s).),
wherein a value 0 of the information on the MU-MIMO indicates that no other terminal that is scheduled with the terminal exists or another terminal that is scheduled with the terminal using a different demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence exists (§1, Table, Bit field mapped to index 0: No co-scheduled UE(s) which has same DMRS sequence as target UE exists.).
Regarding claims 3, 8, 13, and 18, 3GPP R4-2309895 teaches wherein the DCI corresponds to a DCI format 1_1 (§1, (2), DCI which can be based on the format 1_1.).
Regarding claims 6 and 16, 3GPP R4-2309895 teaches a method performed by a base station in a communication system (§1, RAN4 observes that R-ML receiver can achieve better performance. DCI based network assistant signaling to know the essential information related to the interfering layers associated with the co-scheduled UE(s).),
the method comprising:
transmitting, to a terminal, configuration information indicating information on multi-user multi-input and multi-output (MU-MIMO) that is included in downlink control information (DCI) via higher layer signaling (read as RRC signaling) (§1, (1),The existence of MU-MIMO DCI signaling is configured by RRC signaling.; §1, (2), The field is intended to be included in a DCI.);
transmitting, to the terminal, the DCI that schedules downlink data (read as format 1_1), wherein the DCI includes the information on the MU-MIMO (§1, DCI based network assistant signaling.; §1, (1),The existence of MU-MIMO DCI signaling is configured by RRC signaling.; §1, (2), DCI which can be based on the format 1_1.); and
transmitting, to the terminal, the downlink data (§1, The advanced receiver to cancel inter-user interference for MU-MIMO. DCI based network assistant signaling to know the essential information related to the interfering layers associated with the co-scheduled UE(s).),
wherein a value 0 of the information on the MU-MIMO indicates that no other terminal that is scheduled with the terminal exists or another terminal that is scheduled with the terminal using a different demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sequence exists (§1, Table, Bit field mapped to index 0: No co-scheduled UE(s) which has same DMRS sequence as target UE exists.).
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.
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.
Claims 2, 7, 12, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP R4-2309895 in view of Lee et al. (US 2021/0050886 A1; hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claims 2, 7, 12, and 17, 3GPP R4-2309895 does not explicitly teach wherein the higher layer signaling is configured for a bandwidth part (BWP).
In analogous art Lee teaches, wherein the higher layer signaling (read as RRC) is configured for a bandwidth part (BWP) (¶ [0108] Higher-layer signaling (e.g. radio resource control (RRC) signaling).; ¶ [0124] Configured grant Type 1 where an uplink grant is provided by RRC. Type 1 are configured by RRC per serving cell and per BWP.; ¶ [0236] The number of MIMO layers is changed only via RRC. The network configures the multiple numbers of MIMO layers on each BWPs.; ¶ [0239] A gNB configures a UE with multiple MIMO layers configurations for a BWP.; ¶ [0250] A gNB configures the UE with multiple MIMO layer configurations including 2-MIMO layer, 4-MIMO layer, and 8-MIMO layer for a BWP ID 1.; ¶ [0251] The UE selects 4-MIMO layer and uses 4-MIMO layer after successfully receiving the multiple MIMO layer configurations.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine higher layer signaling configured for BWP as taught by Lee with DCI signaling for advanced receiver on MU-MIMO scenario as taught by 3GPP R4-2309895. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce UE complexity and improve MU-MIMO decoding performance by configuring the advanced receiver DCI signaling for the applicable BWP, thereby providing relevant interference information for the bandwidth resources on which the UE is scheduled (Lee: ¶¶ [0003-0004]).
Claims 4, 9, 14, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP R4-2309895 in view of 3GPP TS 38.212 (Multiplexing and channel coding, Rel-17; hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.212).
Regarding claims 4, 9, 14, and 19, 3GPP R4-2309895 does not explicitly teach wherein antenna port information included in the DCI is not associated with a two codewords (CWs) scheduling
In analogous art, 3GPP TS 38.212 teaches wherein antenna port information included in the DCI is not associated with a two codewords (CWs) scheduling (page 168-169, If DCI formats 1_1 are monitored in multiple search spaces associated with multiple CORESETs in a BWP.; page 169, Table 7.3.1.2.2-1 Antenna port(s), One Codeword: Codeword 0 enabled, Codeword 1 disabled.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the one codeword antenna port configuration taught by 3GPP TS 38.212 with DCI signaling for advanced receiver on MU-MIMO scenario as taught by 3GPP R4-2309895. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce receiver complexity and improve MU-MIMO decoding performance by applying the advanced receiver signaling to an antenna port configuration in which only one codeword is enabled (3GPP TS 38.212: page 7).
Claims 5, 10, 15, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP R4-2309895 in view of Yang et al. (US 2015/0098440 A1; hereinafter Yang).
Regarding claims 5 and 15, 3GPP R4-2309895 does not explicitly teach transmitting, to the base station, capability information supporting a reduced complexity maximum likelihood (R-ML) receiver for the MU-MIMO.
In analogous art, Yang teaches transmitting (read as reports), to the base station (read as the eNB), capability information supporting a reduced complexity maximum likelihood (R-ML) receiver for the MU-MIMO (¶ [0114] Information from the UE that may be used by the eNB in order for the eNB to decide whether the UE is a candidate for MU-MIMO. The UE reports its receiver capability (e.g. R-ML).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine reporting to the base station R-ML capability taught by Yang with DCI signaling for advanced receiver on MU-MIMO scenario as taught by 3GPP R4-2309895. One would have been motivated to do so in order to reduce unnecessary signaling overhead and improve MU-MIMO decoding performance by enabling the base station to identify R-ML capable terminals and selectively provide those terminals with the DCI based information used for reduced complexity interference cancellation (Yang: ¶ [0004]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Amuru et al. (US 2020/0344761 A1) discloses “Bandwidth Part Configurations for Single Carrier Wideband Operations”
Manolakos et al. (US 2024/0356700 A1) discloses “Bandwidth Part Operation and Downlink or Uplink Positioning Reference Signal Scheme”
Sun et al. (US 2018/0124754 A1) discloses “DCI Design for Multi-User Superposition Transmission”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID M KAYAL whose telephone number is (703)756-4576. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-5:30 ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Ngo can be reached at 571-272-3139. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/D.M.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/RICKY Q NGO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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