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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 6-14 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xiong (US 2024/0154761).
Regarding claim 1, Xiong discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
at least one memory (memory; see at least Fig. 9 and paragraph 0092); and
at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the at least one memory (processor; see at least Fig. 9 and paragraph 0092), the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the UE to:
transmit or receive a first transmission of a physical channel, wherein the physical channel includes one of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (initial transmission in a PDSCH or PUSCH; see at least paragraphs 0020-0021); and
transmit or receive a subsequent retransmission of the physical channel (retransmission; see at least paragraphs 0020-0021), wherein the subsequent retransmission of the physical channel comprises a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) having a pattern that is independent of whether the first transmission was an initial transmission or a prior retransmission (determining PT-RS pattern for initial transmission and retransmission within a PDSCH or PUSCH; see at least paragraphs 0021, 0025 and 0027).
Regarding claim 2, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor, wherein to transmit or receive the first transmission of the physical channel, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to
cause the UE to transmit or receive the first transmission of the physical channel via the transceiver, and wherein to transmit or receive the first transmission of the physical channel, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the UE to:
transmit, to a network entity, the first transmission of the PUSCH, and wherein to transmit or receive the subsequent retransmission of the physical channel (transmission between receiver and transmitter; see at least paragraphs 0020 and 0023), the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the UE to:
transmit, to the network entity, the subsequent retransmission of the PUSCH (transmission between receiver and transmitter; see at least paragraphs 0020 and 0023).
Regarding claim 3, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein to transmit or receive the first transmission of the physical channel, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the UE to:
receive, from a network entity, the first transmission of the PDSCH, and wherein to transmit or receive the subsequent retransmission of the physical channel (transmission between receiver and transmitter; see at least paragraphs 0020 and 0023), the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the UE to:
receive, from the network entity, the subsequent retransmission of the PDSCH (transmission between receiver and transmitter; see at least paragraphs 0020 and 0023).
Regarding claim 4, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first transmission of the physical channel comprises the PTRS having the pattern (determining PT-RS for the initial transmission; see at least paragraphs 0021, 0025 and 0027).
Regarding claim 6, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pattern is based on a configured pattern (see at least paragraphs 0134-0141).
Regarding claim 7, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to cause the UE to:
receive, from a network entity, a pattern configuration indicative of the pattern for the PTRS (see at least paragraphs 0134-0141).
Regarding claim 8, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to cause the UE to:
obtain a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for the subsequent retransmission of the physical channel; and
determine, based on the MCS, the pattern of the PTRS (see at least paragraphs 0028-0029 and 0031-0039).
Regarding claim 9, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 8, wherein to obtain the MCS, the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the UE to:
receive an MCS configuration indicating the MCS, or
obtain the MCS based on a configured MCS (see at least paragraphs 0028-0029 and 0031-0039).
Regarding claim 10, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the subsequent retransmission of the physical channel includes multiple codewords (TBs), and wherein the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to cause the UE to:
determine, based on a fixed codeword of the multiple codewords, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for the subsequent retransmission (see at least paragraphs 0020-0021, 0023-0025 and 0030-0037); and
determine, based on the MCS, the pattern for the PTRS (see at least paragraphs 0028-0029 and 0031-0039).
Regarding claim 11, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the fixed codeword is based on a configured codeword (see at least paragraphs 0020-0021, 0023-0025 and 0030-0037).
Regarding claim 12, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to cause the UE to:
receive, from a network entity, a codeword configuration indicating the fixed codeword (see at least paragraphs 0020-0021, 0023-0025 and 0030-0037).
Regarding claim 13, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the PTRS in the first transmission of the physical channel is based on the fixed codeword (see at least paragraphs 0020-0021, 0023-0025 and 0030-0037).
Claim 14 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 1.
Regarding claim 16, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to cause the network entity to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a pattern configuration indicative of the pattern for the PTRS (see at least the rejection of claim 7).
Regarding claim 17, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 14, wherein the pattern of the PTRS is based on a fixed modulation and coding scheme (MCS) for the subsequent retransmission of the physical channel (see at least paragraphs 0028-0029 and 0031-0039).
Regarding claim 18, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 14, wherein the subsequent retransmission of the physical channel includes multiple codewords, and wherein the pattern for the PTRS is based on a fixed modulation and coding scheme (MCS) associated with a fixed codeword of the
multiple codewords (see at least paragraphs 0020-0021, 0023-0025 and 0030-0037).
Regarding claim 19, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is configured to cause the network entity to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a codeword configuration indicating the fixed
codeword (see at least paragraphs 0020-0021, 0023-0025 and 0030-0037).
Claim 20 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 1.
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 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xiong in view of Park (US 2026/0150104).
Regarding claim 5, Xiong discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor, individually or in any combination, is further configured to cause the UE to:
receive, from a network entity, downlink control information (DCI); see a least paragraphs 0020 and 0023, but is not clear about it is comprising a new data indicator (NDI), wherein the subsequent retransmission of the physical channel is based on the NDI.
Park discloses the above missing limitation; DCI includes NDI that indicates whether it is initial transmission or re-transmission; see at least paragraphs 0160-0172.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify Xiong by the teachings of Park by having the above limitations so to be able to provide a device and method capable of effectively providing a service in a wireless communication system such as a satellite communication system; see at least paragraph 0009.
Claim 15 is rejected on the same grounds as claim 5.
Conclusion
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/YASSIN ALATA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426
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