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 .
1. This office action, in response to the amendment filed 1/11/2026, is a final office action.
Response to Amendments and Arguments
2. Claims 18-20 were amended to overcome the previous rejections of claims 19 and 20 under 35 USC 112. The previous rejection under 35 USC 112 is withdrawn in view of these amendments to the claims.
3. Regarding the previous rejection of claim 12, applicant states the reference does not recite receive phase information on page 7 of the remarks. The examiner disagrees that the recited limitations are not taught by the reference. Wang1 (US 2023/0344487) discloses the method comprising the antenna groups as shown in figure 7. Paragraph 0073 discloses the UE will perform channel estimation and transmit CSI information to the base station. Paragraph 0065 discloses the UE may provide a CSI report and that report may comprise a number of fields such as CRI, a rank indicator, PMI, wideband information field, wideband CQI and/or the like. The quality indications will reflect the phase of the received reference signals used to determine the channel estimates and channel quality at the UE. The quality (SNR, BER, etc) of a received reference signal will be dependent on the phase information of the received signal and the corresponding CSI or CQI fields “indicates receive phase information of the reference signals.” The rejection of claim 12 is maintained and stated below.
4. Regarding the rejections of independent claims 1 and 17, applicant states the cited references do not disclose the reference signals are simultaneously sent on pages 7-8 of the remarks. The examiner agrees that the reference does not disclose during each of the M times, the reference signals are simultaneously sent through the two groups of the transmit antennas for the reasons pointed out in the remarks. The previous rejections of claims 1, 3, 5-8, 17 and 19 are withdrawn.
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 (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.
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.
5. Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (2) as being anticipated by Wang et al (US 2023/0344487). Wang et al (US 2023/0344487) is referred to as Wang1 in the rejections of the claims.
Regarding claim 12, Wang1 discloses a communication method, applied to a second device, (Figure 7) wherein the method comprises:
receiving reference signals from a first device in a first beam direction M times (Figure 7), wherein:
during each of the M times the reference signals are received through two groups of receive antennas (Figure 7: the base station transmits to the UE. The UE receives the transmitted signals through two groups of receive antennas. Paragraph 0073 discloses the UE receives signals from the base station and will perform channel estimates and will provide separate CSI for each group of antennas.),
during each of the M times the reference signals are received, quantities of receive antennas used in the two groups of receive antennas are the same (Figure 7: the base station transmits to the UE. The UE receives the transmitted signals through two groups of receive antennas. Figure 7 shows the number of antennas in each group of antennas are the same. Paragraph 0073 discloses the UE receives signals from the base station and will perform channel estimates and will provide separate CSI for each group of antennas.), and
M is a positive integer (The reference signals will be received one or more times.), and
sending first information to the first device, wherein the first information indicates receive phase information of the reference signals (Paragraph 0065: The UE may perform channel estimation and measure a strength and/or quality of the CSI-RS. The UE may provide an indication of measurement results (CSI feedback) in a CSI report. A CSI report may include, a CRI, a rank indicator, a layer indicator, padding bits, precoder matrix indicator, wideband information fields, CQI and/or the like. These fields will include phase information of or from the reference signals.).
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 1-11 and 17-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: None of the cited prior art discloses a communication method, performed by a first device, wherein the method comprises: sending reference signals to a second device in a first beam direction M times, wherein: during each of the M times the reference signals are simultaneously sent through two groups of transmit antennas, during each of M-1 times the reference signals are sent, quantities of transmit antennas used in the two groups of transmit antennas are different, during the remaining one time the reference signals are sent other than the M-1 times, quantities of transmit antennas used in the two groups of transmit antennas are the same, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2;receiving first information from the second device, wherein the first information indicates receive phase information of the reference signals; and determining a second beam direction based on the first information, wherein the second beam direction is a beam direction in which the first device sends information to the second device or the first device receives information from the second device s recited in claims 1-11 and a communication device, comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories; and one or more computer programs, wherein the one or more computer programs are stored in the one or more memories, the one or more computer programs comprise instructions, and when the instructions are executed by the one or more processors of the communication device, the communication device is enabled to perform the following method: sending reference signals to a second device in a first beam direction M times, wherein: during each of the M times the reference signals are simultaneously sent through two groups of transmit antennas, during each of M-1 times the reference signals are sent, quantities of transmit antennas used in the two groups of transmit antennas are different, during the remaining one time the reference signals are sent other than the M-1 times, quantities of transmit antennas used in the two groups of transmit antennas are the same, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2;receiving first information from the second device, wherein the first information indicates receive phase information of the reference signals; and determining a second beam direction based on the first information, wherein the second beam direction is a beam direction in which the first device sends information to the second device or the first device receives information from the second device as stated in claims 17-20.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
7. Claims 13-16 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the cited references disclose each and every limitation of the claims.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN M. BURD whose telephone number is (571)272-3008. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 - 5:00.
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, Chieh Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN M BURD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 3/19/2026