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 .
Response to Amendment
2. Acknowledgement is made of the amendment filed 01/02/26.
Claims 23, 25-31, 33-44 remain pending in the application.
• Claims 23,25,31,33 and 43 are currently amended.
• Claims 1-21, 24 and 32 are canceled.
• No claims are new.
Claim rejected under 112 2nd have been withdrawn because of amendments.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant's arguments filed 01/02/26 with respect to the rejection of claims 23, 26, 27-28, 30, 31, 34-36 and 38 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (US 20190081667)(see IDS) in view of Nokia Technologies OY(EP 3609086 A1)(see IDS) and further in view of Park et al (US20190036573 A1) have been fully considered and are not persuasive. The rejection has been maintained claims 23 and 31 have been amended by incorporating limitations from claims 24 and 32 (now cancelled). The amendment has changed the scope of the claims. Yang et al (US 20190081667)(see IDS) in view of Nokia Technologies OY(EP 3609086 A1)(see IDS) and further in view of Park et al (US20190036573 A1) teaches the amended limitations. See rejections because of amendments below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4.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.
5. Claims 23, 26, 27-28, 30, 31, 34-36 and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (US 20190081667)(see IDS) in view of Nokia Technologies OY(EP 3609086 A1)(see IDS) and further in view of Park et al (US20190036573 A1).
With regards to claim 23, Yang et al discloses an apparatus for use in a user equipment (UE), wherein the apparatus comprises: memory (see fig. 6, 624) to store codebook information received from a next-generation NodeB (gNB),( see fig. 6, [0064], a communication apparatus 610 which may be a UE (see paragraph [0057]) configured to: receive a signal indicating codebook subset restriction (CBSR) from a network apparatus 620; select a codebook from a master codebook based on the CBSR; and perform a PUSCH transmission to the network apparatus 620 using the codebook. and one or more processors configured to encode the uplink transmission for transmission to the gNB based on the codebook information. In (see paragraph [0070]: "in selecting the one or more codewords or the codebook from the master codebook based on the CBSR, processor 612 may select, from the
master codebook, a plurality of components including: (A) a component for port combining for four transmitter antennas of communication apparatus 610 for a non-ULA-based codebook; (B) a component for port combining for the four transmitter antennas of communication apparatus 610 for a ULA-based codebook; and (D) a
component for a port selection codebook"),
Yang et al discloses all of the subject matter discussed above, but is not explicit about
(i) wherein the codebook information is related to an uplink transmission that uses a non-uniform antenna array of the UE
(ii) information, wherein the codebook information is based on a matrix representing a phase difference between antenna ports and a precoder matrix.
With regards to item (a) above;
However, Nokia Technologies OY discloses (see [0044]: "one embodiment
provides a UE specific codebook for non-uniform antenna spacing"
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang et al as taught by Nokia Technologies OY and come out with applicant’s invention with a reasonable expectation of success, thus improved codebook designs (see Nokia Technologies OY, [0052]). MPEP 2143 Rationale C.
With regards to item (b) above;
However, Park et al discloses [0175] the proposed codebook matrix is applied is a non-linear antenna array environment, it is necessary to newly define/set a phase difference between the elements of each column, considering that the interval between antenna ports is not constant and is non-uniform. Accordingly, in this embodiment, it is proposed that the phase difference between the elements of each column is set/defined differently at non-uniform intervals of a form in which the compensation parameter χ is additionally considered, based on the non-linear antenna array environment. That is, the phase difference between the elements of each column in the codebook matrix may be defined to be different from each other at non-uniform intervals like (n(α+mβ)+F.sub.nχ). Particularly, in this embodiment, the compensation parameter χ also has a characteristic of increasing at non-uniform intervals for each column element. The compensation parameter χ may be set and signaled to a specific value by the base station and/or the UE according to the type of antenna array, and a detailed description thereof will be described below with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang et al and Nokia Technologies OY as taught by Park et al and come out with applicant’s invention with a reasonable expectation of success, thus improved and new codebook for the non-linear antenna array/environment (e.g., cylindrical antenna array/environment), which is an antenna array that may be useful in small cell transmission situations(see Park et al et al, [0005]). MPEP 2143 Rationale C.
With regards to claim 31, the combination of Yang et al and Nokia Technologies OY discloses One or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) having instructions, stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors of a next generation Node B (gNB) configure the gNB to: encode, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), codebook information for an uplink transmission using a non-uniform antenna array of the UE; and receive the uplink transmission from the UE based on the codebook information ( claim 31 recites similar rejection as in claim 23 above, see similar rejection as in claim 23 above)
With regards to claims 26 and 34, the combination of Yang et al and Nokia Technologies OY discloses all of the subject matter discussed above, except for apparatus of claim 23, wherein the codebook information includes an indication of a block diagonal matrix for generating a codebook (see Park et al , [0096] Furthermore, transmission information having controlled transmission power in the Equation 3 may be represented as follows using the diagonal matrix P of transmission power--- -).
With regards to claims 27 and 35, Yang et al discloses the apparatus of claim 23, wherein the codebook information is associated with one or more of: multiple antenna panels, multiple codewords, or one or more antenna port groups that include multiple antenna ports (see [0027], "CBSR may be used by the base station/network node to inform the UE what codewords/codebook may be used for PUSCH"; and see paragraph [0029]: "the CBSR may be signaled by a base station/network node to a UE either in the form of a bitmap for codewords in the master codebook or in the form of pointer(s) to sub-codebooks within the master codebook").
With regards to claims 28 and 36, Yang et al discloses apparatus of claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed, further configure the UE to encode a message for transmission to the gNB that includes an indication of a coherence capability of the UE across one or more antenna panels, codewords, or antenna port groups. (see [003 1]-[0032] "a codebook currently in use can be a subset of the master codebook (e.g., depending on the used waveform and UE Tx chain capability (coherent transmissions vs non-coherent transmissions vs partial coherent transmissions))"; and "Tx chains within a coherence group do not suffer from issues such as RPD or non-common mode phase noise. Thus, port combining is possible over Tx chains within a given coherence group.").
With regards to claims 30 and 38, Yang et al discloses the apparatus of claim 23, except for wherein the non-uniform antenna array includes a plurality of antenna elements with unequal spacing between adjacent antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements.
However, Nokia Technologies OY discloses (see [0044]: "one embodiment
provides a UE specific codebook for non-uniform antenna spacing"
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang et al as taught by Nokia Technologies OY and come out with applicant’s invention with a reasonable expectation of success, thus improved codebook designs (see Nokia Technologies OY, [0052]). MPEP 2143 Rationale C.
6. Claims 29 and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al (US 20190081667)(see IDS) , Nokia Technologies OY(EP 3609086 A1)(see IDS) in view of Park et al (US US 20190036573 A1) as applied in claims 23 and 31 above, and further in view of NOKIA et al ( ‘UE capabilities for UL full power modes’, R2-2203268, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #117, Electronic Elbonia, 14 February 2022) (see IDS).
With regards to claim 29, Yang et al discloses apparatus of claim 23, except for wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encode a message for transmission to the gNB that includes an indication of a full power capability across one or more panels, codewords, or antenna port groups.
However, NOKIA et al. discloses in (see section 2: "'ul-FullPwrMode-r16’ indicates the UE support of UL full power transmission mode of full power as specified in clause 7.1 of TS 38.213"; and "ul-FullPwrMode2-SRSConfig-diffNumSRSPorts-r16' indicates the VE supported SRS configuration with different number of antenna ports per SRS resource for uplink full power Mode 2 operation").
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang et al as taught by NOKIA et al and come out with applicant’s invention with a reasonable expectation of success, thus allowing an improved UE capabilities for UL full power modes (see NOKIA et al, section 2). MPEP 2143 Rationale C.
With regards to claim 37, Yang et al discloses one or more NTCRM of claim 31, except for wherein the instructions, when executed, further configure the gNB to receive an indication of a full power capability across one or more panels, codewords, or antenna port groups, wherein the codebook information is based on the indication.
However, NOKIA et al. discloses in (see section 2: "'ul-FullPwrMode-r16’ indicates the UE support of UL full power transmission mode of full power as specified in clause 7.1 of TS 38.213"; and "ul-FullPwrMode2-SRSConfig-diffNumSRSPorts-r16' indicates the VE supported SRS configuration with different number of antenna ports per SRS resource for uplink full power Mode 2 operation").
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Yang et al as taught by NOKIA et al and come out with applicant’s invention with a reasonable expectation of success, thus allowing an improved UE capabilities for UL full power modes (see NOKIA et al, section 2). MPEP 2143 Rationale C.
7. Claims 39-44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiang et al (US 20210036749) (see IDS) in view of NOKIA et al (‘UE capabilities for UL full power modes’, R2-2203268, 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 Meeting #117, Electronic Elbonia, 14 February 2022) (see IDS).
With regards to claim 39, Qiang et al discloses in fig. 5, One or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) having instructions, stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) configure the UE to (see in [0059] The first radio node also obtains a port to antenna mapping matrix W.sub.p2a (step 502). The port to antenna mapping matrix W.sub.p2a is a matrix utilized to transform a signal (e.g., a reference signal) from the non-virtualized antenna domain to the virtualized antenna domain prior to transmission in a corresponding virtualized cell or sector (i.e., a cell or sector for which a virtualized AAS is utilized to, e.g., transmit beamformed CSI-RS) within the wireless communication system 400. In some embodiments, the port to antenna mapping matrix W.sub.p2a is predefined for each virtualized sector or cell. In some other embodiments, the port to antenna mapping matrix W.sub.p2a is determined by the wireless device 402 using a set of precoded beam reference signals. For instance, a set of beam reference signals that are precoded by each column of a matrix V(W.sub.p2a ∈ V) are transmitted by the radio access node 404. The codebook V is known by the wireless device 402. The wireless device 402 uses the codebook V and the precoded beam reference signals to estimate W.sub.p2a and report an indication of the estimated W.sub.p2a (e.g., an index of the estimated W.sub.p2a within V) to the radio access node 404. Then, the radio access node 404 performs port to antenna mapping according to W.sub.p2a.
Qiang et al further discloses in [0003] and figure 2, the two logical antenna ports are mapped to eight physical antenna elements in the non-virtualized antenna domain that are indexed by physical antenna element index m., except for details about virtualize 8 transmit antennas of the UE onto a number of virtual ports, wherein the number of ports is less than 8; and transmit one or more uplink signals on the virtual ports with full power Mode 2.
However, NOKIA et al (see section 2: "ul-FullPwrMode-r16' indicates the UE support of UL full power transmission mode of full power as specified in clause 7.1 of TS 38.213"; ul-FullPwrMode2-SRSConfig-diffNumSRS Ports-116’ indicates the UE supported SRS configuration with different number of antenna ports per SRS resource for uplink full power Mode 2 operation"; and "the possible different number of antenna ports that can be configured for a SRS resource are as follow: - value p1-2 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 2 ports, - value pl-4 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 4 ports, - value p1-2-4 means
that each SRS resource can be configured with | port or 2 ports or 4 ports").
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Qiang et al as taught by NOKIA et al and come out with applicant’s invention with a reasonable expectation of success, thus allowing an improved UE capabilities for UL full power modes (see NOKIA et al, section 2). MPEP 2143 Rationale C.
With regards to claim 40, the combination of Qiang et al as taught by NOKIA et al discloses the one or more NTCRM of claim 39, wherein the number of virtual ports is 4, and wherein pairs of the transmit antennas are virtualized onto the respective virtual ports (see Qiang et al [0003]; and figure 2: "the two logical antenna ports are mapped to eight physical antenna elements in the non-virtualized antenna domain that are indexed by physical antenna element index m"; and see Qiang et al [0064]: "map the Nb logical antenna ports or virtual beams to the Nt antenna elements"), and the disclosure of (see NOKIA et al section 2: "'ul-FullPwrMode-r16' indicates the UE support of UL full power transmission mode of full power as specified in clause 7.1 of TS 38.213"; “ul-FullPwrMode2-SRSConfig-diffNumSRSPorts-r16' indicates the UE supported SRS configuration with different number of antenna ports per SRS resource for uplink full power Mode 2 operation"; and "the possible different number of antenna ports that can be configured for a SRS resource are as follow: - value pl-2 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 2 ports, - value p1-4 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 4 ports, - value p1-2-4 means that each SRS resource can be configured with | port or 2 ports or 4 ports").
With regards to claim 41, the combination of Qiang et al as taught by NOKIA et al discloses the one or more NTCRM of claim 39, wherein the number of virtual ports is 2, and wherein 2 sets of 4 of the transmit antennas are virtualized onto the respective virtual ports (see Qiang et al [0003]; and figure 2: "the two logical antenna ports are mapped to eight physical antenna elements in the non-virtualized antenna domain that are indexed by physical antenna element index m"; and see Qiang et al [0064]: "map the Nb logical antenna ports or virtual beams to the Nt antenna elements"), and the disclosure of (see NOKIA et al section 2: "'ul-FullPwrMode-r16' indicates the UE support of UL full power transmission mode of full power as specified in clause 7.1 of TS 38.213"; “ul-FullPwrMode2-SRSConfig-diffNumSRSPorts-r16' indicates the UE supported SRS configuration with different number of antenna ports per SRS resource for uplink full power Mode 2 operation"; and "the possible different number of antenna ports that can be configured for a SRS resource are as follow: - value pl-2 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 2 ports, - value p1-4 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 4 ports, - value p1-2-4 means that each SRS resource can be configured with | port or 2 ports or 4 ports").
With regards to claim 42, the combination of Qiang et al as taught by NOKIA et al discloses the one or more NTCRM of claim 39, wherein the number of virtual ports is 6, wherein a first 2 of the transmit antennas are virtualized onto a first virtual port, a second 2of the transmit antennas are virtualized onto a second virtual port, and 4 of the transmit antennas are virtualized onto a respective individual virtual ports (see Qiang et al [0003]; and figure 2: "the two logical antenna ports are mapped to eight physical antenna elements in the non-virtualized antenna domain that are indexed by physical antenna element index m"; and see Qiang et al [0064]: "map the Nb logical antenna ports or virtual beams to the Nt antenna elements"), and the disclosure of (see NOKIA et al section 2: "'ul-FullPwrMode-r16' indicates the UE support of UL full power transmission mode of full power as specified in clause 7.1 of TS 38.213"; “ul-FullPwrMode2-SRSConfig-diffNumSRSPorts-r16' indicates the UE supported SRS configuration with different number of antenna ports per SRS resource for uplink full power Mode 2 operation"; and "the possible different number of antenna ports that can be configured for a SRS resource are as follow: - value pl-2 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 2 ports, - value p1-4 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 4 ports, - value p1-2-4 means that each SRS resource can be configured with | port or 2 ports or 4 ports").
With regards to claim 43, the combination of Qiang et al as taught by NOKIA et al discloses the one or more NTCRM of claim 39, wherein the number of virtual ports is based on a capability of the UE (see Qiang et al [0003]; and figure 2: "the two logical antenna ports are mapped to eight physical antenna elements in the non-virtualized antenna domain that are indexed by physical antenna element index m"; and see Qiang et al [0064]: "map the Nb logical antenna ports or virtual beams to the Nt antenna elements"), and the disclosure of (see NOKIA et al section 2: "'ul-FullPwrMode-r16' indicates the UE support of UL full power transmission mode of full power as specified in clause 7.1 of TS 38.213"; “ul-FullPwrMode2-SRSConfig-diffNumSRSPorts-r16' indicates the UE supported SRS configuration with different number of antenna ports per SRS resource for uplink full power Mode 2 operation"; and "the possible different number of antenna ports that can be configured for a SRS resource are as follow: - value pl-2 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 2 ports, - value p1-4 means that each SRS resource can be configured with 1 port or 4 ports, - value p1-2-4 means that each SRS resource can be configured with | port or 2 ports or 4 ports").
With regards to claim 44, the combination of Qiang et al as taught by NOKIA et al discloses the one or more NTCRM of claim 39, wherein the virtualization is performed across different antenna panels, codewords, or antenna port groups (see Qiang et al [0092]: "the antenna 962 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals"; and "the antenna 962 may comprise one or more omni-directional, sector, or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 gigahertz (GHz) and 66 GHz").
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 25 and 33 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.
9. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the prior arts cited alone or in combination provides the motivation to teach the apparatus of claim 24, wherein the matrix includes one or more entries representing an inter-panel or inter-antenna-port group phase difference.
as recited in claims 25 and 33.
Conclusion
10. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HELENE E TAYONG whose telephone number is (571)270-1675. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm.
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/HELENE E TAYONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631 April 4, 2026