DETAILED ACTION
This office action is responsive to the Applicant’s reply filed on 02/06/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments, filed on 02/06/2026, with respect to claim rejections under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s argument: “Although Ibrahim describes using a diagonal matrix and a Slepian sequence to determine the precoder matrix (See Ibrahim paragraph [0111] and Eq. 5), a precoder matrix itself is not a MF structure associated with the matrix. In other words, determining a precoder matrix itself cannot be said to be the same as determining a ‘matrix factorization (MF) structure associated with the matrix.”
Examiner’s response: As mentioned above by the Applicant, in Equation (5), Ibrahim teaches that a precoding matrix P is decomposed into a diagonal matrix and a Slepian sequence. The diagonal matrix and the Slepian sequence are two matrix factors. Ibrahim teaches that the precoding matrix P is represented as a data structure which is a multiplication of the diagonal matrix and the Slepian sequence.
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 15, 22, 23 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ibrahim et al. (US 2024/0380450 A1) in view of Yie et al. (US 2013/0070723 A1).
Consider claims 15 and 23:
Ibrahim discloses a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) (see Fig. 7 and paragraph 0125, where Ibrahim describes a user equipment 115-b in a wireless communication; see Fig. 8 and paragraph 0136, where Ibrahim describes that the user equipment includes a transmitter 815 and a receiver 810) comprising:
a processor (see Fig. 11 and paragraph 0162, where Ibrahim describes that the user equipment includes a processor 1140) configured to:
receive configuration information from a base station (see Fig. 7 and paragraph 0127, step 710, where Ibrahim describes that the user equipment 115-b receives a configuration of a set of precoders from a base station 105-b),
wherein the configuration information indicates matrix factors associated with a matrix (see paragraph 0111, where Ibrahim describes that the precoders are represented by a precoder matrix P which has two factors: a diagonal matrix (diag) and a Slepian sequence (dpss), as shown in Equation (5)),
a first dimensionality associated with a first matrix factor in the matrix (see paragraphs 0111-0112, where Ibrahim describes that the first factor (diag) is a diagonal matrix with dimension defined by R and N) and a second dimensionality associated with a second matrix factor in the matrix (see paragraphs 0111-0112, where Ibrahim describes that the second factor (dpss) is a Slepian sequence with dimension defined by L), and
wherein the matrix is associated with a downlink channel between the WTRU and the base station (see Fig. 7 and paragraph 0127, where Ibrahim describes that the set of precoders are associated with a communication channel between the user equipment 115-b and the base station 105-b);
determine, based on the matrix factors, a matrix factorization (MF) structure associated with the matrix, wherein the MF structure is at least a first structure or a second structure (see paragraph 0111, where Ibrahim describes that the precoder matrix P is factorized into a diagonal matrix (diag) and a Slepian sequence (dpss) in a data structure shown in equation (5)); and
send an indication to the base station that indicates the WTRU is configured to perform channel estimation based on the MF structure associated with the matrix (see Fig. 7 and paragraphs 0129-0131, step 735, where Ibrahim describes that the user equipment 115-b transmits, to the base station 105-b, a report indicating a selected precoder associated with the precoder matrix, and a channel estimation has been performed for the set of precoders to obtain the selected precoder).
Ibrahim does not specifically disclose: a first initialization for the first matrix factor in the matrix and a second initialization for the second matrix factor in the matrix.
Yie teaches: a first initialization for a first matrix factor in the matrix and a second initialization for a second matrix factor in the matrix (see paragraphs 0028-0029, where Yie describes a precoding matrix G(n) which is a product of two factors, and a precoding matrix initialization unit initializes the precoding matrix G(n)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include: a first initialization for the first matrix factor in the matrix and a second initialization for the second matrix factor in the matrix, as taught by Yie to modify the method of Ibrahim in order to adaptively update the precoding matrix, as discussed by Yie (see paragraph 0027).
Consider claims 22 and 30:
Ibrahim in view of Yie discloses the invention of claims 15 and 23 above. Ibrahim discloses: obtain channel information associated with the downlink channel between the WTRU and the base station (see Fig. 7 and paragraph 0128, step 720, where Ibrahim describes that the user equipment 115-b estimates the channel between the base station 105-b and the user equipment 115-b); determine to use MF based on the obtained channel information (see Fig. 7 and paragraph 0130, step 730, where Ibrahim describes that the user equipment 115-b selects a precoder based on the estimated channel; see paragraph 0111, where Ibrahim describes that the precoder is obtained from a precoder matrix P which has two factors: a diagonal matrix (diag) and a Slepian sequence (dpss), as shown in Equation (5)); and based on the determination to use MF, send an indication to the base station indicating the obtained channel information (see paragraph 0131, step 735, where Ibrahim describes that the user equipment 115-b transmits, to the base station 105-b, a report indicating the selected precoder that is selected based on the estimated channel)).
Claims 21 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ibrahim et al. (US 2024/0380450 A1) in view of Yie et al. (US 2013/0070723 A1), as applied to claims 15 and 23 above, and further in view of He et al. (US 2020/0074341 A1).
Consider claims 21 and 29:
Ibrahim in view of Yie discloses the invention of claims 15 and 23 above. Ibrahim does not specifically disclose: the first structure is a low rank structure, and the second structure is a group sparse structure.
He teaches: a first structure is a low rank structure, and a second structure is a group sparse structure (see paragraph 0088, where He describes low-rank and group sparse structures).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include: the first structure is a low rank structure, and the second structure is a group sparse structure, as taught by He to modify the method of Ibrahim in order to have a robust multi-task learning, as discussed by He (see paragraph 0088).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-20 and 24-28 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
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 LIHONG YU whose telephone number is (571)270-5147. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 am-6:00 pm EST Monday-Friday.
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/LIHONG YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631