CTNF 18/836,817 CTNF 83856 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Objections Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites, “DMRS” in line 8. For clarity, it is suggested to fully described acronym when reciting for the first time in the claim. Similar issues exist in claims 1, 15, 16 and 20. Appropriate corrections are required. Claims 2-14 and 17-19 are objected as being dependent of objected claim. 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: 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15-03-aia AIA Claim s 1, 15, 16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Song et al(US 2022/0216973 A1) . Regarding claims 1, 16 and 20, Song ‘973 teaches, a user equipment (UE)( [0189], [0196] and Figs. 1, 11, UE (terminal equipment 1100) ), comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to( [0189], [0196] and Figs. 1, 11, UE the includes a central processing unit(processor) and a memory, where the memory is coupled to the central processing unit) : receive a signalling for Phase-Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS ( [0013], [0062], [0070] and Figs. 2, 7, the UE receiving configuration information or indication information (signaling) transmitted by a network device. The configuration information includes the number of PTRS antenna ports configured by higher -layer signaling or downlink control information (DCI)) ; and determine a plurality of PTRS resources including a first set of PTRS resources associated with a first set of DMRS ports ( [0084], [0129], [0130] and Fig. 4, determining a time-frequency resource of a PTRS antenna port which includes determining the resource for multiple (a plurality of) PTRS ports such as a firs PTRS antenna port and a second PTRS antenna port, Song ‘973 further teaches, associating a first one of the PTRS antenna ports with a first DMRS antenna port ); and a second set of PTRS resources associated with a second set of DMRS ports( [0084], [0088] and Fig. 4, associating a second one of the PTRS antenna ports with different DMRS port (i.e. eighth DMRS antenna port )) wherein the first set of PTRS resources are determined according to a first resource mapping scheme ( [0130] and Fig. 4, a baseline mapping scheme where the time frequency resource of the firs PTRS antenna port is determined directly by the number of a DMRS antenna port associated with the firs PTRS antenna port ), and the second set of PTRS resources are determined according to a second resource mapping scheme( [0130], [0131] and Fig. 4, the resource for the second PTRS antenna port are mapped using a modified scheme to avoid collisions. The modified Scheme includes a preset frequency offset or an antenna port offset between a time-frequency resource of a second PTRS antenna port and the time-frequency resource of the first PTRS antenna port) . Regarding claim 15, Song ‘973 teaches, a base station ([0051] and Figs. 1, 12, a network device 1200) , comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the base station to ( ([0051], [0198], [0199] and Figs. 1, 12, the network device comprises a processor 1210, and a memory 12220, where the memory is coupled to the processor) : transmit a signaling for Phase-Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS)( [0135], [0136], [0184] [0200] and Figs. 5, 10, the network device transmitting configuration information or indication information (signaling) to the terminal equipment. This configuration information instructs the UE and configures PTRS parameters such as the number of PTRS antenna ports via higher layer signaling or DCI ); and determine a plurality of PTRS resources including ( [0129], [0130], [0138] and Fig. 9, determining the time-frequency resource of PTRS antenna port where the configuration and resource mapping for multiple (plurality of) PTRS ports, such as a first PTRS antenna port and a second a second PTRS antenna port) : a first set of PTRS resources associated with a first set of DMRS ports ( [0084], [0130], [0138] and Fig. 4, the network device configuring the association of a first one of the PTRS antenna ports with a first DMRS antenna port and determining the time frequency resource of this first PTRS antenna port based on its association with the DMRS antenna port) and a second set of PTRS resources associated with a second set of DMRS ports( [0084], [0088], [0138] and Fig. 4, associating a second one of the PTRS antenna ports with a completely different DMRS port, such as an eighth DMRS antenna port which establishes the secondary association configured by the base station) ; wherein the first set of PTRS resources are determined according to a first resource mapping scheme( [0130] and Fig. 4, a baseline mapping scheme where the time frequency resource of the firs PTRS antenna port is determined directly by the number of a DMRS antenna port associated with the firs PTRS antenna port ), and the second set of PTRS resources are determined according to a second resource mapping scheme( [0130], [0131] and Fig. 4, the resource for the second PTRS antenna port are mapped using a modified scheme to avoid collisions. The modified Scheme includes a preset frequency offset or an antenna port offset between a time-frequency resource of a second PTRS antenna port and the time-frequency resource of the first PTRS antenna port) . Claim Rejections – 35 USC§ 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-20-02-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 2, 3, 11, 14, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song ‘973 in view of Yu et al(US 5023/0171059 A1) . Regarding claim 2, Song ‘973 teaches all of the claim limitations, Song ‘973 further teaches, wherein the first set of PTRS resources and the second set of PTRS resources are mapped to a first group of Resource Elements (REs) and a second group of non-overlapping REs( [0130]-[0132] and Fig. 4, determining the time-frequency resource of a first PTRS antenna port is determined by the number of a DMRS antenna port, and determining the second PTRS port offsetting the by time and frequency not to overlap the resources for first PTRS and second PTRS ). Song ‘973 does not explicitly teach, in a same Resource Block (RB). Yu ‘059 teaches, in a same Resource Block (RB)( [0007], [0114] and Fig. 6, a non-overlapping first and second groups of REs are located within the same resource block ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Yu ‘059, since such modification would provide a communication method, to provide a demodulation reference signal that supports more orthogonal ports, to support multi-user pairing at a higher layer quantity, as suggested by Yu ‘059([0006]). Regarding claim 3, the combination of Song ‘973 and Yu ‘059 teaches all of the claim limitations, Song ‘973 further teaches, wherein the second resource mapping scheme is a modified scheme based on the first resource mapping scheme with a group subcarrier offset( [0130], [0131] and Fig. 4, modifying the base line mapping scheme by applying a preset frequency offset to determine the time-frequency resources of the second PTRS antenna port) , such that REs of the second set of PTRS resources are derived based on REs of the first set of PTRS resources and the group subcarrier offset( [0130], [0131] and Fig. 4, the preset frequency offset exists between a time-frequency resource of a second PTRS antenna port and the time-frequency resource of the first PTRS resource of the first PTRS antenna port. By determining the location of the firs PTRS resource and then increasing or decreasing a preset number of subcarriers from that point, the UE derives the exact time frequency resource (Res) of the second PTRS port based on the first set plus the offset) . Regarding claim 11, Song ‘973 teaches all of the claim limitations except, wherein the first set of PTRS resources and the second set of PTRS resources are mapped to two distinct RBs corresponding to the first set of DMRS ports. Yu ‘059 teaches, wherein the first set of PTRS resources and the second set of PTRS resources are mapped to two distinct RBs corresponding to the first set of DMRS ports ([0171], [0174] and Fig. 6, DMRS ports 2 and DMRS port 3 on two district RBs ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Yu ‘059, since such modification would provide a communication method, to provide a demodulation reference signal that supports more orthogonal ports, to support multi-user pairing at a higher layer quantity, as suggested by Yu ‘059([0006]). Regarding claim 14, Song ‘973 teaches all of the claim limitations except, wherein the second set of PTRS resources are mapped to same frequency domain locations as the first set of PTRS resources, at a distinct Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. Yu ‘059 teaches, wherein the second set of PTRS resources are mapped to same frequency domain locations as the first set of PTRS resources, at a distinct Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol ( [0151] and Fig. 5, first and second group of REs mapped to same frequency domain locations (0 and 1) and different OFDM symbols ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Yu ‘059, since such modification would provide a communication method, to provide a demodulation reference signal that supports more orthogonal ports, to support multi-user pairing at a higher layer quantity, as suggested by Yu ‘059([0006]). Regarding claim 17, Song ‘973 teaches all of the claim limitations, Song ‘973 further teaches, wherein the first set of PTRS resources and the second set of PTRS resources are mapped to a first group of Resource Elements (REs) and a second group of non-overlapping REs( [0130]-[0132] and Fig. 4, determining the time-frequency resource of a first PTRS antenna port is determined by the number of a DMRS antenna port, and determining the second PTRS port offsetting the by time and frequency not to overlap the resources for first PTRS and second PTRS ). Song ‘973 does not explicitly teach, in a same Resource Block (RB). Yu ‘059 teaches, in a same Resource Block (RB)( [0007], [0114] and Fig. 6, a non-overlapping first and second groups of REs are located within the same resource block ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Yu ‘059, since such modification would provide a communication method, to provide a demodulation reference signal that supports more orthogonal ports, to support multi-user pairing at a higher layer quantity, as suggested by Yu ‘059([0006]). Regarding claim 18, the combination of Song ‘973 and Yu ‘059 teaches all of the claim limitations, Song ‘973 further teaches, wherein the second resource mapping scheme is a modified scheme based on the first resource mapping scheme with a group subcarrier offset( [0130], [0131] and Fig. 4, modifying the base line mapping scheme by applying a preset frequency offset to determine the time-frequency resources of the second PTRS antenna port) , such that REs of the second set of PTRS resources are derived based on REs of the first set of PTRS resources and the group subcarrier offset( [0130], [0131] and Fig. 4, the preset frequency offset exists between a time-frequency resource of a second PTRS antenna port and the time-frequency resource of the first PTRS resource of the first PTRS antenna port. By determining the location of the firs PTRS resource and then increasing or decreasing a preset number of subcarriers from that point, the UE derives the exact time frequency resource (Res) of the second PTRS port based on the first set plus the offset) . 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 4-6 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song ‘973 and Yu ‘059 as applied to claim s above, and further in view of Kubota et al(US 2019/0313394 A1) . Regarding claim 4, the combination of Song ‘973 and Yu ‘059 teaches all of the claim limitations except, wherein the group subcarrier offset is 4 for Type 1 DMRS and/or 6 for Type 2 DMRS. Kubota ‘394 teaches, wherein the group subcarrier offset is 4 for Type 1 DMRS ( [0118], [0122] and Fig. 12, applying a subcarrier offset of 4 for type DMRS) and/or 6 for Type 2 DMRS ( [0120], [0122] and Fig. 12, applying a subcarrier offset of 6 for type 2 DMRS) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Kubota ‘394, since such modification would provide mechanisms for efficient reporting of direct current (DC) locations, as suggested by Kubota ‘394 ([0009]). Regarding claim 5, the combination of Song ‘973 and Yu ‘059 all of the claim limitations except, wherein the PTRS resources determined according to the first and second resource mapping schemes comprise resources indicated by pairs of resourceElementOffset. Kubota ‘394 teaches, wherein the PTRS resources determined according to the first and second resource mapping schemes comprise resources indicated by pairs of resourceElementOffset( [0117], [0122] and Fig 12, a message element (1300) including a pair of PTRS-RE_offset configurations, a firs field (1310) to indicate a PTRS-RE-offset configuration for DMRS configuration for DMRS configuration type 1 and a second field(132)) to indicate a PTRS-RE-offset configuration for DMRS configuration type 2). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Kubota ‘394, since such modification would provide mechanisms for efficient reporting of direct current (DC) locations, as suggested by Kubota ‘394 ([0009]). Regarding claim 6, the combination of Song ‘973 and Yu ‘059 teaches all of the claim limitations except, wherein the pairs of resourceElementOffset for type 1 DMRS include at least one selected from: (offset00, offset10), (offset01, offset11), (offset10, offset01), and (offset11, offset00), and/or the pairs of resourceElementOffset for type 2 DMRS include at least one selected from: (offset00, offset10), (offset01, offset11), (offset10, offset00), and (offset11, offset01). Kubota ‘394 teaches, wherein the pairs of resourceElementOffset for type 1 DMRS include at least one selected from: (offset00, offset10), (offset01, offset11), (offset10, offset01), and (offset11, offset00), and/or the pairs of resourceElementOffset for type 2 DMRS include at least one selected from: (offset00, offset10), (offset01, offset11), (offset10, offset00), and (offset11, offset01) ( [0117], [0122] and Fig 12, a message element (1300) including a pair of PTRS-RE_offset configurations, a firs field (1310) to indicate a PTRS-RE-offset configuration for DMRS configuration for DMRS configuration type 1 and a second field(132)) to indicate a PTRS-RE-offset configuration for DMRS configuration type 2, notice the claim limitation is written in alterative form thus examiner is required to show only one of the alternative claim limitations) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Kubota ‘394, since such modification would provide mechanisms for efficient reporting of direct current (DC) locations, as suggested by Kubota ‘394 ([0009]). Regarding claim 19, the combination of Song ‘973 and Yu ‘059 teaches all of the claim limitations except, wherein the group subcarrier offset is 4 for Type 1 DMRS and/or 6 for Type 2 DMRS. Kubota ‘394 teaches, wherein the group subcarrier offset is 4 for Type 1 DMRS ( [0118], [0122] and Fig. 12, applying a subcarrier offset of 4 for type DMRS) and/or 6 for Type 2 DMRS ( [0120], [0122] and Fig. 12, applying a subcarrier offset of 6 for type 2 DMRS) . Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Kubota ‘394, since such modification would provide mechanisms for efficient reporting of direct current (DC) locations, as suggested by Kubota ‘394 ([0009]) . 07-22-aia AIA Claim s 7, 9, 10 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song ‘973, Yu ‘059 and Kubota ‘394 as applied to claim s above, and further in view of Zewail et al(US 2021/0359811 A1) . Regarding claim 7, the combination of Song ‘973, Yu ‘059 and Kubota ‘394 teaches all of the claim limitations except, wherein the pairs of resourceElementOffset is indicated by RRC signalling. Zewail ‘811 teaches, wherein the pairs of resourceElementOffset is indicated by RRC signalling( [0106] and Fig.5, indicating resourceElementOffset via RRC message ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Zewail ‘811, since such modification would enable a UE to receive, from the network entity or a second UE, a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) associated with the multiple DMRSs (e.g., the DMRS symbols) to perform channel and phase noise estimation based on the multiple DMRSs and the PTRS, as suggested by Zewail ‘811([0010]). Regarding claim 9, the combination of Song ‘973, Yu ‘059, Kubota ‘394and Zewail ‘811 teaches all of the claim limitations, Zewail ‘811 further teaches, wherein the RRC signalling includes resourceElementOffset-r18 for indicating the pairs of resourceElementOffset( [0106]-[0107] and Fig. 5, indicating pair of resourceElementOffset via RRC message ). Regarding claim 10, the combination of Song ‘973, Yu ‘059, Kubota ‘394 and Zewail ‘811 teaches all of the claim limitations, Zewail ‘811 further teaches, wherein the RRC signalling includes resourceElementOffsetAdd-r18 for indicating a second resourceElementOffset for forming a pair of resourceElementOffset together with an existing resourceElementOffset( [0106]-[0107] and Fig.5, indicating another offset into existing pair of resourceElementOffset via RRC message ). Regarding claim 13, the combination of Song ‘973, Yu ‘059 and Kubota ‘394 and Zewail ‘811 teaches all of the claim limitations, Song ‘973 further teaches, wherein the second resource mapping scheme is identical to the first resource mapping scheme in the determination of REs of the second set of PTRS resources in a second RB ( [0130], [0131] and Fig. 4, the resource for the second PTRS antenna port are mapped using a modified scheme to avoid collisions. The modified Scheme includes a preset frequency offset or an antenna port offset between a time-frequency resource of a second PTRS antenna port and the time-frequency resource of the first PTRS antenna port) . 07-22-aia AIA Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Song ‘973, Yu ‘059 and Kubota ‘394 as applied to claim s above, and further in view of Cheng et al(US 2022/0311647 A1) . Regarding claim 8, the combination of Song ‘973 and Kubota ‘394 teaches all of the claim limitations except, wherein each one of the pairs of resourceElementOffset corresponds to one of configuration parameters: offset00, offset01, offset10, and offset11. Cheng ‘647 teaches, wherein each one of the pairs of resourceElementOffset corresponds to one of configuration parameters: offset00, offset01, offset10, and offset11( [0052] configuration parameter that is configured as offset00 ). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Song ‘973 by incorporating the teaching of Cheng ‘647, since such modification would provide improved wireless communication, in particular regarding reference signaling, suitable for millimeter wave communication, in particular for radio carrier frequencies around and/or above 52.6 GHz, which may be considered high radio frequencies (high frequency) and/or millimeter waves, as suggested by Cheng ‘647([0003]) . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim 12 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. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /AWET HAILE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 2 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 3 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 4 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 5 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 6 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 7 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 8 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 9 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 11 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 12 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 13 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 14 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 15 Art Unit: 2474 Application/Control Number: 18/836,817 Page 16 Art Unit: 2474
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