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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 08 August 2024 was filed after the mailing date of the patent application on 08 August 2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings, received on 08 August 2024, are acceptable for examination.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claims 1-3, 7, 13-15, 24-26, and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (US 20230246774 A1 using the priority date of 30 September 2021 corresponding to PCT/CN2021/122424; hereinafter referred to as “Gao”) in view of Park et al. (US 20200287647 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Park”).
Regarding Claim 1, Claim 1 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 25.
Regarding Claim 2, Claim 2 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 26.
Regarding Claim 3, Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 2.
Park, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, further teaches wherein the signaling is one or more of medium access control signaling, an additional downlink control information, or radio resource control signaling (¶108-109 & Fig. 4 (425 & 430), Park discloses that the signal is one or more of medium access control control element (MAC-CE), radio resource control (RRC), and downlink control information (DCI) signaling).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by requiring that the signaling is one or more of medium access control signaling, an additional downlink control information, or radio resource control signaling as taught by Park because communication between a user equipment (UE) and multiple transmission/reception points (TRPs) is improved by reducing the collisions that would otherwise occur by neighboring TRPs using the same DMRS configuration (Park, ¶39).
Regarding Claim 7, Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 1.
Gao further discloses [the method] further comprising:
decoding the control channel based at least in part on the monitored demodulation reference signal (¶518 & Fig. 6 (S603A) & ¶560, Gao discloses decoding, during a time frequency unit, the DMRS based upon monitoring to receive the DMRS),
wherein determining the code division multiplexing group is based at least in part on the decoding (¶590-595 & Fig. 6 (S603B), Gao discloses determining the CDM group based in part on decoding the DMRS).
Regarding Claim 13, Claim 13 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 28.
Regarding Claim 14, Claim 14 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 29.
Regarding Claim 15, Claim 15 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 30.
Regarding Claim 24, Gao discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a processor (¶152-159 & Fig. 27, Gao discloses a communication apparatus comprising a processor); and
a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus (¶152-159 & Fig. 27, Gao discloses the communication apparatus further comprising memory coupled to the processor where the memory stores a software program for execution by the processor to cause the communication apparatus to perform steps) to:
monitor, during a first time interval, for a demodulation reference signal (¶518 & Fig. 6 (S603A) & ¶560, Gao discloses monitoring for reception, during a time frequency unit, a reference signal (RS) where the RS may be a demodulation reference signal (DMRS)) allocated to a plurality of resource elements of a control channel (¶518 & Fig. 6 (S603A) & ¶560, Gao discloses that the DMRS is received on at least one time-frequency unit. Here, the DMRS is not user data, thus the time-frequency unit(s) upon which the DMRS is mapped would be classified as a control channel);
determine a code division multiplexing group for encoding downlink control information based at least in part on the monitored demodulation reference signal (¶590-595 & Fig. 6 (S603B), Gao discloses determining, by the UE, a first port group based upon the monitoring and reception of the DMRS where the first port group is a code division multiplexing (CDM) group).
However, Gao does not disclose to receive the downlink control information via the control channel based at least in part on the code division multiplexing group determined in association with the downlink control information.
Park, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches to:
receive the downlink control information via the control channel based at least in part on the code division multiplexing group determined in association with the downlink control information (¶108 & ¶111 & Fig. 4 (425), Park discloses receiving, by the UE, the DCI based in part on the determined at least one CDM group in association with decoding the DCI).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao by receiving the downlink control information via the control channel based at least in part on the code division multiplexing group determined in association with the downlink control information as taught by Park because communication between a user equipment (UE) and multiple transmission/reception points (TRPs) is improved by reducing the collisions that would otherwise occur by neighboring TRPs using the same DMRS configuration (Park, ¶39).
Regarding Claim 25, Gao in view of Park discloses the apparatus of claim 24.
Park, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, further teaches wherein the instructions to determine the code division multiplexing group are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive signaling indicating the code division multiplexing group for encoding the downlink control information (¶108-109 & Fig. 4 (425 & 430), Park discloses receiving, by the UE, a signal indicating the at least one code division multiplexing (CDM) group for decoding a downlink control information (DCI)).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by receiving signaling indicating the code division multiplexing group for encoding the downlink control information as taught by Park because communication between a user equipment (UE) and multiple transmission/reception points (TRPs) is improved by reducing the collisions that would otherwise occur by neighboring TRPs using the same DMRS configuration (Park, ¶39).
Regarding Claim 26, Gao in view of Park discloses the apparatus of claim 25.
Park, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, further teaches:
wherein the signaling is one or more of medium access control signaling, an additional downlink control information, or radio resource control signaling (¶108-109 & Fig. 4 (425 & 430), Park discloses that the signal is one or more of medium access control control element (MAC-CE), radio resource control (RRC), and downlink control information (DCI) signaling).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by requiring that the signaling is one or more of medium access control signaling, an additional downlink control information, or radio resource control signaling as taught by Park because communication between a user equipment (UE) and multiple transmission/reception points (TRPs) is improved by reducing the collisions that would otherwise occur by neighboring TRPs using the same DMRS configuration (Park, ¶39).
Regarding Claim 28, Gao discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising:
a processor (¶152-159 & Fig. 27, Gao discloses a communication apparatus comprising a processor); and
a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus (¶152-159 & Fig. 27, Gao discloses the communication apparatus further comprising memory coupled to the processor where the memory stores a software program for execution by the processor to cause the communication apparatus to perform steps) to:
determine to transmit, during a first time interval, first downlink control information associated with a demodulation reference signal (¶518 & Fig. 6 (S603A) & ¶560, Gao discloses determining to transmit, during a time frequency unit, a reference signal (RS) where the RS may be a demodulation reference signal (DMRS)) allocated to a plurality of resource elements of a control channel (¶518 & Fig. 6 (S603A) & ¶560, Gao discloses that the DMRS is received on at least one time-frequency unit. Here, the DMRS is downlink control information and not user data, thus the time-frequency unit(s) upon which the DMRS is mapped would be classified as a control channel);
select a code division multiplexing group for encoding second downlink control information based at least in part on determining to transmit the first downlink control information (¶590-595 & Fig. 6 (S603B), Gao discloses determining, by the BS, a code division multiplexing (CDM) group based upon the previously transmitted DMRS).
However, Gao does not disclose transmit the second downlink control information via the control channel based at least in part on the code division multiplexing group selected for encoding the second downlink control information.
Park, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches transmit the second downlink control information via the control channel based at least in part on the code division multiplexing group selected for encoding the second downlink control information (¶108 & ¶111 & Fig. 4 (425), Park discloses transmitting, to the UE, the DCI based in part on the determined at least one CDM group in association with decoding the DCI).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao by transmitting the second downlink control information via the control channel based at least in part on the code division multiplexing group selected for encoding the second downlink control information as taught by Park because communication between a user equipment (UE) and multiple transmission/reception points (TRPs) is improved by reducing the collisions that would otherwise occur by neighboring TRPs using the same DMRS configuration (Park, ¶39).
Regarding Claim 29, Gao in view of Park discloses the apparatus of claim 28.
Park, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, further teaches wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit signaling indicating the code division multiplexing group for encoding the second downlink control information (¶108-109 & Fig. 4 (425 & 430), Park discloses transmitting, to the UE, a signal indicating the at least one code division multiplexing (CDM) group for decoding a downlink control information (DCI)).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by transmitting signaling indicating the code division multiplexing group for encoding the second downlink control information as taught by Park because communication between a user equipment (UE) and multiple transmission/reception points (TRPs) is improved by reducing the collisions that would otherwise occur by neighboring TRPs using the same DMRS configuration (Park, ¶39).
Regarding Claim 30, Gao in view of Park discloses the apparatus of claim 29.
Park, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, further teaches:
wherein the signaling is one or more of medium access control signaling, an additional downlink control information, or radio resource control signaling (¶108-109 & Fig. 4 (425 & 430), Park discloses that the signal is one or more of medium access control control element (MAC-CE), radio resource control (RRC), and downlink control information (DCI) signaling).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by requiring that the signaling is one or more of medium access control signaling, an additional downlink control information, or radio resource control signaling as taught by Park because communication between a user equipment (UE) and multiple transmission/reception points (TRPs) is improved by reducing the collisions that would otherwise occur by neighboring TRPs using the same DMRS configuration (Park, ¶39).
Claims 5 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Park in further view of Zhang et al. (US 20210337584 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Zhang”).
Regarding Claim 5, Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Gao in view of Park does not disclose wherein determining the code division multiplexing group further comprises: receiving an indication of the code division multiplexing group in radio resource control parameters associated with a control resource set in which the downlink control information is received.
Zhang, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein determining the code division multiplexing group further comprises: receiving an indication of the code division multiplexing group in radio resource control parameters associated with a control resource set in which the downlink control information is received (¶83, Zhang discloses receiving, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, association information where the association information indicates a code division multiplexing (CDM) group and further indicates a control resource set (CORESET) where the CDM group and the CORESET are for a downlink control information (DCI)).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by receiving an indication of the code division multiplexing group in radio resource control parameters associated with a control resource set in which the downlink control information is received as taught by Zhang because a probability that a terminal device successfully receives is improved when the data on at least two reference signal resources needs to be received within a period of time (Zhang, ¶7).
Regarding Claim 20, Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 13.
However, Gao in view of Park does not disclose wherein selecting the code division multiplexing group further comprises: transmitting an indication of the code division multiplexing group in radio resource control parameters associated with a control resource set in which the second downlink control information is transmitted.
Zhang, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein selecting the code division multiplexing group further comprises: transmitting an indication of the code division multiplexing group in radio resource control parameters associated with a control resource set in which the second downlink control information is transmitted (¶83, Zhang discloses receiving, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, association information where the association information indicates a code division multiplexing (CDM) group and further indicates a control resource set (CORESET) where the CDM group and the CORESET are for a downlink control information (DCI)).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by transmitting an indication of the code division multiplexing group in radio resource control parameters associated with a control resource set in which the second downlink control information is transmitted as taught by Zhang because a probability that a terminal device successfully receives is improved when the data on at least two reference signal resources needs to be received within a period of time (Zhang, ¶7).
Claims 8 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Park in further view of Yao et al. (US 20230396393 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Yao”).
Regarding Claim 8, Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Gao in view of Park does not disclose [the method] further comprising: receiving a downlink message via a shared channel, the downlink message scheduled by the downlink control information, wherein the downlink control information and the downlink message are received on a same beam.
Yao, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches [the method] further comprising:
receiving a downlink message via a shared channel, the downlink message scheduled by the downlink control information (¶91, Yao discloses receiving a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) where the PDSCH is scheduled by downlink control information (DCI)), wherein the downlink control information and the downlink message are received on a same beam (¶91, Yao discloses that the beam of the PDCCH and the beam of the PDSCH are the same beam).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by receiving a downlink message via a shared channel, the downlink message scheduled by the downlink control information where the downlink control information and the downlink message are received on a same beam as taught by Zhang because a probability that a terminal device successfully receives is improved when the data on at least two reference signal resources needs to be received within a period of time (Zhang, ¶7).
Regarding Claim 22, Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 13.
Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Gao in view of Park does not disclose [the method] further comprising: transmitting a downlink message via a shared channel, the downlink message scheduled by the second downlink control information, wherein the second downlink control information and the downlink message are transmitted on a same beam.
Yao, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches [the method] further comprising:
transmitting a downlink message via a shared channel, the downlink message scheduled by the second downlink control information (¶91, Yao discloses receiving a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) where the PDSCH is scheduled by downlink control information (DCI)), wherein the second downlink control information and the downlink message are transmitted on a same beam (¶91, Yao discloses that the beam of the PDCCH and the beam of the PDSCH are the same beam).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by transmitting a downlink message via a shared channel, the downlink message scheduled by the downlink control information where the downlink control information and the downlink message are received on a same beam as taught by Zhang because a probability that a terminal device successfully receives is improved when the data on at least two reference signal resources needs to be received within a period of time (Zhang, ¶7).
Claims 10 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Park in further view of Liao et al. (US 20180167959 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Liao”).
Regarding Claim 10, Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Gao in view of Park does not disclose wherein receiving the downlink control information comprises: receiving the downlink control information via a unicast transmission.
Liao, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein receiving the downlink control information comprises:
receiving the downlink control information via a unicast transmission (¶35, Liao discloses receiving a unicast downlink control information (DCI) via a unicast transmission).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by receiving the downlink control information via a unicast transmission as taught by Liao because efficiency of downlink control information (DCI) transmission in mobile communication network is improved (Liao, ¶2).
Regarding Claim 17, Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 13.
However, Gao in view of Park does not disclose wherein transmitting the second downlink control information comprises: transmitting the second downlink control information via a unicast transmission.
Liao, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein transmitting the second downlink control information comprises:
transmitting the second downlink control information via a unicast transmission (¶35, Liao discloses transmitting a unicast downlink control information (DCI) via a unicast transmission).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by transmitting the second downlink control information via a unicast transmission as taught by Liao because efficiency of downlink control information (DCI) transmission in mobile communication network is improved (Liao, ¶2).
Claims 11 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao in view of Park in further view of Noh et al. (US 20210328734 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Noh”).
Regarding Claim 11, Gao in view of Park discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Gao in view of Park does not disclose wherein receiving the downlink control information comprises: determining that the downlink control information is associated with a downlink control information format or a random network identifier, wherein at least one of the downlink control information format or the random network identifier is of a type with which code division multiplexing is used.
Noh, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein receiving the downlink control information comprises:
determining that the downlink control information is associated with a downlink control information format or a random network identifier (¶16-20, Noh discloses determining that a downlink control information (DCI) is associated with a format where the format is not DCI Format 0_0 and DCI Format 1_0), wherein at least one of the downlink control information format or the random network identifier is of a type with which code division multiplexing is used (¶16-20, Noh discloses determining a code division multiplexing (CDM) group based upon the DCI Format not being either DCI Format 0_0 or DCI Format 1_0).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by determining that the downlink control information is associated with a downlink control information format or a random network identifier where at least one of the downlink control information format or the random network identifier is of a type with which code division multiplexing is used as taught by Noh because efficiency of downlink control information (DCI) transmission in mobile communication network is improved (Liao, ¶2).
Regarding Claim 18, Gao in view Park discloses the method of claim 13.
However, Gao in view of Park does not disclose wherein transmitting the second downlink control information comprises: determining that the second downlink control information is associated with a downlink control information format or a random network identifier, wherein at least one of the downlink control information format or the random network identifier is of a type with which code division multiplexing is used.
Noh, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein transmitting the second downlink control information comprises:
determining that the second downlink control information is associated with a downlink control information format or a random network identifier (¶16-20, Noh discloses determining that a downlink control information (DCI) is associated with a format where the format is not DCI Format 0_0 and DCI Format 1_0), wherein at least one of the downlink control information format or the random network identifier is of a type with which code division multiplexing is used (¶16-20, Noh discloses determining a code division multiplexing (CDM) group based upon the DCI Format not being either DCI Format 0_0 or DCI Format 1_0).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Gao in view of Park by determining that the second downlink control information is associated with a downlink control information format or a random network identifier where at least one of the downlink control information format or the random network identifier is of a type with which code division multiplexing is used as taught by Noh because efficiency of downlink control information (DCI) transmission in mobile communication network is improved (Liao, ¶2).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6, 9, 12, 16, 19, 21, 23, and 27 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.
Allowable Subject Matter
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Conclusion
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/ERIC NOWLIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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