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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
First use of “distributed units” should be corrected as “distributed units (RUs)” so that recitation of ‘RUs’ later in the claim language is clear.
Appropriate correction is required.
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:
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.
Claims 1, 4, 7-8 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Huang (US 2025/0063586).
Regarding claim 1, Huang describes a system comprising:
a distributed unit (DU) (fig. 1, BBU, also refer to as a DU, para. 6); and
a plurality of radio units (RUs) to wirelessly transmit and receive, each of the radio units associated with a respective set of antennas radio frequency signals to and from user equipment (UEs) using a wireless interface (fig. 1, RU 1..RU L with respective antennas to communicate with UEs 51-54);
wherein the distributed unit is communicatively coupled to the plurality of radio units (RUs) over a fronthaul network wherein the distributed unit and the radio units are configured to implement a base station to provide wireless services to UEs using a cell; (fig. 1, BBU/DU 10 connected to RU 1..RU L as part of the distributed base station system 5 at the access end of (fronthaul) network. See also para. 4: “RU is connected to the BBU via a fronthaul (FH) interface or link”);
wherein the distributed unit is configured to, for each of the UEs, determine a respective subset of the radio units to wirelessly transmit to that UE based on information derived from Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmissions from that UE received at all of the radio units (fig. 1 & para. 6, base station system 5 is set up such that each of UEs 51-54 has connection to its 1+ RUs 20-40 for communication, per a schedule reference signal of SRS, para. 9) and
wherein the base station is configured so that each of the RUs is configured to:
receive, at that RU, an SRS transmission from a UE (fig. 1 & para. 6, base station system 5 is set up such that each of UEs 51-54 has connection to its 1+ RUs 20-40 for communication, per a schedule reference signal of SRS, para. 9. It is known in the art that SRS is sent by a UE to the network);
perform, by that RU, at least some of the high physical layer (PHY) baseband processing for the received SRS transmission (para. 34 in view of para. 9, RU, when receiving signals including SRS, performs radio functions including a portion of PHY functions including conversion between RF signals and baseband signals (some baseband processing); and
transmit fronthaul data for the received SRS transmission to the distributed unit over the fronthaul network, wherein the fronthaul data comprises a payload including data generated in connection with performing at least some of the high PHY baseband processing for the received SRS transmission (fig. 1 & para. 4-6, functionally split function between the RUs and BBU/DU: each RU performs PHY functions including conversion between RF signals and baseband signals (initial baseband processing), and BBU performs the main baseband processing).
Regarding claim 4, Huang describes a method of communicating fronthaul data for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmissions in a system comprising a distributed unit and a plurality of radio units to wirelessly transmit and receive radio frequency signals to and from user equipment (UEs) using a wireless interface, each of the radio units associated with a respective set of antennas, wherein the distributed unit is communicatively coupled to the plurality of radio units over a fronthaul network, wherein the distributed unit and the radio units are configured to implement a base station to provide wireless services to UEs using a cell (fig. 1 & para. 4-6, distributed base station system 5 at the access end (fronthaul) of network comprises BBU/DU 10 connected to RU 1..RU L with respective antennas to communicate with UEs 51-54, per a schedule reference signal of SRS, para. 9)), the method comprising:
receiving, at that RU, an SRS transmission from a UE (fig. 1 & para. 6, base station system 5 is set up such that each of UEs 51-54 has connection to its 1+ RUs 20-40 for communication, per a schedule reference signal of SRS, para. 9. It is known in the art that SRS is sent by a UE to the network);
performing, by that RU, at least some of the high physical layer (PHY) baseband processing for the received SRS transmission (para. 34 in view of para. 9, RU, when receiving signals including SRS, performs radio functions including a portion of PHY functions including conversion between RF signals and baseband signals (some baseband processing); and
transmitting fronthaul data for the received SRS transmission to the distributed unit over the fronthaul network, wherein the fronthaul data comprises a payload including data generated in connection with performing at least some of the high PHY baseband processing for the received SRS transmission (fig. 1 & para. 4-6, functionally split function between the RUs and BBU/DU: each RU performs PHY functions including conversion between RF signals and baseband signals (initial baseband processing), and BBU performs the main baseband processing);
wherein the distributed unit is configured to, for each of the UEs, determine a respective subset of the radio units to wirelessly transmit to that UE based on information derived from the SRS transmissions from that UE received at all of the radio units (fig. 1 & para. 6, base station system 5 is set up such that each of UEs 51-54 has connection to its 1+ RUs 20-40 for communication, per a schedule reference signal of SRS, para. 9).
Regarding claim 7, Huang describes a system comprising:
a distributed unit; (fig. 1, BBU, also refer to as a DU, para. 6); and
a plurality of radio units to wirelessly transmit and receive radio frequency signals to and from user equipment (UEs) using a wireless interface, each of the radio units associated with a respective set of antennas (fig. 1, RU 1..RU L with respective antennas to communicate with UEs 51-54);
wherein the distributed unit is communicatively coupled to the plurality of radio units over a fronthaul network; and wherein the distributed unit and the radio units are configured to implement a base station to provide wireless services to UEs using a cell (fig. 1, BBU/DU 10 connected to RU 1..RU L as part of the distributed base station system 5 at the access end of (fronthaul) network. See also para. 4: “RU is connected to the BBU via a fronthaul (FH) interface or link”);
wherein the base station is configured to:
receive an uplink transmission from a UE using multiple radio units (fig. 1 & para. 6, base station system 5 is set up such that each of UEs 51-54 has connection to its 1+ RUs 20-40 for communication, per a schedule reference signal of SRS, para. 9. It is known in the art that SRS is sent by a UE to the network);
perform, by each of the multiple radio units, at least some physical layer (PHY) baseband processing for the uplink transmission (para. 34 in view of para. 9, RU, when receiving signals including SRS, performs radio functions including a portion of PHY functions including conversion between RF signals and baseband signals (some baseband processing); and
start transmitting respective fronthaul data for the uplink transmission to the distributed unit over the fronthaul network from said multiple radio units at different times (fig. 1 & para. 6, base station system 5 is set up such that each of UEs 51-54 has connection to its 1+ RUs 20-40 for communication. The DU configures each of the RU using control message 650 its scheduling [at different times] to send particular user’s data up to the network, para. 180).
Regarding claim 10, Huang describes a method of communicating fronthaul data for Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmissions in a system comprising a distributed unit and a plurality of radio units to wirelessly transmit and receive radio frequency signals to and from user equipment (UEs) using a wireless interface, each of the radio units associated with a respective set of antennas, wherein the distributed unit is communicatively coupled to the plurality of radio units over a fronthaul network, wherein the distributed unit and the radio units are configured to implement a base station to provide wireless services to UEs using a cell (fig. 1 & para. 4-6, distributed base station system 5 at the access end (fronthaul) of network comprises BBU/DU 10 connected to RU 1..RU L with respective antennas to communicate with UEs 51-54, per a schedule reference signal of SRS, para. 9)), the method comprising:
receiving an uplink transmission from a UE using multiple radio units (fig. 1 & para. 6, base station system 5 is set up such that each of UEs 51-54 has connection to its 1+ RUs 20-40 for communication, per a schedule reference signal of SRS, para. 9. It is known in the art that SRS is sent by a UE to the network);
performing, by each of the multiple radio units, at least some physical layer (PHY) baseband processing for the uplink transmission (para. 34 in view of para. 9, RU, when receiving signals including SRS, performs radio functions including a portion of PHY functions including conversion between RF signals and baseband signals (some baseband processing); and
starting transmitting respective fronthaul data for the uplink transmission to the distributed unit over the fronthaul network from said multiple radio units at different times (fig. 1 & para. 6, base station system 5 is set up such that each of UEs 51-54 has connection to its 1+ RUs 20-40 for communication. The DU configures each of the RU using control message 650 its scheduling [at different times] to send particular user’s data up to the network, para. 180).
Regarding claims 8 and 11, Huang already describes 1+ RUs in communication with UE 110 in claim 7, but fails to further explicitly describe:
wherein the base station is configured to do at least one of: simultaneously wirelessly transmit separate downlink user data intended for different UEs using a same set of physical resource blocks (PRBs) for the cell using different subsets of the radio units; and simultaneously wirelessly receiving separate uplink user data intended for different UEs using a same set of PRBs for the cell using different subsets of the radio unit (para. 3, MIMO implementation enables transmission from/to multiple users simulateously over separate spatial channels while keeping high capacity for each user by allowing 1+ RUs to connect with each UE using same time-frequency resources (same PRBs), para. 6-7).
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.
Claim 3, 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Jeon (US 2023/0216552).
Regarding claims 3 and 6, Huang already describes:
wherein the base station is configured so that each of the RUs is configured to perform at least some high PHY baseband processing as per claim 1, but fail to further explicitly describe:
processing Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmissions.
Jeon also describes fronthaul transmission processing with RUs and DU (title & fig. 9), further describing:
processing Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmissions (para. 116, processing PRACH data).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to specify that the RUs’ PHY baseband processing in Huang to be PRACH transmissions as in Jeon.
The motivation for combining the teachings is that this function split comprising RU and its processing of different transmission types enable high data transfer rate to be achieved (para. 4 in view of 7 & 116).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5, 9 and 12 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.
Regarding claim 2 and 5, the prior art fails to further explicitly describe:
wherein the base station is configured so that each of the RUs is configured to not perform any high PHY baseband processing for uplink transmissions other than SRS transmissions.
The closest prior art found, Tsai (US 2022/0225403) describing the UE refraining from transmitting the preamble sequence or refraining from transmitting the uplink channel or the sounding reference signal (SRS) when random access occasion is in the same predetermined time period as the uplink channel or SRS [for prioritization], in combination with Huang, fail to render the additional above claim features as a whole obvious.
Regarding claims 9 and 12, the prior art fails to further explicitly describe:
wherein the base station is configured so that each radio unit is configured to use a parameter specifying a value for an offset that radio unit is configured to use to determine when to start transmitting the respective fronthaul data produced at that radio unit.
The closest prior art, Tarlazzi (US 216/0242147) describing distributed processing in a centralized RAN comprising fronthaul physical layer scheduler (abstract), and Lu (US 2023/0198815) describing joint processing in massive MIMO systems which comprises DU being scheduled to transmit to the RU (fig. 5 & para. 72), in combination with Huang, fail to render the above additional features (‘offset’ in particular) as a whole obvious.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Jeon (US 2023/0231686) describing fronthaul transmission in wireless system (title & fig. 10), Rajagopal (US 2020/0235788) describing fronthaul PHY layer split approach (abstract & fig. 1), Huang (US 2025/0047342) describing BS including DU node connected to a RU node for obtaining UL signaling & UL forwarding (fig. 1 & abstract), and Huang (US 2025/0055521) describing distributed BS (title) where, for uplink, the AU aggregates FH traffic between multiple RU ports and the BBU (para. 37).
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WARNER WONG
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2469
/WARNER WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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