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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 23, 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 23, no transitional phrases, (for examples: “comprising”, “consisting of” or “including”) are found in the claim. Thus, it is unclear about the scope of the claim with respect to what unrecited additional components or steps, if any, are excluded from the scope of the claims, or what limitations should be considered as the body/preamble of the claims.
In addition, claim 23 is directed to an apparatus claim, however the body merely recites method steps. Such claim structure is considered as a hybrid claim. The requirement of an apparatus (machine) category is a concrete thing, consisting of parts, or of certain devices and combination of devices (see MPEP 2106, section I (The Four Categories of Statutory Subject Matter)).
Similar issues exist in claim 34.
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 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.
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(s) 1-4, 12-15, 23, 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (Pub No.: 2024/0275653) in view of Matsumura et al. (Pub No.: 2022/0278880).
Regarding claim 23, Zhang et al. discloses a user equipment, UE (see wireless communication device in fig. 15), for receiving a physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, transmission (see para. 0246; DMRS of PDSCH, the UE may obtain the sequence of a DMRS port of a FD-OCC of length), the UE adapted to:
receive, from a network node, in a Downlink Control Information, DCI, information about two or more Demodulation Reference Signal, DMRS, ports in a Code Division Multiplexing, CDM, group associated to the PDSCH transmission (Zhang et al. see fig. 15, step 1535; para. 0006, 0023, 0071, 0263; a wireless communication device determines a first demodulation reference signal (DMRS) table. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device receives a value of a field in a signaling from the wireless communication node. The signaling can be downlink control information (DCI) signaling,). The wireless communication device (e.g., UE) receives the signaling via DCI. The signaling includes a first DMRS table includes information about two or more DMRS ports in a CDM group associated to the PDSCH transmission,
receive, from the network node, the PDSCH transmission with the two or more DMRS ports in the CDM group (Zhang et al. see fig. 15, steps 1155 and 1560; para. 0263-0265; The wireless communication device may communicate a signal with the communication node (1555 and 1560)). The wireless communication node communicates a signal (e.g., PDSCH) with the wireless communication device based on the signaling.
However, Zhang et al. does not explicitly disclose the feature wherein the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal at a length n, and the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal over a partial length n' that is less than n.
Matsumura et al. from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature:
wherein: the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal at a length n (Matsumura et al. see fig. 14c, DMRS antenna ports with TD-OCC of length=4; para. 0201, 0204; in FIG. 14C, w.sub.t(l′) of the TD-OCC having a sequence length of 4 may be derived based on tables similar to those of FIG. 5B and FIG. 6B), and
the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal over a partial length n' that is less than n (Matsumura et al. see fig. 14a, DMRS antenna ports with TD-OCC of length=2; para. 0201, 0202; in FIG. 14A, w.sub.t(l′) of the TD-OCC having a sequence length of 2 may be).
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 disclosure of Zhang et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Matsumura et al. wherein the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal at a length n and the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal over a partial length of n’ that is less than n.
The motivation would be to improve transmission reliability.
Claim 1 is rejected similarly to claim 23.
Regarding claim 34, Zhang et al. discloses a network node (read as the wireless communication node in fig. 15) for transmitting a physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH (see para. 0246; DMRS of PDSCH, the UE may obtain the sequence of a DMRS port of a FD-OCC of length), transmission, the network node adapted to:
transmit, to a User Equipment (see wireless communication device in fig. 15), UE, in a Downlink Control Information, DCI, information about two or more Demodulation Reference Signal, DMRS, ports in a Code Division Multiplexing, CDM, group associated to the PDSCH transmission (Zhang et al. see fig. 15, step 1535; para. 0006, 0023, 0071, 0263; a wireless communication device determines a first demodulation reference signal (DMRS) table. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device receives a value of a field in a signaling from the wireless communication node. The signaling can be downlink control information (DCI) signaling,). The wireless communication node (e.g., base station) transmits the signaling via DCI to the wireless communication device. The signaling includes a first DMRS table includes information about two or more DMRS ports in a CDM group associated to the PDSCH transmission,
transmit (804), to the UE, the PDSCH transmission with the two DMRS ports in the CDM group (Zhang et al. see fig. 15, steps 1155 and 1560; para. 0263-0265; The wireless communication device may communicate a signal with the communication node (1555 and 1560)). The wireless communication node communicates a signal (e.g., PDSCH) with the wireless communication device based on the signaling.
However, Zhang et al. does not explicitly disclose the feature wherein the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal at a length n, and the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal over a partial length n' that is less than n.
Matsumura et al. from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature:
wherein: the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal at a length n (Matsumura et al. see fig. 14c, DMRS antenna ports with TD-OCC of length=4; para. 0201, 0204; in FIG. 14C, w.sub.t(l′) of the TD-OCC having a sequence length of 4 may be derived based on tables similar to those of FIG. 5B and FIG. 6B), and
the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal over a partial length n' that is less than n (Matsumura et al. see fig. 14a, DMRS antenna ports with TD-OCC of length=2; para. 0201, 0202; in FIG. 14A, w.sub.t(l′) of the TD-OCC having a sequence length of 2 may be).
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 disclosure of Zhang et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Matsumura et al. wherein the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal at a length n and the two or more DMRS ports are orthogonal over a partial length of n’ that is less than n.
The motivation would be to improve transmission reliability.
Claim 12 is rejected similarly to claim 34.
Regarding claims 2, 13, Matsumura et al. discloses the feature wherein n = 4 and n'=2 (Matsumura et al. see fig. 14a-c; para. 0201-0204;). TD-OCC having length of 4 in fig. 14c and TD-OCC having the length of 2 in fig. 14a.
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 disclosure of Zhang et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Matsumura et al. wherein the length of n’ =2 and n=4.
The motivation would be to improve transmission reliability.
Regarding claims 3, 14, Zhang et al. discloses the feature for receiving a Radio Resource Control, RRC, message comprising an indicator to use a DMRS port with a length n = 4; and based on the indicator, determining to use the two or more DMRS ports in the CDM group for receiving the PDSCH transmission (Zhang et al. see para. 0235; one of Table 26 to 29, Table 30 to 33, Table 34 to 37 or Table 38 to 41 can be enabled by a RRC/MAC-CE signaling which includes one bit information… In some implementation, four new Tables including a DMRS port corresponding to FD-OCC length 4 can be other 4 Tables each of which corresponding to one rank and the four new Tables can be enabled by the 1 bit parameter). The UE receives the RRC transmitted by the base station, wherein the RRC comprises indicates DMRS port with a length of 4.
Regarding claims 4, 15, Zhang et al. discloses the feature wherein the indicator is in a DMRS-DownlinkConfig information element (Zhang et al. see para. 0235; In some implementation, four new Tables including a DMRS port corresponding to FD-OCC length 4 can be other 4 Tables each of which corresponding to one rank and the four new Tables can be enabled by the 1 bit parameter). The 1 bit parameter is broadly interpreted as the DMRS-DownlinkConfig information element for configuring DMRS port with FD-OCC length 4 for PDSCH.
Claim(s) 5, 8, 9, 16, 19, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (Pub No.: 2024/0275653) in view of Matsumura et al. (Pub No.: 2022/0278880) as applied to claim 1 or 12 above, and further in view of Jiang et al. (Pub No.: 2020/0177416).
Regarding claims 5, 16, Zhang et al. in view of Matsumura et al. does not explicitly disclose the feature wherein the RRC message comprises a configuration of an allocation of four or more DMRS ports per CDM group, wherein the four or more DMRS ports per CDM group are differentiated by different frequency domain, FD, codes.
Jiang et al. from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature wherein the RRC message comprises a configuration of an allocation of four or more DMRS ports per CDM group, wherein the four or more DMRS ports per CDM group are differentiated by different frequency domain, FD, codes (Jiang et al. see para. 0089, 0090; Higher layer signaling may include higher layer RRC signaling, MAC signaling or physical layer dynamic signaling also may be used. All of the DMRS ports in each CDM group have the same QCL parameters. The DMRS ports in different CDM groups may have different QCL parameters. DMRS ports in the CDM group of the CDM group type 1 use same code in the time domain and different codes in the frequency domain.).
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 disclosure of Zhang et al. in view of Matsumura et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Jiang et al. wherein the RRC comprises a configuration of allocation of four or more DMRS ports per CDM group, and the DMRS ports are differentiated by different FD-OCC.
The motivation would be to improve transmission efficiency.
Regarding claims 8, 19, Jiang et al. discloses the feature wherein the two or more DMRS ports in the CDM group are differentiated by different frequency domain, FD, codes (Jiang et al. see para. 0089, 0090; twelve DMRS ports may be divided into six CDM groups. A CDM group #0 includes ports p0 and p1, and the port p0 and port p1 are distinguished by different frequency domain OCCs.).
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 disclosure of Zhang et al. in view of Matsumura et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Jiang et al. wherein the two or more DMRS ports in the CDM group are differentiated by different FD-OCC.
The motivation would be to improve transmission efficiency.
Regarding claims 9, 20, Jiang et al. discloses the feature wherein the FD codes comprise Frequency Division-Orthogonal Cover Codes, FD-OCCs (Jiang et al. see para. 0080, 0089; twelve DMRS ports may be divided into six CDM groups. A CDM group #0 includes ports p0 and p1, and the port p0 and port p1 are distinguished by different frequency domain OCCs.).
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 disclosure of Zhang et al. in view of Matsumura et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Jiang et al. wherein the FD codes comprise FD-OCCs.
The motivation would be to improve transmission efficiency.
Claim(s) 6, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et al. (Pub No.: 2024/0275653) in view of Matsumura et al. (Pub No.: 2022/0278880) as applied to claim 1 or 12 above, and further in view of Su et al. (Pub No.: 2022/0201712).
Regarding claims 6, 17, Zhang et al. in view of Matsumura et al. does not explicitly disclose the feature wherein the DCI comprises information indicating a number of allocated CDM groups without data.
Su et al. from the same or similar fields of endeavor discloses the feature wherein the DCI comprises information indicating a number of allocated CDM groups without data (Su et al. see abstract; para. 0059; sends DCI to the terminal, the DCI comprising a DMRS port index value, the DMRS port index value being an index value pre-defined in a DMRS port allocation table, and the DMRS port index value being used for indicating a DMRS port set allocated to the terminal, the number of CDM groups without data).
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 disclosure of Zhang et al. in view of Matsumura et al. and to implement with the feature as taught by Su et al. wherein the DCI comprises information indicating a number of CDM groups without data.
The motivation would be to improve decoding performance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 18 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.
Examiner's Note
The Applicant is welcome to request a telephonic interview if the Applicant has any questions or requires any additional information that would further or expedite the prosecution of the application.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Muruganathan et al. (Pub No.: 2025/0247187) discloses a communication device (12) transmits signaling (20) indicating that the communication device (12) is capable of demodulating a data channel (16) using a demodulation reference signal (18) scheduled without a scheduling restriction on a number of resource elements, resource blocks, or resource block groups to which the demodulation reference signal (18) is mapped, e.g., the scheduling restriction restricts the number of resource elements, resource blocks, or resource block groups to which the demodulation reference signal (18) is mapped to being a multiple of a length of a frequency-domain orthogonal cover code applied to the demodulation reference signal (18). Depending on whether the communication device (12) is so capable, the demodulation reference signal (18) is scheduled with or without applying the scheduling restriction.
Mei et al. (Pub No.: 2024/0243875) discloses systems and methods for demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port configuration and indication. A wireless communication device can receive a message that includes an indication from a wireless communication node. The indication may be to indicate a plurality of DMRS ports associated with an orthogonal cover code (OCC) in a code division multiplex (CDM) group mapping on a plurality of non-continuous resources.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAN YUEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1413. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 10:30am-7pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Ngo can be reached at 571-272-3139. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KAN YUEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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