DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This office action is a response to an application filed on 10/25/2024, in which claims 24-35 are pending and ready for examination.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted was filed before the mailing date of the Office Action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 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.
Claims 24-26, 28-30, and 32-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Grobmann (EP 3855635 A1).
Regarding claim 24, Grobmann discloses, in a first embodiment, a method, performed by a terminal device, the method comprising (Grobmann; Fig. 5, Para. [0048]. A communication system/method includes a terminal device and a network device.):
receiving, from a network device, a configuration comprising a plurality of reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0048]. A CSI-RS configuration for codebook is received, at a UE from a network.); and
transmitting, to the network device, information comprising a first indicator of one or more reference signal resources selected from the plurality of reference signal resources and a second indicator of a plurality of first vectors (Grobmann; Para. [0048]. Indicators, PMI/RI, of resources selected from resources, e.g. ports and subbands, and indicators, e.g PMI/RI, of a set of first vectors are transmitted to a network device.).
But Grobmann does not disclose wherein: a plurality of second vectors are determined based on the plurality of first vectors, a length of a second vector among the plurality of second vectors is determined based on a number of the one or more reference signal resources, and a bit size of the second indicator is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources.
However, Grobmann teaches, in a second embodiment, wherein: a plurality of second vectors are determined based on the plurality of first vectors (Grobmann; Para. [0070]. A set of second vectors are determined in accordance with a set of first vectors.),
a length of a second vector among the plurality of second vectors is determined based on a number of the one or more reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0070]. The length of a second vector from a set of second vectors is determined in accordance with a number of reference signal resources, e.g. ports.), and
a bit size of the second indicator is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0065]. A bit length for first vectors is determined in accordance with a number of reference signal resources, e.g ports.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the pertinent before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Grobmann in a first embodiment to adapt a port grouping approach, by incorporating Grobmann’s teaching in a second embodiment wherein grouping of CSI-RS ports are performed, for the motivation to perform MIMO communication (Grobmann; Abstract.).
Regarding claim 25, modified Grobmann further teaches the information further comprises a third indicator for a plurality of first phase coefficients, and the plurality of second vectors are determined based on the plurality of first vectors and the plurality of first phase coefficients (Grobmann; Para. [0092]. APMI includes a third indicator is used for a set of first phase coefficient, and a set of second vectors are determined in accordance with a set of first vectors and the set of first phase coefficients.).
Regarding claim 26, modified Grobmann further teaches the information further comprises a fourth indicator for a plurality of amplitude coefficients (Grobmann; Para. [0092]. A PMI includes a fourth indicator is for a set of amplitudes coefficients.), a fifth indicator for a plurality of second phase coefficients (Grobmann; Para. [0092]. A PMI includes a fifth indicator is used for a set of second phase coefficients.) and a bitmap, the bitmap indicating which amplitude coefficient in the fourth indicator is reported and which phase coefficient in the fifth indicator is reported (Grobmann; Para. [0108]. A bitmap is used to indicate which amplitude coefficient in a fourth indicator is used and which phase coefficient in a fifth indicator is used.), and a bit size of the bitmap is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0108]. A bitmap size is determined in accordance with a number of reference signal resources, e.g. ports.).
Regarding claim 28, Grobmann discloses, in a first embodiment, a method, performed by a network device, the method comprising (Grobmann; Fig. 5, Para. [0048]. A communication system/method includes a terminal device and a network device.):
transmitting, to a terminal device, a configuration comprising a plurality of reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0048]. A CSI-RS configuration for codebook is received, at a UE from a network.); and
receiving, from the terminal device, information comprising a first indicator of one or more reference signal resources selected from the plurality of reference signal resources and a second indicator of a plurality of first vectors (Grobmann; Para. [0048]. Indicators, PMI/RI, of resources selected from resources, e.g. ports and subbands, and indicators, e.g PMI/RI, of a set of first vectors are transmitted to a network device.).
But Grobmann does not disclose wherein: a plurality of second vectors are determined based on the plurality of first vectors, a length of a second vector among the plurality of second vectors is determined based on a number of the one or more reference signal resources, and a bit size of the second indicator is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources.
However, Grobmann teaches, in a second embodiment, wherein: a plurality of second vectors are determined based on the plurality of first vectors (Grobmann; Para. [0070]. A set of second vectors are determined in accordance with a set of first vectors.),
a length of a second vector among the plurality of second vectors is determined based on a number of the one or more reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0070]. The length of a second vector from a set of second vectors is determined in accordance with a number of reference signal resources, e.g. ports.), and
a bit size of the second indicator is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0065]. A bit length for first vectors is determined in accordance with a number of reference signal resources, e.g ports.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the pertinent before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the communication system of Grobmann in a first embodiment to adapt a port grouping approach, by incorporating Grobmann’s teaching in a second embodiment wherein grouping of CSI-RS ports are performed, for the motivation to perform MIMO communication (Grobmann; Abstract.).
Regarding claim 29, modified Grobmann further teaches the information further comprises a third indicator for a plurality of first phase coefficients, and the plurality of second vectors are determined based on the plurality of first vectors and the plurality of first phase coefficients (Grobmann; Para. [0092]. APMI includes a third indicator is used for a set of first phase coefficient, and a set of second vectors are determined in accordance with a set of first vectors and the set of first phase coefficients.).
Regarding claim 30, modified Grobmann further teaches the information further comprises a fourth indicator for a plurality of amplitude coefficients (Grobmann; Para. [0092]. A PMI includes a fourth indicator is for a set of amplitudes coefficients.), a fifth indicator for a plurality of second phase coefficients (Grobmann; Para. [0092]. A PMI includes a fifth indicator is used for a set of second phase coefficients.) and a bitmap, the bitmap indicating which amplitude coefficient in the fourth indicator is reported and which phase coefficient in the fifth indicator is reported (Grobmann; Para. [0108]. A bitmap is used to indicate which amplitude coefficient in a fourth indicator is used and which phase coefficient in a fifth indicator is used.), and a bit size of the bitmap is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0108]. A bitmap size is determined in accordance with a number of reference signal resources, e.g. ports.).
Claim 32-34 are directed to a terminal device, comprising a processor configured to cause the terminal device to perform a sequence of processing steps corresponding to the same as claimed in claims 24-26, and are non-patentable over the prior art for the same reason as previously indicated.
Claims 27, 31, and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Grobmann (EP 3855635 A1) in view of Chen (WO 2020164626 A1).
Regarding claim 27, modified Grobmann further teaches the information (Grobmann; See remarks regarding claim 24.).
But it does not specifically teach the information further comprises a sixth indicator for a strongest coefficient corresponding to one layer, and a bit size of the sixth indicator is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources.
However, Chen teaches the information further comprises a sixth indicator for a strongest coefficient corresponding to one layer, and a bit size of the sixth indicator is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0081]. A sixth indicator is used for a strongest coefficient for a layer, wherein a bit size/number is determined in accordance with the number of resources, e.g. ranks.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the pertinent before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the communication system of modified Grobmann to adapt an indication/signaling approach, by incorporating Chen’s teaching wherein the number of bits for indicating strongest coefficients is dependent on a number of resources, for the motivation to perform CSI on multiple reference signal transmission (Chen; Abstract.).
Regarding claim 31, modified Grobmann further teaches the information (Grobmann; See remarks regarding claim 24.).
But it does not specifically teach the information further comprises a sixth indicator for a strongest coefficient corresponding to one layer, and a bit size of the sixth indicator is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources.
However, Chen teaches the information further comprises a sixth indicator for a strongest coefficient corresponding to one layer, and a bit size of the sixth indicator is determined based on the number of the one or more reference signal resources (Grobmann; Para. [0081]. A sixth indicator is used for a strongest coefficient for a layer, wherein a bit size/number is determined in accordance with the number of resources, e.g. ranks.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the pertinent before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the communication system of modified Grobmann to adapt an indication/signaling approach, by incorporating Chen’s teaching wherein the number of bits for indicating strongest coefficients is dependent on a number of resources, for the motivation to perform CSI on multiple reference signal transmission (Chen; Abstract.).
Claim 35 is directed to a terminal device, comprising a processor configured to cause the terminal device to perform a sequence of processing steps corresponding to the same as claimed in claim 27, and is non-patentable over the prior art for the same reason as previously indicated.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Mittal (US Pub. 20210344471 A1) teaches a communication system that generates a channel state information feedback report including jointly encoded parameters from multiple layers.
Rahman (US Pub. 20210075482 A1) teaches a communication system that performs port selection in wireless communication systems.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALBERT KIR whose telephone number is (571)272-6245. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jay Patel can be reached at (571) 272-2988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALBERT KIR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
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