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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application no. GR20220100604 filed in HELLENIC REPUBLIC on 07/26/2022. It is noted that the applicant has filed a certified copy of the application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/05/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 16 and 28 are objected to because of the following informalities: “Examiner advises applicant to change “A apparatus” to “An apparatus” to fix a minor grammatical error. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1-4 and 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2022/0159742 A1), Xu hereinafter, and further in view of Liu et al. (US 2023/0261841 A1), Liu hereinafter.
Re. Claim 1, Xu teaches a apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor is configured to: (Fig. 15 & ¶0207-¶0210);
receive a plurality of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) on a plurality of ports, each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being received through a different port of the plurality of ports, (Fig. 17 & ¶0150 - A base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports. For example, for single user-MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to eight orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. ¶0219 - In an example, a wireless device may receive multiple PDCCHs scheduling fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in time and frequency domain … The wireless device may determine the reception of fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in the time domain if PDCCHs that schedule two PDSCHs are associated with different ControlResourceSets having different values of CORESETPoolIndex (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex 0 and CORESETPoolIndex 1. ¶0220 - If the wireless device is scheduled with fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in the time and frequency domain, scheduling information for receiving a PDSCH is indicated and carried by a corresponding PDCCH. Please also see ¶0221);
and demodulate each PDSCH of a port based on demodulation reference signals (DMRS) received through the port (¶0150 - For example, the downlink DMRS may be used for coherent demodulation of one or more downlink physical channels (e.g., PDSCH) … A base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports … The UE may use the one or more downlink DMRSs for coherent demodulation/channel estimation of the PDSCH. Please also see ¶0151-¶0152).
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being received on a different set of non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each resource block (RB) of a set of RBs;
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly teaches each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being received on a different set of non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each resource block (RB) of a set of RBs; (Fig. 6 & ¶0202 - A resource element group REG is defined in this application. One REG includes P REs, where P is an integer greater than or equal to 1. FIG. 6a may be considered as an example in which a REG is used as a unit and P=1 in FIG. 6c. FIG. 6b may be considered as an example in which an RBG is used as a unit and a quantity Q of RBs included in the RBG is equal to (Nex/12)/2 in FIG. 6c. Alternatively, FIG. 6b may be considered as an example in which a REG is used as a unit and P=Nex/2 in FIG. 6c … Q is a quantity of RBs included in the RBG, and p=Q*12. In other words, P is an integer multiple of 12, and the multiple is Q. ¶0223 - Because locations of valid symbols of different groups of antenna ports in the extended symbols do not overlap, are complementary, or are different, when subcarrier mapping is performed subsequently, the valid symbols may be mapped to different subcarriers, to implement diversity of the different groups of antenna ports in frequency domain.¶0238 - In other words, different frequency domain resources correspond to different groups of antenna ports. For example, in the foregoing formula 3, when P=1, frequency domain resources occupied by two groups of antenna ports have a comb-shaped characteristic, where one group of antenna ports occupies an even-numbered subcarrier in a scheduled bandwidth, and the other group of antenna ports occupies an odd-numbered subcarrier in the scheduled bandwidth. Please also see ¶0216, ¶0257-¶0259).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Liu to the teaching of Xu. The motivation would be because how to perform diversity transmission is a technical problem that needs to be resolved (¶0005, Liu).
Re. Claims 2 and 10, Xu and Liu teach Claims 1 and 9.
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is received on a different set of non-overlapping subcarriers within each RB of the set of RBs.
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly teaches each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is received on a different set of non-overlapping subcarriers within each RB of the set of RBs (Fig. 6 & ¶0223 - Different groups of valid symbols are extended. Because locations of valid symbols of different groups of antenna ports in the extended symbols do not overlap, are complementary, or are different, when subcarrier mapping is performed subsequently, the valid symbols may be mapped to different subcarriers, to implement diversity of the different groups of antenna ports in frequency domain. ¶0238 - In other words, different frequency domain resources correspond to different groups of antenna ports. For example, in the foregoing formula 3, when P=1, frequency domain resources occupied by two groups of antenna ports have a comb-shaped characteristic, where one group of antenna ports occupies an even-numbered subcarrier in a scheduled bandwidth, and the other group of antenna ports occupies an odd-numbered subcarrier in the scheduled bandwidth. Please also see ¶0216, ¶0257-¶0259).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Liu to the teaching of Xu. The motivation would be because how to perform diversity transmission is a technical problem that needs to be resolved (¶0005, Liu).
Re. Claims 3 and 11, Xu and Liu teach Claims 2 and 9.
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach the plurality of ports comprises p ports, each set of non-overlapping subcarriers comprises n subcarriers, and the PDSCH for a particular port has a subcarrier gap of n(p-1) subcarriers.
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly teaches the plurality of ports comprises p ports, each set of non-overlapping subcarriers comprises n subcarriers, and the PDSCH for a particular port has a subcarrier gap of n(p-1) subcarriers (Fig. 6C & ¶0314 - It is assumed that there are three groups of antenna ports, and D.sub.1, D.sub.2, and D.sub.3 are subcarriers corresponding to one group of antenna ports respectively. E.sub.1, E.sub.2, and E.sub.3 are subcarriers in a scheduled bandwidth. D.sub.1 is a subcarrier at the 1.sup.st location, the 2.sup.nd location, the 7.sup.th location, the 8.sup.th location, and the like in the scheduled bandwidth, D.sub.2 is subcarriers at the 3.sup.rd location, the 4.sup.th location, the 9.sup.th location, the 10.sup.th location, and the like in the scheduled bandwidth, and D.sub.3 is a subcarrier at the 5.sup.th location, the 6.sup.th location, the 11.sup.th location, the 12.sup.th location, and the like in the scheduled bandwidth. ¶0315 - Optionally, for a group of antenna ports, an intersection set of subcarrier sets corresponding to any two antenna ports is an empty set. It may also be understood as that for a group of antenna ports, subcarriers corresponding to any two antenna ports do not overlap, are different, or are complementary).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Liu to the teaching of Xu. The motivation would be because how to perform diversity transmission is a technical problem that needs to be resolved (¶0005, Liu).
Re. Claims 4 and 12, Xu and Liu teach Claims 3 and 9.
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach n = 1 and each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is received on a different subcarrier within each RB of the set of RBs.
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly teaches n = 1 and each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is received on a different subcarrier within each RB of the set of RBs (Fig. 6A & ¶0186 - As shown in FIG. 6a, the quantity M of groups is 2, a symbol in D.sub.1 occupies an odd-numbered location in E.sub.1, and a symbol in D.sub.2 occupies an even-numbered location in E.sub.2. Certainly, the symbol in D.sub.1 may alternatively occupy an even-numbered location in E.sub.1, and the symbol in D.sub.2 may occupy an odd-numbered location in E.sub.2. ¶0187 - It may also be understood as that y is 1, and x is 1 … In other words, locations of the first group of valid symbols in the first group of extended symbols do not overlap locations of the second group of valid symbols in the second group of extended symbols, and that the locations do not overlap may alternatively be replaced with that the locations are different or complementary. ¶0238 - For example, in the foregoing formula 3, when P=1, frequency domain resources occupied by two groups of antenna ports have a comb-shaped characteristic, where one group of antenna ports occupies an even-numbered subcarrier in a scheduled bandwidth, and the other group of antenna ports occupies an odd-numbered subcarrier in the scheduled bandwidth).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Liu to the teaching of Xu. The motivation would be because how to perform diversity transmission is a technical problem that needs to be resolved (¶0005, Liu).
Re. Claim 8, Xu and Liu teach Claim 1.
Xu further teaches a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor (Fig. 15).
Re. Claim 9, Xu teaches a method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: (Fig. 15 & ¶0021 - FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device in communication with a base station);
receiving a plurality of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) on a plurality of ports, each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being received through a different port of the plurality of ports, (Fig. 17 & ¶0150 - A base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports. For example, for single user-MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to eight orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. ¶0219 - In an example, a wireless device may receive multiple PDCCHs scheduling fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in time and frequency domain … The wireless device may determine the reception of fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in the time domain if PDCCHs that schedule two PDSCHs are associated with different ControlResourceSets having different values of CORESETPoolIndex (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex 0 and CORESETPoolIndex 1. ¶0220 - If the wireless device is scheduled with fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in the time and frequency domain, scheduling information for receiving a PDSCH is indicated and carried by a corresponding PDCCH. Please also see ¶0221);
and demodulating each PDSCH of a port based on demodulation reference signals (DMRS) received through the port (¶0150 - For example, the downlink DMRS may be used for coherent demodulation of one or more downlink physical channels (e.g., PDSCH) … A base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports … The UE may use the one or more downlink DMRSs for coherent demodulation/channel estimation of the PDSCH. Please also see ¶0151-¶0152).
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being received on a different set of non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each resource block (RB) of a set of RBs;
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly teaches each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being received on a different set of non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each resource block (RB) of a set of RBs; (Fig. 6 & ¶0202 - A resource element group REG is defined in this application. One REG includes P REs, where P is an integer greater than or equal to 1. FIG. 6a may be considered as an example in which a REG is used as a unit and P=1 in FIG. 6c. FIG. 6b may be considered as an example in which an RBG is used as a unit and a quantity Q of RBs included in the RBG is equal to (Nex/12)/2 in FIG. 6c. Alternatively, FIG. 6b may be considered as an example in which a REG is used as a unit and P=Nex/2 in FIG. 6c … Q is a quantity of RBs included in the RBG, and p=Q*12. In other words, P is an integer multiple of 12, and the multiple is Q. ¶0223 - Because locations of valid symbols of different groups of antenna ports in the extended symbols do not overlap, are complementary, or are different, when subcarrier mapping is performed subsequently, the valid symbols may be mapped to different subcarriers, to implement diversity of the different groups of antenna ports in frequency domain.¶0238 - In other words, different frequency domain resources correspond to different groups of antenna ports. For example, in the foregoing formula 3, when P=1, frequency domain resources occupied by two groups of antenna ports have a comb-shaped characteristic, where one group of antenna ports occupies an even-numbered subcarrier in a scheduled bandwidth, and the other group of antenna ports occupies an odd-numbered subcarrier in the scheduled bandwidth. Please also see ¶0257-¶0259).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Liu to the teaching of Xu. The motivation would be because how to perform diversity transmission is a technical problem that needs to be resolved (¶0005, Liu).
Claims 5-7 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu and Liu, as applied to Claims 1-4 and 9-12 above, and further in view of Nam et al. (US 2010/0104034 A1), Nam hereinafter.
Re. Claims 5 and 13, Xu and Liu teach Claims 1 and 9.
Yet, Xu and Liu do not explicitly teach each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is received on a different set of staggered non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each RB of the set of RBs.
However, in the analogous art, Nam explicitly teaches each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is received on a different set of staggered non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each RB of the set of RBs (Fig. 5-7, 13 & ¶0069 - At an RS RE, only one antenna port indicated by the number label on the time-frequency tile is turned on, while the other three are turned off. The RS REs for an antenna port have a staggered pattern in the time and frequency grid. The staggered pattern is intended for improving the frequency resolution of the estimated channel. In addition, the RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by having a few data REs between two consecutive RS REs so that cell-specific frequency shifting can be used for interference management. When cell-specific frequency shifting is applied, the subcarrier indices at RS REs may circularly shift by an integer number. ¶0070 - each antenna port's RSs are mapped onto two RS REs in a resource block spanning one subframe, and these 8 RS symbols for the four antenna ports are mapped onto a subset of REs in two OFDM symbols. The RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by two data REs between two consecutive RS REs; with this RS-RE spacing, four RS REs can be assigned in an OFDM symbol in a resource block having twelve REs. Please also see ¶0105).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Nam to the teachings of Xu and Liu. The motivation would be because the invention describes systems and methods for mapping reference signals for antenna ports in a plurality of resource blocks among resource blocks in a subframe within an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system (Abstract, Nam).
Re. Claims 6 and 14, Xu and Liu teach Claims 5 and 13.
Yet, Xu and Liu do not explicitly teach the different set of staggered non-overlapping REs comprises subsets of REs that are non-adjacent in time and frequency to each other.
However, in the analogous art, Nam explicitly teaches the different set of staggered non-overlapping REs comprises subsets of REs that are non-adjacent in time and frequency to each other (Fig. 5-7, 13 & ¶0069 - At an RS RE, only one antenna port indicated by the number label on the time-frequency tile is turned on, while the other three are turned off. The RS REs for an antenna port have a staggered pattern in the time and frequency grid. The staggered pattern is intended for improving the frequency resolution of the estimated channel. In addition, the RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by having a few data REs between two consecutive RS REs so that cell-specific frequency shifting can be used for interference management. When cell-specific frequency shifting is applied, the subcarrier indices at RS REs may circularly shift by an integer number. ¶0070 - each antenna port's RSs are mapped onto two RS REs in a resource block spanning one subframe, and these 8 RS symbols for the four antenna ports are mapped onto a subset of REs in two OFDM symbols. The RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by two data REs between two consecutive RS REs; with this RS-RE spacing, four RS REs can be assigned in an OFDM symbol in a resource block having twelve REs. Please also see ¶0105).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Nam to the teachings of Xu and Liu. The motivation would be because the invention describes systems and methods for mapping reference signals for antenna ports in a plurality of resource blocks among resource blocks in a subframe within an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system (Abstract, Nam).
Re. Claims 7 and 15, Xu and Liu teach Claims 5 and 13.
Yet, Xu and Liu do not explicitly teach the different set of staggered non-overlapping REs comprises REs that are non-adjacent in time and frequency to each other.
However, in the analogous art, Nam explicitly teaches the different set of staggered non-overlapping REs comprises REs that are non-adjacent in time and frequency to each other (Fig. 5-7, 13 & ¶0069 - At an RS RE, only one antenna port indicated by the number label on the time-frequency tile is turned on, while the other three are turned off. The RS REs for an antenna port have a staggered pattern in the time and frequency grid. The staggered pattern is intended for improving the frequency resolution of the estimated channel. In addition, the RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by having a few data REs between two consecutive RS REs so that cell-specific frequency shifting can be used for interference management. When cell-specific frequency shifting is applied, the subcarrier indices at RS REs may circularly shift by an integer number. ¶0070 - each antenna port's RSs are mapped onto two RS REs in a resource block spanning one subframe, and these 8 RS symbols for the four antenna ports are mapped onto a subset of REs in two OFDM symbols. The RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by two data REs between two consecutive RS REs; with this RS-RE spacing, four RS REs can be assigned in an OFDM symbol in a resource block having twelve REs. Please also see ¶0105).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Nam to the teachings of Xu and Liu. The motivation would be because the invention describes systems and methods for mapping reference signals for antenna ports in a plurality of resource blocks among resource blocks in a subframe within an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system (Abstract, Nam).
Claims 16-19 and 23-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu and Liu, and further in view of Ali et al. (WO 2022/107050 A1), Ali hereinafter.
Re. Claim 16, Xu teaches a apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor is configured to: (Fig. 15 & ¶0207-¶0210);
transmit a plurality of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) on a plurality of ports, each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being transmitted through a different port of the plurality of ports, (Fig. 17 & ¶0150 - A base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports. For example, for single user-MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to eight orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. ¶0219 - In an example, a wireless device may receive multiple PDCCHs scheduling fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in time and frequency domain … The wireless device may determine the reception of fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in the time domain if PDCCHs that schedule two PDSCHs are associated with different ControlResourceSets having different values of CORESETPoolIndex (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex 0 and CORESETPoolIndex 1. ¶0220 - If the wireless device is scheduled with fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in the time and frequency domain, scheduling information for receiving a PDSCH is indicated and carried by a corresponding PDCCH. Please also see ¶0221);
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being transmitted on a different set of non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each resource block (RB) of a set of RBs;
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly teaches each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being transmitted on a different set of non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each resource block (RB) of a set of RBs; (Fig. 6 & ¶0202 - A resource element group REG is defined in this application. One REG includes P REs, where P is an integer greater than or equal to 1. FIG. 6a may be considered as an example in which a REG is used as a unit and P=1 in FIG. 6c. FIG. 6b may be considered as an example in which an RBG is used as a unit and a quantity Q of RBs included in the RBG is equal to (Nex/12)/2 in FIG. 6c. Alternatively, FIG. 6b may be considered as an example in which a REG is used as a unit and P=Nex/2 in FIG. 6c … Q is a quantity of RBs included in the RBG, and p=Q*12. In other words, P is an integer multiple of 12, and the multiple is Q. ¶0223 - Because locations of valid symbols of different groups of antenna ports in the extended symbols do not overlap, are complementary, or are different, when subcarrier mapping is performed subsequently, the valid symbols may be mapped to different subcarriers, to implement diversity of the different groups of antenna ports in frequency domain.¶0238 - In other words, different frequency domain resources correspond to different groups of antenna ports. For example, in the foregoing formula 3, when P=1, frequency domain resources occupied by two groups of antenna ports have a comb-shaped characteristic, where one group of antenna ports occupies an even-numbered subcarrier in a scheduled bandwidth, and the other group of antenna ports occupies an odd-numbered subcarrier in the scheduled bandwidth. Please also see ¶0216, ¶0257-¶0259).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Liu to the teaching of Xu. The motivation would be because how to perform diversity transmission is a technical problem that needs to be resolved (¶0005, Liu).
Yet, Xu and Liu do not explicitly teach receive the transmitted PDSCHs reflected from one or more objects; and perform radar sensing for detecting the one or more objects based on the received reflected transmitted PDSCHs.
However, in the analogous art, Ali explicitly teaches receive the transmitted PDSCHs reflected from one or more objects; and perform radar sensing for detecting the one or more objects based on the received reflected transmitted PDSCHs (Fig. 10-11 & ¶0084 - a gNB (serving or neighboring) equipped with a full-duplex transceiver utilizes its own DL transmission to perform radar sensing on the DL echo/backscattered signal from a certain geographical area/zone of interest. ¶0089 - the gNB may utilize the backscattered signal of downlink channel transmission (e.g., Physical Downlink Control Channel (“PDCCH”) and/or Physical Downlink Shared Channel (“PDSCH”)) for measuring the channel and identifying the blockages. In this implementation, a copy of the transmitted PDCCH/PDSCH signal needs to be kept at gNB after the DL transmission to perform channel measurement with respect to the DL echo/backscatter signal to determine the location-related information of the blockage. In order to avoid the collision/interference with/from UL transmissions, gNB may configure the UEs with UL slots that avoid overlapping with the slots where the radar sensing is configured. Please also see ¶0150).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Ali to the teaching of Xu and Liu. The motivation would be because the invention discusses apparatuses, methods, and systems for radar-sensing in a RAN (Abstract, Ali).
Re. Claim 17, Xu and Liu and Ali teach Claim 16.
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is transmitted on a different set of non-overlapping subcarriers within each RB of the set of RBs.
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly teaches each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is transmitted on a different set of non-overlapping subcarriers within each RB of the set of RBs (Fig. 6 & ¶0223 - Different groups of valid symbols are extended. Because locations of valid symbols of different groups of antenna ports in the extended symbols do not overlap, are complementary, or are different, when subcarrier mapping is performed subsequently, the valid symbols may be mapped to different subcarriers, to implement diversity of the different groups of antenna ports in frequency domain. ¶0238 - In other words, different frequency domain resources correspond to different groups of antenna ports. For example, in the foregoing formula 3, when P=1, frequency domain resources occupied by two groups of antenna ports have a comb-shaped characteristic, where one group of antenna ports occupies an even-numbered subcarrier in a scheduled bandwidth, and the other group of antenna ports occupies an odd-numbered subcarrier in the scheduled bandwidth. Please also see ¶0216, ¶0257-¶0259).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Liu to the teachings of Xu and Ali. The motivation would be because how to perform diversity transmission is a technical problem that needs to be resolved (¶0005, Liu).
Re. Claim 18, Xu and Liu and Ali teach Claim 17.
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach the plurality of ports comprises p ports, each set of non-overlapping subcarriers comprises n subcarriers, and the PDSCH for a particular port has a subcarrier gap of n(p-1) subcarriers.
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly teaches the plurality of ports comprises p ports, each set of non-overlapping subcarriers comprises n subcarriers, and the PDSCH for a particular port has a subcarrier gap of n(p-1) subcarriers (Fig. 6C & ¶0314 - It is assumed that there are three groups of antenna ports, and D.sub.1, D.sub.2, and D.sub.3 are subcarriers corresponding to one group of antenna ports respectively. E.sub.1, E.sub.2, and E.sub.3 are subcarriers in a scheduled bandwidth. D.sub.1 is a subcarrier at the 1.sup.st location, the 2.sup.nd location, the 7.sup.th location, the 8.sup.th location, and the like in the scheduled bandwidth, D.sub.2 is subcarriers at the 3.sup.rd location, the 4.sup.th location, the 9.sup.th location, the 10.sup.th location, and the like in the scheduled bandwidth, and D.sub.3 is a subcarrier at the 5.sup.th location, the 6.sup.th location, the 11.sup.th location, the 12.sup.th location, and the like in the scheduled bandwidth. ¶0315 - Optionally, for a group of antenna ports, an intersection set of subcarrier sets corresponding to any two antenna ports is an empty set. It may also be understood as that for a group of antenna ports, subcarriers corresponding to any two antenna ports do not overlap, are different, or are complementary).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Liu to the teachings of Xu and Ali. The motivation would be because how to perform diversity transmission is a technical problem that needs to be resolved (¶0005, Liu).
Re. Claim 19, Xu and Liu and Ali teach Claim 18.
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach n = 1 and each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is transmitted on a different subcarrier within each RB of the set of RBs.
However, in the analogous art, Liu explicitly teaches n = 1 and each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is transmitted on a different subcarrier within each RB of the set of RBs (Fig. 6A & ¶0186 - As shown in FIG. 6a, the quantity M of groups is 2, a symbol in D.sub.1 occupies an odd-numbered location in E.sub.1, and a symbol in D.sub.2 occupies an even-numbered location in E.sub.2. Certainly, the symbol in D.sub.1 may alternatively occupy an even-numbered location in E.sub.1, and the symbol in D.sub.2 may occupy an odd-numbered location in E.sub.2. ¶0187 - It may also be understood as that y is 1, and x is 1 … In other words, locations of the first group of valid symbols in the first group of extended symbols do not overlap locations of the second group of valid symbols in the second group of extended symbols, and that the locations do not overlap may alternatively be replaced with that the locations are different or complementary. ¶0238 - For example, in the foregoing formula 3, when P=1, frequency domain resources occupied by two groups of antenna ports have a comb-shaped characteristic, where one group of antenna ports occupies an even-numbered subcarrier in a scheduled bandwidth, and the other group of antenna ports occupies an odd-numbered subcarrier in the scheduled bandwidth).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Liu to the teachings of Xu and Ali. The motivation would be because how to perform diversity transmission is a technical problem that needs to be resolved (¶0005, Liu).
Re. Claim 23, Xu and Liu and Ali teach Claim 16.
Yet, Xu and Liu do not explicitly teach the at least one processor is further configured to receive from a radar server beam direction information, wherein the plurality of PDSCHs are transmitted in beam directions based on the received beam direction information.
However, in the analogous art, Ali explicitly teaches the at least one processor is further configured to receive from a radar server beam direction information, wherein the plurality of PDSCHs are transmitted in beam directions based on the received beam direction information (Fig. 10-11 & ¶0085 - … purposes of determining one or more blockages of interest and could be shared with the serving gNB via the appropriate interface (e.g., Xn) and/or via a centralized network entity (e.g., Location Management Function and/or Access and Mobility management Function (“LMF/AMF”). ¶0090 - the gNB may be triggered by another network entity (e.g., LMF). Fig. 5 & ¶0100 - the first TRP 501 configures the second TRP 503 and third TRP 505 to perform cooperative radar sensing (see radar sensing configurations 515). ¶0101 - In one embodiment, the radar signal transmissions are performed using multiple narrow beams in beam-sweeping manner. In another embodiment, the radar signal transmissions are performed by transmitting multiple narrow beams simultaneously. ¶0151 - … configuring the time-frequency resources further includes configuring at least one specific beam for transmission and measurement of radar-sensing RS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Ali to the teaching of Xu and Liu. The motivation would be because the invention discusses apparatuses, methods, and systems for radar-sensing in a RAN (Abstract, Ali).
Re. Claim 24, Xu and Liu and Ali teach Claim 16.
Yet, Xu and Liu do not explicitly teach the at least one processor is further configured to receive from a radar server PDSCH mapping information, wherein the plurality of PDSCHs are mapped to REs based on the PDSCH mapping information.
However, in the analogous art, Ali explicitly teaches the at least one processor is further configured to receive from a radar server PDSCH mapping information, wherein the plurality of PDSCHs are mapped to REs based on the PDSCH mapping information (Fig. 10-11 & ¶0098 - the TRPs can perform sensing on the DMRS/CSI-RS/PRS resources used by other TRPs for their usual DL transmission. The TRPs in this case need to share their DMRS/CSI-RS resources or in the case of PRS, the resource coordination is handled with assistance of the Location Management Function (“LMF”). ¶0151 - configuring the time -frequency resources includes configuring a specific BWP (alternatively, a set of PRBs) for transmission and measurement of radar-sensing RS and configuring a different BWP (alternatively, a set of PRBs) for data transmission. In certain embodiments, configuring the time-frequency resources further includes configuring at least one specific beam for transmission and measurement of radar-sensing RS and configuring at least one other beam for data transmission. ¶0152 - configuring the time -frequency resources includes indicating an area of interest and configuring a plurality of half-duplex TRPs with resources for the transmission, measurement and reporting of orthogonal radar-sensing RS in radar-sensing specific resources. In such embodiments, receiving the radar-sensing information includes receiving reporting from the plurality of half-duplex TRPs, said reporting containing measurements of the radar-sensing RS performed by each TRP).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Ali to the teaching of Xu and Liu. The motivation would be because the invention discusses apparatuses, methods, and systems for radar-sensing in a RAN (Abstract, Ali).
Re. Claim 25, Xu and Liu and Ali teach Claim 16.
Yet, Xu and Liu do not explicitly teach the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, to a radar server, radar sensing results based on the performed radar sensing.
However, in the analogous art, Ali explicitly teaches the at least one processor is further configured to transmit, to a radar server, radar sensing results based on the performed radar sensing (Fig. 10-11 & ¶0085 - using joint communication and monostatic radar sensing, DL transmissions and echo signals from neighboring gNBs/cells can also be utilized for the purposes of determining one or more blockages of interest and could be shared with the serving gNB via the appropriate interface (e.g., Xn) and/or via a centralized network entity (e.g., Location Management Function and/or Access and Mobility management Function (“LMF/AMF”). ¶0103 - After performing channel measurements and subtracting the direct paths and the time/direction information related to out-of-area, the second TRP 503 and the third TRP 505 report the time/direction information of the blockage 510 to the first TRP 501. In the depicted embodiment, the second TRP 503 sends the report 530a containing radar-sensing information (i.e., time/direction information) and the third TRP 505 sends the report 530b, also containing radar sensing information. In some embodiments, the first TRP 501 may configure other TRPs 503, 505 to perform repetition of radar signal transmission/reception and report the time/direction information after each period or report a combined/averaged measurement information after multiple of repetitions. The first TRP 501 combines the time/direction information to identify and localize the blockage 510. Please also see ¶0152-¶0153).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Ali to the teaching of Xu and Liu. The motivation would be because the invention discusses apparatuses, methods, and systems for radar-sensing in a RAN (Abstract, Ali).
Re. Claim 26, Xu and Liu and Ali teach Claim 16.
Xu further teaches a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor (Fig. 15).
Re. Claim 27, Xu and Liu and Ali teach Claim 16.
Xu further teaches the network entity is a base station or a component of the base station (Fig. 15 & ¶0021 - FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device in communication with a base station).
Claims 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu and Liu and Ali, as applied to Claims 16-19 and 23-27 above, and further in view of Nam.
Re. Claim 20, Xu and Liu and Ali teach Claim 16.
Yet, Xu and Liu and Ali do not explicitly teach each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is transmitted on a different set of staggered non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each RB of the set of RBs.
However, in the analogous art, Nam explicitly teaches each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs is transmitted on a different set of staggered non-overlapping resource elements (REs) within each RB of the set of RBs (Fig. 5-7, 13 & ¶0069 - At an RS RE, only one antenna port indicated by the number label on the time-frequency tile is turned on, while the other three are turned off. The RS REs for an antenna port have a staggered pattern in the time and frequency grid. The staggered pattern is intended for improving the frequency resolution of the estimated channel. In addition, the RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by having a few data REs between two consecutive RS REs so that cell-specific frequency shifting can be used for interference management. When cell-specific frequency shifting is applied, the subcarrier indices at RS REs may circularly shift by an integer number. ¶0070 - each antenna port's RSs are mapped onto two RS REs in a resource block spanning one subframe, and these 8 RS symbols for the four antenna ports are mapped onto a subset of REs in two OFDM symbols. The RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by two data REs between two consecutive RS REs; with this RS-RE spacing, four RS REs can be assigned in an OFDM symbol in a resource block having twelve REs. Please also see ¶0105).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Nam to the teachings of Xu and Liu and Ali. The motivation would be because the invention describes systems and methods for mapping reference signals for antenna ports in a plurality of resource blocks among resource blocks in a subframe within an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system (Abstract, Nam).
Re. Claim 21, Xu and Liu and Ali and Nam teach Claim 20.
Yet, Xu and Liu and Ali do not explicitly teach the different set of staggered non-overlapping REs comprises subsets of REs that are non-adjacent in time and frequency to each other.
However, in the analogous art, Nam explicitly teaches the different set of staggered non-overlapping REs comprises subsets of REs that are non-adjacent in time and frequency to each other (Fig. 5-7, 13 & ¶0069 - At an RS RE, only one antenna port indicated by the number label on the time-frequency tile is turned on, while the other three are turned off. The RS REs for an antenna port have a staggered pattern in the time and frequency grid. The staggered pattern is intended for improving the frequency resolution of the estimated channel. In addition, the RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by having a few data REs between two consecutive RS REs so that cell-specific frequency shifting can be used for interference management. When cell-specific frequency shifting is applied, the subcarrier indices at RS REs may circularly shift by an integer number. ¶0070 - each antenna port's RSs are mapped onto two RS REs in a resource block spanning one subframe, and these 8 RS symbols for the four antenna ports are mapped onto a subset of REs in two OFDM symbols. The RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by two data REs between two consecutive RS REs; with this RS-RE spacing, four RS REs can be assigned in an OFDM symbol in a resource block having twelve REs. Please also see ¶0105).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Nam to the teachings of Xu and Liu and Ali. The motivation would be because the invention describes systems and methods for mapping reference signals for antenna ports in a plurality of resource blocks among resource blocks in a subframe within an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system (Abstract, Nam).
Re. Claim 22, Xu and Liu and Ali and Nam teach Claim 20.
Yet, Xu and Liu and Ali do not explicitly teach the different set of staggered non-overlapping REs comprises REs that are non-adjacent in time and frequency to each other.
However, in the analogous art, Nam explicitly teaches the different set of staggered non-overlapping REs comprises REs that are non-adjacent in time and frequency to each other (Fig. 5-7, 13 & ¶0069 - At an RS RE, only one antenna port indicated by the number label on the time-frequency tile is turned on, while the other three are turned off. The RS REs for an antenna port have a staggered pattern in the time and frequency grid. The staggered pattern is intended for improving the frequency resolution of the estimated channel. In addition, the RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by having a few data REs between two consecutive RS REs so that cell-specific frequency shifting can be used for interference management. When cell-specific frequency shifting is applied, the subcarrier indices at RS REs may circularly shift by an integer number. ¶0070 - each antenna port's RSs are mapped onto two RS REs in a resource block spanning one subframe, and these 8 RS symbols for the four antenna ports are mapped onto a subset of REs in two OFDM symbols. The RS REs in an OFDM symbol are spaced apart by two data REs between two consecutive RS REs; with this RS-RE spacing, four RS REs can be assigned in an OFDM symbol in a resource block having twelve REs. Please also see ¶0105).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Nam to the teachings of Xu and Liu and Ali. The motivation would be because the invention describes systems and methods for mapping reference signals for antenna ports in a plurality of resource blocks among resource blocks in a subframe within an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication system (Abstract, Nam).
Claims 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu and Yang et al. (US 2018/0367202 A1), Yang hereinafter, and further in view of Rahman et al., “Joint communication and radar sensing in 5G mobile network by compressive sensing” (IET Communications 2020/2021), Rahman hereinafter.
Re. Claim 28, Xu teaches a apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor is configured to: (Fig. 15 & ¶0207-¶0210);
receive a plurality of physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) on a plurality of ports, each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being received through a different port of the plurality of ports, (Fig. 17 & ¶0150 - A base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports. For example, for single user-MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to eight orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. ¶0219 - In an example, a wireless device may receive multiple PDCCHs scheduling fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in time and frequency domain … The wireless device may determine the reception of fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in the time domain if PDCCHs that schedule two PDSCHs are associated with different ControlResourceSets having different values of CORESETPoolIndex (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex 0 and CORESETPoolIndex 1. ¶0220 - If the wireless device is scheduled with fully overlapped, partially overlapped, or non-overlapped PDSCHs in the time and frequency domain, scheduling information for receiving a PDSCH is indicated and carried by a corresponding PDCCH. Please also see ¶0221);
and demodulating each de-interleaved PDSCH of a port based on demodulation reference signals (DMRS) received through the port (¶0150 - For example, the downlink DMRS may be used for coherent demodulation of one or more downlink physical channels (e.g., PDSCH) … A base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports … The UE may use the one or more downlink DMRSs for coherent demodulation/channel estimation of the PDSCH. Please also see ¶0151-¶0152).
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being received on a different resource block group (RBG) of a set of RBGs; de-interleave the received PDSCHs based on a configured radar sensing interleaving pattern;
However, in the analogous art, Yang explicitly teaches each PDSCH of the plurality of PDSCHs being received on a different resource block group (RBG) of a set of RBGs; (Fig. 7 & ¶0081 - with the number of PRBs in a PDSCH allocation being A, the PRB bundle size being B, the desired degree of frequency diversity being D, the PRB mapping order (rectangular interleaver with a PRB bundle as the basic unit) may be determined by the following: (1) x.sub.1=┌A/B┐ (roughly the number of bundles in the PDSCH); and (2) x.sub.2=└x.sub.1/D┘ (roughly the number of bundles for each frequency segment). For PRB mapping, virtual PRB k, 0≤k≤A−1, may be mapped to physical PRB f(k) as represented by Expression (21) below, where b=└k/B┘. Please also see ¶0082-¶0083. ¶0103 - In some implementations, the PDSCH may span over a plurality of physical resource block (PRB) bundles, with each PRB bundle including respective multiple PRBs. In such cases, the interleaving may be performed over the plurality of PRB bundles with each PRB bundle of the plurality of PRB bundles being an individual interleaving unit. Please also see ¶0103-¶0106);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Yang to the teaching of Xu. The motivation would be because the invention is generally related to mobile communications and, more particularly, to interleaver design for NR (¶0002, Yang).
Yet, Xu and Yang do not explicitly teach de-interleave the received PDSCHs based on a configured radar sensing interleaving pattern;
However, in the analogous art, Rahman explicitly teaches de-interleave the received PDSCHs based on a configured radar sensing interleaving pattern; (Page 2, Column 2, 2.1 DMRS signal generation - DMRS signal is generated according to the gold sequence as defined in [27] of 3GPP TS 38.211, both for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) …. The generated physical resource block (PRB) indicates DMRS to a 3D grid comprising a 14-symbol slot for the full carriers across the DMRS layers or ports. The values and indices of DMRS signals are both known to the BS and are used as prior when doing sensing from received signals. Here, the interleaved DMRS subcarriers of the PDSCH are used in downlink sensing … Please also see Page 6, Column 1, 5.1.1 Downlink sensing).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Rahman to the teaching of Xu and Yang. The motivation would be because joint communication and radar/radio sensing (JCAS, also known as RadCom) has the potential to integrate radar/radio sensing into large-scale mobile networks as demonstrated in their works (Page 1, Column 1, 1 Introduction, Rahman).
Re. Claim 29, Xu and Yang and Rahman teach Claim 28.
Yet, Xu does not explicitly teach the PDSCHs are interleaved based on rectangular interleaving pattern.
However, in the analogous art, Yang explicitly teaches the PDSCHs are interleaved based on rectangular interleaving pattern (Fig. 7 & ¶0081 - with the number of PRBs in a PDSCH allocation being A, the PRB bundle size being B, the desired degree of frequency diversity being D, the PRB mapping order (rectangular interleaver with a PRB bundle as the basic unit) may be determined by the following: (1) x.sub.1=┌A/B┐ (roughly the number of bundles in the PDSCH); and (2) x.sub.2=└x.sub.1/D┘ (roughly the number of bundles for each frequency segment). For PRB mapping, virtual PRB k, 0≤k≤A−1, may be mapped to physical PRB f(k) as represented by Expression (21) below, where b=└k/B┘. ¶0106 - In some implementations, the channel interleaver may include a rectangular block interleaver with a unit of resource block bundle).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add the teaching of Yang to the teachings of Xu and Rahman. The motivation would be because the invention is generally related to mobile communications and, more particularly, to interleaver design for NR (¶0002, Yang).
Re. Claim 30, Xu and Yang and Rahman teach Claim 28.
Xu further teaches a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor (Fig. 15).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chun et al. (US 2014/0112287 A1) – Please see Abstract and Fig. 1-20.
Noh et al. (US 2020/0228970 A1) – Please see Abstract and Fig. 1-18.
Park et al. (US 2020/0383091 A1) – Please see Abstract and Fig. 1-16.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALYSSA WILLIAMS whose telephone number is (571)270-7673. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8-5pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached on (571) 270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALYSSA WILLIAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2465B
/AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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