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 .
Status
The present application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application CN202210248158.5 filed March 14, 2022, and PCT Patent Application PCT/CN2023/080116 filed March 7, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on October 18, 2024 and May 23, 2025 were filed 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
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3, 5, 7-11, 13, 15 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pat. Pub. 20230145057 to Xinlin Zhang et al. (hereinafter Zhang) in view of US Pat. Pub. 20210266053 to Marcus Grossman et al. (hereinafter Grossman).
Regarding claim 1, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches A communication method, comprising:
determining first channel information, wherein the first channel information comprises information in M1 dimensions, (Zhang teaches in para. [0072] determining a propagation path according to an estimated “angle-delay” power spectrum profile interpreted as M1 dimensions of angle and delay) the information in an ith dimension in the M1 dimensions comprises Ng pieces of information, M1 is a positive integer greater than 1, (angle and delay are two dimensions) i is a positive integer ranging from 1 to M1, and Ni is a positive integer greater than 1; (Zhang para. [0075]-[0076] teaches Ng pieces of information includes basis vectors according to estimated cluster angles and delays, including as shown in Fig. 6, an angle-delay power spectrum with 8 angle bins and 10 delay taps.)
determining channel state indication information based on second channel information, wherein the second channel information is partial information of the first channel information, (Zhang teaches in Fig. 6 and para. [0077] using the 2 strongest clusters) and comprises partial information of Nm pieces of information in an mth dimension in the M1 dimensions, and m is a positive integer from 1 to M1; (Zhang Fig. 6 illustrates using the 2 strongest clusters in an mth dimension:
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Zhang teaches in para. [0078]-[0079] that after the gNB reduces the delay domain to 4 taps, which are translated to an FD basis with 4 vectors, the UE selects a subset of the frequency dimension basis vectors)
and sending first indication information and the channel state indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a location of the second channel information in the first channel information. (Zhang teaches in para. [0079]-[0080] that the gNB sends signals to the UE the remaining 2 FD basis vectors instead of 4 FD basis vectors thereby reducing overhead. Then “the UE only needs to select the best frequency basis vectors from the 2 FD basis vector candidates instead of 4. Thus, in this example, not only is the overhead for indicating which FD components that have been selected is reduced, but also the overhead in reporting corresponding LC coefficients. Additionally, the computational complexity at UE for selecting the best FD bases can be reduced.” Therefore the UE sends a CSI report including the location of the strongest path in the beamformed channels based on the angle-delay power spectrum that originally included 8 angle bins and 10 delay taps.)
Although Zhang teaches “indicates a location of the second channel information in the first channel information” indirectly by reducing the information sent to the UE, Zhang does not specifically identify a location.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Grossman teaches “indicates a location of the second channel information in the first channel information. (Grossman teaches in paras. [0055]-[0058] channel feedback using a bitmap for coefficients to reduce overhead for reporting. Para. [0058] teaches reporting the K strongest coefficients which would indicate a location of “second channel information in the first channel information”.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Grossman and Zhang. Each of Zhang and Grossman are in the field of wireless communications and channel state information reporting. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Grossman and Zhang in order to reduce the overhead for reporting coefficients for channel state information as taught in Grossman para. [0057], and to increase the flexibility of selecting coefficients and improve system performance as taught in Grossman para. [0059].
Regarding claim 2, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The method according to claim 1 as stated. Zhang further teaches wherein among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, energy of any one of the K pieces of information is greater than or equal to energy of any one of the Nm pieces of information in the mth dimension other than the K pieces of information, and K is a positive integer greater than 1. (Zhang para. [0048] teaches that the UE reports to the gNB coefficient subset wherein only non-zero coefficients are reported and zeros are not reported:
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As shown, the linear combination is K = 2LMi therefore, K is a positive integer greater than 1, from 1 to 2K0:
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.)
Regarding claim 3, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The method according to claim 1 as stated. Zhang further teaches wherein the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, (Zhang taches that K, the total number of non-zero coefficients summed across layers is
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among the K pieces of information, energy of a kth piece of information is greater than energy of a (k+1)th piece of information, (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that the strongest coefficients are indicated in a per-layer strongest coefficient indicator (SCI):
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K is a positive integer greater than 1, (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that a K=2LM bitmap, wherein:
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Zhang does NOT specifically identify that “k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that the index of nonzero LC coefficients is remapped according to a codebook index:
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In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Grossman teaches k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Grossman teaches in para. [0075]-[0076] that to reduce overhead a UE may report coefficients that are only the K strongest coefficients bi,j . Further, Grossman para. [0058] teaches that K can be configured so that “the K strongest coefficients may be represented by k entries having the highest amplitude (or power) … The bitmap may hence contain no more than K “1”s.” )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Grossman and Zhang. Each of Zhang and Grossman are in the field of wireless communications and channel state information reporting. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Grossman and Zhang in order to reduce the overhead for reporting coefficients for channel state information as taught in Grossman para. [0057], and to increase the flexibility of selecting coefficients and improve system performance as taught in Grossman para. [0059].
Regarding claim 5, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The method according to claim 1 as stated. Zhang further teaches wherein the information in the mth dimension comprises delay domain information or angle domain information. (Zhang teaches in Fig. 6, above, that the dimensions after spatial precoding, at least include an angle and delay in an angle-delay power spectrum. Further, Zhang para. [0077] teaches that Fig. 6 illustrates 4 taps “in the delay domain”.)
Regarding claim 8, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The method according to claim 1 as stated. Zhang further teaches wherein the channel state indication information indicates comprises encoded information of the second channel information. (Zhang teaches in Fig. 8 and para. [0088] – [0090] that the channel state information sent by the UE is a set of frequency domain (FD) basis vectors based on estimated angles of arrival and associated delay profiles wherein the base station selects a set of FD basis vectors from which the UE selects as taught in para. [0091] as a channel state information report based on the vectors.)
Regarding claim 7, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The method according to claim 1 as stated.
Zhang teaches wherein among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, where K is a positive integer greater than 1, (Zhang para. [0075]-[0076] teaches Ng pieces of information includes basis vectors according to estimated cluster angles and delays, including, as shown in Fig. 6, an angle-delay power spectrum with 8 angle bins and 10 delay taps.) and the method further comprises:
obtaining second indication information, wherein the second indication information indicates at least one of a value of K or a quantity of bits that are in the channel state indication information and that correspond to each of the K pieces of information. (Zhang teaches in paras. [0043]- [0045] that for CSI reporting, a subband amplitude parameter pli can be quantized using 0 or 1 bit and subband parameter phili can be quantized using 2 or 3 bits depending on codebook configuration. The parameters quantized correspond to “each dimension for each polarization” for subband k=0… NSB -1 therefore correspond to each of the K pieces of information.)
Regarding claim 9, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches An apparatus, comprising:
at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising: (Zhang teaches in Fig. 10 and 11 teach a base station and a UE, respectively that include a processor 1055, and 1155 and memory CRM 1042, 1142 that perform operations)
determining first channel information, wherein the first channel information comprises information in M1 dimensions, , (Zhang teaches in para. [0072] determining a propagation path according to an estimated “angle-delay” power spectrum profile interpreted as M1 dimensions of angle and delay) the information in an ith dimension in the M1 dimensions comprises Ng pieces of information, M1 is a positive integer greater than 1, (angle and delay are two dimensions) i is a positive integer ranging from 1 to M1, and Ng is a positive integer greater than 1, (Zhang para. [0075]-[0076] teaches Ng pieces of information includes basis vectors according to estimated cluster angles and delays, including as shown in Fig. 6, an angle-delay power spectrum with 8 angle bins and 10 delay taps.);
determining channel state indication information based on second channel information, wherein the second channel information is partial information of the first channel information, (Zhang teaches in Fig. 6 and para. [0077] using the 2 strongest clusters) and comprises indicates partial information of Nm pieces of information in an mth dimension in the M1 dimensions, and m is a positive integer from 1 to M1; (Zhang Fig. 6 illustrates using the 2 strongest clusters in an mth dimension:
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Zhang teaches in para. [0078]-[0079] that after the gNB reduces the delay domain to 4 taps, which are translated to an FD basis with 4 vectors, the UE selects a subset of the frequency dimension basis vectors)
and
sending first indication information and the channel state indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a location of the second channel information in the first channel information. (Zhang teaches in para. [0079]-[0080] that the gNB sends signals to the UE the remaining 2 FD basis vectors instead of 4 FD basis vectors thereby reducing overhead. Then “the UE only needs to select the best frequency basis vectors from the 2 FD basis vector candidates instead of 4. Thus, in this example, not only is the overhead for indicating which FD components that have been selected is reduced, but also the overhead in reporting corresponding LC coefficients. Additionally, the computational complexity at UE for selecting the best FD bases can be reduced.” Therefore the UE sends a CSI report including the location of the strongest path in the beamformed channels based on the angle-delay power spectrum that originally included 8 angle bins and 10 delay taps.)
Although Zhang teaches “indicates a location of the second channel information in the first channel information” indirectly by reducing the information sent to the UE, Zhang does not specifically identify a location.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Grossman teaches “indicates a location of the second channel information in the first channel information. (Grossman teaches in paras. [0055]-[0058] channel feedback using a bitmap for coefficients to reduce overhead for reporting. Para. [0058] teaches reporting the K strongest coefficients which would indicate a location of “second channel information in the first channel information”.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Grossman and Zhang. Each of Zhang and Grossman are in the field of wireless communications and channel state information reporting. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Grossman and Zhang in order to reduce the overhead for reporting coefficients for channel state information as taught in Grossman para. [0057], and to increase the flexibility of selecting coefficients and improve system performance as taught in Grossman para. [0059].
Regarding claim 10, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The apparatus according to claim 9 as stated.
Zhang teaches wherein the partial information of among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, energy of any one of the K pieces of information is greater than or equal to energy of any one of the Nm pieces of information in the mth dimension other than the K pieces of information, and K is a positive integer greater than 1. . (Zhang para. [0048] teaches that the UE reports to the gNB coefficient subset wherein only non-zero coefficients are reported and zeros are not reported:
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As shown, the linear combination is K = 2LMi therefore, K is a positive integer greater than 1, from 1 to 2K0:
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.)
Regarding claim 11, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The apparatus according to claim 9 as stated.
Zhang further teaches wherein among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, (Zhang taches that K, the total number of non-zero coefficients summed across layers is
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among the K pieces of information, energy of a kth piece of information is greater than energy of a (k+1)th piece of information, (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that the strongest coefficients are indicated in a per-layer strongest coefficient indicator (SCI):
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(Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that a K=2LM bitmap, wherein:
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Zhang does NOT specifically identify that “k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that the index of nonzero LC coefficients is remapped according to a codebook index:
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In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Grossman teaches k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Grossman teaches in para. [0075]-[0076] that to reduce overhead a UE may report coefficients that are only the K strongest coefficients bi,j . Further, Grossman para. [0058] teaches that K can be configured so that “the K strongest coefficients may be represented by k entries having the highest amplitude (or power) … The bitmap may hence contain no more than K “1”s.” )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Grossman and Zhang. Each of Zhang and Grossman are in the field of wireless communications and channel state information reporting. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Grossman and Zhang in order to reduce the overhead for reporting coefficients for channel state information as taught in Grossman para. [0057], and to increase the flexibility of selecting coefficients and improve system performance as taught in Grossman para. [0059].
Regarding claim 13, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The apparatus according to claim 9 as stated.
Zhang further teaches wherein the information in the mth dimension comprises delay domain information or angle domain information. . (Zhang teaches in Fig. 6, above, that the dimensions after spatial precoding, at least include an angle and delay in an angle-delay power spectrum. Further, Zhang para. [0077] teaches that Fig. 6 illustrates 4 taps “in the delay domain”.)
Regarding claim 15, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The apparatus according to claim 9 as stated.
Zhang further teaches wherein among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, where K is a positive integer greater than 1, (Zhang para. [0075]-[0076] teaches Ng pieces of information includes basis vectors according to estimated cluster angles and delays, including, as shown in Fig. 6, an angle-delay power spectrum with 8 angle bins and 10 delay taps.)
and
the operations further comprise:
obtaining second indication information, wherein the second indication information indicates at least one of a value of K or a quantity of bits that are in the channel state indication information and that correspond to each of the K pieces of information. (Zhang teaches in paras. [0043]- [0045] that for CSI reporting, a subband amplitude parameter pli can be quantized using 0 or 1 bit and subband parameter phili can be quantized using 2 or 3 bits depending on codebook configuration. The parameters quantized correspond to “each dimension for each polarization” for subband k=0… NSB -1 therefore correspond to each of the K pieces of information.)
Regarding claim 16, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The apparatus according to claim 9 as stated. Zhang further teaches wherein the channel state indication information comprises encoded information of the second channel information. (Zhang teaches in Fig. 8 and para. [0088] – [0090] that the channel state information sent by the UE is a set of frequency domain (FD) basis vectors based on estimated angles of arrival and associated delay profiles wherein the base station selects a set of FD basis vectors from which the UE selects as taught in para. [0091] as a channel state information report based on the vectors.)
Claims 4, 6 , 12, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Grossman further in view of US Pat. Pub. 20200186224 to Rana Ahmed Salem et al. (hereinafter Salem).
Regarding claim 4, Zhang teaches The method according to claim 1, wherein among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, , (Zhang taches that K, the total number of non-zero coefficients summed across layers is
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K is a positive integer greater than 1, (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that a K=2LM bitmap, wherein:
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Zhang does not specifically teach “a sequence of indexes of a kth piece of information and a (k+1)th piece of information in the K pieces of information is the same as a sequence of indexes of a first piece of information and a second piece of information in the first channel information, the kth piece of information corresponds to the first piece of information, the (k+1)th piece of information corresponds to the second piece of information,”
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Salem teaches “a sequence of indexes of a kth piece of information and a (k+1)th piece of information in the K pieces of information is the same as a sequence of indexes of a first piece of information and a second piece of information in the first channel information, the kth piece of information corresponds to the first piece of information, the (k+1)th piece of information corresponds to the second piece of information,”. (Salem teaches in Fig. 5 that K coefficients is the “same as a sequence of indexes” because the coefficients “inside of the matrix of linear combination coefficients” are selected.
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Salem para. [0142] teaches that the codewords list all possible combinations of locations of K0 in the bitmask out of LM possible locations such “codeword serves the purpose of an index referring to a specific set of locations of K0 ones in the bitmask”.
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Salem with Zhang. Each of Salem and Zhang are in the field of wireless communications and address channel state information feedback. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Zhang with Salem in order to reduce overhead in signaling coefficients as taught in Salem para. [0133].
and
Zhang does NOT specifically identify that “k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that the index of nonzero LC coefficients is remapped according to a codebook index:
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In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Grossman teaches k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Grossman teaches in para. [0075]-[0076] that to reduce overhead a UE may report coefficients that are only the K strongest coefficients bi,j . Further, Grossman para. [0058] teaches that K can be configured so that “the K strongest coefficients may be represented by k entries having the highest amplitude (or power) … The bitmap may hence contain no more than K “1”s.” )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Grossman and Zhang. Each of Zhang and Grossman are in the field of wireless communications and channel state information reporting. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Grossman and Zhang in order to reduce the overhead for reporting coefficients for channel state information as taught in Grossman para. [0057], and to increase the flexibility of selecting coefficients and improve system performance as taught in Grossman para. [0059].
Regarding claim 6, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The method according to claim 1 as stated.
Zhang teaches wherein the information in the mth dimension is delay domain information among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension (Zhang teaches as shown in Fig. 6, that the mth dimension is a delay domain information)
Zhang does not specifically teach “the second channel information comprises a tth piece of information, the first indication information indicates a location, in the first channel information, of information other than the tth piece of information in the second channel information, and t is a pre-configured value.”
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Salem teaches “the second channel information comprises a tth piece of information, the first indication information indicates a location, in the first channel information, of information other than the tth piece of information in the second channel information, and t is a pre-configured value.” (Salem teaches in para. [0116] to always include in the set of reported quantized coefficients at least one or more component coefficients of the xf columns of the matrix Cl for which the corresponding codebook index m is the lowest. Further para. [0116] teaches that “the value of xf is available both to the UE and the gNB by previous agreement” between the UE and gNB by specification or from feedback. Therefore, the t mapped to x is a pre-configured value.
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Salem with Zhang. Each of Salem and Zhang are in the field of wireless communications and address channel state information feedback. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Zhang with Salem in order to reduce overhead in signaling coefficients as taught in Salem para. [0133].
Regarding claim 12, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches The apparatus according to claim 9 as stated.
Zhang further teaches wherein among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, , (Zhang taches that K, the total number of non-zero coefficients summed across layers is
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K is a positive integer greater than 1, (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that a K=2LM bitmap, wherein:
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Zhang does not specifically teach “a sequence of indexes of a kth piece of information and a (k+1)th piece of information in the K pieces of information is the same as a sequence of indexes of a first piece of information and a second piece of information in the first channel information, the kth piece of information corresponds to the first piece of information, the (k+1)th piece of information corresponds to the second piece of information,”
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Salem teaches “a sequence of indexes of a kth piece of information and a (k+1)th piece of information in the K pieces of information is the same as a sequence of indexes of a first piece of information and a second piece of information in the first channel information, the kth piece of information corresponds to the first piece of information, the (k+1)th piece of information corresponds to the second piece of information,”. (Salem teaches in Fig. 5 that K coefficients is the “same as a sequence of indexes” because the coefficients “inside of the matrix of linear combination coefficients” are selected.
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Salem para. [0142] teaches that the codewords list all possible combinations of locations of K0 in the bitmask out of LM possible locations such “codeword serves the purpose of an index referring to a specific set of locations of K0 ones in the bitmask”.
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Salem with Zhang. Each of Salem and Zhang are in the field of wireless communications and address channel state information feedback. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Zhang with Salem in order to reduce overhead in signaling coefficients as taught in Salem para. [0133].
Zhang does NOT specifically identify that “k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that the index of nonzero LC coefficients is remapped according to a codebook index:
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In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Grossman teaches k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Grossman teaches in para. [0075]-[0076] that to reduce overhead a UE may report coefficients that are only the K strongest coefficients bi,j . Further, Grossman para. [0058] teaches that K can be configured so that “the K strongest coefficients may be represented by k entries having the highest amplitude (or power) … The bitmap may hence contain no more than K “1”s.” )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Grossman and Zhang. Each of Zhang and Grossman are in the field of wireless communications and channel state information reporting. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Grossman and Zhang in order to reduce the overhead for reporting coefficients for channel state information as taught in Grossman para. [0057], and to increase the flexibility of selecting coefficients and improve system performance as taught in Grossman para. [0059].
Regarding claim 14, Zhang in view of Gross teaches The apparatus according to claim 9 as stated.
Zhang further teaches wherein the information type in the mth dimension is delay domain information, dimension (Zhang teaches as shown in Fig. 6, that the mth dimension is a delay domain information)
among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension the second channel information comprises a tth piece of information, (Zhang as shown in Fig. 6 that second channel information includes tth pieces of information shown as power levels of strong, medium and weak after spatial precoding)
Zhang does not specifically teach “the first indication information indicates a location, in the first channel information, of information other than the tth piece of information in the second channel information, and t is a pre-configured value.”
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Salem teaches “the first indication information indicates a location, in the first channel information, of information other than the tth piece of information in the second channel information, and t is a pre-configured value.” (Salem teaches in para. [0116] to always include in the set of reported quantized coefficients at least one or more component coefficients of the xf columns of the matrix Cl for which the corresponding codebook index m is the lowest. Further para. [0116] teaches that “the value of xf is available both to the UE and the gNB by previous agreement” between the UE and gNB by specification or from feedback. Therefore, the t mapped to x is a pre-configured value.
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Salem with Zhang. Each of Salem and Zhang are in the field of wireless communications and address channel state information feedback. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Zhang with Salem in order to reduce overhead in signaling coefficients as taught in Salem para. [0133].
Claims 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Salem.
Regarding claim 17, Zhang in view of Grossman teaches An apparatus comprising:
at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to perform operations comprising: (Zhang teaches in Fig. 10 and 11 teach a base station and a UE, respectively that include a processor 1055, and 1155 and memory CRM 1042, 1142 that perform operations)
obtaining first indication information and channel state indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a location of second channel information in first channel information, (Zhang teaches a gNB receiving CSI reports from a UE wherein the report identifies vectors from within a larger first channel information as shown in Fig. 6 and taught in paras. [0076]-[0077])
the channel state indication information is determined based on the second channel information, the first channel information comprises information in M1 dimensions, (Zhang teaches 2 dimensions of angle and delay in both raw and after spatial precoding and delay pre-compensation in Fig. 6) the information in an ith dimension in the M1 dimensions comprises Ni pieces of information, M1 is a positive integer greater than 1, i is a positive integer ranging from 1 to M1, and Ni is a positive integer greater than 1, (Zhang teaches and shows in Fig. 6 two dimensions (M1) with Ni pieces of information, and the total amount of information is greater than 1
and
the second channel information is partial information of the first channel information, (Zhang para. [0079] teaches that the UE selected vectors are subsets of the larger matrix shown in Fig. 6) and comprises i partial information of Nm pieces of information in an mth dimension in the M1 dimensions, and m is a positive integer from 1 to Ml; (Zhang teaches as shown in Fig. 7 and para. [0079] that the selected vectors are “partial information of the Nm pieces in a two dimensional M1 dimension:
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Zhang does NOT specifically teach “restoring the first channel information based on the first indication information and the channel state indication information.”
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communication, Salem teaches “restoring the first channel information based on the first indication information and the channel state indication information.” (Salem teaches in Fig. 6, in particular, block 610, reconstructing a full matrix of linear combination coefficients C of size 2LxM, using a bitmap or combinatorial index, the K0 selected quantized elements of the reported C bitmask, the received information associated with vectors from a DFT codebook etc. which includes channel state indication information and “first indication information” in the form of the vectors, which form the linear combination subband matrix.)
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Salem with Zhang. Each of Salem and Zhang are in the field of wireless communications and address channel state information feedback. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Zhang with Salem in order to reduce overhead in signaling coefficients as taught in Salem para. [0133].
Regarding claim 18, Zhang in view of Salem teaches The apparatus according to claim 17 as stated.
Zhang further teaches wherein among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, (Zhang taches that K, the total number of non-zero coefficients summed across layers is
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energy of any one of the K pieces of information is greater than or equal to energy of any one of the Nm pieces of information in the mth dimension other than the K pieces of information, and K is a positive integer greater than 1. , (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that the strongest coefficients are indicated in a per-layer strongest coefficient indicator (SCI):
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K is a positive integer greater than 1, (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that a K=2LM bitmap, wherein:
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Claims 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Salem further in view of Grossman.
Regarding claim 19, Zhang in view of Salem teaches The apparatus according to claim 17 as stated.
Zhang further teaches wherein among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, (Zhang para. [0075]-[0076] teaches Ng pieces of information includes basis vectors according to estimated cluster angles and delays, including, as shown in Fig. 6, an angle-delay power spectrum with 8 angle bins and 10 delay taps.)
Zhang does not specifically teach among the K pieces of information, energy of a kth piece of information is greater than energy of a (k+1)th piece of information, K is a positive integer greater than 1, and k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to K-1.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Grossman teaches “among the K pieces of information, energy of a kth piece of information is greater than energy of a (k+1)th piece of information, K is a positive integer greater than 1, and k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to K-1.”(Grossman teaches in para. [0075]-[0076] that to reduce overhead a UE may report coefficients that are only the K strongest coefficients bi,j . Further, Grossman para. [0058] teaches that K can be configured so that “the K strongest coefficients may be represented by k entries having the highest amplitude (or power) … The bitmap may hence contain no more than K “1”s.” )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Grossman and Zhang. Each of Zhang and Grossman are in the field of wireless communications and channel state information reporting. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Grossman and Zhang in order to reduce the overhead for reporting coefficients for channel state information as taught in Grossman para. [0057], and to increase the flexibility of selecting coefficients and improve system performance as taught in Grossman para. [0059].
Regarding claim 20, Zhang in view of Salem teaches The apparatus according to claim 17 as stated.
Zhang further teaches wherein among the Nm pieces of information of the first channel information in the mth dimension, the second channel information comprises K pieces of information, (Zhang teaches in Fig. 6 and para. [0072] determining a propagation path according to an estimated “angle-delay” power spectrum profile interpreted as M1 dimensions of angle and delay wherein the raw channel information is turned into the second channel information via spatial precoding and delay pre-compensation as shown in Fig. 6)
Zhang does not specifically teach “a sequence of indexes of a kth piece of information and a (k+1)th piece of information in the K pieces of information is the same as a sequence of indexes of a first piece of information and a second piece of information in the first channel information, the kth piece of information corresponds to the first piece of information, the (k+1)th piece of informationcorresponds to the second piece of information, K is a positive integer greater than 1,”
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Salem teaches “a sequence of indexes of a kth piece of information and a (k+1)th piece of information in the K pieces of information is the same as a sequence of indexes of a first piece of information and a second piece of information in the first channel information, the kth piece of information corresponds to the first piece of information, the (k+1)th piece of information corresponds to the second piece of information,”. (Salem teaches in Fig. 5 that K coefficients is the “same as a sequence of indexes” because the coefficients “inside of the matrix of linear combination coefficients” are selected.
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Salem para. [0142] teaches that the codewords list all possible combinations of locations of K0 in the bitmask out of LM possible locations such “codeword serves the purpose of an index referring to a specific set of locations of K0 ones in the bitmask”.
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Salem with Zhang. Each of Salem and Zhang are in the field of wireless communications and address channel state information feedback. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Zhang with Salem in order to reduce overhead in signaling coefficients as taught in Salem para. [0133].
and
Zhang does NOT specifically identify that “k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Zhang teaches in para. [0048] that the index of nonzero LC coefficients is remapped according to a codebook index:
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In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Grossman teaches k is a positive integer ranging from 1 to k-1.” (Grossman teaches in para. [0075]-[0076] that to reduce overhead a UE may report coefficients that are only the K strongest coefficients bi,j . Further, Grossman para. [0058] teaches that K can be configured so that “the K strongest coefficients may be represented by k entries having the highest amplitude (or power) … The bitmap may hence contain no more than K “1”s.” )
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Grossman and Zhang. Each of Zhang and Grossman are in the field of wireless communications and channel state information reporting. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Grossman and Zhang in order to reduce the overhead for reporting coefficients for channel state information as taught in Grossman para. [0057], and to increase the flexibility of selecting coefficients and improve system performance as taught in Grossman para. [0059].
Conclusion
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/MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2412 /CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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