DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
This action is in response to application 18885118 filed 9/13/24.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are presented for examination.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are unclear to the examiner; what does it mean by stating “determine one or more symbols during which the UE is configured to perform an antenna switch for a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission”? the claim languages are not very clear what symbols the system is looking for during the SRS transmission? What for? To do what? Please clarify
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are unclear to the examiner; what does it mean by stating “generate an indication message including an indication of the one or more symbols”? the claim languages are not very clear why would the indication message indicate the symbols? For whatever reason? To do what? What is the claimed invention? Please clarify
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are unclear to the examiner; what does it mean by stating “transmit, using the transceiver, the indication message to the base station”? The claim languages are not very clear about the claimed invention? What is it the Applicant trying to accomplished? To do what? Please clarify
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6-7, 9-12, 14-15, 17 & 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Manolakos, U.S. Pub/Patent No. US 2021/0242913 A1.
As to claim 1, Manolakos teaches a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a transceiver configured to enable wireless communication with a base station (Manolakos, page 13, paragraph 113; i.e., [0113] the serving base station 102 may
provide to the UE 104, e.g., via RRC messaging, a configuration for SRS for communications, e.g., control signals or data signals. For example, the UE 104 may be configured with a number N of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for UL communication, each SRS resource having one antenna port; or SRS resources for UL communication with up to the number N of antenna ports in each SRS resource); and
a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to:
determine one or more symbols during which the UE is configured to perform an antenna switch for a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission (Manolakos, page 13, paragraph 113; i.e., [0113] SRS resources for UL communication with up to the number N of antenna ports in each SRS resource; or an SRS for DL CSI acquisition with an SRS antenna port switching pattern, wherein the SRS antenna port switching pattern corresponds to SRS transmissions on N antenna ports over a total of y antennas);
generate an indication message including an indication of the one or more symbols (Manolakos, page 15, paragraph 139; i.e., [0139] the transceiver 1410, e.g., from a serving base station using RRC messaging. For example, the UE 1400 may be configured with a number N of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for uplink (UL) communication, each SRS resource comprising one antenna port; or SRS resources for UL communication with up to the number N of antenna ports in each SRS resource); and
transmit, using the transceiver, the indication message to the base station (Manolakos, page 13, paragraph 110; i.e., [0110] the UE 104 may transmit a position measurement report to the location server 902, e.g., using LPP messaging).
As to claim 2, Manolakos teaches the UE as recited in claim 1, wherein the indication message comprises at least one of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC-CE), or a Uplink Control Information (UCI) (Manolakos, page 13, paragraph 113; i.e., [0113] the serving base station 102 may provide to the UE 104, e.g., via RRC messaging, a configuration for SRS for communications, e.g., control signals or data signals. For example, the UE 104 may be configured with a number N of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for UL communication, each SRS resource having one antenna port).
As to claim 3, Manolakos teaches the UE as recited in claim 1, wherein the indication identifies one or more symbols before the SRS transmission during which the UE is configured to perform the antenna switch (Manolakos, page 5, paragraph 51; i.e., [01051] the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure
or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure).
As to claim 4, Manolakos teaches the UE as recited in claim 1, wherein the indication identifies one or more symbols after the SRS transmission during which the UE is configured to perform the antenna switch (Manolakos, page 10, paragraph 88; i.e., [0088] After BWP switching 606 to the second DL BWP 604, the UE 104 uses a number of Rx antennas).
As to claim 6, Manolakos teaches the UE as recited in claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:
switch from a first antenna to a second antenna during a first set of symbols of the one or more symbols;
use the second antenna for the SRS transmission (Manolakos, page 13, paragraph 113; i.e., [0113] the serving base station 102 may provide to the UE 104, e.g., via RRC messaging, a configuration for SRS for communications, e.g., control signals or data signals. For example, the UE 104 may be configured with a number N of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources for UL communication, each SRS resource having one antenna port); and
switch to the first antenna during a second set of symbols of the one or more symbols (Manolakos, page 10, paragraph 88; i.e., [0088] After BWP switching 606 to the second DL BWP 604, the UE 104 uses a number of Rx antennas).
As to claim 7, Manolakos teaches the UE as recited in claim 1, wherein the indication comprises two or more antenna switching patterns based on a number of SRS symbols of the SRS transmission and a start symbol the SRS transmission (Manolakos, page 11, paragraph 91; i.e., [0091] only two Rx antennas active and may de-activate the others two antennas to save power. In this instance, for DL CSI acquisition
exploiting UL/DL channel reciprocity, the UE 104 does not need to sound all four antennas, as only two antennas).
Claim(s) 9-12, 14-15 is/are directed to a method claims and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 1-4, 6-7. Therefore, claim(s) 9-12, 14-15 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 1-4, 6-7.
Claim(s) 17, 19 & 20 is/are directed to a method claims and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 1, 6 & 3-5. Therefore, claim(s) 17, 19 & 20 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 1, 6 & 3-5.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 5, 8, 13, 16 & 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos, U.S. Pub/Patent No. US 2021/0242913 A1 in view of Lin, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 2022/0224578 A1.
As to claim 5, Manolakos teaches the UE as recited in claim 1. But Manolakos failed to teach the claim limitation wherein the indication comprises a symbol level bitmap for indicating the one or more symbols during which the UE is configured to perform the antenna switch.
However, Lin teaches the limitation wherein the indication comprises a symbol level bitmap for indicating the one or more symbols during which the UE is configured to perform the antenna switch (Lin, page 5, paragraph 128; i.e., [0128] the
symbol level bitmap symbols, and a bit value equal to 1 indicates that the symbol level bitmap symbols ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Manolakos to substitute URLLC from Lin for DL MIMO from Manolakos to improve different aspects of wireless communication for the nextgeneration wireless communication system (Lin, page 1, paragraph 3).
As to claim 8, Manolakos teaches the UE as recited in claim 7, wherein a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message indicating that the UE having two or more antenna switching patterns (Manolakos, page 13, paragraph 113; i.e., [0113] SRS resources for UL communication with up to the number N of antenna ports in each SRS resource; or an SRS for DL CSI acquisition with an SRS antenna port switching pattern, wherein the SRS antenna port switching pattern corresponds to SRS transmissions on N antenna ports over a total of y antennas).
But Manolakos failed to teach the claim limitation wherein one or more of a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC-CE) or a Uplink Control Information (UCI) indicating a specific antenna switching pattern of the two or more antenna switching patterns.
However, Lin teaches the limitation wherein one or more of a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (MAC-CE) or a Uplink Control Information (UCI) indicating a specific antenna switching pattern of the two or more antenna switching patterns (Lin, page 8, paragraph 156; i.e., [0156] MAC CE).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to modify Manolakos to substitute URLLC from Lin for DL MIMO from Manolakos to improve different aspects of wireless communication for the nextgeneration wireless communication system (Lin, page 1, paragraph 3).
Claim(s) 13 & 16 is/are directed to a method claims and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 5 & 8. Therefore, claim(s) 13 & 16 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 5 & 8.
Claim(s) 18 is/are directed to a method claims and they do not teach or further define over the limitations recited in claim(s) 8. Therefore, claim(s) 18 is/are also rejected for similar reasons set forth in claim(s) 8.
Listing of Relevant Arts
Harada, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20250081201 A1 discloses symbol-level bitmap, changing pattern.
Hu, U.S. Patent/Pub. No. US 20230102264 A1 discloses antenna switching pattern.
Contact Information
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
THUONG NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-3864. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:00-6:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached on 571-270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THUONG NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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