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 .
2. 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. 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.
Status of Claims
1. The following is a non-final office action in response to the applicant’s submission received on 09/19/2024.
2. Claims 1 – 20 are currently pending and have been examined.
Foreign Priority/Domestic benefit
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0054633, filed on April 27, 2021.
Domestic benefit is claimed with regards to a continuation under 35 U.S.C. 120 of U.S. Patent Application no. 17/660,067, filed on April 21, 2022.
Oath/Declaration
1. The applicant’s oath/declaration filed on 09/19/2024 has been reviewed by the examiner and is found to conform to the requirements prescribed in 37 C.F.R. 1.63.
Information Disclosure Statement
1. The information disclosure statements filed on 09/19/2024 and 10/03/2025 are in compliance with the provision of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609. It has been placed in the application file and the information referred to therein has been considered as to the merits.
Drawings
1. The applicant’s drawings submitted on 09/19/2024 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1 – 3, 6 – 10, 13 – 19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 – 2, 4, 8 – 14, 16 of U.S. Patent No. 12, 119, 975. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other, the analysis in the table below:
Patent: 12, 119, 975
18/889,979
1. An operating method of a user terminal in a wireless communication system supporting carrier aggregation (CA), the operating method comprising:
receiving indication information regarding a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) component carrier (CC) group from a base station;
determining whether a phase noise characteristic of the user terminal is the same with respect to CCs included in the PTRS CC group based at least in part on the indication information;
requesting the base station to transmit at least one PTRS using at least one CC included in the PTRS CC group, in accordance with the determination; and
receiving the at least one PTRS from the base station using the at least one CC.
4. The operating method of claim 3, further comprising: estimating phase noise of a signal based on the at least one PTRS, the signal being based on the first CC; extracting compensation information for compensating for the phase noise of the signal; and compensating for the phase noise of the signal using the compensation information.
1. An operating method of a user terminal in a wireless communication system supporting carrier aggregation (CA), the operating method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, indication information regarding a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) component carrier (CC) group,
the PTRS CC group having a plurality of CCs transmitted by the base station with a same phase noise characteristic;
“…receiving from the base station at least two CCs of the PTRS CC group; and…”
receiving, from the base station, a PTRS associated with the PTRS CC group;
compensating for phase noise of each of the at least two CCs using the received PTRS.
1. “….requesting the base station to transmit at least one PTRS using at least one CC included in the PTRS CC group…”
2. The operating method of claim 1, wherein the PTRS associated with the PTRS CC group is transmitted by the base station and received by the user terminal through no more than a single one of the at least two CCs.
2. The operating method of claim 1, wherein the PTRS CC group includes a plurality of CCs, and a phase noise characteristic of the base station is the same with respect to the plurality of CCs.
3. The operating method of claim 1, wherein the at least two CCs comprise all of the CCs of the PTRS CC group.
4. The operating method of claim 1, further comprising down-converting the at least two CCs using a single local oscillator.
5. The operating method of claim 1, further comprising down-converting the at least two CCs using at least two local oscillators.
1. “… determining whether a phase noise characteristic of the user terminal is the same with respect to CCs included in the PTRS CC group based at least in part on the indication information;…”
6. The operating method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to the compensating for phase noise: estimating phase noise of a signal based on the PTRS.
4. The operating method of claim 3, further comprising: estimating phase noise of a signal based on the at least one PTRS, the signal being based on the first CC; extracting compensation information for compensating for the phase noise of the signal; and compensating for the phase noise of the signal using the compensation information.
7. The operating method of claim 6, further comprising, subsequent to the estimating of phase noise and prior to the compensating for phase noise: extracting compensation information for compensating for the estimated phase noise of the signal.
13. A user terminal in a wireless communication system supporting carrier aggregation (CA), the user terminal comprising:
a transceiver configured to receive indication information regarding a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) component carrier (CC) group from a base station; and a controller configured to determine whether a phase noise characteristic of a user terminal is the same with respect to CCs included in the PTRS CC group,
based at least in part on the indication information, and request the base station to transmit at least one PTRS using at least one CC included in the PTRS CC group, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive the at least one PTRS from the base station using the at least one CC.
8. A user terminal in a wireless communication system supporting carrier aggregation (CA), the user terminal comprising:
a transceiver configured to: receive, from a base station, indication information regarding a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) component carrier (CC) group,
the PTRS CC group having a plurality of CCs transmitted by the base station with a same phase noise characteristic; receive, from the base station, a PTRS associated with the PTRS CC group; receive, from the base station, at least two CCs of the PTRS CC group; and a controller configured to compensate for phase noise of each of the at least two CCs using the received PTRS.
1. “…wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive the at least one PTRS from the base station using the at least one CC.”
9. The user terminal of claim 8, wherein the PTRS associated with the PTRS CC group is transmitted by the base station and received by the user terminal through no more than a single one of the at least two CCs.
14. The user terminal of claim 13, wherein the PTRS CC group includes a plurality of CCs, and a phase noise characteristic of the base station is the same with respect to the plurality of CCs.
10. The user terminal of claim 8, wherein the at least two CCs comprise all of the CCs of the PTRS CC group.
11. The user terminal of claim 8, wherein the transceiver is further configured to down-convert the at least two CCs using a single local oscillator.
12. The user terminal of claim 8, wherein the transceiver is further configured to down-convert the at least two CCs using at least two local oscillators.
13. “…and a controller configured to determine whether a phase noise characteristic of a user terminal is the same with respect to CCs included in the PTRS CC group…”
13. The user terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to, prior to the compensating for phase noise: estimate phase noise of a signal based on the PTRS.
16. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein the controller is further configured to estimate a phase noise of a signal based on the at least one PTRS, the signal being based on the first CC; extract compensation information for compensating for the phase noise of the signal; and compensate for the phase noise of the signal using the compensation information.
14. The user terminal of claim 13, wherein the controller is further configured to, subsequent to the estimating of phase noise and prior to the compensating for phase noise: extract compensation information for compensating for the estimated phase noise of the signal.
8. An operating method of a user terminal in a wireless communication system supporting carrier aggregation (CA), the operating method comprising:
receiving indication information regarding a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) component carrier (CC) group from a base station;
receiving first through N-th PTRSs from the base station using N CCs included in the PTRS CC group, where N is a natural number of at least two; determining whether a phase noise characteristic of the user terminal is the same with respect to the N CCs based at least in part on the indication information; and performing cooperative phase noise compensation based on the first through N-th PTRSs when it is determined that the phase noise characteristic of the user terminal is the same.
15. A user terminal in a wireless communication system supporting carrier aggregation (CA), the user terminal comprising:
a transceiver configured to: receive indication information regarding a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) component carrier (CC) group from a base station;
receive first through N-th PTRSs from the base station using N CCs included in the PTRS CC group, where N is a natural number of at least two; a controller configured to: determine whether a phase noise characteristic of the user terminal is the same with respect to the N CCs based at least in part on the indication information; and perform cooperative phase noise compensation based on the first through N-th PTRSs when it is determined that the phase noise characteristic of the user terminal is the same.
9. The operating method of claim 8, wherein phase noise of the base station is the same with respect to the N CCs.
16. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein phase noise of the base station is the same with respect to the N CCs.
10. The operating method of claim 8, wherein a determination as to whether the phase noise characteristic of the user terminal is the same is made according to whether the user terminal uses a same local oscillator for the N CCs included in the PTRS CC group.
17. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein the determination by the controller as to whether the phase noise characteristic of the user terminal is the same is made according to whether the user terminal uses a same local oscillator for the N CCs included in the PTRS CC group.
11. The operating method of claim 8, wherein the performing of the cooperative phase noise compensation includes: estimating common phase noise based on the first through N-th PTRSs; extracting common compensation information for compensating for the common phase noise; and compensating for a phase noise of a signal using the common compensation information, the signal being based on at least one of the N CCs.
18. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to perform the cooperative phase noise compensation using operations including: estimating common phase noise based on the first through N-th PTRSs; extracting common compensation information for compensating for the common phase noise; and compensating for a phase noise of a signal using the common compensation information, the signal being based on at least one of the N CCs.
12. The operating method of claim 11, wherein the common compensation information includes at least one information item selected from a time density of a radio resource assigned to each PTRS, a frequency density thereof, a position thereof on a time axis, and a position thereof on a frequency axis.
19. The user terminal of claim 18, wherein the common compensation information includes at least one information item selected from a time density of a radio resource assigned to each PTRS, a frequency density thereof, a position thereof on a time axis, and a position thereof on a frequency axis.
20. The user terminal of claim 15, wherein N is at least four.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4 – 5, 11 – 12 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAHARISHI V KHIRODHAR whose telephone number is (571)270-7909. The examiner can normally be reached 6:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nawaz M Asad can be reached at 571-272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MAHARISHI V. KHIRODHAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2463
/MAHARISHI V KHIRODHAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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