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 .
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.
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Claims 1-2, 4, 6-14, 16 and 18-23 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-19 of U.S. Patent No. 12,143,176. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Claims 1, 6, 13 and 18 (Instant Application), substantially disclose the corresponding claim limitations of claims 1, 4, 11 and 14 (US patent 12,143,176), respectively as highlighted in the table above.
As can be seen, the light difference is that the instant claim recites “a method” and “first set and second set” in lieu of “processing circuitry” and “subset” recited in claims of the 12,143,176 (US Patent).
The minor difference would be obvious to one skilled in the art since each of the respective elements perform the same function. The obvious variation in the wording does not change claim scope.
18/904,721 (instant application)
12,143,176 (US Patent)
1. A method performed by a wireless device for transmitting multiple layers of a physical channel using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-S-OFDM) uplink waveform, the method comprising:
transmitting to a network node an indication of a capability of the wireless device to operate according to a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation, wherein the first mode of operation corresponds to use of a first set of precoding matrices,
and the second mode of operation corresponds to use of a second set of precoding matrices,
and wherein the first and second sets of precoding matrices are subsets of a codebook that is designated for use when transform precoding of a physical channel is disabled;
receiving a configuration from the network node for a selected mode of the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation; transmitting the physical channel using transform precoding and, at least when transmitting with two layers, using the set of precoding matrices corresponding to the selected mode.
1. A wireless device for transmitting multiple layers of a physical channel using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-S-OFDM) uplink waveform, the wireless device comprising processing circuitry operable to:
transmit to a network node an indication of a capability of the wireless device to operate according to a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation, wherein in the first mode of operation a codebook subset comprises precoding matrices with at most one non-zero elements per column,
and in the second mode of operation the codebook subset comprises precoding matrices with at most two non-zero elements per column,
and wherein the codebook subset is in a codebook that is designated for use when transform precoding of a physical channel is disabled;
receive a configuration from the network node for a selected mode of the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation;
transmit the physical channel using transform precoding and, at least when transmitting with two layers, using the codebook subset comprising the precoding matrices of the selected mode.
6. A method performed by a wireless device for multiple antenna transmission using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-S-OFDM) uplink waveform, the method comprising:
receiving signaling identifying a first and a second subband, wherein the subbands contain contiguous frequency domain resources, and at least a portion of the frequency domain resources of one of the subbands is not contained within the other subband;
encoding and mapping a set of information bits to the first and the second subband, thereby forming one or more spatial layers according to a mapping of a plurality of antenna ports to the one or more spatial layers; and transmitting the one or more spatial layers in the subbands and within a same OFDM symbol.
4. A wireless device for multiple antenna transmission using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-S-OFDM) uplink waveform, the wireless device comprising processing circuitry operable to:
receive signaling identifying a first and a second subband, wherein the subbands contain contiguous frequency domain resources, and at least a portion of the frequency domain resources of one of the subbands is not contained within the other subband;
encode and map a set of information bits to the first and the second subband, thereby forming one or more spatial layers according to a mapping of a plurality of antenna ports to the one or more spatial layers; and transmit the one or more spatial layers in the subbands and within a same OFDM symbol.
13. A method performed by a network node for receiving multiple layers of a physical channel using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-S-OFDM) uplink waveform, the method comprising: receiving from a wireless device an indication of a capability of the wireless device to operate according to a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation, wherein the first mode of operation corresponds to use of a first set of precoding matrices,
and the second mode of operation corresponds to use of a second set of precoding matrices,
and wherein the first and second sets of precoding matrices are subsets of a codebook that is designated for use when transform precoding of a physical channel is disabled; transmitting a configuration to the wireless device for a selected mode of the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation;
and at least when receiving two layers, receiving the physical channel according to the use of transform precoding and the set of precoding matrices corresponding to the selected mode.
11. A network node for receiving multiple layers of a physical channel using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-S-OFDM) uplink waveform, the network node comprising processing circuitry operable to: receive from a wireless device an indication of a capability of the wireless device to operate according to a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation, wherein in the first mode of operation a codebook subset comprises precoding matrices with at most one non-zero elements per column,
and in the second mode of operation the codebook subset comprises precoding matrices with at most two non-zero elements per column,
and wherein the codebook subset is in a codebook that can be configured when transform precoding of a physical channel is disabled;
transmit a configuration to the wireless device for a selected mode of the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation;
and at least when receiving two layers, receive the physical channel according to the use of transform precoding and the codebook subset comprising the matrices of the selected mode.
18. A method performed by a network node for receiving a multiple antenna transmission using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-S-OFDM) uplink waveform, the method comprising:
transmitting signaling to a wireless device, the signaling identifying a first and a second subband, wherein the subbands contain contiguous frequency domain resources, and at least a portion of the frequency domain resources of one of the subbands is not contained within the other subband;
and receiving, from the wireless device, a set of encoded information bits mapped to the first and second subband and within a same OFDM symbol according to a mapping of a plurality of antenna ports in the wireless device to one or more spatial layers.
14. A network node for receiving a multiple antenna transmission using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-S-OFDM) uplink waveform, the network node comprising processing circuitry operable to:
transmit signaling to a wireless device, the signaling identifying a first and a second subband, wherein the subbands contain contiguous frequency domain resources, and at least a portion of the frequency domain resources of one of the subbands is not contained within the other subband;
and receive, from the wireless device, a set of encoded information bits mapped to the first and second subband and within a same OFDM symbol according to a mapping of a plurality of antenna ports in the wireless device to one or more spatial layers.
Claim 2 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 2 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 4 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 3 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 7 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 5 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 8 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 6 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 9 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 7 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 10 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 8 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 11 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 9 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 12 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 10 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 14 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 12 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 16 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 13 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 19 (Instant Application), substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 15 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 20 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 16 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 21 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 17 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 22 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 18 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Claim 23 (Instant Application) substantially discloses the corresponding limitations of claim 19 (US Patent) and it is rejected under double patenting.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 5, 15 and 17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if a terminal disclaimer is filed to overcome the double patenting rejection above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20200383062 A1.
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/EMMANUEL BAYARD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633