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 .
This action is in response to the application filed on 10/15/2024.
The IDS filed on 10/15/2024 is considered.
Claims 1-21 are examined and rejected.
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) 19-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wei (US 20180026684 A1, hereinafter “Wei”).
Regarding claim 19, Wei teaches a communication device comprising: at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming, the programming, including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication device to perform operations including:
transmitting a first demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) over first DM-RS port(s) associated with a orthogonal cover code (OCC) of length 4; or receiving a second DM-RS over second DM-RS port(s) associated with an OCC of length 4 (see 68, DMRS patterns (e.g., enhanced 4-layer or 8-layer orthogonal pattern with length-4 OCC) can be semi-statically configured by RRC or via dynamic L1 signaling on the PDCCH for each UE. For example, two bit signaling for DMRS pattern indication may be utilized… the pattern “01” may indicate one enhanced 4-layer DMRS pattern of CDM via length-4 OCC; and the patterns “10” and “11” may indicate an enhanced 8-layer DMRS pattern of CDM group 1 and 2 (e.g., the CDM groups 802 and 804 in FIG. 8)… para 71, FIG. 9 illustrates examples of DL control signaling for DMRS pattern and port indication/i.e., received by the UE. For DMRS port indication. For example, UE may use the table 902 to determine DMRS port and number of layers indication if the legacy DMRS pattern is configured. The table 904 may be used for the enhanced 4-layer or the CDM group 1 (e.g., the CDM group 802 in FIG. 8) of the 8-layer DMRS pattern).
Regarding claim 20, Wei teaches the communication device of claim 19, wherein the communication device is a user equipment (UE) (4 (see 68, DMRS patterns (e.g., enhanced 4-layer or 8-layer orthogonal pattern with length-4 OCC) can be semi-statically configured by RRC or via dynamic L1 signaling on the PDCCH for each UE; also see para 71, FIG. 9 illustrates examples of DL control signaling for DMRS pattern and port indication/i.e., received by the UE. For DMRS port indication. For example, UE may use the table 902 to determine DMRS port and number of layers indication if the legacy DMRS pattern is configured. The table 904 may be used for the enhanced 4-layer or the CDM group 1 (e.g., the CDM group 802 in FIG. 8) of the 8-layer DMRS pattern) or a gNB.
Regarding claims 6, 15 and 21, Wei teaches: an OCC of the first OCC length comprises: [+1+1+1+1], [+1-1+1-1], [+1+j-1-j], or [+1-j-1+j] (see FIG. 12, para 79, DMRS to OCC mapping for DMRS ports {11, 12, 13, 14} using four subcarriers (a, b, c, d); also see DMRS to OCC mapping, paragraphs 75-78).
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 6, 9-13, 15, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei.
Regarding claim 1, Wei teaches a user equipment (UE) comprising: at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming, the programming including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the UE to perform operations including:
receiving, from a base station, a configuration indicating a first orthogonal cover code (OCC) length that is 4 and a second OCC length that is 2 for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) communications between the base station and the UE (see para 68, DMRS patterns (e.g., legacy 2-layer with OCC of length-2 or orthogonal 4-layer or enhanced 8-layer pattern with OCC of length-4) are semi-statically configured by RRC/i.e., receiving from a base station, or through dynamic L1 signaling on the PDCCH for each UE. For example, two-bit signaling for DMRS pattern indication may be used. Pattern “00” indicates quasi-orthogonal legacy DMRS with OCC of length-2; pattern “01” indicates an enhanced 4-layer DMRS pattern of CDM+TDM over OCC of length-2 or CDM over OCC of length-4 only/i.e., configuring OCC length 4 and OCC length 2 to the UE);
receiving a signaling indicating the UE to communicate DM-RS(s) according to the first OCC length or the second OCC length (see paras 89-90, the configured DMRS pattern may include first data indicating a multiplexing type used for a first and a second CDM group, and second data indicating a length of the OCC (e.g., whether the DMRS pattern uses a length-2 OCC or a length-4 OCC)… the configured DMRS pattern may be dynamically switched/i.e., representing signaling indicating which OCC length to use for communications, based on, the speed of a user equipment (UE) of the plurality of UEs or a UE's capability to support higher-order multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) communications; also see para 69-70, The dynamic configuration of the DMRS pattern may allow the network to dynamically switch between different DMRS patterns on a per-UE basis based on mobility (e.g., the speed of the UE) and the capability of the UE to support higher order MU-MIMO); and
communicating, with the base station, a DM-RS according to the first OCC length or the second OCC length indicated by the signaling (see para 90, the configured DMRS pattern may be dynamically switched based on, the speed of a user equipment (UE) of the plurality of UEs or a UE's capability to support higher-order multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) communications).
Wei teaches dynamic switching of OCC length, but does not specify “signaling to indicate communication using first or second OCC”.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify dynamic signaling, since Wei already teaches dynamic indication of switching OCC length type based on UE capability.
Regarding claims 2, 11, Wei teaches: the receiving the configuration comprises: receiving the configuration in a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see para 68, DMRS patterns (e.g., legacy 2-layer with OCC of length-2 or orthogonal 4-layer or enhanced 8-layer pattern with OCC of length-4) are semi-statically configured by RRC or through dynamic L1 signaling on the PDCCH for each UE. For example, two-bit signaling for DMRS pattern indication may be used. Pattern “00” indicates quasi-orthogonal legacy DMRS with OCC of length-2; pattern “01” indicates an enhanced 4-layer DMRS pattern of CDM+TDM over OCC of length-2 or CDM over OCC of length-4 only/i.e., configuring OCC length 4 and OCC length 2 to the UE);
.
Regarding claims 3, 12 Wei teaches: the signaling is a RRC signaling (see paras 89-90, the configured DMRS pattern may include first data indicating a multiplexing type used for a first and a second CDM group, and second data indicating a length of the OCC (e.g., whether the DMRS pattern uses a length-2 OCC or a length-4 OCC)… the configured DMRS pattern may be dynamically switched/i.e., representing dynamic signaling (Examiners Note: the dynamic signaling in NR is RRC based), based on, the speed of a user equipment (UE) of the plurality of UEs or a UE's capability to support higher-order multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) communications; also see para 69, The dynamic configuration of the DMRS pattern may allow the network to dynamically switch between different DMRS patterns on a per-UE basis based on mobility (e.g., the speed of the UE) and the capability of the UE to support higher order MU-MIMO)..
Regarding claims 4, 13 Wei teaches communicating the DM-RS comprises:
receiving or sending the DM-RS over first DM-RS port(s) associated with first OCC(s) of the first OCC length when the first OCC length is indicated by the signaling, or over second DM-RS port(s) associated with second OCC(s) of the second OCC length when the second OCC length is indicated by the signaling (see 68, DMRS patterns (e.g., legacy 2-layer with length-2 OCC or enhanced 4-layer or 8-layer orthogonal pattern with length-4 OCC) can be semi-statically configured by RRC or via dynamic L1 signaling on the PDCCH for each UE. For example, two bit signaling for DMRS pattern indication may be utilized. The pattern “00” may indicate a legacy quasi-orthogonal DMRS with length-2 OCC; the pattern “01” may indicate one enhanced 4-layer DMRS pattern of either CDM+TDM via length-2 OCC or CDM only via length-4 OCC; and the patterns “10” and “11” may indicate an enhanced 8-layer DMRS pattern of CDM group 1 and 2 (e.g., the CDM groups 802 and 804 in FIG. 8)… para 71, FIG. 9 illustrates examples of DL control signaling for DMRS pattern and port indication/i.e., received by the UE. For DMRS port indication. For example, UE may use the table 902 to determine DMRS port and number of layers indication if the legacy DMRS pattern is configured. The table 904 may be used for the enhanced 4-layer or the CDM group 1 (e.g., the CDM group 802 in FIG. 8) of the 8-layer DMRS pattern).
Regarding claims 6, 15, Wei teaches: an OCC of the first OCC length comprises: [+1+1+1+1], [+1-1+1-1], [+1+j-1-j], or [+1-j-1+j] (see FIG. 12, para 79, DMRS to OCC mapping for DMRS ports {11, 12, 13, 14} using four subcarriers (a, b, c, d); also see DMRS to OCC mapping, paragraphs 75-78).
Regarding claims 9, 18, Wei teaches the UE of claim 1, wherein a number of DM-RS ports associated with the first OCC length of 4 is:
8 when one symbol is configured for type-1 DM-RS transmissions (see FIG. 8, para 66, 4-layers may be multiplexed using a length-4 OCC, and 2 CDM groups multiplexed in the frequency domain. From a UE perspective, the DMRS pattern may use 12 DMRS REs for demodulation of PDSCH, but the DMRS location may be determined by the CDM group. As illustrated in FIG. 8, CDM group 802 may be allocated for layers {1,2,3,4} or DMRS ports {7,8,11,13}, and CDM group 804 may be allocated for layers {5,6,7,8} or DMRS ports {9,10,12,14}/i.e., representing total of 8 DMRS ports; also see para 88). , or
Regarding claim 10, Wei teaches a base station comprising: at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing programming, the programming including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the base station to perform operations including:
sending, to a user equipment (UE), a configuration indicting a first orthogonal cover code (OCC) length that is 4 and a second OCC length that is 2 for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) communications between the base station and the UE (see para 68, DMRS patterns (e.g., legacy 2-layer with OCC of length-2 or orthogonal 4-layer or enhanced 8-layer pattern with OCC of length-4) are semi-statically configured by RRC/i.e., receiving from a base station, or through dynamic L1 signaling on the PDCCH for each UE. For example, two-bit signaling for DMRS pattern indication may be used. Pattern “00” indicates quasi-orthogonal legacy DMRS with OCC of length-2; pattern “01” indicates an enhanced 4-layer DMRS pattern of CDM+TDM over OCC of length-2 or CDM over OCC of length-4 only/i.e., configuring OCC length 4 and OCC length 2 to the UE);
sending a signaling indicating the UE to communicate DM-RS(s) according to the first OCC length or the second OCC length (see paras 89-90, the configured DMRS pattern may include first data indicating a multiplexing type used for a first and a second CDM group, and second data indicating a length of the OCC (e.g., whether the DMRS pattern uses a length-2 OCC or a length-4 OCC)… the configured DMRS pattern may be dynamically switched/i.e., representing signaling indicating which OCC length to use for communications, based on, the speed of a user equipment (UE) of the plurality of UEs or a UE's capability to support higher-order multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) communications; also see para 69-70, The dynamic configuration of the DMRS pattern may allow the network to dynamically switch between different DMRS patterns on a per-UE basis based on mobility (e.g., the speed of the UE) and the capability of the UE to support higher order MU-MIMO); and
communicating, with the UE, a DM-RS according to the first OCC length or the second OCC length indicated by the signaling (see para 90, the configured DMRS pattern may be dynamically switched based on, the speed of a user equipment (UE) of the plurality of UEs or a UE's capability to support higher-order multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) communications).
Wei teaches dynamic switching of OCC length, but does not specify “signaling to indicate communication using first or second OCC”.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to specify dynamic signaling, since Wei already teaches dynamic indication of switching OCC length type based on UE capability.
Claim 5, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei in view of Lee (WO 2022031544 A1, hereinafter “Lee”).
Regarding claims 5, 14, Wei teaches demodulation of PDSCH (para 66), but does not teach details regarding: receiving a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) over the first DM-RS port(s) associated with the first OCC(s) of the first OCC length or over the second DM-RS port(s) associated with the second OCC(s) of the second OCC length; or transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) over the first DM-RS port(s) associated with the first OCC(s) of the first OCC length or over the second DM-RS port(s) associated with the second OCC(s) of the second OCC length.
Lee teaches this limitation: see para 138, to configure the UE for demodulation reference signal (DMRS) processing in a 5G New Radio (NR) network, the processing circuitry is to: decode higher layer signaling, the higher layer signaling to indicate a DMRS type and a DMRS length; decode downlink control information (DCI) received from a base station via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the DCI including an antenna port value; determine one or more DMRS antenna ports based on the DMRS type, the DMRS length, and the antenna port value, the one or more DMRS antenna ports configured for port multiplexing using a time division orthogonal cover code (TD-OCC) or a frequency division orthogonal cover code (FD-OCC); decode a DMRS of the DMRS type and the DMRS length, the DMRS received from the base station via a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using the one or more DMRS antenna ports; and decode using the DMRS, the PDSCH (e.g., downlink data received via the PDSCH); and memory coupled to the processing circuitry and configured to store the higher layer signaling and the DCI.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the DMRS enhancements of Wei, to include details regarding receiving a PDSH over DMRS ports associated with the OCC lengths as taught by Lee, the motivation being, for configuring DMRS in LTE and NR systems in licensed as well as unlicensed spectrum (see Lee, para 8).
Claim 7-8, 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei in view of Guo (US 20150341958 A1).
Regarding claims 7, 16, Wei teaches:
receiving a DCI message comprising an indication (see para 68, DMRS patterns (e.g., legacy 2-layer with OCC of length-2 or orthogonal 4-layer or enhanced 8-layer pattern with OCC of length-4) are semi-statically configured by RRC or through dynamic L1 signaling on the PDCCH for each UE. For example, two-bit signaling for DMRS pattern indication may be used. Pattern “00” indicates quasi-orthogonal legacy DMRS with OCC of length-2; pattern “01” indicates an enhanced 4-layer DMRS pattern of CDM+TDM over OCC of length-2 or CDM over OCC of length-4 only/i.e., configuring OCC length 4 and OCC length 2 to the UE);
Wei does not teach: receiving a DM-RS port offset bit, the indication and the DM-RS port offset bit in combination indicating information of DM-RS port(s) to be used by the UE.
Guo teaches this limitation: see paras 234-239, the base station configures the UE1 to use the way of the orthogonal cover code (OCC) length being 4 to perform channel estimation on the DMRS, and the high layer configures the selection of a plurality of port offset values or the range of offset of the fixed port value in the standard, … and the UE1 performs a blind detection on the subframe to obtain the indication information in the DL Grant. Then, the UE1 obtains the new data indication information in the disable TB in the DCI Format 2C through the blind detection, and decides to use the downlink DMRS port offset value configured by the base station… Assuming that the configured second downlink DMRS port offset value is 4, then if the UE detects that the configured port is the port 7 in one layer for transmission in the DL Grant, then the UE needs to use the way of OCC=4 on the port 7+4=11 to perform the channel estimation on DMRS.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the OCC configuration for DMRS in Wei, to include DMRS port offset to indicate the DMRS port to be used by the UE as taught by Guo, the motivation being to avoid the interference between demodulation pilots of different nodes in the heterogeneous network scenario, to consider ensuring the DMRS orthogonality of different nodes, and the orthogonality of four users is maximally supported, then the flexible allocation of ports can be used to achieve this objective (see Guo, para 15).
Regarding claims 8, 17, Wei does not teach details regarding: when the first OCC length is indicated by the signaling and the DM-RS port offset bit is a first value, determining that the DM-RS port(s) to be used have first port number(s) according to a first correspondence between the first port number(s) and the indication, the first correspondence associated with the second OCC length; or when the first OCC length is indicated by the signaling and the DM-RS port offset bit is a second value, determining that the DM-RS port(s) to be used have second port number(s) according to a second correspondence between the second port number(s) and the indication, the second correspondence associated with the first OCC length.
Guo teaches this limitation: see Table 3, Correspondence between port offset indication bits and port numbers Indication Port bit (N), and paragraphs 274-276, the base station configure the UE1 to use the way of the OCC length being 4 to perform a channel estimation on the DMRS, and the base station side adds N bits (N>0) in the high layer signaling or the physical layer signaling to indicate the port offset value and/or the OCC length used when the UE1 detects the DMRS, used for the channel estimation at the UE side, wherein the value of N is shown in Table 3… Assuming that the configured offset is 11, then if the UE detects in the DL Grant that the configured port is the port 7 in one layer for transmission, the UE needs to use the way of OCC=4 on the port 11 to perform a channel estimation on the DMRS… The port offset value can be selected from a plurality of values configured by the high layer signaling, or selected from a plurality of given values in the standard.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the OCC configuration for DMRS in Wei, to include DMRS port offset to indicate the DMRS port to be used by the UE as taught by Guo, the motivation being to avoid the interference between demodulation pilots of different nodes in the heterogeneous network scenario, to consider ensuring the DMRS orthogonality of different nodes, and the orthogonality of four users is maximally supported, then the flexible allocation of ports can be used to achieve this objective (see Guo, para 15).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Frenne (US 20220416961 A1) teaches at paras 167-182, A method performed by a wireless device operating in a communications system … comprising radio spectrum shared by a plurality of radio access technologies, obtaining a configuration for a demodulation reference signal, DMRS, wherein the DMRS comprises a pattern using common resource elements of at least two of the plurality of radio access technologies; transmitting or receiving a data transmission based on the obtained demodulation reference signal. … the DMRS comprises a time-domain orthogonal cover code, OCC, of length 4 to a group of 4 resource elements; or of length 2 to a group of 2 resource elements… a length-2 OCC is applied to one of a CDM group, wherein each CDM group corresponds to 2 unique antenna ports; and a length-4 OCC is applied to one of a CDM group, wherein each CDM group corresponds to 4 unique antenna ports… obtaining an antenna port indication, indicating whether other ports within the same CDM group are scheduled and/or the number of CDM groups without physical downlink shared channel data scheduled. The CDM corresponds to length-4 OCC in dependence to subcarrier and/or physical resource block indices. The obtained DMRS configuration is a first DMRS configuration, and obtaining a second DMRS configuration, wherein the second DMRS is configured for resource elements unique from DMRS and cell-specific reference signals configured for any one of the other radio access technologies… receiving an indication to select between the first DMRS configuration and the second DMRS configuration… the DMRS configuration is for uplink multi-user, multiple input, multiple output, MU-MIMO.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEEPA BELUR whose telephone number is (571)270-3722. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 4:30 pm.
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/DEEPA BELUR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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