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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chen (US 2016/0112995).
RE claim 1, Chen discloses a method performed by a network device or a chip in a network device, the method comprising: modulating, first information and second information onto a first signal (Paragraph 62 discloses a method performed by a base station/network device and states: "In one example, the signal for UE1 uses 16QAM modulation; and the signal for UE2 uses QPSK modulation ... it is possible to generate a new signal for transmission by combining the binary bits of the signals x1 and x2 together and then using the 64QAM transmitting modulation scheme." Here, x1 contains the information for UE1 and x2 contains the information for UE2. The claim's "first information" is mapped to the information for UE2 ( signal x2 ) and the claim's "second information" is mapped to the information for UE1 in D1 (signal x1)), wherein a first modulation scheme, for the first information, is different from a second modulation scheme, for the second information, the first modulation scheme is phase shift keying modulation or quadrature amplitude modulation, and the second modulation scheme is amplitude shift keying modulation; and sending, the first signal on a first time-frequency resource (With the mapping above: The "first modulation scheme" (for UE2's information) is QPSK. QPSK is a "phase shift keying modulation." This satisfies the condition "phase shift keying modulation or quadrature amplitude modulation." The "second modulation scheme" (for UE1' s information) is 16QAM. 16QAM is a type of "quadrature amplitude modulation" which inherently involves shifting/keying amplitude levels as well as phase levels. If "amplitude shift keying modulation" is interpreted varied to encompass schemes where amplitude is convey information (even if phase also varies, as in QAM) , then 16QAM, which uses multiple distinct amplitude levels, can be considered to meet this requirement. Paragraph 62 provides this example of 16QAM being used for UE1's information.)
RE claim 4, Chen discloses the method according to claim 1 as set forth above. Chen further discloses wherein the first information is modulated into a frequency domain, of the first signal, by using the first modulation scheme, and the second information is modulated into an amplitude domain or a power domain, of the first signal, by using the second modulation scheme (Paragraph 62 discloses a method performed by a base station/network device and states: "In one example, the signal for UE1 uses 16QAM modulation; and the signal for UE2 uses QPSK modulation ... it is possible to generate a new signal for transmission by combining the binary bits of the signals x1 and x2 together and then using the 64QAM transmitting modulation scheme." Here, x1 contains the information for UE1 and x2 contains the information for UE2. The claim's "first information" is mapped to the information for UE2 ( signal x2 ) and the claim's "second information" is mapped to the information for UE1 in D1 (signal x1))
RE claim 7, Chen discloses a method performed by a first terminal device or a chip in a first terminal device, the method comprising: receiving a first signal from a network device on a first time-frequency resource, wherein first information and second information are modulated onto the first signal (Paragraph 62 discloses a method performed by a base station/network device and states: "In one example, the signal for UE1 uses 16QAM modulation; and the signal for UE2 uses QPSK modulation ... it is possible to generate a new signal for transmission by combining the binary bits of the signals x1 and x2 together and then using the 64QAM transmitting modulation scheme." Here, x1 contains the information for UE1 and x2 contains the information for UE2. The claim's "first information" is mapped to the information for UE2 ( signal x2 ) and the claim's "second information" is mapped to the information for UE1 in D1 (signal x1)), a first modulation scheme for the first information is different from a second modulation scheme for the second information, the first modulation scheme is phase shift keying modulation or quadrature amplitude modulation, and the second modulation scheme is amplitude shift keying modulation; and obtaining the first information from the first signal (With the mapping above: The "first modulation scheme" (for UE2's information) is QPSK. QPSK is a "phase shift keying modulation." This satisfies the condition "phase shift keying modulation or quadrature amplitude modulation." The "second modulation scheme" (for UE1' s information) is 16QAM. 16QAM is a type of "quadrature amplitude modulation" which inherently involves shifting/keying amplitude levels as well as phase levels. If "amplitude shift keying modulation" is interpreted varied to encompass schemes where amplitude is convey information (even if phase also varies, as in QAM) , then 16QAM, which uses multiple distinct amplitude levels, can be considered to meet this requirement. Paragraph 62 provides this example of 16QAM being used for UE1's information.).
RE claim 10, Chen discloses the method according to claim 7 as set forth above. Chen further discloses receiving second indication information from the network device, wherein the second indication information indicates the network device to modulate different information onto a same signal by using different modulation schemes, and/or indicates a location of the first time-frequency resource (Paragraph 68-70: “In step 1125, the base station transmits a first signaling to inform the first UE about at least the first standard modulation scheme for demodulation and a specific indication of how to retrieve at least one transport block from the demodulation output for the first UE. In step 1130, the base station transmits a second signaling to inform the second UE about at least a second standard modulation scheme for demodulation, wherein the second standard modulation scheme is different from the first standard modulation scheme.”, “In one embodiment, the first signaling could be a control element (CE), a downlink control information (DCI), or a RRC (Radio Resource Control) message. The second signaling could also be a CE, a DCI, or a RRC (Radio Resource Control) message.”)
RE claim 11, Chen discloses a method performed by a second terminal device or a chip in a second terminal device, the method comprising: receiving a first signal from a network device on a first time-frequency resource, wherein first information and second information are modulated onto the first signal (Paragraph 62 discloses a method performed by a base station/network device and states: "In one example, the signal for UE1 uses 16QAM modulation; and the signal for UE2 uses QPSK modulation ... it is possible to generate a new signal for transmission by combining the binary bits of the signals x1 and x2 together and then using the 64QAM transmitting modulation scheme." Here, x1 contains the information for UE1 and x2 contains the information for UE2. The claim's "first information" is mapped to the information for UE2 ( signal x2 ) and the claim's "second information" is mapped to the information for UE1 in D1 (signal x1)),, a first modulation scheme for the first information is different from a second modulation scheme for the second information, the first modulation scheme is phase shift keying modulation or quadrature amplitude modulation, and the second modulation scheme is amplitude shift keying modulation; and obtaining the second information from the first signal (With the mapping above: The "first modulation scheme" (for UE2's information) is QPSK. QPSK is a "phase shift keying modulation." This satisfies the condition "phase shift keying modulation or quadrature amplitude modulation." The "second modulation scheme" (for UE1' s information) is 16QAM. 16QAM is a type of "quadrature amplitude modulation" which inherently involves shifting/keying amplitude levels as well as phase levels. If "amplitude shift keying modulation" is interpreted varied to encompass schemes where amplitude is convey information (even if phase also varies, as in QAM) , then 16QAM, which uses multiple distinct amplitude levels, can be considered to meet this requirement. Paragraph 62 provides this example of 16QAM being used for UE1's information.).
RE claims 13 and 18, Chen discloses the methods according to claims 11 and 7 as set forth above. Chen further discloses wherein the first information is modulated into a frequency domain, of the first signal, by using the first modulation scheme, and the second information is modulated into an amplitude domain or a power domain, of the first signal, by using the second modulation scheme (Paragraph 62 discloses a method performed by a base station/network device and states: "In one example, the signal for UE1 uses 16QAM modulation; and the signal for UE2 uses QPSK modulation ... it is possible to generate a new signal for transmission by combining the binary bits of the signals x1 and x2 together and then using the 64QAM transmitting modulation scheme." Here, x1 contains the information for UE1 and x2 contains the information for UE2. The claim's "first information" is mapped to the information for UE2 ( signal x2 ) and the claim's "second information" is mapped to the information for UE1 in D1 (signal x1))
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.
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 3, 12 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen in view of Agiwal et al. (US 2018/0049068, Agiwal hereafter).
RE claims 3, 12 and 17, Chen discloses the method of claims 1, 11 and 7 as set forth above. Chen does not explicitly disclose wherein a bandwidth corresponding to the first time-frequency resource is less than or equal to a maximum bandwidth of a second terminal device, and the maximum bandwidth of the second terminal device is less than a maximum bandwidth of the first terminal device
However, Agiwal teaches wherein a bandwidth corresponding to the first time-frequency resource is less than or equal to a maximum bandwidth of a second terminal device, and the maximum bandwidth of the second terminal device is less than a maximum bandwidth of the first terminal device (Paragraphs 48, 54, 65 and Figure 5 teaches that to ensure compatibility, the bandwidth for common channels should be constrained by the capabilities of the least capable devices. Specifically, it states that the physical random access channel (PRACH) bandwidth "should be less than or equal to minimum supported UE channel bandwidth ... This ensures that every UE is able to transmit RA preamble irrespective of its supported channel bandwidth".)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Chen with the teachings of Agiwal in order to ensure interoperability of devices.
Claims 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen in view of McTague et al. (US 7,190,715, McTague hereafter).
RE claims 6 and 16, Chen discloses the method of claims 1 and 11 as set forth above. Chen does not explicitly disclose wherein bits modulated onto the first signal, and corresponding to the second information, are coded bits obtained through line encoding.
However, McTague teaches modulated onto the first signal, and corresponding to the second information, are coded bits obtained through line encoding (Column 3 lines 18-28 teaches a line encoder is known in the art for QAM encoding).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Chen with the teachings of McTague since such a modification would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement.
Where a claimed improvement on a device or apparatus is no more than "the simple substitution of one known element for another or the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith, 83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nobukiyo et al. (US 2015/0049703, Nobukiyo hereafter).
RE claim 9, Chen discloses the method of claim 7 as set forth above. Chen does not explicitly disclose determining, based on a reference signal from the network device, at least one of a signal to interference plus noise ratio and a reference signal received power; and sending, at least one of the signal to interference plus noise ratio and the reference signal received power, to the network device.
However, Nobukiyo teaches determining, based on a reference signal from the network device, at least one of a signal to interference plus noise ratio and a reference signal received power; and sending, at least one of the signal to interference plus noise ratio and the reference signal received power, to the network device (Paragraph 46 teaches a terminal having a channel measuring section which “has a function of measuring communication channel quality such as an SINR from a reference signal received from the base station 100, quantizing a result as CSI, and reporting it to the base station 100 via the terminal operating section 201 at a time cued by the base station 100, and a function of measuring RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) for a reference signal of a currently connecting base station cell and for those of surrounding base station cells (referred to as surrounding cells hereinbelow) notified by the base station 100, and reporting them to the base station 100 at certain times.”.)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Chen with the teachings of Nobukiyo since such a modification would have involved the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement.
Where a claimed improvement on a device or apparatus is no more than "the simple substitution of one known element for another or the mere application of a known technique to a piece of prior art ready for improvement," the claim is unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 103(a). Ex Parte Smith, 83 USPQ.2d 1509, 1518-19 (BPAI, 2007) (citing KSR v. Teleflex, 127 S.Ct. 1727, 1740, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1396 (2007)).
Claims 2, 5, 8, 14, 15, 19 and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but may be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
RE claims 2 and 8, prior arts do not explicitly disclose, teach or suggest receiving, from a first terminal device, at least one of a signal to interference plus noise ratio or a reference signal received power from a first terminal device; and in association with the signal to interference plus noise ratio being greater than or equal to a first threshold, and/or the reference signal received power being greater than or equal to a second threshold, determining to modulate the first information and the second information onto the first signal.
RE claim 5, 14 and 19, prior arts do not explicitly disclose, teach or suggest wherein a modulation depth of the second modulation scheme is V̄p, a value range of V̄p is an open interval (0, P), and P is an average power of all resource elements on the first time-frequency resource on which the first signal is modulated using the first modulation scheme.
RE claims 15 and 20, the claims depend upon claims 14 and 20, respectively, and thereby include the allowable matter above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to James P Duffy whose telephone number is (571)270-7516. The examiner can normally be reached Tuesday-Friday, 9am-6pm EST.
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/James P Duffy/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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