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 § 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 20claimed 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.
2. Claims 1, 4, 7, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (WO 2021/159337, hereinafter Zhang) in view of Chuang et al. (US 2020/0228262, hereinafter Chuang).
Regarding claim 1, Zhang discloses a method for wireless communications at a device (para 0004), comprising:
receiving (para 0003; 0016; UE receives enhanced TRS), over a multi-path channel, a set of tracking reference signals (para 0003; 0024-0025; In SFN mode, the UE receives acombined signal at a same frequency where the combined signal includes contributions from at least two TRPs, the combined channel is multi-path – SFN combines signals), wherein the set of tracking reference signals is associated with a set of channel statistics corresponding to the multi-path channel (para 0004; TRS is used to measure Doppler offset of the combined multi-path SFN channel wherein Doppler offset acts as a time-varying channel statistics of the multi-path SFN channel).
Zhang does not explicitly disclose that the set of tracking reference signal is specific to one or more of wide-area terrestrial broadcast services, single frequency network-based broadcast services, multimedia broadcast multicast services, or a demodulation reference signal pattern associated with a non-uniform frequency spacing.
In an analogous art, Chuang discloses that the set of tracking reference signal is specific to one or more of wide-area terrestrial broadcast services, single frequency network-based broadcast services, multimedia broadcast multicast services, or a demodulation reference signal pattern associated with a non-uniform frequency spacing (para 0028-0029 and 0032; non-equal subcarrier or symbol spacing within a TRS burst; and para 0057-0060 – TRS is specific to DMRS). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang’s method/system by having Chuang’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Regarding claim 7, Zhang discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a device, comprising: a processor (para 0027; a processor); memory coupled with the processor (para 0027; a memory coupled with the processor); and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the
apparatus to perform the method steps of claim 1 (para 0027).
Claims 4 and 10, Zhang does not explicitly disclose wherein one or both of a frequency spacing associated with the set of tracking reference signals or a symbol spacing associated with the set of tracking reference signals is specific to the set of tracking reference signals.
In an analogous art, Chuang discloses wherein one or both of a frequency spacing associated with the set of tracking reference signals or a symbol spacing associated with the set of tracking reference signals is specific to the set of tracking reference signals (para 0007 and 0031). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang’s method/system by having Chuang’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communications system.
Claims 2 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang/Chuang in view of Bottomley et al. (US 2004/0213363, hereinafter Bottomley).
Regarding claims 2 and 8, Zhang/Chuang does not explicitly disclose wherein the set of channel statistics comprises a power delay profile of the multi-path channel, the power delay profile indicating an intensity of channel taps associated with the multi-path channel as a function of tap delays.
In an analogous art, Bottomley discloses wherein the set of channel statistics comprises a power delay profile of the multi-path channel (para 0115; power delay profile corresponding to dual path channels), the power delay profile indicating an intensity of channel taps associated with the multi-path channel as a function of tap delays (para 0005; 0015; and 0031). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang/Chuang’s method/system by having Bottomley’s disclosure in order to improve the accuracy of delay estimation to improve the quality of service.
Claims 3 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang/Chuang in view of Davydov (WO 2018/017163, hereinafter Davydov).
Regarding claims 3, and 9, Zhang/Chuang does not explicitly disclose wherein the set of channel statistics corresponds to a quasi co-location type.
In an analogous art, Davydov discloses wherein the set of channel statistics corresponds to a quasi co-location type (para 0046; 0050-0051).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang/Chuang’s method/system by having Davydov’s disclosure in order to improve the accuracy of delay estimation to improve the quality of service.
Claims 5 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang/Chuang in view of Lee et al. (US 2018/0227848, hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claim 5 and 11, Zhang/Chuang does not explicitly disclose wherein receiving the set of tracking reference signals comprises receiving the set of tracking reference signals over cach subcarrier in a set of contiguous frequency-domain resources configured for one or more of wide-area terrestrial broadcast services, single frequency network-based broadcast services, or multimedia broadcast multicast services.
In an analogous art, Lee discloses wherein receiving the set of tracking reference signals comprises receiving the set of tracking reference signals over each subcarrier in a set of contiguous frequency-domain resources (para 0083; receiving TRS in each contiguous subcarrier in the frequency domain) configured for one or more of wide-area terrestrial broadcast services, single frequency network-based broadcast services, or multimedia broadcast multicast services (para 0066; MBMS). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang/Chuang’s method/system by having Lee’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communication system.
6. Claims 6 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang/Chuang in view of Miao (DE 102020112050, hereinafter Miao).
Regarding claims 6, and 12, Zhang/Chuang does not explicitly disclose
receiving a semi-static indication of tracking reference signal resources allocated for the set of tracking reference signals via one or both of a system information block or a multicast control channel transmission associated with one or both of a multicast broadcast single frequency network area or a multicast broadcast service.
In an analogous art, Miao discloses receiving a semi-static indication (page 6; para 01-02) of tracking reference signal resources (page 72, last para – TRS) allocated for the set of tracking reference signals via one or both of a system information block (page 07, para 02; and page 51, last para; page 71; para 01- SIB) or a multicast control channel transmission associated with one or both of a multicast broadcast single frequency network area or a multicast broadcast service (page 65, last part … page 66, first para – MBSFN, and multicast Multimedia broadcast ). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang/Chuang’s method/system by having Miao’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation of a communication system.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMINA CHOUDHRY whose telephone number is (571)270-7102. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday (7:30 a.m. to 5.00p.m.).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached on (571)272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAMINA F CHOUDHRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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