anDETAILED ACTION
Application filed 10/30/2024 has been examined.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-9 are pending.
Specification and drawings are accepted.
IDS has been considered. PTO-1449 is attached.
Application is pending.
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 (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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. USPAP 20170047947A1 (herein: D1) in view of Koken et al. USPAP 20230261785A1 (herein: D2).
PNG
media_image1.png
298
504
media_image1.png
Greyscale
As per claim 1, D1 substantially teaches (i.e., Figure 1 above, decoder 20 and paragraph 0038) a method for decoding polar codes based encoded data, the method comprising: receiving the polar codes based encoded data (i.e., Figure 6C below, receiving polar encoded data and paragraphs 0076-0079) ; determining a rate at which the data is encoded (i.e., Figure 6C polar decoders with R1, R2 and R3 and paragraphs 0076-0079); based on the determined rate in a flexible-rate polar decoder decoding the polar codes based encoded data (i.e., Figure 6C depending on the rate the corresponding decoder is selected and paragraph 0079).
PNG
media_image2.png
358
589
media_image2.png
Greyscale
D1 does not explicitly teach selecting suitable implemented super nodes as stated in the present application. However D2 teaches in an analogous art (i.e., abstract) receive a polar-encoded transmission comprising at least one intermediate node associated with a first configuration of frozen leaf nodes and information leaf nodes. The apparatus may further be configured to apply an FHT to a first set of values associated with a first intermediate node of the at least one intermediate node to generate a second set of values associated with the first intermediate node. The apparatus may also be configured to select, based on the second set of values, one or more paths associated with the first intermediate node for a SSCL decoding. The apparatus may further be configured to calculate a path metric for each of the selected one or more paths associated with the first intermediate node. Particularly, D2 teaches (i.e., Figure 8 below and paragraph 0072) call flow diagram 800 illustrating a Rx device 804 performing a decoding operation for a reed-muller node included in polar coded data 806 received from a Tx device 802. Tx device 802 may send, and Rx device 804 may receive, polar coded data 806. The Rx device 804 may be one of a UE or a base station. The polar coded data 806, in some aspects, may include a set of bits for a cyclic redundancy checksum (CRC), e.g., a set of 24 bits appended to the transmitted message. The polar coded data 806 may include K information bits encoded in a codeword of length N=2.sup.n, where N is selected based on an aggregation level. After receiving the polar coded data 806, the Rx device 804 may demodulate and de-rate match 808 the received signal used to transmit the polar coded data 806. The Rx device 804 may then perform a polar decoding 809 on the demodulated and de-rate matched information (e.g., a set of N LLR bits). The polar decoding 809 may include a standard SSC or SSCL decoding operation for a set of nodes in a tree representation of the received set until reaching a RM node. Upon reaching the RM node, the Rx device 804 may identify 810 the node in the polar coded data as a RM node. The identification may be based on a known configuration of frozen and information bits associated with the polar coded data 806.
PNG
media_image3.png
528
771
media_image3.png
Greyscale
D2 further teaches (i.e., Figure 8 and paragraph 0080) the polar decoding may continue decoding subsequent bits and/or nodes including special nodes (e.g., additional RM nodes, rate-0 nodes, rate-1 nodes, a repetition node, or an SPC node). The Examiner would like to point out that the special nodes are equivalent to super node implementation of the present application. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application of implement suitable super nodes in the flexible rate polar decoder within the teachings of D1 as taught by D2. This would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art because one of ordinary skill would have recognized that by having suitable super nodes in the flexible rate decoder would have allowed improved reliability of communications especially in 5G communications (i.e., D2, paragraph 0003).
As per claim 2, D2 substantially teaches, in view of above rejections, the selecting the suitable implemented super nodes includes providing control signals to one or more switches included the flexible-rate polar decoder (i.e., Figure 8 and paragraphs 0078-0082).
As per claim 3, D2 substantially teaches, in view of above rejections, the super nodes include one or more of Rate-0, Rate-1, repetition (REP), single parity check (SPC), TypeI, TypeII, TypeIII, TypeIV, TypeV super nodes (i.e., Figure 8 and paragraph 0080).
As per claim 4, D1 substantially teaches, in view of above rejections, receiving the polar codes based encoded data includes receiving encoded binary data symbols over an optical communication medium (i.e., Figure 6C and paragraph 0098).
PNG
media_image1.png
298
504
media_image1.png
Greyscale
As per claim 5, D1 substantially teaches (i.e., Figure 1 above, decoder 20 and paragraph 0038) a receiver in a communication system, comprising: a flexible-rate polar decoder (i.e., Figure 6C below, receiving polar encoded data and paragraphs 0076-0079); and a controller configured to: receive the polar codes based encoded data (i.e., Figure 1 above polar encoder 14 and paragraphs 0076-0079); determine a rate at which the data is encoded (i.e., Figure 6C polar decoders with R1, R2 and R3 and paragraphs 0076-0079); based on the determined rate in a flexible-rate polar decoder, decode the polar codes based encoded data (i.e., Figure 6C depending on the rate the corresponding decoder is selected and paragraph 0079).
PNG
media_image2.png
358
589
media_image2.png
Greyscale
D1 does not explicitly teach selecting suitable implemented super nodes as stated in the present application. However D2 teaches in an analogous art (i.e., abstract) receive a polar-encoded transmission comprising at least one intermediate node associated with a first configuration of frozen leaf nodes and information leaf nodes. The apparatus may further be configured to apply an FHT to a first set of values associated with a first intermediate node of the at least one intermediate node to generate a second set of values associated with the first intermediate node. The apparatus may also be configured to select, based on the second set of values, one or more paths associated with the first intermediate node for a SSCL decoding. The apparatus may further be configured to calculate a path metric for each of the selected one or more paths associated with the first intermediate node. Particularly, D2 teaches (i.e., Figure 8 below and paragraph 0072) call flow diagram 800 illustrating a Rx device 804 performing a decoding operation for a reed-muller node included in polar coded data 806 received from a Tx device 802. Tx device 802 may send, and Rx device 804 may receive, polar coded data 806. The Rx device 804 may be one of a UE or a base station. The polar coded data 806, in some aspects, may include a set of bits for a cyclic redundancy checksum (CRC), e.g., a set of 24 bits appended to the transmitted message. The polar coded data 806 may include K information bits encoded in a codeword of length N=2.sup.n, where N is selected based on an aggregation level. After receiving the polar coded data 806, the Rx device 804 may demodulate and de-rate match 808 the received signal used to transmit the polar coded data 806. The Rx device 804 may then perform a polar decoding 809 on the demodulated and de-rate matched information (e.g., a set of N LLR bits). The polar decoding 809 may include a standard SSC or SSCL decoding operation for a set of nodes in a tree representation of the received set until reaching a RM node. Upon reaching the RM node, the Rx device 804 may identify 810 the node in the polar coded data as a RM node. The identification may be based on a known configuration of frozen and information bits associated with the polar coded data 806.
PNG
media_image3.png
528
771
media_image3.png
Greyscale
D2 further teaches (i.e., Figure 8 and paragraph 0080) the polar decoding may continue decoding subsequent bits and/or nodes including special nodes (e.g., additional RM nodes, rate-0 nodes, rate-1 nodes, a repetition node, or an SPC node). The Examiner would like to point out that the special nodes are equivalent to super node implementation of the present application. Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application of implement suitable super nodes in the flexible rate polar decoder within the teachings of D1 as taught by D2. This would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art because one of ordinary skill would have recognized that by having suitable super nodes in the flexible rate decoder would have allowed improved reliability of communications especially in 5G communications (i.e., D2, paragraph 0003).
As per claim 6, D2 substantially teaches, in view of above rejections, the flexible-rate polar decoder further comprises one or more switches (i.e., Figure 8 and paragraphs 0078-0082).
As per claim 7, D2 substantially teaches, in view of above rejections, the selecting the suitable implemented super nodes includes providing control signals to the one or more switches (i.e., Figure 8 and paragraph 0080).
As per claim 8, D2 substantially teaches, in view of above rejections, the super nodes include one or more of Rate-0, Rate-1, repetition (REP), single parity check (SPC), TypeI, TypeII, TypeIII, TypeIV, TypeV super nodes (i.e., Figure 8 and paragraph 0080).
As per claim 9, D1 substantially teaches, in view of above rejections, the receiver is configured to support optical termination and conversion of signals between electrical and optical domains for reception of encoded binary data symbols over an optical communication medium (i.e., Figure 6C and paragraph 0098).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUJTABA M CHAUDRY whose telephone number is (571)272-3817. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Albert DeCady can be reached at 571-272-3819. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
MUJTABA M. CHAUDRY
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2112
/MUJTABA M CHAUDRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2112