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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-15 are presented for examination.
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.
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, 3-5, 7-10 and 12-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al (Guo), US 2018/0048375, in view of obviousness.
As per claim 1, Guo teaches the invention including a method for transmitting data, performed by a network device, comprising:
Determining an indication signaling for indicating a data stream combination, the data stream combination comprising a plurality of data streams, the plurality of data streams being grouped into at least two data stream groups, one or more data streams in each of the at least two data stream groups being corresponding to a beam direction (pp. 0006-0007, 0163, 0165, 0177-0178, 0180); and
Transmitting the indication signaling through a first downlink control information (DCI) (pp. 0140, 0163, 0165, 0168, 0176, 0191),
Wherein the first DCI comprises a first bit or a second bit, and the first bit comprises 1 bit (pp. 0191; Table 6), the second bit comprises 2 bits (pp. 0167, 0176; Table 2); and
Wherein different values of the first bit are configured to indicate different data stream combinations (pp. 0176, 0191; Tables 2 and 6).
Guo does not specifically teach
Wherein the first bit comprises a bit with a reserved value in a first DCI;
Wherein one or more bits of the second bit are one or more bits with reserved values in a second DCI.
However, since the reserved values and bits are unused or placeholder bit fields for future use, it would have been obvious to utilize them according to needs and desire for the purpose of specific indications, especially when there is yet to be a 3GPP standard in placed for using these reserved values yet. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teachings of Guo and further designate the DCI reserved values and bits currently unused for specific purposes such as information indication.
As per claim 3, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 1. Guo further teaches wherein different data stream groups of the at least two data stream groups each corresponds to a different beam direction, and different beam directions are indicated by spatial relation information (pp. 0179, 0182, 0223-0225).
As per claim 4, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 1. Guo further teaches wherein different values of a bit in the second bit are configured to indicate different data stream combinations (pp. 0176; Table 2); or different values of all the bits in the second bit are configured to indicate different data stream combinations (pp. 0176; Table 2).
As per claim 5, Guo teaches the invention including a method for transmitting data, performed by a terminal, comprising:
Receiving an indication signaling for indicating a data stream combination through a downlink control information (pp. 0140, 0163, 0165, 0168, 0176, 0191), the data stream combination comprising a plurality of data streams, the plurality of data streams being grouped into at least two data stream groups, one or more data streams in each of the at least two data stream groups being corresponding to a beam direction (pp. 0006-0007, 0163, 0165, 0177-0178, 0180); and
Determining a beam for transmitting each data stream in the data stream combination indicated by the indication signaling based on the stream combination and transmitting the data stream in the data stream combination using the beam (pp. 0112, 0127-0133, 0138-0142, 0163, 0165, 0176, 0191);
Wherein the first DCI comprises a first bit or a second bit, and the first bit comprises 1 bit (pp. 0191; Table 6), the second bit comprises 2 bits (pp. 0167, 0176; Table 2); and
Wherein different values of the first bit are configured to indicate different data stream combinations (pp. 0176, 0191; Tables 2 and 6).
Guo does not specifically teach
Wherein the first bit comprises a bit with a reserved value in a first DCI;
Wherein one or more bits of the second bit are one or more bits with reserved values in a second DCI.
However, since the reserved values and bits are unused or placeholder bit fields for future use, it would have been obvious to utilize them according to needs and desire for the purpose of specific indications, especially when there is yet to be a 3GPP standard in placed for using these reserved values yet. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teachings of Guo and further designate the DCI reserved values and bits currently unused for specific purposes such as information indication.
As per claim 7, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 5. Guo further teaches wherein different data stream groups of the at least two data stream groups each corresponds to a different beam direction, and different beam directions are indicated by spatial relation information (pp. 0179, 0182, 0223-0225).
As per claim 8, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 5. Guo further teaches wherein different values of a bit in the second bit are configured to indicate different data stream combinations (pp. 0176; Table 2); or different values of all the bits in the second bit are configured to indicate different data stream combinations (pp. 0176; Table 2).
As per claim 9, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 1. Guo further teaches the invention including a network device, comprising:
A processor (pp. 0006-0007, 0059-0060, 0066),
A memory configured to store instructions executable by the processor (pp. 0010, 0059-0060, 0066);
Wherein, the processor is configured to perform claim 1 (see mapping in claim 1 above).
As per claim 10, Guo teaches the invention including a terminal, comprising:
A processor (pp. 0006-0007, 0059-0060, 0066),
A memory configured to store instructions executable by the processor (pp. 0010, 0059-0060, 0066);
Wherein, the processor is configured to perform:
Receive an indication signaling for indicating a data stream combination through a downlink control information (pp. 0140, 0163, 0165, 0168, 0176, 0191), the data stream combination comprising a plurality of data streams, the plurality of data streams being grouped into at least two data stream groups, one or more data streams in each of the at least two data stream groups being corresponding to a beam direction (pp. 0006-0007, 0163, 0165, 0177-0178, 0180); and
Determine a beam for transmitting each data stream in the data stream combination indicated by the indication signaling based on the stream combination and transmitting the data stream in the data stream combination using the beam (pp. 0112, 0127-0133, 0138-0142, 0163, 0165, 0176, 0191);
Wherein the first DCI comprises a first bit or a second bit, and the first bit comprises 1 bit (pp. 0191; Table 6), the second bit comprises 2 bits (pp. 0167, 0176; Table 2); and
Wherein different values of the first bit are configured to indicate different data stream combinations (pp. 0176, 0191; Tables 2 and 6).
Guo does not specifically teach
Wherein the first bit comprises a bit with a reserved value in a first DCI;
Wherein one or more bits of the second bit are one or more bits with reserved values in a second DCI.
However, since the reserved values and bits are unused or placeholder bit fields for future use, it would have been obvious to utilize them according to needs and desire for the purpose of specific indications, especially when there is yet to be a 3GPP standard in placed for using these reserved values yet. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teachings of Guo and further designate the DCI reserved values and bits currently unused for specific purposes such as information indication.
As per claim 12, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 10. Guo further teaches wherein different data stream groups of the at least two data stream groups each corresponds to a different beam direction, and different beam directions are indicated by spatial relation information (pp. 0179, 0182, 0223-0225).
As per claim 13, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 10. Guo further teaches wherein different values of a bit in the second bit are configured to indicate different data stream combinations (pp. 0176; Table 2); or different values of all the bits in the second bit are configured to indicate different data stream combinations (pp. 0176; Table 2).
As per claim 14, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 1. Guo further teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein when the instructions in the storage medium are executed by a processor of a network device, the network device is caused to execute the method for transmitting data according to claim 1 (pp. 0006-0007, 0010, 0059-0060, 0066).
As per claim 15, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 5. Guo further teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, wherein when the instructions in the storage medium are executed by a processor of a terminal, the terminal is caused to execute the method for transmitting data according to claim 5 (pp. 0006-0007, 0010, 0059-0060, 0066).
Claim(s) 2, 6 and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo as applied to claims 1, 3-5, 7-10 and 12-15 above, and further in view of Xi et al (Xi), US 2020/0288479.
As per claim 2, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 1. Guo does not teach wherein the DCI is further configured to indicate a data stream combination in a data stream combination set activated by a medium access control (MAC) signaling. Xi teaches to wherein the DCI is further configured to indicate a data stream combination in a data stream combination set activated MAC signaling (pp. 0075, 0138-0139, 0142-0143). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teaching of Guo and Xi and utilize MAC-CE messages to activate data streams configured in the RRC message.
As per claim 2, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 5. Guo does not teach wherein the DCI is further configured to indicate a data stream combination in a data stream combination set activated by a medium access control (MAC) signaling. Xi teaches to wherein the DCI is further configured to indicate a data stream combination in a data stream combination set activated MAC signaling (pp. 0075, 0138-0139, 0142-0143). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teaching of Guo and Xi and utilize MAC-CE messages to activate data streams configured in the RRC message.
As per claim 11, Guo teaches the invention as claimed in claim 10. Guo does not teach wherein the DCI is further configured to indicate a data stream combination in a data stream combination set activated by a medium access control (MAC) signaling. Xi teaches to wherein the DCI is further configured to indicate a data stream combination in a data stream combination set activated MAC signaling (pp. 0075, 0138-0139, 0142-0143). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to combine the teaching of Guo and Xi and utilize MAC-CE messages to activate data streams configured in the RRC message.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kim et al, US 2020/0037367
Golitschek Edler von Elbwart, US 2019/0181976
Hasegawa et al, US 2022/0026517
Li, US 2021/0168030
Kim et al, US 2021/0112590
Li et al, US 2021/0100033
Nilsson et al, US 2020/0359404
Liu et al, US 2020/0295909
Xi et al, US 2021/0044467
Froberg Olsson et al, US 2020/0244424
Kang et al, US 2020/0154409
Bai et al, US 2020/0053767
Mueck et al, US 2020/0014444
Zhou et al, US 2019/0373450
Guo et al, US 2019/0297603
Qin et al, US 2019/0199496
Ng et al, US 2018/0219606
Yu, US 2014/0370823
A shortened statutory period for reply to this Office action is set to expire Three MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KENNY S LIN whose telephone number is (571) 272-3968.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached on 571-270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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KENNY S. LIN
Examiner
Art Unit 2416
/Kenny S Lin/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416
September 25, 2026
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