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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/27/2026 has been considered and placed on record.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 11, 13, 15-18, 24, and 26-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang et al. (US 2019/0044540 A1, hereinafter, “Jiang”) in view of LIU et al. (US 2023/0039107 A1, hereinafter, “Liu”).
Consider claim 1, Jiang teaches an apparatus for wireless communication (see at least abstract, figures 1-7), comprising: one or more memories (see at least figure 7 (705), figure 15 (1525)), individually or in combination, having instructions; and one or more processors (see at least figure 7, figure 15 (1520), paras. 9-10, 29), individually or in combination, configured to execute the instructions (see at least paras. 9-10, 29) and cause the apparatus to: generate encoded data by using at least one of a first block of u-domain bits comprising a first u-domain bit being a frozen bit and further being indicative of an information associated with transmission of the first block via the encoded data (see at least figures 3-4, figure 7 (710), paras. 166-169, Jiang teaches generate encoded data using u-domain (u-channels) sub-channel, where a first u-domain being frozen bit(s) and further being information bits associated with the transmission of the sub-channel); and output the encoded data for transmission (see figure 4, figure 7 (715) paras. 167-168 and 195).
Jiang teaches a first u-domain further being indicative of an information associated with transmission of the first block via the encoded data (see above), however, did not particularly teach a bit indicative of a phase associated with a transmission. Liu teaches said technique (see at least paras. 45, 204-205, Liu teaches a code (contains cyclic bits which are non-frozen) representative of phase associated with the transmission).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the application to modify the invention of Jiang and teach a bit indicative of a phase associated with a transmission, as taught by Liu, thereby, having efficient data communication in a wireless communication system.
Consider claim 28: all the limitations indicated in method claim 28 are included in apparatus claim 1, therefore, claim 28 is subjected to the same rejection applied to claim 1.
Consider claim 16, Jiang teaches an apparatus for wireless communication (see at least abstract, figures 1-7), comprising: one or more memories (see at least figure 7 (705), figure 15 (1525)), individually or in combination, having instructions; and one or more processors (see at least figure 7, figure 15 (1520), paras. 9-10, 29), individually or in combination, configured to execute the instructions (see at least paras. 9-10, 29) and cause the apparatus to: decode encoded data to obtain at least a first block of u-domain bits comprising a first u-domain bit being a first frozen bit (see at least figures 3-4, figure 7 (710), paras. 166-169, Jiang teaches decode encoded data using u-domain (u-channels) sub-channel, where a first u-domain being frozen bit(s) of the sub-channel); and a first u-domain further being indicative of an information associated with transmission of the first block via the encoded data (see at least figures 3-4, figure 7 (710), paras. 166-169, Jiang teaches non-frozen bit(s) being information bits associated with the transmission of the sub-channel).
Jiang teaches a first u-domain further being indicative of an information associated with transmission of the first block via the encoded data (see above), however, did not particularly teach measure a phase error associated with the first block based on a value of the first u-domain bit and a network-related value. Liu teaches said technique (see at least paras. 45, 204-205, Liu teaches a code (contains cyclic bits which are non-frozen bit(s)) representative of phase error associated with the transmission and a network related value (i.e., sequence root)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the application to modify the invention of Jiang and measure a phase error associated with the first block based on a value of the first u-domain bit and a network-related value, as taught by Liu, thereby, having efficient data communication in a wireless communication system.
Consider claims 2 and 17, Jiang in view of Liu teaches wherein the first u-domain bit is a last u-domain bit within the first block of u-domain bits (see at least figure 4 (i.e., u0) and para. 169 in Jiang the last u bit being frozen (u0) as the reliability increase in ascending order).
Consider claims 3 and 18, Jiang in view of Liu teaches wherein the encoded data is modulated via quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), binary phase shift keying (BPSK), or π/2 BPSK (see at least paras. 201 and 204 in Liu).
Consider claim 4, Jiang in view of Liu teaches prior to the generation, set the first u-domain bit to a network-related value (see at least figure 4 (u0 to layer 0, LLR) and description thereof in Jiang).
Consider claims 11 and 24, Jiang in view of Liu teaches communicate an indication of at least one of: a quantity of polar code channels (N) or a quantity of blocks of u-domain bits (l) (see at least figure 4 and para. 169 in Jiang).
Consider claims 13 and 26, Jiang in view of Liu teaches communicate an indication of a physical resource block group (PRG) size (see at least paras. 201-203 in Jiang, where Jiang teaches resource block size being determined and communicated), wherein a quantity of u-domain bits within the first block is based on the PRG size (see at least paras. 168-169 and 201-203 in Jiang, where Jiang teaches quantity series bits (i.e., u-domain bits) being based on the seize of the block).
Consider claims 15 and 27, Jiang in view of Liu teaches transmit the encoded data, wherein the apparatus is configured as a user equipment (UE) or a network entity (see at least abstract, paras. 5-6 and figures 1, 2 and 7 in Jiang).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-10, 12, 14, 19-23, 25 and 29 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FITWI Y HAILEGIORGIS whose telephone number is (571)270-1881. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-6PM.
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, Chieh Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. 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.
FITWI Y. HAILEGIORGIS
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2632
/FITWI Y HAILEGIORGIS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2632
Prosecution Insights