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 12/10/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/16/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/16/2026. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: line 2 states “by a terminal device, first downlink control information”, should be “a first downlink control information”, with emphasis added. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Levitsky (Pub.: No.: US 20230006762 A1, hereafter “Levitsky”).
Regarding Claim 1, Claim 8, and Claim 14
Levitsky teaches a method and device comprising
receiving (Levitsky Fig. 2: 210-a), by a terminal device (Levitsky Fig. 2: 115-1, e.g. a UE), first downlink control information (DCI) (Levitsky Fig. 2: 225-b, control signaling, e.g. a DCI message see ¶0143; Levitsky teaches a UE receiving a DCI message for control signaling, see Fig. 2 and ¶0143); determining (Levitsky Fig. 2: 240), by the terminal device, a transmission scheme (Levitsky Fig. 2: 240, Transmission Mode) for first uplink information (Levitsky ¶0143: mapped to a code point of a transmission configuration field) according to at least one signaling in the first DCI (Levitsky ¶0143: a list of parameters), wherein the transmission scheme for the first uplink information is one of: a space division multiplexing (SDM) transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SDM), a single frequency network (SFN) transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SFN), a time division multiplexing (TDM) transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: TDM), a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: FDM), or a single transmission reception point (single-TRP) (Levitsky ¶0143: single TRP) or single-panel transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: multi-TRP; Levitsky teaches the DCI containing a list of parameters, including SDM, SFN, TDM, FDM, a single TRP, and multi-TRP, see ¶0143); and transmitting (Levitsky ¶0145: UE 115-a may use transmission mode indicated), by the terminal device, the first uplink information according to the transmission scheme for the first uplink information (Levitsky ¶0145: transmission mode configuration; Levitsky teaches the UE using the transmission mode indicated by the DCI, see ¶0145).
Claim 8 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Levitsky teaches
transmitting, by a network device (Levitsky Fig. 2: 105-a, e.g. a base station, see ¶0142),
Claim 14 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Levitsky teaches
a transceiver (Levitsky Fig. 8: 810) configured to receive first downlink control information (DCI); and a processor (Levitsky Fig. 8: 825) and a memory (Levitsky ¶0192: memory), wherein the memory is configured to store computer-executable instructions (Levitsky ¶0192: instructions stored in the memory); and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory (Levitsky ¶0192: execute instructions stored in the memory; Levitsky teaches a receiver for receiving signals, and a processor coupled to memory with instructions, see Fig. 8 and ¶0192)
Regarding Claim 2, Claim 9, and Claim 15
Levitsky teaches the method and the device as explained above in Claim 1. Levitsky further discloses
at least one signaling comprises a fifth signaling (Levitsky Fig. 2: 225-b, control signaling, e.g. a DCI message see ¶0143), wherein the fifth signaling is at least for determining one of following transmission schemes: the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the TDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: TDM); or, the fifth signaling is at least for determining one of following transmission schemes: the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the SDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SDM); or, the fifth signaling is at least for determining one of following transmission schemes: the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the SFN transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SFN; Levitsky teaches a DCI message that used with at least TDM, SDM and SFN, see Fig. 2 and ¶0143).
Regarding Claim 3, Claim 10, and Claim 16
Levitsky teaches the method and the device as explained above in Claim 2. Levitsky further discloses
before receiving (Levitsky Fig. 4A: 410-a is between Additional DCI Field(s) 405), by the terminal device, the first DCI (Levitsky Fig. 4A: 400-a), receiving, by the terminal device, second configuration information (Levitsky ¶0143: transmission configuration field), wherein the second configuration information is for configuring one of at least one of following transmission schemes: the TDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: TDM), the SDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SDM), or the SFN transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SFN); and wherein content corresponding to a bit state of the fifth signaling (Levitsky Fig. 2: 225-b, control signaling, e.g. a DCI message see ¶0143) is associated with a transmission scheme configured by the second configuration information (Levitsky ¶0143: DCI message in control signaling may include a list of parameters; Levitsky teaches a DCI field before and after the Transmission Mode Configuration field, which includes TDM, SDM, and SFN associated with the DCI, see Fig. 2, Fig. 4A, and ¶0143).
Regarding Claim 4, Claim 11, and Claim 17
Levitsky teaches the method and the device as explained above in Claim 3. Levitsky further discloses
if the second configuration information configures the SDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: may include SDM), the fifth signaling is for determining one of following transmission schemes: the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the SDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SDM scheme); if the second configuration information configures the SFN transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: may include SFN), the fifth signaling is for determining one of following transmission schemes: the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the SFN transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SFN scheme); if the second configuration information configures the TDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: may include TDM), the fifth signaling is for determining one of following transmission schemes: the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the TDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: TDM scheme; Levitsky teaches the transmission mode configuration may include the SDM, SFN, or TDM, see ¶0143).
Regarding Claim 5 and Claim 18
Levitsky teaches the method and the device as explained above in Claim 4. Levitsky further discloses
wherein if the fifth signaling is for determining one of following transmission schemes: the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the SDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SDM scheme), a part of bit states in the fifth signaling (Levitsky ¶0143: may include a list of flags) are for indicating the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: a multi-TRP, or a single TRP transmission configuration field), and another part of bit states (Levitsky ¶0143: may include a list of flags) in the fifth signaling are for indicating the SDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SDM scheme; Levitsky teaches an SDM as defined by a list of flags to be used in a multi-TRP or single TRP transmission field, see ¶0143).
Regarding Claim 6 and Claim 19
Levitsky teaches the method and the device as explained above in Claim 4. Levitsky further discloses
wherein if the fifth signaling is for determining one of following transmission schemes: the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the SFN transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SFN scheme), a part of bit states in the fifth signaling (Levitsky ¶0143: may include a list of flags) are for indicating the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: a multi-TRP, or a single TRP transmission configuration field), and another part of bit states (Levitsky ¶0143: may include a list of flags) in the fifth signaling are for indicating the SFN transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: SFN scheme; Levitsky teaches an SDM as defined by a list of flags to be used in a multi-TRP or single TRP transmission field, see ¶0143).
Regarding Claim 7 and Claim 20
Levitsky teaches the method and the device as explained above in Claim 4. Levitsky further discloses
wherein if the fifth signaling is for determining one of following transmission schemes: the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), or the TDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: TDM scheme), a part of bit states in the fifth signaling (Levitsky ¶0143: may include a list of flags) are for indicating the single-TRP or single-panel transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: a multi-TRP, or a single TRP transmission configuration field), and another part of bit states (Levitsky ¶0143: may include a list of flags) in the fifth signaling are for indicating the TDM transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0143: TDM scheme; Levitsky teaches an SDM as defined by a list of flags to be used in a multi-TRP or single TRP transmission field, see ¶0143).
Regarding Claim 12
Levitsky teaches the method and the device as explained above in Claim 9. Levitsky further discloses
wherein if the fifth signaling (Levitsky Fig. 2: 225-b, control signaling, e.g. a DCI message see ¶0143) is for determining the single-TRP (Levitsky ¶0101: across TCI states associated with DMRS Ports 1 or 3) or single-panel transmission scheme (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), a first precoding (Levitsky ¶0101: framework of the SDM scheme and the SFN scheme) and/or a first number of transmission layers (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) are determined based on a first maximum number of transmission layers (Levitsky ¶0101: referred to as SFNed layer 0 and SFNed layer 1 if two layers transmission is used; Levitsky teaches a control signaling associated with a TCI state with a plurality of ports on a TRP and within the SDM and SFN schemes relating to the transmission layers with a known maximum, see Fig. 2, ¶0101, and ¶0143).
Regarding Claim 13
Levitsky teaches the method and the device as explained above in Claim 9. Levitsky further discloses
wherein if the fifth signaling (Levitsky Fig. 2: 225-b, control signaling, e.g. a DCI message see ¶0143) is for determining the SDM transmission scheme or the SFN transmission scheme (Levitsky ¶0101: framework of the SDM scheme and the SFN scheme), a first precoding (Levitsky ¶0101: framework of the SDM scheme and the SFN scheme) and/or a first number of transmission layers (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) and a second precoding (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim) and/or a second number of transmission layers are determined based on a second maximum number of transmission layers (Levitsky ¶0101: a DMRS Port 2 and 3) and a third maximum number of transmission layers (Levitsky ¶0101: referred to as SFNed layer 0 and SFNed layer 1 if two layers transmission is used; Levitsky teaches a control signaling related to the framework of the SDM and FDN schemes for use a set number of DMRS ports, e.g. layers, and a set number of SNFed layers).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER whose telephone number is (703)756-4763. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 4:00pm.
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, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached on (571) 270-1215. 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.
/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
Prosecution Insights