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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 8-11, 16, 21, 23-25 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 8 recites "the normalized first normalization coefficients" in line 5. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 16 recites the limitations "the first polarization direction" in line 2 and "the second polarization direction" in lines 3-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. It is suggested that claim 16 be amended to depend from claim 9 or a subsequent claim in the dependency chain, as claim 9 introduces those limitations.
Claim 21 recites "the normalized first normalization coefficients" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 30 recites the limitations "the first polarization direction" in line 2 and "the second polarization direction" in lines 3-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. It is noted that claim 23 first introduces those limitations.
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)(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.
Claims 1-3, 5-7, 17, 18, 21, 23-25, 30, 33 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ahmed et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2025/0226865.
Regarding claim 1, Ahmed discloses a method for indicating a coefficient, performed by a terminal, comprising: receiving configuration information sent by a network device, wherein the configuration information is configured to configure codebook parameters of a plurality of Transmission Reception Point (TRP) groups, and each TRP group comprises at least one TRP (see abstract describing a terminal device receiving, from a network device, a port group configuration for a plurality of TRP groups each group comprising at least one TRP, used for determining precoding parameter, see also ¶ [0025]); determining first indication information according to the configuration information, wherein the first indication information is configured to indicate a position of a non-zero coefficient among combination coefficients as the UE transmits a report to indicate the position of the non-zero coefficients of W2 (¶ [0135]), the combination coefficients are determined by the terminal according to the codebook parameters of the plurality of TRP groups, and the combination coefficients are used by the network device to perform precoding calculation (see ¶ [0025]); and sending the first indication information to the network device (¶ [0135]).
Regarding claim 2, Ahmed discloses that the first indication information is bitmap information, and each bit in the bitmap information is configured to indicate whether a coefficient corresponding to the bit is a non-zero coefficient (¶ [0135]).
Regarding claim 3, Ahmed discloses that determining the first indication according to the configuration information comprises: in a case where codebook parameters of at least two of the plurality of TRP groups are different (i.e. port group-specific sets of parameters - ¶ [0135]), determining a plurality of pieces of bitmap information according to the configuration information, wherein each piece of bitmap information is configured to indicate a position of a non-zero coefficient among a combination coefficient corresponding to at least one TRP group (see ¶¶ [0135]-[0138]).
Regarding claim 5, Ahmed discloses that a size of the first indication information is determined according to the codebook parameters (¶¶ [0113]-[0115]).
Regarding claim 6, Ahmed discloses that the precoding codebook parameters include spatial-domain basis components and/or frequency-domain basis components (¶¶ [0034]-[0035]).
Regarding claim 7, Ahmed disclose quantizing combination coefficients of the plurality of TRP groups and sending the quantization coefficients to the network device (see Fig. 10 – quantization block 1207, ¶ [0135]).
Regarding claim 17, Ahmed discloses a method for indicating a coefficient, performed by a network device, comprising: sending configuration information to a terminal, wherein the configuration information is configured to configure codebook parameters of a plurality of Transmission Reception Point (TRP) groups, and each TRP group comprises at least one TRP (see abstract describing a terminal device receiving, from a network device, a port group configuration for a plurality of TRP groups each group comprising at least one TRP, used for determining precoding parameter, see also ¶ [0025]); and receiving first indication information sent by the terminal (see ¶ [0135]), wherein the first indication information is determined according to the configuration information, the first indication information is configured to indicate a position of a non-zero coefficient among combination coefficients as the UE transmits a report to indicate the position of the non-zero coefficients of W2 (¶ [0135]), the combination coefficients are determined by the terminal according to the codebook parameters of the plurality of TRP groups, and the combination coefficients are used by the network device to perform precoding calculation (see ¶ [0025]).
Regarding claim 18, Ahmed discloses that the first indication information is bitmap information, and each bit in the bitmap information is configured to indicate whether a coefficient corresponding to the bit is a non-zero coefficient (¶ [0135]).
Regarding claim 21, Ahmed further discloses receiving first quantization coefficients sent by the terminal (see Fig. 10 – quantization performed by UE at block 1207 and received at gNB, ¶ [0135]). As a matter of claim interpretation, how the quantization coefficients are obtained at the terminal as described in the “wherein” clauses of the claim do not require additional steps to be performed or limit the receiving step of the network device, and accordingly, are not given patentable weight (see MPEP § 2111.04).
Regarding claim 23, similar to the explanation regarding claim 21 above, as a matter of claim interpretation, the limitations in the “wherein” clause further defining how quantization coefficients are obtained by the terminal do not limit operations at the network device and are not accorded patentable weight.
Regarding claim 24, Ahmed is considered to be capable of receiving second indication information sent by the terminal by a mechanism similar to how the first indication information is received (i.e. via a means for receiving reporting information – see ¶ [0005]). The content of said second information as defined in the “wherein” clause of the claim does not cause any additional functions to be performed or limit the receiving step of network element, and is thus not accorded patentable weight.
Regarding claims 25 and 30, as indicated in claim 24 above, the content of the second information further defined in the “wherein” clauses of the respective claims do not cause any additional functions to be performed or limit the receiving step of the network element and thus are not accorded patentable weight.
Regarding claim 33, Ahmed discloses a terminal (Fig. 10, see ¶¶ [0403]-[0408]), comprising: a processor 1001; and a transceiver (e.g. 1002/1003) connected to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to: receive configuration information sent by a network device, wherein the configuration information is configured to configure codebook parameters of a plurality of Transmission Reception Point (TRP) groups, and each TRP group comprises at least one TRP (see abstract describing a terminal device receiving, from a network device, a port group configuration for a plurality of TRP groups each group comprising at least one TRP, used for determining precoding parameter, see also ¶ [0025]); determine first indication information according to the configuration information, wherein the first indication information is configured to indicate a position of a non-zero coefficient among combination coefficients as the UE transmits a report to indicate the position of the non-zero coefficients of W2 (¶ [0135]), the combination coefficients are determined by the terminal according to the codebook parameters of the plurality of TRP groups, and the combination coefficients are used by the network device to perform precoding calculation (see ¶ [0025]); and send the first indication information to the network device (¶ [0135]).
Regarding claim 34, Ahmed discloses a network device (Fig. 10, see ¶¶ [0403]-[0408]), comprising: a processor 1001; and a transceiver (e.g. 1002/1003) connected to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 17, as detailed above.
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.
Claims 8-11, 16, 21, 23-25 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahmed et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2025/0226865 in view of Tosato et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2020/0322028 (cited by Applicant).
Regarding claim 8, Ahmed discloses a method for indicating a coefficient as performed by a terminal where combination coefficients are quantized and sent, as described above, but does not disclose that the quantizing comprises normalizing the coefficients to obtain first normalization coefficients, and differentially quantizes the first normalization coefficients according to a polarization direction to obtain the first quantization coefficients.
Tosato discloses normalizing coefficients for feedback and differentially quantizing the normalized coefficients according to a polarization direction to provide the feedback coefficients (see ¶¶ [0087]-[0089], [0094]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide normalization and quantization according to a polarization direction as suggested by Tosato, in the method of Ahmed, as it requires fewer bits, reducing feedback overhead (Tosato, ¶ [0088]).
Regarding claim 9, in the proposed combination of Ahmed with Tosato, Ahmed discloses use of TRP groups (¶¶ [0004], [0116]), and Tosato discloses that the polarization direction comprises first and second polarization directions (¶ [0061]), and differentially quantizing the first normalization coefficients according to the polarization direction to obtain the first quantization coefficients comprises: determining, according to the first normalization coefficients, a reference amplitude and a corresponding differential coefficient in each polarization direction (¶¶ [0034]-[0054]); and quantizing the reference amplitude (¶ [0057]) and the differential coefficient for each polarization direction to obtain the first quantization coefficients (¶¶ [0073]-[0076]).
Regarding claim 10, in the proposed combination, Tosato further discloses sending second indication information to the network device, wherein the second indication information is configured to indicate that at least one of a largest reference amplitude or a strongest coefficient is not to be quantized and reported (¶¶ [0035]-[0038]).
Regarding claim 11, in the proposed combination, Tosato further discloses that the second indication information is bitmap information, and each bit in the bitmap information is configured to indicate a position of at least one of the largest reference amplitude or the strongest coefficient of a TRP group corresponding to the bit (¶ [0035]).
Regarding claim 16, in the proposed combination, reference amplitudes of the plurality of TRP groups in the first polarization direction and the second polarization direction must be either the same or different, as determined by Tosato (see ¶¶ [0037]-[0044]).
Regarding claim 21, Ahmed discloses a method for indicating a coefficient as performed by a network device where quantized combination coefficients are received, as described above. Although, as a matter of claim interpretation, how the terminal device performs the quantization is not considered to limit the receiving step performed by the network device, as indicated above, Ahmed does not disclose that the quantizing comprises normalizing the coefficients to obtain first normalization coefficients, and differentially quantizes the first normalization coefficients according to a polarization direction to obtain the first quantization coefficients.
Tosato discloses normalizing coefficients for feedback and differentially quantizing the normalized coefficients according to a polarization direction to provide the feedback coefficients (see ¶¶ [0087]-[0089], [0094]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to provide normalization and quantization according to a polarization direction as suggested by Tosato, in the method of Ahmed, as it requires fewer bits, reducing feedback overhead (Tosato, ¶ [0088]).
Regarding claim 23, in the proposed combination of Ahmed with Tosato, Ahmed discloses use of TRP groups (¶¶ [0004], [0116]), and Tosato discloses that the polarization direction comprises first and second polarization directions (¶ [0061]), and differentially quantizing the first normalization coefficients according to the polarization direction to obtain the first quantization coefficients comprises: determining, according to the first normalization coefficients, a reference amplitude and a corresponding differential coefficient in each polarization direction (¶¶ [0034]-[0054]); and quantizing the reference amplitude (¶ [0057]) and the differential coefficient for each polarization direction to obtain the first quantization coefficients (¶¶ [0073]-[0076]).
Regarding claim 24, in the proposed combination, Tosato further discloses sending second indication information to the network device, wherein the second indication information is configured to indicate that at least one of a largest reference amplitude or a strongest coefficient is not to be quantized and reported (¶¶ [0035]-[0038]).
Regarding claim 25, in the proposed combination, Tosato further discloses that the second indication information is bitmap information, and each bit in the bitmap information is configured to indicate a position of at least one of the largest reference amplitude or the strongest coefficient of a TRP group corresponding to the bit (¶ [0035]).
Regarding claim 30, in the proposed combination, reference amplitudes of the plurality of TRP groups in the first polarization direction and the second polarization direction must be either the same or different, as determined by Tosato (see ¶¶ [0037]-[0044]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Zheng et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2022/0271803 discloses normalizing coefficients for feedback and differentially quantizing the normalized coefficients according to a polarization direction to provide the feedback coefficients.
Sun et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2025/0330222 disclose uplink control information for coherent joint transmission multi-TRP operation.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David B. Lugo whose telephone number is 571-272-3043. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 9-6.
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/DAVID B LUGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631 8/6/2026
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