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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references listed in the Information Disclosure Statement(s) filed on 3/18/2025 and 11/24/2025 have been considered by the examiner (see attached PTO-1449 form or PTO/SB/08A and 08B forms).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefore, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) “determining a plurality of target port indices based on the row index information, the correspondence relationship and the indication” which is a mental process (e.g. making a determination based on received information). This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the determined target port indices are not used in any meaningful way for improvement or for a particular machine. The other functional limitations merely provide a general linking to a particular technological environment (in this case, transceivers receiving information related to DMRS port indices). The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional steps/functions of “receiving row index information,” and “receiving an indication” are considered as data gathering steps that are well-understood, routine, conventional activity are not indicative of an inventive concept (i.e. not “significantly more”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1, 10 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shin et al. (US 2019/0068308, hereinafter “Shin” – cited in an IDS).
Regarding claims 1, 10 and 19 are directed to a first communication apparatus comprising:
a transceiver (Figs. 14-15, transmitter and receiver, UE/gNB); and
at least one processor configured with processor-executable instructions (processor 1802, 1903, Figs. 14-15) to perform operations comprising:
receiving row index information in a correspondence relationship from a second communication apparatus (para. 0056-70, Tables 2-1 and 2-2, each row of the tables corresponds a row value; tables include information sent to the UE by downlink control information DCI), wherein the correspondence relationship indicates an association relationship between a row index and a plurality of port indices, and the plurality of port indices indicate demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port indices (relationship inherent in tables which map index values to port numbers; see also Table 12, page 12);
receiving an indication from the second communication apparatus, wherein the indication indicates that the plurality of port indices are associated with two codewords (signalling DMRS information, including number layers and port numbers, para. 0060 and 0063-0070; number of layers associated with 2 codewords, see para. 0175 and 0190); and
determining a plurality of target port indices based on the row index information, the correspondence relationship, and the indication (Fig. 9A, UE receives DMRS information, including port numbers, step i00).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hao et al. (US 2021/0297121) discloses UE and base stations using row index information to convey DMRS configuration.
Park et al. (US 2020/0304232) discloses a UE receiving row index information indicating which ports the UE is to expect transmissions from.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAVID S HUANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1798. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hannah Wang can be reached at (571) 272-9018. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/David S Huang/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631 8/22/2026
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