DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No.: US 12,255,705 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because:
Instant Application: 19/051,856
US Patent: US 12,255,705
1. A method performed by an open radio access network (O-RAN) distributed unit (O-DU) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
generating a control plane message comprising a section part with a section extension part;
transmitting the control plane message to an O-RAN radio unit (O-RU),
wherein the section extension information comprises bit masking information indicating antennas to be combined for antenna mapping in Uplink (UL) beamforming-based UE channel information.
1. A method performed by an open radio access network (O-RAN) distributed unit (O-DU) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
generating a control plane message comprising User Equipment (UE) scheduling information; and
transmitting the control plane message to an O-RAN radio unit (O-RU),
wherein the control plane message further comprises section extension information, and
wherein the section extension information comprises bit masking information indicating antennas to be combined.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the section extension information is for antenna mapping in Uplink (UL) beamforming-based UE channel information.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the section part includes User Equipment (UE) scheduling information.
1. …
generating a control plane message comprising User Equipment (UE) scheduling information;
…
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the bit masking information includes a bitmap indicating whether antennas corresponding to respective bits are to be combined, and wherein a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the bit masking information comprises a bitmap indicating whether antennas corresponding to respective bits are to be combined, and wherein a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the bit masking information comprises bitmaps for a plurality of reception extended antenna carriers (eAxCs) for multi-port grouping.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the control plane message further comprises different section extension information for multi-port grouping, and wherein the bit masking information comprises bitmaps for a plurality of reception extended antenna carriers (eAxCs) related to the different section extension information.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of reception eAxCs comprise a first reception eAxC and a second reception eAxC,
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the first reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the first reception eAxC, and
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the second reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the second reception eAxC.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of reception eAxCs comprise a first reception eAxC and a second reception eAxC,
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the first reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the first reception eAxC, and
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the second reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the second reception eAxC.
6. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving the UE channel information from the O-RU, through a fronthaul path between the O-DU and the O-RU,
wherein the UE channel information comprises information in which channel information for at least two antennas is combined out of the antennas, according to the control plane message.
6. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving the UE channel information from the O-RU, through a fronthaul path between the O-DU and the O-RU,
wherein the UE channel information comprises information in which channel information for at least two antennas is combined out of the antennas, according to the control plane message.
7. A method performed by an open radio access network (O-RAN) radio unit (O-RU) of a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving a control plane message comprising a section part with a section extension part,
wherein the section extension part includes bit masking information indicating antennas to be combined for antenna mapping in Uplink (UL) beamforming-based UE channel information.
7. A method performed by an open radio access network (O-RAN) radio unit (O-RU) of a base station in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving a control plane message comprising User Equipment (UE) scheduling information from an O-RAN distributed unit (O-DU),
wherein the control plane message further comprises section extension information for antenna mapping, and
wherein the section extension information comprises bit masking information indicating antennas to be combined.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the section extension information is used by the O-RU for antenna mapping in Uplink (UL) beamforming-based UE channel information.
8. The method of claim 7,
wherein the section part includes User Equipment (UE) scheduling information.
7. …
receiving a control plane message comprising User Equipment (UE) scheduling information
…
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the bit masking information includes a bitmap indicating whether antennas corresponding to respective bits are to be combined, and
wherein a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the bit masking information comprises a bitmap indicating whether antennas corresponding to respective bits are to be combined, and
wherein a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the bit masking information comprises bitmaps for a plurality of reception extended antenna carriers (eAxCs) for multi-port grouping.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the control plane message further comprises different section extension information for multi-port grouping, and wherein the bit masking information comprises bitmaps for a plurality of reception eAxCs related to the different section extension information.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of reception eAxCs comprise a first reception eAxC and a second reception eAxC,
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the first reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the first reception eAxC, and
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the second reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the second reception eAxC.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of reception eAxCs comprise a first reception eAxC and a second reception eAxC,
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the first reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the first reception eAxC, and
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the second reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the second reception eAxC.
12. The method of claim 8, further comprising transmitting the UE channel information to the O-DU, through a fronthaul path between the O-DU and the O-RU,
wherein the UE channel information comprises information in which channel information for at least two antennas is combined out of the antennas, according to the control plane message.
12. The method of claim 8, further comprising transmitting the UE channel information to the O-DU, through a fronthaul path between the O-DU and the O-RU,
wherein the UE channel information comprises information in which channel information for at least two antennas is combined out of the antennas, according to the control plane message.
13. An open radio access network (O-RAN) distributed unit (O-DU) of a base station in a wireless communication system, the DU comprising:
at transceiver;
memory storing instructions; and
at least one processor,
wherein when the instructions are executed, individually or collectively, by the at least one processor to cause the O-DU to:
generate a control plane message comprising a section part with a section extension part, and
transmit, through the transceiver, the control plane message to an open radio access network (O-RAN) radio unit (O-RU),
wherein the section extension part includes bit masking information indicating antennas to be combined for antenna mapping in Uplink (UL) beamforming-based UE channel information.
13. An open radio access network (O-RAN) distributed unit (O-DU) of a base station in a wireless communication system, the DU comprising:
at least one transceiver; and
at least one processor operatively connected to the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to:
generate a control plane message comprising User Equipment (UE) scheduling information; and
transmit, through the at least one transceiver, the control plane message to an open radio access network (O-RAN) radio unit (O-RU),
wherein the control plane message further comprises section extension information for antenna mapping, and
wherein the section extension information comprises bit masking information indicating antennas to be combined.
14. The O-DU of claim 13, wherein the section extension information is for antenna mapping in Uplink (UL) beamforming-based UE channel information.
14. The O-DU of claim 13, wherein the section part includes User Equipment (UE) scheduling information.
13. …
generate a control plane message comprising User Equipment (UE) scheduling information
…
15. The O-DU of claim 13, wherein the bit masking information includes a bitmap indicating whether antennas corresponding to respective bits are to be combined, and
wherein a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64.
15. The O-DU of claim 13, wherein the bit masking information comprises a bitmap indicating whether antennas corresponding to respective bits are to be combined, and
wherein a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64.
16. The O-DU of claim 13, wherein the bit masking information comprises bitmaps for a plurality of reception extended antenna carriers (eAxCs) for multi-port grouping.
16. The O-DU of claim 13, the control plane message further comprises different section extension information for multi-port grouping, and wherein the bit masking information comprises bitmaps for a plurality of reception extended antenna carriers (eAxCs) related to the different section extension information.
17. The O-DU of claim 16, wherein the plurality of reception eAxCs comprise a first reception eAxC and a second reception eAxC,
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the first reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the first reception eAxC, and
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the second reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the second reception eAxC.
17. The O-DU of claim 16, wherein the plurality of reception eAxCs comprise a first reception eAxC and a second reception eAxC,
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the first reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the first reception eAxC, and
wherein each bit of a bitmap corresponding to the second reception eAxC out of the bitmaps indicates whether a corresponding antenna is to be combined in the second reception eAxC.
18. An open radio access network (O-RAN) radio unit (O-RU) of a base station in a wireless communication system, the O-RU comprising:
a transceiver;
memory storing instructions; and
at least one processor;
wherein when the instructions are executed, individually or collectively, by the at least one processor to cause the O-RU to:
receive, through the transceiver, a control plane message comprising a section part with a section extension part, and
wherein the section extension part includes bit masking information indicating antennas to be combined for antenna mapping in Uplink (UL) beamforming-based UE channel information.
18. An open radio access network (O-RAN) radio unit (O-RU) of a base station in a wireless communication system, the O-RU comprising:
at least one transceiver; and
at least one processor operatively connected to the at least one transceiver,
the at least one processor being configured to
receive, through the at least one transceiver, a control plane message comprising User Equipment (UE) scheduling information from an open radio access network (O-RAN) distributed unit (O-DU), wherein the control plane message further comprises section extension information for antenna mapping, and
wherein the section extension information comprises bit masking information indicating antennas to be combined.
19. The O-RU of claim 18, wherein the section extension information is used by the O-RU for antenna mapping in Uplink (UL) beamforming-based UE channel information.
19. The O-RU of claim 18,
wherein the section part includes User Equipment (UE) scheduling information.
18. …
a control plane message comprising User Equipment (UE) scheduling information
…
20. The O-RU of claim 19, wherein the bit masking information includes a bitmap indicating whether antennas corresponding to respective bits are to be combined, and
wherein a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64.
20. The O-RU of claim 19, wherein the bit masking information comprises a bitmap indicating whether antennas corresponding to respective bits are to be combined, and
wherein a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 6-8, 12-14, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rajagopal (US 2019/0289497 A1).
Consider claims 1, 7, 13 and 18:
Rajagopal discloses a method performed by an open radio access network (O-RAN) distributed unit (O-DU) in a wireless communication system (see Fig. 1 and paragraph 0081, where Rajagopal describes a Cloud based Radio Access Network (CRAN) that includes a Distributed Unit (DU) 104, a Radio Unit (RU) 105 in a base station (BS) of a wireless communication system; see paragraphs 0106-0107, where Rajagopal describes implementation using computer and memory), the method comprising:
generating a control plane message comprising a section part with a section extension part (see paragraph 0157, where Rajagopal describes that the Cloud based Radio Access Network (CRAN) generates control message for a management plane, the control message includes “antenna ID”field; see paragraphs 0146-0149, where Rajagopal describes that a control plane message “C-Plane message” identifies a section type “SectionType” and a section ID “SectionID”); and
transmitting the control plane message to an O-RAN radio unit (O-RU) (see Fig. 1 and paragraph 0163, where Rajagopal describes that the “antenna ID” in the control message of the management plane is indicated to the Radio Unit (RU) 105),
wherein the section extension part includes bit masking information indicating antennas to be combined for antenna mapping in Uplink (UL) beamforming-based UE channel information (see paragraph 0165, where Rajagopal describes that antenna numbers can be encoded using bits ‘1’s and ‘0’s in the “antenna ID” field to indicate the antennas for which an Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) message needs to be transmitted; see paragraph 0173, where Rajagopal describes that the bits “0”s instruct the Radio Unit (RU) 105 that the corresponding antennas can not be used; see paragraph 0174, where Rajagopal describes that the “antenna ID” field may be used for uplink (UL); see Fig. 7 and paragraph 0180, where Rajagopal describes that the Cloud based Radio Access Network (CRAN) is configured to transmit the control message for a channel estimate based beamforming).
Consider claims 2, 8, 14 and 19:
Rajagopal discloses the invention of claims 1, 7, 13 and 18 above. Rajagopal discloses: the section part includes User Equipment (UE) scheduling information (see paragraphs 0146-0149, where Rajagopal describes that the control plane message “C-Plane message” identifies a section type “SectionType”; see paragraph 0127, where Rajagopal describes that all UEs are scheduled to use this “SectionType”; see Fig. 7 and paragraph 0180, where Rajagopal describes that K UEs are scheduled by the control plane message received from the Cloud based Radio Access Network (CRAN)).
Consider claims 6 and 12:
Rajagopal discloses the invention of claims 2 and 8 above. Rajagopal discloses: receiving the UE channel information from the O-RU, through a fronthaul path between the O-DU and the O-RU (see paragraph 0180, where Rajagopal describes that UE channel information is being reported to the CRAN through a fronthaul interface; see Fig. 2B and paragraphs 0120-0122, where Rajagopal that the fronthaul interface may be configured between the DU and the RU), wherein the UE channel information comprises information in which channel information for at least two antennas is combined out of the antennas, according to the control plane message (see paragraph 0189, where Rajagopal describes that channel state information for a UE is given for each antenna of a plurality of antennas).
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 3, 9, 15 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rajagopal (US 2019/0289497 A1), as applied to claims 1, 7, 13 and 19 above, and further in view of Park et al. (US 2016/0021551 A1).
Consider claims 3, 9, 15 and 20:
Rajagopal discloses the invention of claims 1, 7, 13 and 19 above. Rajagopal discloses: the bit masking information includes a bitmap indicating whether antennas corresponding to respective bits are to be combined (see paragraph 0165, where Rajagopal describes that antenna numbers can be encoded using bits ‘1’s and ‘0’s in the “antenna ID” field to indicate the antennas are used for transmission), and a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap (see paragraph 0167, where Rajagopal describes a maximum number of antennas).
Rajagopal does not specifically disclose: a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64.
Park teaches: a maximum number of antennas corresponding to a bitmap is 64 (see paragraph 0139, where Park describes a maximum of 64 antennas corresponding to an 8-bit bitmap information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include: a maximum number of antennas corresponding to the bitmap is 64, as taught by Park to modify the method of Rajagopal in order to accommodate 8 antenna ports, as discussed by Park (see paragraph 0139).
Claims 4, 10 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rajagopal (US 2019/0289497 A1), as applied to claims 1, 7 and 13 above, and further in view of Österling (US 2022/0123812 A1).
Consider claims 4, 10 and 16:
Rajagopal discloses the invention of claims 1, 7 and 13 above. Rajagopal discloses: the bit masking information comprises bitmaps for a plurality of reception carriers for multi-port grouping (see paragraph 0165, where Rajagopal describes that the Cloud based Radio Access Network (CRAN) uses bits to identify antennas to be used for transmission; see paragraph 0082, where Rajagopal describes that the CRAN is configured for a plurality of carriers; see paragraph 0123, where Rajagopal describes that the CRAN includes antenna ports).
Rajagopal does not specifically discloses: extended antenna carriers (eAxCs).
Österling teaches: extended antenna carriers (eAxCs) (see paragraph 0182, where Österling describes an eAxC which is extended Antenna Carrier).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include: extended antenna carriers (eAxCs), as taught by Österling to modify the method of Rajagopal in order to represent a data flow for a single antenna, as discussed by Österling (see paragraph 0182).
Conclusion
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/LIHONG YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2631
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