DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application as originally filed 02/26/2025.
Status of the claims:
Claims 1-24 were pending.
Claims 7-8, 19-21, 23 are cancelled.
New claims 25-26 are added.
Claims 1-6, 9-18, 22, 24-26 are presently pending. The detail office action to the pending claims is as shown below.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of Applicant’s request for entry of the preliminary Amendment filed 02/26/2025. By this amendment, the Claim, the Drawings and Abstract of the Disclosure are amended. The Applicant Remarks filed along with the preliminary Amendment indicates “by way of the Preliminary Amendment, claims 1, 4-6, 9-11, 14- 18, 22, 24 have been amended, claims 7-8, 19-21, 23, have been cancelled, new claims 25-26 have been added, and the Abstract has been amended. No new matter has been added. Applicant further submits a marked-up Substitute Specification and a clean Substitute Specification for consideration. Applicant hereby confirms that no new matter has been added through the submission of the Substitute Specification.”
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-6, 9-18, 22, 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US2024/0048209 to Huang et al. (“Huang”, hereinafter) (The remarks and/or references placed in the parentheses apply to the prior art)
RE claim 1, Huang discloses a method for determining a precoding matrix for orbital angular momentum (OAM) performed by a first communication device (e.g. Figs. 17-18, para [0252] of Huang), the method comprising: independently sending respective reference signals to a second communication device based on target antenna array units among antenna array units on a uniform circular array (e.g. method step 1810 of Fig. 18); receiving a precoding matrix index (PMI) of each target antenna array unit determined based on the reference signals and sent by the second communication device (e.g. method step 1810 of Fig. 18); and determining a precoding matrix for each antenna array unit on the uniform circular array according to the PMIs of the target antenna array units (e.g. Huang, paras [0055], [0260-0264]: determining a precoding matrix for each subset of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes based in part on the received report indicating the precoding information (PMI); wherein the PMI may include parameters for each OAM mode individually that accounts for each antenna circle at the receiving device.)
While Huang discloses the claimed limitation “sending respective reference signals to a second communication device based on target antenna array units among antenna array units on a uniform circular array” as discussed above, the subject matter of claim 1 differs from Huang in that Huang does not expressly recite the term “independently” in the context of sending reference signals to a second communication device, as recited by the claim. However, given the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI), in light of the specification as it would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art, Huang’s teaching or suggestion of transmitting respective reference signals for each circular array of the plurality of concentric circular arrays and each orbital angular momentum mode of the set of orbital angular momentum modes and receiving a report indicating precoding information of each of the subset of the set of orbital angular momentum modes based at least in part on transmitting the respective reference signals, as disclosed by method steps 1810-1815 of Fig. 18 of Huang can be construed as Huang is teaching or fairly suggesting said claim term/limitation. Hence the prior art includes each element/feature as claimed, although not necessarily in a single prior art reference, with the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art being the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference. Thus, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person of ordinary skill in the art (POSITA) to modify the feature/element disclosed by Huang with the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art given the broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification in order to independently transmit respective reference signals to a receiving communication device (see for example, method steps 1810-1815 of Fig. 18 of Huang). Therefore one of ordinary skill in the art, such as an individual working in a field related to communication technologies could have combined the features/elements as claimed by known methods, and that in combination, each feature/method merely performs the same function as it does separately, with each feature/method retaining its advantageous function, yielding predictable result/s. It is for at least the aforementioned reasons that the Examiner has reached a conclusion of obviousness with respect to claim 1.
RE claim 2, Huang discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein determining the precoding matrix for each antenna array unit on the uniform circular array according to the PMIs of the target antenna array units comprises: determining relative position information of the second communication device according to the PMIs of the target antenna array units (e.g. Huang, Fig. 5, paras [0104]-[0105], [0154]: … receives PMI report, according to each respective OAM modes using each UCA circle and generates a precoding matrix for each OAM mode; wherein parameters of each UCA circle for each OAM mode correspond to communication distance between the transmitting and receiving device and radius of the transmitter and receiver UCA circles); and determining the precoding matrix for each antenna array unit on the uniform circular array according to the relative position information (e.g. Huang, paras [0055], [0514], [0260]-[0264]: determining a precoding matrix for each subset of OAM modes based in part on the PMI; the PMI may include parameters for each OAM mode individually that accounts for each antenna circle at the receiving device).
RE claim 3, Huang discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein determining the relative position information of the second communication device according to the PMIs comprises: determining unit position information of the target antenna array units according to configuration information of the uniform circular array; determining direction angles between the target antenna array units and the second communication device according to the PMIs (e.g. Huang, Fig. 5, paras [0105]) ; and determining the relative position information of the second communication device according to the direction angles, the configuration information of the uniform circular array, and the unit position information (e.g. Huang, Fig. 5, paras [0106]).
RE claim 4, Huang discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of the following: receiving first modal indication information sent by the second communication device (e.g. Huang, Fig. 2 and para [0005]: the first device receives reporting including a set of OAM mode, from the second communication device) wherein the first modal indication information is configured to indicate at least one of a number of reference OAM modals or a reference OAM modal value (e.g. Huang, Fig. 2, para [0005]: … includes a set of OAM modes associated with a plurality of antennas arranged in a set of concentric circular array), and the number of the reference OAM modals and the reference OAM modal value are determined by the second communication device based on the PMIs and first channel information of the target antenna array units (e.g. Huang, para [0055]: the receiving device (i.e. second communication device) transmits a CSI report including the PMI which indicate information that the transmitting device may use to determine a precoding matrix for each OAM modes of the receiving device); or before independently sending the respective reference signals to the second communication device based on the target antenna array units among the antenna array units on the uniform circular array, selecting K antenna array units from among N antenna array units on the uniform circular array as the target antenna array units and configuring a corresponding reference signal for each target antenna array unit, wherein N and K are positive integers greater than or equal to 2, and K<N (Note: use of the alternative language “or” indicates prior art needs to teach at least one of the features, either before the conjunction “or” or after the conjunction “or”).
RE claim 5, Huang discloses the method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining at least one of a number of target OAM modals or a target OAM modal value selected and used by the first communication device (e.g. Huang, para [0026]: receiving a report indicating precoding information for each of at least a subset of the set of OAM modes and transmitting a transmission accordingly. See also, paras [0133]-[0134] of Huang, the receiving device (i.e. a Network entity, a fist communication device) identifies a set of antenna elements of the planar array that form a receiver UCA, which the transmitting device (i.e. a UE , a second communication device) may select and use); and sending second modal indication information to the second communication device, wherein the second modal indication information is configured to indicate at least one of the number of the target OAM modals or the target OAM modal value (e.g. Huang, para [0026]: receiving a report indicating precoding information for each of at least a subset of the set of OAM modes and transmitting a transmission via one or more of the set of OAM modes based on receiving the report indicating the precoding information).
RE claim 6, Huang discloses the method according to claim 5, wherein determining at least one of the number of the target OAM modals or the target OAM modal value selected and used by the first communication device comprises at least one of the following: determining at least one of the number of the target OAM modals or the target OAM modal value from at least one of a number of reference OAM modals or a reference OAM modal value indicated by the second communication device (e.g. Huang, para [0026]: receiving a report indicating precoding information for each of at least a subset of the set of OAM modes and transmitting a transmission via one or more of the set of OAM modes based on receiving the report indicating the precoding information. See also, paras [0133]-[0134] of Huang, the receiving device (i.e. a Network entity, a fist communication device) identifies a set of antenna elements of the planar array that form a receiver UCA, which the transmitting device (i.e. a UE , a second communication device) may select and use); or encoding the reference signals according to the precoding matrices of the antenna array units, and sending encoded reference signals to the second communication device for a channel estimation, receiving second channel information of the antenna array units sent by the second communication device, and determining at least one of the number of the target OAM modals or the target OAM modal value according to the second channel information (Note: use of the alternative language “or” indicates prior art needs to teach at least one of the features, either before the conjunction “or” or after the conjunction “or”).
RE claim 9, Huang discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein determining the precoding matrix for each antenna array unit on the uniform circular array according to the relative position information comprises: determining the precoding matrix for each antenna array unit according to the relative position information and configuration information of the uniform circular array (e.g. Huang, paras [0055], [0514], [0260]-[0264]: determining a precoding matrix for each subset of OAM modes based in part on the PMI; the PMI may include parameters for each OAM mode individually that accounts for each antenna circle at the receiving device; and Huang, (e.g. Fig. 5, paras [0104]-[0105], [0154]): the device receives PMI report, according to each respective OAM modes using each UCA circle and generates a precoding matrix for each OAM mode; wherein parameters of each UCA circle for each OAM mode correspond to the communication distance (position) between the transmitting/receiving devices and to radius of the transmitter and receiver UCA circles.)
RE claim 10, Huang discloses the method according to claim 9, wherein after determining the precoding matrix for each antenna array unit, further comprising: determining an OAM beamforming coefficient of each antenna array unit on the uniform circular array according to a target OAM modal value selected and used by the first communication device (e.g. Huang, para [0132]-[0135]: Fig. 4 illustrates a UCA OAM configuration for multi-mode PMI reporting. In some aspects, the transmitting and/or receiving devices identify a set of antenna elements of the planar array that form a transmitter/receiver UCAs; select a set of antenna elements from the planar array, and apply beamforming weights (i.e. beamforming coefficients) to each of the selected antenna elements based on OAM mode index 1 of the transmitted OAM beam and one or more spatial parameters associated with each antenna element. By applying respective beamforming weights of each set of weights onto each antenna, a signal port may be generated); sending, for each antenna array unit, information or data to the second communication device according to the OAM beamforming coefficient and the precoding matrix for the antenna array unit (e.g. Huang, paras [0085],[ [0132]-[0135]: generating OAM beam with an OAM mode index, the OAM transmitter may load the weight to each antenna element, the network entity transmits signal according to the different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission), or receiving for each antenna array unit, according to the OAM beamforming coefficient and the precoding matrix for the antenna array unit, information or data sent by the second communication device (Note: use of the alternative language “or” indicates prior art needs to teach at least one of the features, either before the conjunction “or” or after the conjunction “or”).
RE claim 24, Huang discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g. para [0009] of Huang), configured to store instructions (e.g. para [0009] of Huang), wherein the instructions, when being executed by a processor (e.g. para [0009] of Huang), enable cause the processor to perform (e.g. para [0009] of Huang) the method according to claim 1 (see for example, the rejection of claim 1).
RE claim 11, Huang discloses a method for determining a precoding matrix for orbital angular momentum (OAM) performed by a second communication device (e.g. Figs. 15-16, para [0243] of Huang), the method comprising:
receiving reference signals sent independently by a first communication device through designated target antenna array units on a uniform circular array (e.g. method step 1610 of Fig. 16); and
determining a PMI of each target antenna array unit based on the reference signals (e.g. paras [0247]-[0249] and Fig. 16 of Huang: a method for determining multi-mode PMI report for OAM based communication system and joint reporting, the method includes receiving a set of reference signals), and
sending the PMIs to the first communication device, wherein the PMIs are used to determine a precoding matrix for each antenna array unit on the uniform circular array (e.g. Huang, Fig. 16, paras [0250]-[0251]: transmitting a report indicating precoding information for each of at least a subset of the set of orbital angular momentum modes; and Huang, (e.g. paras [0055], [0260-0264]: determining a precoding matrix for each subset of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes based in part on the received report indicating the precoding information (PMI); wherein the PMI may include parameters for each OAM mode individually that accounts for each antenna circle at the receiving device).
While Huang discloses the claimed limitation “sending respective reference signals to a second communication device based on target antenna array units among antenna array units on a uniform circular array” as discussed above, the subject matter of claim 11 differs from Huang in that Huang does not expressly recite the term “independently” in the context of sending reference signals to a second communication device, as recited by the claim. However, given the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI), in light of the specification as it would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art, Huang’s teaching or suggestion of transmitting respective reference signals for each circular array of the plurality of concentric circular arrays and each orbital angular momentum mode of the set of orbital angular momentum modes and receiving a report indicating precoding information of each of the subset of the set of orbital angular momentum modes based at least in part on transmitting the respective reference signals, as disclosed by method steps 1810-1815 of Fig. 18 of Huang can be construed as Huang is teaching or fairly suggesting said claim term/limitation. Hence the prior art includes each element/feature as claimed, although not necessarily in a single prior art reference, with the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art being the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference. Thus, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person of ordinary skill in the art (POSITA) to modify the feature/element disclosed by Huang with the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art given the broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification in order to independently transmit respective reference signals to a receiving communication device (see for example, method steps 1810-1815 of Fig. 18 of Huang). Therefore one of ordinary skill in the art, such as an individual working in a field related to communication technologies could have combined the features/elements as claimed by known methods, and that in combination, each feature/method merely performs the same function as it does separately, with each feature/method retaining its advantageous function, yielding predictable result/s. It is for at least the aforementioned reasons that the Examiner has reached a conclusion of obviousness with respect to claim 11.
RE claim 12, Huang discloses the method according to claim 11, wherein determining the PMI of each target antenna array unit based on the reference signals determining a PMI of each target antenna array unit based on the reference signals (e.g. Huang, paras [0247]-[0249]: a method for determining multi-mode PMI report for OAM based communication system and joint reporting, the method includes receiving a set of reference signals) comprises: performing, for each target antenna array unit, a channel estimation based on the reference signal of the target antenna array unit to obtain first channel information of the target antenna array unit (e.g. Huang, paras [0107]-[0109]); and determining the PMI of the target antenna array unit according to the first channel information of the target antenna array unit (e.g. Huang, paras [0111]-[01112]).
RE claim 13, Huang discloses the method according to claim 12, wherein determining the PMI of the target antenna array unit according to the first channel information of the target antenna array unit comprises: determining an optimal codeword of the target antenna array unit from a preset codebook according to the first channel information of the target antenna array unit (e.g. Huang, paras [0111]); and determining the PMI of the target antenna array unit according to the optimal codeword of the target antenna array unit (e.g. Huang, paras [0111]-[01112]).
RE claim 14, Huang discloses the method according to claim 11, further comprising: determining at least one of a number of reference OAM modals or a reference OAM modal value of the first communication device based on the PMI and first channel information of the target antenna array unit (e.g. Huang, para [0055]: the receiving device transmits a CSI report including the PMI which indicate information that the transmitting device may use to determine a precoding matrix for each OAM modes of the receiving device), wherein the first channel information is determined according to the reference signal of the target antenna array unit (e.g. Huang, paras [0104], [0107]-[0109]) ; and sending first modal indication information to the first communication device (e.g. Huang, Fig. 2 and para [0005]: the first device (i.e. network entity) receives reporting including a set of OAM mode, from the second communication device. In other words, sending reporting including a set of OAM mode), wherein the first modal indication information is configured to indicate at least one of the number of the reference OAM modals or the reference OAM modal value (e.g. Huang, Fig. 2, para [0005]: … the information includes a set of OAM modes associated with a plurality of antennas arranged in a set of concentric circular array).
RE claim 15, Huang discloses the method according to claim 11, further comprising: receiving second modal indication information sent by the first communication device, wherein the second modal indication information is configured to indicate at least one of a number of target OAM modals or a target OAM modal value selected and used by the first communication device (e.g. Huang, para [0026]: receiving a report indicating precoding information for each of at least a subset of the set of OAM modes and transmitting a transmission accordingly. See also, paras [0133]-[0134] of Huang, the receiving device (i.e. a Network entity, a fist communication device) identifies a set of antenna elements of the planar array that form a receiver UCA, which the transmitting device (i.e. a UE , a second communication device) may select and use).
RE claim 16, Huang discloses the method according to claim 15, wherein at least one of the number of the target OAM modals or the target OAM modal value is a number of modals or a modal value determined from at least one of a number of reference OAM modals or a reference OAM modal value sent by the second communication device (e.g. Huang, Fig. 2 and para [0005]: the first device receives reporting including a set of OAM mode, from the second communication device, wherein the reporting includes a set of OAM modes associated with a plurality of antennas arranged in a set of concentric circular array; Huang, (e.g. para [0055]) the receiving device (i.e. second communication device) transmits a CSI report including the PMI which indicate information that the transmitting device may use to determine a precoding matrix for each OAM modes of the receiving device);
RE claim 17, Huang discloses the method according to claim 15, further comprising at least one of: receiving an encoded reference signal sent by the first communication device through each antenna array unit, wherein the encoded reference signal is obtained by encoding the reference signal based on the precoding matrix for the antenna array unit; and obtaining second channel information of the antenna array unit by performing a channel estimation according to the encoded reference signal, and sending the second channel information to the first communication device, wherein the second channel information is used to determine at least one of the number of the target OAM modals or the target OAM modal value; or determining an OAM beamforming coefficient of each antenna array unit on a uniform circular array of the second communication device according to the target OAM modal value selected and used by the first communication device (e.g. Huang, para [0132]-[0135]: Fig. 4 illustrates a UCA OAM configuration for multi-mode PMI reporting. In some aspects, the transmitting and/or receiving devices identify a set of antenna elements of the planar array that form a transmitter/receiver UCAs; select a set of antenna elements from the planar array, and apply beamforming weights (i.e. beamforming coefficients) to each of the selected antenna elements based on OAM mode index 1 of the transmitted OAM beam and one or more spatial parameters associated with each antenna element. By applying respective beamforming weights of each set of weights onto each antenna, a signal port may be generated); and sending information or data to the first communication device according to the OAM beamforming coefficient and the precoding matrix for the antenna array unit, or receiving, according to the OAM beamforming coefficient and the precoding matrix for the antenna array unit, information or data sent by the first communication device (e.g. Huang, paras [0085],[ [0132]-[0135]: generating OAM beam with an OAM mode index, the OAM transmitter may load the weight to each antenna element, the network entity transmits signal according to the different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission). (Note: use of the alternative language “or” indicates prior art needs to teach at least one of the features, either before the conjunction “or” or after the conjunction “or”)
RE claim 18, Huang discloses the method according to claim 11, wherein receiving the reference signals sent by the first communication device through each designated target antenna array unit on the uniform circular array comprises (e.g. Huang, paras [0133]-[0134]: the receiving device (i.e. a Network entity, a fist communication device) identifies a set of antenna elements of the planar array that form a receiver UCA, which the transmitting device (i.e. a UE , a second communication device) may select and use
: receiving configuration information of the reference signal corresponding to each target antenna array unit sent by the first communication device; and receiving the reference signal sent by each target antenna array unit based on the configuration information of the reference signal (e.g. method step 1810 of Fig. 18).
RE claim 22, Huang discloses a communication apparatus (e.g. Fig. 11-14 of Huang), comprising a processor (e.g. a processor 1435) and a memory (e.g. a memory 1425), wherein a computer program is stored in the memory (e.g. a program code 1430), and the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory so as to enable the communication apparatus to (e.g. para [0236] of Huang)
independently send respective reference signals to a second communication device based on target antenna array units among antenna array units on a uniform circular array (e.g. method step 1810 of Fig. 18);
receive a precoding matrix index (PMI) of each target antenna array unit determined based on the reference signals and sent by the second communication device (e.g. method step 1810 of Fig. 18); and
determine a precoding matrix for each antenna array unit on the uniform circular array according to the PMIs of the target antenna array units (e.g. Huang, paras [0055], [0260-0264]: determining a precoding matrix for each subset of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes based in part on the received report indicating the precoding information (PMI); wherein the PMI may include parameters for each OAM mode individually that accounts for each antenna circle at the receiving device.)
While Huang discloses the claimed limitation “sending respective reference signals to a second communication device based on target antenna array units among antenna array units on a uniform circular array” as discussed above, the subject matter of claim 22 differs from Huang in that Huang does not expressly recite the term “independently” in the context of sending reference signals to a second communication device, as recited by the claim. However, given the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI), in light of the specification as it would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art, Huang’s teaching or suggestion of transmitting respective reference signals for each circular array of the plurality of concentric circular arrays and each orbital angular momentum mode of the set of orbital angular momentum modes and receiving a report indicating precoding information of each of the subset of the set of orbital angular momentum modes based at least in part on transmitting the respective reference signals, as disclosed by method steps 1810-1815 of Fig. 18 of Huang can be construed as Huang is teaching or fairly suggesting said claim term/limitation. Hence the prior art includes each element/feature as claimed, although not necessarily in a single prior art reference, with the only difference between the claimed invention and the prior art being the lack of actual combination of the elements in a single prior art reference. Thus, it would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person of ordinary skill in the art (POSITA) to modify the feature/element disclosed by Huang with the knowledge generally available to one of ordinary skill in the art given the broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification in order to independently transmit respective reference signals to a receiving communication device (see for example, method steps 1810-1815 of Fig. 18 of Huang). Therefore one of ordinary skill in the art, such as an individual working in a field related to communication technologies could have combined the features/elements as claimed by known methods, and that in combination, each feature/method merely performs the same function as it does separately, with each feature/method retaining its advantageous function, yielding predictable result/s. It is for at least the aforementioned reasons that the Examiner has reached a conclusion of obviousness with respect to claim 22.
RE claim 25, Huang discloses the communication apparatus (e.g. Fig. 10 of Huang), comprising a processor (e.g. Processor 1040) and a memory (e.g. Memory 1030), wherein a computer program is stored in the memory (e.g. program code 1035), and the processor executes the computer program stored in the memory (e.g. Huang, para [0203]) to cause the communication apparatus to perform the method according to claim 11 (see for example, rejection of claim 11).
RE claim 26, Huang discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (e.g. Huang, para [0029]), configured to store instructions (e.g. Huang, para [0029]), wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to (e.g. Huang, para [0029]) perform the method according to claim 11 (see for example, rejection of claim 11).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure are (See the attached Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)).
These prior arts are considered pertinent because they relate generally to the field of wireless communications, including multi-mode precoding matrix information (PMI) report for orbital angular momentum (OAM) based communication system.
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/BERHANU TADESE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
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