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 .
This Office Action is in response to amendment filing on 07/01/2026.
Claim 1-17 and 20-22 are currently pending and have been considered below.
Claims 1-3, 5, 6, 8-13, 16 and 17 have been amended.
Claims 18-19 have been cancelled.
Claims 20-22 have been newly added.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-17 and 20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
The Examiner submits that the limitation “information indicating an inter-slot orthogonal cover code (OCC) configuration” is not taught in the written description. However, for purposes of Examination, the Examiner presents Chatterjee to teach such feature.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-11, 17, and 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah (U.S. 2024/0322955) in view of Chatterjee et al (WO 2025170677).
Regarding claim 1, Shah teaches a method, comprising:
receiving, by a first terminal device, first information from a network device in a non-terrestrial network (transmitting to a set of user equipment (UE)s control signaling by a network entity, see par. [0219]; network entity is non-terrestrial; see par. [0227]); orthogonal cover code (OCC) configuration for an uplink data transmission ([0117] UEs are transmitting slots that have been configured with OCC), wherein the inter-slot OCC configuration indicates an index of a first OCC sequence in a first OCC sequence set ([0117] notation of the slots 705 correspond to S.sub.k.sup.i, which includes slot index k at UE i. So the first slot 705-a and the second slot 705-b both correspond to a slot index 1 for UE 115-j (e.g., UE 1 or S.sup.1). That is, the slots 705 are grouped into a set by index, so that the transmission does not cycle slots having different indices)
determining, by the first terminal device, the first OCC sequence based on the first information (control information indicates which row of a Hadamard matrix corresponds to each UE as a way to indicate respective cover coding configurations for the set of UEs; see par. [0223]); and
determining, by the first terminal device, an uplink transmission resource on a first resource block based on the first sequence (UEs provide transport blocks encoded with the respective cover coding configurations; see par. [0219]); and
and transmitting, by the first terminal device, the uplink date transmission on the uplink transmission resource (control information indicates which row of a Hadamard matrix corresponds to each UE as a way to indicate respective cover coding configurations for the set of UEs; see par. [0223]), wherein each slot of a plurality of consecutive slots is associated with a respective element of the first OCC sequence (Hadamard matrix, which as is known has as a property that all rows are mutually orthogonal; see [0223], see pars. [0119]-[0122] for an example of how each UE uses its assigned row of a Hadamard matrix to encode slots and resource units to generate orthogonal transmissions [0119], each UE inputting each respective data slot using vectors from the Hadamard matrix [0120], this producing orthogonal outputs [0121]; (UEs multiplexing transport blocks, par. [0219], on a per slot basis, par. [0222]; see also par. [0103] providing a description of resource block divided into slots; see pars. [0119]-[01222] for an example of a plurality of UEs encoding the resource block on a slot-by-slot basis; also, [0127] At 915, the UEs 115 may transmit, to the network entity 105-b, an uplink transmission including the set of transport blocks in accordance with the uplink grant).
,
Shah does not expressly disclose wherein the first information indicates an inter-slot orthogonal cover code (OCC) configuration for an uplink data transmission, wherein the inter-slot OCC configuration indicates an OCC length of a first OCC sequence in a first OCC sequence set, wherein the OCC length is selected from a length of 2 or a length of 4 and based on OCC length and the index of the first OCC sequence indicated by the first information.
However, Chatterjee discloses wherein inter-slot OCC PUSCH repetition, values of an OCC sequence are applied across slots of the PUSCH repetition, see Abstract; For inter-slot OCC PUSCH repetition, values of an OCC sequence are applied across slots of the PUSCH repetition. The UE may apply a first value of an OCC sequence of length two to a first repetition of a PUSCH transmission in a first slot and apply a second value of the OCC sequence of length two to a second repetition of the PUSCH transmission in a second slot, [0018]; the UE is configured to use inter-slot OCC for PUSCH repetition, the processing circuitry may apply a first value of the OCC sequence of length four to a first repetition of a PUSCH transmission in a first slot, apply a second value of the OCC sequence of length four to a second repetition of the PUSCH transmission in a second slot, apply a third value of the OCC sequence of length four to a third repetition of a PUSCH transmission in a third slot, and apply a fourth value of the OCC sequence of length four to a fourth repetition of the PUSCH transmission in a fourth slot, [0088].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Shah with the teachings of Chatterjee, the rationale being to applying code patterns through different transmission time slots in order to manage repetitions or multi-user signals over time.
Regarding claim 2, in the obvious combination, Shah discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first OCC sequence is a sequence corresponding to the first terminal device in a first sequence set (control information indicates which row of a Hadamard matrix corresponds to each UE as a way to indicate respective cover coding configurations for the set of UEs; see par. [0223]), the first sequence set comprises a plurality of mutually orthogonal sequences (Hadamard matrix, which as is known has as a property that all rows are mutually orthogonal; see [0223], see pars. [0119]-[0122] for an example of how each UE uses its assigned row of a Hadamard matrix to encode slots and resource units to generate orthogonal transmissions [0119], each UE inputting each respective data slot using vectors from the Hadamard matrix [0120], this producing orthogonal outputs [0121]), the first terminal device is one of a plurality of terminal devices (the set of UEs, each assigned a row in the Hadamard matrix, each using its assigned portion to encode slots that result in orthogonal transmissions, which allow multiplexing, pars. [0219], [0119]-[0122]), and the plurality of terminal devices multiplex the first resource block with the plurality of consecutive slots based on the plurality of sequences (UEs multiplexing transport blocks, par. [0219], on a per slot basis, par. [0222]; see also par. [0103] providing a description of resource block divided into slots; see pars. [0119]-[01222] for an example of a plurality of UEs encoding the resource block on a slot-by-slot basis), the plurality of sequences are in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of terminal devices (UE 115-k may apply a vector of [1, -1] to the slot sequence, par. [0118], each UE inputting each respective data slot using vectors from the Hadamard matrix [0120]).
Regarding claim 3, in the obvious combination, Shah discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first information is carried in at least one of radio resource control (RRC) dedicated signaling associated with a configured grant for the uplink data transmission (all uplink transmissions for a given UE 115 (e.g., may be RRC configured for uplink transmissions for a given UE 115, see par. [0099]; respective orthogonal cover coding configurations to apply to respective uplink grants for the set of UEs, see [0018]) or downlink control information (DCI) (such as downlink control signals or downlink data signals, to the UE 115-b using the communication link 125-b, par. [0098]).
Regarding claim 4, in the obvious combination, Shah discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein before the receiving, by the first terminal device, the first information from the network device, the method further comprises:
transmitting, by the first terminal device, second information to the network device, wherein the second information indicates whether the first terminal device has a capability of supporting resource multiplexing (The UEs 115 may be devices in different forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs 115 are illustrated in FIG. 1. The UEs 115 described herein may be capable of supporting communications with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115 or network entities 105, as shown in FIG. 1; par. [0053], UEs multiplexing transport blocks, par. [0219], on a per slot basis, par. [0222]).
Regarding claim 5, in the obvious combination, Shah discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of terminal devices form a first terminal device group, the first terminal device group is determined based on third information, and the third information comprises one or more of the following information: a service type of a terminal device, channel quality of the terminal device, location information of the terminal device, or capability information of the terminal device. (par. [0053], The UEs 115 described herein may be capable of supporting communications with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115 or network entities 105, as shown in FIG. 1.).
Regarding claim 6, in the obvious combination, Shah discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein a quantity of the plurality of terminal devices is related to a quantity of sub-carriers or sub-channels corresponding to the first resource block (par. [0080], UEs 115 may be configured for operation using a narrowband protocol type that is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., set of subcarriers or resource blocks (RBs) within a carrier, within a guard-band of a carrier, or outside of a carrier).
Regarding claim 7, Shah discloses the method according to claim 6, wherein a product of the quantity of the plurality of terminal devices and a first parameter is the quantity of sub-carriers corresponding to the first resource block, and the first parameter is a positive integer (par. [0003], … (e.g., a quantity of RVs associated with the uplink transmission for each of the UEs), a quantity of resource elements (REs) associated with each repetition of each RV of the set of RVs, and a quantity of repetitions associated with each RV of the set of RVs (e.g., quantity of times each of the RVs is repeated). Each UE performs a mapping of the repetitions of the RVs across time in accordance with the orthogonal cover code and the multiplexing order M, …).
Regarding claim 8, in the obvious combination, Shah discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of sequences are a plurality of row sequences of a first matrix, and a quantity of the plurality of terminal devices is determined based on an order of the first matrix (par. [0118], A matrix may be applied to implement the OCC coding to the slots 705, as described with respect to FIG. 2 … as part of the OCC coding, UE 115-k may apply a vector of [1, -1] to the slot sequence. For the UE 115-k, the first slot 705-e and the second slot 705-f have an index of slot 0 for UE 115-k (e.g., UE 2 or S.sup.2). The second slot 705-e is formatted as a negative slot, where −1 is applied).
Regarding claim 9, in the obvious combination, Shah discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the first OCC sequence is further determined based on at least one of a communication environment or a channel status of the first terminal device (par. [0091], The UE 115 may report feedback that indicates precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured set of beams across a system bandwidth or one or more sub-bands. The network entity 105 may transmit a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), which may be precoded or unprecoded. The UE 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a port selection type codebook)).
Regarding claim 10, in the obvious combination, Shah discloses the method according to claim 9, wherein OCC sequence s related to one or more channel quality metrics in the channel status of the first terminal device 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a port selection type codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted along one or more directions by a network entity 105 (e.g., a base station 140, an RU 170), a UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times along different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by the UE 115) or for transmitting a signal along a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device)).
Regarding claim 11, in the obvious combination, Shah discloses the method according to claim 10, wherein OCC sequence is a maximum value in the one or more channel quality metrics (par. [0090], a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the network entity 105 along different directions and may report to the network entity 105 an indication of the signal that the UE 115 received with a highest signal quality or an otherwise acceptable signal quality; further, [0132] receiving information such as packets, user data, control information, or any combination thereof associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, information channels related to OCC for multiplexing transmissions by multiple UEs).).
Regarding claim 17, Shah discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: separately multiplying, by the first terminal device, a modulation symbol by a plurality of elements in the first OCC sequence (the OCC for the corresponding UE 115 (e.g., using the corresponding Hadamard matrix), and send the decoded sequence to a demodulator for calculations (e.g., log-likelihood ratio (LLR) calculations). The OCC may be performed on a symbol-wise or slot-wise basis (e.g., symbol-by-symbol or slot-by-slot), par. [0106]).
18-19. (Cancelled)
Claim 20 contains subject matter similar to claim 1, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale. (Shah, “Methods,” Abstract).
Claim 21 contains subject matter similar to claim 1, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale. (Shah, apparatus 115-a (e.g., UE) and 105-a (BS)).
Claim 22 contains subject matter similar to claim 2, and thus, is rejected under similar rationale.
Claims 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shah in view of Chatterjee et al (WO 2025170677) further in view of Liang et al (US 20230283437).
Regarding claim 12, Shah in view of Chatterjee does not expressly disclose according to claim 1, wherein a quantity of the plurality of terminal devices is k, k is a natural number greater than 1, and the first sequence set comprises:
a 1st sequence [1,1, 1, 1, ..., 1, 1]; and
an sthsequence [1, "exp"("j * 2 * " "π"/"k"" * (s - 1)" ), 1, exp(j *2*π/k*(s - 1)*2), …,1, exp (j*2* π/k*(S-1)*(k-1))], wherein j represents an imaginary unit, and 1 < s < k.
However, Liang discloses sequence being processed with a cyclic shift and modulated with a orthogonal spread sequence and determining sequences based as shown on pars. [0052]-[0064].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liang with Shah and Chatterjee in order to ensure secure, reliable, and non-overlapping communication channels in networks.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to combine Edge with Shah in order to arrive at the invention specified in claim 12.
Examiner further adds that formulation for determining a first sequence set is a design choice, and one of skilled in the art could have derived a desirable formula in order to calculate the desirable sequences based on corresponding parameters. The recited expression defines a known geometric sequence of complex numbers representing the s-th set of phase shifts or subcarrier weights in digital communications, such as the known OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) or MIMO beamforming.
Regarding claim 13, Shah in view of Chatterjee et al does not expressly disclose according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sequences are determined based on a plurality of different root sequences, and the plurality of different root sequences are generated based on a cyclic shift of a first root sequence.
However, Liang discloses sequence being processed with a cyclic shift and modulated with a orthogonal spread sequence and determining sequences based as shown on par. [0048] – 050], formula ((10), par. [0048], (4), par. [0050].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liang with Shah in order to create multiple orthogonal or low-correlation preambles (signatures) from a single sequence, thus, maximizing capacity for random access (RACH) in the wireless system while minimizing interference.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to combine Chatterjee with Shah in order to arrive at the invention specified in claim 13.
Regarding claim 14, Liang further discloses the method according to claim 13, wherein a sequence Xmn obtained after the first root sequence is cyclically shifted is:
Xm,n =Xm[(nl + Cn)modN ], wherein N represents a length of the sequence, n represents a sequence number of the cyclic shift performed on the first root sequence, n =0,1, ..., [N/Scs] - 1, Scs represents a step of the cyclic shift, Cn represents a quantity of steps of a cyclic shift corresponding to n, Cn=n*Ses, Xm represents the first root sequence, m represents an index of the first root sequence,and 0<m<N. (par. [0049] “In some embodiments, the autocorrelation of the sequence Si can be calculated as following: Si*Qi.sup.H=Σ.sub.i=0.sup.N-1d(i)*d((i+α)mod N)* (2).” The Examiner further adds that formulation for determining a sequence after the first root sequence being cyclically shifted is a design choice, and one of skilled in the art could have derived a desirable formula in order to calculate the desirable sequences based on corresponding parameters. Moreover, The formula Xm,n =Xm[(nl + Cn)modN ], is known in the art for relating the mapping of a long sequence into a shorter one (or vice-versa) by treating the linear index as a linear combination of two other indices, m and n, typically k = nl + Cn(mod N).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liang with Shah and Chatterjee in order to obtained sequence Xm,n after the first root sequence being cyclically shifted for the purpose of generating multiple, orthogonal preambles from a single root sequence.
PNG
media_image1.png
1
1
media_image1.png
Greyscale
Regarding claim 15, in the obvious combination, Liang and Shah further disclose the method according to claim 14, wherein an element Xm(i) in the first root sequence Xm is: Xm(i)= e^(-j.pi.m.i.(i+1))/N, wherein N represents a length of the first root sequence, and i =0,1, ..., N - 1.
The Examiner further adds that formulation for determining first root sequence is a design choice, and one of skilled in the art could have derived a desirable formula in order to calculate first root sequences based on corresponding parameters. Moreover, The formula The sequence formula Xm(i)= e^(-j.pi.m.i.(i+1))/N, is known in the art and widely used in wireless communications.
Regarding claim 16, in the obvious combination, Liang and Shah the method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sequences are determined based on a same root sequence (Liang, [0052]-[0064]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Liang with Shah and Chatterjee in order to ensure secure, reliable, and non-overlapping communication channels in networks.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date of the claimed invention to combine Liang with Shah and Chatterjee in order to arrive at the invention specified in claim 16.
Examiner further adds that formulation for determining a first sequence set is a design choice, and one of skilled in the art could have derived a desirable formula in order to calculate the desirable sequences based on corresponding parameters. The recited expression defines a known geometric sequence of complex numbers representing the s-th set of phase shifts or subcarrier weights in digital communications, such as the known OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) or MIMO beamforming.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
/JULIO R PEREZ/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
Prosecution Insights