`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`_________________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`_________________
`
`
`APPLE INC.,
`Petitioner
`
`v.
`
`TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON,
`Patent Owner
`_________________
`
`
`Inter Partes Review Case No. IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`
`
`
`
`
`PETITION FOR INTER PARTES REVIEW
`OF U.S. PATENT NO. 10,193,600
`
`

`

`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1
`I.
`II. CERTIFICATION OF GROUNDS FOR STANDING .................................. 1
`III. OVERVIEW OF CHALLENGE AND RELIEF REQUESTED..................... 2
`A. Prior Art ..................................................................................................... 2
`B. Relief Requested ........................................................................................ 2
`IV. OVERVIEW OF THE TECHNOLOGY ........................................................ 3
`V. THE ’600 PATENT ......................................................................................11
`A. Claims .......................................................................................................12
`B. Summary of the Specification ...................................................................12
`C. Summary of the Prosecution History .........................................................15
`D. Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art ............................................................15
`VI. CLAIM CONSTRUCTION ..........................................................................16
`VII. OVERVIEW OF THE PRIOR ART .............................................................16
`A. Novlan ......................................................................................................16
`B. 36.213 .......................................................................................................19
`VIII. SPECIFIC GROUNDS FOR PETITION ......................................................21
`A. Novlan, Or Alternatively Novlan In View Of 36.213, Renders Obvious All
`Challenged Claims ............................................................................................21
`1.
`Independent Claim 1 .............................................................................21
`2. Dependent Claim 2 ................................................................................33
`3. Dependent Claim 3 ................................................................................34
`4. Dependent Claim 4 ................................................................................35
`5. Dependent Claim 5 ................................................................................38
`6. Dependent Claim 6 ................................................................................39
`7. Dependent Claim 7 ................................................................................43
`8.
`Independent Claim 8 .............................................................................45
`9. Dependent Claim 9 ................................................................................48
`10. Dependent Claim 10 ..............................................................................49
`11. Dependent Claim 11 ..............................................................................49
`12. Dependent Claim 12 ..............................................................................49
`13. Dependent Claim 13 ..............................................................................50
`14. Dependent Claim 14 ..............................................................................50
`
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`15. Independent Claim 15 ...........................................................................51
`16. Dependent Claim 16 ..............................................................................53
`17. Dependent Claim 17 ..............................................................................53
`18. Dependent Claim 18 ..............................................................................54
`19. Dependent Claim 19 ..............................................................................54
`20. Dependent Claim 20 ..............................................................................54
`21. Dependent Claim 21 ..............................................................................55
`22. Independent Claim 22 ...........................................................................55
`23. Dependent Claim 23 ..............................................................................58
`24. Dependent Claim 24 ..............................................................................58
`25. Dependent Claim 25 ..............................................................................59
`26. Dependent Claim 26 ..............................................................................59
`27. Dependent Claim 27 ..............................................................................59
`28. Dependent Claim 28 ..............................................................................60
`IX. SECONDARY CONSIDERATIONS ...........................................................60
`X. PTAB DISCRETION SHOULD NOT PRECLUDE INSTITUTION ............61
`A. The Advanced Bionics Test Favors Institution—§ 325(d) .........................61
`B. The General Plastic Factors Favor Institution ............................................63
`XI. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................63
`XII. MANDATORY NOTICES ...........................................................................65
`A. Real Party-In Interest ................................................................................65
`B. Related Matters .........................................................................................65
`C. Counsel and Service Information ..............................................................65
`D. 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(4): Service Information ..............................................66
`
`
`
`
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`ii
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`
`
`
`Exhibit
`No.
`1001
`1002
`1003
`
`1004
`1005
`1006
`1007
`1008
`1009
`
`1010
`
`1011
`1012
`
`1013
`
`1014
`
`1015
`1016
`
`1017
`
`LIST OF EXHIBITS
`
`Description
`
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600 (“the ’600 Patent”)
`Certified File History of U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`Declaration of Dr. Apostolos K. Kakaes for Inter Partes Review of
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Apostolos K. Kakaes
`U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0016549 (“Novlan”)
`3GPP TS 36.213, v12.3.0 (“36.213”)
`3GPP TS 36.213, v10.1.0
`U.S. Patent No. 8,891,676
`Declaration of Friedhelm Rodermund in Support of Petition for Inter
`Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/103,101 (“the ’600
`Patent Provisional”)
`U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0163687 (“Jing”)
`U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/670,936 (the “Novlan
`Provisional”)
`Dahlman et al., 4G – LTE / LTE-Advanced for Mobile Broadband
`(Academic Press 2011) (“Dahlman”)
`Declaration of James L. Mullins in Support of Petition for Inter
`Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0051091
`Sesia, et al., LTE - The UMTS Long Term Evolution From Theory
`to Practice (Wiley 2d. ed. 2011) (“Sesia”)
`Declaration of Jacob Robert Munford in Support of Petition for Inter
`Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`
`iii
`
`

`

`
`Petitioner Apple Inc. (“Apple” or “Petitioner”) requests inter partes review
`
`(“IPR”) of claims 1–28 (the “Challenged Claims”) of U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`
`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`
`(Ex. 1001, “the ’600 Patent”).
`
`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`The ’600 Patent is directed towards methods and apparatuses for “codebook
`
`subset restriction,” a well-known prior art technique used to assist in forming and
`
`directing antenna beams transmitted from a base station to a user device in a wireless
`
`communication network. See Ex. 1001 at 1:13–18. The purported novelty of the
`
`’600 Patent is applying the conventional codebook subset restriction technique in a
`
`manner that is “rank-agnostic” (See Ex. 1002 at 344), meaning that the technique is
`
`applied without regard to the number of beams of information the base station targets
`
`at the user device. This Petition demonstrates, however, that applying the admittedly
`
`conventional technique of codebook subset restriction in a manner that is rank-
`
`agnostic was obvious at the time of the alleged invention. Petitioner therefore
`
`respectfully requests that the Challenged Claims be cancelled as invalid.
`
`II. CERTIFICATION OF GROUNDS FOR STANDING
`Petitioner certifies pursuant to Rule 42.104(a) that the ’600 Patent is available
`
`for IPR and that Petitioner is not barred or estopped from requesting an IPR of the
`
`Challenged Claims on the grounds identified in this Petition.
`
`1
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`III. OVERVIEW OF CHALLENGE AND RELIEF REQUESTED
`
`Petitioner challenges the patentability of the Challenged Claims of the ’600
`
`Patent and requests that they be canceled.
`
`Prior Art
`
`A.
`Petitioner’s challenge is based on the following prior art references:
`
`• Novlan (Ex.1005) - U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0016549
`
`to Novlan et al. filed July 11, 2013. Novlan published on January 16, 2014
`
`and is prior art under post-AIA 35 U.S.C. §§ 102(a)(1)–(2).
`
`• 36.213 (Ex. 1006) - “Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA);
`
`Physical Layer Procedures,” 3GPP TS 36.213, Version 12.3.0 (Release 12).
`
`As set forth in the Rodermund Declaration (Ex. 1009, ¶58), 36.213 was
`
`published and publicly available no later than September 26, 2014, and is prior
`
`art under post-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1).
`
`B. Relief Requested
`Petitioner requests cancellation of the Challenged Claims as unpatentable
`
`under post-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 103. The specific grounds of the challenge are set forth
`
`below, and are supported by the declaration of Dr. Apostolos K. Kakaes (Ex. 1003).
`
`Ground
`
`Basis
`
`Challenged Claims
`
`References
`
`1
`
`103
`
`1-28
`
`Novlan, or
`alternatively Novlan in
`view of 36.213
`
`2
`
`

`

`IV. OVERVIEW OF THE TECHNOLOGY
`The ’600 Patent is directed to methods and apparatuses used in the context of
`
`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`
`the 4G LTE wireless standard, which enables devices from different companies to
`
`communicate with each other. See Ex. 1001 at 1:42–44; Ex. 1003 ¶34.
`
`In a 4G LTE wireless communication network, a base station (which may be
`
`referred to as an “eNodeB” or “eNB”) and a mobile user device (e.g., a cell phone,
`
`also called “User Equipment” or “UE”) communicate via signals transmitted
`
`wirelessly over the air. Ex. 1003 ¶34. A base station typically comprises multiple
`
`antennas to increase the amount of data that can be transmitted at any given time.
`
`See, e.g., Ex. 1001 at 1:22–25; Ex. 1003 ¶35. For example, as pictured below, a
`
`typical base station (represented by the tower on the right) has multiple antenna
`
`arrays, where each array has a series of individual antennas (elements 402) arranged
`
`horizontally and vertically, as shown in the magnified view on the left side of the
`
`diagram:
`
`3
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`

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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
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`
`
`See Ex. 1005 at Fig. 4; Ex. 1003 ¶36.
`
`The 4G LTE standard provides a technique known in the art as “precoding,”
`
`which leverages these multiple antennas to improve the signal strength between the
`
`base station and the UE. Signal strength is affected by angle, distance, scattering
`
`obstacles, and other factors that can reduce the strength of the signal received at the
`
`UE. Precoding can be used, for example, to provide beam “diversity,” which
`
`decreases the likelihood of fading when the signal strength is intermittently weak.
`
`See Ex. 1003 ¶41. Precoding can also be used to steer the antenna beams in a
`
`particular desired direction, as the signal strength between the base station and any
`
`particular UE may be strongest when the base station’s antenna beams are targeted
`
`at the UE in a particular direction. See, e.g., Ex. 1001 at 1:25–26.
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`4
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`For example, as illustrated below, when a UE is at a high elevation on the
`
`third floor of a building, the signal may be strongest when the base station directs its
`
`antenna signals upwards (green arrow); by contrast, when the UE is at a low
`
`elevation on ground level, the signal may be strongest when the base station directs
`
`its antenna signal downwards (blue arrow):
`
`
`See Ex. 1005 at Fig. 7; Ex. 1003 ¶38. A base station will generally not direct an
`
`
`
`antenna beam higher than the tallest building in a city (for example) since UEs are
`
`not typically found there. Ex. 1003 ¶39. This situation is depicted by the red arrow
`
`in the following diagram:
`
`5
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`
`
`See Ex. 1005 ¶50 (some directions “are infrequently selected or never selected”);
`
`
`
`Ex. 1003 ¶39.
`
`In 4G LTE, a base station is not limited to a single antenna beam aimed at a
`
`UE. Rather, to increase the information sent to the UE, the base station can send an
`
`additional beam at a different angle that could, based on topography, reflect off a
`
`surface or diffract, and also reach the same UE, as illustrated below, where a second
`
`beam bounces off the ground and reaches the same UE on the third floor of the
`
`building (dashed green arrow):
`
`6
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
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`This ability to adjust the transmission in order to send multiple antenna beams at
`
`
`
`different angles to the same UE (when the physical conditions allow) is known in
`
`the prior art as “rank adaptation.” See, e.g., Ex. 1001 at 1:31–35. In the diagram
`
`above, the direct beam (solid green arrow) represents a “rank 1” transmission, and
`
`the indirect beam (dashed green arrow) represents a “rank 2” transmission. See Ex.
`
`1003 ¶40. Of course, even in this situation where the base station beams information
`
`to a UE in multiple different ways at the same time (e.g., via the rank-1 solid green
`
`arrow and the rank-2 dashed green arrow), the common sense notion discussed
`
`7
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`above—that the base station would generally not direct any beams higher than the
`
`tallest building in the city—still applies. See id.
`
`The “precoding” technique referenced above that forms an antenna’s beams
`
`in a particular desired direction (“beamforming”) involves a particular operation.
`
`See, e.g., Ex. 1001 at 1:35–38. Specifically, the signals are multiplied by a “precoder
`
`matrix,” also referred to as a “precoder,” the result of which is that the beam is
`
`formed in the desired manner. See, e.g., id., at 1:38–40. For example, a precoder
`
`(represented by variable W(1)) can be represented by the following matrix:
`
`
`
`
`
`“beam precoder” or “spatial signature” or “steering vector,” can take the form:
`
`See Ex. 1005 ¶78 (Table 7.2.4-1). The component 𝑣𝑚, referred to in the art as a
`
`See id., ¶84. The precoder and its component 𝑣𝑚 (when the precoder is expressed
`using that component) is a function of the angle (associated with 𝜃𝐶 in the
`
`See id. ¶77. In another example, a precoder can be represented by:
`
`
`
`8
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`

`

`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`formulation immediately above1) at which the antenna beam is directed, by
`
`convention measured relative to the horizontal. See id., ¶84; Ex. 1003 ¶47. By
`
`multiplying the unformed antenna signal by this precoder matrix, the antenna beam
`
`is targeted in the direction associated with 𝑣𝑚. The precoders shown above, which
`
`have only one column, are “rank-1” precoders because they are used to aim one
`
`antenna beam. A “rank-2” precoder matrix has two columns and is used to aim two
`
`antenna beams, and so on. See Ex. 1006 at 97; Ex. 1003 ¶48.
`
`In practice, the UE tells the base station which precoder matrix to use to form
`
`the base station’s antenna beams in a way that optimizes the signal strength for
`
`transmission to the UE. See, e.g., Ex. 1001 at 1:46–48. The UE makes such a
`
`determination by assessing the channel quality associated with different beams
`
`transmitted by the base station in different directions at first, and then notifying the
`
`base station which precoder matrix is associated with the particular beam or beams
`
`received most strongly. See, e.g., Ex. 1005 ¶57; Ex. 1003 ¶41.
`
`
`
`1 Note that 𝜃𝐶 in the context of the formula for this precoder from Novlan refers to a
`specific angle, while “𝜃𝐶” in the context of Novlan’s Figure 7 is used coincidentally
`
`to refer to “the elevation angle range experienced by all the UEs.” See Ex. 1005 ¶54;
`
`Ex. 1003 ¶47.
`
`9
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`In 4G LTE, the set of possible precoder matrices for the UE to choose from
`
`are collected into a group known as a “codebook” that can be stored on the UE. See,
`
`e.g., Ex. 1001 at 1:40–42. Precoders of various different ranks can be grouped within
`
`different codebooks or, equivalently, in one larger codebook. See, e.g., Ex. 1001 at
`
`10:13–19; Ex. 1003 ¶42. The number of precoder matrices to potentially choose
`
`from can be quite large, however. See, e.g., Ex. 1001 at 2:47–49. This large number
`
`of choices could make it cumbersome for the UE to figure out which one is best. Ex.
`
`1003 ¶43.
`
`To help the UE with this task, 4G LTE provides a technique known as
`
`“codebook subset restriction.” Ex. 1003 ¶44. In codebook subset restriction, the
`
`base station can prohibit certain precoder matrices from being selected by the UE,
`
`such that the UE only needs to find the best precoder matrix from a smaller group.
`
`See, e.g., Ex. 1001 at 2:21–24. The base station conveys this prohibition by way of
`
`a signal message sent to the UE. See id. at 2:29–30. Because the UE only needs to
`
`consider a subset of the codebook as indicated by the base station’s signal, the UE’s
`
`task is much simpler. See, e.g., id. at 2:24–28.
`
`However, indicating on an individualized basis each precoder matrix that is
`
`restricted from being selected can also be cumbersome, because the base station
`
`would need to send an indication of whether a precoder matrix is restricted or
`
`unrestricted for every precoder matrix in the codebook. See id. at 2:49–51
`
`10
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`

`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`(“Signaling a codebook subset restriction in the conventional way by means of a
`
`bitmap with one bit for every precoder can thus impose a large overhead….”). As
`
`was known in the art, it is better if the base station did not need to individually restrict
`
`precoder matrices, and instead collectively restricts groups of precoder matrices at
`
`once. See Ex. 1003 ¶45; Ex. 1011 at, e.g., Fig. 1.
`
`The prior-art technique of joint codebook subset restriction achieves this
`
`benefit. Ex. 1003 ¶46. Instead of the base station restricting precoder matrices
`
`individually, the base station restricts precoders on a group basis. See, e.g., Ex. 1011
`
`at Fig. 1 (prior art teaching joint codebook subset restriction: “Identify the state of
`
`each group as restricted or unrestricted by one bit after grouping”)2. For example,
`
`a group can be comprised of precoders that are all associated with very high
`
`elevation angles where the base station does not expect any UEs to be found, and
`
`instead of restricting each such precoder individually (for example, using a single
`
`bit 0 or 1 for each precoder to indicate whether it is allowed or not), the entire group
`
`could be restricted by reference to their membership in the restricted group. Ex.
`
`1003 ¶46.
`
`V. THE ’600 PATENT
`
`The ’600 Patent issued on January 29, 2019, from U.S. Application No.
`
`15/105,648 filed on January 11, 2016. The ’600 Patent claims priority to a
`
`
`2 All emphasis is added unless indicated otherwise.
`
`11
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`provisional application (No. 62/103,101) (Ex. 1010) filed on January 14, 2015. The
`
`’600 Patent is directed to wireless communication systems and, in particular,
`
`methods and systems for codebook subset restriction. See Ex. 1001 at 1:13–18.
`
`A. Claims
`
`The ’600 Patent has 28 claims, including four independent claims numbered
`
`1, 8, 15, and 22.
`
`Summary of the Specification
`
`B.
`The ’600 Patent purports to improve upon the LTE standard that establishes
`
`protocols for interoperability for 4G wireless communications. See Ex. 1001 at
`
`2:29–54 (discussing the purported problems associated with LTE Technical
`
`Specification 36.331). The ’600 Patent begins by recognizing that codebook-based
`
`precoding was well-known in the art. See id. at 1:42–44 (“Such codebook-based
`
`precoding is an integral part of the LTE standard, as well as in many other wireless
`
`communications standards.”). The ’600 Patent further recognizes that codebook
`
`subset restriction signaling was well-known in the art. See id. at 2:49–50 (“Signaling
`
`a codebook subset restriction in the conventional way….”). And, as the Examiner
`
`found during prosecution, joint codebook subset restriction was also well-known in
`
`the art. See Ex. 1002 at 312–13 (Examiner finding that that the prior art taught joint
`
`codebook subset restriction signaling).
`
`12
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`The ’600 Patent discusses one well-known method of codebook subset
`
`restriction signaling: “[r]estriction of precoders with certain angular pointing
`
`directions.” Ex. 1001 at 18:14–15.; See also Ex. 1003 ¶49. As illustrated in the
`
`figure below, in the ’600 Patent, “codebook subset restriction is applied to restrict
`
`beams with pointing directions in the zenith interval [80º, 100º].” Id. at 18:22–24.
`
`These restricted precoders are found within the band of forbidden zenith elevation
`
`angles (80º, 100º) in, for example, Figure 7:
`
`Id. at Fig. 7.
`
`
`
`13
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
`The purported point of novelty of the ’600 Patent is merely that the joint
`
`codebook subset restriction is “rank agnostic,” meaning that the joint restriction
`
`applies to precoder matrices without regard to the precoders’ transmission rank. See
`
`Ex. 1002 at 344, 351; Ex. 1003 ¶50. For example, take the following rank-1 precoder
`
`matrix and rank-L precoder matrix (which has L number of columns), both of which
`
`have the component b0 in the first row and first column:
`
`
`
`See Ex. 1001 at 14:25–30, 18:3–8. In this example, if element b0 is restricted, such
`
`restriction can apply to both of these precoder matrices because they both have the
`
`component b0, where such restriction is not based on the fact that the precoders are
`
`rank-1 and rank-2. See id. at 17:9–19:
`
`In some embodiments, signaling that jointly restricts a
`group of precoders by restricting a certain component []
`that those precoders have in common is rank-agnostic.
`That is, the signaling jointly restricts the group of
`precoders regardless of the precoders’ transmission
`rank (i.e., regardless of which rank-specific codebook
`they belong to). For example, embodiments that restrict
`a single beam precoder b0 can be extended so that all
`precoders across all ranks that contain the restricted
`beam precoder b0 are restricted.
`
`See also Ex. 1003 ¶50. As discussed below, rank-agnostic precoder restriction was
`
`already known in the prior art.
`
`14
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`

`Summary of the Prosecution History
`
`C.
`The application that matured into the ’600 Patent was filed on June 17, 2016,
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
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`and claims priority to PCT/SE2016/05009 filed on January 11, 2016 and to U.S.
`
`provisional application no. 62/103,101 filed on January 14, 2015. See Ex. 1001 at
`
`Title Page. In the first Office Action, 20 of the pending claims were rejected as
`
`anticipated or obvious based on the prior art, and the remainder of the claims were
`
`objected to as depending on rejected base claims. See id.; Ex. 1002 at 310–15. In
`
`response, the applicant then amended the independent claims to add the limitation
`
`“wherein the codebook subset restriction signaling is rank-agnostic signaling that
`
`jointly restricts the precoders in a group without regard to the precoders’
`
`transmission rank.” See id. at 343–51. Those amended claims were then allowed
`
`without substantive explanation. See id. at 354–59.
`
`Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art
`
`D.
`As explained by Dr. Kakaes, a POSITA at the time of the ’600 Patent would
`
`have had a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Applied Mathematics,
`
`Computer Science, Physics, or equivalent and three to five years of industry
`
`experience in wireless digital communication systems. Additional education might
`
`compensate for less experience, and vice-versa. See Ex. 1003 ¶57.
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`15
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`VI. CLAIM CONSTRUCTION
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
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`Claim terms “shall be construed using the same claim construction standard
`
`that would be used to construe the claim in a civil action under 35 U.S.C. § 282(b).”
`
`37 C.F.R. § 42.100(b); Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (en
`
`banc). Petitioner submits that the Board does not need to construe any claim term
`
`for purposes of resolving the issues presented by this Petition.
`
`VII. OVERVIEW OF THE PRIOR ART
`
`A. Novlan
`Just like the ’600 Patent, Novlan is directed to methods and systems for
`
`codebook subset restriction. See Ex. 1005 ¶2. Novlan considers the situation where
`
`a base station is serving multiple UEs at different locations, as shown, for example,
`
`in the following portion of Figure 6 of Novlan:
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`IPR2022-00464
`U.S. Patent No. 10,193,600
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`
`
`See id. at Fig. 6 (annotated).
`
`Novlan recognizes that serving many UEs provides motivation for techniques
`
`that enable the efficient selection of the best precoder matrix to form and target
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`beams for each of the UEs served by the base station. See id. ¶51 (“The introduction
`
`of multi-user (MU) MIMO transmission supporting large numbers of users due to
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`transmission points equipped with two-dimensional (2D) antenna arrays with large
`
`numbers of elements further motivates the need for efficient PMI [precoder matrix
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`indicator] selection….”).
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`Novlan also recognizes that the UEs served by a base station may be at
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`different elevations, as shown, for example, in Figure 7:
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`See also id. ¶52 (“Due to the variation in network user geographic distributions,
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`users may experience different angles of elevation … relative to the transmission
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`point.”). Novlan teaches that narrowing the codebook to only those precoder
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`matrices representing a realistic vertical range based on the spatial domain in which
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`a UE is operating—and excluding those precoder matrices corresponding to beams
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`aimed at extreme elevation angles, or elevation angles otherwise not suitable for a
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`particular spatial domain—can helpfully narrow the number of precoder matrices
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`that need to be reviewed for optimal fit:
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`Thus, one method for improving the efficiency of
`vertical PMI selection and reducing [] computation
`complexity is to restrict the UE to searching through the
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`codebook only over those precoders that correspond to
`[the] relevant spatial domain.
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`Id. ¶54. Notably, Novlan teaches that its restriction technique is rank-agnostic,
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`because all precoders that do not correspond to the relevant elevation angle will be
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`restricted without regard to rank—the only factor that matters is elevation angle. See
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`id.; Ex. 1003 ¶62.
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`As further discussed in Section X.A below, Novlan was cited by the Examiner
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`during prosecution of the ’600 Patent, but only as a secondary reference in the
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`context of certain dependent claims. See Ex. 1002 at 310–15.
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`Because Novlan and the ’600 Patent are both directed to codebook subset
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`restriction, Novlan is in the same field of endeavor as and is pertinent to a problem
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`to be solved by the ’600 Patent. Ex. 1003 ¶59. Therefore, Novlan is analogous art.
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`36.213
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`B.
`36.213 is one Technical Specification within a broader suite of standards that
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`collectively enable 4G LTE wireless communications. See Ex. 1003 ¶63. 36.213
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`“specifies and establishes the characteristics of the physical[] layer procedures,”
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`meaning it relates to the physical process associated with (among other things)
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`antenna beamforming, as opposed to logical or abstract processes associated with
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`higher-level applications. See Ex. 1006 at 7; Ex. 1003 ¶65.
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`The 36.213 standard teaches the organization of the codebook for different
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`precoder matrices, including rank-1 precoder matrices as shown in Table 7.2.4-1:
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`and rank-2 precoder matrices as shown in Table 7.2.4-2:
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`
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`
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`See Ex. 1006 at 97; Ex. 1003 ¶66. 36.213 also teaches higher-rank precoder
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`matrices. See Ex. 1006 at 98–99. Notably, 36.213’s rank-1 codebook is identical to
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`that taught by Novlan. See Ex. 1005 ¶78 (identical Table 7.2.4-1). Moreover,
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`36.213’s definition of rank-2 precoders contains the same (scaled) first column as
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`the first column in Novlan’s rank-1 precoders.
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`Because 36.213 and the ’600 Patent are both directed to codebook subset
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`restriction, 36.213 is in the same field of endeavor as and is pertinent to a problem
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`to be solved by the ’600 Patent. Ex. 1003 ¶64. Therefore, 36.213 is analogous art.
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`VIII. SPECIFIC GROUNDS FOR PETITION
`
`A. Novlan, Or Alternatively Novlan In View Of 36.213, Renders
`Obvious All Challenged Claims
`
`As discussed below, Novlan alone, or alternatively in view of 36.213, renders
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`all Challenged Claims obvious. Novlan and 36.213 are analogous prior art
`
`references and it would be obvious to read Novlan in view of 36.213. See Ex. 1003
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`¶68. Moreover, a POSITA would be motivated to combine Novlan with 36.213 for
`
`a number of reasons, as discussed in detail below in connection with specific claim
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`limitations and the specific portions of 36.213 combined to the extent the Board
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`believes that Novlan alone does not disclose or render obvious each element below.
`
`See id.
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`a.
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`Independent Claim 1
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`1.
`Preamble: “A method implemented by a network node for signaling to a
`wireless communication device which precoders in a codebook are restricted
`from being used, the method characterized by…”
`
`To the extent the preamble of claim 1 is limiting, Novlan discloses it or
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`renders it obvious. See Ex. 1003 ¶¶69–72. First, Novlan teaches a method
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`implemented by an eNodeB. See Ex. 1005 ¶4 (“The method includes receiving
`
`from an eNodeB (eNB) an indication of a restricted subset M of vertical precoding
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`matrices.”). The ’600 Patent states, and a POSITA would recognize, that an eNodeB
`
`is a network node. See Ex. 1001 at 6:20–22 (“a network node 10 in a wireless
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`communication network (e.g., an eNB in the network)”); Ex. 1003 ¶69.
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`Second, Novlan teaches that its eNB signals to a UE. See Ex. 1005 ¶101
`
`(“Codebook subset restriction can be signaled to a UE by using a bitmap in a UE-
`
`specific manner”). The ’600 Patent states, and a POSITA would recognize, that a
`
`UE is a wireless communication device. See Ex. 1001 at 6:23–24 (“a wireless
`
`communication device 14 (e.g., a UE).”); Ex. 1003 ¶70. Therefore, Novlan teaches
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`a network node (eNB) for signaling to a wireless communication device (UE).
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`Third, Novlan teaches a codebook comprised of precoders. See Ex. 1005 at,
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`e.g., Abstract (“the codebook comprising a plurality of vertical precoding matrices
`
`and horizontal precoding matrices”), ¶50 (“The number of bits in the codebook
`
`subset restriction bitmap is determined by the number of precoders allowed….”);
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`Ex. 1003 ¶71. As a POSITA would recognize, and as the ’600 patent confirms,
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`“precoders” is used as shorthand in the art for a precoding matrix. See, e.g., Ex.
`
`1005 ¶41 (“[T]he network utilizes channel state information … to select precoders
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`…. [E]ach UE can be configured to feed back estimated precoding matrix
`
`indicators….”); Ex. 1001 at 14:32–38 (“Here, W is a NxL precoder matrix….
`
`Another precoder W of the same codebook as W ab