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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114 was filed in this application after appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but prior to a decision on the appeal. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114 and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the appeal has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114 and prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant’s submission filed on 12/17/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/17/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant’s argument in pages 6-10 that “Applicant respectfully submits that none of Park, Pan or Yu, alone or in combination, teach or suggest each and every feature recited in Applicant's claim 1 for at least the following reasons.” Examiner respectively disagrees.
Response to argument 1
The applicant further asserts in page 8 that “Park fails to teach or suggest how to transmit and associate BSI-RS with "group index of the physical resources."” Examiner respectively disagrees.
“During examination, the claims must be interpreted as broadly as their terms reasonably allow." MPEP § 2111.01 (I) (citing to In re American Academy of Science Tech Center, 367 F.3d 1359, 1369, 70 USPQ2d 1827, 1834 (Fed. Cir. 2004)).
"Though understanding the claim language may be aided by explanations contained in the written description, it is important not to import into a claim limitations that are not part of the claim. For example, a particular embodiment appearing in the written description may not be read into a claim when the claim language is broader than the embodiment." MPEP 2111.01 (11) citing to Superguide Corp. v. DirecTV Enterprises, Inc., 358 F.3d 870, 875, 69 USPQ2d 1865, 1868 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
As indicated by the office action, PARK teaches the eNB sends BSI report triggering DCI in BW-CCH region in par. 222 and report the BSI for the serving beam in the BW-CCH region in par. 268, 269, 303 and that the BW-CCH is indicated by SF set candidates indicated by system information as in par. 220. Therefore, the BSI-SR for BSI report and for beam recovery would associated with the plurality of SF set candidates where BW-CCH regions can exist. Therefore, PARK teaches “wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources.”
Response to argument 2
The applicant further asserts in page 9 that “Park does not provide any indication to the claimed features "wherein beam recovery request information is conveyed by the scheduling request, and wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources."” Examiner respectively disagrees.
As indicated in the office action and above, the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery is associated with the a plurality of SF set candidates (e.g., ‘001000100’, ‘00001000’) where BW-CCH regions can exist or the group index of the physical resources. Therefore, PARK teaches "wherein beam recovery request information is conveyed by the scheduling request, and wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources" and therefore, the combination of PARK, PAN, and YU would teach claim 1.
In response to applicant’s argument in pages 10-11 that “Applicant respectfully submits that none of Park, Pan or Yu, alone or in combination, teach or suggest each and every feature recited in Applicant's claim 6.” Examiner respectively disagrees.
Response to arguments 1 & 2
The applicant further asserts in page 10-11 that “Park fails to teach or suggest the claimed feature "wherein the scheduling request is for beam failure recovery, and wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources."” Examiner respectively disagrees.
As indicated in the office action and above, the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery is associated with the plurality of SF set candidates (e.g., ‘001000100’, ‘00001000’) where BW-CCH regions can exist or the group index of the physical resources. Therefore, PARK teaches "wherein the scheduling request is for beam failure recovery, and wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources" and therefore, the combination of PARK, PAN, and YU would teach claim 6.
In response to applicant’s argument in pages 11-13 that “Applicant respectfully submits that none of Park, Pan or Yu, alone or in combination, teach or suggest each and every feature recited in Applicant's claim 11.” Examiner respectively disagrees.
Response to arguments 1 & 2
The applicant further asserts in page 12-13 that “Park fails to teach or suggest the claimed feature "wherein the scheduling request is for beam failure recovery, and wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources."” Examiner respectively disagrees.
As indicated in the office action and above, the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery is associated with the plurality of SF set candidates (e.g., ‘001000100’, ‘00001000’) where BW-CCH regions can exist or the group index of the physical resources. Therefore, PARK teaches "wherein the scheduling request is for beam failure recovery, and wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources" and therefore, the combination of PARK, PAN, and YU would teach claim 11.
Therefore, the combination of PARK, PAN, and YU would teach the claims.
The rejection is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim 6 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 6 lines 9 cites “it”, it is unclear to which it is referring to.
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 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 1-3, 5-7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al. (US 20200336193 as supported by provisional application 62454967 filed on 02/06/2017) in view of PAN et al. (provisional app. 62443288 filed on 01/06/2017 as claimed by US 20200059290) and YU et al. (US 20180227899 with provisional 62455522 filed on 02/06/2017 herein as YU).
Regarding claim 1, PARK et al. (US 20200336193) teaches an information configuration apparatus, comprising:
A memory that stores a plurality of instructions (fig. 23, base station); and
a processor circuitry that couples to the memory (fig. 23, base station) and is configured to execute the instructions to:
transmit configuration information to a user equipment (UE), the configuration information comprising grouping information of physical resources corresponding to control channel (fig. 10, 12, par. 193, 194, 196, 205, 217, 219, 220, BS configure information on a beam sweeping DL control (BW-CCH) for a UE through the system information; fig. 15, par. 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein the grouping information is obtained according to type of control channels transmitting the control channel (fig. 12, 13, 14, par. 320, 321, 324, BW-CCH configuration type A or B, in type A, when a BW-CCH region is configured in an SF (or slot) where an SS is transmitted as shown in FIG. 12, a UE may detect a DL control signal only in the BW-CCH region because there is no xPDCCH region, and type B, a UE may perform detection in the xPDCCH region within the BW-CCH transmission SF first. Thereafter, depending on DCI detection results in the xPDCCH region, the UE may operate in a different way), and
receive a scheduling request transmitted by the UE (par. 268, 378, 379, 380, 384, 385, UE transmitting the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery) when the UE detected that transmission fade away occurs in any one group of physical resources in multiple groups of physical resources which is according to the configuration information (par. 257, 313, 355, 373, 380, the UE may change its serving beam to the best beam (analog beam) that the UE reports when its serving beam fades away using the SS or BRS in the corresponding BW-CCH as in par. 179, 420, 509; par. 179, 199, 339, change in beam also change in symbol (resource) associated with the beam; par. 216, the BS may use the BW-CCH region to transmit a DL control signal to UEs having their hearable beams different from serving beams…the BW-CCH region may be configured such that it is spaced at a predetermined time interval rather than every SF; fig. 15, par. 197, 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein the multiple groups of physical resources corresponding to multiple groups of control channels (fig. 15, par. 197, 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources),
wherein beam recovery request information is conveyed by the scheduling request (par. 268, 378, 379, 380, 384, 385, UE transmitting the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery); and
wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources (par. 220, 222, a plurality of SF set candidates (e.g., ‘001000100’, ‘00001000’) where BW-CCH regions can exist within a cycle of system information may be defined in advance, and then one (e.g., ‘001000100’) of the candidates may be indicated through the system information… a BS transmits a BSI-SR triggering signal in a sweeping CCH region; par. 268, 269, 303, the serving beam in the BW-CCH region…a BS transmits BSI report triggering DCI for a UE group. For example, a BS may indicate a specific analog beam (or analog beam group) and instruct UEs configured to use the analog beam (or at least one analog beam of the analog beam group) as a serving beam to report BSI).
However, PARK does not teach wherein the grouping information is obtained according to characteristics of beams.
But, PAN et al. (US 20200059290 supported by 62443288 filed on 01/06/2017) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the grouping information is obtained according to characteristics of beams in the beam pair transmitting the channel (Provisional Par. 103, 104, 114, 115, 116, a beam group may be defined using resources that are uniquely defined for each beam group… the subsequent UE report may enable the TRP to identify beam groups with desirable characteristics; par. 95, control channel).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method as taught by PAN in the system of PARK to group according to the characteristics of beams.
The motivation would have been to select group of resource with desired beam characteristic.
However, PARK does not teach reconfigured when transmission failure occurs.
But, YU in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches reconfigured when transmission failure occurs in any one group of physical resources in multiple groups of physical resources which is according to the configuration information (page 9, selecting a beam recovery resource from a resource set corresponding to the preferred BS DL beam for beam recovery transmission…selecting multiple beam recovery resources from multiple resource sets for beam recovery transmission; page, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, RRC message (incl. trigger condition, recovery request resources, UE monitoring behavior), wherein the multiple groups of physical resources corresponding to multiple groups of control channels (page 8, Thresholds can be defined in terms of control channel BLER; page 11, UE is configured with dedicated beam recovery resources: The dedicated resources can be UL control channel, e.g., similar to LTE PUCCH).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method as taught by YU in the system of PARK and PAN to change the beam when failure occurred.
The motivation would have been to prevent loss of data.
Regarding claim 2, PARK teaches the information configuration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the physical resources comprise a control resource set where the control channel is located (fig. 15, par. 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources; par. 232, 234, 235, BSI-SR triggering using the RS, the corresponding RS is configured to be transmitted in one symbol…BS configure UE-specific RS resources and sequences for UEs and transmitting an RS for the specific UE to the specific UE in order to perform the BSI-SR triggering).
Regarding claim 3, PARK teaches the information configuration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to execute the instructions to transmit the configuration information to the UE via a control element of a radio resource control layer or a medium access control layer and downlink control information (par. 238-241, A field that each UE should monitor is configured per UE through RRC signaling in advance), wherein the downlink control information is used for selecting at least one group of physical resources from grouping information transmitted by the control element of the radio resource control layer or the medium access control layer to configure the UE (par. 238-241, 243, 244, 245, 246, a BS may configure a group RNTI value for a UE group including a maximum of M UEs and transmit BSI-SR triggering DCI having the corresponding RNTI. In this case, the UE-group-specific BSI-SR triggering DCI may be composed of M bit fields with the same size. Accordingly, the BS may inform each UE of a group to which each UE belongs and group RNTI information and at the same time configures a bit field that each UE should monitor among the M bit fields included in the DCI through a higher layer signal. Thereafter, each UE may detect the UE-group-specific BSI-SR triggering DCI according to the group RNTI and check whether the BS indicates BSI-SR triggering to itself in the bit field that it should monitor in the corresponding DCI).
Regarding claim 5, PARK teaches the information configuration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to:
reconfigure a physical resource in which transmission faded way occurs according to the beam recovery request information (par. 379, 384, 385, after receiving a reconfigured serving beam from the BS, the UE may perform UL data transmission; par. 355, 373, the UE may change its serving beam to the best beam that the UE reports when its serving beam fades away as in par. 420; par. 179, 199, 339, change in beam also change in symbol (resource) associated with the beam).
However, PARK does not teach reconfigured when transmission failure occurs.
But, YU in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches reconfigured when transmission failure occurs (page 10, 12, 13, if serving beam pair link is consider not operational, NW attempts connection with UE in UE-indicated beam pair link or switching UE-indicated beam pair link).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method as taught by YU in the system of PARK to change the beam when failure occurred.
The motivation would have been to prevent loss of data.
Regarding claim 6, PARK teaches a monitoring apparatus, comprising:
a memory that stores a plurality of instructions (fig. 23, UE); and
a processor circuitry that couples to the memory (fig. 23, UE) and is configured to execute the instructions to:
monitor physical resources corresponding to control channel according to preobtained configuration information comprising grouping information of the physical resources corresponding to the control channel (par. 313, 355, 373, 380, the UE may change its serving beam to the best beam that the UE reports when its serving beam fades away using the SS or BRS in the corresponding BW-CCH as in par. 420, 509; par. 179, 199, 339, change in beam also change in symbol (resource) associated with the beam; par. 216, the BS may use the BW-CCH region to transmit a DL control signal to UEs having their hearable beams different from serving beams…the BW-CCH region may be configured such that it is spaced at a predetermined time interval rather than every SF; fig. 15, par. 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein the grouping information is obtained according to type of control channels transmitting the control channel (fig. 12, 13, 14, par. 320, 321, 324, BW-CCH configuration type A or B, in type A, when a BW-CCH region is configured in an SF (or slot) where an SS is transmitted as shown in FIG. 12, a UE may detect a DL control signal only in the BW-CCH region because there is no xPDCCH region, and type B, a UE may perform detection in the xPDCCH region within the BW-CCH transmission SF first. Thereafter, depending on DCI detection results in the xPDCCH region, the UE may operate in a different way), and
transmit a scheduling request to network equipment (par. 268, 378, 379, 380, 384, 385, UE transmitting the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery) when it is detected by the processor circuitry that transmission fades away occurs in any one group of physical resources in multiple groups of physical resources which is according to the configuration information (par. 257, 313, 355, 373, 380, the UE may change its serving beam to the best beam (analog beam) that the UE reports when its serving beam fades away using the SS or BRS in the corresponding BW-CCH as in par. 179, 420, 509; par. 179, 199, 339, change in beam also change in symbol (resource) associated with the beam; par. 216, the BS may use the BW-CCH region to transmit a DL control signal to UEs having their hearable beams different from serving beams…the BW-CCH region may be configured such that it is spaced at a predetermined time interval rather than every SF; fig. 15, par. 197, 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein the multiple groups of physical resources corresponding to multiple groups of control channels (fig. 15, par. 197, 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein the scheduling request is for beam failure recover (par. 268, 378, 379, 380, 384, 385, UE transmitting the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery), and
wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources (par. 220, 222, a plurality of SF set candidates (e.g., ‘001000100’, ‘00001000’) where BW-CCH regions can exist within a cycle of system information may be defined in advance, and then one (e.g., ‘001000100’) of the candidates may be indicated through the system information… a BS transmits a BSI-SR triggering signal in a sweeping CCH region; par. 268, 269, 303, the serving beam in the BW-CCH region…a BS transmits BSI report triggering DCI for a UE group. For example, a BS may indicate a specific analog beam (or analog beam group) and instruct UEs configured to use the analog beam (or at least one analog beam of the analog beam group) as a serving beam to report BSI).
However, PARK does not teach wherein the grouping information is obtained according to characteristics of beams.
But, PAN et al. (US 20200059290 supported by 62443288 filed on 01/06/2017) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the grouping information is obtained according to characteristics of beams in the beam pair transmitting the channel (Provisional Par. 103, 104, 114, 115, 116, a beam group may be defined using resources that are uniquely defined for each beam group… the subsequent UE report may enable the TRP to identify beam groups with desirable characteristics; par. 95, control channel).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method as taught by PAN in the system of PARK to group according to the characteristics of beams.
The motivation would have been to select group of resource with desired beam characteristic.
However, PARK does not teach reconfigured when transmission failure occurs.
But, YU in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches reconfigured when transmission failure occurs in any one group of physical resources in multiple groups of physical resources which is according to the configuration information (page 9, selecting a beam recovery resource from a resource set corresponding to the preferred BS DL beam for beam recovery transmission…selecting multiple beam recovery resources from multiple resource sets for beam recovery transmission; page, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, RRC message (incl. trigger condition, recovery request resources, UE monitoring behavior), wherein the multiple groups of physical resources corresponding to multiple groups of control channels (page 8, Thresholds can be defined in terms of control channel BLER; page 11, UE is configured with dedicated beam recovery resources: The dedicated resources can be UL control channel, e.g., similar to LTE PUCCH).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method as taught by YU in the system of PARK and PAN to change the beam when failure occurred.
The motivation would have been to prevent loss of data.
Regarding claim 7, PARK teaches the monitoring apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the physical resources comprise a control resource set where the control channel is located (fig. 15, par. 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources; par. 232, 234, 235, BSI-SR triggering using the RS, the corresponding RS is configured to be transmitted in one symbol…BS configure UE-specific RS resources and sequences for UEs and transmitting an RS for the specific UE to the specific UE in order to perform the BSI-SR triggering).
Regarding claim 9, PARK teaches the monitoring apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a resource or a period or a sequence transmitting the scheduling request corresponds to the physical resource (par. 378, 379, 384, 385, UE transmitting the BSI-SR for beam recovery in beam sweeping UL control region as in par. 370, 371).
Regarding claim 11, PARK teaches a communications system, comprising:
a network equipment (fig. 23, base station); and
a user equipment (fig. 23, user equipment),
wherein the network equipment (fig. 23, base station) comprises:
a memory that stores a plurality of instructions (fig. 23, base station), and
processor circuitry that couples to the memory (fig. 23, base station) and configured to execute the instructions to:
transmit configuration information to the UE, the configuration information comprising grouping information of physical resources corresponding to a control channel (fig. 10, 12, par. 193, 194, 196, 205, 219, 220, BS configure information on a beam sweeping DL control (BW-CCH) for a UE through the system information; fig. 15, par. 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein the grouping information is obtained according to type of control channels transmitting the control channel (fig. 12, 13, 14, par. 320, 321, 324, BW-CCH configuration type A or B, in type A, when a BW-CCH region is configured in an SF (or slot) where an SS is transmitted as shown in FIG. 12, a UE may detect a DL control signal only in the BW-CCH region because there is no xPDCCH region, and type B, a UE may perform detection in the xPDCCH region within the BW-CCH transmission SF first. Thereafter, depending on DCI detection results in the xPDCCH region, the UE may operate in a different way), and
receive a scheduling request transmitted by the UE (par. 268, 378, 379, 380, 384, 385, UE transmitting the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery) when the UE detected that transmission fade away occurs in any one group of physical resources in multiple groups of physical resources which is according to the configuration information (par. 257, 313, 355, 373, 380, the UE may change its serving beam to the best beam (analog beam) that the UE reports when its serving beam fades away using the SS or BRS in the corresponding BW-CCH as in par. 179, 420, 509; par. 179, 199, 339, change in beam also change in symbol (resource) associated with the beam; par. 216, the BS may use the BW-CCH region to transmit a DL control signal to UEs having their hearable beams different from serving beams…the BW-CCH region may be configured such that it is spaced at a predetermined time interval rather than every SF; fig. 15, par. 197, 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein the multiple groups of physical resources corresponding to multiple groups of control channels (fig. 15, par. 197, 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein beam recovery request information is conveyed by the scheduling request (par. 268, 378, 379, 380, 384, 385, UE transmitting the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery), and wherein
the UE is further configured to monitor physical resources corresponding to the control channel according to the configuration information comprising grouping information of the physical resources corresponding to the control channel (par. 313, 355, 373, 380, the UE may change its serving beam to the best beam that the UE reports when its serving beam fades away using the SS or BRS in the corresponding BW-CCH as in par. 420, 509; par. 179, 199, 339, change in beam also change in symbol (resource) associated with the beam; par. 216, the BS may use the BW-CCH region to transmit a DL control signal to UEs having their hearable beams different from serving beams…the BW-CCH region may be configured such that it is spaced at a predetermined time interval rather than every SF; fig. 15, par. 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), and
transmit a scheduling request to network equipment (par. 268, 378, 379, 380, 384, 385, UE transmitting the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery) when the UE detected that the transmission fades away occurs in any one group of physical resources in multiple groups of physical resources which is according to the configuration information (par. 257, 313, 355, 373, 380, the UE may change its serving beam to the best beam (analog beam) that the UE reports when its serving beam fades away using the SS or BRS in the corresponding BW-CCH as in par. 179, 420, 509; par. 179, 199, 339, change in beam also change in symbol (resource) associated with the beam; par. 216, the BS may use the BW-CCH region to transmit a DL control signal to UEs having their hearable beams different from serving beams…the BW-CCH region may be configured such that it is spaced at a predetermined time interval rather than every SF; fig. 15, par. 197, 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein the multiple groups of physical resources corresponding to multiple groups of control channels (fig. 15, par. 197, 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources), wherein beam recovery request information is conveyed by the scheduling request (par. 268, 378, 379, 380, 384, 385, UE transmitting the BSI-SR for BSI reporting and for beam recovery), and
wherein a part of the beam recovery request information is associated with a group index of the physical resources (par. 220, 222, a plurality of SF set candidates (e.g., ‘001000100’, ‘00001000’) where BW-CCH regions can exist within a cycle of system information may be defined in advance, and then one (e.g., ‘001000100’) of the candidates may be indicated through the system information… a BS transmits a BSI-SR triggering signal in a sweeping CCH region; par. 268, 269, 303, the serving beam in the BW-CCH region…a BS transmits BSI report triggering DCI for a UE group. For example, a BS may indicate a specific analog beam (or analog beam group) and instruct UEs configured to use the analog beam (or at least one analog beam of the analog beam group) as a serving beam to report BSI).
However, PARK does not teach wherein the grouping information is obtained according to characteristics of beams.
But, PAN et al. (US 20200059290 supported by 62443288 filed on 01/06/2017) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches wherein the grouping information is obtained according to characteristics of beams in the beam pair transmitting the channel (Provisional Par. 103, 104, 114, 115, 116, a beam group may be defined using resources that are uniquely defined for each beam group… the subsequent UE report may enable the TRP to identify beam groups with desirable characteristics; par. 95, control channel).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method as taught by PAN in the system of PARK to group according to the characteristics of beams.
The motivation would have been to select group of resource with desired beam characteristic.
However, PARK does not teach reconfigured when transmission failure occurs.
But, YU in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches reconfigured when transmission failure occurs in any one group of physical resources in multiple groups of physical resources which is according to the configuration information (page 9, selecting a beam recovery resource from a resource set corresponding to the preferred BS DL beam for beam recovery transmission…selecting multiple beam recovery resources from multiple resource sets for beam recovery transmission; page, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, RRC message (incl. trigger condition, recovery request resources, UE monitoring behavior), wherein the multiple groups of physical resources corresponding to multiple groups of control channels (page 8, Thresholds can be defined in terms of control channel BLER; page 11, UE is configured with dedicated beam recovery resources: The dedicated resources can be UL control channel, e.g., similar to LTE PUCCH).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method as taught by YU in the system of PARK and PAN to change the beam when failure occurred.
The motivation would have been to prevent loss of data.
Regarding claim 13, PARK teaches the monitoring apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a receiver configured to receive the preobtained configuration information before monitoring the physical resources (par. 313, 355, 373, 380, the UE may change its serving beam to the best beam that the UE reports when its serving beam fades away using the SS or BRS in the corresponding BW-CCH as in par. 420, 509; par. 179, 199, 339, change in beam also change in symbol (resource) associated with the beam; par. 216, the BS may use the BW-CCH region to transmit a DL control signal to UEs having their hearable beams different from serving beams…the BW-CCH region may be configured such that it is spaced at a predetermined time interval rather than every SF; fig. 15, par. 219, 220, a plurality of SF set candidates, where BW-CCH regions an exists, each BW-CCH regions is a group of physical resources).
Regarding claim 15, PARK teaches the information configuration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the physical resources comprise a physical resource where a demodulation reference signal of the control channel is located (fig. 12, par. 198, resource includes DM-RS).
Regarding claim 16, PARK teaches the information configuration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to group according to a type of the control channel and transmission situations of the same control channel in different symbols or characteristics of beams in a beam pair transmitting the control channel to obtain the grouping information (par. 193, 194, 205-214, The BW-CCH region may be composed of SFs (or slots) in which SSs are transmitted…The BW-CCH region may be configured using an SF set and BW-CCH symbols in an SF of the SF set according to a predetermined rule…The BW-CCH region may be composed of SFs (or slots) that can be derived from a time at which a specific RS (e.g., SS) is transmitted; par. 220, 222, a plurality of SF set candidates (e.g., ‘001000100’, ‘00001000’) where BW-CCH regions).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al. (US 20200336193 as supported by provisional application 62454967 filed on 02/06/2017), PAN et al. (provisional app. 62443288 filed on 01/06/2017 as claimed by US 20200059290), and YU et al. (US 20180227899 with provisional 62455522 filed on 02/06/2017 herein as YU) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of KANG et al. (US 20200389220 with provisional 62469507 filed on 03/09/2017 herein as KANG).
Regarding claim 14, PARK teaches the information configuration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor circuitry is further configured to transmit a part of the beam recovery request information to the network equipment when the network equipment is monitored that transmission fade away occurs in a part of physical resources and/or a part of beam pairs in any group (par. 306, 307, 308, When a UE is able to perform BSI reporting, the UE may perform the BSI reporting if at least one of the following conditions is satisfied: 1) An RRM measurement value of a serving beam is equal to or less than a specific threshold (T.sub.0); and An RRM measurement value of a specific analog beam (except the serving beam) is more than the RRM measurement value of the serving beam by a predetermined value (T.sub.1); par. 268, 269, 303, the serving beam in the BW-CCH region).
However, PARK does not teach monitored that transmission failure occurs.
But, KANG in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches monitored that transmission failure occurs in a part of physical resources and/or a part of beam pairs in any group (par. 7, 154, when a beam failure event is detected, transmitting a control signal for a beam failure recovery request to the eNB).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system and method as taught by KANG in the system of PARK, PAN, and YU to monitor the beam to detect failure occurred.
The motivation would have been to provide efficiently performing beam recovery by notifying an enhanced Node B (eNB) of whether there is a replacement beam of the UE and thereby performing a different operation by the eNB (KANG par. 22).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WANG et al. (US 20180279284) teaches wherein the UL transmission comprises at least one of (1) a beam recovery signal for notifying the base station of an occurrence of the DL Tx beam failure event, (2) a scheduling request for notifying the base station of the occurrence of the DL Tx beam failure event and requesting the base station to provide an UL transmission grant and (3) user data of a grant-free UL transmission (claim 9).
HAKOLA et al. (US 20210204265) teaches If the UE does not detect a beam switch command and if the UE has determined from DL sweep that the current beam does not have high enough quality, the UE declares a radio link failure (par. 88).
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/THINH D TRAN/for /Thinh Tran/, Patent Examiner of Art Unit 2466 12/27/2025