CTFR 17/149,539 CTFR 83046 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Priorities and Examiner Remarks This application claims priority from provisional application 62962892 (filed 01/17/2020). Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 31-34, 36-40, and 42-52 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over CHENG, YU-HSIN (US 20190379506 A1, hereinafter CHENG ), in view of YANG et al. (WO 2019154066 A1, hereinafter YANG , NOTE: corresponding application US20210051667A1 is currently used below for translation and citation purposes) . Regarding claim 31 , CHENG teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising (in general, see para. 46-57 and fig. 1, 3, and 4): receiving a first synchronization signal block (SSB) from a first remote radio head (RRH) in a serving cell ( CHENG , see at least para. 50, “...The TRP information may help a UE to identify the correspondence between multiple TRPs and DL RS resources. In some implementations, the DL RS resources may be Quasi Co-Location (QCL) associated RS resources, such as Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs), CSI-RSs, and Phase-Tracking Reference Signals (PT-RSs). With the TRP information, the UE may know from which base station/TRP the transmitted DL RSs are received...”), wherein the first SSB includes a first physical cell identity (PCI) index for identifying the first RRH and includes a first SSB identification (ID) ( CHENG , see at least para. 51 along with fig. 3, “…the TRP information may include indices of DL RSs (e.g., CSI-RS indices or SSB indices) for representing the DL beams of the TRPs. In some implementations, the TRP information may include multiple TRP IDs and/or Physical Cell Identities (PCIs) which represent different TRPs. In some other implementations, the TRP information may include a TRP mapping table which contains multiple TRP indices and DL RS resource indices...”), wherein the first PCI index and the first SSB ID are encoded in a same field of the first SSB ( CHENG , see at least para. 51 along para. 57 and fig. 3, “…As discussed above, a UE may know the correspondence/relationship between a TRP and a CSI-RS resource/SSB based on the TRP information. In some implementations, if the TRP information includes (or represented as) a TRP mapping table, the number of rows in the TRP mapping table may correspond to the number of available TRPs for the UE,...”, note that “...Different DL RS resource indices in the same row may be associated with different DL RSs transmitted from the same TRP...”); receiving a second SSB from a second RRH in the serving cell ( CHENG , see at least para. 50, “...The TRP information may help a UE to identify the correspondence between multiple TRPs and DL RS resources. In some implementations, the DL RS resources may be Quasi Co-Location (QCL) associated RS resources, such as Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs), CSI-RSs, and Phase-Tracking Reference Signals (PT-RSs). With the TRP information, the UE may know from which base station/TRP the transmitted DL RSs are received...”), wherein the second SSB includes a second PCI index for identifying the second RRH and includes a second SSB ID ( CHENG , see at least para. 51 along with fig. 3, “…the TRP information may include indices of DL RSs (e.g., CSI-RS indices or SSB indices) for representing the DL beams of the TRPs. In some implementations, the TRP information may include multiple TRP IDs and/or Physical Cell Identities (PCIs) which represent different TRPs. In some other implementations, the TRP information may include a TRP mapping table which contains multiple TRP indices and DL RS resource indices...”), wherein the second PCI index and the second SSB ID are encoded in a same field of the second SSB ( CHENG , see at least para. 51 along para. 57 and fig. 3, “…As discussed above, a UE may know the correspondence/relationship between a TRP and a CSI-RS resource/SSB based on the TRP information. In some implementations, if the TRP information includes (or represented as) a TRP mapping table, the number of rows in the TRP mapping table may correspond to the number of available TRPs for the UE,...”, note that “...Different DL RS resource indices in the same row may be associated with different DL RSs transmitted from the same TRP...”, also note that fig. 3 has multiple TRPs); receiving a control message from the first RRH ( CHENG , see at least para. 52 along with para. 51, e.g. “…the BS may activate multiple TCI states at the UE through RRC signaling(s), MAC CE(s), or Downlink Control Information (DCI) for PDCCH…”), wherein the control message is a medium access control element (MAC-CE) message that contains a resource ID field, and wherein the resource ID field includes the first PCI index and the first SSB ID ( CHENG , see at least para. 105-106 of fig. 6 and fig. 5B along with para. 51-52, for one non-limiting example, “…shown in FIG. 6, the field of spatial relation information indicators [S 7 S 6 S 5 S 4 S 3 S 2 S 1 S 0 ] of the MAC CE 602 is represented as [0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1], which means that a MAC CE 602 may activate both of the PUCCH spatial relation info#0 (which is corresponding to the bit S 0 ) and the PUCCH spatial relation info#6 (which is corresponding to the bit S 6 ),…”, note that MAC CE 602 includes serving cell ID and spatial relation information are of reference signal information including SSBs); and configuring a downlink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for the UE responsive to the control message ( CHENG , see at least para. 52 along with para. 51, e.g. “…the BS may activate multiple TCI states at the UE through RRC signaling(s), MAC CE(s), or Downlink Control Information (DCI) for PDCCH…”). CHENG does not explicitly teach transmitting a signal quality report regarding a signal quality of the first SSB; receiving, based at least in part on the signal quality of the first SSB, a control message from the first RRH; [and configuring a downlink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for the UE responsive to the control message]. YANG teaches transmitting a signal quality report regarding a signal quality of the first SSB; receiving, based at least in part on the signal quality of the first SSB, a control message from the first RRH; [and configuring a downlink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for the UE responsive to the control message] ( YANG , in general, see sections including, but not limited to, paragraphs 148-164, in particular, see at least para. 158, “...the terminal performs a beam measurement on the SSB configured by the base station, that is, measuring the quality of the beam where the SSB is located (such as RSRP), and reports the measurement result to the base station through a beam report. The report includes an index of the optimal one or more SSBs and corresponding qualities thereof. According to the beam report, the base station indicates to the terminal the beam for receiving the downlink data channel. In addition, the base station sends a reconfiguration, reactivation, or re-indication command, the function of this command includes configuring the TCI state of CORESET with identification 0 (for example, QCL indication). The TCI state is indicated by the index of the SSB that has a QCL relationship with the CORESET with identification 0 determined by the base station. At this time, the terminal uses reconfiguration/reactivation/re-indication command of the base station to determine the TCI state of the CORESET with identification 0...”). Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate YANG into the method of CHENG for improving the reliability and accuracy of data transmission. Regarding claim 32 , CHENG in view of YANG teaches claim 31. CHENG further teaches wherein the first SSB is a source reference signal in a quasi-colocation (QCL) relationship established by the downlink TCI state, and wherein the QCL relationship is being one of QCL Type-A, QCL Type-B, QCL Type-C, and QCL Type-D. ( CHENG , see at least para. 51, e.g. “…If an entry of the TRP mapping table includes multiple DL RS indices, and all of the DL RSs are Quasi Co-Located (QCL-ed) in the spatial domain (e.g. with a QCL type D or a new QCL type for multi-TRP transmission),...”). Regarding claim 33 , CHENG in view of YANG teaches claim 31. CHENG further teaches configuring a spatial relation for the UE responsive to the control message, wherein the first SSB serves as a source reference signal for the spatial relation. ( CHENG , see at least para. 106 along with para. 61, e.g. “…UE receives a MAC CE including multiple spatial relation information indicators (e.g., SSB indices or CRIs) from the BS…”) Regarding claim 34 , CHENG in view of YANG teaches claim 31. CHENG further teaches configuring an uplink TCI state for the UE responsive to the control message, wherein the first SSB serves as a source reference signal for the uplink TCI state ( CHENG , see at least para. 52 and 61, e.g. “...the BS may activate multiple TCI states at the UE through RRC signaling(s), MAC CE(s), or Downlink Control Information (DCI) for PDCCH and Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). Each TCI state may contain spatial domain information...”, note that “...a BS may indicate to a UE, e.g., through a MAC CE message, that multiple UL beams for PUCCH transmission are activated...”). Regarding claim 36 , CHENG in view of YANG teaches claim 33. CHENG further teaches receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message that includes a spatial relation field including a first SSB index associated with the first PCI index and a second SSB index associated with the second PCI index. ( CHENG , see at least para. 121 along fig. 9 and para. 73-77, note that for one non-limiting example, para. 74-75 discloses “…the DL preemption indication may be extended from a cell level to a TRP level. In some other implementations, each serving cell may include a set of DL preemption indicators including the TRP information. In some implementations, the TRP information contained in a DL preemption indicator may include the DL RS indices (e.g., CSI-RS indices or SSB indices) that are associated with the DL beams of the TRPs...”) Regarding claim 47 , CHENG in view of YANG teaches claim 31. CHENG further teaches configuring, based at least in part on the control message, a spatial relation between a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) message and a beam on which the first SSB is received. ( CHENG , see at least para. 106 along fig. 6 and fig. 5B, e.g. “…shown in FIG. 6, the field of spatial relation information indicators [S 7 S 6 S 5 S 4 S 3 S 2 S 1 S 0 ] of the MAC CE 602 is represented as [0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1], which means that a MAC CE 602 may activate both of the PUCCH spatial relation info#0 (which is corresponding to the bit S 0 ) and the PUCCH spatial relation info#6 (which is corresponding to the bit S 6 ),…”) Regarding claim 48 , CHENG in view of YANG teaches claim 47. CHENG further teaches transmitting the PUCCH message using a spatial filter used to receive the first SSB. ( CHENG , see at least para. 108 along fig. 6 and fig. 5B, e.g. “…the UE may choose the spatial filter for receiving the SSB#0 as the spatial filter for transmitting the PUCCH resource#10…”) Regarding claim 49 , CHENG in view of YANG teaches claim 31. CHENG does not explicitly teach wherein the signal quality of the first SSB is a reference signal received power (RSRP) value. YANG teaches wherein the signal quality of the first SSB is a reference signal received power (RSRP) value ( YANG , see at least para. 158, “...the terminal performs a beam measurement on the SSB configured by the base station, that is, measuring the quality of the beam where the SSB is located (such as RSRP), and reports the measurement result to the base station through a beam report...”). Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate YANG into the method of CHENG for improving the reliability and accuracy of data transmission. Regarding claim 50 , CHENG in view of YANG teaches claim 31. CHENG further teaches using the first SSB as a source reference signal in a beam management relationship based at least in part on the control message. ( CHENG , see at least para. 51 and 61, e.g. “...the TRP information may include indices of DL RSs (e.g., CSI-RS indices or SSB indices) for representing the DL beams of the TRPs...”, note that “...a BS may indicate to a UE, e.g., through a MAC CE message, that multiple UL beams for PUCCH transmission are activated...”). Regarding claim 51 , CHENG in view of YANG teaches claim 31. CHENG further teaches wherein the first SSB is received as a reference signal. ( CHENG , see at least para. 50, “...The TRP information may help a UE to identify the correspondence between multiple TRPs and DL RS resources. In some implementations, the DL RS resources may be Quasi Co-Location (QCL) associated RS resources, such as Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs), CSI-RSs,...”) Regarding claims 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, and 52 , these claims are rejected for the same reasoning as claims 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51, respectively, except each of these claims is in apparatus claim format. To be more specific, CHENG in view of YANG also teaches a same or similar apparatus with processors and memory ( CHENG , see at least fig. 18), which are well known in the art and commonly used for providing and enabling robust and reliable data communication hardware and software . Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed 05/05/2026 have been fully considered. Regarding newly added independent claims 31 and 37, since applicant's amendment necessitated new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action, previous Office action's rejections are moot. Accordingly, corresponding dependent claims have also been rejected in this Office action. 07-37 AIA Applicant's arguments filed 05/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Examiner provides response in following sections . Regarding independent claim 31 , applicant argues that (applicant’s emphasis included, if any): “Instead, paragraph 51 of CHENG recites that "the TRP information may include indices of DL RSs (e.g., CSI-RS indices or SSB indices) for representing the DL beams of the TRPs" and that "the TRP information may include multiple TRP IDs and/or Physical Cell Identities (PCIs) which represent different TRPs." Paragraph 57 of CHENG recites that "a UE may know the correspondence/relationship between a TRP and a CSI-RS resource/SSB based on the TRP information" and that "if the TRP information includes (or represented as) a TRP mapping table, the number of rows in the TRP mapping table may correspond to the number of available TRPs for the UE, and each entry (column) in a row may include several DL RS resource indices (e.g., DL RS IDs)." Although CHENG discloses SSB indices, PCIs, and TRP information including SSB indices and PCIs, CHENG does not disclose an SSB ID and a PCI index being encoded in a same field of an SSB . Therefore, as discussed during the interview, CHENG does not disclose "wherein the first PCI index and the first SSB ID are encoded in a same field of the first SSB," and "wherein the second PCI index and the second SSB ID are encoded in a same field of the second SSB," as recited in claim 31.” (Remarks, page 10) Examiner respectfully disagrees. As discloses at least in para. 51 of CHENG, TRP information is a piece of information that includes, in part, SSB indices and TRP IDs (PCIs). Paragraph 57 of CHENG, which depicting fig. 3, shows a form of TRP information for a UE to know the correspondence/relationship between a TRP and a CSI-RS resource/SSB based on the TRP information. Hence, CHENG indeed teaches or suggests the argued features of "wherein the first PCI index and the first SSB ID are encoded in a same field of the first SSB," as well as "wherein the second PCI index and the second SSB ID are encoded in a same field of the second SSB," as recited in claim 31. Further, applicant argues that (applicant’s emphasis included, if any): “Paragraph 106 of CHENG recites that "the field of spatial relation information indicators [S ₇ S ₆ S ₅ S4 S ₃ S ₂ S ₁ So] of the MAC CE 602 is represented as [01000001], which means that a MAC CE 602 may activate both of the PUCCH spatial relation info#0 (which is corresponding to the bit S ₀ ) and the PUCCH spatial relation info#6 (which is corresponding to the bit S ₆ ), and deactivate the others." Paragraph 52 of CHENG recites that "the BS may activate multiple TCI states at the UE through RRC signaling(s), MAC CE(s), or Downlink Control Information (DCI) for PDCCH and Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)." Although CHENG discloses MAC CEs that include a field of spatial relation information indicators, CHENG does not disclose the MAC CEs containing a resource ID field that includes a PCI index and an SSB ID . Therefore, as discussed during the interview, CHENG does not disclose "wherein the control message is a medium access control element (MAC-CE) message that contains a resource ID field, and wherein the resource ID field includes the first PCI index and the first SSB ID," as recited in amended claim 31.” (Remarks, page 10-11) Examiner respectfully disagrees, and believes the arguments are centered on the newly amended features which are properly addressed in claim 31 rejection above. For example, CHENG in at least fig. 6 and its para. 106 clearly discloses MAC CE using its field to indicate resources which including, in part, Serving Cell ID and one or more SSB/CSI-RS. Hence, CHENG indeed teaches or suggests the amended features of “...wherein the control message is a medium access control element (MAC-CE) message that contains a resource ID field, and wherein the resource ID field includes the first PCI index and the first SSB ID...” as newly recited in claim 31. Regarding independent claim 37 , while no arguments presented, the traversal grounds would have been same or similar as those presented in claim 31 above. Therefore, in view of the response above, examiner also respectfully disagrees and has maintained the rejection as presented. Accordingly, all pending dependent claims of the independent claims 31, and 37 , in view of the response above, the examiner has maintained the rejection as presented and believes all rejections are proper and should be sustained. Conclusion 07-40 AIA 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YEE F LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7577. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached on 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /YEE F LAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 2 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 3 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 4 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 5 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 6 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 7 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 8 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 9 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 10 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 11 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 12 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 13 Art Unit: 2465 Application/Control Number: 17/149,539 Page 14 Art Unit: 2465
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