DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 10-11, filed 2 July 2026, in view of the amendments with respect to claims 1, 14, 16, and 29 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 112(a) rejection of the claims has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 103 rejection of claim(s) claims 1-5, 7-20, and 22-30 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-20, and 22-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mao et al. WO 2021/064684 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Mao”) in view of Guan US 2020/0021389 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Guan”) in view of Gao et al. US 2023/0075088 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Gao”).
As to claims 1 and 14, Mao teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising:
memory;
a transceiver; and
at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:
receive, from a user equipment (UE), at least one feedback signal comprising at least one measurement of a downlink connection between the base station and the UE (¶¶27 and 34-35: receive, from UE, full CSI reports for each beam and simplified/compact reporting of the beams);
switch to one and no more than one set of the plurality of sets of communication parameters for communication with the UE (¶¶34-35 and 38: switch to one set of PDSCH parameters), wherein different sets of the plurality of sets of communication parameters are activated for the switch to the one and no more than one set based on information in the at least one feedback signal (¶¶34-35 and 40: different sets of PDSCH parameters are activated based on receiving the different CSI reports); and
transmit, for the UE, downlink control information (DCI) indicating the one and no more than one set of the plurality of sets of communication parameters for communication with the UE (¶¶34-35, 37, and 40: transmit, to the UE, PDCCH carrying scheduling information for the one set of PDSCH parameters signaled via DCI indicators in the PDCCH).
Although Mao teaches “An apparatus…and the UE; switch to one…with the UE,” Mao does not explicitly disclose “configure a plurality…control element (MAC-CE)”.
However, Guan teaches configure a plurality of sets of communication parameters associated with one and no more than one search space for communication with the UE, wherein the plurality of sets of communication parameters are configured based on the at least one feedback signal, and wherein each set of communication parameters of the plurality of sets of communication parameters comprises a repetition factor or a number of repetitions (¶¶87, 113-116, 144-146, 184-189, and 201; figure 8: based on UE feedback of beam quality, base station configures beams, CCEs, and aggregation levels in a UE specific search space where UE can perform blind detection).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the apparatus described in Mao by including “configure a plurality…number of repetitions” as taught by Guan because it provides Mao’s apparatus with the enhanced capability of correlating beam quality with aggregation level (Guan, ¶188).
Although Mao in view of Guan teaches “An apparatus…number of repetitions; switch to one…with the UE,” Mao in view of Guan does not explicitly disclose “thresholds on at…control element (MAC-CE)”.
However, Gao teaches thresholds on at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI), Layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (L1-RSRP), or L1 signal-to-noise and interference ratio (L1-SINR) that correspond to different sets of the plurality of sets of communication parameters are updated by dynamic signaling, the dynamic signaling comprising at least one of UE-specific downlink control information (DCI), group- common DCI, or downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) (¶¶143-151: MAC-CE is transmitted to configure and update CQI threshold for particular RSs corresponding to particular beams).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the apparatus described in Mao in view of Guan by including “thresholds on at…control element (MAC-CE)” as taught by Gao because it provides Mao in view of Guan’s apparatus with the enhanced capability of dynamically triggering beam switching (Gao, ¶¶143-151).
As to claims 2 and 15, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 1. Mao further teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
communicate with the UE based on the no more than one set of the plurality of sets of communication parameters for communication with the UE (¶38).
As to claim 3, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 1. Mao further teaches wherein the plurality of sets of communication parameters for communication with the UE are configured based on a plurality of feedback signals from the UE (¶¶27 and 34).
As to claim 4, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 1. Mao further teaches wherein the plurality of sets of communication parameters for communication with the UE are configured based on the at least one measurement of the downlink connection in the at least one feedback signal (¶¶27 and 34).
As to claim 5, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 1. Mao further teaches wherein the at least one feedback signal comprises at least one of channel state information (CSI), channel quality indicator (CQI), Layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) (L1-RSRP), L1 signal-to-noise and interference ratio (L1-SINR), or a combination thereof (¶¶31-32).
As to claim 7, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 1. Mao further teaches wherein an activation time to switch to the no more than one set of the plurality of sets of communication parameters is based on a timing associated with information in the at least one feedback signal or a preconfigured time offset (¶¶27, 31-32, 34-35, 38, 42-43, and 47).
As to claim 8, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 1. Mao further teaches wherein the plurality of sets of communication parameters correspond to at least one of a configured grant (CG), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) search space, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission, semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), or a combination thereof (¶¶34, 38, and 43).
As to claim 9, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 8. Mao further teaches wherein the plurality of sets of communication parameters comprises the number of repetitions for the CG based on information in the at least one feedback signal (¶¶34, 38, and 43).
As to claim 10, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 8.
Guan further teaches the plurality of sets of communication parameters comprise a plurality of sets of aggregation levels for the PDCCH search space (¶188).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the apparatus described in Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao by including “the plurality…search space” as further taught by Guan for the same rationale as set forth in claim 1 (Guan, ¶188).
As to claim 11, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 10.
Guan further teaches an associated control resource set (CORESET) of the PDCCH search space is based on information in the at least one feedback signal (¶188).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further improve upon the apparatus described in Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao by including “an associated control resource set (CORESET) of the PDCCH search space is based on information in the at least one feedback signal” as further taught by Guan for the same rationale as set forth in claim 1 (Guan, ¶188).
As to claim 12, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus of claim 8. Mao further teaches wherein the plurality of sets of communication parameters comprise a plurality of configurations for uplink control information (UCI) for PUCCH transmission (¶47).
As to claim 13, Mao in view of Guan in view of Gao teaches the apparatus claim 8. Mao further teaches wherein the plurality of sets of communication parameters comprises the repetition factor for SPS based on information in the at least one feedback signal (¶43).
As to claims 16 and 29, Mao teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a memory;
a transceiver; and
at least one processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:
transmit, to a base station, at least one feedback signal comprising at least one measurement of a downlink connection between the base station and the UE (¶¶27 and 34-35: transmit, to BS, full CSI reports for each beam and simplified/compact reporting of the beams);
receive, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) indicating one and no more than one activated set of the plurality of sets of communication parameters, activated for selection based on the at least one feedback signal, for communication with the base station (¶¶34-35, 37, and 40: receive, from the BS, PDCCH carrying scheduling information indicating a set of PDSCH resources), wherein different sets of the plurality of sets of communication parameters are activated for a switch to the one and no more than one activated set based on information in the at least one feedback signal (¶¶34-35 and 40: different sets of PDSCH parameters are activated based on the different CSI reports); and
switch to the one and no more than one activated set of the plurality of sets of communication parameters (¶¶37-40: switch to the activated PDSCH resources/parameters).
Although Mao teaches “An apparatus…and the UE; receive, from the base station…of communication parameters,” Mao does not explicitly disclose “activate for selection…control element (MAC-CE)”.
However, Guan teaches activate for selection a plurality of sets of communication parameters associated with one and no more than one search space for communication with the base station, wherein the plurality of sets of communication parameters are activated for selection based on the at least one feedback signal, and wherein each set of communication parameters of the plurality of sets of communication parameters comprises a repetition factor or a number of repetitions (¶¶87, 113-116, 144-146, 184-189, and 201; figures 2 and 8: based on UE feedback of beam quality, base station configures beams, CCEs, and aggregation levels in a UE specific search space where UE can perform blind detection).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the apparatus described in Mao by including “activate for selection…number of repetitions” as taught by Guan because it provides Mao’s apparatus with the enhanced capability of correlating beam quality with aggregation level (Guan, ¶188).
Although Mao in view of Guan teaches “An apparatus…number of repetitions; receive, from the…of communication parameters,” Mao in view of Guan does not explicitly disclose “thresholds on at…control element (MAC-CE)”.
However, Gao teaches thresholds on at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI), Layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (L1-RSRP), or L1 signal-to-noise and interference ratio (L1-SINR) that correspond to different sets of the plurality of sets of communication parameters are updated by dynamic signaling, the dynamic signaling comprising at least one of UE-specific downlink control information (DCI), group- common DCI, or downlink medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) (¶¶143-151: MAC-CE is transmitted to configure and update CQI threshold for particular RSs corresponding to particular beams).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to improve upon the apparatus described in Mao in view of Guan by including “thresholds on at…control element (MAC-CE)” as taught by Gao because it provides Mao in view of Guan’s apparatus with the enhanced capability of dynamically triggering beam switching (Gao, ¶¶143-151).
As to claims 17 and 30, claims 17 and 30 are rejected the same way as claims 2 and 15.
As to claim 18, claim 18 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As to claim 19, claim 19 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As to claim 20, claim 20 is rejected the same way as claim 5.
As to claim 22, claim 22 is rejected the same way as claim 7.
As to claim 23, claim 23 is rejected the same way as claim 8.
As to claim 24, claim 24 is rejected the same way as claim 9.
As to claim 25, claim 25 is rejected the same way as claim 10.
As to claim 26, claim 26 is rejected the same way as claim 11.
As to claim 27, claim 27 is rejected the same way as claim 12.
As to claim 28, claim 28 is rejected the same way as claim 13.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Jia et al. US 2023/0353223 A1 - METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING BEAM FAILURE
Babaei US 11,470,4488 B1 - Beam Failure Detection And Recovery
Sengupta et al. US 2020/0383167 A1 - BEAM FAILURE RECOVERY IN SECONDARY CELLS
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 JUSTIN T VAN ROIE whose telephone number is (571)270-0308. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian N Moore can be reached at 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN T VAN ROIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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