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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/26/2026 has been entered.
Claims 1-30 remain pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments and remarks have been fully considered.
Claims 17-18 and 20-22 that recite “means for” limitations remain interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Applicant’s remarks have been fully considered but they are moot in light of the new grounds of rejection presented below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2020/0396012; hereinafter Liu) in view of Moon et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2017/0207845; hereinafter Moon).
Regarding claim 1 Liu discloses a method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
generating, based at least in part on one or more beam metrics for one or more beams, a set of first order statistics associated with the one or more beam metrics (paragraphs 0045-0047, 0059; wherein a UE measures beam pair quality indicators (BQI) which are measurement metrics of beam pairs received at the UE, including SNR/RSRP, for example – these values interpreted as first order statistics);
generating, based at least in part on the set of first order statistics, a set of second order statistics associated with the one or more beam metrics, wherein the set of second order statistics indicate a variance of the set of first order statistics over a data collection window (paragraphs 0072-0094; wherein the UE calculates a variance of the BQI value over a time period starting at t=0 until t=t0).
Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses determining a mobility status of the UE associated with the set of second order statistics based at least in part on whether the set of second order statistics converge to a single value over the data collection window, wherein the mobility status indicates whether the UE is in rotation based at least in part on whether the set of second order statistics converge to the single value over the data collection window (paragraphs 0144-0147; determining rotation or misalignment of a UE during a sweeping interval and the beam metric value converging to a value greater than a threshold); selecting, based at least in part on the determined mobility status, one or more beam management parameters (paragraphs 0145-0154; performing beam selection/beam switching according to the determination of the UEs mobility); and managing the one or more beams according to the selected one or more beam management parameters (paragraphs 0145-0154; performing beam selection/beam switching according to the determination of the UEs mobility). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 2 Liu discloses the method of claim 1. Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses further comprising: receiving, from one or more sensors at the UE, orientation information, displacement information, or both (paragraph 0126; the UE may sense the change of the direction using the sensor included in the UE); and confirming, based at least in part on the orientation information, displacement information, or both, the mobility status associated with the set of second order statistics (paragraph 0126; the UE may sense the change of the direction using the sensor included in the UE and request the transmission of the second BRS using the sensed direction). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 3 Liu discloses the method of claim 2, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a magnetometer, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, or any combination thereof (paragraph 0172; Sensor 1607 may include a group of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor).
Regarding claim 4 Liu discloses the method of claim 1. Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses wherein determining the mobility status comprises: determining that the UE is stationary, determining that the UE is in motion, determining a Doppler value for the UE, determining that the UE is in rotation, determining that the UE is not in rotation, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0144-0147; determining rotation or misalignment of a UE). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 5 Liu discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: measuring the one or more beam metrics for the one or more beams during the data collection window (paragraphs 0072-0094; wherein the UE calculates a variance of the BQI value over a time period starting at t=0 until t=t0); identifying a triggering event (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079; value change that requires a beam switch); and resetting the data collection window based at least in part on identifying the triggering event (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079-0094; beam switching triggers a restart of the metrics measurements).
Regarding claim 6 Liu discloses the method of claim 5, wherein identifying the triggering event comprises: performing a handover procedure, performing a beam configuration update, or both (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079-0094; beam switching).
Regarding claim 7 Liu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the one or more beam metrics comprise reference signal receive power, signal to noise ratio, reference signal received quality, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0045-0046; BQI comprises SNR/SINR/RSRP/RSRQ).
Regarding claim 8 Liu discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the one or more beam management parameters comprise power hysteresis parameters, time hysteresis parameters, filtering coefficient values, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0092-0097; filter values).
Regarding claim 9 Liu discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) (fig. 3A, UE), comprising:
a processor (paragraph 0057, processor);
memory coupled with the processor (paragraph 0057, memory); and
instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor (paragraph 0057) to cause the apparatus to:
generate, based at least in part on one or more beam metrics for one or more beams, a set of first order statistics associated with the one or more beam metrics (paragraphs 0045-0047, 0059; wherein a UE measures beam pair quality indicators (BQI) which are measurement metrics of beam pairs received at the UE, including SNR/RSRP, for example – these values interpreted as first order statistics);
generate, based at least in part on the set of first order statistics, a set of second order statistics associated with the one or more beam metrics, wherein the set of second order statistics indicate a variance of the set of first order statistics over a data collection window (paragraphs 0072-0094; wherein the UE calculates a variance of the BQI value over a time period starting at t=0 until t=t0).
Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses determine a mobility status of the UE associated with the set of second order statistics based at least in part on whether the set of second order statistics converge to a single value over the data collection window, wherein the mobility status indicates whether the UE is in rotation based at least in part on whether the set of second order statistics converge to the single value over the data collection window (paragraphs 0144-0147; determining rotation or misalignment of a UE during a sweeping interval and the beam metric value converging to a value greater than a threshold); select, based at least in part on the determined mobility status, one or more beam management parameters (paragraphs 0145-0154; performing beam selection/beam switching according to the determination of the UEs mobility); and manage the one or more beams according to the selected one or more beam management parameters (paragraphs 0145-0154; performing beam selection/beam switching according to the determination of the UEs mobility). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 10 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 9. Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses further comprising: receive, from one or more sensors at the UE, orientation information, displacement information, or both (paragraph 0126; the UE may sense the change of the direction using the sensor included in the UE); and confirm, based at least in part on the orientation information, displacement information, or both, the mobility status associated with the set of second order statistics (paragraph 0126; the UE may sense the change of the direction using the sensor included in the UE and request the transmission of the second BRS using the sensed direction). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 11 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a magnetometer, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, or any combination thereof (paragraph 0172; Sensor 1607 may include a group of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor).
Regarding claim 12 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 9. Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses wherein determining the mobility status comprises: determine that the UE is stationary, determine that the UE is in motion, determine a Doppler value for the UE, determine that the UE is in rotation, determine that the UE is not in rotation, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0144-0147; determining rotation or misalignment of a UE). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 13 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: measure the one or more beam metrics for the one or more beams during the data collection window (paragraphs 0072-0094; wherein the UE calculates a variance of the BQI value over a time period starting at t=0 until t=t0); identify a triggering event (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079; value change that requires a beam switch); and reset the data collection window based at least in part on identifying the triggering event (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079; value change that requires a beam switch).
Regarding claim 14 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions to identify the triggering event are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: perform a handover procedure, performing a beam configuration update, or both (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079-0094; beam switching).
Regarding claim 15 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more beam metrics comprise reference signal receive power, signal to noise ratio, reference signal received quality, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0045-0046; BQI comprises SNR/SINR/RSRP/RSRQ).
Regarding claim 16 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more beam management parameters comprise power hysteresis parameters, time hysteresis parameters, filtering coefficient values, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0092-0097; filter values).
Regarding claim 17 Liu discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) (paragraph 0057), comprising:
means for generating, based at least in part on one or more beam metrics for one or more beams, a set of first order statistics associated with the one or more beam metrics (paragraphs 0045-0047, 0059; wherein a UE measures beam pair quality indicators (BQI) which are measurement metrics of beam pairs received at the UE, including SNR/RSRP, for example – these values interpreted as first order statistics);
means for generating, based at least in part on the set of first order statistics, a set of second order statistics associated with the one or more beam metrics, wherein the set of second order statistics indicate a variance of the set of first order statistics over a data collection window (paragraphs 0072-0094; wherein the UE calculates a variance of the BQI value over a time period starting at t=0 until t=t0).
Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses means for determining a mobility status of the UE associated with the set of second order statistics based at least in part on whether the set of second order statistics converge to a single value over the data collection window, wherein the mobility status indicates whether the UE is in rotation based at least in part on whether the set of second order statistics converge to the single value over the data collection window (paragraphs 0144-0147; determining rotation or misalignment of a UE during a sweeping interval and the beam metric value converging to a value greater than a threshold); means for selecting, based at least in part on the determined mobility status, one or more beam management parameters (paragraphs 0145-0154; performing beam selection/beam switching according to the determination of the UEs mobility); and means for managing the one or more beams according to the selected one or more beam management parameters (paragraphs 0145-0154; performing beam selection/beam switching according to the determination of the UEs mobility). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 18 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 17. Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses further comprising: means for receiving, from one or more sensors at the UE, orientation information, displacement information, or both (paragraph 0126; the UE may sense the change of the direction using the sensor included in the UE); and means for confirming, based at least in part on the orientation information, displacement information, or both, the mobility status associated with the set of second order statistics (paragraph 0126; the UE may sense the change of the direction using the sensor included in the UE and request the transmission of the second BRS using the sensed direction). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 19 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 18, wherein: the one or more sensors comprise a magnetometer, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, or any combination thereof (paragraph 0172; Sensor 1607 may include a group of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor).
Regarding claim 20 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 17. Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses wherein determining the mobility status comprises: means for determining that the UE is stationary, determining that the UE is in motion, determining a Doppler value for the UE, determining that the UE is in rotation, determining that the UE is not in rotation, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0144-0147; determining rotation or misalignment of a UE). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 21 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 17, further comprising: means for measuring the one or more beam metrics for the one or more beams during the data collection window (paragraphs 0072-0094; wherein the UE calculates a variance of the BQI value over a time period starting at t=0 until t=t0); means for identifying a triggering event (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079; value change that requires a beam switch); and means for resetting the data collection window based at least in part on identifying the triggering event (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079; value change that requires a beam switch).
Regarding claim 22 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 21, wherein the means for identifying the triggering event comprise: means for performing a handover procedure, performing a beam configuration update, or both (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079-0094; beam switching).
Regarding claim 23 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 17, wherein: the one or more beam metrics comprise reference signal receive power, signal to noise ratio, reference signal received quality, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0045-0046; BQI comprises SNR/SINR/RSRP/RSRQ).
Regarding claim 24 Liu discloses the apparatus of claim 17, wherein: the one or more beam management parameters comprise power hysteresis parameters, time hysteresis parameters, filtering coefficient values, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0092-0097; filter values).
Regarding claim 25 Liu discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE) (paragraph 0057), the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to:
generate, based at least in part on one or more beam metrics for one or more beams, a set of first order statistics associated with the one or more beam metrics (paragraphs 0045-0047, 0059; wherein a UE measures beam pair quality indicators (BQI) which are measurement metrics of beam pairs received at the UE, including SNR/RSRP, for example – these values interpreted as first order statistics);
generate, based at least in part on the set of first order statistics, a set of second order statistics associated with the one or more beam metrics, wherein the set of second order statistics indicate a variance of the set of first order statistics over a data collection window (paragraphs 0072-0094; wherein the UE calculates a variance of the BQI value over a time period starting at t=0 until t=t0).
Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses determine a mobility status of the UE associated with the set of second order statistics based at least in part on whether the set of second order statistics converge to a single value over the data collection window, wherein the mobility status indicates whether the UE is in rotation based at least in part on whether the set of second order statistics converge to the single value over the data collection window (paragraphs 0144-0147; determining rotation or misalignment of a UE during a sweeping interval and the beam metric value converging to a value greater than a threshold); select, based at least in part on the determined mobility status, one or more beam management parameters (paragraphs 0145-0154; performing beam selection/beam switching according to the determination of the UEs mobility); and manage the one or more beams according to the selected one or more beam management parameters (paragraphs 0145-0154; performing beam selection/beam switching according to the determination of the UEs mobility). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 26 Liu discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25. Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses further comprising: receive, from one or more sensors at the UE, orientation information, displacement information, or both (paragraph 0126; the UE may sense the change of the direction using the sensor included in the UE); and confirm, based at least in part on the orientation information, displacement information, or both, the mobility status associated with the set of second order statistics (paragraph 0126; the UE may sense the change of the direction using the sensor included in the UE and request the transmission of the second BRS using the sensed direction). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 27 Liu discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the one or more sensors comprise a magnetometer, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, or any combination thereof (paragraph 0172; Sensor 1607 may include a group of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor).
Regarding claim 28 Liu discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25. Liu fails to explicitly disclose but Moon, in a similar field of endeavor related to beam management, discloses wherein determining the mobility status comprises: determine that the UE is stationary, determine that the UE is in motion, determine a Doppler value for the UE, determine that the UE is in rotation, determine that the UE is not in rotation, or any combination thereof (paragraphs 0144-0147; determining rotation or misalignment of a UE). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Liu with the teachings of Moon by determining that the mobility status indicates the UE is in rotation, in order to increase system reliability (Moon: paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 29 Liu discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to: measure the one or more beam metrics for the one or more beams during the data collection window (paragraphs 0072-0094; wherein the UE calculates a variance of the BQI value over a time period starting at t=0 until t=t0); identify a triggering event (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079; value change that requires a beam switch); and reset the data collection window based at least in part on identifying the triggering event (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079; value change that requires a beam switch).
Regarding claim 30 Liu discloses the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, wherein the instructions to identify the triggering event are executable by the processor to: perform a handover procedure, performing a beam configuration update, or both (paragraphs 0042, 0047, 0079-0094; beam switching).
Citation of Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US PGPUB 2019/0261195 to Cheng et al. – that discloses a method that includes counting, by a UE, a number of beam switching within a particular period of time, and transmitting, by the UE, a measurement report to a BS when the number of beam switching exceeds a threshold during the particular period of time.
US PGPUB 2022/0368403 to Tang et al. – which discloses in the case of a UE in rotation as illustrated in FIGS. 11A-B, the gNB 902 may detect RSRP drop (e.g., from a report from the UE 906) and may trigger a P2 beam management procedure 1001, although P3 may provide better likelihood of rapidly selecting an appropriate beam pair.
US PGPUB 2021/0289583 to Zhang et al. – that discloses it may be determined (e.g., in accordance with the method of FIG. 21, as one possibility) that the UE is in a rotation state. In 2304, it may be determined if RSRP is less than a certain threshold (“TH.sub.1”) or SNR is less than a certain threshold (“TH.sub.2”) or quality change rate is greater than a certain threshold (“TH.sub.3”). If so, the UE may implement one or more of steps 2308, 2310, or 2312.
Conclusion
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/Aixa Guadalupe-Cruz/
Examiner
Art Unit 2466
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466