DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/03/2025 has been entered.
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 .
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 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.
Claim Status
Claims 1, 3-5, 8, 11-13, 16, 18-20, 23, and 26-28 have been amended.
No new claims have been added.
Claims 1-30 are currently pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 06/23/2025 have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. The amendments to the claims necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection discussed below.
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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
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.
Claims 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chung et al. (US 2023/0354301 A1) hereinafter “Chung” in view of Takeda et al. (US 2021/0274562 A1) hereinafter “Takeda”.
Regarding claims 1 and 16, Chung discloses Claim 1 of a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (see FIG. 10; see ¶ [0330-31], terminal/apparatus), and Claim 16 of a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (see FIG. 10; see ¶ [0330-31], terminal/apparatus), comprising:
one memory (see FIG. 10; see ¶ [0331], a memory); and
one processor, coupled to the one memory, configured to (see FIG. 10; see ¶ [0331], one or more processors):
receive, from a network node, a beam indication that is associated with a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state indication, wherein the unified TCI state indication includes an indication of one downlink single frequency network (SFN) TCI state (see FIG. 8; see ¶ [0332-33] [0340], the terminal may receive configuration information on the unified TCI scheme for beam indication for the SFN-based scheme); and
transmit, to the network node and using an uplink TCI state, an uplink communication using an uplink resource that is not indicated the unified TCI state indication (see ¶ [0101], DCI includes control information such as a resource allocation information for a terminal; see ¶ [0266], uplink using configured grant (CG) based PUSCH and/or SRS resource), wherein one parameter associated with the uplink TCI state are based in part on the unified TCI state indication (see FIG. 8; see ¶ [0336-44], the terminal may perform uplink transmission through a beam and the pre-defined rule may be applied according to a scheme for the uplink transmission; see ¶ [0196] [0260], the UL TCI state may mean spatial relationship information).
Chung does not explicitly disclose a source quasi co-location (QCL) signal.
However, Takeda discloses wherein the one parameter include at least one of: a source quasi co-location (QCL) signal (see ¶ [0057] [0064], the TCI-state may indicate the QCL source).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide a source quasi co-location (QCL) signal as taught by Takeda in the system of Chung, so that it would provide the user terminal may assume that there is a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship and the QCL is an indicator indicating a statistical property of at least one of a channel and a signal, and the information related to the QCL may also be referred to as the state of a transmission configuration indicator (see ¶ [0055-57]).
Regarding claims 2 and 17, the combined system of Chung and Takeda discloses wherein the uplink resource is associated with at least one of: a configured grant (Chung: see ¶ [0266], uplink using configured grant (CG)).
Regarding claims 3 and 18, the combined system of Chung and Takeda discloses wherein the one parameter further include at least one of: spatial relation information (Chung: see ¶ [0196] [0260], the UL TCI state may mean spatial relationship information and Takeda: see ¶ [0248]).
Regarding claims 4, 12, 19, and 27, the combined system of Chung and Takeda discloses wherein the one processor is further configured to:
receive, from the network node, configuration information including another TCI state indication signal, wherein the other TCI state indication signal includes uplink spatial relationship information, and wherein the one parameter is further based at least in part on the uplink spatial relation information (Chung: see FIG. 8; see ¶ [0334], the terminal may receive information indicating a plurality of TCI states based on the unified TCI scheme through DCI and/or MAC-CE; see ¶ [0196], the UL TCI state may mean spatial relationship information of an SRS resource indicated through an SRS resource indicator (SRI) field of a UL grant DCI; see ¶ [0263], receiving based on configuration/indication of a plurality of Spatial parameters).
Regarding claims 5, 13, 20, and 28, the combined system of Chung and Takeda discloses wherein the one parameter is further based at least in part on a downlink TCI state from the one downlink SFN TCI state (Chung: see ¶ [0336] [0340], perform uplink transmission or downlink transmission based on at least one TCI state among the plurality of TCI states configured in SFN-based scheme).
Regarding claims 6, 14, 21, and 29, the combined system of Chung and Takeda discloses wherein downlink TCI states, associated with the one downlink SFN TCI state, are associated with respective index values, and wherein the downlink TCI state is associated with a lowest index value or a highest index value among the respective index values (Chung: see ¶ [0169] [0323], multiple TCI state indexes and each TCI state may be applied in association with a COREST pool index).
Regarding claims 7, 15, 22, and 30, the combined system of Chung and Takeda discloses wherein the one processor is further configured to:
receive, from the network node, an indication that the downlink TCI state is to be used to derive the one parameter (Chung: see ¶ [0334], the terminal may receive information indicating a plurality of TCI states based on the unified TCI scheme through DCI and/or MAC-CE; see ¶ [0196] [0260], the UL TCI state may mean spatial relationship information).
Regarding claims 8 and 23, the combined system of Chung and Takeda discloses wherein the one processor is further configured to:
monitor a control resource set (CORESET) using a TCI state that is associated with another TCI state indication signal, wherein the CORESET is associated with a lowest index value among index values of CORESTs monitored by the UE in a slot, and wherein the one parameter is further based at least in part on the TCI state (Chung: see ¶ [0131], a CORESET associated with a monitored search space having the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest slot where one or more CORESETs in an activated BWP of a serving cell is monitored by UE).
Regarding claims 9 and 24, the combined system of Chung and Takeda discloses wherein the CORESET is a last monitored CORESET that is associated with a type of CORESET (Chung: see ¶ [0131], QCL parameter used for PDCCH QCL indication of a CORESET associated with a monitored search space).
Regarding claims 10 and 25, the combined system of Chung and Takeda discloses wherein the type of CORESET is an SFN CORESET (Chung: see ¶ [0243], for SFN PDCCH transmission, configures a plurality of TCI states in one CORESET).
Regarding claims 11 and 26, Chung discloses Claim 11 of a network node for wireless communication (see FIG. 10; see ¶ [0031], a base station), and Claim 16 of a method of wireless communication performed by a network node (see FIG. 10; see ¶ [0031], a base station), comprising:
one memory (see FIG. 10; see ¶ [0031] [0331], a memory); and
one processor, coupled to the one memory, configured to (see FIG. 10; see ¶ [0031] [0331], one or more processors):
transmit a beam indication, associated with a user equipment (UE), that is associated with a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state indication, wherein the unified TCI state indication includes an indication of one downlink single frequency network (SFN) TCI state (see FIG. 8; see ¶ [0332-33] [0340], the terminal may receive configuration information on the unified TCI scheme for beam indication for the SFN-based scheme); and
receive an uplink communication using an uplink resource that is not indicated by the unified TCI state indication (see ¶ [0101], DCI includes control information such as a resource allocation information for a terminal; see ¶ [0266], uplink using configured grant (CG) based PUSCH and/or SRS resource), wherein the uplink communication is associated with the UE and an uplink TCI state, and wherein one parameter associated with the uplink TCI state are based in part on the unified TCI state indication (see FIG. 8; see ¶ [0336-44], the terminal may perform uplink transmission through a beam and the pre-defined rule may be applied according to a scheme for the uplink transmission; see ¶ [0196] [0260], the UL TCI state may mean spatial relationship information).
Chung does not explicitly disclose a source quasi co-location (QCL) signal.
However, Takeda discloses wherein the one parameter include at least one of: a source quasi co-location (QCL) signal (see ¶ [0057] [0064], the TCI-state may indicate the QCL source).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to provide a source quasi co-location (QCL) signal as taught by Takeda in the system of Chung, so that it would provide the user terminal may assume that there is a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship and the QCL is an indicator indicating a statistical property of at least one of a channel and a signal, and the information related to the QCL may also be referred to as the state of a transmission configuration indicator (see ¶ [0055-57]).
Conclusion
A shortened statutory period for reply to this action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of the action. An extension of time may be obtained under 37 CFR 1.136(a). However, in no event, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER CHEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7241. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.
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, Yemane Mesfin can be reached at (571) 272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER CHEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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