DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
In response to amendment filed on 6/12/2026, claims 1, 52- 53 and 61 are amended. Claims 3, 5- 7, 9, 11- 13, 17- 51, 54, 57, 59- 60 are cancelled. claims 1- 2, 4, 8, 10, 14- 16, 52- 53, 55- 56, 58 and 61 are pending for examinations. Further previously given rejections based on 35 USC 112 first and second paragraphs have been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) filed on 6/12/2026 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. Applicant has amended independent claim; hence examiner believes that the scope has been changed, hence examiner has considered new reference and also changed some prior citations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 10, 14- 16, 52- 53, 55, 58, 61 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over VIVO: "Discussion on beam management latency and overhead reduction",3GPP DRAFT; R1-1810411, 3RD GENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP), MOBILE COMPETENCE CENTRE ; 650, ROUTE DES LUCIOLES; F-06921 SOPHIA-ANTI, vol. RAN WG1, no. Chengdu, China; 29 September 2018 (see IDS filed on 1/25/2024 page 1, B8), hereafter VIVO in view of Rahman et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0067979 A1) and in further view of John Wilson et al. (US Pub. No. 2019/0115955 A1), hereafter John.
Regarding claim 1, VIVO teaches a method for wireless communication (see section 2; here UE can be a first communication node), comprising:
reporting, by a first communication node to a second communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by reporting:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs);
determining, by the first communication node, a plurality of communication parameter sets in response to a radio resource control (RRC) first command, wherein each of the plurality of communication parameter sets comprises at least one respective reference signal (RS) resource and at least one respective quasi co-location (QCL) type parameter (section 2, "each state of M candidate TCI states are RRC configured ... ", "set of M TCI states"; … each state of M candidate TCI states are RRC configured with a DL RS set used as a QCL reference. For PDSCH QCL indication, MAC-CE is used to select up to 8 TCI states out of M. The same set of M TCI states is reused for CORESET. When K>1 TCI states are configured per CORESET, MAC-CE can indicate which one TCI state to use for PDCCH QCL state. In Rel-16 the mapping between TCI state and CORESET can be dynamically switched based on flexible gNB configuration to avoid always configuring too many TCI states for CORESET. For PDCCH and other channels/RSs, the QCL source can be CSI-RS. But the source RS indicated by TCI state for QCL indication…. For P-/SP- CSI-RS resource overhead reduction and avoiding the impact of out-of-date, aperiodic CSI-RS resource can be considered as QCL source);
associating, by the first communication node, a power control parameter with one communication parameter set of the plurality of communication parameter sets, (section 2, "power control parameters indication", "For PUSCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by SRI, and the linkage of them are preconfigured by RRC.", "when uplink and downlink beam pair association was changed, power control parameters may also need to be reconfigured"), the communication parameter set comprising at least one reference signal (RS) resource and at least one quasi co-location (QCL) type parameter;
determining, by the first communication node, a subset of the plurality of communication parameter sets in response to a medium access control element (MAC-CE) command from among the plurality of communication parameter sets (section 2, "MAC-CE is used to select up to 8 TCI states out of M").
Bur Vivo is silent about reporting, by a first communication node to a second communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by reporting:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs).
Vivo is also silent about selecting, by the communication node, the communication parameter set from the subset for transmitting the uplink signal in response to a DCI command; transmitting, by the first communication node, the uplink signal according to the communication parameter set selected from the subset and the and the association.
Vivo is also silent about receiving, by the first communication node, the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is transmitted.
However Rahman teaches about reporting, by a first communication node to a second communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by reporting:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs); see [0004] regarding UE as a first communication node and its reporting to base station as a second communication node; now see [0135] Whether the UE is capable of supporting such common MAC-CE activation for TCI indication can be reported by the UE via capability signaling; further see [0177] whether the UE is capable of supporting such common MAC-CE activation for TCI indication (cf. embodiment 1-3) or SpatialRelationInfo indication can be reported by the UE via capability signaling. Additionally, the applicable list of frequency bands supporting this feature can also be included in the UE capability signaling; now refer to Fig. 14 and step 1404 regarding UE receiving activation command via MAC-CE; see [0180] In step 1404, the UE receives an activation command via medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) to activate N TCI state IDs from K TCI state IDs, wherein N<K and the activation command is common across the list of CCs. See [0181] In step 1406, the UE determines a TCI state T.sub.i for a CC i in the list of CCs based on the activated N TCI state IDs. See [0182] In step 1408, the UE transmits an uplink (UL) transmission or receives a downlink (DL) transmission for the CC i based on a QCL-Info included in the determined TCI state T.sub.i.
Further Rahman teaches about selecting, by the communication node, the communication parameter set from the subset for transmitting the uplink signal in response to a DCI command; transmitting, by the first communication node, the uplink signal according to the communication parameter set selected from the subset and the and the association; see in abstract about The method further includes receiving an activation command via medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) to activate N TCI state IDs from K TCI state IDs, wherein N<K and the activation command is common across the list of CCs, determining a TCI state T.sub.i for a CC i in the list of CCs based on the activated N TCI state IDs, and transmitting an uplink (UL) transmission or receiving a downlink (DL) transmission for the CC i based on a QCL-Info included in the determined TCI state...; in above context pls refer to [0124- 0127] regarding .. the DL (or UL) TCI state indication is performed in three steps. Step 1: a set of K1>1 DL (or UL) TCI states is configured via higher-layer (RRC) signaling. Step 2: a subset of K2 (i.e. subset) <K1 DL (or UL) TCI states is activated (or selected) from the configured set of K1 DL (or UL) TCI states via MAC-CE activation command. Step 3: a DL (or UL) TCI state is indicated from the activated set of K2 (i.e. subset) DL (or UL) TCI states via DCI signaling. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Rahman with the teachings of Vivo to make system more effective. Having a mechanism reporting, by a first communication node to a second communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by reporting: an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs) and about selecting, by the communication node, the communication parameter set from the subset for transmitting the uplink signal in response to a DCI command; transmitting, by the first communication node, the uplink signal according to the communication parameter set selected from the subset and the and the association; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
But Vivo is also silent about receiving, by the first communication node, the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is transmitted.
However John states in [0073] about … if UE 115-a receives an indication of an updated TCI state in a DCI, UE 115-a may identify updated QCL relationships between antenna ports based on the updated TCI state. Specifically, UE 115-a may identify one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state, and the antenna ports used to transmit (i.e. uplink signal) the one or more reference signals may be quasi co-located with antenna ports used to transmit data or control information (i.e. uplink sign al) to the UE 115-b. The one or more reference signals may include SSBs, periodic CSI-RSs, aperiodic CSI-RSs, or semi-persistent CSI-RSs. Thus, UE 115-b may perform channel estimation based on the one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state. UE 115-b may then demodulate the data or control information (i.e. downlink signal) received from base station 105-b based on the channel estimation (i.e. estimation is as per on the one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state); further see first line of [0073] UE 115-b may then communicate with base station 105-b based on the updated subset of the set of TCI states). It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of John with the teachings of VIVO in view of Rahman to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein receiving a downlink signal according to the selected communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is transmitted; greater way resources can be utilized/managed in the communication system.
Regarding claim 4, VIVO in view of Rahman and John teaches as per claim 1, wherein the uplink signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); Vivo see section 2 PUSCH.
Regarding claim 10, VIVO in view of Rahman and John states as per claim 1, wherein the downlink signal comprises a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), or a channel-state information reference signal (CSI-RS); already described above in claim 1 see John.
Regarding claim 14, VIVO in view of Rahman and John teaches as per claim 1, further comprising: determining at least one of a spatial relation or the power control parameter of the uplink signal according to the selected communication parameter set, wherein the uplink signal comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a sounding reference signal (SRS); see Vivo section 2, "When K> 1 TCI states are configured per CORESET, MAC-CE can indicate which one TCI state to use for PDCCH QCL state.", "the mapping between TCI state and CORESET can be dynamically switched ... to avoid always configuring too many TCI states for CORESET", "For PUSCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by SRI, ... "; further see section 2 .. Considering the possibly large amount of work involving above various techniques, it is beneficial for the community to evaluate and compare different techniques in different sub-categories separately at least for DL. For UL, the major focus falls in beam measurement, for which SRS for beam management overhead reduction could be considered… In NR Rel-15, uplink beam indication mechanisms can be reused as power control parameters indication. For PUSCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by SRI, and the linkage of them are preconfigured by RRC. For PUCCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by MAC CE, and the linkage of them are preconfigured by RRC. For SRS, as SRS is trigger by set level, the transmission beam/power control parameter are set level preconfigured by RRC.
Regarding claim 15, VIVO in view of Rahman and John teaches as per claim 14, wherein the PUCCH comprises a PUCCH resource; already described above see claim 14.
Regarding claim 16, VIVO in view of Rahman and John teaches as per claim 14, further comprising: determining the spatial relation of the uplink signal according to the at least one RS resource; as per claim 14 recitations, determining at least one of a spatial relation or the power control parameter ..” i.e. “OR” limitations“.
Regarding claim 52, VIVO teaches a method for wireless communication (see section 2 here UE can be a first communication node), comprising:
receiving, by a second communication node from a first communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by receiving:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs);
transmitting, by the second communication node to a first communication node, a radio resource control (RRC) command for determination of a plurality of communication parameter sets wherein each of the plurality of communication parameter sets comprises at least one respective reference signal (RS) resource and at least one respective quasi co-location (QCL) type parameter (section 2, "each state of M candidate TCI states are RRC configured ... ", "set of M TCI states"; … each state of M candidate TCI states are RRC configured with a DL RS set used as a QCL reference. For PDSCH QCL indication, MAC-CE is used to select up to 8 TCI states out of M. The same set of M TCI states is reused for CORESET. When K>1 TCI states are configured per CORESET, MAC-CE can indicate which one TCI state to use for PDCCH QCL state. In Rel-16 the mapping between TCI state and CORESET can be dynamically switched based on flexible gNB configuration to avoid always configuring too many TCI states for CORESET. For PDCCH and other channels/RSs, the QCL source can be CSI-RS. But the source RS indicated by TCI state for QCL indication…. For P-/SP- CSI-RS resource overhead reduction and avoiding the impact of out-of-date, aperiodic CSI-RS resource can be considered as QCL source);
transmitting, by the second communication node to the first communication node association command to associate a power control parameter with one communication parameter set of the plurality of communication parameter sets (section 2, "power control parameters indication", "For PUSCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by SRI, and the linkage of them are preconfigured by RRC.", "when uplink and downlink beam pair association was changed, power control parameters may also need to be reconfigured");
Transmitting, by the second communication node to the first communication node, a MAC-CE command for determination of a subset of the plurality of communication parameter sets from among the plurality of communication parameter sets (section 2, "MAC-CE is used to select up to 8 TCI states out of M").
Bur Vivo is silent about receiving, by a second communication node from a first communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by receiving:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs).
Vivo is also silent about transmitting, by the second communication node to the first communication node, a DCI command for selection of the communication parameter set from the subset for transmission of the uplink signal.
Vivo is also silent about transmitting, by the second communication node, the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is received.
However Rahman teaches about receiving, by a second communication node from a first communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by receiving:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs); see [0004] regarding UE as a first communication node and its reporting to base station as a second communication node; now see [0135] Whether the UE is capable of supporting such common MAC-CE activation for TCI indication can be reported by the UE via capability signaling; further see [0177] whether the UE is capable of supporting such common MAC-CE activation for TCI indication (cf. embodiment 1-3) or SpatialRelationInfo indication can be reported by the UE via capability signaling. Additionally, the applicable list of frequency bands supporting this feature can also be included in the UE capability signaling; now refer to Fig. 14 and step 1404 regarding UE receiving activation command via MAC-CE; see [0180] In step 1404, the UE receives an activation command via medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) to activate N TCI state IDs from K TCI state IDs, wherein N<K and the activation command is common across the list of CCs. See [0181] In step 1406, the UE determines a TCI state T.sub.i for a CC i in the list of CCs based on the activated N TCI state IDs. See [0182] In step 1408, the UE transmits an uplink (UL) transmission or receives a downlink (DL) transmission for the CC i based on a QCL-Info included in the determined TCI state T.sub.i.
Further Rahman teaches about transmitting, by the second communication node to the first communication node, a DCI command for selection of the communication parameter set from the subset for transmission of the uplink signal; see in abstract about The method further includes receiving an activation command via medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) to activate N TCI state IDs from K TCI state IDs, wherein N<K and the activation command is common across the list of CCs, determining a TCI state T.sub.i for a CC i in the list of CCs based on the activated N TCI state IDs, and transmitting an uplink (UL) transmission or receiving a downlink (DL) transmission for the CC i based on a QCL-Info included in the determined TCI state...; in above context pls refer to [0124- 0127] regarding .. the DL (or UL) TCI state indication is performed in three steps. Step 1: a set of K1>1 DL (or UL) TCI states is configured via higher-layer (RRC) signaling. Step 2: a subset of K2 (i.e. subset) <K1 DL (or UL) TCI states is activated (or selected) from the configured set of K1 DL (or UL) TCI states via MAC-CE activation command. Step 3: a DL (or UL) TCI state is indicated from the activated set of K2 (i.e. subset) DL (or UL) TCI states via DCI signaling. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Rahman with the teachings of Vivo to make system more effective. Having a mechanism about receiving, by a second communication node from a first communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by receiving: an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs) and about transmitting, by the second communication node to the first communication node, a DCI command for selection of the communication parameter set from the subset for transmission of the uplink signal; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
But Vivo is also silent about transmitting, by the second communication node, the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is received.
However John states in [0073] about … if UE 115-a receives an indication of an updated TCI state in a DCI, UE 115-a may identify updated QCL relationships between antenna ports based on the updated TCI state. Specifically, UE 115-a may identify one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state, and the antenna ports used to transmit (i.e. uplink signal) the one or more reference signals may be quasi co-located with antenna ports used to transmit data or control information (i.e. uplink sign al) to the UE 115-b. The one or more reference signals may include SSBs, periodic CSI-RSs, aperiodic CSI-RSs, or semi-persistent CSI-RSs. Thus, UE 115-b may perform channel estimation based on the one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state. UE 115-b may then demodulate the data or control information (i.e. downlink signal) received from base station 105-b based on the channel estimation (i.e. estimation is as per on the one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state); further see first line of [0073] UE 115-b may then communicate with base station 105-b based on the updated subset of the set of TCI states). It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of John with the teachings of VIVO in view of Rahman to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein about transmitting, by the second communication node, the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is received; greater way resources can be utilized/managed in the communication system.
Regarding claim 53, VIVO teaches a wireless communications apparatus comprising: a memory storing a plurality of instructions; and a processor configured to execute the plurality of instructions, and upon execution of the plurality of instructions, is configured to (see section 2):
report to a second communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by reporting:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs);
determine a plurality of communication parameter sets in response to a radio resource control (RRC) first command, wherein each of the plurality of communication parameter sets comprises at least one respective reference signal (RS) resource and at least one respective quasi co-location (QCL) type parameter (section 2, "each state of M candidate TCI states are RRC configured ... ", "set of M TCI states"; … each state of M candidate TCI states are RRC configured with a DL RS set used as a QCL reference. For PDSCH QCL indication, MAC-CE is used to select up to 8 TCI states out of M. The same set of M TCI states is reused for CORESET. When K>1 TCI states are configured per CORESET, MAC-CE can indicate which one TCI state to use for PDCCH QCL state. In Rel-16 the mapping between TCI state and CORESET can be dynamically switched based on flexible gNB configuration to avoid always configuring too many TCI states for CORESET. For PDCCH and other channels/RSs, the QCL source can be CSI-RS. But the source RS indicated by TCI state for QCL indication…. For P-/SP- CSI-RS resource overhead reduction and avoiding the impact of out-of-date, aperiodic CSI-RS resource can be considered as QCL source);
associate a power control parameter with one communication parameter set of the plurality of communication parameter sets, (section 2, "power control parameters indication", "For PUSCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by SRI, and the linkage of them are preconfigured by RRC.", "when uplink and downlink beam pair association was changed, power control parameters may also need to be reconfigured"), the communication parameter set comprising at least one reference signal (RS) resource and at least one quasi co-location (QCL) type parameter;
determine a subset of the plurality of communication parameter sets in response to a medium access control element (MAC-CE) command from among the plurality of communication parameter sets (section 2, "MAC-CE is used to select up to 8 TCI states out of M").
Bur Vivo is silent about report to a second communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by reporting:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs).
Vivo is also silent about select the communication parameter set from the subset for transmitting the uplink signal in response to a DCI command; transmitt the uplink signal according to the communication parameter set selected from the subset and the and the association.
Vivo is also silent about receive the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is transmitted.
However Rahman teaches about report to a second communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by reporting:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs); see [0004] regarding UE as a first communication node and its reporting to base station as a second communication node; now see [0135] Whether the UE is capable of supporting such common MAC-CE activation for TCI indication can be reported by the UE via capability signaling; further see [0177] whether the UE is capable of supporting such common MAC-CE activation for TCI indication (cf. embodiment 1-3) or SpatialRelationInfo indication can be reported by the UE via capability signaling. Additionally, the applicable list of frequency bands supporting this feature can also be included in the UE capability signaling; now refer to Fig. 14 and step 1404 regarding UE receiving activation command via MAC-CE; see [0180] In step 1404, the UE receives an activation command via medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) to activate N TCI state IDs from K TCI state IDs, wherein N<K and the activation command is common across the list of CCs. See [0181] In step 1406, the UE determines a TCI state T.sub.i for a CC i in the list of CCs based on the activated N TCI state IDs. See [0182] In step 1408, the UE transmits an uplink (UL) transmission or receives a downlink (DL) transmission for the CC i based on a QCL-Info included in the determined TCI state T.sub.i.
Further Rahman teaches about select the communication parameter set from the subset for transmitting the uplink signal in response to a DCI command; transmitting, by the first communication node, the uplink signal according to the communication parameter set selected from the subset and the and the association; see in abstract about The method further includes receiving an activation command via medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) to activate N TCI state IDs from K TCI state IDs, wherein N<K and the activation command is common across the list of CCs, determining a TCI state T.sub.i for a CC i in the list of CCs based on the activated N TCI state IDs, and transmitting an uplink (UL) transmission or receiving a downlink (DL) transmission for the CC i based on a QCL-Info included in the determined TCI state...; in above context pls refer to [0124- 0127] regarding .. the DL (or UL) TCI state indication is performed in three steps. Step 1: a set of K1>1 DL (or UL) TCI states is configured via higher-layer (RRC) signaling. Step 2: a subset of K2 (i.e. subset) <K1 DL (or UL) TCI states is activated (or selected) from the configured set of K1 DL (or UL) TCI states via MAC-CE activation command. Step 3: a DL (or UL) TCI state is indicated from the activated set of K2 (i.e. subset) DL (or UL) TCI states via DCI signaling. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Rahman with the teachings of Vivo to make system more effective. Having a mechanism of report to a second communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by reporting: an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs) and about select the communication parameter set from the subset for transmitting the uplink signal in response to a DCI command; transmitting, by the first communication node, the uplink signal according to the communication parameter set selected from the subset and the and the association; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
But Vivo is also silent about receive the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is transmitted.
However John states in [0073] about … if UE 115-a receives an indication of an updated TCI state in a DCI, UE 115-a may identify updated QCL relationships between antenna ports based on the updated TCI state. Specifically, UE 115-a may identify one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state, and the antenna ports used to transmit (i.e. uplink signal) the one or more reference signals may be quasi co-located with antenna ports used to transmit data or control information (i.e. uplink sign al) to the UE 115-b. The one or more reference signals may include SSBs, periodic CSI-RSs, aperiodic CSI-RSs, or semi-persistent CSI-RSs. Thus, UE 115-b may perform channel estimation based on the one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state. UE 115-b may then demodulate the data or control information (i.e. downlink signal) received from base station 105-b based on the channel estimation (i.e. estimation is as per on the one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state); further see first line of [0073] UE 115-b may then communicate with base station 105-b based on the updated subset of the set of TCI states). It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of John with the teachings of VIVO in view of Rahman to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein receive the downlink signal according to the selected communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is transmitted; greater way resources can be utilized/managed in the communication system.
Regarding claim 55, VIVO in view of Rahman and John teaches as per claim 52, wherein the uplink signal comprises a sounding reference signal (SRS), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); Vivo see section 2 PUSCH; further see John [0073].
Regarding claim 58, VIVO in view of Rahman and John teaches as per claim 52, further comprising: determining at least one of a spatial relation or the power control parameter of the uplink signal according to the communication parameter set, wherein the uplink signal comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a sounding reference signal (SRS); see Vivo section 2, "When K> 1 TCI states are configured per CORESET, MAC-CE can indicate which one TCI state to use for PDCCH QCL state.", "the mapping between TCI state and CORESET can be dynamically switched ... to avoid always configuring too many TCI states for CORESET", "For PUSCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by SRI, ... "; further see section 2 .. Considering the possibly large amount of work involving above various techniques, it is beneficial for the community to evaluate and compare different techniques in different sub-categories separately at least for DL. For UL, the major focus falls in beam measurement, for which SRS for beam management overhead reduction could be considered… In NR Rel-15, uplink beam indication mechanisms can be reused as power control parameters indication. For PUSCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by SRI, and the linkage of them are preconfigured by RRC. For PUCCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by MAC CE, and the linkage of them are preconfigured by RRC. For SRS, as SRS is trigger by set level, the transmission beam/power control parameter are set level preconfigured by RRC.
Regarding claim 61, VIVO teaches a wireless communications apparatus comprising: a memory storing a plurality of instructions; and a processor configured to execute the plurality of instructions, and upon execution of the plurality of instructions, is configured to (see section 2):
receive from a first communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by receiving:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs);
transmit to a first communication node, a radio resource control (RRC) command for determination of a plurality of communication parameter sets wherein each of the plurality of communication parameter sets comprises at least one respective reference signal (RS) resource and at least one respective quasi co-location (QCL) type parameter (section 2, "each state of M candidate TCI states are RRC configured ... ", "set of M TCI states"; … each state of M candidate TCI states are RRC configured with a DL RS set used as a QCL reference. For PDSCH QCL indication, MAC-CE is used to select up to 8 TCI states out of M. The same set of M TCI states is reused for CORESET. When K>1 TCI states are configured per CORESET, MAC-CE can indicate which one TCI state to use for PDCCH QCL state. In Rel-16 the mapping between TCI state and CORESET can be dynamically switched based on flexible gNB configuration to avoid always configuring too many TCI states for CORESET. For PDCCH and other channels/RSs, the QCL source can be CSI-RS. But the source RS indicated by TCI state for QCL indication…. For P-/SP- CSI-RS resource overhead reduction and avoiding the impact of out-of-date, aperiodic CSI-RS resource can be considered as QCL source);
transmit to the first communication node association command to associate a power control parameter with one communication parameter set of the plurality of communication parameter sets (section 2, "power control parameters indication", "For PUSCH, the actual transmission beam/power control parameter is indicated by SRI, and the linkage of them are preconfigured by RRC.", "when uplink and downlink beam pair association was changed, power control parameters may also need to be reconfigured");
Transmit to the first communication node, a MAC-CE command for determination of a subset of the plurality of communication parameter sets from among the plurality of communication parameter sets (section 2, "MAC-CE is used to select up to 8 TCI states out of M").
Bur Vivo is silent about receive from a first communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by receiving:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs).
Vivo is also silent about transmit to the first communication node, a DCI command for selection of the communication parameter set from the subset for transmission of the uplink signal.
Vivo is also silent about transmit the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is received.
However Rahman teaches about receive from a first communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by receiving:
an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or
an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs); see [0004] regarding UE as a first communication node and its reporting to base station as a second communication node; now see [0135] Whether the UE is capable of supporting such common MAC-CE activation for TCI indication can be reported by the UE via capability signaling; further see [0177] whether the UE is capable of supporting such common MAC-CE activation for TCI indication (cf. embodiment 1-3) or SpatialRelationInfo indication can be reported by the UE via capability signaling. Additionally, the applicable list of frequency bands supporting this feature can also be included in the UE capability signaling; now refer to Fig. 14 and step 1404 regarding UE receiving activation command via MAC-CE; see [0180] In step 1404, the UE receives an activation command via medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) to activate N TCI state IDs from K TCI state IDs, wherein N<K and the activation command is common across the list of CCs. See [0181] In step 1406, the UE determines a TCI state T.sub.i for a CC i in the list of CCs based on the activated N TCI state IDs. See [0182] In step 1408, the UE transmits an uplink (UL) transmission or receives a downlink (DL) transmission for the CC i based on a QCL-Info included in the determined TCI state T.sub.i.
Further Rahman teaches about transmit to the first communication node, a DCI command for selection of the communication parameter set from the subset for transmission of the uplink signal; see in abstract about The method further includes receiving an activation command via medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) to activate N TCI state IDs from K TCI state IDs, wherein N<K and the activation command is common across the list of CCs, determining a TCI state T.sub.i for a CC i in the list of CCs based on the activated N TCI state IDs, and transmitting an uplink (UL) transmission or receiving a downlink (DL) transmission for the CC i based on a QCL-Info included in the determined TCI state...; in above context pls refer to [0124- 0127] regarding .. the DL (or UL) TCI state indication is performed in three steps. Step 1: a set of K1>1 DL (or UL) TCI states is configured via higher-layer (RRC) signaling. Step 2: a subset of K2 (i.e. subset) <K1 DL (or UL) TCI states is activated (or selected) from the configured set of K1 DL (or UL) TCI states via MAC-CE activation command. Step 3: a DL (or UL) TCI state is indicated from the activated set of K2 (i.e. subset) DL (or UL) TCI states via DCI signaling. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Rahman with the teachings of Vivo to make system more effective. Having a mechanism about receiving, by a second communication node from a first communication node, a capability of the first communication node to transmit an uplink signal and receive a downlink signal according to a communication parameter set that is common for transmitting the uplink signal and receiving the downlink signal by receiving: an indicator of supporting a medium access control element (MAC-CE) cross carrier component indicator; or an indicator of supporting a downlink control information (DCI) command comprising a plurality of communication parameter set identifiers (IDs) and about transmitting, by the second communication node to the first communication node, a DCI command for selection of the communication parameter set from the subset for transmission of the uplink signal; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
But Vivo is also silent about transmit the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is received.
However John states in [0073] about … if UE 115-a receives an indication of an updated TCI state in a DCI, UE 115-a may identify updated QCL relationships between antenna ports based on the updated TCI state. Specifically, UE 115-a may identify one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state, and the antenna ports used to transmit (i.e. uplink signal) the one or more reference signals may be quasi co-located with antenna ports used to transmit data or control information (i.e. uplink sign al) to the UE 115-b. The one or more reference signals may include SSBs, periodic CSI-RSs, aperiodic CSI-RSs, or semi-persistent CSI-RSs. Thus, UE 115-b may perform channel estimation based on the one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state. UE 115-b may then demodulate the data or control information (i.e. downlink signal) received from base station 105-b based on the channel estimation (i.e. estimation is as per on the one or more reference signals associated with the TCI state); further see first line of [0073] UE 115-b may then communicate with base station 105-b based on the updated subset of the set of TCI states). It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of John with the teachings of VIVO in view of Rahman to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein about transmit the downlink signal according to the communication parameter set according to which the uplink signal is received; greater way resources can be utilized/managed in the communication system.
Claim(s) 2, 8, 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over VIVO: "Discussion on beam management latency and overhead reduction",3GPP DRAFT; R1-1810411, 3RD GENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP), MOBILE COMPETENCE CENTRE ; 650, ROUTE DES LUCIOLES; F-06921 SOPHIA-ANTI, vol. RAN WG1, no. Chengdu, China; 29 September 2018 (see IDS filed on 1/25/2024 page 1, B8), hereafter VIVO in view of Rahman et al. (US Pub. No. 2021/0067979 A1) in further view of John Wilson et al. (US Pub. No. 2019/0115955 A1), hereafter John and further in view of Matsumura et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0408371 A1), hereafter Yuki.
Regarding claim 2, Vivo in view of Rahman and John teaches as per claim 1, but Vivo silent about receiving, with the first communication node, an association command from a second communication node, wherein the associating comprises associating the power control parameter with the one communication parameter set of the plurality of communication parameter sets in response to receiving the association command; however Yuki states in [0206] (in context with [0157, 0193- 0194]) about In a case where the TCI state or QCL assumption used as the default spatial relation is updated, the UE may update the power control parameters of the specific UL transmission to the candidates for the power control parameter associated with the TCI state (automatic update of power control parameter). The TCI state or the QCL assumption may be updated by at least one of the MAC CE, the DCI, and the PRACH transmission (i.e. either one can be association command); further see [0207- 0209]. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Yuki with the teachings of Vivo in view of Rahman and John to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein receiving, with the first communication node, an association command from a second communication node, wherein the associating comprises associating the power control parameter with the communication parameter set in response to receiving the association command; greater way standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 8, Vivo in view of Rahman and John teaches as per claim 1, but Vivo silent about wherein the power control parameter comprises a target power, a path loss RS, a scaling factor for path loss, or a closed loop process; however Yuki states in [0245] about closed loop; further see [0179] In the present disclosure, power control parameter, pathloss reference RS, pathloss reference RS ID, P0, P0 ID, … set ID, power control adjustment state, power control adjustment state ID, closed loop index, power control configuration, power control configuration ID, and SRI field value may be interchangeably interpreted. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Yuki with the teachings of Vivo in view of Rahman and John to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein the power control parameter comprises a target power, a path loss RS, a scaling factor for path loss, or a closed loop process; greater way standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Regarding claim 56, Vivo in view of Rahman and John states as per claim 52, but Vivo silent about wherein the power control parameter comprises a target power, a path loss RS, a scaling factor for path loss, or a closed loop process; however Yuki states in [0245] about closed loop; further see [0179] In the present disclosure, power control parameter, pathloss reference RS, pathloss reference RS ID, P0, P0 ID, … set ID, power control adjustment state, power control adjustment state ID, closed loop index, power control configuration, power control configuration ID, and SRI field value may be interchangeably interpreted. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Yuki with the teachings of Vivo in view of Rahman and John to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein the power control parameter comprises a target power, a path loss RS, a scaling factor for path loss, or a closed loop process; greater way standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.
Conclusion
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PARTH PATEL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2479
/PARTH PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2479
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