DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 09/18/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The reference of Sakhnini et al., (USPat. App. Pub. No. 2022/0014328 already an issue Patent US 12301486 B2 with an effectively filed date of 07/13/2020. Furthermore, the inventive entity between the instant application (SAKHNINI, Iyab Issam; LUO, Tao; ZHOU, Yan), and the US Patent to Sakhnini (SAKHNINI, Iyab Issam; LUO, Tao; ZHOU, Yan; MONTOJO, Juan; CHEN, Wanshi) are considered different. The issue patent US 12301486 B2 is considered to be prior art to the instant application. The rejection to the claims stands as follows.
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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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, 5, 8, 9, 12-14, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31, 34, 35, 38, and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20190082363 A1 to Park et al., from hereon Park-363 in view of US 20220014328 A1 to Sakhnini et al., from hereon Sakhnini.
Regarding claim 1. Park-363 teaches…a user equipment (UE) configured for wireless communication, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE to(Fig. 4, item 406, P. 41 discloses.. The wireless device 406 may include at least one communication interface 407, one or more processors 408, and at least one set of program code instructions 410 stored in non-transitory memory 409 and executable by the one or more processors 408): but does not teach…receive a combined reference signal configuration that includes two or more reference signal configurations, wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations is associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction; and communicate reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration.
Sakhnini teaches…. receive a combined reference signal configuration that includes two or more reference signal configurations (Fig. 8, P. 126 discloses… a TRP (e.g., TRP 804a) may transmit an SRS configuration for a multi-TRP SRS resource set to the UE 802. The multi-TRP SRS resource set may include a plurality of SRS resources associated with the multiple TRPs 804a . . . 804N. The multi-TRP SRS resource set may be, for example, an aperiodic SRS resource set, periodic SRS resource set, or semi-persistent SRS resource set), wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations is associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction (P.133 discloses… the SRS resource 714a associated with TRP 704a is different than the QCL association for the SRS resources 714b/714c associated with TRP 704b. For example, SRS resource 714a may include a first QCL association (e.g., with an SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) and SRS resources 714b/714c may include a second QCL association (e.g., with a different SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) that is different than the first QCL association ); and communicate reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration (Fig. 7a, discloses the communication in various directions also P.141 discloses.. he UE 802 may transmit a plurality of SRSs to the TRPs 804a . . . 804N in accordance with the SRS configuration. For example, the UE 802 may transmit one or more SRSs to each TRP 804a . . . 804N corresponding to the number of SRS resources configured for each TRP 804a . . . 804N.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Sakhnini because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Sakhnini, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 4 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 1, Park-363 teaches…wherein the combined reference signal configuration is one of a periodic configuration, a semi-persistent configuration, or an aperiodic configuration (P.117 ).
Regarding claim 5 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 1, Park-363 teaches…wherein the combined reference signal configuration comprises one or more common parameters linked between the two or more reference signal configurations, wherein the common parameter comprises a same bandwidth, a same spatial relation, or a same quasi co-location (QCL) relationship (P.123-124 ).
Regarding claim 8 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 1, Sakhnini teaches…wherein: the two or more reference signal configurations comprise a first reference signal configuration associated with a first beam ID and a first repetition pattern and a second reference signal configuration associated with a second beam ID and a second repetition pattern, and the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration are associated with a same communication direction(P. 113, Fig. 7A, discloses… FIG. 5A, the SRS resource 502a has a transmission comb structure 504a of two, while in the example shown in FIG. 5B, the SRS resource 502b has a transmission comb structure 504b of four. In some examples, an SRS resource (e.g., SRS resource 502b) occupying more than one symbol may be used to transmit a single SRS or one or more repetitions of the SRS.).
Regarding claim 9 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 8, Sakhnini teaches…wherein a combination of the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration in the combined reference signal configuration produces a third reference signal configuration associated with the first beam ID and the second beam ID without repetition (P. 117).
Regarding claim 12 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 1, Sakhnini teaches…wherein: the two or more reference signal configurations comprise a first reference signal configuration without repetition and a second reference signal configuration with repetition, the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration are in a same communication direction, and the combined reference signal configuration indicates a time gap between the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration (P. 143 discloses…The multi-TRP SRS resource set may be, for example, an aperiodic SRS resource set, periodic SRS resource set, or semi-persistent SRS resource set. In some examples, a gap length may be configured between SRS resources within the multi-TRP SRS resource set that are associated with TRPs belonging to different TAGs or that have different QCL associations).
Regarding claim 13 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 1, Sakhnini teaches…wherein: the two or more reference signal configurations comprise a first reference signal configuration in a first communication direction and a second reference signal configuration in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, and the combined reference signal configuration indicates a time gap between the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration (P.131 ).
Regarding claim 14 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 1, Sakhnini teaches…further comprising: one or more transceivers, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: receive control information that triggers the combined reference signal configuration via the one or more transceivers; and communicate the reference signals after a delay from the control information via the one or more transceivers, wherein the delay is based on an initial communication direction of a first reference signal associated with the combined reference signal configuration (Fig. 8 P.140 discloses…At 808, the TRP 804a may optionally transmit an activation/trigger for the multi-TRP SRS resource set. For example, the TRP 804a may transmit DCI triggering an aperiodic multi-TRP SRS resource set or a MAC-CE activating a semi-persistent multi-TRP SRS resource set ).
Regarding claim 21 Park-363 teaches…a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising(Fig. 4, item 406, P. 41 discloses.. The wireless device 406 may include at least one communication interface 407, one or more processors 408, and at least one set of program code instructions 410 stored in non-transitory memory 409 and executable by the one or more processors 408): but does not teach…: receiving a combined reference signal configuration including two or more reference signal configurations, each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations being associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction; and communicating reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration.
Sakhnini teaches… receiving a combined reference signal configuration including two or more reference signal configurations(Fig. 8, P. 126 discloses… a TRP (e.g., TRP 804a) may transmit an SRS configuration for a multi-TRP SRS resource set to the UE 802. The multi-TRP SRS resource set may include a plurality of SRS resources associated with the multiple TRPs 804a . . . 804N. The multi-TRP SRS resource set may be, for example, an aperiodic SRS resource set, periodic SRS resource set, or semi-persistent SRS resource set),, each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations being associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction(P.133 discloses… the SRS resource 714a associated with TRP 704a is different than the QCL association for the SRS resources 714b/714c associated with TRP 704b. For example, SRS resource 714a may include a first QCL association (e.g., with an SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) and SRS resources 714b/714c may include a second QCL association (e.g., with a different SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) that is different than the first QCL association ); and communicating reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration(Fig. 7a, discloses the communication in various directions also P.141 discloses.. he UE 802 may transmit a plurality of SRSs to the TRPs 804a . . . 804N in accordance with the SRS configuration. For example, the UE 802 may transmit one or more SRSs to each TRP 804a . . . 804N corresponding to the number of SRS resources configured for each TRP 804a . . . 804N.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Sakhnini because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Sakhnini, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 23 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the method of claim 21, Park-363 teaches…wherein the combined reference signal configuration comprises one or more common parameters linked between the two or more reference signal configurations (P.123-124 ).
Regarding claim 24 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the method of claim 21, Sakhnini teaches…wherein: the two or more reference signal configurations comprise a first reference signal configuration associated with a first beam ID and a first repetition pattern and a second reference signal configuration associated with a second beam ID and a second repetition pattern, the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration are associated with a same communication direction, and a combination of the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration in the combined reference signal configuration produces a third reference signal configuration associated with the first beam ID and the second beam ID without repetition direction (P. 113, Fig. 7A, discloses… FIG. 5A, the SRS resource 502a has a transmission comb structure 504a of two, while in the example shown in FIG. 5B, the SRS resource 502b has a transmission comb structure 504b of four. In some examples, an SRS resource (e.g., SRS resource 502b) occupying more than one symbol may be used to transmit a single SRS or one or more repetitions of the SRS.).
Regarding claim 26 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the method of claim 21, Sakhnini teaches…wherein: the two or more reference signal configurations comprise a first reference signal configuration without repetition and a second reference signal configuration with repetition, the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration are in a same communication direction, and the combined reference signal configuration indicates a time gap between the first reference signal configuration and the second reference signal configuration (P. 117).
Regarding claim 28 Park-363 teaches...a network entity configured for wireless communication, comprising (Abs): one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the network entity to (Fig. 4, item 406, P. 41 discloses.. The wireless device 406 may include at least one communication interface 407, one or more processors 408, and at least one set of program code instructions 410 stored in non-transitory memory 409 and executable by the one or more processors 408 ): but does not teach…provide a combined reference signal configuration that includes two or more reference signal configurations, wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations is associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction; and communicate reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration.
Sakhnini teaches… provide a combined reference signal configuration that includes two or more reference signal configurations (Fig. 12, P.182 discloses… the processor 1204 may further include SRS manager circuitry 1246, configured to configure the SRS configuration for the multi-TRP SRS resource set for the UE. In some examples, the SRS configuration may include a common set of SRS resource set parameters for the multiple TRPs. For example, the multi-TRP SRS resource set may include one or more SRS resources that each include the same (common) SRS resource parameters (e.g., transmission comb structure, port(s), number of symbols, repetition, etc. ), wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations is associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction (P.133 discloses… the SRS resource 714a associated with TRP 704a is different than the QCL association for the SRS resources 714b/714c associated with TRP 704b. For example, SRS resource 714a may include a first QCL association (e.g., with an SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) and SRS resources 714b/714c may include a second QCL association (e.g., with a different SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) that is different than the first QCL association ); and communicate reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration(Fig. 7a, discloses the communication in various directions also P.141 discloses.. he UE 802 may transmit a plurality of SRSs to the TRPs 804a . . . 804N in accordance with the SRS configuration. For example, the UE 802 may transmit one or more SRSs to each TRP 804a . . . 804N corresponding to the number of SRS resources configured for each TRP 804a . . . 804N.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Sakhnini because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Sakhnini, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 30 Park-363 teaches a method for wireless communication at a network entity (abs ), comprising: but does not teach…providing a combined reference signal configuration including two or more reference signal configurations, each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations being associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction; and communicating reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration.
Sakhnini teaches… providing a combined reference signal configuration including two or more reference signal configurations (Fig. 12, P.182 discloses… the processor 1204 may further include SRS manager circuitry 1246, configured to configure the SRS configuration for the multi-TRP SRS resource set for the UE. In some examples, the SRS configuration may include a common set of SRS resource set parameters for the multiple TRPs. For example, the multi-TRP SRS resource set may include one or more SRS resources that each include the same (common) SRS resource parameters (e.g., transmission comb structure, port(s), number of symbols, repetition, etc., each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations being associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction(P.133 discloses… the SRS resource 714a associated with TRP 704a is different than the QCL association for the SRS resources 714b/714c associated with TRP 704b. For example, SRS resource 714a may include a first QCL association (e.g., with an SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) and SRS resources 714b/714c may include a second QCL association (e.g., with a different SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) that is different than the first QCL association ); and communicating reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration(Fig. 7a, discloses the communication in various directions also P.141 discloses.. he UE 802 may transmit a plurality of SRSs to the TRPs 804a . . . 804N in accordance with the SRS configuration. For example, the UE 802 may transmit one or more SRSs to each TRP 804a . . . 804N corresponding to the number of SRS resources configured for each TRP 804a . . . 804N.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Sakhnini because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Sakhnini, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 31 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the network entity of claim 28, Sakhnini teaches…wherein the combined reference signal configuration comprises one or more common parameters linked between the two or more reference signal configurations, the common parameter comprising a same bandwidth, a same spatial relation, or a same quasi co-location (QCL) relationship (P.111 discloses… the SRS resource may have a QCL association with beam 406d, which may be, for example, a CSI-RS beam. Thus, based on the QCL association (e.g., with CSI-RS beam 406d), the SRS manager 410 may transmit an SRS with the same spatial domain filter utilized for reception of the indicated reference signal (e.g., CSI-RS beam 406d). In an example, the SRS manager 410 may transmit the SRS on beam 408c based on the QCL association with CSI-RS beam 406d ).
Regarding claim 34 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the method of claim 30, Sakhnini teaches…wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations indicates one of: a first repetition pattern of a first beam ID in a first communication direction, a second repetition pattern of a second beam ID in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, a first plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the first communication direction, or a second plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the second communication direction (P. 117).
Regarding claim 35 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the method of claim 30, Sakhnini teaches…wherein the combined reference signal configuration comprises one or more common parameters linked between the two or more reference signal configurations, the common parameter comprising a same bandwidth, a same spatial relation, or a same quasi co-location (QCL) relationship (P.123-124 ).
Regarding claim 38 Park-363 teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) to cause the UE to (Fig. 4, P. 41): but does not teach…receive a combined reference signal configuration including two or more reference signal configurations, each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations being associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction; and communicate reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration.
Sakhnini teaches… receive a combined reference signal configuration including two or more reference signal configurations(Fig. 8, P. 126 discloses… a TRP (e.g., TRP 804a) may transmit an SRS configuration for a multi-TRP SRS resource set to the UE 802. The multi-TRP SRS resource set may include a plurality of SRS resources associated with the multiple TRPs 804a . . . 804N. The multi-TRP SRS resource set may be, for example, an aperiodic SRS resource set, periodic SRS resource set, or semi-persistent SRS resource set),, each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations being associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction(P.133 discloses… the SRS resource 714a associated with TRP 704a is different than the QCL association for the SRS resources 714b/714c associated with TRP 704b. For example, SRS resource 714a may include a first QCL association (e.g., with an SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) and SRS resources 714b/714c may include a second QCL association (e.g., with a different SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) that is different than the first QCL association );; and communicate reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration(Fig. 7a, discloses the communication in various directions also P.141 discloses.. he UE 802 may transmit a plurality of SRSs to the TRPs 804a . . . 804N in accordance with the SRS configuration. For example, the UE 802 may transmit one or more SRSs to each TRP 804a . . . 804N corresponding to the number of SRS resources configured for each TRP 804a . . . 804N.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Sakhnini because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Sakhnini, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 39 Park-363 teaches…a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors of a network entity to cause the network entity to (P. 215): but does not teach…provide a combined reference signal configuration including two or more reference signal configurations, each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations being associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction; and communicate reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration.
Sakhnini teaches… provide a combined reference signal configuration including two or more reference signal configurations (Fig. 12, P.182 discloses… the processor 1204 may further include SRS manager circuitry 1246, configured to configure the SRS configuration for the multi-TRP SRS resource set for the UE. In some examples, the SRS configuration may include a common set of SRS resource set parameters for the multiple TRPs. For example, the multi-TRP SRS resource set may include one or more SRS resources that each include the same (common) SRS resource parameters (e.g., transmission comb structure, port(s), number of symbols, repetition, etc. ), each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations being associated with one or more beam identifiers (IDs) in a respective communication direction(P.133 discloses… the SRS resource 714a associated with TRP 704a is different than the QCL association for the SRS resources 714b/714c associated with TRP 704b. For example, SRS resource 714a may include a first QCL association (e.g., with an SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) and SRS resources 714b/714c may include a second QCL association (e.g., with a different SSB beam, CSI-RS beam, or SRS beam) that is different than the first QCL association ); and communicate reference signals associated with the two or more reference signal configurations based on the combined reference signal configuration (Fig. 7a, discloses the communication in various directions also P.141 discloses.. he UE 802 may transmit a plurality of SRSs to the TRPs 804a . . . 804N in accordance with the SRS configuration. For example, the UE 802 may transmit one or more SRSs to each TRP 804a . . . 804N corresponding to the number of SRS resources configured for each TRP 804a . . . 804N.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Sakhnini because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Sakhnini, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Claim(s) 2, 3, 22, and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20190082363 A1 to Park et al., from hereon Park-363 and US 20220014328 A1 to Sakhnini et al., from hereon Sakhnini in view of US 20220006496 A1 to Park et al., ,from hereon Park-496.
Regarding claim 2 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 1, but do not teach…wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations indicates one of: a first repetition pattern of a first beam ID in a first communication direction, a second repetition pattern of a second beam ID in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, a first plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the first communication direction, or a second plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the second communication direction.
Park-496 teaches… wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations indicates one of: a first repetition pattern of a first beam ID in a first communication direction(Fig. 13, P. 216 and 208),, a second repetition pattern of a second beam ID in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, a first plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the first communication direction, or a second plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the second communication direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 and Sakhnini by incorporating the teachings of Park-496 because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Park-496, P. 208). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 3 Park-363, Sakhnini, and Park-496 teach the UE of claim 2, wherein: the first communication direction comprises a downlink direction and the second communication direction comprises an uplink direction(Fig. 5a, P.11), or the first communication direction and the second communication direction are sidelink communication directions.
Regarding claim 22 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the method of claim 21, but do not teach…wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations indicates one of: a first repetition pattern of a first beam ID in a first communication direction, a second repetition pattern of a second beam ID in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, a first plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the first communication direction, or a second plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the second communication direction.
Park-496 teaches… wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations indicates one of: a first repetition pattern of a first beam ID in a first communication direction(Fig. 13, P. 216 and 208), a second repetition pattern of a second beam ID in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, a first plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the first communication direction, or a second plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the second communication direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 and Sakhnini by incorporating the teachings of Park-496 because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Park-496, P. 208). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 29 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the network entity of claim 28, but do not teach…wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations indicates one of: a first repetition pattern of a first beam ID in a first communication direction, a second repetition pattern of a second beam ID in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, a first plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the first communication direction, or a second plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the second communication direction.
Park-496 teaches… wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations indicates one of: a first repetition pattern of a first beam ID in a first communication direction(Fig. 13, P. 216 and 208), a second repetition pattern of a second beam ID in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, a first plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the first communication direction, or a second plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the second communication direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 and Sakhnini by incorporating the teachings of Park-496 because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Park-496, P. 208). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 29 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the network entity of claim 28, but do not teach…wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations indicates one of: a first repetition pattern of a first beam ID in a first communication direction, a second repetition pattern of a second beam ID in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, a first plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the first communication direction, or a second plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the second communication direction.
Park-496 teaches… wherein each reference signal configuration of the two or more reference signal configurations indicates one of: a first repetition pattern of a first beam ID in a first communication direction(Fig. 13, P. 216 and 208), a second repetition pattern of a second beam ID in a second communication direction different than the first communication direction, a first plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the first communication direction, or a second plurality of beam IDs without repetition in the second communication direction.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 and Sakhnini by incorporating the teachings of Park-496 because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to receive information and configuration (Park-496, P. 208). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Claim(s) 6, 7, 32, and 36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20190082363 A1 to Park et al., from hereon Park-363 and US 20220014328 A1 to Sakhnini et al., from hereon Sakhnini in view of US 20210235455 A1 to Khoshnevisan et al., from hereon Khoshnevisan.
Regarding claim 6 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 5, but do not teach…wherein the one or more common parameters are linked between different communication directions of the two or more reference signal configurations or between a same communication direction of the two or more reference signal configurations.
Khoshnevisan teaches… wherein the one or more common parameters are linked between different communication directions of the two or more reference signal configurations (P.60 )or between a same communication direction of the two or more reference signal configurations.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Khoshnevisan because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to differentiate the two or more TCI states to all reference signals (Khoshnevisan , P. 32). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 7 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 1, but do not teach…wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: transmit a request for the combined reference signal configuration.
Khoshnevisan teaches… wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: transmit a request for the combined reference signal configuration (P. 57).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Khoshnevisan because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to differentiate the two or more TCI states to all reference signals (Khoshnevisan , P. 32). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 32 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the network entity of claim 28, but do not teach…wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the network entity to: obtain a request for the combined reference signal configuration.
Khoshnevisan teaches…wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the network entity to: obtain a request for the combined reference signal configuration (P. 57).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Khoshnevisan because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to differentiate the two or more TCI states to all reference signals (Khoshnevisan , P. 32). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 36 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the method of claim 30, but do not teach…further comprising: obtaining a request for the combined reference signal configuration.
Khoshnevisan teaches…further comprising: obtaining a request for the combined reference signal configuration (P. 57).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363 by incorporating the teachings of Khoshnevisan because the method and device allow various modes of configuration that indicate the ability to differentiate the two or more TCI states to all reference signals (Khoshnevisan , P. 32). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Claim(s) 15-18, 27, 33, and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20190082363 A1 to Park et al., from hereon Park-363 and US 20220014328 A1 to Sakhnini et al., from hereon Sakhnini in view of US 20240250733 A1 to Hindy et al., from hereon Hindy.
Regarding claim 15 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 1,but do not teach…wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: receive at least one report setting associated with the combined reference signal configuration; and transmit a measurement report that comprises beam measurements, each corresponding to one of a plurality of beams utilized for communication of the reference signals, wherein the measurement report comprises a format based on the at least one report setting.
Hindy teaches… wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: receive at least one report setting associated with the combined reference signal configuration (P.5 ); and transmit a measurement report that comprises beam measurements (P. 73), each corresponding to one of a plurality of beams utilized for communication of the reference signals, wherein the measurement report comprises a format based on the at least one report setting (P.77 ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363, and Sakhnini by incorporating the teachings of Hindy because the method and device allow various modes of report setting associated with one r or more CSi for channel measurement transmitted from one or more transmission points (Hindy, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 16 Park-363, Sakhnini, and Hindy teach the UE of claim 15, Hindy teaches…wherein the at least one report setting comprises more than one report setting for the combined reference signal configuration, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: divide the beam measurements into the more than one report setting; and include a report setting indicator for each of the beam measurements in the measurement report (Table 3, P. 128).
Regarding claim 17 Park-363, Sakhnini, and Hindy teach the UE of claim 15, Hindy teaches…wherein the beam measurements comprise at least one of first beam measurements associated with a first reference signal configuration without repetition or second beam measurements associated with a second reference signal configuration with repetition (P. 153).
Regarding claim 18 Park-363, Sakhnini, and Hindy teach the UE of claim 15, Hindy teaches…wherein: the combined reference signal configuration comprises a plurality of reference signal resources on which the reference signals are communicated, and the beam measurements comprise an average beam measurement or a maximum beam measurement for a set of reference signal resources of the plurality of reference signal resources, wherein the set of reference signal resources being is associated with a same beam of the plurality of beams (P. 97).
Regarding claim 27 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the method of claim 21, but do not teach…further comprising: receiving at least one report setting associated with the combined reference signal configuration; and transmitting a measurement report comprising beam measurements, each corresponding to one of a plurality of beams utilized for communication of the reference signals, wherein the measurement report comprises a format based on the at least one report setting.
Hindy teaches… further comprising: receiving at least one report setting associated with the combined reference signal configuration (P. 5); and transmitting a measurement report comprising beam measurements (P. 73), each corresponding to one of a plurality of beams utilized for communication of the reference signals, wherein the measurement report comprises a format based on the at least one report setting(P.77 ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363, and Sakhnini by incorporating the teachings of Hindy because the method and device allow various modes of report setting associated with one r or more CSi for channel measurement transmitted from one or more transmission points (Hindy, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 33 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the network entity of claim 28, but do not teach…wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the network entity to: provide at least one report setting associated with the combined reference signal configuration; and obtain a measurement report that comprises beam measurements, each corresponding to one of a plurality of beams utilized for communication of the reference signals, wherein the measurement report comprises a format based on the at least one report setting.
Hindy teaches… wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the network entity to: provide at least one report setting associated with the combined reference signal configuration; and obtain a measurement report that comprises beam measurements, each corresponding to one of a plurality of beams utilized for communication of the reference signals, wherein the measurement report comprises a format based on the at least one report setting (P.77 ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363, and Sakhnini by incorporating the teachings of Hindy because the method and device allow various modes of report setting associated with one r or more CSi for channel measurement transmitted from one or more transmission points (Hindy, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 37 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the of claim 30, but do not teach…further comprising: providing at least one report setting associated with the combined reference signal configuration; and obtaining a measurement report comprising beam measurements, each corresponding to one of a plurality of beams utilized for communication of the reference signals, wherein the measurement report comprises a format based on the at least one report setting.
Hindy teaches… further comprising: providing at least one report setting associated with the combined reference signal configuration; and obtaining a measurement report comprising beam measurements, each corresponding to one of a plurality of beams utilized for communication of the reference signals, wherein the measurement report comprises a format based on the at least one report setting (P. 77).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363, and Sakhnini by incorporating the teachings of Hindy because the method and device allow various modes of report setting associated with one r or more CSi for channel measurement transmitted from one or more transmission points (Hindy, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Claim(s) 19 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US-20190082363 A1 to Park et al., from hereon Park-363, US 20220014328 A1 to Sakhnini et al., from hereon Sakhnini and US 20240250733 A1 to Hindy et al., from hereon Hindy in view of US-20190082363 A1 to Park et al., from hereon Park-363 and US 20220014328 A1 to Sakhnini et al., from hereon Sakhnini in view of US 20240250733 A1 to Hindy et al., from hereon Hindy.
Regarding claim 19 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 15, but do not teach…wherein: the reference signals are grouped into one or more reference signal groups, the beam measurements comprise an absolute value for a maximum beam measurement in each of the one or more groups and respective differential values for remaining beam measurements in each of the one or more groups, and the reference signals are grouped into the one or more reference signal groups based on a network entity or a quasi co-location (QCL) source associated with each of the reference signals.
Karlalainen teaches… wherein: the reference signals are grouped into one or more reference signal groups, the beam measurements comprise an absolute value for a maximum beam measurement in each of the one or more groups and respective differential values for remaining beam measurements in each of the one or more groups, and the reference signals are grouped into the one or more reference signal groups based on a network entity or a quasi co-location (QCL) source associated with each of the reference signals(P. 20-23 discloses… The time domain behavior of the CSI-RS (channel state information-reference signal) resources for beam management may be configured by higher layer signaling to be aperiodic, periodic, or semi-persistent…P. 23 further discloses…) beam group reporting is configured, the user equipment 102 may simultaneously receive up to 2 CRIs for example, with single or multiple spatial receive filters).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363, , Sakhnini, and Hindy by incorporating the teachings of Karlalainen because the method and device allow various modes of report setting associated with one or more CSi for channel measurement transmitted from one or more transmission points (Karlalainen, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Regarding claim 20 Park-363 and Sakhnini teach the UE of claim 15, but do not teach…wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: transmit the measurement report at a time based on the communication direction of a last communicated reference signal of the reference signals.
Karlalainenen teaches… wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: transmit the measurement report at a time based on the communication direction of a last communicated reference signal of the reference signals (P.38 ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Park-363, Sakhnini, and Hindy by incorporating the teachings of Karlalainen because the method and device allow various modes of report setting associated with one or more CSi for channel measurement transmitted from one or more transmission points (Karlalainen, Abs). The motivation is that by applying a well-known standard or protocol or machine to a system provides the system with significantly improved industrial applicability.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 11, and 25 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the main reason for allowance is the inclusion of “wherein the combined reference signal configuration indicates an order of repetitions of the first repetition pattern and the second repetition pattern.” as the prior art of record in stand-alone form nor in combination read into the claims as supported by the specification. Claim 11 is allowed as it depend from an allowed claim.
Claim 11 is allowed as it depends from an allowed claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO form PTO-892: US-20200229058-A1 to Park discloses combination of references signals for transmission and reception, US-20240244653-A1 to Takano discloses configuration of beam reports, and CN-111093272-A to Hao discloses transmission of reference Signals.
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/L.S./Examiner, Art Unit 2476
/PHIRIN SAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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