DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to Application No. 17/880,584 filed on 8/3/2022. The amendment presented on 8/21/2023, which amends claims 1, 7, 16-17, and 20, is hereby acknowledged. Claims 1-4 and 6-20 have been examined.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 8/21/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-4 and 6-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-3, 12, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (hereinafter Sun)(US 2018/0227777) in view of Kim et al. (hereinafter Kim)(US 2021/0385896).
Regarding claims 1 and 20, Sun teaches:
A method for associating a neighboring cell, performed by a terminal device, comprising: receiving first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information is configuration of one or more control resource sets (CORESETs)(see Fig 1 and [0002], [0008], Sun shows a system which includes multiple base stations/gNBs and UEs, providing improved wireless communications and resource utilization through control resource sets/Coresets, by grouping a plurality of Coresets into one or more Coreset groups, each group having a primary Coreset and secondary Coresets, Fig. 4 and [0060],[0062] shows a UE is RRC configured (receiving first configuration information) with information about all the Coresets that the gNB is using and the Coreset group structure (configuration of one or more control resource sets), where the RRC signaling notifies the UE of one or more Coresets of a neighbor cell (associating a neighboring cell),
wherein a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs is associated with the neighboring cell of the terminal device (see [0075], Sun shows neighbor cells share Coreset configuration information with each other via a backhaul communication link, and the gNB transmits information associated with one or more Coresets corresponding to a neighbor cell to the UE (one or more CORESETs is associated with the neighboring cell, [0060] shows a list of primary Coresets is provided to the UE by a serving cell, and the UE may then pick a primary Coreset of the neighbor cell (a first CORESET) that is close to its own monitored Coresets).
Sun teaches all limitations as presented above except for the transmission configuration indication (hereinafter TCI) information comprising configuration information of reference signal (hereinafter RS) and identification of a target network node.
Kim teaches as follows:
When the change of the base station described above occurs, information for identifying the corresponding transmitting base station may be transferred to the terminal by using a control message of the RRC layer or the MAC layer, or a physical layer control channel according to configuration conditions of the radio protocol layers of the base station. In this case, the information for identifying the transmitting base station may include an identifier of the base station, reference signal information, information on a configured beam (or configured TCI state), information on a sequence identifier for the base station, or the like (see, ¶ [0115]); and
the base station (SCell, PUCCH SCell, or PCell) may transmit an identifier of the corresponding cell and information for identifying the activated beam. The cell identifier or the beam identification information may be a TCI state ID, a CSI-RS index, an SSB index, or the like, and may be transmitted to the terminal through a PDCCH or a PDSCH (see, ¶ [0206]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sun with Kim to include the TCI information as taught by Kim in order to efficiently differentiate multiple beams from different cells.
Regarding claim 2, Sun teaches:
Wherein the first configuration information comprises at least one of the following of the terminal device or configuration information associated with at least one of the following: cell-configuration related information; cell group configuration information; special cell configuration information; serving cell configuration information; serving cell common configuration information; physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configuration information; physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) configuration information; downlink common configuration information; uplink common configuration information; downlink bandwidth part (BWP); downlink common BWP; or downlink dedicated BWP (see Fig. 4 and [0060] [0062], Sun shows a UE may be RRC configured with information about all the Coresets that the gNB is using and the Coreset group structure (cell-configuration related information; cell group configuration information).
Regarding claim 3, Sun teaches:
Wherein the first CORESET comprises at least one of the following: CORESET#0; a CORESET with the smallest number; a CORESET with the largest number; a CORESET agreed in a protocol; a CORESET configured by a network device; or a CORESET reported by the terminal device (see Fig. 7 step 730 and [0060],[0082], Sun shows a UE is RRC configured with information about all the Coresets that the gNB is using and the Coreset group structure, and the UE is configured to monitor one or more Coresets for the Coreset groups for control information such as DCI, CFI information for each of the one or more Coreset groups, number of symbols used to carry data for each of the Coreset groups and other information (a CORESET configured by a network device).
Regarding claim 12, Sun teaches:
Wherein related configuration information of a channel or signal associated with the first configuration information is unchanged (see Fig. 4 and [0058], Sun shows CFI information may be common across all Coresets in a Coreset group, for example, CFI information for the first Coreset group may be common to both the first Coreset and the second Coreset, in other embodiments, the CFI information may be the same for all Coreset groups (related configuration information of a channel or signal associated with the first configuration information is unchanged).
Regarding claim 16, Sun teaches:
A method for associating a neighboring cell, performed by a network device, comprising: sending first configuration information, wherein the first configuration information is configuration of one or more control resource sets (CORESETs)(see Fig. 1 and [0002],[0008], Sun shows a system which includes multiple base stations/gNBs (a network device) and UEs, providing improved wireless communications and resource utilization through control resource sets/Coresets, by grouping a plurality of Coresets into one or more Coreset groups, each group having a primary Coreset and secondary Coresets, Fig. 4 and [0060], [0062] shows a UE is RRC configured (sending first configuration information) with information about all the Coresets that the gNB is using and the Coreset group structure (associated with one or more control resource sets), where the RRC signaling notifies the UE of one or more Coresets of a neighbor cell (associating a neighboring cell); and
a first CORESET of the one or more CORESETs is associated with a neighboring cell of a terminal device (see [0075], Sun shows neighbor cells share Coreset configuration information with each other via a backhaul communication link, and the gNB transmits information associated with one or more Coresets corresponding to a neighbor cell to the UE (one or more CORESETs is associated with the neighboring cell, [0060] shows a list of primary Coresets is provided to the UE by a serving cell, and the UE may then pick a primary Coreset of the neighbor cell (a first CORESET) that is close to its own monitored Coresets).
Sun teaches all limitations as presented above except for the transmission configuration indication (hereinafter TCI) information comprising configuration information of reference signal (hereinafter RS).
Kim teaches as follows:
TCI state configurations of different CORESETs may include different CSI-RS resources, and different CSI-RS resources may correspond to different beams. For example, a configuration value for a TCI state of CORESET #1 may include CSI-RS resource #10 as illustrated in FIG. 18(a), and corresponding CSI-RS resource #10 may mean a specific transmission beam of the TRP (see, ¶ [0281]); and
FIG. 19(a) illustrates an example in which a beam for CSI-RS resource #11 transmitted in TRP 1 and a beam for CSI-RS resource #21 transmitted in TRP 2 are simultaneously configured through the TCI state of CORESET #2. In this case, CSI-RS resource #11 may be included in RS set #1 defined in the configuration for the TCI state of CORESET #2 and CSI-RS resource #21 may be included in RS set #2 (see, ¶ [0323]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sun with Kim to include the CORESET configuration information as taught by Kim in order to efficiently differentiate multiple beams from different cells.
Claims 4, 7, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (hereinafter Sun)(US 2018/0227777) in view of Kim et al. (hereinafter Kim)(US 2021/0385896), and further in view of John Wilson et al. (hereinafter Wilson)(US 2020/0112886).
Regarding claims 4 and 17, Sun in view of Kim does not explicitly show:
The method according to claim 1, wherein related configuration information of the first CORESET indicates at least one of the following: an identifier of the target network node; or information about an identifier of the target network node.
Wilson shows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein related configuration information of the first CORESET indicates at least one of the following: an identifier of a target network node; or information about an identifier of a target network node, wherein the target network node comprises the neighboring cell (see Fig. 7 and [0003],[0076], Wilson shows a wireless communication system that relates to handover operations, in which the UE receives a RRC configuration message (related configuration information) indicating a first TCl-state for a current serving BS and a second TCl-state for a target BS, which includes a cell-ID corresponding to the target BS (identifier of a target network node), a reference signal/RS associated with the second TCl-state, and quasi-co-location/QCL parameters for the target BS, [0084] shows during RRC configuration, the network pre-configures the TCI states of multiple cells e.g., the current serving cell and one or more neighbor cells which may be a target BS of a later handover of the UE (target network node comprises the neighboring cell).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim to incorporate the teaching of Wilson such that the network preconfigures the TCI states of multiple cells e.g., the current serving cell and one or more neighbor cells which may be a target BS of a later handover of the UE, using a RRC configuration message indicating a first TCl-state for a current serving BS and a second TCl-state for a target BS, which includes a cell-ID corresponding to the target BS, a reference signal/RS associated with the second TCl-state, and quasi-co-location/QCL parameters for the target BS in the Coreset PDCCH DCI. Doing so would provide faster handover to neighboring cells since the system would pre-configures the parameters for the current serving cell and one or more neighbor cells which may be a target BS of a handover using a RRC configuration message.
Regarding claim 7, Sun shows:
The method according to claim 4, wherein the related configuration information of the first CORESET comprises at least one of the following or configuration information associated with at least one of the following: physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) configuration information; or control resource set (ControlResourceSet) information (see Fig. 4 and [0060],[0062], Sun shows a UE may be RRC configured with information about all the Coresets that the gNB is using and the Coreset group structure (configuration information associated with control resource set (ControlResourceSet)).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (hereinafter Sun)(US 2018/0227777) in view of Kim et al. (hereinafter Kim)(US 2021/0385896) and John Wilson et al. (hereinafter Wilson)(US 2020/0112886), and further in view of Duo (WIPO Publication No. WO 2018/171418 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Sun in view of Kim and Wilson does not explicitly show:
The method according to claim 4, wherein the information about an identifier comprises scrambling information used to scramble a signal or channel.
Duo shows:
The method according to claim 4, wherein the information about an identifier comprises scrambling information used to scramble a signal or channel (see Fig. 3 and page 24-25, Duo shows a wireless communication system in which a terminal receives at least one downlink control information/DCl sent by the network device, where the first network device acquires the radio network temporary identification/C-RNTI of the terminal from the second network device, and uses the C-RNTI to scramble the DCI (identifier comprises scrambling information used to scramble a signal), the terminal then uses the C-RNTI to descramble the at least one DCI).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim and Wilson to incorporate the teaching of Duo such that during handover operations, the UE receives the DCI which includes a first TCl-state for a current serving BS and a second TCl-state for a target BS and a cell-ID corresponding to the target BS, the serving BS acquires the radio network temporary identification/C-RNTI of the UE from the target BS, and uses the C-RNTI to scramble the DCI, the UE then uses the C-RNTI to descramble the at least one DCI. Doing so would provide faster and more reliable handoffs since the UE would use the C-RNTI to descramble the DCI using the CNTI provided by the target BS to differentiate between different neighbor cells.
Claims 8-11 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (hereinafter Sun)(US 2018/0227777) in view of Kim et al. (hereinafter Kim)(US 2021/0385896), and further in view of Sun et al. (hereinafter Sun-2)(US 2020/0045700).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, Sun in view of Kim does not explicitly show:
The method according to claim 1, wherein related configuration information of a channel or signal associated with the first configuration information is updated.
Sun-2 shows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein related configuration information of a channel or signal associated with the first configuration information is updated (see Fig. 3 and [0006] ,[0004], Sun-2 shows a system for configuring a user equipment to operate in a transmission/reception point/TRP mode based on a bandwidth part/BWP and change between the multi-TRP mode and the single-TRP mode within the BWP, [0071] shows BS can dynamically configuring a UE to operate in a single TRP mode e.g., a single PDCCH and single PDSCH mode, or a multi-TRP mode e.g., a multiple PDCCH mode and multiple PDSCH mode, for example, the BS may configure, on a per-BWP basis or within BWP, a TRP mode for the UE using RRC configuration, which improves operations of the UE by dynamically modifying operations of the UE, [0097] shows a RRC reconfiguration of a BWP may be used to change the TRP mode within a BWP when values in the PDCCH and/or PDSCH RRC configurations are updated (the first configuration information is updated).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim to incorporate the teaching of Sun-2 such that the BS dynamically configures a UE to operate in a single TRP mode e.g., a single PDCCH and single PDSCH mode, or a multi-TRP mode e.g., a multiple PDCCH mode and multiple PDSCH mode, on aper-BWP basis when values in the PDCCH and/or PDSCH RRC configurations are updated. Doing so improve operations of the UE since the BS would be able to dynamically configures the UE to operate in a single TRP mode e.g., a single PDCCH and single PDSCH mode, or a multi-TRP mode e.g., a multiple PDCCH mode and multiple PDSCH mode, on a per-BWP basis.
Regarding claim 9, Sun in view of Kim does not explicitly show:
The method according to claim 8, wherein the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information comprises at least one of the following: a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel! (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a channel state information reference signal (CS!I-RS), a synchronization and system information block (SSB), or a physical random access channel (PRACH).
Sun-2 shows:
The method according to claim 8, wherein the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information comprises at least one of the following: a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a channel state information reference signal (CS!I-RS), a synchronization and system information block (SSB), or a physical random access channel (PRACH) (see [0071],[0097], Sun-2 shows BS can dynamically configuring a UE to operate in a single TRP mode e.g., a single PDCCH and single PDSCH mode, or a multi-TRP mode e.g., a multiple PDCCH mode and multiple PDSCH mode, for example, the BS may configure, on a per-BWP basis or within BWP, a TRP mode for the UE using RRC configuration, which improves operations of the UE by dynamically modifying operations of the UE, where a RRC reconfiguration of a BWP is used to change the TRP mode within a BWP when values in the PDCCH and/or PDSCH RRC configurations are updated (a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH),)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim to incorporate the teaching of Sun-2 such that the BS dynamically configures a UE to operate in a single TRP mode e.g., a single PDCCH and single PDSCH mode, or a multi-TRP mode e.g., a multiple PDCCH mode and multiple PDSCH mode, on aper-BWP basis when values in the PDCCH and/or PDSCH RRC configurations are updated. Doing so improve operations of the UE since the BS would be able to dynamically configures the UE to operate in a single TRP mode e.g., a single PDCCH and single PDSCH mode, or a multi-TRP mode e.g., a multiple PDCCH mode and multiple PDSCH mode, on a per-BWP basis.
Regarding claim 10, Sun in view of Kim does not explicitly show:
The method according to claim 9, wherein the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information comprises the PDCCH, the PDCCH is indicated by a second CORESET, and the second CORESET comprises at least one of the following: a CORESET except for the first CORESET of a plurality of CORESETs; a CORESET except for the first CORESET of a plurality of CORESETs corresponding to a first Transmission and Reception Point (TRP) identifier, wherein the first TRP identifier comprises a TRAP identifier corresponding to the first CORESET; a CORESET except for the first CORESET of CORESETs of the terminal device; or a CORESET except for the first CORESET in a CORESET list configured by a network device.
Sun-2 shows:
The method according to claim 9, wherein the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information comprises the PDCCH, the PDCCH is indicated by a second CORESET, and the second CORESET comprises at least one of the following: a CORESET except for the first CORESET of a plurality of CORESETs; a CORESET except for the first CORESET of a plurality of CORESETs corresponding to a first Transmission and Reception Point (TRP) identifier, wherein the first TRP identifier comprises a TRAP identifier corresponding to the first CORESET; a CORESET except for the first CORESET of CORESETs of the terminal device; or a CORESET except for the first CORESET in a CORESET list configured by a network device (see [0085], Sun-2 shows for a multiple PDCCHs and multiple PDSCHs mode, the BS may configure the UE to operate in the multi-TRP mode by transmitting two DCI transmissions in two control resource sets/CORESETs or in two search space sets in a same CORESET, where each CORESET of the two CORESETS or each search space set of the two search space sets is associated with a respective TRP, for example, a first CORESET or a first search space set may be associated with a first TRP (a CORESET except for the first CORESET of a plurality of CORESETs corresponding to a first Transmission and Reception Point (TRP) identifier, wherein the first TRP identifier comprises a TRP identifier corresponding to the first CORESET).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim to incorporate the teaching of Sun-2 such that the BS dynamically configures a UE to operate in a single TRP mode e.g., a single PDCCH and single PDSCH mode, or a multi-TRP mode e.g., a multiple PDCCH mode and multiple PDSCH mode, on aper-BWP basis when values in the PDCCH and/or PDSCH RRC configurations are updated. Doing so improve operations of the UE since the BS would be able to dynamically configure the UE to operate in a single TRP mode e.g., a single PDCCH and single PDSCH mode, or a multi-TRP mode e.g., a multiple PDCCH mode and multiple PDSCH mode, on a per-BWP basis.
Regarding claim 11, Sun in view of Kim does not explicitly show:
The method according to claim 9, wherein the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information comprises a first channel or a first signal and a second channel or a second signal, wherein the first channel or the first signal is directly associated with the first configuration information, and the second channel or the second signal is associated with the first channel or the first signal.
Sun-2 shows:
The method according to claim 9, wherein the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information comprises a first channel or a first signal and a second channel or a second signal, wherein the first channel or the first signal is directly associated with the first configuration information, and the second channel or the second signal is associated with the first channel or the first signal (see [0085], Sun-2 shows for a multiple PDCCHs and multiple PDSCHs mode (a first channel or a first signal and a second channel or a second signal), the BS may configure the UE to operate in the multi-TRP mode (associated with the first configuration information) by transmitting two DCI transmissions in two control resource sets/CORESETs or in two search space sets in a same CORESET, and the TCl state of a PDCCH, of the multiple PDCCHs, may be reused for the PDSCH associated with the PDCCH (second channel or the second signal is associated with the first channel or the first signal, this allows the BS to use fallback DCI for the multi-TRP mode, which may not include a TCI field associated with scheduling the multiple PDSCHs by the multiple PDCCH).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim to incorporate the teaching of Sun-2 such that the BS dynamically configures a UE to operate in a single TRP mode e.g., a single PDCCH and single PDSCH mode, or a multi-TRP mode e.g., a multiple PDCCH mode and multiple PDSCH mode, on aper-BWP basis, by transmitting two DCI transmissions in two CORESETSs or in two search space sets in a same CORESET, and the TCI state of a PDCCH, of the multiple PDCCHs, may be reused for the PDSCH associated with the PDCCH. Doing so improve operations in the multi-TRP mode since the BS would be able to use fallback DCI for the multi-TRP mode, which may not include a TCl field associated with scheduling the multiple PDSCHs by the multiple PDCCH.
Claims 13-15 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun et al. (hereinafter Sun)(US 2018/0227777) in view of Kim et al. (hereinafter Kim)(US 2021/0385896) and Sun et al. (hereinafter Sun-2)(US 2020/0045700), and further in view of Duo (WIPO Publication No. WO 2018/171418 A1).
Regarding claims 13 and 19, Sun in view of Kim does not explicitly show:
The method according to claim 8, wherein update of the related configuration information of the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information comprises at least one of the following: first TCI follows the first CORESET; first QCL follows the first CORESET; first spatial relation information follows the first CORESET, first TCl is associated with a first RS of the neighboring cell; first QCL is associated with a first RS of the neighboring cell; first spatial relation information is associated with a first RS of the neighboring cell; a second TRP identifier follows the first CORESET; first scrambling information follows the first CORESET, a first radio network temporary identifier RNTI follows the first CORESET; a first path loss reference signal (RS) follows a second RS in TCI or QCL of the first CORESET; or a first path loss reference RS follows a first RS of the neighboring cell, wherein the first TCI, the first QCL, the first spatial relation information, the second TRP identifier, the first scrambling information, the first RNTI, and the first path loss reference RS belong to the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information.
Sun-2 shows:
The method according to claim 8, wherein update of the related configuration information of the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information comprises at least one of the following: first TCI follows the first CORESET; first QCL follows the first CORESET; first spatial relation information follows the first CORESET, first TCI is associated with a first RS of the neighboring cell; first QCL is associated with a first RS of the neighboring cell; first spatial relation information is associated with a first RS of the neighboring cell; a second TRP identifier follows the first CORESET; first scrambling information follows the first CORESET, a first radio network temporary identifier RNTI follows the first CORESET; a first path loss reference signal (RS) follows a second RS in TCI or QCL of the first CORESET; or a first path loss reference RS follows a first RS of the neighboring cell, wherein the first TCI, the first QCL, the first spatial relation information, the second TRP identifier, the first scrambling information, the first RNTI, and the first path loss reference RS belong to the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information (see [0085], Sun-2 shows the BS may configure the UE to operate in the multi-TRP mode having multiple PDCCHs and multiple PDSCHs, by transmitting two DCI transmissions in two control resource sets (CORESETs) associated with a respective TRP, [0097], [0082],[0086] shows a RRC reconfiguration of a BWP may be used to change the TRP mode when values in the PDCCH and/or PDSCH RRC configurations are updated (update of the related configuration information), where the DCI of a PDCCH indicates more than one transmission configuration indication/TCl state in a TCI field that indicates a TCI state of a TRP of the multiple TRPs, associated with the TCI field (first TC/ follows the first CORESET), [0098] [0090] shows a first TCI state of multiple TCI states in the TCI list for multiple TRPs may be used for the single TRP mode, which provides a way of performing a faster switch in a BWP, and the list of TCI states in the RRC reconfiguration of a BWP may include a table of QCL properties in different indexes of the table (the first TCI, the first QCL, the first spatial relation information, the second TRP identifier belong to the channel or signal associated with the first configuration information).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim to incorporate the teaching of Sun-2 such that the BS dynamically configures a UE using a RRC reconfiguration of a BWP to change the TRP mode within a BWP when values in the PDCCH and/or PDSCH RRC configurations are updated where the DCl of a PDCCH indicates more than one TCI state. Doing so provides a faster switch in a BWP and faster handovers since the BS would be able to configure the UE using RRC reconfiguration of a BWP, where the DCI of a PDCCH indicates more than one TCI state in a TCI field of the multiple TRPs by transmitting two DCI transmissions in two control resource sets associated with a respective TRP including the neighbor cell.
Duo shows:
The first scrambling information, the first RNTI, and the first path loss reference RS (see Fig. 3 and page 24-25, Duo shows a terminal receives at least one downlink control information/DCI sent by the network device, where the first network device acquires the radio network temporary identification/C-RNTI of the terminal from the second network device, and uses the C-RNTI to scramble the DCI (the first scrambling information, the first RNTIN, page 37 shows DCl and/or the high layer signaling sent by the network device indicates a QCL relationship between antenna ports transmitting the plurality of downlink reference signals, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS sent by the first network device and obtain the pathloss between the first network device and the terminal by measuring the CSI-RS sent by the antenna port, so that the path loss corresponding to the first PUCCH can be determined (first path loss reference RS).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim and Sun-2 to incorporate the teaching of Duo such that during handover operations, the UE receives the DCI which includes a first TCl-state for a current serving BS and a second TCl-state for a target BS and a cell-ID corresponding to the target BS, the serving BS acquires the radio network temporary identification/C-RNTI of the UE from the target BS, and uses the C-RNTI to scramble the DCI, and based on the DCI QCL relationship between antenna ports transmitting the downlink reference signals, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS sent by the network device and obtain the path loss between the network device and the terminal by measuring the CSI-RS sent by the antenna port. Doing so provides a faster switch in a BWP and faster and more reliable handoffs since the BS would be able to configure the UE using RRC reconfiguration of a BWP, where the DCI of a PDCCH indicates more than one TCl state in a TCI field of the multiple TRPs and the UE would use the C-RNTI to descramble the DCl using the CNTI provided by the target BS to differentiate between different neighbor cells , and based on the DCI QCL relationship between antenna ports transmitting the downlink reference signals, the UE can determine the CSI-RS sent by the network device and obtain the path loss between the network device and the UE by measuring the CSI-RS sent by the antenna port.
Regarding claim 14, Sun in view of Kim and Sun-2 does not explicitly show:
The method according to claim 13, wherein an RS in the first TCI, an RS in the first QCL, an RS in the first spatial relation information, and the first pathloss reference RS are the first RS of the neighboring cell indicated by at least one of the following: radio resource management (RRM); radio link management (RLM); beam reporting; or beam management.
Duo shows:
The method according to claim 13, wherein an RS in the first TCI, an RS in the first QCL, an RS in the first spatial relation information, and the first path loss reference RS are the first RS of the neighboring cell indicated by at least one of the following: radio resource management (RRM); radio link management (RLM); beam reporting; or beam management (see page 24- 25, Duo shows a terminal receives at least one downlink control information/DCI sent by the network device, where the first network device acquires the radio network temporary identification/C-RNTI of the terminal from the second network device (the neighboring cell, and uses the C-RNTI to scramble the DCI, page 37 shows DCI sent by the network device indicates a QCL relationship between antenna ports transmitting the plurality of downlink reference signals, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS sent by the first network device and obtain the path loss between the first network device and the terminal by measuring the CSI-RS sent by the antenna port, so that the path loss corresponding to the first PUCCH can be determined, page 35 shows the terminal determines the first PUCCH according to the QCL relationship, where QCL includes the airspace information, such as emission angle, the angle of arrival, the power spread spectrum, transmit channel correlation, receive channel correlation, transmit beamforming, receive beamforming, spatial channel correlation (indicated by at least one of the following: beam reporting; or beam management).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim and Sun-2 to incorporate the teaching of Duo such that DCI sent by the network device indicates a QCL relationship between antenna ports transmitting the plurality of downlink reference signals, the UE can determine the CSI-RS sent by the neighbor BS and obtain the path loss between the BS and the UE by measuring the CSI-RS sent by the antenna port, determines the QCL which includes the airspace information, such as emission angle, the angle of arrival, the power spread spectrum, transmit channel correlation, receive channel correlation, transmit beamforming, receive beamforming, spatial channel correlation. Doing so provides a faster switch in a BWP and faster handoffs to neighbor cells since the BS would be able to determine relationship between antenna ports transmitting the downlink reference signals, the terminal can determine the CSI-RS sent by the network device and obtain the path loss between the network device and the terminal by measuring the CSI-RS sent by the antenna port, where QCL includes the airspace information, such as transmit and receive beamforming.
Regarding claim 15, Sun in view of Kim and Sun-2 does not explicitly show:
The method according to claim 14, wherein the first RS is at least one of the following: system information block (SSB); channel state information reference signal (CS!I-RS); or sounding reference signal (SRS).
Duo shows:
The method according to claim 14, wherein the first RS is at least one of the following: system information block (SSB); channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS); or sounding reference signal (SRS)(see page 37, Duo shows DCI sent by the network device indicates a QCL relationship between antenna ports transmitting the plurality of downlink reference signals, and the terminal can determine the CSI-RS sent by the first network device and obtain the path loss between the first network device and the terminal by measuring the CSI-RS sent by the antenna port (the first RS is at least one of the following: channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Sun in view of Kim and Sun-2 to incorporate the teaching of Duo such that DCI sent by the network device indicates a QCL relationship between antenna ports transmitting the plurality of downlink reference signals, the UE can determine the CSI-RS sent by the neighbor BS and obtain the path loss between the BS and the UE by measuring the CSI-RS sent by the antenna port. Doing so provides a faster handover to neighbor cells since the DCI sent by the network device indicates a QCL relationship between antenna ports transmitting the plurality of downlink reference signals, and the UE can determine the CSI-RS sent by the first network device and obtain the path loss between the first network device and the UE by measuring the CSI-RS sent by the antenna port.
Conclusion
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/JEONG S PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2454
October 10, 2025