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 .
Claim Status
This office action is in response to the communication(s) filed on 12/23/2025.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-6, 8-11, 16-25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 39, 42 and 46-48, and 53-54 is/are currently presenting for examination.
Claim(s) 1, 24, and 47-48 is/are independent claim(s).
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-6, 8-11, 16-25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 39, 42 and 46-48, and 53-54 is/are rejected.
This action has been made FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 12/23/2025 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-6, 8-11, 16-19, 23-25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 39, 42, 46-48, and 53-54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao et al. (WO 2021043006 A1; hereinafter "Yao") in view of Ling et al. (US 20220278776 A1; hereinafter "Ling"), and Svedman et al (US_20230076897_A1, hereinafter “Svedman”).
Regarding claim 1, Yao discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving an activation command to activate multiple spatial relations for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource that is to be used for transmitting repetitions of a PUCCH communication in multiple slots (P. 7, Lines 14-19: The base station also configures the PUCCH spatial relationship pool through high-level signaling, where each spatial relationship corresponds to a group of power control parameters in the PUCCH power control parameter pool. The base station activates the spatial relationship in the spatial relationship pool of the PUCCH on the PUCCH resource through Media Access Control (MAC) layer signaling.); and
transmitting the repetitions of the PUCCH communication in the PUCCH resource in the multiple slots using the multiple spatial relations (P. 10, Lines 31-34: The following schemes can be adopted for repeated transmission of PUCCH: different spatial relationship indications corresponding to repeated PUCCH transmission, and MAC layer signaling or physical layer signaling indicates the use of multiple activated spatial relationships, such as sequence, reverse sequence, etc.).
Yao further discloses RRC signaling configures repletion pattern for PUSCH transmission (P. 7, Lines 14-17: The base station also configures the PUCCH spatial relationship pool through high-level signaling, where each spatial relationship corresponds to a group of power control parameters in the PUCCH power control parameter pool; P. 11, Lines 19=22: For type 1 configured grant PUSCH transmission, high-level signaling (such as RRC signaling) configures the repetition number XO, and configures V SRI information. Wherein, XO and V are integers greater than or equal to 1, and Vis less than or equal to X0.).
But Yao does not disclose wherein a pattern of repetitions of the first set (of PUCCH transmissions) and repetitions of the second set (of PUCCH transmission) is indicated via radio resource control signaling, and wherein the pattern of repetitions comprises a cyclical pattern or a sequential pattern.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ling discloses wherein a pattern of repetitions of the first set (of PUCCH transmissions) and repetitions of the second set (of PUCCH transmission) is indicated via radio resource control signaling ([0070] Methods indicating the mapping between each PUCCH resource transmission of Nrep PUCCH resource repetitions configured in RRC; [0071] As a beam may be represented by a spatial relation information, the activation of a spatial relation information set may also be referred to as activation of multiple beams; [0075] and Fig. SA: If Nrep=2 (indicating a first set of repetitions with a first beam hopping pattern), the spatial relation information IDs used by the UE for transmitting 2 PUCCH resource repetitions are spatial relation information 2 (=beam 1) and spatial relation information 5 (= beam 2) respectively; [0076] and Fig. SA: If Nrep=4 (indicating a second set of repetitions with a second beam hopping pattern), the spatial relation information IDs used by the UE for transmitting the 4 PUCCH resource repetitions are spatial relation information 2 (= beam 1), spatial relation information 5 (=beam 2), spatial relation information 6 (= beam 3) and spatial information 2 respectively; [[0084] one of Method 1 and Method 2 may be configured in higher layer (e.g. RRC) to indicate the UE how to transmit the PUCCH resource repetitions using the spatial relation information set(= beam hopping pattern). More generally, other mappings between the spatial relation information set and each repetition may also be configured in the RRC).
Furthermore, in the same field of endeavor, Svedman discloses wherein the pattern of repetitions comprises a cyclical pattern or a sequential pattern ([0499] “…PUCCH repetition scheme was configured or indicated by the DCI …”. [0503] “The UE may be further configured to enable cyclic or sequential TCI state mapping”).
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 method of Yao, based on the above teaching from Ling and Svedman, to derive "wherein a pattern of repetitions of the first set (of PUCCH transmissions) and repetitions of the second set (of PUCCH transmission) is indicated via radio resource control signaling, wherein the pattern of repetitions comprises a cyclical pattern or a sequential pattern" and thus obtain the limitations of claim 1, because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from Ling. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to configure beam information in advance for a UE to transmit repetitions of an uplink channel.
Regarding claim 2, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 1 as set forth, and Yao further discloses wherein the activation command is received via a medium access control element (MAC-CE) (P. 7, Lines 14-19: The base station also configures the PUCCH spatial relationship pool through high-level signaling, where each spatial relationship corresponds to a group of power control parameters in the PUCCH power control parameter pool. The base station activates the spatial relationship in the spatial relationship pool of the PUCCH on the PUCCH resource through Media Access Control (MAC) layer signaling; P. 10, Lines 31-34: The following schemes can be adopted for repeated transmission of PUCCH: different spatial relationship indications corresponding to repeated PUCCH transmission, and MAC layer signaling or physical layer signaling indicates the use of multiple activated spatial relationships, such as sequence, reverse sequence, etc.).
Regarding claim 4, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 2 as set forth, and Yao further discloses wherein the MAC-CE includes a first field that indicates a first spatial relation that is to be activated, and a second field that indicates a second spatial relation that is to be activated (P. 10, Lines 32-34: MAC layer signaling or physical layer signaling indicates the use of multiple activated spatial relationships, such as sequence, reverse sequence, etc.; P. 26, Line 43 to P. 27, Line 2: V spatial parameter information is determined according to the V spatial relationships activated for the PUCCH resource; the PUCCH resource indication field includes V C-bit information , Respectively indicate V PUCCH resources, each PUCCH resource is associated with a spatial relationship, and is used to determine a spatial parameter information; the PUCCH resource indication field includes D bit information, indicating V PUCCH resources, and each PUCCH resource is associated with a spatial relationship. To determine a spatial parameter information.).
Regarding claim 5, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 4 as set forth, and Yao further discloses wherein the MAC-CE includes a flag that is set when the second field is included in the MAC-CE (P. 28, Lines 21-27: The MAC CE contains information (for example, R bits) or the DCI contains information used to indicate the sequence of the activated V spatial relationships for multiple repeated transmissions. For example, when Y=2, one R bit in the MAC CE is used to indicate the sequence of activated V:2 spatial relationships for multiple repeated transmissions. For example, a value of O for 1 R bit indicates the order, and a value of 1 indicates the reverse order.).
Regarding claim 6, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 1 as set forth, and Yao further discloses wherein the first set of the repetitions are to use a spatial domain filter used for reception or transmission of a reference signal indicated by a first spatial relation of the multiple spatial relations, and the second set of the repetitions are to use a spatial domain filter used for reception or transmission of a reference signal indicated by a second spatial relation of the multiple spatial relations (P. 39, Lines 7-9: The method according to claim 1, wherein each spatial parameter information is used to indicate reference signal resource information referenced by one uplink transmission).
Regarding claim 8, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 6 as set forth, and Yao further discloses wherein repetitions of the first set alternate with repetitions of the second set (P. 12, Lines 23-28: Assuming X=6, Y=2, and the predetermined rule is to assign the required number of repeated transmission numbers to each packet in sequence according to the repeated transmission number, there are two groups, and both groups contain 3 repeated transmission numbers. The 3 smaller numbers are allocated to the first repeated transmission number group, and the 3 larger numbers in X are allocated to the second repeated transmission number group.).
Regarding claim 9, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 8 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, and Svedman do not explicitly disclose wherein the repetitions of the first set are even-indexed repetitions, and the repetitions of the second set are odd-indexed repetitions.
However, Yao further discloses assigning a number of repeated transmissions in a first group followed by a number of repeated transmissions in a second group (P. 12, Lines 23-28: Assuming X=6, Y=2, and the predetermined rule is to assign the required number of repeated transmission numbers to each packet in sequence according to the repeated transmission number, there are two groups, and both groups contain 3 repeated transmission numbers. The 3 smaller numbers are allocated to the first repeated transmission number group, and the 3 larger numbers in X are allocated to the second repeated transmission number group.).
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 method of Yao, Ling, and Svedman as applied to claim 8, based on the above further teaching from Yao, to derive "wherein the repetitions of the first set are even- indexed repetitions, and the repetitions of the second set are odd-indexed repetitions", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from Yao. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to distinguish each set of repetitions of uplink transmissions.
Regarding claims 10-11, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 6 as set forth, and Yao further discloses wherein repetitions of the first set are consecutive, and repetitions of the second set are consecutive, wherein the repetitions of the first set are to occur before the repetitions of the second set (P. 12, Lines 23-28: Assuming X=6, Y=2, and the predetermined rule is to assign the required number of repeated transmission numbers to each packet in sequence according to the repeated transmission number, there are two groups, and both groups contain 3 repeated transmission numbers. The 3 smaller numbers are allocated to the first repeated transmission number group, and the 3 larger numbers in X are allocated to the second repeated transmission number group.).
Regarding claim 16, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 6 as set forth, and Yao further discloses wherein repetitions of the first set use a first PUCCH power value and repetitions of the second set use a second PUCCH power value (P. 7, Lines 14-17: The base station also configures the PUCCH spatial relationship pool through high-level signaling, where each spatial relationship corresponds to a group of power control parameters in the PUCCH power control parameter pool; P. 10, Lines 31-36: The following schemes can be adopted for repeated transmission of PUCCH: different spatial relationship indications corresponding to repeated PUCCH transmission, and MAC layer signaling or physical layer signaling indicates the use of multiple activated spatial relationships, such as sequence, reverse sequence, etc.; The transmission power control parameter of each repeated transmission of the PUCCH is determined according to the power control parameter of the PUCCH corresponding to each spatial relationship; P. 12, Lines 23-28: Assuming X=6, Y=2, and the predetermined rule is to assign the required number of repeated transmission numbers to each packet in sequence according to the repeated transmission number, there are two groups, and both groups contain 3 repeated transmission numbers. The 3 smaller numbers are allocated to the first repeated transmission number group, and the 3 larger numbers in X are allocated to the second repeated transmission number group. That is, the same spatial parameter information (such as SRI information) (corresponding to a first PUCCH power value) is used for the first 3 repeated transmissions, and the same spatial parameter information (corresponding to a second PUCCH power value) is used for the last 3 repeated transmissions; P. 29, Lines 4-7: The base station configures the power control parameters corresponding to the spatial relationship of the PUCCH for the UE through high-level signaling. The MAC CE may update or adjust the power control parameters corresponding to the spatial relationship of the PUCCH.).
Regarding claim 17, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 16 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, and Svedman do not explicitly disclose wherein the first PUCCH power value is based at least in part on at least one of a first pathloss reference signal, a first offset value, or a first closed loop index, and the second PUCCH power value is based at least in part on at least one of a second pathloss reference signal, a second offset value, or a second closed loop index.
However, Yao further discloses a method wherein the uplink channel power value is based on at least a pathloss reference signal or a closed loop index (P. 8, Lines 15-16: The PUSCH-PowerControl parameter includes at least one PUSCH-PathlossReferenceRS parameter, that is, a path loss measurement parameter pool; P. 44, Lines 32-36: Send E transmission power control transmission power control TPC commands to the first communication node, where E is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the E TPC commands are used to update the closed loop power associated with the V spatial parameter information. The power control adjustment amount corresponding to the control index.).
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 method of Yao, Ling, and Svedman as applied to claim 16, based on the above further teaching from Yao, to derive "wherein the first PUCCH power value is based at least in part on at least one of a first pathloss reference signal, a first offset value, or a first closed loop index, and the second PUCCH power value is based at least in part on at least one of a second pathloss reference signal, a second offset value, or a second closed loop index", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from Yao. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to implement flexible power control for each transmission in repeated uplink transmissions.
The claim is written in an alternative form with species forming a Markush group representing a genus; the prior art document discloses one of the species (power value based on closed loop index) which anticipates the genus (MPEP 2131.02).
Regarding claim 18, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 16 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, and Svedman do not explicitly disclose wherein the first PUCCH power value is based at least in part on a first transmit power control (TPC) accumulation function value, and the second PUCCH power value is based at least in part on a second transmit power control accumulation function value, when respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different.
However, Yao further discloses a method wherein the base station transmits different transmission power control (TPC) commands to a UE in order to update the closed loop power associated with spatial parameter information for each transmission (P. 44, Lines 32-36: Send E transmission power control transmission power control TPC commands to the first communication node, where E is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the E TPC commands are used to update the closed loop power associated with the V spatial parameter information. The power control adjustment amount corresponding to the control index.).
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 method of Yao, Ling, and Svedman as applied to claim 16, based on the above further teaching from Yao, to derive "wherein the first PUCCH power value is based at least in part on a first transmit power control (TPC) accumulation function value, and the second PUCCH power value is based at least in part on a second transmit power control accumulation function value, when respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from Yao. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to implement flexible power control for each transmission in repeated uplink transmissions.
Regarding claim 19, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 16 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, and Svedman do not explicitly disclose "wherein respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different, and wherein a transmit power control (TPC) command indicated for the PUCCH resource is applied to the respective closed loop index values".
However, Yao further discloses a method wherein the base station transmits different transmission power control (TPC) commands to a UE in order to update the closed loop power associated with each transmission (P. 44, Lines 32-36: Send E transmission power control transmission power control TPC commands to the first communication node, where E is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the E TPC commands are used to update the closed loop power associated with the V spatial parameter information. The power control adjustment amount corresponding to the control index.).
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 method of Yao,Ling, and Svedman as applied to claim 16, based on the above further teaching from Yao, to derive "wherein respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different, and wherein a transmit power control (TPC) command indicated for the PUCCH resource is applied to the respective closed loop index values", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from Yao. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to implement independent beam indications for each transmission in repeated transmissions sent in a beam diversity manner and to implement flexible power control.
Regarding claim 23, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 16 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, and Svedman do not explicitly disclose wherein respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different, and wherein respective transmit power control (TPC) commands are indicated for the respective closed loop index values.
However, Yao further discloses a method wherein the base station transmits different transmission power control (TPC) commands to a UE in order to update the closed loop power associated with each transmission (P. 7, Lines 30-34: The closed-loop power control parameters include at least one of the following: closed-loop power control index (also called closed-loop power control status, or closed-loop identification), and closed-loop power control quantity.; P. 44, Lines 32-36: Send E transmission power control transmission power control TPC commands to the first communication node, where E is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the E TPC commands are used to update the closed loop power associated with the V spatial parameter information. The power control adjustment amount corresponding to the control index.).
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 method of Yao, Ling, and Svedman as applied to claim 16, based on the above further teaching from Yao, to derive "wherein respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different, and wherein respective transmit power control (TPC) commands are indicated for the respective closed loop index values", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from Yao. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to implement flexible power control for each transmission in repeated uplink transmissions.
Regarding claim 24, Yao discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a base station, comprising: determining, for a user equipment (UE), multiple spatial relations that are to be activated for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource that is to be used by the UE for transmitting repetitions of a communication in multiple slots; and transmitting an activation command to the UE to activate the multiple spatial relations for the PUCCH resource (P. 7, Lines 14-19: The base station also configures the PUCCH spatial relationship pool through high-level signaling, where each spatial relationship corresponds to a group of power control parameters in the PUCCH power control parameter pool. The base station activates the spatial relationship in the spatial relationship pool of the PUCCH on the PUCCH resource through Media Access Control (MAC) layer signaling.).
But Yao does not disclose wherein a pattern of repetitions of a first set of the repetitions and a pattern of repetitions of a second set of the repetitions are indicated via radio resource control signaling, and wherein the pattern of repetitions comprises a cyclical pattern or a sequential pattern.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ling discloses wherein a pattern of repetitions of the first set (of PUCCH transmissions) and repetitions of the second set (of PUCCH transmission) is indicated via radio resource control signaling ([0070] Methods indicating the mapping between each PUCCH resource transmission of Nrep PUCCH resource repetitions configured in RRC; [0071] As a beam may be represented by a spatial relation information, the activation of a spatial relation information set may also be referred to as activation of multiple beams; [0075] and Fig. SA: If Nrep=2 (indicating a first set of repetitions with a first beam hopping pattern), the spatial relation information IDs used by the UE for transmitting 2 PUCCH resource repetitions are spatial relation information 2 (=beam 1) and spatial relation information 5 (= beam 2) respectively; [0076] and Fig. SA: If Nrep=4 (indicating a second set of repetitions with a second beam hopping pattern), the spatial relation information IDs used by the UE for transmitting the 4 PUCCH resource repetitions are spatial relation information 2 (= beam 1), spatial relation information 5 (=beam 2), spatial relation information 6 (= beam 3) and spatial information 2 respectively; [[0084] one of Method 1 and Method 2 may be configured in higher layer (e.g. RRC) to indicate the UE how to transmit the PUCCH resource repetitions using the spatial relation information set(= beam hopping pattern). More generally, other mappings between the spatial relation information set and each repetition may also be configured in the RRC).
Furthermore, in the same field of endeavor, Svedman discloses wherein the pattern of repetitions comprises a cyclical pattern or a sequential pattern ([229] In one example, the UE 116 can apply a DL-RS cycling pattern for repetitions of a PRACH transmission when a total, across all associated DL-RS, number of repetitions for a PRACH transmission is larger than a threshold. In some embodiments, the threshold can in be fixed in the system specifications. In other embodiments, the threshold can be provided by higher layer signaling. [0230] In some embodiments, groups of repetitions according to different RS resources can be applied to other DL transmissions and UL transmissions other than PRACH, for example, PUSCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, and PDCCH.).
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 method of Yao, based on the above teaching from Ling and Svedman, to derive "wherein a pattern of repetitions of a first set of the repetitions and a pattern of repetitions of a second set of the repetitions are indicated via radio resource control signaling", and thus obtain the limitations of claim 24, because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from the above teaching of Ling. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to configure beam information in advance for a UE to transmit repetitions of an uplink channel.
Claims 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, and 39 are rejected following the same rationale as set forth in the rejection of claims 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 16, respectively. Claims 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, and 39 recite corresponding features to those in claims 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 16 respectively, from the perspective of a method for a base station.
Regarding claim 42, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 39 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, and Svedman do not explicitly disclose "wherein respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different, and wherein a transmit power control (TPC) command indicated for the PUCCH resource is to be applied by the UE to the respective closed loop index values".
However, Yao further discloses sending different transmission power control (TPC) commands to update the closed loop power associated with each transmission (P. 44, Lines 32-36: Send E transmission power control transmission power control TPC commands to the first communication node, where E is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the E TPC commands are used to update the closed loop power associated with the V spatial parameter information. The power control adjustment amount corresponding to the control index.).
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 method of Yao, Ling, and Svedman as applied to claim 39, based on the above further teaching from Yao, to derive "wherein respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different, and wherein a transmit power control (TPC) command indicated for the PUCCH resource is to be applied by the UE to the respective closed loop index values", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from Yao. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to implement independent beam indications for each transmission in repeated transmissions sent in a beam diversity manner and to implement flexible power control.
Regarding claim 46, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 39 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, and Svedman do not explicitly disclose "wherein respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different, and wherein respective transmit power control (TPC) commands are indicated for the respective closed loop index values".
However, Yao further discloses sending different transmission power control (TPC) commands to update the closed loop power associated with each transmission (P. 44, Lines 32-36: Send E transmission power control transmission power control TPC commands to the first communication node, where E is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and the E TPC commands are used to update the closed loop power associated with the V spatial parameter information. The power control adjustment amount corresponding to the control index.).
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 method of Yao, Ling, and Svedman as applied to claim 39, based on the above further teaching from Yao, to derive "wherein respective closed loop index values indicated by the first spatial relation and the second spatial relation are different, and wherein respective transmit power control (TPC) commands are indicated for the respective closed loop index values", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from Yao. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to implement independent beam indications for each transmission in repeated transmissions sent in a beam diversity manner and to implement flexible power control.
Claims 47 is rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claim 1. Claim 47 recites similar features as in claim 1 from the perspective of an apparatus for a UE. Yao further discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to perform similar functions (P. 36, Lines 28-35, and Fig. 11: processor 111 and memory 112).
Claims 48 is rejected on the same grounds set forth in the rejection of claim 24. Claim 48 recites similar features as in claim 24 from the perspective of an apparatus for a base station. Yao further discloses a base station for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to perform similar functions (P. 37, Lines 10-17, and Fig. 12: processor 121 and memory 122).
Regarding claim 53, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 6 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, and Svedman do not explicitly disclose wherein repetitions of the first set are to use a first set of power control parameters indicated by the first spatial relation, and repetitions of the second set are to use a second set of power control parameters indicated by the second spatial relation.
However, Yao further discloses power control parameters for uplink channel repetitions indicated by SRI or spatial relation configured by higher layer signaling (P. 13, Lines 33-37: For type 1 configuration authorized PUSCH transmission, high-level signaling configures 1 set, X set or V set of power control parameters; for type 2 configuration authorized PUSCH transmission, high-level signaling configures 1 set, X set or V set of open loop Power control parameters and/or closed-loop power control parameters; P. 24 and Lines 44-46: each repeated transmission of PUSCH can also independently determine power control parameters. The base station configures the association of SRI information and power control parameters for the UE through high-level signaling; P. 26, Lines 1-8 : The UE determines the SRI information corresponding to each repeated transmission of the PUSCH, and determines the power control parameter of each repeated transmission of the PUSCH according to the association between the SRI information and the power control parameter ... When the SRI information for PUSCH transmission does not exist or is not provided, the UE refers to the default beam (or spatial relationship) to send repeated transmissions; P. 30, Lines 7-8: In the repeated transmission of PUCCH, the spatial relationship is similar to the SRI information of PUSCH,).
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 method of Yao, Ling, and Svedman as applied to claim 6, based on the above further teaching from Yao, to derive "wherein repetitions of the first set are to use a first set of power control parameters indicated by the first spatial relation, and repetitions of the second set are to use a second set of power control parameters indicated by the second spatial relation", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above further teaching from Yao. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to facilitate indication of power control parameters for repetitions of uplink transmissions.
Claim 54 is rejected following the same rationale as set forth in the rejection of claim 53. Claim 54 recites corresponding features to those in claim 53 from the perspective of a method for a base station.
Claims 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yao in view of Ling, Svedman, and further in view of Yang et al. (US 20210144722 A 1; hereinafter "Yang"),
Regarding claim 20, Yao, Ling, and Svedman disclose the limitations of claim 6 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, and Svedman do not disclose wherein repetitions of the first set are to use a first frequency hop and a second frequency hop, and repetitions of the second set are to use the first frequency hop and the second frequency hop.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Yang discloses the frequency hopping point for each group of repetitions ([0311] The network-side device may determine the frequency hopping point in the frequency hopping information as the beam switching point. That is, before and after the frequency hopping point, different pieces of uplink beam information are used to transmit the PUSCH or PUCCH.).
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 method of Yao, Ling, and Svedman as applied to claim 6, based on the above teaching from Yang, to derive the limitations of claim 20, because the modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to select a pattern for the frequency hopping point in the frequency hopping information as the beam switching point.
Regarding claim 21, Yao, Ling, Svedman, and Yang disclose the limitations of claim 20 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, Svedman, and Yang do not explicitly disclose wherein the first frequency hop and the second frequency hop, for the repetitions of the first set, are in consecutive slots, and the first frequency hop and the second frequency hop, for the repetitions of the second set, are in consecutive slots.
However, Yang further discloses the frequency hopping point for each group of repetitions ([0311] The network-side device may determine the frequency hopping point in the frequency hopping information as the beam switching point. That is, before and after the frequency hopping point, different pieces of uplink beam information are used to transmit the PUSCH or PUCCH.).
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 method of Yao, Ling, and Svedman g, and Yang as applied to claim 20, based on the above further teaching from Yang, to derive "wherein the first frequency hop and the second frequency hop, for the repetitions of the first set, are in consecutive slots, and the first frequency hop and the second frequency hop, for the repetitions of the second set, are in consecutive slots", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from the teachings of Yang. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to select a pattern for the frequency hopping point in the frequency hopping information as the beam switching point.
Regarding claim 22, Yao, Ling, Svedman, and Yang disclose the limitations of claim 20 as set forth. But Yao, Ling, Svedman, and Yang do not explicitly disclose wherein the first frequency hop and the second frequency hop, for the repetitions of the first set, are in non-consecutive slots, and the first frequency hop and the second frequency hop, for the repetitions of the second set, are in non-consecutive slots.
However, Yang further discloses the frequency hopping point for each group of repetitions ([0311] The network-side device may determine the frequency hopping point in the frequency hopping information as the beam switching point. That is, before and after the frequency hopping point, different pieces of uplink beam information are used to transmit the PUSCH or PUCCH.).
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 method of Yao, Ling, Svedman, and Yang as applied to claim 20, based on the above further teaching from Yang, to derive "wherein the first frequency hop and the second frequency hop, for the repetitions of the first set, are in non-consecutive slots, and the first frequency hop and the second frequency hop, for the repetitions of the second set, are in non-consecutive slots", because this is simply a design implementation choice that can be easily selected by a person of ordinary skill in the art based on the above teaching from the teachings of Yang. The modification uses prior art elements according to their established functions to produce a predictable result that is equivalent to the claimed limitations. This method of improving was well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art, who would have been motivated to perform this modification in order to select a pattern for the frequency hopping point in the frequency hopping information as the beam switching point.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/W.H/Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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