DETAILED ACTION
The following is a final office action in response to applicant’s remarks/arguments 6/25/2026 for
response of the office action mailed on 4/01/2026. Claims 1, 3, 18, 22, and 67 have been amended. Claims 2, 10-11, 19-20, and 26-27 have been canceled. Claims 1, 3, 6, 8, 14, 18, 22, 25, 30, and 67-68 remain pending in the application.
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 Amendment
The Amendment filed on 6/25/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
4. Claim 22 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 22, in line 1, “The method of claim 20,” should be replaced by “The method of claim 18,”
Appropriate corrections are required.
Response to Remarks/Arguments
Applicant’s remarks/arguments (page 14-21), filed on 6/25/2026, with respect to the 103 rejections of
claim 1 have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
Regarding remarks in page 17 for independent claim 1, applicant asserts that Song does not disclose
the terminal sending antenna panel information to the network device before receiving the DCI, wherein
the antenna panel information is used by the network device to determine the uplink beam information field
in the DCI. Song's embodiments concern how a terminal handles uplink channel collisions when multiple
uplink transmissions are scheduled for the same time-frequency resources. Song focuses on the terminal's
multiplexing and discarding behavior after receiving the network's scheduling, not on the terminal
proactively reporting panel capabilities to the network before scheduling.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with the applicant. SONG et al. discloses (the terminal forms an uplink transmit beam by using a spatial domain transmission filter, and one spatial relation corresponds to one uplink transmit beam. The network device configures a candidate spatial relation of each uplink channel/signal for the terminal by using spatial relation information (spatialRelationinfo) signaling of a radio resource control (RRC) layer. If spatialRelationinfo signaling configured for a PUCCH includes a plurality of candidate spatial relations, the network device further indicates, by using a Media Access Control control element (MAC CE), one or more spatial relations used by the PUCCH, Song: [0007]. The configuration may be that the network device configures a spatial relation for the terminal by using higher layer signaling (for example, RRC signaling). Song: [0035]).
Regarding remarks in page 18 for independent claim 1, applicant asserts that Song does not disclose such antenna panel capability reporting at all. Song's spatial relation configuration is a network-initiated configuration via RRC, not a terminal-initiated reporting of panel capability information.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with the applicant. SONG et al. discloses (The terminal in the following embodiments of the present disclosure may be any device that communicates with the network device, and includes a terminal that support multi-TRP/panel. The terminal may be configured or instructed by the network device to send uplink information by using beams corresponding to a plurality of spatial relations. the network device configures a candidate spatial relation of each uplink channel/signal for the terminal by using spatialRelationinfo signaling of RRC, Song: Fig. 1, [0031], [0034]-[0035]).
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Regarding remarks in page 18 for amended independent claim 1, applicant asserts that Song does not disclose the feature that when the codepoint corresponds to a plurality of target uplink beam information corresponding to different time domain resources, the terminal determines a current target uplink beam information based on a currently used time domain resource.
The amended independent claim 1 has been fully considered but are moot because new ground of rejections using a newly introduced reference (NOH et al. US 2018/0227898 Al) are applied in the current rejection.
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 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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1, 3, 6, 8, 14, 18, 22, 25, 30, and 67-68 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable
over Onggosanusi et al. (US 2020/0100232 Al, hereinafter “Onggosanusi”) in view of SONG et al. (US 2021/0227531 Al, hereinafter “Song”) and in further view of NOH et al. (US 2018/0227898 Al, hereinafter “Noh”).
Regarding claim 1, Onggosanusi discloses:
An uplink sending method performed by a terminal device, the method comprising (FIG. 9 illustrates a flow diagram 900 for UL beam indication procedure for multiple panels according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, Onggosanusi: Fig.9, [0189]):
receiving a radio resource control (RRC) message sent by a network device, wherein the RRC message is configured to indicate an uplink beam information set, and a plurality of pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set correspond to a same antenna panel or different antenna panels of the terminal device (In diagram 900, the UE receives the configuration information on the M reference RS resource sets (step 901). This information is signaled via higher-layer (RRC) signaling. UE is configured with M reference RS resource sets where M can correspond to the number of UE panels in implementation. This setup is particularly relevant when more than one reference RS resources are needed to perform a multi-layer MIMO transmission. In Rel.15 NR, this is the case for non-codebook based UL transmission. for transmission schemes that require only one reference RS resource to perform a multi-layer MIMO transmission (such as the case for codebook- based UL transmission), instead of associating one reference RS resource set with one UE panel, a panel can be associated with one reference RS resource. In this case, there is no need for configuring a UE with M reference RS resource sets. Rather, the UE can be configured with M reference RS resources. UE receives, from the same base station, and decodes an uplink (UL) beam indication, Onggosanusi: [0189]-[0190], [0211]);
determining a plurality of pieces of activated candidate uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set (This procedure is followed by the UE determining, from the UL beam indication, Onggosanusi: [0211]);
receiving a first downlink signaling sent by the network device, wherein the first downlink signaling carries an uplink beam information field, and the uplink beam information field corresponds to one piece or a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information (UL beam indication is done via the SRS resource indicator (SRI) field in UL related DCI which is linked to one (and only one) reference RS. Once the UE receives this configuration, the UE can receive the N-subset selection information via LI or L2 control signaling (step 902). This N-subset selection information can also be accompanied with either SpatialRelationinfo (if SRI-based solution is used) or UL-TCI-State (if UL-TCI-based solution is used). Based on this configuration information, when the UE receives an UL-related DCI addressed to it, Onggosanusi: [0115], [0189]),
wherein the first downlink signaling is a downlink control information (DCI) signaling (Based on this configuration information, when the UE receives an UL-related DCI addressed to it, the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI, Onggosanusi: [0189], [0193]);
determining target uplink beam information in the plurality of pieces of activated candidate uplink beam information based on the uplink beam information field carried by the first downlink signaling and a mapping relationship carried by a media access control (MAC) signaling (UL transmission configuration information/indicator (ULTCI) states can be configured dynamically, via L2 control signaling (such as MAC control element or MAC CE). the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI (step 903), This procedure is followed by the UE determining, from the UL beam indication, Onggosanusi: [0142], [0189], [0211]),
wherein the mapping relationship is configured to indicate a correspondence between a codepoint of the uplink beam information field and candidate uplink beam information (to accommodate the support for UE panel selection, a code-point for turning off a panel is included in each of the UL-TCI field, Onggosanusi: [0159]); and
determining an uplink sending beam direction corresponding to the target uplink beam information as a target uplink sending beam direction (UE measures the reference RS (and in the process selects an UL TX beam) and reports the beam metric associated with the quality of the reference RS. In this case, the UE determines the TX-RX beam pair for every configured (DL) reference RS, Onggosanusi: [0127]),
Onggosanusi does not explicitly disclose:
wherein before receiving the first downlink signaling sent by the network device, the method further comprises:
sending antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device,
wherein the antenna panel information is used by the network device to determine the uplink beam information field corresponding to the one piece or the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information in the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information, and send the first downlink signaling,
wherein the antenna panel information comprises at least one of:
a number of antenna panels of the terminal device;
information on whether simultaneous activation of a plurality of antenna panels of the terminal device is supported; or
information on whether simultaneous uplink sending through a plurality of activated antenna panels of the terminal device is supported;
the method further comprises: determining a current target uplink beam information, among the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, based on a currently used time domain resource.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Song teaches:
wherein before receiving the first downlink signaling sent by the network device, the method further comprises (the terminal forms an uplink transmit beam by using a spatial domain transmission filter, and one spatial relation corresponds to one uplink transmit beam. Song: [0007]):
sending antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device (The terminal in the following embodiments of the present disclosure may be any device that communicates with the network device, and includes a terminal that support multi-TRP/panel. send uplink information by using beams corresponding to a plurality of spatial relations. the network device configures a candidate spatial relation of each uplink channel/signal for the terminal by using spatialRelationinfo signaling of RRC, Song: Fig. 1, [0031], [0034]-[0035]),
wherein the antenna panel information is used by the network device to determine the uplink beam information field corresponding to the one piece or the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information in the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information, and send the first downlink signaling (The network device configures a candidate spatial relation of each uplink channel/signal for the terminal by using spatial relation information (spatialRelationinfo) signaling of a radio resource control (RRC) layer. If spatialRelationinfo signaling configured for a PUCCH includes a plurality of candidate spatial relations, the network device further indicates, by using a Media Access Control control element (MAC CE), one or more spatial relations used by the PUCCH. If spatialRelationinfo signaling configured for a PUSCH includes a plurality of candidate spatial relations. the network device further indicates, by using a sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRS Indicator, SRI) of downlink control information (DCI), Determine, as a target spatial relation, an original spatial relation configured or indicated for the plurality of pieces of uplink information and a new spatial relation configured or indicated by the network device, where the new spatial relation is different from the original spatial relation, Song: [0007], [0034]-[0035], [0077]),
wherein the antenna panel information comprises at least one of:
information on whether simultaneous uplink sending through a plurality of activated antenna panels of the terminal device is supported (the terminal may support simultaneous sending based on a plurality of spatial relations, device that communicates with the network device, and includes a terminal that supports multi-TRP/panel. terminal that supports multi-TRP transmission. Also, examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of” in the limitation, Song: [0031], [0033], [0039], [0057]);
the method further comprises: determining a current target uplink beam information, among the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, based on a currently used time domain resource (If it is determined that multiplexing processing is to be performed, a plurality of pieces of conflicting uplink information are multiplexed (that is, according to the rule, a coding rate may need to be adjusted and mapping is performed on a time-frequency resource of an uplink channel), and an uplink channel for transmitting uplink information after the multiplexing processing is determined, Song: [0045]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Onggosanusi in view of Song in order to further modify sending antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device and the antenna panel information comprises at least one of a number of antenna panels of the terminal device, information on whether simultaneous activation of a plurality of antenna panels of the terminal device is supported, or information on whether simultaneous uplink sending through a plurality of activated antenna panels of the terminal device is supported, and determining a current target uplink beam information and sending antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device from the teachings of Song.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because when a plurality of TRP scenarios are supported, it can improve a communication range and efficiency of a terminal (Song: [0192]).
Yet, Onggosanusi in view of Song does not explicitly disclose:
sending an uplink transmission by using the target uplink sending beam direction,
wherein, in a case where simultaneous uplink sending through different antenna panels of the terminal device is not supported, the codepoint of the uplink beam information field corresponds a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, and the plurality of target uplink beam information corresponds to different time domain resources,
However, in the same field of endeavor, Noh teaches:
sending an uplink transmission by using the target uplink sending beam direction (terminal transmits information indicating whether the beam correspondence (BC) of the terminal is established to the base station, Noh: [0080]),
wherein, in a case where simultaneous uplink sending through different antenna panels of the terminal device is not supported, the codepoint of the uplink beam information field corresponds a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, and the plurality of target uplink beam information corresponds to different time domain resources (base station (or transmitting/receiving ends) or the terminal perform transmission/reception using a pair of beams at a time by using at least one beam within a multi-antenna using beamforming system which differently allocates and uses resources, such as a frequency channel, time, a beam, and a code, to different beams and uses the resources. an applicable beam information exchange method even when the base station or the terminal does not use a plurality of beams, Noh: [0051]-[0052]),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Onggosanusi and Song in view of Noh in order to further modify sending an uplink transmission by using the target uplink sending beam direction and the codepoint of the uplink beam information field which corresponds a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information from the teachings of Noh.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because wireless transmission/reception may be performed in one direction using one antenna array group at a time. At this time, when at least one antenna array group can be simultaneously operated, the wireless transmission/reception may be performed in more than one direction at a time (Noh: [0050]).
Regarding claim 3, Onggosanusi-Song-Noh teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Onggosanusi further discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink beam information field corresponds to one piece of target uplink beam information (UL-TCI configuration in TABLE 4A, when co-configured with 2 SRS resources, can represent the so-called UE panel selection, Onggosanusi: Table 4A, [0160]);
determining the target uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set based on the uplink beam information field carried by the first downlink signaling comprises (the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI (step 903), Onggosanusi: [0189]):
determining a plurality of pieces of activated candidate uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set (Once the UE receives this configuration, the UE can receive the N-subset selection information via LI or L2 control signaling (step 902), Onggosanusi: [0189]); and
determining the target uplink beam information in the plurality of pieces of activated candidate uplink beam information based on the uplink beam information field (This N-subset selection information can also be accompanied with either SpatialRelationinfo (if SRI-based solution is used) or UL-TCI-State (if UL-TCI-based solution is used). Based on this configuration information, when the UE receives an UL-related DCI addressed to it, the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI (step 903), Onggosanusi: [0189]).
Regarding claim 6, Onggosanusi-Song-Noh teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 1above.
Onggosanusi further discloses:
The method of claim 1, wherein determining the uplink sending beam direction corresponding to the target uplink beam information as the target uplink sending beam direction comprises (the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI (step 903), Onggosanusi: [0189]):
in response to there being one piece of target uplink beam information, determining the uplink sending beam direction corresponding to the target uplink beam information as the target uplink sending beam direction (UE measures the reference RS (and in the process selects an UL TX beam) and reports the beam metric associated with the quality of the reference RS. In this case, the UE determines the TX-RX beam pair for every configured (DL) reference RS, Onggosanusi: [0127]); and
in response to there being a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, determining one or more uplink sending beam directions corresponding to one or more pieces of the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information as one or more target uplink sending beam directions (Once the UE receives this configuration, the UE can receive the N-subset selection information via LI or L2 control signaling (step 902), Onggosanusi: [0189]);
wherein the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information correspond to a same time domain resource or different time domain resources (one UL-TCI field is used for both panel selection and simultaneous transmission across the two panels. Optionally, two separate UL-TCI fields can be used wherein each UL-TCI field can be associated with one panel, Onggosanusi: [0162]).
Regarding claim 8, Onggosanusi-Song-Noh teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 3 and above.
Onggosanusi further discloses:
The method of claim 3, wherein determining the plurality of pieces of activated candidate uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set comprises (Once the UE receives this configuration, the UE can receive the N-subset selection information via LI or L2 control signaling (step 902), Onggosanusi: [0189]):
in response to a number of the plurality of pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set being less than or equal to M, determining all the uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set as candidate uplink beam information, where M is a positive number (This N-subset selection information can also be accompanied with either SpatialRelationinfo (if SRI-based solution is used) or UL-TCI-State (if UL-TCI-based solution is used). Based on this configuration information, when the UE receives an UL-related DCI addressed to it, the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI (step 903), Onggosanusi: [0189]); and
in response to the number of the plurality of pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set being greater than M, receiving a MAC signaling and activating M pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set as candidate uplink beam information based on the MAC signaling (UL transmission configuration information/indicator (UL-TCI) states can be configured either via higher-layer (RRC) signaling, or via L2 control signaling (MAC CE), or via L1 control signaling(DCI), Onggosanusi: [0134], [142]).
Regarding claim 18, Onggosanusi discloses:
An uplink sending method performed by a network device, the method comprising (methods and apparatuses for uplink multi-beam operation, Onggosanusi: [0013]):
sending a radio resource control (RRC) message to a terminal device, wherein the RRC message is configured to indicate an uplink beam information set, and a plurality of pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set correspond to a same antenna panel or different antenna panels of the terminal device (UL TX beam indication associated with at least one reference RS index/indicator is signaled to the UE via higher-layer (e.g. RRC) signaling. UE receives the configuration information on the M reference RS resource sets (step 901). This information is signaled via higher-layer (RRC) signaling. UE is configured with M reference RS resource sets where M can correspond to the number of UE panels in implementation. This setup is particularly relevant when more than one reference RS resources are needed to perform a multi-layer MIMO transmission. In Rel.15 NR, this is the case for non-codebook based UL transmission. for transmission schemes that require only one reference RS resource to perform a multi-layer MIMO transmission (such as the case for codebook- based UL transmission), instead of associating one reference RS resource set with one UE panel, a panel can be associated with one reference RS resource. In this case, there is no need for configuring a UE with M reference RS resource sets. Rather, the UE can be configured with M reference RS resources, Onggosanusi: [0168], [0189]-[0190]); and
sending a first downlink signaling to the terminal device (gNB/NW can then indicate the UL TX beam selection (step 604) using the SRI field in the UL-related DCI (that carries the UL grant, such as DCI format 0_1 in NR), Onggosanusi: [0131]);
wherein the first downlink signaling carries an uplink beam information field (for transmission schemes that require only one reference RS resource to perform a multi-layer MIMO transmission (such as the case for codebook- based UL transmission), instead of associating one reference RS resource set with one UE panel, a panel can be associated with one reference RS resource. In this case, there is no need for configuring a UE with M reference RS resource sets. Rather, the UE can be configured with M reference RS resources, Onggosanusi: [0190]),
wherein the first downlink signaling is a downlink control information (DCI) signaling (Based on this configuration information, when the UE receives an UL-related DCI addressed to it, the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI, Onggosanusi: [0189], [0193]);
sending a MAC signaling, wherein the MAC signaling carries a mapping relationship, and the mapping relationship is configured to indicate a correspondence between a codepoint of the uplink beam information field and activated candidate uplink beam information, wherein the uplink beam information field is configured to be used by the terminal device to determine target uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set by determining a plurality of pieces of activated candidate uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set and querying the mapping relationship based on the codepoint of the uplink beam information field, and the uplink beam information field corresponds to one piece or a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information (for transmission schemes that require only one reference RS resource to perform a multi-layer MIMO transmission (such as the case for codebook- based UL transmission), instead of associating one reference RS resource set with one UE panel, a panel can be associated with one reference RS resource. In this case, there is no need for configuring a UE with M reference RS resource sets. Rather, the UE can be configured with M reference RS resources, UL transmission configuration information/indicator (ULTCI) states can be configured dynamically, via L2 control signaling (such as MAC control element or MAC CE). the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI (step 903), This procedure is followed by the UE determining, from the UL beam indication, to accommodate the support for UE panel selection, a code-point for turning off a panel is included in each of the UL-TCI field, Onggosanusi: [0142], [0159], [0190], [0211]); and
Onggosanusi does not explicitly disclose:
wherein before sending the first downlink signaling to the terminal device, the method further comprises:
receiving antenna panel information of the terminal device;
determining the uplink beam information field corresponding to the one piece or a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information in the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information; and sending the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information,
wherein the antenna panel information comprises at least one of:
a number of antenna panels of the terminal device;
information on whether simultaneous activation of a plurality of antenna panels of the terminal device is supported; or
information on whether simultaneous uplink sending through a plurality of
activated antenna panels of the terminal device is supported;
the uplink beam information field is configured to be used by the terminal device to determine a current target uplink beam information, among the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, based on a currently used time domain resource.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Song teaches:
wherein before sending the first downlink signaling to the terminal device, the method further comprises (the terminal forms an uplink transmit beam by using a spatial domain transmission filter, and one spatial relation corresponds to one uplink transmit beam. Song: [0007]):
receiving antenna panel information of the terminal device (The terminal in the following embodiments of the present disclosure may be any device that communicates with the network device, and includes a terminal that support multi-TRP/panel. send uplink information by using beams corresponding to a plurality of spatial relations. the network device configures a candidate spatial relation of each uplink channel/signal for the terminal by using spatialRelationinfo signaling of RRC, Song: [0031], [0034]-[0035]),
determining the uplink beam information field corresponding to the one piece or a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information in the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information; and sending the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information (The network device configures a candidate spatial relation of each uplink channel/signal for the terminal by using spatial relation information (spatialRelationinfo) signaling of a radio resource control (RRC) layer. If spatialRelationinfo signaling configured for a PUCCH includes a plurality of candidate spatial relations, the network device further indicates, by using a Media Access Control control element (MAC CE), one or more spatial relations used by the PUCCH. If spatialRelationinfo signaling configured for a PUSCH includes a plurality of candidate spatial relations. the network device further indicates, by using a sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRS Indicator, SRI) of downlink control information (DCI), Determine, as a target spatial relation, an original spatial relation configured or indicated for the plurality of pieces of uplink information and a new spatial relation configured or indicated by the network device, where the new spatial relation is different from the original spatial relation, Song: [0007], [0034]-[0035], [0077]),
wherein the antenna panel information comprises at least one of:
information on whether simultaneous uplink sending through a plurality of activated antenna panels of the terminal device is supported (the terminal may support simultaneous sending based on a plurality of spatial relations, device that communicates with the network device, and includes a terminal that supports multi-TRP/panel. terminal that supports multi-TRP transmission. Also, examiner interprets that only one of the claimed features to be mapped because of the presence of “at least one of” in the limitation, Song: [0031], [0033], [0039], [0057]);
the uplink beam information field is configured to be used by the terminal device to determine a current target uplink beam information, among the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, based on a currently used time domain resource (If it is determined that multiplexing processing is to be performed, a plurality of pieces of conflicting uplink information are multiplexed (that is, according to the rule, a coding rate may need to be adjusted and mapping is performed on a time-frequency resource of an uplink channel), and an uplink channel for transmitting uplink information after the multiplexing processing is determined, Song: [0045]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Onggosanusi in view of Song in order to further modify receiving antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device and the antenna panel information comprises at least one of a number of antenna panels of the terminal device, information on whether simultaneous activation of a plurality of antenna panels of the terminal device is supported, or information on whether simultaneous uplink sending through a plurality of activated antenna panels of the terminal device is supported, and determining a current target uplink beam information and sending antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device from the teachings of Song.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because when a plurality of TRP scenarios are supported, it can improve a communication range and efficiency of a terminal (Song: [0192]).
Yet, Onggosanusi in view of Song does not explicitly disclose:
receiving an uplink transmission sent by the terminal device using a target uplink sending beam direction corresponding to the target uplink beam information, and
wherein, in a case where simultaneous uplink sending through different antenna panels of the terminal device is not supported, the codepoint of the uplink beam information field corresponds a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, and the plurality of target uplink beam information corresponds to different time domain resources,
However, in the same field of endeavor, Noh teaches:
receiving an uplink transmission sent by the terminal device using a target uplink sending beam direction corresponding to the target uplink beam information (terminal transmits information indicating whether the beam correspondence (BC) of the terminal is established to the base station. the base station may determine whether the BC is established based on the information indicating whether the BC is established which is received from the terminal, Noh: [0080]-[0081]),
wherein, in a case where simultaneous uplink sending through different antenna panels of the terminal device is not supported, the codepoint of the uplink beam information field corresponds a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, and the plurality of target uplink beam information corresponds to different time domain resources (base station (or transmitting/receiving ends) or the terminal perform transmission/reception using a pair of beams at a time by using at least one beam within a multi-antenna using beamforming system which differently allocates and uses resources, such as a frequency channel, time, a beam, and a code, to different beams and uses the resources. an applicable beam information exchange method even when the base station or the terminal does not use a plurality of beams, Noh: [0051]-[0052]),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Onggosanusi and Song in view of Noh in order to further modify receiving an uplink transmission sent by the terminal device using a target uplink sending beam direction corresponding to the target uplink beam information and the codepoint of the uplink beam information field which corresponds a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information from the teachings of Noh.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because wireless transmission/reception may be performed in one direction using one antenna array group at a time. At this time, when at least one antenna array group can be simultaneously operated, the wireless transmission/reception may be performed in more than one direction at a time (Noh: [0050]).
Regarding claims 14 and 30, Onggosanusi-Song-Noh teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claims 1 and 18 above.
Onggosanusi further discloses:
wherein, the uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set carries an indication identifier, and the indication identifier is configured to indicate an antenna panel corresponding to the uplink beam information (dynamic signaling is used to signal the UE the assigned UL TX beam which is represented by either a target SRS resource ID (if SRI-based method is used) or the reference RS resource ID via Ll DL control channel, that is, UL-related DCIII. Therefore, a DCI field designated for UL TX beam indication is used-either SRI or UL-TCIII. To support multi-beam operation with multi-panel UEs, this DCI field can be designed to accommodate signaling in relation to one or multiple resource sets, Onggosanusi: [0195]);
wherein the indication identifier comprises at least one of a cell identification (ID), a transmission reception point ID, an antenna panel ID, a reference signal resource ID, or a resource set ID (The reference RS can be associated with a resource ID of the particular type of RS. An example of such configuration is given in TABLE 1, Onggosanusi: [0138]).
Regarding claim 22, Onggosanusi-Song-Noh g teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 20 above.
Onggosanusi further discloses:
in response to a number of the plurality of pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set being greater than M, sending a media access control (MAC) signaling to the terminal device, where M is a positive number (This N-subset selection information can also be accompanied with either SpatialRelationinfo (if SRI-based solution is used) or UL-TCI-State (if UL-TCI-based solution is used). Based on this configuration information, when the UE receives an UL-related DCI addressed to it, the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI (step 903), Onggosanusi: [0189]);
wherein the MAC signaling is configured to activate M pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set as candidate uplink beam information (UL transmission configuration information/indicator (UL-TCI) states can be configured either via higher-layer (RRC) signaling, or via L2 control signaling (MAC CE), or via L1 control signaling (DCI), Onggosanusi: [0134], [142]).
Regarding claim 25, Onggosanusi-Song-Noh teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 18 above.
Onggosanusi further discloses:
in response to a number of the plurality of pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set being greater than M (This N-subset selection information can also be accompanied with either SpatialRelationinfo (if SRI-based solution is used) or UL-TCI-State (if UL-TCI-based solution is used). Based on this configuration information, when the UE receives an UL-related DCI addressed to it, the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI (step 903), Onggosanusi: [0189]),
the MAC signaling is configured to activate M pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set as candidate uplink beam information, where M is a positive number (UL transmission configuration information/indicator (UL-TCI) states can be configured either via higher-layer (RRC) signaling, or via L2 control signaling (MAC CE), or via L1 control signaling (DCI), Onggosanusi: [0134], [142]).
Regarding claim 67, Onggosanusi discloses:
A terminal device, comprising (gNB can communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to the network, Onggosanusi: Fig. 1, [0083]):
a processor (The UE also includes a speaker, a processor, Onggosanusi: [0093]);
a transceiver coupled to the processor (UE includes an antenna, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, Onggosanusi: [0093]); and
a memory configured to store instructions executable by the processor (UE also includes a speaker, a processor, an input/output (I/O) interface, an input, a display, and a memory. processor can include one or more processors or other processing devices and execute the OS program stored in the memory, Onggosanusi: [0093], [0096]);
wherein the processor is configured to:
receive a radio resource control (RRC) message sent by a network device, wherein the RRC message is configured to indicate an uplink beam information set, and a plurality of pieces of uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set correspond to a same antenna panel or different antenna panels of the terminal device (In diagram 900, the UE receives the configuration information on the M reference RS resource sets (step 901). This information is signaled via higher-layer (RRC) signaling. UE is configured with M reference RS resource sets where M can correspond to the number of UE panels in implementation. This setup is particularly relevant when more than one reference RS resources are needed to perform a multi-layer MIMO transmission. In Rel.15 NR, this is the case for non-codebook based UL transmission. for transmission schemes that require only one reference RS resource to perform a multi-layer MIMO transmission (such as the case for codebook- based UL transmission), instead of associating one reference RS resource set with one UE panel, a panel can be associated with one reference RS resource. In this case, there is no need for configuring a UE with M reference RS resource sets. Rather, the UE can be configured with M reference RS resources, Onggosanusi: [0189]-[0190]);
determine a plurality of pieces of activated candidate uplink beam information in the uplink beam information set (This procedure is followed by the UE determining, from the UL beam indication, Onggosanusi: [0211]);
receive a first downlink signaling sent by the network device, wherein the first downlink signaling carries an uplink beam information field, and the uplink beam information field corresponds to one piece or a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information (UL beam indication is done via the SRS resource indicator (SRI) field in UL related DCI which is linked to one (and only one) reference RS. Once the UE receives this configuration, the UE can receive the N-subset selection information via LI or L2 control signaling (step 902). This N-subset selection information can also be accompanied with either SpatialRelationinfo (if SRI-based solution is used) or UL-TCI-State (if UL-TCI-based solution is used). Based on this configuration information, when the UE receives an UL-related DCI addressed to it, Onggosanusi: [0115], [0189]);
wherein the first downlink signaling is a downlink control information (DCI) signaling (Based on this configuration information, when the UE receives an UL-related DCI addressed to it, the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI, Onggosanusi: [0189], [0193]);
determine target uplink beam information in the plurality of pieces of activated candidate uplink beam information based on the uplink beam information field carried by the first downlink signaling and a mapping relationship carried by a media access control (MAC) signaling (UL transmission configuration information/indicator (ULTCI) states can be configured dynamically, via L2 control signaling (such as MAC control element or MAC CE). the UE can receive and decode the UL TX beam indication, either from SRI or from TCI field, in the DCI (step 903), This procedure is followed by the UE determining, from the UL beam indication, Onggosanusi: [0142], [0189], [0211]),
wherein the mapping relationship is configured to indicate a correspondence between a codepoint of the uplink beam information field and candidate uplink beam information (to accommodate the support for UE panel selection, a code-point for turning off a panel is included in each of the UL-TCI field, Onggosanusi: [0159]);
determine an uplink sending beam direction corresponding to the target uplink beam information as a target uplink sending beam direction (UE measures the reference RS (and in the process selects an UL TX beam) and reports the beam metric associated with the quality of the reference RS. In this case, the UE determines the TX-RX beam pair for every configured (DL) reference RS, Onggosanusi: [0127]); and
Onggosanusi does not explicitly disclose:
wherein before receiving the first downlink signaling sent by the network device, the processor is configured to:
send antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device,
determining the uplink beam information field corresponding to the one piece or a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information in the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information; and sending the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information,
wherein the antenna panel information comprises at least one of:
a number of antenna panels of the terminal device;
information on whether simultaneous activation of a plurality of antenna panels of the terminal device is supported; or
information on whether simultaneous uplink sending through a plurality of activated antenna panels of the terminal device is supported;
the uplink beam information field is configured to be used by the terminal device to determine a current target uplink beam information, among the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, based on a currently used time domain resource.
the processor is configured to: determine a current target uplink beam information, among the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, based on a currently used time domain resource.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Song teaches:
wherein before receiving the first downlink signaling sent by the network device, the processor is configured to (the terminal forms an uplink transmit beam by using a spatial domain transmission filter, and one spatial relation corresponds to one uplink transmit beam. Song: [0007]):
send antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device (The terminal in the following embodiments of the present disclosure may be any device that communicates with the network device, and includes a terminal that support multi-TRP/panel. send uplink information by using beams corresponding to a plurality of spatial relations. the network device configures a candidate spatial relation of each uplink channel/signal for the terminal by using spatialRelationinfo signaling of RRC, Song: [0031], [0034]-[0035]),
determining the uplink beam information field corresponding to the one piece or a plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information in the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information; and sending the first downlink signaling based on the antenna panel information (The network device configures a candidate spatial relation of each uplink channel/signal for the terminal by using spatial relation information (spatialRelationinfo) signaling of a radio resource control (RRC) layer. If spatialRelationinfo signaling configured for a PUCCH includes a plurality of candidate spatial relations, the network device further indicates, by using a Media Access Control control element (MAC CE), one or more spatial relations used by the PUCCH. If spatialRelationinfo signaling configured for a PUSCH includes a plurality of candidate spatial relations. the network device further indicates, by using a sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRS Indicator, SRI) of downlink control information (DCI), Determine, as a target spatial relation, an original spatial relation configured or indicated for the plurality of pieces of uplink information and a new spatial relation configured or indicated by the network device, where the new spatial relation is different from the original spatial relation, Song: [0007], [0034]-[0035], [0077]),
wherein the antenna panel information comprises at least one of:
information on whether simultaneous uplink sending through a plurality of activated antenna panels of the terminal device is supported (the terminal may support simultaneous sending based on a plurality of spatial relations, device that communicates with the network device, and includes a terminal that supports multi-TRP/panel. terminal that supports multi-TRP transmission, Song: [0031], [0033], [0039], [0057]);
the processor is configured to: determine a current target uplink beam information, among the plurality of pieces of target uplink beam information, based on a currently used time domain resource (If it is determined that multiplexing processing is to be performed, a plurality of pieces of conflicting uplink information are multiplexed (that is, according to the rule, a coding rate may need to be adjusted and mapping is performed on a time-frequency resource of an uplink channel), and an uplink channel for transmitting uplink information after the multiplexing processing is determined, Song: [0045]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Onggosanusi in view of Song in order to further modify sending antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device and the antenna panel information comprises at least one of a number of antenna panels of the terminal device, information on whether simultaneous activation of a plurality of antenna panels of the terminal device is supported, or information on whether simultaneous uplink sending through a plurality of activated antenna panels of the terminal device is supported, and determining a current target uplink beam information and sending antenna panel information of the terminal device to the network device from the teachings of Song.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated because when a plurality of TRP scenarios are supported, it can improve a communication range and efficiency of a terminal (Song: [0192]).
Regarding claim 68, Onggosanusi-Song-Noh teaches all the claimed limitations as set forth in the rejection of claim 18 above.
Onggosanusi further discloses:
A network device, comprising (wireless network includes a BS, Onggosanusi: Fig. 1, [0079]):
a processor (gNB also includes a controller/processor, a memory, Onggosanusi: Fig. 3B, [0102]);
a transceiver coupled to the processor (gNB includes multiple antennas, multiple RF transceivers, Onggosanusi: Fig. 3B, [0102]); and
a memory configured to store instructions executable by the processor (gNB also includes a controller/processor, a memory, Onggosanusi: Fig. 3B, [0102]);
wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 18 (the controller/processor can control the reception of forward channel signals and the transmission of reverse channel signals by the RF transceivers, Onggosanusi: [0105]).
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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/S.C.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/MOHAMMED S CHOWDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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