DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The amendment submitted on 03/04/2026 has been received and considered by the Examiner. Claims 1-5, 13, 27, and 29 were amended, claims 31-58 were previously cancelled, and claims 1-30 remain pending.
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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-30 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: it abbreviates the phrase “a physical downlink control channel” as a “PDSCH”. However, the actual abbreviation for “a physical downlink control channel” is “PDCCH”. “PDSCH” is the abbreviation for the “physical downlink shared channel”. This mismatch creates vagueness that could be grounds for a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) in the future if a corresponding correction is not made.
Claim 13 is objected to because of the following informalities: it contains an apparent typo (“wherein list of candidate resources is configured”). Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 27-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2020/0177254 A1, hereinafter “Lee”) in view of Bagheri et al. (US 2023/0068109 A1, hereinafter “Bagheri”).
As to Claim 1:
Lee describes a method to configure an aperiodic CSI report from a UE and a preceding delay.
Specifically, Lee teaches:
Determining a reserved uplink resource to carry the CSI report from a list of candidate reserved uplink resources
Lee teaches that “[a] DCI for aperiodic CSI reporting triggering may indicate one or more CSI reporting settings” which includes “one or more uplink resources” that “may be configured as a candidate resource for CSI reporting” (Lee, 0195).
Determining the reserved uplink resource is based on a mapping from one of a configuration associated with the CSI report, an indication in the downlink grant, or a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number
Lee teaches that the “CSI reporting settings” include “[a] linking” for the uplink resource which “may be configured in memory of a TRP or WTRU using a database, bitmap or the like” which is analogous to “a mapping” included in “a configuration associated with the CSI report” from the list of claimed options (Lee, 0195).
Transmitting the CSI report on the reserved uplink resource
Lee teaches that “a WTRU may transmit the CSI reporting triggered in a next time instance” if the CSI processing time allows (Lee, 0121-0122).
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining to transmit a channel state information (CSI) report in response to a measurement of a CSI measurement resource or in response to a downlink grant requesting the CSI report
However, Bagheri does teach:
Determining to transmit a channel state information (CSI) report in response to a measurement of a CSI measurement resource or in response to a downlink grant requesting the CSI report
Bagheri teaches that “the UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” (Bagheri, 0078) which corresponds to “a downlink grant requesting the CSI report” from the list of “a measurement of a CSI measurement resource or in response to a downlink grant requesting the CSI report”.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bagheri’s technique of triggering a CSI report using a downlink grant into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. A downlink grant is another common mechanism to assign a UE resources, so it would be obvious to handle both resource assignment and report triggering using a single mechanism since the relevant signaling is already closely related.
As to Claim 2:
Lee teaches:
A periodic resource
Lee describes “a periodic manner” in which “CSI may be transmitted on designated resources at fixed or variable intervals” (Lee, 0003).
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining the first occurrence of a ... resource which satisfies a CSI timeline with respect to the downlink grant requesting the CSI report or the CSI measurement resource
However, Bagheri does teach:
Determining the first occurrence of a ... resource which satisfies a CSI timeline with respect to the downlink grant requesting the CSI report or the CSI measurement resource
Bagheri teaches that a “UE multiplexes ... the CSI report corresponding to the triggered ACSI onto a PUCCH resource indicated by the DL grant” if “the last symbol of the PUCCH resource is not after a certain time (e.g., CSI timeline/latency requirement)” (Bagheri, 0096, 0098).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the timeline requirement outlined in Bagheri to the periodic CSI described in Lee. The CSI reporting described in Lee also benefits from the latency requirement which ensures the CSI is not out of date.
As to Claim 3 and 29:
Lee teaches:
The list of candidate reserved uplink resources is configured via one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages
Lee teaches that “a CSI reporting setting may be configured via higher layer signaling, for example ... RRC” (Lee, 0162). Lee then clarifies that “one or more CSI reporting settings 1002, 1004 [in Fig. 10] may be configured with aperiodic CSI reportings, which may be linked with one or more resource settings 1006, 1008, 1010” (Lee, 0195).
Claim 29 describes the same subject matter as Claim 3 from the perspective of the base station.
As to Claim 27:
Lee teaches:
Configuring a UE with one or more channel state information (CSI) report configurations including a downlink measurement resource
Fig. 2 in Lee and the accompanying description in paragraph 0078 teach “configuration” of “resource settings” by “receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a cell, an eNodeB or a gNodeB (gNB)” and later clarifies that a “resource setting ... may determine the measurement resource” (Lee, 0078, 0151).
Scheduling ... a demodulation reference signal
Lee describes scheduling “resource elements (REs)” for a “reference signal (e.g., DM-RS)” (Lee, 0204).
Determining one or more reserved uplink resources to monitor for a CSI report from a list of candidate reserved uplink resources
Lee teaches that “[a] DCI for aperiodic CSI reporting triggering may indicate one or more CSI reporting settings” which includes “one or more uplink resources” that “may be configured as a candidate resource for CSI reporting” (Lee, 0195).
Determining the reserved uplink resource is based on a mapping from one of a configuration associated with the CSI report, an indication in the downlink grant, or a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number
Lee teaches that “[a] DCI for aperiodic CSI reporting triggering may indicate one or more CSI reporting settings” which includes “one or more uplink resources” that “may be configured as a candidate resource for CSI reporting” (Lee, 0195).
Here, the “one or more CSI reporting settings” correspond to “a configuration associated with the CSI report” from the list of “one of a configuration associated with the CSI report, an indication in the downlink grant, or a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number”.
Receiving the CSI report on the one or more reserved uplink resources
Lee teaches that “a WTRU may transmit the CSI reporting triggered in a next time instance” if the CSI processing time allows (Lee, 0121-0122).
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Transmitting a downlink grant scheduling a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)
However, Bagheri does teach:
Transmitting a downlink grant scheduling a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)
Bagheri teaches that “the UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” (Bagheri, 0078).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bagheri’s technique of triggering a CSI report using a downlink grant into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. A downlink grant is another common mechanism to assign a UE resources, so it would be obvious to handle both resource assignment and report triggering using a single mechanism since the relevant signaling is already closely related.
As to Claim 28:
Lee teaches:
Determining the one or more reserved uplink resources comprises selecting a ... resource
Lee teaches that “[a] DCI for aperiodic CSI reporting triggering may indicate one or more CSI reporting settings” which includes “one or more uplink resources” that “may be configured as a candidate resource for CSI reporting” (Lee, 0195).
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
A periodic resource
However, Bagheri does teach:
A periodic resource
Bagheri teaches that “each CSI-ReportConfig is linked to periodic, or semipersistent, or aperiodic resource setting(s)” (Bagheri, 0039).
Here, the “periodic ... resource setting(s)” correspond to “a periodic resource”.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt Lee’s method for reserving uplink resources for a CSI report to reserve periodic resources, as described in Bagheri. CSI reports are commonly sent both periodically and aperiodically, so it would be obvious to adapt a resource reservation scheme for one scenario to the other.
As to Claim 30:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Selecting an uplink resource indicated by the downlink grant
However, Bagheri does teach:
Selecting an uplink resource indicated by the downlink grant
Bagheri teaches that “the UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” and later adds that “[t]he UE determines a first PUCCH resource for ACSI transmission and a second PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK transmission corresponding to the PDSCH” (Bagheri, 0078). Here, the “first PUCCH resource” and “second PUCCH resource” correspond to “an uplink resource indicated by the downlink grant” since both are selected based on the “DL grant” in Bagheri.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bagheri’s technique of triggering a CSI report using a downlink grant into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. A downlink grant is another common mechanism to assign a UE resources, so it would be obvious to handle both resource assignment and report triggering using a single mechanism since the relevant signaling is already closely related.
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0177254 A1) in view of Bagheri (US 2023/0068109 A1) and further in view of Liu et al. (US 2019/0349046 A1, hereinafter “Liu”).
As to Claim 4:
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
The downlink grant comprising the indication is the downlink grant requesting the CSI report or a downlink grant scheduling a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) or a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) used to determine to transmit the CSI report in response to the measurement of the CSI measurement resource
However, Liu does describe a method to configure and transmit CSI measurements.
Specifically, from this list, Liu teaches:
The downlink grant comprising the indication is the downlink grant requesting the CSI report
Liu teaches that a “CSI request field may be included in the DL grant” (Liu, 0172).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Liu’s practice of triggering a CSI report with a CSI request field described in the downlink grant into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. A downlink grant is a common method for requesting CSI that can serve this purpose well in the context of Lee’s method.
Claim(s) 5-6 and 8-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0177254 A1) in view of Bagheri (US 2023/0068109 A1) and further in view of Guo et al. (US 2019/0190582 A1, hereinafter “Guo”).
As to Claim 5:
Lee teaches:
The list of candidate reserved uplink resources is configured via one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages
Lee teaches that “a CSI reporting setting may be configured via higher layer signaling, for example ... RRC” (Lee, 0162). Lee then clarifies that “one or more CSI reporting settings 1002, 1004 [in Fig. 10] may be configured with aperiodic CSI reportings, which may be linked with one or more resource settings 1006, 1008, 1010” (Lee, 0195).
Each candidate reserved uplink resource includes ... a time domain resource allocation
Lee teaches that “[a] WTRU may adjust ... UL timing” to “synchronize its reception or transmission timing to the received timing” by “using one or more of a frame timing, subframe timing, sync burst timing, slot timing, or the like” (Lee, 0088).
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
Each ... resource includes at least one of a frequency domain resource allocation of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource, a PUCCH format, and a time domain resource allocation
However, Guo does teach:
Each ... resource includes at least one of a frequency domain resource allocation of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource, a PUCCH format, and a time domain resource allocation
Guo describes configuring a UE with “a resource ID for PUCCH resource; a periodicity in symbols or in slots; a slot offset; and PUCCH format”, and Guo later clarifies that “[t]he above configured information can be used by the UE to determine the time-frequency resource for PUCCH transmission” (Guo, 0413-0414).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the candidate resources described in Lee include time-frequency PUCCH resources and a PUCCH format, as taught in Guo. These are necessary prerequisites to send a CSI report on a PUCCH.
As to Claim 6:
From the list of
Determining the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource based on a mapping from a CSI reporting setting ID, a CSI resource setting associated with the CSI report, a trigger state for the CSI report, or a combination thereof
Lee at least teaches:
Determining the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource based on ... a CSI resource setting associated with the CSI report
Lee states that “[a] DCI for aperiodic CSI reporting triggering may indicate one or more CSI reporting settings” that “may include an uplink resource for the CSI reporting” (Lee, 0195). Lee then clarifies that “the candidate uplink resource types may be sPUCCH, long-PUCCH, and PUSCH” (Lee, 0199).
As to Claim 8:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource based on a dedicated field in the downlink grant that requested the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used to determine to transmit the CSI report in response to the measurement of the CSI measurement resource
However, from this list, Bagheri at least teaches:
Determining the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource based on a dedicated field in the downlink grant that requested the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)
Bagheri teaches that a “UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” and that parameters such as “PUCCH transmission power” depend on “the DCI of the DL grant/assignment” (Bagheri, 0078-0079). Bagheri also adds that a “Time domain resource assignment value m of the DCI” for “determination of the used resource” (Bagheri, 0046).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bagheri’s use of a specific field in the DCI of a DL grant to determine uplink resources. A dedicated field helps the grant fulfill its purpose of allocating uplink resources for CSI transmission.
As to Claim 9:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource based on a PUCCH resource indicator field in the downlink grant that requested the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used to determine to transmit the CSI report in response to the measurement of the CSI measurement resource
The PUCCH resource indicator field indicates a PUCCH resource to carry a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) associated with the PDSCH scheduled by the downlink grant
However, from this list, Bagheri at least teaches:
Determining the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource based on a PUCCH resource indicator field in the downlink grant that requested the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)
Bagheri teaches that “the UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” and further describes a “DCI of the DL grant/assignment” (Bagheri, 0078-0079). Bagheri then mentions a “PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI” that “may indicate a pair (first, second) of PUCCH resources” (Bagheri, 0102).
And:
The PUCCH resource indicator field indicates a PUCCH resource to carry a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) associated with the PDSCH scheduled by the downlink grant
Bagheri describes a “second PUCCH resource for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) transmission corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH” before clarifying later that a “PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI” that “may indicate a pair (first, second) of PUCCH resources”, the latter of which is for the aforementioned “second PUCCH resource” (Bagheri, 0006, 0102).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the PUCCH resource indicator described in Bagheri to allocate uplink resources for CSI, as taught in Lee. The PUCCH resource indicator helps downlink signaling from the base station to achieve its purpose of indicating an uplink resource for CSI reporting.
As to Claim 10:
Lee teaches:
The one or more RRC messages indicate a periodicity ... of the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource
Lee teaches that “[a] CSI reporting setting may include one or more of the following: a time-domain behavior, for example, ... periodic/semi-persistent” and that “[a] set or a super set of CSI reporting sets may be configured, for example, via WTRU-specific RRC signaling” and that “” (Lee, 0079, 0146).
Determining the reserved uplink resource
Lee teaches that “one or more uplink resources may be configured as a candidate uplink resource for CSI reporting” (Lee, 0195).
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
The one or more RRC messages indicate ... a slot offset of the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource
Determining the ... resource includes determining an earliest PUCCH resource or PUSCH resource where the slot offset and the periodicity satisfies a CSI timeline
However, Bagheri does teach:
The one or more RRC messages indicate ... a slot offset of the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource
Bagheri teaches that “[a] timing offset is determined based on the DCI selecting one value from a set of configured offset values for the triggered CSI report configuration” (Bagheri, 0042).
Determining the ... resource includes determining an earliest PUCCH resource or PUSCH resource where the slot offset and the periodicity satisfies a CSI timeline
Bagheri teaches that a “UE multiplexes ... the CSI report corresponding to the triggered ACSI onto a PUCCH resource indicated by the DL grant” if “the first symbol of the PUCCH resource is not before a certain time” and “the last symbol of the PUCCH resource is not after a certain time (e.g., CSI timeline/latency requirement)” (Bagheri, 0096-0098).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the slot offset configuring and CSI timeline described in Bagheri into Lee’s method for reserving uplink resources. These are necessary parameters the UE needs to transmit CSI, so it expedites transmission to assign these directly to the UE.
As to Claim 11:
Lee teaches:
Determining a PUCCH resource based on a slot offset from a reference slot
Lee teaches that a “CSI-RS may be transmitted (or received by a WTRU) at slot # m+x” and then “[t]he CSI may be reported by the WTRU at slot # m + y” which results in a “CSI processing time” that equals “y-x” (Lee, 0105). Lee also adds that a “WTRU may use a PUCCH” for “CSI reporting” (Lee, 0159).
This means that the “slot” for a PUCCH transmitting CSI (i.e. the “PUCCH resource”) is determined based on an offset from when the CSI-RS is transmitted (i.e. “a slot offset from a reference slot”).
And from the list of:
The reference slot is a slot including one of the downlink grant, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) as the CSI measurement resource, a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) as the CSI measurement resource, or a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) for the PDSCH
Lee at least teaches:
The reference slot is a slot including ... a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) as the CSI measurement resource
Lee teaches that a “CSI-RS may be transmitted (or received by a WTRU) at slot # m+x” and then “[t]he CSI may be reported by the WTRU at slot # m + y” which results in a “CSI processing time” that equals “y-x” (Lee, 0105). Lee also adds that a “WTRU may use a PUCCH” for “CSI reporting” (Lee, 0159).
Here, a “CSI-RS” is analogous to “a demodulation reference signal (DMRS)”.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0177254 A1) in view of Bagheri (US 2023/0068109 A1) and Guo (US 2019/0190582 A1) and further in view of Ouchi et al. (US 2019/0373560 A1, hereinafter “Ouchi”).
As to Claim 7:
Lee teaches:
Determining the PUCCH resource or the PUSCH resource
Lee describes configuring “a candidate uplink resource for CSI reporting” and later clarifies that “[o]ne or more of sPUCCH, long-PUCCH (longPUCCH), or PUSCH resources may be used for aperiodic CSI reporting” (Lee, 0195, 0197).
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
The downlink grant requesting the CSI report or associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) or demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used to determine to transmit the CSI report in response to the measurement of the CSI measurement resource
However, from this list, Bagheri at least teaches:
The downlink grant requesting the CSI report or associated with a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)
Bagheri describes a “UE” that “receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” (Bagheri, 0078).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the downlink grant that schedules CSI described in Bagheri into Lee’s method for determining a PUSCH/PUCCH resource for CSI reporting. A downlink grant can both assign uplink resources and request a CSI report, so it makes sense to combine these separate functionalities when both are necessary to reduce signaling.
The combination of Lee, Bagheri, and Guo also does not explicitly disclose:
Determining the ... resource based on a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number provided by the downlink grant
However, Ouchi does describe a method to configure the transmission time and power of a PUSCH transmission.
Specifically, Ouchi teaches:
Determining the ... resource based on a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number provided by the downlink grant
Ouchi teaches that a “first downlink grant may include information about an HARQ process number” and later adds that the HARQ process number “controls the codeword generation ... and downlink subframe generation”, i.e. it helps determine the time resources for downlink transmission (Ouchi, 0265, 0435).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Ouchi’s practice of using a HARQ process number to identify resources into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. The HARQ process number can identify resources directly or be incorporated into the “linking” described in Lee to succinctly identify resources with little signaling overhead.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0177254 A1) in view of Bagheri (US 2023/0068109 A1) and Guo (US 2019/0190582 A1) and further in view of Cao et al. (US 2021/0144750 A1, hereinafter “Cao”).
As to Claim 12:
The combination of Lee, Bagheri, and Yum does not explicitly disclose:
The slot offset is indicated via a dedicated field of the downlink grant or a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field of the downlink grant
However, Cao does describe a method to facilitate sidelink retransmissions
Specifically, Cao teaches:
The slot offset is indicated via a dedicated field of the downlink grant or a PDSCH-to-HARQ feedback timing indicator field of the downlink grant
Cao teaches that “the slot offset between PDSCH reception and PUCCH transmission” is “indicated by the PDSCH-to-HARQ-timing-indicator field in DL grant” (Cao, 0252).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the DL grant field described in Cao to indicate the slot offset that separates the PUCCH from the PDSCH in Lee’s method. DL grants commonly trigger CSI reporting – as taught in Bagheri – so it would be obvious to use this preexisting grant field to indicate the slot offset.
Claim(s) 13-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0177254 A1) in view of Bagheri (US 2023/0068109 A1) and further in view of Eyuboglu et al. (US 11,375,527 B1, hereinafter “Eyuboglu”).
As to Claim 13:
Lee teaches:
List of candidate reserved uplink resources is configured via one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages
Lee teaches that “a CSI reporting setting may be configured via higher layer signaling, for example ... RRC” (Lee, 0162). Lee then clarifies that “one or more CSI reporting settings 1002, 1004 [in Fig. 10] may be configured with aperiodic CSI reportings, which may be linked with one or more resource settings 1006, 1008, 1010” (Lee, 0195).
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
Each... resource includes a dedicated scheduling request (SR) resource configured with a periodicity and a slot offset
However, Eyuboglu does describe implementing scheduling requests in wireless mesh networks.
Specifically, Eyuboglu does teach:
Each... resource includes a dedicated scheduling request (SR) resource configured with a periodicity and a slot offset
Eyuboglu teaches that “RRC in the MNC also configures the UE with one or more Scheduling Request configurations” that “also includes an SR resource configuration, which consists of a periodicity and offset configuration” (Eyuboglu, col. 90, lines 45-51).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the SR including a periodicity and slot offset described in Eyuboglu into Lee’s method for reserving an uplink resource. The reserved uplink resource in Lee will need to be configured with a periodicity and slot offset to transmit a CSI report, and providing a scheduling request is one way for the base station to supply this necessary information.
As to Claim 14:
From the list of:
Determining the ... resource based on a mapping from a CSI reporting setting ID, a CSI resource setting associated with the CSI report, a trigger state for the CSI report, or a combination thereof
Lee at least teaches:
Determining the ... resource based on ... a CSI resource setting associated with the CSI report
Lee describes “one or more resource settings” for “aperiodic CSI reportings” determined based on “[a] linking” such as “a database, bitmap, or the like” (Lee, 0195).
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
The SR resource
However, Eyuboglu does teach:
The SR resource
Eyuboglu describes a network device configuring a UE with “an SR resource configuration, which consists of a periodicity and offset configuration” (Eyuboglu, col. 90, lines 45-51).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the SR including a periodicity and slot offset described in Eyuboglu into Lee’s method for reserving an uplink resource. The reserved uplink resource in Lee will need to be configured with a periodicity and slot offset to transmit a CSI report, and providing a scheduling request is one way for the base station to supply this necessary information.
As to Claim 15:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining the ... resource based on a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number provided by the downlink grant requesting the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used to determine to transmit the CSI report in response to the measurement of the CSI measurement resource
However, from this list, Bagheri at least teaches:
Determining the ... resource based on ... a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)
Bagheri teaches that “the UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” (Bagheri, 0078).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bagheri’s technique of triggering a CSI report using a downlink grant into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. A downlink grant is another common mechanism to assign a UE resources, so it would be obvious to handle both resource assignment and report triggering using a single mechanism since the relevant signaling is already closely related.
The combination of Lee and Bagheri also does not explicitly disclose:
The SR resource
However, Eyuboglu does teach:
The SR resource
Eyuboglu describes a network device configuring a UE with “an SR resource configuration, which consists of a periodicity and offset configuration” (Eyuboglu, col. 90, lines 45-51).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the SR including a periodicity and slot offset described in Eyuboglu into Lee’s method for reserving an uplink resource. The reserved uplink resource in Lee will need to be configured with a periodicity and slot offset to transmit a CSI report, and providing a scheduling request is one way for the base station to supply this necessary information.
As to Claim 16:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining the ... resource based on a dedicated field in the downlink grant that requested the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used to determine to transmit the CSI report in response to the measurement of the CSI measurement resource
However, from this list, Bagheri at least teaches:
Determining the ... resource based on ... a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)
Bagheri teaches that “the UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” (Bagheri, 0078).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bagheri’s technique of triggering a CSI report using a downlink grant into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. A downlink grant is another common mechanism to assign a UE resources, so it would be obvious to handle both resource assignment and report triggering using a single mechanism since the relevant signaling is already closely related.
The combination of Lee and Bagheri also does not explicitly disclose:
The SR resource
However, Eyuboglu does teach:
The SR resource
Eyuboglu describes a network device configuring a UE with “an SR resource configuration, which consists of a periodicity and offset configuration” (Eyuboglu, col. 90, lines 45-51).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the SR including a periodicity and slot offset described in Eyuboglu into Lee’s method for reserving an uplink resource. The reserved uplink resource in Lee will need to be configured with a periodicity and slot offset to transmit a CSI report, and providing a scheduling request is one way for the base station to supply this necessary information.
As to Claim 17:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining the ... resource based on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource indicator field in the downlink grant that requested the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), wherein the PUCCH resource indicator field indicates a PUCCH resource to carry a hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) associated with the PDSCH scheduled by the downlink grant
However, from this list, Bagheri at least teaches:
Determining the ... resource based on ... a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)
Bagheri teaches that “the UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” (Bagheri, 0078).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bagheri’s technique of triggering a CSI report using a downlink grant into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. A downlink grant is another common mechanism to assign a UE resources, so it would be obvious to handle both resource assignment and report triggering using a single mechanism since the relevant signaling is already closely related.
The combination of Lee and Bagheri also does not explicitly disclose:
The SR resource
However, Eyuboglu does teach:
The SR resource
Eyuboglu describes a network device configuring a UE with “an SR resource configuration, which consists of a periodicity and offset configuration” (Eyuboglu, col. 90, lines 45-51).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the SR including a periodicity and slot offset described in Eyuboglu into Lee’s method for reserving an uplink resource. The reserved uplink resource in Lee will need to be configured with a periodicity and slot offset to transmit a CSI report, and providing a scheduling request is one way for the base station to supply this necessary information.
As to Claim 18:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining an earliest ... resource where the slot offset and the periodicity satisfy a CSI timeline
However, Bagheri does teach:
Determining an earliest ... resource where the slot offset and the periodicity satisfy a CSI timeline
Bagheri teaches that a “UE multiplexes ... the CSI report corresponding to the triggered ACSI onto a PUCCH resource indicated by the DL grant” if “the first symbol of the PUCCH resource is not before a certain time” and “the last symbol of the PUCCH resource is not after a certain time (e.g., CSI timeline/latency requirement)” (Bagheri, 0096-0098).
Here, the “first symbol” of a PUCCH that satisfies “CSI timeline/latency requirement” corresponds to “an earliest ... resource where the slot offset and the periodicity satisfy a CSI timeline”.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the timeline requirement outlined in Bagheri to the periodic CSI described in Lee. The CSI reporting described in Lee also benefits from the latency requirement which ensures the CSI is not out of date.
The combination of Lee and Bagheri also does not explicitly disclose:
The SR resource
However, Eyuboglu does teach:
The SR resource
Eyuboglu describes a network device configuring a UE with “an SR resource configuration, which consists of a periodicity and offset configuration” (Eyuboglu, col. 90, lines 45-51).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the SR including a periodicity and slot offset described in Eyuboglu into Lee’s method for reserving an uplink resource. The reserved uplink resource in Lee will need to be configured with a periodicity and slot offset to transmit a CSI report, and providing a scheduling request is one way for the base station to supply this necessary information.
As to Claim 19:
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
The reserved uplink resource further includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource defined by an offset from the SR resource
However, Eyuboglu does teach:
The reserved uplink resource further includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource defined by an offset from the SR resource
Eyuboglu teaches that “[f]or each reporting setting”, a “UE is also configured with a reporting period and offset that identifies the slots where the report is translated” in relation to “a PUCCH resource that specifies the symbols used within the slot” (Eyuboglu, col. 87, lines 12-16).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the SR including a periodicity and slot offset described in Eyuboglu into Lee’s method for reserving an uplink resource. The reserved uplink resource in Lee will need to be configured with a periodicity and slot offset to transmit a CSI report, and providing a scheduling request is one way for the base station to supply this necessary information.
As to Claim 20:
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
The offset from the SR resource is fixed or configured by one of the RRC messages
However, from this list, Eyuboglu at least teaches:
The offset from the SR resource is ... configured by one of the RRC messages
Eyuboglu states that “RRC in the MNC also configures the UE with one or more Scheduling Request configurations” that “includes an SR resource configuration, which consists of a periodicity and offset” (Eyuboglu col. 90, lines 45-51).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the SR including a periodicity and slot offset described in Eyuboglu into Lee’s method for reserving an uplink resource. The reserved uplink resource in Lee will need to be configured with a periodicity and slot offset to transmit a CSI report, and providing a scheduling request is one way for the base station to supply this necessary information.
Claim(s) 21-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0177254 A1) in view of Bagheri (US 2023/0068109 A1) and further in view of Su et al. (US 2023/0189344 A1, hereinafter “Su2”).
As to Claim 21:
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
The reserved uplink resource is a dedicated two-step random access (RACH) resource
The CSI report is carried in a msgA payload on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)
However, Su2 does describe a method for a UE to send a CSI report as part of a random access procedure.
Specifically, Su2 teaches:
The reserved uplink resource is a dedicated two-step random access (RACH) resource
Table 1 in Su2 describes the contents of a “Random Access Response Grant” which includes a “PUSCH time resource allocation” (Su, Table 1).
The CSI report is carried in a msgA payload on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)
Su2 teaches that during a “2-step RACH procedure”, a UE can send “an early CSI report” using “the msgA PUSCH of the 2-step procedure” (Su, 0019).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Su’s practice of sending CSI during a random access procedure into Lee’s method for reserving uplink resources to send a CSI report. A random access procedure naturally involves reserving resources for the relevant signaling, so it would be obvious to send CSI using these resources while they’re available.
As to Claim 22:
From the list of:
Determining the ... resource based on a mapping from a CSI reporting setting ID, a CSI resource setting associated with the CSI report, a trigger state for the CSI report, or a combination thereof
Lee at least teaches:
Determining the ... resource based on ... a CSI resource setting associated with the CSI report
Lee describes “one or more uplink resources” that “may be configured as a candidate uplink resource for CSI reporting” based on “one or more resource settings” (Lee, 0195).
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
The RACH resource
However, Su2 does teach:
The RACH resource
Table 1 in Su2 describes the contents of a “Random Access Response Grant” which includes a “PUSCH time resource allocation” (Su, Table 1).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Lee’s method to reserve a random access resource for CSI reporting, as described in Su. A random access procedure naturally involves reserving resources for the relevant signaling, so it would be obvious to send CSI using these resources while they’re available.
As to Claim 23:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining the RACH resource based on a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process number provided by the downlink grant requesting the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used to determine to transmit the CSI report in response to the measurement of the CSI measurement resource
However, from this list, Bagheri at least teaches:
Determining the ... resource based ... a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)
Bagheri teaches that “the UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” and “[t]he UE determines a first PUCCH resource for ACSI transmission and a second PUCCH resource for HARQ-ACK transmission corresponding to the scheduled PDSCH” (Bagheri, 0078).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bagheri’s technique of triggering a CSI report using a downlink grant into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. A downlink grant is another common mechanism to assign a UE resources, so it would be obvious to handle both resource assignment and report triggering using a single mechanism since the relevant signaling is already closely related.
The combination of Lee and Bagheri also does not explicitly disclose:
The RACH resource
However, Su2 does teach:
The RACH resource
Table 1 in Su2 describes the contents of a “Random Access Response Grant” which includes a “PUSCH time resource allocation” (Su, Table 1).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Lee’s method to reserve a random access resource for CSI reporting, as described in Su. A random access procedure naturally involves reserving resources for the relevant signaling, so it would be obvious to send CSI using these resources while they’re available.
As to Claim 24:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining the RACH resource based on a dedicated field in the downlink grant that requested the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used to determine to transmit the CSI report in response to the measurement of the CSI measurement resource
However, from this list, Bagheri at least teaches:
Determining the ... resource based on ... the downlink grant that requested the CSI report or a downlink grant that schedules a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)
Bagheri teaches that “the UE receives a DL grant/assignment triggering an aperiodic CSI report and scheduling a PDSCH transmission” (Bagheri, 0078).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Bagheri’s technique of triggering a CSI report using a downlink grant into Lee’s method for configuring uplink resources for a CSI report. A downlink grant is another common mechanism to assign a UE resources, so it would be obvious to handle both resource assignment and report triggering using a single mechanism since the relevant signaling is already closely related.
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
The RACH resource
A dedicated field in the downlink grant
However, Su2 does teach:
The RACH resource
Table 1 in Su2 describes the contents of a “Random Access Response Grant” which includes a “PUSCH time resource allocation” (Su, Table 1).
A dedicated field in the downlink grant
Table 1 in Su2 describes the “Random Access Response Grant Content field” which includes 4 bits for the “PUSCH time resource allocation” (Su, Table 1).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Su’s practice of sending CSI during a random access procedure into Lee’s method for reserving uplink resources to send a CSI report. A random access procedure naturally involves reserving resources for the relevant signaling, so it would be obvious to send CSI using these resources while they’re available.
As to Claim 25:
Lee does not explicitly disclose:
Determining an earliest RACH resource that satisfies a CSI timeline
However, Bagheri does teach:
Determining an earliest ... resource that satisfies a CSI timeline
Bagheri teaches that a “UE multiplexes ... the CSI report corresponding to the triggered ACSI onto a PUCCH resource indicated by the DL grant” if “the first symbol of the PUCCH resource is not before a certain time” and “the last symbol of the PUCCH resource is not after a certain time (e.g., CSI timeline/latency requirement)” (Bagheri, 0096-0098).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the slot offset configuring and CSI timeline described in Bagheri into Lee’s method for reserving uplink resources. These are necessary parameters the UE needs to transmit CSI, so it expedites transmission to assign these directly to the UE.
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
The RACH resource
However, Su2 does teach:
The RACH resource
Table 1 in Su2 describes the contents of a “Random Access Response Grant” which includes a “PUSCH time resource allocation” (Su, Table 1).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use Lee’s method to reserve a random access resource for CSI reporting, as described in Su. A random access procedure naturally involves reserving resources for the relevant signaling, so it would be obvious to send CSI using these resources while they’re available.
Claim(s) 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0177254 A1) in view of Bagheri (US 2023/0068109 A1) and further in view of Chung et al. (US 2023/0070564 A1, hereinafter “Chung”).
As to Claim 26:
The combination of Lee and Bagheri does not explicitly disclose:
Determining to transmit the CSI report is further in response to determining to transmit a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used for channel measurement
However, Chung does describe a method for configuring spatial parameters of uplink transmissions using DCI.
Specifically, Chung teaches:
Determining to transmit the CSI report is further in response to determining to transmit a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) used for channel measurement
Chung states that “when PUCCH is transmitted by triggering or scheduling DCI of the base station (e.g., ACK/NACK PUCCH by PDSCH scheduling DCI, CSI PUCCH transmission by CSI reporting triggering DCI)” (Chung, 0381).
Here, the scenario where the base station sends a “NACK” for the “PDSCH” corresponds to “determining to transmit the CSI report is further in response to determining to transmit a negative acknowledgement (NACK) for a physical downlink control channel (PDSCH)”.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Chung’s practice of reporting CSI after sending a NACK for a PDSCH used for channel measurement into Lee’s method for reporting CSI. Sending a NACK indicates that channel conditions are poor because the PDSCH was not received, so it makes sense to consequently reevaluate the channel state.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Benjamin Peter Welte whose telephone number is (703)756-5965. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chirag Shah, can be reached at (571)272-3144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/B.P.W./Examiner, Art Unit 2477
/CHIRAG G SHAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2477