Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on March 3, 2026 has been entered.
Claims 1 and 17 have been amended. Claims 1-20 are subject to examination and have been examined.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of 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, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 11, 13-14, 17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20230299914, hereinafter, “Lim”) in view of Ge et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20230013510, hereinafter, “Ge”), further in view of Rahman et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20210297134, hereinafter, “Rahman”).
Regarding claim 1, Lim teaches:
A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising (Lim: [0141] Referring to FIG. 10, the UE transmits an SRS in operation 1000 …):
receiving configuration information in downlink control information (DCI), wherein the configuration information … indicates that channel state information (CSI) feedback is based on channel reciprocity (Lim: [0133] The disclosure provides embodiments in which when an eNB estimates part of a DL channel state based on an SRS in frequency division duplex (FDD), a UE measures a channel state and reports CSI. As described above, CSI includes information related to an angle, a delay, an amplitude, and a phase. The channel state has reciprocity between UL and DL within a coherence time … [0141] Referring to FIG. 10 ... In operation 1015, the UE may receive the CSI-RS in consideration of configuration information for channel state measurement and reporting, received in advance from the eNB ... The CSI may include at least a PMI including the amplitude and phase of the channel in which the DL beam candidate is reflected, which is generated based on a reciprocity-based codebook … [0147] To use a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE may measure a channel in a CSI-RS transmitted by the eNB … [0151] At least one of the parameters may be configured for the UE by … DCI. Channel measurement and reporting operations of the UE according to various configuration methods are as follows … [0159] When the UE is instructed to report a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE determines that PCSI-RS ports are beamformed ports selected based on the SRS …);
transmitting a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs) (Lim: [0147] To use a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE may measure a channel in a CSI-RS transmitted by the eNB. The eNB may determine a beamformed CSI-RS port (or referred to as a CSI-RS beam port) based on an SRS transmitted by the UE, before transmitting the CSI-RS …);
receiving a set of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), wherein the set of CSI-RSs are determined based on the set of SRSs (Lim: [0147] To use a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE may measure a channel in a CSI-RS transmitted by the eNB. The eNB may determine a beamformed CSI-RS port (or referred to as a CSI-RS beam port) based on an SRS transmitted by the UE, before transmitting the CSI-RS …);
identifying a set of ports based on the set of CSI-RSs (Lim: [0159] When the UE is instructed to report a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE determines that PCSI-RS ports are beamformed ports selected based on the SRS … ).
Lim does not explicitly teach:
wherein the configuration information comprises a reciprocity flag that indicates that channel state information (CSI) feedback is based on channel reciprocity;
generating one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators for each port of the set of ports based on the set of CSI-RSs and the configuration information; and
transmitting CSI feedback comprising a rank indicator indicating a number of layers and the one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ge teaches:
wherein the configuration information comprises a reciprocity flag that indicates that channel state information (CSI) feedback is based on channel reciprocity (Ge: [0169] Step 210: A network device generates first indication information … [0173] The first indication information indicates the frequency domain unit in different manners such as direct indication, indirect indication, explicit indication, and implicit indication … [0175] The network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, to indicate the terminal device to obtain the CSI more pertinently. In at least one embodiment, a form of the indication information is not limited, and the indication information is indicated in different indication manners. The first indication information is carried in at least one of the following: a … downlink control information (DCI) … [0179] After obtaining the CSI, the terminal device reports the obtained CSI to the network device. [0180] The following provides unified descriptions of the foregoing indication manner of the first indication information by using examples … [0234] Manner 8: [0235] The first indication information implicitly indicates, by indicating a CSI obtaining solution that is based on angle-delay reciprocity [i.e., reciprocity flag], the frequency domain unit for obtaining the CSI. Optionally, the first indication information is configuration information of a CSI-RS port, or the first indication information indirectly indicates a quantity of CSI-RS ports. In an implementation, according to a protocol, the frequency domain units are fixedly grouped into M groups in response to the first indication information indicating that a current CSI obtaining solution is the CSI obtaining solution is based on the angle-delay reciprocity ... Fig. 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim to include the features as taught by Ge above in order to flexibly control CSI measurement. (Ge, ¶ [0005]).
Lim-Ge does not explicitly teach:
generating one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators for each port of the set of ports based on the set of CSI-RSs and the configuration information; and
transmitting CSI feedback comprising a rank indicator indicating a number of layers and the one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Rahman teaches:
generating one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators for each port of the set of ports based on the set of CSI-RSs and the configuration information; and
transmitting CSI feedback comprising a rank indicator indicating a number of layers and the one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators (Rahman: [0104] … a UE is configured with high-resolution (e.g., Type II) CSI reporting in which the linear combination based Type II CSI reporting framework is extended to include a frequency dimension in addition to the first and second antenna port dimensions … [0128] Also, in an alternative, for reciprocity-based Type II CSI reporting, a UE is configured with higher layer parameter CodebookType set to ‘TypeII-PortSelection-Compression’ or ‘typeII-PortSelection-r16’ for an enhanced Type II CSI reporting with port selection in which the pre-coders for all SBs and for a given layer l=1, . . . , ν, where ν is the associated RI value, is given by … the matrix A comprises port selection vectors … To report columns of A, the port selection vectors are used … The … matrix consists of all the required linear combination coefficients (e.g., amplitude and phase or real or imaginary) … [0379] … the UE transmits the CSI report over an uplink (UL) channel.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge to include the features as taught by Rahman above in order to enable channel state information (CSI) reporting. (Rahman, ¶ [0004]).
Regarding claim 17, Lim teaches:
A user equipment (UE) comprising (Lim: [0141] Referring to FIG. 10, the UE transmits an SRS in operation 1000 …):
at least one memory; and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to (Lim: [0249] Referring to FIG. 16, the UE may include a transceiver 1600 and 1610 and a processor 1605 including memory ... Fig. 16):
receive configuration information in downlink control information (DCI), wherein the configuration information … indicates that channel state information (CSI) feedback is based on channel reciprocity (Lim: [0133] The disclosure provides embodiments in which when an eNB estimates part of a DL channel state based on an SRS in frequency division duplex (FDD), a UE measures a channel state and reports CSI. As described above, CSI includes information related to an angle, a delay, an amplitude, and a phase. The channel state has reciprocity between UL and DL within a coherence time … [0141] Referring to FIG. 10 ... In operation 1015, the UE may receive the CSI-RS in consideration of configuration information for channel state measurement and reporting, received in advance from the eNB ... The CSI may include at least a PMI including the amplitude and phase of the channel in which the DL beam candidate is reflected, which is generated based on a reciprocity-based codebook … [0147] To use a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE may measure a channel in a CSI-RS transmitted by the eNB … [0151] At least one of the parameters may be configured for the UE by … DCI. Channel measurement and reporting operations of the UE according to various configuration methods are as follows … [0159] When the UE is instructed to report a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE determines that PCSI-RS ports are beamformed ports selected based on the SRS …);
transmit a set of sounding reference signals (SRSs) (Lim: [0147] To use a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE may measure a channel in a CSI-RS transmitted by the eNB. The eNB may determine a beamformed CSI-RS port (or referred to as a CSI-RS beam port) based on an SRS transmitted by the UE, before transmitting the CSI-RS …);
receive a set of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), wherein the set of CSI-RSs are determined based on the set of SRSs (Lim: [0147] To use a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE may measure a channel in a CSI-RS transmitted by the eNB. The eNB may determine a beamformed CSI-RS port (or referred to as a CSI-RS beam port) based on an SRS transmitted by the UE, before transmitting the CSI-RS …);
identify a set of ports based on the set of CSI- RSs (Lim: [0159] When the UE is instructed to report a reciprocity-based codebook, the UE determines that PCSI-RS ports are beamformed ports selected based on the SRS … ).
Lim does not explicitly teach:
wherein the configuration information comprises a reciprocity flag that indicates that channel state information (CSI) feedback is based on channel reciprocity;
generating one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators for each port of the set of ports based on the set of CSI-RSs and the configuration information; and
transmitting CSI feedback comprising a rank indicator indicating a number of layers and the one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ge teaches:
wherein the configuration information comprises a reciprocity flag that indicates that channel state information (CSI) feedback is based on channel reciprocity (Ge: [0169] Step 210: A network device generates first indication information … [0173] The first indication information indicates the frequency domain unit in different manners such as direct indication, indirect indication, explicit indication, and implicit indication … [0175] The network device sends the first indication information to the terminal device, to indicate the terminal device to obtain the CSI more pertinently. In at least one embodiment, a form of the indication information is not limited, and the indication information is indicated in different indication manners. The first indication information is carried in at least one of the following: a … downlink control information (DCI) … [0179] After obtaining the CSI, the terminal device reports the obtained CSI to the network device. [0180] The following provides unified descriptions of the foregoing indication manner of the first indication information by using examples … [0234] Manner 8: [0235] The first indication information implicitly indicates, by indicating a CSI obtaining solution that is based on angle-delay reciprocity [i.e., reciprocity flag], the frequency domain unit for obtaining the CSI. Optionally, the first indication information is configuration information of a CSI-RS port, or the first indication information indirectly indicates a quantity of CSI-RS ports. In an implementation, according to a protocol, the frequency domain units are fixedly grouped into M groups in response to the first indication information indicating that a current CSI obtaining solution is the CSI obtaining solution is based on the angle-delay reciprocity ... Fig. 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim to include the features as taught by Ge above in order to flexibly control CSI measurement. (Ge, ¶ [0005]).
Lim-Ge does not explicitly teach:
generate one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators for each port of the set of ports based on the set of CSI-RSs and the configuration information; and
transmit CSI feedback comprising a rank indicator indicating a number of layers and the one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Rahman teaches:
generate one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators for each port of the set of ports based on the set of CSI-RSs and the configuration information; and
transmit CSI feedback comprising a rank indicator indicating a number of layers and the one or more amplitude and phase coefficient indicators (Rahman: [0104] … a UE is configured with high-resolution (e.g., Type II) CSI reporting in which the linear combination based Type II CSI reporting framework is extended to include a frequency dimension in addition to the first and second antenna port dimensions … [0128] Also, in an alternative, for reciprocity-based Type II CSI reporting, a UE is configured with higher layer parameter CodebookType set to ‘TypeII-PortSelection-Compression’ or ‘typeII-PortSelection-r16’ for an enhanced Type II CSI reporting with port selection in which the pre-coders for all SBs and for a given layer l=1, . . . , ν, where ν is the associated RI value, is given by … the matrix A comprises port selection vectors … To report columns of A, the port selection vectors are used … The … matrix consists of all the required linear combination coefficients (e.g., amplitude and phase or real or imaginary) … [0379] … the UE transmits the CSI report over an uplink (UL) channel.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge to include the features as taught by Rahman above in order to enable channel state information (CSI) reporting. (Rahman, ¶ [0004]).
Regarding claims 11 and 20, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claims 1 and 17 as outlined above.
Rahman further teaches:
wherein a corresponding value of the rank indicator in a CSI feedback report corresponding to a Type-II port selection codebook family is limited to a constrained rank indicator value that is less than or equal to one or more of (Rahman: [0128] Also, in an alternative, for reciprocity-based Type II CSI reporting, a UE is configured with higher layer parameter CodebookType set to ‘TypeII-PortSelection-Compression’ or ‘typeII-PortSelection-r16’ for an enhanced Type II CSI reporting with port selection in which the pre-coders for all SBs and for a given layer l=1, . . . , ν, where ν is the associated RI value …):
a value 4 (Rahman: [Per ¶ [0145], codebook indices i1 and i2 contain v, the rank indicator (RI) value, which includes the value “4”].
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Rahman is the same as the rationale and motivation for claims 1 and 17.
Regarding claim 13, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Rahman further teaches:
wherein a higher layer parameter in the DCI indicates that CSI feedback is based on frequency division duplexing channel reciprocity (Rahman: [0073] In a communication system, such as LTE system, DL signals can include data signals conveying information content, control signals conveying DL control information (DCI) … [0032] In the following, for brevity, both FDD and TDD are considered as the duplex method for both DL and UL signaling … [0128] Also, in an alternative, for reciprocity-based Type II CSI reporting, a UE is configured with higher layer parameter CodebookType set to ‘TypeII-PortSelection-Compression’ or ‘typeII-PortSelection-r16’ for an enhanced Type II CSI reporting with port selection …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Rahman is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 1.
Regarding claim 14, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claim 13 as outlined above.
Rahman further teaches:
wherein a CSI feedback parameter Mv is set to one for a subset of a set of layers (Rahman: [0128] Also, in an alternative, for reciprocity-based Type II CSI reporting, a UE is configured with higher layer parameter CodebookType set to ‘TypeII-PortSelection-Compression’ or ‘typeII-PortSelection-r16’ for an enhanced Type II CSI reporting with port selection in which the pre-coders for all SBs and for a given layer l=1, . . . , ν, where ν is the associated RI value, is given by Wl=AClBH, where N1, N2, N3, and cl,i,m are defined as above except that the matrix A comprises port selection vectors …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Rahman is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 1.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim-Ge-Rahman in view of Farag et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20210314931, hereinafter, “Farag”).
Regarding claim 2, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman does not explicitly teach:
wherein the set of SRSs and the set of CSI-RSs are configured with the DCI.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Farag teaches:
wherein the set of SRSs and the set of CSI-RSs are configured with the DCI (Farag: [0121] The gNB/NW can then indicate the DL RX beam selection (step 904) through a value of a TCI-state field in a DCI format, such as a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH reception. In this case, the TCI state indicates a reference RS, such as an AP-SRS, representing the selected DL RX beam. In addition, the TCI state can also indicate a “target” RS, such as a CSI-RS, that is linked to the reference RS, such as an AP-SRS. Upon successfully decoding the DCI format providing the TCI state, the UE performs DL receptions, such as a PDSCH reception, using the DL RX beam indicated by the TCI-state (step 905).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman to include the features as taught by Farag above in order to enable uplink (UL) reference signal-based beam management. (Farag, ¶ [0002]).
Regarding claim 3, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman does not explicitly teach:
wherein the SRSs are configured with aperiodic transmission.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Farag teaches:
wherein the SRSs are configured with aperiodic transmission (Farag: [0120] In another example illustrated in FIG. 9 (embodiment A-2), an DL multi-beam operation 900 starts with the gNB/NW signaling to a UE an aperiodic SRS (AP-SRS) trigger or request (step 901). This trigger can be included in a DCI format such as for example a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH reception or a PUSCH transmission. Upon receiving and decoding the DCI format with the AP-SRS trigger (step 902), the UE transmits an SRS (AP-SRS) to the gNB/NW (step 903) so that the NW (or gNB) can measure the UL propagation channel and select a DL RX beam for the UE for DL (at least when there is beam correspondence).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman to include the features as taught by Farag above in order to enable uplink (UL) reference signal-based beam management. (Farag, ¶ [0002]).
Regarding claim 4, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman does not explicitly teach:
wherein the set of CSI-RSs are configured with aperiodic reception.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Farag teaches:
wherein the set of CSI-RSs are configured with aperiodic reception (Farag: [0128] In one example illustrated in FIG. 10 (embodiment B-1), an UL multi-beam operation 1000 starts with the gNB/NW signaling to a UE an aperiodic CSI-RS (AP-CSI-RS) trigger or indication (step 1001). This trigger or indication can be included in a DCI format, such as a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH reception to the UE or a PUSCH transmission from the UE and can be either separately or jointly signaled with an aperiodic CSI request/trigger and indicate transmission of AP-CSI-RS in a same slot (zero time offset) or in a later slot/sub-frame (>0 time offset). Upon receiving the AP-CSI-RS transmitted by the gNB/NW (step 1002), the UE measures the AP-CSI-RS and, in turn, calculates and reports a “beam metric” (indicating quality of a particular TX beam hypothesis) (step 1003) ...).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman to include the features as taught by Farag above in order to enable uplink (UL) reference signal-based beam management. (Farag, ¶ [0002]).
Claims 5, 8, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim-Ge-Rahman in view of Park et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20220116965, hereinafter, “Park”).
Regarding claim 5, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman does not explicitly teach:
wherein a transmit spatial filter used to transmit the set of SRSs is the same as a receive spatial filter used to receive the set of CSI-RSs.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Park teaches:
wherein a transmit spatial filter used to transmit the set of SRSs is the same as a receive spatial filter used to receive the set of CSI-RSs (Park: [0203] ii) if SRS-SpatialRelationInfo is set to ‘CSI-RS,’ the UE transmits the SRS resource with the same spatial domain transmission filter used for the reception of the periodic CSI-RS or SP CSI-RS ...).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman to include the features as taught by Park above in order to use beam correspondence in PUSCH transmission. (Park, ¶ [0037]).
Regarding claim 8, Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park discloses on the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
Park further teaches:
wherein the transmit spatial filter for the set of SRSs is the same as the receive spatial filter for a subsequent set of CSI-RSs in response to at least one of the following: a higher-layer parameter related to usage of the set of SRSs is set to antenna switching (Park: [0198] In Table 6, usage refers to a higher layer parameter to indicate whether the SRS resource set is used for beam management or is used for codebook based or non-codebook based transmission. The usage parameter corresponds to L1 parameter ‘SRS-SetUse’. ‘spatialRelationInfo’ is a parameter representing a configuration of spatial relation between a reference RS and a target SRS … [and from Table 6, “usage” is enumerated to include antenna switching]).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Park is the same as the rationale and motivation for Claim 5.
Regarding claim 18, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claim 17 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman does not explicitly teach:
wherein a transmit spatial filter used to transmit the set of SRSs is the same as a receive spatial filter used to receive the set of CSI-RSs.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Park teaches:
wherein a transmit spatial filter used to transmit the set of SRSs is the same as a receive spatial filter used to receive the set of CSI-RSs (Park: [0203] ii) if SRS-SpatialRelationInfo is set to ‘CSI-RS,’ the UE transmits the SRS resource with the same spatial domain transmission filter used for the reception of the periodic CSI-RS or SP CSI-RS ...).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman to include the features as taught by Park above in order to use beam correspondence in PUSCH transmission. (Park, ¶ [0037]).
Claims 6, 9, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park in view of He et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20220224479, hereinafter, “He”).
Regarding claim 6, Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park discloses on the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park does not explicitly teach:
wherein the transmit spatial filter and the receive spatial filter are used within a given number of slots after receiving the DCI that triggers the set of SRSs, or the set of CSI-RSs, or both.
However, in the same field of endeavor, He teaches:
wherein the transmit spatial filter and the receive spatial filter are used within a given number of slots after receiving the DCI that triggers the set of SRSs, or the set of CSI-RSs, or both (He: [0117] For example, a serving cell 1 is located in the FR1, a serving cell 2 is located in the FR2, and a DCI on a PDCCH located in the serving cell 1 (it is assumed that the serving cell 1 is a primary cell (PCell)) schedules a PUCCH transmission located in the serving cell 2, the PUCCH transmission is located on a slot n, and the base station configures 2 CORESET, i.e., a CORESET 0, a CORESET 1, for the UE on the slot n; a base station receives source reference signals in the QCL-Type D in a TCI state where the CORESET 0 and the CORESET 1 are activated through MAC-CE signaling, where the source reference signals in the QCL-Type D are a CSI-RS 1 and a CSI-RS 2, respectively, namely the QCL reference signals of the QCL-Type D associated with the CORESET 0 and the CORESET 1 are the CSI-RS 1 and the CSI-RS 2, respectively ... In the above case, the base station configures the reference signal through the RRC signaling or the MAC-CE signaling, and it is assumed that the reference signal is the SRS, then the UE may determine a transmission spatial filter for transmitting the PUCCH according to a transmission spatial filter of the reference signal (i.e., SRS) configured by the base station, that is, the UE may determine a transmission beam of the PUCCH according to the transmission beam of SRS. In the above case, the UE may determine the transmission spatial filter for transmitting the PUCCH according to a receiving spatial filter of the QCL reference signal (i.e., CSI-RS 1) of the QCL-Type D associated with the CORESET (i.e., CORESET 0) having the CORESET ID in a nearest slot (i.e., slot n), that is, the UE may determine a transmission beam for transmitting the PUSCH according to a receiving beam of the CSI-RS 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park to include the features as taught by He above in order to determine a reference signal. (He, ¶ [0006]).
Regarding claim 9, Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park discloses on the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park does not explicitly teach:
wherein the transmit spatial filter for the set of SRSs is the same as the receive spatial filter for a subsequent set of CSI-RSs in response to a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship of at least Type D between the set of CSI-RSs and other reference signals including the set of SRSs.
However, in the same field of endeavor, He teaches:
wherein the transmit spatial filter for the set of SRSs is the same as the receive spatial filter for a subsequent set of CSI-RSs in response to a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship of at least Type D between the set of CSI-RSs and other reference signals including the set of SRSs (He: [0117] ... In the above case, the base station configures the reference signal through the RRC signaling or the MAC-CE signaling, and it is assumed that the reference signal is the SRS, then the UE may determine a transmission spatial filter for transmitting the PUCCH according to a transmission spatial filter of the reference signal (i.e., SRS) configured by the base station, that is, the UE may determine a transmission beam of the PUCCH according to the transmission beam of SRS. In the above case, the UE may determine the transmission spatial filter for transmitting the PUCCH according to a receiving spatial filter of the QCL reference signal (i.e., CSI-RS 1) of the QCL-Type D associated with the CORESET (i.e., CORESET 0) having the CORESET ID in a nearest slot (i.e., slot n), that is, the UE may determine a transmission beam for transmitting the PUSCH according to a receiving beam of the CSI-RS 1.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park to include the features as taught by He above in order to determine a reference signal. (He, ¶ [0006]).
Regarding claim 19, Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park discloses on the features with respect to claim 18 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park does not explicitly teach:
wherein the transmit spatial filter and the receive spatial filter are used within a given number of slots after receiving the DCI that triggers the set of SRSs, or the set of CSI-RSs, or both.
However, in the same field of endeavor, He teaches:
wherein the transmit spatial filter and the receive spatial filter are used within a given number of slots after receiving the DCI that triggers the set of SRSs, or the set of CSI-RSs, or both (He: [0117] For example, a serving cell 1 is located in the FR1, a serving cell 2 is located in the FR2, and a DCI on a PDCCH located in the serving cell 1 (it is assumed that the serving cell 1 is a primary cell (PCell)) schedules a PUCCH transmission located in the serving cell 2, the PUCCH transmission is located on a slot n, and the base station configures 2 CORESET, i.e., a CORESET 0, a CORESET 1, for the UE on the slot n; a base station receives source reference signals in the QCL-Type D in a TCI state where the CORESET 0 and the CORESET 1 are activated through MAC-CE signaling, where the source reference signals in the QCL-Type D are a CSI-RS 1 and a CSI-RS 2, respectively, namely the QCL reference signals of the QCL-Type D associated with the CORESET 0 and the CORESET 1 are the CSI-RS 1 and the CSI-RS 2, respectively ... In the above case, the base station configures the reference signal through the RRC signaling or the MAC-CE signaling, and it is assumed that the reference signal is the SRS, then the UE may determine a transmission spatial filter for transmitting the PUCCH according to a transmission spatial filter of the reference signal (i.e., SRS) configured by the base station, that is, the UE may determine a transmission beam of the PUCCH according to the transmission beam of SRS. In the above case, the UE may determine the transmission spatial filter for transmitting the PUCCH according to a receiving spatial filter of the QCL reference signal (i.e., CSI-RS 1) of the QCL-Type D associated with the CORESET (i.e., CORESET 0) having the CORESET ID in a nearest slot (i.e., slot n), that is, the UE may determine a transmission beam for transmitting the PUSCH according to a receiving beam of the CSI-RS 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park to include the features as taught by He above in order to determine a reference signal. (He, ¶ [0006]).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park in view of Ren et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20230147146, hereinafter, “Ren”).
Regarding claim 7, Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park discloses on the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park does not explicitly teach:
wherein the receive spatial filter and the transmit spatial filter are used within a given number of slots after transmitting the set of SRSs.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ren teaches:
wherein the receive spatial filter and the transmit spatial filter are used within a given number of slots after transmitting the set of SRSs (Ren: [0091] ... For example, UE 115-b may transmit uplink messages during one or more slots in which UE 115-a is configured to receive downlink transmissions from base station 105-a. The uplink transmissions may include SRS, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmissions, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, physical random access channel (PRACH) transmissions, and other uplink transmissions. UE 115-a may therefore experience CLI caused by UE 115-b. UE 115-a may be a victim UE to UE 115-b, which may be an aggressor UE. A PUCCH transmission by UE 115-b, for example, may be based on a spatial relationship between the PUCCH and a SSB or CSI-RS. UE 115-b may transmit the PUCCH (or other uplink signal) with the same spatial filter (e.g., beam 210) as for the reception of the same SSB or CSI-RS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park to include the features as taught by Ren above in order to improve the support of reference signals for cross-link interference (CLI) measurement. (Ren, ¶ [0005]).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park in view of Farag et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20210314931, hereinafter, “Farag”).
Regarding claim 10, Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park discloses on the features with respect to claim 5 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park does not explicitly teach:
wherein the transmit spatial filter for the set of SRSs is the same as the receive spatial filter for a subsequent set of CSI-RSs in response to a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship of at least Type D between the set of CSI-RSs and other reference signals including a set of CSI-RSs that are received prior to the transmission of the set of SRSs.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Farag teaches:
wherein the transmit spatial filter for the set of SRSs is the same as the receive spatial filter for a subsequent set of CSI-RSs in response to a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship of at least Type D between the set of CSI-RSs and other reference signals including a set of CSI-RSs that are received prior to the transmission of the set of SRSs (Farag: [0247] A UE can be configured with one or more SRS resource sets. An SRS resource set includes one or more SRS resources. An SRS resource can have a spatial relation to a reference RS, such as a synchronization signal/PBCH Block (SSB), a channel state information (CSI)-RS, or another SRS. An SRS resource can include one or more SRS ports. A network can configure an SRS resource set for beam management. By exploiting beam correspondence at the UE, the spatial relation reference RS of an SRS resource or an SRS resource set can follow the source RS with QCL Type-D of a TCI state, wherein the SRS ports or SRS resources can provide additional spatial filter refinement in the uplink.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman-Park to include the features as taught by Farag above in order to enable uplink (UL) reference signal-based beam management. (Farag, ¶ [0002]).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim-Ge-Rahman in view of Ramireddy et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20220224391, hereinafter, “Ramireddy”.
Regarding claim 12, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman does not explicitly teach:
wherein a number of bits allocated for reporting the rank indicator in a first part of the CSI feedback report is based on a base-two logarithmic function of the constrained rank indicator value.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Ramireddy teaches:
wherein a number of bits allocated for reporting the rank indicator in a first part of the CSI feedback report is based on a base-two logarithmic function of the constrained rank indicator value (Ramireddy: [0146] In an example, the CSI part 1 may contain the selected number of non-zero combining coefficients (NNZCC) for each of the RI layers. For a maximum of RI=4, the CSI part 1 may contain four NNZCC bit-indicators for the four different layers … [0147] ... In another example, each NNZCC bit-indicator is represented by a ┌log2(2U(l)D(l))┐ bit indicator. As the NNZCC is indicated per layer, the number of non-zero values of the NNZCC bit indicators implicitly indicate the RI of the CSI matrix (i.e., total number of layers). The rank (parameter RI) may therefore be removed from the CSI report (i.e., not reported) …).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman to include the features as taught by Ramireddy above in order to enable channel state information (CSI) reporting. (Rahman, ¶ [0004]).
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lim-Ge-Rahman in view of Wu et.al. (US Patent Application Publication, 20220311492, hereinafter, “Wu”).
Regarding claim 15, Lim-Ge-Rahman discloses on the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above.
Lim-Ge-Rahman does not explicitly teach:
wherein the set of ports are partitioned into two sets of ports comprising a first set of ports and a second set of ports, and each port of the set of ports maps to a corresponding layer.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wu teaches:
wherein the set of ports are partitioned into two sets of ports comprising a first set of ports and a second set of ports, and each port of the set of ports maps to a corresponding layer (Wu: [0084] In some aspects, the one or more parameters may include a parameter for determining the first PMI, the second PMI, and/or the joint PMI. For example, the parameter may indicate and/or specify that the UE is to determine or identify the first PMI as a matrix that is sized based at least in part on a quantity of layers associated with the first CSI-RS set and a quantity of CSI-RS ports associated with the first CSI-RS set (e.g., a matrix that is sized according to p×r, where r corresponds to the quantity of layers and p corresponds to the quantity of CSI-RS ports). As another example, the parameter may indicate and/or specify that the UE is to determine or identify the second PMI as a matrix that is sized based at least in part on a quantity of layers associated with the second CSI-RS set and a quantity of CSI-RS ports associated with the second CSI-RS set (e.g., a matrix that is sized according to q×s, where s corresponds to the quantity of layers and q corresponds to the quantity of CSI-RS ports) …).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lim-Ge-Rahman to include the features as taught by Wu above in order to increase data rates and spectral efficiency. (Wu, ¶ [0001]).
Regarding claim 16, Lim-Ge-Rahman-Wu discloses on the features with respect to claim 15 as outlined above.
Wu teaches:
wherein one or more of a CSI feedback report size, a CSI feedback report format, or CSI feedback report parameter values vary across layers corresponding to the first set of ports, and layers corresponding to the second set of ports (Wu: [0084] In some aspects, the one or more parameters may include a parameter for determining the first PMI, the second PMI, and/or the joint PMI. For example, the parameter may indicate and/or specify that the UE is to determine or identify the first PMI as a matrix that is sized based at least in part on a quantity of layers associated with the first CSI-RS set and a quantity of CSI-RS ports associated with the first CSI-RS set (e.g., a matrix that is sized according to p×r, where r corresponds to the quantity of layers and p corresponds to the quantity of CSI-RS ports). As another example, the parameter may indicate and/or specify that the UE is to determine or identify the second PMI as a matrix that is sized based at least in part on a quantity of layers associated with the second CSI-RS set and a quantity of CSI-RS ports associated with the second CSI-RS set (e.g., a matrix that is sized according to q×s, where s corresponds to the quantity of layers and q corresponds to the quantity of CSI-RS ports) …).
The rationale and motivation for adding this teaching of Wu is the same as the rationale and motivation for claim 15.
Conclusion
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/LIEM H. NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2416