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 .
Status
This action is in response to the a request for reconsideration filed June 9, 2026 following nonfinal rejection after a request for continuing examination filed February 5, 2026, for the application filed on January 31, 2023, claiming priority to US Prov. App. 63/063,123 filed August 7, 2020.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11-13 and 17-18 and 20 are now pending.
No claims have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed June 9, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Specifically, Applicant argues that the prior art does not teach performing by a UE, “a measurement for at least one reference signal (PRS)” and “wherein the measurement report comprises (i) information for at least one PRS reception beam index and (ii) quasi-co-location (QCL) information including the at least one TCI state index”.
However Manolakos clearly teaches “a measurement for at least one reference signal (PRS)” in paras. [0027] - [0030] a UE measuring for a PRS. Likewise, Matsumura clearly teaches “measurement report comprises (i) information for at least one PRS reception beam index and (ii) quasi-co-location (QCL) information including the at least one TCI state index” by teaching in para. [0282] “the UE may update a pathloss measurement DL RS by determining the pathloss measurement DL RS associated with the TCI state” and in the section of Matsumura entitled “TCI, Spatial Relation and QCL” wherein for example, para. [0021] teaches that TCI state is information related to QCL.
Applicant argues that the combination of references relies on “impermissible hindsight reconstruction.” In response to applicant's argument that the examiner's conclusion of obviousness is based upon improper hindsight reasoning, it must be recognized that any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based upon hindsight reasoning. But so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill at the time the claimed invention was made, and does not include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant's disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971).
Here, the knowledge that was within the level of ordinary skill at the time of the claimed invention includes the knowledge of wireless communications and 3GPP wireless standards as they existed prior to August 7, 2020, which included 5G communication standards. An underlying goal of wireless communications and 3GPP 5G standards is the goal to avoid wasting resources. Matsumura teaches avoiding risking latency or waste resources in para. [0007], which one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine with Manolakos to teach Applicant’s claims.
Furthermore, Applicant argues that the claims require that the “measurement report” comprises QCL information, and Matsumura’s “capability report” is not a positional measurement report. However, Matsumura teaches in para. [0312] that the radio communication system conveys a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), therefore the concept of a PRS was known in both references. Further, the combination of Manolakos with Matsumura teaches such a positional measurement report with QCL information.
With regard to claims 12 and 13, Applicant argues Bhamri fails to teach that measurement report comprises the QCL information including the TCI state index. However, the Bhamri teaches a DL-PRS-QCL-Info is configured with QCL-TypeD the Resource ID is indicated to the UE. Bhamri para. [0115] teaches that in NR, the TCI indication framework is enhanced to provide a TCI state to allow dynamic QCL association for PRS, which the UE 205. QCL Type D is a type of TCI state index, as supported by para. [0021] of Matsumura, supra.
For at least these reasons, the rejection is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11-13 and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pat. Pub. 20210377698 to Alexandros Manolakos et al. with priority to provisional application No. 63/031,445 , filed on May 28, 2020 in view of US Pat. Pub. 20220216929 to Yuki Matsumura et al. (hereinafter Matsumura).
Regarding claim 1, Manolakos in view of Yang and Matsumura teaches A method comprising:
performing, by a user equipment (UE), a measurement report for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS); (Manolakos paras. [0027] - [0030] and Abstract teaches a UE performing a measurement report based on received PRS from TRPs) and
transmitting by the UE to a network, a measurement report based on the measurement, (Manolakos teaches in para. [0027] sending one or more positional measurement reports)
wherein the measurement report is performed based on that the at least one PRS, (Manolakos para. [0091] teaches that the measurement report includes “an identifier of a measured TRP, an identifier of a PRS resource set, an identifier of a PRS resource, .... the reported information includes an integer that identifies the consistency group to which this hierarchy of TRP, PRS resource set, PRS resource belongs.”) and ...,
wherein the measurement report comprises
(i) information for at least one PRS reception beam index; (Manolakos para. [0092] teaches “For each reported RSRP measurement, the reported information includes an identifier of a measured TRP” and as shown below, the information includes nr-DL-PRS-RxBeamIndex-r16 to determine angle of direction:
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(Manolakos para. [0069] teaches “detecting and distinguishing between LOS transmissions and NLOS transmissions can improve the UE positioning. For instance, by using only the measurements on PRS received using LOS transmissions, the estimate of the UE's 405 position can become more accurate. LOS and NLOS transmissions are factors that may impact the accuracy. However, other factors are possible, such as SNR (e.g., when the SNR decreases, the accuracy also decreases) or synchronization error (e.g., an error in the synchronization of the timing of transmission of SRS by a TRP and the timing of reception of the SRS by the UE; when the error increases, the accuracy decreases).”
and
Manolakos does NOT teach wherein the measurement report is performed based on.... and at least one specific RS related to at least one transmission configuration indication (TCI) state index are quasi co-located;
However, in the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Matsumura teaches wherein the measurement report is performed based on.... and at least one specific RS related to at least one transmission configuration indication (TCI) state index are quasi co-located. (Matsumura para. [0280] teaches that “Information that indicates an association between a plurality of pathloss measurement DL RSs and a plurality of TCI states may be provided to the UE by a higher layer signaling, or may be specified in a specification. In a case where a TCI state is updated, the UE may update a pathloss measurement DL RS by determining the pathloss measurement DL RS associated with the TCI state.” Further, the UE may update a pathloss measurement DL RS as taught in para. [0282] “UE may use an RS of the spatial relation information of the specific UL transmission as the pathloss measurement DL RS”.)
Manolakos also does NOT teach that the measurement report comprises (ii) quasi-colocation (QCL) information including the at least one TCI state index.
However, in the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Matsumura teaches a measurement report comprises (ii) quasi-colocation (QCL) information including the at least one TCI state index. (Matsumura teaches in para. [0177] beam reporting “L1-SINR beam reporting” with a TCI state indication type 2. Matsumura para. [0178] teaches that the report may include specific UE capability information indicating that it is supported to assume that the spatial relation of the specific UL transmission is identical to the default spatial relation (an RS of the spatial relation of the specific UL transmission is identical to an RS of the QCL type D in the TCI state of specific DL transmission). Therefore, the capability information would include the TCI state index of the default TCI state.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Manolakos with Matsumura to teach quasi-colocation information including at least one TCI state index in a measurement report. Each of Manolakos and Matsumura are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos with Matsumura in order to avoid risking latency or waste resources as taught in Matsumura para. [0007].
Regarding claim 3, Manolakos teaches The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of antenna elements are configured for the UE, and wherein the measurement report further comprises information for at least one antenna element related to the at least one PRS reception beam. (Manolakos para. [0123] teaches “In an example, at an additional operation, the UE sends, to the device, a plurality of information each of which being specific to a set of consistency groups for a positioning measurement report from one or more positioning measurement reports. In this example, the one or more positioning measurement reports may include a time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning measurement report, a round trip time (RTT) positioning measurement report, and an angle of arrival (AoD) positioning measurement report....” which is information related to at least one antenna element. Further, Manolakos para. [0090]-[0092] teaches “the UE 405 reports 500 RSTD measurements. For each reported RSTD measurement, the reported information includes an identifier of a measured TRP, an identifier of a PRS resource set, an identifier of a PRS resource, and a timestamp, among other information as previously described in connection with FIG. 3.” and “For each reported RSRP measurement, the reported information includes an identifier of a measured TRP” and as shown below, the information includes nr-DL-PRS-RxBeamIndex-r16:
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Regarding claim 5, Manolakos teaches The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one specific RS comprises at least one of a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), or another PRS. (Manolakos para. [0005] teaches “The UE positioning can also use measurements other than SRS and PRS-based ones. For example, synchronization signal block (SSB) and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for radio resources management (RRM)-based measurements can be used in E-CID methods.”)
Regarding claim 18, Manolakos teaches The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement report is related to an Angle of Departure (AoD) measurement report. (Manolakos para. [0123] teaches “In an example, at an additional operation, the UE sends, to the device, a plurality of information each of which being specific to a set of consistency groups for a positioning measurement report from one or more positioning measurement reports. In this example, the one or more positioning measurement reports may include a time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning measurement report, a round trip time (RTT) positioning measurement report, and an angle of arrival (AoD) positioning measurement report....” which is information related to at least one antenna element.
Regarding claim 7, Manolakos in view of Matsumura teaches A user equipment (UE) (Manolakos Fig. 1 UE 105) comprising:
a transceiver; (Manolakos para. [0009])
and
at least one processor (Manolakos para. [0009]) connected to the transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
perform a measurement for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS); (Manolakos para. [0092] teaches that the UE performs RSRP measurements that include “For each reported RSRP measurement , the reported information includes an identifier of a measured TRP , an identifier of a PRS resource set , an identifier of a PRS resource, and a timestamp , among other information”)
and
transmit, to a network, a measurement report based on the measurement, (Manolakos teaches in para. [0027] sending one or more positional measurement reports)
and
wherein the measurement report is performed based on that the at least one PRS, (Manolakos para. [0091] teaches that the measurement report includes “an identifier of a measured TRP, an identifier of a PRS resource set, an identifier of a PRS resource, .... the reported information includes an integer that identifies the consistency group to which this hierarchy of TRP, PRS resource set, PRS resource belongs.”) and
wherein the measurement report comprises
(i) information for at least one PRS reception beam index; (Manolakos para. [0092] teaches “For each reported RSRP measurement, the reported information includes an identifier of a measured TRP” and as shown below, the information includes nr-DL-PRS-RxBeamIndex-r16 to determine angle of direction:
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and
(Manolakos para. [0069] teaches “detecting and distinguishing between LOS transmissions and NLOS transmissions can improve the UE positioning. For instance, by using only the measurements on PRS received using LOS transmissions, the estimate of the UE's 405 position can become more accurate. LOS and NLOS transmissions are factors that may impact the accuracy. However, other factors are possible, such as SNR (e.g., when the SNR decreases, the accuracy also decreases) or synchronization error (e.g., an error in the synchronization of the timing of transmission of SRS by a TRP and the timing of reception of the SRS by the UE; when the error increases, the accuracy decreases).”
Manolakos does NOT teach wherein the measurement report is performed based on.... and at least one specific RS related to at least one transmission configuration indication (TCI) state index are quasi co-located.
However, in the analogous art of 3GPP LTE wireless communications, Matsumura teaches wherein the measurement report is performed based on.... and at least one specific RS related to at least one transmission configuration indication (TCI) state index are quasi co-located. (Matsumura para. [0280] teaches that “Information that indicates an association between a plurality of pathloss measurement DL RSs and a plurality of TCI states may be provided to the UE by a higher layer signaling, or may be specified in a specification. In a case where a TCI state is updated, the UE may update a pathloss measurement DL RS by determining the pathloss measurement DL RS associated with the TCI state.” Further, the UE may update a pathloss measurement DL RS as taught in para. [0282] “UE may use an RS of the spatial relation information of the specific UL transmission as the pathloss measurement DL RS”.)
Manolakos also does NOT teach that the measurement report comprises (ii) quasi-colocation (QCL) information including the at least one TCI state index.
However, in the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Matsumura teaches a measurement report comprises (ii) quasi-colocation (QCL) information including the at least one TCI state index. (Matsumura teaches in para. [0177] beam reporting “L1-SINR beam reporting” with a TCI state indication type 2. Matsumura para. [0178] teaches that the report may include specific UE capability information indicating that it is supported to assume that the spatial relation of the specific UL transmission is identical to the default spatial relation (an RS of the spatial relation of the specific UL transmission is identical to an RS of the QCL type D in the TCI state of specific DL transmission). Therefore, the capability information would include the TCI state index of the default TCI state.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to combine Manolakos with Matsumura to teach quasi-colocation information including at least one TCI state index in a measurement report. Each of Manolakos and Matsumura are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Manolakos with Matsumura in order to avoid risking latency or waste resources as taught in Matsumura para. [0007].
Regarding claim 9, Manolakos teaches The UE of claim 7, wherein a plurality of antenna elements are configured for the UE, (Manolakos para. [005] teaches that the base station sends DL RSTD measurements to the UE related to a plurality of antenna elements) and wherein the measurement report further comprises information for at least one antenna element related to the at least one PRS reception beam. (Manolakos para. [0090] teaches a UE report including the following:
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)
Regarding claim 11, Manolakos teaches The UE of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to communicate with at least one of a mobile terminal, a network, or an autonomous vehicle. (Manolakos teaches in para. [0034] and in Fig. 1, UE 105 with a processor communicating with a WLAN 116, which is a network).
Claims 12 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of US Pat. Pub. 20230176162 to Ankit Bhamri et al. (hereinafter Bhamri).
Regarding claim 12, Manolakos in view of Bhamri teaches A method comprising:
transmitting, by a base station (BS) (Manolakos Fig. 1 base stations 110-2, 110-1 and 114) to a user equipment (UE) at least one positioning reference signal (PRS); (Manolakos paras. [0002]-[0003] “TRPS (base stations)” transmit PRS to the UE.)
and
receiving by the BS from the UE, a measurement report for the at least one PRS, (Manolakos teaches in para. [0027] sending one or more positional measurement reports)
wherein the measurement report comprises
information for at least one PRS reception beam index of the UE ; (Manolakos para. [0092] teaches “For each reported RSRP measurement, the reported information includes an identifier of a measured TRP” and as shown below, the information includes nr-DL-PRS-RxBeamIndex-r16 to determine angle of direction:
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(Manolakos para. [0069] teaches “detecting and distinguishing between LOS transmissions and NLOS transmissions can improve the UE positioning. For instance, by using only the measurements on PRS received using LOS transmissions, the estimate of the UE's 405 position can become more accurate. LOS and NLOS transmissions are factors that may impact the accuracy. However, other factors are possible, such as SNR (e.g., when the SNR decreases, the accuracy also decreases) or synchronization error (e.g., an error in the synchronization of the timing of transmission of SRS by a TRP and the timing of reception of the SRS by the UE; when the error increases, the accuracy decreases).”
and
Manolakos does NOT teach that the measurement report comprises quasi co-location (QCL) information including at least one transmission configuration indication (TCI) state index that has been used by the UE in measurement of the at least one PRS.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Bhamri teaches quasi co-location (QCL) information including at least one transmission configuration indication (TCI) state index that has been used by the UE in measurement of the at least one PRS. (Bhamri teaches PRS measurements in para. [0097] wherein the UE is configured in para. [0098] to use assume the DL PRS resources are from the same cell. Therefore, if the DL-PRS-QCL-Info is configured with QCL-TypeD the Resource ID is indicated to the UE. Bhamri para. [0115] teaches that in NR, the TCI indication framework is enhanced to provide a TCI state to allow dynamic QCL association for PRS, which the UE 205 “is expected to use the QCL assumptions”. Thus, the QCL information is used by the UE in measuring the PRS.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to have combined Bhamri with Manolakos to teach quasi co-location (QCL) information including at least one transmission configuration indication (TCI) state index that has been used by the UE in measurement of the at least one PRS. Each of Bhamri and Manolakos are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Bhamri with Manolakos in order to reduce overhead of PRS as taught in Bhamri paras. [0036]-[0037].
Regarding claim 13, Manolakos in view of Bhamri teaches A base station (Manolakos Fig. 1 base stations 110-2, 110-1 and 114) configured to operate in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising:
a transceiver; (Manolakos paras. [0037]-[0038] teach BS transmitting signals)
and
at least one processor connected to the transceiver,(Manolakos paras. [0037]-[0038]) wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
transmit to a user equipment (UE), at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource; (Manolakos para. [0038] “Some gNBs 110 (e.g., gNB 110-2) and/or ng-eNB 114 in FIG. 1 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons which may transmit signals (e.g., Positioning Reference Signals (“PRS signals”) and/or may broadcast assistance data to assist positioning of UE 105”)
and
receive, from the UE, a measurement report for the at least one PRS (Manolakos para. [0049] teaches “With a network based position method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNBs 110 and/or ng-eNB 114), one or more APs (e.g., in WLAN 116), or N3IWF 150 may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, or TOA) for signals transmitted by UE 105, and/or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105”)
wherein the measurement report comprises (i) information for at least one PRS reception beam index of the UE, (Manolakos para. [0010] teaches “sending, to a device based on the performed measurements, information about a first consistency group that comprises a first set of elements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than a total number of: PRS measurements, PRS resources, PRS resources sets, transmission and reception points (TRPs), or frequency layers, or a combination thereof, with which a UE is configured”. (Manolakos teaches in para. [0032] “embodiments of the present disclosure are described in connection with PRS-based positioning measurements. However, the embodiments are not limited as such and similarly apply to other types of reference signals and positioning measurements, including ones based on SRS for positioning, SSB for RRM, CSI-RS for RRM, and the like. In addition, the positioning measurements are performed during a positioning session in support of different positioning methods including, for instance, TDOA, AoD, and/or RTT.”)
and
Manolakos does NOT teach (ii) quasi-colocation (QCL) information including at least one transmission configuration indication state index that has been used by the UE in measurement of the at least one PRS.
However, in the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Bhamri teaches (ii) quasi-colocation (QCL) information including at least one transmission configuration indication state index that has been used by the UE in measurement of the at least one PRS. (Bhamri teaches PRS measurements in para. [0097] wherein the UE is configured in para. [0098] to use assume the DL PRS resources are from the same cell. Therefore, if the DL-PRS-QCL-Info is configured with QCL-TypeD the Resource ID is indicated to the UE. Bhamri para. [0115] teaches that in NR, the TCI indication framework is enhanced to provide a TCI state to allow dynamic QCL association for PRS, which the UE 205 “is expected to use the QCL assumptions”. Thus, the QCL information is used by the UE in measuring the PRS.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective date of the invention to have combined Bhamri with Manolakos to teach quasi co-location (QCL) information including at least one transmission configuration indication (TCI) state index that has been used by the UE in measurement of the at least one PRS. Each of Bhamri and Manolakos are in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Bhamri with Manolakos in order to reduce overhead of PRS as taught in Bhamri paras. [0036]-[0037].
Claims 16, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of Matsumura further in view of US Pat. Pub. 20230164614 to Yu Yang (hereinafter Yang).
Regarding claim 16, Manolakos does NOT teach The method of claim 1, wherein the QCL information is configured for reporting to the network about the at least one TCI state index used by the UE during the measurement.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Yang teaches wherein the QCL information is configured for reporting to the network about the at least one TCI state index used by the UE during the measurement (In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Yang teaches wherein the QCL information is configured for reporting to the network about the at least one TCI state index used by the UE during the measurement. (Yang para. [0227]-[0228] teaches “As for beam indication for a PDCCH, the network uses radio resource control (RRC) signaling to configure K transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for each CORESET. When K>1, a Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC CE) indicates or activates one TCI state, and when K=1, no additional MAC CE command is needed. When the UE monitors the PDCCH, same quasi-co-location (QCL) information is used for all search space in the CORESET, that is, a same TCI state is used to monitor the PDCCH. A source reference signal (reference signal) (for example, a periodic CSI-RS resource, a semi-persistent CSI-RS resource, an SS block, and the like) in the TCI state is spatially quasi-co-located with a UE-specific PDCCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port. The UE may learn, based on the TCI state, which receiving beam to use to receive the PDCCH.” “As for the beam indication for the PDSCH, the network configures M TCI states by using RRC signaling, then activates 2N TCI states by using a MAC CE command, and then informs the TCI state by using an N-bit TCI field of downlink control information (DCI).” As taught in Yang, the N-bit TCI field provides the index for the TCI. Examiner interprets the N-bit field of Yang as providing an index for the TCI state, which is used by the UE for beam reports to the network.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have combined Manolakos with Yang to teach a QCL and TCI index. Each of Manolakos and Yang teach beam reporting in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Yang with Manolakos to avoid interruption of data transmission between the network and the UE as taught in Yang para. [0004].
Regarding claim 17, Manolakos does NOT teach The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving TCI state configuration information including the at least one TCI state index.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Yang teaches receiving TCI state configuration information including the at least one TCI state index. (Yang para. [0227]-[0228] teaches “As for beam indication for a PDCCH, the network uses radio resource control (RRC) signaling to configure K transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for each CORESET. When K>1, a Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC CE) indicates or activates one TCI state, and when K=1, no additional MAC CE command is needed. When the UE monitors the PDCCH, same quasi-co-location (QCL) information is used for all search space in the CORESET, that is, a same TCI state is used to monitor the PDCCH. A source reference signal (reference signal) (for example, a periodic CSI-RS resource, a semi-persistent CSI-RS resource, an SS block, and the like) in the TCI state is spatially quasi-co-located with a UE-specific PDCCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port. The UE may learn, based on the TCI state, which receiving beam to use to receive the PDCCH.” “As for the beam indication for the PDSCH, the network configures M TCI states by using RRC signaling, then activates 2N TCI states by using a MAC CE command, and then informs the TCI state by using an N-bit TCI field of downlink control information (DCI).” As taught in Yang, the N-bit TCI field provides the index for the TCI. Examiner interprets the N-bit field of Yang as providing an index for the TCI state, which is used by the UE for beam reports to the network.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have combined Manolakos with Yang to teach receiving TCI state configuration information. Each of Manolakos and Yang teach beam reporting in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Yang with Manolakos to avoid interruption of data transmission between the network and the UE as taught in Yang para. [0004].
Regarding claim 20, Manolakos does NOT teach The UE of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive TCI state configuration information including the at least one TCJ state index.
In the analogous art of 3GPP 5G wireless communications, Yang teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive TCI state configuration information including the at least one TCI state index. (Yang teaches in para. [0185] In some embodiments, in a case that configuration information of at least two beam reports includes an index or identification information of a same antenna panel, the at least two beam reports have an association relationship.
Yang para. [0227] – [0228] teaches “As for beam indication for a PDCCH, the network uses radio resource control (RRC) signaling to configure K transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for each CORESET. When K>1, a Medium Access Control-Control Element (MAC CE) indicates or activates one TCI state, and when K=1, no additional MAC CE command is needed. When the UE monitors the PDCCH, same quasi-co-location (QCL) information is used for all search space in the CORESET, that is, a same TCI state is used to monitor the PDCCH. A source reference signal (reference signal) (for example, a periodic CSI-RS resource, a semi-persistent CSI-RS resource, an SS block, and the like) in the TCI state is spatially quasi-co-located with a UE-specific PDCCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port. The UE may learn, based on the TCI state, which receiving beam to use to receive the PDCCH.” “As for the beam indication for the PDSCH, the network configures M TCI states by using RRC signaling, then activates 2N TCI states by using a MAC CE command, and then informs the TCI state by using an N-bit TCI field of downlink control information (DCI).” As taught in Yang, the N-bit TCI field provides the index for the TCI. Examiner interprets the N-bit field of Yang as providing an index for the TCI state.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have combined Manolakos with Yang to teach receiving TCI state configuration information. Each of Manolakos and Yang teach beam reporting in the field of wireless communications. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Yang with Manolakos to avoid interruption of data transmission between the network and the UE as taught in Yang para. [0004].
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON whose telephone number is (703)756-1068. The examiner can normally be reached M-F.
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, CHARLES JIANG can be reached at 571-270-7191. 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.
/MARGARET MARIE ANDERSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2412
/CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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